Chapter 7

It was silent as a tomb in the Chamber of Secrets, and quite cold. Hari could actually see her breath clouding in front of her. She could hear Ron bite back a whimper from behind.

"Ron, if you don't want to do this you don't have to."

In the white light of the Lumos spell held aloft in each of their wands, Ron's face shone ruby red. "I'm not afraid!" he squeaked.

Hermione sighed. "Nobody said you were."

"Just…well…are you sure there aren't any more snakes in here?" Ron asked.

"No snakes," Hari assured him. "I checked already. And nobody else has been here in years."

Hermione snorted. "I can see that," she said dryly, her foot kicking the dry skull of a rat away from her. "Why do you suppose they left the Chamber untouched?"

"There might be spells and enchantments in place here that they don't want to mess with," Hari mused. "I mean, this place was created by Salazar himself, didn't he?"

"I guess." Hermione looked above them. The ceiling was so high up the light from their wands could not pierce through the gloomy darkness, but she could see that the pillars were carved from solid gray stone, and carved to look like the coils of a giant snake climbing into the shadows.

Okay. Salazar Slytherin definitely has a thing for snakes, nevermind that he was a Parselmouth.

Hari led the way deeper into the semi darkness. She had been here several more times in the past month than she cared to count; they had few options on where they could conduct the last stage of the Animagus ritual. The Room of Requirement was now under strict monitoring as declared by the headmistress during the feast at the start of the term. The prefects and the professors were also doubling down on patrol duties at night. The only place big enough and secure enough was the Chamber of Secrets.

"Here we are." Hari stepped out of the large, round door that lead directly into the cavernous Chamber. It was still damp and eerie looking with the snake frescoes on the walls, but the carcass of the basilisk had long since been taken away.

In the center of the room was a small wooden table with a nondescript wooden box and a small pewter cauldron bubbling nearby over bluebell flames. Hari made her way straight to the cauldron.

"Oh, this looks about done," she hummed. She tapped her wand on the cauldron's side twice. The liquid inside began to swirl clockwise.

Hermione peered into the cauldron. "Polyjuice?"

"You never know when it will come in handy again."

"Where'd you get the ingredients?"

"Slughorn, who else?"

"How did you…wait, no. Nevermind. I don't want to know," Hermione decided firmly, shaking her head. Hari's only response was to grin.

Ron spied the box on the table. "Is that where you kept them?"

Hari looked at where he was pointing. "Oh! Yes."

Hermione tilted her head. "I thought you said you kept them in your trunk."

"I was going to put them there," Hari admitted. "But then again: Hallows. Might not be a good idea to expose the potions to those things. So I reckon it would be best to just put them in a box and lock them in here."

Hermione looked at the box. It was a simple wooden box, which opened at them top with a hinge. She pulled the top open. "It isn't locked."

"No, the Chamber was."

"What?"

"I changed the password on the sink in Myrtle's bathroom," Hari explained. "And the door we just came through will only open to a Parseltongue."

"How did you even know to do that?" Hermione was surprised.

Hari shrugged. "The Bloody Baron told me."

Ron's mouth hung open. "The Baron told you?" Everyone in the school knew that the ghost of the baron disliked the students, and he only barely tolerated the Slytherins. The only living person he actually respected had been Snape, and now McGonagall, since she was headmistress.

"I thought to ask, since being the ghost for Slytherin house, he might know something about the Chamber, the same way the Grey Lady knew about Ravenclaw's diadem."

"Oh. That's actually a good point," Hermione commented.

"Hang on a minute," Ron interrupted. "You spoke to the Bloody Baron? And you came out of it alive?"

"Yeah. He's not so bad, once you get over the whole, you know, bathed in blood thing," Hari answered.

Ron shook his head. "I really shouldn't be surprised," he sighed. "Let's just get on with the ritual, yeah?"

They gathered around the table. Hermione opened the box again and took off the dark cloth that covered three phials of potions. It took them several months and an agonizing number of repeats, but they finally managed to complete all the necessary steps to complete the Animagus ritual. All that is, except the last part: drinking the potion and actually transforming into their animal counterparts.

The potion was a dark blue it was almost black, and as viscous as water. Ron uncorked his phial and sniffed. "It smells like peppermint," he declared with surprise.

"Come on, let's all drink it together, then recite the incantation," Hermione uncorked hers and looked at Ron and Hari. "Remember: drink the potion, point your wand at your heart, then recite the spell."

