14. Unpleasant Discoveries
Just as Colin was about to give up, Myrtle came floating out of her favourite stall. "Do you mean it?" she said, frowning disbelievingly.
He nodded energetically, as did Harry and Hedwig. "Oh, yes. Just go beside Harry. Harry could you move over a bit to let her get between you and the pipe?"
Harry moved sideways and Myrtle floated over beside him.
"Excellent!" he said and adjusted his camera, used the levitation charm to hold it in place, and set the timer. Then he hurried over to stand on the other side of Harry. The flash wasn't nearly as bad as it had been in the Chamber, but it was still a bit much. They were blinking the spots from their eyes when Colin said, "Don't move just yet. Harry, I want to take another one, only as soon as the flash goes, everyone move out of the way and you say 'close' in Parseltongue so I can include the sink hiding the pipe!"
It wasn't unreasonable, so they did the second photo. It would be interesting to see if it worked the way Colin seemed to think it would.
Myrtle looked rather overcome with being included in the photos, and quickly disappeared into her toilet.
Then Colin wound the rest of the film into its canister and gave that to Harry.
"Remember Colin, you can't tell anyone what we did this morning, we have to wait until the pictures come back or no one will believe us."
The boy nodded forlornly.
Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know it's tough, but they'll just make fun of you, otherwise."
The boy sighed heavily, "Yeah, I know, but still . . .."
Harry shrugged, then grinned. "But just imagine how shocked they'll be when you show them pictures of the basilisk and the famous Chamber of Secrets!" He laughed. "The Slytherins will be beside themselves! You, a muggle-born, seeing the Chamber before any of them!" Ron broke into laughter, too.
Colin brightened up at that, then set off to find his friends.
Hermione headed off to the library to look up what she could of basilisks and the Chamber of Secrets, while Ron accompanied Harry back to the dorm. Ron wanted to get someone to play chess with him, and Harry had to rewrite the letter he had prepared for Gringotts yesterday. That letter said he had killed a basilisk and wanted to know what they would charge to render it. The new one would include the film canisters with instructions to develop them as wizard photograph, and that a ghost was in some of them.
Harry reread the new letter to the Goblins to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Hedwig was on his shoulder, also checking it. The new letter included that the film in the canisters was proof he had killed a basilisk, and for them to develop the film to return the best wizarding pictures possible with their quote. The pictures would be proof Harry wasn't wasting their time making up the story, or the size of the snake. They could make whatever relevant copies of the pictures they wanted, but they were not to release them outside of the group of Goblins necessary to do the estimate and the rendering.
Then he carefully placed the letter and canisters in Hedwig's harness, and let him out his dorm-room's window to head to Gringotts.
Now, all he needed to do was visit the Headmaster and see if there was a reward for killing the basilisk. As Hedwig had explained, the galleons in his vault wouldn't last forever, no matter how much it had looked like veritable fortune.
Hedwig had even suggested that he visit Susan Bones, whose mother was the Head of the Aurors at the Ministry, and ask if the she knew if the Ministry offered a bounty for killing a basilisk, or required that they be informed of the matter in any respect.
Harry briefly wondered how Hedwig had known that, then dismissed the thought as not important. He had his suspicions, but he knew that Hedwig's reasons for not telling him his secrets had to be important.
Considering it was now close to lunch, maybe he could catch her there? He headed down to the Common Room to collect Ron. He rather imagined Hermione would come rushing into the Great Hall midway through lunch.
As he expected, he had to wait a short while for Ron to finish his current game in the Common Room before they left. Later, also as expected, Hermione came rushing into the Great Hall at lunch's midpoint.
Susan did show up for lunch, and he kept an eye on her. When it looked like she was starting to leave, he jumped up and hurried after her, catching her at the door.
"Excuse me, Susan?"
She stopped and turned to face him. "Yes?"
"I was wondering if you could ask your aunt a question for me? She is the Head of the Aurors, right? And knows all the laws and such?
She frowned at him, "Yes, she's Head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry, and I imagine she knows the laws pretty well. Why?"
