𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐆𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒' 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐘 (𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙮 𝙆𝙞𝙙𝙨 𝘼𝙐)

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍

When they arrived, Seungmin was sure that they had come too late.

For a start, it had taken the group much longer than it should have to find the entrance to the Chamber: they had been able to understand that their path had been the right one well before arriving, due to the loud screams and blows that were coming from that direction, – they were so huffled Seungmin had not been able to recognize exactly whose voice they belonged to, but he could've sworn deep down that he'd heard Minho talk – and those had actually had them fasten their pace, but once they'd come to a halt, face to face with the Chamber's main entrance, they'd had to stop, completely clueless about which move it would've been best to take on now.

Chan had tried many spells and charms to get the circular door to open, but no one had proved succesful.

"It's probably some dumb trick Salazar Slytherin applied to the damn locks" had scoffed Changbin. "Bet it's got something to do with Parseltongue".

"Well, but there must be a way to get in" Y/n's voice had been trembling, and her body shaking uncontrollably: it had been clear that she had been starting to get really worried for her friend – the loud but blended yells, besides, were not helping. Seungmin had quickly walked over to her position and had squeezed her hand tenderly. "How would've Jisung and Minho been able to get past?"

"Well, probably the snake has its own ways to get in..." had commented Chan, who was still very focused on what seemed to be the door: it stood right below a giant representation of the old Founder, surrounded by other smaller and fluid low-relieves that intertwined to form the silhouettes of serpents. Seungmin, although apart of the House, couldn't have helped the feeling of uncomfortableness that had filled him at the sight of the entrance.

Yeah, if Parseltongue has anything to do with all this, I can totally see this, had thought Seungmin. But also: the only thing is – why would they want the snake be set free? Wouldn't they want it to stay hidden, so that it wouldn't risk them getting caught? The Slytherin knew enough about snakes to be sure they wouldn't be able to discover the way to get through the door unless told how to. Could it be that...?

But before he'd been able to voice out his opinions, a sudden dash of silvery light had formed before his eyes, solidifying and flashing the opposite way to where they were supposed to be going all at once.

Chan had blinked. "A... a hare?"

"A rabbit" Changbin had replied lazily, his wand drawn out. Then, once he'd noticed the confused stares of the other three people: "Well, how about it? It's my Patronus. I sent it to Jinnie so that they can follow it and come here asap?"

A what? Seungmin had been about to say, but then had immediately shaken his head: that was not a piece of knowledge that wass needed at the moment. Instead, trusting his own suspicions, he walked a little bit ahead, and noticed that as he walking the voices coming from inside were becoming more and more clear.

There had been that of a man, that sounded very angry: it had seemed as if he had just been about to so something, when another voice layered on his: "STOP!"

Seungmin suddenly felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his body: he knew that voice. Gesturing wildly, he got his companions' notice and sped off towards the direction from which the voice seemed to be coming from. There was a great hole, that he could've easily surpassed, and that would definitely get him inside the Chamber...

but when he was finally close enough to see what was happening – well, that was when he seriosly started to believe that things were going to go really bad.

For a start, he couldn't even see Minho, Jisung or the other people he assumed the voices he'd heard belonged to: all his eyes could grasp was the giant and scarily creepy statue of Salazar Slytherin built into the stoney wall, the many columns that separated the Chamber in three aisles, and the giant body of the snake Moaning Myrtle had told them about, and that Minho and Jisung had supposedly followed.