Chapter 24 – Return to the Chamber of Secrets

The Gryffindor Four returned to the Head Dorm after their meeting with Professor Dumbledore and the Founders. The meeting degenerated into an impromptu party after Godric and Salazar started telling stories about Dumbledore as a student. Rowenna and Helga came to the former Headmaster's aid with their own stories about the male Founder's youthful misadventures. Ron complained as they left the Room of Requirement that his ribs hurt from laughing so hard.

Harry was not sure he would have wanted to attend Hogwarts with Albus Dumbledore. From Godric's description, Albus Dumbledore brothers caused as much havoc as the Marauders and the Weasley twins combined. During his Sixth year, Albus and his younger brother Aberforth, charmed all of the ingredients in the potions supply cabinet to appear to be another randomly chosen ingredient. The Seventh year NEWT class almost blew up the school when they tried brewing Luck potions.

The male Founders did not seem to be much better. Salazar enjoyed leading raiding bands of Vikings into attacking other bands with illusions. Both wizards witnessed the Battle of Hastings during the Norman Conquest. The magical community on both sides agreed the war would only be worse with their involvement. Godric's family traced to Celtic times and he saw both Saxon and Norman sides as invaders. Although he could not interfere with the battle, nothing said he could not prank both sides equally before the fighting started. In their 120's, the two wizards launched a one-sided prank war on both sides of the Saxon-Norman fight.

The death of Nateria Slytherin came at the hands of a Norman clergyman. The friar may have whipped the mob into frenzy not over her truly being a witch, (Assuming the friar truly believed in witches) but simply as a way of cementing the primacy of the Norman clergy over the native clergy. Harry wondered if part of Salazar's campaign against the Muggles came about because he blamed himself for not using his power to stop the Norman invasion.

Entering the Head Dorm, Harry dropped into a couch. Ginny plopped into the couch next to him and snuggled herself under his arm. Harry noticed she was wearing an absent expression. Ron sat in a chair next to the fireplace across from the couple. Hermione ran upstairs to her room without a word.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Hmmm"

Harry gently rocked Ginny. "Hello, are you okay?"

Ron snorted, "Mate, I think meeting the Founders broke her."

Harry shot Ron a nasty look and pulled Ginny in closer to him. He kissed her gently on the forehead and whispered into her ear. "It is okay. You don't need to go down there. We can handle it."

Harry felt the petite red head shiver against his shoulder. He could almost feel the fear and dread rolling through her at the thought of going back into the Chamber of Secrets. Oddly enough, he also imagined a strange sense of excitement, almost anticipation, in her also.

Hermione returned before Harry could ask Ginny anymore questions. She sat in the chair next to Ron. She opened her book and started flipping pages rapidly.

Ron leaned over to look at the book in Hermione's lap. "What book is that?"

"Hogwarts: A History," she replied in her clipped, I-am-in-research mode voice. "It says nothing in here about why Slytherin changed his views. It should be in here!"

Ron scoffed, "Maybe the author didn't know."

Hermione raised her head to glare at her boyfriend. "How would you know? In six years of trying I have never gotten you to read this book!"

Ron's face turned a bit red in response to Hermione's barbed comment.

Harry interrupted before he could respond. "Hermione, when was the first edition of that book?"

Hermione flipped to the front of the book. "1429," she said.

"That is over four hundred years after the founding of the school. May be no one remembered why it happened." After a second, he added, "Or, possibly, they did not care why. Salazar pointed out to me the lies the Prophet prints about me. What will they print about me a hundred years from now when I am no longer around to stand up for myself."

"Probably print you up like another Dark Lord, mate," Ron grinned.

"Fine," Harry shot back, "you can be my goofy henchman"

Ginny grumbled, "Too late."

Harry chuckled and squeezed Ginny tighter for a second.

Hermione frowned slightly as she considered what Harry said.

Harry looked at his friends and asked, "Are you ready to head down?"

Ron and Hermione nodded. Ron seemed reluctant. Ginny did not respond.

"Ginny, you don't need to go with us."

"N-no, I'll go." Ginny got to her feet, but seemed a little shaky to Harry.

"Relax, love. I will be with you the whole time." Harry whispered into her ear.

Harry felt that weird mix of fear and excitement roll through Ginny as he held her hand and they walked out of the Head Dorm.

Entering Myrtle's bathroom, the foursome were confronted by Myrtle herself.

"Hello Harry," Myrtle welcomed Harry in a giggly, flirty voice. "Have you come to visit with me?" Myrtle hid her mouth with her hand as she giggled. The sound made Harry's teeth go on edge.

"Hello Myrtle. We are going down to the Chamber and have a look around. Um, how have you been?"

