This chapter is not proof-read.

Chapter Fifty

Albus Dumbledore had what was turning out to be quite the migraine. After the incident in Gryffindor tower, the rest of the holiday had been quiet, thank Merlin. However, that didn't mean that as the Headmaster, he was allowed to let the matter rest. Minerva had been persistent in her own investigation and neither of them had figured out how that necklace had gotten past the security of the wards.

Perhaps if this was the only incident, the elderly man could have let it pass. Mayhap if nothing else of this nature had occurred, it could be labeled an isolated incident. This was not the case, unfortunately, as over the last few decades there had been numerous incidents in which dangerous and life-threatening objects had been smuggled into the school and students had been injured because of it.

The most notable example being Aragog, the new 'pet' Hagrid had been expelled over. While not the monster of the Chamber, the aracomantula show has never been able to be brought into the school and yet Hagrid had managed to keep it hidden for months, ever since it hatched. And Merlin knew how long that egg had been in the half-giant's care. No, this problem was a long time in the making and Albus had no idea why it was happening. For once, he couldn't blame the now dark lord Voldemort, as no fifth year, no matter how advanced, could have possibly affected the ancient wards.

Mostly, Albus allowed a sigh to escape him, due to the fact that the ward stone's location had been lost for at least 4 or 5 centuries. Albus only knew that it existed because of the remains of a text that mentioned it. Tragically, the text had been mostly destroyed in a fire that had nearly taken the lives of half the school 600 years ago. From then on, the ward stone's location had been passed down by word of mouth from Headmaster to Headmaster in what Albus could only call the most idiotic plan ever conceived. It only took one Headmaster dying before they could pass on the location for the whole thing to fall apart. And it had fallen apart. The man had not even made a portrait for the new Headmaster to ask as his passing had been too sudden and too unexpected that he'd not had time to get one made. Albus sometimes cursed the fact that magical portraits had only been recently invented before the man had died. Things would have been infinitely easier to handle had his predecessor had their own portrait.

"Blast," Albus muttered aloud, his head throbbing as his migraine increased. There were so many things that he had to deal with, so many problems that needed his attention, that he bemoaned the fact that this was being added to the already large pile. It was a wonder Dippet had gotten anything done if this was the workload the man had to deal with him. Experiencing his own workload already made him much more understanding of how his old friend had managed to overlook the budding Dark Lord. Albus could only wonder if he himself wouldn't have overlooked the child under these circumstances.

"Cheer up, Albus," Dilys Derwent smiled happily at him. "We all knew that this day would happen. Better you realize the problem now that later, da?"

That was not, despite her intentions, very helpful, Albus noted dryly. "Indeed," he smiled gently. It would do no good to incite the wrath of a woman he would one day have to put up with for a very long time. Portraits were both wonderful and very irritating like that. He supposed he'd have to thank his more easy-going personality for the lack of trouble between himself and the Headmasters who had chosen to be immortalized in portrait form.

An owl swooping in through his open window cut off his thoughts. He sighed as he recognized the familiar animal and the seal on the envelope it dropped off onto his desk. "Give me a moment and I'll have my reply, Edwin."

He very much regretted the day that Cornelious Fudge latched onto him as a mentor. As if he didn't have enough of his own problems without having to take on those at the Ministry of Magic as well. There was a reason that he had never wanted to be Minister, despite how many had insisted that he'd be perfect for the role.

He flicked his wand, breaking the seal and allowing him to pull out the letter and begin to read. The portraits in the room watched as the man seemed to go from exhausted to grave in a matter of minutes.

"Oh dear," Albus Dumbledore breathed aloud.

Harry felt a headache coming on.

Break had ended rather quietly after everything that happened. Hermione seemed to still be processing everything that she had learned over the break and was doing her utmost to act as if nothing drastic had occurred at all.

That would have been a lot easier if the entire school hadn't somehow learned about what happened in the Gryffindor common room. Harry had lost count of the people who were whispering about him behind his back, talking about the incident. They'd always pretend to look away when he turned to gaze at them and would immediately continue their conversation the moment his back was turned. Honestly, it was like they thought he was deaf.

