The Chamber of Gryffindor
Part 1It was a beautiful summer day in June. Godric sighed as he stood on the steps to the entrance hall, watching the students depart for their summer holiday. He would miss them, of course, but he and his friends still had plenty of work to do before Hogwarts was truly finished. When the last student had left, he turned and went inside.
Rowena was waiting for him in the Great Hall. "Are they all gone now?" she inquired.
"Yes," Godric told her. "What should we start on first? Have you made any progress with the disappearing classroom?"
"No, and I still haven't convinced the staircases to stay in one place. They just ignore me and keep changing positions. I need to find Salazar to help me with that; he's the only one of us that the staircases will listen to. But we're not starting until tomorrow- tonight we're having a celebration! It's been five years since we opened Hogwarts, and Helga and I wanted to do something special. She's in the kitchens, baking a cake, and I'm going to help her with the punch as soon as I tell Salazar."
"Tell me what?" a voice spoke up behind Rowena.
"Salazar!" Rowena whirled around to face him. "Don't sneak up on me like that! You frightened me! And Godric, stop laughing, what is so funny?"
Between laughs, Godric gasped, "I'm sorry, Rowena. I saw him sneaking up behind you. I should have told you he was there, but I didn't want to interrupt you. How do you walk so quietly, Salazar?"
Salazar smiled. "Call it a talent. I can't go around giving away all my secrets, can I? Now where is this party going to be?"
"In my office. And Salazar, I need to talk to you about the staircases…"
Godric watched as Rowena and Salazar walked away. He turned and went back outside. Godric spent the rest of the afternoon tending the plants in the greenhouse. They had made plans to build a second greenhouse for the more interesting plants they hoped to acquire, but there was so much to do first. As the sun began to set, Helga came looking for him.
"Where have you been, Godric?" she asked. "Rowena says everything's ready for us. Have you seen Salazar?"
"No, but I'm sure he'll remember to come. Let's get going, Rowena's office is halfway up the main tower."
Helga sighed as they left the greenhouse. "It would be nice to have all our offices together. But Rowena likes that tower, and for some reason Salazar chose to put his all the way down in the basement."
Salazar and Rowena were waiting when Godric and Helga arrived. Helga and Rowena immediately began conversing about the previous term. Godric smiled at Salazar.
"How are the staircases coming?"
Salazar shook his head. "Very slowly. Each time I convince one staircase to stay still, two more decide to change positions. I spent nearly an hour trapped on the third floor when none of the stairs felt like connecting it to the second."
Godric started to laugh. Salazar frowned for a moment, then said, "I don't see why that's funny. If they do that while we have students trying to get to their classes, we may have to resort to Muggle methods of nailing them in place."
"Sorry, Salazar," Godric replied. Recently, Salazar had begun to get touchy whenever he talked about the school. If anything was less than perfect, Salazar worked fanatically at it until it was right. At that moment, Helga announced she was ready to serve her cake. "But first," she said, "I'd like each of us to consider our past at Hogwarts, and what we are most thankful about. I'd like to propose a toast to our efforts in the progression of wizardry. May others follow in keeping the magical world alive!"
Rowena spoke next. "To the students, who are the future of Hogwarts."
Godric added, "To our friendship. Without it, Hogwarts would still be a dream to come."
Salazar finished with, "To our success in the future, whatever we try to do next." They clinked their punch glasses and watched Helga slice the cake.
Several hours later, they called out goodnights as each left for their offices where they slept. Rowena had offered to do the cleaning herself, so Godric walked down the stairs with Helga. When they reached her office, Godric continued down the hall toward his own room.
A movement in the shadows nearby caught his eye. Godric was startled to recognize Salazar, sneaking silently toward the passages at the end of the hall. Wondering where he was going, Godric began to follow him.
Salazar was still on the first floor when he stopped. In the moonlight from a window, Godric could see Salazar enter a room that they were planning on turning into another bathroom. Salazar had in fact installed several sinks the day before. From his hiding place in the hall, Godric could hear a strange hissing noise. Curious, he walked in.
"Salazar, what-" Godric stopped short in amazement. Salazar had disappeared, and where one of the sinks had been was a great, gaping hole.
Afraid that Salazar would find him, Godric ducked back into a nearby classroom to think. It was obvious that Salazar hadn't wanted the others to find out about the passage behind the sink. But what had been that hissing sound Godric heard right before he entered?
Salazar's a parseltongue, Godric remembered. It must have been some sort of password.
Godric waited in the classroom until he saw Salazar pass on his way back to his office. As soon as he had gone, Godric slipped back into the bathroom and approached the row of sinks. He imitated the noise Salazar had made, and watched in amazement as the middle sink started to transform.
What did I just say? Godric wondered. The hole in the wall had grown large enough to admit him, so Godric climbed into what was apparently a large pipe, and began to slide downwards. At the bottom, he looked around in disgust.
Wherever he was, it was too wet and dark to be comfortable. Godric lit his wand and began to explore the room. There seemed to be nothing of interest, and he turned to climb back out. Just in front of the pipe, though, he stepped on something that cracked faintly. Godric crouched down and brought his wand light lower to see what it was.
"Just a piece of a bone," he said to himself. "It looks about the right size for a frog. I'm not surprised there's frogs living down here, with how wet it is and all. And what made that noise was just an eggshell. The frogs probably have eggs everywhere in here."
Something was still bothering him, though. Suddenly, he realized what was wrong. Frog eggs have no shells! He had used frog eggs before in potions; he knew what they looked like. And they looked nothing like the shell he was standing on.
