Chapter 5: Into the Chamber
The next Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor,
was coming up, and Cody was looking forward to it. The end of term was
in sight,
and he was very sick of studying by then; a little bit
of excitement was just what he needed!
But before the match even started, the students started
pointing and whispering at a figure running out onto the pitch with a magical
megaphone in her hands. Professor McGonagall made her
intentions clear a moment later when she called out through the device.
"This match
has been cancelled!" she announced, making the entire
audience groan. Further instructions were given that everyone return to
their common
rooms. Puzzled and angry, the students of Hogwarts did
just that.
Turned out there had been another attack, which was no
surprise to Cody. Professor Snape came into the common room not long after
Cody got back, which was very strange. The Heads of House rarely came into
the common rooms. "There are new rules for the school," Snape said,
looking as grim as ever. "They are as such, until further
notice." He read from a short roll of parchment. "Students are to return
to their house
common rooms by six of the clock every day. Students
shall be accompanied to and from all lessons by a teacher. No further evening
activities.
No further Quidditch training or practice."
At this, both Cody and Flint's eyes widened. "No Quidditch?" Cody cried. That was one of his favorite activities in the entire school!
"They're canceling the tournament then?" Flint asked, his brow furrowed. "Are Gryffindor and Hufflepuff going to reschedule?"
Snape gave the two a look, which quieted them. "I don't
know," he finally said. "But I do know this. If the culprit is not caught,
they will close
this school. Now while I am sure that many here agree
with what the attacker is doing, I am sure that no one wants the school
closed. Anyone
with any information is urged to come forward with it."
He waited for a few moments, as if expecting someone to come forward at
that instant,
but when no one did, he disappeared through the doorway
without another word.
The common room exploded into babble once he left. "I wonder who got attacked this time!" a fourth-year said, her eyes wide.
"I dunno!" said a first year boy. "But I heard ol' McGonagall talking, an' she told that Ron Weasley and Harry Potter that they had to come with her."
"Does she think they did it?" someone asked.
"Of course not," another said. "Harry Potter's not even Slytherin. How could he be the heir?"
"Maybe House doesn't matter?"
There were snorts from several of the students at this. Of course House would matter when talking of the heir of the House's founder!
"But she didn't ask Granger to come with them." This was Malfoy, and he was frowning.
"I didn't even see her at the match," Pansy Parkinson said.
"Maybe she got attacked," said the first year who mentioned seeing Ron and Harry.
There was a thoughtful silence after this suggestion.
Finally, Malfoy smirked. "Well, we can only hope," he said. Cody scowled
evilly after him
as he strode from the room towards the dorms.
The next day, several things seemed to have happened.
First, it was all over the school that Hermione Granger had indeed been
Petrified, along
with a Ravenclaw prefect named Penelope Clearwater, and
Hagrid had been sent to Azkaban on suspicion of having opened the Chamber
of
Secrets. Lastly, and perhaps more significant; Dumbledore
had been removed as headmaster by the school governors. It didn't take
long for
everyone to know why; Draco was only bragging about it
to the whole school.
"I always thought Father might be the one to get rid of
Dumbledore," Malfoy said loudly their next Potions class. Cody had an angry
scowl fixed on his face as Draco blathered on. "Sir," said Malfoy to Snape.
"Why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?" Cody rolled his eyed behind
Snape and Malfoy's back.
Snape tried to conceal how pleased he was at this vote
of confidence, but did not succeed very well. He said that Dumbledore had
only been
suspended, and that he would likely be back soon.
"Yeah, right," Malfoy smirked. "I expect you'd have Father's
vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job – I'll tell Father you're
the best teacher
here, sir."
Seamus Finnigan was pretending to vomit into his cauldron,
and Cody was looking as if he might really vomit into his cauldron.
Fortunately,
Snape noticed neither of them.
Cody was very upset at what had happened to Hagrid; Ron
and Harry had told him the whole story at breakfast. Cody was pleased they
trusted
him, but was quite angry at the stupid governors, and
the stupid Minister of Magic, and he said so.
At the end of class, Malfoy's snide little comment about
someone dying anytime now, and wishing it had been Granger, was just too
much.
