Your Sword Is Supposed to Cut Everything
"Harry, I don't think we can fight with our eyes closed, and I left the crystal ball in Medusa's basement," Percy said immediately as they both listened to the enormous snake finish crawling out of the statue's mouth and begin coiling itself up.
"Shut up, I'm thinking," Harry said as he held his wand, trying to think of some spell that could help them right now without seeing the basilisk's eyes, which would kill them instantly. And looking through something wouldn't work either, since they'd end up petrified.
Meanwhile, he was preparing illusions to buy time, just like they'd done with Medusa.
Right at that moment, Tom's hissing voice rang out again.
"Kill them, don't devour them. I need their bodies."
Instantly, the sound of the enormous snake dragging itself across the ground came rushing toward them at high speed. Guided only by their senses, Harry and Percy took their stances side by side, ready to attack the moment the creature got close.
But before they could, they suddenly heard a strange song that seemed to begin playing above everyone's heads, echoing throughout the entire Chamber.
It was a sound that made the brothers' hearts seem to beat faster, as if they were being filled with excitement and strength. Then Harry felt something soft fall onto his head. Right after that, he began hearing crazed hissing and something enormous thrashing furiously against the nearby columns.
"Damn bird! Not its eyes!"
Harry froze.
Bird?
He slowly raised his gaze.
But not toward the basilisk.
He looked toward one of the walls.
The creatures' shadows were being cast across it.
And there he saw it.
The shadow of an enormous bird was flying above the basilisk's head, diving again and again toward its face, while the basilisk thrashed its head furiously and snapped its fangs through the air, trying to catch the bird.
Blood splattered across the floor, and the bird threw a round object down onto the ground. Harry couldn't help looking at it.
Then his eyes widened in surprise when he saw an enormous eye, completely torn apart and covered in blackish blood.
Right after that, another orb was thrown down, obviously the same kind.
Harry finally recognized them as the basilisk's eyes, so, surprised, he looked toward the bird still flying above the enormous snake's head.
And saw a beautiful reddish bird surrounded by thin ethereal flames. It looked very similar to Headmaster Dumbledore's bird, although much more beautiful. Then Harry remembered the old headmaster's words about his pet, that in his prime he was far more beautiful.
"Fawkes," Harry recognized him.
At the same time, Percy also opened his eyes and saw the phoenix finishing off the basilisk's eyes for them.
"You're awesome, Fawkes!" he shouted happily as he readied his sword.
Now that the most dangerous thing about that creature had been taken away, he seemed ready to fight it.
"Leave the bird! Kill them now! Kill those boys right now!" Tom Riddle shouted furiously. "You can smell them, kill them!"
The snake, somewhat disoriented by Fawkes's attacks, obeyed Tom's orders and began moving between the columns.
The enormous creature's forked tongue flicked out of its mouth several times.
Harry frowned.
"That's not good."
"What?" Percy asked, now much more confident after seeing the snake was blind.
"If it doesn't have eyes, how am I supposed to fool it with illusions?" Harry explained.
Percy stopped smiling.
"Oh."
The basilisk's head slowly turned toward them.
Its tongue flicked out again.
SSSSSSSSSS.
"Well, looking on the bright side, it's still better than ending up dead or petrified from its stare."
The basilisk attacked.
"SPLIT UP!" Harry shouted.
Harry threw himself to the right.
Percy jumped to the left.
BOOOOOOM!
The enormous head slammed down exactly where they'd been standing just a moment before.
The floor cracked.
Percy rolled across the stones and immediately got back up.
"Now we're talking!"
He ran toward the snake.
"Percy, wait!"
Too late.
Percy jumped.
His sword came down directly toward the basilisk's head.
CLANG!
Percy's eyes widened.
The blade had struck one of the enormous scales.
But instead of cutting through it, it had barely left a mark.
"What?"
The basilisk twisted violently.
Its head slammed into Percy.
"UGH!"
Percy went flying.
He flew several meters and crashed into a column.
BOOM!
"Percy!"
Harry immediately raised his wand.
"Confringo!"
The spell struck the basilisk's side.
BOOM!
The explosion hit its scales dead on. The monster hissed in pain, but the spell didn't seem to do any real damage. It only managed to make the basilisk turn its attention toward Harry.
Its enormous head turned toward Harry.
Harry saw its nostrils moving.
"Oh."
The snake opened its mouth.
Two enormous fangs came down.
Harry threw himself to the side.
CRASH!
The fangs pierced through the stones.
Harry rolled and got back to his feet.
"Diffindo!"
Another spell struck the creature's face, but once again it only managed to make it angrier, without leaving a single mark on it, showing just how resistant its scales were to magic.
Harry raised his wand again as he thought about what spell he could use next to actually hurt it, but before he could cast anything, something enormous appeared beside him.
The snake's tail.
Harry's eyes widened, but he didn't have time to react. He only raised both arms to protect himself.
Harry was sent flying and rolled violently across the floor.
"Harry!" Percy shouted as he ran toward his brother with his sword in hand.
Blood was running down one side of his face, but he looked more angry than hurt.
He jumped onto one section of the basilisk's body.
He drove his sword between two scales, and this time the blade went in, whether because Percy focused harder on wanting to cut through something that tough or because of the fury of seeing his brother get hurt.
SCHLK.
The basilisk hissed violently.
"Why are you so damn tough?!" Percy shouted as he pulled his sword free to stab it again.
But the monster began thrashing around.
"Oh, shit!"
Percy was thrown through the air.
Harry managed to get back up and pointed toward Percy as he went flying.
"Arresto Momentum!" he shouted in time.
Making Percy's fall much slower.
He landed awkwardly on his feet.
"Your sword is supposed to cut everything!" Harry shouted seriously at his brother.
"Try focusing on cutting something while also trying not to get impaled by its enormous fangs or turned into paste by its tail!" Percy shouted back in complaint.
But neither of them had time to argue.
The basilisk turned toward them both.
Fawkes swooped down again and tried to distract it.
Tom watched everything from near the statue.
There was nothing amused about his expression anymore.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted furiously. "They're two children!"
The basilisk charged again.
Harry and Percy split up once more.
The enormous creature passed between them and smashed through one of the columns.
Harry followed its movement with his eyes.
His expression became serious.
Spells couldn't hurt it.
Percy's sword could barely pierce it.
Neither of them was doing enough damage.
And meanwhile...
Harry looked toward Ginny.
She was still completely motionless.
So was Tyson.
They couldn't stay there fighting forever.
They needed to finish this quickly.
Harry looked back at the basilisk.
His eyes moved over its enormous body.
The scales.
The head.
The mouth.
The fangs.
Then his gaze stopped on something lying not far from them, among the basilisk's enormous body.
It was the Sorting Hat, but this time it seemed completely lifeless, like an ordinary old hat.
"Percy."
"What?"
"I think I have an idea. It's dangerous and it might not work, but if I'm right, we can beat it in one go," Harry said seriously.
Percy looked at the basilisk, which was beginning to turn toward them again, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth as drops of saliva fell from its enormous fangs. Whatever was dripping from them didn't look particularly healthy for any living creature.
"I hope it's not getting swallowed and fighting the basilisk from the inside," Percy said, still putting his trust in his brother.
Harry raised his wand.
"No promises," he said with a small smile, playing along before becoming serious and looking back at the enormous snake.
Percy smiled and raised his sword again.
"Then it's good enough for me."