Albus Potter, Classmates and Elves

Ch 18 Secrets of The Chamber of Secrets

Friday, May 6, the morning the Daily Prophet arrived, with a big headline, Scorpius Malfoy Kills Six Basilisks. Underneath that was a smaller headline, Scorpius, Albus Potter and their friends discover a way into the Chamber of Secrets.

The Daily Prophet featured a photograph of Scorpius standing proudly with the Sword of Gryffindor in his hand, the dead two-meter-long basilisk with its head and tail cut off at his feet.

Throughout the day students stopped Scorpius to congratulate him. Scorpius knew killing the basilisks was a joint effort, but his attempts to say so were interpreted as humility. It was only in Slytherin that some students seemed to treat him as someone who had done something wrong instead of something heroic.

Albus apologized to Cleopatra as soon as he saw her. "I am embarrassed that the newspaper did not highlight your part in finding the chamber, Cleo. I am sorry if I didn't stress enough how central you were to finding the chamber."

"That's all right, Albus," Cleo replied. "They didn't say anything about Galadriel's wand and how important it was to opening the door either. I think Scorpius needs to be the hero here." She looked over at her friend who shook his head.

"I do not deserve to be a big hero," Scorpius protested.

Albus countered putting his arm around Scorpius' shoulders, "You are sounding just like my dad. He says the papers give him credit for things the other Aurors do. Sometimes when people thank you, the only proper response is, 'you are welcome.' You did kill the basilisks, after all. We all know you had help, but just acknowledge the thanks and keep acknowledging the help."

Scorpius just sighed but nodded his head in agreement.

*

Friday afternoon after classes Albus, Scorpius, Cleo and Rose were at the door to the Chamber of Secrets. Galadriel was with them, and Albus, Cleo and Galadriel all examined the charms on the doorway.

After a few moments of examining the mantel, Cleo asked, "Do these spells feel brittle to you?"

Galadriel replied, "A little unstable, maybe."

"What would happen if we put a hole in them, put a hole in the spell right at the doorway?" Albus wondered.

"How?" Galadriel asked.

The group thought for a few moments, when Rose remembered the other entrance and suggested, "With that drill that Auror used in Myrtle's bathroom?"

Albus nodded yes that could work.

Harry had assigned Department of Magic Law Enforcement personnel, usually a patrol officer, to stand guard over the doorway. The guard on duty told the students, "I am not sure how you could get permission to have Greg Cooper come with the drill."

"Oh, I'll just call my father," Albus casually replied. He proceeded to take out the fully functional Magic/Muggle mobile that he was not supposed to be using until he was a seventh year student, and rang up his father.

"Hi, dad.
...
"We are standing at the door to the Chamber of Secrets, and Cleopatra and Galadriel both think the spell keeping anyone but Slytherin from crossing the threshold are old and, Cleo calls them brittle, Galadriel calls them unstable. We should be able to drill through them."

...

"No, we have not opened the door. We are not going to until there are Aurors and other adults around.
...
"Tomorrow, after breakfast? We will be there.
...
"I do not think there is any reason for you to be here. You can get here quickly enough from the Potter/Weasley box at the Harpies game.
...
"I promise, dad, that we will not go in by ourselves. We will wait for you and the other adults.