THE LIGHTNING LORD

Chapter 49 : Mystery solved

It was now two weeks after the last attack, and things were much different at Hogwarts than before. Teaches were escorting the students everywhere and there was a glum mood throughout the castle. Purebloods, halfbloods and muggleborns alike were going in groups so that they might be safer that way. But the biggest change was one Hadrian Potter, second year Ravenclaw.

Harry hadn't spoken to a single soul after the incident. Rumour had it that Dumbledore had summoned him to his office, but Harry had just sat there quietly for an hour not speaking a word until Dumbledore finally dismissed him. People had tried apologising to him, but he just walked away. Another rumour that was running rampant around the school was that Harry was now sleeping in the Hospital Wing every night. Madam Pomfrey had first told him to leave but had finally given up when she realised that he wasn't going to listen to her. What was even worse was the Albus Dumbledore was suspended while Hagrid was arrested. If he wasn't present to look after them, then who would protect the students?

********************TIME SKIP*********************

Harry waved his wand as he conjured a bunch of flowers for everyone in the Hospital Wing, including Granger. While she was annoying, he would never wish anything bad to her; she was just an immature little girl. He sat next to Daphne and rubbed her hand and said "I miss you so much, Daphne. Your parents and sister had been here to see you several days back. They were inconsolable. I expected them to blame me, but they didn't. You really have an amazing family."

"I love you Daphne" he whispered, fresh tears running down his face. "I thought I didn't know what love was, seeing as I wasn't exposed to it, but I know in my heart that I love you very much. I need you. I've known you for less than two years, but I already know that I can't live my life without you. What is the point of having so much wealth and power if I don't have you to share my happiness? I'd give it all away just so that I can spend every moment of my life with you. I love you so much" he said, and gently kissed her on the lips. He frowned when he felt something crumbled in Daphne's hand. It felt like paper, so he slowly extracted the piece of paper out. Looking around and finding no one, he spread it out and read.

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.

Harry wondered why Daphne had this piece of paper. He had thought about the Basilisk and had ruled it out. How could it move –

But his thought was cut off when he recognised Daphne's handwriting written on the paper Pipes. Chamber last opened in 1942-43, heard teachers mention it. Look at the windows; spiders acting strange. Hagrid's roosters were killed in October. Voice heard was in parseltongue, not English; ergo the basilisk.

Pipes? There was plumbing at Hogwarts? Unlike muggles, witches and wizards did not need to use plumbing as there were inbuilt runes and charms to take care of waste. But that answered his question of how the creature had been moving around the school! The voice he had been hearing was from inside the walls! That's why he could hear the voice in the first place; it wasn't English, it was parseltongue. The monster was actually a Basilisk, and he could understand it because he was a parselmouth! And finally, she had also found information about the last time the Chamber was opened. They had searched high and low, but they had just now found even a hint of when the attacks had last taken place.