Decisions, Decisions

"I can confirm that not only is the Monster of Slytherin a Basilisk," Filius said later that morning, "but also that Rose Peta-Lorrum does wield a double-bladed sword."

No one was happy about this most recent turn of events. While Filius debriefed them on that morning's events, everyone thought the same thing: The Basilisk had to go now.

"What I don't understand is why the Basilisk fled from her," Filius said. "It considered the Weasley boy easy prey, and if I'm not mistaken, it was toying with me, but the moment she showed up, it couldn't get out of that corridor fast enough."

"As I've said before," Severus said, "she could be in on it."

"That's possible," Filius said, "or she really did nearly beat it to death and it remembered her."

"I can think of few better ways of training such a creature," Severus said.

"If I may," Pomona said, "we've seen her destroy a rabid Bludger without a second thought, and she carries a concealed weapon her person. What possible reason could she have for using the Basilisk?"

"I do believe that's the same point she made," Albus commented.

"Perhaps she is attempting to portray herself as a hero," Minerva suggested.

"If that is the case, then I'm afraid I played right into her hands by calling her," Filius said.

"If you hadn't, then Molly Weasley would be short one child right now," Pomona noted.

"Why her?" Severus asked. "Why not Albus?"

"If I had called Albus, I had no guarantee it would not kill the both of us!" Filius explained. "Ms. Peta-Lorrum has proven to be a formidable opponent for the beast, she can apparate around the castle as she pleases, and if I understand her veil of undeath spell correctly, she's not technically alive, and thus immune to the stare of the Basilisk. However, she doesn't want us to know this, otherwise we'd know by now."

"Once again, I am impressed by how much thought you've put into this, Filius," Albus said.

"Thank you, Albus," Filius said. "I may be a little rusty, but nonetheless I can size up an opponent, or in this case an ally."

"Why do you think we'd know by now?" Minerva asked.

"She's willing to explain anything in depth, except for what she doesn't want us to know," Filius replied. "Veil of undeath, Crimson Thorn, even the various names of her pieces of clothing, but she's quiet about anything else. She didn't immediately tell us about Crimson Thorn, but the second she did, she no longer cared to keep it a secret."

"An accurate assessment, I'd say," Albus said.

Filius nodded. He found the girl odd, but, like the Headmaster, he was fascinated with her. Not to mention, had it not been for her, the bullying of Luna Lovegood would've continued almost completely unhindered. Not that the girl seemed to care, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Let's assume for a moment that Peta-Lorrum has been telling us the truth this entire time," Severus began. "What if she became addicted to being the hero? What if she can't help but force us to rely on her? She's created the perfect scenario that forces her to become involved. Just look at the attacks. The victims have all been her friends. Potter was attacked by a Bludger, which Peta-Lorrum destroyed. Weasley and Perks were attacked by the Basilisk, and Peta-Lorrum fought it off. She can hear the creature in the walls, and she knew it was coming before anyone else. It all revolves around her."

"Severus, I believe you're correct in that it does revolve around her, but I don't know if she's the one behind it," Albus said. "If she is, and she merely wants to save us all from a threat she's created, then I believe we should allow her to 'save' us, so long as no one else gets hurt."

"But you don't think it's her," Minerva said.

"No. I think someone is after her. If Rose is not behind this, then stifling her will only make our opponent's job easier. If we rush in without knowing who is pulling the strings, then we may only make matters worse."

"And your plan for finding out is…?" Severus asked.

"We talk to her friends under the illusion that we are discussing the Basilisk," Albus said. "Filius, you speak with Mr. Weasley, as he is expecting you to do so already. Pomona, I believe you will be most successful at talking with Mr. Longbottom, and Minerva, I need you to talk with Ms. Weasley. I will inform Septima and Bathsheda, and they will speak with her last two friends."

"What of Potter?" Minerva asked.

"I will be speaking with him," Albus replied.

Severus counted off professors, and realized that Albus had not named anyone to speak with Rose. Which left…

"No," Severus said.

"Severus, I–"

"I'm not talking to her unless absolutely necessary."

"Severus, this might be necessary," Minerva said. "Suck it up, and–"

"Both of you, that's enough," Albus said calmly. "Severus, I wasn't going to ask. I don't believe we will get any information out of Rose that we don't have already."

"What about Ms. Lovegood?" Filius asked.

