This chapter is mostly action and summary, wrapping loose ends for Year 2. I have something up my sleeve planned for Year 3. I do not own Harry Potter. Enjoy!
"What do you seek?" asked Myrtle.
"To inquire as to the events leading to your death," said Snape, his voice calm and collected. Harry and Lockhart stood at a distance as Snape conversed with Myrtle's floating, translucent form.
Myrtle glared at Harry and Lockhart for a second before she turned back to Snape. "I-I had been bullied and came to this bathroom one night to have some privacy…" said Myrtle, her voice now shaking from sorrow. "It happened so fast...all I remember was hearing a slimy noise coming from the sinks. I peeked out of my stall to see what the noise was and all I remember was seeing a great big pair of horrifying yellow eyes. Then? I died… just like that…" said Myrtle as she began sobbing.
"Dear girl," said Snape in a would-be-compassionate voice. "I must inquire as to where exactly you saw the eyes."
"Over there," she pointed, a dark look on her face, towards one of the sinks on the right far corner of the bathroom.
"Much obliged," said Snape, calmly. "You have become a valuable asset to this school, Miss Warren. Thank you."
Myrtle looked as though she would respond but instead began crying uncontrollably and flew hurriedly into a toilet and was gone.
"Now, Potter," said Snape, rounding on him and Lockhart. "You must listen very carefully. Are you, at this very moment, hearing any voices at all?"
"Only yours," said Lockhart, not sure if Snape was talking to him.
"Silence!" said Snape to a hurt Lockhart, who promptly obeyed but still looked taken aback.
Harry strained his ears and closed his eyes to listen for a bit. "No sir. I can't hear any voices right now. I'll let you know if I do though."
"Good," said Snape. "This means that the monster has not been set free yet tonight. We must act while the opportunity avails us."
"Right," said Harry, feeling braver.
"Search this group of sinks, and tell me if you sense anything," said Snape, his brow furrowed.
"Okay," said Harry, who promptly began feeling around and not finding anything unusual until he saw a tiny serpent on the underside of one of the pipes.
"I don't feel anything in particular, sir," said Harry. "But I found a tiny serpent on the pipes of this sink and believe this must be it."
Snape's eyes flashed in a way that made Harry uncomfortable. Harry twisted the knobs on the sink to check that the bathroom water, in fact, was not attached to this sink.
"Say something in parseltongue, Potter," said Snape.
"Okay," said Harry. He turned to the sink and looked into the mirror in front of it. "Open,"
"Still English," snarled Snape. "Concentrate. Imagine that you are talking to a snake."
"Right," said Harry, who tried to remember what it was like talking to the python at the zoo nearly two years ago.
"Opennnnnn," said Harry in parseltongue. Snape's eyes became wide as the sink in front of them suddenly began supernaturally floating, along with the chunk of wall behind it, revealing a dark chasm behind and beneath it.
"This is it!" said Snape, his breathing shorter. Harry was scared seeing Snape this excited. "It's true after all! Salazar's chamber is here!"
"Should we just go in then?" said Harry, trying to braven up again.
"Let's test it out with our beloved DADA teacher," he said sarcastically. "You there."
"M-me?" said Lockhart, still unaware of everything but nervous at the attention he was now getting.
"Go down into this chasm and tell us if it is safe or not," sneered Snape.
Lockhart looked bitter, as if he remembered in a past life that this man was not a friend, but a nemesis.
"Right," said Lockhart resentfully, realizing that he had no weapons of any kind to defend himself.
Snape and Harry watched as Lockhart eased his way into the pitch black entrance. Suddenly, he slipped and yelled as he fell down. It sounded as if he was sliding down an enormous pipe or tube.
"It's long but it's safe enough," called Lockhart from the bottom, his voice echoing throughout.
"Follow me about five seconds after I enter," instructed Snape. Harry nodded.
Harry entered the tube. It smelled awful, like the smell of a dead animal. Harry tried to hold his breath, uneasy at how pitch-dark it was in the large pipe.
He finally landed into a small cylindrical room, about the size of the girls' bathroom sink area. It contained several passageways. Oddly enough, the ceiling was glowing an eerie green color, but it was enough to illuminate the way for the odd trio.
