Chapter 41: A Descent into Darkness: Unraveling Secrets
The gloomy afternoon cast long shadows over Hogwarts as Raja strolled with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the courtyard. The conversation turned tense as Hermione insisted, "It couldn't be Hagrid! He'd never put anyone in danger."
Ron scoffed, kicking at the gravel. "Riddle's just a snitch. A dirty rotten snitch. Bet he exaggerated the whole thing to make himself look heroic."
Raja could see Hermione's concern etched on her face, even as Harry countered with a solemn tone. "Whatever it is, it's real—and it's dangerous. The monster's attacked people before, and now it's back."
At that moment, Hagrid ambled up to them, clutching a hefty sack over one shoulder, his large face sweaty and flushed. He looked between them, his brow furrowed. "Oi, what're you lot whisperin' about?"
They scrambled, each mumbling an excuse and avoiding his gaze. Raja scratched the back of his neck, hoping Hagrid would overlook their conversation. To his relief, Hagrid just shrugged, explaining, "I've been up all mornin' with these blasted Flesh-Eating Slugs. Can't wait 'til the Mandrakes are grown—then we can help the poor folks who've been attacked."
As he walked away, Neville came stumbling into the courtyard, looking panicked. "Harry! You have to come quick!" He led them through the castle and up to Harry's dormitory, where they stopped short at the sight of strewn books and clothes, as if a storm had swept through.
"Someone's ransacked it," Hermione muttered, eyeing the chaos. "It has to be someone from Gryffindor—only we know the password."
Harry's eyes darted around as he lifted up a pile of his belongings, then stilled. "The diary. Riddle's diary—it's gone."
A foreboding silence settled over the group, only interrupted by a familiar booming laugh outside the window as the Gryffindor Quidditch team started warming up. Oliver Wood was rallying the team as usual, urging them to stay focused for the match.
"Bet the other team's terrified of Harry," Fred joked. "Think he'll turn 'em all to stone."
But before the team could take off, Professor McGonagall's sharp voice rang out across the pitch. "The match is canceled." She spotted Harry and Ron and beckoned them forward, her lips a tight line. "Come with me. There's something you need to see."
Raja exchanged a worried look with Hermione as they followed at a distance. When they reached the Hospital Wing, the cold reality hit him like a punch. There, lying stiff as marble, was Hermione.
Her expression was frozen in a look of shock, her hand gripping a small, cracked mirror. Raja felt a wave of anger rise up inside, but he kept his face steady as Professor McGonagall addressed them in the common room later that evening.
"Strict new rules will be enforced immediately," she announced, her tone grave. "Until we find the culprit, this school is in danger of closing."
That night, in the dim light of the dormitory, Harry, Ron, and Raja gathered near Harry's bed. The determination in Harry's voice was unshakable. "We're going to talk to Hagrid. He has answers we need."
Harry reached for the Invisibility Cloak, and as he and Ron slipped under it, Raja murmured, "Be careful. We're closer to the truth, but this is just the beginning."
Under the cover of darkness, Harry and Ron, cloaked in invisibility, approached Hagrid's cabin. Raja lingered behind them, concealed just beyond the cabin's glow, keeping watch. A gust of wind swept through, chilling the air as Harry rapped on the door.
Inside, a loud clatter announced Hagrid grabbing his crossbow. "Who's there?" he growled, cautious, until he saw Harry and Ron slip off the cloak and appear in the doorway. His gruff face softened instantly. "Blimey, it's jus' you two. Thought you might've been…" He trailed off, his words weighed by the recent attacks.
They gathered around Hagrid's table as he set out tea, his hands trembling slightly. Harry cut straight to the heart of it, his voice low with urgency. "Hagrid, Hermione's been petrified. We need to know—do you have any idea what could be causing this?"
Hagrid's gaze dropped, sorrow flickering in his eyes. "Poor Hermione. But I promise yeh, I don't know anythin' about it, Harry. I'd never let anythin' happen to her—or anyone, fer that matter."
