The words in bold are direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I do not own Harry Potter. J.K Rowling does.

Delving Into the Depths

The castle was deserted. There wasn't a single student in sight and the teachers were who-knows-where. "They must know about Harry and Ginny," Ron whispered as he and Charlie crept along the marble floor. "We're back in lockdown."

"WOULD ALL STAFF PLEASE REPORT TO THE GREAT HALL FOR AN IMPORTANT MEETING."

McGonagall's booming voice caused Ron to jump in fear. Charlie steadied him. "It's only a magical projection of her voice so everyone in the castle hears it," she explained. "I guess the teachers are as lost as we are."

"Should we eavesdrop on them?" Ron asked.

"We can't really afford to waste time," Charlie said slowly. "But perhaps they do know more than they let on."

The two students managed to sneak into the Great Hall before the teachers arrived. Charlie cast a Disillusionment Charm on the two of them and they stood still by the door, not wanting to be too far into the room in case they needed to make a quick escape.

The teachers of Hogwarts eventually filed in with solemn expressions. They took their places at the High Table.

"Why have you ordered all the students to stay in their Common Rooms?" Madame Hooch asked. Her facial expression said she already knew the answer but wanted desperately to be proven wrong.

"Two students have been taken into the Chamber of Secrets," McGonagall said heavily. "The Heir left their message right underneath the first one; their skeletons will lie in the Chamber forever."

Snape's knuckles turned white. "Which students were taken?"

"Harry Lupin and Ginny Weasley," Sprout said thickly. "They've only been taken five minutes ago...I thought it would be safe to let everyone out of their dorms."

"As did all of us," McGonagall said. She then ran a hand over her forehead and whispered, "To add on to this mess, no student has seen Ronald Weasley or Charlotte Potter since before afternoon classes."

"They didn't!" Flitwick exclaimed in horror. "Please tell me they didn't go looking for the Chamber!"

"The Heads of House are going to inform their students that they will be leaving on the Hogwarts Express tomorrow. The others will sweep the school and stop Potter and Weasley before they get themselves killed. I've owled Dumbledore. I wish I didn't have to say this, but the school really is closing."

"It's for the safety of the students," Flitwick said with a shaky voice. "I do wish Dumbledore had stayed...he'd know what to do. I'm off to inform my Eagles about the situation and then I'm going to help search for Potter and Weasley. I hope they're alright."

The doors suddenly banged open and Ron clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his startled gasp. Lockhart strode into the Great Hall, golden robes billowing.

"So sorry, I was just shooing a few more students back to their Common Rooms. Poor things are terribly frightened but I made sure to let them know I had things handled."

"Ah yes, wasn't it yesterday you were telling us how you knew where the Chamber of Secrets was?" McGonagall asked. Her face was neutral but her eyes were anything but.

Lockhart paused. "Er...yes, I do, but-"

"Then you can get a head start on going into the Chamber to rescue the two students that were taken. The rest of us will stay up here and protect the students and make sure none try something stupid."

"Yes Lockhart," Snape's voice was silky and dangerous. "You've kept saying you wish you had an opportunity to tangle with the beast. Here's your chance. We'll keep everyone out of your way."

Lockhart could not refuse without giving himself up as a fraud. So he nodded and hastily exited the room.

"Now that the idiot's out of the way," Snape growled, "let's get a move on."

The teachers filed out of the room and when they were alone Charlie cancelled the Charm. "Lockhart really needs to start playing down his image," Ron mused. "Bragging about knowing where the Chamber is? Surely he knew someone would call his bluff sooner or later."

"His image is important to him and he's going to keep it up no matter what." Charlie shrugged. "Before we do anything, we need to know how the Basilisk has been getting around."

Ron scrunched up his brow. "If Moaning Myrtle died in the bathroom...and the Basilisk has been getting around the school without anyone noticing and you've been hearing the voice within the walls, then that means..."

Charlie's green eyes widened. "That the snake has been getting around using the pipes! The pipes are in the walls and are connected to everything!"

"Especially the bathrooms!" Ron gasped. "Do you think the entrance to the Chamber is in one of the bathrooms?"

"I would say so. And I would guess the bathroom would be Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It seems to be the only logical choice at the moment."

"Should we tell Lockhart?" Ron asked as they hurried from the Hall. "If the man is going to try and prove the teachers wrong, we might as well tell him what he's up against."

Charlie agreed and they ran towards Lockhart's office. Ron rapped on the door and it flung open to reveal a frazzled Lockhart. "Hello children! Why aren't you in your dormitories?"

Charlie crossed her arms. "We figured you were getting ready to take on the Basilisk, so we wanted to come and give you some hints."

