Return Ⅴ

Rather Rowan is certain that this is her ancestor's taunting revenge. "Let me guess, he didn't leave me a map to find the hidden treasure," she drily grumbled to herself. It definitely is in line with his character.

Reaching inside Rowan picks up the silver key only to see the wooden chest and iron lock crumble into ashes before her. Somewhat weirded out, she takes a step back, before studying the cool, silver key in her hand. There is nothing special about the key except for the tiny parseltongue written on the side of the key.

"Open at the close?" Rowan hissed quietly out loud. What is that supposed to mean? Before her face pales in understanding, it meant the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets.

Rowan's hand trembled for a second, before closing her eyes and teleporting away. She had long ago vanished from Professor Adric's corpse and it was no longer even there. She appeared in a rather long, dimly lit Chamber of Secrets filled with towering stone pillars carved with winding serpents. Despite the dim light, there is a strange and odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. The dampness created small water puddles that seem darker and deeper throughout the chamber.

Every footstep echoed off the shadowy wall while the craved hollow eye sockets of the stone serpents follow Rowan's every movement. She ignored the carved serpents and approaches the last pair of stone pillars next to a statue as high as the chamber itself. Having met Salazar Slytherin, she had to admit that the liking wasn't all that dissimilar.

The statue of Salazar Slytherin was of an ancient and monkish wizard, with a long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of his sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth chamber floor. "I open at the close," she thought to herself, before gazing at the statue before.

Taking a deep breath, Rowan repeats the words that she had once uttered in her second year. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." She paused thoughtfully to add, "Reveal to me the aperture that opens at the close."

Salazar Slytherin's gigantic stone face did not move this time. Unlike the time, Salazar's Slytherin's eyes flick open to reveal an impossibly dark tunnel. "Of course," she grumbled to herself, before heaving a tired grunt and flying upward to the giant eyes. The strain of her magic and tonight's events had begun to take a toll on her and it showed.

The tunnel inside the cave eyes is large enough for someone twice Rowan's height to easily stand inside. She warily peered into the darkness, but she could not see anything out of the ordinary. "Lumos," she said as light burst out from the end of her wand.

With care, Rowan gently landed inside the damp tunnel and peered inside. The entrance through the two hollow eyes connected into one tunnel leading to a carved door with stone serpents with emerald eyes. The walls are damp with light moss growing on the dampest of parts of the cave. The stone floor is slick causing her to tread carefully across the stone ground.

Besides the serpents with emerald eyes, there is a coiled serpent directly in the middle of the two doors with glowing emerald. The serpent's mouth is shut, but Rowan hisses, "Open for the heir of Slytherin, heir to the greatest of Hogwarts Four. Reveal to me the aperture that opens at the close."

The serpent's emerald eyes glitter, before its metallic jaws, snap loudly barring pointed fangs. Holding the tip of her wand closer to the lunging metallic serpent, Rowan peers into the depths of the serpent's mouth. Inside the jaws of the serpent is a glittering keyhole.

With a grimace, Rowan reaches into her pocket for the silver key. With some hesitation, she inserts her hand into the serpent's jaws. The silver key slides in effortlessly, but she cautiously turns the key. The moment she finishes turning the key, she quickly withdraws her hand back. After tonight, she didn't trust anything that her dear old ancestor might have left her.

The serpent's emerald eyes glitter maliciously before its powerful jaws slam shut missing her fingernails by scant centimeters! Rowan loudly snorts at seeing the vengeful nature of Salazar Slytherin. He certainly never made anything easy.

The coiled serpent's head slowly retracts back into the doorway. With a loud groan, the stone door splits open in half releasing a cloud of dust. Rowan wrinkles her nose and stifles the urge to sneeze. The stone doorway screeches loudly as it slides open while Rowan wipes the dust from her face with the inside of her collar. Her robe sleeves unfortunately still held traces of red sand and dust.

After a moment, Rowan finally raises her head to study the newly opened hidden chamber. She carefully raises her wand high and takes a step forward to peer into the hidden chamber. The light from the tip of her wand reveals that there is nothing of substance within the chamber except for a dusty artifact that sits on a stone pedestal in the middle of the chamber.

Not trusting the floor not to be booby-trapped and having watched plenty of Indiana Jones movies, Rowan was not about to take a single step into the chamber lest it is her last! Rather she grabbed a loose stone from the floor, before tossing it with full force across the floor. The stone loudly skids across the stone floor, before rolling to a stop near the pedestal.

Seeing nothing occur, Rowan, a bit more courageously places a single foot inside the entrance. She waits a minute or two, before withdrawing her foot. Despite everything, she still sensed something was wrong. It was just like Salazar Slytherin to construct a floor that would cave in once someone's full weight was on it or thinning the floor out towards the middle of the chamber where most would think and assume is safe!

Deciding not to argue against her instincts, Rowan decides to fly again. However, this time around she felt rather drained and tired. It was like trying to sprint after having run for several miles. The magical act in itself is demanding, but more so after everything. Still, she managed to wrangle enough energy to float half a foot above the ground.

Tiredly, Rowan floats across the chamber before floating to a stop in front of the pedestal. She carefully lowers the end of her wand to light the area around the pedestal. She cautiously leans in to observe the artifact which had been left behind by Salazar Slytherin. It was a silver vase with carved serpents that held yet again another key.

Rowan's face twists in disappointment and annoyance at spotting the key. This was just getting ridiculous! Then again this is Salazar Slytherin…He tended to bear a grudge like no other.

With a sigh, Rowan clearly hisses, "Do not harm me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four." The carved serpents on the vase did not attack as she reached inside the dusty silver vase to remove the silver key. Her hand gripping the silver key emerged safely from the vase when the pedestal made an odd creak.

The silver vase sinks further into the pedestal triggering the weighted trap. The stone door slams shut loudly in front of Rowan. There was no reason to panic since she could teleport safely out of the hidden chamber.

Still, it was official that her ancestor is trying to kill her. Any other person would likely find themselves trapped forever in the chamber forever with no means of escape! Yet despite everything, Rowan has mixed feelings of respect and awe for Salazar Slytherin. The amount of effort and work he had gone through to get revenge is impressive and ingenious in its own way…