Harry's plan was simple: put on the Invisibility Cloak and go ask Hagrid for information.
"We have to talk to him," Harry said. "I can't believe Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets this time too, but since he let the monster out last time, he must know how to get into the chamber. That's a lead."
"But how are you going to get out of the Castle?" Hermione asked. "Professor McGonagall said the professors would be patrolling everywhere inside. While I was in there, I heard George and Fred loudly complaining that Professor Snape had taken twenty points off each of them."
"I have a way," Harry said firmly. "I think as long as we're careful, we won't get caught."
"All right, then. Actually, I think I've worked out what the monster is," Hermione said. "That's what I went to the Library to look up yesterday."
"What is it?" Ron asked.
Hermione rummaged in her pocket and took out a piece of paper. "Look..."
"A basilisk?" Ron took it and murmured his way through the contents.
"That's right." Hermione nodded and yawned again. She was clearly exhausted. "I suddenly remembered reading in Mr. Scamander's book that there was a creature that could petrify people, and the basilisk is one such creature."
"Its gaze can petrify people and kill them."
"But none of the people who were attacked died," Harry said. "Madam Pomfrey said they could all be restored with mature mandrakes."
"Maybe it went easy on them?" Ron made a feeble joke, but no one thought it was funny, so he went on,
"A basilisk. That's right, it must be a basilisk. When I was little, Mum always used that monster to scare me. She'd always say that if I misbehaved and played around, a basilisk would carry me off