Chapter 13

The Chamber of Secrets

It was extremely frustrating to have a theory but to be unable to test it. With the security restrictions, it was impossible for Orion to even attempt to find his father or uncle. He knew it probably wasn't necessary since the area around Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was already under high security but he wasn't willing to take any chances because of assumptions. He had already made too many mistakes this year and knew he had a lot to make up for.

With his focus on the Chamber of Secrets, Orion found it difficult to concentrate on classes. He had actually missed Professor McGonagall's announcement in Transfiguration until the class had erupted in protests. It took a moment for Orion to realize that everyone was upset about exams continuing as scheduled. In all honesty, Orion was surprised that the thought had even crossed everyone's mind. What was the point of being at Hogwarts if their education wouldn't be tested like any other year?

In the end, Orion gave up on waiting to spot his father or uncle and cornered Professor McGonagall to request a meeting. She had hesitated at first forcing Orion to reveal that it was regarding the Chamber of Secrets. There was no choice. Professor McGonagall took Orion, Neville, Hayden and Ron to her office while instructing the Auror on duty to locate Sirius Black as soon as the students had been taken to their next class.

It had taken only a matter of minutes for Sirius, Remus and Evelyn to show up.

Sirius cast a quick glance at the four Gryffindors before focusing completely Professor McGonagall. "You wished to see us, Professor?" he asked briskly.

"Your son asked for you, Auror Black," Professor McGonagall corrected sternly. "He believes he has information about the Chamber of Secrets."

Sirius immediately turned to face Orion. "You've been investigating after I specifically told you—"

"—Dad, we haven't done anything," Orion interrupted quickly. "Have you talked to Moaning Myrtle?"

Sirius stared at Orion suspiciously. "Several times," he said slowly. "She's been extremely uncooperative but that area is currently restricted. You boys haven't gone wandering—"

"Do you know how long she's been a ghost?" Hayden asked quickly.

"For nearly fifty years, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall answered.

Orion frowned in thought. It was odd that Moaning Myrtle became a ghost around the timeframe the Chamber had been opened last time. What if Myrtle had become a ghost when the Chamber had been opened last time? What if the mysterious girl killed because of the monster in the Chamber had been at Hogwarts all along? Orion opened his mouth to ask only to be silenced by the door opening with a loud bang.

In a blink of an eye, Orion found himself being pulled behind his father while Neville, Hayden and Ron were covered by Remus and Evelyn. The tension in the air only lasted for a moment before Orion felt his father's grip relax. "Kingsley!" Sirius barked. "What is the meaning of this?"

Peaking around Sirius, Orion noticed the familiar face of Kingsley Shacklebolt, a tall black wizard who had normally been assigned to Sirius' unit. Sirius had always said that Kingsley was one of the few Aurors who didn't buy into 'the Ministry is always right' campaign which was saying a lot. Many Aurors were too focused on their own careers to take a second glance at what was happening around them.

"Sir, we have a student missing," Kingsley's deep voice seemed to echo throughout the room. "Dawlish reported a first year Gryffindor vanished between classes."

Professor McGonagall let out a loud gasp before managing to collect herself. "I'll arrange for lockdown immediately," she said briskly then turned to Sirius. "I trust you will have an Auror stationed at each of the house entrances. Until we can find the missing student—" Professor McGonagall's words died as Professor Sprout rushed into the room looking frantic. "Pomona, what is—"

"Minerva, the heir of Slytherin has struck again," Professor Sprout gasped between heaving breaths. "There's another message. A student has been taken to the Chamber of Secrets!"

Neville, Hayden and Ron stared at Orion in horror. Orion knew the same thing had entered each of their minds. They had been too late. If only they had spoken up sooner. If only Orion had spoken up months ago when he had first suspected the monster was a Basilisk.

Professor McGonagall slowly closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and pointing her wand to her throat. "Sonorus," she said before her amplified voice resonated off the walls. "All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please. Quietus."

"Kingsley, please take the boys back to Gryffindor—"

"—Dad, no!" Orion protested. "You need me! I can help you find the monster!"

