giant snakes? in my magical boarding school? it's more likely than you think
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The phoenix glides over to Malfoy, perching above her and tilting his head to cry on her.

Headmaster Dumbledore scans the room, intently (the basilisk is already retreated). "We found her," he says, "She's been transported to St. Mungo's. The venom shouldn't advance while she's petrified, and we'll have a cure on hand." He gestures to the bird currently crying on Malfoy. "Phoenix tears can heal even basilisk venom, rather effectively."

Deep breath.

"Do you know where the basilisk is?"

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Anathema turns from the statue, biting her lip, then: "She's back in her den. Voldemort had a magic diary that - I guess possessed Malfoy - and he told her to attack people. He was the same person who opened the Chamber last time - Tom Riddle."

Pause.

"...I'm not a muggleborn. I'm his daughter. So I challenged him for 'being Heir' and told the basilisk he was a threat to Hogwarts, and he'd been lying to her. The basilisk stayed out of the fight, and Ellie set his diary on fire so he's gone."

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Headmaster Dumbledore's face seems - wan. Older than usual. He closes his eyes, sighing. "You are both exceptionally brave," he says, "Which is something I usually only find myself scolding my Gryffindors over. Thank you for being honest with me, and for saving your classmate - and a significant chunk of those who would have had to fight this, I must say. Thank you, as well, for asking Myrtle to alert us. Next time, though, please wait for back up." He opens his eyes, searching around, until they rest on the smoldering diary. He walks over to it, crouching down to examine it, as the phoenix takes flight from Malfoy to land above Ellie and cry on her, healing her scrapes and bruises and general exhaustion.

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Oh. That's really nice.

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Dumbledore carefully wraps the diary up in several layers of cloth, gently asking Anathema a few questions about if the basilisk is a continued threat to Hogwarts' students. (Well, she knows not to listen to Voldemort now, and her job was to guard Hogwarts at the command of Slytherin's Heir, so she won't listen to anyone other than Anathema right now. ...Anathema doesn't think Voldemort has any other kids. But, anyways, she's also. Pretty sure? The basilisk can't leave the Chamber on her own.)

Another tired look, then Dumbledore decides that's good enough for now - they'll go ahead with moving the students, so they can spend the rest of the school year and the summer ensuring the Chamber is secured and the basilisk isn't a threat. For now, though... Let's get everyone out of here and to the Hospital Wing.

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Yeah. That sounds good.

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They don't have to climb back up, at least - Fawkes can carry them out. Dumbledore gets them ushered into the Hospital Wing to be fussed over, before stepping out to start sending off messages to the other professors. 

Madam Pomphrey seems to be focused most on Malfoy, who's still pale and shaking even with the phoenix tears, but Anathema and Ellie are given things to warm them up and settle them, too.

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Ellie sticks close to Anathema.

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Anathema sticks close to her. They can be miserable and stressed together! Yay.

Headmaster Dumbledore seems to be shielding them somewhat - it takes a while for an Auror to come in to talk to them, the same man who spoke to them about the aftermath of last year. He doesn't ask any questions about the basilisk, or the Chamber, or Parseltongue - it seems the official story (which Dumbledore does relay to them first) is that the diary was a trap Voldemort laid, that he'd left with Lucius Malfoy that accidentally triggered on Malfoy's daughter, and the portrait-like image of Voldemort was entirely responsible for everything. Dumbledore cautions them not to mention using the Killing Curse; most magic items can be destroyed far more simply than that, so it'd be believable Diffindo worked.

(Anathema glares at Dumbledore when he comes to talk to them about 'the story' until he relents and explains himself. Briefly, but some - it wouldn't be safe for Anathema to be known as Voldemort's daughter, for one, which she heartily agrees with. It wouldn't be safe to emphasize any even tenuous connection of Ellie's to Voldemort - right now, 'Parselmouth' is merely a school rumor, not in the official record, and he believes it'd be best to keep it that way, and it'd be politically unsafe for either girl to claim to be the 'true Heir.' Additionally, the Ministry wouldn't tolerate any method of securing the basilisk except for killing her - and Dumbledore would like to know more about what role she's meant to play in Hogwarts' defense, without politics breathing down his neck, first. So, they claim Voldemort operated entirely on his own with dark spells. No Parseltongue required whatsoever in his defeat, just luck, cleverness, and guts.)

