Students crowded outside the classroom like a murmuring tide, hushed whispers and wide eyes flicking toward the cold, petrified body on the floor.
A young girl—third year, Hufflepuff. Her eyes were frozen wide in terror, another one.
"Everyone back to your dormitories, now!" Minerva McGonagall snapped sharply, ushering students away with a grim face.
"Back to your common rooms, no questions, no arguments!" Flitwick followed suit, his usually warm voice hard and urgent.
Tony stood a little behind the professors, armored up but silent. His mask was off, eyes narrowed as his internal HUD fed him real-time scans of the surrounding magical residue. JARVIS whispered in his ear.
"Sir, trace evidence matches energy levels similar to the diary. Source origin: upper corridor, northwest hall. Recent displacement noted."
Tony's jaw clenched. "We need to get back to that office fast." it's like that dairy is a Bluetooth connect to something that did this. The kid is alive, His scanners tell that much. Once he leaves, He is upgraded his armour. Maybe built another one.
Meanwhile, Amelia had pulled Dumbledore aside, she looks absolutely pissed off.
"What did Nearly Headless Nick mean by second attack?" she demanded. "You better start talking, Albus. Or I'll be dragging your cryptic self straight to the Wizengamot."
Dumbledore's face was lined deeper than before. For a moment, the old spark in his eyes dulled with weariness.
"There was a first incident. A cat—Mrs. Norris. She was found petrified outside the trophy room some weeks ago," he said softly.
"You didn't report it," Amelia seethed. "You covered up an attack on school grounds." Dumbledore was get a huge lecture from her one of these days, Maybe she should start on her promises.
"I believed it an isolated incident at the time," Dumbledore tried, but the weak excuse didn't even convince himself.
"Did you even think that was the start of something worse?" she barked, not waiting for his answer.
Behind her, Johnny knelt beside the girl, muttering diagnostic spells, wand tip glowing softly as he analyzed the magic. "Same magical trace as the diary," he said grimly. "No doubt now. This is connected."
"Huh! Now like Sirius I am curious what else you can do" Tony comments.
Sirius was pacing nearby with Remus, both scouring the floor and surrounding walls. "No visible attacker. Whatever did this was either invisible or... summoned," Sirius muttered.
Johnny brow furrowed as he stood up and wave his wand realising something. "I'm sensing another source of magic... The magic left behind it's pattern is one of snake like..."
Tony, hearing this, turned sharply. "You're telling me this might involve an actual snake? Or someone acting like snake??"
Johnny expression grim as finally a realization came on his face after examining the girl. "More than that. A basilisk, maybe."
Amelia's head snapped toward him. "A basilisk?! You're telling me you've got a bloody basilisk in this school?!"
Dumbledore is shocked, A basilisk! Of course! Chamber of secrets that was open all of those years ago and now, Salazar Slytherin being the snake speaker. Why didn't he connect the dots all of these years??
"Headmaster, If you knew anything like that was in this school, and didn't tell the Ministry—"
"I didn't knew. Not until now..." Dumbledore admitted quietly.
"That's not good enough," Amelia hissed. "You've endangered every student in this building. First a cat, now a child. Merlin knows how many next."
She turned sharply to the others. "We need to get that diary secured immediately. If this is a magical artifact linked to Voldemort, it must be in Ministry custody now."
Tony's voice cut in, low and tight. "About that... we have a problem."
Everyone turned toward him.
"I asked JARVIS to do a sweep of the Headmaster's Office while we were here," Tony said grimly. "The diary's gone."
"What?" Sirius barked.
"I left a hidden camera there for security, Just saw the whole thing, Someone used a flash spell maybe? Whatever it was, A burst of light and then… nothing. It was taken. Five minutes ago."
"Who was in the tower?" Amelia demanded.
"It was just us" Remus said looking confused. "And no one else...all of us came running here after Nick told us..."
"Wait" Everyone looks at Tony. "Hold up, I forgot I had put another hidden camera at the entrance, There is a small figure- Huh! A girl!"
"A girl?" Amelia frowns. "Can we see what you are seeing?"
Tony doesn't respond as he turn his head towards the wall, his helmet has a small light flick on and on the wall, they saw a moving picture. The video was slow, They saw a young girl possibly First or second year student rushing and cover herself with hoodie.
"That's miss Weasley!" Dumbledore says. "Young Ginny... How did she..."
Johnny curses. "Dairy!"
