Chapter 48: I'm Sick of These Gromphun Snakes in This Gromphun Castle!
Rocks exploded as the Basilisk ripped apart the wall. Poppy glanced at the children retreating to her office, and was rewarded for her concern with a chunk of stone to her head. The Mediwitch slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Everybody run!" Minerva shouted, quickly putting herself between the snake and the children. She closed her eyes and began to cast her defences.
Minerva's first spell spread out from her like a wave, covering the entire Hospital Wing. As it touched the stone around her, it transfigured it all into ball bearings, amplifying the sound of all movement within the walls. With a second wave of her wand, several of the ball bearings rose up around her, and spikes protruded from each one. They circled Minerva as she listened to the footsteps of the children retreating to Poppy's office.
Hearing a shuffling of the bearings in front of her, Minerva hurled several of her lethal projectiles towards the sound. She smirked as she heard the Basilisk hiss in pain.
"Everybody in!" Hermione shouted.
Harry and Ron dragged the Mediwitch's unconscious body inside of her office, while Hermione kept an eye on the Basilisk.
Hermione watched in awe as Professor McGonagall cast her spells, and immediately understood the purpose of the ball bearings.
She's certainly prepared, thought Hermione, reminding herself that Professor McGonagall wasn't just another professor; right now, she was acting headmistress. There was a good reason for that.
"Is everyone alright?" Hermione asked as she slammed the door.
"Yeah," Ron said, looking around the room.
"I'm alright," Harry said.
"Safe," Ginny added.
No one was sure how they had managed it, but they were all alive. None of them had taken a look at the Basilisk, apart from Hermione, and no one had noticed that she'd looked straight at it and not died.
"So that's it, then?" Ron asked as he and Harry settled Madame Pomfrey's unconscious body in a corner. "We wait here until the Basilisk kills Professor McGonagall, then comes back for us?"
"What else can we do?" Neville asked.
Hermione thrust her hand into her pocket and grabbed the condition conch. Rose would get her out of this.
<Rose, the Basilisk is attacking the Hospital Wing!> Hermione pathed. <We need you!>
Hermione waited, but there was nothing. Why wasn't there any response?
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked.
"Basilisk!" Ron shouted.
"Not that," Hermione said, releasing the condition conch in her pocket. "I'm not getting any response from Rose."
"What?!" Ginny shouted. "Can't she apparate?"
"It's not the same thing, but it's close enough," Hermione replied. "That's not the point." She held up the condition conch. "This allows me to communicate with her telepathically, but she's not responding. We're on our own."
It hurt a little, knowing that Rose was letting her down like this. Why? What was taking Rose so long in the Chamber of Secrets? Was she alright?
Hermione looked down at the seashell in her hand. Rose knew how she was doing so long as she had it with her. Did that work both ways? Hermione tried concentrating on her friend, but she didn't get anything. She was expecting some sort of feeling, but she didn't feel any different. It wasn't working.
"Then it's up to us, right?" Ginny asked.
Ginny was ready for action. She had been studying fire spells after Hermione had taught her that spell towards the start of the term. Also, Rose told her it would be a good idea. This was usually followed up with the phrase "Dreda drisi gil". Ginny still didn't know what it meant, but it sounded cool.
Neville, on the other hand, didn't want to be there, so he kept hoping that Professor Dumbledore or Rose would come and save them. One of them would have a plan; Neville knew first-hand that Rose always thought of something, and his gran had nothing but respect for Professor Dumbledore.
"Even Professor McGonagall can't hold it off forever," Harry said. "We've got to do something."
Harry was tired of always being in the spotlight. He was tired of people acting like he was some brave hero, even though he was just Harry, but at that moment, none of that mattered. The right thing to do was to help Professor McGonagall stop the Basilisk. Not for the fame or glory, but because it was the right thing to do.
"What can we do against a basilisk?" Neville asked.
"We'll die in seconds," Sally-Anne agreed.