Cody stalked out of the dungeon, shoving past Malfoy
as he did. Hating Muggle-borns was one things. Being mean to other students,
or acting like he was better than the others was another. But wishing that
another kid would die... That was something that Cody could not grasp.
Surely
not all older kids had thoughts like that! It was horrible!
He brooded about this, wondering if Harry or Ron or Hermione ever wished
another kid
would die, and really meant it. Would Cody ever wish
it? He thought not, but what if getting older made you think like that?
He vowed again
that he would never grow up.
At breakfast one day, just before exam time, there came
quite a welcome announcement from Professor McGonagall. The Mandrakes were
ready
for cutting, and would be used quite soon to restore
those who had been Petrified. A great cheer went up at this, and Cody joined
right in,
jumping up and down next to the bench. Malfoy, he noticed,
did not. In fact, he looked annoyed. Cody was quite glad to get away from
the
other Slytherins in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
At least at first he was glad. Lockhart blithered on so
much about Hagrid being the culprit, that he was no good, and so on had
Cody furious.
Even as they were being led to their next class (What
usually happened was he led the Gryffindors to History of Magic, then took
Cody to
Herbology) he was still complaining about it. Cody and
Ron exchanged exasperated looks as Lockhart whined about having to escort
them.
"I agree, sir," Harry said. Cody jumped back as Ron dropped
his books. Cody was surprised, himself, as he helped him pick the books
up. But
Harry's intent was clear a moment alter as he and Ron
convinced Lockhart to let them continue to their class without him, and
Cody watched
him leave to "prepare his next class".
"Gone to curl his hair, more like," Ron sneered. Cody giggled.
The two Gryffindors stayed back and let everyone else
go past them, but Cody stayed back as well. "How come you wanted him to
leave?" he
asked.
"Well...we were gonna go up and ask Moaning Myrtle about her death. Wanna come?" Harry asked.
"Nah," said Cody. "I don't like her very much. Tell me about it after the next class?"
Harry nodded. "Sure. See you later."
Cody grinned, and waved as he ran for the front doors
of the castle. Since Lockhart wasn't there to escort him to Herbology,
he was alone. He
wondered what Madame Sprout would say to Cody being alone.
Probably nothing nice, with regards to Lockhart. As it turned out, she
said
nothing, not even noticing that Cody was late for class.
She seemed very preoccupied, and set the students a fairly easy task: stripping
dead
leaves off a wholly non-aggressive purple plant.
But halfway through class, Professor McGonagall's voice
was heard in the greenhouse loudspeaker: "All students return to their
house
dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff
room. Immediately, please."
The Slytherins all complied, with curious muttering and
mumbling rippling through the exodus. Cody knew what was what, though,
and he
intended to be there when Harry and Ron (and the useless
Lockhart) went into the Chamber. And so, at the back of the group, Cody
was able to
slip away easily enough and camp out by Lockhart's office.
There was a suit of armor nearby that Cody was quite small enough to hide
behind,
and it was here that he waited for Harry and Ron to show
up.
Waiting was not something that Cody did well, and it exercised
all of his patience to wait the hours it took for the boys to be heard
coming down the hallway. Slipping out from behind the statue, he walked
towards them as if coming from down the hall. "Hi," he said. "I was looking
for you
guys. What's going on?"
Ron turned his white face towards the boy. "It's got my sister."
"What does?"
"The basilisk. In the Chamber." Cody's eyes went wide
in what he thought was a fairly surprised look. As things played themselves
out in this
adventure, Cody found it was easier and easier to react
appropriately, because he felt the emotion. Even when he knew what was
going on, he
still felt it. "We're going to tell Lockhart what we
know."
"I'll come!" There were no further words spoken as the three boys hurried towards Lockhart's office.
They knocked on the door, which was opened a crack. "Oh
– Mr. Potter – Mr. Weasley – Mr. DeDannan... I'm rather busy at the moment,
if you
would be quick -"
What a total chickenguts, Cody thought contemptuously.
How cowardly could you get? When Harry told him they had some information,
Lockhart reluctantly let them inside.
The office was in the process of being packed into several
trunks and suitcases. Many pictures of Lockhart had been thrown in trunks,
pompous looking robes jumbled into suitcases, and books
and papers stuffed wherever they would fit. "Are you going somewhere?"