"Good," Harry said. "If I send her an owl," he explained, "it'll just get lost in the rest of the Ministry post as not important, which is why I wanted to know if you would help me."
She nodded, "Yeah, you're probably right. What's the question? I can't guarantee she'll answer, of course," she added apologetically.
"That's alright," he said dismissively. "The question is, does the Ministry offer a bounty or reward for finding and killing a Five-X creature, a basilisk?"
Her eyes bulged out a little and she looked shocked. "A Five-X creature? A basilisk? Where?"
He waved off her questions. "That's not important, really, it's dead. Just ask, please?"
She regarded him carefully for a few moments. "This isn't a prank, right?"
"Oh, no," he said seriously, "not a prank at all, I promise!"
She studied him a bit longer, then crossed her arms and stared at him sceptically. "Not until you tell me more. Why do you want to know this?"
He sighed. "So, hypothetically, you know, I don't get into trouble if I don't tell the Ministry that I found and killed a basilisk, hypothetically, and they had a rule or law that I have to tell them? Plus, if they don't care, then I wouldn't want to waste their time telling them something they didn't care about, right?"
She slowly nodded, and regarded him through narrowed eyes. "And there's no basilisk in or near the school?" she said suspiciously.
"Nope!" he declared happily.
"Was there?" she continued, still suspicious, and arching one eyebrow.
"Uh," he said hesitantly, and looked over his shoulder for a moment, "I'd rather not say until I know if I'll get in trouble for answering that question," he hedged.
She slowly nodded, again. "Alright," she finally said, "I'll owl my aunt and ask."
"Thank you, Susan," he said sincerely. "I don't want to get into trouble with the Ministry. I owe you a favour for this," he declared.
She gave him an uncertain look, as if unsure he was serious.
The rest of the afternoon the trio spent working on the assignments that would be due on Monday.
Hedwig landing on Harry's shoulder while they were going down the moving staircases for dinner was more than a little startling.
He quickly told Hedwig about asking Susan to send a letter to her aunt. Hedwig just as quickly volunteered to carry the letter, if she hadn't sent it already — which he hadn't expected. Hedwig had already been to London and back in under five hours! He had expected the bird to be too tired to make another such trip so soon!
He was even more impressed when Hedwig pulled out the letter from Gringotts with a packet containing the developed film and pictures! Which meant he had travelled even faster than Harry had thought for him to wait for the pictures! Hedwig must fly faster than jets!
"How did you get there and back so fast," he said, astonished. The other two were looking just as surprised.
Hedwig quickly tapped out, Knight Bus. 30 minutes or so to London.
Harry stumbled. "Knight Bus?" He goggled at his owl. "You took the Knight Bus to Gringotts?" Harry said, half-surprised, half-proud.
Hedwig shrugged. Faster and warmer than flying. He glanced towards an outside wall hiding the freezing cold weather they knew was beyond it.
Harry couldn't resist, he burst out laughing.
Hermione frowned and looked at him, having heard the question. "Who took the Knight's Bus?" Then she glanced at Hedwig. "No," she said disparagingly, "he didn't!" She paused. "Did he?" she said incredulously.
Ron was staring at the bird, slack-jawed.
Harry calmed himself and shook his head. "Well," he said out loud, musing, "Hedwig did show me how to use the Knight Bus this summer. That he's using it himself shouldn't really be a surprise, now should it?" He had a grin that almost stretched from ear-to-ear.
Harry wagged his head to the side and gave her a crooked smile. "That does explain how he made the trip so fast. And how the Goblins had time to develop all the film. Colin did tell us developing the film doesn't take long, but making the pictures from the film takes hours."
Hermione stared at Hedwig, who looked at her haughtily. She slowly shook her head in wonder.
"Besides, he says it's faster and warmer than trying to fly all that distance," Harry finished.
Ron joined Hermione, slowly shaking his, still staring at the composed bird.
Harry decided to go over the pictures after dinner. Naturally, Ron, Colin, and Hermione would be with him. He shoved the packet and letter into his pocket.
