Chapter 4: Secrets of the Chamber
Harry woke up some time later. He hadn't slept very soundly. His dreams were plagued with Ron yelling at him while Dudley taunted him from the hall outside his old cupboard.
'Well, at least my dreams stay interesting.'
Harry cast a quick Tempus and saw that it was just before 3am. He decided that getting any further sleep would be impossible since he had slept roughly 15 hours in the last 24 hours. He got out of his bed and showered, changed into some robes, and brushed his teeth.
'I don't have classes today either.'
Since leaving the Chamber of Secrets the other night, Harry had felt a strange desire to go back. He couldn't determine if it was a need for closure, to ensure that Riddle was truly gone and the basilisk truly dead, or if it was something else. Either way, it was as if something there was calling to him in a way. Harry made a snap decision and pulled his invisibility cloak over himself and headed down to the common room and out of the portrait hole.
A short ten minutes later, after finding no obstacles on his way, Harry pushed open the door to the 2nd floor girl's bathroom. He heard Myrtle gurgling in the u-bend of the middle toilet. "Myrtle!" Harry called out to her.
There was a soft splash, then Myrtle floated through the door of the cubicle she was occupying. Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak and Myrtle turned to look at him. "Oh, hi Harry," she said. Her face turned a slightly brighter silver color.
"Hi Myrtle, I was just going to head down to the Chamber. For some reason, closure maybe, I just need to go see it again," Harry told her.
Myrtle nodded and said, "I can understand the need for closure. Not that I will ever get any. Olive Hornby had the Ministry banish me to this bathroom so I couldn't continue haunting her."
"Right," Harry said, unsure of how to respond to that. "I just wanted to let you know that I would be opening the entrance to the Chamber and I was hoping that you could keep it a secret for me? I doubt many people would like me going back down there."
"I won't tell," Myrtle said with a wink.
"Thanks, Myrtle," Harry responded. He strode over to the sink that had the snake etched into the pipe under the basin. "Open," he hissed in parseltongue. The sink dropped down into the floor revealing the same pipe he had slid down to rescue Ginny. He put his invisibility cloak back on and prepared to slide down the pipe again.
Before he jumped in, Myrtle spoke up behind him, "There are stairs, you know? I saw the small red haired girl use them one time."
Harry blinked. Of course there would be, he couldn't imagine Voldemort sliding down a sewage covered pipe to access his ancestor's Chamber. "Stairs?" He hissed. There was a loud clunk sound and the pipe turned into a set of marble steps. "Thanks again, Myrtle. I'll see you in a bit."
Harry started down the steps into the Chamber of Secrets. A thrill of anticipation settled in him.
'Something is down there, I just know it.'
It took close to 5 minutes to get back to the point of the tunnel where the cave-in had occurred. He squeezed through the hole that Ron had made in the rock wall and approached the door to the main part of the Chamber. Anxiety built in him as he looked at the door. Not 48 hours ago he had almost died in this very room. He had encountered Lord Voldemort for the third time in his young life and had, miraculously, escaped unharmed. He took a great shuddering breath and hissed at the door, "Open."
The snake shaped locks on the door released and the door swung inward once more. The first thing that caught Harry's eye was the giant corpse of the basilisk. Poisonous green in color and monstrous in size, the King of Serpents lay exactly where Harry had struck it down. There was a large pool of blood around its gaping maw and Harry could still hear a faint dripping coming from inside the mouth of the beast. Harry cautiously approached the body and looked at the mangled eyes and giant fangs. He noticed that there were a couple of shallow cuts to the nose of the serpent from where he had wildly swung his sword at it in desperation.
'How did I survive this?'
Harry walked along the length of the body, trying to guess at the total length. He paced it off at roughly 21 meters, give or take one. He glanced down and saw the ink stains left from when he had stabbed the diary. The fang he had used was still laying in the puddle of ink, right where he had dropped it.
'Well, that confirms that both Tom and the snake are gone.'
Harry looked around the Chamber. He hadn't had a lot of time to take it all in during the battle. He saw a large pool of water surrounding the visage of Salazar Slytherin, around which were large stone sculptures of various breeds of serpents. He saw what he knew to be a cobra represented in one statue but some of the others looked to be magical creatures he did not know the names of.
'Slytherin has a snake problem.' Harry chuckled to himself.
