Chapter 46: Fluctuation in the Force

Severus enjoyed the Halloween feast, he spent some time eating at the Slytherin table with Olivia and her group.

But after a while, he left the Great Hall to go to his dormitory and take advantage of the fact that everyone was busy at the party to go to the forest and train with his sword for a while.

He missed his sword training, but at Hogwarts, it was hard to go unnoticed.

The only people who knew about his sword were Draco and Hermione, but neither of them asked him many questions about it, and they didn't know he actually used it either, Severus was convinced they just thought he had it as an ancient artifact or something.

On his way to the dormitories, Severus saw his "dear cousins".

But what caught his attention was that they both seemed to be doing the same thing he was doing by using the feast to sneak off somewhere.

He didn't care what they were planning to do and decided to continue on his way to the dormitories.

As Severus was on his way to Slytherin he felt a slight fluctuation in the Force, one he hadn't felt before at Hogwarts.

Quickly he connected with the Force to see where this was and what the location of this place was.

It turned out that the direction in which he felt that slight fluctuation was coming from the corridor where he saw Hermione and Draco seemed to be heading a few moments ago, but more interestingly, he sensed a whole new place, one he hadn't been aware of.

Severus already knew that there was magic that could prevent him from seeing or feeling with the Force, but most of the time he would at least feel this kind of magic that obstructed his vision of the Force...

But this time it was different as he wasn't even aware that there was a magic that was obstructing his Force senses.

Severus decided to check what this slight fluctuation was.

When he arrived at the place he felt Hermione and Draco in the Force right where the fluctuation was.

'A nuisance' Severus thought knowing that he would have no choice but to cross paths with them as he knew it was no coincidence that they were right in that exact location.

Severus sighed, he didn't want to get into their business, but his curiosity to know what caused this slight fluctuation in the Force was greater, so he went inside...

And yes, there he saw the two of them standing there with all sorts of preparation, both of them were wearing a light but resistant dragon skin cloak along with gloves and shoes of the same material, they also had several silver knives strapped to their waists...

Severus couldn't help but think that it looked like they were both going to war or something.

The strangest thing was to see the two of them looking extremely nervous with all that preparation in front of the bathroom sink.

If Severus didn't misremember, this bathroom was supposed to be Myrtle's bathroom..., although the crying ghost didn't seem to be present today.

Severus knew it might have something to do with the Halloween party the ghosts had, she must have been there.

Even he had witnessed as Snape the ghosts' party once...

Yes...

He and Lily went just out by curiosity, even though they had been warned by many that it was a pretty horrible party...

And yes, it was, after that day they never witnessed the ghost party again.

Severus approached Draco and Hermione, and when they saw him they were surprised and looked at him nervously as when a child realizes that his parents caught him doing something wrong.

Of course, he didn't mind the surprised and nervous look they both gave him, he was just coming to check the fluctuation he felt and Severus already knew it was coming from the hole that formed in the middle of the sink.

"Severus!" they both said as they saw him approaching them.

"What are you doing here?" asked Draco clearly nervous.

"Why aren't you at the feast?" added Hermione.

"Well... it just happened that when I was leaving the Great Hall and heading to my dormitory I saw the two of you and thought to stop and say hello," Severus joked.

"Now, wouldn't the question be what are you two doing in a bathroom with all that magical equipment?" he added.

They both looked at each other not knowing what to say until Hermione sighed in resignation.

"Look..., this is something we have to do in order to achieve our objective and well... we said we wouldn't involve you..., so..." explained Hermione.

"Oh, yes, right, no need to worry, you are not involving me in anything, this is of my personal interest so you can tell me," Severus clarified quickly.

"This..." now Hermione didn't know what to say as she thought that after saying that he would just leave but it seems that even Severus is curious.

He normally wouldn't get into her things, but now for some reason, he seemed very interested, though she couldn't blame him...

If you find someone in a bathroom dressed like them, it's normal to be intrigued.

" We have to kill a troublesome snake here," Draco finally said snorting as he pointed to the hole in the sink.

