The Raven's Call

How Unfortunate..

What day is it..? I've lost track.. 

Asteria has been distant, Alex hasn't said anything about Ginny, and the Weasley Twins keep bugging me about Asteria. Mostly George. "D'you know where Asteria is? Have you talked to Astra lately?" "No. I don't. I have a lot more to worry about besides your girlfriend's whereabouts."  I snap at George, gathering my books before storming off. 

I'm so tired. I want to go home. My mind trails back to Cedric. Where the Hell has he been all year? I feel like I haven't seen him whatsoever. Pssht. I'm not happy with the Diggory's right now. Maybe if I get eaten up by this Chamber monster, everyone will be better off...

"You're not going to believe this."
Scribbled the familiar gold and red ink. "Harry had the damn diary." "WHAT?!" Both Asteria and I respond in our respective colours. "And now Ginny has it again. She trashed the dorm!" Alex replies. "Great." I write. Maybe my sarcasm doesn't translate onto paper too well. "I can't seem to find her, either. What do you suggest I do?" Alex asks, his usually messy handwriting even more of a scribble. "Asteria will look for Ginny. I'm going to the library." I say, knowing full well, Gryffindor has a Quidditch match against Hufflepuff later today. "Got it." Asteria replies, her usually neat cursive handwriting now also a mess.

I shut the journal and basically sprint down to the library. And who do I find, but Hermione, sitting with a pile of books around her. I glance over her shoulder as I walk past, the word 'Basilisk' sticking out like a sore thumb. Of course the monster would be a snake, that's why I can understand it. I take a seat opposite her, but she immediately stands up, ripping the page from the book before heading out of the library, a mirror in hand. I sigh softly to myself, resting an elbow on the table. And then I hear it. 

"Kill... Kill..."

"Hermione!" I call out, scrambling to my feet. I quickly chase after her, but.. I'm too late. I see her laying on the floor, petrified. "No..!" I exclaim, tears rolling down my cheeks, lucky for me, Professor McGonagall was nearby and heard me. She calls on some Professors to help bring her to the hospital wing, before she searches for Harry, Ron and Alex. 

***

Sitting at the foot of her bed, I lay my head in my hands, angry that if I had been just a little bit faster.. I maybe could have saved her. "I warn you." I hear Professor McGonagall say, though I don't move my head. "This could be a wee bit of a shock." 

"Hermione..!" Ron exclaims, most definitely in shock. "Is she..?" Alex asks, I'm assuming he's asking me. "Petrified." I simply say, looking over at the three, now. "She was found near the library..." McGonagall spoke. "Along with this." She says, picking up the mirror Hermione once held not twenty minutes ago. "Does it mean anything to any of you?"  "No." Harry answered, Ron and Alex also shaking their heads. It meant something to me, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Alex kneels next to the bed, distraught. I narrow my brows. I have to do something. I stand abruptly, storming off back to the library. The book Hermione had ripped that page out of. There has to be another one. Somewhere.

***

I found it.

Almost a week of searching through the entire library has me exhausted, but I found the book. Most Macabre Monstrosities. I take a seat and flip it open to the correct page.

"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 flee 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." 

Where the hell am I going to find a rooster?

"Ugh!" I groan, throwing the book down as I stand. No more books! I storm out of the library, heading back to the hospital wing, before something catches my eye. More text on the wall, written in blood. "Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever" it reads. Now, my journal buzzes. "It's a basilisk. The monster is a basilisk." Alex had written. I know. I KNOW. "Asteria, meet me in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Alex, give Hermione a hug from me." I scribble before shutting the journal. I have a plan. It's not a good one. But it's a plan nevertheless.