Chapter 7
There had always been rumour when Severus had been at school of a secret chamber somewhere in the school that had been built by one of the four founders, Salazar Slytherin, and that some 30 years before it had been opened, but Severus had never really paid heed to legends and stories that sounded far too fanciful to be true. He had thought that it was just students trying to find another reason to pick on Slytherins.
Now, however, he was confronted with another truth. This chamber of legend seemed to be real. The afternoon after the attack on Mrs Norris, Severus paid Dumbledore another visit.
"Come in," said Dumbledore when Severus knocked on his door. He went in to find the Headmaster by his Pensieve. "Ah, Severus, I was wondering when you'd show up again. Just make yourself comfortable."
Severus seated himself on one of the sofas in front of the fireplace and watched quietly as Dumbledore stood still for a long moment, his eyes closed, his eyes flicking this way and that behind the lids, as though he were watching a scene. Then he raised his wand to his temple and drew it away slowly, a silvery strand attached to the end of the wand. He opened a small vial, put the memory in and closed the vial.
Dumbledore brought two cups of tea with him when he eventually sat down and handed one to Severus, who thanked him.
"I think I can guess why you are here, Severus, and I am afraid I do not have an answer right now," said the old man.
"I have heard rumour in the past of a chamber within Hogwarts that contains a monster. In the past I was inclined to ignore such rumour, but now it seems these were, in fact, based somewhat in truth. Is there a Chamber of Secrets, or is it just someone trying to cause fear within the school by making use of an old legend?" pressed Severus.
"Hogwarts is home to many secrets, and I, for one, do not know them all, as long as I have been here. There might, or might not be a Chamber of Secrets. As to its location, I cannot even begin to guess." Dumbledore stared pensively into his cup.
"You said that the cat was petrified. Who could have done it?"
"Who, or what, again, I cannot say. I have my suspicions, however..." Dumbledore was lost in thought again.
"And these are...?" prompted Severus after a long moment.
"I'd prefer to keep them to myself for the time being, if you don't mind, Severus."
"Well, I do mind, Albus. Someone or something wrote that message on the walls and petrified that cat. We cannot simply wait around for it to happen again," said Severus exasperatedly.
"Severus, I cannot do anything about it right now. As you have said yourself, the Chamber of Secrets is the stuff of legend—"
"The 'Chamber of Secrets'?" interrupted Severus.
Dumbledore sighed. "That is what it has been dubbed over the years, yes."
Severus watched Dumbledore, waiting for something, anything more, but it seemed that Dumbledore was not in the mood to share his thoughts right now.
"I think I shall take my leave. I can see I will get no further with you on this matter." Severus stood. "Thank you for the tea."
Dumbledore watched him with a sad smile. "Everything shall right itself in the end, Severus."
Severus paused at the door and turned back. "And when shall that be? When both you and I are dead and buried?" He shook his head and closed the door behind him.
-XXX-
Instead of going straight to his quarters, however, he headed in the direction of the library. Hopefully there would be more helpful answers in there.
"Good afternoon, Severus," said Madam Pince. "It's a pleasant surprise to see you again. I hope you have been well?"
"Afternoon, Irma. Always well, thank you," replied Severus. Glancing around to make sure they were not overheard, he whispered, "I have come looking for some answers."
She tapped the side of her nose. "I think you would do well if you started with Hogwarts, A History," she whispered back.
"Thank you, Irma. You are a dear," said Severus and made his way to the appropriate aisle. There was one quite battered and old copy of Hogwarts, A History left. The students had evidently been thinking along the same lines as him and had also been curious about the chamber. He took it and wanting to get started as soon as possible, Severus took the book to the front desk and checked it out of the library and hurried down to the dungeons to his quarters.
He opened Hogwarts, A History and read:
There are many legends associated with Hogwarts and the four founders, but perhaps none more famous and well known than that of the Chamber of Secrets. According to this legend, before he left Hogwarts for good, Salazar Slytherin had built a chamber deep within the bowels of the castle that no one but himself –or his heirs— could access. It is said that Slytherin used this chamber to house a monster that he had intended to purge the school of Muggle-born students (see ""Founder's disagreement" for further information). It is not known if the other three founders had any knowledge of this particular chamber, though it is assumed they did not, because of the likelihood that they would have destroyed it. Many headmasters of Hogwarts have, over the years, conducted thorough searches for this chamber, though none have yet been successful, and thus the existence of such a chamber remains the stuff of legends.
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. So far, the only information he could gain from this is that this Chamber of Secrets might or might not exist. He hoped that it really was just someone playing a very sick joke on Filch and everyone else, but something was tugging at the back of his mind that this was the real deal. The Chamber of Secrets had really been opened.
-XXX-
The next Wednesday, Severus found his chance to speak to Harry. The second years had a Potions lesson just before lunch, and he had been itching to have a decent one-on-one conversation, especially since he felt that Harry had been hiding something the night of the attack.
"Potter!" he said as the students all hurried to leave his class as soon as the lesson ended. Harry paused where he stood. "You seem to have forgotten the rule about not talking in class. I want you to clean the tubeworms off the desks before you even think of going to lunch."
Granger and Weasley stopped too, but when Severus glared at them, Granger whispered, "We'll save you some lunch," and hurried out. Harry, looking sullen, returned to his desk and began scrubbing.
When the last student had hurried out of the door and shut it behind her, Severus softened a little.
