Percy's POV

"She's dead?" Ron asked, voice wavering. When nobody answered, he Ron continued to stare at us hopelessly.

Finally, Nico confirmed it. "Yeah, she's...gone."

I reflexively took Annabeth's hand. She seemed at a loss, "Why though? Why did it come here? There are no...demigods." She said that last part in Greek.

"No what?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Americans," Annabeth lied. "One of us, I mean. I think it might want to kill us for some reason. You know, first Katie, then Thalia. It also tried to kill Nico and Luna."

Hermione looked confused, "But Luna didn't come with you guys."

"Oh, but she's my half-sister," Annabeth said casually.

"Really?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes, "I didn't know she had a half-sister."

"Well, you can ask her yourself," Annabeth looked around at the crowd of students gawking at Eliza, "someone get a teacher!"

"Oh gods," Nico said, grabbing Annabeth. "The basilisk is gone. I swear it was dead!"

We all spun to stare at the mess of blood and scales on the floor, the actual serpent nowhere to be seen. The only evidence of where it had gone was the gaping hole in the wall.

Percy swore, "It went back in the pipes."

"We should fix that hole," Annabeth said, "we don't want the basilisk just staring out and killing people looking in. Reparo." The wall fixed itself.

Connor's POV

When Leo, Travis, and I were getting to History of Magic, I heard a hiss behind me, and something that sounded like scales scraping the wall. Then I felt someone's breath on my head.

"Is it just me," I asked nervously, "or is the basilisk right behind us?"

Leo let out a strained laugh, "It's not just you —"

"RUN!" Travis shouted. We dropped our bags and ran ten yards before whipping around, still keeping our eyes tightly shut.

"It's back from the dead," Travis said to us really fast, "killing it won't do any good, it'll just come back good as new. It regenerates too fast. we need to knock it out so someone can lock it up some place."

I was swinging my sword at the air in front of me because I couldn't open my eyes, "What about the Full Body-Bind?"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Travis yelled.

I could still hear the snake moving. Travis and I tried again, but we had the same result. We even tried the Stunning Spell.

"Aw schist," I said, "either we have terrible aim or it has some kind of protection."

I tried Obscuro, but I didn't want to risk looking in case that didn't work either. I tried to feel for Leo but couldn't find him, "Leo, can't you track its heat or something?"

No reply.

"Leo?!" Travis yelled.

No reply again. I swore, "He was looking at his phone! He got turned to rock, we've got to save him!"

We ran back. I didn't swing my sword, just held it out. I didn't think Leo would like getting sliced in half, even in rock form. The basilisk knocked over something solid, and I screeched to a stop, realizing the sound had come from only three yards away.

"HEY!" I yelled, jumping around, "YOU BIG UGLY SNAKE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

Travis clapped, "YEAAAHH!!"

I got a hiss in response. Good, now I knew where its head was.

I threw a fart bomb in the general direction where the hiss came from. The basilisk must have been trying to chew a rock hard Leo, because I heard something heavy clatter to the floor and the basilisk banging into walls, trying to shake off the faint yellow cloud and the smell.

Travis threw something, "Take that ya dumb snake!" Some kind of powdery thing went on my clothes, so I knew he had thrown the powder bomb we made that the Weasley twins had improved.

It started shaking even harder.

"Distract it," Travis whispered, "I'll knock it out."

"What?" I yelled, but he'd already left.

"HEY YOU DUMB BABY SNAKE! THE MUMMY ORACLE OF DEPLHI LOOKS BETTER THAN YOU!!" I screamed, "MEDUSA IS A HOT CHICK COMPARED TO YOU!"

It hissed in outrage, and I rolled aside when it lunged at me. I nearly tripped on the bookbag I'd dropped earlier. I quickly grabbed a random textbook out of it and Transfigured it to a wooden shield and held it in front of me just as the basilisk banged its head on it.

