A Hogwarts Legend: Round Two [2]

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen- "And on that note, I need to pee ..."

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

He pauses, gazes blearily around the room, and continues, "For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school. "

Professor Binns pauses again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.

Tortoise, that's fun to say....

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he says, "but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.

"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

There's silence as he finishes telling the story, but it isn't the usual, sleepy silence that fills Binns's classes. There's unease in the air as everyone continues to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looks faintly annoyed.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he says. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

Did he just call us all gullible??

Hermione's hand is back in the air.

"Sir - what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control," says Prof Binns in his dry, reedy voice.

I glance around the room, nervously.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," says Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," says Seamus Finnigan, "if the Chambee can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," says Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing -"

"But, Professor," pipes Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it -"

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic, doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snaps Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore -"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't -" begins Elinor, but Binns has had enough.

"That will do," he says sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story!  We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"