There was a loud grating and creaking as the door opened for the first time in fifty years. The snakes around the edges of the door slid forward realistically and unlocked it.

Harry and Albus exchanged a look as they both advance slowly, wands out, into the fabled Chamber of Secrets.

The air smelled stale and dry, it was heavy and musty. The torches around the Chamber flared to life as they walked forward. Dumbledore was staring around in amazement at the huge pillars with the engraved snakes on them. The room was raw, it seemed to be carved out of the very rock that the castle stood upon. It was easily larger than the Great Hall above and was absolutely huge. In the center on the other side stood a huge statue of Salazar Slytherin, dressed in the fashion of his times. Like Harry, Dumbledore also thought that the man looked slightly like a monkey.

No one would ever know how the founder had managed to construct and conceal this Chamber without the other three getting wind of it. The Headmaster frowned a little to himself. If Tom Riddle had found the Chamber, then there were obviously clues as to how to find it. He recalled that Riddle had spent hours in the library, researching the founders, especially Slytherin. It was possible that he had discovered some clue hidden away in one of the dusty old tomes in the library.

He turned to Harry, who was staring at the statue in trepidation. He held his wand ready and waited now for him to take the lead. All he heard was harsh hissing. He turned to Harry wondering what exactly he was saying in this ancient and rare language.

"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four" Harry hissed as loud as he could, looking at the mouth of the statue. Just as before, Slytherin's mouth began to open, with a grating sound of stone on stone. This time he didn't feel horrified, just resigned.

"Close your eyes, Professor" he murmured, his own tightly shut. They could hear something huge moving, sliding, slithering and then a thump as it came to rest on the floor. Silence. Not daring to open his eyes, Harry wondered what the snake was doing. After another moment of silence, he chanced a peek, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him and moving forward, so that he could hopefully shut his eyes immediately if he thought he was gazing close to the creatures head. To his surprise, the giant serpent was coiled at the base of the statue, with it's head bowed in a manner of subservience and it's eyes facing the ground. He breathed a small sigh of relief. "It's alright, you can open your eyes" he whispered to the Headmaster, not wanting the serpent to get startled by talking loudly.

He felt Dumbledore start besides him as he took in his first glance of the creature that was living under his school. It was a bright, poisonous looking green that was dappled with yellow here and there. It had a white splash on its forehead that looked like a diadem, and a crest on it's head that resembled a crown. It was huge. It's scaly length went on and on in monstrous coils, and it's head swayed a little bit, much like a King Cobra. It's eyes were downcast though, and it was perfectly still save for the mesmerizing, slow sway of it's head.

"What are you called, ssserpent?" Harry asked, adopting a haughty mien. He was acting on pure instinct and he just went with the flow. He decided to behave lordly and masterful so that the creature felt like obeying him.

"I am Nehussstan, massster. What issss your bidding? How can I serve the egg of the great sssSalazar sssSlytherin?"

The basilisk sounded just like any other servant. With phrases like "the egg of the great Salazar Slytherin", no wonder Tom Riddle had begun to feel that he was Merlin's gift to magic. He snorted slightly to himself as he turned to the Headmaster.

"Apparently it recognizes me as Slytherin's "egg". It will not harm us." The aged man breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his wand arm. He looked closely at the snake. As a scholar and intellectual, he didn't have much experience with creatures, but he did respect them and found them fascinating. Here was a creature that had not been seen for hundreds of years, and had not been studied more than the bare minimum due to it's deadly nature. "Ask him or her if there is any way for it to not kill with its gaze. There should be some way for it to mitigate it's deadly eyes. After all how would it look at it's young if it kills with every gaze?" he suggested, still looking in awe at the majestic looking creature. Deadly, yes. But majestic all the same.

"Isss there a way for you to shield ussss from your gaze?" He hissed, his face contorting in ways he never knew possible. It was a slightly grotesque language, but then he knew of many who would kill for the ability. Snakes had after all, always been associated with dark wizards and dark magic, though he assumed that a lot of it came from the reputation that Salazar Slytherin and Voldemort had garnered. He also knew that Parseltongues were revered in other parts of the world; such as India and various countries in the East and Africa. This knowledge came from him perusing Voldemort's memories. The man was a maniac and a murderer but one could never say he was not intelligent and knowledgeable.

The snake replied in a voice that seemed to have no gender. "My gaze cannot harm you, Massster. Yet it is fatal to everyone elssse in the world. There isss nothing that I can do."

The Headmaster's other questions came to mind. "How would you look upon your young onessss?" He asked, genuinely curious as it wasn't something he would have thought of by himself.

