HARRY POTTER and the Chamber of Secrets Chapter Seventeen
Chapters 1-17
Chapter Seventeen
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
Finally! Harry and Ron have discovered an important piece to the mystery: the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom! They were in the bathroom with Myrtle many times. But now they realize that they have never asked her where or how she died! They decide they will talk to Myrtle as soon as they can.
During breakfast the next day, Professor McGonagall has some wonderful news! Professor Dumbledore will be returning the next day! The Great Hall is filled with cheers and whistles. “Quiet down, now,” she continues. “And also Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready to be used to help the children. She will be able to revive all the petrified children!”
McGonagall waits a moment for the children to be quiet, then she continues. “And if we are lucky, one of the children will be able to tell us who attacked them. And then we will be able to catch the one responsible for all this terror.” The children all cheer with happiness. Harry looks at the children at the Slytherin table. Malfoy does not look happy.
Harry understands that the mystery might be solved by the next day. But he still wants to talk to Myrtle, if they get the chance. And the chance comes later that day. While Lockhart is taking his students from his class to the next class, Harry and Ron decide to leave the group and go to Myrtle’s bathroom.
But on the way to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, they hear a voice. “Potter! Weasley! What are you doing here by yourselves?” It is Professor McGonagall. She looks very, very unhappy. “We were, uh… we were… “ says Ron. “We were going to…” “see Hermione!” yells Harry. Ron and Professor McGongall both look at him. “We miss her very much, Professor McGonagall,” continues Harry.
“We thought we would go and see her, just to make sure she was okay,” he says. To their surprise, McGonagall begins to cry. “Oh, yes, this mess is terrible, isn’t it? Miss Granger is lucky she has friends like you. OK, you have my permission to go and see her. Just tell Madam Pomfrey when you arrive. And run straight back to Gryffindor when you are done.” Harry and Ron can’t believe their luck!
They run to the hospital building and tell Madam Pomfrey they are there to see Hermione. “She won’t be able to hear you,” she says. “But it won’t hurt. Go ahead.” The children sit next to Hermione’s bed. “I wonder if she saw who attacked her,” says Ron. But Harry is not looking at Hermione’s face. He is looking at her right hand. There is something in it!
Harry looks closer. He sees a piece of paper inside her closed hand. “Look, Ron!” he says. Ron looks closer, too. “Try to get it out,” says Ron, excited. It is not easy to remove the piece of paper. Hermione’s hand is closed very tightly. Finally, he pulls the piece of paper out of her hand.
It is a piece of paper from a very old library book. Harry looks closely and reads it. “There are many terrible creatures and monsters that we know of. But there is no monster more dangerous than the Basilisk. The Basilisk is also known as the ‘King of Serpents’.”
“The snake may grow to incredible size. It also may live hundreds of years. The way it kills is extraordinary. The Basilisk not only has the poisonous fangs of a normal snake, it can also kill only by looking at its target. If it looks directly at a living creature, the creature will die instantly.”
“Spiders run from the Basilisk. They are mortal enemies. And the Basilisk runs only from the crow of a rooster. The crow of a rooster will kill a Basilisk.” Harry finishes reading. He looks closely at the paper again. There’s something written by Hermione: ‘pipes’.”Ron, this is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber is a Basilisk - a giant serpent!”
