Chapter 134: The Entrance to the Chamber of Secrets

On Monday morning during the second class period, the Heads of the four Hogwarts Houses as well as Lockhart were all teaching classes. However, Lynn had a free period during this time.

The Heads of Houses were giving lessons to the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th year students, while Lockhart was teaching Irina's class, which had chosen Ancient Runes as an elective. Since Lynn was the only one who selected Ancient Runes, she had this period free.

Taking advantage of the lack of patrols, Lynn cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself in broad daylight, and then headed towards the Headmaster's office. 

Gazing at the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to the office, Lynn made sure no one was around before removing the charm. She then took out a three to four meter long parchment from her pocket.

The parchment listed various treats from Honeydukes Sweet Shop.

"Lemon Drops, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Licorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans..."

Lynn recited the names of the sweets one by one from the list. When she got to "Cockroach Cluster", the gargoyle sprang to life, allowing her access to the Headmaster's office.

Seeing this, Lynn couldn't help but chuckle softly. This old bee's favorite was indeed the Cockroach Cluster!

After speaking the password to enter, Lynn confidently walked into the office. The walls were still lined with portraits of past Headmasters, but they were all snoring loudly, failing to notice the intruder.

Spotting the Sorting Hat on the desk, Lynn's eyes lit up and she snatched it up. The Hat sensed it was being picked up and tried to shout out.

But before it could scream, Lynn swiftly shoved it into her previously extended pocket with a Undetectable Extension Charm, muffling its voice completely. 

Having successfully taken the Sorting Hat, Lynn retraced her steps and left the Headmaster's office. She wasn't worried about the other professors noticing its disappearance. Out of respect for Dumbledore after his departure, they wouldn't dare enter uninvited despite knowing the password.

Meanwhile, after finishing Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry and the others were heading to the Great Hall for lunch. However, Irina pulled Harry aside, telling Ron to go on ahead.

"Irina, did you need something from me?" Harry asked, puzzled.

Without a word, Irina led Harry to an abandoned classroom.

Irina looked at Harry seriously. "Harry, do you want to find the culprit and help Hermione recover?"

Harry nodded vigorously. "Of course I do! I definitely want to catch that damn culprit and hand them over to the Ministry. That way, not only will Hermione be safe, but Hagrid can return from Azkaban too."

"You know, to enter the Chamber of Secrets requires Parseltongue," said Irina. "So I need you to say these two sentences out loud as the key to opening it."

She took out a note and held it in front of Harry.

Harry stared blankly, incredulous. "Irina, you know the location of the Chamber of Secrets?"

Irina shook her head, half-truthfully. "Not yet, but if we have the key to enter, we can play your voice while searching. Once we get close enough for the mechanism to hear you, the entrance will open automatically and we'll discover it!"

"I see!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Only you and Hermione could think of such a brilliant plan!"

Without further hesitation, Harry took Irina's note and read it aloud. However, Irina frowned as she listened - Harry was just speaking normally, not in Parseltongue at all!

Irina waved her wand, transfiguring a chair into a snake and making it slither over to Harry. "Harry, talk to it!"

Harry nodded, imagining the snake was real, and attempted conversing with it. "Ssshhhaa..."

An eerie hissing sound issued from Harry's lips. Irina quickly took out her Two-Way Mirror to record his words.

After Harry finished, Irina replayed the recording, smiling in satisfaction once she confirmed it was correct. 

"Okay Harry, we can go have lunch now. Tomorrow we'll search for the Chamber together!" she said happily.

Harry nodded, naively thinking Irina would actually take him along the next day to hunt for the entrance.

Soon, evening fell and it was past curfew. Lynn and Irina appeared simultaneously outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, where the entrance was rumored to be located. 

The patrolling professors forced them to work quickly. "Got all your gear?" Lynn asked Irina in a low voice.

Tonight they would finally confront the Basilisk, so they couldn't afford any carelessness!

Irina checked her Invisibility Spectacles and various charmed pieces of jewelry serving as defensive alchemical products before nodding. "All set!"

They entered the deserted bathroom together. Luckily, Moaning Myrtle was nowhere to be seen.

They approached a sink with a tiny carved snake on one of the copper taps. "Open the entrance," said Lynn.

Irina nodded slightly, taking out the Two-Way Mirror from earlier. She channeled magic into a button on its back. 

"Ssshaa..." Harry's recorded Parseltongue for "open" played from the mirror.

A blinding white light shone from the engraved snake as the tap rapidly spun. The entire sink then began to move, sinking down to reveal an enormous pipe wide enough for a person to crawl through - clearly the entrance!

Lynn and Irina exchanged a glance and a nod before sliding down the pipe one after the other. As soon as they both entered, the entrance sealed itself, restoring the bathroom's original appearance.

But just seconds later, a small figure stepped into the now empty bathroom. "Heh heh, so it was discovered after all...how interesting..."

The tiny figure's owner curled their lips into an eerie smile as a cold, clearly masculine voice rang out.

"Ssshaa..." Another Parseltongue hiss sounded, reopening the entrance.

Cradling a diary, the small figure unhesitatingly leapt down the pipe after Lynn and Irina. The entrance closed once more, leaving the abandoned bathroom still and silent.

(end of chapter)