The Twice Blessed Child

Chapter 18

Previously On The Twice Blessed Child...

As we land, Fang bolts free. Harry, Ron, and I exit the car wearily, then watch it turn and rumble back into the forest.

" 'Follow the spiders'! FOLLOW THE SPIDERS if he ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill Hagrid. I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?" Ron asked

"We know one thing. Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent." Harry said

"We also found out who the girl was that died." I said

Unknown Time Skip Hospital Wing Day...

Madam Pomfrey bars the door, and frowns at Harry, Ron, and I.

"There's no point in talking to a petrified person. They won't hear a word you're saying." Madam Pomfrey said

Ron shifts uncomfortably.

"We know that, Madam Pomfrey. It's just, well, you see, we thought, maybe, we could...be with them for a bit. They're our friends, you see, and...even if they can't hear us...I mean, it can't hurt, can it?" Ron asked

A glint of sympathy flickers in Pomfrey's eyes.

"Very well then. But be quick about it." Madam Pomfrey said

We move over to Dudley and Hermione's bed. Ron picks up the mirror and glares down at Lockhart's Get Well card.

"You don't think Lockhart could be the Heir of Slytherin, do you? Right. Forget I said it." Ron said

"I wish you were here, Hermione. We need you. Now more than ever..." Harry said

"I wonder what occurred to her that made her run to the library." I said

Just then, the mirror in Ron's hand catches the late afternoon sunlight and casts a jagged flame across Hermione's hand. We watch the light dance over her fingers... I look closer and see something in her hand. I reach out and take the paper from her hand. We leave and head down the corridor. We duck into an alcove. We take out the crinkled paper, which, has been torn from a library book. I read from the piece of paper: Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it and only the crowing of the rooster can kill it.

"This is it. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. That's why Ana and I can hear it speak. It's a huge snake." Harry said

"But it kills by looking people in the eye. Why is it no one's dead?" Ron asked

"Because no one did look it in the eye. Not directly at least... Colin saw it through his camera. Justin - Justin must've seen it through Nearly Headless Nick. Nick got the full blast of it but he's a ghost he can't die... and Hermione and Dudley had the mirrors." Harry said

"I bet you anything she was using it to look around corners, in case it came along." I said

"And Mrs. Norris? I'm pretty sure she didn't have camera or a mirror." Ron said

"The water...there was water on the floor that night. She only saw the Basilisk's reflection." Harry said

I scanned over the paper again. I found something else interesting on it.

"The crowing of the rooster is fatal, that's why Hagrid's roosters were killed. Spiders flee before, that's why we keep seeing trails of spiders fleeing the castle." I said