𓏲 . THE BOY WHO LIVED . .៹♡
                                            CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
               ─── THE MINISTER OF MAGIC & KING OF SNAKES

The Slytherin common room was filled with students when Snape arrived with Charlus and Alistair.  Everyone was talking loudly, but it all stopped at once when the professor began to speak.

"Due to recent events, these new rules will be put into effect immediately: All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

Charlus crossed his arms and leaned against a wall while he listened to Professor Snape in silence. He rolled up the parchment from which he had been reading before he added  in a somewhat choked voice, "I should tell you this. Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. . . it is likely the school will be closed."

With that he turned and climbed somewhat awkwardly out of the door to the Common Room, and the Slytherins went back to their loud chatter immediately.

"Are you all right, Charlus?" Matthew asked him. He, Adrian and Alistair stood with Charlus, who was still wearing his Quidditch robes. "He's in shock," Adrian told Matthew quietly. " That Gryffindor girl – Hermione Granger – she's his best friend. I think Charlus 's blaming himself for not keeping her safe."

But Charlus seemed to be too focused on the image that was now haunting him.

There she was, Hermione Granger, in her petrified state. The boy shook his head to try and clear the thought from his head. He couldn't think about it anymore or else he might breakdown again.

The worst part for him, he couldn't do anything to help her.

His best friend was lying on the hospital bed as though carved out of stone and all he could do was wait for Professor Sprout's potion to be ready to revive Hermione and the others. The mere thought of continuing on without Hermione by his side killed him; it ate him up inside.

This was never supposed to happen... especially not to her. And if the culprit wasn't caught soon, he and his brother were looking at a lifetime back with the Dursleys.

"What are we going to do?" Ron asked  his three friends quietly the next morning. "Do you think they suspect Hagrid?"  "We've got to go and talk to him," Charlus said, making up his mind. "I can't believe it's him this time, but if he set the monster loose last time he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets, and that's a start."

"But you heard Snape.  We've got to stay in our common rooms unless we're in class!"  Alistair said nervously, and  Harry thought about it for a moment. "I think," he said, more quietly still, "it's time to get our dad's old Cloak out again."

                      ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

Charlus and Alistair waited until Adrian, Matthew, Theodore and Blaise had fallen asleep before they got dressed and left the common room.  

Harry and Ron appeared a little later, and Charlus and Alistair  slipped under the cloak to join them before they made their way over to Hagrid.

Alistair knocked twice on the door before he heard Hagrid on the other side say, "Who is there?"

When the four boys were about to answer, the half-giant opened the door. They found themselves face to face, with him aiming a crossbow at them, Fang the boarhound barking loudly behind him.

Startled, they quickly removed the cloak, which caused Hagrid to sigh in relief. "Oh," he said as he lowered his weapon and stared at them. "What are you  four doing here?"

"What's that for?" Harry asked, and pointed at the crossbow as they stepped inside. "Nothin' - nothin' - " Hagrid muttered. "I've bin expectin' - doesn' matter - Sit down - I'll make tea - "

He was acting very oddly, as though he didn't even know what he was doing. He nearly extinguished the fire, spilling water from the kettle on it, and then smashed the teapot with a nervous jerk of his massive hand.

"Are you okay, Hagrid?" Alistair asked him worriedly. "Did you hear about Hermione?" 

Charlus gulped at the mention of her name. Just like that, the haunted image had reappeared in his head. He should had gone to the library with her in the first place, since all muggle-borns being targeted. What. An. Idiot.

"Oh, I heard, all righ'," Hagrid said, a slight break in his voice. He kept glancing nervously at the windows. He poured boiling water into large mugs and gave them to the two Gryffindors and and two Slytherins without adding tea bags.

There was a sudden knock on the door, which caused Hagrid to drop the fruitcake he was about to put on a plate. Charlus, Harry, Ron and Alistair exchanged panic-stricken looks, then threw the Invisibility Cloak back over themselves and retreated into a corner. The half-giant checked that the four boys were hidden before he seized his crossbow and flung open his door once more.

"Good evening, Hagrid."

It was Dumbledore. He entered, looking deadly serious, and was followed by as second, very odd-looking man. The stranger was a short, portly man with rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression. His clothes looked like he had picked them with his eyes closed: a pin-striped suit, a scarlet tie, a long black cloak and pointed green boots. Under his arm carries a lime-green bowler.

