Eric flipped through his copied maps over and over. Another student had been petrified, which means he was wrong; he simply had to be. Somewhere in this expanse of rooms was a chamber with a monster capable of drawing people to the brink of death – and perhaps worse if given the chance.

Dorian sat back and rubbed his eyes wearily. "We've been over these maps a dozen times."

Eric remained defiant. "Then we need to go over them again. There's something we're missing."

"You really should drop that for a while. Your finals won't pass themselves." Naomi had apparently elected herself as his caretaker.

Eric was so weary, he was left without subtlety. "Naomi, there isn't a class on my list that I can't pass through talent and experience."

"I wasn't worried about you. I was thinking about Dorian."

Eric looked across the table guiltily. "I'll get you through your finals, I promise. Right now, this is far more important. We can't even move about safely enough to study now. The school can't continue to function in this manner. If this keeps up, they'll close the school down for sure."

Naomi sat down, and began to look over Eric's work. "I never wanted to come here in the first place, but now that I am here, getting sent somewhere else would be worse. This place means more to you, I take it?"

Eric slumped back in his chair. "I was orphaned as a baby. I grew up in these halls. The instructors aren't just my teachers, they're like my family – one mass of dysfunctional aunts and uncles that I can't do without. I'd even miss Professor Snape if anything happened to him. I can't just sit here and let my world fall apart."

Eric couldn't say why, but something about Naomi softened. Maybe it was her pose, her expression, or just something in her eyes, he couldn't say. "You know, your problem isn't as big as the entire school. The Chamber of Secrets was built by Salazar Slytherin a thousand years ago. Since it apparently does exist, all we have to do is find what parts of the school still contain sections from the original structure."

Eric looked at his maps again, then almost dropped out of his chair in disbelief. "Dorian – that's just it!"

Although dozing off at the tediously reminiscent exchange between his two companions, Dorian shook it off to stare blearily at Eric. "What – what's just it?"

A fevered bewilderment began rushing through his limbs. "The only place that the chamber could exist is somewhere that is part of the original school structure. The thing is, Hogwarts has been an active school for a thousand years! There isn't an inch of any of the buildings that was part of the original structure anymore."

Eric swung behind him to draw out a pile of notes. "I was working from these earlier to confirm all the details on each passageway. They individually map out the modifications and restorations that have been implemented over the school's life. It's a huge litany of repairs and replacements. All in all, I would have to say that there isn't a single part of this school that hasn't been repaired or replaced at least a dozen times."

Dorian slumped sideways. "So if the whole school's been replaced, where's the chamber hidden?"

Eric looked over to Naomi, who seemed genuinely interested in his sudden burst of insight. "In the only part of the building that would never be mapped, charted, or replaced – regardless of the number of repairs – the foundation."

Naomi actually managed to appear impressed. "It makes sense, except for one detail. The chamber has been opened, and whatever is inside it has demonstrated that it has the run of the school. There has to be a means to access it, which would have been discovered by the remodeling."

Eric smiled. "Right, but it wouldn't be as obvious as the chamber itself, and therefore easier to hide. However, it would still be necessary for someone to be actively watching through all these years in order to keep the chamber secret. These records are the key."

Dorian looked up from a reclined, exhausted pose. "Huh?"

"Somewhere in these records will be a pattern of names, a contractor or some such, that would occur over and over when dealing with one given location. If we find that pattern, we'll find the trap door." Eric started to dig through his notes again, only to have Naomi stop him.

"You two have been at this enough. If you don't get some sleep, you'll never find what you're looking for anyway."

Resigned to his fate, Eric piled his papers into a bundle and made his way back to the boy's dorm. Naomi was right – he needed to approach the problem with a clear head and a fresh start. The bed was fairly inviting, and Eric was soon drifting off, letting his thoughts clear for a decent rest.

Penelope Clearwater shook him awake shortly after midnight. He was in the common room, his papers spread across the floor in neat piles. Swearing that he couldn't remember doing any of it, he made quick work of gathering it back up, though keeping the piles together. A feeling he couldn't make sense of told him that the piles were important.