A/N: Hey guys! So I have a warning for this chapter and the next. They get a little ranty... well, okay, a lot ranty, but you'll get another glimpse at Riley's horrible temper and a couple more of her faults make themselves blatantly known. I apologize if I offend anyone or if Riley seems Mary-sueish in these next two or three chapters. Also I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :)

Disclaimer: Everything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling and I in no way lay claim to it. I only own Riley, Ian and any other OC's mentioned.

Chapter Seven; Salazar Slytherin Who?

The next evening found Riley sitting by the fire in the common room making shapes in the smoke with her wand. She had just started to make a T-Rex and a Dragon fight, when Fred and George came stumbling into the common room looking beat.

"What's up with you?" Riley asked as she watched the two boys fall onto the couch next to her.

"Oliver's been working us ragged." George answered then gave her a pleading look.

Riley scowled. "No. I will not rub your feet, no matter how much you pay me."

Fred laughed and George shrugged. "Eh, it was worth a shot."

"You know, I've been thinking…" Riley started to say, but Fred interrupted.

"Oh no. That's never good."

Riley stuck her tongue out at him. "I was thinking," She started again. "That with all this rain, people have been getting sick a lot. Maybe we could do something to help."

"Alright." George agreed, Fred nodding with him. "What's your plan?"

~{ }~

It took a couple days, but finally, they were ready. Wednesday night, the trio of misfits set out to complete their mission. The next morning, all the students were pleasantly surprised to find their common rooms had been turned into saunas.

Thursday turned out to be a very relaxing and relieving day. Even McGonagall enjoyed the prank and though she knew exactly who did it, she just couldn't make herself punish them. That was, at least, until the next day when she realized they forgot to put waterproof charms on all the furniture and came into the common room to find everything soaked.

That weekend found the trio carrying the furniture outside to dry and then relaxing on the couches in the November sun.

~{ }~

Riley Langley was not your typical girl, and she knew that. In fact she embraced it with open arms. Part of what makes her the oddity that is she, is from growing up as a prankster. In her years of pranking experience, she picked up two very helpful skills that also added to that lovely oddity. Those skills had saved her hide more then once.

The first thing she picked up on was being observant at all times. The moment she walked into a room, she noticed every escape route and best places to set a trap. Her Uncle Moody had taught her this skill. He told her, no matter where she was or what she was doing there; she should always have an escape route.

The other thing she picked up was how to read people. This one was taught to her by both Moody and Isaac. When she was little Isaac used to take her out to a mall or to a busy park to people watch. As they watched people, he'd play a game with her where they'd both try to guess certain things about the people they saw. Things like what they did for a living, what their relationship was with whoever they were with, things like that. Riley had become very good at this particular skill over the years.

Unfortunately, no matter how much she understood other people, she was never good at interacting with them. At least, not emotionally…

The one thing every prankster should know, though, is a person's limit. How far can they push their victim before they snap. What type of pranks can their victim brush off, and what type will have them red faced with embarrassment? If they don't know these things, they could seriously scar a person… or their prank could fall flat. So knowing how to read a person was a huge asset to a prankster.

It's how Riley knew Lockhart was a fake even before he opened his mouth, or how she knew that McGonagall really does love each and every one of her students, even if she's seems to tough on them. It's also how Riley figured out, that Snape was innocent last year with the Stone.

Yet despite these skills, Riley is completely blind when it comes to boys that had a crush on her. Take Adam Matlock for example. This poor Ravenclaw third year had spent every evening for the past month sitting one table down from Riley in the library and watching "discreetly" as she did her homework. The poor boy was completely infatuated with the girl, and she had not a clue.

Of course, that isn't to say that no one else had a clue or that Riley herself didn't notice he was staring.

"Psst!... psst!... Hey... Hello... PSST!"

Ian jumped as Riley practically yelled in his ear. "What?" he growled, breaking his usually neutral mask to glare at her. They were once again in the library doing their homework and once again, he was helping her. He wasn't usually so short with her, but she had been pestering him about a girl that he liked all evening, and even he ran out of patience after a while.

"We're being spied on." She replied matter-of-factly, while pretending to look over his edits to her essay.

"Really now," Ian replied, his expressionless mask back in place. "And why would anyone do that?"

"I don't know!" Riley exclaimed. "That's why I'm worried!"

Ian rolled his eyes. "So, then where is this so called spy?"

Riley's eyes flicked to the right, and at her order, he subtly looked around only to spot Adam Matlock practically drooling over Riley. Rolling his eyes once again (With how much he rolls his eyes around Riley, he was starting to fear they'd roll right out of his head.) he sighed at her total obliviousness.

