I was a little surprised at the good reception to Salazar's journals. I'm glad you guys liked them. I put more in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.
Twin Trios
Chapter Nine
Harry didn't mention the voice he had heard to anybody on Sunday. Nor did he go back to the Chamber. Callidus hadn't come back from the Chamber yet, so Harry didn't know anything that was happening on that front. On Sunday he finished off his homework and hung around the common room with Ron and Hermione. Ginny was off doing who knows what.
He thought about contacting his mother and asking about the voice, but almost immediately scrapped it. She had enough to deal with, what with playing the perfect Gryffindor. Harry knew that even when Percy was at school his parents still went out to lots of functions that just boosted the ego of the idiot he had to call his father.
Monday started too soon for Harry's liking. It signalled his first class with Professor Lockhart. Hermione had been gushing all week about all the things that were in his books, much to Harry's and Ron's annoyance. Just by looking at the man, Harry doubted he had done those things.
Everybody was lined up outside. As usual, they were grouped into their different houses. The Gryffindors were loud and noisy as a whole while the Slytherins were split into little groups. Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing together as normal.
The bell rang and Professor Lockhart's golden hair poked out of the door.
"Everybody in," he instructed.
There was what Harry could only describe as a gaggle of giggling girls, Hermione among them They all wanted to get a spot in the front. There were a few that weren't though. Harry noticed that Daphne was one of the few along with a girl named Tracey Davis that didn't rush in the doorway. The rest of the boys followed grumbling, actually agreeing on something for once.
Harry, Ron and Daphne were some of the lucky ones who got to sit in the back. Harry made sure to sit next to Ron so he wouldn't be reduced to only saying "hi" the entire lesson. The class fell silent as Lockhart called for attention.
"Welcome, to your first Defence against the Dark Arts class," He started. "I am Gilderoy Lockhart, but you all know that don't you?" He flashed a brilliant smile and a wink causing the girls sitting in the front to sigh.
"I am the author of Magical Me, A Year with the Yeti and so many more best-selling books. And five weeks winner of Witch Weekly's best smile award. But enough about me, I didn't get rid of the werewolf by smiling at it, did I?" He paused for effect as the girls laughed at his joke.
"Now, let's talk about class. You will be having a pop quiz to see how well you read the course books."
He started to hand out the quizzes. When Hermione got hers, she looked at the first question that immediately starting to scribble away. Harry turned to Ron.
"I didn't even open my course books," he whispered quietly as the professor continued to hand out the quizzes.
"Neither have I," Ron whispered back. "My parents wouldn't even buy me any. According to them they were too expensive and I can share with Ray." Ron snorted when he said that. His parents knew that he and Ray don't get along very well.
They got their papers last and the professor walked back to the front of the room.
"You have thirty minutes, starting now," he announced. Harry hadn't even looked at the questions yet, but he could see a bunch of the others, almost all of the girls, scribbling frantically. He looked down at his paper and saw the first question.
What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?
What would be Gilderoy Lockhart's ideal birthday gift?
When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday?
The list went on and on. Harry turned the page and there were even more questions on the back, just as long. Sighing, he read the last one.
50. Name the award that Gilderoy Lockhart has won five times in a row.
Harry smirked evilly, thinking of the answers that he could put in the quiz. None of them would be right of course.
Thirty minutes later time was up.
"Please pass your answers to the person in front of you, and they will in turn pass them up to the front," Lockhart announced. Harry was starting to worry about what they were going to do for the rest of the class if this was what he had planned for the start.
"The squib can't even collect them magically," Harry heard Draco Malfoy mutter. Harry frowned when he realized that he was right. A lot of their other, more competent teachers just summoned all the papers with a flick of their wands.
The professor quickly flipped through the different answers written there, reading the first few answers from each page out loud and making comments while the class sat there and waited for him to continue. More often than not, a frown would flicker across his face. It seemed to Harry that more than a few of his classmates had had the same idea that he had.
After the class had sat there for a good five minutes, he was done. He stood up dramatically and took out his wand.