Her friends nodded. Hari uncorked her phial last, shaking it a little. "Bottoms up, then." She raised her phial in the air before her. Hermione and Ron did the same, clinking the phials together, before drinking.

Ron made a face. "Oh that tastes nasty."

"Merlin that is foul." Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep from gagging.

Hari's eyes watered. "Wands up!" she coughed.

All three of them put their wands against their chests.

"Amato Animo Animato Animagus." The chorus of their voices echoed in the large room.

Almost at the same time they fell to their knees, gasping and groaning.

"I feel like throwing up," Ron managed to get out, hands pressing against the stone floor. He had jarred his knee when he fell down, but the pain was immaterial compared to the way his insides were churning.

"Take deep breaths," Hermione gasped. She peeled off her outer robe with difficulty. "The first transformation is the hardest."

Hari couldn't talk. She shook her head as she focused on her breathing. Her skin felt like it was burning away inch by agonizing inch. She curled into herself like a ball on the floor. Everything hurt. Everything burned.

She screamed. Her whole body was ablaze now, though she could not see it. She could hear Ron and Hermione's cries of pain in the distance. Her bones creaked and snapped, her muscles melted and re-grew. She could smell fire. Burning.

Oh no. The cauldron!

With immense effort Hari uncurled herself and tried to stand. She lifted her arms for balance.

Two black wings came into her line of vision. Hari yelped. Or rather, trilled.

She looked down at herself. With her longer, slender neck, it was possible to even look at a good portion of her back. Dark as night feathers interspersed with bright emerald ones, shining in the firelight from the cauldron, making her glow. Her wings were large, probably several feet each. And her tail feathers…

She swallowed. If not for the fact that she was black all over, she was the spitting image of Fawkes.

A black phoenix? Can't I be a normal phoenix?!

She unconsciously flapped her wings in distress and let out a series of mournful notes. A series of sharp, barking noises made her stop and look down.

Where Ron had been minutes before was now a dog with ginger fur. Hari noticed the forked tail wagging excitedly and amended her thoughts. It was a crup with ginger fur.

A large cat walked towards the crup, and Hari knew this could be no other than Hermione. The pointed ears and the long swishing tail and bright hazel intelligent eyes identified her as a Kneazle. She was gray all over with patches of dark fur along her back, and her front paws and chest were completely white.

Wow, did all of us end up becoming magical creatures? I thought McGonagall said it was highly unlikely, but possible to transform into magical creatures, Hari thought to herself.

The Kneazle sat down and lifted its right paw, licking it with a bright pink tongue. Unlikely, but not impossible. Perhaps this place may have increased the chances given that it's heavily spelled?

The crup barked and wagged its tail again. Hey! I can understand what you're both saying!

The phoenix and the kneazle looked at the crup. Hari shook her feathers. Oh, I think this is how the Marauders got to keep Lupin in check when he turned into a werewolf.

Well, it looks like our transformation turned out well. Hermione walked around Ron, who sat with tail still wagging, then at Harry, who was by far the largest of the three. Hari managed to sit on the floor without rumpling her tail feathers with some difficulty. Now we change back.

The crup barked again. How do we do that, again?

The kneazle made a put-upon sigh. Think of your human self, let the image fill your mind, then push your magic outwards…

Half an hour later, three bedraggled teenagers lay down on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, exhausted but feeling quite accomplished. They had been planning to gain their Animagus transformation even before they returned to Hogwarts to finish their education. It would be easier to navigate through the school undetected in their animagus forms, and can prove to be a handy way to escape nasty situations.

"I didn't expect to turn into a Kneazle," Hermione panted beside Hari. She raked a hand through her curly hair. "A cat, maybe. But a kneazle?"

"Kneazles are extremely intelligent," Hari responded, remembering something in their textbooks. "It suits you."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks."

"A crup, eh Ron?"

Ron sat up. "It felt weird being an animal," he told them as he dusted off his robes. "I was really happy. I couldn't stop my tail from wagging."

Hermione chuckled as Hari helped her to her feet. "Crups could sense ill intent from wizards, maybe that's why?"

"Eh. Don't let me get near Malfoy then."

"Why?"

"I just might take a bite of his leg if that's true."

