(Reposted to correct spelling errors. This story demands to be written and takes over my day. For folks who are concerned when I get a name wrong, again, I am writing this for fun and hopefully for FanFiction people who enjoy the many worlds of 'what if Harry did this?' Please don't think this is serious work – just creative fun with Rowling's beautiful characters.)
Flammel GoldAfter Harry's experiments with a cartouche using English words to act as the runes proved to work to create gold (and drive the goblins into a frenzy), the young wizard found that the exercises also seemed to have strengthened his magic. He mentioned it to Dobby one morning after making a bag of gold. He didn't have class until ten and had hurried to his private classroom after breakfast.
"It's like I've been exercising a muscle and now it's stronger," Harry explained. Dobby nodded his head, walked around Harry and sat on the bag of gold.
"Mr Harry Potter been stretching his magical core. Pops off a couple bindings and seems to be purging out bad muggle influence not to do best schools work."
"Bindings and bad muggles, eh?" Harry replied and his elf friend just nodded, though Dobby did scowl a bit. "What are you thinking there Dobby?"
"Dobby think Dobby need to visit bad muggles and make their underwear all itchy forever. And shoes be too tight."
"Just don't do anything to get caught or in trouble," Harry said, not concerned that his relatives might have some discomfort in their lives.
Then Harry saw a truly evil look appear on Dobby's face and he stepped closer and said, "Dobs! No, whatever you planned, don't do it. I know you'll get in trouble."
The little elf looked slyly at the wizard and explained, "Dobby think goblins really like Mr Harry Potters more every time I take them a bag of gold. If Dobby tells goblins about relatives not letting Mr Harry Potter make any gold in summer, goblins will take away relatives gold, jobs, house, car, clothes, food…bad muggles really sad then and leave."
His mouth hanging open, Harry didn't reply for a moment as he considered the idea of Vernon and Petunia penniless on the street. How would Dudley manage without snacks and telly all day long? He closed his mouth and asked, "Let me think about it before you do anything, okay?"
Dobby simply smiled and bowed his head. Looking around the Room of Requirement, Harry asked, "Hogwarts, have you got any more books on Nicolas Flammel and his Sorceror's Stone? I want to read about his gold and how the goblins worked with him."
The room was blurry for a moment before a single book and a pile of newspapers appeared on a table. The book was written in French but the newspapers were the Daily Profit from the 1800s so the English would be relatively easy to read. The newspapers carried a series of articles about an aborted goblin rebellion on the continent when the wizards appealed to Flammel to stop providing the goblins with 'nasty gold'.
'What are they talking about?' Harry wondered so he read more of the articles. Nicolas Flammel had an unexpected business loss when investments in the construction of the Suez Canal were lost in the problems associated with digging and opening the canal. In 1860, Flammel owed the goblins almost five million galleons. The secretive wizard used his stone to make a tremendous amount of gold to pay the debt and restore his personal fortune. He sent all the gold through Gringotts Paris and the gold 'made' the goblins there ill.
Harry snickered and in his mind, he imagined a line of goblins walking past an ancient wizard handing out the pieces of gold from a bowl like a muggle at Halloween. And like the little kids, the goblins put the gold in their mouths but begin to cry and choke.
'Must have tasted like bad potions. Dobby says the gold we send to the goblins makes them dance and laugh.'
The resolution to the problem was that the French magical government arranged to open a gold mine near the Swiss city of Basel. This mine's product – Flemmel's gold – would enter the muggle economy and not the magical economy. Gringotts Paris was allowed to invest in the muggle industries and farms to make up for the loss in revenue. And Flemmel fell under close watch for fifty years because of the wealth he was spending so freely.
"Dobby, are the goblins going to tell anyone about our gold?" asked Harry.
"No, Mr Harry Potters. They like gold for slobbers and dance without telling any wizards. And no magical wizard government collects taxes on incomes. Wizards only pay taxes when buying stuffses. Maybe on properties sometimes but not on gold in bank. Wizards in Magical Britain don't even pay taxes on death. Rich wizards stay rich in Magical Britain."
"So until I spend it, no one knows I have gold," Harry asked. Dobby nodded and held up the key to the new vault underneath Gringotts.