"In this class," he started. "You will learn how to conquer a yeti, how to beat a werewolf with one hand tied behind your back, among many other things. But most importantly, you'll have the chance to learn from yours truly. But for today, we'll start out small." He went to the cage that had been silent all class until a moment or two ago. He waited, making sure he had the full attention of the class and then with a flourish, removed the blanket that covered the cage, exposing the creatures within.
What he unveiled could only be described as chaos. The creatures had wings and were a vibrant blue. Their eyes just screamed 'mischief,' as they started yelling and hurling insults in loud tinny voices though it appeared that their teacher didn't notice.
"Cornish Pixies?" Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor said incredulously. "What can Cornish Pixies do to us?"
"You'll be surprised at what they can do Mr. Finnigan," said Lockhart in what he thought was a wise and knowledgeable voice as he wagged his finger annoyingly at Finnigan. "Nasty little blighters they are, and can cause a lot of trouble. Now let's see what you make of them!" Saying that, he opened the cage.
The freed Pixies flew everywhere into the startled class, chattering excitedly as they promptly began to systematically destroy the class more effectively than a rampaging rhinoceros. Malfoy was the first one to the exit, followed by almost the entire Slytherin class. Daphne took one look at the pixies, than tried to hit one of them with a spell that Harry didn't recognize. Hermione, on the other hand, was having a serious brash moment where she actually tried to fight the pixies with the spells that she knew.
"Stupefy," she cried out. Her spell was dodged by the pixie she had been trying to hit and ended up flying out the window. She tried once again and failed. By now even most of the Gryffindors had vanished out the door, abandoning any hope they had once thought they had to capturing the pixies. The only ones that were left were Harry, Ron, Hermione and their respective twins.
Harry looked over to see where their professor should be. He saw a flash of gold hair before the door to his office closed.
"That's it," Harry turned to Ron. "I'm out of here." Ron nodded his agreement. The two boys picked up their worn book bags and left the now decimated classroom. They had reached the end of the hall when a panting Hermione with dishevelled hair caught up to them.
"He was only trying to give us some hands on experience to see what we can do," She wheezed out in between breathes. Harry and Ron exchanged a look and tried very hard to keep a straight face. The trio kept walking.
!#$%^&*
Harry woke up at six on the weekend. He had done almost all his homework on Friday night and was going to go back into the Chamber of Secrets again. He was finally going to wake the sleeping basilisk and have a chat with it.
He got out of bed and changed into some comfortable clothes that his mother had bought for him. He splashed some water on his face to get rid of any remaining sleep in his eyes then left his snoring friend sleeping. He was fairly confident that Hermione wouldn't be up this early, as she had been up late doing school work. Ginny he wasn't as sure of.
But before he went to the chamber, he wanted to do something else. Something that he had been meaning to do for a while now. Harry left the Slytherin common room with a spare set of clothes and headed up to the seventh floor to the come and go room. He thought for what he wanted it to do as he paced there three times, causing a door to appear.
Harry opened the door and walked inside. Inside was a track with a different type of surface at different intervals. Some parts were sand, while some was pavement. Other sections included gravel, grass and cement. Harry assumed it was a five hundred meter track, as that was what he had asked the room to provide.
He did a bit of stretching before setting off on what he hoped would be his morning routine. The sand was very difficult to run on, as was the gravel. The cement, grass and pavement were all easier then the first two. But that was why he wanted to learn how to run on all different terrains; he wouldn't be able to choose where he got to fight on.
Harry managed to run three laps of the track before he got tired out. He did some cool down stretches then changed into the clothes he had brought with him and freshened himself up with a charm. It wasn't quite as good as having a shower, but it would do since he needed to get down into the Chamber before the majority of the school woke up.
He left the Room of Requirement and headed down to the second floor. He passed a couple of fifth year Ravenclaws on the way, and they didn't even give the second year a second glance. Harry didn't pass anyone else as he reached the second floor bathroom.