"I don't believe we will get anything from her either," Albus replied. "If I'm not mistaken, the two girls both have a void in their lives that they are using the other to fill. Rose misses her family, and Luna recently lost her mother. This being the case, I don't believe that it will be possible to get information about Rose from Luna, as the girl is difficult to understand when we aren't attempting to pry information out of her. When we are, if she realizes it, she will shut us out, and if she doesn't, she will continue to be incomprehensible to most of us."

Albus looked around the room at his four house heads.

"We are all here at Hogwarts with the intention to help the students learn and grow. We can all agree on that, and we can all agree that the past two years have been difficult. I don't believe that we should be so quick to distrust Rose. We've got our fair share of problems without someone causing more, so if it is indeed the case that she needs a problem to solve, we can always lead her in a different direction. If this isn't the case, then we must find the culprit and ensure that they will no longer harm any of our students. Whatever the case may be, this ends now."

Albus gave his staff a moment to process that before concluding with "Meeting adjourned."

"Mum's gonna kill you when she finds out," Ginny said over breakfast.

"I'll be fine," Ron said. "Professor Dumbledore said he's going to tell Mum and Dad. The worst thing that'll happen is that I get a howler and Rose can just blow it up or something."

"What's a howler?" Harry asked.

"A letter that shouts its message," Hermione replied. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to send one. Why broadcast your conversation like that?"

"To embarrass your kids?" Sally-Anne suggested. "Maybe that's all people ever do with them. Maybe they're just used to embarrass other people."

Hermione thought back to some books she'd read where a person, usually (but not always) a woman, would make a scene to humiliate her boyfriend (or girlfriend). A howler would be the equivalent of that in the Magical World. It wasn't a comforting thought, but it was something that Hermione could keep in mind. Hermione didn't expect to need it, as she assumed her judgement in boys would be good enough to find one that wasn't so thickheaded that Hermione would need to make a scene. That was, of course, when she started having interest in boys, and that wouldn't be happening until Hermione felt like she was safe.

So probably never.

"I guess that makes sense," Hermione said. "Would your mum really send one?"

"If she's angry enough," Ginny said. "And trust me, Mum can be terrifying when she's mad."

"Have any of you picked electives yet?" Hermione asked, hoping to get off the topic of the Basilisk.

Normally, they would've chosen electives a month ago, but the deadline was pushed out several weeks to accommodate the students that were absent due to the possibility of being killed at any second.

"Basilisk," Ron said.

You would dash my hopes immediately, Ronald, Hermione thought.

"I'm probably just going to take whatever Ron takes," Harry said.

"I haven't thought about it yet," Sally-Anne said. "Like Ron said: Basilisk."

"What are electives?" Rose asked.

"That's about what I was expecting," Hermione said, sighing. "Sally-Anne, aren't you going to take Study of Ancient Runes with Professor Babbling?"

"I guess so," Sally-Anne said. "I'm not sure that I like runes in general, just this one." She turned her hand over, indicating the shield rune on her hand. "Maybe Care for Magical Creatures, too. I heard Hagrid's going to be teaching it next year."

"That should be fun," Rose said.

"I was thinking of taking that and Divination," Ron said. "Both are supposed to be easy O's."

"Why not do something you might enjoy?" Hermione asked. "You've been reading a lot, so you must enjoy something."

"I guess… I guess I enjoy Charms more than anything," Ron said. "I… I thought about taking Arithmancy, but I don't think crafting the spells is my thing, so much as researching them."

"What about Muggle Studies?" Sally-Anne asked. "Your dad's trying to learn more about Muggles, so I bet he'd be happy if you took up learning about them."

"And with your bracelet, it should make it a lot easier than it would be for most people, since it's probably mostly reading," Hermione added.

Ron paused for a moment. He hadn't thought about that. If he could strike up conversations with his dad, maybe they could start playing chess again. Ron always loved playing chess with his dad, but with his dad's bill being pushed through the Ministry, the head of the Weasley household hadn't had much time for anything else.

"Yeah," Ron said, a smile forming on his face. "Thanks, Sally-Anne."

Sally-Anne subtly nodded towards Hermione.

"What?" Ron asked.

"No, you're being too subtle," Ginny said, shaking her head. "He'll never pick up on that." Turning to her brother, she said, "Hermione helped too, Ronald!"