Everyone froze and stared at Orion making him quickly realize that perhaps he should have kept his comments to himself. Only Sirius and Remus knew about his—er—ability and that was the way they had wanted to keep it that way.

"Mr. Black!" Professor McGonagall cried incredulously. "What is the meaning of this? Have you been withholding information that would have helped us put an end to this?"

A tense hand gripped Orion's shoulder. "I assure you, Professor McGonagall," Sirius said quickly, "Orion has revealed everything he knows. Meet with your staff. Kingsley and Evelyn will take the boys back to the Gryffindor Tower. We'll meet with you shortly to discuss our tactics."

Professor McGonagall looked extremely offended at being ordered like a child but she obeyed nonetheless. Neville, Hayden and Ron, however weren't as willing, especially when they learned that Orion wouldn't be accompanying them. One look from Sirius, though, was all it took for Evelyn and Kingsley to forcibly remove them from the room. Orion could hear Neville, Hayden and Ron protesting until silencing charms were cast.

That was when Orion knew he was in trouble.

"WHAT IN MERLIN'S BEARD ARE YOU THINKING?!" Sirius roared as he grabbed Orion by the arm. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ALMOST DID?"

"Sirius!" Remus scolded, pulling Orion away and stepping between them. "Now isn't the time for this!"

"What's the matter, Dad?" Orion shot back angrily. "Afraid that my dark ability will taint the family name more than it already is?"

"Orion!" Remus scolded. "That is no way to talk to your father!"

Orion turned away with a scowl on his face. He knew Remus was right…on both accounts. Sirius' main concern had always been Orion's safety, no matter what. Orion was just so frustrated with everything spiraling out of control and couldn't help blame himself for a part of it. If only he had been upfront with his father from the beginning…

Sirius inhaled deeply and slowly let it out as his eyes slowly closed. "All right, we'll discuss this later," he said stiffly.

Remus nodded in approval. "Good," he said then turned to Orion. "Now, Orion, please talk to us."

Orion let out a sigh as he met Remus' gaze. "I—It's just that I can hear the Basilisk," he said nervously. "I could warn you—"

"—absolutely not!" Sirius interrupted. "There's no way I'm putting you in danger—"

"—just hold on, Sirius," Remus interrupted patiently. "Ori has a point and we could use every advantage we can get. Now, have you heard anything today?"

Orion shook his head firmly. "I would have said something, you know that," he insisted.

Remus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then we have to assume that the missing student was taken by the heir, whoever has been helping the heir—"

"—or went willingly," Sirius finished bitterly.

An uneasy silence fell. It almost seemed impossible to consider but at the present time they needed to consider all possibilities. On the other hand, it was possible to believe that a first year could get caught up in something and not know how to get out. There were a lot of first years who felt like they had something to prove and had no one to turn to.

"All right," Remus said breaking the silence. "This is what we'll do; Ori and I will go to the girl's bathroom on the second floor and find out what we can. Sirius, meet with McGonagall and gather who you can trust to meet up with us."

"Remus—"

"—Sirius, we don't have time and Orion's right," Remus insisted. "We can't help anyone if we're caught unaware by the Basilisk."

Grudgingly, Sirius cast a final look at Orion before canceling the silencing charm and leaving. As soon as the door closed, Orion nervously glanced over at Remus only to meet a sympathetic smile before ushering Orion out of the room.

"Do you really think I can help, Moony?" Orion asked curiously.

Remus gave Orion's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Oh, I think so," he said casually. "I also think that if we didn't include you, you'd find a way to be involved anyways. This way, we know what you're doing."

Orion felt his face flush in embarrassment. He had to admit that his uncle knew him too well. The rest of the journey passed in an eerie silence. It was odd to walk through the halls of Hogwarts without anyone else around. There was normally at least a teacher roaming the halls to provide some sort of sound. As they reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Orion and Remus shared a look. There certainly was no turning back now.

Remus entered first with his wand at the ready, Orion followed suit. If there was any time to fire first and ask questions later, now was the time.

Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet. Her gaze rested on Remus. "Oh, it's you again," she said sulkily. "What do you want this time?"