"Take this bag to the goblins," Harry said, handing the heavy bag to Dobby. "I got to get to Runes and help Justin with his cartouche."
In Runes, Harry and Justin were carving Norse runes into the Egyptian cartouche and listening to Professor Babbling lecture on not mixing alphabets in their runic arrays. Harry sat back, not carving along the outline he'd drawn in charcoal on the sandstone plate, and seemed to be thinking.
"What you going to ask, Harry?" asked Justin.
Making certain no one was close enough to hear, he replied, "Babbling says not to mix alphabets…but we're carving Norse runes inside an Egyptian cartouche. The Viking wizards never developed a cartouche or 'holder' of any kind for their runes."
Justin nodded and continued with his carving, thinking about what Harry said. After class, in the hallway, as they walked toward history class, Justin asked about the question and asked, "Why did you not ask Babbling about that?"
Harry replied, "Professor Babbling is great and we're learning lots from her. But she only sees one way to do stuff."
She wants us to be safe and not blow up our desks, faces or hands with a wild runic array," Justin pointed out.
Nodding in agreement, Harry said, "And that's why she is feeding us the information in sequence, I suppose. But I've seen where cartouches include multiple runes from different languages – in fact, you can put a cartouche with runes inside anotehr cartouche."
"Wow," Justin replied as they reached the history class. In this class, Harry moved to the front of the seats and as soon as Professor Binns appeared, the young wizard asked about the goblin rebellion in Paris in 1869.
The ghost replied, "Young wizard, you refer to the Goblin Insurrection in Paris of 1868 that was forcefully squashed by wizards without the help of muggles. The Paris horde of goblins has violated the statute of secrecy on two occasions and forced the ICW to intervene with muggle arms to force the goblins back under the ground. The French magical…"
'So wizards write history to be what makes the goblins sound bad, not what really happened,' Harry thought. He didn't notice that the other students remained awake to hear about this story heard for the first time.
CHANGE SCENE
Cast PatronusIn DADA class, Harry heard a group of Slytherin students talking about a brush with the Dementors along the pathway to Hogsmeade on Saturday.
Daphne Greengrass shuddered as she explained, "We were in the carriage and they swooped down over us. Fortunately, Percy Weasley was in the next carriage and he cast his Patronus.
Tracy Davis nodded. "It was a bright collie and the figure of the dog drove the beasts away."
Calling the class together, Professor Lupin revised his warnings about the Dementors and how to counteract the bad feelings left by an encounter with one. "Eat lots of chocolate. Honey Dukes is offering special pricing to students and inhabitants of the town to help everyone."
Draco Malfoy spouted off, "Malfoys don't need special pricing!"
There were sad sighs from his Slytherin classmates who were tired of listening to the pompous boy. Harry noticed that even the two body guards that hung around Draco looked worn from dealing with the feelings of the Dementors over the weekend and Draco's speeches. Most telling was Pansy Parkinson's attitude – apparently she too was tired of Draco.
"Today, we're going to revise the core strengthening exercises and then gently try the Patronus spell. Those of you exposed to the Dementors won't feel like doing it but this is the perfect time to try it. You won't need the Patronus when you feel at your best – you'll need it when you're scared and depressed feeling the Dementors around you…coming for you."
The class passed slowly with the core exercise first and Harry watched Professor Lupin simply glance at him once and nod as if he could see the stronger core. Ron Weasley continued to whine about having to 'strengthen' his core.
"I'm a pureblood wizard," he stated. "I got a strong core naturally."
The other purebloods, even in Slytherin smirked because they all believed that to be true. Professor Lupin knew better so he asked, "Were you exposed to the Dementors on Saturday Mr Weasley?"
"No," Ron replied without further explanation. The other Gryffindors knew Ron had detention with Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick to force him to complete missing essays and punish him by missing the trip into Hogsmeade.
Lupin smiled and continued, "Then with several months of instruction and core exercises – or not – you should be able to cast the Patronus charm and create a good shield if not a creature to defend yourself and your fellow students from a Dementor. Let's see it."
Ron nervously moved to the centre of the classroom and drew his wand, and cast the spell Expecto Patronum. His pronunciation was good (better than expected) but the only result from Ron's wand was a dribble of white light that lasted for only a few seconds.