"Wands out, Potter," said Snape, his voice stern. "We don't want any accidents while down here. You go first, since you can hear the voices and warn us if the basilisk will make an appearance. Lockhart, you stay behind me."
Lockhart looked at Snape, assuming that he was Lockhart because he seemed to mostly be talking to this Potter kid, whoever he was.
Harry led the way, his wand illuminating the way, followed by Snape and Lockhart, Snape using his wand for light as well.
Eventually, they stumbled upon a giant atrium which contained…
"Ginny!" yelled Harry, suddenly abandoning caution and running to her body, noticing that it was extremely pale and lifeless. "GINNY?!" yelled Harry with worry, feeling her pulse to see if there was one there.
"She won't wake…" said a quiet voice in the corner of the atrium. It was a tall teenage boy with handsome features and black hair.
"Who are you?" hissed Snape, his wand raised at the teenage boy.
"A memory preserved in a diary," said the boy calmly.
"What is your name?" said Snape angrily.
"Tom Riddle."
"Potter! Get behind me!" said Snape, his wand pointed at Tom. Harry did as he was told, afraid again.
"It's you then?" asked Snape, his voice still cold and mean. "You're the one opening the Chamber?"
"No," said Tom nonchalantly. "It was this stupid girl."
"What did you do to her?!" said Harry.
"I persuaded her to do my bidding once I befriended her," said Tom, an evil glint in his eyes.
"Potter," said Snape. "This is an illusion. This is Dark magic. Magic of the most evil sort. This boy is not real."
"Oh, I assure you I am real," said Tom, a creepy smile forming on his face. "I am becoming more real every second."
"If you previously were not real," sneered Snape, his wand pointing steadily at Riddle's head, "How is it, you are now?"
"By means of this diary," said Tom cooly.
"AARGH!" bellowed Snape, realizing that Lockhart had apparently started wrestling him in a fit of confusion and agitation. This knocked Snape's wand out of his grasp. "You fool! What in Merlin's name are you doing?!"
"I'm tired of you calling me a fool! I want to know why I'm here and what you've done to me!" said Lockhart menacingly, ignoring the tension that was building in the room.
"Potter! You must find a way to destroy the diary! It's the only way to kill Tom!" said Snape through frustrated grunts. Harry looked at Tom, then at Ginny's lifeless form again.
"Kill me, eh?" said Tom, his eyes glinting malevolently. "You cannot kill me. I am the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
"You're WRONG!" bellowed Harry, suddenly courageous again. "Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
Tom grinned creepily again. "We shall see about that…"
"The diary, Potter, the diary!" said Snape through gritted teeth as he tried to get Lockhart off of him. Lockhart, unfortunately, proved to be a formidable wrestler.
"Now…" said Tom, ignoring the scene in front of him. "It is time to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work and begin it by ensuring that you three are taken care of." He turned to a corner of the room. Harry hadn't noticed that this corner contained a high relief of Salazar Slytherin with two serpents intertwined above his head.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of Hogwarts four," said Tom in parselmouth. The high relief opened its mouth.
"Potter!" yelled Snape. "Shut your eyes! It's the basilisk!"
Harry obeyed, turning the other direction.
"Kill them!" said Riddle in parseltongue.
"I don't see what the big deal…" said Lockhart distractedly. He looked in the direction of the high relief, and to everyone's astonishment and horror except Riddle's, Lockhart instantly died and fell limp right on top of Snape. A basilisk, almost 100 feet long and 10 feet tall, had slithered out of Salazar's now open mouth.
"Gilderoy!" gasped Snape, pushing the body off himself awkwardly, grabbing his wand and shutting his eyes. "Potter! Run towards my voice! Keep your eyes shut tight!"
Harry obeyed. As soon as he was sure he was right next to Snape, Snape grabbed him strongly by the arm and a huge jerking sensation shocked Harry, almost dislocating his shoulder. Suddenly, he was trapped in a black fog and felt like he was moving very quickly. He also, strangely enough, heard the sound of a bird call in the distance.
Next thing Harry knew, they were back in the circular room with the eerie green glow, just him and Snape.
"Y-y-you can FLY?!" said Harry incredulously.
"Yes, as a matter of fact," said Snape, unable to contain a small smile. "Whatever that boy or illusion was, he was not expecting a wizard like me. I assure you of that."