"That's Dad's boss!" Ron breathed. "Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic!"

Alistair gulped as he realized that this conversation could not end well. Harry elbowed Ron to make him shut up, and accidentally hit Charlus too. Hagrid had gone pale and sweaty. He dropped into one of his chairs and looked from Dumbledore to Cornelius Fudge.

"Bad business, Hagrid," Fudge said in rather clipped tones. "Very bad business. Had to come. Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act." "I never," Hagrid said and looked imploringly at Dumbledore, "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir - "

"I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence," Dumbledore said and frowned at Fudge. "Look, Albus," Fudge said, uncomfortably. "Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something—the school governors have been in touch.""Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest," Dumbledore said. His blue eyes were full of a fire Charlus had never seen before.

"Look at it from my point of view," Fudge began to say, fidgeting with his bowler. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty-"

"Take me?" Hagrid interrupted him, with panic overcoming him. "Take me where?""For a short stretch only," Fudge said and refused to meet Hagrid's eyes. "Not a punishment, Hagrid, more a precaution. If someone else is caught, I can assure you'll be let out with a full apology - "

 "Not Azkaban?" Hagrid croaked. Before Fudge could answer, there was another loud rap on the door. Dumbledore answered it and Harry had to elbow Charlus in the ribs as he let out an audible groan. This could not get any worse.

Mr. Lucius Malfoy strode into Hagrid's hut, swathed in a long black traveling cloak, smiling a cold and satisfied smile. Fang started to growl. "Already here, Fudge," he said and smiled approvingly. "Good, good..."

Hagrid was furious. "What're you doin' here?" he roared. "Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your—er—d'you call this a house?" Lucius Malfoy said and sneered as he looked around the small cabin. "I simply called at the school and was told that the Headmaster was here."

Dumbledore looked at him. "And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?" he asked. He spoke politely, but the fire was still blazing in his blue eyes.

"Dreadful things, Dumbledore," Mr. Malfoy said lazily before he took out a long roll of parchment, "but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension—-" he handed it to Dumbledore. "You'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two more this afternoon, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an awful loss that would be to the school."

"Oh, now, see here, Lucius," Fudge said, looking alarmed, "Dumbledore suspended . . . no, no . . . last thing we want just now—" "The appointment—or suspension—of the Headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," Mr. Malfoy said smoothly. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks —"

"Now look, Lucius, if Dumbledore can't stop them . . ." Fudge said, whose upper lip was sweating now, "I mean to say, who can?" "That remains to be seen," Mr. Malfoy said, with a nasty smile. "But as all twelve of us have voted —"

Hagrid leaped to his feet, his shaggy black head grazing the ceiling. "An' how many did yeh have yet threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" he roared.

"Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid," Mr. Malfoy said. "I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all."

"Yeh can't take Dumbledore!" Hagrid yelled, making Fang cower and whimper in his basket. "Take him away, an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin's next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore said sharply. He looked at Lucius Malfoy. "If the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall of course step aside." "But-" Fudge stuttered. "No!" Hagrid growled.

Dumbledore had not taken his bright blue eyes off Lucius Malfoy's cold grey ones. "However," he continued, speaking very slowly and clearly, so that none of them could miss a word, "you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

For a second, Charlus was almost sure Dumbledore's eyes flickered towards the corner where he, Harry,Alistair and Ron stood hidden.

"Admirable sentiments," Malfoy said, bowing. "We shall all miss your - er - highly individual way of running things, Albus, and only hope that your successor will manage to prevent any - ah - 'killings'."

He strode to the cabin door, opened it and bowed Dumbledore out. Fudge, fiddling with his bowler, waited for Hagrid to go ahead of him, but the half-giant stood his ground, took a deep breath and said carefully, "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right! That's all I'm sayin'."

Charlus exchanged looks with Harry,Alistair and Ron, as Fudge stared at him in amazement. "All right, I'm comin'," Hagrid said, pulling on his moleskin overcoat. But as he was about to follow Fudge through the door, he stopped again, "Oh, and someone'll need to feed Fang while I'm away."

As on cue, the dog growled, and the two men left, the door closing behind them with a bang. They pulled the Invisibility Cloak off.

"We're in trouble now," Ron said hoarsely. "Hagrid's right, with Dumbledore gone, they might as well close the school tonight. There'll be an attack a day with him gone." "That's why we need to do something," Alistair suggested, nodding. "We need to find out who's behind these attacks, and stop them!"

