Chapter 21 - Serpents
Harry had not returned to the Chamber of Secrets since the night he'd rescued Ginny Weasley from the memory of Tom Riddle. It took some doing maneuvering through the crumbling old passageways. And when at last he found himself in the center chamber all he could do was stare at the decaying carcass of the basilisk that had nearly claimed his life four years ago - would have if it hadn't been for Fawkes.
The chamber was utterly silent, save for the sound of water dripping far in the distance. And he could see by the dust on the ground that nothing had been disturbed. No one had entered these room since he had last been there - a thought that comforted him immensely. He knew of course that the Chamber, though deep under the foundations of Hogwarts, was still inside the protective wards of the castle. Still it was nice to know that the Dark Lord had not been here since he'd been resurrected - in fact had probably not been here since he himself was a student at Hogwarts nearly fifty years ago. And now that the basilisk was dead, these Chambers lay completely empty.
Still it was with some nervousness that he made his way toward the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin that loomed above the skeleton of the beast that once lived inside it. He remembered all to clearly the sight of the giant snake emerging from the opened mouth. It took a great deal of courage to mount his broom and fly straight into that mouth himself, not knowing what it was he would find on the other side.
Not another basilisk - he was ninety percent certain that there were no others in the chamber. As far as he knew even basilisks needed another of its kind to mate. And despite Salazar Slytherin's infamous pet, basilisks were not native to England.
It was dark inside and Harry pulled out his wand and muttered the lumos spell to light his way. Inside the rounded chamber beyond the tunnel through the mouth, he found a single doorway, intricately carved with snakes. He knew if he pushed on the door he would find it locked with unbreakable charms. There was only one-way through the door - and at the moment there were only two people on the face of the earth who possessed the ability to enter.
Harry stared at the snakes, concentrating on speaking to them. Then he simply said "open". The word came out in the soft hiss of Parseltongue. A moment later the snakes on the door came to life, twisting and turning as they shifted the locking mechanism. The door swung silently open.
Heart pounding, Harry stepped through the doorway into the room beyond. He knew he was the second person in a thousand years who had entered the private library of Salazar Slytherin - the true Chamber of Secrets.
It wasn't a large room - but it was impressive enough. A thousand years ago books were far more precious than they were today. The four walls in the room beyond were covered floor to ceiling with bookshelves. And Harry could feel the protection and preservation spells that kept the books intact over the ages.
The books that remained - he could see clearly that many were missing. Here and there were volumes gone, empty places where they must have once resided. Fifty years ago a young Tom Riddle had made his way into this room and had drunk his fill of the knowledge he found here. Fifty years ago Tom Riddle had found all the dark secrets he would need to become the greatest Dark Lord in the world. He had often wondered where that knowledge had come from - certainly he'd sneaked his own share of peaks at books in Hogwarts restricted section. But Tom Riddle promised his Death Eaters powers that they could not find anywhere else. There had to have been a source - a place that had first started him down that dark path. And here in this Chamber Harry knew he had found his answer.
Fifty years ago Tom Riddle had taken the darkest, most horrible secrets that Salazar Slytherin had possessed. He had taken those books and he had hidden them away somewhere he would have access to them after he had graduated from Hogwarts himself. That knowledge had allowed him to remake himself into the creature they now knew as Lord Voldemort. And he was learning still. Harry could see the books now in his mind - books from the dream that had so disturbed him. Black books with strange writing - numerous volumes of a specific type. Diaries he believed - Salazar Slytherin's Dark Arts notes, written in his own hand. There were ten of them, slim volumes, but filled with such terrible powers. And having lost the Eye of Odin he had so craved, Tom Riddle had turned his attention once again to the books he had hidden way during his last reign of terror and had begun learning again.
But Harry couldn't bring himself to believe that darkness was all this chamber had to offer. There were still hundreds of books here - Riddle had only taken a small fraction of them. Which meant the books left behind were either common or worthless. Slytherin may have turned dark - but, once, he had been the closest of friends with Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. He couldn't have left only darkness behind as his legacy.
Harry found himself drawn to the far side of the room where he saw a shelf at about chest high with a large empty section. He touched the shelf, running his fingers through the thick dust he found there. The books had rested here. Ten volumes - the Books of Dark. Salazar Slytherin's private notes. There were numerous other books missing from the shelves above and below this empty spot. This wall had been well picked over.
He turned to stare at the wall opposite it. It alone of all the shelves had the fewest missing books from it - which meant that Riddle had not valued the information it contained. And there - directly across from the empty shelf he could see ten slim volumes covered in a thousand years of dust.
Heart pounding, he made his way across the room and touched the first volume, drawing it off the shelf with reverence. Like the dark book from his dream this too was covered in strange twisting shapes, though the cover was brown instead of black. The writing made his head spin but began resolving itself into familiar patterns. Parseltongue - the book was written in Parseltongue.
He looked inside - Volume 1 of the notes of Salazar Slytherin. A dissertation on the Light Arts. There were ten in all - ten volumes that Riddle had dismissed as unimportant. The ten Books of Light that might hold the counters to the darkness Riddle had chosen.
