Author's Commentary: Lol! Back in December I left a note to myself to write a final scene for this chapter, so I just quickly wrote one out before posting this.


September 2nd, 1992

Though Harry's oldest friend isn't the most infallible seer, sometimes he does wish she can be wrong more of the time. Lockhart's class had been more ridiculous than he expected. Not only did the man make an entire pop quiz about himself, instead of his actual exploits, but he also caused a chaotic mess by releasing cornish pixies on everyone! Harry had managed better than the others at dodging and recapturing the cornish pixies. In fact, most students had fled to the walls instead. Though, while it was nice to earn ten points for completing the task, it annoyed him that Professor Lockhart hadn't even told them anything about the pixies before releasing them. It annoyed him worse once they went to supper and news spread about the class. He could hear Melly's cackle from a mile away once word reached the fourth years. His annoyance then came to a head once he learned that the fourth years didn't even get the same treatment! Instead of silly quizzes and surprise attacks, the Slytherins and Ravenclaws only had to do review demonstrations of what they learned the previous year. For all that Melly complained last month about Lockhart, it seems that Harry is the one getting the true horror of Lockhart's class!


September 3rd, 1992

Harry entered the great hall with a bounce to his step. With today being Hufflepuff's turn on the pitch, it means that today is his chance to make it on the team! He broke his fast with gusto, talking animatedly with Oliver and Megan over their chances at the tryouts.

"I think I'll try out for chaser and keeper." Megan considered thoughtfully. "I'm a stronger chaser, but I want to keep my options wide, just in case."

"Not a bad idea." Harry nodded. "With three spots for chasers, we might as well give it a shot."

"Not for me." Oliver shook his head. "I've never been good with anything besides beater, but I'm sure we'll all get on the team."

"You'd better!" A haughty voice interjected. The trio turned to find Draco strutting their way. "It won't be fun if I completely dominate on the quidditch field."

The group rolled their eyes, Harry's expression slightly more good-humoured than the others. "That's if you make it on your team, of course."

"You're thinking in the past, Harry." Draco grinned like the cat who caught the canary. "You are now looking at Slytherin Team's newest seeker!"

Harry went wide eyed at the announcement. "Really? We've only been back at Hogwarts for two nights!"

"We Slytherins are all about ambition, as you know." He preened. "Flint ensured we had first use of the quidditch field while the other houses wasted their time settling in, and we have special permission to use the field again this Saturday."

"That hardly matters." Megan retorted with narrowed eyes. "It's not about who's first, it's about who's the best. We'll see how you manage against real opponents once we're on the field."

"Oh I don't doubt that, Jones." Draco replied, still on his smug high. "In fact, I'm quite looking forward to proving it. Should you make it on the team, that is. Best of luck to you." With a wave and a continued grin he sauntered away to breakfast.

"Prick." Megan muttered under her breath.

Both boys snickered at the response. "He's just happy to have gotten on the team." Harry grinned lightheartedly.

Megan shook his head. "Oh please, he's acting like he's the greatest thing to happen to quidditch since the wronski feint. As if our team didn't annihilate yours at Wayne's party." She gestured to Oliver at the last statement.

"You did not annihilate us." Oliver argued. "It was a close game."

"It was 220 to 50!"

"That's only 20 points off for the quaffle!"

Harry wedged his way between them. "Hey! Hey! Enough you two! It's not that big of a deal. Besides, we have a real team tryout to focus on."

The other two glared at each other momentarily before each muttering "I guess" in protest. That issue marginally settled, they tried to bring their focus back on the tryouts before eventually making their way over to their morning class.


Curfew edged closer by the minute. That said, Harry hardly cared about the risk. He raced through the hallway, grinning wildly, to where he spotted Melly turning off of the stairs.

"I got it!" He shouted, and practically body-slammed his friend into a hug.

Melly, on the other hand, squeaked in surprise. "Harry! What's going on?"

"I made it on the team! I'm the new lead seeker!"

"Really?! That's fantastic!" At once Melly returned the hug, the two of them laughing in his triumph. "That's amazing! Cedric didn't give you much trouble about it, did he?"

Harry shook his head. "Not too badly. He's now a chaser instead, but he can cover as reserve seeker if anything goes wrong. Oh! And Megan got in as reserve chaser, too!"

"That's great, Harry!" She gave him another squeezing hug. "I'm so proud of you! Oh, you should head back to the common room, then. I'm sure everyone will be celebrating tonight!"