He fussed over the owl at dinner until Hedwig finally hopped up onto his shoulder. He told him, via Morse code, that he had spent most of the time waiting for the Goblins to develop the film and make the pictures. The Goblins had been very impressed at what they portrayed, despite their obvious desire to sneer at the wizards.
Harry finished his dinner at a leisurely rate, then climbed off the bench. "I'll be right back, I gotta ask Susan something."
Susan was startled when he stopped her seat at the end of the Hufflepuff table.
"Have you sent the letter to your aunt, yet?" he said.
She shook her head.
He nodded. "Good, when you finish it, Hedwig has volunteered to take it to your aunt instead of using a school owl." He glanced at Hedwig, with a proud smile, out of the corner of his eye. "Hedwig's already been to London and back today."
She stared at the owl, wide-eyed. "Really?"
"Yep."
"Isn't he too tired to do that again?"
Harry shook his head. "Nope. He's raring to go!" Hedwig, on his shoulder, nodded.
She frowned at them. "Where should I look for . . . Hedwig?" she said staring at the owl.
Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about that, he'll find you when you leave the Hufflepuff dormitory." He glanced at Hedwig out of the corner of his eyes, "Or maybe before."
She gave them both a disbelieving look, then shook her head. "Okay, if you say so."
"Thanks, again, Susan," he said as he left to return to the waiting Ron and Hermione.
"I wanted to ask her," he explained as he climbed over the bench to sit, "if she had sent her letter yet with my question. If she hadn't, I wanted her to know that Hedwig would take the letter for her. She hadn't, so he will."
She glanced at the owl. "And take the Knight's Bus again?" she said with an arched eyebrow.
Hedwig stared back at her, then winked.
She looked startled, then frowned.
After finishing desert, they headed for the Gryffindor Tower, corralling Colin in the process. They would see just what the pictures looked like — not to mention selecting which pictures they wanted personal copies of.
-===(o|o)===-
"These are ace!" declared Ron pouring over the pictures spread across Harry's bed.
Hermione nodded wordlessly, staring at the picture of her standing beside the snake's head with the rest of them, waving. If not for the way the snake's head was tilted and its tongue lying out on the floor, you would think the snake was still alive.
Colin was chortling in delight as he watched the photos of the sink disappearing into the floor and the pipe being revealed, the pipe changing to stairs, and the one of the four of them in front of the stairs stepping aside as the sink rose to cover the pipe.
Myrtle actually looked a bit happy in the photos, honestly.
Amazingly enough, somehow, Colin had managed to get a photo of Myrtle kicking the snake. You could barely see the outline of her foot as it hit the snake's eye, and the surface of the eye wobbling in response.
Harry was reading the letter from Gringotts. They seemed quite anxious to get to the basilisk. They wanted a fifty-fifty split, which Harry thought was actually rather reasonable considering how much non-effort it had taken to kill the beast, but Hedwig disagreed.
If Harry didn't haggle with them, they would overcharge him on everything else, thinking him too stupid to catch them, the owl said.
Well, he didn't have to send an immediate reply, he still needed to talk with the Headmaster. Hedwig was rather insistent that he get a "fair" share. After all, they had found the snake, they had killed the snake, they had prevented what could eventually have been a huge disaster. Just imagine what would have happened if the snake had decided to come to the Great Hall during meal time?
If the Headmaster wanted to take the snake and not share the proceeds, well, that just proved he was a thief, didn't it?
Hedwig said the Headmaster might suggest that there was an easy way and a right way to do things. The easy way was to do nothing, but the right way was to give the snake's proceeds to the school. If the Headmaster said that, then Harry could say that he would do what the Headmaster had did. He chose the easy way, just as the Headmaster had chosen the easy way of not bothering to check in on Harry at the Dursleys. Just as he had chosen the easy way of never giving Sirius a second chance, a trial, to prove his innocence. Just as he had chosen the easy way of never checking if the complaints against Professor Snape were justified.
The Headmaster trusting a person did not make them a good person. After all, he had trusted everyone in his Order of the Phoenix, including Peter Pettigrew, hadn't he? And look what that trust had done!
