"What did she say?" Lockhart gestured for her to continue.
"She said the monster came in from outside the stall—the innermost one, the one with a crack in the door—and when it came in, there was a smell in the air." Hermione paused, looked up, and met Lockhart's eyes.
"What kind of smell?" Lockhart set down his teacup and leaned forward slightly.
"A fishy smell. Very strong, like fish, but also like snakes. And there was a rotten smell too, like skin that hadn't been washed in a long time." Hermione moved her finger down another line.
"Moaning Myrtle also said she saw the monster's scales. Dark green, inverted trapezoids, overlapping one another, reflecting light in the darkness. She only caught one glimpse because the steam had fogged up her glasses, but she remembered it for fifty years."
Lockhart's fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop, once after another. The sound was quiet, but in the silent sitting room, it was like someone walking slowly in the distance. His face showed no expression, but when Hermione said "dark green" and "inverted trapezoids," his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yellow eyes, vertical pupils, dark green scales, a powerful fishy stench." Hermione read each phrase aloud, slowly, as though pinning them to the tabletop. "Professor, I looked these traits up in the books. There is only one magical creature that matches all these descriptions." Her finger lifted from the parchment and fell upon the copy of Hogwarts: A History at the bottom of the stack.
She did not open the book. She only pressed her hand against its cover, her fingers curling slightly.
"Basilisk," Lockhart said the word for her. His voice was flat, so flat it sounded as though he were reading from a list written long ago, one that needed no revision. Hermione