The next day:

"So did you manage to do it? Did it work?"Max asked.

"I did,"I said,"he took it willingly."

"He did?"Max said, raising his eyebrows,"what did he tell you?"

I told him everything I'd found out from Antonius.

"Well, at least now you know what part he has to play in this whole business,"Max said,"but I don't like the sound of this ritual. Do you know what it involves?"

"No, but I know when it's going to happen, and I have an idea where,"I replied.

"Where?"Max asked.

"You know the tunnel Lotty and I found?"I said,"in that tunnel, where it goes under the Forbidden Forest, I think it must lead to the place where Silas is planning on doing the ritual."

"So, we've got about a week,"Max said,"do you have any idea what you're going to do?"

"Well, I'm planning on finding out more about the ritual,"I said,"I know that's the next stage of his plan."

"Do you know if he plans to do any more trials?"Max asked.

"I didn't ask Antonius about that,"I said,"but I get the idea that, unless he's given justification, he won't. Antonius said he hadn't accounted for the possibility of losing followers of the Muggleborn Rebellion in the way that he did, and when he lost you in the way that he did, it damaged his propaganda message. When he tried putting you on trial, he made sure that there were no Slytherin witnesses. I know the reason that he put you on trial was to teach a lesson to the Gryffindors. When he starts losing his grip, he uses fear to control people."

"Yeah, that does sound like him,"Max agreed.

"One thing I know is, whatever we do, we have to be really careful,"I said,"there's another thing I haven't told you. I don't even know if anyone else knows this about Silas, but he has a Basilisk."

"He has a WHAT?"Max asked.

"A Basilisk,"I went on.

"Don't you have to be a Parceltongue-speaker to control one of them?"Max asked.

"You do,"I said,"and he is."

"Do you think he could be secretly related to Voldemort?"Max asked.

"No,"I answered.

"How on earth did you find that out?"Max went on,"he must be the one that spoke Parceltongue in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"I discovered there is actually a way to learn how to speak Parceltongue,"I said.

"WHAT!?"Max said.

"That's how I found out about Silas' Basilisk,"I said.

"Wait - so you're telling me you can speak Parceltongue too?"Max said.

"Not exactly,"I said,"not properly. I started the method for learning it, but I haven't yet completed it. In order to complete it, I have to win over the allegiance of Silas' Basilisk, and I don't think I'm going to be able to do that."

"This is just getting more and more weird,"Max said.

"I won't be surprised if the Basilisk is in the tunnel, or at least goes there sometimes,"I said,"I don't know for certain, but I have an idea there could be things in that tunnel that are really dangerous. If we decide to see where it goes, we have to be extremely careful.

A few days later:

Max and I decided we needed to check out that tunnel. We went in the evening. I met Max near the treehouse. I'd brought Oliver with me. I also had some spare vials of snake potion in case of emergency. I'm not sure if they will still work after the effects have worn off. So I knew I had to explore that tunnel while I still had the ability to speak Parceltongue (I could still speak to Oliver). That way, I was sure I'd be able to tell if a Basilisk was hiding down there.

Max looked at Oliver in surprise.

"This is Oliver,"I introduced him,"he's harmless, don't worry about him. I'm bringing him with us to be a lookout."

Max looked at me with horror when I spoke to Oliver.

"I thought you said you didn't speak Parceltongue,"he said.

"I don't - properly,"I said,"I can only do it temporarily. I won't be able to do it at all when it wears off. That's why it's so important to explore this tunnel as soon as possible."

"So, you'll know if there's a Basilisk down there?"Max said,"for all I know, you could be getting me to go down there with you, just so you can win it's allegiance."

"That's not the reason for this, Max,"I said,"but it's up to you."

"Obviously I'm going with you,"Max responded,"it's too late to back out now."

We went into the Forbidden Forest. The hole that Lotty had fallen down was still there.

"Silas must be getting careless,"I observed.

"What is that smell?"Max asked.

"A Bundimun lives down here,"I explained.

