Chapter 31 - The Start of a Mystery

It was apparent that leaving Bandit with the twins for just half a day in itself, was a bad idea.

The three had managed to 'Beautify' Gilderoy Lockharts office with pink glitter, ribbons and a whole load of pink paint they had somehow managed to sneak in.

The twins dragged Louis along with them when professor Snape was on the hunt for the troublemakers. And since the two had caught Louis off guard - making him drop his invisibility, it meant that he was dragged down with them.

Bandit got away scott free, which was terrifying to just think about. The niffler had all the twins fun things to use for pranks while they were serving their punishment.

" Remind me again why I'm here. " Louis says upset at the fact he got dragged down with them and all he did was help them plan their prank!

" Cause it's all for one and one for all! " Fred says happily following with a evil cackle.

The three were serving their punishment during Halloween because Snape decided that the best way to punish them, was to miss the Halloween feast and ' clean ' the school all by themselves.

They did clean the school....in half an hour. Magic was a very nice thing to have. And since their punishment was supposed to be lasting the whole feast, they just floated around the hallways to pass time.

• • •

" I'm going to look for Louie. " Annie says suddenly, making Draco and Richard accidentally inhale their drink through their windpipes.

" Why? Isn't he able to take care of himself in case anything goes wrong? And the twins are with him too. " Draco questions once regaining himself Richard - who was still coughing, nodded in agreement .

" You have the feeling too Richie, something's going to go wrong, and Louie won't like it. " Knowing that their gut feelings were indeed sensing danger, the three beeline for the exit with worry etched on their minds.

• • •

Wondering the hallways and chatting about random things, the three aimlessly wonder around the second floor happily in their own little world.

The happy atmosphere didn't last long, Louis managed to sense something going wrong in the school and decided to inspect it while the twins tag along.

" You two wouldn't mind being invisble for a short while right? " Louis asks the twins when they reached a corner.

" No we wouldn't. " Fred says, " Why the question Louis? " George asks.

" Stay still then. " Answering their question by waving his wand over them and casting the spell he used on Annie some time back, the twins became invisible.

" Cool! " Both Weasley's exclaim softly in awe. " How'd you do that? " They ask Louis eagerly. " It's still not perfect but it'll do. "

Pretending he didn't hear their question, Louis turns his body to the sudden noise coming from the right of the hallway.

When he was able to see where the noise came from, Louis' eyes went wide as saucers. " Louis? What is it? " Fred asks softly, seeing how distracted Louis was he decided to take a look himself.

" Oh Merlin's sake. That ain't normal. " Fred says the moment he saw what it was. " Freddie? Louis? What's wrong? " George asks the two boys.

" You might wanna see for yourself. " Fred says dumbly dragging George next to him to get a better look.

" Wha- Merlin's beard, in no way is that normal! " George exclaims under his breath when he finally saw what the two were seeing.

" Where'd this guy even come from? There isn't a Basilisk nest in sight. Or did it come from the school? But that's impossible, there isn't a secret entrance that I've not explored. "

Louis mumbles lowly and quickly to himself, slightly freaking out the two who were next to him.

" Louis? We gotta go before it finds us! Come on! " The two state in slight terror as they begin dragging Louis to the safest place at the moment.

" But-! " Louis attempts to speak until he sees the worry on their faces, gives up and starts running away with them.

• • •

" What....was....that? " George says in between pants, " That... was... no... normal..snake." George pants out in exhaustion.

" That, was a basilisk, and it's not supposed to be here. " Louis states once recovering his breath. " How are you not dead after running? " Fred says exasperated.

" Exercise? " Louis answers, confused at their question. Rolling their eyes, the two turn their attention to where they came from.

" Shouldn't we alert the others? " Fred says to Louis, " That things bigger than the dining hall! " George breaths out when he saw the body of the basilisk pass by.

" Follow me, " Louis says and walks off to where the feast was still being held, " Why? " Both ask " To get more help in this situation. "

They didn't walk far when Annie, Draco, and Richard bumped into them. " Why do you look like you were running for your lives a few moments ago? " Draco points out as he takes a napkin from his pocket and hands it to Louis.

" We found something when we were wondering around the halls. " Louis says patting his face, " What? " Richard asks curiously, " A Basilisk. "

" I'm sorry, what? " Annie says incredulous, " You heard me, a Basilisk is roaming the halls while everyone else is in the dining halls celebrating Halloween! " Louis whispers as loudly as he can.

" What do we do then? Send in the professors? Their celebrating Halloween as well, so it's a fat chance we can get them away. " Richard says calmly.

" Seriously? " Louis deadpans, " Considering what in Merlin's stinky socks was going on in this blimey school just last year, I doubt they'd know what to do. " Draco lowly whistles at that.

" That's harsh mate. " Fred and George quietly observe the situation on the sidelines before tapping Draco on the shoulder.

" Are things always like this with them? " The both ask pointing looking toward the three who were now arguing - instead of calmly discussing, what to do with the Basilisk.

" Pretty much. But if you go with them on a holiday, things tend to get weirder. " Draco says observing the cousins now on the verge of starting a duel.

" Are you sure their okay? They look like their about it start a war! " Just then, Bandit strolls in and plops himself on top of Louis' head happily like he had just conquered a mountain.

" Stop! No fighting or violence when Bandit's near us, he'll get hurt. " Louis suddenly says moving the little niffler from his head, to his pocket.

" You should see them back at the main house. Sure their close and all, but when they get into a disagreement of any kind, and none of them wants to change their minds, it's a full on war. It's best to just stand back and observe the situation and see what you can do. "