AN: Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday. I am very sorry for not updating sooner but life gets in the way. Same with writer's block. It comes at the worst times. I hope to update more in the future, all of my stories in fact. But now that it's summer I will be traveling to my family's cabin more which means no internet. On a little side note I wanted to let you all know that I started a new story for the Hunger Games and it's the series from Peeta's perspective. So today is July 12, 2016 and this is the first chapter today. Once again anything you recognize is JK Rowling's and anything you don't is mine.
Hermione POV
In the following days after Harry heard the disembodied voice the three of us never brought it up while the rest of the school did nothing but talk about Mrs. Norris. Harry kept looking over his shoulder as if waiting for something to jump out at him. Ron kept looking at Harry covertly, as if afraid he would spontaneously combust.
But I spent all of my time reading. I was trying to find anything about the Chamber of Secrets but I couldn't. It took me a week to realize that the only book to look in for any information would be Hogwarts: A History but every book was checked out.
I sat down at the desk that Harry and Ron were occupying with an angry huff.
"All the copies of Hogwarts: A History have been taken out. And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books." I sneered the man's name, I no longer thought Lockhart walked on water.
"Why do you want it?" Harry asked twirling his quill absently in his hand.
"The same reason everyone else wants it," I said with a sigh, "to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."
"What's that?" Harry asked quickly his eyes widening with excitement.
"That's just it. I can't remember," I said, biting my lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else —"
"Hermione, let me read your composition on the History of Magic essay," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.
"No, I won't," I growled severely. "You've had ten days to finish it —"
"I only need another two inches, come on —" The bell rang cutting Ron off.
"Come on," Harry said holding out his hand for me. I blinked owlishly and slowly placed my hand in his. He smiled and pulled me towards the doors leading out of the library. Ron followed behind grumbling under his breath about The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards.
Harry, Ron and I sat at the back of the classroom by an open window where a cool fall breeze was coming through. It felt lovely and I leaned forward staring at Professor Binns but I wasn't writing notes or even listening to him. I was too busy thinking about how old Professor Binns was. Could he know about the Chamber of Secrets.
I chewed on my lip for a moment before raising my hand. Professor Binns immediately stopped talking and his eyes widened in shock.
"Miss — er —?"
"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," I said in a clear voice.
Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk.
Professor Binns blinked.
"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk scraping. I glared at him but he continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers –"
He stuttered to a halt when he saw my hand was waving in the air again.
"Miss Grant?"
"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?" I asked desperately. All I wanted to know was what was in the Chamber.
Professor Binns was looking at me in amazement.
"Well," Professor Binns said slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at me as though he had never seen a student properly before and maybe he never had. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale —"
But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at everyone, every face turned to his. He seemed thrown off by all the interest.
"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see ... the Chamber of Secrets ...
"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."
He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued, surprised by the obvious interest from the class.
"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."
Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips.
"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.
"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."
There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him. More than anything I wanted him to keep going. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he continued quickly. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."
I threw my hand back in the air. "Sir — what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," Professor Binns said in his dry, reedy voice.
I exchanged a nervous look with Harry who looked terrified. Ron was staring at Professor Binns, his mouth open wide in shock.
"I tell you, the thing does not exist," Professor Binns said hastily, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."
"But, sir," Seamus Finnigan said, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"
"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," Professor Binns said in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing —"
"But, Professor," Parvati Patil piped up, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it —"
"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," Professor Binns snapped losing his temper. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore —"
"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't —" began Dean Thomas, but Professor Binns had had enough.
"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"
And then he went back to his lesson. But I was too busy to listen. I was ruminating over everything Professor Binns had told us. And it was easy to tell I wasn't the only one. Ron was shaking and Harry was frowning down at the table in front of him as if he didn't know what to do with the information anymore than I did.
AN: Please Review! It helps so much more than you realize. Reviews help me create a story that everyone loves. And the only way to make sure I know you all like it is with reviews telling me what you think, what you love and hate about it. Also any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated and I would give you credit if I used your idea in the Author's Note. Seriously guys every little bit helps.