"I'm glad you're here," said Harry.
They heard a monster screaming and Riddle screaming as well. "NO! YOU STUPID BIRD! FIND THEM! YOU CAN STILL SMELL THEM AND KILL THEM EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE BLINDED!" Riddle began yelling in parseltongue.
"Potter!" said Snape, his voice more nervous than Harry had ever heard it. "I believe that was Dumbledore's phoenix that just came. He must've blinded the basilisk."
"He did," said Harry. "I heard Riddle yelling in parseltongue saying the basilisk is blind now. That means we can see him without dying now, right?" And no sooner had Harry said this, Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, came to his aid and dropped a shining sword into Harry's grasp.
"T-the sword of Godric Gryffindor?!" said Snape confused.
Harry looked equally confused. "Can we use it to destroy the diary?" asked Harry. "Will that stop the basilisk?"
Snape thought for a quick moment. "Potter, the basilisk will come to strike soon. We can see it now that its eyes have been removed. I can startle it, but not for long. You must be the one to strike the final blow once I make my move. That sword will penetrate through anything, even basilisk scales."
"Right," said Harry in a determined fashion. "Okay then, I'm ready."
Snape pointed his wand at the large entrance way where they could hear distant slithering noises getting louder.
"Once I set ropes on it, go for the side of its head…" muttered Snape quietly so that Harry could barely hear. Harry nodded, the sword clutched tightly in his hand.
In a bit, the basilisk's slithering became so loud that Snape and Harry were sure it was to turn up any second. They also heard Riddle talking to himself, apparently behind the protection of the basilisk. "They can't have gone far now. I can feel their presence."
"Sectumsempra!" bellowed Snape as the basilisk finally came into view. The snake screamed a deep, loud terrifying hiss. Cuts had been made all over its face, blood was oozing from it.
"Incarcerous!" yelled Snape, thick ropes issuing from his wand to try and envelop the snake's mouth to the floor of the Chamber.
Harry sprinted with all his might to the side of the now paralyzed basilisk and thrust the sword of Gryffindor into its sides, a few times for good measure. He removed the sword, it now being covered in blood and basilisk venom. The basilisk howled, but, unable to move, soon died. Snape left the ropes on it just to be safe.
"NO!" yelled Riddle.
"Quick! Potter! Grab my robes!" said Snape.
Harry obeyed, still clinging onto the sword. This time, he was more ready for the jerking sensation as he was again surrounded by black fog and the sound of rushing wind. They soon landed next to Ginny Weasley's limp form. Conveniently, she still had the diary clutched in her hand.
"Potter, take the diary and stab it through with the sword before Riddle comes back!" said Snape hurriedly.
Harry obeyed, moving the diary away from Ginny. Even touching the diary briefly, he could've sworn he felt something living in the diary, or, at least, some sort of heartbeat or life form in the diary. His scar seemed to pulse with the diary too, causing a bit of pain on his forehead, but before he thought too much about it, he took the sword and stabbed the book, which proceeded to ooze foul-smelling black blood from its pages.
"NOOO!" screamed Riddle, this time shouting as if in extreme pain. "AHHH!"
Soon Riddle's form vanished out of sight before he could get back to Snape and Harry. All of a sudden, Ginny Weasley regained life, again sounding like she was out of breath. Color flooded her face as she slowly began returning to normal.
"Harry?!" squeaked Ginny. "And...Professor Snape?!"
"Ginny!" said Harry, enveloping her in a bone crushing hug that made Ginny's heart melt with pleasure. "You're alive!"
"Well done, Potter," said Snape, his lips curling into a smile.
"Thank you, professor," said Harry, beaming at Snape for the first time in his life. Ginny was confused at this show of friendship between the two, but didn't question it seeing as how she just as easily could be dead.
Ginny wanted to kiss Harry for saving him, but somehow having her Potions teacher right there in front of her made that fantasy not become a reality.
"I believe I hear Fawkes returning. Perhaps, he could give us a lift out of this Chamber? Phoenixes have supernatural strength in flight," said Snape shrewdly.
"Sounds good," said Harry, still looking at Ginny with relief and helping her to stand up. He put his arm around her for good measure, which she didn't mind in the least bit.
"Is Professor Lockhart going to wake up soon?" asked Ginny, noticing the lifeless form several feet from them.