Just to be cautious, Harry was to go down to Myrtle's toilets and change the password to something better than a simple Parseltongue, §Open!§
Hermione looked up. "Harry, you were wondering if the Ministry has a bounty on basilisks, right?" she said interrupting Hedwig's tirade.
He nodded.
"Why not ask Percy? He might know."
That . . . was an excellent idea.
He got up off the bed and headed for the door. "I'll do that now."
Percy was in his room, studying. Unfortunately, he did not know if the Ministry paid a bounty on Five-X creatures, or if the, hypothetical, of course, discovery of one had to be reported. "You should alert the Ministry, however," he said, "If you think you know there's such a dangerous creature anywhere where people could be hurt or killed, you should notify the Ministry immediately!" he said sternly, and shook his head. "You should never attempt to kill the creature yourself; you might be killed, or accidentally goad the creature into attacking others."
He pursed his lips. "However, I will ask my father for you at the earliest opportunity."
"Thanks alright," Harry said, "I sent a letter to Director Bones and she'll definitively tell me, I'm sure. I just thought you might know off the top of your head."
Percy had nodded and gone back to his studying.
By the time Harry got back to his room, the others had a list of the photos they each wanted for themselves. They would wait to ask for copies until the story was officially released after Harry talked with the Headmaster.
-===(o|o)===-
Monday morning at breakfast, Hedwig watched as HtB went up to Professor McGonagall and asked her to tell the Headmaster that he wanted to speak to him about the Chamber of Secrets. She gave the boy a curious look, but agreed to pass on the message.
That was also when she told the students at the table that she would be posting a signup sheet for those staying at Hogwarts over the hols.
Harry meanwhile, planned to continue working on his spell-casting. It wasn't cold enough to go after the acromantulas, yet, and he had managed to deal with all the Death Eaters he could reach, either through the Aurors or directly looting their homes. All he needed now was the locket at Grimmauld Place. That wouldn't be until Christmas hols, at the earliest. He was confident that Kreacher, the Black family's elf, would have stolen the locket the moment the "cleaners" turned their backs and hidden it in his cubby hole in the basement.
Shortly after the owl-parliament, The Headmaster walked in, escorting a woman and four Aurors in red robes. The woman was the square-jawed witch with close-cropped grey hair and a monocle, from Sirius' trial. It was Director Bones, Harry knew.
Harry saw Susan waving to the group, and the woman nodded to her as they got closer. The group was clearly headed for the Gryffindor table, and whispering grew louder the further up the table the table they went. Everyone was wondering just who was in trouble? Not to mention, what had they done?
Harry hopped across the table and onto HtB's shoulder, and reassured him that they probably only wanted to confirm whether or not he was pranking them.
Sure enough, the group stopped behind HtB, Hermione, and Ron.
"There was a most interesting letter on my breakfast table this morning," she said to the boy, "from my niece, Susan." The woman also had a loud, booming voice.
Susan had turned around in her seat at the Hufflepuff table. She nodded to her aunt.
"She said that you wanted to know if there was a bounty or reward for finding and killing a basilisk."
As HtB slowly nodded, eyes wide, the rest of the people around them burst into chatter, most asking what a basilisk was. "Yes, ma'am," he said cautiously.
She looked around the Hall at the students listening raptly.
She glanced at the Headmaster. "We should move this discussion to a more private location."
The Headmaster nodded genially, eyes, twinkling. "Of course." He turned his attention to HtB. "You're not in any trouble, Mister Potter, we just have a few questions for you that your owl-post to Madam Bones has prompted."
Nervously, Harry nodded.
"I think my office would be appropriate, do you not agree, Madam Bones?" he said amiably, smiling at her.
"That would do," she said sternly, nodding.
"If you are finished with your meal, Harry, please come with us."
HtB glanced at his plate, and hurriedly stuffed the last bit of a banger in his mouth. He nodded and climbed over the bench. He hesitated and looked at Hermione and Ron. Hermione bit her lip, and joined him. Ron sighed, but also climbed over the bench. Hermione looked at Harry, then nodded at the First-years. Harry quickly tapped out a message. HtB nodded, "Colin?" he said.
