Befriending the Beast
You were alone now, except — you could barely feel it, but it was there. A heartbeat. Just faintly.
Quiet sighs poured out from the basilisk’s large nostrils. She was somehow still alive, but probably not for much longer seeing the condition she was in. You walked towards the beast, not caring about your echoing footsteps. The basilisk was too tired, too hurt to care much about who was walking in the chamber, however, if she were able to, she would’ve struck you.
“Who goes there?” She asked, her voice no longer angry, but tired and dragged.
“Just a nobody passing by,” you replied. “I came to check up on you.”
You could see it curl its lip slightly, almost as if she were giving a smirk. Who knew Basilisks could show such an emotion. You decided to step closer. If only the Basilisk could see you now, you thought. Her bright yellow eyes would probably glow with ridicule, they probably were, you just couldn’t see beneath the scabbing blood.
“You? Check on me? How insulting,” she spat, her voice dangerously low.
“Oh come now, I’m trying to be nice. I bet you’ve never been treated nicely before.” You now stood a mere foot away from her head. “You were placed in this dingy cold chamber by Salazar Slytherin, manipulated by his Heir; hibernating after all these years to keep you from aging, all alone in the pipes.”
She chuckled tiredly, remaining silent for a couple of seconds. “It was never meant for anyone to be nice to me. My job was to merely get rid of the dangers that littered the school, that’s what he told me.”
“He’s dead, you know,” you spat, unable to hide some of the disdain you held for the basilisk. “Has been for quite some time now. Times have changed, that nasty idea of dirtied blood is outdated and repulsive no less.”
“I’m not talking about Salazar,” she chided, sounding offended at the mere thought of it. “Why do you care so much about them? The muddied? You’re higher than them, you know. The blood that runs through you is so much more than —” But you cut her off.
“My blood is not any more different than other wizards. Perhaps, except for a minor detail, that however does not mean I should treat them any less,” you said, digging inside your cloak’s pocket and drawing out a small vial with a clear liquid, but hastily put it back. Not yet, you told yourself.
“Perhaps it’s the other blood coursing through you that makes you think that way.”
You remained silent, she, however, did not.
“What are your real intentions?” she hissed.
You stopped for a second to think about it. Mostly to ask yourself if her sole purpose had been to serve Slytherin heirs. Her whole existence to serve, to listen to them. It made you wonder if she’s ever lived any differently. Hibernation probably didn’t leave much time for her to do so, however.
The images of Adrian’s petrified body flashed across your mind. All too real and all too cold. He was still laying there on an infirmary bed, cold and alone. It would be too easy to blame the basilisk, let her stew there in her own pain, but you didn’t want to (not that you couldn’t). Instead, you decide to let your other plan roll out — one you had just come up with while Tom Riddle had carried out his tangent.
“I come bearing companionship… friendship,” you said as genuinely as you could. “I can do with a friend myself. Plus, I wouldn’t leave you alone here in this dump. I’ll provide you with food. Heard you’ve been hungry.”
The giant serpent tiredly slithered the end of her tail, annoyed yet intrigued at the same time. You were sure that she was more inclined to what you had to say, but you didn’t have much. You didn’t really have a plan as you stepped out from the pillar. She’d probably strike you if she had enough energy probably.
When she didn’t say anything, you decided to speak up. “Listen, I —”
“Is there anything I can do besides that?” she joked. “I’m kind of just waiting for death to take me now.”
You couldn’t help but chuckle, albeit dryly, you tried to suppress it the best you could. “If I were to heal you, would you stand by me? I won’t boss you around like that spoiled prat, no — I’d treat you like an equal, you’ll be a friend.”
She stayed silent for a moment. “What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch, other than the fact that you promise me that you won’t kill anyone from Hogwarts. No students, no staff. They’ll be out for your head.” You scratched your chin lightly, thinking about what Harry might’ve told. “Well actually — they’ll consider you dead on Potter’s accounts.”
She cackled lowly, her energy draining with every passing moment. She managed a quiet, hissing noise. “You — You’re expecting a basilisk like me to refrain from attacking others…”
“I should expect nothing less,” you glowered. “If I can retain the beast, then so can you. If you can’t comply, then a long and lonely death awaits you. I am offering you a second chance for a better life.” You stepped a bit closer. “So how about it?”
