(Keeps a human shield between herself and the readers) Gomen! I know I had said that I was going to try and finish this before HBP, but a few days before the release date I started to have trouble concentrating and ended up scrapping most of what I had written on this chapter. I'm actually a bit glad that I did. Anyhow, after HBP came out I read it straight through and then had to pack for vacation the next day. Needless to say no writing got done on vacation and that's why I'm just finally getting this out.
Oh! And I went back to the last two chapters and made Harry start referring to Hermione as Granger when he talks to her. Harry using Hermione all the time was making them seem too buddy-buddy too soon.
ShadeDancer
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and can't get money for this, but I can make him into a Mafia Prince.
Warning: Some chapters (the ones including pranks and mimes) might not be appropriate to read at work. Laughter may ensue leading your co-workers to see you as even more insane than they previously thought.
Chapter 19: Secrets Within the Chamber
Harry lit his wand after a hard landing, shrugging off his stained robe at the same time, and found that while he was glad there hadn't been any Devil's Snare what he saw wasn't much better. Rubble and the scattered remains of rodents littered the floor all around him, the tiny bones and brittle skulls breaking under his feet as he tried in vain to find a clean place to stand. He had just given up on the attempt to avoid the rodent corpses when a yell came echoing down the pipe he had shot out of moments before, the cry growing closer every second.
"Damn it" Harry grumbled in exasperation, knowing exactly who the sound was originating from "bloody Gryffindor. Not only can't she listen, but if anyone is down here they'll hear her bloody screams."
Not but seconds later Hermione shot out of the pipe and skidded along the bone-carpeted floor. When she came to a stop she sat still for a moment, grimacing as she rubbed at a sore spot before she realized what was beneath her. With a start Hermione gaze a cry of disgust, prompting Harry to lunge forward and clamp a hand over the Gryffindor's mouth to stifle any further cries.
"Quiet Granger" he glared at her "if they didn't hear you yelling when you came down we might still have a chance. And I told you to get back to your dorm. Can't you bloody Gryffindors ever listen. No sense of self preservation. I wouldn't even be here if Blaise hadn't been attacked."
As Harry said the words, he realized that they were true. Sure, it sucked that Ginny had been taken, but that in itself wouldn't have been enough to get him so determined to find the Chamber of Secrets in order to kill the mastermind behind these attacks. Ginny was more of an excuse because she was the twins' younger sister, his true reason for coming here was to get revenge for Blaise. In truth, this revelation didn't disturb him all that much either, it was just the way he was. It was the way he had been raised to think and act. People died all the time in the mafia and while the dead would be missed, they weren't mourned for overly long. Dead was dead, it was the living that mattered. That, and getting revenge. He just hoped his dad could accept that reasoning as justification for coming down here and putting himself in danger like a foolish Gryffindor. It seemed to Harry that he had at least two times when he totally disregarded all his training: when Blaise was in danger, and when he was bored. There were probably more, but so far those seemed to be the ones to plague him here at Hogwarts. Oh yeah, his dad was going to kill him for being so foolish, Trevor would too. Harry pushed these thoughts away, he needed to focus on the task at hand. There was no turning back now and he wasn't about to chicken out in front of a Gryffindor even though his Slytherin sense of preservation had decided to finally rear its head.
"Come on" Harry tugged Hermione's arm to get her to follow "this is the only way to go from right here and I'm not about to leave you behind where you might get into trouble. Keep your eyes on the ground as much as possible and, for the sake of whatever the hell you hold holy, keep quiet Granger."
For a moment it seemed as if Hermione was going to quarrel with him, but she swallowed any protest and nodded her acquiesce with grim determination. Harry shook his head in exasperation as he turned to look down the stretch of tunnel ahead, Gryffindors. They hadn't gone more than a few feet when Harry stumbled to a stop, causing Hermione to plow into his back.
"By the Earth, Air, Fire, and Water" Harry unconsciously invoked the elemental guardians of Cheveyo's people "eagle, lion, serpent, and bull protect us."
"What is it" Hermione breathed, her voice trembling.
Slowly Harry edged forward, mostly sure of what was in front of them, but still wanting to make sure "a snake skin. A basilisk skin."
