Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.
Second Time Around: Year 4: Chapter 14: The Chamber Revisited
Harry saw what Dumbledore was doing. Dumbledore hoped by letting Harry off with a warning he would feel obliged to give the Headmaster some other information that he wanted. The Chamber of Secrets was the most obvious thing to ask about so Harry decided to tell him most of the truth about this, but not all.
"The diary belonged to Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort, and was for the mid 1940's. Amongst other things it contained a confession that it was Riddle who opened the Chamber of Secrets and that he killed Moaning Myrtle, later framing Hagrid for the crime," Harry explained.
"So the Ministry, using the contents of the diary as a confession, overturned Hagrid's expulsion and allowed him to become a qualified wizard who could take over teaching Care of Magical Creatures. This, however, does not explain why the diary was destroyed. Can you tell me more about that?" asked Dumbledore.
"The diary was the key to opening the Chamber of Secrets. Information it contained allowed the owner to find the Chamber, open it and unleash the basilisk in the chamber," Harry said.
"Basilisk?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yeah. Since the Chamber can't be opened there is no danger of it escaping. That was the reason the diary was destroyed, to ensure no-one could open the Chamber in the future."
"I imagine a Parselmouth such as yourself could open it, however."
"I could, but why would I want to unleash a basilisk?' Harry asked.
"I get the impression you have already killed the basilisk, Harry. Is that assumption correct?"
"I killed it back in 1st year."
"Which was, of course, before you obtained the diary. How did you achieve this?"
"I borrowed one of Hagrid's roosters. I forgot to remove the petrification spell when I returned it to the coop."
Dumbledore didn't seem at all surprised by this. "I suspected something along those lines at the time, although I didn't know about the basilisk. I did, however suspect it may have been a basilisk at the time of Myrtle's death.
"For now, I think we should let the matter rest, although I will want to examine Slytherin's chamber at some point in the future. How are you going with the clue to the 2nd task?"
"Every time I open the egg it screams at me. I think I have an idea, however, and I will be putting more effort into it in the New Year. Sirius has invited me to a New Year's party and I will be leaving here on the morning of New Year's Eve," Harry said.
"In the meantime we both have things to do. I would recommend that you spend as much time as possible with your friends. I am quite certain they are willing to help you with the egg and, of course, two heads are better than one, Good bye, Harry; and good luck," Dumbledore finished.
"Good bye, sir, and thank you for sorting out the Rita Skeeter matter," Harry said.
Harry left the office. As soon as he was a comfortable distance away he contacted Sirius.
"Hello, Harry. I told Madam Bones about last night. She has decided to leave it up to Dumbledore to sort it out. Has he decided what to do yet?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah. That's one of the reasons I'm calling. He has decided to take no further action but he wants something in exchange. I told him about the Chamber of Secrets and now he wants to have a look round it. I'd say he is looking for something. He knows the diary was the key to opening the Chamber and that I opened it before the diary became available."
"Right. Do you think there may be something valuable or dangerous in the chamber?"
"It is possible. I daresay only a Parselmouth would be able to use anything in there, though."
"Have you told him about the basilisk?" Sirius asked.
"I told him I killed it with a rooster. That was how he knew I had entered the Chamber before getting the diary."
"Well, basilisk venom is a powerful poison, as you already know; and basilisk hide is quite tough. It can be used in making armour or shields and it will protect against many types of magical attack as well. It may be that Dumbledore wants the skin for some reason, although I doubt anybody would want the venom unless they had a specific use for it, such as destroying Horcruxes."
"Do you think he suspects Voldemort made Horcruxes?" Harry asked.
"It is highly likely he suspects something like that. Harry, are you sure we haven't missed any Horcruxes during our searches to date?"
"Only one I can think of. Voldemort's pet snake, Nagini, is probably one."
"I guess it is possible he may know where the snake is. Perhaps he intends to use the venom on a dagger or sword or something like that so he can destroy the snake. Of course, it may be something different altogether that he has planned.
"Harry, sometime in New Year I will be coming to Hogwarts. I will make some excuse about testing the safety procedures and security measures in the lead up to the second task. That should allow me reasonable access to everywhere within the castle and grounds and I will bring a couple of other aurors with me, make it seem more legit. What I really intend doing is accessing the Chamber for a quick look around. I'll need you to get me in there, of course, but other than that I want you to stay out of the way. You still have the rest of the Tri-Wizard Tournament to negotiate, after all."
"Sounds good. Are you still coming to pick me up on New Year's Eve?"
"I think I will send a port-key. It looks like we will have a number of visitors for the party, including all the Weasleys and Hermione Granger," Sirius said.