Hari laughed. "We'll keep an eye out for the git, don't worry." She scratched the back of her head. "Mine was pretty weird, though. A phoenix?"

"And it was totally black," Ron added.

"Nobody said phoenixes ought to be red and gold only," Hermione pointed out. "It's so rare to find a domesticated phoenix that no one is sure there aren't other types aside from how Fawkes looks like."

Hari was silent for a moment. "Don't you think that maybe it's because of the…you know…?"

Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "That is also a possibility," Hermione admitted. "You can ask Death about that, too."

Hari sighed. "We haven't seen each other since that dream."

And it was true; Death had not visited Hari's dreams after that night.

I will tell you more, when you are ready to accept your fate.

Hari shook her head. "Let's not worry about that for now."

Hermione flicked her wand at the broken phials on the floor. They were lucky not to get injured by the glass shards when they transformed back into humans. "So have you noticed anything different, aside from the ghosts?"

"That's…I can see in the dark."

"Cool," Ron exclaimed. "That'd be handy."

Hari smiled at him. "Yeah. Bet it would be easier to sneak around without needing a light."

Hermione pointed at the cauldron. "I think the Polyjuice is done. Should I help you bottle it?"

"Oh yes please," Hari joined her as they poured the potion into newly conjured flasks, then shrunk the bottles to fit into the box already there. Once that was done, Ron declared he was too tired to do anything else, so wanted to leave the Chamber and head back to their dorms.

"You two go ahead," Hari told them. "I just have to pack away the cauldron and take a look around a bit first."

"You sure?" Ron asked. "Do you want us to go with you?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'll see you two later."

Hari watched as her two best friends left. Once she was sure they were gone, Hari flicked her wand. The table and the cauldron vanished, as well as the bluebell flames. The box floated in the air by Hari's head. The chamber was in complete darkness, but Hari could see just fine.

"Myrtle, you can come out now," she called into the gloom.

Myrtle's silvery shape flew down from the ceiling. She floated down to Hari's level and curtsied. "Your Deathne—I mean, Lady Hari."

Hari sighed. "You can just call me Hari, you know."

"And have the Bloody Baron give me a tongue lashing again? No thank you." Myrtle shivered. "I didn't think he would be such a stickler for rules."

Hari chuckled. She led the way to the other end of the room, which appeared to be a blank wall filled with frescoes of snakes. "Reveal the path," Hari spoke in Parseltongue.

The myriad of snakes on the wall slithered away, to reveal a corridor of stone. As Hari walked through, the sconces on either side flared into light, chasing away the darkness. The path lead down spiral steps, which gave way into a large room just as spacious as the Chamber above.

This was Salazar Slytherin's personal room. It was where he stayed whenever he was at Hogwarts castle, and where he stored all his books, scrolls, and research materials. All written in Parseltongue.

The fireplace at the far end of the room flared into life. Every inch of space on the wall was dedicated to shelves upon shelves of books and scrolls. Near the fireplace was a sturdy table of dark mahogany, the legs engraved with more snakes. Several stacks of parchment, some tied together with black and silver silk ribbons, lay on the table, along with a thin sheaf of clean parchment, three different bottles of ink, and a quill made of raven feather.

The floor was carpeted in deep greens and silver – standard Slytherin House colors. Hari wondered aloud if any of the previous Slytherin Heads of Houses knew about this place.

"No, my Lady. This room has been kept a secret since Salazar's death. I have been in charge of its upkeep ever since, and has never shared knowledge of its existence to anyone."

Hari turned. The Bloody Baron floated by the fireplace. When she came towards him, he bent into a bow.

"Good evening, Lady Hari."

"Baron," Hari nodded. She knew better than to try to convince the ghost to just call her by name. "You have been tidying up this place by yourself?"

"Of course. As Lord Salazar Slytherin's butler, I am in charge of maintaining his room here, as well as his potions laboratory."

Hari brightened. "You did say something about that. Is it here?"

"This way, my Lady."

There was a door in the corner that Hari had overlooked; it was hidden underneath a tapestry. The baron led her to another room that was half as large as the previous one. It was made of undressed stone, but there was a large fireplace at one end with an iron frame where a large cauldron could be fitted into. There were also two long tables in the middle filled with empty vials and flasks, several mortar and pestles, a handsome set of silver knives, an athame wrapped in emerald satin, and some more stacks of parchment.

"The previous lord's research notes on potions," the baron explained when Hari pointed them out.