"Look!" Harry exclaimed and pointed at the kitchen window. The other three turned around and saw a trail of spiders crawling up the wall and out the window. Alistair started towards the door to follow them, "Come on."

Charlus instantly took out his wand. "Lumos!" A tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to see something. Then  he and Harry  followed behind Alistair, "Come on Fang, we're going for a walk."

Ron was reluctant. Oh how he despised spiders. Still, he followed his friends and the dog outside.

 The four of them looked at the spiders that were crawling down the wall of Hagrid's hut, down through the grass, and towards the Dark Forest.

Charlus immediately understood what they had to do.  "Come on." he urged and led the way  with his lit  wand in his hand. "What?" Ron squeaked scared.

The light brown-haired boy turned to see if at least one of the other three had caught on. Harry nodded in agreement, "You heard what Hagrid said. 'Follow the spiders'."

Ron could hardly believe it. "They're heading to the Dark Forest." he said   before he walked hesitantly behind his three friends and Fang.  He shook his head and let out a soft but plaintive whimper, "Why spiders? Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'?"

The four boys cautiously continued on their way and followed the spiders, which led them into the dark forest. The forest seemed just as dark and dreary as when Charlie had first entered it. The only difference was that Hermione had been by his side the first time. He probably would never admit it, but he missed  her so much.

"Guys, I don't like this," Ron spoke, his lip trembling, "I don't like this at all!"

But Charlus, Harry and Alistair ignored him and continued to follow the spiders. Fang walked ahead of them without a care in the world while Ron was whimpering the whole time.

Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making Charlus,Harry, Alistair and Ron jump out of their skins. "What?" Ron said loudly, looking around into the pitch dark, and gripping Alistair's elbow very hard."There's something moving over there," Alistair breathed. "Listen... sounds like something big..."

They listened. Some distance to their right, whatever it was, was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees."Oh no," Ron said. "Oh no, oh no, oh . . ."

 "Shut up," Charlus said frantically, as he tightened the grip on his wand. "It'll hear you." "Hear me?" Ron said in an unnaturally high voice. "It's already heard Fang!"

The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs as they stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence."What d'you think it's doing?" Harry asked. "Probably getting ready to pounce," Ron said.

They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move. "Do you think it's gone?" Alistair whispered. "Dunno - "

The sound of the pattering of the little spiders continued down a path. Craning his neck sideways, Charlus realized that they had reached the ridge of a vast hollow, a hollow that had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the worst scene he had ever laid eyes on.

Spider. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic. "Don't panic." Charlus whispered, to Ron in particular, as the red-haired boy seemed to be fighting the impulse to run.

"Hagrid?" a deep voice bellowed through the hollow, "Is that you?" "W-we're friends of Hagrid's," Alistair tried to explain.

Then from the middle of the misty domed web, a very large, hairy pincer emerged, very slowly. Followed by another and another and another, until there was a gigantic spider the size of a small elephant standing in front of the four boys.

"And you?" Harry asked, "You're Aragog, aren't you?" "Yes," Aragog said simply before he looked at the four of them with hungry eyes, "Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before,"

Ron was the only one who noticed the clicking noises that had now gotten louder all around the hollow.  Many spiders surrounded them and more and more were coming.

"He's in trouble,"  Charlus explained, completely unaware of the scene unfolding behind him, "Up at the school, there have been attacks. They think it's Hagrid. They think he opened the Chamber of Secrets, like before."

"That's a lie!" Aragog hissed, anger evident in his voice. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets." "Then you're not the monster?" Harry asked.

"No!" Aragog answered quickly, "The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land, from the pocket of a traveller."

"Charlus,Harry, Alistair." Ron whispered and tried to get their attention. "Shush," the three boys quickly waved him off before they turned back to Aragog.

"But if you're not the monster, then what did kill that girl fifty years ago?" Alistair asked the aged spider in front of him. "We do not speak of it!" the spider told him quickly. "It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others! "

"But... have you seen it?" Harry asked urgently. "I never saw any part of the castle, but the box in which Hagrid kept me. " Aragog replied, "The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Hagrid brought me here."

"Charlus.....Harry.....Alistair." Ron whispered as the spiders began to approach the four boys and Fang. "What?" the light brown- haired boy snapped as he turned to look at him.

