Disclaimer: I don't own HP, only Evan and Iris Potter.

This is slightly shorter than usual, but next up is Aludra confronting Riddle.

13-8-2023

Chapter Twelve

Descent into the Chamber

The two children were hastily banished to one corner of the office and a spell was cast by Sirius to keep them from hearing what the adults were saying. The two friends grasped each other's hands and waited in anxious silence as the adults spoke. Aludra furrowed her brow in worry when her uncle tugged her father to the side and they had a hushed argument before finally coming to what was obviously an unhappy agreement. The other team members and professors also argued with the pair, but they too eventually gave into Remus' arguments. Decision clearly made, Sirius turned to the two children and, with a wave of his wand, the spell was removed. He wasn't even bothering to hide how unhappy he was at whatever decision had been made, and Aludra felt ill as her stomach twisted itself into knots.

"Daddy?" She asked with trepidation.

"Evan, Professor McGonagall will escort you back to the Tower," Sirius said curtly.

"What about me?" "What about Ally?" The two young wixen asked together.

Sirius' lips tightened, making him looked disconcertingly like his mother in the few old photographs Aludra had seen of her horrid and unlamented paternal grandmother. Grandma Min looked furious, her lips a white slash across her face, and the other members of Sirius' team seemed displeased but reluctantly accepting.

"I need Aludra's help with the magic to open the Chamber," Sirius admitted grudgingly. "She's coming with us. However, you will keep your wand ready to cast at all times, stay behind us, and use a pocket mirror to navigate. Understood, Aludra Scarlet?"

Aludra's eyes were wide and nervous, but it dawned on her quickly why she would be needed. There was no other known Parselmouth in Britain, and it had always been a certainty that the Chamber could only be accessed by a speaker of the serpent tongue.

"I'll do everything I can to help, Daddy," Aludra promised, gathering her courage despite the desire to be ill at the prospect of meeting a basilisk. She was a Gryffindor, and there was another student's life at stake. She would help in whatever way she could.

Evan looked for a moment like he was going to argue, but quickly stopped himself. "Be careful, Ally," he urged her. She gave him a strained smile and nodded.

With that, the groups quickly split up. The two professors, looking white with worry for their students, ushered Evan away, while Sirius' team and Aludra began carefully making their way to Moaning Myrtle's toilet.

There, they ignored the whiny ghost and headed straight for the sinks, where Shacklebolt quickly found a small snake subtly scratched into one.

"That one's never worked," Myrtle commented sulkily from behind them.

"Go on, little star," Sirius urged her, when she cast him a doubtful glance. "No one here will tell anybody about your ability."

"I'll swear it on my magic if I must, Miss Black," Proudfoot promised solemnly.

"As will I," Kingsley vowed.

Aludra nodded to them, before turning to the tap. She squinted at the snake, trying to picture it as a living creature, and hissed 'Open!' at it. There was a loud grinding sound and the group watched with wide eyes as the sink sank into the ground, leaving a large hole with a dirty slide in its place.

"Quite the drop," Sirius mused after lighting his wand and trying to see down the tunnel. He straightened up and turned to Aludra. "You come last. Do you have your pocket mirror?"

She showed it to him, careful not to let her hand shake. Her wand was clutched in the white-knuckled grip of her right hand.

"Right," her father nodded curtly. "Wands out everyone. I'll send up sparks if it's safe. If not, assume I'm petrified. If it's safe then Shacklebolt comes after me, followed by Proudfoot, then Remus, and Ally is last. If not, Aludra will close the entrance and you will reassess under Shacklebolt's command."

"Yes Sir," Shacklebolt and Proudfoot chorused. Uncle Remus nodded solemnly, one hand resting on Aludra's shoulder.

Sirius nodded again, then jumped down the slide. A few moments of tense waiting later some red sparks shot out of the tunnel. The sparks were quickly followed by Sirius' teammates, Remus going just before Aludra with a soft, reassuring smile at his niece. Aludra lit her wand and clutched her pocket mirror tightly in her other hand before squaring her shoulders, gathering her courage and jumping down into the darkness.

It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. She could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as the one she was sliding down, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward. She knew instinctively that she was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. And then, just as she had begun to worry about what would happen when she hit the ground, the pipe levelled out, and she shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in.

Her father and the others were on their feet, casting cleaning charms on themselves. Sirius quickly hurried to her side and helped her up, casting a charm to remove the muck on her before she could catch her breath from the adrenaline rush.

"Alright, little star?" Sirius asked her in a low voice. She nodded quickly.

