We couldn''t afford to just rush into the unknown, not even when Draco was ahead of us and making a deal with the Basilisks. If that was possible at all. We tried hurrying the best we could, edging along the wall until the pretty wide corridor opened up into a vast chamber. Water was flowing down from the holes in the walls into small canals, forming an underground river. A giant statue stood at the end, high as a building, representing Salazar Slytherin himself. Its enormous mouth was wide open, and I already knew why.


    "Drink…" Quincy whispered, downing her side of the potions, and I did the same without question.


    As to why, the reason was right out in the open; a humongous snake, coiling before us, hissing and speaking to Draco, who was standing in place, head lowered, trembling. I wasn''t getting what it was saying, but looking at Draco, the yellowish pool below his legs and his legs barely supporting him, I was sure it wasn''t something encouraging. Well… at least he was alive, unlike his cronies. I don''t know if I felt anything, maybe I was a little bit sorry for them… but they were dead, I was sure of it. Their bodies were turned entirely to stone; even we couldn''t feed potions down on the throat of a rock statue. I just hope they won''t return as ghosts; that would be the most annoying.


    "What is he saying?" I whispered, trying not to look up and stare only at its lower body.


    "It is debating whether to eat Draco or not!" Quincy answered, "It is astonished at the fact that Draco can understand him, yet he does not smell the blood of Salazar in him…"


    "So the snake is bound to Salazar''s bloodline…"


    "It very well seems like it! And I guess Draco did not know what he was going to find here! We can''t save the two others… It is too late!" She added, looking at them, encased in stone for all eternity.


    "Yeah, I guessed so. Oh well… I need Draco alive!"


    "Why?"


    "We need a scapegoat… are we not? So… this rooster… should we unfreeze it? Let it go and hope it works?"


    "I don''t know how close we need to be…" Quincy bit her lips, passing our ''weapon'' to me, "Try to sneak in while I distract the beast!" And before I could say anything, she strolled forward without showing any fear.


    "Quincy!" I tried to say it out loud, but my mind swallowed it back before it could escape my throat.


    "What now?" The Basilisk hissed, but I did not understand its speech at that moment in time. "A helper? Not that it would matter."


    "I am not on his side," Quincy answered coldly, not glancing at Draco, who was eager to grab her attention and ask for help. She kept her face focused on the snake and its tail. Draco was petrified not because of the snake''s gaze but because of what was happening to him, Crabbe, and Goyle. Watching them turn to stone just like that was horrifying. They thought they discovered Salazar''s secret lair, with ancient knowledge and treasures… instead, it was a chamber of his monster, their inevitable doom.


    "Another one?" The snake let out a low, growl-like sound "Another strange human, speaking my tongue yet smelling nothing like my Master? I can feel you are all pure, but... I am also bored eating rats and critters. Maybe a change in diet is in order. Maybe I should go out before someone closes the door for good... again."


    "Who is your Master?"


    "Hah!" The snake''s body trembled, shaking like a rattlesnake would before answering. "Salazar Slytherin, who else, you weak fledgling! You are lucky that you can speak the tongue of the chosen bloodline… and that is why you are still alive! I want to know how you two managed to learn the language! What kind of abomination of magic made it possible?"


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    "It was Conrad!" Draco blurted out, making Quincy flinch, and the snake instantly turned his head towards him. I almost slipped in my attempt to sneak in, using the cover of darkness and the decorative statues on the side. My name, even when uttered in parseltongue, was something I recognized at first hearing.


    "Who is this… Conrad?" The snake asked, leaning forward, its forked tongue almost licking Draco''s face. "Is he of the blood of the Gaunts?"


    "N-no… The Gaunts already… died out…” Draco mumbled, his eyes closed shut. I bet he realized what he was dealing with the moment his lackeys turned to stone.


    "Hah!" The Basilisk reared back, his head bobbing up and down in laughter, "Their line is still around; I met their last heir! Although he is not 100% pure, with the taint of a muggle in him, my Master''s line is still inside of him. I smelled it. He was strong... in the tongue! I could feel it; I could smell it in the air around him! Just as I smell the third of you sneaking around!"