Sally-Anne wanted to be there even less than Neville. She was conflicted between wanting to keep all of her friends safe, and being terrified to step out of that door and face her worst nightmare. Sally-Anne had never been so scared in her life.
You're gonna go far, Princess.
Sally-Anne wasn't sure why Rose called her "Princess", but she was wrong. Sally-Anne couldn't stand the thought of leaving the relative safety of that office. She wasn't going anywhere.
"We'd stand a chance if we could just take out its eyes," Ron said.
Unlike literally everyone else in that room, Ron was almost excited. He was terrified to face the Basilisk again, but unlike two nights ago, he would be ready for it this time. It was just like chess, but with a bigger piece against them, and a lot more variables to consider.
Fortunately for Ron, he had his friends as his pieces, and there was no way they'd let him down.
"But we can't do that when we'll die just looking at it!" Sally-Anne exclaimed.
"Hermione, isn't there some way to stop its eyes from killing us?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Hermione said. "We need a way to see its eyes without looking at them."
"What about the Air Eyes Charm?" Ron asked.
"We can't get fine detail with it," Hermione said. "Not fine enough to attack its eyes."
"I've got it!" Ron exclaimed. "Dad says the Ministry uses a magic tag on fugitives that only they can see! We could tag the Basilisk and see it without looking at it!"
"The Basilisk is resistant to magic, but we could tag something and throw it at it!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's brilliant!"
"How do they see the tag?" Harry asked.
"With a locator spell," Hermione said. "You don't 'see' it, exactly, but it'll work!"
"You'd still be able to see its eyes," Sally-Anne said.
"You can close your eyes!" Hermione said. "The tag is mental, not physical! You just enchant something to let you see it."
"Closing your eyes won't work," Ron said. "I nearly opened them a lot the other night, but it's the best we've got right now. Can you cast the locator spell?"
"It's in one of my books," Hermione said, pulling a book out of her pack.
"If you two say it'll work, I believe you," Harry said.
"Me too," Ginny said.
Sally-Anne nodded and smiled. She was trying hard not to think about the Basilisk's cold, evil eyes. She could still see them sometimes in her nightmares. They always stared at her, threatening to come after her and finish the job the Basilisk had started.
"How do we tag it?" Harry asked. "Don't we need to see it first?"
"Throw your sticky stuff at its body," Ginny suggested. "Then you don't have to–"
"I don't know that it'll work long term," Hermione said. "It's just for taking out its eyes, so we'd need to hit its eyes with whatever we're throwing, and make it distinct from the rest of it. We'll need something sticky, like glue, syrup, honey…"
"How are we gonna get any of that stuff?" Ron asked.
"It's a shame we can't get to the kitchens," Ginny said.
"Ginny that's brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed. "Rose gave Dripty another condition conch like mine!"
"Who's Dripty?" Ginny asked.
"The house-elf that helped us last year," Sally-Anne said. "It'll take a lot of syrup to cover it."
"Hogwarts must buy everything in bulk," Hermione said. "I'll ask Dripty to bring as much of it as he can."
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed.
"What's the point?" Neville asked. "If Professor Dumbledore can't stop it, then–"
"He never got a shot at it," Ron said. "This thing's been terrorizing us all year, but now we've got a shot at it. We can do this!"
"Dripty's on his way with all the honey in Hogwarts," Hermione said. "He's moving as fast as he can. We still need to apply it, then figure out how to take out its eyes. Professor McGonagall can probably take it from there."
"How can we drop the honey on it if we can't see it?" Sally-Anne asked.
Hermione had considered that before, and she had a solution. She wasn't sure if she should tell her friends, but they might die if she didn't.
"I can."
Her friends all stared at her.
"What?!" Ron exclaimed.
"It's the reason I was allowed to come back at all after the winter holiday. Never mind how, let's just say Rose did it and leave it at that."
"What do we do after we've taken out its eyes?" Ginny asked.