Harry
asked.
"Er, well yes, urgent call, unavoidable, got to go..."
"What about my sister?" said Ron, disbelief and outrage in his expression.
Again, Cody was struck with sheer contempt for the man,
who was a charlatan who had taken credit for brave witches' and wizards'
heroic
deeds. He listened to him hem and haw, and scowled deeply.
The way Lockhart talked, researching how the people had completed their
heroics,
and then putting a charm on them so they forgot, counted
as hard work.
Cody was not the only one that felt such incredulity over the man's shameless theft of credit; Ron and Harry's face showed the same astounded disgust.
The boy was brought out of his thoughts by Lockhart's
turning around, his wand in his hand, and saying that he would have to
modify the
boys' memories. His eyes widened and he took a step back,
fumbling with his own wand, but Harry got to his first. "Expelliarmus!"
he cried,
knocking the "Professor's" wand from his hand. Ron caught
it and pitched it out the window.
"All right!" Cody cried gleefully. "Good one!"
"Thanks," said Harry grimly. He did not aim his wand away
from Lockhart, only kept it pointed right at him. "Shouldn't have let Professor
Snape
teach us that one."
Lockhart sure was pathetic, Cody thought, looking at the
man as he asked what the boys wanted him to do. "I don't know where the
Chamber of
Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."
"They know!" Cody said gleefully. He had not taken out his wand, figuring that Harry and Ron could handle it. But he certainly was going along for the ride!
It was a grim little procession that made its way towards
the bathroom that was Moaning Myrtle's home, and slipped inside. They ran
into no
trouble, as all the students were in their dorms.
Once they arrived, Myrtle asked them what it was they
wanted. Cody marveled at the number of people in the place that had major
bad attitudes! Even the ghosts! But when Harry told her he wanted to know
how she died, her manner changed completely. She certainly seemed to like
to tell
the tale of how she died. Cody supposed that if he died
and became a ghost he would want to tell people too. It depended on how
horrible the
death was. If it was something he didn't want to remember,
he wouldn't want to tell it. Myrtle told of how she'd heard strange voices
in the
bathroom, of how she'd opened the door to tell them off.
She told of the eyes she had seen, and how she had died looking at them.
Cody
shuddered, as he realized that this girl really had died,
and she remembered every bit of it. Cody decided not to die any time soon.
"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" Harry asked her.
Myrtle pointed at a row of dingy sinks. "Somewhere there."
The boys went to investigate the sink while Lockhart cowered
in the corner of the bathroom. What a chicken. Myrtle told them the tap
never
worked, and Harry looked more closely at it. Ron told
Harry to try something in Parseltongue. Cody watched with great interest,
as he had never
heard Parseltongue before.
"Open up," Harry demanded in English. Ron told him so.
Harry looked a little closer, gazing at a little snake carved into the
faucet, and tried
again...
The hairs on the back of Cody's neck bristled up and he
shivered as a low, unnatural hiss came from Harry's mouth, a hiss that
was formed into
alien words. The tap glowed white and spun for a few
moments before the whole sink sank down into the floor. "Holy cow!" Cody
exclaimed,
grinning wildly. Now this was an adventure!
"I'm going down there," said Harry.
"Me too," said Ron.
"Me three!" said Cody.
Harry frowned a little, and he and Ron exchanged glances.
Cody knew what was coming next! He had only heard it about a million times
in his
life. Although he had to admit, Harry was more tactful
about saying it than most adults were. "I...I dunno, Cody, you might be
a little young for
this kind of thing. I mean, this basilisk kills people."
The child shrugged. "I'm a pure-blood. I have to be, or
the Sorting Hat wouldn't've put me in Slytherin; besides," he added before
the other
boys could argue. "If someone told you guys you were
too young or little to do something, you'd do it anyways." He grinned and
crossed his
arms.
Harry sighed, perhaps recognizing the stubborn posture because he himself had assumed it before. "All right. But stay close, okay?"
Cody nodded.
"Well," said Lockhart. "You hardly seem to need me. I'll just -"
Ron and Harry didn't give him the chance to leave. "You can go first," said Ron pitilessly.
Lockhart was scared. "Boys...boys, what good will it do?"