Harry looked up the stone bust of Salazar Slytherin again. He noticed a narrow stone pathway that bridged the gap from the floor of the Chamber to the mouth of the statue. He thought about just leaving and heading back up to his dorm until breakfast but he had a nagging feeling there was more to be found here. He almost felt as if something, or someone, was calling to him. "Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four." He hissed to the statue. The mouth to the statue opened slowly once more. Fear gripped Harry for a second.
'What if there is another basilisk? Lucky I have my cloak on.'
A voice called out from inside the statue almost causing Harry to fall over in shock, "I told you never to return here, Tom Riddle."
Harry called out back to the voice, "My name is Harry Potter, not Tom Riddle."
"Ah," said the voice. "Well come in here so I can speak to you properly."
Harry removed his invisibility cloak, the speaker of the voice didn't seem to like Tom Riddle so it probably wasn't an enemy, he reasoned. He made his way carefully across the path, clambered up into the mouth of the statue, and looked around. There was a short, filthy corridor that led to a large open room. The room smelled atrocious and he could see piles of bones and shed snakeskin from where he stood.
'The basilisk's nest.'
He shot a look to the sides of the corridor and saw a smooth black marble door on the left hand side. He approached it and felt a curious, tingling sensation go through him from his head down to his toes. The door opened on its own after the tingling sensation stopped. Behind the door was a small set of stairs that spiraled upward. Harry climbed them slowly, keeping his wand in his hand. As he rounded the final spiral a large study slowly came into view. The three walls visible from the stairs were lined, floor to ceiling, in bookshelves overflowing with books and scrolls. In the middle of the room was an ornate desk made of a very dark, almost black, wood. Behind the desk sat an opulent black leather chair. Harry edged into the room slowly, looking into the corners to try to find who had spoken earlier.
"There you are," a voice behind and above him spoke. Harry whirled around, startled. "What took you so long?"
Harry could only gape for a couple moments. On the wall, directly above the entrance from the staircase, was a large gold framed portrait of Salazar Slytherin himself. He was seated on the very same chair that sat behind the desk in the room and he had a familiar looking, but much smaller, serpent around his shoulders.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what to expect and after my last adventure in this Chamber I was being careful," Harry told the portrait.
"Yes, I heard your last adventure loud and clear. Tom had the young red haired girl silence my portrait when she first came to the Chamber the other night, but that didn't stop me from hearing everything that occurred. I understand you are responsible for killing my familiar?" Salazar asked, though he didn't look very upset about this news if Harry was reading his face correctly.
"I apologize for that but yes, I killed the basilisk. It was either it, or me," Harry responded. He hoped that he wasn't about to get told off for what he had done, it wasn't as if he had much choice.
"No need," Salazar said with a wave of his hand. "She had been corrupted years ago by Tom Riddle. He performed a ritual that severed her familiar bond with me and twisted her to his purposes. She went from noble protector of the students of this school, to a hunter of them. The ritual drove her mad and she had been steadily losing her mind for decades. It was a mercy putting her out of her misery."
"She was a protector?" Harry asked in shock.
"Yes. In my day, muggles would burn witches and wizards at the stake if they were lucky enough to catch one of us. For adults, this wasn't so much a problem, but for children, some of whom were from the muggle world? They needed protecting until they could control their magic. That is why we built this school. It was to be a place that young witches and wizards could go to learn control over their magic and be protected from the muggles that wanted to eradicate us. My basilisk was the protection I provided for the school. If there was ever an attack on this castle, the basilisk would be released onto the grounds to decimate the attackers," Salazar explained.
"One of our professors told us earlier this year that she was down here to, and I quote, 'rid the school of those you didn't find worthy of studying magic'," Harry said. As he did he saw Salazar's face twist to one of fury.
'I have no issues with any Magical! Where did this preposterous idea come from?' Salazar spat in parseltongue. He visibly calmed himself then continued, "I don't know why your professor believes that to be the case, history tends to get twisted from the truth as time goes on. My only desire was to see anyone with magical ability taught how to control their power and be brought into our society. Witches and wizards have very different traditions to the mundane world."
'My guess is that the pureblood bigots twisted history to make Slytherin their champion.'
"Regardless, I want to know more about you, my heir," Salazar said. Harry spluttered at that.
"Your heir? But Tom Riddle was your heir, not me," Harry said. He wasn't about to believe that the stupid rumors the other kids had spread about him being the Heir of Slytherin were real after all.
"You must also be one of my descendants," Salazar said, "you speak the Tongue of Serpents, an ability that can only be passed down to blood relations of my family line, and the blood wards in this very Chamber accepted you as my blood descendent. There is no doubt you are a relation, but to whether you will be my heir? That is still to be decided."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was descended from Slytherin himself? How could that be? Did that mean he was related to Voldemort?