Myrtle looked crestfallen. "No one comes to see me, but my sweetie. He only comes to cry. He cries more then me. I find that annoying."

Ron got a confused look on his face. "Who could cry more then 'Moaning' Myrtle?"

Unfortunately, Ron spoke loudly enough for the ghost to hear him. She turned and glared at the four. "I HEARD THAT! No one cares for my feelings!" With that Myrtle shot up and plunged into her toilet. It immediately started flooding onto the floor.

Harry shook his head and wondered if it was possible to flood the Chamber. Then he stepped over to the sink and hissed, Open!

Like before, the sink pulled back and dropped to reveal the opening to the Chamber of Secrets. Ginny let out a little squeak of fear at the sight. Harry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. He could almost feel the tension and fear rolling through her emotions. Harry imaged the other two were feeling much the same way.

"You three can still wait here. I'll be okay."

"I am coming with you mate. You shouldn't be alone down there." Ron answered.

"You two will get in trouble without me," Hermione said. "I want to see what books are down there."

Ron snorted, "Only Hermione would brave death over curiosity for books." His girlfriend took this opportunity to provide Ron with a sharp smack to the back of his head.

Hermione turned to Harry. "How do we get down?"

Harry ignored the evidence that his best mate was completely whipped and hissed Stairs .

A circular set of stairs emerged from the walls of the opening leading down to the Chamber.

"Why didn't we use these last time?" Ron asked

"I didn't have Salazar giving me information as a Second year."

"Oh, ya, right."

Hermione snorted, "Honestly Ronald!"

Harry looked at Ginny. She looked completely terrified. Her eyes were wide and Harry could feel her hand shaking. Before he could say anything, she stepped onto the first step, pulling Harry along.

"I have to do this," she whispered. "I can't live in fear of Tom."

Harry stepped onto the steps with Ginny and they started down the stairs. After Hermione and Ron joined them, the steps started to move down, corkscrewing down the hole. Descending, Harry and Ron drew there wands and cast Lumanos to light the way.

Reaching the bottom of the hole, Ron quipped to Harry, "At least the trip down wasn't as exciting this time."

Harry gave Ron a brief glance with a small smirk, his attention primarily focused on Ginny.

Hermione stepped beside the small redhead. "Ginny, do you remember any of this?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Ginny vaguely nodded her head in the affirmative. "Like a dream. Tom was guiding me down this hall."

Hermione took Ginny's free hand (Harry still had possession of the other.) and they started down the hall. Stones and larger rocks lay strewn around the floor. Mixed in were the bones of small animals. A layer of dust covered everything. The only sign of disturbance in the dirt were from trainers sized for a First or Second year student.

Climbing through the rubble, the foursome soon found themselves standing in the chamber with the large statue of Salazar Slytherin. Ginny looked around in a panic, a small bird looking franticly for the predator it knew was nearby. Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny and started whispering into her ear. Ron and Hermione had never entered the Chamber before. Both gazed around the room trying to imagine the fight that had occurred there.

"Bloody hell!" Ron yelled in surprise.

"Language Ron." Hermione said in an absent voice.

"Harry, you fought that!? That is a big bloody snake!" Ron yelled.

Harry glanced up from where he was supporting Ginny and replied in a dry voice, "Funny, it seemed larger when I was twelve."

The passage of five years had gone a long way in decomposing the huge serpent. Only some sagging scales and bones remained. The sand around the body had turned black, spread out like a blood pool.

Ron stepped up to take a closer look at the remains of the snake.

"Ron, don't get too close." Hermione warned.

"It is already dead. It can't hurt me."

"I think she is more worried about the sand, Ron." Harry interrupted. The blood and decay of the basilisk have probably made it poisonous. I bet a pinch of it would kill a horse."

Ron stepped hastily back from the remains of the basilisk. Turning from the snake, he looked up at the statue. "That doesn't really look like the Salazar Slytherin we met."

Harry nodded. "I asked about that. After his split from the Founders, Salazar started experimenting with various rituals. One of them dealt with a strength increase. He wanted the proportional strength of an ape. Unfortunately, they did not know anything about genetics or DNA. He did get some strength but it also gave his a ape-like face. The statue changed magically to match him."

"The door is over here." Harry pointed to the left of the statue. To Ginny he added, "It will be better when we are out of this room. You never went into there did you?"

Ginny shook her head no. "Tom would take me into this room and call the basilisk out. He never went anywhere else down here."

Harry walked up to the door and hissed the password provided by Salazar Slytherin's duplicate in the Room of Requirements. Soundlessly, the door slid back and to the side. Harry motioned to his friends to wait.

