CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

"Guess I shouldn't be too surprised." Moody chuckled. "The Chamber of Secrets."

"You went in there?!" Remus demanded of the teen.

"I had a PERFECTLY good reason. AND that time I brought an adult" Harry defended taking great care not to add the word 'competent.'

22

"What happened?" Sirius asked nervously.

22

"There is a monster loose in the castle and you're still giving them out exams?" Bill asked McGonagall.

"It should be explained Mr. Weasley." McGonagall defended her choice.

22

"I think Neville had taken that news rather well." Charlie joked.

To the older brothers' shock, Fred and George just laughed half-heartedly. Those two knew that judging by the chapter title, this was the chapter when Ginny had been 'taken.'

22

"What about Colin, Justin, Penelope, and Hermione?" Remus asked. "Especially Colin being a first year and an earlier victim."

"We took the time the next year to tutor the first three." Sprout said.

"What about Hermione?" Molly asked.

Those who knew the girl laughed while Hermione herself blushed.

"Miss. Granger doesn't need tutoring." McGonagall said proudly. "As she is top of her class and already knew the material she missed."

"Besides, I was tested to see if I would need it when I woke up" Hermione said.

22

"Ah yes. The typical brain…what was it the muggles use? Hiccup?" Flitwick mused

"Going brain dead?" Snape supplied.

"No. That's a bit more long term. If that was the case, there wouldn't be any memory of the chamber." Flitwick said trying to think of the muggle phrase.

Hermione slapped her hand to her mouth knowing the term all too well, but didn't dare say it due to the reaction the purebloods might have.

But then again…considering the contents of this chapter…

"Actually Professor, the proper phrase for that is a brain fart"

There was a very awkward silence, but Hermione saw the twins' eyes light up with inspiration.

"Something in a hat?" Fred suggested to his twin.

"Probably charm the hat." George added.

"Moody. Read before they get any more ideas." Molly begged.

"Smell optional." Fred added to his twin.

22

"Exams aren't that bad" Hermione sighed.

"Speak for yourself!" a loud chorus came from the Marauders and younger.

22

"He's REALLY into the game" Tonks mused looking a bit disturbed.

22

Hermione smiled.

22

"Is that all I am to you? An answer key?" she asked Ron dangerously.

"Of course not!" Ron said quickly. "You're also one of my best friends and I was happy in general."

22

Hermione glared at Ron.

"Dare I ask what you meant by that?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth.

"Professor Moody. Please continue." Ron begged.

22

"Are you saying I looked like a HOUSE ELF?!" Ginny demanded looking rather much like a cross between her Mother and Hermione just recently.

Or to those that knew her, looking rather much like an angry Lily.

"Not in THAT sense" Harry defended. "I simply meant that you looked like you were hiding something that you wanted to reveal, but didn't dare. That was it. You're MUCH better looking than Dobby…"

The Weasley men gave Harry a pointed look, though Fred and George's seemed more in a teasing manner.

"I-I mean…" Harry stumbled.

Ron decided to give his friend some slack.

"Harry. Sn-Bolstrode's better looking than Dobby" Ron said catching himself before he could say 'Snape.'

22

"Sorry Ginny." Ron apologized realizing that maybe if he hadn't been so pushy, Ginny would have been faster.

22

"Prat" Ginny pouted.

22

"Yes it did" Ginny muttered under her breath.

22

"He's about as subtle as Hagrid." Sirius pointed out before turning to Ginny. "So there are two mysteries as this point: what did you know about the Chamber, and what did you know about Percy."

"You'll learn about both." Ginny said looking at her lap. "Though you'll like the Percy secret better than the Chamber."

22

Hermione snorted. She and Penelope had recovered first due to the fact they hadn't been petrified as long. And the first words out of Colin's mouth had been 'that was a BIG snake' and Justin's was 'what the bloody hell was THAT ugly thing?'

Mrs. Norris had just screeched as Filch had picked her up suddenly.

22

"Why were you agreeing with that git?" Charlie asked.

"Charlie!" Molly scolded.

22

"That was almost Slytherin of you Potter." Snape admitted.

Both Sirius and McGonagall glared. Though McGonagall was more in a possessive way.

22

"I should have known" McGonagall sighed knowing that the lie had probably been due to what happened the year before when he had told her the truth.

22

"He had been convincing." McGonagall defended herself when the others turned to her. "I took the stumbling as a concerned friend missing the missing link of his group."

22

"I think it still is" Ron added with a smirk. "Stories haven't gotten that much better."

Harry stuck his tongue out at Ron.

22

"Hermione!" the twins chorused in shock.

"It was easier to do that than to sneak a whole book from the library without checking it out." Hermione defended. "I needed to get it to Harry."

22

"Oh sh**." Moody swore.

"What?" Sirius asked.

22

"Why can't I be wrong for once?" Remus sighed as Sirius had gotten paler by the sentence of the description.

22

"Why can't you boys do your school work with that much enthusiasm?" McGonagall sighed.

22

There was an awkward silence. Then…

Fred and George started laughing hysterically.

"Always knew Slytherin was a nutcase." Fred said.

