The basilisk started moving after them, Ronan could feel its gigantic body slithering behind him. That is why with his eyes tightly shut, he began to run blindly sideways. He had outstretched his hand to feel something that might come his way. While on the other hand, Tom Riddle was laughing hysterically, further fueling his anger.

Ronan then tried using a technique that he had been practicing for quite some time. During Malfoy’s birthday party, he sensed Blaise’s mother even when he was not looking at her directly. It was only later did he realized how useful this ability really was. Ronan sent a wave of his telekinesis energy around him. Just like the sonar of the bat, the wave touched a physical object and gave him information about what was happening around him.

He sensed that someone had fallen way back, while there were two boys running behind him. While the serpent was concerned, Ronan guessed that the towering moving pole beside the fallen man must be the snake. The good thing was that the snake was not following them, but after devouring the fallen man, the snake would turn its attention towards them.

But after sending a few more waves, did Ronan realize that the snake was not hurting the fallen man? It seemed to fighting something else, curious he came to a stop and turned around.

The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabers. While Neville was the one at the feet of the snake, lying there horrified of what was happening.

Seeing this, Ronan then pointed his wand his wand at the snake, “BOMBARDA!”

Snake’s head was pushed back due to the explosion, it didnt do any damage to its skin, unfortunately. But it did have the bird enough time that it swopped in and punctured the eye of the snake. Only then did Ronan realize that the snake’s other eye was also gone.

Ronan then looked at his side and saw Harry and Ron were also standing beside him, seeing this. He then ordered them, “Help him, I will take care of the Riddle.” They nodded and started running towards the scuffle.

Riddle was screaming in Parseltongue when it noticed him running towards him. Immidately it started red and blue spells towards him. Ronan started deflecting the spells right and left with ease, he could tell that Riddle was getting stronger as time passed by. But it didnt matter to him. He felt elated that he got to fight the being who defeated him. He could get his revenge now, and he was all for that…

***

Harry didnt know what to do. He could see that Neville crawled to the back side of the pillar, away from the berserk snake. That thing was moving swaying its body left and right not giving them any chance to get even close to the thing. The good thing was Fawkes had occupied the whole attention of the snake, which was working in their favor. It was then he spotted that the tattered old sorting hat was lying not too far away from him. To his surprise, he saw something slivery manifested inside the hat.

He figured that if Dumbledore sent them the hat, it might have something useful inside. He jumped on it and went to retrieve the thing. It was a sword, on whose hilt was this big red rubie. “What is that?” Ron asked urgently.

Harry was about to answer when they started hearing explosions. They looked and saw Ronan throwing something towards Riddle, and those things were exploding when making an impact with Riddle’s shield.

It was then they heard Riddle yell something else in Parseltongue, and the snake stopped focusing on the bird. It looked down towards where Neville was hiding. The snake lunged, luckily Neville was paying attention and he jumped sideway avoiding the snake’s head which hit the floor instead.

Harry saw the snake lunging again, and Neville was also ready to jump sideways. Seeing this as a potential opportunity, he started running. The snake lunged again, but Neville once again jumped sideways. When the snake was in the process of retreating its head, Harry came and threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove the hilt into the roof of the serpent’s mouth.

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But as warm blood drenched Harry’s arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color.

A patch of scarlet swam past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him. He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent’s fang had pierced him. He also heard two sets of footsteps approaching him, he felt Ron’s and Neville’s breaths around him. He could tell they were trying to say something, but he could not understand what was happening.

Just when he thought that he was going to die, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry’s arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound except that there was no wound. It was then Harry remembered Hermione babbling about how Phenoix’s tears could heal wounds.

“Harry, are you alright?” Neville asked, with tears in his eyes. Harry nodded, “Yeah, I am fine. What about Ronan?”

Fawkes flew away, and then they all got up to see what was happening.

They saw Ronan on the ground, barely clutching his wand. Riddle seemed to sending lightning on him from time to time, and Ronan was barely able to deflect them with his shield.

“He would die like this,” Ron said in urgency. Neville nodded, “We have to do something,”

“But what?” Harry questioned, “We cannot defeat him if even Ronan cant,”

It was then in a rush of wings, Fawkes soared back over their head and something fell in front of them. The diary.

Seeing the diary, Harry mumbled, “Everything is happening because of this diary,” Without thinking about it too much, Harry then plunged it straight into the heart of the book.

There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry’s hands, and flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing, and then, he just vanished. Just like that. And Ginny’s wand then fell on the floor with a thud.

They all ran to Ronan, who was now back on his feet. Harry and Neville both put their hands on Ronan’s shoulder, while Ron ran to Ginny. “We did it,” Harry breathed a sigh of relief. And it was then did Harry noticed, Ronan looked pissed for some reason…

***

Ronan was pissed. He lost, once again. One might argue that he hadn't lost until he had lost his wand, but it was simply not true. He might not have lost his wand during the duel, but he was cornered in a way that Riddle had the upper hand in their confrontation. And he would have lost surely if Harry had not destroyed the diary.

After everything was over, the siblings spent some tears of joy and then all of them started back the way they came. When they got to the pipe opening, by clutching on the bird’s tail they were able to ascend back to the top. Despite his anger, Ronan was impressed by the weight that the seemingly fragile bird could pick up. And after getting up, the bird guided them to Professor McGonagall’s office…

For a moment, every single one of them stood at the doorway of Professor’s office, covered in muck and slime. And in Harry’s case, blood. Then there was a scream.

“Ginny!” A red hair, plump woman jumped and hugged her daughter. And then Mr. Weasley as well, hugging her. Ronan looked around and saw Hermione, Professor Dumbledore, and McGonagall standing by the fireplace. McGonagall had clutched her chest and was breathing very heavily. While the old man on the other hand had a small smile on his face. While Hermione looked shocked and happy at the same time.

“You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?” Then Ronan got engulfed in a group by Mrs. Weasley and Mr Weasley who were hugging all the boys.

“I think we’d all like to know that,” said Professor McGonagall weakly. When the crazy Mrs. Weasley let go of them, Harry then walked over to the desk and laid upon it the Sorting Hat, the ruby-encrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle’s diary.

Then Harry started telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour, he spoke into the rapt silence. He told them about Neville hearing the disembodied voice, and how Ronan was attacked, and Ronan finally realized that Neville was hearing a basilisk in the pipes. He then told them how Ronan concluded that the diary was a cursed object and let them to the bathroom on the second floor, where he saw Ginny go in. Then Harry realized that maybe the last victim was Moaning Myrtle had been the victim and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom. . . .

“Very well,” Professor McGonagall prompted him as he paused, “So you found out where the entrance was… breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add, you people also hid the information of the attack on Mr. Johanson… But how on earth did you all get out of there alive?”

Harry then told them about Fawkes’s timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. How Ronan dueled with Voldemort and how they came out of their alive…