Chapter Seven: The Legend of the Chamber

In Transfiguration class a few weeks later, the students were told to bring their pets to class. Ron kept telling Riley the whole time to keep his cat, Bubba, away from Scabbers. Bubba just purred as he rested in the cage. Owls were not seen in the classroom though, so Harry and Tony couldn't have brought in their animals.

"Could I have your attention, please?" Prof. McGonagall called, looking at her students. "Right. Now, today, we will be transforming animals into water goblets."

Beside her was a very exotic-looking black and white-feathered bird.

"Like so." Prof. McGonagall said, tapping the bird with the wand a few times. "One,...two,...three,...Vera Verto."

The bird changed into a clear glass goblet, much to the amazement of her class.

"Now it's your turn," the transfiguration teacher announced. "Who would like to go first?"

Tony shot his hand up into the air instantly.

"Go ahead, Mr. Gabriel." Prof. McGonagall nodded, pointing her wand at him. "Maybe Mr. Cross won't mind if he allowed you to use his cat?"

Riley opened his cat carrier, letting Bubba crawl out of the cage. Tony gently tapped the cat's head with the tip of his wand as the professor did, and spoke the incantation.

"Vera Verto." he spoke.

Bubba was transformed into a glass goblet also.

"Excellent work, young man." said Prof. McGonagall. "Ten points to Slytherin."

She walked towards their table, and reverted Bubba back to normal with her wand. Bubba then scurried back into the cat carrier.

"Now, who would like to go next?" asked the transfiguration teacher.

Nobody raised their hands. Not even Hermione did.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley." Prof. McGonagall said, walking towards Harry and Ron's desk. "'One, two, three. Vera Verto."

Ron cleared his throat, and tapped his wand at the air above Scabbers.

"Vera Verto!" he cried.

Green sparks ejected from the wand, and Scabbers partially turned into a squeaking, fur-covered goblet with a tail. The class started to chuckle at the sight.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr. Weasley." observed Prof. McGonagall.

She started to walk back towards the front of the class when she saw Hermione raising her hand, and stopped.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" she asked.

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets." answered Hermione.

Prof. McGonagall saw that her entire class was interested. She knew that if she didn't answer now, nobody would pay attention to her class. Or worse.

"Very well." she sighed.

Riley quietly picked up his quill and started to copy down what she was about to say.

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin." Prof. McGonagall explained, looking at her students. "Now three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously, one did not."

"Three guesses who." cracked Ron.

The Gryffindor Head of House looked at him now, having heard what he said.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts." she continued, walking down one aisle between two rows of tables. "He believed magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, pure-bloods."

As she said this, Draco shot a few certain Muggleborns a look.

"Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school." Prof. McGonagall went on. "Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though, shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true Heir returned to the school. The Heir alone would be able to open the Chamber and unleash the horror within, and by so doing purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

Riley and Tony glanced at each other, both gulping.

"Muggle-borns." Hermione said, filling in the blank.

Her Head of House pointed her wand at her, as if saying she had answered that correctly.

"Naturally, the school has been searched many times." Prof. McGonagall finished. "No such chamber has been found."

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?" asked Hermione.

"The Chamber is said to be home to something that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster."

"Five Galleons it's a snake." muttered Tony. "I mean, it is the mascot of our House."

After class had ended, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Riley, and Tony walked down the halls, taking in what they had learned.

"Do you think it's true?" asked Ron. "Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes." replied Hermione. "Couldn't you tell? McGonagall's worried. All the teachers are."

"If there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and it has been opened, that means-" Harry started, his eyes falling towards the floor.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts. The question is who is it?"

Riley jerked his thumb at Tony.

"We can rule this guy out obviously." he said.

"But it might be a Slytherin, because obviously we're looking for the 'Heir of Slytherin', right?" asked Tony.

Ron then pretended to think for a moment.

"Let's think." he wondered aloud. "Who do we know who thinks all Muggleborns are scum?"

"If you're talking about Malfoy,-" Hermione started, facing forward still.

"Of course! You heard him! 'You'll be next, Mudbloods.'"

"I heard him. But Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Ron, there's more than one supremacist Slytherin." Tony broke in. "He may have gone to this school in the past, and no, I'm not referring to Snape."

"But maybe Ron's right, guys. I mean, look at Malfoy's family." Harry pointed out. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries."

While they wracked their heads to think of something, Ron's eyes lit up with remembrance.

"Crabbe and Goyle must know!" he gasped. "Maybe we could trick them into telling."

"Even they aren't that thick." Hermione laughed, mirthfully. "But there might be another way."

The five of them stopped in the corridor, all eyes on Hermione.

"Mind you, it would be difficult, not to mention we'd be breaking about fifty school rules, and it'll be dangerous." Hermione told her friends. "Very dangerous. Plus, Tony would have to be a big help in this plan."

