Is That Your Great Plan?
"So, what's the plan?" Percy asked as he held his sword with both hands, ready to move.
Harry didn't take his eyes off the enormous snake, which had also stopped for a moment to regain its rhythm and focus on tracking both of their scents.
"First, we need to get to the Hat. After that, improvise," Harry said seriously.
Percy quickly looked toward where the old Sorting Hat was, lying between several of the basilisk's enormous coils.
Then he looked back at Harry.
"That's your great plan?" he asked, somewhat confused.
"Do you have a better one?" Harry replied calmly.
"No, just wanted to make sure. You're the brains, I'm just a simple follower," Percy added immediately.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Fawkes brought it for a reason, just get ready."
Percy looked back at the Hat.
It still looked like an old, dirty, completely useless hat.
"Fine, I hope you're right. I wouldn't like to end up as snake poop."
"Yeah, I'm not hoping for that either."
The basilisk seemed to have had enough time to properly catch both of their scents. This time its head turned directly toward Percy, opening its enormous mouth to swallow him in one bite.
But this time neither of them desperately split up.
"Remember when Mom took us ice skating?" Harry said with an amused look.
"Of course, I even remember how many times you fell on the ice," Percy said with a cheeky smile.
Harry pointed toward the floor.
"Freeze!"
A layer of ice immediately spread across the stones.
Percy took a step forward as the basilisk attacked him, but before it could touch him, Percy pushed himself hard forward, sliding at the same time as his sword cut across one side of the enormous snake's mouth.
A huge bloody gash opened up, leaving a fairly deep wound.
"SSSSS!"
Letting out a pained and furious hiss, the enormous snake moved its head in the opposite direction to get away from that sharp sword, causing it to crash into another nearby column.
That caused a slight tremor through the cave, and dust began falling from the ceiling.
At the same time, its tail moved instantly, trying to strike the brat who had dared to hurt it.
Percy continued sliding several meters before twisting his body and passing alongside the snake. He simply ducked while still sliding, dodged the tail, and then pushed himself forward again toward the Sorting Hat.
But before he could reach it, Percy instinctively raised his head, seeing an enormous rock falling from the ceiling because of the column that had been destroyed earlier.
So he quickly grabbed his sword with both hands and slashed downward, splitting the rock in half.
The problem was that single instant gave the basilisk enough time to attack with its tail again at high speed toward his back.
Harry immediately moved his wand.
"Depulso!"
The spell pushed him several meters across the ice just as one of the enormous parts of the basilisk's body came crashing down where he'd been.
BOOM!
The tip of its tail, like a whip, struck the floor, leaving a hole in it and making Percy's eyes widen in surprise.
"You're welcome!" Harry said before raising his wand again.
This time, several fireballs began appearing around him while he held his magic tome in his other hand.
Harry frowned. Right at that moment, the basilisk's enormous head turned toward him and its mouth began getting dangerously close.
"Fire," Harry said, pointing toward the monster's enormous mouth.
Then all the fireballs around him flew toward the huge open mouth.
If its scales were tough enough to withstand his magic, they'd have to see if it was the same on the inside.
The fireballs exploded inside the monster's mouth. They weren't too powerful, but the fire and smoke made the basilisk raise its head with a hiss of pain. Even so, the damage was still minimal.
Meanwhile, Tom merely frowned as he watched Harry use magic similar to Hogwarts magic, but with a few differences.
Seeing that the magical damage was still minor, Harry moved his wand, this time pointing it at Percy again, who happened to meet his eyes.
"Hey, what...?"
But before he could ask, Harry had already cast the spell at him again.
"Depulso!"
Percy went flying across the ice.
"You damn...!" Percy complained, this time feeling that the spell had been stronger.
As his body moved through the air, he quickly leaned forward, held his sword to one side, and passed alongside the basilisk's body at high speed.
SCHLK.
A long wound appeared between its scales, while Percy used that same attack against the snake to slow himself down before pulling his sword free from its flesh and rolling across the floor, regaining his balance and running toward the Sorting Hat again.
The basilisk roared, immediately turned toward Percy, and started moving after him again furiously.
Harry let out a slight smile.
"Percy, left!"
Percy immediately changed direction, jumping to the side.
At the same time, Harry pointed toward where Percy had been just moments before, and a piece of stone shaped like spikes instantly rose from the ground. A new spell that had appeared in his tome.
The basilisk's mouth closed over it.
CLACK!
Instantly, the creature let out another pained hiss and some blood came from its mouth as the spikes turned back into stone.
"Damn it!" Tom shouted furiously as he watched those two brats keep the supposed king of serpents at bay far better than they should've been able to.
And he couldn't even interfere directly.
His gaze shifted toward Ginny and Tyson.
He needed to finish absorbing the girl's life force as soon as possible.
"Almost there. Just a little more," he murmured to himself.
At the same time, Percy drove his sword between two scales and used the momentum to climb onto the snake and jump over it to reach the Hat.
The basilisk quickly tried to attack him.
But before it could reach him, Harry moved his wand, and a root shot out of the ground, wrapped around Percy, and pulled him toward the Hat.
Meanwhile, the snake bit into its own body with the attack.
The snake immediately opened its mouth, this time furious. It turned toward Harry and, ignoring Percy, moved toward him completely enraged by the earlier attacks.
Seeing this, Harry quickly turned around and started running without hesitation around the nearby columns, while the sound of the enormous furious creature dragging itself across the ground echoed behind him.
When the creature was about to reach Harry, he moved behind a column, and when the snake turned toward him, Percy was standing there, slashing his sword toward the side of its mouth.
SCHLK.
And without thinking twice, Percy hid behind the column again while the enormous snake, furious and in pain, began thrashing its head around, smashing apart the nearby column.
"Catch," Percy said, throwing the Sorting Hat that he'd finally managed to reach thanks to Harry's distraction.
Harry caught the Hat, but neither of them had time to stop.
"Kill them!" Tom roared furiously.
"All right, time for the older brother to do his job. I'll distract it and you try to figure out what's so special about that old hat," Percy said with a confident smile.
Harry looked at his brother and then at the Sorting Hat.
But Percy had already rushed toward the basilisk.
Harry frowned and started checking the Hat.
Nothing.
It remained completely still.
"Seriously?" he muttered as he shook it.
A few meters away, Percy slid under another attack from the basilisk and ran his sword beneath its jaw.
SCHLK.
"Harry! This would be a really good time for your idea to start working!"
"I'm working on it!"
Harry stuck one hand inside the Hat.
Empty.
"Great," he muttered, starting to think old Dumbledore had scammed him.
"Well?!" Percy shouted as he went sliding past him again with the basilisk right behind him.
"Still nothing!"
"I told you it was a hat!"
"Shut up!"
Harry looked at it again. He'd remembered Dumbledore's words from before. No, the Hat's own words.
Harry gritted his teeth.
Then he reached inside again.
"If they sent you here, that means you're good for something. You said it yourself, my destiny would change depending on the house I chose, and I chose Gryffindor. That has to mean something, right?" Harry said seriously, knowing Ginny didn't have much time left.
Then, as he reached inside, his fingers touched something that hadn't been there before.
And Harry, as Percy's brother, could perfectly recognize what it was.
A hilt.
Harry's eyes widened and, without hesitating, he pulled on it.
A long silver blade came out from inside the Hat.
Harry raised it, surprised. The hilt was beautifully decorated, and the sword looked truly impressive.
But then his gaze moved down toward the blade.
Harry stood completely still for a moment.
"This..."