After Tyson - Part 1
The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard approaching them, making both of them turn to look.
Harry and Percy came running from the far end of the corridor with worried expressions. Harry was gripping the Marauder's Map tightly. He had seen Tyson's name suddenly disappear from that area while they were running there, and ever since then, all the color had drained from his face.
"Where is he?" Percy asked, desperately looking around.
Harry, on the other hand, focused on their surroundings, seeing the obvious signs of destruction nearby, as well as Ron's still-pale face as he held his head like he'd just suffered some kind of mental attack, and Hermione's panicked expression as she feared Ron might lose his mind.
Harry watched Ron for a moment. He was pale and seemed to be barely holding himself together, but he was still conscious.
For now, that would have to be enough.
His gaze then moved toward the enormous hole torn open in the wall.
Harry unfolded the Marauder's Map again and desperately searched for Tyson's name.
Nothing.
"Where's Tyson?" he asked, although from the way he was staring at the hole, he seemed to already know the answer.
Harry looked calmer than his brother, but Hermione knew them both well enough to see it was only on the surface. They were equally worried and equally close to exploding over Tyson's disappearance, so she simply pointed toward the hole.
"Tyson... that thing took Tyson," she said worriedly.
Percy went completely still for half a second. Then, without hesitation, he walked toward the hole, ready to follow it inside, but Harry stopped him before he could jump in.
"What?" Percy asked with a truly dangerous look on his face now. The same one Harry had, although his was far more uncontrolled. "We have to go after him," Percy said urgently.
But Harry didn't answer his brother yet. Instead, he looked toward Hermione.
"What was that thing? Did you manage to see it? And..." Harry shifted his gaze toward another corner of the corridor as he pulled out his wand. "Why don't you come out already, Diggory?" he said in a dangerous tone.
The moment Percy heard Harry's words, his hand moved instantly and closed tightly around his sword as it came out of his pendant, preparing for a confrontation.
"YOU!" Percy shouted before launching himself toward Cedric at full speed, moving almost superhumanly fast.
Cedric barely had time to raise his head before Percy appeared right in front of him. For an instant, even he showed surprise at a speed he'd never seen from Percy before.
The sword came down, but before it could cut Cedric, Harry said,
"Percy."
At that exact moment, Cedric raised both hands as the sword stopped near his neck, looking directly into Percy's eyes as Percy glared furiously at him.
"So, are you going to tell me now that you're not the Heir of Slytherin? When you're standing right here just after Tyson and the others were attacked by the monster from the Chamber of Secrets?" Percy said, his gaze fixed on him.
Cedric didn't answer immediately. Instead, his gaze moved past Percy and directly toward Harry. His wand was pointed at Cedric, while in his other hand he held a strange tome whose pages seemed to turn on their own, searching for the right spell to use the moment Cedric said something wrong.
Cedric looked at the sword stopped only a few inches from his face, remaining remarkably calm even in the face of danger.
"No," he finally answered. "I'm not the Heir of Slytherin."
Percy narrowed his eyes.
"And you expect me to believe you?"
"I don't particularly care if you do."
Percy tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword, but before he could answer, Hermione spoke from behind them.
"Wait."
Everyone turned toward her.
Hermione was staring at Cedric with a strange expression, as if she'd just recognized something.
"It was you," Hermione said. "When that thing appeared. You were the one who warned us not to look into its eyes."
The corridor fell silent as everyone looked toward Cedric, who slowly moved his gaze between them.
"After all, a basilisk's gaze is deadly, and it would cause me quite a lot of trouble if someone died right now," Cedric said with complete calm, as if he truly didn't care about their lives, but rather about his own task.
Harry frowned at Cedric's answer.
Percy looked somewhat confused.
"A basilisk?" he asked.
Hermione's eyes widened when she heard the name.
"Then I was right. It was a basilisk. But I thought it was impossible. There aren't any studies showing that basilisks can live that long," Hermione said immediately.
"That's because any Ministry of Magic in the world destroys those creatures as soon as they learn of their existence. No one actually knows how long they can live," Cedric calmly explained at once.