'I'm related to Vernon and Dudley, why not a crazy murderer as well?'
"What do you mean 'still to be decided'?" Harry asked with trepidation.
"I once called Tom Riddle my heir, but he proved to be a power hungry, scared, little man with no honor. You, on the other hand, seem different. You fought Tom Riddle right here in the Chamber. You seem a little too much like that lovable oaf, Godric, but that can be remedied with time and training," Salazar replied.
Harry nodded and thought hard about what he was told. Salazar was going to train him? In what way?
'I can't pass up the chance to learn from one of the founders. That would be stupid!"
"I would be honored to learn whatever you have to teach me," Harry said. He bowed his head slightly to the portrait. "Before we talk more, I do have a question." Salazar inclined his head and waved him on with his hand, "How is it you can speak Modern English? You were alive over 1000 years ago. Surely the language has changed drastically since that time?"
Salazar smiled down at Harry, "That is a really good observation, one that Tom Riddle never noticed, or if he did he didn't care to ask how it was achieved. Rowena enchanted our frames with a permanent version of her language charm. She had developed a charm that allowed the user to speak in any language they heard spoken. Once someone speaks to my portrait, I am able to converse with them in their native tongue. I managed to enchant the frame to allow me to speak parseltongue as well so I could command the basilisk after my death."
Harry nodded his understanding but another question bubbled up, "You said Rowena, as in Rowena Ravenclaw?" Salazar nodded, "And you said she enchanted 'our frames'. Does that mean the other founder's have portraits here too?"
Salazar grinned, "I am sure they do, though I do not know where they hung them. That will be one of your tasks for the remainder of your school years. I want you to locate them all and learn from each of us. Tom only ever wanted to learn from me. He had a vain personality and he seemed to think he was better than anyone that associates with the houses of the other founder's. The truth is, each of us is an expert in our chosen fields. For instance, I was the most knowledgeable wizard of my time in the areas of Ancient Runes, Ritual Magic, the Mind Arts, and Blood Magic."
Harry frowned at that. The Hogwarts library had a blanket ban on any books containing Ritual or Blood Magic. It was said to be very dark magic. "But isn't that Dark Magic?" Harry asked innocently.
Salazar scowled, "There is no such thing as 'Dark Magic'. There is only Magic, and the intent with which it is wielded."
'Sounds a lot like Voldemort last year: There is only power, and those too weak to seek it.'
Harry wasn't convinced and Salazar must have noticed because he continued, "If you were to use Diffindo to cut a flower from a plant, is that dark?" Harry shook his head. "Now, say you used Diffindo to cut open an enemy's throat, does that make it dark?" Harry didn't know whether to nod or shake his head. He was very confused and now starting to realize that things weren't always black and white. "Ritual Magic has been around for millenia, even before my time. Before wands were invented, Rituals were very common ways to perform difficult magical feats. Blood Magic is a branch of magic used for warding, healing, and pairs well with Ritual Magic because some Rituals require blood sacrifice in order to achieve the expected results. You will learn more about this when we start your studies."
Harry's head was spinning. This was magic that wasn't taught at Hogwarts. He had never been the best student, but he was beginning to realize that he had slacked off a lot to stay friends with Ron. Ron didn't take his studies seriously and now Harry was starting to ask himself why he had gone along with him. He was a wizard after all, why not try to be the best wizard he could be?
"What classes are you taking, Harry?" Salazar asked.
"Currently; Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Astronomy. Next year I will be adding Care of Magical Creatures and Divination." Harry replied.
"Divination?" Salazar muttered. "Are you a seer?" At Harry's quizzical look he elaborated, "Have you ever had visions of the future?"
"No," Harry said simply.
"Then why would you waste your valuable time taking a class that was designed for those with the gift of Sight?" Salazar asked, confused.
"My friend, well he was my friend, took it. I wanted to take what he had for classes. That way, if they were boring or worthless, I would at least have him to work with."
"That is a stupid and immature way of looking at your Magical education, Harry," Salazar grumbled. "You need to figure out whether you want to be great, or whether you want to follow others into mediocrity."
Harry blanched. Professor Snape always called him mediocre and he hated it. But, hearing it from a different source, especially one as wise and powerful as Salazar Slytherin, gave him pause. He decided right then that he was going to be the best. With how bad things always tended to happen to him, it couldn't hurt to be better prepared for them going forward.