“How long have I been down here for?”
“About a thousand years I believe.” A second of silence. “They never did consider me as an equal. Those vile…” She quieted for another moment. “I’ll accept. You intrigue me deeply.”
And without another moment to waste, you got closer to her and placed a hand down onto her scaly head.
“Repacraneo,” you whispered as you dragged your wand along the blood-oozing wound. The bleeding stopped and you could hear the sloshing of tissue reconnecting. “It’s not much, but it should heal steadily along the next few days, perhaps weeks. Till then I’ll be coming back to check on your wound. If that’s alright with you?”
The basilisk turned its head slowly, as the wound had yet to fully repair itself.
“I don’t think I can do much for your sight but ease the pain, sorry about that.”
“Why?” She hissed.
“Why what?”
“Why help me? Why heal me after what I have done, what I’ve told you?”
You stood there pensively. Why had you? You turned to look at her, she still laid across the cold wet stone, but her head was now facing you. Suddenly, the image of a certain person popped inside your head; a man with honey brown hair and green eyes was looking at you with so much love and care, but behind them, they were tainted with specks of fear.
“If you must know, my father is someone many would consider to be a disgrace to the wizarding world. His — our — kind aren’t… as many would see, be considered fit to live amongst wizards and are therefore kicked to the bottom of the chain.” You took a deep breath. “He struggles to keep jobs, fearing his coworkers would realize what he is. He struggled to keep custody over me when my mother died —” You gave a dry laugh. “Can you believe that?”
She remained pensive. “And who is your father? What is —”
“That is a story for another day, tomorrow perhaps.” You looked directly at her, not realizing that your gaze had been downwards at the stone footing you stood upon. “If you allow me to return, that is.”
The basilisk remained quiet, but you could see her nod her head slowly. You turned to leave, feeling like much time had passed now and you were definitely going to get in trouble for wandering out and about so late.
You turned to face the giant snake once more, a contemplative thought in your head. “Harry’s going to tell tonight’s events to the professors, it’s not safe for you to stay anywhere where they can find you.”
She raised her head as if alerted by your words. “And that’s not very good is it?”
“I’m afraid not,” you said with a grin. “However I do have an idea, give me a moment.”
You stalked off to one of the pipes and began tapping the dirty bones that laid skewed across the stone floor with your wand. Once you tapped enough bones, you cast the levitation charm on them and maneuvered them next to where the basilisk laid. She gave you an odd look, one that showed her confusion.
It shouldn’t be too difficult, you assured yourself. It was transfiguration, after all, a subject you excelled at, but what you were trying to attempt was at a grand scale. You shook off your nervousness and instead began casting spells to change the shape of the bones and amass them into a bigger skeleton. The skeleton of a basilisk.
You released a deep breath once you finished and nearly stumbled from exhaustion. It had been too much for you to have done, you knew that much, but you hadn’t expected a near-perfect rendition of the skeletal system. Once you didn’t feel woozy, you flicked your wand towards the basilisk and focused once more to copy her appearance.
A simple geminio would work since you were only copying the outer appearance of the snake, not an entire living being. You weren’t even sure if that was possible but thought against exhausting yourself more.
“There we go,” you said as you finished. Beside the real deal laid a replica of the basilisk, just like she had appeared after Harry speared her with the sword. You had to hand it to yourself, it looked passible. “That should solve our problem if the professors decide to go searching for your remains.”
You looked over at the snake as she hovered over the fake.
“I suggest you hide until I return,” you explained as you eyed her. She didn’t say anything, her bloodied eyes trying to focus on you but failing. “Like I said, I’ll be back tomorrow, so don’t go dying on me after all of this.”
You turned around to leave, feeling tired and dirty that you desperately wanted to get to your dorm and shower. You took a few steps before scratching your head as you strode off. Shit, how were you supposed to leave this labyrinth? You could barely walk straight from how exhausted you were. Almost as if she had read your mind, she hissed lowly.
“If you take the pipe to your right, you’ll find a hidden passage inside a crack, follow it, it leads to the library,” the giant serpent said once more before slowly retreating back inside the statue’s mouth.
You gave a quiet thank you to her, but she was gone.