"I can never breed, Massster. I am neither male nor female. A Basssilisssk is born from the egg of a chicken hatched under a toad. We are incapable of offssspring."

It made sense in a way. Harry turned to Dumbledore. "It claims that it's gaze cannot harm me, but there is no way to stop it from being fatal to others. Also, interestingly, it is asexual and sterile. It cannot breed." Harry felt a little bad for referring to an intelligent being as "it" but given the circumstances there was really no other option. "It's name is Nehustan, by the way."

The Headmaster looked interested at that fact. "Nehustan, was the name of a serpent from the Bible which Christians believe in. Interesting choice of name, but slightly belittling to the serpent itself." He paused, stroking his beard and looking at the snake. "It means "a brazen thing, a mere piece of brass. Salazar tSlytherin ruly saw it only as a tool. He obviously had no love for it, or did not know the meaning. Given his intellectual predilections, I doubt it was the latter."

Harry nodded tersely. The Headmaster was a font of facts and wisdom which would normally be fascinating but this was neither the time nor the place. He decided to accomplish their objective and then move forward with their other plans. Plans to rid themselves of one Horcrux, and the wraith possessing Quirrell.

"Nehussstan, I require a ssservice of you." The snakes head bowed even lower as it gently hissed "Anything, egg of my massster." Harry had initially been little startled at being called "egg" but thad hen realized that the Basilisk probably had no concept of lineage or an Heir. He was Salazar's "egg" apparently. Smiling wryly to himself, he carefully couched his request. "I need your venom, to coat a weapon with. I know that it isss exssstremely potent, but I need to collect sssome venom from your venom sssack." He had very basic knowledge of the anatomy of snakes. He remembered watching a show on the television once at the Dursleys' when they had taken Dudley out for one of his birthdays. It was a show on snakes and it spoke of venom being stored in "sacks". The show makers had not known about magical serpents though.

"Masssster, my venom is directly inside my fangss. There is no "sssack". I have heard of sssmaller, common ssserpents who have thisss. I was created to ssserve you, Prince of sssSytherin. Sssimply create a container and I will willingly give you my venom. I mussst warn you. There is no weapon I can think of that will sssurvive my venom. It is fatal even to the touch. Except for you, exssalted one."

Harry grimaced at being called the "Prince of Slytherin" and the "exalted one". Still, he supposed having the snake in awe of him was better than sticking an ancient blade through the roof of it's mouth and into it's brain. He quietly conjured a glass container, and stepped up closer to Nehustan.

"Here is the container, Nehussstan." He proffered the glass container, hoping the venom wouldn't destroy it. He gave an involuntary flinch as the serpent lowered it's head down to him, and he almost closed his eyes out of instinct, before remembering that he couldn't die from it's gaze. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and then looked directly into the creatures eyes. They were, in a word: beautiful. They shone like diamonds in the darkness, displaying an intelligence that he was surprised to see in a reptile. Of course, he wasn't even sure if it was a reptile, given that it was hatched from a chicken egg. Magic was a strange force, he mused.

There was a dripping sound, as the snake lowered itself, it's huge maw gaping open as venom, a putrid yellowy-green and viscous liquid slowly dripped into the container. There was a hiss and a little smoke rose from the container. Alarmed, Harry pointed his wand at it and thickened the glass of the container.

When he saw that he had almost a pint of the potent stuff, he gave a small hiss to the serpent to stop. It dutifully stopped releasing it's venom into the container, and resumed it's stance.

Albus Dumbledore was watching all of this in fascination. He was, however, a little worried about this huge beast roaming the bowels of his school. "Command it not to harm any of the residents of this castle, Harry." Harry grimaced a little. There were more than a few current "residents" of the castle that he wanted harmed in some way or the other. Quirrell and Pettigrew came to mind immediately. He simply nodded though. "What do you eat, Nehusstan? How have you ssssurvived for sssoo many yearss?" Nehustan seemed to be contemplating the question. "There are ssseveral tunnelsss that lead into the Great Foressst, Masster, I can go and hunt through them. However, asss the yearss have gone by, I have needed food lessss and lessss, I thrive in the magic of the ssschool my former massster has built."

Harry was a little surprised by that, although it could explain it's monstrous size. It was possible that because the snake survived on a little food and a lot of magic, it had surpassed it's usual growth rate.

"You may continue to hunt in the Great Foressst, Nehusstan. However, do not harm any humanss or Centaurssss that you come across." The snake bowed it's head a little further in acquiescence.