"I'm fine, Daddy," she assured him. He nodded, giving her a quick peck on the top of her head, before turning to his team.

"Right," he said. "We need to get moving. For the moment, we need to assume that Ginny Weasley is a hostage, but there is still the possibility that she's gone willingly or is under an enchantment. If she attacks, subdue her with non-lethal force. Do whatever necessary to stop the heir, and take care with the Basilisk. Keep your mirrors out. Aludra, stay close to me."

Aludra, alarmed to learn it was the redhaired first year who was missing, hugged her father's side as they began to make their way out of the filthy entry chamber. They hadn't gotten far, however, before there was a sound of crunching bones, and they spun around to see a pile of filthy yet bright robes at the end of the tunnel. There was a groan, and the pile stirred and revealed itself as Lockhart. Aludra stared at him in bewilderment that turned to shocked frustration as Ron came shooting out of the tunnel and landed on top of their professor. Evan was right behind him.

Aludra quickly realized what had happened. Ron and Evan had snuck out of the Tower and followed them with Lockhart of all people.

"What in Lady Magic's name is this?" Her father thundered as the trio scrambled to their feet. Evan was looking at the ground in shame, but Ron looked defiant.

"It's not my fault!" Lockhart exclaimed. "These two are mad! They held me at wandpoint!"

"I'm amazed, Professor, that such a reputable authority on DADA as yourself was overpowered by a pair of second years," Shacklebolt drawled, looking at the blonde man with unmistakable disdain.

"I-well-funny thing that," Lockhart stammered. "You see-"

"He's a fraud!" Ron declared. "He's been taking credit for things other people did and then wiping their memories!"

"I see," Sirius said coolly. "And the two of you are here why?"

Evan looked up pleadingly. "I swear, I was trying to stop him!" He begged. "Ron heard that it was Ginny taken and insisted on going after her himself! He wouldn't listen, and he stole my Cloak! I sent Susan and Neville to let McGonagall know and I came to stop him, but he was already jumping down the tunnel when I arrived. I grabbed onto him to pull him back but the momentum carried me forward instead."

"I see," Aludra winced, hearing the fury in her father's tone. "Is this true, Mr. Weasley?"

"Ginny's my sister," Ron declared defiantly. "Somebody had to save her!"

"That's the Aurors' job, not yours," Sirius said curtly. He huffed and muttered a curse. "Damn it. Alright, Proudfoot, you stay here with the boys and Lockhart. You can read him his rights while you're at it. The rest of you, with me."

"What?" Lockhart exclaimed. "What do you mean, my rights?!"

"Why does Aludra get to go, and not us?" Ron demanded indignantly. "Evan's the Boy-Who-Lived, and I'm Ginny's brother! We should get to go too!"

"Shut up Ron!" Evan hissed at him. "We're in enough trouble as it is without you making things worse!"

Ron's expression was sour, and Aludra wanted to hex him. Didn't he realize this was serious? Peoples' lives were at stake, including his and his sister's! He was such an immature child.

Proudfoot stepped closer to the trio and took up a guard stance, while the rest of them began heading away again, Aludra and her father in the lead with mirrors and wands out and ready.

They'd only gotten a short distance when they heard the sounds of a struggle and spun around, finding Lockhart and Proudfoot wrestling for her wand. "I am Gilderoy Lockhart and I will not go down like this!" Lockhart cried. Shacklebolt and Remus raced back, but Sirius hesitated, glancing worriedly at Aludra.

"Daddy go, I-" Aludra began to say, just before there was a flash of light and the ceiling caved in. Her father grabbed her and shoved her down, casting a shield to protect them from the debris.

"Remus! Moony, are you alright?! Someone answer me!" Sirius bellowed urgently once things had settled down.

"We're good Padfoot!" Remus called back, making Aludra close her eyes and say a quiet prayer of thanks to the Lady. "My leg is trapped and Kingsley got hit in the head by a rock but is still conscious. Lockhart's out for the count but the boys and Proudfoot are fine."

"Try and move the rocks, but don't risk yourselves!" Sirius ordered. "I'm going on with Ally!"

"Be careful, old friend! You too, cub!"

"Love you to the moon and back, Uncle!" Aludra called to her uncle, using the phrase he'd told her every night before bed when she was a child.

"And I you!"

In silence, she and her father continued on, past a shed snakeskin and many, many more bones until they reached a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

There was no need for Aludra to pretend these stone snakes were real; their eyes looked strangely alive. She could guess what she had to do. She cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker.

"Open," Aludra hissed.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Aludra, clenching her wand like a lifeline, followed her father inside.