Colin didn't quite disapparate from his place at the table, but it was close enough to cause one of the Aurors to startle.
Dumbledore looked at HtB inquiringly, as did Bones.
HtB shrugged. "You'll want to talk to them, too. They can verify what happened."
The old wizard nodded placidly, and led the way out of the hall, the rest following him like a gaggle of geese.
A few minutes later, Harry and the others were riding the escalator to the Headmaster's office. Hermione was trying to be inconspicuous about watching how the stairs work. Fortunately, no one but the students noticed her. "Lemon Drops?" the Headmaster offered as they entered the room, holding the bowl up. Everyone but Ron refused.
The Headmaster seemed inordinately pleased at seeing Ron take several. He waved his wand and the small couch over by the windows slid across the floor, getting wider as it approached. Meanwhile, Madam Bones seated herself on the plush chair at one corner of the Headmaster's enormous, claw-footed desk as the Headmaster sat behind it. The four Aurors took up positions around the room and remained standing.
The couch slid to a halt, angled in front of the desk to face both adults. The four took the hint and sat on the couch. Hermione and Colin were staring around in wonder.
Harry was disappointed at not seeing Fawkes. Their staring contest would not be today. He sighed in disappointment; he knew he would have beaten the colourful buzzard, this time.
The old wizard regarded the boy for a moment, smiling genially with a twinkle in his eyes. Eyes which, Harry was happy to see, none of the students were willing to meet. Even Colin had taken seriously the warning the day before that the Headmaster could read his thoughts.
The elderly wizard leaned back in his chair, looked at Madam Bones, and raised an eyebrow.
The four of them were fidgeting nervously.
The Head of the Department of the DMLE looked at HtB sternly. "My niece wrote me that you had a question about a class Five-X creature, asking if someone had to report killing such a creature, or if there is a bounty or reward for finding and killing such a creature." She paused to study his reaction.
"Er, yes, ma'am, I did ask her to ask you," he said cautiously, nodding.
She nodded. "First, there is no such bounty or reward. Basilisk breeding, however, was banned in Medieval times by the U.K. Ministry of Magic in the U.K., and the ICW, all over the world. There are no exceptions. Because of their potential for harm, the punishments are rather extreme and start with a mandatory stay in Azkaban."
The group nodded their understanding, and HtB gulped.
"Second, from what my niece said," she said slowly, "am I to understand that you have encountered a basilisk?"
The boy froze for a second. He sighed as Harry tapped out a quick message, squeezing lightly.
"Yes, ma'am," he said, looking down at the floor.
The adults all noticeably stiffened, and both the Dumbledore and Bones leaned forward intently.
"But it's dead, now, ma'am," he quickly added, licking lips.
"Dead," Bones said flatly. She pursed her lips and studied him sceptically. "First, how do you know what you saw was a basilisk, and, second, how do you know it is dead?"
HtB took a deep breath. "Well, it looks exactly like the picture in our textbook, ma'am, Fantastic Beasts, and I borrowed one of Hagrid's roosters to kill it."
She looked at the Headmaster.
"I have pictures, if you'd like to see them, ma'am," the boy offered after Harry prompted him.
Both adults turned their attention back to him.
"Pictures?" the Head of the DMLE said, incredulously.
The boy wizard turned and rummaged in his rucksack. "Yes, ma'am," he said, "Colin took the pictures for me when we went down to look at it, ma'am."
"Colin?" she said.
Colin held up his camera and gave a little wave.
"Colin Creevey," HtB said as he stood and handed her the moving photographs he had intended to give the Headmaster — after Professor McGonagall had given the Headmaster his message and they arranged a time to meet, of course. The Professor hadn't yet come back to tell him a time he could meet with the Headmaster.
Her eyes widened and her monocle fell out at the first picture. It was of the group of them standing to either side of the dead basilisk's head, waving, Hedwig perched on Harry's shoulder.
She looked up at him, aghast. She slowly flipped through the rest of the small stack, shaking her head in disbelief and handing them one-by one to the Headmaster.
