Disclaimer: All of this is based upon the lovely J.K. Rowling's work. I own nothing except Salazar's wife, son, and various other original characters. This story is an AU of sixth year, but it will contain a few spoilers from Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. However, it will still seriously diverge from canon.


"blah": dialogue

'blah': thoughts

"blah" : Parseltongue

"blah": Legilimency/Telepathy

Italics: excerpt from a book /newspaper or any other written form

Bold: a word or phrase that is emphasized

Italics, Underlined, and Bold: location/date of a scene in the story


Chapter Nineteen: The Other Chamber of Secrets

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, The Great Hall: September 2nd, 1996

"Gryffindor a murderer!"

"And Slytherin no less!"

"D'you think the Hat was lying?"

"But why would it?"

These were just a few of the conversations Harry heard as he sat down to breakfast the morning after the fateful Sorting. His late meeting the night before had been quite productive, though a tad awkward at first. Dom had still been nervous about his role in Salazar's death, even though the teenager had reassured him in their earlier correspondence. But they had quickly talked over their remaining issues and were soon down to business.

They both knew that for the ultimate survival of the wizarding world and the Muggle world Voldemort had to go. Yet, the Dark Lord was not only exceptionally powerful, he also had many followers. However, all it would take to defeat him would be a united magical world, or even a united wizarding Britain. Both things that they would never actually get as things currently were. The others were simply too afraid of Tom to ever act against him. But there was still hope in the form of the Order of the Phoenix. But here, too, there were still problems.

First, the Order was small in comparison to the Death Eaters, who outnumbered them by at least five to one, and the actual margin was probably much higher. Second, the Death Eaters did not have to be concerned with protecting large numbers of people, Muggles and wizards alike. They operated on a purely offensive basis. They would attack and retreat as their wont, while the Order and occasionally the ineffective Ministry scrambled to defend.

The Order simply wasn't enough. They needed to unite the magical populace, and that was all they really needed to do. Everything they planned stemmed from this goal. All they had to do was get magical Britain to unite; that was all. A united magical population was powerful enough and large enough to successfully take on the Death Eaters.

But two Founders, a vampire, a castle, a hat, a phoenix, and their friends were just not enough to accomplish this. What they needed first was help. They needed powerful allies with magical knowledge and wisdom. With allies like that, their task to unite the magical world would be so much simpler, primarily because they could directly attack and defeat the Death Eaters. Showing the other wizards that such was possible would lead them to unify against the Dark Lord. Further, politically powerful friends, those with clout in the Ministry, could work to the benefit of other magical creatures, giving them the rights they deserved and encouraging them to stand against Lord Voldemort as well.

While Hermione and the others were working on their problem of gathering allies, they were making far too little progress in far too much time. They needed allies, and they needed them now! And Harry and Dom had a very simple way to accomplish this; they were going to bring back the other Founders.

So the previous evening, Harry and Dom had worked out how they were going to do exactly that. It was a relatively simple plan actually. They would just lead the others to the Sorting Hat's room and show them the Gate. It would be easy enough for those who were currently still in the castle, like Quinn, Rowena, their children, and Amia. As for Helga and Edmund, it would be a bit more difficult. But Dom knew exactly how to get them in the castle; he was simply going to ask for a parent-teacher conference. And, as for Tristan… well, here there was another problem. They weren't sure about him yet; they didn't know how he would react to the entire situation. It was simply too early, so they would have to wait and hopefully bring him in later.

While plans for the other Founders were all well and good, they were not the be all and end all of their discussion. Harry had further filled the vampire in about the dream he had had the previous night, detailing Voldemort's plan to attack Hogwarts as a distraction so that he could study the Veil in the Department of Ministries. Unfortunately for Harry and Dom, they did not know how the attack was to take place. For all they knew, the Dark Lord was going to send a legion of Dementors and Death Eaters. Or he could be planning something much worse, if that were even possible. The professor and Founder had theorized for several hours about the situation, but in the end, they hadn't come up with anything decisive. They had only decided that they needed to find out more, which meant they needed someone on the inside, leading to their next point. Bellatrix.

The pregnant Death Eater had played a prominent part in Harry's thoughts the weeks and months after Sirius' death. And while he had decided that she had not intentionally killed his godfather, Harry still wasn't sure what to think about her, especially not after her whispered plea. All he did know was that she needed help, and as Sirius' heir and the heir of the House of Black, Bellatrix was family. Merlin's staff, he would be her family Head come his next birthday. Harry would be damned before he left her to rot

Of course, this had led to yet another problem. What exactly was Harry supposed to do? What did Bellatrix want him to do? Did she want out of the Death Eaters, or did she want him to help her with the baby in some way?