$ Open, $ He hissed. The entrance opened up as usual. $ Stairs $ he commanded. The stairs slid into place like they were supposed to. Harry walked down the stairs.
He got to the path where it split between the duelling room and the basilisk chamber, and went the way that would lead him to where Salazar Slytherin's basilisk was.
"OW!" Harry yelped in pain and surprise. He had stubbed his toe on something, and when he looked down he found that the something as a good sized rock right in the middle of the passageway.
'Hmmm,' Harry thought. 'It's really lucky that neither of us had stepped on that the first time we came down here.' Then he saw something that nearly stopped his heart.
The Chamber of Secrets was extremely old, just as old as Hogwarts was. Unfortunately for the chamber, it did not have the advantage of being kept clean like the castle above it did. So there was dust all around on the ground. Harry could see the footprints that he and his friends had made last year, though they were covered by a little layer of dust that was noticeably not as thick as the rest. But beside them was another pair of footsteps, one gong the same way he was and the other coming back, that looked like they could've been created in the last few days. Harry hadn't been in this part of the chamber for at least six months.
So who created these other footsteps?
Harry desperately thought of all the people he knew at Hogwarts, and there was only one other Parselmouth that he could think of: Percy. But he knew that his brother didn't really have the intelligence to realize that he was a descendant, let alone find the Chamber of Secrets. So there must be an unknown Parseltongue in the school.
Starting to worry for Callidus, he took out his wand and started to follow the trail of footprints. He entered the basilisk chamber and saw that they led all the way to the statue. He cautiously approached it, ready to speak and command the basilisk at a moment's notice.
If he was lucky, then the basilisk would follow his command over whoever created those footsteps. He finally reached the statue and what he saw almost stopped his heart for the second time since he had entered the chamber.
His familiar lay on the ground, his eyes open and unseeing. His body was unnaturally stiff for someone who looked like they were dead. Maybe Callidus wasn't dead, but was only… Harry couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse that would comfort him. He looked at his faithful companion for the last five years.
Trying to ignore the body that lay on the ground, Harry looked up at the statue. He saw that it was open. Harry then realized that that must be where the basilisk normally lives. His veins filled with fury. One of the only things that could've harmed Callidus would be another basilisk.
$Basilisk of Salazar Slytherin, come out here with your eyes closed. I command you!$ Harry waited for a few moments and got no response. He tried again and the snake still didn't answer. Finally, Harry went to see if the snake was there.
$ Close your eyes, $ He told the basilisk. He then approached the opening of the statue with his wand at the ready. He got there… and saw nothing.
The chamber was massive, easily able to fit a one hundred foot snake, and was really high too. It hurt Harry's neck just to even look at the top. But it was empty. There was a massive void where Harry thought the basilisk should be.
'Well,' thought Harry. 'At least that explains why it wasn't answering my commands.' He was secretly relieved that it turned out that the guardian wasn't there, because that meant that it might still follow his orders.
Realizing that he wasn't going to find the basilisk, he went back out to the body of his beloved familiar. He didn't want to bury him, so he picked him up with a grunt. Callidus was much heavier then he used to be… but then again, Callidus had told him that full grown basilisks are normally so big that they don't stop growing until they were over two hundred years old at the minimum, if ever.
Harry made an effort to keep tears from leaking out, just from thinking of Callidus. He walked all the way to the duelling chamber and put Callidus down out of view in case that other Parselmouth came back into the chamber.
'At least I know that the voice I heard the other night was probably the older basilisk from the chamber,' Harry thought. 'But now I need to figure out who it was that was commanding it. It could be anyone.'
Harry made his way back to the entrance of the chamber, then decided to stop and take another look into his ancestor's life. He found the book that he had been reading and flipped through it once again. Not finding anything new, he turned to the book that was one to the right of the one in his hands.
He opened to the first page and started to read.
