Hogwarts Express: Time Travel

XXII. The monster within

XXII. The monster within

The next day, Annie and Ron are visiting Hermione in the Hospital Wing again; Annie takes the old dried up flowers out of the vase next to Hermione's bed, puts in some new white flowers, then sits on the bed.

Annie: Wish you were here, Hermione. We need you. Now more than ever.

"She's the brains of course you need her, if she was still around you'd have already figured it out!"

Hermione just lays there with her glossy facial expression as Ron sighs sadly. Annie rubs Hermione's left hand; feeling something in it, she looks down and removes her hand to discover a crumpled up piece of paper, a library book page, which she carefully removes and straightens out.

Ron: [glancing at the page] What's that?

Annie: [examining the page] Ron, this is why Hermione was in the library the day she was attacked. [glances at the page and then back at Ron as he gets up] Come on! [Annie and Ron walk through the corridor as Annie reads from the page] "Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it..." [looking up at Ron] Ron, this is it. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. That's why I can hear it speak. It's a snake.

"I can't believe it!" A Ravenclaw shouted in realization then Remus followed suit quickly understanding

"What is it?" Bellatrix sneers then cackles like a mad woman only stopping when her fiancé rubs her back

"She figured it out, she's really smart, it makes sense and she took the paper in case something happened to her" Added Remus

"If you keep talking in riddles I'll skin you!" Bella threatened

"In the Chamber the monster in it is a Basilisk and it's a snake, well a giant one, one look and it's instant death, spiders fear it, that why Annie can hear it talk!" he explained making some nod in agreement while the teachers looked scared for the safety of the students and horrified that something like that resides in the castle

"You mean there's a giant snake here in the castle?" Asked a shocked Andromeda

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" shouted Moody making everyone jump in their skins once more

"Alastor that's enough!"

"Yes Lils there's a snake, but I suppose since the chamber is closed it can't come out!"

"Dumbass you said one look instant death!" Bellatrix urged "They aren't dead, just petrified!"

"Because no one really looked at it directly in the eyes!" A Ravenclaw girl concluded, "The little guy first year through his camera, Justin guy through Sir Nicholas, and if you all remember Filch's cat there was water on the floor that day! And of course Hermione since-"

"She figured it out she had the mirror with her!" finished Rabastan "Smart girl, not so man would have acted quickly or figured it out even"

Ron: [processing the information they just read] But if it kills by looking people in the eye, why is it no one's dead?

Annie: [thinking for a few seconds then looking at the window] Because no one did look it in the eye. Not directly, at least. [they walk along as they go over how each of the victims were petrified] Colin saw it through his camera. Justin... Justin must've seen the Basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick got the full blast of it, but he's a ghost. He couldn't die again. And Hermione... had the mirror. I bet you anything she was using it to look around corners in case it came along.