"Try again, Mr Weasley," encouraged the professor, but the second try was the same as the first.
"I urge you to practice the core exercises, Mr Weasley. Don't try the Patronus spell again for two months. It takes a lot of power from your core and if you try too often, you'll crack your magical core." Lupin looked around the room and asked, "Okay, who wants to try next?"
The class passed slowly as the pureblood, muggle-born and half-bloods tried the spell and most failed to get even the same results as Ron. Blaise Zambini's wand formed a shield that lasted for a full sixty seconds but Draco had no result from his cast except to have to sit down and then lower his head onto his arms and begin to snore. Finally, it was Harry's turn at the end of class.
Gripping his wand firmly in his hand, and gathering his happy thoughts – discovering that he was a wizard, making his friends or Dobby laugh, and discovering how to create gold using a runic array – Harry cast the spell, "Expecto Patronum!"
The students and the professor held their breath as a large stag appeared from Harry Potter's wand. The glittering and sharp antlers topped out at two meters above the floor and its black hooves struck the stone floor loudly as it moved about the room, searching for dangers to its wizard.
'It's corporeal,' Lupin realized. 'I can hear the hooves click across the floor! What exercises has he been doing? How powerful is Harry?'
The stag stopped in front of Draco Malfoy, leaned over to sniff the sleeping boy, and then snorted. The air moved around Draco and woke him up. Lifting his head, Draco stared into the face of the Patronus, and he fought between grinning with joy from the happiness the charm threw about the room while the wizard attempted to scowl at Potter. Harry's laughter at Draco's discomfort caused the rest of the class to join in the laughter and they clapped to recognize Potter's success.
"Twenty points to Gryffindor," Remus said quietly. I believe Mr Potter has been performing the core strengthening exercises once a day this school year. And everyone can see the results."
The Patronus faded away and Harry remained still, looking at his wand and then at Draco, who still smiled from feeling the positive energy from the tall deer. Ron Weasley frowned and thought about making some remarks but remained silent for once. Hermione Granger also frowned and stared at her wand, wondering why she was having trouble getting this 'simple' spell to work.
Blaise Zambini congratulated Potter on successfully casting the spell and when Weasley burst forth with comments about nasty snakes and Malfoy fussed at his housemate, Harry and Blaise wondered how they ever were friends with the bigots in their midst.
SCENE CHANGE
Black AttackIn the middle of February, one night proved terrifying in the Gryffindor tower when the boys in the third year awoke to Ron Weasley's screams. Pulling back their bed curtains, they saw a dirty wizard with a large knife in his had stood over the youth in bed, "I'm going to kill you, Peter! Kill you dead! Damn you, Peter!"
There were shouts from the hallway and Percy Weasley's collie Patronus flew in through the walls to speed around the intruder. The man yelled about 'Peter' again before running from the dorm room and down the stairs. The bright collie vanished and Harry drew his wand, prepared to summon his Patronus if the man returned.
McGonagall was summoned and even though the door leading into Gryffindor was damaged, she refused to believe the story told by Percy and his youngest brother. Harry didn't offer any testimony when Neville, Seamus and Dean were told 'be silent' by their head of house.
"Mr Weasley just had a nightmare and some accidental magic damaged the door. Now, Percy Weasley, get Ron Weasley a calming potion and everyone go back to bed," McGonagall said. The head of Gryffindor muttered aloud about cowardly lions the whole trip down the stairs.
Few of the boys in the third year room got any sleep that night and Dobby provided each of them with a pepper up potion when they got out of bed the next morning. The rumours flew the length of the Gryffindor table and leapt to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables before the end of the meal.
"Sirius Black was inside Hogwarts last night and tried to kill Harry Potter! The crazed killed kept calling him 'Peter' but Black must be insane after twelve years in Azkaban! There was a knife! A large knife!"
Before the end of breakfast, Ron had changed the tale somewhat to be that he drove the criminal away from the dorm room while everyone else hid under their beds. When Harry made it to his private workroom that afternoon, he found Dobby sitting there rocking back and forth. Quickly hugging his friend, Harry asked why the elf was distressed.
"Dobby not watching Mr Harry Potters last night! Bad wizard could have stabbed, stabbed blood, killed Mr Harry Potters before Dobby could stop him."