"Salazar did not leave any traps behind. He expected the only Parcelmouths's to be his descendants. Riddle may have left something behind. Wait here."

"I am coming with you, mate. You are not going in there alone." Ron stated.

"Ron, I might need you to get me out. Wait here." Then Harry turned and stepped into the room beyond the door.

After a brief minute that seemed an eternity to the waiting friends, Harry returned. "It looks okay. Don't touch anything. We need to be careful."

Harry stepped back and allowed the others to join him. The room beyond seemed to be a entry hall in the style of an early medieval castle. Three thick oak doors led out of the hall. The wooden doors looked almost new. Two stood near each other while the third, much larger door, stood alone on the side of the hall. The room contained almost no dust or signs of aging. The crest of Slytherin House hung on the wall with a spear and halberd crossed behind it.

Harry stepped upto the first door and carefully opened it. Glancing inside he found a dining room with high ceilings fit to seat a dozen people comfortably. Opening the door caused a large antique chandelier magically filled the room with a soft light. The room was decorated in an elegant style. After the rock-strewn chamber outside, it seemed remarkably formal. A place-setting sat at each seat waiting for dinner to commence.

A small door revealed a medieval kitchen with a wood stove. Ginny looked at it curiously. (Harry was glad to see that her curiosity had pulled her together after leaving the part of the chamber she was familiar with.) "My great aunt Agnes had a stove like this. Rather then running off magic directly, it wood directly from a pile when it needs more."

Like the dining room, the kitchen looked perfectly clean. "I wonder if the house-elves cleaned down here? Or did Slytherin use magic to seal the room and keep out the dirt?" Harry wondered aloud.

"I would say he used magic," Hermione answered. "None of the house-elves knew about the Chamber."

Harry grinned. "Lets see. Dobby!"

A quiet pop sounded. "You called me, Harry Potter sir?"

"Hi Dobby. We need to ask you a question. Have you ever been down here before?"

Dobby looked around the room. "We's are in the snake's area. House-elves clean it but then forget. Only remember when we are here. Should master Harry Potter be down here?"

Harry patted the weary looking elf on the shoulder. "Yes, Dobby, we can be here. Would you forget this place again?"

"No, Harry Potter. Yous has called me here; not the room," the elf answered.

Hermione was listening to the conversation and tapping on her teeth in thought. "Dobby, are there other areas that you clean that no one goes to anymore?"

Dobby gave here a sly grin, "Maybe, I don't remember!"

Harry laughed. "Thanks, Dobby."

After Dobby popped away, Ron opened another door in the dining room. "Harry, I think this is the living quarters. Looks like the Slytherin common room."

Harry and the girls followed Ron into the new room. Harry agreed with Ron on the décors similarity with the Slytherin common room. A door that probably led out to the entry hall sat in the wall immediately next to the door they had just entered. High ceilings with thick oak beams and white plaster walls made it obvious this area was never updated. A large fireplace dominated one wall. A somewhat modern collection of chairs and couches sat around the room.

"I wonder if Riddle used this area for the first meetings of his future Death Eaters when he was still in school?" Harry wondered.

"I think you are right, Harry" Ginny agreed. "Otherwise he would not have needed this much furniture."

"Look at this map!" Ron called.

The four gathered around a map of England, Scotland and Wales from the early 1940's. Three colors of tacks were pinned into that map. The tacks were blue, green and brown.

"What do you think they mean?" Ginny asked.

"Look, there is the Burrow! Longbottom's house is on here also." Ron pointed out. Both were marked with blue pins.

Hermione sighed. "They mark where all the students lived when Riddle was a student here. Blue for purebloods, green for half-bloods and brown for muggle-borns."

Ron looked at his girlfriend confused. "How do you know that?"

She frowned slightly before answering. "Everyone we know who is a pureblood is marked with a blue pin. Malfoy Manor and Nott Manor are marked the same way. Brown is the color of mud. So green must be the color of the half-bloods."

Ginny looked sick. "They were stalking their own classmates. They were planning this war even then," she whispered.

Harry pulled them away from the map. "Come on guys. Lets keep looking around."

The next door revealed a small hallway with six doors leading off it. Each door opened into a bedroom. All but one contained the original furniture from Slytherin's time. The last and by far largest room contained newer furniture. Old clothes from Riddle's time as a student sat neatly folded on the bed. A desk stood empty near the bed. Tacked to the wall above the desk were several hand drawn muggle-style sketches.

Harry looked at the pictures. Each was very well done. Unsurprisingly, Harry did not recognize any of the people in the drawings, but felt the drawings were probably accurate representations. The unknown artist definitely had talent. Why would Riddle have them here?