"Go and ressst now, I will come back and ssspeak to you ssssoon" Hissed Harry, actually meaning it. The serpent could have valuable insight into both Slytherin's and Voldemort's minds, and he was interested in garnering whatever information he could about both. Although he possessed Voldemort's memories, he still didn't know his motivations, or his psyche. It was hard to follow reasoning through memories. It was as if they were just movies he had to extrapolate from based on behavior patterns he observed. The snake made a graceful bow, and slithered away into the darkness, the sound of its massive body reaching them long after it's gargantuan tail had disappeared from view.

"Well, that was an interesting afternoon." Said Dumbledore with a small smile. "What now, Harry?"

Harry looked around the Chamber with narrowed eyes. "It's called the Chamber of Secrets, Albus. Not the Chamber of "Secret." I wish to look around and see what else is there to discover. The Headmaster nodded, as it seemed like the most logical thing to do. "Now that the Basilisk is not a threat, should we split up and look over the Chamber?" He asked, once again deferring to Harry's opinion, much to the youths pleasant surprise. He shook his head. "I don't think that's wise. We have no idea what other nasty surprises Slytherin or Voldemort have left behind. My parselmouth skills could come in handy again."

He was shortly proved right. As they wandered closer to the base of the statue, there appeared to be runes carved into it. Albus shook his head, bemused. They weren't runes of any language that he had ever seen before and he had see a lot of languages. Harry's mouth seemed to be moving slightly as if he was reading them. Parseltongue then, he surmised, waiting for the young man to let him know what he had read. He had not learned so much new information in one day in a very long time. He was finding it absolutely exhilarating to be in the depths of his beloved school, uncovering secrets that had lain dormant for thousands of years, while dealing a blow to the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"Enter, Heir of the most worthy of bloodlines. To the Heart of my Chamber, where awaits knowledge and treasures for the sons of my sons. May pure blood always reign supreme. Speak my name, and gain entry to your inheritance. Beware, those not of my blood. A curse upon you and yours if you try to enter where you are not welcome."

Harry gazed contemplatively at the carving, while he explained what they said to the Headmaster. He was technically not of Slytherin's blood, yet as the Basilisk had recognized him as the heir he felt that it was safe to bet that the "Heart" of the Chamber would as well. The Headmaster was of a similar bent. He gestured for Harry to proceed.

"sssSalazssar sssSlytherin" He hissed confidently. There was a white glow, similar to what was seen in the bathroom which was way above them now, and a doorway appeared out of the rock, with a stair case leading up into the statue.

They both pulled their wands out again, as they carefully began climbing the stairs. There were sconces on the stairwell, which flared to life as they walked forward, bathing the place in a dull, green light. Apparently Slytherin had been extremely fond of this shade of green.

They came into a suite of rooms, which were extremely dusty. There were however, clear footprints in the dust. They looked as if they had been created a few minutes ago. They were leading into all the rooms and exiting them as well. A chaotic, jumbled record of Tom Riddle's movements in this suite.

"Not the dust of a thousand years." Observed the Headmaster as he twirled his wand around the room and made the dust disappear. A further wave of his wand the air freshened, losing it's moldy, musty odor and smelling more like fresh cut grass and lemons.

"More like fifty." Harry commented quietly, looking around with interest. It was a modest suite, with a seating area which had a fire place and a few chairs made in an old fashion. They were carved out of wood and had serpents entwined around them. He grimaced a little again. The man had obviously been obsessed with snakes. Where did the smoke go? Wondered Harry, glancing at the fireplace as he walked towards one of the other doors. He gestured for the Headmaster to precede him, as he didn't have the same control over cleaning spells.

They entered a spartan bedroom, with a bed very similar to the ones in the dorm rooms above them. The mattress was moldy and ruined, and this room had an even worse odor. The Headmaster performed his spells again, but they didn't even enter the room. It was apparent from a single glance that there was no more to this room. It was simply a place to rest.

They went back, and tried another door. This one opened up into a slightly larger room, which seemed to be set up as an office and library combined. There was significantly less dust here, and there were again footprints on the floor, preserved from fifty years ago. There were bookshelves lining three of the walls, which had no books on them, but the marks in the dust showed that the books had been removed, probably by Riddle. There was nothing on the desk, and the chair behind it was broken, as if someone had smashed it against the wall. A few cleaning spells, and the place looked a little better. There was only so much a cleaning spell could do to filth that had accumulated over a millennium.

Harry sighed. He had been certain that there was something more to the chamber from the memories he had gleaned from the soul-shard, and he was slightly disappointed that this was all there was. He was surprised that the knowledge of this place did not come to him from Voldemort's memories. He supposed that not every single snippet of information had been absorbed by him when he overcame the soul-shard.