"I will, but not yet." He answered. "I promised Caireen I'd let her know how it went. So I'm giving her the news before I head back down."

"Harry." Her tone turned slightly scolding. "It's ten to nine!"

"I'll be fast." He assured her.

The girl quirked her brows in disbelief. "Do you at least have your cloak with you?"

"…No. …Why would I have? Besides, I thought my invisibility cloak creeped you out?"

Melly rolled her eyes. "So does Caireen, but that hasn't stopped you from going on your subterranean rendezvous', has it?"

Harry snickered at the thought. "Definitely not. Guess I should carry it with me more often?"

"Yes you should." She ruffled his head playfully, then pushed him forward. "Well, better get moving, seeker. Clock's ticking!"

"Will do! Goodnight!"

Harry raced forward up the stairs and into the girl's lavatory. He quickly opened up the passage before Myrtle could notice him and flew down the tunnel to the Chamber. Fortunately for him, he could hear Caireen already in a nearby hidden spot so he could remove his blindfold and deliver the good news.

"I am happy you achieved your goal, Harry. This is great news."

"Thank you, Caireen. It was a close battle with Cedric, and I am grateful to have won." Harry grinning at the memory. The thoughts of his friends celebrating with him on the pitch made it shine even brighter. Thinking of his friends, his mind turned elsewhere. "Have you thought about what I suggested this morning about my friends coming to the chamber?"

"I have considered the suggestion." She hissed. "I agree that it would be good for you and the hatchlings to see the hidden rooms and learn from the teachings of my master. However, if you are to bring hatchlings here, I wish for my eyes to be concealed completely."

"I can bring a thick cloth to cover your eyes and use magic to stick them onto your face for while we are here." Harry suggested. "I will have to look into a permanent solution later. My magic does not reach that far, yet."

"That is a solution we can use." Caireen replied. "When will the hatchlings come to the chamber?"

"I can bring them tomorrow." He suggested. "We have much time between change-magic and shedding-magic. Enough time that they can get to know you and we can explore the chamber."

"Very well, but remember to bring the cloth. I will not approach, otherwise."

"I will, I promise. I must go now, but I will see you tomorrow."

"Take care, Harry. Tomorrow will be an interesting day."


September 4th, 1992

After charms class Harry brought Hannah, Kevin, and Justin to the unused classroom where they practice parseltongue. Rather than start a lesson, though, Harry seemed to be pacing the floor nervously.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hannah asked.

"What? Oh! I-I guess, yes. I'm excited, actually, but a bit nervous, too."

Kevin pursed his lips slightly. "Why? What is it?"

Harry had to will himself to stop pacing and address his friends properly. "...Do you remember back at Wayne's party when we were all talking about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes?"

Justin's eyes widened in alarm. "You don't want us to go looking for it, do you?!"

"Not… exactly." He clicked his tongue, trying to collect his thoughts. "It's just- that thing I said, about Salazar Slytherin just wanting to fight against muggles and not wanting to hurt muggleborn students, that's not something I read in a book. I actually heard about it directly ...from… well, from Slytherin's monster."

"WHAT?!"

The trio -reasonably- reacted frightfully to the comment. Their reactions then each went through a rollercoaster of fear and/or confusion as Harry explained further. Though misleading on certain details, he explained the story of finding the chamber and meeting the "monster" within. As the story continued, with the occasional meetings and conversations and -yes- her side of the story of Moaning Myrtle's death, the young puffs slowly calmed the intensity of their reactions. It mildly spiked again when Harry got into the meat of why he called them here today. Though, after a time, they came around to the idea of seeing the chamber for themselves.

"Shouldn't we tell someone before we go?" Hannah asked nervously. "What if something goes wrong?"

"That we're going into the den of a deadly magical creature?" Kevin balked. "The professors would ground us to our rooms in a second!"

"We could ask Bennett, though. If we're not at supper it will be obvious that something's gone wrong."

"Not a bad idea. We should go down for lunch, first, anyways. What do you think, Harry?"

"Sounds fine to me." Harry nodded. "I know you're nervous; but, trust me, it's going to be brilliant!"


Hannah nearly fainted before Harry could even finish blinding Caireen.

"That went well." Harry muttered sarcastically. With a whispered spell, the sticking charm was put into place, and Harry felt around the edges to confirm that her eyes were completely covered.

