Bellatrix rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something snide, but Harry held out his hand and forestalled her. "It would be best if Myrtle remains unable to identify us to anyone who might ask."
"What if ghosts can see in the dark?" Bellatrix whispered back.
"I don't think they can," Harry said, handing the caged chicken to Bellatrix. "Stay back in the darker shadows, and I'll handle this."
"I said, who's there?" Moaning Myrtle declared petulantly. She floated out from her stall and squinted, trying to use the moonlight coming through the windows to see Harry.
Harry drew his wand and quietly placed some charms on himself to obscure his face and disguise his voice.
"You can hurt me; I'm dead," Myrtle declared.
"You might call me a friend," Harry said, his voice coming out as a raspy whisper as he turned toward the sinks. He knelt down and eyeballed the familiar faucet, quickly finding the small snake that marked the entrance to the bathroom. Doing his best to pretend that it was a living snake, Harry spoke to it. His speech came forth from his mouth as a hiss. "Open."
A clank sounded behind the wall and the sink dropped from view. Myrtle gasped in astonishment. "It was you!"
"No," said Harry. "It was not I."
"Then what are you doing?" Myrtle demanded.
"I'm here to kill the monster. In a way, I'm avenging your death. Now, if you would be so kind as to give me a little privacy, I'll be on my way." Turning his attention away from Myrtle as if she was already gone, Harry withdrew a very small broom from his pocket and enlarged it. Glancing up, he saw that Myrtle had drifted back to her stall. Surprised at his luck, he motioned for Bellatrix to come out from the shadows. They both mounted the broom, and Harry gently hovered the broom down the long pipe as Bellatrix held onto the caged rooster.
"Nice broomstick," Bellatrix commented.
"Borrowed it from Quidditch shed," Harry explained.
"Did you ever play?" Bellatrix asked.
"Yes," said Harry. "I miss it."
"Interesting," said Bellatrix. "I can't say that I play, but I've watched a few games. What position did you play most often?"
"Seeker," Harry said as he felt his feet make contact with the floor. As he remembered from his original visit to the Chamber, the floor was quite grimy and covered with skeletons of small animals.
Bellatrix dismounted the broom and surveyed what she could see of their surroundings. "I had expected the Chamber of Secrets to be a little bit more impressive," she said as Harry used his wand to light up the tunnel system they were now standing in.
"This isn't the chamber proper," Harry explained. "It's a little way down the passageway here. I think we're safe, but it might be best if we keep our eyes down and listen carefully for any movement. If you hear anything, close your eyes."
"Does the basilisk run loose?" Bellatrix asked, a hint of concern appearing in her voice.
Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. At least, it isn't supposed to. From what I understand, it has a holding place inside a big statue of Slytherin."
"You'd think Slytherin would be smart enough to do run it that way, but what about the dark lord?" Bellatrix asked.
"No clue," Harry said. "When I talked to the shadow of the diary, it claimed that the basilisk didn't come unless called. So I think we can assume that's the rule to go by."
"Wonderful," Bellatrix sighed. "Let's get moving. I don't really want to spend all night down here."
Harry led the way to the main opening of the Chamber. The glinting jewels that made the eyes of the carved snakes guarding the entrance made it easy for Harry to imagine that they were indeed real. In response to his command, they slid away and opened the Chamber of Secrets to view. The Chamber was dark, so Harry used his wand to cast several bright orbs toward the ceiling. They hovered, casting a glowing light upon the snake statues and that of Salazar Slytherin himself.
"Very slimy, but very impressive," Bellatrix declared. "It's curious that he would go to such efforts to create a room that no one but his heir would really see. That is, unless Slytherin expected this to become the school headquarters. Or perhaps the center of some ritualistic worship."
"It's a sign that he was completely crazy," Harry replied.
"You have a point," Bellatrix acknowledged, still surveying her surroundings with curiosity. Her eyes lighted on the statue of Slytherin. "The snake lives in there? Great. How did you want to go about killing it?"
"I reckoned I could just open up the entrance to where the snake lives and then get the rooster out and have it crow," Harry explained.
Bellatrix frowned. "Let's think about this strategically, Harry. If the door to the snake's hidey-hole opens and it instantly hears the rooster crow, it will die perhaps instantly."
"Yeah, that's the point," Harry said
"Do you want to climb into the statue to confirm its death?" Bellatrix asked. "What about if we want to harvest potion ingredients later? That would make getting to the snake's body very difficult." Bellatrix said. "How about you open it up, we let the snake slither on out, and then we have the rooster crow?"
"Are you forgetting the deadly nature of its eyes?" Harry asked.
"There's lots of statues behind which to hide," Bellatrix said.
"Oh, very well," Harry said, giving in to her plan.
After a great deal of preparation, they were ready. Bellatrix had revived the rooster and temporarily silenced it while Harry had scouted a hiding place behind one of the statues far from Slytherin's statue. In addition to making sure the snake statue was large and substantial, Harry had enlarged and transfigured a number of stone into walls which provided a sort of bunker in which Harry, Bellatrix, and the rooster could hide.
"Can you open the statue from inside the bunker?" Bellatrix asked as she and Harry crowded in and confirmed that there was room enough for them to stand and maneuver with the chicken.
Harry strained his neck and peeked around the walls. "I can't even see the statue from here. I think I can just go up there, say the words, and then run back here."
"That's risky, Harry. What if it jumps out and attacks you instantly?"
....
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