"He's not spying." Ian told her, his hazel eyes shining with amusement and exasperation. "He's creeping. He likes you." He explained when she still didn't get it.

"He likes me?" Riley asked incredulously. "But wasn't he the one I turned into Moose-man last year?"

Ian shrugged. "I guess he thought it was a skilled bit of magic."

Riley blinked. "Oh. Alright."

Before Ian could even guess what was going on in her mind, Riley got up and walked towards Adam.

"Hey," she greeted as she sat down next to the shocked boy. "Are you going to ask me out or are you going to be content with just staring?"

Riley jumped at the loud slapping sound as Ian face-palmed behind her. He got up from the table shaking his head and mumbling something that sounded like "Only Riley" as he walked out of the library.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how Riley got her first date.

~{ }~

The next week or so, the whole castle was buzzing about the message on the wall. Filch made sure no one could forget, as he staked out in front of the wall as if hoping the criminal would return to the scene. Riley would have felt bad for the man, except that he was being ridiculous with the students, giving them detention for "Laughing too much" or "Breathing loudly".

Poor Ginny seemed to be taking the news worse then most. Her brothers figured it was because she loved cats, but Riley thought it might have had to do with whatever had been making her so crabby and skittish lately. Surprisingly, Hermione agreed when Riley brought it up to her.

The following Wednesday, found Riley, Ron and Hermione in the library doing homework. When Harry showed up after being held back in Potions, he looked confused and upset as he told them about how Justin Finch-Fletchley (A Hufflepuff, muggle-born they had Herbology with) ran away when he saw Harry coming towards him.

"Donno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot." Ron said in his specially Ron way. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great—"

Riley rolled her eyes, as Hermione emerged from behind a book shelf.

"All the copies of Hogwarts, a History have been taken out." Hermione said disbelieving. "And there's a two week waiting list."

"Why do you want it?" Harry asked.

"Same reason as everyone else wants it." Hermione explained. "To read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets"

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"That's just it. I can't remember. And I can't find the story any where else."

Riley suddenly got a mischievous look on her face. "I think I know someone who can tell us about it, but it might require getting a detention."

Hermione looked like she was battling with telling Riley 'no' and making sure she told them everything when she got back. Finally, Hermione just sighed and said, "Do what you must."

Riley grinned and winked at her friends. "See ya later, gators!" and with that she was gone.

~{ }~

"Got any two's?"

"Go fish."

"Ah hah! A two! I go again! Got any four's?"

"Go fish."

"Aw, come on. You never have the card I want." Riley whined picking a card from the deck.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "Do you have any aces?" Riley's shoulders slouched as she handed over the one she just picked up. "I do believe I won."

Riley's face scrunched up in mock irritation. "I still think you're cheating."

Dumbledore just chuckled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Riley gasped.

"You are! I know that look! I can't believe it!" She cried dramatically, throwing her hands up in mock horror. "My hopes, my dreams! All crushed!"

"My dear, if all your hopes and dreams lie in a game of Go Fish, I suggest you find better ones." Dumbledore teased lightly before changing the subject. "As much as I enjoyed our game, I believe you came here for another purpose."

Riley sighed and sat up, deciding to get straight to the point. "Do you know what the Chamber of Secrets is?"

Hermione had been searching the library for days it seemed, for anything on the Chamber. Not wanting a repeat of last year, where they spent months looking for Nicholas Flamel, only for Harry to find him on a chocolate frog card, Riley decided to go to the smartest man she knew; Dumbledore. Of course that required getting detention… lots of them. She needed something quick and efficient. So, Riley decided to play Exploding Snap in front of Filch. Almost immediately, he sent her to Dumbledore and since she hadn't really done anything wrong. The headmaster agreed to play a game with her.

Dumbledore sighed. "I suppose I should have expected that. As I'm sure you will find out one way or another, I will tell you what I know of it."

Riley smiled. She always appreciated that Dumbledore never treated his students like children. He felt they had a right to know when they were in danger, and so was one of the only adults she knew that didn't try to shelter her from the world.

"About a thousand years ago (the specific date is uncertain) Hogwarts was founded by the greatest witches and wizards of the age: Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin." Riley knew all this already but she figured he had a reason for telling her this and so she stayed quiet. "They built this castle together, far from prying muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by muggles and the magical populace suffered great persecution. For a few years the founders worked together in harmony, seeking out children who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated, but then disagreements sprang up between them. Slytherin began to drift from the others. He began to be more selective about the students he would teach. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magical families. He disliked taking students of muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Slytherin left the school.

