30

The Chamber of Secrets

"Are you sure Myrtle was the girl that was killed that last time the Chamber was opened?" Draco asked Emily quietly as they ate their breakfast the next morning in the Great Hall.

"I'm sure of it. I just don't know what to do with the information. I'm worried Dray, Harry and Weasley took off into the forest because of a clue from Hagrid, they are not going to let this go easily," Emily sighed pushing her plate away from her.

"Maybe we can figure out what the spiders are afraid of and tell Uncle Sev, he'll listen to us." Emily nodded her head and the two made their way to Charms.

It was a few minutes into class when Professor Flitwick brought up the topic of exams. He wanted to go over the material that would be covered.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Theo. "There is no way we should have to take exams! I will be talking to my father about this!"

"I am very serious Mr. Nott," Flitwick squeaked. "Professor McGonagall has deemed it necessary to hold exams as usual since the school is to remain open."

Emily like many others didn't think they would be having exams but she was very glad that she hadn't used that thought as a means to slack on her studies. The same could not be said for others obviously, as she looked around the room many people seemed to be panicked that they were expected to actually remember anything they had been taught that year. As Professor Flitwick called attention back to himself to start his review Emily opened a book on beasts that she had grabbed from her room that morning and began reading hoping to find something that would give her an idea of the monster terrorizing the school.

Three days before their exams were to start Emily was opening a package that Narcissa had sent her with books on beasts from the Malfoy Library when Professor McGonagall rose to address the students. At the pronouncement of good news many students began guessing what it might be before finally falling silent under McGonagall's gaze.

"The Mandrakes have been harvested this morning. Many of you will notice that Professor Snape is not at breakfast, he is currently cutting the Mandrake root as I speak. Tonight the Draught will be ready to revive all who have been petrified. Once awake we are hopeful that the victims will be able to direct us to the person who has been causing the attacks and that we can end this year on a positive note."

The hall erupted into cheers. Emily looked around noticing that the youngest Weasley seemed troubled as she made her way towards Harry. Shrugging it off for now Emily pulled Draco up with her to leave the hall. In the commotion around them Emily bumped into Percy.

"Sorry, Percy everyone is a bit excited with the news," Emily said smiling at the Gryffindor Prefect.

"No worries I am equally as distracted," he said.

"Oh that's right, you are seeing the Ravenclaw that was petrified correct?"

He nodded, "Yes but if you will excuse me I am starving, I have been patrolling since early this morning."

"Of course, bye Percy," Emily said receiving a wave in return as they went their separate ways. Emily really wanted to get to the library so that she could read the books Narcissa sent that morning, but she had yet to be able to take a moment to read, as many of the Professors had requested that she help her classmates in reviewing for their exams. She was currently on her way to the library but it was taking awhile since they had to be escorted and Lockhart was taking his time with dropping the Gryffindors off at History of Magic first.

Lockhart was always the first to tell you that the danger was passed and that it was a waste of his time escorting students in the corridors. Today he seemed even more against it as he kept trying to flatten his hair that was imperfect due to his late patrols of the fourth floor.

"The security measures are no longer needed and I am sure by tomorrow everyone will see that I have been right all along," Lockhart rambled on. "They will be saying it was Hagrid and we will be able to finish out the year in peace… this is a ridiculous waste of our precious time… you are old enough to walk yourselves to classes..."

Emily rolled her eyes turning to Draco who looked equally as bored with having to put up with the blonde ponce.

"Does he ever shut up?" Draco hissed. "It was bad enough he spent half of class complaining that he was having a bad hair day. I am positive our final will just be the same quiz he gave at the beginning of the year asking what his favorite color is."

"The year is almost over and hopefully he won't be back," Emily said.

"We can only hope… wait where is he going?"

Emily looked forward to see that Lockhart was waving at the class and leaving back down the corridor they came from. Not about to complain about Lockhart's departure Emily linked arms with Draco dragging him off in the direction of the library with her. When they reached the library Emily and Draco headed to the back where their favorite table was located and quickly sat down pulling out the books on beasts that they were looking through. They were having very little luck until Emily decided they needed to go over the facts again to see if they could narrow it down to one species.

"What do we know about the creature," Emily prompted.

"Spiders are afraid of it," Emily nodded and made a motion with her hands for Draco to keep going. "It has been in the castle since the time of Salazar Slytherin, if we believe the legends, but we know that it was for sure in the castle fifty years ago…" Emily looked at the list she had made and suddenly something stood out to her.

