Daddy’s Boy

Snake

Life continued as normal as it could be at Hogwarts. Most students considered DADA a serious subject no longer. Lockhart's lessons were viewed as some mild entertainment to lighten up the boring days, as long as he didn't bring any creatures to set free in class.

With other problems already handled, they returned their attention to the monster that had killed Myrtle.

"We can go to that bathroom and start searching this weekend," Harry noted.

"You should keep the rooster recording handy and let it sound for a while before every bend. We must still be cautious of any other dangers there."

"I can't endanger myself knowingly. I promised Dobby and it turned into a magical vow."

Hermione frowned and then smiled. "Well, if I go first, then you'll be protecting me, not going boldly into danger."

"I still need you to stay safe so we can keep our betrothal," he told her with no trace of humor.

"I'll keep that in mind. I love you, Harry."

He hugged her tight. "And I love you. I need you at my side for the rest of our lives."

She hugged him back. "Just like I need you."

They kept the hug for quite a while, enjoying it much more than any of them expected. When they parted, both had red faces and wide smiles. "I think we should hug more often," Harry noted in almost a whisper.

"We certainly should. It makes me feel so good when we hug, and then I feel more powerful," Hermione agreed.

"So do I."

They stayed silent for a short while and then, as if by common agreement, they turned to each other and hugged again.

They parted, eventually. "Shouldn't we proceed with our plan?" Hermione asked.

Harry took her hand. "Sure! Let's go!"

Myrtle wasn't visible at the toilet. Harry opened the sink and sounded the rooster crowing for a bit. He then peeked into the hole in front of him. "This doesn't look like a person could use it, although a snake may find it comfortable. I think there should be another way there, more suitable for walking."

Hermione nodded in agreement. Both started looking around for any other hint for a passage. They needed to use some cleaning charms, as the place was not well maintained and a lot of dirt had accumulated in several places.

"I think I found something," Hermione noted a bit later.

Harry rushed to her side. The back wall, near the last toilet partition, had a minute mark on it. Only close examination showed it to be the form of a snake. "$Open!$" he hissed.

The wall slid aside, revealing a wide stairway. It was dusty and full of cobwebs, yet several torches along it came to life seconds after the stairs became visible. Hermione waved her wand, vanishing all the dust and dirt, also removing all the cobwebs. It now looked like a very elegant stairway. The marble stairs were carved with snake motifs as were the marble banisters, and the ceiling had a drawing of several snakes intertwined.

Harry made a move to go down, yet Hermione stopped him. "There may be some traps in there," she reminded him.

She cast some charms on the stairs, on the walls and on the ceiling, making some faint green lines shine briefly. Hermione frowned. "There's something there, alright, but I have no idea what it is or how to disarm it."

She looked around, searching for something. A large stone that had come loose from the wall ages ago seemed to be what she was looking for. She transfigured the stone into a teddy-bear, enlarged it to be as tall as they were and animated it to walk down the stairway, directing it to stay close to the green lines she had seen before. It reached the first landing with no mishap. She then made it climb back, staying close to the wall, this time. When it reached about the midway, the stairs opened like a trapdoor and swallowed it.

"Why bother with the stairs? I could take you there as Snow," Harry suggested.

"We don't really know where this goes and just flying along the stairs may trigger other traps. It looks like we should be fine if we stay on the green line. We only have to make it visible." She cast a spell that made the line appear and went down a step. Harry followed her immediately, keeping his wand ready. As soon as they took another step down, the wall behind them slid back, closing the entrance.

"Do you think this is a trap?" he asked worriedly.

"No. Leaving a secret passage open is not very wise. I find it natural to close the door as soon as it's not needed. You can probably open it again when coming back. Besides, you could always fire-travel as Snow, bypassing that wall altogether."

Harry let out a breath he was holding. "Yes, Snow can take you to safety."

They proceeded cautiously, sounding the rooster crowing every few paces, down the stairs, past two more landings, before reaching a slimy corridor. What attracted their attention first was the shed skin of a snake. It was wider than both of them together and seemed too long to measure. The snake that had shed it must have been huge!

"Are you sure we should proceed?" Harry asked her. He didn't want to lose Hermione to that monster.

"Yes, we must go on. Just sound the rooster crowing more often," she answered bravely, yet her voice sounded shaky.

She still waved her wand, cleaning the corridor and banishing the empty skin aside. Once clean, it didn't look so ominous, and several torches came to life along the walls, making it look as normal as any corridor at Hogwarts.

They soon reached a round metal door, locked with several snake-like bars. Another "$Open!$" command opened the door. They let the rooster crowing sound for much longer before even peeking at the other side of the door.

The hall they found out when they finally crossed the threshold was just as large as the Great Hall and almost as magnificent. It had multiple columns with spiral carving holding its ceiling, and the walls had many paintings on them, most showing various snakes. A large statue stood at the far end of the hall, presumably depicting Slytherin. The floor was covered with mud and some water puddles. Hermione used her wand to make the hall much cleaner, finding out that the largest puddle, quite near the statue, was actually a shallow decorative pool.

As they approached the statue, they heard some noise behind it. Hermione looked frightened, but for Harry, this was not some random noise. He was hearing, "$Please don't make that sound again. It's killing me. I promise I don't want to harm anyone. The only time I killed someone, it was by mistake, as the speaker directed me to look at a door that a girl was just opening. I keep regretting that incident for fifty years already. Please let me live!$"

"$Who are you?$" Harry hissed back, still keeping both his wand and his recording ready.