"Do you think Riddle ever snuck down here with a girlfriend?" Ron asked.

"Maybe," Harry allowed. "I am not sure. This was Slytherin's private chamber. Would he use it for that?"

Ginny snorted, "You are assuming the bastard ever had a girlfriend."

"Even Malfoy had Parkinson," Ron pointed out. "Given the opportunity, why wouldn't he use it?"

Hermione shuddered. "I can't see Riddle falling for a girl."

Harry absently agreed, his attention on the pictures. "I don't think he ever would. Tom sees emotions as a weakness to be exploited. I think he would have liked to manipulate, dominate and control the girls around him. It would be a control issue, not an emotional one. I could see him chasing the nicest, most innocent girls in the school and corrupting them."

Ron and Ginny looked pale.

Ginny started weeping silently. "He would have done that to me. I kept seeing flashes of things I never imagined. I was only eleven years old!" The last was said in a wail. "It made me feel dirty. I couldn't look at anyone anymore. His images kept creeping back into my head. I didn't understand!"

Harry embraced the crying Ginny and held her close. He sat them in a chair with her on his lap. She curled in close and sobbed into his shoulder.

Ron looked about in a rage but did not have any place to let it out. Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. In a quiet voice, Hermione coaxed her boyfriend out of the room. "Let's leave her alone now, Ron. Let her get it out. Harry is with her."

After the initial tears passed, Harry apologized to Ginny. "I am sorry, Ginny. I wasn't thinking when I answered Hermione. You never mentioned anything. We never thought he did anything like that to you. I am sorry for not thinking."

"It is not your fault," she murmured. "I couldn't talk about it. I didn't know how to talk about it. I was so naïve. At eleven, I did not even know what words to use. Growing up with six over-protective brothers and me totally naïve, I never had a chance."

Harry shook his head. "Ginny, you fought him. You fought him almost all year. You even managed to through the diary away at one point. You only took it back when you saw I had it. I may have saved you in the Chamber, but you ended up there because you took the diary to protect me."

Harry could feel the denial of his comment. "Ginny, you won. Don't ever forget that.

An hour later the door to the sitting room opened and Harry and Ginny walked in. The signs of her tears remained on her face, but she did seem to have herself under control again. Ron had been sitting staring at the fireplace in thought while Hermione glanced through a book she found on a shelf. Both looked up as the pair entered the room.

Ron dashed over to his sister, "Ginny, are you okay? Can I get you anything?" he asked speaking very quickly.

"I am fine, Ron. It's okay." Ginny assured her brother.

Hermione walked up and gave her best friend a hug. "I should have asked. We could have gotten you help. I should have known!"

Ginny squeezed her back. "I couldn't talk about it."

Ron stepped in and joined the hug. Harry rolled his eyes and decided to join in. Realizing she was sandwiched by her best friend, boyfriend and brother, Ginny started to giggle. Soon the four were laughing.

"Thank you, guys," she said. "I needed that."

Hermione straightened her jumper and said in a business-like tone, "Well, shall we keep looking around?"

Ron leaned over to Harry and mock-whispered, "It is scary when she does that. She sounds like McGonagall."

Harry and Ginny laughed at Ron's comment.

Hermione turned and glared at Ron. "I heard that, Ronald." The glare was ruined by the humor dancing in her eyes.

Knowing he wasn't really in trouble, Ron gave her a cheeky grin, "I s the Head Girl going to take House points away?"

"No, but the Head Girl won't be snogging a certain Seventh year Gryffindor prefect tonight either," came the reply.

Harry felt the tension draining out of Ginny as they laughed at the sight of Ron's outrageous attempts to mollify Hermione's "anger".

Ginny whispered into Harry's ear, "Have you noticed how much less they fight now with the kiss part added to the make-up part?" Harry could only snort in answer.

Hermione almost died as they entered the next room. In Ron's opinion it was a most insidious trap.

It was Salazar Slytherin's personal study and library.

Hermione's eyes grew huge as they entered to room. Only about a quarter the size of the main Hogwart's library, it was still massive for a private library. Hermione started walking along the shelves looking at the various titles. Occasionally she would emit a squeal of delight at a particular title.

"Tobin's Spirit Guide! These were all thought to be lost! Astra Varga's 'Guide to the Dark'! No one has seen these in three hundred years!"

"Oh, " Harry said, "think she will explode or implode?"

"She will explode any second now." Ron said. "She won't be able to contain it.

Ginny shook her head. "Implode," Ginny answered. "She wouldn't was to damage the books."

"It looks like she is vibrating." Ron commented.