The Headmaster looked just as shocked.
She cleared her throat and carefully replaced her monocle. "No reward," she repeated, "but probably an Order of Merlin, Second or Third class, I imagine, if it really is as large as these pictures indicate."
She stopped to clear her throat again, "Where did you find this creature?"
The boy wet his lips. "I found it in a place everyone calls the Chamber of Secrets, ma'am. It seems to be under the lake, ma'am."
"Chamber of Secrets?" she sounded surprised. "I thought that was supposed to be a fable!" She looked over at the Headmaster.
"I must say," the Headmaster said. "I thought the same for a long time. Despite diligent searching, both back when I was a student, then a Professor, and, finally, after I became Headmaster of this fine school, I was unable to find the entrance to that fabled room." He gave them a soft smile. "Of course, in the last thousand years, hundreds, if not thousands, have searched in vain for the Chamber, so I have good company in my lack of success."
HtB nodded. "Naturally, Sir. Only the descendants of Slytherin who speak Parseltongue could open the entrance, and they wanted to keep it a secret, right, Sir?"
The Headmaster nodded wisely. "Yes, there is that."
"Parseltongue?" interrupted Bones.
The boy looked over at her, and opposite Harry, reached up to rub the back of his neck, sheepishly. "I suppose I should begin at the beginning." He sighed and was quiet for a moment. No one else knew Hedwig was squeezing a message to him.
"Last week, Hedwig told me that the snakes in the portraits were bragging about the monster in the Chamber of Secrets," he said slowly, as if he were thinking over his words.
"I'd never heard of the Chamber of Secrets, so I asked Professor Binns, and he told me about the legend. He dismissed it all as rubbish." He shook his head, "But the snakes were quite insistent."
"The portraits? Snakes?" interrupted Madam Bones. She glanced at the Headmaster. "The snakes in the portraits don't talk."
"Not English, ma'am, Parseltongue," HtB explained softly.
All the adults except the Headmaster reared back in alarm. At least none of them screamed or fainted.
HtB rolled his eyes. "I don't see why people react that way, it's like the French saying that anyone speaking English is an Evil Dark Wizard because all the Dark Wizards speak English." He sighed. "It's just another language. Hermione and Ron are learning it." He jerked his head towards them. "They're getting pretty good according to the snakes we've retrieved with serpensortia."
Madam Bones stared at him intensely. "You're teaching them Parseltongue?"
He looked back at her. "Oh, yes, ma'am," he said. "It's not easy though. Apparently, there's quite a difference between having it naturally and learning it, ma'am." He shook his head wryly. "I can say chair in Parseltongue, and Ron and Hermione hear 'four-tree-thing-two-legs-rest-on.' Plus, Hermione told me that snakes see in the infrared, but don't see red, instead they see green and blue, and ultraviolet. So don't ask them what colour something is unless you have a chart of colours to show them for comparison, ma'am."
Just like owls didn't see red, but HtB wouldn't be telling them that. They might ask why Harry had a chart of colours in his trunk.
She nodded slowly. "Would you be interested in teaching a bit to a few of my Aurors?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't see why not, ma'am." He looked over at Headmaster Dumbledore, "If you don't mind, Sir, that is."
The Headmaster slowly nodded. "As long as it does not impact your studies, my boy, I don't see why we shouldn't allow the Aurors to consult with you." He looked at Madam Bones. "No more than two hours a week." He returned his attention to Harry. "I would suggest Monday, as that gives you the entire afternoon free."
They both looked at Madam Bones. She gave a slow nod. "I will send you an owl with a suggested time," she said, looking at the boy. "It won't be more than a few of my best Aurors."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Now then, this Chamber of Secrets?" she said.
HtB frowned a moment. "Anyway, when I asked the snakes, they said that the last time the Chamber of Secrets was open, a girl was killed, and that Hagrid was blamed." He snorted. "How anyone could believe that Hagrid was the Heir of Slytherin leaves me baffled." He shook his head. "It's just ludicrous!"
