Chapter 99: Into the Deep
"If I can't stop you from doing something stupid, I will at least try my best to protect you. My mom would kill me if I let you go alone. And you would stop trusting me if I stopped you forcefully. So, no choice. I will go with you," announced Tonks with determination on her face and her hair changing into purple.
Seeing from where she was coming from, Harry could only sigh and agree, "Alright. But you need to follow my commands. If I tell you something, you have to do it."
"Oy, don't change our roles. I am the adult and Auror here. I will take the lead here," she said with a slightly offended tone.
"Auror Trainee... Please, Tonks, trust me. I know what I am doing here. I prepared for months to fight the Basilisk. Also, I am the Parselmouth here," he replied equally annoyed.
"Wait, what? You are a Parselmouth?" she said, confused.
"Yes, not sure why. But only a Parselmouth can open the entrance to the Chamber," said Harry before turning around and staring into the hole that was revealed by the Sinks, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. "Well, that can't be right..."
Tonks looked confused as she also stared into the large pipe; she couldn't see the end of it, only darkness. "What can't be right?"
"Well, can you imagine Salazar Slytherin taking a slide every time he enters his Chamber? Also, there has to be a way back up. The Heir returned from that Chamber by himself," explained Harry. "Let me test something..."
§Elevator? Way down? Stairs?§ Only at the word "stairs" did something happen, as a noise appeared from the walls of the pipe, and one after another, stairs slid out of them. Harry realized how useful enchantments were that could only be used in a language that he knew — something he would take a deeper look at in the future. "Well, that's that. Let's go!"
Both of them were relieved that they wouldn't have to slide down the pipe. They stepped onto the first step, one after another. After making sure they were safe, they carefully climbed down into the darkness of the pipe.
Harry kept his senses on high alert, focusing his demonic power into his eyes, searching for possible traps. There were clearly wards and magical traps meant to harm any non-Parselmouth intruder, but they didn't react to Harry and neither to Tonks, which he believed was because she was with him.
On their way down, they could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward. He knew that they were walking deeper below the school than even the dungeons. They kept following the main pipe; this pipe and tunnel system must be massive and span all over the school and its immediate surroundings, with multiple entries since the attacks were all over the castle.
After walking down hundreds of steps, the pipe began to level out. They would have survived sliding down the pipe after all, but better be safe than sorry. He stepped onto a damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in.
"We must be miles under the school," said Harry, his voice echoing in the black tunnel.
Tonks, stepping behind him onto the floor, watched their surroundings and used the Lighting Charm to illuminate the dark tunnel. "This must be under the Great Lake!"
"You are probably right, Tonks," nodded Harry as both of them stared into the darkness ahead.
"C'mon, let's get going. We don't know how much time Lavender has left or if she even is still alive. And don't forget, once this is over, don't share much information about the Chamber. I neither want the Ministry nor Dumbledore to get their hands on this. They don't have the right for anything here," instructed Harry.
"Fair enough. As long as you aren't doing anything illegal, I will keep your secret. I trust you for now, until you disappoint me," nodded Tonks as they walked into the tunnel, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.
The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight.
"Don't forget the moment you see anything moving," warned Harry, "close your eyes. I have my ways to fight without seeing. But we don't have enough time for you to learn these spells."
"Wait... You have sensory spells that allow you to see your surroundings without your eyes?" asked Tonks, impressed. They sounded very useful for Aurors to have. There were a ton of ways to impact sight, like Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. A spell like this would be an effective countermeasure.
"Okay, I will teach you them in the future. But just you. I created them; they are pretty much Family Magic," sighed Harry. He had no problem with teaching Tonks a bit, since she seemed genuinely interested in protecting him.
Soon, they saw that they were surrounded by the bones of many small animals that littered the damp floor. "Seems that's how the Basilisk is feeding itself," said Harry as he kicked some bones out of his way. Harry led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.
Tonks grabbed his shoulder and squeezed while whispering, "Shh, there is something up ahead. It's big."
Harry, having also spotted it, replied, "I don't feel any life from it. Let's check it out."
They carefully stepped forward, the light from Tonks' wand sliding over a gigantic snake skin of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.
"Blimey, this is a bloody big snake. Are you sure we are enough to handle it? We should get some backup here, like the rest of the Aurors and Dumbledore," Tonks said nervously.
"Don't worry, everything is fine. You can conjure rosters, and I have my own ways. We are enough to handle this. And I am not planning to kill it if necessary," replied Harry calmly as his hands felt the rough and hard skin that the Basilisk had shed. He pulled it into his Sacred Gear, safely depositing it.
"You are crazy! Where did you send it? Do you have some expanded pocket in your sleeve?" asked Tonks as she just witnessed the Basilisk Skin disappear after he touched it.
"Something like that," said Harry before he walked further into the tunnels. "Let's continue. We don't have time to wait around."
The tunnel turned and turned again, and they hoped they would soon see the end of it. And then, at last, as they crept around yet another bend, they saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
"Well, that's a fancy door. As expected of someone like Salazar Slytherin," whispered Tonks as they observed the door. The stone snake, especially their emerald eyes, looked strangely alive.
But Harry couldn't feel any life from it, only a similar magic to anything in these tunnels, especially to the entrance in the bathroom. He supposed this was the unique feeling of Parselmagic.
"Well, it seems we are at our goal," replied Harry, equally silently.
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