Chapter 26
"Are you ready, Miss Evans?" Salazar Slytherin's portrait asked Petunia. Petunia swallowed hard and nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"You remember every syllable of my basilisk's name?"
"Sthassarrassaarethadassaheshah" said Petunia. "One syllable for every century."
"Good. It's taken me no little time to learn his full name including the syllables added since my death from the whispering of the stones, but it is important. Names are power, and with his name you can persuade him to obey you," said Salazar. "Riddle never had that from me, which is why all he could do was unleash Sthass – he was happy to be called that – on an ill-informed killing spree." He considered. "If you got that unfortunate child's bones, and could persuade Sthass to cry for her, she might even be returned to life with the power of his tears."
Petunia gasped.
"What if she was cremated?"
"Then you're out of luck." The portrait shrugged. "I think cremation is a more modern method though."
"It's a secondary consideration, however, next to destroying the horcruces," said Tiberius. "And if er, Sthass can be made aware of how things have changed, then perhaps chatting to him in the future might be an option. We have the side of an ox as a peace offering to him, and we all have mirror shades to prevent him looking into our eyes even accidentally."
"Yes, but he can turn the power of his killing glare off once he knows you are friends," said Slytherin.
"That's all very well, but I'm not about to risk these children if he's not listening right off," said Tiberius. "Trust your allies but keep blackmail material on them anyway."
Slytherin chuckled.
"Spoken like a true Slytherin!" he said. "I hope you can restore that girl, because Riddle used the Imperius on a girl called Olive Hornby, not I think that it took much pressure, to ride the girl until she fled to the girl's lavatorium to cry, so that he could kill her with the basilisk's gaze. I object to my familiar being used as a weapon."
"It was deliberate, then, not an accident that she was there?" Lily was horrified.
"The brat boasted of it to me, as a test of the power of the basilisk," said Slytherin, grimly.
"I have a thought," said Severus, suddenly. "If this girl Myrtle was killed by the basilisk at the orders of Riddle, would bringing her back to life destroy any horcrux he made with her death?"
Tiberius stared.
"He was only sixteen years old then," he whispered. "Could he be so deeply steeped in wickedness already?"
"Yes," said Slytherin. "He was that evil so young. And an act of pure good to undo murder would, I am sure, weaken a horcrux, even if it did not destroy it. And I know what that horcrux was, too; he was always writing in some kind of journal. And after the chamber of secrets was shut, it vanished. He hid it somewhere. But I suspect he has kept it with him."
"Then he will know if we can strike against it by restoring Myrtle," said Tiberius.
"Not if he has put it safely somewhere, hidden from immediate view, lest any of his followers see it as something to use to gain ascendancy over him," said Narcissa. "Those of his followers in Slytherin House are always jockeying for position, and let's just say they don't follow him for love, but out of fear and ambition. He must be well aware that any one of them would readily use leverage against him for better position."
"A good point," Slytherin nodded.
"Then I must see about disinterring the bones of, er, Myrtle Warren," said Tiberius.
OoOoOo
The Marauders were unwontedly subdued when they went to open the Chamber of Secrets.
Ssss open ssss hissed Petunia, and the sink with its snaky decoration sank and swung to one side, leaving a large pipe, large enough for a man to slide down.
"Why did Slytherin put it in a loo?" asked James.
"Don't you listen?" snapped Lily. "It was a simple trapdoor in his day, it was the enlargements that made this the site of a toilet, and one of his descendants hid it with the sink."
"Oh, I missed that." James was unabashed. Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Boys!" she muttered.
"I got it first time," said Severus.
"Yes, but you're out of the league of most boys, Sev," said Lily.
"Sev, I don't want to go first," whispered Petunia. It had been agreed that only those who could manage Parseltongue should go down initially.
Severus sighed.
"Now if I'd only let myself be hatted into Slytherin House I could have claimed constructive cowardice," he quipped as he climbed into the tube, and let go, letting himself be rushed down towards the bottom, like an insane muggle helter-skelter. Petunia and Lily exchanged glances as the thought made him sing the Beatles' song of that name, the sound floating eerily up.
"Go on, Tuney, you learned the name, the row he's making will wake any Basilisk," said Lily.
Petunia gulped, and followed Severus.
She found herself in a damp corridor, lit by Severus' wand, a massive statue of Salazar Slytherin ahead, and pillars entwined by snakes all around.
Sssssssssssssssssssss
"Sthassarrassaarethadassaheshah I call on you. By my blood, I invoke you. By right, I request your aid. I have an offering of food."
Out of the mouth of the statue of Slytherin issued a head, with a proud crest not unlike that of a peacock, but in blood red. Behind the head, yard after yard of flowing snake poured out of the hole like a river. Petunia gasped, and Lily and Severus took her hand on each side, and Narcissa, who had followed, put her arms around the younger children. The massive snake flowed forward, and semi-transparent eyelids covered its deadly eyes. It sniffed the side of ox.
"I come to one of my blood. The offering is good. You are of my blood and you are of the muggle blood also. But you are marked."
"I am marked by the house of Gaunt which is of the House of Slytherin. I bring messages from the voice of Salazar Slytherin about the false heir who let you out last time, who betrayed Slytherin's wishes. The girl who died was not a scoffer or destroyer, but in this modern age, the habit of adoption of muggle born wizards and witches has been forgotten because there are so many."
"I have killed an innocent?"
"Yes, and Slytherin says that if you will weep for her, your tears might restore a fine young witch."
