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Chapter 105 – Weasley
🕑 Added 2025-04-08 11:33:58 +0000 UTC
"Harry, how's this thing?"
"It… it looks like it's dying?"
"Seriously? Ask if its eyes are shut! I don’t want to die the moment we open ours."
"Come on, Noah! Do you think it's just going to answer me if I ask?"
Harry shut his eyes tightly, a helpless look on his face, as though he'd just heard something completely ridiculous.
He had no idea what Noah was on about. Ask a basilisk if it's safe to open their eyes? That’s like asking it if it could please not kill you.
Still, Noah had a point. Fighting with their eyes closed was dangerous. They couldn’t aim, couldn’t dodge properly, and worse—this was a snake. It had no feet, nothing to judge distance by, and it attacked with precision. How were they supposed to fight like this?
Left with no choice, Harry tried to communicate with the serpent.
What he didn’t expect, though, was the state it was in. The basilisk's reply was low and hoarse, stripped of the ferocity it once held. It sounded… defeated.
After a long pause, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He carefully cracked open his eyes. Risky? Definitely. But he couldn’t just stay blind.
Of course, he wasn’t reckless. He still wore his glasses and looked down at the ghost of Nearly Headless Nick. Nick had been dead for centuries—viewing through a ghost might just offer some protection. A double layer of safety was better than nothing.
"At worst, I’ll get petrified," Harry muttered to himself. "Noah knows how to reverse it."
He slowly raised his head—and immediately gasped at what he saw.
The basilisk was nearly unrecognizable. Its massive, serpentine body was scorched black, smoke still curling from its charred flesh. Its eyes were completely gone.
“Is this… roasted snake meat?” Harry winced, mouth twitching.
Despite the damage, the snake’s body still twitched occasionally. It was horrifying to look at—massive, mutilated, and barely clinging to life.
The worst part? Harry could still understand it. The basilisk’s weakened voice crawled into his ears, and he felt… pity.
“What is it, Harry? What’s it saying?” Noah asked cautiously, ready to step in if needed. His fingers twitched near his wand.
“It’s okay… you can open your eyes,” Harry said with a sigh. “Your magic burned its eyes out. It can’t see anymore.”
“You sure? You really opened your eyes?” Noah asked in disbelief.
“I used my glasses and looked through Nick’s body. I’ve stepped out now, and I’m fine.”
“You’re insane,” Noah muttered, but he cracked open one eye and whistled. “Whoa… that’s one well-done snake.”
Draco, unable to hold out any longer, opened his eyes too—and stood there, dumbstruck.
The basilisk stretched nearly fifty feet in length—over seventeen meters. They were twelve-year-old kids, barely four and a half feet tall. The thing was monstrous in comparison.
But now… it barely breathed, its scales blackened and flaking. It looked like a half-cooked beast from a nightmare stew.
Draco slowly turned to Noah, eyes wide. This guy did that?
Draco had always idolized his father, but now he wasn’t so sure Lucius could’ve pulled that off.
“What on Earth are you three doing?! Mr. Finnegan! Mr. Potter! Mr. Malfoy?!”
Professor McGonagall stormed in, flanked by Professor Snape and a host of other teachers.
Behind them, students from all four Houses crowded the corridor—and then stopped in their tracks as the stench of cooked meat hit them. And then they saw it.
A basilisk.
Gasps and screams followed.
The professors exchanged sharp glances. Dumbledore’s core group—McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout—understood the situation at once.
“Mr. Finniel, you should have informed us,” Professor McGonagall said, exasperated but not unkind. Snape moved past her, wand at the ready, and began examining the serpent.
“I’m sorry, Professor. We didn’t have time. Harry said it was attacking again, so…” Noah rubbed the back of his head, visibly drained.
“This was extremely dangerous! That’s a basilisk, boys! Do you realize what you were dealing with? They aren’t just dangerous to Muggles—most wizards can’t handle them! Even dark wizards steer clear because of the 'Ban on Experimental Breeding of Classified Creatures'!”
“I understand, Professor. But it’s over now, isn’t it? I knew snakes were weak against fire, so I used fire-element magic. It worked.”
McGonagall pursed her lips, clearly still worried.
Snape finally stepped back. “Its eyes are gone. Its body’s nearly cooked. Were it not for its unnatural vitality, it would be dead.”
“Thank Merlin,” McGonagall muttered. “It appears the threat is over.”
“Ha! I suppose it’s good I didn’t need to intervene,” Gilderoy Lockhart strolled up, beaming. “I had a much better plan in mind. Shame it won’t face me now.”
Snape sneered. “What a tragedy. But the incident isn’t quite over, Professor Lockhart.”
“Huh? But… the basilisk is done for, right?”
“True,” Noah said, rubbing his temples. “But we still don’t know who opened the Chamber of Secrets.”
“Oh, right! Of course! I, uh, already know who did it!”
“Really?” Snape said dryly. “Then please, enlighten us.”
“This, uh…” Lockhart faltered. Everyone, including the students, rolled their eyes. Lockhart was a fraud—and this time, even he couldn’t bluff through it.
Snape ignored him and turned to Noah, eyes narrowing as he spotted Draco.
“What’s he doing here?”
“I have no idea. Harry and I were tracking the basilisk, and we found Draco wandering around. I told him to go back to the dorm, but he followed us anyway.”
Noah shrugged.
Honestly, it would’ve been embarrassing if Slytherin’s heir had been killed by Slytherin’s monster.
“Forget that,” Noah whispered to Snape, glancing at Harry. “Shouldn’t we be questioning the basilisk?”
Snape caught the hint and turned to McGonagall. “I suggest we escort the rest of the students back. The deans can remain here to handle things.”
“Agreed,” she nodded.
Within minutes, the professors ushered the crowd out. Lockhart practically bolted. The rest looked reluctant but obeyed. The safety of the students came first.
Draco should’ve left too—but he didn’t. Noah’s magic had shaken him. He might not have seen it firsthand, but the aftermath told a clear story. And Harry… he spoke Parseltongue. Wasn’t that a sign of Slytherin’s heir?
Even with Snape glaring at him, Draco stood his ground.
“Alright,” Noah said. “Everyone’s gone. Harry, ask it who released it.”
Harry nodded, casting a sidelong glance at Draco, and stepped toward the nearly-dead basilisk. His voice dropped into a whisper—and then it changed.
The low, eerie hissing of Parseltongue echoed through the corridor. Cold and unnatural, it sent shivers down their spines.
After a while, the basilisk went still.
“It’s dead,” Harry said, his voice tight.
“What did it say?” McGonagall asked softly.
“It… it said a red-haired girl let it out. And someone who spoke Parseltongue was with her.”
“What?” McGonagall gasped.
“Yes. It said the girl’s name was… Weasley.”
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