After Moaning Myrtle jumped down the pipe, Brian realized that Dumbledore, who should have been there, had vanished. He could only shout into the pipe:
"Myrtle! Are you all right?!"
At that moment, Brian was deeply worried about Myrtle's safety-even if she was a ghost. Who knew where that pipe led? What if a necromancer capable of killing ghosts was lurking beneath the opening, hidden away in Hogwarts?
There were far too many strange people and things in the wizarding world!
In his panic, he resorted to a desperate ploy. "Myrtle! Come back! I know a student in Hufflepuff House named Cedric. Everyone agrees he's handsome. I can find out when he usually takes a bath!"
Brian silently apologized to Cedric.
Handsome boys worked wonders on Myrtle. Almost immediately, Brian heard her tearful voice waft up from the pipe:
"Cedric? He already has a girl he likes! She's a Ravenclaw student too!!"
Wonderful. A desperate ploy was indeed a desperate ploy. Now Myrtle probably wanted to cry even more.
"It could be dangerous down there! Come back!" Brian doubled down, silently apologizing to Harry as well. "I don't think you've had a chance to meet Harry Potter yet! He's a handsome boy too!"
"It's not dangerous down here! It's a cavern! It's just as damp as the bathroom was. It's perfect for crying!"
Myrtle's voice drifted up lazily.
"Harry Potter? I heard that name from a bad-tempered first-year girl. Is he good-looking? Hmm... I'll remember to keep an eye on him... but right now I just want a good cry... what's that over there?"
"What happened, Chet?"
Dumbledore's voice came from behind him, as calm as ever.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
The sudden crowing sent a stab of pain through Brian's eardrums-
It hadn't come from Dumbledore, but from the rooster in his hand. Though its feet were tied, the rooster was still glaring valiantly at the phoenix on Dumbledore's shoulder, looking ready to pick a fight with Fawkes at any moment.
Fawkes was as calm as Dumbledore. Covering his ears, Brian noticed that the large red bird's sidelong glance at the rooster looked rather like a look directed at an idiot.
"Myrtle just went down there, but so far, she doesn't seem to have run into any danger." Brian breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Fawkes. "Why did you bring Fawkes?"
Dumbledore said mysteriously:
"Fawkes is a phoenix. He can carry people with remarkable ease and get us down safely-and... if there really is a basilisk down there, you'll see just how formidable he can be."
Brian took "formidable" to mean that Fawkes could easily make Mr. Rooster crow. All Fawkes had to do was give the rooster's eager challenge a little acknowledgment, and the rooster would undoubtedly sound a battle cry powerful enough to kill the basilisk.
"Ah!!!" Myrtle's shriek suddenly came from the pipe. "A snake! There's a snake!"
A snake? The basilisk?!
"Close your eyes, Myrtle!" Brian immediately took the rooster from Dumbledore and held it inside the pipe. Thinking it was about to be dropped, the rooster let out an astonishingly loud, panicked "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
Being so close, Brian's ears hurt even more than before. But the pipe was so long that the sound would gradually weaken as it traveled. He didn't know whether that crow had been enough to kill the basilisk or drive it away, so he kept shouting:
"Myrtle? Are you still there? Whatever you do, don't look into the basilisk's eyes! You're a ghost, so it can't hurt you! We're coming down right away!"
"No! It's not a snake! It's a shed snakeskin!" Myrtle's voice took on an angry edge. "You rotten snake! You were the one who killed me back then, weren't you?! Rotten snake!!"
"It looks like she's all right for now. I'll go down first." Brian soothed the rooster in his hands and assured Dumbledore, "I'll keep my eyes tightly shut and ask Mr. Rooster for help when the time is right."
"...Do be careful." Dumbledore's expression was grave. Fawkes flew off his shoulder and behind Brian, hooking his talons securely into him. "Don't make any rash moves once you get there. Wait for me to come down."
"I will." Floating in the air, Brian said admiringly, "Fawkes is really strong."
Once inside the pipe, Brian soothed the rooster in his hands while casting Lumos to keep their way lit.
Meanwhile, Fawkes kept his wingbeats steady, controlling their descent. What gave the bird a headache was the pipe's absurd number of twists and turns-
But a bird of exceptional intelligence would never be stopped by such a minor obstacle. Fawkes swiftly adjusted his direction, as deft as a seasoned driver with ten years of highway experience.
The pipe was also far deeper than Brian had imagined. He had kept Lumos going for at least four minutes-
The only good news was that nothing blocked the pipe. Their descent was winding, but unobstructed. He even realized something: a person could slide straight down this pipe all the way to the bottom.
With cries from Fawkes and then the rooster, Brian's shoes finally touched the muddy ground. Myrtle's relentless stream of insults at the snakeskin, which he had heard all the way down, still hadn't stopped.
That was undoubtedly good news. It meant the basilisk probably wasn't nearby. Brian opened his eyes, and sure enough, they were in a cavern. He heard flowing water overhead. Perhaps this was directly beneath the Black Lake.
"Fawkes, aren't you going back to get Dumbledore?" With Myrtle safe for the moment, Brian honored his promise and stayed where he was, asking the large red bird, "I'll wait right here. Don't worry. I'm very fond of staying alive."
Fawkes gently shook his head at him.
"...Wait, surely not?" Something suddenly occurred to Brian-
Perhaps Fawkes's sudden cry earlier hadn't merely been intended to make the rooster crow?
Two minutes later, a mud-covered Dumbledore dusted off his backside and stood up, entirely unconcerned that his sumptuous robes were a complete mess. Beaming, he said:
"I can't remember the last time I went down a slide. As of today, Hogwarts has a delightful new attraction!"
"Provided we deal with the basilisk down here." A little enviously, Brian cast Scourgify on Dumbledore. If he'd known the pipe could be used as a slide, why would he have troubled Fawkes?
Then Fawkes began scouting ahead, while Brian and Dumbledore kept their Lumos spells shining over the widest possible area and remained alert. They soon found Myrtle, who was futilely trying to kick the basilisk's shed skin with her ghostly body-
The shed skin was dry and shriveled. The portion near the ground that had come into contact with water had rotted away. Clearly, the basilisk had shed it many years ago.
Would this evidence be enough to clear Hagrid? Brian wondered doubtfully.
Still pondering, he looked up, intending to soothe the still-agitated Myrtle. But by the light of Lumos, he spotted several emerald-like things flickering in the distant darkness. The basilisk?
But a basilisk's eyes weren't green.
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