Chapter 57 – Looking for Secrets
Getting rid of Draco was not something I was worried about. It would have been best if I could change into an animal... then I could slip away... but no, he had to screw it up for me. The moment I remembered it, I felt my blood boil, spurring my thoughts to imagine him being strangled to death. I had to shake my head and distract myself, pushing everything back down forcefully.
I had to come up with something different. So I asked Quincy to brew me a sleeping potion that I mixed into a nice, tasty-looking hot chocolate I conveniently left in the common room, unguarded. I played it off as if I was careless, and I knew he would take the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Of course, he drank it when I seemingly went to the bathroom. Too easy. When I questioned him, he played the dumb idiot, prompting me to prove it... I knew he wanted me to attack him.
The fact that he was doing everything to spur me into action made my senses tingle a little. Something was not right, or he would not be this eager to get into a fight. Not when he was all alone... as to what his plans were? I don't know, but I remained calm. It wasn't hard; this was my plan from the get-go anyway. He was sleeping in one of the armchairs only a little later, knocked out entirely. Even if I punched him, he wouldn't wake up now! But I held back. Before leaving, I made sure to place a charm on his clothes that would alert us if he ever got close to us. I couldn't put all our trust into one potion, even if it was brewed by Quincy. Anything could go wrong, and if we don't prepare for it, it will go wrong! When I met up with her, she was in the dungeons, in her owl form, changing back only when I gave the nod that all was clear.
"Did it work?" She whispered.
"Yep!" I nodded, and we headed straight to the bathroom, opening the secret entrance and descending carefully. "I was thinking, don't you think this place has been boobytrapped? You know... because what happened?"
"I had the same idea, but what do you think?" She asked back as we headed deeper, and soon we were in the chamber where we last saw the basilisk. "Then we shouldn't be able to open the entrance that easily! Also... can they close off something from someone who can speak to snakes? Because I don't think so!"
"And there is no more valuable stuff here. Gotcha."
Soon, we realized my last comment was absolutely right. There was nothing down here. The snake's remains? Gone. Any clues of the fight? Gone. Only Salazar's giant statue remained. Quincy turned into an owl quickly, flying around the chamber, trying to see from above or check hidden crevices and spots. I was doing the same thing on the ground, holding out my wand, casting spells, looking for anything unusual, and mumbling in parseltounge. Nothing.
"Damn... I expected... something!" She hooted as she transformed back into a human, doing it mid-air, landing after a summersault. She was more than used to flying by now!
"Honestly? Me too... tsk! There is... oh, wait!"
"What?!" She jumped, looking towards where I was looking. "Oh!"