The long walls on either side were fitted with stout wooden shelves, and those shelves held jars and flasks of potion ingredients, each labeled in Salazar Slytherin's spidery writing – all in Parseltongue, of course.

"This is amazing!"

"Indeed," the baron nodded his head once, his tone grave. "The previous lord engraved runes on the shelves that acted like a stasis charm, so all the ingredients are fit to be used even now."

Hari peered at some of the jars on the shelves. Many of these ingredients were hard to procure. Some of them, especially those on the top shelves, where illegal. She whistled. "And all of these are now mine?"

"In accordance with the laws and traditions put in place, as well as the previous lord's personal request, the wizard or witch to open the Chamber and defeat the basilisk that guards it will inherit all of Salazar Slytherin's possessions. Including his diaries."

Hari turned around, eyes bright. "His diaries?!"

The ghostly butler smiled. He finally had a mistress to serve, and this one is not only a Parselmouth and a powerful witch, but she was also Mistress of Death; no greater honor could be bestowed upon him, to be her butler and chief attendant. "Yes, indeed, my Lady. Ah, there is also one other thing."

"What is it?"

The baron led the way back into the first room. Hari followed quietly as the ghost floated to one of the shelves on the wall and pulled on one of the books.

The shelf slid away to reveal a small alcove on the wall. In the alcove was an open box covered in black velvet, and on top of it…

"Is that an egg?"

"Indeed." The baron floated back to allow Hari to step in and look at the egg. "It is a basilisk egg, in stasis."

Hari froze. Her face was hidden from the baron's view. "What?"

"It is the only living egg left from the brood that was laid by the basilisk you have slain," the baron responded. "Lord Salazar decided to keep this one in stasis, for his future heir. For you."

"I see."

There were a few moments of silence. Finally Hari touched the egg, dispelling the stasis charm on it. She hissed. "The life inside is weak."

"Pardon?" The baron frowned.

Hari grabbed the egg and ran to the fireplace. She conjured several throw pillows and arranged them on the floor and placed the egg in the middle. "The egg. The life inside—it's very weak. We have to warm it up and let it incubate," Hari spoke almost to herself. She could feel the life force inside the egg, like a spidery thin thread of life. If she didn't do anything, that thread will snap, and the basilisk inside would die. "Quick! Do you have a spare blanket or towel?"

The baron was quick to fly through one of the walls and emerge through the door where they recently came from, holding a green towel. He handed it to Hari. "Is this fine, my Lady?"

"Good enough." Hari wrapped the egg in the towel and threw a warming charm onto the towel for good measure. "This should be good. Now it's up to the little one inside to fight for its survival." She sighed. "Stasis charms were never meant to be used on living things, especially for very long."

"Nobody had been able to open the chamber and defeat the basilisk in a very long time," the baron responded.

Hari made a defeated sound as she sat on the floor beside the egg. "Now what am I going to do with a basilisk hatchling?"

"You could just let it die, if it bothers you so," the baron pointed out.

Myrtle, who had been left behind in the room while the baron led Hari to the laboratory, now floated closer to the egg nestled in the pillows. She made a face. "So this is going to turn into a huge monster, too?"

"I can't just let it die like that," Hari told the ghostly baron. "And no, it won't turn into a monster who eats people," she answered Myrtle. "The other basilisk only became that way because Tom made it go after the students."

Myrtle shrugged. "It's not like I can die again when I look at it. It's up to you, Lady Hari."

Hari groaned. "I'll deal with this some other time." She stood up. "Baron, make sure the egg stays warm. I will come back tomorrow. Come on, Myrtle."

As Hari turned to leave, the baron bowed. "As you wish, Lady Hari."#

A/N: Yes, I gave the Bloody Baron a slightly different history than what Rowling had already revealed. As one of the students originally taught by Salazar Slytherin during Hogwarts' first few years, he later became Salazar's part-time assistant while alive. When he died and became a ghost, he offered his services to Slytherin as his servant, unable to face the shame of killing Helena Ravenclaw (who had also returned to Hogwarts as a ghost). Slytherin took him in and assigned him to the care and upkeep of his secret room and lab, where he would be unlikely to meet Helena's ghost. And yes, the baron can touch physical things, the same way Mr. Peeves can fling sticks at unwary students.

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PS: Did you think the giant snake in the previous chapter was Hari?