Harry had no idea, so he was going to have to find out. Which meant he had to contact her some way. But no worries there at least. Fawkes had agreed to help deliver messages to her.

Their talk had ended soon afterwards, and they had gone their respective ways. Still, while ultimately productive, their discussion had lasted so long that the sky was beginning to lighten by the time that Harry finally managed to sleep. It was only thanks to the power of the Gate that he had managed to get more than just an hour of sleep. He had enclosed his curtains around his bed and used the Gate to slow time in the area. However, he hadn't wanted to chance his dorm-mates discovering him, so he hadn't used the temporal dilation for too long. Well, too long in relation to the outside world at any rate.

All in all, he still didn't get a full night's sleep, which is probably why he wasn't at his thinking best the following morning. And why it took him a while to register that Hermione had been attempting to talk to him for the last few minutes.

"Harry!" she all but yelled at him, waving her hand in front of his face.

His head snapped up from its original position of leaning on his fist. "What? Oh… yes, Hermione."

A suspicious pair of brown eyes stared at him. "I've been trying to get your attention for five minutes. Are you alright, Harry?"

"I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night," he evaded deftly. "Just couldn't seem to fall asleep, you know. Must have been nerves."

Hermione gazed at him but seemed to accept his answer since she moved onto another topic. "So, Harry… you and Luna? Are you two dating?" she questioned with a twitch of her eyebrow.

Harry smirked. "Technically, I would have to answer with a no since we have yet to go on a date, but she is my girlfriend." He continued before his friend could voice the question he knew she wanted desperately to ask, "She makes me happy, Hermione. She makes me smile, and she makes me laugh. After Sirius," he faltered for a second but quickly went on, "after his death, I didn't think I would ever do either again. But I am. And it's because of her. She gets me, Hermione. She understands me, and she likes me. Me, Harry, not the Boy-Who-Lived." He looked directly at her. "She doesn't care that I'm famous or that I'm rich. All she cares about is me."

The bushy-haired witch was stunned by his response. "Okay," she finally said. "As long as you're happy." She gently reached over and patted his hand. "You know, Harry, I think that I understand," she put in with a smile, "because that's exactly how Bill is with me. He doesn't mind that I'm Muggleborn or that I'm bookish. He actually likes that I am practically married to the library because he is much the same way. He--"

"--just gets you," Harry answered for her knowingly.

The Prefect nodded. "Yes, he gets me." She her cheeks lit up with a faint blush.

The conversation drifted after that. Harry began to gaze around the Great Hall, taking in the other students' reactions to the previous night. There was still a great deal of worried whispering going on, as well as many questioning looks directed at the Head Table. The young wizard noted that many of the Slytherins were glancing at the Gryffindors nervously, as though they feared that the Lions would do the same to them as Godric did to Salazar.

He further noticed that Draco Malfoy in particular seemed to be looking at their table a good deal, mostly glancing at Hermione and him actually. This wasn't unusual in itself with Malfoy. They often watched each other; it had to do with their status as rivals. Nevertheless, Harry couldn't figure out why the Slytherin Prefect was all but staring at Hermione. Well, the reborn Salazar could actually think of one reason why, but if Draco could already feel the connection, then there was hope for them all yet. Shaking his head, Harry turned to his female friend, only to notice her returning Draco's stares.

That was unexpected.

Harry smiled. Perhaps there was hope.

Gently reaching forward with his Empathy, he sampled the blond's emotions, sensing that the Slytherin was a mixture of excitement and hope. With a dash of nervousness added in for good measure. Resolutely, green eyes turned towards his bushy-haired companion, Harry deciding to test her feelings as well.

However, rather unfortunately, it was at that very moment that Ginny chose to ask Hermione about her thoughts on the Sorting song. And the spell was broken as Hermione glanced at the redhead. The bushy-haired witch quickly mentioned her thoughts on the Hat's song. Which were that she believed it but that she felt they should probably look into Salazar Slytherin's departure from the school. She was soon making plans to journey to the library. Basically, it seemed that even though it was the first day, they already had another mystery on hand. One which Harry already knew the answer to and that Hermione would soon know as well. If everything went as planned, that is.