"Right," Ron said. "Sorry. Thanks, Hermione."

Rose smiled, barely containing a laugh as Hermione and Sally-Anne both turned a faint shade of red.

"What about you, Harry?" Sally-Anne asked. "Being raised with Muggles, it's probably not worth it for you to take Muggle Studies."

"I don't know," Harry said. "I like Defence when Lockhart's not teaching it. What are the electives again?"

"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Care for Magical Creatures, and Divination," Hermione recited.

"I want to take Care for Magical Creatures if Hagrid's teaching it," Harry said. "I don't think Ancient Runes or Arithmancy would be something I'd like. Then again, Divination doesn't seem that exciting either."

"Why don't you ask Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione said. "Maybe they've got some suggestions."

"I think I'll talk with Professor Dumbledore," Harry said. "He'll probably know what to do."

Harry really didn't know what to take. His friends were right; Muggle Studies wouldn't be worth his time, and Divination seemed… pointless. He figured it was magic, and with magic anything could be possible, but having met the Divination Professor, Professor Trelawney, before, he wasn't sure it was for him. The woman was even less coherent than Rose and Luna.

That left Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Arithmancy was probably preferable to Study of Ancient Runes, as he had little interest in Ancient Runes, although if Hermione and Sally-Anne would both be taking it, it might be easier for him. Which left Arithmancy as the most difficult of his options, and Harry was having enough problems at Hogwarts without taking classes that made it any worse. If he really wanted to have a difficult class, Harry would just start speaking out more in Potions. Having seen Rose, he knew the more attention he received from Professor Snape, the harder Potions class would become.

"Alright," Hermione said. "Now the tricky one." She turned to face Rose, who had begun to draw. "Rose, what are you planning on taking?"

"No idea," Rose said. "Other than the creatures one… Care for Magical Creatures (Thanks, Ref). That one sounds like fun."

"Can you even take Arithmancy or Ancient Runes?" Sally-Anne asked.

"Why wouldn't she be able to take those?" Ginny asked, who had been silently listening the entire time, despite not needing to concern herself with electives for another year.

"Erm… Well, you see…" Hermione tried, but she couldn't come up with an explanation.

"I can't cast magic like you do," Rose replied. "I just fake it using my magic. Mine doesn't necessarily involve a wand, but I use Serendipity, whose power is nearly limitless."

"Rose, careful," Hermione hissed. "If someone hears you–"

"I cast doublespeak whenever we talk now," Rose said. "Well, almost always. I included Ginny and Neville in the conversation, so to them it doesn't sound like we're only talking about the weather or exams. I try not to use it more than once per day, but I figured we'd be doing some important talking this morning. I'm considering making a schema of it, or maybe a continuous item."

"What's doublespeak?" Neville asked, having also been listening in on their conversation. It wasn't as if he had other friends, after all. Not that Neville minded anymore; what was important to him was that he had friends, not how many he had.

"Wonderful spell that stops people from listening in on our conversation," Rose replied. "Well, in this case it's wonderful. A normal party works out a common language among the group to use, rendering doublespeak pointless. We should work on that."

"I don't think knowing more than one language is as common here as it is in Roseland," Ron said. "You know what, five languages?"

"Twenty-two, I think," Rose said. "I haven't counted recently, although I'm pretty sure I've got it written down somewhere." Rose's face lit up. "Actually, technically, I speak everything since I've got tongues active!" Rose tilted her head. "Well, speak with anything, which includes tongues."

"Right," Hermione said. "I remember you mentioning tongues last year."

"Doesn't doublespeak work better than using a different language?" Sally-Anne asked. "I mean, if I'm trying to listen in on a conversation, and people are talking in a different language, then I'm going to suspect them. Right?"

Rose tilted her head. "I hadn't thought about that." She grinned. "Brilliant!" Her eyes grew wide, and Hermione knew then that her crimson-haired friend had an idea. "I can integrate it into the telepathic network. Use telepathic bond over distances or to communicate subtly, and doublespeak to communicate in a general setting!"

"Backing up for a moment," Sally-Anne said. "Rose, could you take Arithmancy or Ancient Runes?"

"Probably, but it might be hard to keep faking it," Rose said, scribbling in her notebook.

"And you'll probably drive Professor Trelawney mad if you take Divination," Ron said.

