Chapter 6: Of Chambers and Revelations

Still in a state of calm from the slowly dissipating sounds of the mans laughter, Harry sighed. It took a lot to make himself relax again around this man, but he had so many questions now.

He was not dumb, and he knew that whatever was going on inside his body had also manifested that night with the stone.

"So is that was burned Quirrell?" He said, fighting hard to keep the mental images from rising again.

Severus was shocked as well, as he had thought the boy would accept whatever the Headmaster had told him.

"Did the Headmaster tell you this?" He inquired, leaving any suspicions out of his voice.

The boy scoffed, before it turned into light laughter that reached Harry's eyes for once.

"No, Professor Dumbledore told me it was the love I had for my friends which made Voldemort unable to touch me."

Severus sighed. At least the man hadn't led him too far astray. "And that would be correct. You consider them as family do you not? And usually for a young dragon kin such as yourself, family is great cause for innate protective magic, such as that display, to manifest."

The man was glad he didn't have to simplify his words too much, as Harry followed all of his statements with an admirable sense of understanding.

The two sat in silence for a moment while Harry gathered his thoughts.

"And what plans does the Headmaster have?" Harry asked, going back to Snape's earlier statement.

"If we had not fought that day, I feel Albus would have stopped at nothing to have us on friendlier terms. Openly friendly terms, which would make the both of us targets for our respective houses. He tries to stay oblivious to the house rivalries between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and seems to think that the two of us could magically heal that gap."

Harry snickered at the use of 'magically', as it seemed everything the Headmaster did had to have some unknowable force driving it.

He knew however that their time was coming to an end, and he wondered just what would happen after they left this room.

Snape sensed the boys question and repressed a sigh.

"Harry. We must not act even remotely friendly towards one another. Remember that anger you held earlier, and use it as a shield or mask when around myself." He ended the locking charm, "Stay safe, and remember that I care for your wellbeing." Here he ended the silencing charm and his tone switched again.

"That, Potter, is why you will be serving detentions with me every evening this week after supper." His tone was one that brooked no arguements, giving Harry the extra time to collect himself.

The man stood, and ruffled the pre teen's hair affectionately.

"Fine sir." Harry started a soft trembling in his voice as he fought the elation he felt. "I'll see you in detention." His tone evened out, became stronger, and from the proud look in his mentors eyes, Harry had to try hard not to smile. Especially as the doors opened again.

"Every evening, 8 o'clock sharp, do not be tardy." He finished, before leaving the room with billowing robes and near murderous energy.

At the door stood none other than his best friends, who had rushed back to Harry to tell him that a student had been found petrified, and that the students of the school were all looking as if they thought Harry had done it.

His friends had kept the other students at bay by saying he had been held back by Snape, but the seeds of doubt had already been planted.

The boy knew that he would have to face everyone, and that if it all became too much he could tell Snape. The boy did however tell his friends about the detentions, and asked if they would walk him to and from them just so no one could accuse him if it happened again.

His friends readily agreed, and together they left the room. Harry immediately felt the scared and scornful stares of their peers, but he kept calm, trying instead to think up a plan to find out if Malfoy really was the Heir, and how to get to the Chamber of Secrets.

HPSSHPSSHPSS

Hermione had been the one to come up with the majority of their plan, as Harry had been unable to think past their house turning on him so quickly.

The twins weren't even there to be friendly faces anymore as they'd graduated last year. And Ginerva Weasley was unusually no where to be found, but they would try to brew a Polyjuice potion, and follow Malfoy even more closely.

Hermione and Harry had found out about the potion during their research with a book titled: 'Magicks Used to Change Ones Appearance'.

Harry was admittedly not the best brewer in the friend group, just below Hermione in skills and confidence, but she could likely brew it, and all Harry and Ron would have to do is get the hairs they needed for the potion to work.

That step wasn't too hard, as all they had to do was bump into or sit close enough to either Crabbe, Goyle, or Bulstrode to get the hairs. And knowing the Slytherins, they had always wanted any chance to mess with the Gryffindors, so that part was easy.

