Blunt Conversations Ⅳ

Seeing his granddaughter somewhat chastised, Reginald changes the subject to a far more important topic. A matter which he had put off during the past year and could no longer afford to continue. "There is one more matter of importance that needs to be plainly discussed."

Rowan expectantly waits for her grandfather to speak his mind.

"Your abilities although powerful in your own right are different from what the Prince's abilities traditionally are, Rowan. Typically, only the heir of the family can be directly trained by the family head, and I have already sufficiently bent the rules by training you as well." Reginald bluntly stated causing his granddaughter to press her lips together.

"There is much I have to teach Severus in a short amount of time," Reginald calmly conveyed. "And I can no longer continue to turn a blind eye to the family rules. Though you have great talent, Rowan, the rules of the family must be obeyed." His words are said with utter finality leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Rowan leans back in her seat slightly upset by the news. She was not angry, but there is a raw sense of disappointment. It was as though she did not match up to Severus.

"That being said, I will not allow for your training to fall astray either," Reginald firmly declared causing a measure of relief to flow through Rowan's chest. "Prior to your arrival, I had already spoken to Sir Knight Prince."

Thoughtfully Rowan asks, "I understand that your intent is for Sir Knight Prince to teach me about parseltongue." She hesitated before asking, "Are Sir Knight Prince's teachings even current?" She did not mean to call into question Sir Knight Prince's abilities, but the ghost of Hogwarts tended to remain the same after death. They didn't exactly go out of their way to learn anything new.

Leaning back in his seat, Reginald arched his brow at his granddaughter. "Do not underestimate, Sir Knight Prince. Sir Knight Prince is no mere ghost," he sneered at the last word. "Sir Knight Prince is the guardian of Prince Manor, an existence that is beyond your comprehension, Rowan. Do not permit your preconceived notions to blind you."

Suitably embarrassed by her grandfather's words, Rowan hastily changes the subject. "There is one more piece of information that I wish to discuss."

"Which is?"

"The Chamber of Secrets."

"I suspected as much," Reginald reasonably concluded glancing at the open tome in front of them. He already knew as much, and the (parseltongue) tome could only have come from their ancestor's personal belongings. And there was only one accessible location if existed at Hogwarts for his granddaughter to come in contact with, the Chamber of Secrets.

"The Chamber of Secrets serves no purpose except as myth." Reginald elegantly gestured at his granddaughter to further explain herself.

"With the revelation of my being a parselmouth, the Chamber of Secrets will naturally be brought up," Rowan pointedly reminded. "The Chamber of Secrets continues to this day to perpetuate the folly of Slytherin. If the myth is dispersed, some of the taint to the reputation of our forbear shall also disappear."

"Yes, I am aware," Reginald steadfastly acknowledged, before glancing skeptically at his granddaughter. "There is no monster inside is there?"

"I can vow on my magic, there is no monster inside the Chamber of Secrets," Rowan truthfully replied. For it was no lie, the Basilisk was long dead.

Reginald appears somewhat unconvinced but does not push the subject. Everyone is entitled to their secrets. It wasn't as though he lacked any, he abounded in secrets.

"In that instance, what purpose will the Chamber of Secrets serve?" Reginald subtly asked already guessing somewhat of his granddaughter's intentions.

"The Chamber of Secrets will serve as a multi-functional facility," Rowan readily explained. "The chamber itself is an enormous cavern that can be used as an indoor Quidditch pitch. The walls are high enough for players to play with ease. The air is moist, but it is much better than practicing out in the rain and snow. Furthermore, the chambers go deep enough that the noise of quidditch practices will not disturb anyone."

"The idea has merit," Reginald acknowledged as many pureblood families would willingly donate money for their children to play Quidditch in a secure location. They would be even more thrilled for their children to play or train inside the chamber knowing that it is a legacy from Salazar Slytherin.

"Furthermore, there are large passageways which can be reutilized as a storage facility, a second greenhouse for plants suited for cold and moist climates," Rowan empathized. "I know that Professor Sprout has remarked quite often that she lacks a suitable greenhouse to maintain such plants."