"And you might drive Ron mad if you take Muggle Studies," Harry said.

"You're not wrong," Ron agreed.

"I may need to talk with a professor as well," Rose said. "Otherwise, I haven't the faintest idea what to do." She grinned. "I'll talk with Professor McGonagall!"

Her friends paused, each of them processing Rose's last statement.

"Did anyone else expect her to say Professor Snape?" Ron asked.

"Everyone expected her to say Professor Snape," Hermione said.

"Nah, Professor Snape will just tell me to leave him alone," Rose said. "So after going to him, I'll just end up talking with Professor McGonagall anyway, so I might as well skip to the end."

"What about Professor Dumbledore?" Sally-Anne asked. "I don't think another professor likes you half as much as he does."

"But Harry's already planning on going to talk with Professor Dumbledore," Rose replied. "It would just bother him if both of us went to talk with him."

"What about you, Neville?" Hermione asked.

"Divination and Care for Magical Creatures," Neville said. "Alex says that they're the two that use the least magic, and I'm not good with magic."

"Alright," Hermione said. "At least we'll all be taking Care for–"

"Sorry to interrupt," Professor Vector said. "But Hermione, may I talk with you in my office?"

"Sure," Hermione said. "I'll see you all later."

About an hour later, Neville was pacing back and forth across the common room. Everything had started during breakfast. Everyone was talking about electives, and then Hermione had been escorted away by Professor Vector. Sally-Anne had assured everyone that it was alright, but not long before they were going to leave, she had been taken by Professor Babbling.

Before the group made it to the second floor, Professor Flitwick took Ron, and Rose went to check on Hermione. Alex had sent Ginny, Harry, and Neville to Professor McGonagall's office shortly after they had arrived at Gryffindor Tower the first time, and Professor Dumbledore had greeted them when they arrived. Professor Sprout had intercepted Harry and Neville on their way to Professor Dumbledore's office, asking to talk with Neville.

Neville didn't understand why the professors were taking a sudden interest in him and his friends. All Professor Sprout had wanted to talk to him about was the Heir of Slytherin, and briefly asked about Rose. Neville had told her that he didn't know anything about the Heir, and Rose was acting the same as she had always been. Apparently satisfied with that answer, Professor Sprout had returned him to Gryffindor Tower.

"Ginny!" Neville exclaimed, seeing his friend come through the portal. "What's going on?"

"Dunno. Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me about Ron and the Basilisk."

"Professor Sprout asked me about the Heir of Slytherin, but she didn't say why."

"Where's Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Still with Professor Dumbledore. Professor Sprout caught me on my way to his office, and we just walked around the seventh floor until we got back here."

Hearing the portal open, the pair looked up to see Ron and Sally-Anne climbing through it.

"What's happening?" Sally-Anne asked. "Where is everyone?"

"Professor Flitwick seemed more interested in the Basilisk than he did in me," Ron said. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"Professor Sprout asked about the Heir," Neville said.

"Hold on," Sally-Anne said. "Ginny, you?"

"Professor McGonagall talked with me," Ginny said.

"We've all talked with teachers?" Sally-Anne asked, looking around the common room. "Where's Harry?"

"Probably with Professor Dumbledore," Neville said.

"They're looking for something," Ron said. "Gotta be."

"But what?" Sally-Anne asked.

"And why like this?" Ginny asked. "Why not just call us all to Professor Dumbledore's office or something? Or Professor McGonagall's?"

Sally-Anne thought about it for a moment. What was different about gathering them all together? It would stop them from comparing notes, but the teachers already knew that they could keep the students quiet by simply asking them. Their current tactic had the apparent effect of making the first few students believe that it was just them, but the final few students would pick up on it after a while.

"I think they're trying to keep us relaxed," Sally-Anne said. "Until after we had all met with a teacher, most of us didn't realize that the others were all being talked to, too."

"So they divide and conquer," Ron said. "I guess that makes sense, but why us?"

"Good question," Sally-Anne said.

"Does this happen to you two all the time?" Neville asked.

"Pretty much," Ron said, with a hint of pride. While he didn't like that he was always in danger, it did mean that the spotlight was always on him and his friends. Unfortunately for Ron, it was usually on his friends.

"Like Sally-Anne said," Ginny said, "what are they looking for?"

"The Heir of Slytherin," Harry said, coming through the portal. "That's about all Professor Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about. That, and if I had heard the Basilisk recently."