He didn't know how they had even managed to hear about what had happened. Hermione, Sirius, and Harry definitely hadn't told anyone and it couldn't have been Ron or the others. There were too many details circulating that Harry had conveniently left out of their explanation of what had happened. It was somewhat maddening, really.

"It's Hogwarts," Ron shrugged in explanation when Harry voiced his frustrations. "Pretty sure that there isn't any secret here that stays secret for more than a few days."

Hermione let out a snort, drawing the boys' attention to her. Harry almost snickered at her annoyed glance in his direction but managed to keep his face carefully curious. Her eye twitched and she huffed at them both before turning her attention back to her meal.

"What was that about?" Ron muttered to him. Harry shrugged and grinned internally.

'Wonder how many other secrets people here don't notice,' Gabriel added in, the grin obvious in his voice. 'Hermione still seems to be taking this better than Sirius.'

'I don't know,' Harry sighed. 'She doesn't seem to really be acknowledging it at all.'

'Give it time. She's still probably trying to wrap her head around the fact that God is real.' Gabriel easily brushed the comment aside. 'I don't think Sirius has even managed to completely make that acknowledgment yet. I doubt he's even really sat down and thought about how our identity as an archangel means for the different religions out there.'

'I'm pretty sure that Sirius already figured out God is real.' Harry responded dryly. 'We had a conversation about that and everything when he first found out.'

Gabriel huffed. 'Knowing it and realizing it are two different things. He knows that because we are an archangel, that means that God must also be real but that doesn't mean that he's really sat down and thought about the fact that our original parent is older than creation and is also the reason the world around us exists. Sirius is still trying to wrap his head around the fact that there's more than one Earth.'

Harry couldn't really argue against that, actually. Hermione was reacting better than Sirius mostly because Sirius was still reacting to it. 'Remus still reacted the best,' Harry said after a moment of thought.

"Harry," Ron huffed from in front of him. Harry turned his attention back towards the redhead.

'Yeah, he did.'

Luna was already waiting for him at the Chamber's entrance, smiling serenely at him as he approached. Luna always seemed to know when he was about to visit the Chamber and usually was there waiting for him if they hadn't met up on the way there. It occurred to him to wonder how she always managed to do that but for the most part, he shrugged it off. Luna was just Luna and it was better to accept her odd behavior instead of question it.

'It probably is just a side effect of having true Sight.' Gabriel added. 'It's becoming really obvious that she has more than just the ability to see our true form.'

Like how she had known that Azrael's journal was important though he hadn't been able to read it. She'd been surprised when he'd been able to read the journal yet when she'd handed it to him, she'd called it an interesting read. He'd puzzled over the matter for a while after he was no longer occupied with the journal itself before they'd come up with the theory that there was more to Luna's sight than they'd thought.

"Hello Luna," Harry greeted her cheerfully.

"Hello," Luna's smile didn't change as she greeted him. "The nargles told me that today is going to be very important."

Harry blinked. 'I don't know if I like the sound of that,' Gabriel admitted to him. 'Last time something important happened, we found that book.'

Azrael's book weighted heavily in his book-bag, where he'd kept it since the last message had appeared. Harry hadn't really felt comfortable leaving it out of his grasp for longer than a few moments and had figured that this was the best way around that in the long run. No one really questioned why he always had the book-bag with him, considering the fact that Nith and Scylla had a tendency to curl up in it when they weren't in his hair. Nevermind Tinker, Havoc, and Ruth. Really, the whole student population tended to turn a blind eye to the many different creatures that followed him around and just accepted it.

Harry didn't even feel bad about taking advantage of this fact, though he still got odd looks from the Durmstrong and Beauxbatons students every once in a while. Harry attributed that to a lack of exposure to him more than anything else. Not that he really blamed them for it.

"Best go down before someone asks what we're doing out here," Harry mused and led the way into the bathroom. A quick hiss had the Chamber entrance sliding open. Luna immediately jumped down, Harry following after making sure to close the entrance.

