Thank you all for reading my story, but especially, thank you Alice for your constant support. Just got onto Pottermore today at about 10:30 am ish. Eek! Anyways...
Tom went through all of his classes mechanically. He performed just as well as usual, and made sure that no one noticed that something was wrong with him, but he was thinking about something else. He thought back to when he and Annabeth had discovered that he was Salazar Slytherin's heir. While reading up on Slytherin, he remembered reading something.
'Slytherin and Gryffindor were good friends, and the four founders got along well. But they didn't agree on the selection of students for Hogwarts. While the other three believed that anyone who could do magic should be admitted to Hogwarts, Slytherin believed that only children from wizarding families should be allowed to learn at the school. Slytherin and Gryffindor had an argument, which resulted in Slytherin leaving the school. Some historians say that Slytherin left behind a Chamber, which is now known in stories as the Chamber of Secrets. The Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's heir. In it lies a monster which the Heir could use to purge the school of 'impure blood'. No such chamber has been found however, so it remains a mystery.'
Well, if Slytherin created the chamber, then it must be cleverly disguised, so of course no other ordinary person could've found it. Only the Heir can open it, which means that I'll be able to. He thought about the monster and the chamber itself. If only the Heir could open it, then there must be a trait that separated them from everyone else. There's my intelligence, but I highly doubt that's it. He thought about it, but finally decided that he would think about it later, when his classes weren't distracting him. Later, when all of his classes were over, Annabeth walked up to him, but he cut her off.
"Sorry Annabeth, I want to do my homework alone. I need some time to myself for once," he said coldly. Annabeth, looking hurt, walked away. Tom went to the library, which was his favorite place to just sit and think things through. Now. What could it be? Then, the answer practically slapped him in the face. Of course! Parseltongue! I remember reading about that, and that's what proved to those other Slytherins that I was the Slytherin heir! So... the monster must be a snake of sorts. Tom went and looked for a book of animals. He got out a lot of books and read through them all, but he didn't find anything until he got halfway down the stack. The book was titled: The Most Dangerous Beasts of All Time. Tom flipped through the pages impatiently until he found a picture of the bottom of what looked like a snake.
Basilisks, the heading read. Tom continued to read.
'A Basilisk is a huge, monstrous snake. It is a very fatal monster, having the ability to kill with a single glance from its eyes. Spiders flee before it. The basilisk is quite rare. The crow of the rooster, however, is fatal to it. Not much more is known about the basilisk.' Tom closed the book, upset that he couldn't learn more, but sure that he knew what the monster was. Now all I have to do is find the Chamber. He completed his homework and walked out of the library. On his way out, he ran into Annabeth.
"Tom, are you alright? You're upset about something, I can tell. You can tell me, you know. I won't bug you about whatever is bothering you, but I'll just tell you that I'm willing to listen if you want to talk." Tom nodded.
"Thank you Annabeth, but I'm fine." Tom lied. He supposed he was feeling better at the prospect of opening the chamber and letting the monster loose on the muggleborns, but he knew that Annabeth wouldn't consider that 'fine'. Annabeth is muggleborn, he thought. Would I hurt her? No, I suppose not. I know her too well to know that she's not like other muggleborns. If she gets in my way, though, I'm not sure what I'd do. I'd have to set the basilisk on her. I hope that she can understand this from an objective point of view, like me, instead of her emotional point of view. If she does, then I wouldn't have a reason to hurt her. Tom walked away, his thoughts in turmoil.
Over the next couple of months, Tom looked for the Chamber. Since he was prefect, he had an excuse to walk the corridors at night, and he used that to his advantage. While Annabeth was unfortunately the Gryffindor prefect, which meant that she could guess that he was up to something, he'd simply say that he thought he'd heard something. He was a good liar, he knew, and was sure that he'd have no problem. Indeed, he searched through each classroom, each corridor. He even looked through the Great Hall and the kitchens, once he'd figured out that he had to tickle the pear. The technique he used was, in his opinion, simpler than trying to find a random entrance that was probably disguised. He closed his eyes, imagined a snake, and said 'open' in Parseltongue, as he was sure that it was the way to open the chamber. However, it never yielded any results. Many house-elves swarmed Tom, asking him if he wanted to eat, but Tom politely declined. He got out of the kitchen, but ran right into Irina.
"What are you doing out so late?" Tom hissed quietly.
"I'm the other Slytherin prefect. Or did you forget?" Irina replied, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, but what are you doing here?" he asked back.
"I could ask you the same thing. I saw you heading to the kitchens, and I followed. I saw you tickle the pear, and I was about to do so when you walked out of the kitchen. Were you sneaking a late-night snack?" Irina asked dubiously.
"No, of course not. I thought I heard something strange, so I decided to investigate." Tom said smoothly.
"We both know that's not true. You know that there are house-elves in the kitchen, and I didn't hear anything strange. Seriously, what were you looking for? I've noticed you look for something each time it's our turn to patrol. I didn't think much of it at first, but when I saw you do it every time we were on patrol, I figured that I'd have to ask."
"Well..." Tom looked at the floor, feigning embarrassment. "If you must know, I was, well, looking for the Room of Requirements," he improvised, hearing about it from many Slytherins who claimed to have found it. "I'd heard about it, and I wanted to see if I could find it."
"You're lying," Irina said accusingly. "Why bother? You know that I can see right through your lies. Besides, I might be able to help you." Tom decided to tell her part of the truth, since she was a pureblood Slytherin who also believed that Muggles, muggleborns, and half-bloods don't belong in society.
"Well, I'm looking for a snake carved in somewhere," he finally decided to say.
"Why?" she asked.
"I won't tell you." Tom countered. Irina looked impassive, but Tom was sure that she was trying to figure it out.
"Alright." Irina said. They walked to the Slytherin dormitories wordlessly.
Christmas came, and Tom woke up to find three packages by his bed. He opened them up. Edward had given Tom a book on Quidditch. An attached card said: Maybe you might like Quidditch better if you read about it in a book rather than watching it. Merry Christmas! -Edward. Emma had given Tom a silver-and-green scarf and hat set. He opened Annabeth's present last. She had gotten him a silver necklace with a silver serpent pendant. Here's to celebrate your utter Slytherin-ness. Hope you like it. Merry Christmas! Your good friend, Annabeth. Emma and Edward had gone home for the holidays, but Annabeth was still here. He'd have to thank her. Tom decided that while he wouldn't usually dream of wearing jewelry, especially a necklace, he figured that he could wear this necklace because of its symolicness. He put it on. He saw Annabeth at breakfast that morning.
"Thank you Annabeth," Tom said. "I liked your present. I'm sorry that I only got you a mere book."
"But I loved your present! I mean, a joke book! How perfect," Annabeth replied. Tom decided to spend a little more time with Annabeth. After all, he'd looked everywhere he could imagine for the Chamber, but hadn't found it. Maybe it is only a myth. No matter. Soon, the holidays were over and everyone else was back. Classes started as usual. However, one morning, Irina came up to Tom on his way to Potions.
"Tom! I found something yesterday. In the girl's bathroom on the third-floor corridoor!" Irina whispered urgently, so softly that he barely caught what she said. Tom did hear what she said though, and was excited. Could it be?