"Also, there is a hidden dock that the new Mermish Professor can use to teach Mermish during the long winter months when the lake is frozen," Rowan plainly continued. "It will also resolve the complaints of the other students and parents of their lack of equal opportunity to converse with the merfolk. There is also more than ample room for a classroom and locker rooms to change."

The study falls silent as the two of them fall into deep thought. Rowan had discovered the dock by sheer chance when restudying her mind mapscape of the Chamber of Secrets. So, what if she was paranoid! She had good reason after the countless (dangerous, deadly) stunts Salazar Slytherin had tried to pull on her!

The hidden dock was mostly rotting but could easily be rebuilt. It was strategically placed and considering the view of the lake in the Slytherin common room and the location of the Chamber of Secrets, there is a strong indication that Salazar Slytherin was rather fond of the lake and merfolk. That and being as paranoid as he was, it would make sense to create another hidden inaccessible entrance or exit to the Chamber of Secrets to the lake.

"Is that all?"

"There are pools of water and moss as well as some stalagmites. Not to mention, a few hidden tunnels and an exit out to the Forbidden Forest."

The Chamber can easily be cleaned, and the stalagmites cleared away. The hidden passageways will have to without a doubt be sealed away. And a curse breaker will have to come to ensure the safety of the premise," Reginald cryptically said. "Though how does one gain entry?"

"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets can be found in the second-floor girl's lavatory," Rowan explained causing Reginald's face to go blank. Was it any wonder the chamber had not been found before?

"There is a small, engraved serpent on the of the sinks," Rowan added. "The password needs to be given in parseltongue, 'open up'."

"Mm, then we will need another parselmouth," Reginald solemnly contemplated.

Before Rowan could offer her services, Reginald waves her comments away. "This needs to be done above the board, Rowan. Parseltongue is not negatively viewed in the same manner all around the world. There is at least one parselmouth of notable repute, Vaibhav Marwah."

Rowan freezes and opens closes her mouth. If there is a known parselmouth, why were they not summoned during the first or second wizarding war as a counter or to resolve and find the Chamber of Secrets incident in Potter's for that matter!? Then again, the Ministry of Magic tended to have individuals in power who were incompetent (Cornelius Fudge) or deranged (Dolores Umbridge), or under a spell (Pius Thicknesse) ….

There is also the matter of biased still clearly in existence. The name Vaibhav Marwah is clearly from India. There likely exists bias even now (and the fact that Voldemort did not have any followers that were not Caucasian). A parsemouth from another region of the world may be viewed as a lesser evil or a second-class citizen.

"I will inform Chairman Malfoy to commence the immediate preparations," Reginald pointedly indicated. With the revelation of the Chamber of Secrets, he would be able to swing things in their favor. It would serve to change the public's view in their favor by distracting them with a legend of old.

Sensing that she was being dismissed, Rowan quickly excused herself. She knew her grandfather would wonder why she had so easily revealed the location of the Chamber of Secrets. There are multiple reasons for doing so.

Primarily, Rowan is concerned the Chamber of Secrets will be used as a motive against herself for being a parselmouth. There is also the concern that it can be reused or opened by a non-parselmouth with the correct password (for nefarious purposes or a wannabe Death Eater). It is too much of a liability for it not to be properly addressed.

The second reason is that Rowan needs a proper alibi for her disappearances. She was no longer a Prefect, thank Merlin! Yet as a result, she no longer had a handy dandy excuse to be out wandering about or to be missing from her bed. It would never be a lie if she said she was inside the Chamber of Secrets because it would be technically true.

Lastly, it had not been Rowan's initial intention to reveal the existence of the Chamber of Secrets. However, when her grandfather had explained that Sir Knight Prince would be tutoring her, she knew she finally could make the hidden quarters secure even from another parselmouth. Sir Knight Prince would be able to teach her how to hide and ward the hidden quarters she used inside the Chamber of Secrets.

Overall, it was a win situation. It did not solve all of her problems, but it solved an immediate one. And for now, Rowan had other pressing matters such as going to speak to Peter and Quyen. She was certain they were still worried, but she would reassure them that everything would be fine.