"Dobby, it's alright," Harry explained. "The guy was after someone named Peter and was at Ron's bed."
"But Mr Harry Potters still be scared!" insisted Dobby.
Harry admitted, "I am scared, but I don't know what to do."
The elf sniffed and said, "Make gold and hire goblin bodyguard to watch room at night? Buy giant glamour spell to hide Hoggiewarts castle? Make some new runes to hide Mr Harry Potters? Or make runes capture bad wizard!"
Sitting in his chair, Harry said, "Well, I am sure Dumbledore would say 'no' about a bodyguard and he'd want to know where I'm getting gold. I can't hide all of Hogwarts but I can turn invisible anytime I want. I just didn't think about that last night."
The elf scowled at the boy-wizard as Harry continued, "But I like your idea about using runes to capture the bad wizard the next time he shows up."
That afternoon, the young wizard wrote out his ideas for a series of runes to grab the wizard, petrify him, but then he wondered what he would do next. When he turned his attention to an essay for transfiguration, he scowled at the memory of Professor McGonagall dismissing the threat in the dormitory the previous night.
'Just like in my first year when the stone was threatened,' Harry remembered. There wasn't any adult he could really count on to help.
CHANGE SCENE
Into the Chamber of SecretsAt dinner, there was a different set of rumours running between the tables in the Great Hall. The news began at the Ravenclaw table and spread out from there. Someone in Britain was selling basilisk potion ingredients. Schooling his features carefully, Harry listened to the stories but didn't comment. The rumours were that a major potions journal in Paris published an advertisement for huge amounts of basilisk skin, meat, sinews, blood and venom that would be released into the marketplace as potions ingredients over the next four years. The release would begin with a few ingredients to stimulate potion masters to revise long forgotten potions and think of possible new potions. Then after twelve months, a larger number of the ingredients would be released to meet the demand for these potions. A comment from the Slytherins that made the rounds was that the plan would maximize the profits from the rare find.
"Yes," added a Ravenclaw who then said, "But where did anyone find a basilisk as huge as the one mentioned in the journal article? They never live long enough to grow that big…thirty meters!"
"But why isn't the Daily Prophet reporting this story?" asked a Puff.
"Probably because the seller wants people in other countries to believe the advertisement."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked an older Slytherin student.
Several Ravenclaws rolled their eyes as one of their older members replied, "No one outside of Britain believes anything printed in the Daily Prophet. If Fudge is on the cover announcing that Merlin has returned, no one would believe except for the sheep in Magical Britain."
"That's quite enough, Mr Hennesy," Dumbledore commanded from the head table. He finally heard the students talking about a basilisk and sent Snape to the dungeons to retrieve a copy of the journal though he saw one in the hands of a group of Ravenclaw students. He glanced toward Flitwick and saw the half-goblin with his wand in his hand watching the headmaster rather than his students.
Snape returned with the journal and handed it to Dumbledore with the page with the advertisement open. Scanning the description of future ingredients and staring at the picture of the beast beside a French potions master, Dumbledore noted that all orders had to be processed through Gringotts London.
'Someone stole my basilisk,' Dumbledore decided. 'No one steals from me.'
Pointing toward the well-known French potion master, Severus asked, "If the beast is French, why are they selling everything through Gringotts London?"
Filius offered an explanation, "Gringotts London has more contacts around the globe for faster delivery. Gringotts Paris has never fully recovered from the muggle wars and Grindenwald's battles around Paris."
Dumbledore stared at the goblin-sized professor for a moment before answering, "No. The sales must occur from London because of our tax laws. Anything originating in Britain must be sold here so the Ministry for Magic can collect a sales tax – that's how we fund our government. Any merchant or seller who took their ingredients to France before the sale would lose their licenses to sell and distribute anything in Britain, have their vaults confiscated, and spend a year or two in Azkaban."
Snape and Flitwick exchanged glances wondering where this basilisk originated within Britain. Both men connected the dots together at the same time and while Flitwick remained calm, Snape began muttering curses under his breath aimed at Harry Potter for somehow being involved with a basilisk but the worst curses were aimed at Dumbledore for allowing this treasure to slip through their fingers. The potions master felt his heart threaten to stop beating as he imagined the limb restorative potions that could bring in piles of gold as well as the new potions that could be developed with access to large amounts of the potent venom of a creature thirty meters long.
