A/N: For those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas! For those of you who celebrate other holidays this time of year, Happy Holidays!
36. Secrets of the Chamber of SecretsThe weekend of the 25th found the castle actually pretty quiet. Saturday morning Harry and Remus went to breakfast early in order to be ready when the goblins arrived. Remus had sent a note to Sirius about the goblins' planned date for the basilisk and encouraged him to bring Amelia Bones with him as well. They were waiting in the Entrance Hall when Hagrid escorted the group in. The first person Harry saw was Sirius.
"Hello pup! I brought a few folks to visit your Chamber of Secrets." Sirius followed that with a big hug.
"Hello Harry. Good to see you again."
"Thank you for coming, Madam Bones."
"I couldn't resist a chance to see one of these fabled beasts."
"Harry, this is Senior Goblin Beast Master Darmok. He's in charge of the recovery group," said Sirius as he indicated one of the goblins.
"Senior Beast Master Darmok I am pleased to meet you. If you will follow us, we'll take you to the Chamber of Secrets."
By this time the group had drawn a crowd. Quite a few students had gathered around to see what could have brought a dozen goblins, a troll and the Director of Magical Law Enforcement to the castle. Dumbledore chose that moment to appear.
"Amelia, what brings you to the castle today?" he asked.
"I didn't want to miss the chance to see one of these legendary beasts up close."
"I wasn't aware you knew of its presence in the castle."
"Harry told me about it earlier in the summer and invited me to see it when the goblins came to harvest it."
"Of course," he then turned to Sirius, "Sirius, so good to see you again. You are looking much better than the last time I saw you. What brings you here?"
"Albus. My GODSON told me about his encounter with the basilisk and invited me as well to view it before the goblins take it away." Sirius emphasized the word 'godson' intentionally.
Albus wanted to deny them all entrance, but he did not have a reason to without raising suspicions.
"Of course. If you will follow me, I will take you to the entrance on the second floor," then lead the way upward.
It was not lost on the group following Dumbledore that he had not acknowledged the presence of the goblins at all.
When they reached the second floor girl's bathroom, the wizards (including Director Bones) went in first so that Harry could open the Chamber. This time he automatically requested stairs and lights. Once that was in place, they decided the order they would go down. Harry, Sirius, and Director Bones would go down first, then the goblins with Remus going down last. Since Remus had already been down there once, it was thought having someone familiar with the Chamber would be helpful in that position. The goblins had brought a security troll with them to guard the entrance from any onlookers. Dumbledore had decided to join them for the first part just to see what the goblins had planned.
The group first stopped at the shed skin. Senior Beast Master Darmok inspected it carefully, then said something to one of the other goblins in Gobbledygook. That goblin stayed behind. Apparently he was in charge of harvesting the skin. Harry opened the inner door and then lead the group into the primary Chamber. To say the group (with the exception of Harry, Remus and Dumbledore) were impressed would be an understatement.
Senior Beast Master Darmok was the first to speak, "What did you use to slay the beast Mr. Potter?"
"A sword."
"It must have been a formidable sword."
"Well, it was the Sword of Gryffindor if that makes any difference."
"That was a particularly fine piece of goblin metalwork. Do you still possess this sword Mr. Potter?"
"No, I gave it back to the Headmaster when I was done with it."
"The sword has been placed back in its case in the Headmaster's Office. It is said that only a true Gryffindor can call the sword to them in a time of need," added Dumbledore.
"Yes. The Goblin Nation has heard that legend as well. The sword was originally made for Ragnuk the First. It was one of the treasures of the Goblins. Curious that it chooses those it allows to wield it."
"Is there anything I can help you with while you do your work?" asked Harry.
"No. We will start with the venom sac and remove it and attempt to drain the remaining venom first. Then we will skin it and filet the meat. Once we have that done, we will remove the fangs. The only bone is in the skull. Are there any particular parts you wish to keep?"
"I would like some of the venom but that's all I can think of."
Sirius interrupted, "Take some of the skin as well. It makes good armor and a pair of gloves made out of it would be just as useful as dragonhide."
"OK. Well, enough skin for a couple of sets of armor then?"
"Very well. If you have nothing further we will begin our work."
With that, the goblins started work. The wizards took a tour around the Chamber. Harry walked over to the statue and asked to open, allowing them to tour the room behind it. Dumbledore chose this moment to leave.
Harry went over to Sirius, "We thought it might be Slytherin's private library or something but I guess it was just a place for the snake to hibernate."
When they got inside and were sure they were alone, Sirius brought out a roll of parchment, "Thought you might like to see this."
Harry unrolled the scroll and looked at it. The top of it read 'Certificate of Guardianship of Harry James Potter to Sirius Orion Black.' He looked down at the bottom and saw the seal of the Ministry.
"It's real?"
"It's very real!"
Harry was swept up in a big hug. The other two came over and congratulated the pair.
"Now Dumbledore can't interfere in your life anymore."
"Don't bet on that. He'll still find some way to stick his crooked nose in my business. Just watch."
"I didn't want to let this go public until I'd told you first. Wizarding Family Services is holding it until I talked to you."
"I think we should just let him read about it in the Daily Prophet, personally," Harry spat.
The three adults all chuckled at that. With that out of the way, they got back to the matter at hand.
"I wonder if the people in the Department of Mysteries would find anything in here. It's possible there is a hidden room behind it. Did you try to open anything else?" said Sirius
"No. We just found this place last week when I brought Remus and Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape down here."
"Why don't you try walking around the perimeter and talking to the walls."
"Won't that look a little stupid?"
"Probably, but since it's just us down here now, we know what you're trying to do."