Yet, before the excited Prefect could hop up from the table and head to the library right then and there, Minerva walked by and passed out the schedules. She handed Harry's to him with a gentle smile and the subtle squeeze of her hand on his shoulder, receiving a discreet wink in return.

As the professor moved further down the table, Harry glanced at his class list, noting that he first had NEWT Charms, as opposed to the easier OWL version. That was followed by NEWT classes in Herbology and then Defense with Care of Magical Creatures rounding out the day. Originally, he had been skeptical about continuing both Herbology and Hagrid's class, but his returned memories had led him to reconsider. Both would now be easy options for him, providing him with relatively simple classes that would supply useful information. Herbology would help him with Potions, allowing him to fill in the gaps in his knowledge due to new innovations, while Care of Magical Creatures would do the same for animals instead. The teenager was a bit leery of the extra time with Hagrid, but the information would be useful. Truthfully, he also didn't want to alienate the half-giant by not taking the man's class.

Scanning his schedule once more, the dark-haired wizard noted that he actually had NEWT Potions, the only advanced Potions Snape taught, first thing tomorrow morning. That was not surprising when he considering the Outstanding he had made on his Potions OWL. Afterwards, he had NEWT Transfiguration with Hermione. Harry had chosen to drop Divination, History of Magic, and Astronomy for various reasons, most of which centered on the fact that his knowledge in those areas far exceeded anything that would be covered during lessons.

Divination, as currently taught, had regressed during the last millennium. The things they had covered in the last three years had been considered nothing but the bare basics during the time of the Founders. It seemed as though Trelawney hadn't been lying when she mentioned that much about Divination had been lost during the anti-Seer stints of the last few centuries. On the other hand, new things had been added to History of Magic. But with the way Binns taught it, Harry was better off simply asking Dominic to fill him in. Truthfully, the vampire was quite the history student, as fond of it as Arthur Weasley was for Muggle gadgets, not to mention the fact that he had actually lived it. As for Astronomy, it shared a similar fate with Divination, and it seemed as though wizards had actually regressed in this area. All in all, Harry had simply chosen to continue in fields that there had been actual innovations in the last thousand years.

As he looked at his schedule, the young man briefly regretted not taking Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, but then, he remembered both from his time as Salazar. In fact, he was quite fluent in Ancient Runes, or Runes as it had been known then, and had taught it before his death. Almost all of the runic work of Hogwarts had not been done by Rowena as most people thought but by him with help from Siobhan and Quinn. Rowena had only done the runic research for the Phoenix Gate because his schedule had been too full at the time for him to do it instead, not to mention the fact that the redhead was a much better researcher. As for Arithmancy, the reborn Slytherin figured that he could always do independent study. Or better yet, he could ask Fawkes and Hogwarts for help. If anyone would know, it would most certainly be them.

Casting one final glance at his class schedule, Harry tucked it into his school bag, which was currently filled with the miniaturized form of all his school books. He quickly finished his bangers and eggs, patently ignoring the knowing look Hermione gave him when Luna sauntered over after he was done. Several Gryffindors, Ron included, gave the blonde bizarre glances, but she simply smiled at them as Harry rose to his feet. He bid Hermione goodbye, saying that he would meet her in class. And the two of them were off, heading to his girlfriend's first lesson, Transfiguration. Harry walked her right up to the classroom door.

As they were the only ones there, not even Minerva had shown up yet, he gave her several lingering kisses. By the time they were finished, his arms were looped firmly around her waist, her hair was slightly disheveled, both of their lips were swollen, and there were at least seven other people queuing up for class. The professor thankfully wasn't one of them, though the mixed Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw group was unsuccessfully attempting to secretly stare at them. Harry knew that after this little love fest and the sort of incident at Gryffindor table that rumors would be flying around the school. Yet, he just couldn't really bring himself to care.

After another quick and rather chaste kiss, Harry hurried to Charms, nipping in just before Parvati and sitting next to Neville as Ron was with Hermione. The class passed quickly, Professor Flitwick mentioning that they had all chosen the NEWT class. Which was not only harder and more in-depth but would be tested by the NEWTs at the end of seventh year. They mostly reviewed, but the Charms master did teach them two useful healing spells five minutes before class ended with instructions for them to practice. Herbology was right after and passed swiftly as well, Sprout giving much the same speech.