    My heart immediately dropped to my stomach, and I jumped forward, out of the way of its tail, slapping against the wall, almost crushing me. Quincy suddenly roared at the Basilisk out of panic and fear, her voice echoing in the dark chamber like thunder.


    "STOP!"


    "What is this… magic?!" The basilisks hissed, and I was surprised, too, scrambling forward in the meantime, watching the snake being frozen in motion. Quincy''s voice, her order, was filled with such power that Draco''s version could not measure up to it.


    Still, it was not the strongest it could be as the snake gained its freedom back a few seconds later, but it gave me enough time to act. With a spell, I disabled the petrification spell on the rooster, hoping all those fables and tales were real, and tossed it right toward the beast. The moment it regained its freedom, the bird started freaking out, crying so loudly even though my ears were hurting.


    "MAKE IT STOOOOOOP!"


    "It''s working!" Quincy shouted, watching the Basilisk thrash around, clearly in deep pain.


    "But it isn''t enough!" I rolled again, dodging its tail whipping past me, smashing the statues that were Crabbe and Goyle into pieces.


    We had to do something before it either escaped or killed the panicking bird… damn it, we should have brought more! I felt like giving my body to somebody else as I started moving by instinct the next moment. I rushed forward, glancing at the giant snake, banging its head against the ground, and doing everything in a panicked state to stop the rooster from crying.


    "Conrad!" Quincy shouted, to which I replied with my own.


    "Don''t look!"


    And with that, I took aim and summoned blue flames, sending them straight down the monster''s open mouth. I don''t know if I ever could repeat the same feet, but at that moment, it happened naturally, and my spell hit its mark perfectly. I don''t know what makes a basilisk or what its insides are made of… but I don''t think any of us expected the results of its head going and exploding on us. Maybe it was the mix between the rooster and my spell? It was trashing its head the most…


    "Shit…" I gasped, as when I turned away from the sight, looking at the water, I saw one of its eyes pop out of its socket, flying in the air. I immediately felt its effects battling with our own potion, and looking down, half of my body was unresponsive, and I couldn''t move.


    "Drink!" Quincy appeared next to me, forcing one of our vials into my mouth and making me drink the mandragora juice, soon helping me return to normality.


    "T-thanks…" I gasped, holding onto her as she held onto me, supporting each other.


    We were still pumped full of adrenaline, but as it left our bodies, it was hard to remain standing. Everything happened way faster than any of us expected. But… we were alive and…


    "The eye…" I almost looked, but Quincy held my face, staring straight at me.


    "Idiot! You look at it and die!"


    “Ah… ahm… s-sorry… Ehehe...”


    "Don''t screw it up right at the end!" She berated me with tears in her eyes, gasping for air. "Did you see where it landed?"


    “Kinda… yes…”


    "Close your eyes, and we are going to get it! Wrap it in something, then let''s get the hell out of here!"


    "Good idea! Draco?" I asked, but none of us dared to scan the place. Just one accidental glance at the eye, and we would be dead.


    "Draco?" Quincy also repeated his name but no reply. We started inching backward, only looking at each other when we felt like hitting something soft. Looking down, it was him, unconscious but alive.


    "Probably fainted. Or was knocked out by the snake." I murmured, separating from Quincy and looking at him before I pulled off his robe.


    "What are you doing?"


    "We need something to cover the eye, no? This is going to be perfect! Keep an eye on him! Knock him out if he wakes up! This is wonderful… actually!"


    "Is it? Why?"


    "You''ll see!"


    It took me fifteen minutes to find the eye, trying not to look, almost falling over it as I was crab-walking where I previously saw it flying. I managed to wrap it in Draco''s robe with closed eyes, sighing in relief and watching the squishy lump in my hands. Walking back to Quincy, I passed it to her and took out my wand, aiming at Draco''s head.


    "Now… let''s start phase two… Obliviate!"