"It's been here all the time! Look at it. The Forest has turned it wild." Peter slaps the hood in a loving manor.
You nod quickly, and then glance back up to the slope, "C'mon, we don't want to lose the trail."
_
You and Peter enter a hollow ribboned with shadows. Enormous trees tower over you, strewn with strands of white webbing. Peter steps on a strand, and then kicks it off queasily.
You peer up ahead: at the far end of the hollow, the spiders stream toward dark opening.
As you and Peter slowly approach the opening, a clicking sound emanates from within, echoing in the branches of the tall trees. Growing louder. You put your hand near your wand, Peter falters, glancing at you nervously.
"I don't have a good feeling about this, _____-" Peter says.
"Don't panic." You say grabbing his arm and placing him behind you protectively.
As you step up to the mouth of the cavern, the air
suddenly crackles with movement. Twigs snap. A huge shadow emerges, and slowly engulfs you. You swallow hard and then peer up.
You see an enormous spider, the size of a small elephant. As it advances, you and Peter back slowly away. Then: its blind eyes catch the light, and it stops. As if...listening.
"You do not come from the forest. Your hearts beat like...mortals." The beast says.
You finally are able to take a struggled breath, "Yes. We're friends of Bruce's. And...your....Aragog, aren't you?"
Hearing this, Aragog's head turns slightly.
"Bruce Banner has never sent mere humans into our
hollow before." Aragog says.
"He's in trouble. Up at school, there've been attacks. They think it's Bruce. They think he's opened the Chamber of Secrets. Like before." You stutter.
As you talk, you notice Peter eyes dart warily about. He nudges you, but you ignore him.
"That's a lie! Bruce never opend the Chamber of Secrets!" Aragog hisses.
"But if Bruce never...that means...you're not the monster." You realize.
"The monster was born in the castle. I came from a distant land, in the pocket of a traveler." Aragog says.
Peter turns, "_____..." He whispers.
"Shhh!" You command.
"But if you're not the monster, what did kill that girl fifty years ago?" You ask.
"We do not speak of it! It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others." The beast says harshly.
"But have you seen it?" You press.
"I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which Bruce kept me. The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When I was accused, Bruce brought me here." Aragog says.
You look up for a moment and see hundreds of spiders in high and low branches dropping downward like paratroopers. Peter grabs you. You pale, and turn slowly back to Aragog.
"Well... thank you. We'll just go..." You sputter.
"Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Bruce, on my command. But I cannot deny
them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friends of Bruce." Aragog turns, and disappears into the shadows of the cavern.
"Can we panic now?" Peter says.
A gang of five-foot spiders bar the path ahead. And they begin to move forward. You and Peter spin again: Spiders. Everywhere. Closing in. Desperately, you swing the lantern in you hand.
"I'm so sorry!" You cry out to Peter.
The lantern light goes out and you pitch it to the side. As one, you and Peter draw your wands.
"Nice knowing you, and thank you for being my best friend." Peter says, taking your hand solemnly.
You're done for. Fang whimpers. The spiders draw closer, clicking there pinchers feverishly, when all of a sudden a long, loud horn bleats.
Seconds later, a blaze of light ignites the hollow and the Ford Angelia comes thundering over the rim and down the slope, knocking all the spiders out of its path. As it screeches to a halt, the doors fling open.
"Let's go!" You shout, pulling Peter's arm.
You, Peter and Fang leap inside. Peter shifts around frantically, "THE WINDOWS! ROLL UP THE WINDOWS!"
You try to crank the handle frantically, "I CAN'T! IT'S STUCK!"
Just then, a hairy leg reaches through Peter's window. Instantly, Peter hits the gas, throws the car into reverse. Spiders scatter, but the two clinging to the side windows hold tight.
As the car zooms backwards out of the hollow, you finally are able to roll your window tight, and you snap off one of the spiders legs.
The Anglia jets out of the hollow, and lands with a thud. You turn. The other spider is pulling Peter from the car. You point your wand, utter a spell and then a blinding flash of light blasts the spider into the shadows whipping past.
"Thanks for that." Peter says quickly.
"Don't mention it." You shout.
As the car flies over a ridge, you see them: a sea of spiders heading straight for you like a herd of raging wildebeests. Peter puts his foot to the floor, spins the wheel and sends the car sliding away. The spiders stampede after.
The Anglia slams through the forest, skimming past trees as the spiders charge after. You peer ahead, and see an area of fallen trees. It is an opening, one narrow escape route.
"That way! It's the only way out!" You point, then look back, "Hurry! They're catching up!"