And soon enough, it was lunch. Harry sat at the Ravenclaw table with Luna, steadfastly ignoring all the whispers before heading of to Defense. The teenager was forced to hurry to the lesson, so he wouldn't be late. An impromptu snogging session with Luna in a cubby hole on the first floor had put him slightly behind schedule. He quickly nipped in, finding another empty seat next to Neville and toward the middle of the class. He quickly noted that all of the sixth year students from the DA were in there along with a good number of the Slytherins. In fact, as he glanced around, Harry noted that with the exception of the Slytherins and a random pair of Ravenclaws, only DA students were currently in the class.

Parvati and Lavender were in the very front row, something unusual for them in any lesson except Divination. But as soon as Harry noticed that their not-so-quiet conversation was about the professor's dashing good looks, he understood completely. Hermione was in the second row, sitting next to Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones. As well as two Slytherin girls Harry couldn't place and Lisa Turpin from Ravenclaw. The DA members were talking to the other witches rather earnestly, while the Serpents looked at Hermione and Lisa Turpin goggled at them. The reborn Salazar assumed that Hermione was most likely trying to recruit them, and he wondered what exactly she was telling them or how she had even gotten the Slytherins to sit near her.

Over to the left along the wall, Justin, Ernie, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Stephen Cornfoot were looking at something in a book, while pointedly ignoring Zacharias Smith. Along the other wall, Malfoy was chatting with his groups of friends and followers. Nott, Gavin Darklighter the other non-DA Ravenclaw, another boy Harry believed was named Blaise Zabini, Parkinson, and Bulstrode. They were also surreptitiously studying the rest of the class, carefully estimating and evaluating everyone. Harry was just relieved to see that neither Crabbe nor Goyle were there.

As he observed them, he noticed Draco watching Hermione once again. However, this time the blond boy's eyes shifted and locked with Harry's for an instant, the Prefect staring back at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Harry simply nodded discreetly before looking on, knowing that Draco was still watching both he and Hermione but not showing that he knew.

In the back, Ron was seated with Seamus and Dean, but he was ignoring their conversation about what type of creature Professor Boyd was. The redhead simply gazed at the far wall. The other two, on the other hand, were whispering quietly to each other but unexpectedly the dark-skinned boy stood up in his seat and loudly proclaimed that Boyd must assuredly be a male Veela.

The classroom door suddenly opened, and the man in question came sweeping in. Dean paused, his eyes bulging as the teacher glanced at him, before he sank into his seat. The entire class save Harry, who was trying not to laugh at the entire situation, inhaled sharply and stared at him as the man walked forward to his desk. The professor casually sat himself on the edge, facing the class. A faint smile appeared on his face.

Dominic briefly locked eyes with Harry, a motion so fast as to be missed by everyone else. "Hello, Harry," he sent. "And how are you today?"

Emerald eyes responded, "I'm great. I'm looking forward to the show!" he cheekily sent back, fighting the urge to laugh.

Dom's smile widened. "And what a show it will be," he finished before turning his attention to the rest of the students.

"Salutations, class. I am Professor Boyd, and I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I am rather nervous to be here as this is my first job as a teacher, but I believe that I have much to contribute and that we will have an excellent year," he started with an amused grin.

The class still remained silent after his little speech, astonished expressions on their faces. Harry had to use the full force of his Occlumency shields to keep from laughing out loud. The man simply continued to smile at them. Finally, after several moments, someone else showed signs of life.

"Are you a Death Eater?" Seamus asked point blank. He wasn't beating around the bush.

The professor looked at him with casual interest. "No, Mister?"

"Finnegan."

The teacher inclined his head. "No, Mr. Finnegan, I am not a Death Eater."

"Are you a werewolf, then?" Dean questioned taking up the interrogation.

Boyd raised his eyebrows. "Mister?"

"Thomas."

"Ah, Mr. Thomas, no, I am not a werewolf." The man's eyes scanned the class, and he shifted on the desk, crossing his arms over his chest. With serious expression on his face, he spoke again. "No, I am not a werewolf nor a Death Eater, Banshee, Dementor, demon, zombie, Basilisk-in-Human-Clothing, Soul Reaper, Veela, etc." He stared at them, forcing them to look into swirling, silvery irises. "I am not, nor have ever been, a supporter of the Dark Lord Voldemort." He paused as the students flinched.

Harry noticed that the Slytherins actually looked relieved by this statement.

"And I am not here to harm any of you. I am here to help… to teach you Defense." He looked at them once more and uncrossed his arms. "Now, shall we begin?" he asked, sliding off his desk.