"Time to return I think." He said quietly, and again the Headmaster simply nodded. They walked back down the stairs and across the cavernous Chamber. "Harry, I think you should coat the blade with the venom down here. There's less chance of something going wrong, and the only the two of us to worry about if it does." That made sense, so Harry simply laid the sword down on the floor before him and uncapped the container of venom. With a soft hiss, he poured a liberal amount over the blade, watching as the venom seemed to soak into the metal. It disappeared without a trace. He still had a good amount of venom in the container. He intended to give it to Snape, as a peace offering and hopefully the beginning of a very different relationship. This time, he knew about Snape's love for his mother, and the reason for his betrayal of the Dark Lord. This time, he trusted the hook-nosed, sallow-faced, sarcastic, sour potions master with his life. He might never like the man, but he did respect him and knew that he would never let harm come to him.

They walked on, Harry cradling the sword carefully. He really needed a scabbard for it. Even though he was supposedly immune to the venom, he didn't fancy getting cut with the sharp blade. They walked in silence out of the round door. Harry turned and with a hiss, caused it to close again. At the headmaster's raised eyebrow, he simply shrugged. "Can't be too careful."

They made their way back down the tunnel. At the shed skin, the Headmaster stopped and got a look of intense concentration on his face. He pointed his wand at the skin, and with a deep flash of orange, the fifty foot long skin turned into a wooden serpent, about five inches long. He pocketed it, smiling at the young man's awe at the transfiguration. There was a reason he was considered one of the best in the field. They walked in silence through the tunnel, back to the pipe lines that were shooting off in all different directions. "An easier way up, I think." said Albus with a smile. "Fawkes." The scarlet and gold bird flashed into the room, immediately making the whole place look a little brighter. "Your hand, if you would, Mr. Potter." smiled the Headmaster, gripping Fawkes' tail feather's with one hand and holding the other out to Harry. With no hesitation, Harry took the old man's hand. He expected Fawkes to fly up the pipe, as he had in the previous timeline, but instead, with a whoosh of flames, they disappeared and appeared again in the Headmaster's office.

Almost the minute they landed, the Headmaster turned to Harry. "Something you said earlier is bothering me, Harry." He said as he gestured towards the two visitors chairs. Harry was quite pleased as the man sat beside him, treating him as an equal rather than continuing their discourse from the imposing throne like chair behind his huge desk.

Harry looked askance of him. There was no way he could guess what was bothering the man. He had dropped so many bombshells on him that he was surprised that the man was taking it all in stride.

"Your oath." It came out almost like a sigh. Harry was beginning to get a clue where this was heading. He waited, feeling a little smug about himself. "Your wording was too encompassing. We both know that intent plays a huge role in magic. If you were to swat a fly in the castle, I doubt it would be seen as breaking your oath. Yet, you mentioned "residents of this castle." He trailed off, looking lost in thought.

Harry smirked a little. "You're thinking of Quirrell." He stated, getting a small nod from the Headmaster. "You said it yourself Albus. Magic is based on intent. In fact I would go further along that path and state that magic is intent." Dumbledore nodded. He could see a few intellectual holes in that argument but it was a worthy argument. One that he had had multiple times with the many intellectuals he corresponded with on a regular basis. "What intent does Quirrelmort have for the residents of this castle?" he asked, not really expecting a reply. He did see the corner of the Headmaster's mouth twitch at his nickname for the possessed professor.

"Nothing good, I'm sure. I'm counting on that to ensure that my oath is not broken. Imagine it as an unspoken condition: I will "cause to harm to residents of this castle." Leaving Quirrelmort to do as he pleases will most definitely cause harm to the residents of this castle."

Dumbledore didn't look very convinced. He was quite worried, knowing that magic was quite unmerciful when it came to oaths and unbreakable vows. The condition that Harry spoke of seemed plausible, but very flimsy. It depended too much on magic herself agreeing with Harry's views on the residents of the castle.

A trill from Fawkes caused him to quirk an eyebrow. From the eye-contact between his familiar and Harry, he assumed they were communicating in some way. He was proved correct as Harry's face suddenly split into a grin. "Good news, old man. Fawkes here has just informed me that the castle itself knows the intent of its residents, and that it feels that my oath would not be broken if I removed a threat to the true residents of this castle: the students."