Rising from the table, Dumbledore made his way between the tables of the students while the meal continued. The unusual action by the headmaster caused conversations among the students to stop for a time as the wizard passed. He reached the end of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables before turning toward the Gryffindor table and making his way to stand behind Harry Potter. At the staff table, Babbage asked, "Aren't you going to go help Mr Potter, Minerva?"
"Why?" asked Minerva, not considering any intervention necessary.
"You are his head of house, and must stand up for your students in these situations," the Bathsheba reminded the Deputy Headmistress.
"Potter can sink or swim on his own merits," McGonagall replied, turning her attention back to her meal. The other professors around her frowned and considered how to proceed. Harry gave no indication that he saw the headmaster approaching his place at the table.
From behind him, Dumbledore said, "Mr Potter, you will come with me…now."
"Sure thing headmaster," Harry replied. He turned to Neville and said, "See you in Herbology in a bit."
Everyone in the Great Hall watched as Dumbledore led Harry Potter from the room. From the staffing table, Remus Lupin, Bethesda Babbling, Filius Flitwick, and Severus Snape ran behind them to catch up. Neville Longbottom immediately rose to follow and then a trickle of adventurous students followed including Justin Finch-Fletchley, Fred and George Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Percy Weasley, Penelope Clearwater, Blaise Zambini, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracy Davis.
The strange party made its way to the second floor and the door to a girl's loo where Harry killed a troll at Halloween in his first year. In his second year, he entered the Chamber of Secrets through this room. Dumbledore stared at the boy who would not look him in the eye and said, "Mr Potter, I think it is time that you and I explored the Chamber of Secrets."
"Sure professor, but Fawkes isn't around so how do we get out when we're finished?"
"I shall make a portkey to return us to the castle once our adventure is complete," Dumbledore replied.
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment but then shrugged and turned to look over the professors and students gathered behind them.
"You should all go about your business…" Dumbledore said in an attempt to dismiss the others.
"Oh, Merlin's balls, no!" Flitwick cursed. "A chance to see Salazar Slytherin's secret chamber isn't something I'm willing to miss."
"Besides Headmaster, you–we–would be safer with larger numbers in case there's really a monster here," Remus added. "The legends say it was a most powerful creature."
"We're the pawns to absorb the spells while Grand Warlock Poohbah scurries back to safety," George whispered to Fred.
"Right you are my less intelligent brother," Fred replied.
Harry pushed open the door, stepped up the sink and in parseltongue said, {Low and behold, the great Dumbledore comes before the sink to wash his hands. Let the sink open and swallow him whole.}
With a loud cranking sound of rusty pipes, the sink separated into halves and then collapsed down into the floor. There were stairs with a handrail and wizard lights that ignited along the whole length of the staircase. Harry glanced back and said, "It's a long walk down."
Then he stepped forward and led the way into the chamber of secrets with a substantial tail of people following. The trip down took fifteen minutes and Professor Babbling wondered about the trip back up the stairs – it would be like climbing to the top of the astronomy tower three times over to reach the top of the stairs again.
"Ron said this was dirty and full of bones. Our brother is stupid," Fred told George. They exchanged a glance that meant, 'And is that news to anyone?'
The flooring at the bottom of the stairs was native stone and spotlessly clean. Detailed stonework much like that found in Great Hall created an arch and walkway that led deeper into the chamber. Outside a door that resembled the entry to the Slytherin dorms, Harry once again used the language that sounded like hissing to open the door. {Oi, snake face, open up. If anyone besides Harry Potter says this to you, turn off the lights and close the doors.}
Stepping inside the chamber, the party found a spot where something had burned but there was no sign of a dead basilisk anywhere. Harry frowned and fell silent but after only a moment, he said, "Well, this is where it…oh crap!"
Glancing around nervously, Harry turned and motioned for everyone to follow him as he returned to the second door. Calling back over his shoulder, he demanded, "Come on, we gotta go now! Run as fast as you can!"
"Potter! What are you doing?" demanded Snape.
"Where's he going?" asked Neville.