"Wait, what?" Ginny asked. "What do you mean?"

"Right," Harry said. "I forgot, you two don't know."

"Don't know what?" Ginny asked.

Even though Neville didn't say anything, he was just as intrigued as Ginny.

"I'm… sort of a parselmouth," Harry said.

Both Ginny's and Neville's eyes grew wide.

"And neither of you had better tell anyone that," Ron said. "Neville, I know where you sleep during the year, and Ginny, we live together."

"Yeah, you're real scary, Ron," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "Of course we're not going to tell anyone. Right, Neville?"

"Right," Neville said, nodding.

"Good," Ron said. He felt that he should be standing up for his friend, since every time he or another friend had abandoned the group that year, something bad had happened. For Ron, he was attacked by the Basilisk after fighting with Hermione, and Harry had nearly been killed by Rose after the former had shouted at Sally-Anne. Not to mention that after that particular fight, Sally-Anne had been petrified.

"Maybe they're just trying to end all of this after last night," Sally-Anne suggested, wondering why Ron was making a fool of himself standing up for Harry. It was sweet, but out of character for him. A quick peek into Ron's mind gave Sally-Anne her answer.

"But why only talk to us?" Neville asked.

"Two of us were attacked," Harry said.

"But why not ask the Prefects?" Ginny asked. "They're more likely to have seen something."

"I still think it's Lockhart," Ron muttered.

"It was Quirrell last year," Harry offered.

"If the teachers think it's him, then why talk to us?" Neville asked again.

"Because they don't think it's him."

They all turned to see Hermione climbing through the portal, with Rose popping into existence beside her.

"They think it's Rose," Hermione finished.

"Why did you want to talk with me, Professor?" Hermione asked Professor Vector as the two made their way to the Arithmancy Professor's office.

"Well, I wanted to know how you've been doing," Professor Vector said. "Exams are approaching, and I'd hate to see such a bright young lady do horribly because of that monster."

"I've been doing alright, I guess. After last night, I'm a little on edge, but all in all, I'm okay."

"Very good," Professor Vector said. "Have you given any thought to the electives you're going to take next year?"

"Erm… Actually, I… wanted to take all of them."

"I thought you might," Septima replied, hiding a smile. She was proud of how ambitious the young Gryffindor was. "I'm not sure that Muggle Studies or Divination would be worth your time, Hermione."

"I think Muggle Studies will provide a different perspective on things, and I want to give Divination a try."

"Well, alright," Professor Vector replied. "Just don't overwhelm yourself."

"I won't," Hermione said, remembering her first few months at Hogwarts. "I'm not going to get carried away again."

"I'll talk with Professor McGonagall to make sure that everything gets taken care of," Professor Vector added. "Scheduling could be tricky."

"Thank you," Hermione replied, smiling.

As they reached Professor Vector's office, the Arithmancy Professor said, "That's not the only reason I wanted to talk to you, Hermione. I would like to talk about your friend Rose."

"What about her?" Hermione asked, quickly becoming worried.

"At the beginning of the year, she heard the Basilisk in the school, and knew it was coming. Two of your friends were attacked by it, and a third by a Bludger. Rose has been in the middle of each of those incidents."

"What are you saying?"

Professor Vector looked straight at Hermione.

"When was the last time you or your friends couldn't account for her whereabouts?"

"Christmas," Hermione answered without hesitation. "You know I'm not allowed to stray away from her."

"I know. Personally, I don't believe she's involved in this, but the other professors have their suspicions."

"Rose wouldn't do that. She's got better ways of killing people. Besides, the Basilisk nearly got me transferred. Why would Rose do something she knew would get me removed?"

"I don't think that was her plan, if she is behind it. I see the way she is with all of you. She's protective of all of you, so I don't believe she's behind this."

"Then why mention this?"

"There's another theory," Septima said. She knew she shouldn't be telling a student so much about internal affairs of the staff, but Hermione was no normal student. She was bright enough to understand that she shouldn't tell anyone. "Who might target Rose?"

"Off the top of my head," Hermione said. "Draco Malfoy, Vold–" Noticing the sour look on the Arithmancy Professor's face, Hermione quickly said, "You-Know-Who, Quirrell, Lockhart, Professor Snape, maybe Professor McGonagall, dragons, most of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, some of the older Gryffindors…"

"She's not well liked, is she?" Septima said, amused by the lengthy list of people the girl had on the spot.