 Ron let out a whimper and pointed above them,which caused  the other three boys to look up. Charlus' eyes widened as he saw hundreds of spiders crawling down towards them. "Guys." he whispered to his brother and his two friends, "I think it's time for us to go."

Harry swallowed thickly and cleared his throat as he looked at Aragog. "Well, thank you." he said politely to the spider, though his voice cracked, and and the boys began to move slowly towards the exit. "We'll just go."

"Go?" Aragog repeated slowly. Ron nodded his head hastily and nervously, but the spider continued to speak, "I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst....Goodbye, friends of Hagrid."

"Can we panic now?" Ron asked his friends. "Yes." Charlus squeaked as the four of them were now surrounded by the spiders. They stood with their backs facing each other.

"Anyone got any spells?" Alistair asked in panic. "Just one," Harry answered, "But it's not powerful enough for all of them." "Where's Hermione when you need her?" Ron cried. "Excuse me." Charlus said, offended a little. "I know a few spells thanks to studying."

Even as he reached for his wand, Charlus knew it was no good, there were too many of them, but as he tried to stand, ready to die fighting, a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow.

Mr. Weasley's flying car from the beginning of the year, was thundering down the slope, headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of Charlus, Harry, Alistair and Ron and the doors flew open.

"Get Fang!" Harry yelled and  dived into the front seat. Ron and Alistair quickly piled in the backseats as Charlus seized the boarhound around the middle and threw him into the back of the car before he got n the drivers seat - the doors slammed shut.

Charlus didn't touch the accelerator but the car didn't need him; the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders as the protective spell wore off. They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping the windows as the car wound its way cleverly through the widest gaps, following a path it obviously knew.

 Charlus turned around  to look at Ron. His mouth was still open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren't popping out anymore. "Are you okay?" he asked carefully. Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak, and Charlus,Harry and Alistair exchanged a glance.

They smashed their way through the undergrowth, Fang howling loudly in the back seat, and Charlus saw the wing mirror snap off as they squeezed past a large oak. After ten noisy, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and  the light brown- haired could again see patches of sky.

The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly thrown into the windshield. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in his anxiety to get out, and when Alistair opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house, tail between his legs.

Charlus got out too, as did Harry and Alistair, and after a minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his limbs and followed, still stiff necked and staring. Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view.

Harry went back into Hagrid's cabin to get the Invisibility Cloak. Fang was trembling under a blanket in his basket. When Harry got outside again, he found Ron being violently sick in the pumpkin patch with Alistair rubbing his back soothingly.

"Follow the spiders," Ron said weakly as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive." "I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," Harry said.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem," Ron said and  thumped the wall of the cabin."He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now. "What was the point of sending us here? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you were born stupid or learned it in a class." Alistair joked  and slapped the red-haired boy on the back of the head.  "Well we have found out one thing for sure. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. "

"He was innocent the whole time." Harry added  before  he threw the cloak over Ron, Alistair, Charlus and himself, prodding Ron in the arm to make him walk.

Ron gave a loud snort. Evidently, hatching Aragog in a cupboard wasn't his idea of being innocent.

"That girl that died. Aragog said she was found in the bathroom -" Charlus said as suddenly the pieces fell together now. The three of them looked up at him in confusion so he continued, "-Well, what if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"

"Blimey, Char," Harry said as he understood,  "you aren't talking about Moaning Myrtle, are you?" "Of course I'm talking about her,Harry."

                                 ────────⊹⊱🐍⊰⊹────────

The next morning, the four boys were eager to go to the second floor bathroom to talk to Myrtle. The only problem was that, because of the new rules, the students couldn't go anywhere without the teachers knowing about it.

Right after breakfast, they let the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins draw ahead of them on their way to class before they darted down a side passage and hurried off toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But just as they were congratulating each other on their brilliant scheme -"

"Black! Potters! Weasley! What are you doing?"

It was Professor McGonagall, and her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines. "We were—we were," Ron stammered, "we were going to—to go and see . . ."

"Hermione," Charlus said.  Harry, Ron,Alistair and Professor McGonagall looked at him as he forced a tear to roll down his cheek. 

"We haven't seen her in ages, Professor," Harry continued hurriedly and put a fake, comforting arm around  Charlus' shoulder, " Charlus really misses her, and he thought we should sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry--"

Professor McGonagall was still staring at Charlus, and for a moment, Charlus thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice.