The class nodded, mostly seeming to accept his answer.

Seamus, however, was not finished yet. "What about vampire, then? You didn't mention that one."

Professor Boyd actually chuckled and grinned once more. "Mr. Finnegan, do I look like a vampire to you? Do you think the headmaster would allow a person in the castle if he thought them a danger to the school or the students in it?" he shot back with amusement.

Seamus actually looked abashed. "Um… probably not." At Professor Boyd's raised eyebrow, he tried again, "Er… no, the headmaster wouldn't." He shrugged sheepishly and sank in his seat. "Sorry, sir."

"That is quite alright, Mr. Finnegan," Professor Boyd answered as he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a stack of papers. "I understand that your past few Defense teachers have been less than adequate with the exception of Professor Lupin, of course," he added smoothly. "I also know that even including him, the teachers have been quite different and possibly dangerous. However, I shall strive to be a good professor, and I hope that we can overcome any difficulties that might arise," he finished, coming around his desk once more. He smiled wider and stepped closer to them. "Now, class, I only have one thing for you to do today. And afterwards, you are free to go."

Everyone save Harry shifted with anticipation.

"I want to know about your Defense education, so I have a little list of spells I want you to look through. This is not for a grade, but please be as thorough as you can," Professor Boyd stated in an even tone. He paused in his speech to pass out a list of fifty spells.

When he was finished, he turned back to the class. "I want you to look through this list and decide which ones are considered to be Dark Arts by the Ministry. I also want you to give me your opinion of each," he informed them, a strange gleam in his eyes. "Tell me your personal opinion of each. Your opinion," he said with emphasis. "Yours, not that of the Ministry. Tell me if you feel they are Light, Dark, or something in between. Also, I want you to write a short paragraph in the space at the end. I ask for nothing more than a few lines," he continued, noticing Seamus' unhappy expression. "Just describe what the Dark Arts mean to you. You have the rest of the period. If you have any questions, simply raise your hand." The professor glanced around before nodding. "Begin."

Harry glanced down at the first item.

1) Tripudio Obstrepo hex: Forces the recipient to tap dance until the spell is lifted.
2)
Caligo charm: Makes the recipient dizzy.
3)
Aestuo Sangre jinx: Causes the blood of the victim to boil.

The list continued.

50) Caput Abrumpo curse: Decapitates the victim.

Harry finished the final item and skipped down to the empty space at the bottom of the parchment. He smiled slowly and chewed on his quill for a minute before penning his opinion on the Dark Arts. He wrote only two sentences.

Dark does not mean evil. Intent is everything.

Harry quickly packed up his supplies and headed to the front of the room where the professor was waiting. He handed his paper to the man, receiving a twitch of the lips and a subtle wink. Belatedly, the young man noticed that he was the first one finished. Not even Dean, who was usually first in turning things in because he never looked over his work, was done yet. In fact, he only seemed to be about half-way finished. The only ones who were close were Draco, Hermione, and Millicent. All three of them were concentrating so hard on the list that they seemed oblivious to anything else.

Shrugging and winking back at the Defense professor, Harry turned and left. Although it was not nearly time for Care of Magical Creatures, he decided to head on down to Hagrid's hut anyway, hoping to be able to visit with the man for a while. But when he got there he was surprised or maybe not that Hagrid decided to start his lesson right away. Apparently, Harry was the only student to take the NEWT class. Actually, there were only three students in total who had continued after fifth year. He and a pair of Hufflepuffs. The other two wanted to work in for the Ministry and had continued on OWL level.

The lesson was simple enough and by Hagrid's standards quite boring. There were no horrible, read interesting, creatures to study or fight. Truthfully, all Harry and Hagrid did was talk about Aragog, who was apparently very sick and not expected to live much longer.

After finally managing to pry himself away from the half-giant, the young man made his way to dinner. This time Luna joined him at the Gryffindor table, squeezing herself in next to Ginny. She received even more odd glances, and at one point, Lavender even asked her directly if rumors were true.

Luna glanced at the older girl, knowing that all of Gryffindor and most of the school, the faculty included, was listening in to their conversation. "Of course, I'm not dating Harry," she answered truthfully enough, casting a sly glance at him as Lavender looked at her with confusion.

The entire school, the female population and a few boys, seemed to heave a sigh of relief. Yet, their respite was short lived as Luna spoke again.