"Dray why did everyone think I was the Heir after the dueling club," Emily asked sounding excited.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her as if she was crazy but answered her anyway, "Because you can talk to snakes…"

"And why would speaking to snakes make me his Heir?"

"Slytherin was widely known for speaking to snakes, it is why our house mascot is a snake."

"So it would stand to reason then that the beast he placed in his Chamber would be some kind of snake correct?"

"That's a good theory but what kind of snake can possibly live that long?" Draco asked.

Emily shook her head before pulling a book on ancient beasts and their origins towards her, looking for anything about snakes. She found two references to snakes and quickly flipped to the first one. The more she read the more excited she became.

"I think I've found it," she excitedly whispered to Draco. "Listen to this… The legendary Basilisk also known as the King of the Serpents derived its name from the Greek word basiliscus meaning "little king". It is one of the most deadly beasts known to our world. This snake can reach lengths of up to sixty-five feet and live for hundreds of years. Along with venomous fangs, instant death awaits those who look into the snake's eyes. It is believed that the Basilisk lives mainly in desert lands and has been depicted in many Egyptian tombs. Spiders fear this beast above all other creatures. It is believed that the only way to control a Basilisk is to be a Parselmouth. The Basilisk only fears the crow of a rooster which is fatal to it."

"It sounds good but no one has died," Draco pointed out.

Emily thought about it for a moment, "What if no one looked it in the eyes directly…" Draco raised an eyebrow at this but kept quiet knowing Emily would elaborate. "Creevey was found sneaking to the hospital with his camera. He was probably looking through it when he was attacked. Finch-Fletchley is the easiest, he was with Sir Nicolas and must have seen it through him. It explains why Nicolas was affected at all, he took the brunt of the attack but you can't kill a ghost. I'm not sure about Granger and the Ravenclaw but Granger is smart she probably had figured it out since my brother and his friends seem to have been trying to solve the mystery this whole time and she took precautions."

"Okay but what about Filch's cat?"

Emily thought back to that first night and pictured the corridor on Halloween. "The hall was flooded. Peeves had insulted Myrtle again and she must have flooded the bathroom. Mrs. Norris saw it in the reflection of the water." Emily looked back at the book and reread the description again. "It makes sense. The only thing that it fears is a rooster's crow and I remember running into Hagrid the day Finch-Fletchley was found and he was going to talk to Dumbledore about something killing all the roosters. The spiders have fled the castle to escape the monster, it all fits."

"So, if it's a Basilisk, how is it getting around without anyone seeing it," Draco prompted.

Emily thought about it for a minute, "I would have to guess the pipes. Whenever I heard it, it was moving through the walls so that is my best guess." Emily and Draco sat there for a minute both thinking on the implications of what they had discovered until Draco spoke up.

"Em, what if the entrance is in a bathroom… more specifically a certain bathroom where a certain ghost that died fifty years ago haunts…"

"Myrtle's bathroom…" Emily offered as Draco nodded.

"We need to tell Uncle Sev," Draco said as they both jumped up and began to put their things away.

Emily and Draco swiftly made their way out of the library and down towards the dungeons. They hurried hoping to catch Severus before his next class. They knew the bell would ring any minute but it never came, instead they heard Professor McGonagall's voice amplified through the halls.

"Students are to go to their common rooms and all teachers are to meet in the staffroom immediately!"

"Do you think there was another attack?" Draco asked as they approached the painting that led to Severus's quarters.

"Callidus anguis," Emily said as the portrait swung open allowing them entrance. "I think we will just have to sit and wait for Sev to come back."

Draco and Emily settled in to wait for Severus to return. Isis sensing Emily's unrest coiled herself on her mistress' lap. It was about an hour before Severus burst into his room looking around quickly for things not noticing the two teens sitting on his couch.

"Uncle Sev what's going on?" Draco said drawing Severus's attention to them.

"What are you two doing here? You should be in the common room with the others!" he rushed as he grabbed a book from the shelf and started towards his potions lab.

"We need to talk to you about the Chamber of Secrets," Emily tried.

"I am sorry you two but you both need to go back to the common room. Ginny Weasley has been taken into the Chamber and the teachers are all meeting to try and solve this."

"That's why we want to talk to you!" Emily insisted.