'I really have been taking the easy road. I can't always rely on others to be there to help me.'
"What topics would you suggest I take instead?" Harry asked. He reasoned that asking for advice from this man would get him a lot farther than when he had asked Percy Weasley's advice.
Salazar gave an approving nod, "That is a wise question. I would recommend The Study of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. If they still offer Alchemy I would recommend that as well."
"Alchemy wasn't on the course list they handed out to us, but I will talk to my Head of House about switching from Divination to Arithmancy and adding Ancient Runes."
"See that you do, I won't have my heir wasting his time on useless classes," Salazar said with an approving nod. "How old are you Harry Potter?"
"I am 12. I turn 13 this summer. I am at the end of my 2nd year."
"Very well, I will start coming up with a ritual schedule for you to follow," Salazar said, "I spent the later years of my life perfecting a set of rituals that would give the largest benefits possible, while minimizing the negative consequences. Rituals, as you will learn in more detail when we discuss them during your lessons, always have a price associated. For some, it is as simple as requiring a certain amount of your blood as a sacrifice. For others, they have a more permanent effect on your appearance or, possibly, even your lifespan." Harry gulped. "Do not worry, Harry, this program I designed has only a cumulative effect of one day of your lifespan and each ritual only requires an amount of blood that is manageable with the assistance of blood replenishment potions. The cumulative effects, however, are extraordinary. But, before we discuss these rituals in depth I will come up with a schedule that will be of the greatest benefit given your magical age and the current date."
"You know the current date?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. He hadn't seen a clock or any sort of calendar in the room.
"Another enchantment on my frame. I always know the current time and date," Salazar answered.
"Did Tom Riddle complete these same rituals?" Harry asked. He envisioned himself as a noseless, red eyed face on the back of someone's head and quickly shook himself free of the mental picture.
"He did, however, as I said before, Tom Riddle was a power hungry man. He did not stop at what I had developed. He continued performing more rituals and delved into branches of Magic I would never recommend someone delve into," Salazar grumbled. Harry noted how he sounded more disappointed than angry. "Now," he perked back up and looked Harry in the eyes again, "When is your 13th birthday exactly?"
"July 31st," Harry answered.
"That will be the date of your first ritual then," Salazar declared.
Harry gaped at him, "How am I supposed to do a ritual at my relative's house. They are muggles and I already got a notice from the Ministry of Magic for using magic during the summer holidays."
"Why would you get a notice for using magic?" Salazar asked, obviously confused.
"Underage witches and wizards are not supposed to perform magic away from the school," Harry responded. He watched as Salazar's expression darkened.
"That is the most foolish thing I have ever heard," Salazar spat.
"For me, it comes down to the Statute of Secrecy. We aren't supposed to do magic in front of muggles. Since I live with muggles it's doubly bad if I do magic over the summer," Harry explained.
"Tom had mentioned this Statute. There are ways around your summer magic ban though. Can you aparate?" Harry shook his head. He wasn't even sure what that was. "Very well, do you have a house elf?" Harry nodded. "Good, he can side-along you here. As long as you are with him he will be able to make it through the blood wards unharmed."
'Awesome, I can use magic this summer!'
"How will I have the time to learn all that you want to teach me and still attend all of my normal classes?" Harry asked now that they had settled the first issue. He was beginning to feel pretty overwhelmed.
"Open the topmost right hand drawer of the desk." Salazar said with a grin. Harry walked behind the desk and opened the drawer in question.
"What is it I'm looking for?" he asked, the drawer seemed to be much larger on the inside than it should have been able to be. The drawer had a large amount of parchment and quills neatly organized on the one side and some small black velvet cases stacked on the other side.
"Somewhere in the boxes is one that is black leather instead of velvet," Salazar responded. Harry started removing cases and placing them on the desk until he noticed one a few down from where he was currently that had a shiny quality to the exterior. He pried that one loose and placed it on the desk then stacked the other cases back on top of the ones remaining in the drawer. "Go ahead and open it," Salazar murmured. Harry lifted the lid to the case and allowed the lid to rest on the desk. Inside the case was a small hourglass, no larger than a walnut, inside which swirled a luminescent sand. The hourglass was hung from a very fine silver looking chain as if it was a charm on a necklace.
"What is this?" Harry asked while carefully lifting the hourglass out of the case by the chain and allowing it to dangle in front of his face so he could get a good look at it.