Dumbledore stared at Harry, mouth agape. The castle was sentient? The profundity of what he was saying seemed to have escaped Harry. It didn't occur to the young man that this would shed a whole new light on everything that everyone thought about Hogwarts over the last millennium since it's construction. He would have to ponder the ramifications of it all later. They had bigger fish to fry. He could not allow his intellectual curiosity and lust for new information slow them down in the tasks at hand.

"What is our next step?" He asked politely, looking intently at the young man who had managed to give him so much to think about in the last few hours. "Lunch, I think." Said Harry, realizing that he was absolutely famished. He didn't remember the last meal he ate. Breakfast hadn't happened thanks to the interrogation that had led them to this moment. "Of course. How absolutely remiss of me." He himself was quite used to going without food for long periods, until his body reminded him to nourish it. He had so much to do that eating seemed almost an after thought to him. He raised his voice slightly.

"Groffy." he called out to the air, causing a house-elf to appear with a muted crack. "Yessir, Mister Dumblydore sir?" The house-elf was slightly taller than Dobby, with longer ears and smaller eyes. He wore a simple toga with the Hogwarts crest on it. "Groffy please get us some lunch. Sandwiches and pumpkin juice for the two of us." Albus said politely. "Yessir." with that simple response, the house-elf disappeared from the room.

Harry noticed the Headmaster's treatment of the house-elf with interest. It had been pointed out by some muggle author or the other that one should judge a person's character based on how they interact with people they see below them on the social food chain. It was interesting to note that almost all the light wizards he knew, treated the house-elves with respect, yet not as equals. He was slightly shocked that the headmaster had been completely respectful, as if talking to one of the Professors or students of the school. It was refreshing to know that his mentor was open-minded and fair, and had consideration for the other magical sentient beings.

They sat in a moment of silence, before their food appeared before them. A platter of assorted sandwiches and a pitcher of cold pumpkin juice. Harry dug in with gusto. The Headmaster looked a little amused, but refrained from saying anything. He was old, but he still remembered his appetite from his youth. He could scoff grub with the best of them. He smiled ruefully as he nibbled on a ham and blue cheese sandwich. It was one of his favorites.

Noticing that Harry was too busy eating to talk, he brought up a thought that had occurred to him in the Chamber.

"The castles wards don't extend below to the Chamber. I couldn't feel them down there." He said, even as in his head he began the insanely complicated calculations of Arithmancy and the layout of Runes that he could use to extend the wards to encompass the huge area below. It was going to take a lot of work.

Harry swallowed his sandwich, taking a swig of juice to wash it down. "I was going to ask you about that. We definitely need to do something about it, there are other entrances to the Chamber, at least in the Forbidden Forest." Albus nodded thoughtfully. Perhaps they could design an entirely new ward scheme and tie it to Nehustan. That could work. "I'm more worried about Voldemort apparating into the Chamber, or asking one of his Death Eaters to do it for him." he said, leaving aside the crust of his sandwich. It didn't sit well with his digestive system. Harry gaped at him. "That hadn't occurred to me." He admitted, while his mind bound forward with the possibility of leaving a small unwarded space in the Chamber, for emergency apparations from and to the school. It would not be much of a security risk if it was a small space, and it would be a blessing to him and the Headmaster if they could get in and out of the school without being seen walking out of the gate by the students, or monitored by the Ministry by using the Floo connection.

They ate in silence, until there were only crumbs left on the platter. The platter and the pitcher disappeared, leaving the two men facing each other to figure out their next move.

"I don't know how connected Voldemort is to his Horcruxes." He stated, loving the fact that the Headmaster was immediately nodding, seeing where he was going with this. It saved so much time, because he was sure that his point had been understood without a long and winded explanation. He wondered if Dumbledore had begun talking in cryptic sentences when he realized that it was a waste of time to continuosly have to explain yourself to everyone around you. "I think he will be less connected to them when he is in a corporeal form." He continued, getting an encouraging nod from the Headmaster. "We should destroy the Horcrux in the Room of Requirement, and then take care of Quirrelmort."suggested Harry.

Dumbledore nodded, his fingers steepled under his chin. He had a dark, despairing look on his face. "My boy, am I correct in assuming that you will have to allow him to come back in some form to tae care of the rest of the Horcruxes?"

Harry sighed. Sometimes having a genius for a mentor and helper, however eccentric said genius might be, was a serious pain in the arse. He nodded glumly, having hoped they would have this conversation some time in the future. The Headmaster looked ill at the though, before he bowed his head slightly in resignation.

"Merlin, help us."

It was a sober two who stood and walked shoulder to shoulder out of the Headmaster's office, to heading to the seventh floor to destroy a monster, piece by piece.