On to the chamber
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
Chapter 39
On to the chamber
'This can't be right… I should be the only one that can open that chamber. And that cat is not dead, if it had encountered the basilisk it would be dead....unless.' Harry's thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore.
"Mr. Filch, do not worry, Miss Norris is not dead, I believe she has been petrified," Dumbledore explained
Harry turned his eyes towards the pool of water close to the cat.
'Can that cat be that lucky? Basilisk gaze can petrify if it is done by indirect contact, like a mirror…or a pool of water. But then that means the chamber is really open…and the voice I heard before was really the basilisk.' Harry considered
"It must have been one of the students, I tell you! They hate me because I am a…you know." Filch looked desperate.
"As I said Mr. Filch, I do not believe any student is capable of performing magic this dark. And as for Miss Norris, I believe Professor Snape can make a potion to undo the petrification." Dumbledore said.
"I can, but the mandrake we have will take at least six months to mature. Unless you want to buy a mature one from-" Snape was interrupted.
"There is no need, we can wait," Dumbledore said. Then he looked toward the crowd of students and addressed them.
"Very well students, there is nothing more to see here. And I believe you all have some class to attend, yes?"
When the crowd started to move Harry felt Dumbledore's gaze locked on him. He looked at the old man for a moment and felt a legilimency intrusion. It was just a surface reading, but it led Harry to question the headmaster's motivations for such an invasion of privacy.
'Does he suspect me for this? There is no way for him to know I am a parselmouth, right?.' Harry thought.
Dumbledore stopped staring at Harry and said something to Filch, this one shook his head in answer. Dumbledore seems disappointed about something before leaving, with the other professors following behind.
Harry looked at this exchange with interest and wondered if Dumbledore has something planned for this year too.
'Could he be involved with the chamber opening?' Those were Harry's thoughts before going back to class.
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Harry waited a few days for things to calm down a bit before going to check on the chamber.
Most students were still scared and questioned all of the Professors about what they knew about the chamber of secrets.
The only students who were not worried were the Slytherins. Most of them seem very happy about the heir of Slytherin coming back to cleanse the school of mudbloods. Theodore Nott was particularly giddy and pounced around the school like he has won some price.
Susan and Hannah suggested that Nott may be involved somehow, or that He may be the heir himself.
Harry dismissed that thought quickly, there is no way for Nott to be the heir because He knew who the heir was already. Aside from that, Nott was with them when the basilisk attacked.
Harry made his way to the second-floor bathrooms where the entrance was.
After making sure there was no one else inside, he called for Myrtle.
"Ah, Harry!. You came to visit me!." The ghost seems very happy.
"Yes…very good to see you Myrtle. Now, tell me, did you see anyone open the entrance to the chamber, other than me? It should have been in the last few days." Harry asked.
The ghost adopted a thinking pose and then said. "No. In fact, no one has visited my bathroom since the last time You were here." Myrtle answered.
'If they didn't come through here, that means, the culprit is using the entrance that is in the dungeons. So it must be someone from Slytherin since no one else has access to that area of the castle.' Harry contemplated for a moment.
"I will need to check to be sure."
Harry opened the entrance to the chamber of secrets and went inside.
He continued until he reached the most inner part of the chamber.
'There is no visible evidence that someone has been here, and the door to the inner chamber was closed. You have to pass through there even if you come from the other entrance.'
He directed his view towards the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin.
'Ok, here we go. Let's be ready just in case the basilisk turns aggressive towards me.' Harry thought
$Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!$
Harry pronounced the words in parseltongue and immediately the statue opened, revealing the entrance to the basilisk chamber.
Harry readied himself for a fight.
Seconds turned to minutes, but the basilisk never came out.
Harry used a spell to detect life forms in the area but it came out with nothing.
"The basilisk is not in the chamber. Is it still hiding inside the Hogwarts pipes system? Tsk, this is frustrating."
He took his wand and started casting alarm charms on all of the entrances of the chamber. If anyone comes in or out of the chamber, he will know.
All that was left now was to wait.