The Gryffindors looked at their Slytherin friend, who looked back at them confused.

"Me?" asked Tony.

The five of them headed to the library, where Hermione went to look for the book that would help them with this plan. Meanwhile, Riley was looking at a book on Animagus transformation, and showed a page to his best friend.

"How would you like to be able to do this?" he asked.

Tony looked at the page Riley was showing him, and looked at him.

"Yeah, you can be like that one guy, Batman." he cracked.

"What are you two looking at?" asked Harry.

"A Transfiguration book, this one talks about Animagi transformations." explained Riley.

Harry stared at him for a moment, then looked at Ron.

"I remember Fred and George talking about that." the latter explained. "We learn about it next year in Transfiguration. An Animagus is someone who can turn into animals."

Harry looked back at Riley, puzzled.

"You want to change into an animal?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you?" asked Riley.

Their conversation was broke off when Hermione walked back towards them with a book in her hands.

"Here it is." she whispered, once she was beside them. "The Polyjuice Potion."

The boys gathered around her as Hermione opened the book to the page she was looking for, and started to read.

"'Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another'." described Hermione.

"You mean, if Harry and I drink that stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" asked Ron.

"Yes."

"Wicked! Malfoy will tell us anything."

"Right down to the kind of underwear his mommy buys him." joked Tony.

Ron stared at him in disgust, while Harry tried not to burst into laughter.

"Charming, Tony." muttered Hermione, who looked a little disturbed at the comment for a moment. "But it's tricky, I've never seen a more complicated potion."

"How long will it take?" asked Harry.

"A month."

The other boys stared at Hermione in disbelief.

"'A month'?" repeated Harry. "But Hermione, if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin he could attack half the Muggleborns in the school by then."

Tony slowly turned to glare at him. He lived in the same room as Draco did, he didn't want to end up sleeping with one eye open until the potion was made.

"I know." Hermione said, closing the book. "But it's the only plan we've got."

Later, Riley started walking toward the hall that led to the exit of the castle to head to Hagrid's hut, so he could visit Fluffy, the three-headed guard dog. He was tasked with helping Hagrid care for the dog since Fluffy had taken a liking to Riley upon their second encounter during the last few days of the previous school year. Prof. Dumbledore and Hagrid had told him that it was extraordinary seeing Fluffy act so docile around the boy, and upon Riley asking if he could help Hagrid care for the dog, Hagrid agreed, as did the headmaster, but only if he agreed to be careful and not brag too much about it.

Along the way, Riley heard the sound of laughter, and poked his head around the corner. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle stood in front of Luna, looking at a copy of the Quibbler.

"Seriously, how can your father afford to send you to school when this rubbish isn't worth the paper it's printed on?" demanded Draco. "Lockhart was right about you Lovegoods, and so was my father."

"If you truly believe that, you are as narrow-minded as they are." Luna retorted, calmly.

"What is wrong with you? You really are loony, Lovegood."

Riley stormed out from behind the corner, his teeth gritting angrily. He stormed over to the four, and stood beside Luna.

"Malfoy, if you don't back off now, I'll make you regret it." he threatened.

"And here we have the second freak." Draco announced, chuckling. "It's Underpants Man."

"His name is 'Superman', and if anyone's a freak, it's you. You obviously have nothing better to do if you've got to go around bullying people."

Draco stopped laughing and walked towards Riley, the two staring each other down, angrily.

"If anyone's the freak, it's the Mudblood filth standing right in front of me." he snarled.

"Whatever filth you assume runs in mine and every other Muggleborn person's blood has to be cleaner than the grease in your hair, Malfoy." retorted Riley. "Get lost, and don't let me catch you bullying my friend again. I'm not afraid of getting detention for cursing you, and unlike Ron's wand, mine's perfectly in good condition still."

The two boys glared at each other for a moment longer, then Malfoy shoved past Riley, walking away. Crabbe and Goyle did the same thing, leaving Luna and Riley standing there in the hallway.

"He's not very fond of you, is he?" asked Luna.

"That doesn't bother me." Riley told her. "What bothers me is that he can go around talking trash, and think that he's invincible to anything."

He then turned to face his friend.

"For what it's worth though, it honestly wouldn't matter if anything in the Quibbler is true or not, it's a fascinating read." the Gryffindor boy told her. "My father's always told me that he's an archaeologist because there's still many mysteries in the world that need to be discovered. So we all still have quite a lot to learn about this world as a whole, I know I do."

"What do you know now?" asked Luna.

"That Lockhart is the one in need of a reality check. Heroes exist to truly help those who need it, not for fame and fortune. That's the kind of person Harry is in my point of view, he doesn't seek to milk his reputation for all it's worth. He just cares about his fellow man and woman."

"You seem to be a very good friend to him to think of him that way, Riley."

Riley smiled at her, shyly. Unbeknownst to either of the two students, someone had been watching them from around the corner as they continued to talk.

Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.