"Of course," she said, and Charlus, amazed, saw a tear glistening in her beady eye. "Of course, I realise this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been... I quite understand. Yes, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

Charlus, Harry,Alistair and Ron walked away, hardly daring to believe that they'd avoided detention. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose.

"That," Alistair said fervently, "was the best story and acting you've ever come up with." "Oscar worthy acting, big brother." Harry said and patted Charlus' shoulder.

Ron nodded in agreement and the four of them headed towards the hospital wing, not before Charlus stopped to get Hermione a fresh bouquet of her favorite flowers because he was sure that the ones he had brought earlier in the week would be dead.

As they entered the hospital wing, they tell Madam Pomfrey that they had Professor McGonagall's permission to visit Hermione. Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly. "There's just no point talking to a Petrified person," she said, and they had to admit she was right.

When he reached Hermione's bedside, he saw the old, decayed flowers next to her. Immediately, he quickly replaced them with the  fresh, new ones he had gotten before he sat down on the end of the bed. Ron, Alistair and Harry each took a seat around her as well, and looked at her worriedly. She hadn't looked any different from the last time they'd seen her, but they still found it hard to process the sight. After all, she was their best friend.

"Wish you were here, Hermione," Charlus admitted in a whisper, sadly, "We need you......I need you.  Now more than ever."

Charlus couldn't help but breathe heavily as he took the right hand of the girl he couldn't stop thinking about. As he gently rubbed her hand with his thumb, he noticed that a piece of paper was scrunched inside her fist.

Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, Charlus pointed this out to his brother and his two friends. "Try and get it out," Ron whispered, as he, Alistair and Harry shifted their chair so that they blocked Charlus from Madam Pomfrey's view.It was no easy task.

Hermione's hand was clamped so tightly around the paper that Charlus was sure he was going to tear it. While Harry,Alistair and Ron kept watch he tugged and twisted, and at last, after several tense minutes, the paper came free.

It was a page torn from a very odd, old library book. Charlus smoothed it out eagerly so he could read it. Harry,Alistair Ron leaned close to read it too, "Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flew before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."

 And beneath this, a single word had been written, in a hand Charlus recognized as Hermione's. Pipes.

It was as though somebody had just flicked a light on in his brain.  "Guys," he breathed, "this is it! This is the answer! The monster in the Chamber is a basilisk - a giant serpent!"

Harry seemed to process the information slowly, "That's why Charlus,Alistair and I have been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because we understand Parseltongue and it's quite literally a giant snake! B-but, it says that the basilisk kills people by looking at them, but no ones died..."

"Because no one did look it in the eye- not directly, at least," Charlus explained as suddenly everything made sense to him, "Colin saw it through his camera. The Basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin . . . Justin must've seen the Basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again . . . and Hermione and that Ravenclaw Prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a Basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look round corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror—and--"

 Ron's jaw had dropped. "And Mrs. Norris?" he whispered eagerly. "I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Charlus."

 Alistair thought about it for a moment before he said slowly, "The water! There was water on the floor that night! I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the basilisk's reflection!"

Harry took the page and scanned it eagerly. The more he looked at it, the more it made sense.  "...The crowing of the rooster... is fatal to it!" he read aloud. "Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it! It all fits!"

"But how's the basilisk been getting around the place?" Ron asked with a frown. "A dirty, great snake, someone would have seen it."

Charlus, however, pointed at the word Hermione had scribbled at the foot of the page. "Pipes," he said. "The pipes... Ron, it's been using the plumbing. Harry,Alistair and I have been hearing that voice inside the walls ..."

Ron suddenly grabbed Charlus' arm which startled Harry and Alistair slightly as it was unexpected. "The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he said hoarsely. "What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in--" "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Harry continued.

The four of them sat there, excitement coursing through them, hardly able to believe it.

"Bloody hell! Even petrified, Hermione somehow saves the day," Charlus admired as he looked down to the girl's petrified state once more.

Ron smiled widely. They had managed to solve the mystery!

"This means," Alistair began to say, "Charlus,Harry and I can't be the only Parselmouths in the school. The heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how they've been controlling the Basilisk."

"What're we going to do?" Ron asked, whose eyes were flashing. "Shall we go straight to-"

But the intercom interrupted Ron before he could finish. Echoing through the corridors came Professor McGonagall's voice, magically magnified, "All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers to the second-floor corridor. Immediately, please."