"We haven't gone anywhere yet," she continued on blithely, noticing the smirk on Harry's face, "but after next Hogsmeade weekend we will be. Dating, that is."

And her statement was met by almost complete and total silence. The Great Hall, however, burst into a din of whispers. Hermione actually snorted into her mashed potatoes at Lavender's shocked expression, while Ginny and Neville both grinned wickedly. Athena smirked. Dean laughed. Ron stared, and Seamus choked on his drink, causing Parvati to slap him forcefully on the back. On the other side of the hall, Malfoy smiled suddenly, causing Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini to look at him with interest. Up at the Head Table, Snape blinked. Minerva and Dom looked pleased. Flitwick giggled, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Trelawney, who was there once more, gave them a knowing look. And Poppy Pomfrey heaved a girly sigh and stared at them dreamily.

Harry merely smiled and laced his fingers through Luna's.

"I am his girlfriend, though," the blonde commented, tilting her head to look at the older girl. "If that is what you are asking," she finished, toying with her wand, which was currently being used to hold her gold-silver hair in a bun.

"Oh" was the articulate reply.

They were not bothered again for the rest of the day.


Hogwarts, Sixth Year Gryffindor Boys' Dorm: The Same Day

Harry sat on his bed later that night with his curtains drawn, conversing mentally with the castle. He was currently in a very comfortable robe of deep bluish-black, one which Luna claimed brought out his eyes and which was spelled to fight almost all dirt and grim. With his plans for tonight he would need a robe like this, especially considering the fact that Luna and he were planning to visit the Chamber of Secrets under Myrtle's bathroom. Well, the fake Chamber of Secrets really.

Though he was still sketchy on the details of its creation, Harry knew without a doubt that it was not his Chamber of Secrets. For one thing, it was in entirely the wrong part of the castle. For another, he didn't remember ever creating it.

All he knew was that it had been created in the 1700s by one of his descendants, Iago Gaunt, the then-Headmaster of Hogwarts. The man had been infuriated when he had been unable to find, much less enter, the real Chamber. He, too, had believed the lie that Salazar was opposed to Muggles and Muggleborns. Gaunt had actually thought both groups to be sub-human, and as such, he had believed that it was his duty to rid of the school of them. It was ironic really that it had been this very belief that had denied him entrance. The Chamber was created as a learning place and a defensive measure for the castle. As such, those who desired to harm its inhabitants or use its magics for ill could not enter.

Regardless though, the man had been enraged when he couldn't enter the Chamber, so he had eventually created one of his own, proclaiming to his children that it was the original. Gaunt had further used Imperius on the Basilisk guardian of the school, Oro, and had placed her there as well, making his children believe even more. Harry was not entirely sure how Gaunt had managed to find her, but he suspected that the man had used his position as headmaster to summon her forth from the original Chamber. Just as he used his position of headmaster to ensure Hogwarts prolonged silence on the matter.

"Please forgive me, Salazar, but you very well know the geas placed upon me," the castle explained to Harry with misery in her voice. "If the Headmaster decrees that I cannot reveal something, only a Founder, a unanimous vote of all the Heads of House, or his successor can overrule him," Hogwarts whispered sadly. "None of the Heads knew, and by the nature of the spell, I couldn't tell them unless they were already aware. I couldn't even tell Fawkes or the Sorting Hat or even the subsequent headmistress."

"But there was a loophole in the geas if I remember correctly," Harry put in, trying to comfort her with a mental hug.

Hogwarts gave the castle equivalent of a nod. "Yes, I am allowed to tell the Founders anything. Regardless of who originally forbid it, but with the loophole, I can only tell them if they are aware they are the Founders. Thatis why I couldn't say anything until you remembered the past."

Harry nodded as he slid off his bed. "Yes, well, it is all gold in Gringotts now. There's nothing we can do to change it. Well, actually there is, but that is neither here nor there, and we'd probably end up making this worse," he commented as he stretched out his senses, ensuring that his dorm-mates were asleep. Smiling to himself, Harry drew his Invisibility Cloak around his body and spelled his various parts silent.

"Now, if you pardon me, my dear. I have a date with a beautiful young lady."

In his mind, Harry heard Hogwarts chuckle.