Orion took the opportunity to step around Remus. "Hello Myrtle," he said politely. "We were wondering how you died."

Remus looked at Orion in surprise but remained silent. Myrtle, however, looked like Christmas had come early.

"Oooh, it was dreadful," she said eagerly. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then —" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."

"Did you see anything before you died?" Remus asked suspiciously.

Myrtle nodded. "I saw a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…." She looked dreamily at Remus and then at Orion. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses." She pointed vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet. "I saw them right about there, actually."

Orion made to hurry towards the sink only to be held back by Remus, who shot him a glance that clearly said 'you're here, don't push it.' Slowly, Remus approached the sink and examined every inch of it. Crouching down, Remus looked at the pipes below then looked up and let out a gasp causing Orion to hurry over and take a look. It was hard to see which explained how it had been missed during all of the searches. Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake.

"That tap's never worked," Myrtle said brightly.

Orion stared at the tiny snake. Could it be? Was the Chamber of Secrets right here all along? It almost seemed too ridiculous and too ingenious at the same time. Who would ever look in a girl's bathroom for Chamber belonging to a man? Closing his eyes, Orion tried to picture a real snake in his mind. "Open up," he said only the words weren't really said at all. A strange hissing had escaped his lips.

At once, the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Before Orion could even think, arms wrapped around him and pulled him back as the sink began to move downwards until it was out of sight leaving a large pipe exposed that was wide enough for a man to slide into.

"Well," Remus said with a slight shakiness to his voice. "That's certainly something you don't see every day."

Orion could only grin at his uncle. It was obvious that Remus was doing everything in his power to refrain from showing fear. "So, now we wait for Dad?" Orion asked.

Remus cast Orion a suspicious look. "Yes, we wait and if you're lucky, your father won't insist that you return to the Gryffindor Tower immediately," he said with a hint of warning in his tone.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait too long before Sirius rushed into the bathroom followed by Evelyn and Kingsley Shacklebolt. It was almost funny seeing the looks on their faces as Remus explained how he and a twelve-year-old boy managed to find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets with the help of a ghost. Of course Orion's roll in the actually opening was somewhat generalized but the main points were all that mattered.

Sirius immediately took over. "Time is of the essence," he said then shifted his gaze to Orion. "Son, I think you better return to Gryffindor Tower—"

"—Sirius," Remus warned quietly. "We may still need him. I highly doubt Slytherin only had one safety precaution."

Sirius scowled as he approached the entrance. No one said a word as Sirius pointed his wand into the large pipe and muttered "Lumos." Light filled the pipe while everyone gathered around Sirius to take a look. The pipe looked filthy but did reveal that someone had indeed slid down the pipe due to the lack of filth in one area. A look was shared between the adults in the room which seemed to be a signal. Without a word passing between them, Orion watched as they all pointed their wands into the pipe and said, "Scourgify!"

"Let's go," Sirius said in his Auror voice as he sat down and slid his legs into the pipe. "The sooner we can get to the missing student the better."

"May I voice my reservations regarding this, Sirius?" Kingsley asked cautiously. "We don't know what's down there. One of us should go first."

Sirius stared sternly at Kingsley for a long moment before sliding out of sight. Orion moved to follow but was held back by Remus. Evelyn and Kingsley took the opportunity to move forward with their wands pointed at the tunnel. Time seemed to come to a halt as they waited for any sign from Sirius that it was safe.

Finally, a familiar voice brought relief to everyone. "It's okay!" Sirius' voice echoed into the bathroom. "Just watch your landing!"

Kingsley vanished from sight next, followed by Evelyn and then Orion. It was like sliding down an endless dark slide. Orion could only imagine what it would have been like if the pipe hadn't been cleaned first. There were more pipes branching off in all directions but none was nearly as large as the one he was sliding in. As it twisted, turned and sloped downward even more, Orion had to wonder just how far down the Chamber was. He must be underneath the school by now at the very least.

It wasn't long before the pipe leveled out, shooting Orion out of the end with a wet thud. He landed on the damp floor only to be immediately helped to his feet and pulled off to the side as Remus came out of the pipe. They were standing in a dark stone tunnel that was large enough for all of them to stand in.