My first effort has failed. A child of only eleven years had a magic outbreak today. I talked to him about coming to our school, which we have named Hogwarts in honour of Godric's late grandfather, and he was interested. Unfortunately his parents, who were both non-gifted, were not. They screamed how he was being possessed by the devil and burned their own child right in front of the entire village. How could someone be so evil?
I had another meeting with the other three. We have decided the subjects that should be taught at Hogwarts. There will be Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and two Combat classes, one light and one dark. I learned that Gryffindor is one of those who believe that all dark combat spells are evil.
Rowena will be teaching Charms. Helga will be the professor for potions while Godric as agreed to take the transfiguration course, along with the light combat. That leaves me with only one class, dark combat spells.
We also extended invitations to all the people whom are gifted with magic that we know of. I have informed the others that we will need to come up with a way to locate the gifted that have to live with their non-gifted parents. Rowena agreed to the challenge without any hesitation. I will not be surprised if she comes up with a way.
The school is slated to commence in the fall. The youngest that will be attending will be eleven years of age, while the elders will be a mere seventeen. I am afraid that the different ages will be at different levels, as well those who grew up with non-gifted people. We have been going into the non-gifted towns a lot recently, trying to find and save a gifted person from being burnt alive by non-gifted in the name of their religion.
Harry turned to a different page and read it.
Classes started today. We only have fifty students or so, ranging from eleven to seventeen. Some of them have a look of intelligence while others are clearly lost during the instruction periods. They should be separated, in my opinion. It is only because they are at different levels, and the lower ones are slowing down the learning of the ones at the higher level.
My class went well. We discussed why we are learning how to do dark combat. Some of them have very closed minds, not open to the different and more powerful type of magic that I can teach them. Others, on the other hand, seemed interested. I can already sense that this will cause some problems between the classmates.
The four of us met later while all the students were in bed. We split them into four completely random groups. One group went to the dungeons; another went down a hallway close to my bedroom while the last two groups took residence in two different towers.
Godric says that the kids in his Transfiguration class were mostly eager to learn. Rowena reported the same thing, as did Helga. Unfortunately, Godric also ran into the same problem that I did. We have compared notes and names. It appears that the ones that were interested in the dark combat magic dislike the light combat. The opposite is what happened to Godric. It's interesting to note that it's those that come from the non-gifted that are close minded.
The entry ended there and Harry turned to a new page.
Classes have been going on for a month now. I talked to Rowena, and she agrees with my opinion that the people who were more advanced should be moved away from the ones that drag them down so they may complete their schooling quicker.
Godric, on the other hand thinks that they should all be together to show equality. He says that nobody is superior to another, just because of their intelligence or knowledge. I, on the other hand, realize that we need some people that are more knowledgeable to lead the ones that aren't. Helga agrees with Godric. I foresee this becoming a problem, but hopefully not in the near future.
We also re-evaluated the sleeping arrangements. Helga came up with the idea of splitting them up in a non-random way. She noticed that the four of us all value slightly different things. Godric values bravery, Rowena values knowledge, Helga values loyalty while I value cunning and ambition. Starting next year, we are going to start to hand pick our students and split them into different rooms. Godric got one tower while Rowena got the other. Helga got the place near my room, something I am not too pleased with, and I ended up with the rooms down in the dungeons.
Harry looked at his watch and realized that it was almost noon. He closed the book and set it back where he had found it.
!#$%^&*
The classes blurred to Harry. His school work was noticeably more difficult than the previous year and he had to go to Quidditch practice four times per week. He had informed Ron and Hermione about the death of his friend, but neither seemed very affected by it. When he thought about it, they didn't really know Callidus so why would they care?
He had describe the state that he had found Callidus in, but neither Ron nor Hermione could come up with what could've happened to him other than being killed, though both agreed that being stiff was rather odd.
What did concern Ron and Hermione was the fact that the older basilisk was missing. Only a Slytherin descendant would be able to control it, and the last one was that Tom Riddle, and looking at his age Harry was positive he did not have access to Hogwarts. He did not tell them about his ancestor's journal entries.