It took him only a moment to pull out all ten of the books and wrap them up in his invisibility cloak. Then with one finally look around, he left the chamber and locked it again with a hissed command. He had what he came for - he could only pray that it would be enough to save those he loved from the darkness he knew was coming.
When Severus Snape returned to his chambers he was alarmed to realize that Harry was no longer there. A quick look through the rooms showed that the library was still in a state of disarray - though Harry had apparently begun picking up the books he knocked over in his anger. But where had he gone then?
He knew the boy was angry - though he wasn't certain why. Truthfully, he couldn't figure out the boy's motivation for half the things he did. When he had begun telling him about Sonara Sinistra earlier, Severus had at first assumed the boy was either telling him that he was planning on taking up with her - or even stranger asking him for permission to do so. His reaction of disgust and outrage had been both surprising and welcomed, since he wasn't entirely certain he was going to be able to stand by and do nothing while his bond-mate cheated on him. He wasn't certain why Harry had been so angry, but one thing was obvious - Sinistra's affections were unwanted. And while he didn't know what to do to calm down his bond-mate, he knew exactly what to do about Sinistra.
He'd stormed to her room, pounding on her door until she'd let him into her chambers. She'd looked surprise to see him, since he tended to avoid her company despite their shared history in Slytherin.
"Severus?" she'd asked nervously, pulling her dressing gown modestly around her slender body - he'd wondered why she even bothered with such a pretense. But then, he was hardly young enough to tempt someone like her.
"Stay away from Harry," he'd ordered, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
Her eyes had narrowed at that. "I hardly think my interactions with. . ."
"Listen to me, Sinistra," Severus had growled. "Your attentions toward him are unwanted. Once he figured out what it was you wanted, he grew very upset. I'm only going to warn you once, if you go near him again he will be the last young man you ever approach. All the rest will run screaming in horror at the mere thought of touching you after you consume the potion that will accidentally find its way into your food. I guarantee there will be no cure or glamour that will undo the damage this potion will do to your looks. Do I make myself clear?"
She was pale now, staring at him in undisguised fear. It was no small threat coming from a Potions Master and she knew it. "Perfectly," she'd assured him, her voice tight.
He'd nodded in satisfaction and made his way to the door.
But of course she was still a Slytherin and couldn't help attempting to salvage something of the situation despite the threat. "I did not think he meant so much to you," she'd stated.
Severus had known there was a question in there - and with that question was of course a threat that perhaps she had found some vulnerability that had been previously unknown. "Sinistra," he'd growled in warning. "Do not think about him at all." He'd slammed the door as he left.
But where was Harry now? It was well past curfew, and he knew Harry had already bid goodnight to Ron and Hermione. Why had he gone out again, leaving the library in such a state? He began picking up the books himself, hoping to find a clue to why he was missing. Perhaps Lupin and Black had returned from their latest errand of the Headmasters? He supposed it was possible they had contacted him through the floo.
It was also just as likely that he had gone up to Gryffindor tower. He had no idea why Harry had been so angry with him, but maybe he had left simply to get away from him for a night. He couldn't help wondering what it was he had said that had so set the boy off.
He realized that Muggles had many different beliefs than Wizards, but considering the circumstances of their marriage, why would the idea of infidelity have been so abhorrent to the boy? Not that he was going to complain. Aside from the shame and the scandal such a thing could cause if dealt with carelessly in public - and Merlin knew Gryffindors were always careless - Severus did not like the idea of sharing Harry with anyone.
It was nearly two hours later before he heard the door to their rooms opening and Harry entered the common room with his broom in hand. For some strange reason the boy was dirty - as if he'd been out climbing rocks. Granted there was a lot of mud near the Quidditch pitch, but surely he hadn't been out in it this time of night?
"Where have you been?" he demanded when Harry came in.
The boy looked a lot calmer than he had last time Severus had seen him, but he still jumped when Severus yelled.
"Out," he replied, not insolently, but with a certain degree of reserve that Severus didn't like. It was on the tip of his tongue to take points from Gryffindor, but he'd promised himself he would not do that here in their chambers.
"I see," he stated, gritting his teeth. He glared at the boy, willing him to tell Severus where he had gone. Harry just stared back in silence.
After a moment, the boy shifted uncomfortably and glanced away. "I'm going to bed," he grumbled and headed toward the bedroom door.
Severus wanted to grab him and shake an answer from him, but he knew that would get him nowhere.
"Professor Sinistra won't bother you again," he said instead.
That stopped Harry and he turned around, a look of uncertainty crossing his features.
Severus frowned. "That is what you wanted right?"
Harry nodded. "I don't have to go see her on Saturday?" He sounded disgustingly young and Severus hated himself for the feelings of possessiveness that gripped him.
"You never did," he replied.
"Good," he answered. "Thank you."
Severus just nodded. "You're welcome." And he watched in frustrated silence as Harry disappeared through the bedroom door.