"Harry, stop!" called out Professor Babbage.
"Heck no," Harry called back. "That thing's come back to life and slithered off to hide again. If we stay there and make enough noise, it'll come out and eat us!"
"Potter, a basilisk can't come back from the dead," Dumbledore called out to reassure the boy.
Harry replied, "And how many of those things have you seen and killed? I'm not going to hang around and find out!"
"I'm with Harry!" shouted the twins, Justin, and Neville who led the other students from the chamber, with the teachers following behind at a brisk pace. Severus Snape continued cursing, Dumbledore glanced about fearfully, and Bathsheba Babbling was confused by everything she'd seen and heard today. Noticing that Harry wasn't running, merely jogging, Remus Lupin began to suspect that a masterful prank was being implemented. And he went along with Harry's plan.
Once outside the second door, Harry called out, {Close in the name of Salazar Slytherin. But if my name is Albus Dumbledore close and open five times while he runs away.}
The walk back to the staircase was fairly quick with Potter urging everyone to hurry up the stairs. Behind them the lights began to extinguish and this as much as anything encouraged the back of the party up the stairs. The students who were forced to climb many flights of stairs many times each day faired better on the climb with most of the adults following behind. Remus offered his arm to Bathsheba and she gladly took it, while Flitwick levitated himself up the staircase, reaching the entrance to the bathroom first. There Minerva McGonagall waited with a large number of students in the hallway, all waiting to see what the others reported.
Harry Potter and the other students reached the girl's loo next and continued out into the hallway where they sat on the floor, trying to catch their breath. Remus, Bathsheba, and Severus were next and Dumbledore arrived last as the final torches flickered out and the sink rose from the floor to close the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
The Slytherin students rushed to the tower where the postal owls lived to send notes home to their parents. Fred and George circled Ron asking questions while Percy and Penny dispersed the other students to their classes, and then walked Ginny back to the Gryffindor tower to reassure her. Justin and Neville stayed close to Harry who made certain everyone had wandered off before he said, "Let's head to Herbology, Neville."
CHANGE SCENE snicker…
Trapped and RescuedSnape and Dumbledore returned to the girl's loo on the second floor that night. Using a spell he'd stolen from some family or other in his misadventures, Dumbledore cast his memory of Harry Potter's voice opening the sink, {Low and behold, the great Dumbledore comes before the sink to wash his hands and butt. Let the sink open to swallow him whole.}
The sink hesitated a moment and then broke apart and opened, sucking the headmaster and potions master into the opening and throwing them down the shaft leading to the Chamber of Secrets. The stairs were missing as were the wizard torches. Once they landed among the skeletons of rats, a few giant spider shells, and moulted basilisk skins the two wizards cast spells to light their way and clean their robes. The archway was missing and Dumbledore was forced to use all his power and patience to open a large, safe passageway. Along the walkway, the two wizards remained in the darkness though Dumbledore's funny wand cast a wide torch. About halfway to the second door, all the wizard torches ignited and provided light into every nook and cranny of the hallway. At the door, Dumbledore played the second memory of Potter hissing and opening the door, {Oi, snakeface, open up. If anyone besides Harry Potter says this to you, turn off the lights and close the doors.}
After the torches fell into darkness and the door remained closed, Snape wiped his free hand across his face nervously. Dumbledore asked, "A light please Severus."
With Snape's wand lighting the immediate area around the second door with a rather large light, Dumbledore tried playing Harry's third hissed command, {Close in the name of Salazar Slytherin. But if my name is Albus Dumbledore close and open five times while he runs away.}
The second door slid open but then immediately closed, opened and closed, and repeated the movement three more times. The two wizards traced their steps back toward the entrance of the chamber.
"Just imperious the boy and bring him down here," Snape growled. "Creatures don't revive after being dead."
"Severus, as Mr Potter wisely pointed out, no one living has ever battled a basilisk and lived to tell the tale except for…"
"It must be a lie! Potter never battled a basilisk or any other snake here," Snape declared. "He's not capable of the magic needed to do that! You've said so yourself!"
The two wizards made their way back to the entryway and were flummoxed when they found the entrance far above them closed as well.
