The Bonds That Tie
Harry was pretty quiet after the situation in the girl's bathroom with Ron and Hermione; he hadn't wanted to obliviate or control them. They'd been friends for years, and Harry had been hoping they could get back to that eventually. But what Harry was forced to do to protect his adoptive family, Severus, and the dark lord just showed that he truly had picked a side. He sided with his enemies to protect them. Sneaking them into the school, taking them into the chamber. It would have all been too easy for Voldemort to double-cross him and attack whoever he could with Albus away. Harry realized his mistake after sending Ron and Hermione away. Harry actually allowed Voldemort to possess his body and the dark lord could have taken over and used him to hurt everyone, but he didn't and it was Harry who put his trust into the man. Harry meant what he had said to the others; he took no joy in having to do what he did to Hermione and Ron. They could never be friends again in the same way because Harry chose the dark side, and if the two knew about Voldemort and the others, that Harry was working with them; they'd go right to Albus. Harry would never convince them to join the dark lord and Harry couldn't tell them, so it would be a secret, which would eventually come out and they'd probably abandon him anyway. The reality of things now with him being a vampire had hit and Harry hated it.
Harry tried to shake it off and stay focused, but such knowledge did bother him. The teenaged vampire led the group through the tunnel until they had reached the caved in area.
"How did you get around this the first time?" Voldemort asked. "This hadn't happened when I was down here."
"It happened when I was down here. This is where Lockhart tried to use Ron's wand to obliviate us, but it backfired and sent him into the wall, then caused the cave in which separated Ron and I. Ron stayed back with Lockhart, who didn't even know who he was, and I went on into the chamber." Harry explained as he raised his hand and sent the rocks back into their original places with a wordless and wandless Reparo charm. "Come on," Harry told them and continued forward to the snake door. "This is the entrance to the chamber itself…"
"Can I have the honor, Harry? Old times sake?"" Voldemort hoped.
"Sure, have it at…" Harry stepped aside.
"Hehshaasaa," The dark lord hissed out. The snakes slowly began to curl in as one went around the outside rim until the door popped open and Voldemort beamed with excitement as Harry shook his head. One would think the dark lord was as excited as Severus when Harry told the man about Basilisk parts being available for harvesting.
Harry entered and went down the ladder and the rest followed until standing on the path and looking ahead to all the snakes and water, then the large statue across the way. "Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets," Harry and Voldemort said at the same time. At the end of the walk was the corpse of the Basilisk, still in the position from when Harry killed it in his second year and by surprise, perfectly preserved as if it'd just happened. Harry approached first and found the fang he'd stabbed the diary with, bending down to pick it up and inspect it, there was still blood on it and the floor.
"You killed this at twelve?" Draco gaped.
"Mmhm," Harry nodded.
"Oh, it's so preserved!" Severus moved closer to inspect the creature. "Thank you, Harry…" Severus faced the boy and even gave him a quick peck on the lips, surprising everyone.
"Wow. Is that what I have to do to get your affections? Give you rare ingredients? Damn. Had I known that, I'd have showed you this months ago." Severus blushed a bit as Harry smiled and kissed him back. "You're welcome, now…Go have fun." Harry told him. The potions master needed nothing more as he instantly got to work on more inspecting and getting out his harvesting things. "Hey, Tom…"
"Yes, Harry?" Voldemort responded.
"Before you sent the Basilisk on the muggle-borns…You ever explore this place?" Harry inquired.
"Not really." Voldemort admitted. "Why?"
"I assumed Salazar Slytherin didn't just build the chamber to house the Basilisk…" Harry remarked before he started for the statue of the snake founder. "It is a chamber of secrets, meaning more than one."
"Where you going?" Pansy asked.
"Exploring." Harry responded simply. "I thought that's what you all wanted to do. When I came here in second year, I went right to Ginny and dealt with Tom Riddle, then the Basilisk. But come on…It's a hidden chamber beneath the…I think, the lake." He informed. "Sev is gonna be a while with his harvesting, might as well pass the time somehow." He continued his path forward to look around. Harry reached the statue and whispered in parseltongue, "Speak to me, Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four." At the mouth of the statue while holding up his Slytherin lordship ring. The mouth had opened and it's where the Basilisk came out, it had to be big enough to house the creature in there. It was built onto solid rock, it couldn't have just housed the Basilisk. Harry's ring flashed green as the mouth began to open fully.
"Harry, what are you doing?" Narcissa questioned.
"Among the many things I inherited, as Lord Slytherin; I also got the Chamber of Secrets and Salazar Slytherin's library/study and office. However, I didn't see other rooms down here when I was twelve. Just the mouth where the Basilisk came out of. That's why I asked if Tom ever explored. I'm trying to find it, that's why I set to come down here tonight. It just worked out that Severus could harvest the Basilisk too." Harry stated. "There's nothing else in here by the statue, I have to assume based on its build into that massive rock that the secret office and library would be in there, along with the network of pipes that the Basilisk used to move around the school."