Percy, however, kept his gaze fixed on Cedric.
"How do you know about the basilisk?" he asked.
Cedric looked at him as if the question itself were strange.
"Because I know how to recognize a basilisk. It's not the first time I've seen one, although it is the first time I've seen one that big," Cedric answered calmly.
He looked at the sword still held in front of his neck.
"Now, could you stop pointing something that dangerous at me? Technically, thanks to me, your friends are still alive."
Percy didn't move.
Cedric sighed.
"I'll be direct so you'll stop being a nuisance and stop following me. I have no interest in this Heir of Slytherin business. I didn't release that basilisk. I'm busy with an important task, and I was just passing through."
Percy stared at him, while Harry studied him as if trying to figure out whether what he was saying was true or not.
"You were just passing through?" Percy asked.
"Yes."
"Right when a basilisk came out of a wall, attacked our friends, and took Tyson."
"Yes."
Percy frowned even more in annoyance, but he was far more worried about going after Tyson and saving him already, so he finally lowered his sword and looked toward Harry, who seemed to be thinking about something.
"What's this supposed task of yours?" Harry asked.
Cedric stared at him, but from the look of things, he wasn't willing to say a single word about it. Harry understood that, and he also knew Percy was more worried about Tyson than continuing with these questions.
"One last thing," Harry said. "Did you know there was a basilisk in the castle?"
Cedric remained silent for a second before answering.
"I knew it was a basilisk from the first attack. When someone sees its eyes indirectly, through a reflection or some other means, they normally don't die. They end up petrified," he explained, and judging by his earlier words, it really did seem like this wasn't the first time he'd encountered one of these creatures.
Hermione looked at him in surprise.
"You knew there was a basilisk roaming around Hogwarts and you didn't say anything?"
Cedric shrugged.
"Not my problem."
Hermione opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to understand how he could think that way. The Cedric standing in front of her didn't look much like the kind boy everyone at Hogwarts thought they knew. For the first time, Hermione began to wonder how much of that personality was actually real.
Hermione fell silent. She felt like saying anything would be pointless.
"Do you know where the Chamber of Secrets is?" Harry asked.
"No," Cedric answered calmly before slowly raising one hand. "But I suppose you'll get your answer if you follow the trail it left behind. And you'd better do it quickly. Basilisks don't normally save their food for later. If it took your friend alive, then that supposed heir must be there too," Cedric said before turning around, as if he'd already said everything he had to say to them and didn't care what happened from that point on.
"Wait," Harry said, stopping him one more time.
Cedric stopped, but didn't turn around.
"Were you the one who helped Tyson with the Sorting Hat at the beginning of the year?" Harry asked with a truly serious look.
Without turning around, Cedric answered immediately.
"No."
And with that, he simply walked away, turning his back on everyone there.
Percy frowned again and exchanged a brief look with Harry. Then his sword turned back into his pendant, and Percy immediately walked toward the hole.
Harry moved to follow him, but paused beside Hermione first.
"Hermione, stay here and look after Ron. Neville went to find Sirius and Mark for us. When they get here, tell them we went in to save Tyson," he said with complete seriousness.
Hermione looked like she wanted to refuse, but seeing the seriousness on their faces, the words wouldn't come out to stop them, and all she could do was nod.
Then Harry looked toward Ron, who was still pale and hadn't said much that entire time, his mind somewhat lost in his thoughts.
"Ron, if you're still sane by the time we get back, we'll tell you everything," Harry told him.
Hearing his words, Ron looked at him and opened his mouth for a second, but nothing came out, and he only nodded slowly.
"If we come back," Percy added from behind him as he stared into the black hole behind the wall, which looked like a tunnel leading straight into darkness itself.
Harry rolled his eyes at his brother's reassuring words.
"We'll come back," Harry said calmly before looking toward Hermione. "Just wait here."
Percy didn't wait any longer and went straight into the hole.
Harry tightened his grip around his wand and followed after him.
Within a few seconds, both of them disappeared into the darkness.