"A what?"Max asked.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"A Bundimun,"I repeated,"it's a creature that eats wood, and things."

"Ah,"Max said.

We climbed down into the tunnel.

"So which way should we go?"Max asked.

"This way,"I indicated, pointing,"the other way leads to Silas' base. I certainly don't want to go back there!"

"I remember Silas' base, but I never remember being in this tunnel,"Max said.

We explored down the tunnel. It seemed to go a really long way. Oliver scouted ahead a lot of the time.

"Will you be able to tell if there's a Basilisk in here?"I asked Oliver.

"There can't be one anywhere close,"Oliver said,"look - cobwebs."

Sure enough, there were cobwebs all over the place. I saw some spiders too.

"They wouldn't be in this tunnel if a Basilisk was in here,"Oliver said,"not if a Basilisk is in any part of it."

I remembered stories of there being giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest.

"I hope there aren't any really big spiders down here,"I said.

"It's really creeping me out whenever you talk to that snake,"Max said,"every time I hear that horrible whispery noise, I imagine a Basilisk is going to suddenly appear and bite my head off."

"Well, if a Basilisk did suddenly appear, you wouldn't have to worry about it biting your head off,"I said.

"And why is that?"Max asked.

"Because you'd already be dead,"I said.

We kept on going... we'd been down there for almost two hours, when my wand started flashing yellow.

Antonius was calling me, but he couldn't find me down here! I couldn't allow that!

"Veniam Ad Vos,"I called.

I let him know I'd go to him.

"Antonius is calling me,"I explained to Max.

"You have a way of calling each other?"Max said.

"Yes,"I answered.

"In the Muggle World, we have something a bit better,"Max remarked,"we have phones."

I wasn't really in the mood for discussing with Max the differences between the magical and muggle world.

"We have to get back,"I said.

"We can apparate,"Max said.

"You can apparate?"I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I turned 17 in the autumn,"Max explained,"started Apparition Lessons in January. I've gotten fairly good at it, I'd say. I should be able to apparate us both out of here. I'll take us to where that hole is, at the start of the tunnel."

"We can't apparate into the Forbidden Forest,"I said,"but we could apparate into the little woods outside it."

So that was what we did.

"I'd rather you weren't seen with me,"I said to Max on the way back.

"Understood,"Max replied.

I went to Antonius. He was in the common room.

"Where were you?"he asked,"I haven't seen you all evening, and I was starting to get worried."

"I was busy,"I said,"I had things to do."

Jared approached us,"Cathy, Lotty wants to speak to you. She's outside the common room."

I went to speak to Lotty.

"Have you seen Anita?"she asked.

"No,"I said.

"Well, she asked me to tell you that Hoppy told her that the golden ball has been making a humming sound,"Lotty said,"we're going to meet at noon on either Saturday or Sunday, so make sure you're ready to be free at noon, all of this weekend."

"Alright,"I said, wondering why Anita had got Lotty to tell me, and wondering where Anita was.

When I returned to the common room, I noticed a bunch of students crowded around a table, looking at something.

It was Oliver. In my haste to get to Antonius, I had accidentally brought him with me to the common room.

"Where did it come from?"they were saying.

"Help!"Oliver said.

I couldn't say anything to reassure Oliver, because then everyone would hear me speaking Parceltongue.

"He's mine,"I said, going up to Oliver and scooping him up.

I noticed Antonius looking at Oliver, and I didn't like the way he was looking at him. I know Antonius thinks Oliver is my primary source of information on Silas, and he's worried that Oliver will reveal his own secrets (that I already know).

"You have a pet snake?"a 3rd Year was saying,"that's so cool!"

"I wish I had a pet snake!"

"I didn't know we could have pet snakes!"

"I need to take him to his home now,"I said,"before it gets too late."

"I'll go with you,"Antonius said.

I let him follow me outside.

"I know you're worried about Oliver,"I said.

Antonius didn't say anything.

"I promise I won't use him to spy on you,"I continued.