(The Killing Curse is illegal, extremely so - you can get out of a charge if you cast it at an inanimate object, but even that's iffy, especially with the current political situation. So it wasn't cast. It didn't need to be cast. Voldemort made the diary at fifteen and did not protect it very thoroughly. He advises them to cast a large variety of spells, repeatedly, past the limits even the most powerful Priori Incantatum can scan. Just in case anyone looks.)

(The diary could possess anyone who had it in their possession, continually, he mostly advises Malfoy. No questions about fault or blame for writing in it, or not casting it away. Merely a young girl in an impossible situation, valiantly fighting against her possessor to prevent him from killing anyone. A tragic case. He'll do what he can to get her name sealed, of course, but - no gap for Fudge's court of public opinion to trivially wedge itself into.)

(The diary was portrait-like, unreal, not nearly as much of a person as it behaved before all three girls. For one - more believable, that way, that it'd be easily destroyed. Less interesting. Fragments of a person are harder to imbue, and an open example of that would draw attention to the case. They'll be investigating it on its own, but... Dumbledore admits he's trying to claw the investigation into Voldemort's continuing activities away from the Ministry. At least Fudge's administration. Fudge can't shut down, leak information about, or directly interfere with investigations he's unaware of, after all.)

Auror Shaklebolt makes it rather easy to stick to this story, and Malfoy, it turns out, is an exceptionally good liar and is the main one carrying the story. Anathema is... Somewhat less so, but Auror Shaklebolt's taking her words at face value, even if she's making odd faces about them.

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Ellie's a better liar than Anathema at least, if not quite so... practiced as Malfoy. She covers for Anathema as much as she can.

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...Yeah Anathema's just going to mostly 'what she said' this.

The interview feels like it takes forever, even if objectively it isn't all that long before Auror Shaklebolt thanks them for their help and steps out.

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"Wonder if we should start sending him a... fruit basket, or something."

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"...I'd kind of rather stop needing to ever talk to Aurors. But I guess we can ask Professor Reynolds about it, yeah."

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Sigh.

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Snuggle.

"...It's gonna be a while before the mandrakes are ready," she mutters, miserably.

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"Yeah. It is."

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Very unhappy noise.

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Hug.

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Snuggle.

They get moved with the other students to the temporary school soon enough. It's weird. Not at all magical. Bland and depressing and grey, even as the house elves try to decorate it more. It's a lot more cramped than Hogwarts - actually sized properly for three hundred students, not for thousands and thousands. Dumbledore takes over the Defense position, and History crumbles into their clubs and help from the elective professors - apparently Lockhart took off when Professor Reynolds' initial warning went out, abandoning the students he was supposed to be helping guard. The football field gets transformed into a Quidditch pitch, but they don't have the stands for proper games.

The school year wears on, a bit miserably. Headmaster Dumbledore brings Ellie and Anathema back to Hogwarts decently often, at least, to go talk to the basilisk and investigate the Chamber. The school feels - bad, when it's empty, though.

Anathema's not really happy.

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No one is, really.

Ellie takes thorough notes, for when Professor Reynolds wakes up.

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It takes a month and a half still, for the mandrake drought to be finished. They wake up everyone else first, saving Professor Reynolds for last, and Ellie and Anathema aren't allowed in the room while she's being revived and treated.

It feels like a very, very long time, that they're sitting in the waiting room in St. Mungo's, before a nurse comes out and lets them know Professor Reynolds is ready to see them.

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Ellie jumps to her feet, reaching for Anathema's hand so they can go in together.

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She squeezes Ellie's hand, tightly, walking as briskly as she can without running into the room.

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Professor Reynolds is sitting up in bed. She looks pale, a bit shaky, but she smiles when she sees the two girls.

"Ellie, Anathema," she says, leaning up a bit more.

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"Fay." Ellie goes over next to her.

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