"I know!" George agreed. "Hiding a deadly chamber…in a girl's bathroom."

22

"So you DID try to go to an adult." Arthur mused.

"How come we didn't see you?" Sprout asked.

"It's explained." Harry said.

22

"Proof it wasn't Hagrid at least" Tonks said as Ginny tensed.

22

Those who hadn't been there gasped in shock as Arthur and Molly gripped their little girl.

22

"Oh Merlin." Remus swore.

22

"WHAT?!" Bill and Charlie exclaimed before turning to Ginny who was shaking knowing that the BIG secret was coming soon.

"Why weren't we told?" Bill demanded of his mother.

"I asked them not to" Ginny said. "I was trying to keep this in the past and there was no reason to bring it up."

She decided NOT to mention that she had intended to tell if they had a problem with her dating Harry. After all, he did save her.

22

"Excuse me?" Arthur asked.

22

"And how would HE know it was in a girl's toilet?" Tonks asked.

22

Molly frowned.

22

Ginny nodded. Ron had been sort of right. She had been taking because of how close she had been to blabbing to Harry.

22

"Compare notes. Good idea." Molly said taking hold of that small bit of hope she hadn't been, like so many other witches, duped by that award winning smile.

22

"I don't like that timing" Arthur said suspiciously.

22

"He's not even going to TRY!?" Molly gasped before turning to her husband. "Arthur. When we get home, remind me to put his books in the firewood."

"Will do" Arthur said completely agreeing with his wife.

"We'll help!" the Weasley boys, as well as the teachers chorused.

22

"What's that supposed to mean?" Molly asked.

22

"He's nothing but a cheat and a liar!" Molly exclaimed.

"Actually Mrs. Weasley" Harry suggested as he got an idea. "Since the true nature of where he got his material is still just between us, his books still might fetch a good price. You can sell them and get your money back."

"That's not a bad idea Harry" Arthur stated. Especially considering Fudge had docked his pay a bit.

22

"What?" Charlie asked. "Get the hell out of there?"

22

"If he so much as laid a FINGER on the two of you…!" Molly exclaimed.

22

Snape was looking rather uncharacteristically proud at that moment.

22

"Had I known she wouldn't have started bawling, I would have asked YEARS ago." McGonagall admitted.

"Haven't you ever heard the old phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'?" Snape HAD to ask.

She glared at him.

22

"Sounds about right…minus the floating away" Hermione stated.

22

"How is it nobody's noticed that?" Molly asked stunned.

"Nobody ever goes in there…" Sprout suggested.

"And it was pretty small" Harry added.

22

"Of course you are." Sirius sighed.

22

"I wish you two would have come to at LEAST get us." Fred told the younger two boys.

"We would have helped in any way possible." George added. "And NOT just to make Lockhart's life miserable."

"There wasn't any time." Ron said. "It only crossed my mind later to get you two and by then…well, you'll see."

22

"Good question" Snape said.

"Well, someone had to test the pipe." Ron said innocently. "Make sure there weren't any…nasty surprises waiting for us."

22

"You know," Flitwick whispered to McGonagall. "Now that the creature is dead… somehow… we might want to explore the chamber."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Snape added having overheard. "Basilisk body parts are extremely valuable."

"You just better hope that Potter didn't destroy the corpse." McGonagall whispered to the Potions master. "And that he'll get us down there being the only parselmouth in the school."

22

"Twenty…" Sirius gasped before turning to his five foot four godson.

22

"Oh no he did not!" Molly said dangerously ready to go to wherever Lockhart was now and give him a piece of her mind. First he lies and cheats to get fame and fortune from unsuspecting witches, like herself. Then he attempts to abandon his post when her daughter was in danger, and NOW he was attacking her son and the boy who was as good as a son?!

22

"Wait. Isn't Ron's wand broken?" Bill asked.

22

Everyone laughed at the situation Lockhart had gotten himself into.

22

"Not quite" Ron admitted with a mischievous smirk.

"ALRIGHT!" the twins chorused as the gave Ron a double high-five.

"Normally I don't approve." Molly said. "But considering the situation, well done Ron."

Arthur nodded his agreement.

Ron beamed at the praise. It was easy to do that now that he knew his sister was fine.

22

"I was trying to dig through and a rock landed on the git's head." Ron explained that one.

22

"That was when I figured you two would be handy to have around" Ron told his older twin brothers.

22

"And that's it for this chapter." Moody said.

"Um…a quick word of warning…" Harry said nervously. "This next chapter is going to be PRETTY intense."

"How intense?" Remus asked.

"Well…we learn who opened the chamber, how, and…"

"You get out of there without seeing the basilisk?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Sirius. You should know better." Tonks said "Even I know that Harry's going to end up meeting it. And I just MET the kid a few days ago."

"Well…" Sirius said looking his godson over. "There doesn't appear to be any lasting physical harm. You're still with us and Ginny's fine, so…who's next?"

"I will." Dumbledore said. "I feel that Harry MIGHT have left out a few things in his tale."

Harry shifted uncomfortably as he remembered the phoenix tears.