The Greatest Weapon, Chapter 8
AN: I know that in canon Hagrid was only ever sent to Azkaban once; however, in this fanfiction he was sent there overnight after it was opened for the first time, to make sure he "learned his lesson" before they snapped his wand.
Harry was quite pleased by the reaction to the article on Sirius Black. If anything, discussion increased a thousand-fold, and Minister Fudge was facing the possibility of a vote of no confidence, as Madame Bones was outraged at the miscarriages of justice that the article had unearthed.
He was even more happy when a deliriously happy Rita Skeeter, who had apparently gotten an enormous raise due to her shocking, and true, articles, went and did some digging on her own, presenting him with the resulting sheets of notes for his perusal. From there, Harry shared them with the rest of the Golden Trio, and Neville. Hermione promptly went to the library and didn't come out the entire weekend except to eat and sleep, while Harry and Ron went to talk to Hagrid and Neville owled his Gran.
The following week, they met up with Rita again, this time in Honeydukes (so they wouldn't be seen meeting at the same place. Hermione wanted to give her an article discussing the origins of muggleborn magic, but Harry and Rita talked her down in favor of doing an article on Hagrid's unjust expulsion, since it would be related to the previous article, and it was more about Fudge's incompetence and corruption than about introducing new and shocking theories. So after Harry, Hermione, and Rita compared notes, and Neville sneaked Rita to Hagrid's hut in a jar for an impromptu interview, a new article was ready to shake the Wizarding world.
Basilisk Under Hogwarts Since Salazar Slytherin's Time!
Harry, who had been digging into a bowl of mango slices, took the latest Daily Prophet from an excitable post owl and fed it a piece of bacon, then unrolled the newspaper as it flew away. "Oh, interesting- hey Ron, Mione!"
Two heads swiveled around in the middle of a conversation. "Oh, did the Prophet come? What is it this time?"
Harry grinned, displaying the newspaper. "What do you think? It looks like she did a good job..."
Hermione sniffed; she was fine with working with Rita, but she hadn't quite forgiven her for the Harmony Grange thing from the previous year.
Rita had indeed done a good job, and Dumbledore was looking decidedly sour. Not that he didn't deserve it.
In the process of researching the unfortunate miscarriage of justice involving Sirius Black, this reporter discovered some odd anomalies in the judicial system, and in the records of the so-called safest place in Britain. Upon a little research, a truly shocking and grim story was unearthed.
According to legend, when Hogwarts was first being built, each of the founders built a secret place in the castle, available only to their heirs: Godric Gryffindor built an armory and training room, Rowena Ravenclaw built a library, Helga Hufflepuff built a recreation room, and Salazar Slytherin built a hidden room called the Chamber of Secrets, deep beneath the school. In the armory, so they say, are legendary enchanted weapons; in the library there are books written by the founders themselves, in the recreation room, according to legend, there is a chalice which, when filled with water, transforms the water into a miraculous potion that heals even the dying...and in the Chamber, there is said to be a monster, to be under the command of the descendants, for good or ill (though supposedly it was put under the school so it could be woken to "purge" the school of muggleborns.
Years ago, when Armando Dippet was headmaster of Hogwarts, the chamber was elegedly opened by one Rubeus Hagrid, a Gryffindor third year known to be fond of large animals, and the thirteen-year-old was sent to Azkaban after a girl named Myrtle, (nicknamed 'Moaning Myrtle') was killed. But the facts on record don't add up. How could a third year find the entrance to the Chamber. And how could he open it, if he wasn't a parcelmouth? The answer the ministry came up with was that his acromantula, Aragog, was responsible for the petrifications and death. But how does an acromantula, a highly venomous spider which kills by biting, petrify two children and kill another...without leaving a single mark!
Upon asking Mr. Hagrid about these charges, the answer turned out to be far more sinister. Enclosed is a very short interview with the friendly groundskeeper.
RS: So, I'm doing a story on the petrifications at Hogwarts, and the official story isn't adding up. So I want to know, what's your version?
RH: Aragog (the spider) never done it, miss. It was Tom, Tommy Riddle, and that pet of his."
RS: Tom Riddle? Would you mind elaborating?
RH: 'Course. He was an odd one, Tom, head boy and all. Really charmin', but I alwus knew he was not what everyone thought. Aragog'd- he's a spider I've 'ad since 'e was an egg- 'd been scared fur some time, tole me there was a monster in the castle. So I jus want'd to get him somewhere's safe, but 'e was getting too big ter smuggle out in me shirt, so I 'id him in a cupboard so I could get 'im out ter the forest after dark an' let 'im go. Tom found me. I guess I wus jus' convenient, ya know. 'E took me to 'Fessor Dippet and tole him I killed the girl. If 'ed given me a chance, I could've tole him Tom did it; 'e's a parcelmouth, an' 'e 'ad a pet basilisk; I asked Myrtle 'ow she died; she loves tellin' that story. But Tom wus the smart, hansom, charming head boy and I wus the Gryffindor 'af-blood who liked big things with teeth an' dinna 'av good grades. They snapped me wand; nowart but Dumbledore believed me. Sent me ta Azkaban, too, an' that place's 'orrible.