Several moments later, he was standing inside of Myrtle's bathroom next to the sink that was the Chamber's entrance, his girlfriend directly behind him. Thankfully, Hogwarts had sent the ghost on to another part of the castle, so he had no worries of her knowing what Luna and he were about to do. According to the castle, the Chamber was hidden under a Parsel Magic modified Fidelius charm. So only those with the gift, possessed by those with the gift as Ginny was in her first year, or who had been taught the language could find or enter it. Unless, of course, they had been told its location. But even then, they still couldn't enter. This basically meant that unless Dumbledore had managed to find another Parselmouth he had not entered after Harry had told him its location several years earlier. Hogwarts confirmed this fact, stating that the headmaster had not even sealed the entrance after she had explained that she wouldn't allow anyone but an approved member of the faculty to use it. Well, technically since Harry was a Founder and Luna had taught until her death, they were faculty members. And Hogwarts approved them, so they could enter.

Smirking at the irony of it all, Harry whispered to the tap, "Open."

The entrance magically appeared, the blonde coming around to peek inside.

"Nice," she stated with a sarcastic undertone, shaking her head and causing her purple, dangling snitch earrings to jingle. "And I bet the Chamber will have such homey touches as well," she continued, indicating the lovely slime on the slide that led into the darkness.

Harry chuckled. "Oh, yes. It definitely has that special feminine touch to it. The rat skeletons make it feel so welcoming."

Her lips twitched, and she clutched her bright-blue robe fiercely, clearly fighting the urge to laugh. "Well, shall we?" she asked after a moment.

"Sure, but I'll go first since I've been here before."

She cast him an appraising look at that statement. "Really, is that the reason?" she queried, raising an eyebrow. "Or do you just not want to send me in the danger unless you get to go there first?"

He chuckled once more and bowed. "Oh, you know me far too well, my lady." And with that he stepped forward into the abyss and flicked his wand.

'Penna Accidi,' he mentally called, drifting downward at an easy pace. A few seconds later and a few meters above him, he heard Luna cast the same charm.

The two drifted down for a few minutes before landing lightly at the bottom. They quickly cast Solaris, the more powerful version of Lumos, and made their way down the exit tunnel. The bright tips of their wands lit up the tunnel several dozen meters in front of them, showing the various rodent skeletons and the rubble from Lockhart's failed Obliviate. The couple cleared the debris as they went and widened the hole in the wall, the one Harry had climbed through to reach the rest of the Chamber several years earlier, so that they could walk through at the same time.

The reborn Salazar whispered once more. The final door opened. And then, they were there, the Chamber. Nonetheless, they could barely see a damned thing since it was so dark, even factoring in their wand-light.

Harry didn't panic, however. He simply rolled his eyes and lifted his wand.

'Lumos Solarium,' he thought.

Multiple balls of pure, white light shot out of the end. One traveled to every corner, hovering midair and completely lighting each. Several went upwards, floating well above head-level but still providing more than enough light to see the floor with clear detail. Others went to various parts of the room, by the walls or just hovering in the air at regular intervals.

Casting her eyes around, Luna smiled. "Very nice," she commented.

And it was. The room was completely visible now, not a darkened spot in sight.

Harry, however, seemed to have not heard her because he was far too focused on stretching out his Empathy. While it was a little known fact, emotions had the ability to linger in a place, to be absorbed in the very walls and floors. This was why particular buildings gave off certain vibes, as it were. Much like why Grimmauld Place still seemed so dour even after they had repainted the rooms and brightened it up.

As a latent Empath, Harry could tap into the lingering emotions, getting the feel of place. But all he got from the false chamber was revulsion and repulsion. The place was positively seeping with hatred, malice, and a whole slew of other negative things. The only bright spots in the emotional history of the room actually came from Harry himself and had occurred after he had slayed the Basilisk and had saved Ginny Weasley.

Thinking of the Basilisk, green eyes resolutely turned to the crumbled form of the snake, which was lying in the forward half of the Chamber. The reborn Salazar shook his head sadly as he stared at the still intact corpse of the serpent, the same one he had slain in second year.

"Poor Oro," he whispered as he approached the body. "I'm sorry, my dear friend," he continued, stroking his fingers across her head. "I am so very sorry." A hand on his waist caused him to turn his head and glance over his shoulder.

"There was nothing you could do, love," Luna stated firmly as she wrapped her arms around his middle. "As you explained it to me, the Gaunts had her under Imperius. And with Tom controlling her, there was nothing you could do. She had been under their power too long. She was in too deep, Sal," the blonde slipped in his other name, but Harry was not sure if it was intentional.

