The Chamber of Secrets

'You're less like your father that I thought,' had finally said Sirius with a definite coolness in his voice. 'The risk would've been what made it fun for James.'

The disappointment in his godfather's voice froze Harry.

'Look…' he tried to say. But Sirius cut him off and in a fraction of second he was gone.

Harry looked at the ashes glow, feeling his friend's look on his neck. He feigned a convincing composure that got him to go to bed without embarrassing questions. But as he was lying under his blankets, sleep eloped him. He didn't know what he was feeling. It wasn't shame. He wasn't like his father and somehow it didn't bother him much. Many people had told him he looked like his mother too who was, from what he had gathered, more reserved. More calculated about the risk she would take. Harry wasn't a stranger to risk, but as much as he could, he tried to stay away from it.

Anger seized his soul, the scar he had got in detention with Umbridge itched all of a sudden. What was Sirius's problem? He had faced more that any fifteen years old teen had ever faced in their life. He still had a dark lord hunting him down and a mentor avoiding him. Wasn't it enough?

He sat on his bed, feeling his anger rushing through his veins. Without thinking he grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and soon he was off through Hogwarts corridors. Remembering that Dumbledore was avoiding him had pushed him over the edge. He needed a place to calm down. Hidden behind a statue he opened the Marauders Map.

What was up with all the teachers tonight?

The patrols were so heavy there would be no place in this castle where he would be alone. He sighed and folded the map back in his pocket. He would need to find a way to calm down back in his room. As he turned over to head back to Gryffindor's tower, he heard a weird noise coming from inside the wall. Probably a capricious plumbing, but suddenly a memory rose in his mind.

There was one place… There was somewhere he wouldn't be bothered. Where he would be alone. A place where he was the only one able to go. Well… to his knowledge there was only one person aside from him able to get there. But it was very unlikely, if impossible, that this person would do so. Like in a dream, he let his steps lead him. Adrenalin had replaced anger in his veins and was pumping in his system making his heart pound in his chest. He arrived in the girl's lavatory and checked around. Moaning Myrtle was nowhere to be seen. He pronounced the strangled hissing noise that opened the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He looked at the black hole. This time Fawkes wouldn't be here to help him get back, but he figured the Ascendio Charm would get him out, just as it had freed him for the lake last year.

With this in mind, he jumped muttering the order to close the entrance behind him. Tonight, nobody would find him. Tonight, he would discover the lair of the monster he had slayed three years ago from a different perspective. The lair would become his realm. While he was walking through the pipes, he heard drops of water echoing and he felt a chill run through his spine.

'Could that qualify as risk for his 'godfather'?' He thought darkly.

He emerged in the giant room in the middle of which was a path leading to a monkish white statue representing the head of Salazar Slytherin. The fire from each side of the path were still lit and the snake statues shadows were dancing on the black walls. Harry approached the remains of the basilisk. The were still in good condition. Near the head of the monster, on the edge of the fountain, was a black streak. Harry remembered that it was where he had pierced Riddle's diary with a basilisk fang. The water in the fountain was transparent.

Harry sat near the black mark, letting his gaze float above the water. Slowly, adrenalin, nervosity, anger, everything left his system. His head was cooling down and his thoughts became clearer. He stood up and stretched before looking around. Strangely the place was soothing him. The silence gave him the opportunity to reflect on the recent events. Dumbledore, Umbridge, Sirius…. Voldemort. He looked at his hand. The scar was almost invisible, and the itch had faded away. He had no word to describe the hate he felt toward her and everyone who was calling him a liar. Well… almost everyone was calling him a liar. His mind rebelled. Without noticing it, he was pacing in front of the basilisk carcass.

He had done so much and witnessed more. Everything was so… unfair. Dumbledore was unfair! He looked at the basilisk. He had saved this school so many times and without him nobody would have known about the growing danger the Wizarding World was facing. He clenched his fists, feeling his anger rise again. His eyes fell on one of the snake statues. He could feel something pounding inside his head. An urge. An urge to hurt, an urge to destroy. The snake statue exploded, and the blast propelled him a bit backward as he saw in disbelief the black stone fragments scattered on the floor.

'Now young man,' said a voice behind him. 'I don't mind you coming here even after the damages you have caused. But you will be kind enough to leave the furniture alone.'