Hello fellow fanfiction writers and readers, here is another chapter of this story that I hope you guys will enjoy. As usual I own nothing except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. Thanks for reading, please leave a review!
I sit watching Professor Lupin then back to the ceiling, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, he looked amazed when Mione shot her hand into the air, this was his first dull lecture I should have stopped him some time ago.
"Miss Granger?"
"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets." said Hermione in a clear voice.
Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender's head came up off her arms and Neville's elbow slipped off his desk.
Professor Lupin blinked.
"My subject is History of Magic." he said in his dry, raspy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers—"
He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again. And as her Uncle I knew he felt the need to answer her, he considered her and myself his cubs.
"Miss Granger?"
"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"
Professor Lupin was looking at her in such amazement at this little sentence.
"Well," said Professor Lupin slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never been out smarted before "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale—"
But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Lupins every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. It was easy to tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.
"Oh, very well." he said slowly. "Let me see... the Chamber of Secrets..." his eyes fell on mine for a minute before moving on, like he was testing the waters.
"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."
He paused, gazed around the room, and continued.
"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."
Professor Lupin paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a scared, dangerous man.
"Reliable historical sources tell us this much." he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.
"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."
There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Lupin looked faintly annoyed since we love his lessons but this was something more.
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course." he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."
Hermione's hand was back in the air.
"Sir - what exactly do you mean by the horror within the Chamber?"
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control." said Professor Lupin in his raspy, calm tone.
The class exchanged nervous looks.
"That will do." he said.
I gave Hermione a firm nod as she turned to Lavender, the word would spread. I was about to have a talk with my own ancestors in the Garden.
So here I stood looking at the large framed portrait staring back at me, "Salazar, I need to know the truth about the chamber."
He sighed, "I created an underground cavern, my own place when the troubles overwhelmed me. I know the rumor is I hated muggles, that I placed a monster there to lurk and kill. I was not the one to place it there, one of my pupils brought it from a land far away and we tried to capture it, but alas we failed. It has been killing ever since, it may have been the very first of its kind here in Scotland." great it was not something he knew, but I knew it was a snake in the end.
I sit, 'Someone has opened the chamber once again this time it was just a cat that was petrified, next time we are not going to be as lucky."
The portrait looked gloomy with the news, as my ancestors all looked troubled.