"Em, now just isn't a good time. I have to go, you both get back to the common room and stay there!" he walked over to them and kissed their foreheads before hurriedly exiting his quarters.

"Well that didn't do much good," Draco stated. Emily just raised an eyebrow at the blonde as if to say 'you think'. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know. Odd that a pureblood was taken into the Chamber though…"

Draco nodded, "Do you think she knew something?"

"Possibly, all I know about her is that she is star struck over Harry and seems really quiet. Maybe we should just go to the common room and try talking to Sev later."

"Can we head to the kitchens first, I'm starving."

Emily nodded her head, "Sure but if Sev catches us sneaking around right now I'm blaming you."

Draco shrugged as they left Severus' quarters and headed towards the kitchens. On their way they noticed Harry and Weasley sneaking down a hallway towards the corridor where Lockhart's office was located. Draco groaned when Emily motioned for him to follow her knowing that his stomach was going to have to wait a little longer. They watched as Harry and Weasley knocked on Lockhart's door. Lockhart answered looking quite frazzled and out of sorts but allowed the two Gryffindors entry before shutting the door behind them. Emily and Draco crept towards the door and could hear the conversation going on inside.

"You are leaving?" Harry asked.

"I received an urgent call and I need to leave right away!" they heard Lockhart answer.

"But my sister! You're supposed to save her!" Weasley yelled.

"Yes well it is an unfortunate situation and I am sorry for your loss..." Lockhart fumbled.

They could hear banging which Emily thought was most likely Lockhart in his rush to leave.

"What about everything in your books!" Harry exclaimed. "You have been going on and on, all year about your achievements! How can you leave now?"

"Yes, well literature can be misleading…" Lockhart explained and Emily had to hold back a snort at that. She knew that man was a fraud.

"You're the author!" Harry yelled.

"Of course I am, but do you really think anyone would read them if it was a fat, ugly Armenian who accomplished the tasks. People want a hero and they want them to look the part. I simply gave the public what they desired…"

"You're a fraud!" Harry interrupted.

"Now Harry, you are being a bit harsh. No one was hurt and it makes the people happy to have me as their hero. A few of the tales are partially true I just expanded upon them and of course I had to put a Memory Charm on those I used for the basis of my stories. I may not be the most gifted wizard but the one thing I have always excelled in was Memory Charms. And now that you know I am going to have to obliviate you…"

Emily did not like where this was going and decided that now was a good time to intervene. She unlocked the door silently before opening it abruptly. The three occupants of the room were too surprised at the intrusion to stop her as she cast an Expelliamus at Lockhart effectively disarming him.

Emily caught Lockhart's wand before handing it to Draco who promptly threw it out the window. Lockhart looked in shock towards the window as he tried to stand up from where he had been blasted back into all of his luggage.

"What do you all want from me? I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is!" Lockhart said still staring at the window.

Quickly snapping out of his gawking at Emily and Draco, Harry turned to Lockhart, "We do and you're coming with us." Keeping his wand trained on Lockhart Harry led the man from his office with the other three second years following him. Draco kept glancing at Emily as they made their way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Emily, should we be doing this…" Draco whispered.

"If we leave now Harry will go into the Chamber by himself I can't let him do that," Emily said quietly never taking her eyes off her brother.

"Emily, you brought friends," Myrtle said floating over to the witch before she noticed Harry. Changing direction to glide towards Harry, Emily had to hold back a laugh as the ghost batted her eyelashes at her brother.

"Hello Harry, can I help you with something?" the young ghost asked sweetly.

"Uh… I was wondering if you could tell us about how you died," Harry asked.

"Really, oh it was frightful," she said trying to lay her head on Harry's shoulder making the Gryffindor decidedly uncomfortable. "Olive Hornby had been teasing me because of my new glasses and I had come in here to hide. I was crying when I heard a strange voice that sounded like a boy's. I couldn't understand him, he wasn't speaking English. Either way he shouldn't have been in here so I left the stall to tell him to get out and then I died."

"Myrtle, do you remember seeing anything before you died?" Emily spoke up.

The ghost turned to the Slytherin and smiled, "Just a large pair of yellow eyes. It was so fast… it was just over there." Myrtle pointed towards a sink just to the right of them. Emily approached it slowly and looked the sink over. Emily noticed that unlike the other sinks this one had a snake carved into the copper tap.

"Harry, there is a snake carved here," Emily said turning towards her brother who still had his wand trained on Lockhart.