"I never knew it was possible to orgasm from smelling a book," was Harry's snarky contribution.

Finally it happened. Hermione spun around and collapsed in a rickety looking old chair. She collapsed with a sigh. A happy smile covered her face. "This is wonderful." A contented happiness radiated from the brown-haired girl.

Ron walked over and kissed his girlfriend on the forehead. "You cost me a Galleon. I thought the sight would cause you to explode."

Hermione grinned back at him. "Never, it might damage the books."

After she recovered, Hermione commented to Harry, "I expected more Dark books with Slytherin's reputation. Some of the books are considered Dark now, but not in the Founder's time."

Ron looked confused, "How can the Dark change?"

"It is not the magic that is Dark, Ron. It is how you use it." At Ron's rebellious look, Harry asked, "Is a Levitation Charm light or dark?"

"Light, I guess," Ron answered.

"If I use it to lift you off the Astronomy Tower and then release it, is it still Light?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Dark spells just can be abused easier then others. I don't think anyone would complain or call me a Dark Lord if I used a Killing Curse to finish off Riddle."

Although Ron nodded his understanding of the point, Harry could tell he did not fully agree.

Harry suggested he and Ron continue to look around while the girls looked through the library. Ginny looked slightly rebellious but agreed in the end. Hermione looked excited to start cataloging the different books. Ginny gave Harry a look he knew meant he would pay for this.

The two new doors led out of the study. The first revealed a potions lab. It was obvious that Riddle and his followers had used this room during their time at Hogwarts. The equipment left by Slytherin was set aside carefully on shelves. The thousand year old scales, cauldrons and other equipment set up like museum pieces.

Replacing them was equipment that would have been top of the line in the 1940's. A solid gold cauldron sat to one side, cleaned and ready for immediate use.

"Bloody hell," Ron said in a sigh, "that cauldron cost more then the Burrow!"

"Riddle was stealing other peoples money even then," was Harry's only comment.

Most of the potions ingredients had gone bad over the last fifty years. Some of the rare ingredients were sealed in charmed jars to keep them fresh. With a restocking, this lab would be even better equipped then the one in the Potions classroom.

Harry did find one feature particularly interesting. In one corner of the lab stood a small closet sized room. A heavy oak door reinforced by steel bands closed off the closet. Two small openings led into the closet from the side. One was at eye level and the other was at the same level the top of a cauldron would be at sitting in the closet. Two poles hung on hooks next to the opening. One had a scoop and the other tongs on the end. Harry had seen a similar set up in Muggle sci-fi movies. Scientists used them when working with dangerous chemicals or biological materials.

The boys moved back through the library where Hermione continued to catalog the books. Ginny sat at the table recording the tittles Hermione mentioned. Harry told them about the potions lab and the different materials found there. Hermione asked a couple of questions but never really turned from the shelves of books. Ginny just rolled her eyes.

Harry was glad to see Ginny was feeling better. He knew coming down to the Chamber was hard on her emotionally. The revelation of Riddle's attempt to corrupt her added to her pain. Ginny was always good at bouncing back from a bad experience. Although, Harry feared it was not really an ability to overcome the pain so much as the ability to suppress the pain.

Ron and Harry walked through the final door. This room Harry really liked. It was the only room that showed Riddle had completely modernized it during his time in school. It was a Dueling Chamber.

A raised wood platform covered in a thick canvas. The walls had been padded to prevent injure when a dueler took a hit. No Muggle weapons were in the room, but the walls showed signs of damage from a variety of curses and hexes. It looked like all of the common spells were represented, from Blasting to Cutting curses.

Harry noticed a mirror mounted on the wall. He had heard of these kinds of mirrors. Harry pulled out his wand, touched the mirror and said, "Show me." The reflection faded and was replaced by an image of the dueling room.

Two figures faced each other on the platform. One Harry recognized as Riddle. The other looked like Theodore Nott.

"Are you prepared, Lord Voldemort?"

The handsome young man addressed raised his wand and answered with a rapid firing of curses. No warning was given. Neither was quarter. The older Nott was thrown against the wall and he collapsed into a boneless heap.

Harry watched another fifteen minutes of images of Voldemort dueling as a Seventh year. He was quick and ruthless. If Harry fought the boy he was watching, he felt they would split their duels. Unfortunately, that boy had another fifty years of training under his belt now.

Ron had walked over while Harry watched the duels. Harry looked at his friend and said, "I need to train harder."

A/N: Sorry for the long delay between updates. Work has been very busy. Since I am not JKR, I need to work for a living! ;-) Also, this chapter breaks the 100K word barrier! Thank you to all of the reviewers who have taken the time to send me their comments.