"Let Professor McGonagall handle it," Neville said.
"It looked like she transfigured the floor and walls into ball bearings," Hermione replied. "Whenever the Basilisk moves, she hears it, and hurls some sort of blades at it. I couldn't see clearly, but they almost looked like throwing stars."
"Throwing stars?" Ron asked.
"Like stars, but made of metal," Harry said.
"She's not going to last long out there," Sally-Anne muttered. "It's probably toying with her."
"Keep it together," Harry said. "I don't think throwing stars are good enough. Unless she gets a lucky shot, Professor McGonagall doesn't stand a chance. How do we kill it?"
"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed. "We set it on fire!"
Everyone stared at Ginny with concern on their faces. Ginny stared back at them, looking far more excited than she should have, given her suggestion.
"I think you've spent too much time around Rose," Sally-Anne said.
"Like she says: Dreda drisi gil!" Ginny exclaimed.
"What's that mean?" Ron asked.
"Dunno, but she says it every time I bring up fire."
"Basilisk isn't flammable enough," Hermione said. "You'd need something else to use as an accelerant, such as petrol."
"A what?" Ginny asked.
"Something to make it burn better," Hermione explained. "And before you ask, honey won't work. It might actually make it worse, but Professor McGonagall could always banish it once we're–"
CRACK!
A house-elf appeared with a barrel of honey. Balanced on top of the barrel was a pair of buckets.
"This is being the entire supply of honey," Dripty said. "Dripty is telling Miss Atrien that you is needing this to save Professor McGonagall, and Miss Atrien is ordering everyone to be getting it."
"Thank you."
"Is Miss Hermione needing Dripty's help?"
"I need you to levitate those buckets above the Basilisk exactly where I say. I'll take care of the barrel."
"Dripty will do his best, Miss Hermione!"
"We should enchant a blindfold or something with the locator spell," Ron said. "It's hard to keep–"
"You said that already," Hermione said. "A blindfold won't necessarily block out all light."
"What about my glasses?" Harry asked. "Can we paint them black or something?"
"We haven't got–"
"Dripty has an idea!" Dripty vanished and reappeared within seconds carrying bread dough. Without a word, he grabbed Harry's glasses, slapped some dough on them, then ignited the dough. "Done!"
"That was brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry took his glasses back, but with burnt dough on the lenses, they were useless as glasses.
"I can't see a thing," he said.
"Good," Hermione replied, taking his glasses. After a wave of her wand, she handed them back to him.
"Still can't see."
"That's what we want," Hermione said. "Now, the moment of truth." With Dripty's help, she pried the lid off the barrel of honey and waved her wand over it.
Harry jumped as the barrel lit up.
"Can you see that?" Hermione asked.
"Clearly."
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, excited that their plan was coming together. "What else can we do to this thing? How are we going to take out its eyes?"
Everyone looked at one another, but no one had any ideas. While they did, Hermione tagged the buckets of honey, and everyone inside the room, including Harry himself.
"Dripty… Dripty might be helping."
He took something tucked into his tea towel and handed it to the closest person.
"Is that the Sorting Hat?" Neville asked, taking the black hat he was handed.
"I think so," Harry said, squinting with his glasses off.
"Miss Atrien was giving it to Dripty," Dripty explained. "Miss Atrien is saying that Professor Dumbledore gave it to her for an emergency."
"Hold on, there's something stuck in here," Neville said. "Let me see if I can get it out." He felt around for the end of the object, then pulled it out of the hat.
Everyone stared at what Neville held in his hand.
"That's a sword," Neville said.
"It's beautiful," Sally-Anne breathed.
"Oh! I know!" Ginny exclaimed. "We can gouge out its eyes with the sword!"
Sally-Anne, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all stared at Ginny.
"Way too much time around Rose," Sally-Anne said.
"It's still all we've got," Ron said. "Now we can take out its eyes. What about the rest of it?"
