The Three Brothers: The Cure

Tom Marvolo Riddle

7th November 1992

The dark pipe seemed endless. As Mark slowly descended into the depths below the castle, his mind raced with all the possible explanations for why Ginny was going down a secret entrance through the girl's bathroom. And all of them pointed to only one conclusion—that this was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and that Ginny was the one who had opened it.

But why? She obviously was not the Heir of Slytherin; unless she wasn't a Weasley. Mark shook his head silently. No, that was ridiculous; besides the family resemblance was too strong. Perhaps you didn't need to be the Heir to enter, and the legend was incorrect. But then, why would Ginny want to attack Mr Filch's cat? What had he done to upset her? Plus, she didn't seem the vindictive sort. If she had anything against Filch, she probably would have pranked the hell out of him, not used some dangerous magic.

His thoughts were interrupted as he reached the base of the stairs. Clutching his wand tightly, he squinted to see if he had been noticed. There was no one around. Steeling himself, he walked softly through the large, damp tunnel he found himself in, heading for the general direction of the cold draft that he felt. After a while, something crunched under his feet.

'Shit.'

Mark stood completely still, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Closing his eyes, he tried to sense if anyone had heard the noise. After a couple of seconds—which felt like an eternity to Mark's adrenaline addled brain—he finally relaxed. There was no sign that he had been spotted. Since he couldn't exactly use a Lumos spell, Mark gently bent down and felt for what it was that had crunched under his feet.

Bones. Small bones, belonging to rats and the like. Something had eaten them and left the remains here. That meant there was a predator—which meant that the legend had been right. Another ball of lead settled into Mark's stomach as he gulped down his fear. The monster of the chamber had been real after all. He tried to reassure himself that it was most likely dead now, after a thousand years. It didn't exactly work.

"SShhShahshhhSah"

Mark heard the loud hissing noises once again, and they were coming from up ahead. Taking a deep breath, he wiped his now sweaty palms on his trousers. Crouching, he evened his weight on the floor below and crept ahead. His wand was almost twitching, and he could swear he was able to hear the sound of the water behind the damp walls of the tunnel; Mark reckoned it must be underneath the Black Lake.

Soon he reached the end of the tunnel, and his eyes were met with an incredible sight. A huge entrance stood in front of him, bordered by carvings of snakes on a greenish stone. The eyes of each serpent were adorned with a blackish gemstone of some sort—probably agate or obsidian. Mark shivered slowly as he averted his gaze—the black beady eyes of reptiles was exactly what creeped him out the most.

Trying to ignore the otherwise imposing entrance, Mark tried focusing behind it. On the other side lay a long and dimly lit room. Its ceiling was high; so high that it disappeared into the shadows, held up by towering stone pillars adorned with even more carved serpents. There was no doubt in his mind anymore; this was Salazar Slytherin's Secret Chamber.

"SshSaaahShaas"

The hissing drew Mark's attention again and he looked towards its source—Ginny. There she was, standing at the far end of the chamber, her flaming red hair bathed under the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. Bile threatened to rise up Mark's throat as his mind began to accept the implications of what he was seeing, and a sudden urge to just barge in and confront Ginny hit him like a train. Yet, he somehow managed to fight it, the curious and tactical side of his mind winning over with the simple reasoning that it was wiser to just observe for now. Clenching his fist, he silently crept into the chamber and quickly made his way to the closest stone pillar for cover. Peering around to keep an eye on Ginny, he mentally began to map his surroundings.