He continued to explore Hogwarts with Ginny, though they had covered most of what he knew and were now going into places where even Harry with his extra year didn't know. It was a good time for Harry and Ginny to get to know each other some more. Harry learned that Ginny had always been really quiet when she was younger, and often pulled pranks set up so Fred and George, her twin brothers, took the blame.
Harry continued to see Ginny writing in her black book. He once asked her about what it was but the expression that she gave him would be enough to make even the bravest (or stupidest) wizard run away.
Halloween arrived and with it the weather started to cool down. He continued to slowly build up his stamina in the room of requirement whenever he could. He didn't think Ron, or Hermione would want to do it with him, so he didn't even offer.
Harry was heading back to the common room to get changed before classes on Halloween. He had just turned a corner, and even with all his Quidditch reflexes, Harry was unable to avoid the collision that happened.
"Ow!" squeaked a feminine voice from beside Harry. Harry rolled over and got up slowly. He looked down and saw who he had knocked down. It was Daphne.
"Oh," he said while trying to hide the blush that always managed to creep to his face whenever he was around the Slytherin girl. "Hi."
"Hi," she said. Her books were scattered on the floor. She bent down and started to pick them up off the ground. Harry started to bend down to help her. With the two of them gathering her books, they were all back into her bag within the minute.
"Thanks," she said.
"Um… you're welcome," Harry managed to stutter out. Why couldn't he just talk to this girl normally like he could with Ginny or Hermione?
'Maybe it's because she's a lot more beautiful then Ginny or Hermione,' said a voice in his head. Harry dismissed it. 'Girls were girls, that's all there was to it… right?'
"So what are you doing out so early this morning?" Daphne asked him while brushing a strand of her black hair out of her eyes.
"I could ask you the same thing," Harry retorted, mildly proud of himself for getting that much out.
"Okay then. Don't tell me. See you around Potter." With that she turned around so fast that her hair whipped around her head and walked calmly away.
!#$%^&*
Harry, Ron and Hermione left the common room to go to the Halloween feast. Ginny had said she needed to stay behind because she didn't feel well. They arrived and took their seats. As usual, the house elves had made their fantastic food as they always do when it was a special occasion.
"Please pass the treacle tart, Harry," Ron asked him. Harry served himself some treacle tart then passed it over to Ron. Hermione was eating something that looked like cake with orange icing on it.
Harry glanced briefly at the other tables. The Hufflepuffs were enjoying themselves, if their contests to see who could eat the most were anything to go by. The Ravenclaws were a bit less hyper, as many of them looked civilized and deep in conversation about who knows what. The Gryffindors on the other hand were having lots of fun. The Weasley twins were showing something to a small group of guys and Percy Weasley looked like he was trying not to let the situation get out of control. But someone was missing.
"Hey guys," Harry said quietly nudging Ron and Hermione. They gave him his attention then looked where he was searching. "Do you see Percy, Ray or Gabriel?"
They squinted in an effort to pick up more details. After a minute of searching, Ron gave up and turned back to Harry.
"No, I couldn't find them either. Where could they be? Ray loves to eat a bunch of junk."
"Strange," Hermione murmured as she also finished her search of the Gryffindor table. "It's weird that none of them showed up. Do you think they got a detention?" She suggested with a bit of hope in her voice.
"Doubt it," Harry said. "We probably would've heard of it. Besides, I doubt that Dumbledore would allow someone to give them detention on a night that I know Percy and Ray love."
"Gabriel likes Halloween too," Hermione added. "She would always dress up like a princess when we were younger." The two boys stared at her. "What?"
"Why in Merlin's name would you dress up on Halloween?" Ron asked her mystified. "It's the darkest time of the year, but with candy…"
"Why wouldn't you? In the muggle world, you dress up as something and then go get candy from the houses."
Harry and Ron looked at her incredulously. Ron more so, because Harry's mother was muggleborn and she might have mentioned something similar to what Hermione was spouting once or twice. Ron, on the other hand, came from a pureblood family with no muggle ties what so ever.
