1993, 2nd year
The research into the mysterious diary, as well as the Chamber of Secrets took over the better part of their limited free time. Harry couldn't say he minded. In fact, he rather enjoyed working on a project with his friends like this – dividing tasks between them and working their way through the enormous collection of books available to them as they waited for their respective relatives to reply.
During the Easter Holidays, the second-years were tasked to choose two or more out of five electives for the upcoming school year. The Slytherins all disregarded Muggle Studies on principle – some of them turning up their noses at it, others deeming it useless as it was not, in fact, taught by someone who had grown up in the Muggle world.
"Is there anyone who wants to take Divination?" Daphne asked at one point during their discussion in the common room, looking specifically at Rhea.
(Harry absently wondered whether the other houses also made the decision together or if they all chose whatever they wanted without a care. The Hufflepuffs, at the very least, would make sure no one would take a subject alone for similar reasons as the Slytherins.)
"Not me," Rhea answered.
"Really?" Harry asked, surprised. "You're not going to take Divination?"
"Of course not. Everyone knows Trelawney's a fraud."
"But you're not," Tracey pointed out. "It's an easily earned high mark."
"Why would I waste my time for a good mark, when it is better spent actually learning something useful? It's not like they teach Necromancy – not that I would need it. Besides, Arithmancy is a branch of divination and I am planning to take that."
"How easily earned?" Gregory asked.
"As easily as your imagination can come up with gruesome fates," Pansy replied.
Gregory frowned.
"I want to," Vincent grunted.
"Care of Magical Creatures should be just as easy," Daphne said.
"And filled with dirty creatures and sweating under the sun," Blaise said, wrinkling his nose.
After a lengthy discussion about the merits and detriments of the four electives, the Slytherins ended up almost all taking either Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes or either paired with Arithmancy. Daphne, Blaise and Rhea were, in fact, the only ones not to choose Care. Interestingly, Oliver and Sue chose all three. Vincent and Gregory were the only to elect Divination rather than Runes or Arithmancy.
Out of their entire study group, Hannah was the only one to choose Muggle Studies, though several other Hufflepuffs had done the same she told them. Perhaps Justin would, too, once he was cured, but Hannah and Susan doubted it.
Harry was just looking forward to two more subjects he hoped would prove to be interesting (and not based on an inherited talent or such).
o
"If we had access to the Restricted Section, this might be considerably faster," Oliver grumbled during yet another session of researching the Chamber of Secrets.
"Might be," Sue repeated.
"I can try to get us access," Rhea said. "Or Harry could." She gave Harry a meaningful look he didn't know what to do with.
"Remember that we do not want to arouse suspicion," he said, "It is why we did not get Draco involved." He spotted Daphne and Blaise approaching their table. "You received a reply?"
"I did indeed," Daphne said, waving a letter around as she settled between Sue and Harry, Blaise taking a seat on the other side of the table. "A cousin of mine was at Hogwarts fifty years ago and he remembers the scandal surrounding 1943," she told them, eyes fixed on her letter. "There was a series of mysterious attacks that ended with the death of a girl called Myrtle Warren. A third-year by the name of Rubeus Hagrid was found guilty of harbouring a dangerous creature within the castle and subsequently expelled. The incident was then swept under the rug to prevent the school being closed permanently."
"Myrtle Warren?" Rhea asked, exchanging looks with Sue and Daphne. "Excuse me, I have a ghost to interrogate." And then she gathered her things and left.
"Ghost?" Harry asked.
"Moaning Myrtle," Daphne replied.
Oh. Right. Harry had forgotten about her.
"You think she might be very the same girl?"
"The circumstances fit perfectly. We will have to wait for Rhea to return for confirmation."
"But Rubeus Hagrid? Really?" Oliver said sceptically. "That's ridiculous. Have you met the man? He must have been framed. And when he was thirteen years old no less."
"From what I have heard," Daphne mused, "the man does have a soft spot for dangerous creatures."
Sue looked around at the assembled group. "Is anyone here close enough with the man to ask him?"
"No, no, you're going about it all wrong!" Oliver exclaimed. "We are talking about Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets here! One that was allegedly opened by Slytherin's heir to purge the school. Whether Rubes Hagrid accidentally unleashed a dangerous creature during his time at Hogwarts or not, I sincerely doubt he is Slytherin's heir either in blood or mindset."