RS: Oh, my. Thank you so much for sharing that, Mr Hagrid.
RH: No problem, I'm alwus glad ter help.
So, as is now revealed, the ministry sent a thirteen-year-old to Azkaban, without getting the facts. Tom Riddle went on to become You-Know-Who, while the innocent Mr. Hagrid had his wand snapped. But that's not the worst of it. Two years ago, the Chamber of Secrets was opened again, and several students and a cat were petrified. Disregarding common sense, Fudge threw Mr. Hagrid in Azkaban again, just to be seen doing something. When the petrifications didn't stop, he still didn't let him out; it took an intervention from Albus Dumbledore himself to get him released.
Although getting Mr. Hagrid free was really the least Mr. Dumbledore could do, seeing as it was something of his fault that the monster was released.
Harry chanced a look up, to see that several of the staff and some of the students looking upset and in denial at this. Harry's smile widened.
To start with, Mr. Dumbledore had been alive and teaching at Hogwarts during the last round of petrifications, and was, as Mr. Hagrid stated, the only one who seemed not to believe that he had opened the Chamber. He also seemed to know who had actually done it, according to an off-the-record comment by someone who would like to remain anonymous. (That had been Minerva Mcgonagall). But even having all of the evidence at hand, even knowing the legend of the Chamber (and probably being able to guess what the monster was, as there are few things that petrify wizards without a mark, and fewer still have connections to Slytherin) Dumbledore swept it under the rug just as surely as Fudge did. He didn't ask Myrtle for her testimony for who she died, he didn't warn students to carry hand-mirrors, he didn't hire an Indian parcelmouth cursebreaker to clean out the Chamber; no, he let a twelve-year-old fight the basilisk for him, according to rumors at Hogwarts. Even if that twelve-year-old was Harry Potter, that is still horribly negligent and careless.
I took the liberty of having a word with Mr. Potter, and the response truly fascinated me.
RS: So Mr. Potter, what can you tell me about the Chamber of Secrets?
HP: It's creepy and peaceful at the same time.
RS: What do you mean?
HP: Well it's kind of hard to forget running from a sixty-foot snake, but the place itself isn't that bad; it's really kind of pretty. There's a watery green light sort of like in the Slytherin common room, and there are columns decorated with carved snakes with jewels for eyes that make it look like a pureblood mansion or something. You can study by wand-light without being disturbed.
RS: What do you mean running from a sixty-foot snake!?
HP: Well, it was probably actually closer to fifty feet, but it wasn't like I had a tape measure or something when I was down there fighting it. Basically one of my friends had found a magic artifact that coerced her to release the basilisk, so Ron and I had to go down there to save her. We should have gone to a competent teacher like Mcgonagall or Snape or something but we got Lockhart instead, and he tried to obliviate us with Ron's broken wand so he could take credit for finding the chamber. Unfortunately, because he's not a very good wizard anyway and the wand was actually broken, he ended up blowing up the passageway and trapping me in the passageway, with Ron on the other side. So I went into the Chamber, and there was my friend, possessed, and the basilisk, which attacked me. So I basically ran around the chamber dodging the stupid thing while it hissed "HUNGRY! LET ME RIP YOU! LET ME REND YOU! KILL!" I only survived because of Dumbledore's phoenix; I had basically just been running around blindly trying to listen for the snake and swinging at it with a big clumsy sword I found in the Chamber, like an honest-to-goodness Gryffindor, but Fawkes put out it's eyes and healed me when it knicked me with it's fangs, so thankfully I'm still alive.
RS: Where is the basilisk now?
HP: Lying dead in the Chamber under like five preservation charms. I didn't really know what to do with it, you know, except maybe sell it to the goblins or use it to bribe Snape for extra potions lessons.
RS: Do you still go down there?
HP: Hell, yeah, it's quieter than the Common Room when you need to study, and I'm the only one who knows the passwords. Although it's a little odd trying to work on your charms homework next to a very large snake corpse. Kinda morbid.
RS: Do you ever feel like you don't belong there, because you're a Gryffindor?
HP: Nah, doesn't bother me. I sort of earned my right to be there, wouldn't you say?
RS: I guess I can see that. I don't suppose you could let me in to take pictures?
HP: Well, ideally that would be Dumbledore's call, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind. I ought to warn you, you have to slide down a giant pipe in the abandoned bathroom on the second floor.
As you can see from this fascinating interview, the Chamber of Secrets is indeed full of mysteries...and dangers. One wonders why it is a boy who did the reconnoitering the headmaster should have done. What does this mean for our country if our children fight monsters while the faculty looks on?
For more on the Chamber of Secrets, go to page 9.
For more on the fight with the basilisk, go to page 20
For an exclusive with Mr. Potter's friends, go to page 27
For full-color pictures of the Chamber of Secrets, go to page 30