Snape and McGonagall waited until morning. By the time their magical strength was restored, they had collected the basilisk's body and repaired the castle's basement. Yet, Dumbledore had not returned, and they began to sense that something was amiss.
With Dumbledore's abilities, he should have been back from Gaunt's old house by now.
Snape and McGonagall exchanged uneasy glances, both feeling a growing sense of foreboding.
At eight o'clock in the morning, students from other houses woke up and, not having been notified to stay in their common rooms, went to the Great Hall for breakfast as usual.
To their surprise, the magical item that the professors had set up the previous day to make a rooster crow was gone.
It had been removed after just one day.
Was it useless?
Was the monster in the Chamber of Secrets not a basilisk?
Most of the students thought so. After all, it had only been one night, and almost no one believed the basilisk had been completely dealt with.
Lavender, who had been scared at first, smiled, but her smile quickly froze as news from Slytherin began to spread.
Professor Sinistra had been poisoned by snake venom, Professor Nagini was seriously injured, and Professors Flitwick and Hooch were petrified...
The entire basement had been reduced to rubble...
Just hearing this news, it was easy for students from other houses to guess how fierce the battle had been the previous night.
But what surprised them the most was that Artel had killed the basilisk!
Artel, the first-year Slytherin student, had drawn the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat and killed the basilisk!
The Great Hall buzzed with the news. Whispers and exclamations filled the air as students tried to process what had happened.
"Did you hear? Artel killed the basilisk!"
"With the Sword of Gryffindor! Can you believe it?"
"I thought he was just a first-year!"
The amazement and disbelief were palpable. Artel's name was on everyone's lips, and his feat had turned him into an overnight legend.
When the news first broke, most of the students were skeptical. However, with all of Slytherin backing the story, some even providing vivid descriptions of the event, including how Artel drew his sword and decapitated the basilisk, it became impossible to ignore.
The rumor quickly spread to the other three houses and soon engulfed the entire Great Hall.
Artel, who was quietly having dinner with Hermione, found himself the center of attention. Many students stared at him, some abandoning their meals to get a closer look, whispering amongst themselves.
Hermione, sitting next to him, was frozen in shock, her mouth agape, a piece of baked potato still visible.
"Artel... are they telling the truth?" she asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
"It is true," Artel replied calmly, feeling the intense scrutiny of hundreds of eyes. He continued eating, cutting a piece of bacon and placing it gracefully in his mouth. "But I had the help of the professors. That snake was dozens of meters long; I couldn't handle it alone."
"It's incredible! You drew the sword of Gryffindor!" Hermione exclaimed loudly. She glanced at Lavender, who looked visibly upset, and shouted again, "Artel drew the sword of Gryffindor! He was chosen by Gryffindor! He killed the basilisk!!"
Hermione was ecstatic, even more so than if she had slain the basilisk herself. She felt a dizzying sense of pride and happiness.
The only downside for her was not witnessing the event firsthand. Based on the Slytherin students' descriptions, she could imagine how handsome and heroic Artel must have looked at that moment. She felt envious that the Slytherin girls got to see it instead of her.
"Artel is our Slytherin pride! He's not a Gryffindor!" Pansy's voice rang out from the Slytherin table. She stood up, glaring at Hermione.
"But Artel has been dining with us in Gryffindor! You don't appreciate him! Gryffindor accepted him! He is a Gryffindor!" Hermione retorted, standing up as well, her face flushed with emotion.
The tension between the houses was palpable, but amidst it all, Artel remained calm. He knew the truth of his actions and was just glad that everything went according to plan. The recognition, though overwhelming, was secondary to him.
The Weasley twins, always ones to enjoy a bit of chaos, shouted from the crowd, adding fuel to the fire. Slytherin students, particularly the seniors who didn't get along with them, immediately retaliated:
"You're lying! Artel is a Slytherin! You can't claim him for yourselves!"
"The basilisk he killed with the Sword of Gryffindor!"
"A Slytherin drew the Sword of Gryffindor! How can you deny that!"
"Artel must be a Gryffindor! The Sorting Hat must have made a mistake!"
As if someone had lit a fuse, the Great Hall erupted into a heated argument, with Gryffindor and Slytherin students shouting at each other. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, meanwhile, watched from the sidelines, enjoying the spectacle since the argument had nothing to do with them.
Harry sat among the chaos, his face expressionless as he mechanically ate his food. He could no longer taste anything.
"How did this happen?" Harry asked himself. He recalled his sorting, when he had been placed in Gryffindor amidst applause and cheers. "We have Harry Potter! We have Harry Potter!" they had shouted.
And now... nobody seemed to care about him anymore.
Harry glanced up at Artel, who was sitting opposite him, talking to Hermione. She looked at Artel with a smile, the scene between them peaceful and harmonious.
"If it were me... if I had killed the basilisk and the houses were quarreling over me... would I be so calm?" Harry wondered.
Harry pursed his lips and lowered his head. Last night, he had been planning how to use Parseltongue to help find and defeat the basilisk, dreaming of becoming a hero to all the students.
But he woke up this morning to learn the basilisk was already dead...
"Why is this happening?" Harry didn't understand. He was supposed to be the legendary boy who survived. Everyone had expected great things from him, but he felt he had accomplished nothing.
"Harry?" Ron nudged him lightly, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. Harry realized his plate was empty, and he had been scraping it unconsciously with his fork.
"You seem to have something on your mind. What's wrong?" Ron asked, noticing Harry's unhappiness.
Harry shook his head. "I'm fine... I just didn't sleep well last night."
Ron was relieved and said enviously, "Artel is amazing, isn't he? He drew the Sword of Gryffindor! Percy says no one has done that in decades..."
Harry didn't really hear Ron. He just nodded and forced a smile.
"Maybe Artel is right. I'm just an ordinary wizard. I should focus on being a student... The Dark Lord wasn't really defeated by me..."
The quarrel between Gryffindor and Slytherin escalated, with some seniors getting physical. The prefects of both houses tried to intervene, but more and more students joined the fray. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students continued to watch, clearing out the center of the Great Hall. Spells flew across the room, and food and broken plates went everywhere.
Without any professors present, the chaos was uncontrollable. Malfoy took advantage of the situation, casting a dancing spell on Harry.
"Harry Potter! It's a happy day, let's dance! Tarantella!"
In the midst of the melee, Harry was forced to dance angrily, and Ron retaliated by casting a tickling spell on Malfoy. Harry danced furiously while Malfoy laughed, and Goyle and Crabbe chased Ron around the Great Hall. Seniors from both houses threw obstacle, sleep, and petrification spells at each other.
It was utter chaos.
"Quiet!!"
After about ten minutes, a powerful voice echoed through the Great Hall. The students involuntarily stopped, and the cursed individuals returned to normal.
Artel looked up and saw Dumbledore. His eyes widened in shock.
Dumbledore's hand was shriveled and blackened, clearly cursed.
Artel's mind raced. "Dumbledore went to Gaunt's old house last night... He found the Resurrection Stone, was tempted, put on the ring, and suffered a terrible curse... But all of this is happening five years early!!"