A shower of dark blood spattered the floor.
The Basilisk spat in agony as it thrashed its head. Its fanged mouth caught on the Talonflame's right wing and tore it apart.
"Talonflame!" Daphne cried.
The Basilisk let out a mad hiss, lunging forward.
"NO!" Tom Riddle screamed at the serpent. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!"
Harry, Ron, and Draco's hearts sank.
"LET GO…" Draco couldn't even finish the words.
The Basilisk's massive tail thrashed and swept the three boys with a dull thud, making them roll on the floor, pain blasting their sides.
Ron had been the one who faced the full brunt of the attack, his right side ribs fracturing on the spot.
He screamed. But, among the serpent's furious hisses and Daphne's cries, his scream melted away.
Draco had been between Harry and Ron. His Wand had flown away, disappearing somewhere among the rising pillars' shadows.
Harry still had his wand in his hand. He also had managed to shift his body just enough to keep himself closer to Ginny and Daphne.
Unfortunately, that also put him right in the middle of Lockhart, Basilisk, and Tom Riddle.
Harry saw the magical creature from a foreign dimension disappearing into Daphne's shadow. If he remembered right, then she won't be able to summon another for some time.
Suddenly, everything darkened overhead.
Harry rolled away, and the serpent's head slammed into the floor. The Basilisk's tail thrashed wilder than ever, trying to hit just about anything.
At this moment, Harry could do just about anything to have Black's magical gloves and shoes.
But Umbridge had confiscated every last one of them from their dorms. And then Black went and got himself petrified…
Bam!
The tip of Basilisk's tail brushed Harry as he was running away and slammed him against Slytherin's toe.
A pain tore through him.
"HARRY!"
Harry's eyes snapped open.
Draco was sprinting toward him from the left. Basilisk was about to flatten both Daphne and Ginny.
Ron was twisting and turning in pain, clutching his sides beyond them. And, on Harry's right, the tip of Lockhart's wand was glowing green, his face now resembling Tom Riddle's in the curves.
"AVADA…"
Help… Harry screamed within, blood foaming out of his mouth. Someone…
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
A beastly growl announced itself through the chaos.
Before Lockhart could cast the Killing Curse, a giant Werewolf's claw swept at him from behind, hitting him right on the back of his head.
Gilderoy Lockhart went flying, disappearing into the shadows, leaving behind no scream.
The Werewolf growled again and lunged at the Basilisk, grabbing it by the neck. Letting out a mad howl, Hermione pulled the Basilisk back, dragged it away from the girls, and bit it, plunging her fangs right into its head.
That was a mistake.
Fearing nothing because of its size, the Basilisk lifted its upper body like a black pillar and rammed into the Slytherin's statue head first.
Boommmm!
The Werewolf's eyes rolled back into its head, debris falling off the point of impact.
As the Basilisk moved away, the Werewolf slipped along the statue and fell into shallow water, turning back into Hermione. This time, she didn't wake up, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth.
The Basilisk, now blind, rammed its head at the same spot again.
"LEAVE THE GIRL!" Riddle screamed. "KILL THE BOY! TO YOUR RIGHT!"
Biting through the pain, Harry couldn't help but think why Tom Riddle wasn't attacking himself. Perhaps, without having an actual body, this memory couldn't cast powerful, complex spells?
Regardless of the thoughts, Harry couldn't help but thank their luck.
Even though he wanted to get up, he didn't dare. The Basilisk was already on a mad rampage. If it learned where he was, Harry didn't know if he would survive another blow.
In the distance, he saw the same expression on Draco's face as well.
Malfoy was standing beyond the girls, his face going paler with every moment.
Hel… Harry didn't finish the word this time. No one was coming to help them. They all had made sure of it themselves. I need to… do something. Or…
Hisssssssssss!
As Riddle kept screaming at the Basilisk, Harry saw the serpent coming toward him.
There was no other choice. He must give his everything to the Spell if he wanted to save his friends.
With a silent boom in his mind, Brave Heart exploded, letting him look into the future.
Harry saw Riddle's hands moving before they actually moved. He saw Basilisk slithering near him before it arrived. He saw Draco making noise before Malfoy even opened his mouth.
No. This was not enough. He must see deeper. He must go beyond all…
Gritting his teeth, a whimper escaped Harry's mouth. Blood dripped from his ear and the corners of his bloodshot eyes.
And, through this bloodiness, Harry saw a scene — It was Draco reaching out for the Sorting Hat!
The Sorting Hat? Why the Sorting Hat?! Still, Harry couldn't afford to choose and pick. He moved his mouth without making any sound, hoping that Draco had his Spell — Acute Sense — still activated.
From the pure confusion on Draco's pale face, it seemed he had.
Draco didn't know why Harry wanted the Sorting Hat. He just knew it must be he who needed to get the Hat here. Because only he could do it.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Letting out a shout that Draco couldn't afford, he pushed his brain to concentrate only on the Headmaster's office, drowning his fears under his own scream. "FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!"
The Basilisk lunged, ignoring Tom Riddle.
For a massive beast, it was fast. Faster than any serpent.
In one smooth motion, it rammed headfirst at Draco… just as the Malfoy spun onto himself and disapparated.
CRACK!
…
BOOM!
Draco slammed right into the bookshelf as if a train had struck him.
Eyes rolling back in his head, it fell, dozens of books falling right over him. How on earth he didn't splinch was a mystery even to him. Through the pain and darkness, Draco somehow remembered why he had come here.
As he looked through the blood, trying to get up, his eyes almost widened.
The Sorting Hat was lying right in front of him, among the books that had fallen upon him.
He reached out to grab it without even knowing if he could even apparate back to that place.
All he knew was that five lives depended on him now. He couldn't and wouldn't let anyone down… ever again.
Draco's hand reached for the Sorting Hat.
And stars glimmered within it, a hilt materializing out of thin air.
…
Missing its prey, the Basilisk rose high, blood pooling under it as it spurted from its eyes.
"THE BOY!" Riddle screamed, pointing his wand at Harry. "RIGHT! RIGHT!" He didn't even care where the other boy had run off to… or how he had disapparated within Hogwarts…
All Riddle cared for now was Harry's death!
So, when the CRACK rang over the Basilisk's head, he just looked at it. Stunned.
Screaming out loud, Draco fell, holding a silver sword. Before the Basilisk could even move, he plunged the sword deep into the beast's head to the hilt.
With a dull thud, the Basilisk fell and twitched on the floor. Because of the fall, one of the Basilisk's fangs had splintered and skidded, coming to a stop between Harry and the Diary.
Draco rolled away towards the girl, losing consciousness on the spot.
Meanwhile, Riddle and Harry just stared at the dead Basilisk, looking at the sword running through its head.
Suddenly, Ron's voice entered Harry's ears. Somehow, he had picked himself up, dragging his body near the girls.
He didn't know why, but as he looked at the Diary, he could see the numbers around it rising. It was radiating more heat. It was getting better. It was… coming alive.
"The Diary!" Ron screamed.
Riddle panicked.
Harry's mind had already gone numb because of Brave Heart.
So, he just lunged, grabbed the Basilisk's fang, and, before Riddle could stop him, planted it deep into the Book.
Black ink sputtered from the Diary like a geyser.
And screams of agony and hisses of death echoed within the Chamber of Secrets!
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