The harder part was getting the ingredients for the potion, buy since Harry had detentions with Snape, Hermione could sneak in and get what they needed, while Ron stood on look out.

Harry didn't want to tell his mentor what they were looking to make, or why, so he kept to lighter topics during his detention, cleaning cauldrons as they spoke quietly.

An alarm went off however, and as Snape stood to rush out of the classroom, Harry knew he had to do something for a distraction. Quickly standing he allowed himself to slip on some soapy waters cracking his knee on both the large pewter cauldron and the stone floor.

It really had hurt, and he wasn't expecting to his either object to hard. Most especially since his knee had started bleeding and he twisted his wrist trying to right himself before the full fall had taken place.

Snape had sighed, torn between his duty to his student, and his duty towards his potions. With a sigh, he knew that whomever had tripped his alarms were either trapped and he'd see them when he checked, or they had run, and he'd at least know what they'd taken.

From their he could identify the potion, and narrow down the culprits by year, house and skill level.

For now however he rushed over to the clumsy child and cleaned the floor to prevent further slips. He checked the boys knee, and after cleaning the space he cast a healing charm to close the wound. He next inspected the teary eyed boys wrist, and after healing it asked if the fall had hurt him anywhere else.

Harry had only shaken his head, pulling the man closer for half a second before pulling away. The man hadn't offered him comfort since the day he'd learned he was a Parselmouth, so Harry knew not to expect it here.

Snape was this close to pulling the boy into a hug, or doing something else to soothe the boy, but his alarm had gone off again. With a deep sigh, he commanded Harry to get up slowly. Once the boy was up, he was to finish the last two cauldrons while sitting, then go back to his common room.

Harry agreed, thanking the man quickly so it didn't seem like he was trying to stall the man.

As Snape left the room, Harry sighed, quietly praying that his friend had gotten everything and was long gone.

Severus was enraged, not only had his things been taken, whomever had done it took more than one set of ingredients used for several potions. To top it all off, the type of ingredients meant that whomever had taken them could have been anyone from third year or above. Or perhaps a skilled first or second year, which did little to narrow down the suspects.

The man was seething when he went back to his classroom. He had not expected Harry to still be there, but his eyes were murderous, and the boy knew they were in for it if Snape ever found out.

The mans eyes had lightened somewhat, turning a deep blue instead of their normal black, and Harry could have sworn something else had changed, but it was over just as soon as he'd caught it. Snape finally realized that he was not alone, and he knew he truly had to calm himself before he said anything else he knew he would regret.

He had worked hard to get the boys trust back, and he would not blow it over something as small, though no less precious, as his private potions ingredients.

Harry was torn. He wanted to tell the man what they had done, but knew that if he did, he'd had to explain. And in the explaination he'd had to spill their plans, and suspicions, plus incur the wrath of the potions master. Not only would he be putting his friends through it too, he also knew that he'd lose a lot of the mans trust and respect. And that thought above all else, kept his mouth shut.

He would tell the man. He wouldn't be able to keep it a secret for long, but he knew it would further damage the friendship they had been rebuilding.

With a sigh, Harry finished the last of the cleaning and rushed from the room, stopping only to bid the man a warm good night.

HPSSHPSSHPSS

The trio had found their plan had a few cracks, despite Hermione's quick thinking by taking other ingredients than what they needed.

They still needed somewhere to make the potion, since they didn't have a cauldron and lab to use. They still needed a private place to change, and they needed their three targets out of the way.

That part was down to Harry and Ron, as Hermione sequestered herself in the second floor girls bathroom to make the potion.

Harry could have let ron go alone, as it was agreed upon earlier, but when they found out about Moaning Mertle and how she'd died, Harry wanted out.

Especially when she offered to let him share her stall when he died...

No, he was sticking close to the living for now, and as he and Ron did the dirty work, they hoped that everything went to plan.

Which of course it did not.

They had everything in place, the potion was ready, and they each had their own vial of the gross liquid. The hairs had been added as well, but once they'd drank it, the problems arose.