He nodded briskly, not saying anything, but he did lay his hands over Luna's. After several moments of seeking comfort in her embrace, he moved further into the room. Directly in front of him stood the statue that he assumed was Iago Gaunt, the Headmaster of Hogwarts from 1753 to 1761 and the creator of this Chamber, the false Chamber of Secrets.

Harry stared up at the statue, fighting the urge to shudder. 'And to imagine that I had actually believed that he was Salazar Slytherin,' he thought to himself, referring to his incident in this Chamber during second year. 'That statue is bloody awful. I hope that it is artistic license and not what he actually looked like,' the dark-haired wizard continued, noting the marble man's monkey-like face and very droopy eyes. 'Though if it is artistic license, chances are he looked even worse. If that is even possible.'

The young man actually shivered then before continuing to look around. He noticed that Luna was over by the door she had spotted earlier, intently studying the markings around the frame. Shrugging his shoulders and casting one final glance about the main room, he strode over to her, also peering at the runes.

"They are Parsel writing," the witch commented, squinting her eyes as she tried to read it. However, she gave up after a few seconds and turned towards Harry. "I am a bit rusty," she acknowledged with a slight sigh. "I didn't really have the heart to keep up with it after… well, you know…" she trailed off.

Harry gave an understanding tilt of his head, trying to reassure her. "After I… Salazar died," he stated knowingly.

The blonde nodded. "Yes, I just couldn't do it, even though Tristan could speak it as well. But he knew it bothered me, so he would never use it in my presence."

"He could speak, too?" Harry asked eagerly, but there was a hint of sadness in his question as he was unpleasantly reminded of how much of his son's life he had missed.

"Yes, but he didn't really like to," Luna murmured softly, glancing at him. "I think that it reminded him of you and of how he didn't even have the chance to know you." She shook her head. "It hurt him," she said simply.

The reborn Salazar exhaled and remained silent for several moments. Finally, deciding to move on to a less painful topic, he turned to the runes once more.

"Don't worry, you're not missing much," he inserted with a hint of forced cheer, noticing the lack of sparkle in her eyes. "It is only a spell to keep the Basilisk out. Apparently, there are private quarters behind here, and they didn't want her disturbing them while they were there," he informed her, glancing over the script again.

Her lips twitched slightly. "Sounds as though they were afraid of Oro then," she concluded, her eye-sparkle returning slowly.

"Probably," Harry allowed. "Most likely they feared that the Imperius would fail and that she would try to attack them in their sleep."

Luna breathed out slowly. "So shall we go on?" she finally questioned, indicating the door.

He blinked. "What… oh, yes! There might be some useful things down here. Perhaps books or artifacts that we can use."

He slowly reached forward and touched the door, causing it to swing open. He put his wand forward, lighting up the passage. With his free hand, he grasped Luna's palm.

"Let's go, love," Harry said, leading her into the tunnel.


Tripudio Obstrepo: Tap-dancing. Verbal and non-verbal. Forces the recipient to tap dance until the spell is lifted.

Caligo: Dizziness. Verbal and non-verbal. Makes the recipient dizzy.

Aestuo Sangre: Blood Boil. Verbal and non-verbal. Causes the blood of the victim to boil.

Caput Abrumpo: Decapitation. Verbal and non-verbal. Decapitates the victim.

Penna Accidi: Feather Fall. Verbal and non-verbal. Allows the caster to lightly fall and land from great heights without taking injury. I pseudo-borrowed this spell from Dragonlance.

Lumos Solarium: Area of Light. Verbal and non-verbal. Completely lights up a room or an area by means of multiple balls of white light.

Solaris: Light. Verbal and non-verbal. Advanced version of Lumos. The brightening effect is similar to direct sunlight at noon. Like Lumos it can light a general area or can be directed in beam form of various widths.

Interesting things to consider: There is some kind of connection between Hermione and Draco. Also, there will be unusual pairings for Neville, Draco, and Ginny. The Basilisk's name, Oro, is short for Ouroboros. It should really be Ouro, but I didn't like the spelling for that one. Dom's quiz will play a role in later chapters. Finally, the creator of the second Chamber of Secrets isn't really an important character. I just needed an explanation for the whole thing.

To everyone who reviewed: Thanks!

Special thanks to Hobbit-Tabby for the beta and to Our Catholic Faith (online) for the Latin translation.

Chapter Twenty: Defence of the Dark Arts


Ever Hopeful,

Azar

Updated and Edited:

06/10/08