"Fire!" exclaimed Ginny. "I can–"
"Not without an accelerant," Hermione said. "And I can't craft a spell to conjure some into existence."
"What about purifying the oxygen around it?" Harry asked.
Hermione stared at him.
"I saw it in a documentary over the summer," Harry said. "Well, I heard it. I'm not allowed to watch TV."
"What's TV?" Ron asked.
"Irrelevant to this conversation," Hermione said. "If Rose were here, she could cast divine enlightenment on me, and I could craft a spell to increase the concentration around the Basilisk. That would allow us to hit it with a jet of flame and it would explode and catch on fire, no matter how resistant it is to magic."
"So–" Ron began.
"But without Rose here, I can't do anything. I can't make up a spell on the spot like that!"
"What about the dimensional prison last year?" Sally-Anne asked.
"Those were just counter runes. We're talking about altering the laws of physics to fit our needs! That's way beyond me! Maybe in a few years, and given several days to work on it, but not in a matter of minutes!"
"Hermione, we might actually kill a basilisk," Ron said. "Please, just try."
Hermione sighed, and pulled out some of her Arithmancy books, and a chemistry book she had with her just in case. "I'll try. But I'd need a similar spell if I've even got a shot at it."
"Defaecorus," Ron replied. "Standard Book of Spells, Volume III. Spell to purify gas from the air. That's similar, right?"
"How in Merlin's name do you know that?" Ginny asked.
"We only ever get Bill and Charlie's hand-me-downs, so I read all seven volumes of the Standard Book of Spells," Ron replied. "It's easier for me than just about everyone else."
"Thanks, Ron," Hermione said, using scholar's touch to refresh her memory of the third volume of the Standard Book of Spells.
"Ginny," Ron said, turning to his little sister. "If she does whatever she just said, can you hit it with a fire spell?"
Ginny grinned, reminding Ron of Rose.
"Are you asking me to light something on fire?" she asked.
"Don't tell Mum, but yes," Ron said. "Can you set the Basilisk on fire?"
"Yes," Ginny replied. "Yes, I can."
"We should decide who's going to attack the Basilisk," Neville said, still holding the sword.
"I will," Harry said. "They're still my glasses, so that tag will probably be blurry to anyone except me. It's got to be me."
"No!" Sally-Anne cried.
"I'll be alright," Harry said. He forced a smile. "Just make sure you're ready to come rescue me if I mess up."
Sally-Anne nodded, then threw her arms around him. "Be careful."
"I will," Harry said, returning the hug.
"Good luck," Ginny said quietly.
"You'll do great, mate," Ron said.
Neville nodded his agreement, handing Harry the sword.
"Before I get started, Dripty, let's apply the honey," Hermione said. "I'll try to work out the spell while you're taking out its eyes."
"Once we do this, it's gonna come after us," Harry said.
"You should get out and warn the other professors," Sally-Anne said to Dripty.
"Miss Atrien is already doing that," Dripty said.
"I don't suppose we can wait for them?" Neville suggested.
"They can't get through the door," Hermione said, turning to Harry. "Get ready. Everyone else, turn away so you don't see it."
"What about Miss Hermione?" Dripty asked.
"Rose used one of her tricks on me," Hermione said. "I'll be fine. Everyone else stand back. I'm going to open the door."
When everyone was clear, Dripty and Hermione got the honey ready, then Hermione cracked the door. She jumped when she saw the Basilisk near them. It glanced over at them, then turned back to Professor McGonagall.
"Children, stay inside!" Professor McGonagall shouted at her.
Hermione directed Dripty as they moved the honey up to the ceiling. Her job was easy; she just had to get it approximately at the right area, and she'd be fine. Dripty had smaller targets that moved a lot more, and he was blind.
After the longest 30 seconds of her life, Hermione had everything in position. The Basilisk moved its head just under Dripty's buckets.
"Now!"