Hermione was turned into a partial cat, which whiskers, random tufts of hair, and a tail growing rapidly. Ron had no real problems, but Harry's had been a bit off, leaving him with a still visible scar and bad eyes.

He decided to keep his glasses on, thinking up a lie as he did, and covered his scar with a natural glamour he had been trying to perfect. It was a bit bubbly but hopefully it would stick.

They rushed Hermione to the hospital wing, leaving her there to go in alone, since they were already changed, and then rushed down to the dungeons where they'd seen the Slytherins disappearing into their own common room.

Harry stopped them, making sure their robes were Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. That was all they had time for, as they heard the potions Professor coming there way speaking to himself about cat children and stupidity.

He must have been speaking about Hermione, so they knew they didn't have very long to get what they needed.

And even this started off disastrously. They'd almost been caught out, but their lack of grace was normal for Crabbe and Goyle, so the only thing the blond really questioned was Harry's scar and glasses.

The boy quickly said that he took the glasses from the other boy, and had finally figured out a glamour to add the scar.

He added a harmful joke about himself and how blind he was, that 'Potter' was probably bumping into walls as he walked.

The joke gave them enough of a cover, and soon they got down to trying to get their information. It turns out Draco didn't know much more other than it was supposedly in the second floor girls bathroom, but had let out the fact that his father had slipped the Weaslette a cursed diary.

He had his back turned, so Harry could physically restrain Ron from hurting the blond and blowing everything to pieces. The blond didn't really know where the chamber was, and scoffed at the thought of Potter being the one to open the Chamber. Even though he thought the Gryffindor was stupid, he didn't think the other could open it even if he tried.

But as with all good things, it came to an end.

Ron's freckles started showing and the two knew they needed to leave.

The Malfoy heir knew something was going on, and tried to make them stay, but wasn't meant to be. They made up some excuse to leave, and agreed to meet the ferret in the dorms later, rushing out clumsily as Ron started getting a little too tall for his robes, and Harry got a bit shorter.

Once they were gone they rushed to a restroom and let the changes happen, fixing everything that was still wrong, like their uniforms and removing any extra glamours, then rushed up to the infirmary, acting like they'd just heard about Hermione.

The girl was in a bed, and looked small, but overall less hairy and cat like. She had hardly let them speak, instead giving them a look that said it all.

Harry smiled and told her in a hushed voice about what they had found out. However the night seemed to get a bit worse for Harry, as the very Professor he had wanted to avoid a little longer manifested from the shadows a bit after the story had been revealed.

Harry as the only one that saw the movement, as Hermione had started to fall asleep while Ron was busy talking about how cool it all was.

Harry saw the disappointment in the mans eyes, the anger and almost betrayal as he motioned for the boy to follow him. Harry told Ron je needed some air, then slipped out if the room, and silently followed the fuming Potions Master.

He knew he was in for something extremely unpleasant. Though when they got into the mans office and it was warded, he had not expected to be smacked on the back of his head, and screamed at.

"Are you absolutely incapable of curbing your ineffable bĂȘtise?!" The wording threw Harry for a loop, but he knew it probably meant stupidity.

"To not only raid my personal stores, but brew and consume an untested unsupervised potion, and spy so ineffectively on my snakes? Potter you have brought to the table a new low."

Harry tried to open his mouth, to explain why he hadn't told the Professor, but he couldn't. Instead he continued to listen to the man berate him, his friends, and insult their intelligence, until he ran out of steam.

"You should have trusted me to get you what you needed, whether it had been the potion, or the information, and yet you insult me by hiding it, plus stalling and deceiving me on the day my alarms went off..."

Harry wanted to cry, he knew the man would be angry, but this soft disappoint was so much worse than the harsh and loud anger he was faced with just minutes ago.

"Go. Do not speak to me for now, and for the love of Merlin do not do anything this stupid again." Snape finished speaking, unwarding the door, and pushing Harry out.