"You are correct," Sue said, raising a hand to her chin in contemplation. "We need to look at this from a different angle. What do we know about Slytherin that sets him apart? His extreme prejudice about blood purity, obviously, which is where the whole issue originates."
"Salazar Slytherin was famous for speaking Parseltongue," Theodore said quietly.
Daphne hummed. "Then it stands to reason that the Chamber might be accessible via Parseltongue and the monster within of serpentine nature, for that would have made it easy to control it. The ability is hereditary, so his descendant – or heir – would likely be a Parselmouth as well."
"You are making a lot of assumptions there," Sue said, "but it is sound reasoning."
"Er, guys?" Harry spoke up. "What is Parseltongue?"
"The ability to communicate with snakes," came Oliver's prompt reply.
Harry blinked. But –
"And it is a hereditary ability, you say? Not something people can just do?"
"Yes, exactly."
Oh. Oh.
"Uhm – I –"
Daphne raised her eyebrows disbelievingly. "Are you going to tell us that you are a Parselmouth, Harry?"
"I – yes? I – At least I think so? I've talked to snakes before. Or – I've heard them talk, rather."
"That's brilliant!" Oliver exclaimed. "This will make our search so much easier, then!"
Harry blinked again. "You – You don't think it's me? That I'm the heir?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Blaise said, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "You couldn't hurt a fly if you wanted to."
"Hey! I can hurt flies! If they are annoying enough."
"And neither can you lie to save your life."
"That's –" true.
Daphne shook her head. "Clearly we have yet to earn your full trust if you think we would suspect you based solely on the fact that you are a Parselmouth."
Harry winced. "Sorry."
"It is incriminating evidence, though," Oliver said. "All the idiots we're surrounded by daily would immediately latch onto that and ignore all signs that say otherwise."
Daphne opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Sadly, I find I cannot argue with that."
"I have been wondering," Harry began, eager to change the subject, "there haven't been any more attacks since Justin and Sir Nicholas and that was back in December. That's three attacks, four victims, within four months and then nothing whatsoever for the next four months. What does that mean?"
It was one of the reasons Draco had given up so readily on the issue Dobby had revealed about his father's potential involvement. Draco had convinced himself this was all just some prank or coincidence or – not a plan of his father to get Harry killed.
"It is strange," Daphne agreed. "One would think something had happened to the perpetrator. But if anything out of the ordinary had happened, we would have heard about it from Pansy at the very least."
"Perhaps they are biding their time," Blaise said. "The goal is to purge the school, not to get it shut down."
Daphne scoffed. "As if anyone would actually do that. We would need competent adults in charge for anything even remotely sensible to ever happen. Three attacks. Two people, a cat and a ghost petrified. And what have they done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"To be fair," Harry said, "nothing else happened, either."
The others all gave him disbelieving looks.
"At the very, very least, they should have started a proper investigation the moment Ms Norris was found," Daphne said slowly. "After the second attack at the latest, they should have started implementing at least some security measures. But they didn't do anything – anything at all. They didn't even inform the Ministry."
"Weird shit happens," Oliver said with a shrug. "That's just how it is when you stuff hundreds of magical children inside an old, magical castle."
"That does not excuse –"
"I come bearing great news," Rhea announced herself, interrupting the conversation, and then continued without even waiting for a dramatic pause. "I know where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is and how to get in there. There is a sink with a snake in the bathroom Myrtle haunts that doesn't work and will most likely react to Parseltongue. Probably. Myrtle only said he spoke in a different language, but what else would it be? She described looking into 'a pair of great, big, yellow eyes' and the next moment, she was dead. Which means the monster must be a Basilisk."
Harry was not the only one who stared at her incredulously.
"How on earth did you figure all of that out just from a snake on a sink and 'big, yellow eyes'?" Oliver demanded. "You weren't even here when we discussed the Parseltongue."
Rhea made a gesture with her hand and with a squeak, a small mouse scuttled onto the table. They all stared at it for a moment. Harry frowned. It looked like an ordinary mouse, but there was something about the eyes …
"Is that – Is that a dead mouse?" Daphne asked, her voice just a bit higher than usual.
