บท 44: Tom Riddle and the Basilisk
"Now come on. I am sure those two idiots have already got into danger." Art said, feeling the tracking spell getting farther away.
"Idiots?" Cedric asked somewhat confused.
"Ron and Harry. I'm sure Hermoine told them that it is a Basilisk but they still are heading straight into danger." Art said shaking his head. What could two second years do against such a terrifying beast.
Art and Cedric followed Harry and Ron's footsteps, ending up at an abandoned girls washroom. Making sure the coast was clear, the two of them entered the bathroom and saw the sink was missing and replaced with a large hole.
"They went down there if you wanted to know." a dreary voice said.
Turning around, they saw a girl with horned rim glasses but what shocked them was that she was a ghost.
"You said they went down there?" Art asked pointing at the large hole.
"Yes, the one boy hissed or something and the hole appeared." she said day dreamily.
"Parseltongue, that's why no one could find the entrance." Art muttered, he turned to the ghost, "Thank you for your help." he flashed her a smile.
If she could blush she would have and slowly went back to her toilet and disappeared.
"Even ghost are charmed by you." Cedric said, shaking his head. "Shall we?"
Art nodded and jumped down the hole and it turned into a dark, slimy slide. After what seemed for a long time, the pipe finally leveled out and they ended up on a damp floor. They were both covered in slime and looked gross.
"Give me a second." Art said, taking out his wand and gave it a swish. Soon the slime came off their bodies.
"That's better." Cedric said, he looked over Art's shoulders and his eyes went wide. "What is that?"
Turning around, he saw a large snake skin that was at least 50 feet long.
"Ow! Who is there!?" someone called out.
"Ron you idiot, put your wand away." Art said, seeing the gangly redhead.
"Art? Why are you here!?" he asked surprised.
"I promised your brothers I would bring Ginny back." Art said, walking up to Ron. He was shocked to see Lockhart was beside him, looking like an idiot. "Why is he here?"
"Long story. Harry went ahead to find Ginny." he said, pointing at the end of the tunnel.
"Stay here with Lockhart. Cedric and I will go help him." Art said, nodding at Cedric.
They entered a dimly chamber with large stone pillars entwined with serpents supporting the ceiling. Walking deeper into the chamber he saw a huge statue of a wizard with a thin beard.
He saw Harry talking to a handsome dark haired wizard who looked almost transparent. He wrote in the air and letters appeared, he waved the wand and the letters rearranged themselves.
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
"Voldemort? You're Voldemort?" Art interrupted, raising his wand with a cold smile.
"Uninvited guests we have." Voldemort said curling his upper lip.
"Art and Cedric! We need to save Ginny." Harry cried out.
Art didn't hear her and glared at Voldemort. "You don't fear me? The boy beside you trembled at my name but all I see is hatred." Voldemort said, a little mocking in his voice.
"What are you? I saw you last year but this isn't who I met." Art asked coldly.
"A memory, preserved in the diary. The little girl poured me her soul into me and gave me some strength." Voldemort said, playing with Harry's wand.
"Her soul?" Art's eyes narrowed, "Dark magic." he spat with disgust.
"You must be Artland Cason, the genius. I am a little curious about you actually. How do you think you can compare to me?"
"Let's find out, shall we?" Art said pointing his wand at Voldemort, the tip was sparking.
"In time. First I must kill Harry Potter." he then spoke in weird hissing.
"The Basilisk will be enough to kill yo-." he was interrupted by a strange music that filled the chamber. Fawkes, the phoenix, appeared and dropped a patched worn out hat next to Harry.
Harry looked at it confused but didn't have time to say anything as a large hissing sound filled the chamber.
"Look at the ground! Don't look at it's eyes!" Art yelled, knowing the Basilisk was coming.
Art casted his grid spell and closed his eyes. Soon the grid appeared in his mind and the Basilisk appeared.
The giant snake reared his head and Voldemort hissed out commands to it. It fixed it's gaze on Harry who was staring at the ground.
"You don't have to do this. You don't have to listen to him!" Art said, trying to convey his emotions to the snake. The Basilisk paused and looked at Art, during this pause Fawkes attacked the Basilisk, blinding both of its eyes.
'Thanks Fawkes.' Art smiled.
"Beast Speech?" Voldemort said shocked before a sinister smile appeared on his face. "Doesn't matter though, the Basilisk will only listen to me."
"Bastard." Art spat. He didn't want to kill the Basilisk because it was a rare beast that was being controlled by Voldemort.
Suddenly Azura woke up and hissed angrily at the Basilisk and grew in size. Art was shocked at Azura as she was now 20 feet long with her blue eyes gleamed with anger.
"A Horned Serpent? Interesting." Voldemort said with a sneer and hissed at Azura. She looked at him and hissed at him, clearly telling him off.
