Chapter 109: An Unintended Ritual

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 109: An Unintended Ritual

"Is that a Phoenix?!" Ginny pointed at the red bird on Harry's shoulder.

"That must be Headmaster's Phoenix," Daphne concluded. Is not like there were many birds like that one around the world. 

"Is so pretty!" Lyra approached to take a closer look.

Her eyes moved momentarily to the two dead snakes before she decided to focus on something else.

"Can I pet him?"

"That's up to Fawkes…this is not a pet, Lyra," Harry told her before returning his attention to more urgent matters while his sister tried to talk with the bird.

It was obvious that this chamber had somehow been filled with basilisks and they started to fight each other.

The last two seemed to have survived by hiding in the cracks of the walls and ceiling. The smell of food must have brought them out.

"I thought you said that the giant basilisk was one of a kind, Harry. How come there were three of them?" Ginny asked.

"There were a lot more than three…those pieces of skin and flesh scattered everywhere are definitely from basilisks…maybe there is an entire nest of giant basilisks in here." Daphne drew her own conclusions.

Of course, she lacked the information Harry had. He knew just how unique the Chamber's basilisk was. An entire nest filled with them?...that was impossible. 

He continued to observe the completely destroyed chamber when a terrifying idea came to his mind. One that could answer several of his questions.

"A kodoku…"

"A what?" Lyra was next to him, petting Fawkes.

"Is an ancient magical ritual, used mostly in Japan and China, since is illegal here. It consists of sealing a great number of venomous insects inside a giant jar and sealing it with a runic array." Harry explained.

"That seems like a very cruel thing to do…" Ginny made a disgusted face.

"What's the point? wouldn't the insects just kill each other?" Daphne asked.

"Because of the magic ingrained in the ritual, the insects will not only kill and devour each other but the ones doing the eating would gain some properties from their victims. As the insects consume each other, they would grow bigger and stronger…their venom will also become more deadly than it was before. This will continue until only one insect is remaining…only then, the jar will be open."

"So the result was some sort of super insect?...sounds scary." Lyra shivered.

"Indeed…the wizard will then capture the resulting 'super' insect and extract its enhanced venom. That was the purpose of the ritual. To create the deadliest venom possible." Harry told them.

"You think that's what happened here?" Daphne did not like where this was going.

"I never heard a kodoku ritual that used venomous snakes and this chamber is obviously not a jar, but there is powerful magic in its walls to keep it sealed…it could work, I suppose." He thought about it for a while.

"That would also explain the tremors we have been feeling for the last two months."

"How come?" Ginny didn't follow.

"As the basilisks devoured one another…the winners grew in strength and size. They continued to hit the walls as they fought and I guess that two months ago they started to become big and strong enough to start shaking the castle and breaking the reinforced walls of this place…" He considered if that was what truly happened but this theory covered the basis at least.

"Aren't you missing something important?" Daphne asked.

"Where is the super basilisk?" Ginny asked.

That was the thing that got Harry worried. "That's a good ques-"

The ground started to shake…and this earthquake seemed much stronger than the rest.

Ginny screamed when she saw a piece of the ceiling break off and fall onto her. 

"Protego!" 

A translucent shield appeared on top of her and deflected the piece of debris.

"Stay close to me!" Harry commanded as he created a bigger shield to cover everyone.

"Is the entire chamber going to collapse?!" Lyra wanted nothing but to leave this place now.

But at the moment they could only remain in place, under the protection of the shield that Harry had created, and wait for it to pass.

This tremor was not only stronger but also lasted for over a minute before it finally stopped.

By the time it was over, the chamber looked ready to crumple at any moment. 

"Oh no…" Harry looked seriously worried now.

The three girls felt shivers run through their bodies. They have never seen him make that expression.

"W-what is it?...." Daphne asked with hesitation.

"It seems like my theory was correct…ist coming this way, I can hear it," Harry told them.

"What's coming this way?....you don't mean..." Ginny asked to confirm, but already had an idea of what he was talking about.

"The super basilisk?...there is actually one?" Lyra asked.

"What do we do now?" Daphne did not take her eyes off him.

"Fawkes!. get them off the castle." Harry told the Phoenix.

This one made a noise that sounded like a complaint. 

"Don't argue with me now…just do it, please." 

Fawkes gave out a cry and started to fly but remained hovering a few feet off the ground.

"Thanks…" Harry turned to look a the trio of girls.

"Grab onto his legs, he will take you out of here." 

"Wait, you are not coming?!" Lyra exclaimed.

"I have one more basilisk to hunt."

" What?!, but…" Ginny looked at him with concern.

"Do you have to be a Gryffindor until the end?." Daphne told him.

Harry grinned at hearing this. It was not the first time he heard those words.

"Are you certain you can do this?..." She said.

"Of course!. Leave it to me…now go!" Harry said with a serious expression.

The three girls grabbed onto Fawkes's legs.

"Can he really carry us three?" Lyra was doubtful.

"Lyra…don't underestimate the Phoenix. He may get offended and drop you off midway through." Harry advised.

"Wait!" Lyra shouted but Fawkes did not wait any longer. He flew up and disappeared through one of the massive cracks in the ceiling while carrying the three girls. 

The floor beneath Harry started to shake violently.

"How impatient…" Harry spoke while securing his wand.

The ground beneath him broke down completely and collapsed into a black void.

Then, from the darkness…a pair of bright yellow eyes appeared.

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