"You really don't need to do that, Harry," said Severus, waving his wand and clearing the mess off all the desks.
"So why are you keeping me behind then, Sir?" asked Harry, slumping into his seat behind his desk.
"I was hoping to have a word with you." Harry just sat there, not meeting his eyes or saying anything, so he went on. "How are you doing after Halloween?"
Harry looked up at him then. "What do you mean?" he asked quickly.
Severus frowned slightly. "I mean, how are you doing after seeing that cat Petrified like that?"
"Oh. Fine, I guess. I never really like Mrs Norris much anyway." He glanced up at Severus quickly. "But that doesn't mean I did it."
"I know you didn't." He watched Harry for a moment, and Harry was looking everywhere but at Severus. "Harry, are you hiding something from me?"
"What?" he asked defensively. "No. I'm not hiding anything." Then he met Severus' eyes for the first time. "I was wondering, though if you could tell me anything about what was written on the wall. About the 'Chamber of Secrets'?"
Severus thought back to what he had read in the book. It is said that Slytherin used this chamber to house a monster… He did not want Harry to go looking for the Chamber of Secrets. Last year had proved that Harry had a tendency to ignore the rules and go looking for trouble. He didn't want this to be the case.
"I really don't know much about it, Harry. When I was at school here, there were only rumours of a Chamber of Secrets but I hardly paid any attention to them. What you saw on the wall was probably someone trying to play a very nasty joke."
"But you heard Professor Dumbledore! What happened to Mrs Norris could only have been the work of dark magic. There has to be more to this than just a horrible joke." Harry looked frustrated. "Are you sure you don't know anything else?"
Severus gave him a meaningful look.
"Alright, alright. You don't. Can I go now please?"
"What's the rush, Harry?" asked Severus carefully, not letting his hurt show at all.
Harry glanced up towards the ceiling. "It's lunchtime."
"I see. Well, I would appreciate it if you came to speak to me more often," said Severus.
"Er… Yeah. Fine. Can I please go?" said Harry, picking up his bag.
"If you must."
"Thanks. Bye Sir," said Harry, already closing the door behind him.
It was glaringly obvious that it was going to be difficult to get to know Harry better. Despite what he had said, Severus knew that there was something Harry was not telling him, and it was bugging him.
-XXX-
There was only one person Severus could talk to, and so, despite his frustrations, he found himself sitting in Dumbledore's office one evening not long after that encounter, having a strong glass of Firewhiskey.
"Harry is not talking to me, Albus," said Severus irritably.
"Well, if I am honest, Severus, I don't think you allow yourself to be approachable," Dumbledore said gently.
"How can I be approachable to Harry, while still maintaining a level of discipline in my classroom? It's not as if he comes to see me outside of class time anyway."
"I still think you are too hard on your students, Severus. Perhaps if you were to… lighten up a little, he would come and see you outside of class."
Severus made a sound that was close to a snort, but he was too dignified for snorting. "You have got to be joking, Albus. Lighten up? Even if I didn't have a reputation and cover to maintain, even in the Dark Lord's current absence, there is no way I would lighten up around my students. They respect me, and that is how it is going to remain."
"And that is the crux of the problem. You are too stubborn to change your ways."
"I am not going to have this conversation again right now," said Severus.
Dumbledore smiled. "Alright. So, your trouble with Harry, then?"
"Yes. I spoke to him on Wednesday after his Potions lesson, and I can sense that he is not telling me something."
"What gave you that impression?" asked Dumbledore.
"He wouldn't make eye contact with me, especially not when I asked him about it."
"Perhaps you were being to forceful about it. I have found that young students eventually tell you what is on their mind, but you need to wait until they come to you. The more you press, the more they clam up and tell you nothing," said Dumbledore sagely.
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose again in frustration. "I am not good at this parenting thing. I don't know what to do or what to say or even how to say it." He looked up at Dumbledore. "This is not normal for me. I can lie to the Dark Lord's face, but I cannot say the right thing to a twelve year old child, much less my own!"
"It will come, Severus. Just give it time."
"Honestly, I don't think it will. I have known that I am his father for over a year, and still I cannot do it right," said Severus exasperatedly.
"You have known for over a year, Harry has known for five months, three of which was spent away from you. It would be difficult to be a parent of a child who, seemingly, has not yet accepted the truth."
"All I want to do is protect him. And now the bloody Chamber of Secrets has been opened, putting Harry in even more danger. He asked me about it, you know. The Chamber of Secrets."
"What did you tell him?" asked Dumbledore, suddenly serious.
"Nothing. I told him I know nothing about it, though I am beginning to doubt if that was the right choice. He could have gone looking for answers elsewhere, like I did when I got nothing out of you."
Dumbledore closed his eyes. "I had hoped that the Chamber would never have an effect on the school again, not in my lifetime, nor in anyone else's."
"I am guessing that the rumours of the Chamber being opened fifty years ago are true then?"
"As far as I am aware, yes. There was a single attack the last time, and a girl died. Armando Dippet was talking about closing the school down in fear of another attack, but after that, nothing further happened."
"I just hope Harry doesn't go looking for the Chamber," said Severus gravely.
"The Chamber has not been found, save fifty years ago, in every search ever conducted by the school. I am hoping that it will never be found, especially by Harry."
"Well, it has been opened before. What's to say it can be done again. If I know Harry even a little, I know that he will probably be the one to find it."
Though he hoped, above all hope, that he was wrong.