Chapter 53. Sudden Surprise

The next morning I woke up to find myself inside Gaynor’s nest again. I was curled up near the fetal position with Gaynor sleeping beside my chest and stomach. Her legs were curled up around me, holding me still as she slept. Her pedipalps rested against my neck and chest, making me sigh in relief for milking her venom the night before, just in case this might happen again. I had to admit that the nesting here was more comfortable than the hard and rusted spring mattress in the other room, a better place for my sleeping self to wander into.

It was still strange to me that I no longer felt scared or worried over her, or being trapped in her nest. I didn’t have an innate fear of spiders, but I still noted how strange it was that in my particular situation, I wasn’t worried in the least. A weird sense of easiness kept me calm, subconsciously knowing that she wouldn’t attack me now. I didn’t understand how or why, until I glanced at a few cocoons in the corner of the room. From here I could barely make out they were deer, wolf, and even a few other Acromantula's. ‘She’s been hunting? How?’

I struggled to get up and take a closer look, only to have Gaynor tighten her squeeze on me with her multitude of legs. ‘If I really was controlling the monster Gaynor is scared of in my sleep, I don’t think she would be this relaxed around me. Perhaps I have been letting my imagination get the better of me…’ With that reassuring thought, I began to tap her underbelly of abdomen, the only place my contorted arms could reach. Her body shivered, her legs twitched, her pedipalps shivered. “Gaynor, I want to get up now.” I said, trying to wake her.

She slowly woke up, her clear white eyes gazing off into the distance, feeling my body with her multitude of legs to ‘see’ me. “Hmm… But, I’m warm…” She whined, tugging me closer to her underbelly, not wanting me to leave as her heater. I sighed while continuing to pet and tap her to keep her awake, not letting her doze off. “I’m going to be late for school. I have to get up, c’mon.” She reminded me of Val, he never wanted to be apart from me either, like I was some sort of parental figure.

“Hmm… Fine!” Gaynor finally yelled, releasing me from her grasp, and taking my spot on the nest to soak up any extra heat I left behind. I avoided her webs hanging from the ceiling, and carefully made my way to the door, jumping into my own room, glancing at my clothes at the foot of the bed, including the sorting hat as he chuckled. “Look at you, taking care of such a beast without even knowing how or why.” He chuckled, making me frown at his cryptic words. “Did I do something in my sleep?” I asked him as I placed him back on my head.

He hummed in thought, before finally responding as I left my room. “Nothing regarding opening the Chamber of Secrets… You have nothing to worry about for that.” I sighed in exasperation. “Can you tell me what exactly I did?” The hat shook his… head(?) while he spoke. “Unfortunately… No… What you did was only between that spider and you.” “But it’s not even between me, and Gaynor is always sleeping in the morning, I can’t disappear in the middle of the day.” The hat chuckled at my predicament, before changing the topic. “Why have you taken her venom anyway?”

I frowned while walking towards my House, only two days before I would have much more time to investigate the Chamber of Secrets myself. After hearing that Chiara had been petrified, that strange connection I felt urged me to find out how to stop this ‘monster’. “Aside from making sure she doesn’t bite me with venom in her sleep? I have read up on a concoction that may help me in deterring the beast.” The hat hummed as I went inside my room.

A few days later and winter break had officially started, leaving me to my own devices without classes for a while, giving me more time to search for the Chamber, or at least what was inside it. Many students left, especially those in other Houses, fearful of perhaps being the next victim. As it turned out, that night I was releasing my magical energy, the monster struck again. This time petrifying nearly headless Nick, and Ron Weasley. Perhaps Nick was just collateral damage, considering the person seemed to be targeting ‘blood traitors’, worrying me over the fact that I could also be considered that term.

I was inside the library, searching for anything that could petrify people so easily, and discovering their tendencies for anything else that matched the incidents at school. 'First the cat in the hall, then Chiara at the top of the tower, then Weasley and Headless Nick back in the hallway... How did Chiara get petrified? There are few creatures that do, I ruled out the Basilisk since it would be impossible for it to traverse that high without anyone knowing of it. Did she see a Gorgon at the school grounds when resting her eyes?' “Lucas?” My mind was awoken from my name being called, and I turned up to see Pansy looking down at me, her voice seemed a bit odd, but I was more concerned with how she was here. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on holiday, did you miss the train?” Pansy chuckled a bit while slowly taking a seat beside me. “No… My parents canceled at the last minute.”

“Sorry to hear that.” I answered back, flipping a page to the Gorgon, my first suspect of the creature Salazar had bred. Pansy looked over my shoulder to see what I was looking at, and gasped a bit. “Is that what’s in the Chamber?” She whispered under her breath, staring at the image of the Snake woman. I was a bit shocked that she made the connection, considering I was searching magical creatures most nights, but sighed while shaking my head. “Perhaps… I wouldn’t know…” I mumbled, closing the book, not wanting her to realize I was interested in stopping the creature, or at the very least talking to it.

“..ill…” I then heard a mumbling in Pansy’s direction. “You say something?” I asked, she looked at me with a bit of shock but shook her head silently. “..ill…” I heard it again, but this time looking at Pansy, I saw that she never spoke, and the librarian had been gone for a while, it was then that Val came from my sleeve. “I heard that!” Just as he did, Pansy yelped in surprise, and fell backwards in her chair to the ground. “Oh my- are you ok?” I asked, trying not to smile too much at her situation while giving her a hand.

She looked at my outstretched hand for a bit, and back at me, before finally taking it and letting me help pull her to her feet. “You heard it too?” I asked Val, his head popping from my sleeve. “Yes! And she is strange! Why is she saying strange stuff?”  He yelled, tilting his head in confusion. “Kill…” We both then looked at the other section of the library where the sudden husky voice hissed, through the bookshelves. “Yes… Yes she certainty sounds strange…” I gulped in fear, its voice becoming louder.

I looked at Pansy, definitely on edge for some of the first time I could recall. “It’s speaking Parseltongue…” I muttered, following its hissing voice, saying ‘kill’ under its breath. “Well, it has to be controlled by an Heir of Slytherin… like you…” Pansy answered back. “Kill… Kill… Ki- haaaa…” It suddenly stopped muttering murder under its breath and began mumbling incoherent words as it moved away. “It's moving away!” I whispered loudly, rushing out of the library to follow the voice, Pansy right on my heels.

I continued to run after the distant voice, the empty halls echoed with Pansy’s and I’s footsteps. Finally they stopped right as I was at the entrance of the girl’s bathroom closest to Slytherin. It was one that nobody ever used, one I never went inside, even during my search. Pansy panted, her face turned pale as she saw where we were, most likely from using this bathroom at one point, now knowing the Chamber might be connected somehow to this place. I slowly walked inside the empty room, the sickening smell of something filling the air. “Ugh… Did it open up the sewers while it was inside the walls?”

“That’s it! Why didn’t I think of it before! The Gorgon uses the water pipes to travel through the school!” Pansy yelled, before gasping and covering her mouth, staring at me. I was stunned by how much thought she gave to this problem, especially for someone who seemed to be ok with ‘Enemies of the Heir’ petrified, but everything seemed to make sense. I looked back at the bathroom, and kneeled onto the floor, seeing a drainage grate. I was about to look through before Pansy yanked me back. “You idiot! Don’t you know that just meeting the gaze of a Gorgon is all it takes!?”

I sighed at my own stupidity. “Right, of course… It just slipped my mind. Thank you.” I patted her shoulder in thanks as I stood back up. “How do we find the Chamber down there?” Val asked, suddenly the sinks in the center of the room began to shake.