"She actually disobeyed me?" he said in shock.
"Just because you are a Parseltongue doesn't mean you are omnipotent." Art said with a cold smile. "Cedric, you and Harry find a way to destroy that diary. I will take care of the Basilisk."
Harry was wandless and wasn't gifted in wandless magic. He knew that Cedric would have to deal with the 16 year old Voldemort. Cedric nodded and faced off with Voldemort, raising his wand.
"A little entertainment before I leave." Voldemort said with a smile, facing Cedric.
Harry was holding the Sorting Hat looking lost but Art ignored him and face the Basilisk. Azura curled around him, glaring and hissing at the Basilisk. Art wasted no time and casted new spell. A Dragon and Thunderbird appeared, growing larger and larger in size. They flew around the Basilisk before crashing into it, causing the Basilisk to cry out in pain. Art waved his waved his wand, chains appeared from the floor and wrapped around the Basilisk, pinning it down.
Azura was darting around the Basilisk, biting it.
Art didn't stop and tried to use a sleeping jinx but the Basilisk easily shook it off. The chains started to break as the Basilisk continued to struggle. He gave a quick glance at Cedric who looked rough. Voldemort seemed to toy with him as Cedric was barely able to defend against his spells. Art frowned and focused on the Basilisk again, creating more chains to pin it down. The Basilisk gave a cry as it continued to struggle and break Art's chains. Suddenly Harry ran past Art with a large sword in his hand and stabbed the Basilisk in the head.
"Harry don't!" Art yelled, not wanting to kill it. But it was too late, the Basilisk let out a final scream before it became still.
Anger filled Art's body at the dead Basilisk but the anger wasn't towards Harry but at Voldemort. Art turned and saw that Cedric was blasted backwards, crashing hard into the ground.
"You have skills but you still are a far cry from me." Voldemort let out a light laugh.
Art expression turned cold and stood in front of Cedric.
"Let's see what the genius that Dumbledore has such an interest in is able to do."
Art didn't reply and immediately started to bombard him with spells. For the first time Voldemort's expression turned serious as he blocked and returned his own spells. The battle continued for a bit but Art was starting to gain the upper hand.
"Most talented wizard? What a joke!" Art mocked.
Voldemort's expression grew savage. "Don't be proud. This is simply a memory, not my real strength."
Suddenly he let out a loud scream and a hole appeared in his chest. Art was shocked and looked to see Harry stabbing the diary with the sword.
"Do it again!" Art yelled.
Harry stabbed the journal again, causing Voldemort to scream again. Soon Voldemort disappeared, leaving Art and Harry taking deep breaths. Art heard Cedric groan and ran up to him, propping him up.
"Not bad Cedric. Not bad." Art smiled, helping him up.
Cedric was holding his side which was bleeding. "God dammit, he was strong." he said, spitting some blood out.
"Of course he was, that was Voldemort."
Cedric grunted and started walking towards Ginny who had just woken up. Harry was making sure she was okay.
"Are you okay Ginny?" Art asked, still supporting Cedric.
"Art! It was all my fault! I opened the Chamber of Secrets! I attacked all those people!" she said, crying hysterically.
Harry hugged her and patted her back. "It wasn't you Ginny. It was Tom Riddle, he was controlling you."
Art let out a long sigh. "Let's leave this damn place."
Azura came up next to him, still in her large form. Art had an idea and asked her, "Can you fly Azura?"
She nodded and started to fly around, causing Art to laugh.
"Give us a ride girl."
The four of them jumped on Azura's back and she took them back to the pipe where Ron and Lockhart were.
"Take them up first. Come back for Cedric and me after." Art said, knowing that she couldn't take all the weight.
Harry was still holding the Sorting Hat and the large sword in his hands.
"Take that back to Dumbledore." Art said, sitting down on a rock.
Cedric was laying down against a rock, still holding his side. Art stood up and walked over, "Let me see that." he said.
Cedric took his hands off his side, showing a large cut. Art casted a spell, finding out that Cedric had internal bleeding, broken ribs and some of his organs were damaged.
"This might hurt. Bear with me." Art said, pointing his wand at the wound.
Soon the wound started to close making Cedric hiss in pain. The wound closed and the pain was reduced.
"Thanks." he said, closing his eyes.
Art laid down next to him and closed his eyes as well. "Hell of memory this will be, don't you think?"
Cedric laughed causing him to wince in pain. "Yeah, maybe next year will be a quiet one."
"Let's hope. Thanks for having my back."
"I'm a Hufflepuff, remember? Loyal to a fault." a smile on his face, his teeth were bloody.
"Yes, you truly are a Hufflepuff." Art said, a smile on his face.
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