Dark Magic

The Diary

It was shortly discovered the following morning, that Hermione Granger was the 'student' that had been making the Polyjuice Potion. No doubt, she had taken the fall for Harry and Ron also. Nobody would have found out, and Snape's ingredients restored, had the potion not gone dreadfully wrong for the poor girl. Turns out, I did not even need the invisibility cloak, in the end.

She had taken hair from Millicent Bulstrode's robes for the transformation-simple enough. But what Hermione didn't know was the Millicent had a cat in our shared dorm, and it wasn't human hair she put in the potion.

Low and behold, we had a half-human, half-cat student in the school, and Madam Pomfrey was working hard to reverse the effects of the potion. I had taken her some flowers that I picked from the school grounds that morning, but she was asleep so didn't notice my visit. Next thing on the to-do list: Find my brother and his pesky friend.

I waited for them both behind a pillar outside The Great Hall. When they both appeared from around the corner, I grabbed them both by the scruffs of their necks and dragged them out of the way. They groaned in pain as I released their collars, allowing them to face me. "Ouch! Emerald, what are you-"

"-Did you seriously think I was that stupid!? Not to recognize my own brother and his idiot friend?" I spat venomously, as they both averted their gaze to the ground out of guilt. 

"W-We just wanted to know if Malfoy knew who the heir of Slytherin was?" Ron stuttered, to which I found myself growing even angrier. "Oh! And you didn't think to ask me first? That polyjuice potion could have killed you! Or worse, you could have been stuck like Crabbe and Goyle forever!" I scolded them both.

Harry sighed, ignoring half of what I had said, "Well, do you know who the heir of Slytherin is?"

I looked to the ground furiously, shaking my head, "No, I'm still working on it. But I do know what the monster going round the school is..." I trailed away, my thoughts drifting away as the boys eyed me, waiting for a response. "Well?" Harry pressed.

"It's a Basilisk. I saw it last night when I was in the girls lavatory on the second floor." I explained.

Ron gasped, his eyes wide with terror, "You Saw It!?"

Harry nodded, ignoring his friend's outburst "That's where we brewed the Polyjuice potion. We should go there and investigate." Before I could stop either of them, they took off down the corridor. "Ugh! Wait!" I groaned, running after them as fast as I could.

We soon came to a halt, however, when we found the bathroom flooded, once more. Myrtle had disappeared, no doubt, fleeing at the sight of the beast. "What's that?" Harry queried as he knelt down and picked a black notepad from the floor. 

As he flicked through the pages, he found they were empty. "That's strange." I huffed, taking it from his hand as I began to examine the pages. "There must be some sort of charm on it."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed, "What makes you think that?" Pouting nonchalantly, I handed it back to him. "Because, why would someone leave an empty diary in the bathroom that a basilisk comes out of?" I raised an eyebrow, to which he nodded in agreement.

Ron, however, still looked terrified. "Do you think the entrance might be in here?" His lip quivered. I shrugged, "I'm guessing so. But whoever was in here didn't want to keep the diary for a reason. Leave it here, Harry." I instructed. Of course, I knew he would not listen to me, being his little sister. Instead, he took the diary, dried it from the flooding and placed it into his cloak pocket.

Tusking angrily at my brother, we turned the taps off that had caused the room to flood and separated to our first lessons...

***

The day was slower than usual, as I found most days were when Potions was my final class. But I found myself struggling to concentrate in Snape's lesson, unable to rid my mind of the ginormous, scaly tail that slithered across the lavatory floor. The snake must have been longer than 30 feet, that I was certain of. And basilisk venom was deadly, so I would need to look into potential antidotes in the case that it attacked me.

"Miss Potter!"

I gasped, shaking myself into reality as Snape's eyes set on me, ablaze. "Are you with us this afternoon or do I need to issue another detention!?" He raised his voice, infuriated. The class whispered amongst themselves, and I almost found myself disliking my teacher at how his attitude had changed towards me recently. Had he always been this...horrible?

"Well!?" He crossed his arms impatiently, "What is the final ingredient required to make a Wiggenweld Potion?"

I sighed, answering simply, "Boom berry juice, Professor Snape." I averted my gaze to my parchment, having noticed it was completely devoid of notes. And as my eyes met the Potion Master's once more, I found he had masked his concern perfectly with a look of sheer disappointment.

He etched closer to me, until his face was only a mere few inches away from my own. I caught the intoxicating scent of white musk and parchment, and wanted to savour it as though it was a momentary gift.

"Feel grateful I am only removing five house points from Slytherin. Pay attention." He scolded, to which I nodded and watched as he continued with the class. 

***

The bell tolled to signify the end of another day, the rest of the class eager to finish as they packed up their things and filed out. As usual, I found myself the last to leave, making my way up to Snape's desk as I handed him my potions book. His eyes did not even meet my own, but I followed his voice as he spoke simply, "Your performance was underwhelming today, Miss Potter."

I tried to force the lump in my throat away as he flipped through my textbook, beginning to mark my work. "I'm sorry, Professor. I have been...Preoccupied." His black eyes finally found my own.

"And what could possible be more important than your studies?" His eyebrow arched expectantly, waiting for me to respond.

"The creature that is petrifying the students...It's a Basilisk." I stated finally, his eyes widening into sheer shock and disbelief. He did not move an inch, however, "Because it is only one of two creatures that can petrify...And I saw it." I finalised.

"When did you see it?" He pressed further.

"Last night. In the girl's lavatory on the second floor."

He nodded, rising from his chair. "Come with me." Snape instructed to my confusion. 

"Where to?" I queried, as he took my hand in his for the first time, a sensational rush of adrenaline flowing through my arm uncontrollably.

He paused, my hand remaining in his as his eyes found mine, once again. "Girl's lavatory-second floor."