"Interesting, and what kind of snake needs you two to be so prepared?"

"A Basilisk," Hermione answered quickly making Severus' eyes grow wide as he looked at her.

He looked straight into her eyes with his deep, cold black eyes as if he wanted to find out that what she was saying was actually true and not a joke.

'A Basilisk in Hogwarts?..., and they really think they can kill one?' wondered Severus internally, very curious since he only knew of this creature from books.

He knew that they were unique and extremely dangerous, it was a sort of giant semi-intelligent snake.

The basilisk's skin is very special as it has the characteristics of armour like dragon skin, and it can also reflect spells that hit it, only the eyes and mouth are the only weak links in this creature and even then these places can recover quite quickly if you don't use a powerful spell or some special weapon that causes enough damage to prevent it from recovering.

To make matters worse, the basilisk in the mouth has an exceptionally poisonous fang, possessing a deadly venom, capable of killing a human in minutes; this, together with the fact that the only antidote to this bite is phoenix tears, its ability to destroy objects that are then impossible to repair even with magic, and the fact that basilisk venom is very potent even after death, place it among the most dangerous substances known to the wizarding world.

And his most deadly weapon is his eyes, as anyone who looks directly into the Basilisk's big eyes will die instantly.

Hermione and Draco stood silently staring at him waiting for his reaction.

"Alright, you know, I never thought you were looking to die so soon," Severus finally said shaking his head at the thought of the two of them alone facing the Basilisk.

To him it was as if he wanted to face a zillo beast, they had no opportunity to win, just one slip up would kill them.

The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds, but neither seemed upset, almost as if they expected him to say that.

"We have a plan Severus, it won't be easy, but we know what we're doing," Hermione said seriously.

"Hmm... I see, in that case, it would delight me to see you try" smiled Severus making them both again look at him with surprise clear in their eyes as neither of them had expected him to say that.

"This..., Severus, this is going to be very dangerous," clarified Hermione a little nervous at the idea of Severus going with them.

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it, with Hermione we'll barely be able to worry about ourselves," said Draco making it clear that if he went they wouldn't be able to do anything if the Basilisk attacked him.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, you two just do what you came here to do."

"But Severus, it's not safe," Hermione insisted.

"We're prepared but you..." she added.

"As I said, don't worry about me and do what you have to do."

"I don't understand, why do you want to come?" asked Draco with a frown, he was already nervous at the mere thought of facing the Basilisk, but now with Severus his whole plan could fall apart and he knew that Hermione as a bloody proud Gryffindor would not hesitate to help him even though doing so would compromise the whole plan.

"Simple, I want to see the Basilisk and if possible get some samples," Severus said lightly, though this was true, he couldn't deny that the thought of facing such a powerful creature made his blood boil with emotion.

But it wasn't his fight, it was theirs and as much as he cared, he couldn't intervene, it wouldn't be fair...

Now if they can't win...

There's always the chance to step in later...

Of course, he doesn't expect them to lose just to take on the Basilisk...

No, he's not like that.

Instead, he just expects them to lose so he can take on the Basilisk and take the body as a reward.

"Well..., In that case, why don't you help us?" said Hermione suddenly making Draco look at her confused.

And Severus who was already planning in his mind how he would deal with the Basilisk once they lost, suddenly stopped thinking about all this and looked at Hermione.

"Didn't you already have a plan, I'd rather not intervene in what you've already planned so carefully," Severus said.

"Yes, but we could use the extra help, and it feels better than leaving you out of the plan," Hermione explained, even though what she said was true in that she could use the help of someone with Severus' skills, what she really didn't want was for him to end up in a dangerous situation while they were dealing with the Basilisk.

She knew that no matter how capable Severus was at using magic, it wasn't enough to deal with the Basilisk, other means besides spells were required and that was what she and Draco would use.

So he would be in danger without any equipment, and she would rather include him than leave him out, it was safer to do that than to let the Basilisk attack him without any plan.

