It took three more attempts to get the chamber to finally open; Harry would be making sure to practice his Parseltongue. He watched as the sinks split apart, floating in a peculiar fashion similar to the way Myrtle moved around. Harry turned back to the ghost, a question forming on his lips.
"Don't worry, I'll keep your secret." said the ghost happily, "It's much more interesting this way. And if you die, you're still welcome to share my toilet with me."
Harry chuckled quietly, before turning back to the newly formed hole in the ground. He couldn't imagine that Voldemort would have ever jumped down the hole, or anything of similar boldness.
"Stairs." hissed Harry in Parseltongue. He was delighted to see stairs shooting from the stone hole, forming a staircase similar to one someone might find in a tower of some sort.
After quickly thanking Myrtle, Harry made his way down the staircase. Every few stairs had a stone serpent's head on the wall above it. As Harry passed, the eyes of the effigies caught fire, providing a source of light. The fire was of a colour very similar to Harry's eyes, adding greatly to the 'Slytherin' feel the place had.
That's to be expected, of course. It's not like it was made by someone other than Slytherin.
After around a minute, Harry reached the bottom of the staircase. He was in a small hall of some sort, different from the caved in room he and Ron had been in more than a year prior. It was most likely a magic of some sort, although it did not comfort Harry to not know where he was, especially in a place such as this.
After further inspection, Harry realized that the hall was identical to the caved in one he had been in, though in much better condition. Harry made his way to the end of the hall, and whispered a quick, "Open." to the snake effigy that was curled around the circular door.
The door opened to reveal the Chamber of Secrets. There was a giant rectangular platform leading to the giant bust of Salazar Slytherin. To either side of the platform was water, with stone serpent effigies similar to the ones on the stairwell adorning the walls behind the pools (although these heads were much larger). The ceiling must have been a sixty feet tall, as Harry could just barely see it with the gloom of the chamber.
The ginormous corpse of the basilisk lay across the stone floor, it's mouth wide open.
The entrance he had come out of was directly opposite the bust of Slytherin, as opposed to the one one he had used prior, which was adjacent.
Slowly but surely, Harry made his way towards the bust. As Harry expected, the eyes of each effigy caught on fire as Harry passed it, basking the room in a green glow. He walked much more cautiously as he passed the basilisk, afraid that it might suddenly come back to life. Harry couldn't help but wonder how he had somehow managed to defeat such a thing. The creature was huge; perhaps eighty feet long, and wider than Harry was tall.
Quite like Dudley. If you take away the 80 feet long part, anyway.
When Harry finally reached the bust of Slytherin, he paused. He remembered hearing that basilisks were born from chicken eggs being hatched under a toad. It was highly unlikely that someone would attempt to replicate that in the chamber where a basilisk lived, as a chicken's cry was fatal to the king of serpents.
It's very unlikely that they could reproduce. Harry reasoned with himself. And besides, you would need two basilisks to do that. And if there was a mate, then I've already got another problem on my hands.
Standing directly in front of the bust, Harry hissed, "Open."
The mouth of the stone Salazar Slytherin lifted open, much to Harry's relief. He had been about to try the same words Voldemort had used last time in the chamber, but it appeared as though the dark wizard merely had a flare for dramatics.
"Oh no you don't, Riddle!" roared a voice from somewhere within the chamber. Harry froze, completely panicked.
"I meant it when I said not to come back! And I still mean it Riddle, off you trot! Don't you dare! I don't know how you finally managed to open the entrance, but you are not welcome!"
It isn't Voldemort. Harry assured himself. No matter how dramatic Riddle is, even he wouldn't talk to himself in the third person.
Besides, the voice was different to what Voldemort's currently was, and what he had been when he was younger. Whoever this mysterious being was clearly didn't like Riddle much either, and that had to be a good thing.
Taking his chances, Harry walked into the study. It was a mixture of luxurious and cozy, and was very large; the walls were made of some sort of marble, the floor of a fine wood. A grand fireplace roared to one side, an emerald green fire burning within it. The two walls adjacent to the one with the fireplace were both around thirty feet long. Across each of the two walls was a giant bookshelf, one on each side. They went from ceiling to floor, and were covered from top to bottom with books.
In the center of the room was a finely crafted table. Resting upon it was a strange marble chess board, appearing to be halfway through a game. There were only a few pieces missing from both the black and white side, as well as a few pieces in rather dangerous positions. Both sides were being rather risky with their pawns; they could all be taken very easily.
The black queen was completely cornered by white pieces. It's king was hidden at the back of the board, although it too was in a horrible situation.
Hanging from the roof was a beautiful chandelier whose candles had been lit when Harry had entered, basking the entire room with a golden light. Most of the rather large room's floor was covered in a fine white carpet. In front of the wall opposite the fireplace was a desk.
Behind that desk was a large portrait of a man in green robes. He had olive toned skin, black hair that was slowly whitening, and dark brown eyes that were rather similar to the colour Tom Riddle's had been. His eyes widened upon seeing Harry, before narrowing just as quickly. It was not the portrait, however, that had gotten Harry's attention, but rather what was written just below it.
In a fancy font etched upon the frame of the canvas were the words, 'Salazar Slytherin'.
.....
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