Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 106: The Chamber of Secrets
Harry landed on a mountain of skulls that were piled up at the bottom of the hole.
"The smell is as bad as I remembered it…" He made it inside the chamber while still in one piece.
Opening the entrance by brute force had been even more dangerous than he originally predicted.
Salazar Slytherin had weaved some very nasty curses inside the protective layers.
Explosions of acid, followed by organ-dissolving curses, spikes dipped in venom…that man really wanted to kill anyone who dared to intrude into his chamber of secrets.
"Well, jokes on him… didn't even lose a limb."
He did have to resort to his strongest defense though.
"Okay, let's find that snake…" Harry got out of the pool of bones and stepped into the chamber proper. Ahead of him lies another closed door that he will have to break open before encountering the basilisk.
"Ahhhh!"
"Noooo!"
Harry was startled by the shrieks of several girls.
He turned his head just in time to see three figures landing on the bones.
"That was so scary!" Ginny yelled.
"I mean…it wasn't that bad." Lyra tried to appear brave but she was obviously shaken.
"That was….very unpleasant. I don't want to…huh?....what is this?" Daphne looked down at the "objects" they were lying on.
"Ahhhh!"
That was the first time Harry had heard Daphne shriek like that. Even when falling from the stands the other day, she kept a better composite than now.
"Are those skulls?...." Ginny was next to start screaming.
"Something is biting me, help!" Lyra shouted.
'I think they are making more noise than me when I blew up the bathroom…I better help them.'
Harry went back to the pool of bones and assisted the girls out.
He then waited patiently until they had calmed down a bit.
"Very well…now I would like to know why did you follow me here."
"Wait!, before that..." Lyra was quick to point at his face.
"Are you wearing earrings?"
"Are you really asking me this now?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Those rings are so pretty too." Ginny pointed out.
Daphne frowned.
"Those look like magical artifacts...what do they do?" she asked.
"This is not the time for this....now tell me...what are you doing here?" He had a serious expression on his face and Lyra knew that there was no evading the question.
"We were just following Daphne!" Lyra was quick to shift the blame to someone else.
"We thought she was a stalker!" Added Ginny.
"I…have no excuse… " Daphne looked away.
"You three have no idea of the danger this place holds…" Harry said.
'At least it is good that I spotted them before opening the last door of the chamber and releasing the basilisk. At least now, I can lead them out before going further with complete safety.
"Wait, what is this place? And how did find out about it?." Lyra asked.
Harry glanced at his sister. Her curious eyes reminded him of a distant past.
Ginny and Daphne hid it a bit better, but they were also dying to know more.
"I will tell you with the condition that you keep your mouth shut about it. The last thing we need is more people trying to enter this place." Harry said.
"I promise!" Ginny raised her hand.
"You have my word…" Daphne recovered her usual serious expression.
"You know you can trust me. I didn't tell anyone about what happened in the basement." Lyra said.
"Lyra!" Ginny pointed at Daphne.
"What happened in the basement?" Daphne asked.
"Nothing happened!" Lyra exclaimed before turning to Harry.
"See?"
"Yes, I see you have a big mouth…fine. This is the Chamber of Secrets…"
"The what?..." Lyra looked confused.
"Never heard of that…" Ginny said.
"The Chamber of Secrets?...the one built by Salazar Slytherin?" Daphne walked past Harry and stared at the walls of the entrance.
It was filled with carvings of snakes of all kinds.
"Amazing…I thought it was just a legend told to first year's." Daphne said.
"So in the end...it was found by a Gryffindor…if the other Slytherin students found out about this, they would be ripping their hairs out."
She then seemed to remember something.
"Wait!, the monster!"
"What monster?!" Ginny looked at Daphne with worry in her eyes.
"There is a monster here?!" Lyra shouted.
Daphne glanced at pictures on the wall.
"The chamber of secrets is supposed to contain a deadly monster. The legend says that one day, the true heir of Slytherin will appear and release the beast upon the country to clean the impure blood…"
"Impure blood…you mean muggle-borns, like my mother." Lyra frowned.
"Is that what the Slytherin students want?"
"Hey, don't group me with the blood purist, I don't think like that. And I have several friends in that house who agree with me…" Daphne defended.
"Sorry…I didn't mean it to sound like that" Lyra looked somewhat ashamed.
"Is fine, Lyra. I know you didn't " Daphne glanced now at Harry.
"So you think the monster is the one responsible for all the tremors?"
"What is the monster? does it actually exist?" Ginny asked.
"It must be some sort of snake, right? That's the only animal I imagine Salazar Slytherin keeping…but no snake should be able to survive this long." Daphne concluded.
"Is a basilisk….and is very much real and alive. " Harry did not beat around the bush. He wanted to take these girls out, as soon as possible.
"A basilisk?!" Lyra exclaimed.
"Harry, you can't be serious. Even if you are right…did you come here to fight a basilisk alone?." Daphne asked with disbelief.
"Are you crazy?!." Ginny shouted.
"My brother Charlie told me about them. He said that they can be more dangerous than dragons and that they can kill with just a look!"
"They are very dangerous. That's why…I will be asking for you to leave this place. Right now." Harry pointed back at the hole they just come out of.
"You will need to climb back up the same way you entered."
"Are you really going to stay here?" Daphne had a hard time believing what she was hearing.
Lyra shook his shoulder.
"Harry, I know you are strong, but come on! Let's get out of here together and call for Professor McGonagall. I'm sure there is someone in the Ministry they can call."
"Wait, if there is a basilisk in this chamber…why didn't it come out here yet?" Ginny looked around with dread.
"The snake is locked behind a closed door at the end of the corridor," Harry explained.
"Harry…" Daphne called for him.
"As long as that door is not open…"
"Harry!" Daphne shouted now.
He turned around and saw her pointing at the corridor.
Then he saw it…the circular door that sealed the basilisk area was completely unlocked and the the door was being pushed open very slowly by "something" while making a chilling noise.
"Close your eyes!"