"Wouldn't you want to try all these passages first?" Blaise suggested to the tunnels around them.
"Those are more pipes. They all connect back out here, I did wander those trying to escape the Basilisk." Harry informed.
"He is right about that." Voldemort nodded. "I did explore those during my time as a student." He confirmed.
"Can we come then?" Draco asked.
"If you really want to," Harry shrugged as he headed over to the mouth of the statue. "Sev, you staying here to harvest?"
"I'll come to see if there's something. It won't take me long to harvest." Severus remarked. "I'm only grabbing a little of each to study and play with." He stood next to Harry now.
"That's fine. I can always bring you down again," Harry told him. The vampire moved into the darkened room and cast Lumos Maxima to send a ball of bright light up to the ceiling and let it illuminate the area.
"Doesn't seem like there is anything in here…" Theodore mentioned. "Just a big empty space where the Basilisk hung out during the time the chamber was closed."
"It's here, just hidden…Salazar Slytherin built this chamber without the other founders knowing, intending it to be a classroom to teach the dark arts in until he ended up leaving the school." Harry remarked. "The chamber became legend as it was knowing throughout the school, but one ever found it because Salazar ensured only his heir would be able to open it again."
"If no one knew about it, then how did it become legend?" Lucius wondered.
"No idea, but my best guess is that he passed it along to his descendants and it became a word of mouth situation." Harry suggested. "Someone would have stumbled upon the entrance when the plumbing was updated, assumingly. Or the entrance just ended up being where the second floor girls bathroom got built. Someone had to know about it for it to be known that only the heir of Slytherin could open it. Salazar Slytherin probably told his closest allies about the chamber, but only that his true heir would be able to open it. It stands to reason that all of Tom's ancestors didn't attend Hogwarts, and were home-schooled so they wouldn't have to mingle with muggle-borns, which was something Salazar hated." He explained. "Did you hear about it, or stumble upon it, Tom?"
"Heard of and found on my own. It was legend, from what you said about Salazar probably telling someone. It was rumored to be bragged about by the Gaunt's, who descend from Salazar himself." Voldemort informed. "But I did not seek them out for where the location was. I was in an orphanage until Dumbledore found me and brought me to the school. Learning my heritage, being a parselmouth. I made a calculated assumption that if the Gaunt's had bragged, and that was my mother's line, perhaps I might be a potential heir. Searching led me to it. I was much like you, Harry Potter, in my younger years. Very curious to get answers. I've told you before that we're alike."
"Yeah and everyone says I'm just like my dad too," Harry remarked. "We're not alike, Tom. We both got manipulated by Dumbledore and chose the path we'd walk because of it. You went dark, and I'm only aiming to deal with him. Not the world. I got dragged into a mess I didn't want to be in. And me helping you is for my own benefit..." Harry remarked. "Your plans just happen to coincide with what I want and you just happened to make the smartest decision in not testing your fate against me." He enlightened. "You already lost when I was a baby, when I was eleven, twelve, fourteen, and fifteen. Technically you lost at sixteen too, your killing curse failed." Harry added with a shrug. "You know that prophecy refers to me being the one with the power to destroy you. That's why you're not risking it, especially with the fact you easily handed over the information needed to make you mortal again. Those horcruxes. I could have easily played you and you'd never know. Far too trusting…"
"I suppose that was my mistake…But you won't use them against me. You just said my plans coincide with yours." Voldemort reminded.
"Let me show you something," Harry grabbed the diary from his bag and then pulled the fang he'd found on the floor, reinserting it into the diary's made hole. "This is the fang that destroyed your horcrux. This is what I used when I was twelve. This is what I can use to destroy the ring, and the cup. I know you've already sent Bellatrix to retrieve it and Nagini is right here too. The other one is hidden in the castle, leaving the locket…" Harry paused.
"You said you haven't found the diadem, and the locket is in the-," Rabastan started as Harry pulled a silver chained object out of his bag. A golden locket with an S on it.
"You mean this one?" Harry asked. "Funny, this wasn't actually in the cave. A fake one was…Seems Regulus replaced the real one with the fake. So the real one was actually at Grimmauld Place and being protected by the Black family house elf, Kreacher. As Kreacher serves me as Lord Black, he handed it over without a fuss." He informed. "So now I have the ring, the locket, and Nagini right here. The diary is already destroyed and I have a readied fang. "I'm sure the cup is back at the manor and the diadem is within the walls of Hogwarts…I could destroy you before midnight, Tom…Don't tempt me. I can just as easily see my plans through without you." Harry informed now. "The only reason I have not is because you too were a result of Dumbledore's manipulations and I think that can get you some sympathy with the people that you were just an orphaned boy in a bad situation, made some bad choices…"
Nagini curled into herself now. "Don't hurt me…"
"I won't hurt or kill you, Nagini. Don't worry…I'll find a way to remove the piece from you safely." Harry promised. Nagini lifted up some and sat on Harry's shoulders, pressing her nose to Harry's cheek and licking him with a quick flick of her tongue.
"Can you do that?" Narcissa asked.