Severus was no fool and he knew what Hermione was thinking, she didn't want to have to worry about him being in danger while they faced the Basilisk and she would rather have him join them and increase their chances of winning than leave an extra problem.

It really bothered him that she thought this, but he couldn't be angry either, it was a coherent thought, besides, they didn't know about his swordsmanship.

So it was only natural that they thought he couldn't do much on his own against the Basilisk since spells alone wouldn't make a wizard win in this situation.

Severus shook his head tiredly, he wanted to say no, but he also knew that his presence was something that would affect their plan to some degree whether he wanted it to or not.

And he wasn't such an idiot as to dismiss someone else's concern, even if that concern was unnecessary in his case.

"Fine, just tell me the plan and I'll see what I can do," Severus nodded causing Hermione to sigh and smile slightly in relief.

While Draco now looked glad that he could have some extra help.

As confident as he was in Hermione's plan, he was still very nervous.

Hermione explained everything they had planned, it sounded simple, but getting it done was not easy, you had to be really careful.

But Severus had to admit that her plan was quite viable, he even thought that if they succeeded they could have killed the Basilisk on their own...

Of course, that implied that they would do everything perfectly and he doubted that would happen, especially Draco who seemed quite nervous, he was the biggest unknown.

But now with Severus, the odds of success were increasing.

"Now, I'm going to ask you one more stupid question that you're probably tired of hearing, but I'll also ask: Are you sure you want to come?" asked Hermione, wanting to make sure one last time.

Severus smiled and nodded as he took his sword out of the Prince's ancestral ring.

Something that surprised both of them as they didn't know the ring had such a function added to it.

When they explained the whole plan to him, he told them about his sword, of course, he didn't tell them much about his sword skills or about the sword itself, but he did explain that the sword had a very potent poison that could help kill the Basilisk.

Their plan hadn't changed significantly, as they would do what they had already planned, but Severus would also participate.

Once they saw that he was sure, Hermione and Draco nodded and took out their wands, while smiling a little.

Hermione was the first to walk over to the sink and dive into the dark circular hole that had formed in the middle of it.

.....

.....

For a moment nothing but the sound of Hermione falling could be heard until silence fell.

"Safe," Hermione suddenly shouted from a far out distance.

Draco turned to Severus and nodded.

He went in ahead of him.

Finally, it was Severus.

Severus slipped, slipped, far away, he saw the holes in the pipes to his right and left, but he kept slipping, far away into the darkness.

Finally, he saw a small light ahead, and with his reflexes, he managed to land on his feet at the bottom.

He heard Draco and Hermione's footsteps ahead of him and he moved his head slightly to look at them and noticed that they also landed perfectly.

Hermione smiled in relief that everything was going well for now.

Severus wasted no time and began to look around.

Draco and Hermione turned to him and noticed that Severus was examining the rat corpses on the ground by the light of his wand flame.

Severus turned and looked at them.

" Let's move on then," Severus said.

They both nodded and moved forward slowly, their ears alert to their surroundings.

Hermione transfigured some stones into cats to walk ahead of them looking for threats and dangers.

Eventually, the three of them reached the end of the corridor safely and came upon a wall with two intertwined snakes engraved on it.

Severus wondered curiously how they would open it.

Hermione stepped forward again, and with Draco's nod, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to make a sound that sounded like a terrible hissing noise from her own mouth.

This kind of sound is very strange, just like the snake's hissing scream.

Severus knew that this was probably Parseltongue.

"Open," Hermione said in Parseltongue, one of the few words she had learned to say in Parseltongue, she had only imitated the sound as she could not understand the words but she did know the meaning of a few specific sounds.

The two stone serpents were released and the wall opened.

Then dark green torches appeared and lit up the room inside, revealing a statue at the end with a face with a bushy beard and long hair, which Severus couldn't help but think looked like a monkey.

At first, the transfigured cats entered...

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Well, my dear readers...

I had a pretty long and bad trip, But nothing..., I managed to make a chapter despite my bad mood.

I hope you enjoy it.