Hermione and Dripty slammed their respective containers on the Basilisk. It let out a series of hisses, shook to try to remove the honey, but didn't care beyond that.
"It worked!" she exclaimed as she backed away from the door. "Harry, go!"
Harry took a deep breath, then bolted out of the office door as Hermione began to write in one of her notebooks, propping her books open in front of her. She had to think quickly, so she began to force herself to think harder.
Hermione concentrated so hard that her head began to hurt. She felt dizzy as it began to burn. Her mind was racing, but everything seemed so simple now. It was as if a weight had just been lifted from her head, and a fog that had permanently set in was clearing. Wait a minute! Hermione knew that feeling! That was divine enlightenment! But how?
The answer occurred to her in seconds: the hair clip!
To everyone else, Hermione just went from "No, I can't!" to "Just watch me!" She was furiously scribbling in her notebook, writing so fast that she broke her pencil, only to toss it aside for a new one.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"Rose must've put divine enlightenment on my hair clip for an emergency," Hermione said, nearly spitting out her words. "I've got two minutes to work this out! But I can do it!" She grinned as she realized what she was saying. "I can do it!"
Outside the office, the Basilisk had pushed Professor McGonagall back across the office door, putting its head just to Harry's right. Fortunately for Harry, this gave him a good shot at its eyes that now glowed bright yellow. Harry took a deep breath, then lunged at the beast. He didn't get far, but he made it to its back, just below its head.
The Basilisk looked back at him, but paid him little mind. It didn't care about the new threat; it had a much more important one in front of it.
As the Basilisk looked at Harry, he suddenly felt dizzy, and thought for a moment that he was going to be sick. But the moment it looked away, it all passed.
"It worked!" he shouted. "The glasses worked! I can see it!"
There were cheers from inside the office as his friends celebrated the good news. Sally-Anne breathed a sigh of relief, overjoyed that her friend wasn't dead.
Harry climbed onto the creature's head, and it began to toss and turn, trying to throw him off. Harry reached the glowing glob that he knew was its eye and stabbed the sword into it.
Hissing furiously, the Basilisk violently swung its head. Harry felt the sword slide deeper into the beast's eye and fluid ooze over his hand.
As Harry withdrew the sword, the Basilisk slammed its own head into the wall. Fortunately for the Basilisk, its head took little injury.
Unfortunately for Harry, he cushioned the Basilisk's head. Dazed, he slid down to the ground, falling off the beast's head.
"Harry!" Sally-Anne shouted when she heard the crash. She knew it was a bad idea, but she didn't care. That was her friend out there! Her own fears were put on the back shelf, and she ran out of the room. The moment she saw Harry on the ground, just as the Basilisk attempted an attack him, she dove between them.
"Dostradi!"
The electric dome formed around her and Harry, blocking the snake's strike. It tried again and again, unphased by the electricity. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall hurled a volley of spiked balls at it did it finally give up.
Keeping her eyes down, Sally-Anne whirled around and began to drag Harry back into the office.
Ginny and Ron ran out behind her and helped her pull Harry back inside. Dripty popped out to grab the sword on their way inside the room.
Sally-Anne collapsed next to Harry when she got in the room.
"That thing doesn't quit," she panted.
"Now what?" Ginny asked. "We've still got the sword, but that thing's going to come after us now."
Neville looked at the sword, then at the glasses, then at the open door. He looked at all of his friends, and realized that they were all playing a part in this. Everyone except him. Right now, his friends needed to survive, and someone needed to go out there, virtually blind, and attack the Basilisk. And he was expendable.
Just take a deep breath, put one foot in front of the other, and do what you've got to do.
Without another thought, Neville grabbed the glasses and sword and ran out of the room.
"Neville!" Sally-Anne cried.
"What are you doing?!" Ginny shouted.
"What I've got to do!" he replied. Just as Harry had, he jumped onto the beast's back, but it was ready for him.
It thrashed around, attempting to throw him off its back, but he held on for dear life, thankful for the honey.
