Jade and the Silver Dragon

Chapter 26

Over the course of the following week, Harry and Draco made several trips to the Ministry of Magic to testify against Blaise. Several statements were taken, along with some pensieve memories from the other people that were present for the veritaserum questioning on Halloween night. Blaise was not questioned, as he was still in a coma-like state from the bite from the Arcusus sea serpent.

Blaise Zabini was committed to St. Mungo's in the criminally insane ward under lock and key, where he was fed intravenously and cared for by the medi-wizards in that ward. The elder Zabini's had visited on the first day and listened to the incriminating evidence against their son. They were greatly disappointed in their only son... not for what he did, but because he got caught. During that visit, Aurors were present at all times, as the father was suspected of being a Death Eater.

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Back at Hogwarts, Harry and Draco were getting closer, spending most of their weekends in Harry's rooms... in bed. During the week they sustained and slept separately, so they could actually get some sleep. They made up for it though, every chance they could, as they were seen in shadowed alcoves snogging each other senselessly.

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It was Friday, and the last class of the day that Harry and Remus greeted their seventh year NEWT class. Remus stood by a large cloth-covered object, smiling to the students as they found their seats. "Hello, everyone," Harry greeted. "Today we will be studying a dark creature... named the basilisk. Some of you may be familiar with this creature but have never seen one. As I don't have a live specimen, I do have the next best thing," He nodded to Remus for him to uncover the mysterious object. "This here, is the skeletal head of an actual basilisk found here in Hogwarts in the Chamber of Secrets."

Remus levitated the skeleton head a bit higher so everyone could see. "Most serpents do not have much for a skeletal structure as this one had, but the basilisk is not a normal serpent. The rest of the body was also found intact with the head, but was distributed to the Ministry and Professor Snape for potion ingredients," Remus said.

"Is that the basilisk that you defeated in second year, Harry?" Neville asked.

"Yes," Harry answered simply.

"It doesn't look that scary," A Slytherin boy said.

Harry grinned and pointed his wand at the skeleton. Before them, a body and face attached itself to the skeletal head until a lifesize version of the basilisk loomed in front of them. The head raised above the class as the tail end swung to the side, ghosting through some of the terrified looking students.

"This is what it looked like when it was alive," Harry smirked. "As this is just a vision of it, the eyes cannot effect you like a live basilisk could. Can anyone tell me why or how it could effect you?" Harry asked looking around the room, then smiled when Hermione raised her hand. "Hermione?"

"Meeting a gaze of a basilisk is fatal, killing you instantly. In second year, when the chamber was opened, there were no fatalities, as there were obstacles in it's line of vision," She replied.

"Right, Hermione, as you had found out," Harry grinned. "As most of you remembered, some students... as well as Nearly Headless Nick and Mr. Filch's cat were petrified from the basilisks glare. The basilisk's glare was reflected off of something, filtering the potency of the look. In the chamber, I had a little help from Fawkes, the Headmasters phoenix, who had attacked its eyes so it couldn't see. It made up for the loss though with its exceptional hearing."

"The origins of the creature are rooted in ancient Greece, and is in many mythical fables. There are even references of the creature in the muggle bible," Remus said walking up and down the aisles of desks. "The qualities of the basilisk are quite similar to Medusa of Greek mythology, as both of them used their eyes to defend themselves. Using a mirror against the basilisk came from the myth of Medusa, as she was defeated using a mirror, by Perseus. The difference between the two... that some of you may know is that Medusa's gaze turned people to stone, and the basilisks killed."