"Not another attack?" Harry said and wheeled around to stare at Charlus,Alistair and Ron. "Not now?" "Let's go to the second-floor corridor!" Alistair said before he ran out of the infirmary, with Harry  and Ron following close behind.

Charlus  watched as his brother and friends disappeared down the corridor, but he stayed back a moment to look back at Hermione. He took her hand in his once more and leaned down to give her a small kiss on her cheek, "I swear to you, I will  find out the Heir of Syltherin who did this to you."

He smiled once more at the girl before he ran after Harry, Alistair and Ron, who stood at the end of a corridor and peeked around a corner. As Charlus joined them, he heard the voices of McGonagall and the other professors.

"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message," McGonagall began to say in a panic, "Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster into the chamber itself. The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts."

Charlus gulped hard and felt his heart drop into his stomach.  This couldn't be true, they couldn't close Hogwarts, especially now that they had already found out everything. An enormous pain in his stomach clouded Charlus' thinking for a second as he thought about what would happen if all the students had to go home.

For Charlus, that meant he would have to go back to the Dursleys, along with Harry. But that wasn't even the worst of it.

The worst thing was that he and his brother would never see their friends again. He knew for a fact that his aunt and uncle would never allow him and  his brother to see Alistair, Ron  or even Hermione,  who was muggle-born. Although, now that he remembered, the girl was still petrified.

They would surely give them the potion to unpetrify them before closing the school, right?

He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard the approaching footsteps and voice of Gilderoy Lockhart, "So sorry. Dozed off. What have I missed?"

He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkable like hatred.  Snape stepped forward. "A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart." he answered. "Your moment has come at last."

Lockhart was taken aback. "M-My... moment?" he stuttered. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" Snape asked with a grin.

Charlus could detect a hint of sacrasm in Snape's voice, and thought 'I think Snivellus earned my respect just a little bit there.'

Then he  could practically hear McGonagall's smirk as she said, "Then it's settled. We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend."

Lockhart gazes desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome any more. His lip was trembling, and in the absence of his usually toothy grin he looked weak-chinned and weedy. "V-very well," he said. "I'll—I'll be in my office, getting—getting ready."

The two Gryffindors and the two Slytherins heard Lockhart disappear down the corridor.

Madame Pomfrey, who was still a bit lost, turned to look at McGonagall. "Who is it that the monster's taken, Minerva?" she asked.  "Ginny Weasley." McGonagall confirmed with a sad sigh.

Charlus watched as his red-haired friend's face fell as he slid silently down the wall he was leaning up against. Charlus,Alistair and Harry tried to comfort him with a small pat on the back as the rest of the professors left one by one.

Slowly and with great effort, Charlus helped his friend to his feet  before the four of them stepped into the corridor. If even possible, Ron's face fell even more as he read the message written in blood on the wall, "Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever." "Oh my god..." Charlus said softly.

"She must have known something." Ron said and rubbed his eyes to hold back the tears that were welling up, "That's why she was taken. What if she tried telling us and we shrugged her off?! Oh god! Maybe she found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was taken. I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."

Alistair thought for a moment before he whispered softly, "That's why she was so devastated about Collin...she must have thought it was her fault."

Ron couldn't hold back his tears any longer. "Oh God... Oh God..." he kept repeating as the tears rolled  down his cheeks.

Charlus, Harry and Alistair  did the only thing that came to their minds at that moment; they hugged Ron tightly to comfort him for a while before they let him go.

Ron sniffled and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I think we should go to Lockhart," he said in a brittle voice. " 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. That way he'll be prepared to fight it off!"

"Maybe we should better kill the damn snake on our own, without Lockhart's help," Charlus muttered, which earned him an elbow blow to the ribs from Harry. "Ron's right," he agreed, "Lockhart probably could use our help. Let's go."

With that, the four of them made their way to Lockhart's office, completely unaware of how hopeless their situation really was...

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

Hope you liked it! Long chapter for all of you again! 

Now, that we are a couple of weeks into this story, I have a couple of questions:

1. Are you enjoying the story?

2. Do you like Charlus as a character?

3. Do you like his relationship with Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Alistair?

4. Which is your favorite Potter twin? Charlus or Harry? And why?

 Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Please, don't forget to vote and share if you do, and if you want, comment too ! I'd really appreciate it <3

Thank you for reading this far.

Until next time, much love to you all!