"I don't understand,"Antonius said,"I know you've been so - suspicious, of me."

"I know you have secrets,"I said,"I accept that. I trust you anyway."

"I don't understand,"Antonius said,"how can you trust me if you know I have secrets I can't share with you?"

"Because I have secrets too,"I said,"secrets I can't share with you."

Antonius looked worried, then he said,"you're not secretly working for Silas, are you?"

"That's a strange thing for you to say,"I said.

"Are you?"Antonius persisted.

"No,"I answered.

"You seem to know a lot about him,"Antonius went on.

There was a silent pause. We reached the hilltop woodland. I let Oliver go.

"If anything happens to Oliver!"I gave Antonius a warning look.

"I promise I won't do anything to Oliver,"Antonius said, then he added,"Catherine?"

"What?"I asked.

"What would you do if you thought I had...?"

"If you had what?"I asked.

He seemed to change his mind,"it's nothing,"he said,"let's go back."

The weekend:

At 11:30 am, Anita summoned me. I found her in a quiet part of the castle grounds, near a fountain.

She was with Jeffrey, Emily, Hoppy and Jared (who was summoning Ed). There was a strange, melodic humming sound. Lotty joined us a few minutes later.

"Where is Ed?"Anita asked,"he's going to be late!"

"He's always late,"Jared reminded us.

While we were waiting for Ed, Anita introduced us to her friends. Then Ed arrived at 5 minutes to 12.

As the time grew closer to noon, Anita held up the golden ball.

"Do you really think it's a great idea to hold it?"I suggested,"we don't know what will happen."

"Hoppy will hold it for you, My Lady!"Hoppy eagerly offered.

"No, I'm sure it will be fine,"Anita insisted.

Suddenly there was a loud, musical sound; and the ball began glowing with golden light. It opened up, spat out a piece of parchment, then closed and stopped glowing.

I picked up the parchment. Everyone crowded around, trying to see what was on it.

I read it out,"I answer questions and find things."

Anita looked at the ball,"how do you answer questions?"she asked.

The ball began glowing golden again, opened and spat out another piece of parchment,"this is how,"the parchment read.

"How do you find things?"Anita asked.

The next parchment read,"roll me on the ground."

Anita rolled the ball on the ground. It made a strange humming sound and began rolling around and around the fountain. Anita picked up the ball and dropped it into the basin of the fountain. It rolled to a certain spot and remained there. Anita scooped the ball out of the water.

Stuck to it, like a magnet, was a silver key. We took it in turns examining it.

"Do you know the answers to every question?"Emily asked.

The ball answered with another parchment fragment,"unfortunately not."

"There was me thinking I could use it to cheat on tests,"Anita said, then she quickly added,"only joking!"

"Ask it what the key is for?"Jeffrey said.

Before Anita asked, the ball answered,"the key unlocks a door in Hogwarts school that has been locked for more than a hundred years."

"Do you know where the door is?"Anita asked.

"Unfortunately not,"was the answer.

"This is amazing!"Jeffrey said,"we could find so many lost treasures!"

"Yeah, we could be the treasure hunters and find all the secrets of Hogwarts,"Emily said.

"I've got an idea,"Anita said,"every one can take it in turns asking it one question."

The ball spat out another parchment,"I only answer five questions in a day."

We had already asked it five questions.

We talked about it for a while. We all took it in turns rolling it around in random places to see if it would find things.

It found some coins people had dropped; a random unknown potion, that for some reason, someone had hidden in a bush, and a necklace in a flowerbed.

We decided Anita should be the keeper of the ball, because she was the one that originally found it.

"If any of you needs to borrow it, you can ask me,"Anita said,"you too, Hoppy."

Hoppy began hopping around,"thank you ever so much, My Lady!"he said, in an excited squeaky voice.

"Is that why he's called Hoppy?"I asked, laughing.

"Maybe!"Anita said, grinning,"though that's the first time I've seen him do that."

Hoppy had hopped over to the fountain, hopped in it and was splashing around in the water.