Hey everyone! I have decided to change parseltongue from #hello# to 'hello' when I have a moment I will try to remember to go back over existing chapters and change it. But keep this in mind for this and following chapters.
It had been dismally easy to give their escort, Lockhart, the slip after lunch. He had been rambling about how he would keep them safe and how he could fight anything. In the end, all the Cambions had to do as he led the Slytherins around a corner, was not follow them, hiding around the bend. The heads of houses had been pulled into a meeting by Dumbledore along with the Potters and Remus. As lunch had ended the entire Board of Governors had arrived with stony expressions and an ominous cloud around them. Students had been chattering excitedly over what could be happening in the meeting. The only ones quiet were the Cambions, they knew if this didn't work out, the school could be shut down.
"Did you bring the fake diary?" Hermione asked as she led them to the second-floor lavatory.
"What do you take me for?" Harry gasped mockingly offended. "I keep it with me at all times just in case we got lucky," he relented after a brief staring contest.
"Are we sure, and for the lack of a better word, the victim of the diary will be here?" Draco asked.
"He has a point" Daphne nodded as they climbed the moving staircases, eyes darting around hoping to Magic herself they didn't get caught. "All students were being escorted back to the common rooms."
"We managed to slip away." Blaise rolled his eyes.
"We had Lockhart." Pansy snorted derisively as they reached the second floor.
"Even if they aren't here, hopefully, Myrtle can help us." Harry shrugged as Hermione opened the door to the lavatory which thankfully was the closest door to the stairway entrance.
"Why should I help you with anything?" A disembodied scorning voice came from inside.
"Hello? Myrtle Warren?" Hermione called out questioning as the door swung shut behind them. The ghostly head of a young girl poked itself out of a bathroom stall, through the door before floating out to get a look at who was calling for her by name.
"Oh, is that really you?" Myrtle squealed, swooping out quickly before stopping directly in front of the twins. Her entire body translucent, hovering over the floor in front of the cambions. Long black hair in two pigtails, round glasses framing what should've been deep blue eyes, now like all ghosts, they were dark grey. An expression of wonder and happiness across her young face. Her hands reached out, one to a cheek of each twin, she was cold but all the three could feel was warmth.
"You really do look like the perfect blend of your mother and father." She giggled, choking up emotionally. "I had wondered when this day would come. When he visited me last year to tell me he had just watched his first-year son in his first Quidditch match I didn't believe him to begin with. How could the little toddlers that he came to me worried about raising already be at Hogwarts? Of course, he also explained he hadn't told you about me yet, unable to find the words to explain to two eleven-year-olds that his soulmate died. I more than understood, which I told him when he felt guilty about it, but oh I had looked forward to finally meeting you," Myrtle floated down to sit on the floor, as they did to get more comfortable.
"It's great to finally meet you too," Hermione smiled.
"Now, as much as I love meeting you, we can catch up and talk about you and your Father whenever you want. You came looking for help?" Myrtle asked, the happiness fading into seriousness.
"Someone has Fathers diary and opened the Chamber of Secrets again," Harry admitted, flinching as she gasped, tears appearing again, this time though, was not happiness but fear. 'It must be awful being an eternal fourteen-year-old being stuck in puberty' the thought floated through Hermione's head before she shook herself back to the present.
"Have you seen anyone hanging around here more than usual or who shouldn't be here?" Hermione begged.
"We need to swap the diary with a fake so Dumbledore cannot destroy it."
"I haven't heard much, I don't interact with the other ghosts, portraits or Professors," Myrtle admitted.
"I prefer being on my own. Although I have had to chase a young boy out of here many times, I assumed he was part of the book throwing dare games. But now that I think about it, I don't recall friends being outside laughing or encouraging him."
"That could be them!" Harry jumped up in excitement.
"We don't know that yet." Hermione scolded.
"What can you tell us about him?" She directed at Myrtle.
"Small, mousy, blonde." Myrtle thought aloud.
"Definitely first or second year at that size. Oh, Gryffindor robes!" She added enthusiastically, clapping her hands silently.
"No way." Harry stuttered in shock.