Peter jams the accelerator, just as a giant tarantula drops in front of the escape route. You and Peter are as good as dead.
"Can you get us in the air?" You beg. Peter begins jostling the gear stick.
"Flying gear's jammed!" He cries.
The spiders behind draw closer. The tarantula waits
ahead. You claps your hand over Peter's on the gear shift, pushing.
The tarantula's pincers open, ready to kill, when... the gear shift gives, and the Anglia's wheels lift and the car begins to fly, leaving the furious spiders below. The car barely avoids the rearing tarantula, then sails over the trees.
_
Fang bolts free. You and Peter exit the car wearily, then watch it turn and rumble back into the forest.
"Follow the spiders! Follow the! spiders! If he ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill Bruce. I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we
found out?" Peter screams.
You were tearing up a little, tears of joy, because you were alive mostly. You grab Peter and pull him into a hug.
"You're wrong Peter, we know one thing. Bruce never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent."
_
Madam Khan bars the door, and frowns at you and Peter.
"There's no point in talking to a petrified person. She won't hear a word you're saying." She says sternly.
You shift uncomfortably.
"We know that, Madam Khan. It's just, well, you see, we thought, maybe, we could...be with her for a bit. She's our friend, you see, and even if she can't hear us; I mean, it can't hurt, can it?
A glint of sympathy flickers in Khan's eyes, "Very well then. But be quick about it."
As she exits, you both step to her bed. Absently, Peter picks up the circular mirror that lies on the nightstand.
You study Michelle's face. "Wish you were here, Michelle. We need you. Now more than ever..." you sigh.
Just then, the mirror in Peter's hand catches the late afternoon sunlight, and casts a jagged ray across Michelle's hand. You watch the light dance over her fingers...and then look closer, you notice a paper clutched tightly in her hand.
_
You and Peter duck into an alcove, and you take out the paper, which has been torn from a library book.
"Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the Basilisk. Capable of
living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it and only the crowing of the rooster can kill it." You read.
You look up, "Peter! This is it! The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. That's why I can hear it speak. It's a snake."
"But it kills by looking people in the eye. Why is it no one's dead?" Peter wonders aloud.
You frown, contemplating this, then catch you and Peters reflections in the window opposite. You mutter softly, "Because no one did look it in the
eye. Not directly at least...Phil saw it through his camera. Rhodey- Rhodey must've seen the Basilisk through one of the ghosts...the ghost got the full blast of it, but it's a ghost- it couldn't die again...
and Michelle...had the mirror! I bet you anything she
was using it to look round corners, in case it came along."
"And Goose? I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, _____." Peter says,
"Well... there was water on the floor that night. She only saw the Basilisk's reflection..." you glance at the page again, "The crowing of the rooster is fatal to it! That's why Bruce's roosters were killed! Spiders
flee before it! It all fits!"
"But how's the Basilisk been getting around? A dirty great snake. Someone would have seen-"
"Michelles answered that too." You say triumphantly, showing him the scribble on the page.
Peter looks aghast, "Pipes...? It's using the plumbing?"
"Remember what Aragog said? About that girl fifty years ago? She died in a bathroom. What if she
never left."
"Screaming Starr!"
You nod. Just then, T'Challa's voice echos throughout the castle, magically magnified.
"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor. Immediately." It says.
"Well Peter you know what this means." You smirk.
"I'm scared to say." He says.
"We're going to the second floor corridor."
_
T'Challa stands before the desecrated wall, surrounded by the rest of the staff. You and Peter creep up the stairwell.
"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realized. A student has been taken by the monster. Into the Chamber itself."
The teachers gasp and cry out, T'Challa swiftly responds, "I'm afraid we shall have to send the students home. I'm afraid...this is the end of Midgards."
Suddenly professor Summers bursts in cheerily, "So sorry. Dozed off. What have I missed?"
"Just the man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Summers. Your moment has come at last." Professor Laufeyson says.
"My m-moment?" Summers stutters.
"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" Laufeyson smirks.
"D-did I? I don't recall..." Summers says.
"That settles it. We'll leave you to deal with the monster Scott. Your skills, after all are legend." T'Challa says sternly.
"V-very well. I'll- I'll be in my office, getting- getting
ready." Summer says, pale as a ghost.
"The rest of us should go and inform the students what has happened." T'Challa says.
"Who is it the monster's taken, T'Challa?" Professor Groot asks.
"Penni Parker."
Peter's knees give way. As you catch him, the staff scatters, revealing what is written on the wall:
HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN
THE CHAMBER, FOREVER