Sick to his stomach, Neville found his way to its head. He raised the sword, but lost his balance and flew threw the air, away from the office door.
This can't be it, Neville thought. I've got to do more. They're counting on me. I won't let them down!
As he left contact with the creature, Neville did the only thing he could think to do. He set his sights on the blurry yellow blob, pulled his arm back, and flung the sword at the Basilisk.
The sword sailed through the air, heading straight towards the beast. Neville wasn't sure if it was dumb luck, or if someone else had used magic on it to aim the sword, but he hit his target.
Neville grinned as he crashed into the headboard of one of the beds, knocking him unconscious.
The Basilisk let out another volley of hisses and spitting noises, furious about the loss of its other eye.
"Professor McGonagall! It's eyes are out! They can't hurt you anymore!" Hermione shouted.
Minerva's eyes snapped open, and she took in the situation. Sinking to the ground about 15 feet away from her on her right was Neville Longbottom, who looked to be in bad shape. The basilisk itself was covered in honey for some reason, but what surprised her more was a familiar sword sticking out of its eye.
Albus, I've told you before not to let students use that! Minerva thought.
I believe you said to choose them more carefully, Mind Albus said.
No, the word I used was don't! Minerva thought to Mind Albus. If I survive this, I'm taking the rest of the year off.
Just out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hermione Granger sneak out of the office. The second-year began to wave her wand and mutter something. What was she trying to do?
Minerva found out when a torch just above the girl's head exploded.
Unfortunately, not only did the spectacle attract Minerva's attention, but the Basilisk's as well. The beast turned on the girl, but Minerva, weakened from her fight, was too slow to stop it.
Ron watched from the office as the Basilisk prepared to go after his friend. Sally-Anne was fading, Harry and Neville were both unconscious, and they needed Ginny to light up the Basilisk, which just left him.
What could he do? How could he save Hermione? He had to do something! What could he do against the Basilisk?!
You're a stubborn git!
Then the answer occurred to him: Nothing. He could do nothing to it, but he could do something to Hermione!
I really hope this works, Ron thought. History said that he would fail. Common sense said that he would fail. The sinking feeling in his stomach said that he would fail. But Ron didn't care. Hermione was his friend. He wasn't about to let her down, not after everything they'd done in the past few minutes. Not when they were this close to defeating the Basilisk. Ron wasn't about to lose any of his pieces when he was this close to victory.
He raised his wand, and poured all of his concentration and willpower into one spell.
Hermione looked up in horror as the Basilisk continued to advance on her. It's tongue flicked in and out of its mouth as it followed her scent. There was nothing she could do. No Rose to save her this time, and Professor McGonagall couldn't react fast enough.
It stopped hissing.
I'm going to die.
"Accio Hermione!"
Hermione was yanked off her feet and flung towards Madame Pomfrey's office seconds before the Basilisk struck. She barreled into Ron, and the two of them fell to the ground, landing in an awkward position.
"Ron!" she gasped, climbing off her friend. "Are you alright?! How'd you do that?!"
"It worked!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe that actually worked!"
"You summoned me!" exclaimed Hermione.
A loud hissing sound came from nearby, and they remembered that they were still fighting a fully grown basilisk.
"Celebrate later, you two!" Ginny called from the safety of Madame Pomfrey's Office. She reached out her hand to them. "Come on!"
"Ms. Granger, wait," Professor McGonagall said from behind them. "What was that spell?"
"It's supposed to increase the concentration of oxygen in an area," Hermione said as Ron ran inside the office. "It worked, but I didn't take into account the torches around the room, and accidentally set one of them off. My head's always fuzzy after divine enlightenment wears off. The incantation is cefla gwyt latan, but you'll want to banish the honey first."
"Easily fixed," Minerva said, banishing the honey with little thought. She concentrated on the girl's wand movements, and filled in the gaps in her memory with her own near-infinite knowledge of Transfiguration. "Get ready, and get back." She waved her wand through the motions, then recited the incantations. "Cefla Gwyt Latan!"