They went back to enjoying their dinner in silence. Then the noise started.
$ Come to me. I will find you, kill, rip, tear $
Harry tensed up. Ron and Hermione noticed, causing them to stop eating and look at him expectantly. Harry's mind was reeling. It was the same voice that he had heard the night in the common. That night he didn't know what it was, but now he was certain: It could only be Slytherin's basilisk.
"The basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets is on the loose," Harry whispered to his friends. Their eyes widened in shock, hoping that their friend was wrong. However, they knew that Harry was not wrong that often.
"What can we do?" Hermione asked. She knew the myth about the chamber of course. The heir of Slytherin would return to the castle to unleash the monster within the chamber to purge the school of those with tainted blood. When she had found out that the chamber was real, she had been very scared. But then she learned that Harry was the heir, and her worries ceased. But now someone that could control the beast other then Harry had shown up, those worries continued.
Ron, on the other hand, was concerned about the fact that and ancient basilisk was on the loose. How could something that big get around without anyone seeing it. Though it was probably good that no one saw it, otherwise that someone would die. He decided that he would ask Harry if he could go to the chamber with him the next time he went.
Harry took another bit of his meal, but wasn't very hungry anymore. He noticed a movement come from the great hall doors and saw his twin and his friends enter the hall, walking at a quick speed. They were half way to the Gryffindor table when a very angry Filch appeared behind them.
"You!" he screamed, pointing at Percy. "You killed my cat you monster! I'll have you expelled for this. You'll be wishing you'd been expelled by the time I'm done with you!"
In the caretaker's hand was his cat. Harry noticed that instead of carrying Mrs. Norris, Filch was holding the cat by its tail. She was stiff and had unseeing eyes… just like Callidus did.
Could it be the basilisk that had harmed Callidus? Even a basilisk isn't immune to its own gaze. Common tools when attempting to kill a basilisk are roosters, since the cry is fatal to it, or if you had a mirror to reflect the gaze upon it.
"Argus," Dumbledore called down from the table. "Calm down."
His words did calm down Filch a tiny bit, but not a lot. The caretaker still looked like he would like to do nothing more than murder the saviour of the wizarding world on the spot. By this time, Percy, Ray and Gabriel had managed to sneak to the protection of the Gryffindor table and sit down. To Harry's disbelief, the three of them started to eat like Filch wasn't yelling at them.
That didn't please Filch though. He continued to yell insults at the trio. Dumbledore got up from his chair and started to head down to the caretaker. But before he could get there to calm Filch completely down, Percy snapped.
"Shut up you squib! I didn't touch your cat. It isn't my fault that it was on the second floor at the wrong time!"
Harry's heart skipped a beat. The second floor… was where the chamber is located. It could be a coincidence, but Harry seriously doubted it. While thinking that, Harry missed the rest of what Percy said.
Harry studied the group like the rest of the hall. Filch, though he had stopped yelling at the Gryffindor, was still making wild hand gestures. Dumbledore had put Mrs. Norris on the table and was bent over, studying her.
"She is not dead," he announced to the hall, stopping the caretaker in mid-rant. "She is petrified. We will be able to restore her, but it will take some time."
"Ah, yes," said an annoying voice from the teacher's table. "I could make one of those potions in my sleep. Why in fact, there was this on time that I was in Canada…" Professor Lockhart went off on one of his great achievements. The Slytherin head of house was clearly not pleased.
"I do believe, Professor Lockhart, that I am the potions master at this school," he said in a frosty tone that would've had any of the students scared of what was to come next.
Lockhart paused in the middle of the story to tell the Potions master something, but thought better of it. Harry guessed that nobody can be that stupid.
"Professor Sprout has a batch of Mandrakes growing in her greenhouse," Dumbledore continued as though nobody had interrupted him. "But it will take a long time to harvest them, possibly five to six months."
"My cat was attacked Albus! I want to see some sort of punishment given to the offender," he said that while pointing his finger at Percy.