"Er, Lockhart actually...died," said Harry awkwardly. "He looked directly into the basilisk's eyes."
Ginny looked terrified and gave a whimper.
"I assure you," said Snape with a sneer. "While I have my regrets as to his demise, he was an evil man. I, for one, am not terribly sorry that he met this fate."
"Is that so?" called a familiar voice.
"LOCKHART?!" said Harry and Ginny together as Snape turned around in shock himself.
The soul of Gilderoy Lockhart had become a ghost. All three living humans stared in disbelief as Lockhart swooped closer to them, still wearing his teacher's robes and seeming to have regained his old memories.
"Severus," said Lockhart. "I would prefer the term dastardly or devious, but not evil. It's too... straightforward."
"W-what? H-how?" stammered Snape. Harry and Ginny were still clinging onto each other, uncertain of their senses.
"I chose to leave my soul here. It's really almost an instantaneous decision once you die," said Lockhart a little too casually. "Bit ridiculous when you think about it, considering my soul will be here until the end of time, whenever that will be. Anyways, here I am! I must admit, I was wrong to do what I did. I will dedicate my death to encouraging others to do their own work and not end up like me!"
"How...selfless…" said Snape, his expression hard to read. Harry wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not, but something about the situation was humorous. He refrained from laughing, not wanting to look insensitive.
Fawkes had arrived. Snape grabbed on first, followed by Harry and then Ginny.
"Toodeloo!" said Gilderoy's ghost, waving at them as they flew out. "I might stop by old Ravenclaw tower to see what the Grey Lady is up to, eh? Maybe she'd fancy a spot of rancid earthworms!"
Fawkes carried the trio out of the Chamber and back into the girls' bathroom. Thankfully. Nobody was seriously injured.
"Potter," said Snape, "I must return to Professor McGonagall to tell her that the beast has been quelled and that the Chamber is, in fact, no longer a Secret or a danger to our school anymore. This should bring our headmaster back where he belongs. When he returns, I assure you, he will want to have a word with us. However, I shall leave you to it. I must find Minerva."
Harry had been standing awkwardly next to Ginny. "Er, thanks for helping," he said.
Snape paused. "You remind me so much of your father, sometimes, but there are parts of your mother that still linger within you as well." Before Harry could question this statement, Snape had flown out of the bathroom, leaving Harry and Ginny unattended.
"What was that all about?" asked Ginny confused.
"No idea," said Harry sheepishly.
"Thanks for saving me," said Ginny softly, giving him a peck on the cheek and blushing.
"Er, you're welcome," said Harry, who was blushing himself. "We were all so worried about you."
"It was Riddle," said Ginny, embarrassed. "He...he...made me do it."
"He's gone now," said Harry. "At least a part of him…"
"Part of him?"
"Yeah, like his soul or a memory or something," said Harry, not sure what he was really talking about. "C'mon, let's get you to the hospital wing."
"Actually, I feel okay now," admitted Ginny. "Just a little weak."
"Oh," said Harry surprised. "Er, good."
"I'd love it if you could escort me to Gryffindor tower though," said Ginny. "I have some apologies that are in order."
"Er, okay," said Harry.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm...I'm really glad it was you that came to my rescue…"
"Me too…" said Harry.
"Thanks again," said Ginny, giving him another slightly longer kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah…" said Harry, not really knowing what he was saying. "Er, let's go."
"Okay…" said Ginny, a little sad at how quickly they were leaving the scene. "I want to apologize to you first. I know you were just a little worried about me. I should've gotten rid of that diary when I had the chance."
"It's okay. At least you're okay now. Ron wanted me to ask you though," said Harry, remembering that Ron and Hermione were still petrified. "How'd you get that diary in the first place?"
Ginny thought for a moment as they exited the bathroom. "You know, I don't remember. It was in my school books and I thought it was one of the books on my list at first. Then, I noticed all the pages were blank and I started writing in it, and it started writing to me, and well...the rest is history I guess." she said sheepishly.
"Hmmm…" said Harry in thought. "There's no way your mother accidentally purchased that book…Snape told me...That book contained some very dark magic..."
"Yeah...I realize that now…" said Ginny embarrassedly.
Before they made their way to the common room, however, Snape had returned. "The headmaster has returned sooner than I realized. He wants to have a word."
