Harry Potter
The Founders Four
By JadedofMara
Chapter Eight: The Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter awoke at dawn, though he could hardly realize it, given his current position. For a while, he simply laid beside his still-sleeping wife, staring at the black and silver canopy above their bed, running things through his mind. The experience of this new dimension was wearing on his nerves, and he wasn't entirely sure when—or even if—he would be ready to face 'Lily and James Potter, and their daughter Therese'.
Herana lifted her head lazily as Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed, but let it flop back down to her paws. The cold stone floor greeted Harry's feet, and he pulled them back up with a wince. All the spells and enchantments he and Helga had used on their chambers were brittle, disintegrated over time, and the slightest use of any of them destroyed what was left. Their bed had required extensive restorative charms just so they could sleep, and there was still much to be done. They were lucky that the major wards had remained strong, and that they only had mildew and cobwebs to deal with, rather than merpeople and seaweed from the lake above.
Harry whipped out his Holly wand. It really was far too early in the morning to cast a full strength heating ward on the stone floors of the entire chamber.
"Accio slippers!"
Harry heard one of the many drawers of his large armoire burst open in the next room and a pair of large and fluffy Golden Snitch slippers shot out of the snake-encrusted door. Harry grinned as he pulled them on. The slippers had been Salazar's favorites way back when, a gag gift from Godric in response to a Quaffle hat, and he enjoyed them just as much now. It had been rather interesting to discover that he had inherited both the Potter and the Slytherin talent for Quidditch, although it was clear that the Slytherin was stronger, seeing as he would have been a Chaser otherwise.
Pulling on his robe, he padded out into the main hall of the Chamber of Secrets. He cast his glance at the numerous serpentine columns, up to the birds flying about the shadowed ceiling and sighed at the sad disrepair the place was in. The once elegantly illuminated ceiling was in a sorry state, and the statue of the warlock who had tutored them in the art of magic down at the end of the hall needed some reworking. Hirth's thumb was falling off.
Glancing down at the floor, Harry had to repress a laugh. The fact that Kaesseixya had been locked in this chamber for a millennium was easily evidenced by the large artistic curves and curls that had been carved on the floor by repetitive and continual passage of the body of a snake over the same spot on stone. Parsleglyphs, as they were called in English, were a snake's writing method, formed by gliding in specific patterns in mud or sand. Wise serpents had developed a way of carving their timeless proverbs into stone by slithering in the same pattern over, and over and over again, and now, Kaesseixya had written her own words of wisdom all over the floor of the Chamber of Secrets.
Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd. Oo'r ahthahd.
/I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored./
Harry shook his head, grinning, and moved onward.
/Sshycien!/ Harry called, moving closer to the statue. /Are you up there with Kaesseixya?/
The statue moved, its mouth opening wide, and Sshycien's white head appeared. /Ssh!/ he hissed, his tone like that of a reproving uncle. /Younger Aunt Kaesseixya is sleeping. Have you no respect for those of the High-caste, Warmblood?/
Harry grinned. Serpents followed a very strict caste system. Sshycien and Kaesseixya were the only two he had ever met that did not, and the only reason for that was that he had raised them himself from the egg. Magical serpents made up the upper two castes, High-caste and Magic-caste, the distinction between the two being other methods of killing than venom. Snakes that were not magical but still venomous were of the Poison-caste, and non-venomous snakes were of the Low-caste. Snakes referred to those of their own caste as Brother and Sister, using the designation Elder or Younger before the title. Lower-caste snakes were called Grandsons and -daughters, Sons and Daughters, and Nieces and Nephews, while higher-caste snakes were called Aunt and Uncle, Mother and Father, Grandmother and –father, all depending on the caste relationship between snakes. Mammals, birds and other Warmbloods were their own category, and the only designation that Sshycien and Kaesseixya used. So with Sshycien referring to Kaesseixya as Younger Aunt (meaning that Kaesseixya, while younger than Sshycien, was still a High-caste while Sshycien was only a Magic-caste, and was given due respect), Harry knew that something was up.
/'Younger Aunt Kaesseixya'? 'High-caste'? Yeah right, Sshyc/ he laughed. /When have you ever called Kaesseixya a High-caste? And if Kaesseixya's asleep, I'm a Halfblood!/
Sshycien's tounge flittered out. /In that body, you are./
/Ha, ha, Mr. Smarty-Pants/ Harry scoffed, smirking slightly. /You knew what I meant. That's not gonna work./ He raised his voice a little, cupping his hands around his mouth. /Nice try, Sseix, but the party's over! Get out here, girl!/
Kaesseixya's large, acid green head appeared, the bulbous yellow eyes covered by a shielding membrane which stopped the killing effect. /Why is it that you never fall for that one?/ she grumped rhetorically, and if she could have, Harry knew she would be scowling.
/What can I say? I like what you did with the floor, by the way./ Kaesseixya stuck out her tongue at him, and Harry laughed. /But really though, just wanted to say you guys have got the day to yourselves, until six. Play nice./
The snakes looked at each other, and Sshycien winked. /You got it, Salazar/ he hissed. /C'mon, Kaesseixya. You'll never believe the stories I've got to tell you./
Harry's lighthearted mood evaporated as the snakes slithered back into Hirth's mouth. He scuffed his Snitch slippers on Kaesseixya's graffitied floor as he trudged up the hall, and grimaced when he felt damp rising through to his feet.
"Flagratiscougifumaximaefungaprotego!"
There was a spectacular boom, and a mountain of cobwebs and dust fell to the ground. Harry Vanished the debris with a wave of his wand, blinking furiously. He certainly was awake now.
Harry looked around his chamber with a sigh. The place was a little better, he supposed. The soft gray sheen of Warding was back on the walls, protecting them from the damp and restoring their splendor. The stench was gone, which was a blessing, but there was still much to be done.
Harry cast his gaze at the ceiling. There was one more thing he could do before meeting up with Ron and the others. For this job, Harry drew Salazar's wand of Ash from an inside pocket of his long, green and silver dressing gown, and aimed it at the ceiling. "Demiperminatusiluminatuvariblae!"
At once, the ceiling was aglow with its former radiance, exposing Helga's gorgeous addition to the Chamber. The serpentine columns supported a beautiful tableau mirroring the outside sky like the Great Hall, hills ringing the vaulted ceiling. Badgers danced and played while fluttering birds swooped magically overhead, all in bas relief.
Harry looked impassively, his face revealing nothing. Ginny would be pleased to see her birds again, he thought, walking swiftly down the hall. He suddenly stopped, standing squarely on two foot-sized stones in the floor. Stones like these, all inscribed with the Transportation Rune, were scattered throughout the castle, allowing the Founders, and any person fluent in either Parsletounge, Gobledegook, Mermish or Elven (the non-human languages spoken by Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively) access to any other set in the castle.
He jabbed his Ash wand at a seemingly innocuous bit of wall before him, and muttered /To the Training Room, please./
In a flash of light, he was whisked away, and found himself, as suddenly as he had left, within the Founder's Training Room.