"He didn't by chance have a camera with him at any of these times you saw him?" Hermione asked in resignation.
"You know, yes, he did." Myrtle nodded, looking confused when Blaise and Draco burst into laughter, having to hold each other up. Myrtle was puffing up again in frustration.
"It's a long story. I can't even start to explain" Harry shook his head.
"How is the-boy-who-didn't-actually-live's biggest fan doing this?" Pansy asked, completely confused.
"The diary has Magic we cannot fathom, but to understand then to look at the link is vital," Luna spoke softly.
"What link?" Daphne scoffed, although not unkind or harsh.
"The diary is controlling him, like a possession. But I don't understand the link." Hermione admitted, embarrassed she couldn't see it.
"The victims are all linked." Luna smiled as she explained.
"Mrs Norris, Dean Thomas, Annabelle Entwhistle, Irene Denholm and Zacharias Smith?" Theo read out from his little notebook.
"You wrote them down?" Blaise chuckled.
"I didn't know if it would be important or not." Theo shrugged.
"Mrs Norris was an omen with the threat on the wall. But the rest all have one thing in common." Luna continued after shooting a glare at Blaise for derailing the conversation.
"Dean Thomas is a best friend to Henry Potter, very known for his hatred and intolerance for us."
"Oh, Merlin" Hermione interrupted as she saw where Luna was leading them.
"Annabel Entwhistle and Irene Denholm were on their way to see Potter in the Infirmary after the Slytherin game, most likely complaining about how the Slytherin team 'damaged' Potter." Hermione continued.
"Creevey found them as well." Harry caught on.
"Zacharias Smith is also loud in his hatred of Slytherins, us in particular due to us reacting to him trying to bully Luna." Theo realized.
"The soul shard in the diary is protecting you in the only way a junior Dark Lord can." Myrtle chuckled.
"How did you see that?" Pansy asked, turning to look at Luna.
"It all fell in place when we figured out it was Creevey. It was as if Magic took on colours to show me a map of my thoughts in front of my eyes." Luna shrugged. Theo looked at her intensely, the full extent of her powers were still very much unknown, they showed her new ways to harness them at random, 'although' Theo mused, it didn't seem random now but instead when she needed them.
"Yes, we can study it after this mission," Luna promised him. Since they had met Theo and Hermione had loved talking to her about her Magic, writing it all down. She too wanted to understand it better and enjoyed the small things they found.
"So what's the plan? Wait here for him to show up?" Blaise joked.
"Yes," Harry responded so seriously that everyone whipped around to stare at him in horror. It wasn't long before they were laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
"You twit, I actually believed you for a moment" Blaise chuckled.
"It isn't going to be easy to just kidnap a student now everyone is on high alert." Harry thought aloud.
"Well we can't just wait for a moment, it's getting too dangerous and will only get harder to get him alone from here." He defended when everyone shot him a glare.
"It depends on what Father's younger Horcrux is doing." Hermione murmured.
"If he is trying to regain a body, then Creevey should almost be weak enough to drain dry." She huffed at the confused looks thrown her way.
"You can't just drain magic like blood. He would have been slowly syphoning what he needed to get strong enough from the possession. Then when his body is halfway corporal, he would be strong enough to drain the rest without overloading his core. If my mathematics of magic and runes is correct then Creevey will probably be the next victim and he will die."
"So when should that happen? It's not like he will just walk in now" Harry complained, it was that moment they all froze, hearing footsteps on the other side of the door. As quickly and quietly as possible they piled into two toilet cubicles beside each other. Myrtle floating above both, preparing to chase whoever it was, away from discovering her soul mate's children.
Her eyes widened as she saw who it was, looking down at the cambions she motioned for them to peek through the doors as subtly as she could.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me" Harry cursed as he watched Creevey himself walk in.
"Am I a seer now?" He asked sarcastically, grunting when Hermione elbowed him. Creevey then moved out of where they could see from the cracks in the cubicles, towards the middle of the entrance where the sinks stood. The sound of hissing had them all dropping their mouths. Although it wasn't just hissing, to Hermione and Harry it sounded like English, but broken English, it was clear the body didn't have the magic to support the dark tongue. Unlike theirs which sounded like proper English to their ears, it had taken them years to discern the hissing behind the words so they could control the switch.