Harry opened his mouth to press him further when a sudden, firm knock echoed from the door, halting them all. Harry and Ron scrambled beneath the cloak, and Raja quickly ducked into the shadows outside, moving as silently as he could.
Hagrid opened the door to reveal Professor Dumbledore, his expression somber yet calm, standing beside Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. From his concealed spot, Raja noticed a third figure, stepping forward with a smug, narrow-eyed glare—Lucius Malfoy.
"Good evening, Hagrid," Dumbledore greeted gently, though his eyes held an edge. Fudge's face was twisted with discomfort as he addressed Hagrid. "Hagrid, I'm afraid we've got no choice," he said, avoiding Hagrid's gaze. "The attacks on Muggle-borns can't be ignored, and the Ministry needs to act… preventively."
Raja watched Hagrid stiffen, his face reddening. "Preventively? Yeh can't think I'm involved, Minister! I told yeh, it wasn't me fifty years ago, and it ain't me now!"
Dumbledore placed a steadying hand on Hagrid's shoulder. "I trust Hagrid, Cornelius," he said, his voice steady yet underscored with warning. "And I have full confidence in his innocence."
But Fudge, though visibly rattled, shook his head. "I'm sorry, Dumbledore. Hagrid has a record… the Ministry's hands are tied." His gaze fell uncomfortably to the floor, and in the silence, Lucius's icy voice slid in.
"It's for the best," Lucius sneered, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "And Dumbledore—there's also the matter of this." He pulled out a document, stamped and signed, brandishing it like a trophy. "The governors' order of suspension. Hogwarts will be without a headmaster effective immediately."
Raja clenched his fists, feeling a pang of anger. Dumbledore, however, seemed unfazed, his gaze shifting to Harry and Ron's invisible forms as if sensing their presence. "You will find, Mr. Malfoy," he said calmly, "that help will always be available at Hogwarts to those who seek it."
In a last, desperate attempt, Hagrid yelled out as they led him away. "If anyone wants answers… jus' follow the spiders!" His voice echoed hauntingly into the night, carrying an urgency that filled Raja with dread as he watched Fudge and Malfoy disappear into the darkness, Hagrid in tow.
When they were gone, Harry and Ron threw off the cloak, their faces pale. "This… this is bad," Ron muttered. Harry's eyes drifted to a line of spiders scurrying out the window, and he whispered, "We have to follow them. We can't waste a second."
Raja watched from the shadow of Hagrid's cabin as Harry and Ron followed the line of scuttling spiders, their tiny legs moving in synchronized urgency toward the Forbidden Forest. Harry, holding Hagrid's lantern aloft, seemed resolute, while Ron trailed hesitantly, muttering nervously under his breath.
"Of all the things to follow, why couldn't it have been butterflies?" Ron muttered, shivering as they approached the forest's edge. Raja stifled a laugh from a few paces back. His friends didn't know he was tailing them, but he couldn't let them plunge into the Dark Forest alone with only Hagrid's hint to guide them.
A sudden rumbling in the undergrowth made all three boys freeze. Harry shone the lantern forward, and the source of the noise emerged—Hagrid's old Ford Anglia, its once-bright paint now faded and covered with branches, vines, and what appeared to be a layer of moss. The enchanted car revved as if greeting them, its headlights flickering as if winking. Ron's jaw dropped.
"It's gone wild," he whispered, staring at the car in both awe and mild horror. "What else in here is… feral?"
"Hopefully, nothing else we run into tonight," Raja thought, inching closer as Harry pressed on, his gaze trained on the stream of spiders continuing to scurry deeper into the woods.
After a few minutes, they reached an enormous tree root arching over a narrow, ominous tunnel. Harry stepped forward without hesitation, lantern lighting the way. Ron swallowed hard, his voice wavering. "We're really going in there?"
"Come on, Ron," Harry encouraged, pushing forward. "If Hagrid trusts these spiders, so should we."