"I can figure it out. I'm sure horcruxes were not invented with no way to return the soul back to the person it belongs to. Unless it's the dementor's kiss…But if a horcrux is an object with a piece of soul hidden in and the only way to split the soul is murdering, then it stands to reason there is a way to reverse the effects and put the soul back together." Harry informed. "I found a way to remove the dark mark. I can figure out how to repair a shattered soul. Moving on…" Harry paused now. "My curiosity, Tom, was only to the world I never knew of because Dumbledore decided he needed to be in charge of my life. I grew up muggle, never knowing about the magical world. I didn't even know I was a wizard, or that my parents were. My aunt told me they died in a drunk driving accident." Harry went on.
"Car crash? A car crash killed James and Lily Potter?!" Severus choked. "If I ever see your aunt again…She knew."
"I know that, Severus…Settle down." Harry put a hand on his arm and he relaxed. "I never wanted all the drama with the stone, your diary, the tournament, or even that prophecy. I won't knock third year with Sirius because that was enlightening to the truth of how you got to my parents when they were in hiding. But everything else…I'd loved to have never been involved." Harry stated. "All I ever wanted was a normal life. Have a loving family, go to school, make some friends…Have fun. Be a kid. I learned a long time ago not to hope for such things. I was not allowed to ever do that. I didn't get to be a kid. Not at the Dursley's and not at Hogwarts. I went from orphan, to slave, to vampire, and now apparently, savior to the world as we know it. The only thing I do now is fully expect to be attacked and fight. My life has never been easy, and it never will be. It's a fool's dream to hope. Suppose it's a good thing I never sleep. I can't dream, therefore I can no longer be fooled. Maybe me being turned into a vampire was the best thing that could ever happen to me." He informed before walking forward into the chamber more to start exploring the cavern.
There wasn't much, just a big open chamber with more of the Basilisk's meals in the form of bones. Harry manipulated his Lumos spell to divide up and light up areas, but it was mostly tunnels. "I don't think there's anything here, Harry," Draco stated.
"There has to be. It's in the files…If you're tired, go back up. I came down here with a reason and I'm not stopping til I find it." Harry remarked.
"Just a thought…" Severus stood beside his bonded. "Have you tried speaking parseltongue inside this part of the chamber? Perhaps the ring allows you passage where others cannot. An activation to reveal secrets to the heir or current lord?" He suggested.
"It's not a bad idea," Voldemort agreed. "The chamber may only reveal it's hidden secrets to the current lord. It stands to reason that I never possessed that ring as a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, so I may not have ever had access to all of the chamber's secrets." He stated. "Try speaking in parseltongue, Harry. Declare yourself lord. Let the chamber know its creator has returned."
Harry considered it, but looked down at his ring then around the chamber. Realization hit him and his eyes widened. "No…" Harry said. "No, that won't work. Merlin…I should have realized it sooner. It's too damn easy…" Harry said. "Oh, Merlin, rather…Salazar…You sly son of a bitch."
"What are you talking about? It's not easy! We've been wandering around down here for thirty minutes and nothing to show for it!" Bellatrix glared. "This is haaard!" She whined.
"It's not." Harry told her as he looked around. "It's so easy. It's so…Slytherin, I can't believe I overthought it this much…" He laughed. "Aperta Sesama." Harry hissed out as he held up his hand with the ring on it, letting the light reflect off. There was a rumbling as a passage appeared at the back of the chamber. "Cunning bastard, but I guess that's why he was represented for Slytherin house. Clever indeed…" Harry remarked as he looked back at the group, who were staring at him. "What?"
"What did you say?" Lucius asked. "We know it was parseltongue, but what?"
"It wasn't even just parseltongue. It was Latin too…You used language in language?!" Voldemort realized.
"I made a calculated guess," Harry remarked.
"What did you say!" Voldemort demanded.
"Open Sesame, in Latin, but also in Parseltongue." Harry informed.
The group just blinked at him. "And you called that easy, no one would have ever guessed that!"
"My random guess had been pure blood, like Slytherin dorms." Harry stated. "It's perfect and so plainly easy. The school motto and almost all our spells are in Latin. Salazar Slytherin was a powerful wizard who built this chamber and represents everything in Slytherin house. That's why it's perfect. Everyone else would overcomplicate just how easy it is to gain access, so not only is it protected by the simplest saying, but in Latin and needing to be said by a Parselmouth. Now, come on…It's open. Don't dawdle." He headed forward. Severus quickly caught up to Harry, then the rest just followed inside. Harry was right, it had been the perfect way to gain entry to a hidden room belonging to a Slytherin. Using Latin, which is what most of their spells were in, and also the school's motto of Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon. Then speaking Latin in Parseltongue was simply ingenious. How Harry figured out it was beyond them, but perhaps that was just a perk to how smart he was. Not even Voldemort had come up with the idea that it could be so easy.
Harry stepped into the room first as his light orbs followed in and Harry laid eyes on what appeared to be spectacular room; he could only stand there with the rest and take everything in.