"Anyway, ma'am, we, that is Hermione, Ron, and I, went to talk to Hagrid. He told us how he was expelled in nineteen-forty-three for killing Moaning Myrtle. They claimed that it was his giant pet spider, Aragog, that did it, ma'am. They snapped his wand, but allowed him to stay on as groundskeeper because they decided it had to be an accident." He shook his head sadly. "She didn't have a mark on her body, yet they said she died from a spider-bite, ma'am." He sighed.
"So, now knowing she died in the second-floor toilets, I went there and explored. I found a tap that didn't work, with a snake scratched on it. That was the entrance, ma'am. Then I found the basilisk. It was asleep." He paused for a long time staring up at the portraits. Most were awake now and listening avidly.
"Can you imagine the disaster that would have resulted if Tom Riddle, or anyone else who speaks Parseltongue, were to have let it loose in the Great Hall at meal time, ma'am?" HtB said quietly. "An entire generation, wiped out, as well as the best Professors in the country."
Everyone looked properly appalled. Hermione looked sick. Apparently, none of the other three had considered that aspect of their adventure.
"So, I borrowed one of Hagrid's roosters, got him to crow, and killed the snake, ma'am." He looked over at the other three students. "Then we went into the Chamber yesterday to make sure the snake was really dead." He shrugged, "and that's how we got the pictures, ma'am. That's why I wanted to know if I needed to notify the Ministry, ma'am." He looked at her apologetically. "If the Ministry was going to get angry with me, then I wasn't going to say anything, ma'am."
He shifted to look at the Headmaster. "I asked Professor McGonagall, sir, if you would meet with me to tell you all this, but I guess that's not necessary, now."
"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, but what do you mean about . . . Tom Riddle?" She gave a puzzled glance at the Headmaster, then returned to him.
The Headmaster interrupted. "I don't think we really need to go into that right now, Harry, my boy," he said genially, his eyes twinkling.
Madam Bones turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me, Headmaster Dumbledore, but this is an official investigation, now, that I find the rumour of a basilisk, a class Five-X creature, is true, and that it was located under Hogwarts. I find that this is worth exploring at this point. Unless you wish us to finish this discussion at the Ministry?" She raised the other eyebrow and tilted her head done a bit.
Dumbledore pursed his lips, stroked his beard with a hand, then acquiesced. "No, no, that won't be necessary." He nodded at HtB, and gestured that he should answer her.
"Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know about Tom, ma'am. I'm sorry," the boy reflexively shrank back a little. That got a frown from the witch, which made him shift a bit further away from her, pressing against Hermione. She went to grab his hand for reassurance, but he instinctively jerked it away from her, and huddled in on himself.
Both the witch and Hermione looked at him with narrowed eyes.
He stared down at his lap for a few moments, then looked up at the witch. He took a shaky breath, and cleared his throat. "I guess . . . everything really did start in nineteen-forty-three," he said, speaking carefully, and then taking a quick look at the Headmaster.
Madam Bones raised her eyebrows, but remained silent.
"That school year there were a number of mysterious incidents where students, all muggle-born, were being paralyzed, turned into statues, ma'am, but not killed." He glanced at the old wizard. "I'm sure the Headmaster can tell you much more about that, he was there at the time, right sir?"
The Headmaster hesitated, then nodded. "Indeed, I can."
"Then in June of that year," HtB continued, "a student died — Myrtle Warren, Moaning Myrtle, ma'am."
Bones furrowed her brow, then nodded.
"There was a bit of a scandal about her death, ma'am. It appeared that the monster wasn't content with merely paralyzing the students, anymore." He stopped and blinked. "Oh, and it had to be a monster and not a student, because no spell known caused the kind of paralysis that put the students in the Hospital Wing, ma'am. The Directors were debating closing the school until they caught the monster that had killed her, ma'am. If they couldn't find it before term started, they would close Hogwarts until it was safe to return. No one wanted to risk their child."
He sighed, shook his head, and looked at the Headmaster. "I suppose you knew how she had died, Sir, that it was a basilisk that killed Myrtle all those years ago, right, Sir?"