It was hard to see through the mirror shades, and Petunia was a bit nervous of looking at the basilisk's eyes. They welled with tears.
Severus however, took the risk, removing his shades, and walked forward with the vial prepared to catch the tears.
"We are grateful to you for helping us right this wrong and clearing the name of your wizard," he said.
"You are not of his blood, or not recently."
"I have learned the tongue to help my friends who are of his blood."
"I am much moved by that. Godric Gryffindor would not learn the tongue; he said it was because it was evil but if you ask me, it was because he was too stupid."
"We are in his House, so I will not comment on my Founder," said Severus, firmly.
"My apologies, young one. I will not insult your Founder. He and my wizard were good friends over most things, until they fell out over how much to trust muggles."
"I suspect our group of friends might side with Slytherin on that, you don't trust people unless they show you they can be trusted," Severus remarked dryly.
"Indeed. But how will I know which muggle born are to be attacked if they are not marked these days?" the basilisk shed a few more tears which Severus caught.
"There are none in this place able to attack us anymore; there are better wards than there were when you were the guardian," said Severus.
"All of us here of muggle blood want to be a part of the wizarding world" put in Lily. "we are all friends. If any come from without, we will call upon you; and such as the one who called you before are the ones to fear."
"Yesssss, for he has made me betray my oath to protect wizardkind! When I see him again, I will bite him!"
"Good idea, Sthass! But it won't kill him unless we destroy some of his dark artefacts; for he has horcruces." Severus spoke again.
"Excuse me? You speak of more than one of those accursed items? How many then?"
"He wants 6 but we think he has only four."
"Only? You must find them and destroy them, so much soul splintering will make him insane!"
"We hope that restoring the witch will destroy the one he made with her death when he used you as a weapon," said Severus.
The huge snake convulsed.
"A weapon? For his foul filthy magic? I have been USED?"
"He fooled Lord Slytherin for a while too," Severus said, sadly. "Now he seeks to tear wizarding society apart."
"I will rend him limb from limb, when you have destroyed these things. Ah, you want my venom."
"If you would be so kind," said Severus.
"Boy, you have courage. One drop on your skin would burn you."
"I trust you to be careful," said Severus.
Petunia shuddered, glad that Severus had volunteered. She was not sure she did trust the big snake to be careful.
Severus however had steady potioneer's hands and he held the flasks steady as the basilisk, able to produce poison out of its rage, let it run down its fangs for him to catch. Lily stoppered each one as he passed it back, with carefully made glass stoppers.
"I will give you enough venom for six, in case the restoration is not enough or he has made more," hissed Sthass. "I do not like betrayers." His third eyelid flickered for a moment, and Severus looked quickly away. "My apologies, little one, in my anger I almost forgot my control. Let me know how things progress. I will doze but not sleep until you have destroyed the artefacts of this betrayer so I may destroy him."
"We shall bring you food to sustain your wakefulness," said Severus.
"I appreciate that. Rats are such pitiful sources of food," replied the great snake. "I wish you good luck." And with that it seized the side of beef and tossed it into the air to swallow whole.
The four children worked on not trembling at its power, and retreated, climbing up the ropes let down by their friends, vial of tears and flasks of venom charmed to be unbreakable, and nestled carefully in a basket also lowered for that purpose.
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
"So, it went well?" asked James.
"It was terrifying," said Petunia.
"The kids were fantastic," said Narcissa. "Severus handled most of the negotiations, but Tuney got it started very well, and Lily made a good speech too. He wants to know how we do as we destroy horcruces."
Myrtle popped out of a tap.
"It's a nasty monster," she said.
"No it isn't," said Petunia. "Sthass gave us his tears because killing you shouldn't have happened and we are going to try to bring you back to life."
Myrtle stared, then she squealed with delight.
"Oh! I know it's impossible but thank you for caring!" she said.
"Impossible isn't a word I keep in my lexicon," said Severus, stubbornly. "And when we restore you, it's another blow to the one who really had you killed, who used poor Sthass!"
"Whatever it takes, we will restore you, Myrtle," said Phil. "You've always been kind to me, when I've been hiding from nargles."
They hurried back to Tiberius' quarters, and Narcissa removed the portrait of Slytherin from the wall in the common room again, to take him along.
"I'll try not to get any of this on your portrait," said Tiberius. He held the flask with tongs, and started to pour the venom onto the locket. The locket screamed and all the children clapped their hands to their ears. It smoked, and the frame shook as it tried to escape the deadly stream.
And then it was melting, and the screams died thinly away.
"Gods and spirits," said Sirius, wiping a film of sweat from his brow. He was not the only one to do so.
"Well that's one which won't be there for him," said Tiberius, with grim satisfaction. "I'll get a facsimile to mend your frame, Founder, so nobody notices, and I'll cover that burned section with gaze-repelling charms for the moment."
"I feel much, much better," said Slytherin. "I am in the debt of you all."
"And we shan't cease until we have them all," said Tiberius. "Miss Warren's bones next, I think."
"Are you going to tell the headmaster?" asked Severus.
"That we've destroyed one horcrux? Yes. That we plan to bring Myrtle Warren back to life? No. It might not work, and moreover, she will be the object of too much gossip if it gets out, and that nosy old codger will let it out."
"Then adopt her as a Prince and have her come in as a cousin you have found," said James.
"That's a good idea," said Tiberius. "I expect she will want to see her parents, and I suppose I need to talk to them too. Well, I will let you all know of the outcome of that," he added. "And now you had better disperse before anyone misses the lot of you."