Finding Hope (Book 1)

Chapter 20: The Chamber of Secrets

Fear. My heart was beating like the thrumming wings of a caged birds, sweat soon covered my body. My shirt was wet with sweat and it was sticking to my skin. I raised my shaky hand to try and pull them away from each other but the knowledge of being on the brink of death stopped my brain from continuing.

I've been here too long. I didn't know if it was day or night. To keep from going insane, I've started to practice all the spells that I've learned. Once I had mastered all of those spells, I started practicing some of the second year spells. It took me a while to memories these, because I was never taught them. I was doing pretty well considering this.

I lay in the bones on the floor I tried to get some sleep, but every movement or sound kept me alert, and wide awake. 

"Hello Hope, I have a friend here for you." I quickly jumped up and looked at Tom Riddle. "Ginny meet Hope. Hope meet Ginny. I'm well aware that you told our young Hope about me before, and I'm also well aware that Hope already knew. But you still told someone and I'm very disappointed in you. Come now Ginny lets show you the power of Voldemort." He started to drag a stunned Ginny toward the actual Chamber of Secrets. 

"Wait, Tom." Tom Riddle turned slowly around.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Take me in there and switch are roles. I'll take the hit or the curse or what ever your going to do to her." I tried to sound brave but I could hear the wave of fear in my voice. 

"No." He then continued to drag Ginny to the Chamber of Seacrets. And there was nothing I could do.

~~~Harry's POV~~~

Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet. "Oh, it's you," she said when she saw Harry. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask you how you died," said Harry. Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such a flattering question.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. Id hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, whatreally got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then-" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."

"How?" said Harry.

"No idea," said Myrtle in hushed tones. "I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away . . . ." She looked dreamily at Harry. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Harry.

"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet. Harry and Ron hurried over to it. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face.

It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. And then Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake.

"That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it.

"Harry," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."

"But -" Harry thought hard. The only times he'd ever managed to speak Parseltongue were when he'd been faced with a real snake. He stared hard at the tiny- engraving, trying to imagine it was real.