"Basilisk?" Lockhart rasped. "Oh! Well...actually, I've just been called away on urgent business and-"

Ron pushed the door open wider to reveal dozens of trunks stacked around the spacious office. "You didn't get called away on urgent business!" Ron accused. "You're just a fraud who knows nothing about the Chamber and has been blowing hot air the whole time!"

"Alright!" Lockhart cried. "I don't know anything about the Chamber. But what am I supposed to do?"

"We have an idea where the Chamber is," Charlie informed him. "You can come and assist us."

"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know how to do any of the things I wrote about. I wouldn't be much help."

"You did none of the things you wrote about?" Ron cried.

"Of course not! But no one would read my books if they weren't as interesting as they are now. Besides, if the old warlock that actually did write his own book on saving a village from werewolves, he wouldn't sell half as many as I did. It's all about appearance you see. And I did do a lot of work in writing these things. I had to track the people down, get their full story and erase their memories afterwards."

"You're not running out on us," Charlie snapped. "You tell tall tales, you go through with them."

Lockhart removed his wand. "I'm afraid that doesn't work for me. If there is one thing I am good at, it's those Memory Charms."

"Expelliarmus!" Charlie cried. Lockhart's wand sailed into her hand and she shoved it up the sleeve of her robe. "Right then. You either come with us or we tell everyone your secrets. I'd really rather not do the last one."

White-faced, Lockhart followed her and Ron to Myrtle's bathroom.

"Hello Myrtle," Charlie greeted. The ghost was in her usual stall.

"What do you want?" Myrtle asked moodily.

"I hope you don't consider this a personal question, but I would like to know how you died."

Instead of taking offense, Myrtle was delighted to tell them how she passed. "It was horrible! Olivia Hornby was teasing me again and I rushed into this very stall. I cried buckets and only stopped when I heard someone come in. The person that spoke had a boyish voice, but I didn't have a clue as to what he was saying. I opened the stall door to tell him to get out and I found myself looking into a pair of menacing yellow eyes. Then I just seized up and died."

Charlie nodded. Myrtle was the girl that had gotten killed by the Basilisk. "Where did you see them?"

"The eyes? Over there by that sink." Myrtle pointed to the sink directly across from her stall.

Ron and Charlie examined every inch of it. Lockhart looked ready to bolt but a threatening glare from Ron kept him where was.

"Look at this!" Charlie whispered. Around the copper tap were engravings of a serpent. Ron tried to twist it but it wouldn't budge.

"Try saying something in Parseltongue," Ron suggested.

Charlie took a deep breath and whispered, "Open."

A strangled hissing sound came deep from her throat and the two students watched in amazement as the sink pulled back and revealed a pipe wide enough for them to fit through. Charlie cracked her knuckles. "I think we found it."

"You get the honours," Ron barked at Lockhart. The blonde gulped and slumped forward.

"Really, what help am I going to be?"

"Bait."

"Ron!" Charlie rebuked. She had a strong feeling that Lockhart had been a fraud the entire time and hadn't been surprised to discover that he stole his tales from other people. But it would take much more than that to make her resent him. She definitely didn't want him killed.

One by one, they crawled down the pipe.

"That is disgusting," Charlie said flatly. The pipes were coated with slime, and her footsteps landed with a loud squish.

Soon they had been walking down the dark stone tunnel for what seemed like forever. Finally they came upon a vivid, poisonous green snake skin that was huge and gross. Charlie ran a hand through her raven hair.

"So...I have to fight that thing?"

"Good luck," Ron muttered. He let out a yelp as he was suddenly tackled to the slimy floor by Lockhart. The man grabbed Ron's broken wand and fired off a Memory Charm. Charlie quickly cast a Shield Charm (the duelling lessons actually paid off) and the spell rebounded and slammed into the ceiling. Rocks crumbled down around them and the two students scrambled out of the way.

Ron and Charlie wiped the dust from their eyes and stared at the wall of broken rocks that separated them from Lockhart.

"Professor?" Charlie called, a bit panicked. "Professor, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," a weak voice called out. "But I think my leg is broken."

"Serves him right," Ron muttered. But he was relieved that the man hadn't been killed despite what he tried to do to the both of them.

"Just stay there and we'll come back for you," Charlie promised. "Try to keep your leg elevated if you can."

Ron turned and stared at the large stone wall with the intertwining snakes. It seemed to be their next passage. "Think this will take us inside the Chamber?"

Charlie shrugged. "One way to find out. Open."

The snakes curled apart and the wall slowly slid open with a rumbling noise. Charlie gripped Ron's hand and took a deep breath.

"For Harry Lupin and Ginny Weasley. Let's kick some serpent butt."