The headmaster stared at Filch for a long time. Everybody's food was long forgotten as they watched the show at the Gryffindor table.
"How did you find Mrs. Norris?" asked the aged wizarding sympathetically. Filch was fooled by the headmaster's sudden change of heart, but Harry wasn't. One moment Dumbledore was protecting Percy and taking the Gryffindor's side, and the next he was playing caring friend.
"She was on the second floor, just outside that out of order bathroom, the one with that annoying ghost in it. And, there was a message written on the wall…" Filch now had the common sense to lean in to whisper to the headmaster. The look on the headmaster's face was surprised, but he covered quickly.
The group that had been meeting at the Gryffindor table disbanded and The Gryffindor trio went back to eating. Professor Lockhart and Professor Dumbledore went back to the head table while Filch left the great hall.
"Attention!" Dumbledore called to the rest of the hall. "Mrs. Norris has been attacked and petrified. She is not dead, and we will be able to revive her in a few months. She was attacked by powerful dark magic, so take caution not to travel alone. Good night."
It was clear that they had been dismissed, so almost the entire Slytherin table got up and walked back the dungeons. They walked in groups, talking about what had just transpired during the feast.
"What happened at the feast Harry?" Hermione asked as quietly as she could.
"I'm not sure," Harry whispered back. "You know how I told you I couldn't find the basilisk that should be in the chamber?" Both of them nodded their heads. "Well, I think I just heard it. I'm pretty sure that it's what attacked Mrs. Norris."
"Did you notice how Filch found her on the second floor?" Ron asked. Harry grimaced then answered.
"Yeah, I did. We need to go there to see where she was attacked. Filch let loose that there was a message, but he only whispered it to Dumbledore. We need to find out what it is."
By this time the trio had reached the common room and couldn't discuss it any more.
"Ron and I will meet you down here tomorrow at eight," Harry half told, half requested Hermione. She nodded her head in consent, and the three friends split and went to bed.
!#$%^&*
Harry got up Sunday morning and went for his jog in the Room of Requirement. He was now able to do his laps at a much quicker pace, so he figured he was going to add a lap soon. He then went back to the common room to find Ginny sitting by the fire.
"Hey," he said, dropping into the seat next to her. She jumped, having not noticed him before.
"Hey," she answered, and then proceeded to wrinkle her nose. Then she greeted him in a way that showed Harry just how much she cared about him. "You need a shower."
Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I'm going to do that now."
"Why did you smell so bad in the first place?" Ginny asked him suspiciously. Her brown eyes narrowed and leaned forward.
"No reason," Harry said, trying not to reveal where he went most mornings. Ginny gave him a look that clearly stated 'Yeah right.' His resolve not to tell anyone went out the window, for Ginny at least.
"I've been starting to go for morning jogs," Harry confessed. "I noticed last year when I had to run I got out of breath really easily."
Ginny had a look of understanding. She closed the potions book that she had been reading and got up.
"Do you think I could come to?" She requested.
Harry looked at her. He knew she had a lot of fire in her, but could she take the exercise? He had been saying for the past year that he wanted to start running, but he had just started. She might think she wants to, but Harry wasn't sure.
"If you want," Harry agreed. "But if you'll have to get up early in the morning on the weekends, and twice during the week. At six, to be accurate."
Ginny faltered for a moment, but then showed just how stubborn she was.
"No, I want to try it. If I can't do it, then I can't do. I won't lose anything from trying, will I?"
"Fair point," Harry conceded. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a shower as you so kindly reminded me that I stink."
Ginny smiled. "Well you do!" She tried to protest. But Harry was already gone.
Ten minutes later he was clean and had changed clothes again. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 7:30. Deciding to let Ron sleep for another half hour, he took out one of his books to read up on what most people believed about the Chamber of Secrets is.
The Chamber of Secrets is a myth that follows Salazar Slytherin and the split of the four founders. It is said that Slytherin and Gryffindor had a quarrel that words couldn't settle. Gryffindor came out victorious, and Slytherin had to flee the castle. But before he left, he swore to the other founders that he had created a secret chamber somewhere in the school, and his true heir would come to purge the school of bad influences. Slytherin was well known for his anti-Muggle stance.