He hadn't taken points, he hadn't given a detention, but he had taken away Harry's one trusted outlet in only moments, and it was all Harry's fault.

He knew the man wouldn't write to him, so he did the next best thing after getting back to the dorms where Ron was waiting. Silently he went towards his bed, and after taking out the letters which had still been unread, sat down.

He pulled the curtains shut, and read the first letter in silence trying desperately not to cry.

Every single letter sent, up until they had their talk in the beginning of this year held an apology, as well as information he would have needed to know. It ranged from possible reasons for his link with Voldemort, to his schooling and what he might find useful to focus on.

The man asked after his health throughout them all as well, and finally the last one, the one from the welcoming feast this year. This was one stating that if Harry truly did not want to speak with him, he would attempt to respect it. He had apologized again and once more still, and Harry felt bad for ignoring them all.

He would send a message the next morning, and apologize for what he'd done. But he would also say that even if he had known he could ask, that he wouldn't have wanted to burden the man with his plans or non related school problems. He trusted Snape more than most, and he considered the man his Head of House and mentor, but he couldn't expect the man to let him break school rules, let alone take part in breaking them.

And that was exactly what he'd done, sending the message through a school owl for the man to read at breakfast, before he got ready for the day.

He knew Snape had read the message, and even though he set it on fire afterwards and glared at Harry, he knew that the man wasn't mad enough to fully ignore him. He would still keep his distance like the man had said to do, but this was the last message he'd send until the man felt more forgiving.

The forgiveness part seemed unlikely, however as the days passed. Harry and the rest of the school had found more petrified students, a shortage of matured mandrakes, more accusing looks and rumors, and the story about Hagrid and the unjust expulsion had become public knowledge.

Snape had more often than not been brewing potions to keep the petrified students alive whilst the mandrakes were maturing to be used in an antidote.

The golden trio had gotten sidetracked as well, when Hermione found herself petrified, and it was down to two.

Harry was gasping for air as the pressure was constantly crushing his lungs, and Ron was too worried about his baby sister to notice. Ginny had gotten angrier and less social, which was especially weird since she had loved making friends with her fellow first years in the beginning.

She would spend hours on end just writing in her diary-- the one they bow knew was planted by Malfoy's dad-- and speaking to herself. Sometimes she would disappear off somewhere and while the trio had the marauders map, they couldn't always follow her.

However one day, she went missing. Completely and utterly gone from the school, and the map, and no one had seen her.

Harry was tempted to break his promise and speak to Snape, but the man hadn't shown any sign of forgiving him yet, and he was busy as well...

No, he'd still send a message to the man to let him know that he was about to do something foolish. So before he could psyche himself out of it, Harry sent out the message with Hedwig, gathered a panicking Ron, and stormed down to their defense classroom.

There they threatened Lockhart to accompany them, or Harry would tell the world about his theft and lies. The man agreed, as even then as a child the savior had more fame and pull in the wizarding world than him. The three went into the girls restroom on the second floor, where they managed to open the chamber. All Harry had had to do was speak to the metal snake and say open, before the passage way was revealed.

The unlikely group made their way down the Chamber, where they had forced the teacher to accompany them, lucky to have already explored down here before with Hermione. However before they could get too far past the stone debris, bones, and snake skin, they were held at wand point by the Professor. He was not holding his own wand, as they had taken it from him for good measure, but Ron's broken one.

It was a lucky grab, but it meant that whatever spell Lockhart tried to use on them, would be wonky at best.

The man had cast an Obliviate, which backfired heavily, rebounding off of the chamber's walls, and breaking off enough of it to collapse most of their path. The spell then hit Lockhart straight on, and the man collapsed, left without any memories.

Harry told Ron to take the man back up, and to get some real help, while he tried to shimmy through a small opening.

Ron had wanted to argue, it was his sister that needed saving, but he also knew he was too big to fit without getting stuck. So he did as asked and left, taking the now unknowing Professor back the way they came.

As Ron lugged the heavy waste of magic onto the second broom they'd used to get down there, he saw his friend worming his way through the gap in the stones.