Harry could see the sun sinking, blood red, below the skyline. This was the worst he had ever felt. If only there was something they could do. Anything.

'Harry,' said Ron, 'd'you think there's any chance at all she's not – you know –'

Harry didn't know what to say. He couldn't see how Ginny could still be alive.

'D'you know what?' said Ron, 'I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a Basilisk in there.'

Because Harry couldn't think of anything else to do, and because he wanted to be doing something, he agreed. The Gryffindors around them were so miserable, and felt so sorry for the Weasleys, that nobody tried to stop them as they got up, crossed the room, and left through the portrait hole. 

Darkness was falling as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps and hurried footsteps.

Harry knocked and there was a sudden silence from inside. Then the door opened the tiniest crack and they saw one of Lockhart's eyes peering through it.

'Oh ... Mr Potter ... Miss Potter ... Mr Weasley ...' he said, opening the door a mite wider. 'I'm rather busy at the moment. If you would be quick ...'

'Professor, we've got some information for you,' said Harry. 'We think it'll help you.'

'Er – well – it's not terribly –' The side of Lockhart's face that they could see looked very uncomfortable. 'I mean – well – all right.'

He opened the door and they entered.

His office had been almost completely stripped. Two large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade green, lilac, midnight blue, had been hastily folded into one of them; books were jum- bled untidily into the other. The photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed into boxes on the desk.

'Are you going somewhere?' said Harry.

'Er, well, yes,' said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke, and starting to roll it up. 'Urgent call ... unavoidable ... got to go ...'