"That, Harry, is a Time Turner. They are very rare and I would imagine heavily regulated in this day and age. This particular one will allow you to travel back in time for up to 6 hours maximum. It is calibrated so that each turn of the hourglass equates to 30 minutes."
"What do you mean by 'each turn'?"
"See how the hourglass hangs inside the ring?," Harry nodded, "That small dial on the side of the ring allows you to turn the hourglass inside the ring. If you do that while wearing the chain around your neck you will be transported back in time equal to the number of turns up to a maximum of 6 hours."
Harry nodded his understanding, then thought out loud, "What if you were to attempt to go back a further 6 hours immediately after going back 6 hours?"
"The Time Turner will not allow that. It takes an amount of time equal to the time you traveled in order for the Sands of Time to recharge. Rather inconvenient if you ask me but even Magic has its limitations," Slazar said with a gleam in his eye. "It is, however, possible for you to travel back in time, say 1 hour, then after the hour has elapsed use the time turner once more but for 2 hours. At this point there would be 3 versions of you in existence at once. This becomes very complicated however and causes a large amount of stress to your mind and I recommend you do not attempt it unless it is an absolute emergency."
"This is how I will have time to learn what you have to teach," Harry whispered. Salazar nodded and readjusted the serpent on his shoulders.
"Using that device is a huge responsibility. Each time you use it you will age accordingly, so it will shift your Magical Age by the same amount of time. It also places a decent amount of strain on your mind because you will be constantly trying to reconcile two separate existences. For this reason you should only use this once every other day for the full 6 hours. That time will be used here in the study or in the main chamber with me completing your studies. You will use the Time Turner at 9pm every other day and will go to bed directly after the 6 hours is over. Those nights that you use it you will need more sleep than normal so by going to bed at 9pm you will be able to get a full 9 hours of sleep and still be able to rise at 6am to complete your physical and mental exercises." Salazar peered down at Harry after his short speech.
"What physical exercises will I be doing?" Harry asked.
"For a minimum of 45 minutes each day you will run laps around the main Chamber. This will build your stamina which in turn helps strengthen your Magical Core. You will also do various body weight exercises, I believe today they are called calisthenics. This will build your strength, which also helps your Magical Core as well as giving you an edge is physical combat. Most witches and wizards rely heavily on their wands. One of the things that Godric taught me that truly helped in a few situations is that a powerful elbow to the jaw acts very similarly to a well placed Stupefy, however you don't need a wand for it and it can be used in much closer quarters."
"Yes, sir," he replied, bowing his head slightly. He understood that this was an honor he was receiving and understood that he needed to comply fully in order to show his worthiness of said honor.
Salazar chuckled lightly and said, "I appreciate the deference but it is not necessary, Harry. You will be my heir. If you wish to show respect you need only call me Salazar. We are family after all, no matter how distant and removed it may be."
Harry's stomach growled at him, so he cast a quick Tempus and saw that it was nearly time for breakfast. "I will return tonight at 9pm for my first lessons then. I only have another eight days until the end of term but I would like to get started anyway." Salazar nodded his approval at that statement.
"Ok then, Salazar, I'll be back later tonight." Harry made sure the Time-Turner was properly stored back in its drawer then stood and started heading for the stairs under Salazar's portrait.
"Why did you come into the Chamber the long way?" Salazar asked him before he made it to the stairs.
"The long way? I didn't know there was another way," Harry answered. "The only way I know to get in here is through the 2nd Floor girl's bathroom."
"Tom made the red haired girl use that entrance because it was least conspicuous for her. If you follow the Chamber to the left instead of crossing it, you will find a small corridor that leads to a staircase that will take you to the topmost dungeon floor. The door opens into an alcove that is heavily warded against all who are not of my blood. No one will see you coming and going from there as long as they don't see you before you enter the alcove," Salazar said.
Harry nodded his understanding and thanked him before heading down to the main hall of the Chamber. He followed Salazar's directions and quickly found the corridor and subsequent staircase. Harry slipped his invisibility cloak back on and made his way up the stairs and out into the alcove. The door shut behind him and he saw the faint outline of the door against the stone wall. He noticed a very small snake etched into the stone where a keyhole would be.
'This will beat having to see Myrtle every day."
He slipped out of the alcove and found himself close to where he knew the Slytherin common room to be. Luckily this alcove was in the opposite end of the corridor from the stairs that led to the surface floors of the castle.
'Time to get some breakfast.' Harry thought as he headed up toward the Great Hall.