They disappeared into the tunnel, leaving Raja to follow at a safe distance. Inside, the air turned colder, damp, and thick with the scent of earth. Ron's soft whimpers echoed as they crept along the shadowed path, his fear nearly palpable even to Raja. Finally, the narrow passage opened into a vast clearing, its eerie silence broken only by the skittering of countless legs surrounding them.
A massive spider with a mottled gray body and legs as thick as tree trunks emerged from a mound in the center. Aragog. Raja tensed, ready to act if things went sideways, watching as the creature turned its blind eyes toward Harry and Ron.
"Hagrid?" Aragog rasped, its voice a low, rattling whisper. "Is that you?"
Harry stepped forward, voice steady but respectful. "No, we're friends of Hagrid's. He's… in trouble, and we're trying to help him."
Aragog tilted its great head. "Hagrid is innocent. He did not open the Chamber of Secrets." The spider's mandibles clicked. "The creature from the Chamber is one even we spiders fear. It killed a girl fifty years ago."
Raja's heart pounded as he watched Harry press, "Do you know what the creature is?"
Aragog only hissed, drawing back as if even the question were dangerous. "I will not speak of it. Hagrid brought me here for safety long ago, away from those who misunderstood."
Ron's nervous tug at Harry's sleeve drew his attention, eyes wide and fixed above. Harry finally looked up, and Raja's hand tightened around his wand as the boys realized they were surrounded, thick webs hanging ominously from branches above. The forest, silent moments before, seemed suddenly alive with a threatening pulse.
As the spiders descended from above, their legs skittering and jaws snapping, Raja felt his pulse quicken. The forest had closed in around them, and with every second, the advancing wall of spiders left less room to escape. Harry tried to reason with Aragog, but the giant spider simply loomed above them, indifferent to their pleas.
Raja saw the spiders closing in fast. Gritting his teeth, he raised his wand, bracing himself. "Protego Maxima!" he shouted, casting a shimmering shield around them. The closest spiders slammed into it, recoiling with angry screeches, but it wouldn't hold for long under their relentless assault.
Ron was pale as he muttered, "If we're gonna fight, then I'm officially panicking!" He fumbled with his wand, while Harry frantically tried to remember any spell that might hold off such a swarm. Raja glanced around, trying to keep his shield in place, feeling it waver as spiders piled onto it, their legs scratching and poking through cracks.
Then, the distant but unmistakable roar of an engine split the night. Harry's eyes went wide, and Raja barely managed a small grin. The enchanted Ford Anglia tore through the underbrush, headlights blazing, its wild charge scattering spiders left and right.
"Run for it!" Raja shouted, dropping the shield as they bolted toward the car. He kept his wand raised, chanting, "Repello Aranea!" The spell sent a wave of force through the air, pushing back some of the larger spiders that lunged at them from either side.
Harry, Ron, and Raja dove into the car as a spider lunged for Harry's leg. Raja twisted, casting a quick "Impedimenta!" that slowed the creature's movements just long enough for Harry to pull his leg inside. Ron, gripping the wheel with trembling hands, slammed the door and fumbled with the controls as the spiders crawled all over the car.
As soon as the engine roared back to life, Raja threw a quick "Protego!" over the windshield to ward off the spider that had managed to cling to the roof, its legs scratching furiously against the barrier.
"Drive, Ron!" Harry urged. Ron jammed the gearshift, and the Ford Anglia lurched into reverse. The car shot backward, bouncing over roots and rocks as they heard spiders thudding against the roof and sides. Raja kept his wand pointed at the windows, blasting away any leg or pincer that dared try breaking through.
But just as the adrenaline began to settle, they heard a loud thump—a spider had crawled onto the back window, its pincers snapping dangerously close to Ron. Its weight pushed down on the glass, cracking it.
"Get it off!" Ron shrieked, eyes wide with panic. Raja took aim, his voice steady, "Confringo!" The spell hit the spider squarely, blowing it off the car with a burst of sparks. It tumbled away into the darkness, and they drove on, gasping.