Once finished, Harry hopped off of Caireen's head. The movement gave her leave to turn her attention to the other children. Hannah and Justin squeaked frightfully as the large head turned towards them. "Fear not, hatchlings. You are safe from my gaze."

They all stared dumbly at the looming serpent. Harry, though, gestured at them to speak. Seeing the action, Kevin swallowed nervously and gave a tentative hello. "Greetings -uh- Caireen. I am Kevin." The boy looked over to his two friends. Justin looked apologetic as he tried to steady Hannah on her feet. "It is.. Good see you? …uh, did I say all of that right?"

"Greetings, hatchling . " Kevin jumped at the response. The others watched in horrid fascination as her tongue flicked towards him, then blanched as her wicked tongue flicked towards them. "Greetings to you, two. Girl hatchling, you taste unwell."

Justin's eyes widened. "Hold on- that was 'taste' right? Why is she talking about how we taste?!"

"She just wants to know if Hannah's okay." Harry answered quickly. "She can sense how you're feeling with her tongue, that's all."

"Oh.. uh- alright." He swallowed nervously, and tried to answer on Hannah's behalf.

The newcomers continued with a stuttering mix of English and parseltongue. Harry ended up having to manage most of the conversation, as he was the only fluent speaker on both fronts. That said, Kevin managed as hard as he could to understand the serpent-side of the conversation. Hannah, meanwhile, barely spoke at all, and just stared wide-eyed at the undulating scales of the basilisk.

"So… you stay here all times? Do not go school?" Justin asked.

"Only if dangerous non-magic humans come to the school. I can leave for a short time to hunt fish in the lake; but the magic of my master forces me to return before sunrise."

"Sunrise? Sun hurts you?"

A peculiar hiss came from the basilisk, and sound Harry has come to recognize as laughter. "No, hatchling, the sun does not hurt me. My master felt that it would be safer for the humans if I only leave to hunt at night."

"Because they might see you easier during the day." Harry surmised.

"Yes." The snake nodded. "The power of an heir's will can overcome such magic, but it is rare that one from my master's nest has come to this place."

Harry furrowed his brow at the unusual comment. "Do none of us taste as heirs?" At her answer that they don't, Harry pushed further. "But there are many that come from his nest. His book can only be opened by those from his nest, and Lissa and I have both opened it!"

The others seemed confused as they tried to translate the words. Caireen, however, seemed contemplative. "If you are from his nest it must be from far away. An Heir must be one who can speak the Tongue-of-Speakers because of my master, but your ability to speak Tongue-of-Speakers does not come from his nest."

"Can someone translate what's going on? Justin asked quietly.

Harry bit his lip as he tried to understand the twist in logic. "Apparently, despite being one of millions of people descended from Slytherin, my parselmouth skill wasn't inherited from him."

The comment seemed to break Hannah out of her stupor. "Wait, what? What do you mean you're one of millions?!"

"I'll explain later." He assured her. "It's a bit confusing, but I think I understand what she's saying. I'm just not sure as to why."

Running low on time, the four soon had to depart from the chamber. Most of them promised to return on another day (Hannah was absent in that regard, but Harry felt sure that she'd come around eventually), and Caireen was delighted with the chance to see them again. After saying their goodbyes, they all returned to the surface; continuing with the rest of their school day in quiet amazement of the meeting that had transpired.


September 5th, 1992

The door to the Chamber slid open. Carefully, Tom guided Ginny's body inside. At last, at long last, Tom has returned to his rightful place as the Heir of Slytherin!

He must tread carefully, though. The last time he released Slytherin's Monster, she grew mistrustful and disobedient. Preferring to hibernate deep in the Chamber so as to avoid him and his orders. That said, fifty years is a long time. With smooth words and just the right nudge, he can set her off to wreak havoc once again!

The sound of slithering was upon him in moments. Ginny's face contorted into a grin. "Greetings, great serpent!"

"Greetings, young hatchling." A tongue flicked out. "You are not one of the children who came three nights ago." What? "Are you one of Harry's friends?"

"Harry? Harry Potter?!"

"Yes."

Harry Potter? The Boy-Who-Lived?! That's impossible! How could he-

Oh.

Blast.

That complicates things.


A/C: Technically it's also safer for Caireen to hunt at night to avoid rooster crows, but the kids don't need to know that.