Distance // Draco Malfoy

Chapter 18

After Harry and Ron tell us all that Draco told them, me and Hermione stand right up. 'Where are you both going?'
'The library.' We chorus. We exit through the portrait hall and make our way down the corridor. 'Who do you reckon it could be?' Hermione asks.
'Not who. What.'
'Huh?'
'It's not a human doing this, it can't be. It must be something else, humans don't have petrifaction powers.' I shake my head. 'I was reading a book my mum got me for Christmas and that's what it said. It didn't mention any specific animal, though.'
'Of course! Alyssia, how didn't we see it before?' Hermione and I pick up our pace.

We begin to scan countless book which might include petrifaction, but we don't come across any animals at all for a good while. I open another book and begin scanning the pages. 'Hermione!' I whisper loudly. She hurrries over and takes in the page. 'A Basilisk?' She looks shocked.
'It can petrify people.' I check my watch. 'Look, we'll have to search more on it tomorrow. It's almost after hours and I don't fancy a detention from Filch.' I shut the book and make a mental note of the name before I hurry off and up to Gryffindor Tower with Hermione. We can't find Harry and Ron, so we head straight for our dormitory, talking of the possibility of the Basilisk attacking the muggle-borns.

-*-

In the morning, Harry and Ron are once again nowhere to be seen. Today presents a Gryffindor - Hufflepuff Quidditch match, and me and Hermione have decided to go to the library beforehand. She has been insistant on bringing a mirror with us. I pull the book from the shelf and open it at the correct page. 'I've been doing a lot of thinking overnight.'
'Same, I think the Basilisk might be what has been attacking the muggle-borns because -'
'Salazar Slytherin's symbol is a serpent. And he could speak to snakes -'
'So only he could control it. The heir would have inherited that power, most likely.'
'So how do you reckon it has been getting around?'
'I think I've figured that one out, too.'

She checks no one is looking before she rips the page from the book and spreads it flat across the table. Once Hermione has found her quill and ink bottle, she writes something along the bottom of the page before turning it to me. 'Pipes.' I say aloud. 'Of course!'
'Think about it. There is no other way that a giant snake, like a Basilisk, could possibly get around a giant school like this filled with students, and it certainly couldn't with the increase in staff patrolling the corridors and the tighter security. It's not possible. And Harry heard the voices within the walls, nowhere else.'
'Yes, that makes sense. Look, this would explain the spiders.' I point to a line.

During the space of the year so far, we've noticed spiders crawling from the school grounds everywhere. '"Spiders flee before it." That would explain why so many spiders are leaving the castle, they're scared of the Basilisk. It all adds up.'
'There's a problem with the Basilisk, though. It's yellow eyes. If you look at them, you die.'
'But no one has died.' I feel my brows furrow together. 'Oh Lord, I thought we were onto something.'
'We still are. No one has looked it in the eye yet, that's why they've only been petrified.'

I stay silent a moment. Of course that's right. 'The camera, the water, and Nearly Headless Nick is already dead, Justin was petrified at the same time, he must have seen it through Nearly Headless Nick . . . Hermione, you're a genius!'
'That's why I brought -'
'The mirror. We can use it to look around corners.'
'Exactly, Harry and Ron have nothing to worry about because they aren't muggle-borns, however, we do. The Basilisk will probably be targeting us, all the people who have been petrified so far have come from muggle families.'
'That mirror might just save our lives, then.'

Hermione gets up and looks for another book on the Basilisk whilst I pour over the page torn from the book. Everything written on this page indicates that the monster attacking students is a Basilisk. 'Hermione?' I start once she sits down next to me.
'Yes?'
'We need to tell Dumbledore. Or McGonagall. This information could save the whole school.'
'I agree, but we need to be perfectly sure first. Besides, they're both probably down at the Quidditch pitch by now, the match is supposed to start in about ten minutes. We'll need to check a few other books quickly before we make our way down.' The library is deserted apart from us because of the upcoming match.

Hermione and I pour over the next book and find ourselves certain that the animal is a Basilisk. In the books, we were able to rule out the possibility of it being any other animal with petrifaction powers. 'We need to find Harry and Ron.'
'Harry will be in the Quidditch changing rooms and Ron somewhere in the stands. And we should find Dumbledore whilst we're at it.' I stand with Hermione, who scrunches the piece of paper into her hand and grabs the mirror with the other, peering out of the door and checking the reflection. I too peer into the looking glass. 'We're good. Before we go, can I just check that we are certain?'
'Yes, there's no other possibly. Hermione, we've milled through countless books and the Basilisk is the only animal possible. We have to warn the school.' I say, looking over Hermione's shoulder and into the mirror. 'You're right.'

We set off with our eyes constantly on the mirror, walking very slowly. In the large corridor, our footsteps echo. The school is deserted, everyone will be making their way down to the Quidditch pitch, as the match kicks off in a couple of minutes. I peer into the mirror once again when we near the end of the corridor and catch Hermione's face, which looks at me, before we both check the surroundings. I see a great big pair of yellow eyes in the mirror and feel my mouth drop open before everything goes black.