Immediately, he knew something was different about the Chamber. Though they had cleaned everything up and began restoring what they could, there had still been a lingering sense of age to everything. Now, however, the whole Chamber was practically glowing in a way that made it look as if it had just been enchanted.

"What happened here?" Harry wondered, blinking at the newly vibrant colors coating the walls. Not even the castle itself was this vibrant to look at.

Luna shrugged, looking around in wide-eyed wonder. Harry couldn't even really blame her, he wasn't acting any better.

'Chamber of Secrets,' Gabriel mused. 'I guess they really did mean that name literally. This place is crawling with secrets.'

Harry was about to reply before a familiar heat began emitting from his bookbag. Surprised, he quickly pulled out the journal and flipped it open, watching the remaining writing on the page he'd left off on suddenly become legible.

Brother,

I know not when this will reach you when Father will deem you ready to read this message as you begin your journey, yet I know that it will be at a time when the world around you begins to shake with the forces of Change. Change brought upon the world by your mere presence, that which was not ordained by our Father at the creation of that world.

I have wondered, often, why it is that Father chose that specific world for you rebirth, for you Grace to hide until you found your way back to it. At times, I wonder if it was a good choice, a safe choice, for one that is not fully-powered to traverse the troubled Earth you find yourself on. I know, like we all do, that our Father is mysterious in his ways, working with knowledge that no other than Himself know and yet, still I question. Still, I worry. I suppose that is my curse as the only one to know what is the fate of all our siblings, to know that your story and path is the beginning of many. What would happen to the rest of our siblings if you, one of the First, cannot complete the path set before you?

Father remains quiet and there is none other to reassure me. I must rely on these messages to soothe my thoughts. Knowing that even though I may not be with you, I can still lend you aid gives me a solace that I greatly need.

That is not, however, the point of this message though I find writing my thoughts to down cathartic. The place that this book was hidden, the secret chamber, has information that is necessary for you to find. Answers to a question that you have asked and that is the key to fixing what is broken.

I wish I could give you exact details, relay the exact location and name of the item, however, those details have not been granted to me. I have only been told to relay these words to you and nothing more.

"The secret beneath the hidden chamber, forgotten and protected in time, holds within it the answer to which thy Messenger need find. Truths hidden must be righted, answers and allies need enlightened."

I admit, I know not what the meaning behind this message is. If this is how the Father dictated your Message to you, then I hold a most deep respect for your position. Father truly work in ways that are deeply mysterious.

I hold faith that you will discern the meaning behind our Fathers words and that you triumph in your tasks. You are strong and will be victorious in the face of darkness.

Good luck, Brother.

Azrael

Harry felt his eyebrows raise as he read over the message again. "Did I really just get sent a Holy riddle?" He muttered in disbelief.

Gabriel groaned inside their head. 'There are times I wonder if it would actually kill Him to be direct with his information. The prophets being drunk of their asses is not the only reason some information wasn't translated properly.'

"Is everything alright?" Luna asked him, her voice surprisingly clear. Harry snapped his attention to her and realized that the girl was most likely worried.

"Just a cryptic message," Harry reassured her. "I'll figure it out soon enough. Let's see if anything else has changer down here."

Luna gave him an uncertain look but made her way down the Chamber hallway. Harry grimaced and followed her.

'Let's hope nothing else headache inducing happens today.'

Look, a new chapter! XD

This chapter isn't really all that long either however, decided to end it there as it seemed like a good stopping point. The semester is about half-way done so some of my classes are winding down in the work load as we finish up the major assignments. Which is weird, because last year thing started getting more insane instead of less insane around this point, but I'm not complaining! I've suddenly got free time again which means I can start writing more than I have been!

And fall asleep at my desk less often, that'll be nice too. My back and neck were starting to protest greatly against that.

Anyways, there was a lot going on in this chapter. If you have any questions, please ask them and I'll do my best to clarify without spoilers. Or just let you know if the answer will be addressed in a later chapter.

I think that's all I have left to say. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

~MisteryMaiden~