"Ron, keep going!" Raja shouted as more spiders began emerging from the treeline. Ron's face was as white as a sheet, and he slammed the gearshift again, pushing the car to its limits. The Ford Anglia groaned, but they sped forward, swerving past trees, and finally broke free of the swarm.
Ahead, the forest thinned out, and Ron desperately yanked the lever to make the car lift into the air. They soared above the trees, barely escaping the nightmare beneath. When they landed, finally safe outside Hagrid's cabin, they spilled out of the car, each of them breathing heavily.
Ron glared back at the forest, muttering, "Next time, Hagrid can follow his own spiders."
But Harry shook his head, piecing together what they'd learned. "Hagrid didn't open the Chamber, I'm sure of it. There's something else." He met Raja's gaze, both of them feeling the weight of the new revelation that was drawing them closer to the truth.
The dim light in the Hospital Wing felt somber as Harry, Ron, and Raja entered quietly, their footsteps soft against the floor. Hermione lay on the bed, motionless, her face pale but peaceful. Harry stepped forward, gently replacing the dried flowers on her nightstand, his fingers lingering over her hand. "Wish you were here, Hermione," he murmured. The emptiness of her absence felt starker now, a reminder of how lost they were without her.
Ron stood by her bedside, his shoulders hunched, sadness evident in his eyes. "This is all… so messed up. She'd know what to do," he whispered, looking to Harry and Raja for any glimmer of hope.
Harry's gaze fell to Hermione's hand, where a crumpled piece of parchment peeked out from beneath her fingers. With a spark of curiosity, he carefully retrieved it, smoothing it out. The moment he read the word "Basilisk," his eyes widened.
"It's here in Hogwarts," he breathed, his face paling as he continued reading. "The monster—it's a Basilisk."
Raja leaned in, his eyebrows knitted in concentration as he read over Harry's shoulder. "That explains so much. The deadly stare… It's what turns people to stone." Ron's face contorted in fear as he processed this, then quickly shifted to confusion. "But then… why hasn't anyone died?"
Harry's face lit up with a flicker of understanding. "Because they didn't look directly at it. Colin saw it through his camera lens. Justin saw it through Nearly Headless Nick. Hermione, she must've used her mirror, and that saved her. She knew what was happening."
Raja nodded, excitement building in his voice. "And Mrs. Norris… she must've seen the Basilisk in the reflection of that water on the floor."
Harry gripped the page, his voice urgent. "And it uses the pipes to get around the castle. That's how it's been moving undetected." He exchanged a look with Ron, his thoughts racing. "And there's one place that's connected to the pipes… Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."
Before they could move, Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the corridors outside, carrying an urgency that made them freeze. "All students are to return to their dormitories immediately. I repeat, all students return at once."
Exchanging tense glances, the trio hurried out of the Hospital Wing and down the hall, following the professor's call until they reached the second-floor corridor. There, a small group of professors, their faces grave, stood before a new message scrawled on the wall in thick, red letters: "Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever."
McGonagall's voice broke through the stunned silence, filled with sorrow. "A student has been taken. Ginny Weasley." Harry's face turned ashen, and Ron staggered back, his eyes wide in horror. "Ginny…"
Lockhart entered, his expression as nonchalant as ever, until Snape's pointed gaze bore into him. "Well, Gilderoy," Snape said, his tone biting, "since you've boasted of knowing the monster's secrets, here's your chance to shine."
Lockhart paled, stammering as he backpedaled. "Er… yes, well, best leave it to the… experts, don't you think?" He scurried away, exposing his cowardice.
The gravity of Ginny's abduction hit them hard. Ron's voice shook as he read the words again. "We have to get her back. Before it's… too late."
A chilling silence filled the corridor as Harry nodded, his jaw set. Raja placed a hand on his shoulder, his eyes filled with determination. "Then let's end this. We're not leaving her down there."
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