I kept yelling insults and warding it off until I heard a big CRACK! Then a THUMP!

"Can I open my eyes now?" I asked.

"Wait lemme check..."

"Are you poking its eyes?"

"It's what you'd do," he shot back. "Yep, its eyes are closed."

The basilisk was lying on its side with chunks of rock around it. Travis must have dropped a boulder onto its head or something. Everything was speckled with rainbow coloured powder (our powder bombs come in many colours).

"Awesome!" we high-fived.

"Shouldn't we like, restrain it?" Travis asked.

"I don't know how we're going to restrain a giant dragon snake, but we should be fine."

"Oh yeah," he said, "do you have a drachma? We should tell Annabeth or someone, nobody's gonna see, they all ran away screaming."

"Oh yeah," I turned my sword back into my ring, Vanished my shield, and took a drachma out of my pocket.

"Wait," Travis said, "what if there's someone around her?"

"Oh, right, then uh, cell phone?"

But we didn't need to. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Percy, Annabeth, and Nico ran over.

"There it is!" Percy cried.

"Whoa whoa whoa," I said, "how did you guys know it was here?"

Harry explained, "Percy killed it, then suddenly the dozens of cuts he made healed, and it made a hole in the wall and got away."

"That's not all," Annabeth said grimly, "a girl got Petrified, and Eliza Skull, well, she's not alive anymore."

Poor Eliza. I was starting to plan her funeral when Annabeth asked, "Where's Leo?" then she looked walked over to the basilisk and looked over it, "Oh."

"We're all being attacked!" Percy waved his hands in the air.

"Well duh!" Travis and I rolled our eyes.

"That looks creepy," Nico said.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Travis asked.

Nico blinked obliviously, "What?"

"How can you guys just act like this is so normal?" Ron demanded, "Eliza died! Luna got poisoned, it tried to kill three of you, and like 10 people have been Petrified already! And like half of them are one of you guys! And this has all happened in only a day!! There's been like 12 attacks, all before lunch! This is serious!"

"Don't worry, it won't bother anyone anymore," Travis patted the basilisk's head, "We'll lock this baby up, it can't come back from the dead if it's just trapped."

"Hey Nico," Harry asked suddenly, "can you speak Parseltougue?"

He stared at him, "Parcel what?"

"Nothing," he said, then said something to Ron and Hermione.

"Well we're going to get to class now," Hermione said, because class was very important, "we're seriously late."

Harry's POV

When we were out of view from the Americans, I said, "So Nico doesn't know what Parseltongue is."

"That doesn't mean he can't speak it," Ron pointed it. "He might just not know what the language is called."

When we got to Myrtle's bathroom, I heard a splashing sound. I opened the door and saw water all over the floors. Myrtle must have flooded a toilet again.

I cleaned it up and called, "Myrtle?"

She flew out of one of the stalls humming, then she frowned, "Oh, it's you."

"Who were you expecting?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, no one, what are you doing in here? Not to have a friendly chat I suppose?"

"Er, sorry no, we were wondering if you've seen anyone in here. Anyone acting suspicious, you know..."

"Oh yes, there was a boy in here. He was hiding, but he wasn't doing anything bad, really."

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Nico di Angelo."

"What was he doing in here?" Ron gasped.

"Hiding from Thalia."

"Oh," he said.

"He promised he would visit," she sniffed.

"So," Hermione said, "anybody else? You know the basilisk is loose again, has anybody went to that sink over there?"

Myrtle glanced at the sink, "Yes, I did see a girl go over there a few days ago. She said something and it opened like it did when you said it, Harry."

"Who?" I asked urgently, "Was it Ginny?"

"I don't know her name, but she was a Slytherin. She had wavy black hair. She dropped that," she floated near the door and pointed at something behind it.

Hermione gently picked up the wet paper and dried it, "It says Amanda Watson, Vanessa von Cackle, Blaine Crow, Brittney White, William Snot, all crossed out, and three more names that aren't crossed out, Victoria Vanchoy, Albert Winston, and Roy Stark."