There was a slight shimmer around the creature as the oxygen concentration rose. The moment she finished it, Professor McGonagall turned and covered Neville in ball bearings.
Ron turned to his sister, who already had her wand ready and pointing through the open door.
"Ginny, light it!" he shouted.
"Incendio!" Ginny shouted, pointing her wand out of the office while her friends took cover.
A jet of blue flame shot out of her wand, striking the creature. The moment the flame made contact, an explosion erupted around the beast, knocking Ginny and Professor McGonagall off their feet.
When the dust and ash cleared, the students and teacher saw the snake writhing in pain, flames covering the beast. It thrashed about, demolishing most of the beds in the Hospital Wing, and destroying entire chunks of the walls.
With one final, dramatic cry, the Monster of Slytherin collapsed to the ground. The ancient beast that had dwelt within Hogwarts for centuries was dead.
Minerva did what any experienced adventurer should do and confirmed the kill. After she had, she did what any responsible adult would do.
"Are you all alright?" she asked the children.
"I'm okay," Ginevra groaned.
"Fine," Ronald added.
"Dripty is being okay," Dripty said.
"We're alright," Hermione said, indicating herself and Sally-Anne.
"Good. Now," Minerva took a deep breath, "WHAT WERE YOU ALL THINKING?!"
Professor McGonagall's face turned red, and her Scottish accent became more noticeable.
"You could've all been killed! I told you to stay inside Poppy's office!"
"But we–" Ron began.
"I should have each one of you expelled for such a blatant disregard for authority or common sense!"
Ron was horrified. They had won! Why were they being treated like it was a bad thing?!
"Instead," Professor McGonagall said, returning to a calmer state, "each of you will receive 50 points, and an award for services to the school."
Ron and Ginny stared at the Transfiguration Professor. Hermione sat on the ground before she fell over, her head still spinning. Sally-Anne's mind was reeling with the knowledge that they had just killed the Basilisk.
"If you had followed my instructions," Professor McGonagall said, "then I wouldn't be standing here."
"It won't happen again, Professor," Ron said, a grin finding its way to his face.
"Are you smiling, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No, Professor," Ron said quickly, all traces of happiness vanishing. "Absolutely not. Never."
"Fifty points," Professor McGonagall said. "To each of you." She turned to Hermione as the other students continued to process that. "Did you come up with that spell on the spot, Ms. Granger?"
"Sort of," Hermione said hesitantly.
"That was the most amazing feat of Arithmancy I've ever seen," Professor McGonagall said. "I will certainly be telling Professor Vector about that."
"Never mind me," Hermione said. "Everyone else was brilliant! Dripty, how'd you think of burning bread dough?"
"Dripty is burning bread dough all the time!" Dripty exclaimed. "Miss Atrien is always telling him to scrape off the burnt parts, so he was knowing that it wouldn't come off!"
"What was the purpose of the glasses?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"They allowed Harry and Neville to see the Basilisk without dying," Hermione replied quickly. "It's eyes, I mean. You see, if you–"
"Save it for later, Ms. Granger," Professor McGonagall said. "I'm sure you'll tire of explaining it soon. First, we need to sound the all-clear."
"Dripty will be doing that at once, Professor McGonagall!"
Before anyone could argue, Dripty vanished.
"We should get Harry, Neville, and Sally-Anne some help," Ginny said.
"I'm alright," Sally-Anne said. "Worry about them first."
"Poppy should be coming around soon," Professor McGonagall said, looking to the Mediwitch. "What of Miss Lovegood?"
"Still nothing," Sally-Anne said. "Her condition hasn't changed."
"There's one more thing I don't understand," Hermione said.
"What's that, Ms. Granger?"
"If the Basilisk is up here, then why isn't Rose out of the Chamber of Secrets yet?"
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