CW: snakes, dark places, manipulation, life-threatening situations, PTSD
:THIRTY-THREE:
The inside of the Chamber was dark and damp, but they didn't want to light up their wands in case it alerted the basilisk to their presence. So instead, they carefully walked in a chain. Dumbledore went first, followed by Kreacher, Sirius, Harry, and finally Remus. They followed the tunnel to another door, which had several snakes around it.
"Fascinating." Dumbledore mused, looking at the door with interest. He moved to look closer at the door, examining each of the snakes. After a few moments, he turned back to look at everyone.
"Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "Would you perhaps speak parseltongue again? I believe it will open this door as well."
Sirius uttered a low curse. Of course Dumbledore could tell when they lied - he was a master manipulator himself. But he nodded to Harry, so the boy stepped forward and spoke in parseltongue nervously. The door immediately opened, showing yet another hallway into the inner chamber.
They walked into the inner Chamber, looking around at the huge statue of Salazar Slytherin's face. But there was no basilisk in sight, no sign of where it might be either. Kreacher set down the rooster cage, looking at Sirius questioningly.
"If I'm not mistaken," Dumbledore spoke again, as if he were discussing the weather. "The basilisk will be behind this statue. I think our safest route will be to use the rooster first, and then attempt to open the statue up."
"Right," Remus knelt down by the cage to where the now very quiet rooster stood.
It was looking all around its new environment with unmistakable nervousness. Remus could relate to the rooster, but he needed to be brave enough to crow for them. So, Remus gently poked at it with his wand, until the rooster began to chirp in annoyance.
"I think we need a proper crow, Remus." Sirius interjected, pulling out his own wand. "Let's try this."
And he cast a spell, which formed what looked like a miniature sunrise in the darkened room. Taking its cue from the spell, the rooster let out a loud crow, which was immediately followed by an earth-shattering sound from the other side of the statue. Harry clapped his hands around his ears, falling to the ground as the huge snake let out a series of agonized hisses.
Sirius immediately went to comfort Harry, holding him until the noise stopped. Harry was shaking slightly, but took his hands off of his ears and looked to Sirius.
"That was awful." Harry murmured, tears in his eyes. "She...she screamed so loudly, Sirius."
"I know," Sirius sympathized, patting Harry on the shoulder. "But she was hurting the students, Harry. Do you understand?"
Harry nodded, getting to his feet. "Can we go now?"
Remus said 'yes' at the same time that Dumbledore said 'no'.
"...Hold on one moment, Harry." Sirius pulled the other two men aside.
"He's twelve, Dumbledore!" Remus hissed immediately. "He's already seen enough. I don't want him involved in this."
"He already is involved, Remus." Dumbledore replied. "I can explain this more later, but he is very much linked to the diary and locket. More so than any of us."
"No." Sirius stated. "He's going to help us open the statue, but then Remus is taking him out of here."
There was a stare off following this, but eventually Dumbledore conceded.
Remus walked back to Harry, holding him by the shoulder and speaking to him quietly.
"We just need you to open the statue, Harry." He explained. "Then you and I will leave the Chamber."
"What about Sirius and Dumbledore?" Harry asked immediately. "And Kreacher too."
"They are all going to make sure the basilisk is taken care of, Harry. It's perfectly safe now."
Harry gazed at Remus for a few moments, looking for the lie. Eventually though, he nodded and turned to speak parseltongue one more time. Then, Remus picked up the rooster and carefully guided Harry back the way they had come, nodding to Sirius before they left. He hated leaving Sirius alone with Dumbledore, but Kreacher would still be there and Harry had to come first.
Once they were out of sight, Dumbledore, Sirius, and Kreacher carefully made their way into the mouth of Salazar Slytherin's statue, where the dead basilisk lay curled in on itself.
"Well," Sirius spoke once they were all inside. "What now, Dumbledore?"
But Dumbledore ignored him, instead crouching down to the basilisk's jaws and using his wand to extract several teeth. Once he had made a rather large pile of them, he gestured for the other two to follow him back out into the larger chamber. Only when they were all back out did Dumbledore explain himself.
"In order to destroy these objects," He explained. "We need to use the basilisk's venom."
He pulled the diary out of his robe pocket, setting it down on the ground carefully.
"I am unsure what will happen when the venom penetrates the objects," Dumbledore admitted. "It is possible that the object will struggle back."
"Kreacher and I will take the locket." Sirius said promptly, holding out a hand for one of the basilisk fangs.
They set up to stab both objects, Dumbledore crouching over the diary while Sirius held the locket down for Kreacher. They counted down together, then stabbed both objects at the same time.
An unbelievable amount of pressure built up around them all, dark magic swirling around maliciously. Kreacher trembled and held onto Sirius in fear, feeling again the same evil spirit that had haunted him since that terrible journey to the cave. Sirius was defiant in the face of it all though, glaring at the magic to dare touch him or the people he cared about. As he looked over to Dumbledore; though, all he saw there was a vague sense of interest and understanding.
The darkness eventually faded into the air, leaving the three of them alone again. Sirius looked to Dumbledore for confirmation that they were actually destroyed.