"I'd boil you in dragon's blood if I thought it would do any good," Severus muttered to Dumbledore when the headmaster's portkey failed to engage and apparition proved fruitless. Dumbledore conjured himself a throne and sat down to think while Snape simply softened a pile of rocks to provide a seat.
At breakfast the next morning, Minerva questioned the other staff members about any plans the headmaster or Snape might have mentioned. No one had heard them say anything and it was lunchtime before Remus suggested that they ask Mr Potter to open the chamber of secrets again. Frowning, she motioned for Remus to handle the situation and the DADA professor approached Harry and made the request.
"The Deputy Headmistress appears to have lost a headmaster and a potions master. Would you open the Chamber of Secrets again and see if they are stuck down there?"
Harry began laughing and most of the rest of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff chuckled along with him while he walked out of the Great Hall with Professor Lupin. Fred and George Weasley and Professor Flitwick followed along. In the girl's loo on the second floor, Harry hissed, {Open}.
Remus checked his laughter but Filius, Fred and George immediately realized that a prank had been played with the commands to open the sink and began laughing. While they watched, the sink opened and once again, the stairs were in place and the torches ignited. From the bottom of the passageway, Severus Snape yelled, "Fifty points from Gryffindor, Potter! Detention for a month with me scrubbing cauldrons with your own underwear!"
After five minutes, Snape sounded out of breath and shouted, "Another five hundred…"
The headmaster muttered something behind the potions master and Snape growled before yelling, "Fifty points from Gryffindor! Forty points from Gryffindor! Sixty points…"
When Snape climbed from the entrance, Harry stood behind the two professors. Both wizards had their wands out and stared at the potions professor.
"Potter! You imbecile! You should have opened the sink after breakfast!" Snape bellowed.
"Severus, why would Harry have thought to do that?" asked Flitwick.
"Why didn't you send us a Patronus with a message that you were trapped in the Chamber of Secrets, Snape?" asked Remus.
Filius looked the potions master over and explained, "Professor Snape couldn't find a single happy memory in the wee hours of the morning to summon a Patronus. He was stuck in the cold with Albus Dumbledore, and worried that a giant basilisk would appear out of the dark to eat him in a single gulp."
Snape sneered but neither wizard looked away. Just then Albus Dumbledore appeared at the sink, his glorious robes spattered with mud and dirt with the bones of several rats attached to the hem.
"Remus, Filius, and Harry! Thank you for opening the door again. I don't understand why the spells didn't work to open all the doors," declared Dumbledore, hopeful of an explanation from the boy if not the two adults. "And when Professor Snape and I braved the danger to return and seek the basilisk, the stairs were missing the torches would not remain lighted. We were in darkness for many hours."
No one offered any reasons and the disappointed headmaster began the trek back to his office to dispose of these robes, bath two or three times, and then dress for the day. After Snape stalked away, Flitwick said, "All detentions are cancelled, Mr Potter."
"Ninety-nine points to Gryffindor, Mr Potter," said Remus. The DADA professor hesitated for a moment before he added, "…for rescuing Severus Snape."
"Oh I say, that is a good idea," the charms professor echoed the DADA professor. "Another ninety-nine points for rescuing the headmaster."
"And another ninety-nine points for pranking everyone along with the headmaster and potions professor yesterday," added Remus.
"Prank?" asked the half-goblin who stood still for a moment. Then he turned to Harry Potter and asked, "Yesterday…in the chamber…that was a prank about the basilisk coming back to life?"
Harry merely grinned and shrugged while the charms professor laughed so hard he had to sit on the floor for a moment. When Filius collected himself, he stammered, "Fifty points…another twenty points…and thirty more points…best prank since your father and Sirius Black turned Minerva into a wizard."
"When was this?" Harry inquired.
Filius was still laughing so Remus explained, "It was only for a very long couple of days when we were in our sixth year."
Weasely twins stared at everyone while Harry laughed and asked, "My Dad and his friend did that?"
Unable to help himself, Remus continued, "No one was able to stop laughing when Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall with a five o'clock shadow. She didn't know the shaving charm for a man's face."
"Gred, we're amateurs…nothing but amateurs," one twin told the other who simply nodded.
CHANGE SCENE and snickering all around Hogwarts as the story spreads. END CHAPTER