"The story continues that Slytherin had built a secret chamber beneath the school, of which the other founders knew nothing of. Slytherin sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to open it and unleash the horror within."

Riley sat thinking as Dumbledore finished his story. Dumbledore waited patiently until she broke from her thoughts and asked a question. "What's the 'horror within'?"

Dumbledore leaned forward and rested his chin on his steepled fingers. "No one is quiet sure. Rumors of course say it is a terrible creature that the heir alone can control."

Riley 'hm'd as she filed that bit of information away. "Is that the reason people call Slytherin a dark wizard? Because he was skittish of muggleborns?"

"Yes and no. While his aversion to muggleborns was a big part of it, he also fought to teach the Dark Arts to his students. That, as I'm sure you can guess, did not go over well with the rest of the Founders and thus fights broke out and Slytherin left."

Riley sighed. Obviously she knew the Dark Arts were bad. Her parents were killed by people who used them, after all. But she just couldn't find it in herself to hate Slytherin. She felt like there was more to the story then what was given, but she didn't know how to find out.

"So let me guess." Riley said after a while. "The rumors also assume that the creature is meant to kill muggle-borns, and that's how Slytherin has gotten such a bad reputation."

"That is what most assume, yes."

Riley sighed. "It sounds to me like people need to pay more attention to the details. You just said that during the time Slytherin was at the school, muggles were killing witches and wizards. I think he had every right to be wary of muggle-borns. Maybe he didn't go about it the right way, but I mean, geez, the man had a right to an opinion. It's not like he decided to go muggle hunting, did he? And maybe that 'horror within' is a last defense type thing, in case someone attacked the school. Just because only Heirs to Slytherin can control it doesn't particularly make it bad.

"I understand that it says that he tried to teach the Dark Arts to his students, but how do we know that's true? Maybe he was just teaching it, so his students had a better understanding of what they could one day be up against. I know Slytherin supposedly wasn't a good guy, but with so few proven facts we have about the Founders, how can we know that's true? Besides, the other Founders were good guys, shouldn't that say something in and of itself?"

Dumbledore smiled a bit sadly. "Something I have seen happen many times in the past and will surely happen again, is that at the end of a war, when the bodies are lain to rest, it is not the truth that tells the story, but the victor."

Riley nodded at the wisdom in the words.

"Now, I believe I've answered all your questions for now, so I suggest that you get back to class." Dumbledore said, dismissing her. As Riley was just about to leave he spoke again. "And Riley, I hope you know that you don't have to get detention just to speak with me."

Riley smiled sheepishly, before closing the door and going off to find the Trio.

~{ }~

When Riley found her friends again, it seemed that they had gotten the same story from Binns the History of Magic teacher.

"I always knew Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told them as they made their way to the Gryffindor common room to drop off their bags before dinner. "But I didn't know he started all this pureblood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me."

Hermione nodded in agreement. As soon as she saw Hermione nod, Riley's infamous temper flared.

"For pete's sake! You two are so blind; I'm surprised you can see two feet in front of you!" Riley practically yelled. The trio and the people around them stopped in shock. "Did you guys even pay attention to the story at all? Slytherin never said purebloods were above muggles. All he said was that muggle-borns were untrustworthy and at that time, he had a right to think so! Muggles were killing magical people, burning them at the stake. Wouldn't you be a little skittish, too? If kids who were raised by the people who killed your kind wanted to come to your school, wouldn't you be wary, too?

"And who says he started the pureblood supremacy? How do you know it wasn't some Gryffindor or Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff that saw what Grindlewald was doing and thought, hey, that makes sense? Or took Slytherins views and skewed them to the highest extreme? You guys seem to be under the false impression that just because someone is ambitious and cunning that they're evil, or that just because someone is in Gryffindor that they can do no wrong." Riley shook her head, slightly disappointed with her friends. "I'll have you know, that I am both cunning and ambitious, but that doesn't make me evil. I'm so sick of all the prejudice in this school. And worst of all, I'm disappointed in you guys, especially you, Hermione. I thought that you of all people would see my point."

Riley glared at them all one last time before turning on her heel and stalking off down the hall. Sure, she may have overreacted and maybe she was a bit hypocritical, but she was just so sick of it.