The sound of creaking metal flooded their ears, Luna slapped her hands over her ears, as they others flinched. The sound of slamming and colliding and then silence. Carefully the two toilet doors opened and they came out looking around.
"No time like the present." Harry joked, stepping towards the sinks, despite the tone, his face was serious.
"Be careful," Myrtle whispered in fear.
"Aziza might be difficult to control if diary Tom has lost control, it isn't the full soul so he won't be sane."
"We will be okay Myrtle. Find our Uncle, Professor Snape, he can be trusted but he has to be alone. Tell him what we are doing, he will get Father." Hermione told her as she joined her brother at the sinks.
"If you do die, you can share my toilet." Myrtle joked to try and cover her fear before plunging down her toilet to follow the pipes in the hopes of finding Severus alone.
"You don't have to come," Harry said looking at his friends only to be hit on the arm by Draco while the others rolled their eyes.
"We will follow you anywhere," Draco snapped.
"Cambions stick together," Daphne confirmed with a sharp nod.
"So how do we get in?" Blaise asked, looking at the two Parselmouths.
'Open' Harry hissed, everyone took a step back in shock as the sinks rattled. Blaise standing on Pansy's foot and getting shoved into Draco. The sinks in front of them shuddered before the top floated up as if under a wingardium leviosa. The sinks then pushed forward, the sound of creaking metal again breached their ears, this time the wonder and excitement of actually entering the Chamber of Secrets overpowered the sound. The middle sink, which had a snake engraving on the faucet they now saw. Sunk down into the ground, a metal platform sliding over the top once it disappeared below. Exposed in the middle was a large pipe, large enough that a Basilisk wouldn't have any trouble sliding through.
"You know, I can't believe Salazar built the entrance in the girl's loo." Harry laughed slightly hysterical.
"He built the Chamber before indoor plumbing Hartford." Hermione sighed shaking her head.
"How did people do their business?" Blaise questioned as he peered down the giant pipe.
"Trenches or buckets and vanishing charms." Theo piped up, grinning when everyone turned to stare at him incredulously.
"I'm not even going to ask," Pansy decided with a mock shudder.
"You know" Draco spoke up as he leaned over Harry's shoulder. "I just can't imagine Uncle Tom just jumping down this pipe like a slide."
"That's a terrifying picture," Blaise muttered. "Does he slide down all sullen and serious with his arms crossed?"
"Well, I can't picture him having a blast and hooting with glee." Pansy considered. "He isn't one to just let go like that."
"Actually, that is a more terrifying image," Blaise shuddered.
"Are we done discussing my Father jumping down and can we just go, before Creevey dies or he releases the Basilisk again?" Hermione huffed.
"Ladies first then" Blaise mocked with a bow.
"Why are we friends?" Hermione sighed looking up to the roof, as Luna rolled her eyes and stepped forward.
"Ah, guys." Harry interrupted. "Luna just jumped." Jaws dropped as they looked down, and true to his word they could hear Luna's delighted laugh winding back up the pipe, long after her long blonde hair disappeared from sight. With a wide grin promising trouble, Harry winked as he grabbed Hermione's hand and leapt after his friend with a loud hoot of laughter mingling with Hermione's squeal of shock. With a shared shrug, the friends left at the top jumped in after them with their own laughs and screams.
The pipe seemed endless, twisting and turning down deep. The walls; slimy with moss and water dripping. Smaller pipes branched off every so often, but they stayed the course on the largest. The pipes continued to slide in steep plunges under the castle, going so deep they had to be under even the dungeons.
"How far are we going?" Draco's breathless shout reaching those in the front, suddenly as if answering him, the pipe started to straighten out. Right as they started to slow down it ended. A small sudden drop the size of a wand and they fell into a heap onto a damp ground covered in the bones of animals. A small cavern, big enough to stand in surrounded them.
"Oh get off!" Harry grunted from under the weight of his friends, glaring up as Luna stood beside them giggling, having avoided being landed on.
