Chapter Thirty-Six: Into The Chamber
All three of the boys hid around the corner while Professor McGonagall, Lockheart, and Harry's father Severus Snape all gathered in the hallway together. "Well this is it, our worst fears have been realized. A girl has been snatched by the monster and dragged into the chamber itself. Students must be sent home immediately. I'm afraid that this is the end of Hogwarts." She said as Severus nodded.
"Agreed. And my son can never find out about this. He's way too into playing the part of the hero." He said.
"Well he sort of is isn't he?" Lockheart began. "I mean he defeated the dark lord when he was a baby and he isn't even a teenager yet but he managed to save both the school and Sorcerer's Stone last year. Who knows what lies in store for this boy's future?" He finished with a sparkling grin, but Severus clearly was not amused.
"Exactly. I vowed that when he was younger that I would always be there to protect him and besides that I don't want to worry his poor mother." He told him. "Besides, why trouble Harry with this when you can just take care of the monster like you took care of one of the ones in your books?" He inquired and all three boys noticed that he looked rather nervous at this question before he let out a rather worried gulp.
"Yes, well then I'll get right to it then shall I?" He questioned him back as he started to turn around and then suddenly turned back. "Just one quick thing though, who is it that the monster has taken?" He wondered.
"Ginny Weasley." Professor McGonagall replied suddenly looking as pale as Nearly Headless Nick while both Harry and Ron felt their hearts stop and then they discovered the writing on the wall.
"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever." Ron read out in a horrified whisper. "Ginny." He added and before either of them could stop him that's when Harry started to run away and Severus managed to catch a glimpse of him and gasped.
"Harry." He said to himself before he started running after him. "Harry! Harry!" He called as he quickly caught him and turned him towards him to face him. "What do you think you're doing!? You can't go after the basilisk like that! It's too dangerous and I won't allow it!" He cried out.
"But Dad!" Harry cried out in protest. "Ginny's my friend and my best friend's little sister! I can't just let her die! I should have guessed that something was wrong when I discovered that I haven't really seen her most of the year!" He exclaimed as his father slowly let him go.
"You're just a child." He told him.
"No I'm not." Harry replied as he stared at him in the eyes. "I'm the boy who lived and sooner or later you're going to have to let me grow up." He told him when suddenly he felt as though Harry's words were an icy cold dagger stabbing him in the heart.
"As much as I want to keep you my child forever, I just don't want to see you get hurt." He told him.
"Then come with me." Harry said as a few moments of silence fell between them and then Severus finally nodded.
"Alright, come on then let's go get Weasley's sister back." He told his son as he pulled him into a tight embrace and then let go again a few seconds later. "How do we know where the entrance to the chamber is though?" He inquired.
"I'm not sure, but I think I have an idea to how we can find out! Come on!" Harry exclaimed before he quickly started running towards the bathroom that Moaning Myrtle haunted and once she saw them both coming in she stopped crying and smiled for the first time.
"Oh hullo Harry." She began.
"Hullo Myrtle, I was wondering if you could possibly do us a favor." Harry began in response.
"Sure, what is it?" She wondered as Severus silently looked up at her.
"I would like to ask you how you died." He said.
"Oh that, well, I don't actually remember too much about it. All I remember was that it was a very dreadful experience. Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses, and I locked myself inside one of the stalls and I was crying. Then I heard somebody come in. They were talking in a different language and it sounded a bit funny. Anyway, I could tell that it was a boy speaking so I opened up the door and yelled at him to go away and that's when I died." She explained.
"Really? That's it? Just like that?" Harry questioned her. "How did it happen?"
"I don't know. All I remember is seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes over there by that sink." She told him as she directed her gaze over to that one particular sink that she was referring to. That's when suddenly it hit Harry as he walked over to it and saw that a snake was engraved upon it.
"Dad this is it. This is the entrance to The Chamber of Secrets." He told him when suddenly his father squatted in front of him.
"I still don't like the idea of you going in there. If something ever happened to you down there I would never forgive myself." He told him. "Besides, if your mother ever finds out about this she'll kill us both." He said as Harry gazed at him right inside the eyes.
"I'll be fine Dad." He began. "You know how I know?" He questioned him before placing his hand onto the spot on his forehead where his scar was. "If a parent's love for their child saved me when I was a baby, it can protect me now as well." He told him and a few moments of silence passed between them before Severus nodded again and gently grabbed him by the face and kissed one of his cheeks before getting to his feet.
Harry turned his head to look back over at the sink and said the first thing that came to his mind. "Open up." He said in parseltongue and Severus watched as the floor began to open up and revealed a gigantic hole while the sinks went to a certain spot in the ground.
"Oh and Harry?" Myrtle began as Harry instinctively looked up at her.
"If you do manage to die down there you can always share my toilet." She suggested with a giggle as Severus looked as if he wanted to strangle her and Harry felt a sudden sickish feeling inside the pit of his stomach.
"Uhh,.. thanks Myrtle." He replied before he withdrew his wand and then jumped into the hole.