"Does it work?" he asked looking from his captive to her.

"It's never worked," Myrtle interjected happily.

"Maybe try speaking in Parseltongue," Draco offered. Emily nodded and turned towards the tap. She thought of Isis and tried to imagine speaking to her, having never tried speaking Parseltongue without a snake in front of her before she found it slightly difficult at first.

"Open," she finally hissed and immediately the sink began to shake causing the girl to take a few steps back. It moved forward sinking into the ground, leaving a large pipe exposed.

"Let's go," Harry said moving forward quickly towards the pipe only to be stopped by Emily.

"Harry, think this through. We have it open, we can go get a teacher and let them know…"

"My sister is down there!" Weasley yelled at her, clearly unwilling to hear reason.

"We don't have time. I'm going," Harry said stepping around Emily towards the pipe again.

The witch sighed and shook her head, "Fine but send the blonde ponce first."

Lockhart looked at Emily in fear before turning to Harry, "No… no… you don't need me anymore… I'll just go back… I can go get another teacher…"

"I don't think so," Emily said pointing her wand at the scared man's face, "after you."

Lockhart slowly approached the pipe and kept throwing fearful glances at the small group of students hoping one of the second years would rescue him and allow him to leave. When he stopped and didn't appear to be able to continue Emily gave him a little helpful push forcing him down the pipe. Lockhart was quickly followed by Harry and then Weasley.

Emily turned to Draco, "You should go and find Sev."

"I am not letting you go down there by yourself," Draco said shaking his head.

"I won't be alone…"

"Em, none of them are trained like us. I can't let you go down there and end up in the hospital like last year."

"Fine," Emily gave in knowing they were wasting time. She turned to the pipe and slid down it, twisting and turning before landing on a damp floor in a large dark tunnel. Draco soon landed behind her. She noticed both Harry and Weasley already had their wands trained on Lockhart waiting for her and Draco to join them.

"Lovely," Emily muttered as she took in the dark stone tunnel before them. She quickly cast a lumos as did Draco to help them see better as they began moving forward. No one spoke as they slowly continued on. It wasn't long before there was the sound of crunching from under their feet as they stepped on small animal bones, likely the remains of the monster's meals. They all came to a stop when they reached a large snake skin lying in the tunnel. It was dark green in color and appeared to be over thirty feet long.

They all quickly turned from observing the skin when Lockhart suddenly collapsed onto the ground, his knees seemingly giving out due to fear. Weasley moved forward to get the man off the ground only to be knocked off his own feet by said man. Harry jumped towards them while Emily and Draco trained their wands on the crazed blonde who was jumping to his feet holding Weasley's wand in his hands.

"This is where our adventure ends," Lockhart declared. "I will be taking a bit of that skin as evidence and telling them how I was too late to help the girl and how you all were driven insane at the sight of her mangled body… I'm sorry but I can't let you keep your memories. You understand I'm sure."

He turned pointing the wand at Weasley and yelled "Obliviate" as Emily cast an Expelliarmus followed by an Incarcerus cast by Draco. Emily's first spell missed as Lockhart was blown backwards by Weasley's broken wand backfiring. Whether Draco's spell landed or not, Emily did not know as the ceiling of the tunnel began to cave in. When the debris cleared Emily found herself and Harry were alone looking at a wall of stone in front of them.

"Dray, are you okay?" Emily called out.

"We're all fine," came Draco's muffled reply. "Lockhart seems confused and Weasley is just standing here staring at the rock."

"I am not! Harry are you okay?" Weasley shouted.

"I'm fine Ron," Harry replied.

"Why don't you guys shift the rock. Try to be careful and we will keep going," Emily instructed.

"Em…" Draco's voice sounded worried.

"It will be okay, just shift the rock," Emily told him. The witch turned to face away from the newly formed rock wall and took a deep breath before starting to walk again.

"Emily it's a…" Harry began to rush out.

"I know," she said cutting him off. "If you see anything that moves close your eyes, do not let your guard down," Emily stated firmly.

Harry just nodded his head and quietly walked alongside his sister shooting glances at her every so often. Together they approached a wall that had large entwined snakes upon it. All of their eyes were sparkling emeralds that seemed to flicker in the wand light. With one last look to her brother Emily spoke to the wall, "Open."

The serpents began to uncoil and move to separate sides as the wall split to create an opening. Together the twins both stepped forward to enter the chamber.