"Hey, it's not parchment, it's that nice peper that Muggles use," Ron said with interest, "and there are lines on it."

Hermione read it again silently, "It's paper Ron, and yes, it is, it was ripped out of a notebook. And they're all Slytherins," she noticed. Then she said, "The names were written in pen, but they were crossed out with a quill."

"You think they were the victims of the basilisk?" Ron asked.

"No," Hermione shook her head, "no Slytherins were attacked except Eliza and another second year boy. And he isn't any of these people. And look at the handwriting, it doesn't look like a girl's handwriting, I know a lot of girls don't write neatly, but most girls' handwriting isn't this messy and close together."

Myrtle shrugged, "It was near the sink. She dropped it when she went down that hole. It got washed up over there."

Hermione suddenly got her I-think-I've-figured-it-out face, "This girl, did she have dark brown eyes?"

Myrtle thought for a moment, "Yes, I'm pretty sure she did."

"Does her hair go down to here?" Hermione put her hand a bit above her hip.

"Yes."

"Was she wearing sneakers? Black sneakers with sparkly purple laces?" she was getting excited now. A lot of people wore sneakers, that was one thing wizards and Muggles had in common. Therefore, I had no idea who she was describing.

"I don't remember. I didn't look at her shoes."

"Did she have a chain bracelet?"

"Yes I think."

"Did she have Christmas tree earrings with bells under them?"

"I didn't see. Her hair was in the way, but when she walked, she made an annoying jingly noise."

"I know who it is then," Hermione looked confused, "but her? How could it be her?"

"Who?" Ron and I asked urgently.

"Eliza Skull."

Then I realized it, Eliza certainly did fit the description.

"Then what's that paper?" I asked.

"The Slytherins she pranked! She helped Leo remember? This is Leo's handwriting!"

"But she died because of the basilisk! How could it be her? The true Heir of Slytherin was Voldemort!"

"She might have been possessed," Ron suggested, "like Ginny."

"Possessed? She would have to be possessed by someone who knows Parseltougue, and the only Parselmouths are Voldemort and Harry!" Hermione said, "And Voldemort's dead!"

"Unless," Ron swallowed, "V-Voldemort got resurrected. The Stone still exists, remember?"

Hermione gasped, "Then he's back?!"

"My scar would hurt," I said.

"It could have been while you were sleeping," Hermione groaned, "this is bad, if Voldemort truly has returned, this is really bad. With the Resurrection Stone, he can bring all his Death Eaters back. All of them. They'll be unstoppable. They'll have an army!"

"I think we still need more proof of that," Ron said nervously.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "The basilisk keeps healing and coming back, the only reason is that someone is using the Resurrection Stone for evil. Eliza gets possessed by Voldemort so that the Chamber of Secrets can be opened to let the basilisk out." Then she frowned, "But it has to be a Horcrux that Voldemort has to use to possess her. Like Ginny used the diary."

"Maybe she was under the Imperius Curse," I said.

"Then she would have to know Parseltongue herself," Hermione said, "and she's not the Heir of Slytherin, she wouldn't be able to control it."

"Someone could have told her what to say while she was under the curse, she only needed to open the Chamber of Secrets, she didn't need to control the basilisk."

"But why didn't she tell us?"

"She might have been Obliviated."

"Ohh," Ron said, "or she's just evil and working for Voldemort!"

"Ron," Hermione sighed, "she died because of the basilisk, and we saw her forearm, there's no Dark Mark. She went against the Slytherins, pranking so many of them, including Malfoy."

"Oh, right," Ron said.

We got to class, Professor Binns was saying something about Grindelwald, Nico was looking very angry and waving his hands all over the place saying something to Drew, who had moved next to him in Leo's place. Thankfully Drew wasn't his new arguing partner.