At Harry's prodding, he slid his legs into the pipe, but tried once more
to convince
them that there was no reason to bring him along. He
had little chance to say anything else, as Ron shoved him into the pipe.
Once he was gone, Harry slid in as well. Ron have Cody
a look as if to say "Well, are you coming?" then slid in as well. Cody
looked
apprehensively into the pipe, then scowled determinedly.
No way was he going to chicken out like Lockhart! He slid his legs in...and
then
shoved himself forward.
It was rather like a ridiculously long, slippery, twisty
slide at the playground, but far darker and a lot scarier. Cody screamed
as he went down,
but it was partially a scream of excitement. It was fun!
Cody was dropping nearly straight down before the pipe
leveled off, and he shot into a dimly lit chamber, sliding madly across
the floor. He let a
screech as he tumbled and ended up in a heap several
feet along a corridor, and stumbled to his feet laughing delightedly. "That
was fun!" he
exclaimed, his eyes bright. He was covered with slime
and dirt, but he didn't care too much about that. He was washable, after
all!
Cody realized that the glow was from Harry's wand; he
had already lit it. "C'mon," he said. Harry started off down the underground
corridor, and Cody considered taking his wand out, then reconsidered. He
was walking right beside Ron, and in the book, Lockhart had stolen Ron's
wand
when he tried to wipe their memories. Cody didn't want
to take the chance that Lockhart might grab Cody's wand instead, because
Cody's wand wouldn't backfire.
"Remember," said Harry. "Any sign of movement, close your eyes right away."
Oh yeah, Cody thought, feeling nervous again. He bit his
lip, scanning the pipes for sign of the great snake, as he had no desire
to die like
Myrtle had. "Eu," he said, grimacing. There were bones
all over the place, bones of animals. He edged a little closer to Ron as
they went through the dark tunnels.
"Harry, there's something up there," said Ron. Cody stopped short, peering around Ron's robes.
"Maybe it's asleep," Harry whispered.
Cody knew it was only a snakeskin, but the size of it astonished him. It was bigger than the pythons and boas in the zoo!
"Blimey," Ron said shakily, then looked around as Lockhart seemed to collapse with fear. "Get up," Ron said in disgust.
But it had only been a trick. Lockhart might be a coward,
but he was deceitfully clever. He jumped up and grabbed Ron's wand from
him before
the surprised boy could do anything.
"The adventure ends here, boys!" Lockhart said, dramatic
to the end. Cody scowled as Lockhart told them he would take some of the
skin back,
tell the other teachers he was too late to save Ginny,
and that Ron, Harry, and Cody tragically lost their minds at the sight
of Ginny's mangled
body. Cody felt himself pale a bit at the mental image.
"Say goodbye to your memories!" Lockhart cried, and raised Ron's wand above
his head.
"Obliviate!"
The wand exploded, and Cody yelped and turned around,
his arms over his head. There was a rumble, and rock and dirt began to
shower from a
weak part of the tunnel above them. Cody dove against
the wall and crouched down, his arms still over his head, until the crashing
stopped. His
heart was pounding at twice its normal rate as he shakily
stood. "You okay?" Ron asked.
"Y-yeah...you?"
"Yeah."
"Ron!" came Harry's voice from the other side of the avalanche. "Are you okay? Ron? Cody?"
"We're here!" Ron called back. "We're okay! This git's not, though! He got blasted by the wand!"
Cody swiped his hair out of his eyes as Lockhart got to
his feet, looking bewildered, and headed towards Ron. Ron kicked him in
the shins,
eliciting an "ow!" from Lockhart. "What now?" Ron called.
"We can't get through, it'll take ages!"
Lockhart stumbled towards Ron again, and Ron kicked him
in the shins once more. This time, Lockhart backed off and stared at them,
looking
totally and completely baffled.
"Wait there!" Harry called through the rock. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on. If I'm not back in an hour..."
Ron told him that he and Cody would try and shift some
of the rock so that Harry could get back through. Cody nodded in agreement,
still with
a wary eye on Lockhart. "And Harry..." Ron said.
Apparently not wanting to let himself get upset, Harry said, "See you in a bit!" He didn't sound any less afraid than Ron and Cody were.