Since she became friends with Ian, people had been treating her like crap. Apparently it was wrong for a Gryffindor to be friends with a Slytherin, and everyone wanted to make sure she knew that. It wasn't noticeable to her friends because it was just little things like walking into her on purpose in the corridors, or slipping rude notes in her backpack, maybe even sending a trip jinx her way. Usually she would just brush it off, but now that she found out the reason Slytherin had such a bad reputation, she refused to take their crap anymore.

The one thing she hated above all other things was ignorance, and the students at Hogwarts were showing just how ignorant they could be. Who thought it was a good idea to split kids into different houses anyway? What a horrible thing to do. It just supports prejudice; in fact, it's one of the main reasons why there is prejudice in Hogwarts. Riley suddenly changed her route and headed back towards her favorite gargoyle. She had bone to pick with a certain accessory.

~{ }~

As Riley approached the gargoyle, she realized she didn't know the password. When she had been here a little bit ago, McGonagall had let her up. Despite this, Riley marched right up to the Gargoyle and stopped just in front of it.

"Alright, you know me. In fact we're kind of friends. So let me up." Riley said as nicely as she could while still being in a hot temper… so, not all that nicely at all…

"No password, no entry." The stone creature said simply.

Riley's eyes narrowed. "I'll tell everyone your name… Poptart."

Could Gargoyles look aghast? If they could, this one did. "You're the only one who calls me that! Doesn't mean it's my name."

"Do you have any other?"

"The Great Guardian of the Great Heads Office." He declared, sitting straighter then before.

"Bull." Riley replied dully.

The 'Guardian' slouched again and sighed. "It's catching on! Just the other day I heard a seventh year tell another, 'That Great Guardian of the Great Heads Office sure is a nice guy.' I'm tellin' ya, before you know it; I'll be the most popular gargoyle around."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Just last week you were telling me that if you could quit, you would, because no one appreciates you."

He sputtered, trying to come up with an excuse. Finally he gave in and slid to the side, revealing a steep staircase. Riley beamed at him. "Thanks, Poptart! I owe you one."

"Stop calling me that, then!" She heard him call as she rushed up the stairs.

"Never gonna happen!" She called back over her shoulder with a short laugh.

When Riley got to the top of the stairs, she knocked lightly. When no one answered, she smiled. No one was home, that was good news for her. Quickly, but quietly she opened the door and snuck over to the shelf that held just the hat she was looking for. Being that she hadn't grown much over the year; the hat still fell over her eyes. As soon as she let go of the hat, a cool voice spoke in her head.

"Bee in your bonnet, Riley Langley?"

Whose idea was it to sort students into different houses? Didn't the founders realize what kind of trouble that would cause? They were supposed to be the most intelligent of their age! And just to let you know, you don't help much either. Don't we all have a little bit of each house in us? You just choose the most dominant traits, right? Can't you tell them that while you sort them? Maybe that would help ease the prejudice a bit. Why is everyone so IGNORANT!

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Then the hat replied with some amusement. "Got it all out, have we?"

For the moment, yes.

"Well, let's see if I can clear some things up. The idea of the different houses came from Gryffindor in order to stop the bickering over who gets which student. No, at the time they did not see the consequences of such a decision. I do not like that I have to split you children up, but I was made for the job… in the literalist sense of the word. Yes, each child has a little bit of each house, and yes, I choose by which traits I believe are the strongest in you. At first I would explain this in my songs, but soon found it was useless. Finally, its human nature to be ignorant, not one person in this world is not ignorant about something… but you already know that."

Riley sighed. Okay, so maybe I was wrong to yell at you.

"Might I ask a question of my own?"

Shoot.

"When you were first sorted, I wanted to put you into Slytherin, but you refused quiet vehemently. Why the change of heart?"

I made friends with a Slytherin and he opened my eyes to how horribly close minded I was being. Being open minded has always been something I was proud of. To realize that I was not being open minded at all made me angry at myself. So in order to make up for it, I met with his friends and found out that they really are nice people. And now, with all this stuff about Slytherins secret chamber… I just feel like I need to make people realize how wrong we've all been.

"Sounds like you've got your hands full."

Yeah. Speaking of the Chamber of Secrets, you don't happen to know anything about that do you?

"I am but a reflection of your mind, with a little of each founders personality. So, I only know as much as you, I'm afraid."

Alright, well, thanks for answering my questions. I'll let you get back to whatever it is you do.

The hat laughed before saying good bye. Before Riley left she made sure nothing was out of place and that there was absolutely no trace of her being there. It would not be a good thing for someone to find out she had snuck into the headmaster's office after all. Unfortunately for her, Riley forgot to take into account all the portraits.

Don't forget to review. It really does brighten my day to hear what you guys think. :)