The Basilisk in the Washroom

Flying Class ended shortly before dusk. The last rays of the setting sun streamed through the castle's tall windows onto the corridor, stretching Hermione's and Harry's shadows long.

Harry stood before the second-floor washroom door, her eyes fixed ahead, slightly lost in thought.

On her first day at Hogwarts, she had already decided on the first thing she would do there.

Before moving up to her second year, she would kill the Basilisk Voldemort kept in the Chamber of Secrets ahead of time!

The little lion had a plan in his head that, for him, was exceptionally cautious and detailed.

The plan was roughly to ditch all her friends, go to Moaning Myrtle's Washroom alone, and then seize the chance to enter the Chamber of Secrets and kill the Basilisk.

Unfortunately, the plan had already fallen apart before she could put it into action.

"Wait, Harry!" As soon as class ended, Hermione grabbed the wrist of Harry, who was already prepared to make a run for it. "Where are you going?"

"Sorry! I'm in a bit of a hurry! I'll go on ahead!"

"Wait for me, I'll come with you!"

Through a mirror at the corner, Harry saw Hermione following close behind and pressed her lips together. Class had just ended, and the corridor was crowded with people coming and going. Even if Harry wanted to run, she couldn't go very fast, and Hermione soon caught up with her.

"Where are you going, Harry?" Hermione asked when she caught up.

...I'm going to the Chamber of Secrets to kill the Basilisk.

That was what Harry was thinking, but she still didn't say it aloud. She only said vaguely that she needed to take care of some bodily needs.

"But Harry, are you sure you want to do it here...? This is Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom."

Hermione stepped in front of Harry, her brows tightly knitted and disapproval written all over her face. "Myrtle hasn't left this washroom since she died. She's always getting water everywhere, and..."

"And what?" Harry asked softly, noticing the tips of Hermione's ears suddenly turn bright red.

Hermione let go and smoothed the creases in her robes awkwardly. "Well... sometimes she peeks at people using the toilet." Her voice grew quieter and quieter.

Although Hermione's parents weren't wizards, the good upbringing she had received from childhood made her embarrassed to say such a thing aloud.

"It's all right, Hermione. I'll be out in no time," Harry assured her, patting her chest.

Using the toilet wasn't what she had come for in the first place, so naturally she didn't need to worry about what Hermione had said.

Even if he did use the toilet, it would be fine. During the Goblet of Fire, Myrtle had already seen him completely naked while he was bathing. It was only using the toilet; would he be afraid of that?

She pushed open the creaking wooden door, and cold, damp air immediately washed over her.

The battered copper taps had a dull sheen. One of them was still dripping, making a steady "drip, drip" in the silent washroom.

Each of Harry's footsteps produced a faint echo in the empty room.

From the moment she stepped inside, she had felt an almost imperceptible gaze clinging to her back.

It wasn't a human gaze, but more like the watchful stare of some cold-blooded creature. Even though she had already prepared herself, it still made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Strangely, Myrtle, who was always seen wandering around here, was nowhere in sight.

Maybe she's hiding? Harry guessed. A big reason they had seen Myrtle every time before was that they had become friends after their second year. Now that she was here for the first time, the timid Myrtle might very well be too afraid to appear before her.

She tiptoed toward the innermost stall.

The instant she closed the stall door, a faint sound of scales scraping against stone came from deep within the pipes.

The sound was so familiar that Harry instantly recalled the terrifying experience of chasing the Basilisk through the pipes in her second year.

Voldemort wanted to return to life and reappear in the world. His first choice would surely be the Philosopher's Stone, followed by his Horcruxes. And now that the Philosopher's Stone was at the school, he certainly wouldn't turn his attention to his youthful diary.

Could it be the Basilisk's hunting period?

Harry wasn't sure. He didn't remember whether he had heard of any students going missing at school in his first year; he had been run off his feet every day back then.

Holding her breath, Harry pressed her ear against the cold stall partition.

The sound was getting closer, accompanied by the friction of some heavy creature slithering through the pipes.

Harry wasn't afraid of the Basilisk. Thanks to Voldemort, he could control it too.

Wait, Hermione is still outside!

The terrifying thought flashed through her mind like lightning.

She flung the stall door open and rushed out, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Hermione! Close your eyes!" Her voice was somewhat shrill with urgency.

Hermione, standing in front of the sinks, looked utterly bewildered, but out of unconditional trust in Harry, she immediately squeezed her eyes shut.

The instant her lashes came together, Harry clearly saw an enormous, green-glowing snake's tail flash past the drain of the farthest sink and disappear deep into the pipes.

"What happened?" Hermione could naturally hear the noises too. Her voice trembled a little, and her fingers gripped the edge of the sink so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Harry? Are you all right?"

"N-no, it's nothing," Harry said, forcing herself to calm down as she walked over to the sink and turned on the tap.

Cold water washed over her slightly trembling fingers. "I just... I thought I saw a mouse."

Only then did Hermione cautiously open her eyes, immediately noticing Harry's pale face and taut jaw. "Just a mouse?" she asked doubtfully, her sharp gaze sweeping over the entire washroom. "You look much worse than I do, Harry. Are you sure you didn't see anything strange?"

Harry turned off the tap, and drops of water slid from her fingertips.

Hermione had always been the smartest of their golden trio.

And the most perceptive.

Harry didn't expect to fool Hermione, but the snake might be lurking near the washroom, and this wasn't the time to explain. "Let's go," she said softly. "It'll be dark soon."

As they left the washroom, Harry looked back one last time. In a dim corner, Myrtle's translucent figure slowly emerged. She floated in the air, her eyes wide behind her round glasses and her lips trembling nonstop.

When she noticed Harry looking at her, she immediately hid in a stall, leaving only a string of faint sobs behind.

"Harry," Hermione said in the corridor, stopping and reaching out to gently catch the hem of Harry's robe. "Did you just see..." She bit her lower lip, then, after weighing her words for a while, asked again, "Something dangerous?"

Hermione's eyes were full of worry.

Harry opened her mouth, but swallowed the words she had meant to use to brush her off again.

"Hermione," she said, lowering her voice after struggling for a moment, "do you know what a Basilisk is?"

Hermione's eyes widened at once, and her brain had clearly already begun racing. "A Basilisk? You mean... a Basilisk?"

Her voice rose slightly in shock, then she quickly lowered it again, alert. "The monster born from a snake's egg hatched by a rooster, which can kill living creatures through direct eye contact and petrify them through indirect eye contact..." She spoke faster and faster. "But why bring it up all of a sudden?"

Her gaze snapped toward the washroom behind them, and her face instantly went deathly pale. "Merlin," she gasped. "What was in there just now was...?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said softly, noticing Hermione edge unconsciously closer to her. "But we need to make some preparations. Can you help me look up some information?"

Hermione nodded at once, her brown curls swaying gently with the movement.

In the dim corridor light, her eyes shone with determination. "Of course. I'll go to the library in a little while."

"The information we look up should include the Basilisk's habits and characteristics. Those two are relatively important because they directly concern how we can protect ourselves. Besides that, I should also give some attention to its weaknesses. That way, if we get a chance, we'll also have a chance to kill it before it insists on eating us."

Hermione chattered on as she made her plans. Harry, walking beside her, didn't understand very much of it, but still smiled and nodded encouragingly.

A wave of warmth rose in her heart.

She could always rely on Hermione Granger.

Oh, Ron was no good.

She was better off relying on herself than on Ron.