It was both fascinating and terrifying at the same time to gaze upon even this hollow shell of what they would soon be facing. The vivid, poisonous green skin lay curled upon the slimy floor and had to have been at least twenty feet long. The basilisk was undoubtedly even longer now, the venom having grown more potent with age. Harry suddenly felt woefully unarmed, but it was too late to turn around. He felt he had to prove himself; prove he could handle things by himself without always having his father, Trevor, or Blaise to fall back upon. He had to do this for Blaise who was lying comatose in the hospital wing. He also had no damn idea how the hell to get back up the pipe that had brought them down to the Chamber.
"Come on" Harry tugged on Hermione's robes to get her moving "we're wasting time."
Harry resisted adding that he wanted to get the hell out of there and continued on along the tunnel, Hermione clutching annoyingly at his shirt. He didn't have the heart to tell her to let go. Every nerve in his body was tingling unpleasantly as he was tautly aware of every minor sound around them. The tunnel turned again and again and while Harry wished it would just end, he dreaded what he would find when it did. Together he and Hermione crept around yet another bend to find that they had run out of tunnel. Ahead was a solid wall on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glittering emeralds. Though set in stone the snakes looked alarmingly real, their eyes appearing strangely alive. Harry took a deep breath.
"Open!"
The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the walls sliding smoothly out of site. For a moment Harry closed his eyes before they flashed open again, glowing every as eerily as the emeralds shining from the faces of the serpents. Grasping his wand firmly in his right hand and a gun in the other, Harry drew himself up tall. He was a Darkov, damn it, and he didn't have the luxury of showing fear right now.
"This is your last chance to turn back" he warned Hermione.
"I can't" Hermione was gripping her wand as if her life depended on it, which it probably did.
Without a backwards glance, Harry Potter-Darkov entered the Chamber of Secrets.
… … … … …
The dimly lit chamber was long and while it lacked the majority of the rodent corpses that the corridor leading there had boasted, the Chamber of Secrets was damp with numerous pools of water that reflected grotesque statues of serpents. Harry resisted the urge to comment aloud on how homey the place seemed, it just wouldn't be right after he had warned Hermione to be silent. The serpentine pillars rose up to support a ceiling lost to darkness and cast long shadows through the greenish gloom that filled the place. From somewhere in this gloom came a steady 'plink plink' as drops of water fell to join that which lay upon the floor. Harry's heart began to beat faster as even more adrenaline pumped through his veins. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind one of the looming pillars? And where was Ginny? Everything was too quiet. Could Ginny already be dead? The message had said her skeleton would lie in the chamber forever. Why had it not occurred to him or Hermione that Ginny might already be dead?
Gripping his wand more tightly, Harry moved through the shadows near the serpentine columns even though there was a good chance their enemy was using those very same shadows to conceal themselves in. Every careful footstep echoed loudly in the cavernous chamber causing Harry to curse silently, stealth was nearly impossible in this place. Harry was also ready to slam his eyes closed at any moment and risked a quick glance to see that Hermione, who was following behind him and hanging onto the back of his shirt, had her eyes resolutely glued to the floor. Eerily, the hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following their every movement and Harry couldn't decide if this was better or worse than seeing the eyes of the snake guarding the chamber door. The dancing shadows made these snakes seem as if they were moving, stirring languidly as the two young intruders passed their resting places.
It wasn't until he drew level with the last set of pillars that a statute as high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall. Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above. It was a noble and angular face, the artist of the statue had captured the subject's wisdom and cunning in the stone. There was no denying who this aristocratic wizard was that towered majestically above them: Salazar Slytherin. Harry's eyes traveled down the statue, taking in the almost unnoticed snake that wrapped around the ancient wizard's torso to lay rest its head upon Slytherin's shoulder, until he got to the stone feet. Between the feet, facedown, lay a black-robed figure the size of a first year with flaming-red hair.
"Ginny" Hermione cried, obviously having given up her starting contest with the floor to look around, before darting forward.
"Damn it" Harry snapped, hauling the foolish Gryffindor back by her robes "you don't know if it's safe to go to her. Use some common sense Granger."
But Hermione had twisted free to run to Ginny, leaving Harry holding onto the back of her robes. Dropping the robes to puddle into a mound of black cloth, Harry made his way over to Ginny and Hermione with a bit more caution than the Gryffindor had shown. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not that no one showed themselves from the shadows as he knelt down beside Hermione.
"Ginny" Hermione was shaking the girl "Ginny—don't be dead—please don't be dead—please wake up."
"She won't wake" a soft voice said from behind them, causing Harry to whirl from where he had been feeling for Ginny's pulse.