The old wizard slowly nodded and stroked his beard. "Yes," he said, "I had quite the conversation with her." He sighed softly and shook his head. "But I could not find the entrance." He looked over at Madam Bones. "I was Professor of Transfigurations, at the time."
HtB nodded. "Yes, sir. Mr. Filch told me that the second-floor toilets were installed in an old storeroom, back in the early 1900's. The entrance used to be in that storeroom, so one of Slytherin's descendants must have managed to keep the workers from stumbling over the entrance. Whoever it was fixed it so that only Parselmouths could 'see' the clue to the opening, and open it, and that assured it was hidden after that, sir."
He turned back to the witch, who was listening avidly, as were the portraits.
"And Tom?" prompted Bones.
HtB looked up at the portraits, again. "Tom Riddle was a Prefect at Hogwarts, at the time. He apparently was very well-liked, from what Hagrid said, ma'am. The snakes said he could talk with them."
"Being a parselmouth gave him an advantage in searching for the Chamber of Secrets, right, Sir?" he glanced at the Headmaster, who nodded sagely, stroking his beard.
"But you didn't know he was a parselmouth, though, did you, Sir?"
"Alas, I did not discover that he had that skill until many decades later," he admitted ruefully.
HtB looked back at the Director. "Tom was an orphan whose muggle-father abandoned him, and his witch-mother was dead, He was a half-blood staying in a muggle orphanage. When Myrtle died, that the school might be closed meant Tom would be stuck at the orphanage all next year."
He shook his head. "Hedwig told me that that was in the middle of Grindelwald's War, and the German muggles were bombing London. At any time of the day or night, a bomb could crash down and explode and kill people, including wizards. Tom desperately wanted to be out of London. The thought of dying, without any warning, at the hands of muggles, terrified him, ma'am."
He shrugged and tried to look apologetic. "The way I see it, ma'am, because Tom could talk with snakes, it's a small jump to him controlling the basilisk. Plus, ma'am, according to the snakes, he called himself the Heir to Slytherin."
The other three were staring at him in astonishment, especially Hermione.
"But if Tom could control the basilisk, Slytherin's monster, he wouldn't want to see his pet killed — especially as he would see his control over it as proof that he was a true heir of Slytherin. What Slytherin wouldn't want to brag about that! Right, ma'am?" He waited for her small nod. "Plus, it was a legacy from Salazar Slytherin, himself! So, he very well couldn't arrange to 'accidentally' find the snake and have it killed. The snake was his, you see ma'am? Giving it up would be a betrayal of everything Slytherin."
Again, she nodded.
"Plus, if the Ministry Unspeakables were to get involved, which they would if the school closed, then they would undoubtedly find the Chamber of Secrets, right ma'am?" He waited for her to agree. "The secret would be out and Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws . . . commoners . . . would trample through it, desecrating the great Founder's legacy, in his opinion. Plus, when they found the basilisk, they would kill it, right, ma'am?" he continued.
She nodded again.
"Evidently he knew Hagrid was secretly keeping a giant spider as a pet." HtB grinned wryly and gave his head a small shake. "Hagrid apparently got into trouble rather regularly, such as trying to raise wolf-cubs under his bed and sneaking into the Forbidden Forest to wrestle the . . . misunderstood . . . Trolls." He shook his head again and sighed. "Blaming Hagrid solved his problem quite nicely. It kept his pet snake safe, prevented the school from closing, kept the Unspeakables from searching for the Chamber, and made him out to be a hero."
He paused a moment, staring at the floor. "It seems the Headmaster at the time . . .,"
Dumbledore interrupted, again, "That would be Headmaster Dippet."
"Thank you, sir," he said, nodding to the old wizard. "Headmaster Dippet did not want to be known as the only Headmaster to have the school closed while he was in charge, ma'am. So, he swept it all under the rug, and said Myrtle's death was a horrible accident. Hagrid lost his wand and was kicked out, even if it was impossible for him to have been the one responsible. Headmaster Dippet didn't care as long as he came out of it with his reputation intact, ma'am."
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