We listened to their conversation.

"My father was yelling all over the place about it, sayin' they're messing everything up when he just finished with the paperwork, then he started yelling at Death at how stupid he is for losing sight of the Resurrection Stone like that, and he wants it back right now, in case someone finds it. So I'm just sitting there watching them yell at each other. So now I'm supposed to find that Stone and bring it back to my crazy dad."

Voldemort lost the Resurrection Stone? And what's all that talk about Death? Is Death, the guy who gave the Peverell Brothers the Deathly Hallows, someone that Nico knew?

Then Ron nudged me, "Harry, check out his arm, his right arm."

He was waving it in the air a lot, so I couldn't really make out any details, but there was definitely something black there.

"It's the Dark Mark!" Ron whispered.

"Couldn't it be...I don't know, something else?" I asked weakly.

"It has to be," he said grimly.

"Ahuh," Drew said, looking extremely indifferent, "so when are you going to start?"

"I don't know, but he says immediately and that people aren't being brought back with the Stone but by the soul for a soul thing I tried with my sister Bianca, and Death is trying as hard as he can to catch the souls coming back, but since they're wizards, it's harder. And the basilisk is a Magical monster, not you know, so it's harder."

"Does Hazel need to worry about this stuff?" Drew wondered.

"Nah, she's not supposed to go to the Underworld because she's supposed to be dead and all." Hazel is supposed to be dead?

"Well, you too." They're both supposed to be dead?

"That doesn't count. I didn't actually die yet."

"Fine then."

"Alright class! Dismissed!" Professor Binns said, "Homework is 10 inches about the accomplishments of Grindelwald."

After class, Ron, Hermione and I went up to Drew. Thankfully, Nico had already left.

She glanced at us, "Here to accuse me of being evil again?"

"No," Ron said, "what were you talking about with Nico?"

She glared at us, "Lollipops and football."

Ron said, "Voldemort used something called a 'soul for a soul' for the basilisk and the Death Eaters. And Death is mad about the lost Stone and Nico's dad wants it back. Right?"

Her expression didn't change, "Your point?"

"Nico's the son of Voldemort!"

"Mate," she flexed her fingers, "you need to stop thinking that. I know who his dad is, and he's totally not on the Dark Side. He's shown me proof too, so you need to stop with this 'all the Americans are Death Eaters!' talk. Don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes, hm?"

Ron blinked, "What?"

"It's a Muggle saying," Hermione explained. "Then who is Nico's dad?"

She hesitated, "Hadyn di Angelo."

"He mentioned a sister," I put in.

"Oh, that's Hazel."

"They're siblings?"

"Yes. Obviously."

"I'm pretty sure he said Bianca. He mentioned a dead sister on the Hogwarts Express; I thought it was her."

"I'll be going now," she stalked away.

Ron stepped in front of the door, "Hey you can't just—"

"Walk away? Oh yes I can, I may, I would, I should, and I could, now get out of my way." Then she grinned, looking creepily giddy, "I've always wanted to say that."

Ron stayed, and I said, "He said that Hazel was supposed to be dead."

Drew got this disgusted look on her face, "Nico needs to work on lowering his voice and finding the right time to say things. Now, get out of my way."

"Not until—"

"Let me tell you a story. Once an idiotic boy named Logan did the same thing you're doing. You wanna know what happened to him?"

We shrugged.

"I broke my finger and framed him for doing it." Okay now that was not what I was expecting, I was expecting something like I landed him in the hospital for two years.

She smiled evilly, "He got suspended for a day, he learned that when I tell him to move, he really has to move."

"I think you should move Ron," Hermione said.

"You know one talent I have is acting, the others are spying, lying, disguise, and trickery, that's why I'm in Slytherin. I can fall out the window and make it look like you pushed me."

I wish Professor Binns was here. I think Ron's going to be in trouble soon, so I stepped in front of him, blocking Drew even more. Hermione started giving us nervous looks.