"What the fuck do you tossers eat?" He gasped rolling onto his back once the weight was removed.
"Charming." Draco scoffed. Grey eyes going wide as he took in the cavern. "Where are we?"
"I think we are under the lake," Hermione theorized before Harry could say something stupid like 'the Chamber of Secrets'. She brushed her robes down before pulling out her wand, giving it a wave "Lumos" the cavern lit up showing the other side had a tunnel the same size as the pipe.
"Onwards we go!" Harry cheered, brandishing his wand like a sword and using his own Lumos he strutted forward confidently. Six more voices chanted out Lumos, the combined light making it easier to traverse the uneven ground. It wasn't long before they came to a stop again, eyes wide, mouths open before a canopy of voices overlapped each other.
"Merlin's pants" Daphne gasped.
"Oh fuck this! Nope! I'm going back!" Blaise declared.
"I'm with Blaise!" Draco nodded.
"Oh, Merlin." Theo breathed in harshly.
"This is what is waiting for us?" Pansy asked shakily.
"That has to be easily 20 feet," Theo muttered as he grabbed Hermione's hand.
For in front of them lay the shed skin of a Basilisk. It was a daunting sight as it stretched out to curve around the next bend out of their sight. The skin poisonous green, illuminating under their wands.
"This is very well preserved, but there is no magical imprint left, it's well over ten years old" Luna hummed as she touched the skin, allowing her magic to read it's own leftover signature.
"Father said something about Parseltongue magic imbued on her by Salazar himself means that when she sleeps, she sleeps for years in order to preserve her lifespan," Hermione muttered as she reached out to touch the skin.
"How long do they usually live?" Daphne asked weakly.
"Around nine hundred naturally, but ones that are looked after, like on Avon Island are expected to live longer than that with all the care they get. And Aziza is already over a thousand so she could live even longer with spending so many years preserved." Hermione answered.
"They keep growing until they die, do you think she grew under the stasis sleep?" Theo queried.
"I doubt it. Father explained it as a complete holt of their biology." Harry shook his head.
"And how big do they usually grow to?" Pansy asked in fear.
"Fifty feet." Theo and Hermione chorused.
"But again, that's ones who lived in their natural habitat and food sources. The four on Avon Island are expected to exceed that, like their lifespan."
"Fuck," Draco hissed.
"Oh, Merlin" Pansy and Daphne murmured.
"On that note, if you see something move, close your eyes and stop moving. Wait for me or Harry to tell you to open." Hermione added as she turned to continue walking. "A Basilisk has a second pair of eyelids so that you can make eye contact but it won't have them up if it's heading back up to the school or on alert for an attack."
"And if it eats us while our eyes are closed?" Blaise asked, only half-joking as they passed the head of the skin.
"Blaise?!" Daphne screeched.
"Why do you have to say that shit?!" Pansy demanded.
"Will it eat us?!" Draco fretted.
"Then I will tell your parents you loved them and said goodbye" Harry teased. Only to wince when Hermione smacked him. "Woman! Stop hitting me!"
"Stop saying stupid shit then."
"You didn't hit Blaise!" He complained, sneering when in the light Blaise stuck his tongue out.
"Blaise is a lost cause." Hermione reasoned.
"Hey!" Blaise objected.
All conversation reached a stop as they reached a large solid stone wall, the middle of the said wall contained a large circular metal door. Seven intricately designed snakes of varying lengths reached out from a hinge, covering the door. Their eyes all emerald gems, gleaming under their wands Lumos', each one looking as if they could actually see.
"Paranoid bastard wasn't he?" Blaise joked as Harry ran his hands over the smooth metal. "It's not like anyone but his descendants could get through the first secret entrance, but to have another one?" With an eye roll, Hermione stepped forward with a hiss. 'Open' with that simple phrase, another smaller snake slithered out from the hinge. It slid through the crevasse between the door snakes and wall, as it passed them the snakes on the door slid back towards the hinge with a loud click. As the last one clicked into place, the door swung open with a loud creak.
"Well, that's ominous." Harry snarked, a loud slap echoed as Hermione once again hit her idiotic brother.