"Who the fuck are you" Harry's nerves were stretched taut; in this room where every sound carried he hadn't heard the figure approach.
A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching them with unwavering eyes. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window. He had never seen this boy around Hogwarts before.
"I suppose it won't hurt to introduce myself" the boy seemed to muse to himself before giving them a slightly condescending bow "Tom Riddle at your service."
"What d'you mean, she won't wake" Hermione stammered in desperation "she's not—she's not—?"
"She's still alive" Riddle said "but only just."
Harry's eyes narrowed at Riddle's every word. This was the bastard behind all this, he just knew it. In a smooth motion that almost didn't require for him to think, Harry dropped his wand to the ground and swung his gun up to steady it with two hands, silently squeezing off a few well-placed shots into the body of Tom Riddle. The bullets passed right through, the only sign they had hit at all being a slight ripple of Riddle's being. Beside him on the ground, Ginny jerked as if the bullets had passed through her as well, but she too showed no signs of injury. It was as if she had suffered a phantom wound in Riddle's place.
"Curious" Riddle said as he touched the spots where the bullets had went through him "you use a muggle weapon. I didn't really feel a thing, no pain certainly."
"What the fuck are you" Harry had rocked back on his heels in surprise "you look solid enough, but the bullets passed through you as if you were a ghost."
"A memory" said Riddle quietly "preserved in a diary for fifty years. I never thought I would get out of the darkness I had placed myself in until one day little Ginny began to write to me, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes—how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how she felt like the tagalong sister when the great Harry Potter allowed her to hang out with him, Blaise, and her twin brothers."
As he spoke, Riddle pointed towards the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was a little black diary. It was the same one that he had seen Ginny writing in once during a stay at the manor.
"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl" Tom continued "but I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom…I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in…It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…"
Riddle laughed "if I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul into me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted…I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful that little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…I could control her, I made her open the Chamber of Secrets and set the basilisk on the students in order to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"Harry" Hermione was shaking his shoulder, her eyes watching Riddle as he fanatically spoke "we have to get out of here. What if the basilisk comes? We need to go before it comes."
Harry acknowledged the wisdom in this. He needed to get Hermione and Ginny out of here and then he could come back and deal with Riddle. He already knew that he couldn't physically harm Tom, but Riddle had given him the key to his own demise. The diary had to be the clue. If Tom came from it, then the key to destroy him had to be linked with the diary. Instructing Hermione to levitate Ginny, he reached for his wand only to find it wasn't where he had dropped it when he had switched to his gun. Eyes narrowing he looked to see Tom idly twirling it between his long fingers.
"Give me my wand Riddle" he demanded in a low voice.
"Come on Harry" Hermione urged again "quick, before the basilisk comes."
"I don't believe I will, Harry Potter. Oh yes, Ginny's told me about you, how you managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time. How could a mere child accomplish such a task as to defeat the greatest wizard of all time, escaping with nothing but a scare while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" said Riddle "and don't worry Hermione, yes I know you as well, it won't come until it's called."
"What do you mean, why do you care about you-know-who? He was after your time" Hermione started moving backwards towards the way they had come in, Ginny's body floating eerily after her through the gloom "come on Harry, we have to get out of here."
"For the one Ginny calls the brightest witch of her class, you are surprisingly dense Hermione" Riddle taunted "but then I can't expect everyone to know the secrets of Lord Voldemort as well as I do. You see, Voldemort is my past, present, and future…"
Using Harry's wand Tom traced it through the air to write three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name began to rearrange themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
Thanks to everyone who reviewed:
Nope, Sprout hasn't died in my fic. Must have it confused with another one.
Chobbix: I know I already sent you an email about this, but I thought I'd put this in here for everyone else to read as well. The way I envision it, there are many levels to the Unspeakables. There are the ones you see that deal with the public and the ones that work undercover, the ones that you don't know are unspeakables. If the wizarding world knew all the unspeakables, then they would never be able to do much undercover work since there are spells and ways to see through disguises. Bill is one of the undercover ones, while Brody, who is pointed out as an unspeakable in book four, is a publicly known one. I see Brody as a figurehead in a way. He causes people to speculate about what the unspeakables do while drawing the attention away from the unspeakables doing the more top-secret work.
Hroi: I've been tempted to lower the rating, but I don't want to risk having my story pulled again.
Posted On: July 31, 2005