"Let's get moving," Sirius said, his voice echoing in the black tunnel. "Ori, you stay with me."

Orion didn't have the nerve to protest, quickly joined his father at the front of the line. With his wand at the ready, he followed Sirius into the darkness ahead. As one, they lit their wands for even the slightest chance of precaution against whatever may come their way. No one attempted to speak leaving the only sound that filled their ears being their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.

It wasn't long, however, before the silence was broken by a loud, girlish cry. Everyone turned around with their wands at the ready to see a large mess of golden robes shoot out of the large pipe and land with a loud slap on the floor. The mess of robes let out a groan as three smaller blurs of black shot out of the pipe and hit the golden mess. It only took a fraction of a second for Orion to realize what had happened.

Neville, Hayden and Ron had somehow snuck out of Gryffindor Tower and followed them with Lockhart of all people.

Sirius was far from impressed. "What are you doing here?!" he shouted.

Neville, Hayden and Ron cringed as the mess of gold shifted until the distressed face of Gilderoy Lockhart was revealed. "Don't look at me!" Lockhart cried. "These three threatened me at wand point! They wouldn't listen to reason!"

Sirius enfolded his arms across his chest and stared at Lockhart with unsympathetic eyes. "I'm amazed that someone with your credentials was overpowered by three second year students, Lockhart," he said dryly.

Lockhart flinched. "Well—funny thing that—"

"—He's a fraud!" Hayden interrupted. "He told us that he's just been taking credit for what other people have done! He tried to Obliviate us—"

"—what?" Remus growled and stepped forward only to have his path blocked by Sirius.

Sirius immediately shot a glance at Kingsley who nodded before approaching Lockhart, pulling him to his feet and jabbing his wand at Lockhart's throat. "When this is over, you will be taken to the Ministry and brought up on criminal charges," Kingsley said matter-of-factly. "You know the penalties of unauthorized use of Memory Charms."

Lockhart quivered in fear before Kingsley shoved him towards the tunnel. Sirius then shifted his attention on the three Gryffindors. "You three disobeyed orders," Sirius said in his authoritative Auror voice. "You were in your Tower for a reason—"

"—but you don't understand!" Ron protested weakly. "It's my sister who's been taken!"

Orion gasped. Sirius, however, appeared to be unaffected. "I'm aware of who was taken!" Sirius barked back. "The student's identity doesn't matter. We will do our job regardless."

"Sirius," Evelyn interjected quietly. "They are distraught enough—"

Sirius quickly turned his head and glared at Evelyn, silencing her immediately. When his gaze returned to Neville, Hayden and Ron, he looked even more furious than before. "You three will stay here," he said firmly. "We don't have time to monitor you while trying to save a life, battle a Basilisk and face Voldemort."

Ron visibly flinched while Neville shook slightly. Hayden, although, remained firm. "But Orion—"

"—has at least some training," Remus interrupted patiently. "Sirius is right, Hayden. You three and Lockhart will be more of a hindrance than a help. It would be better if you were to wait here for us to return. You can keep an eye on Lockhart for us."

Lockhart looked extremely offended. "I—I beg your pardon!" he stuttered. "You expect me to sit here—"

"—I don't expect anything from you, Lockhart," Sirius growled. "Just be glad I don't erase all your knowledge of personal grooming."

Lockhart stared at Sirius in horror but remained silent. Sirius took that as his cue to grab Orion by the arm and pull him towards the tunnel. Orion quickly noticed that Remus, Evelyn and Kingsley were a little more reluctant leaving three children behind with no adult other than an incompetent wimp who acted more like a child than they did. It wasn't long before those left behind were swallowed by the darkness.

The only sound that filled their ears was the crunching of small animal bones under their feet. Orion tried to ignore the morbid thoughts swimming into his mind. He could only hope that they reached Ginny before she met a similar fate.

As the tunnel turned, Orion felt an arm push him against the wall, signaling for him to stay while Sirius moved forward. Evelyn and Kingsley cautiously followed Sirius' lead. Orion didn't dare breathe, especially when he heard Sirius, Evelyn and Kingsley gasp.