"Right," agreed the two of them. They made their way to Dumbledore's office.
When they arrived, Dumbledore explained how Hagrid had been released and proven innocent, how Snape and Harry must've shown loyalty to him in the dungeon to have summoned Fawkes (Harry smirking, knowing he was the one who did it), and how the school will remain open and the students should be cured in the next few weeks.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came in as Dumbledore was talking. He asked them to escort Ginny out of there, leaving Snape and Harry with him. Ginny left, still feeling quite embarrassed about everything. Dumbledore told Snape that he would speak with him later, leaving Harry and Dumbledore alone together. While alone, Lucius Malfoy came in to find out who the culprit was, only to be questioned by Dumbledore on how a book with such dark magic could fall into the hands of an innocent eleven year old girl. Malfoy looked taken aback, as if being accused, gave Harry a cold, calculated look, and then scurried off.
Classes resumed as normal. By March, the students who had all been petrified had been healed back to normal, as well as Sir Nicholas and Mrs. Norris. It was a big ceremony and became a day of celebration when they were finally healed, with classes being cancelled for the day and extra sweets in each of the four houses' common rooms.
"Snape was the one that helped you?!" said Ron incredulously one Friday night in late March when the trio finally had time to enjoy each other's company properly. Hermione and Ron were nestled together in the corner of the common room. Harry and Ginny were sitting together across from them, wishing they could be doing the same thing.
"Yeah, I know right? Never would've guessed," said Harry. "He came in. Lockhart was going to wipe my memory and flee but Snape came in to save me. He obliviated Lockhart and then we found the Chamber with the help of Moaning Myrtle."
Hermione had her mouth parted open and was shaking her head in disbelief the whole time as if she couldn't believe any of it. Ron had a small smile on his face knowing that Lockhart was actually evil all along.
"What'd I tell ya?," said Ron to Hermione. "Lockhart was dangerous after all."
"Lucky guess," said Hermione bitterly, feeling disappointed in Lockhart and in herself for not seeing it before. "Yeah, he must've been pretty evil."
Harry explained the rest of what happened.
"And you just slayed the basilisk like that?" asked Ron.
"Snape told me the sword of Gryffindor would strike through anything," said Harry. "So, yeah."
Ron and Hermione's eyes grew wide.
"I heard that Dumbledore might make it so the students who were petrified don't have to take end of the year exams."
"I'll decline," said Hermione haughtily. "I'll need the extra practice."
Ron rolled his eyes. "I would accept. School's hard enough. At least the teachers aren't giving us a ton of make up work."
One day Ron was able to confront Neville and ask him in private how things were going with Luna.
"They're alright, I guess," said Neville bashfully.
"Are you still holding the Quaffle or are you about to score?" asked Ron.
"What?" asked Neville, confused.
"Do you think she's interested in you?"
"I...I think so, but I don't want to test my luck just yet."
"Look mate," said Ron, "you should write to her over the summer. It'll be a nice gesture. I did it with Hermione last summer and look where we are."
"But...I don't have an owl…" said Neville, feeling down.
Ron thought for a second. He didn't want to not have his family owl because Hermione didn't have an owl either, and they had been using Errol, his owl, to communicate.
"I'll let you borrow Errol once or twice this summer," said Ron resignedly.
"Really? Can you do that?" asked Neville, his attitude becoming better.
"Yeah," said Ron. "He's a bit old, so go easy on 'em. He likes white mice the best if you have any, but he'll eat any small animal food you have."
"Thanks a bunch, Ron," said Neville, grinning.
Before long, end of the year exams came up. Harry and Hermione studied hard for them and passed with flying colors. The trio eventually set off, riding the Hogwarts Express back to London together with Ginny, Luna, and Neville, the six of them having good conversation and good company.
As they exited the train, Harry, Ron and Hermione all hugged each other goodbye (Ron and Hermione kissed) and went their respective ways. Ginny almost kissed Harry on the cheek again, but instead they shyly resorted to hugging one another. Harry made his way back with his grumpy aunt and uncle who were reluctant to be seen in public with Harry and his luggage and Hedwig.
Little did Harry know, however, that Dobby the house-elf was not finished with him, still unfortunately under the reins of his old master. Harry's world was about to change once again.