A Potter Secret

Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets

Harry and Ron slide wicked fast, in a hair-raising vertical plummet, catching glimpses of other, smaller pipes branching off in all directions, twisting and turning until the pipe levels off, dumps them onto the damp floor of a stone tunnel. Lockhart stares miserably at the muck dripping from his robes. Harry takes a torch from the wall, poises his wand. "Lumos!" Harry casts. The torch blooms with a bright orange flame. "Remember. Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away." Harry leads the way down the tunnel. Crunch! They look down: a rat's skull. All around them, the ground is littered with tiny skeletons. Ron squints, sees something huge and curved lying ahead. When he speaks, his voice is hollow with dread.

"What's that? Up ahead?" Ron asks.

"That looks like a, snake," Lockhart replies. Terrified, Lockhart quickly hides his eyes.

"Maybe it's asleep," Harry suggests. Ron draws his wand as they approach, squinting. Harry shines his light, revealing, a gigantic coil of empty skin.

"Bloody hell. Whatever shed this must be twenty feet long. Or more," Ron says. Thud! They turn. Lockhart has passed out. "Heart of a lion, this one," Ron jokes. Ron kneels by him, when Lockhart's eyes open and, quick as a fox. He snatches Ron's wand and scrambles to his feet.

"The adventure ends here, boys! But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl. How you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. I'll even bind a limited edition in this snake skin. Say goodbye to your memories." He raises Ron's wand. "Obliviate!" Lockhart casts.

Ron's wand explodes like a small bomb, blasting Lockhart off his feet and spitting great jets of fire into the rock above. As rubble rains, Ron leaps one way and Harry the other. Harry sits up, squints through the settling dust. A solid wall of broken rock seals the tunnel between him and Ron.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ron? Are you okay?" Harry calls.

"I'm okay. This git's not, though. He got blasted by my wand," Ron replies. Lockhart sits up, dazed. Ron picks up a rock and conks him on the head. Lockhart passes out. Ron calls to Harry. "What now?"

"Wait here. I'll go on. I'll goon and, find Ginny. If I'm not back in an hour, He leaves it there," Harry says.

"I'll try and shift some of this rock. So you can get back through. And, Harry-" Ron calls.

"See you in a bit," Harry assures.

Harry glances at the snake skin at his feet, moves off. He steps carefully through the shadows until he reaches a towering stone wall, carved with twin serpents. "Open," Harry says in Parseltongue.

The serpents part and the giant wall slides open. Harry removes his wand and enters. A vast chamber stretches ahead. Along the path are rows of stone serpents. The serpents rest in pools of black water. Ahead is an enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin. Several feet in front of the statue, Ginny Weasley lies motionless. As Harry dashes and takes her into his arms, her head lolls to one side, cheeks white as marble. A pale hand clutches Tom Riddle's diary to her chest. Harry drops the torch, races to Ginny, places his wand on the floor and kneels beside her. "Ginny! Please don't be dead. Wake up! Wake up! Ginny!" Harry calls.

"She won't wake," Tom Riddle calls.

Harry spins. Tom Riddle stands nearby. He is strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry was looking at him through a misted window. "Tom, Tom Riddle? What d'you mean, she won't wake? She's not-" Harry says.

"She's still alive. But only just," Tom replies.

"Are you a ghost?" Harry asks.

"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years," Riddle explains.