Two Swords
"This..." Harry murmured as he looked at the blade of the sword, then raised his voice. "Percy!"
"What?!" Percy shouted as he slid underneath the basilisk's body.
"Look at this!"
"I'm a little busy!"
Percy spun across the ice just as the basilisk's tail passed over his head.
"It's a sword!" Harry said, raising the hilt above his head.
It was a sword with large rubies set into its hilt, decorated with fine lines of gold, and its blade was silver, shining even in the darkness of the Chamber of Secrets with a faint magical glow.
But what stood out the most was that its blade looked very similar to the blade of the sword Percy was holding in his hands right now.
Percy looked for a moment.
And his expression immediately changed. More than anyone, he could recognize his own sword, a gift from his Aunt Mor, the former Excalibur.
And now there was another sword with the same kind of blade?
In that moment of distraction, the basilisk attacked, but Percy, without dropping his guard, jumped to the side to dodge the attack.
BOOM!
The enormous snake's head slammed into the floor.
"Why does it look like my sword?" Percy asked in confusion.
"We'll think about that later!" Harry shouted immediately, noticing Percy was losing focus on the enormous monster behind him that was about to devour him.
"You started it!" Percy shouted back in complaint, turning around just in time to see the basilisk lunging at him again.
This time Percy ran directly toward it, jumped to the side, and attacked with all his strength.
SCHLK.
Excalibur pierced through the scales much more easily than before.
Percy's eyes widened slightly when he felt it, and he let out a small smile.
The resistance was still there, but it was much weaker.
"Good, now I can cut it perfectly," Percy said proudly.
But he didn't have time to think about it.
The basilisk violently thrashed its head, forcing him to loosen his grip on the sword and jump backward. Excalibur came free from the flesh with him, leaving a deep wound in the enormous snake's side, and a large amount of blood began pouring out.
"SSSSSS!"
The hiss echoed throughout the entire Chamber.
Harry watched Percy injure the enormous snake again while his magic seemed unable to pierce those scales.
Then he looked at the Sword of Gryffindor.
"Nothing to lose by trying," Harry muttered before running straight toward Percy, who was standing on guard against the basilisk.
"Percy, attack its left! I'll take its right!" Harry shouted immediately.
Percy only looked at him for a moment before nodding and, following his brother's orders, got ready.
The basilisk, as if Harry's shout had made it even angrier, turned furiously toward him.
Its enormous mouth opened.
Harry didn't back away.
Just as the snake got too close, it suddenly felt a sharp pain in its left side.
Percy was there, running while tearing through the basilisk's flesh.
It immediately moved to attack him on instinct.
But Harry reached its right side and, using the Sword of Gryffindor, pierced through its flesh as well. Not as deeply as Percy's sword, but still enough to make the monster suffer.
Tom Riddle stared in disbelief at the two boys fighting the basilisk with swords like a pair of Neanderthals instead of wizards.
"Nooo!" he shouted furiously. "Just kill him! Kill Harry Potter! Leave the other one, kill Potter!"
The basilisk immediately focused on Harry again and, ignoring the pain Percy was causing by tearing through its flesh, attacked Harry.
When the enormous fangs were about to reach him, Harry, with a completely serious expression, threw himself toward the monster's mouth and glanced to the left for a moment before letting out a small smile and sliding underneath it.
At that exact moment, a bronze sword cut through the air and struck the enormous snake's head.
It didn't hurt it, but that simple blow caused it to miss its attack for a moment.
The sword that struck it was none other than Riptide.
When the snake was about to move to attack again...
SCHLK.
SCHLK.
The Sword of Gryffindor pierced upward through its jaw, while Percy's sword pierced down through the top of its head.
The basilisk let out the most painful hiss of the entire battle and even tried to thrash around.
But, mortally wounded, its strength quickly began to leave it. It barely managed to throw Percy off before shaking its head from side to side.
Percy fell to the floor beside his brother, both of them watching the monster as blood poured out of it in torrents, while even its earlier wounds were beginning to take their toll.
Tom's eyes widened.
"NO!"
Then the snake's enormous body began to convulse and, finally, the basilisk's head slammed into the floor.
BOOM!
Its enormous body thrashed one last time.
Its tail struck a column.
Then another.
The stones trembled.
And finally...
Nothing.
The basilisk stopped moving.
Harry and Percy were breathing somewhat heavily as they stared at the enormous monster lying in front of them.
It was still alive.
But each breath was slower than the last.
"Is it dead?" Percy asked, looking at the basilisk.
"Not yet," Harry said, also looking at the king of serpents in that state.
Not even Medusa had given them as much trouble as this monster, and that was with Fawkes helping them by blinding it. But as a Parselmouth, he couldn't help feeling a slight sadness in his heart, since that monster had only been locked away and used for evil, no matter what kind of dangerous magical creature it was.
"Hey, by the way, can I borrow that sword? I'd like to take a look at it," Percy immediately said with interest toward the Sword of Gryffindor.
"Later," Harry said seriously as he turned around.
Percy also turned toward the back of the Chamber.
Tom Riddle was still there.
But now his figure wasn't nearly as transparent as before.
His outline was much more defined.
Much more real.
And behind him...
Ginny was even paler, now more than ever. It even looked like she'd stopped breathing completely, making Harry and Percy's eyes widen as if they'd just realized what had happened.
"Oh, no," they let out.
Tom, who was watching them after they'd killed his basilisk, didn't seem upset. Instead, he let out an excited smile, filled with arrogance and disdain.
"Ahhh... It seems you managed to defeat the beast, but you failed to save the princess," he said, his tone filling with contempt and mockery.
Harry and Percy tightened their grips around the swords in their hands as their bodies trembled with rage.