"Yes," Dumbledore murmured, gently picking up the now-mutilated diary. "Both objects are empty now."
Sirius pocketed the locket, then carefully carried Kreacher out. The elf, too exhausted and scared to complain, simply curled closer into Sirius' arms. He didn't look back at Dumbledore once as they made their way back out of that awful place, barely noting the fangs Dumbledore had levitated out with them.
They found a very anxious McGonagall waiting for them at the entrance, along with Remus and Harry. Dumbledore quietly began explaining everything to McGonagall, while Harry closed the Chamber back up using parseltongue.
"Let's get cleaned up." Remus said firmly. "We're all absolutely filthy."
Sirius grinned snarkily at Remus. "You know me, Remus. Always getting dirty."
"We'll reconvene in my office in an hour." Dumbledore spoke to the room. "My password is chocolate frogs."
Remus nodded, following after Sirius and Harry. McGonagall helped lead them to the washroom for adults, so they wouldn't bother any of the student body.
"Kreacher," Sirius said gently, setting the elf back on his feet. "When you feel calm enough, I need you to get cleaned up."
Kreacher nodded, then slowly shuffled off to the smallest bath.
"Will he be alright?" Remus asked, coming to stand by Sirius.
"I think so." Sirius said. "He's tougher than he looks."
He turned to Remus, a roguish grin on his face. "Now, let's get cleaned up, Remus."
"Gross." Harry muttered under his breath, walking away to his own shower in mortification.
"Leave your clothes out so we can clean them!" Remus called after him, his face flushed.
He swatted Sirius on the shoulder, looking flustered. "Of all the times to flirt, Sirius!"
"I don't know what you mean." Sirius said innocently. "We just killed a basilisk and two incredibly dark magical objects. When exactly is a better time to flirt?"
Remus sighed exasperatedly. "You're incorrigible."
Once they had all gotten cleaned up, Remus used several cleaning charms on their clothing. By this point, both Sirius and Remus were very tired, but they still had another meeting with Dumbledore to do before they could rest.
"I dunno how much more patience I can manage." Sirius muttered to Remus as they got dressed.
"Well," Remus acknowledged. "The worst is over, Sirius. He probably just wants to figure out what we're going to say to the public and the parents."
Sirius sighed, then looked over to Kreacher. He looked much better, but was still shaky on his feet.
"Kreacher," He said gently. "You've done very well today. Please go home now, eat, and rest until we return."
Kreacher looked at them both, nodded, and then vanished with a crack.
"Dobby did that too!" Harry said, walking towards them as he toweled his hair dry.
"Oh, right." Remus had forgotten. "Did Dobby mention what family he belonged to, Harry?"
"No," Harry replied. "He didn't seem able to - every time I asked he tried to punish himself."
Sirius sighed. "Well, that makes this more complicated. Maybe Dumbledore will know - I bet that family has something to do with all of this."
The trio trooped back out to Dumbledore's office, where Remus muttered the password. They climbed up together, with Harry in between the two adults. It turned out that Dumbledore wanted only to discuss the chamber for now.
"I think we should not say anything for the moment." He said from his desk. "Besides the fact that the Chamber has been dealt with, we should leave the details alone."
Remus sighed with relief. He had actually been hoping for this - news that Harry could speak parseltongue would not be helpful. Not that he felt any sort of bias towards Harry for it, but he knew how impossible the wizarding world could be when confronted with something outside of the norm.
"Fine, fine." Sirius said. "But what about the petrified kid?"
"Colin," Harry added helpfully. "Colin Creevey."
"Professor Sprout is working diligently with the mandrakes in the greenhouse," Dumbledore said amiably. "And then Professor Snape will be able to make the antidote for Mr. Creevey and Mrs. Norris."
Remus frowned. "But that will take a long time, won't it?"
Dumbledore nodded, looking resigned to the fact.
"What about his parents?" Sirius said exasperatedly. "Surely they don't want him just lying in the hospital wing for months."
"Colin's muggleborn, Sirius." Harry muttered. "He likely can't afford it either - Colin said his father was a milkman."
"Well, this is just ridiculous!" Sirius slammed his hand on the armchair. "I'll cover the expenses - just get the poor kid taken care of."
"That's very generous of you, Sirius." Dumbledore nodded to him, steepling his fingers on the desk.
Remus fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, Dumbledore, if that's everything…?"
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "If you will both come back tomorrow, I have more I wish to discuss later."
They nodded, immediately getting back up and leaving the office. As they were almost through the door, Harry suddenly turned back around.
"Sir, I almost forgot to mention. A house elf named Dobby tried to warn me about the Chamber. Do you know what family Dobby works for, sir?"
Dumbledore looked at him for a moment, puzzled, but eventually shook his head.
"No, I don't." He mused. "But thank you for the information, Harry."
Notes:
Alright, we've taken care of the Chamber and two whole horcruxes! We didn't talk about the horcruxes in this chapter because Sirius and Remus are literally dead on their feet by this point. We'll do it next chapter after they've rested up.
Happy Reading!