"Bloody hell!" Kingsley said softly. "There's our proof."

Orion took the opportunity to poke his head around the bend and froze at the sight of the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. At first glance, Orion thought that it was the basilisk until he noticed that it wasn't moving. With as large as it was, the snake would have easily killed them all by now. It had to have been at least twenty feet long.

"Hard to believe that something that size has been roaming the halls and no one's noticed," Sirius grumbled as he moved forward. "You'd think someone would have heard something."

"HEY!"

Everyone turned around at the sound of Hayden's voice echoing in the tunnel. There was no hesitation as Remus and Evelyn took off back to the mouth of the tunnel with Kingsley on their heels. Orion would have followed if the tight grip on his arm wouldn't have been there. Glancing up at his father, Orion noticed the conflicting looks and suddenly realized what was going on. Sirius was battling between his need to protect his son and doing his job. This was why Sirius had wanted Orion to leave. At the moment, Orion was nothing more than a distraction.

"Dad," Orion said nervously, causing Sirius to look at Orion in surprise. "Dad, I'm really—"

"No!" Lockhart's voice echoed in the tunnel. "I will not be treated like this! Say good-bye to your memories!"

Lockhart's voice mixed with Evelyn's, Remus' and Kingsley's making it impossible to know what spell was said by whom but there was no time to think about it. There was a loud explosion as if a small bomb had gone off. Before Orion knew it, he was being pulled towards the snake skin as great chunks of tunnel ceiling thundered to the floor. He slid over the coils of the snake skin and nearly lost his balance before arms wrapped around him and pulled him down, Sirius' body completely covering his own.

When silence filled the tunnel, Orion felt Sirius' hold relax and looked up to see a solid wall of broken rock blocking them off from everyone else. Orion didn't waste a second thought before scrambling to his feet and rushing to the wall. He couldn't bring himself to even think of what had happened to everyone else.

"Sirius! Orion!" Remus' faint, muffled voice called from behind the rock-fall.

"We're all right!" Sirius called out. "Any injuries?"

"Lockhart got the majority of the blast!" Remus answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "The boys are fine, a few bumps, nothing major! There's a lot of debris here. It'll take us a while to get through!"

Sirius and Orion shared a look. "Do what you can!" Sirius shouted. "Orion and I will continue on—"

"—Sirius—"

"—we don't have time to wait!" Sirius barked impatiently. "Do your job and I'll do mine!"

Orion fought the urge to take a nervous step back. He had never heard Sirius talk to Remus like that. There was also the small fact that Remus wasn't one of Sirius' Aurors but Orion figured that it wasn't the time to bring that up. Sirius and Remus were brothers in every way but blood. If anyone could put up with Sirius' moods, it was Remus.

There was a brief silence before Remus' voice reached their ears. "Keep your eyes shielded as much as possible…and trust each other."

Sirius muttered something under his breath that sounded strangely like 'mother hen' before setting off past the giant snake skin, leaving Orion to hurry to catch up. With each step, the sound of rocks shifting slowly faded. The tunnel turned and turned again. Orion started to wonder if they had actually missed some hidden door but their lit wands picked up nothing out of the ordinary. Finally, they crept around another bend and saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

Sirius took the lead and checked the snakes for any sort of knob or lever. Finding nothing, Orion took that as his cue to step forward and focus on the eyes of the snakes flickering in the wand light. He swallowed nervously and was relieved to feel a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He wasn't alone. His dad was with him and that seemed to give Orion all of the confidence in the world.

"Open," Orion said in a low, faint hiss.

The grip on his shoulder tightened slightly while the serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight. Orion looked up at Sirius and received a firm nod. It was now or never. Together, Orion and Sirius walked inside.

A/N: Well, here's my problem child. I kept varying from what I had originally intended but in the end I just went with the flow. I did manage to get Chapter 14 done in a month so yeah me! I'm currently working on updating Hayden's Journal since I'm a few entries behind. Then I will start on the final chapter of Chamber of Secrets.