"She's… different," Hermione replied. "Just like me. But she can't hurt people; Ref's under orders to tell her brother if she does."

"I'm sorry?"

Hermione explained to Professor Vector the deal Rose had with Reflectesalon. She explained what would happen if Rose's friends and family back on De'rok found out about her harming a student, and made sure to emphasize how much Rose didn't want any of it to happen.

"I see," Septima said after the Gryffindor had finished her explanation. She wasn't sure how much of it she believed, only because the original source was Peta-Lorrum herself.

"Thank you for your honesty, Hermione. Would you like me to walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?"

"I assume Rose will be by shortly," Hermione replied. "Thanks, Professor."

"Always happy to help, Hermione."

"What?!" exclaimed Ginny. "Why do they think it's Rose?!"

"Too much coincidence," Rose said. "They also still don't trust me."

"I think they just want this whole thing over with," Hermione said. "They're worried."

"I can end this any time," Rose said. "But the professors don't know I'm not behind it."

"So what?" Ron said. "Just kill the Basilisk without the teachers."

"I go in, I'm blind."

"You may not have a choice," Harry said.

"Harry's right," Sally-Anne said. "It sounds like the teachers are planning something."

"Do they know where the Chamber of Secrets is?" Ginny asked.

"Why go through the trouble of talking to us if they do?" Hermione asked.

"What if they want Rose's help?" Neville asked. "You said they think she's involved, right?"

"So they're trying to figure out if it's alright to let Rose help!" Sally-Anne exclaimed.

"Alright!" Ron said, happy with that conclusion. "So what do we do now?"

"Nothing," Rose said. "I handle this, and you lot stay safe."

"But–" Ron started, but Rose cut him off.

"The Basilisk nearly killed two of you! I promised Hermione's parents that I'd keep her safe, and I'd like it if at least one adult would trust me!"

"She's right," Hermione said. "Let's just stay out of this."

"But–" Ron tried again, but this time it was Hermione that cut him off.

"This isn't our fight. We're children! The teachers are more than capable of handling this without us! Let's let them handle it, and stay safe!"

"So we're gonna run away?" Ron asked.

"If anything happens to me, I'm gone!" shouted Hermione, losing her patience. "If anything happens to any of you, I'm gone! I'll be out of here by next week, and I'll probably never see any of you ever again! So can we please play it safe until this whole mess is done?!"

Everyone was shocked by Hermione's sudden outburst. People in the common room stared at her, and she suddenly felt small.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ginny asked after almost a minute of awkward silence.

"I'm sorry for shouting," Hermione said. "I honestly meant to say that without yelling. I'm just stressed because I've been worried the Basilisk is going to attack at any moment."

"We've all been on edge this year," Sally-Anne said.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Rose said, grinning. She patted her friend on the shoulder. "I'll fix it. I can fix anything."

"Rose can't be behind it," Septima said that evening. "There's no way."

"Her friends haven't noticed any abnormal behavior," Pomona added.

"They don't have any ideas as to whom the Heir might be, either," Filius said.

"Albus, they're just as frightened as everyone else," Minerva said.

"I know," Albus said. "That was the impression I got from the young Mr. Potter as well."

"Have you reached a decision?" Severus asked.

"Yes," Albus said. "We've had the time to prepare. This monster has been terrorizing our students for six months now. It is almost May, and we need to consider the possibility that the next victim will not be so lucky as Mr. Weasley was. Therefore, tomorrow morning we all gather here, but with a few additional members. I want all my staff here, except for Lockhart. I also want Rose with us. She will show us the way to the Chamber of Secrets, at which time we will enter it and eliminate the Basilisk."

"What if she's in on it?" Severus asked. "We could be walking straight into a trap."

"That's a risk we'll have to take, Severus," Albus said. "I am well aware that she could be involved, but she is also the only person, apart from the Heir himself, that knows where the Chamber of Secrets is. She will not be accompanying us inside the Chamber, only to its entrance."

Albus looked out at his team of professors. They were some of the best minds in the world in their respective fields. A full-grown Basilisk was no easy opponent, but if anyone could manage it, it was his people.

"Everyone, get some rest," Albus said. "We finish this tomorrow."