Rhea hummed. "Works better with Hermes, but I got all the important bits. And the only creature capable of Death's magic that also happens to be a serpent is a Basilisk – at least to my knowledge and my knowledge about Death's creatures is by far more extensive than this entire library." She grinned. "Known to have piercing, yellow eyes that kill anyone who gazes into them instantly. Incidentally, the Basilisk is also known as the King of Serpents. Now, who wants to go down to the Chamber with me to see a Basilisk?"
"I do!" Oliver said immediately.
"It would be quite the adventure," Blaise agreed. "Likely filled with valuable experiences."
"I would like to see it, too," Theodore said.
"Have you all lost your minds?!" Sue exclaimed.
"We have Harry," Oliver said, hands raised defensively. "If we're right, he'll be able to keep the monster in check. If not, there's still Rhea."
They all looked at Rhea.
"A Basilisk," Rhea said in a dreamy voice.
"I do admit that the prospect of seeing a Basilisk is tempting," Daphne said. "But it is too risky."
"It is life-threateningly dangerous!" Sue said. "We should inform the teachers and let them deal with this."
"How boring," Rhea said. "They would never let us see the Basilisk." She titled her head. "Snape might. He would appreciate the opportunity to harvest some invaluable potion ingredients."
"Uhm –" Harry ducked his head when everyone turned to look at him. "Are you – we – going down there to see the Basilisk or to kill it?"
"Excellent question," Rhea said. "I don't mind either way as long as I can examine it's magic before it dies."
"Kill it, surely," Daphne said. "Not that I believe any of us to be capable of killing a Basilisk."
"If Harry commands it to stay still and Rhea does her thing," Oliver wriggled his hands.
"Do we perhaps want to consult Riddle first?" Blaise looked at Rhea. "You still have his diary with you, don't you?"
Rhea wordlessly took a dark, wooden box out of her bag and put it on the table, opening the lid to reveal the diary within. Upon closer look, Harry could see odd symbols carved both on the inside and outside of the box.
Oliver leaned over the table for a closer look. "Are those the containment spells?"
Rhea nodded. "I asked my grandfather's partner for help." She wrinkled her nose. "Had to call him grandpa in return."
Blaise chuckled. "What a hard task."
Rhea gave him an indignant look. "I don't even call my actual grandfather 'grandpa'. He looks young enough to be my older brother. Father, if he had had me at a rather young age. It feels wrong."
"What about the other one?" Oliver asked curiously.
"Never met him. I think he died. My great-great-grandmother outlasted all her children and her children's children and will outlast their children, too. She will probably outlast even my generation."
"Alive or undead?"
"Alive, actually."
"Everyone," Daphne interrupted them, "could we please get back to the topic at hand?"
"Right," Rhea said. "Who wants to go down to the Chamber with me?"
Oliver, Blaise and Theodore raised their hands. After some deliberation, so did Harry. He knew this was a tremendously bad idea, but he couldn't help it – he was curious.
Curiosity killed the cat, they said. But satisfaction brought it back. Or a Necromancer, Harry mused. And it wasn't like he was taking Hedwig with him.
"Fine," Daphne said. "I cannot possibly let you all go down there without at least one sensible person to accompany you."
"Fair," Rhea said.
"I'm not doing this," Sue said.
"Also fair," Rhea said. "You can inform a teacher if we don't return in a timely manner."
"You're the worst, do you know that?"
"So, Riddle's diary?" Blaise reminded them.
"We can always ask him later," Rhea said, closing the lid of the box. "I can't muster up the motivation the write this all out right now. He still hasn't learned to decipher my handwriting."
"Have you been writing to him?" Sue asked, aghast.
"I told him about the containment spells," Rhea said matter-of-factly. "He wasn't happy."
"Why would you tell him that?!"
"We are unsure of this artefact's exact nature. It is sentient enough to hold an intellectual conversation. It might be sentient enough to sense being placed under containment spells." Rhea tilted her head. "I wanted to see if the knowledge would empower it to try and break free. It did not."
"Either way," Blaise said. "We should plan this thoroughly. We can't just wander down there entirely unprepared."
"More research it is," Daphne agreed.