As Harry's footsteps faded, Ron turned to Cody. "Well...let's start getting this done."
"Why can't we just use our wands? We could use 'wingardium leviosa' that we learned last year."
Ron frowned, considering this, then looked up at the ceiling.
"I dunno, Cody. I think we're safer doing it slow, by hand. I mean, what
if the rest
of the ceiling fell in?"
Cody looked up also, and winced, a shudder going through
him at the thought of all that soil and stone falling on them. Feeling
slightly
claustrophobic, he nodded. "G-good idea." With that,
he pitched in and began to help Ron shift the rocks.
The two boys said little as they worked, though both tried
to keep an eye on Lockhart as they worked. The bewildered professor had
seated
himself on the floor and was watching them with a vacant
look of mild curiosity on his face. Ron frowned at him, and then sighed.
"Hey, maybe
you should wait over there," he said, pointing at the
entrance to the tunnels. "I mean, I don't want you to get hurt or anything."
Cody snorted
softly, but said nothing at this. He deserved it. He
had been perfectly willing to invade their minds and take their memories,
maybe even damage
them for good!
Lockhart looked at Ron with that same vacant expression. "How thoughtful," he said mildly, and wandered to where Ron had pointed. Cody and Ron exchanged a look, and Cody shrugged. Then they went back to work.
Ron did most of the work, as Cody was not strong enough
to lift most of the rocks that had fallen. But he helped as much as he
could, and they
made good process. They talked little during their toil,
but that was okay. They needed their breath for lifting, anyway.
After what seemed like forever, Cody heard footsteps.
Ron heard them as well, and straightened, swallowing hard. Cody got his
wand out, just
in case.
It was Harry. "Ron!" he called out. "Ginny's okay! I got her!"
Ron's eyes went wide and he let a cry of relief. "Ginny!"
He leaned into the gap he and Cody had made, so he could help pull his
sister through.
Cody stood by and watched, his wand again in his pocket,
and a wide grin on his face. "You're alive, I don't believe it! What happened,
how,
what – where'd that bird come from?"
It was Cody's first look at Fawkes the Phoenix, and he
stared in fascination at the pretty bird. "Wow, neat," he breathed. He
held out a hand to
stroke Fawkes' feathers, and the bird readily allowed
it. They felt like, well, feathers. He looked up as Ron asked Harry why
he had a sword.
Ginny was crying, and Harry said he would explain later,
then asked where Lockhart was.
"Back there," said Ron. "He's in a bad way, come and see."
He explained how the memory charm had backfired, and how Ron had told him
to
wait by the entrance. Lockhart asked them then if they
lived there. "No..." said Ron. Lockhart only looked up with the mild, bemused
expression
he'd worn since the backfire, and Cody wondered if he
would ever recover.
"Now what?" Cody asked.
Harry frowned. "I dunno. How do we get back out?"
But Fawkes seemed to have the answer to that. He waved his scarlet tail feathers in front of Harry, who looked fairly uncertain about it.
"He looks like he wants you to grab hold," said Ron, as Cody grinned widely. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there."
"Fawkes isn't an ordinary bird." Harry turned to Ron and the others. "We've got to hold onto each other."
The order ended up being Harry first, who held onto Fawkes' tail feathers. Ron came next, then Ginny, then Lockhart. Cody held onto Lockhart's filthy robes.
It was utterly bizarre. Cody suddenly felt as if he weighed
no more than Fawkes' tail feathers, and a split second later, they all
were being lifted
into the air. Cody let out an exhilarated giggle. He
had thought he would have to strain to hold on, but he didn't, it was like
floating on the air.
Almost as great as being on a broomstick!
Moments later, they had all landed with a splash on the
waterlogged tiles of Myrtle's bathroom. The sink sealed off the pipe once
more. Myrtle
did not seem to be happy that Harry had survived. "You're
alive."
"There's no need to sound so disappointed." Harry didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment.
"Oh, well, I'd just been thinking if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet..."
Cody stifled a snicker, and hurried out of the bathroom
before Myrtle took offense and threw something at him. He heard Ron teasing
Harry as
they, too, exited the lavatory. "Where now?" Ron asked.
But Fawkes was leading the way. The bedraggled group followed the bird down to Professor McGonagall's office. They went in.