"$Your kind calls me Basilisk, but I'm just an unfortunate snake. Salazar thought I could be a good guardian for the school, but I'm not. I have to close my inner eyelids to even look at anyone without risking to harm them.$"

"$I promise not to hurt you if you come out and let us see you with your inner eyelids closed,$" Harry said.

"Put your sunglasses on and make them as dark as you dare," he told Hermione, doing just as he told her. He heard a rustle from above and saw the head of the snake coming out of the statue's mouth. Despite his dark glasses, he could still notice the serpent's large yellow eyes, only they looked as if they were under a kind of veil. Hermione gasped at the view and turned her face back.

"$You can tell your mate I won't harm her. You can both look at me with no fear.$"

Harry translated. Hermione removed her eyeglasses reluctantly and squinted a few times before she looked at the snake. It seemed even bigger than she thought it would be, yet it lowered its head as if asking to be petted. She looked at Harry questioningly.

"I think it's safe to pet it," he said, not fully sure of it himself.

Eventually, they both sat on the floor, asking questions and letting the snake tell them about the time of the founders, when it had grown to only four feet long, about the good and bad times that it had passed at Hogwarts and about the girl it had accidentally killed.

"$Would you like to apologize to her? She's still at the castle, as a ghost.$"

"$Will you help me talk to her?$"

Harry smiled. "$Of course. I don't think that she can talk to snakes.$" He then gave it a thought. "$Maybe we should ask her to come here with us. It may be too dangerous if you roam the corridors.$"

"What do you eat? You couldn't reach your big size without eating," Hermione noted and Harry translated.

Harry did his best to translate as quickly as he could. "I eat rats and mice and other pests that find their way here. The house elves also bring some remains to me a few times a year, and I have an exit to the forest, where I can hunt a bit. I can't hunt big game, though, as my throat only allows me to swallow nothing bigger than a small dog. It's a waste to kill any bigger animals."

"Did Salazar leave anything behind him, besides this statue?"

"Sure, the statue is only blocking the entrance to his private apartment, where he used to store all his books, except those he deemed appropriate for the students. He also had a potions lab there and some non-magical instruments with which he tried to learn more about magic and nature. The hall is also lined with books, if you know how to reveal them."

Harry's stomach grumbled, reminding him it was time for lunch. "$We need to go now. You should stay safely away from other people. Is there anything that you'd like us to bring to you the next time?$"

The Basilisk seemed to think a bit. "There was a certain food I liked very much and Salazar used to bring it to me every weekend. It was a kind of flattened meatball boiled in oil, I think. If you could bring some, or tell the house elves to bring some, it would really make me happy."

"I think he's referring to hamburger, or what preceded it," Hermione said.

"I'll see what I can do, although I doubt it would taste the same. When would you like us to come next time?"

It looked like the Basilisk shrug, although Harry doubted it could make such a movement. "I'm all alone here. You're welcome whenever you can spare me some time, but please don't bring that deadly sound to me. I'd like to hear some music, though. I didn't have a chance to hear any since Sal left me here all alone."

They barely reached lunch on time. Ron was already finishing his second serving when they came. "Where have you been all morning?" he asked, with his mouth still full.

"We were studying a bit about the founders and their pets. It was quite interesting," Hermione said brightly.

"You two are mental, spending even the weekend on studies, and on subject we're not graded at, to boot," Ron huffed, returning his focus to his plate.

Myrtle was quite reluctant to come and meet the cause of her death. "It can't kill you again now, you know," Harry tried to reassure her.

"Of course it can't, but even ghosts can be damaged or feel hurt. Why should I chance that?"

"It wants to apologize to you. It was Tom who ordered it to use its deadly gaze and look at the door when he heard you move. It's Tom's fault that you're dead, not the snake's."

Myrtle shook her head, still not too sure. "Well, I'll come with you, but if it tries anything, I'll be off at once."

"That should be good enough," Harry agreed.

The basilisk welcomed them like old friends. It asked to be petted first and then it noticed Myrtle and turned sad. "I'm so sorry I caused your death. The speaker tricked me to open my eyes completely and look at the door, and then you opened it, looking straight into my eyes, before I could shut them. He then told me I was a killer. It took me a long time to understand that he was the one who wanted to kill and he used me as his weapon. I'm sorry I couldn't prevent that."

Harry translated it all, yet Myrtle seemed to understand even before he did. "Can you understand the snake?" he asked.

"I couldn't, while I was alive, but maybe being killed by a snake made me understand its language as a ghost," Myrtle mused. "It really isn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"Well, thank you, kind lady. I'll do all that I can to make you forgive me," the basilisk said. It seemed to understand her, although she only spoke English.

"Can you keep me company? I'm all alone most of the time and the students stay away from me."

The snake shook its head sadly. "It's too dangerous for me to come and visit you there, but you can visit me here whenever you feel lonely. I'm also very lonely. The first time I had any visitors since that incident is when these two came searching here."

"Oh, I'll come! You can be sure of that!" Myrtle seemed enthusiastic for being accepted by a living soul, even if not human. Harry felt content. The Basilisk would cherish her company too much to ever say anything offending to her, and afterlife may become more pleasant for her too.