"Ah shit, She got possess" Sirius winced. "Isn't it?"
Johnny's face darkened. "She's still under its influence... By the looks of it, The affects of dairy were on her even if she had lost it... And came to retrieve the object..."
Dumbledore looked stunned, but no one had time for his silence anymore.
Tony's faceplate snapped shut. "We're not waiting. JARVIS, scan for heat signature since all students will be in their places, I am sure she wouldn't be. Check it out"
"Already locating, sir"
"What is she gonna do with dairy??"
Dumbledore spoke up. "Trying to finish what Tom started... If I am right... She's gonna open the chamber of secrets"
"Move now!"
———
Ginny moved like a girl possessed, her hands trembling as she held the diary to her chest. Her eyes were blank, lips whispering words she didn't understand. She didn't even fully know where she was going—only that she had to go. Tom told her it was time.
She reached the sink in the second-floor girls' bathroom. Her hand raised, finger tracing the tiny snake engraving she never noticed before.
She whispered a word—not English. Not human.
The sink shuddered.
The pipes groaned like a monster breathing deep.
With a rumble, the center sink collapsed inward, revealing a gaping black tunnel.
And Ginny jump in.
———
An hour later, Tony was the first to burst through the door of the girls' bathroom. "Seriously?" he muttered. "Of all places to hide a giant snake, the girls' loo?"
Remus skidded in behind him, with Sirius and Johnny not far behind. The Iron Man suit whirred softly as Tony scanned the surroundings.
"That's...a ghost," Tony said, blinking at the pale girl floating over the sinks.
Moaning Myrtle perked up at the sight of new visitors, especially the glowing metal man. "Oh my, a visitor! It's been ages since someone so shiny came in here!" she squealed.
Johnny raised a brow and turned to Dumbledore, who had finally caught up behind them with Amelia. "Headmaster, why exactly is a ghost haunting a girls' toilet?"
Dumbledore sighed, "That's Myrtle. She died here, during her time as a student. She's...sensitive about how she died."
"I'm not sensitive!" Myrtle cried, floating dramatically upside down. "I was murdered!"
Everyone turned to her.
"Oh, please," she huffed. "You want to know how I died? I was in here—crying, of course—when I heard someone speaking in a weird language. I got up to tell him to go away, and then I saw these great big golden eyes! Right there!" She pointed dramatically at one of the old sinks.
Amelia folded her arms and shot a sharp look at Dumbledore. "You said she was sensitive. That ghost just gave a murder confession with theatrical flair."
Tony was already scanning. His suit hummed as blue lights flickered over the sink area Myrtle pointed toward. He frowns reading the data on his HUD.
"Guys," he said slowly, "my scanners are picking up...hollow space behind this skin wall. Huge, layered piping underneath the castle. And not plumbing—this is way too massive."
Remus blinked. "Hogwarts is ancient. It's older than plumbing systems. The castle's been remodeled on top of itself dozens of times. Magic and architecture overlap in weird ways."
Tony stood and pointed at the sink Myrtle had gestured toward. "This...this is the entry point."
Everyone stared.
Sirius looked at it, then back at Tony. "You're telling me the mythical Chamber of Secrets has been in the girls' bathroom all along?"
Tony deadpanned. "You wanna argue with the scan or the ghost?"
Myrtle beamed, floating in slow loops around his head. "I told them, but no one ever listens to Myrtle."
Without any hesitation, Tony shot it. Everyone jumps. "Mr Stark!" Dumbledore almost had a heart attack. Sirius splutters at what Tony did, Remus looks dumbfounded and Johnny just stare.
"Tony! Don't damage the property!!"
"I pay for it"
"Oh my god, if James was here... He shook hands with you, Tony"
Amelia facepalm. "Tony, Please keep it under control... Don't destroy the ancient castle!"
Tony's helmet snapped shut. "She's already gone down. So, I am sorry for making a move and I said I pay for it!"
Remus wall past Tony, he looks down and back at Tony. "The pipe..."
"It's like a slide... Trust me, you can jump and land comfortably"
"If I die, I haunt you"
"Ohh, can't wait"
Remus scowls and jumps in.
"Race you," Sirius said, leaping in after him with a grin.
Johnny conjured a soft magical cushion for himself before vanishing down the tunnel.
Tony hovered for a second at the edge, eyes sweeping the stunned staff. "You might want to start locking down this school. If we're right, there's a monster under here."
Without another word, he dropped into the dark.