True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and nothing but what is necessary.
- Heinrich Heine
The Queen of Serpents
Chapter Seventeen
Founder's Familiar
"speech"
thoughts
"parseltongue"
/mind speech/
=visions=
Writing
"Shouldn't we cover our eyes before we head down?" Cedric shrugged as everyone turned to look at him. "After all, there is a basilisk down there."
Rolf nodded at the older boy. "Good point. Anyone have a pair of sunglasses?"
"Will these do?" Luna handed over a pair of tinted spectacles, with mysterious designs drawn all around the rims. "Daddy made them. They're SpAps.
"SpAPs," Nev asked blankly.
Val grinned at him. "Specti-Anti-Petrify. Supposedly they keep you from getting petrified. Never had the chance to test them out, but even if they can't stop us from being petrified, they will stop us from being killed."
Cedric nodded, muttering a duplication spell. "There we go," he said, as the single pair multiplied into three dozen. "Grab a set."
"Er.." Ginny looked down, unable to meet Harry's eyes. "Err.. Shouldn't we get some brooms? So we can get back up that is?"
Harry blinked, turning to look at her as though seeing the Weasley girl for the first time. "Ginny," he said. "You're a genius! How could we have forgotten that?"
Ginny turned as red as her hair, made a funny squeaking sound and fled the room. Percy cursed, drawing an impressed look from Ron, and ran after her shouting over his shoulder, "Do not even think of going down without me!"
"Er... What was that all about," Harry asked, starring at the spot Ginny had so abruptly vacated.
Draco rolled his eyes. "My friend, if I may be so crass, I believe the little Weaslette has a crush."
Harry could not have been more shocked if Draco had abruptly morphed into a ferret. "Ginny..Crush...On me?"
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Fifteen minutes later they were standing in the Chamber. Ginny was still refusing to look at Harry. This suited the messy haired boy, because he had no clue what to say to her. Was Draco right? She really had a crush on him?
"This place is filthy," Ron grumbled.
"What did you expect Weasley," Draco drawled. "That no one knew about this Chamber, except for the elves?"
Blaise smirked. "Well it isn't like he would know about house-elves Draco. Not that it means anything that you can't afford one, of course Weasley."
"Oh, never. Money, or the lack of it, is no reason to judge someone," Tracy agreed fervently.
Dudley had had enough of the 'not-quite' insults. "Let's go," he ground out through gritted teeth.
"Yes, let's!" Sa'zar was practically dancing with nerves. "The longer we stay here the longer Tom waits."
"They're right," Rolf agreed. "We need to go."
"Go where?" A grinning red head flew out of the pipe, closely followed by the second, an identical grin on his face.
"Great job finding this place, by the way." Twin number looked about admiringly. "Bit musty but-"
"What do you expect? A thousand years with-"
"No visitors."
"How did you find us," Percy demanded, giving his younger brothers a look.
The twins exchanged a glance.
"Well Big Brother-"
"Let's just say-"
"We have our sources." A perfectly matched pair of smirks met the prefect's outraged glare.
"We will discuss this later," Percy warned them, trying to maintain his dignity. The twins rolled their eyes.
Harry decided to intervene. Much as he liked the twins, they really could not afford to waste time on their antics. Too much had been lost already. "Tom is trapped down here somewhere. We're looking for him. There's a basilisk too, so put on these. They may look a bit odd, but they will protect you," he explained, handing over the SpAPs.
"Ah, so that's explains the odd headgear."
"Mine are better looking Gred." Fred doffed his pair, adopting a rakish pose.
George pretended to look in a nonexistent mirror. "Nope, definitely mine, Forge. They're far more more Wizzle-y."
Harry glowered at them. "And no fooling around. Not until Tom is safe."
The twins nodded. "Don't worry Harry. We won't-
"Do anything to put-"
"Tom at risk. Just doing our best-"
"To keep everyone relaxed. Now which-"
"This way!" Sa'zar spun on his heel, hurrying down the largest passageway. There was something about this place, something almost..well..familliar about it. It was driving him insane, that nagging feeling that he should know this place; that he had been here before.
You built it, his buried memories whispered. This place is yours.
But Sa'zar refused to listen. He just hoped they found Tom soon. The faster he was out of here the better.
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Tom winced as a shouted "Reducto!" caused rubble to fall about him, scratching his face. For all that Emy was using her bulk to protect him, there was a limit to how much she could do without smothering him. "Be careful!"
"We're trying," Dudley shouted back.
"Remind me again why you thought collapsing the Chamber while you were in the Chamber was a good idea," Harry added pointedly.
Tom glared blocked entryway, glad Harry could not see his face. "We've already been over that."
"You should really work on your temper," Percy said pompously, making Tom groan. Why had his brothers had to bring half the school to rescue him? A single teacher would have been enough.
"Can you imagine Gred? Cool, casual Tommy -"
"Losing his temper. No Forge, I just can't picture it."
Not to mention the Weasley twins, who were in a class all of their own.
"Look," Tom snapped, "she's been running me ragged all year." his temper, never good, was fraying rapidly. "Now will you please hurry up? And stop dropping rocks on me!"
"What was she looking for?" Sa'zar wondered.
Tom barely had time to wonder why his youngest brother had been so quiet, when he was driven to the floor.
Almost blacking out from the pain in his broken leg, he watched dazedly as Emerald threw herself at the weakened barrier.
"Master!" she cried, stones falling hither and thither about her as the wall fell. "You have come!"
She looped her coils around Sa'zar's tiny frame, hissing joyfully. The dark haired boy shook, trying to back away. Then, abruptly, he relaxed, his silver eyes widening. Shock and understanding flitted across his elven features. "Emerald." The name rolled off his tongue, so simple, but rife with meaning. "You remembered."
And after a thousand years apart, Salazar Serpent-Tongue and Emerald his familiar were united once more.
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AUthor's Note: Aww... Sweet ending. Sort of. Well, Tom's been rescued. Of course, you KNOW the twins are never going to let him live this down... Another short chapter I'm afraid, but at least the updates are coming quickly. Only the wrapping up is left now, but that should take a few more chapters. Of course, you only get those when I get five more reviews. (More than five is fine too you know!)
Now then, Questions!
Questions:
Chapter 17:
1-What are Fred and George's sources?
2-What is a Wizzle?
That's all the questions for chapter 17. I just can't think of any others...
Chapter16:
1-Where does the chapter title come from?
2-Why does Draco mean "if you wait a millenia"?
3-What is a 'charmelis'?
4-Why is Norberta attacking the lake?
5-What is different about Daphne?
6-What is an Assessor? (Read 'A Necessary Gift' by cosette-aimee it's really good.)
Points:
Gryffindor:175
Hufflepuff:176
Ravenclaw:264
Slytherin:224