A frog skeleton, he thought, next to an egg that was definitely not its own. What was it? Maybe a chicken egg? Godric was beginning to get a really bad feeling about this. A chicken egg, and a frog… or was it a toad? What came from chicken eggs and toads?
The answer shocked Godric. A basilisk! Salazar was raising, had raised, a basilisk, a snake that hatched from a chicken egg taken care of by a toad. And what else could a basilisk be used for than to kill? Now Godric knew why Salazar had stopped fighting about allowing muggle-born students into the school. He didn't care anymore! As soon as they came, he could kill them, and no one would find out who had done it!
Godric had never felt so betrayed in his life. Despite their differences, he had always thought of Salazar as his best friend. He loved Salazar like a brother. But how could he face Salazar, knowing what sort of evil plans were in his head?
Godric snuck back to his office and locked the door. Just to be sure, he charmed the door with his special spell that neutralized the Alohomora charm. Satisfied that no one could disturb him, he sat down in a chair to think.
If Salazar had already hatched the monster, they wouldn't be able to let any students return to Hogwarts. This chamber Salazar had made could ruin all their plans and dreams to make Hogwarts a success.
But only Salazar could open the chamber. So if Godric could keep an eye on him, keep him away from the bathroom while they had students in the castle…
Godric woke up to find he had spent the entire night slumped in his office chair, and the light streaming in through the window showed it was already past breakfast time. Godric changed into some old work robes and hurried to find the others.
"You're late," Rowena observed as he strode up. "Where have you been?"
"Sorry, I overslept. What are we working on today?"
"You're working with Rowena and Salazar on the north tower," Helga told him. "I'm going to hang the new portraits in the entrance hall. See you later!"
Rowena shook her head as Helga left. "How can she be so cheerful, this early in the morning? Well, let's go. Salazar's waiting up at the tower."
For the rest of the morning, Godric worried about Salazar's chamber as he worked. I could set a tracking charm on him, he thought, but he's an experienced wizard. He would notice what I had done. And what if he's got other chambers that I don't know about?
"Watch it!" Rowena yelped suddenly. "You just dropped a rock on my toe!"
"I'm sorry, Rowena," Godric mumbled. He tried lifting it again. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Rowena dropped her stone into place and ended her spell. "Honestly, Godric, what have the house-elves been feeding you? I've never seen you so spaced out that you couldn't control your spells! Is something wrong?"
"No, no, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something," Godric said hurriedly. Rowena didn't seem satisfied with his explanation, but she returned to her work. Godric glanced over at Salazar to see if he had heard. Salazar was still levitating the heavy stones onto the wall base. He didn't seem to be listening, but with Salazar, you never knew.
Dinner that evening was stressed. Godric didn't trust himself to speak to Salazar, who didn't seem to be feeling conversational. Rowena was silent as she wondered at their strange behavior, and Helga tried vainly to start a conversation.
"So, um, how did the tower go today, you three?" she asked.
Rowena replied with a short "Fine," and continued staring at Godric and Salazar.
Helga tried again. "Godric, where were you last night? I wanted to ask you something after the party, but you weren't in your office."
Rowena asked curiously, "You weren't? Why not?"
Salazar only glanced at Godric, glowering as if he already knew where Godric had been.
Godric suddenly felt angry. "You want to know where I was? I was following him!" he declared, pointing at Salazar.
Salazar jumped up. "What business did you have, sneaking around where you shouldn't have been nosing about!"
Godric stood up in reply. "Good thing I did! I don't believe you could do something like that!"
Rowena finally got a word in. "Do what? What are you two so excited about?"
Salazar shouted, "Just that Godric here feels it necessary to go poking around in other people's business!"
"Well, if I did, it's nothing compared to what you're planning. That's murder!"
At that, Helga and Rowena jumped up. "What is it?"
Godric tried to explain. "I saw Salazar sneaking around last night, so I followed him. He's got a whole chamber built that he never told us about, and there's a basilisk down there!"
Rowena gasped. "A basilisk? Salazar, why?"
There was no answer. Godric, surprised, looked around. While he had been talking, Salazar had disappeared.
"We'll have to go look for him. Helga, you start on the top floor and work your way down. Rowena, go to the dungeons and work up. I'll go search the grounds in case he's outside. Hurry!"
Rowena and Helga dashed off. Godric pulled out his wand as he ran down the stairs. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but Salazar had been acting so strangely lately that Godric knew their friendship was a thing of the past. Salazar had always been quiet and serious, rarely laughing at jokes and valuing his work over any entertainment. Recently, though, thought Godric, Salazar's been sneaking around, surprising us like he did to Rowena yesterday. Putting his office in the dungeon, far away from the rest of us, and then all that "pureblood" nonsense about not taking Muggle-born students. I should have known something like this would happen, but I never suspected.
Godric searched the grounds thoroughly, even asking the centaurs to look in the forest.
"He's not in the castle," Helga told Godric when he returned. "He knew better than to linger where we could find him."
Rowena nodded. "Well, he's gone. We don't have to worry about the chamber or the snake, as long as he's the only Parselmouth around here. No one else would go near it."
Helga agreed, but Godric was still worried. He left a chamber of secrets to any parseltongue to come after him. Perhaps no one will discover it. I certainly won't tell where it is. But if someone does open it, no one will be prepared to fight back.
The answer was so simple that Godric wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. If Salazar could build a secret room, then so could he.
Godric spent the next few weeks building a secret chamber of his own. He didn't tell Helga and Rowena exactly what he was doing, but they did know it was about Salazar's chamber and for the good of the school, so they left him alone to work. When it was done, Godric was satisfied that when the basilisk was released, whoever stepped forward to fight it would be sure of success.