So Harry did walk around talking to the walls. When he got to the very back of the chamber, he heard a soft 'click' and there was a break in the wall that appeared to be a door. That got the attention of the adults in the room with him. Harry was about to go inside before Sirius grabbed him.
"Where do you think you're going? You don't know what is back there! There could be another basilisk for all you know. Let us check it out first!"
Remus and Amelia both came over and started doing detection spells to check for any curses or hexes that may be on the room. Satisfied it was safe, they moved into the room. Sirius came back for Harry.
"Will you see if you can turn some light on for us?"
Harry entered the room and requested the lights. What they found was amazing. There were shelves of books and bound parchments, all in pristine condition. They all just stood there taking it all in for several minutes before one of them thought to speak.
Remus said, "I think I will go get Albus."
"You may want to have him bring the heads of house and Madam Pince," said Amelia.
"Good idea. I shall return shortly."
The three remaining members started looking at the hidden library. Just a quick look led them to the conclusion that these were left from all four Founders. This room was square and each wall represented one of the Founders. Above the respective walls was the crest for the particular house. Harry wandered over to the center of the room where there was a small sitting area. There was a book on the table that he picked up. It appeared to be a diary from Salazar Slytherin. Harry was transfixed as he read the entries from the man. Sirius came over to see what had interested his godson so. He looked over his shoulder to see what he was reading. It looked like pure gibberish to him.
"What's that, Harry?"
"Slytherin's diary."
"How do you know that?"
"It says right here," pointing to the first page.
"It looks like a bunch of nonsense to me."
Harry turned back to the page he'd been reading. Amelia had come over to see what had the others had found. "See, it says that Slytherin was the last of the four founders to join the group."
"Harry, all I see is a bunch of total gibberish. Oh, wait. Could that be written in Parseltongue?"
"I don't know, I've never seen it written down."
"Looks like you're going to have another job as translator," said Amelia.
Harry rolled his eyes, "Right. He couldn't have written his diary in any normal language. When this gets out that I'm the only one who can read it, the whole wizarding world will be after me saying I'm the next dark wizard. I had enough trouble last year with the whole Chamber of Secrets/Heir of Slytherin thing."
Sirius chuckled, "Pup, when are you going to learn that there is nothing normal about you?"
Amelia went back over to the wall indicating it belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw while Sirius went to the one indicating Godric Gryffindor. This was where they were found when the parade of professors entered a short time later. Even Snape was speechless.
"Harry, my boy, what have you found this time?" asked Dumbledore.
"It appears to be works of the Founders, Professor. If you'll notice there's a crest above each wall which shows which Founder the books belong to."
"And what is that you're reading?"
"It's the diary of Salazar Slytherin, sir."
"May I see it?" he asked.
Harry stifled the laugh he wanted to give while Sirius and Amelia also suppressed grins. Remus had seen that look on Padfoot's face before so he knew there was a large prank in progress. Harry handed the book to the Headmaster.
Snape had moved over to the Headmaster's shoulder so he could also read the diary.
"Potter! Is this some kind of joke? There's nothing readable on this at all!" exclaimed the Potions Professor.
"Sorry sir. Apparently that's what Parseltongue looks like when it's written down. Would you like me to read a passage for you?"
Dumbledore passed the book back to the teen and he began reading,
We completed the basic design of the castle today. We are still contemplating the location of the living quarters. Helga and I want them all accessible on the ground floor while Godric and Rowena want them up in the towers at the corners of the four wings. We do not appear to have a resolution so we may let each determine where they want their living quarters and be done with it. The upper dungeons on the side of the lake would be a perfect area for my students. Helga is partial to the lower floor near where we plan to have the kitchens and elf quarters. Godric is considering the south tower area while Rowena is examining the west tower. We will meet with the head elf designer tomorrow to see if this can be done.
"Very interesting, Harry. Thank you for reading it for us. Madam Pince, what would be the best way to preserve these valuable tomes?"
"I'm sure having them sealed up in this tomb was probably the best method available. Now that we've let air in, they may begin to deteriorate rapidly. I will have to discuss this with those skilled in preservation to determine the best method. For now I think we should leave everything here."
"That is a very good suggestion. Does anyone have others?"
Minerva spoke first, "Perhaps we may want to have Bathilda Bagshot take a look at these. As the foremost expert on wizarding history, she may be able to make use of them in a revision of her History of Magic text."
"For now, why don't each of you select one or two volumes to take with you. We will schedule time with Harry to let us in to review others, if that is acceptable to you, Harry."
"Fine with me, sir."
"I would also recommend leaving Salazar's diary here for now."
The various faculty members spread out and looked through their respective sections. When one found a book on another's specialty, they let them know. It took over a half an hour for each of them to make their choices. They then exited the library into the round room and out into the larger Chamber.
Harry was stopped by Senior Beast Master Darmok when he came through.
"Mr. Potter, we've removed the venom sac. We estimate it contains about 55 gallons of venom. Was there a specific amount you wanted?"
"Professor Snape? Could you come here please?" Harry asked of the professor.
"Yes, Potter?"
"They were asking me how much of the venom I wanted. Would a couple of gallons be enough for you?"
Severus had counted on the possibility of a quart at most. The prospect of several gallons was a Potion Master's dream." That would be acceptable, Mr. Potter."
"Senior Beast Master Darmok, if I could have three gallons that would be great. The rest can be put in with everything else."
The goblin said something to one of the workers and he quickly reappeared with the requested venom. Professor Snape took one gallon while Remus and Sirius each took one. No one wanted to find themselves overloaded and have one of the containers burst.
"Is there a time you would like for me to come back?"
"We will be working through the night."
"If you need something, just call for an elf named Dobby. He can reach either me or Remus."
The final group ascended the stairs. The security troll moved just long enough for them to pass then went back to his post in front of the entrance.