"Do you mind if I bring Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood along, too?" asked Harry.
"No, that should be fine. Will you be needing Kreacher over the next few days?"
"I don't think so. I'll send him to you soon. I just want to try something first. If my idea works it should make getting into the Chamber of Secrets a lot easier in the future. I'll explain more once we arrive at Grimmauld Place. By then I'll know if it will work or not."
"Alright, Harry. I will see you on December 31st, if not sooner. Bye for now," Sirius said.
"Bye, Sirius," Harry said as the mirror went blank.
After lunch Harry summoned Kreacher. "How may Kreacher help Master?"
"I have a job for you. I need you to come with me into a secret room within the castle," Harry told him.
Harry took Kreacher to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "This room is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," Harry explained. "When I open the chamber we will go down and you will try to get us out with your magic. If that works I want you to try and take us back into it. All clear?"
"Kreacher understands," the elf replied.
Harry opened the Chamber and climbed down the golden ladder. "That is the skin of a basilisk," he told Kreacher as they passed the discarded snake skin on their way to the inner chamber.
In the inner chamber Harry could see (and smell) the carcass of the basilisk he had killed 3 years earlier, almost to the day. "Is this where Master has been getting his supply of fangs from?" Kreacher asked.
"I took several when I killed the basilisk, but I haven't been back here since," Harry explained. "Now, take my hand and try to apparate us to the room where we met the snakes."
Kreacher took Harry's hand and concentrated. For an instant Harry felt as though he was being squeezed through a narrow tube but then everything returned to normal and he realised they were still in the chamber.
"It seems you cannot apparate someone else while in the castle," Harry said.
"Is Master unhappy with Kreacher?"
"No. I am very happy with you. It would have been easier if you could apparate people with you but it doesn't matter. Let's go. Kreacher, I want you to help Sirius over the next few days. He is planning a party at Grimmauld Place for New Year's eve."
"Kreacher will do as Master wishes," he said before disapparating.
Before leaving Harry took the egg out of his bag and placed it in one of the pools of water in the chamber. After making sure it was fully submerged he opened it and, after casting a Bubblehead charm on himself, dipped his head into the water. Immediately he heard the song of the Merpeople. He listened to it to the end satisfying himself it was the same as he remembered it. Since he now knew exactly what to do in the 2nd task he was feeling generally happy even though it hadn't been a total success.
Harry left the chamber. He went to the library where he found several fellow students. Almost immediately he was asked about the events of the night before. It took him a long time to explain what had happened and what Dumbledore and the Ministry intended doing about it. Finally, after more than an hour, he was able to start his assignments.
Over the next few days Harry managed to complete all the assignments he had been set. It was during one of these sessions in the library that Cedric Diggory approached him. When Cedric sat down Harry turned to him, wondering what he wanted.
"Harry," Cedric began, "I was curious about how you are going with the egg clue for the second task?"
"I've pretty much got it solved. It's not really that difficult once you know the secret," Harry replied.
Cedric seemed surprised Harry had already solved the clue. "Well done. Do you think the others have solved it yet?"
"If they haven't I'm certain they soon will," Harry replied. "Karkaroff and Maxime aren't going to want their champions to look bad, after all.'
"I guess so. See you later, Harry, and good luck," Cedric said.
"Thanks. Good luck to you, too," Harry replied.
On New Years' Eve Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Susan and all the Weasleys assembled outside the main gate to Hogwarts holding the Portkey that would take them to Grimmauld Place. Susan's parents would be meeting them there along with Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and the older Weasleys, including Percy.
They arrived in the Main Hallway and proceeded into the kitchen where the others were waiting. The party was both a celebration of the New Year and a graduation party for Tonks who had just completed her auror training, even though her official graduation wouldn't occur for a few months yet. It had been generally agreed that having a celebration around New Year's would be better suited for everyone.
At the party Hermione approached Harry. "I hope you haven't forgotten about the egg, Harry," she began.
"Already solved it," he replied.
"You have?" Hermione looked surprised.
"Yes, Hermione, I have already solved it," Harry repeated. "Once I figured out the trick it was actually quite straight-forward. And I've already figured out exactly what I am going to do in the task, too."
"Oh, well, well done, then," Hermione still sounded as though she didn't believe him.
The rest of the evening went off quietly. Everyone present had an enjoyable time and, a little before 1am, everybody went to bed. Susan left with her parents; Neville and Luna stayed the night but returned to Hogwarts first thing in the morning while Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys stayed on for a few more days, not returning to Hogwarts until the 5th of January.