There have been many searches for the Chamber of Secrets, the most recent conducted in 1984. No proof of its existence has been found so far.
The final part of the myth is that there is a supposed monster. A monster that only Slytherin's heir can command and control. The last ones to have been connected to Slytherin's blood line are the Gaunts, whom have died out recently.
Harry finished reading and read up and some other, more useful things, such as the theory of animal transfiguration that they were supposed to know for Monday. When his clock turned to 8:00, he marked his page and got off his bed. He then walked over to Ron's bed and shook him awake, as usual. Ron groaned as his eyes opened, but he knew that this was Harry's nice way of waking him up.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron met Hermione in the common room.
"You're late," she told them as they greeted her.
"It was Ron's fault," Harry explained, though he knew she probably figured that.
"Harry didn't wake me until exactly eight, so he gets part of the blame," Ron defended himself. Then he changed the subject. "So let's go to the second floor."
They left the common room and walked in silence. They reached the second floor and almost as soon as they turned the corner, they froze.
The caretaker was dozing just under the wall that was near the entrance to the chamber. Above him was a message written in what looked like red paint… or blood, thought Harry grimly.
He made a hand signal to Ron and Hermione to creep extremely silently and to not say a peep about the message until they were far away from the paranoid squib. The trio crept forward until all three of them could read the message that was written there.
The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.
After reading the message, they turned around and practically ran out of the hall, not wanting to be caught by the short tempered caretaker. As soon as they turned the corner, Ron burst out.
"Well, that's a nice message, isn't it?"
Hermione snorted then gave her answer. "The enemies are most likely the Muggleborns, since that's what our house founder was famous for hating, right Harry?" She had thought that Harry would confirm the belief, and he did.
"Yes," Harry said slowly, debating on how much to tell them. "That is the common belief. But due to some… more reliable sources, I think I somewhat know what the truth was."
Ron and Hermione looked at him, not sure if they should believe him or not.
"How would you know?" asked Hermione in an accusing tone. "Every book I've read has said that Salazar Slytherin hated all things Muggle."
"I've been doing some reading in the chamber," Harry admitted quietly. "I don't want to say the reason, but let's say that it's true that Slytherin didn't like Muggles, but he had a very good reason."
Ron and Hermione were quiet, not really sure what to make of the new information Harry had given them, even though there wasn't much he had shared. Nobody had ever asked the question of why the founder hated the Muggles and Muggleborns so much.
Just then, Ron's stomach rumbled, and the trio headed off to breakfast, unaware of the girl that had been listening in the shadows.!#$%^&*
A girl with red eyes entered the Chamber. She walked the path straight to the where the basilisk should be if someone else hadn't invaded her Chamber. Once there, however, she turned immediately to the left as soon as she entered the room.
Once she got to what seemed like a blank wall, she made some sort of hissing noise that most people would not understand. The innocent looking wall opened him, revealing an exit to what appeared to be a ton of trees.
The girl hissed once again, and then waited. After two minutes of waiting, a snake appeared out of the trees. It was gigantic, around a hundred feet long and four feet thick. It had yellow eyes that could kill at will, though they were currently covered by its clear eyelids.
$ Has anyone been here since I last came here? $ The girl asked the snake.
$ No, master. I have sensed a child from up above in the library, but ever since that little boy who picked up that young basilisk arrived, no one has been in my chamber. $
The girl nodded, $ Excellent. You are free to go hunting once again. Remember to stay out of sight and don't let anyone see you until I call you again.$ The basilisk made a gesture that made it clear that it understood the orders.
The girl then turned around and went back into the castle. 'The plan is going on without a problem,' thought Tom Marvolo Riddle.
And there is chapter nine of Twin Trios. I hope you guys liked it, and don't forget to review. I have some tricks up my sleeve for the chamber scene… any guesses?