I put my arms out, "Yes, you have all those skills, but Slytherin pride prevents you from using most of them. Come on, just tell us: who is Nico's dad, like is he muggle-born, what he does, that kind of thing."

"How about no?" she moved to the side, but I moved too and blocked her from Ron. She scowled, then glanced behind her at the window like she was considering jumping out.

"Tell us! Now!" I demanded.

She seemed to smile a little, "Fine!" she snapped, "But that's it, no more. He doesn't want people knowing, so we have to go somewhere. Nico has a way of finding out stuff."

"We could go to a bathroom," I said, "everybody's at class."

Hermione looked horrified, "Class has started?" she shrieked, "I better go!" she grabbed her books and dashed out the door, and we stepped aside to let her through.

"Fine, just remember, you're not supposed to tell anyone okay? Except Hermione."

"Okay," we agreed, fully intending to tell Hermione and the whole world.

She led us to a boys' bathroom and walked in without hesitation.

Unfortunately, there was someone inside, three someones actually. They were standing around the sinks chillin'.

"What are you doing in here?" Malfoy directed the question at Drew, "This is a boys' bathroom, in case you can't read the sign." Theodore and Goyle beside him snickered.

"I know very well that this is the boys' bathroom Greasy Hair," she stepped into a stall. And we uncomfortably followed her.

Malfoy started laughing hysterically.

Drew's ears turned red, but she ignored him, and slammed the stall door. Ron sat down on the toilet seat, "So—"

"Get up," Drew snapped, "I want to sit down."

Ron blinked, then got off.

"Thank you," she smiled. Uh oh, that was an evil smile. And I have never heard her say Thank You, like, ever.

She flung the toilet seat up, grabbed Ron's shoulders, and shoved Ron's head into the toilet.

She kicked me out the door, slammed it, and locked it. I heard a flushing sound and Ron gurgling.

Malfoy's jaw dropped, "What's going on in there? You not good enough for her or something?"

I ignored him and unlocked the door with a simple Alohomora. When I opened it, Drew simply kicked me out again, and I saw Drew giving Ron a wedgie while his face was still underwater.

Malfoy, Goyle, and Theodore looked like they were going to die from laughter. They were rolling on the floor clutching their sides, and their faces were red.

When Drew pulled Ron's face out of the toilet, she said, "Lesson One, If I tell you to stop asking nosy questions, or to get out of my way, do it. Lesson Two, you two are way too easy to fool." She laughed at Ron's pink face, then turned to me, "You're turn."

I started to run, but unfortunately, Drew was a fast runner, and she was strong too.

She dragged me, kicking and yelling, into another stall and did what she did to Ron to me.

"Hey," Malfoy said, "you're not as bad as I thought, do you mind doing it to di Angelo and Valdez—?"

"No thanks," she said breezily and walked out the door.

"Harry Potty finally lives up to his name!" Malfoy laughs.

"Harry Potty is beat by a girl!" Nott hooted.

"Ronald Weasel too poor to buy clean water!" Goyle howled.

We dried ourselves, stuffed our underwear back into our pants, and went out the door, trying to act cool.

"This is horrible!" Ron moaned.

"I know," I mumbled. "Stop talking about it."

We got to DADA and tried our best to ignore Drew smirking at us, and Nico rofl-ing at what Drew told him.

"What did she say?" Hermione asked, "Why are your faces so red?"

"She lied," Ron said, "she didn't tell us anything."

"And what did she do? Nothing bad I hope?"

Ron looked away from her, "She did this, weird thing I've never heard of people doing."

"What?"

"It's kind of embarrassing," I said.

Hermione looked around, "No one's listening, come on, I won't laugh."

When we finally told her, Hermione's face looked like it was having a seizure when she tried not to laugh. Finally she got her face under control after having her own little five second seizure attack and managed to choke, "Oh."