"So it's looking very possible that what's been petrifying the students is actually a Basilisk," Lily said. "But how is it getting around without being seen? I recall when we studied them in Defense some of them could be 60 feet."
"When Harry first told us about it he said it seemed as if the voice was coming from all around him …" Severus paused then exclaimed, "The walls! It is getting around by going through the pipes and that is why nobody has seen it."
"What about this so-called 'Chamber of Secrets' that somebody claims to have been opened?"
"It must be where Salazar kept his familiar. Nobody really knows that much about the castle. It could be there are more rooms underneath the dungeon."
"But how is it getting out?"
"That I do not know, but I think I need to speak with Salazar's portrait."
"When you find out where he housed his Basilisk, we should bring his portrait with us so he can talk with it."
"That also explains why Harry could hear the voice and nobody else could. It was speaking in Parseltongue. We may need Harry to get into the place where the Basilisk is kept."
"I don't know, Sev…" Lily started to say.
Severus held up his hands. "I will talk with Salazar first before we decide anything." He went through the entrance in his quarters that led into his office with Lily following and into the common room which was currently empty.
Salazar seemed to be in an especially cheerful mood. "I say Severus, will you be doing the house tours again this year? I did so enjoy meeting all the different students. Horace never did anything such as that."
"We are planning to do it again, yes" Severus answered. "May I ask you a question?"
"Certainly," Salazar replied nodding his head graciously.
"Your familiar was a Basilisk?"
"Yes, her name was Nessendra."
"And you housed her in a special chamber," Severus said.
"Yes, it was below these dungeons. She was free to move around in there and I created a entrance for her so she could go outside and hunt in the forest without being seen by any of our students. I also created a special pair of glasses for her so she would not accidently kill or petrify anyone if someone did come across her while she was hunting. I had my personal library and potions laboratory down there also because I knew she would keep them secure."
"I believe she might still be alive," Severus explained. "We have had two students, a cat, and a ghost petrified over the last six months."
"Alive? I never thought she would survive this long. You see I died suddenly and was unable to tell Rowena, Godric, or Helga about Nessendra so she probably thought I had abandoned her."
Severus sighed. That meant she had probably gone insane with loneliness, not understanding what had happened. That would make things even more difficult if not impossible. "Where is the entrance to her lair?"
"In my time it was in a room on the second floor."
"Thank you for your information, Lord Slytherin," Severus replied with a bow.
"Professor Snape, may I make one request?"
Severus nodded. "What is it you request?"
"I want you to take my portrait with you when you go down to find Nessendra. I can talk to her and make her understand what happened and that I did not deliberately abandon her. You will need me to open her lair as it will only open for a Parselmouth."
"I will let you know as our plans develop."
As Severus and Lily hurried back to their quarters, Severus said, "We will need to find that second floor entrance and temporarily ward it so the Nessendra can no longer come out into the school. I will also update Filius, Pomona, Minerva, and Remus on what we have found out."
"I'll do some research on where this entrance might be," Lily said.
Harry came back on Tuesday and was told by his parents what they had discovered during his absence. He frowned. "When I was chasing that voice on Halloween, we ended up on the second floor and you might remember there was about an inch of water on the floor. Luna said something about Myrtle being more upset than she had thought."
"Of course!" Severus replied slapping himself on the head. "Moaning Myrtle!"
"Yes the ghost of the girl who was died in the bathroom on the second floor," Lily said. "I remember hearing stories about her from my dorm mates. They said the bathroom's been haunted by her for years and nobody ever went in there."
"She supposedly died during the forties sometime as I recall," Severus added. "I believe she was a Ravenclaw too, so I will ask Filius what he knows about her."
Severus called for an emergency meeting of the heads of house to tell them what he had discovered. They met in Pomona's quarters which were near the entrance to the kitchen. The heads had all discovered within a short time of coming to Hogwarts that Albus used the portraits to get information and they had taken down all the portraits in their personal quarters.
Lily and Remus also attended the meeting at Severus' request. They had promised to let Harry know what had gone on.
Severus explained what he had discovered and his talk with Salazar. "Filius, what do you know of Moaning Myrtle?"
"Myrtle was Myrtle Abernathy who would have graduated in 1945, but was found dead in the second floor girl's bathroom in 1943 and has haunted it ever since. It happened shortly after I became Head of Ravenclaw; a terrible tragedy, too. As I recall they were unable to determine the cause of her death."
"You think the Basilisk killed her then?" Minerva asked Severus.
"Salazar said the entrance to the Basilisk's lair was on the second floor in his time so it is very possible it was made into a bathroom at some point later," Severus answered.
"Has anyone ever attempted to talk to Myrtle about her death?" Pomona asked.
Filius shook his head. "As her former head of house, I did try to talk with her about flooding the corridor whenever she was upset, but she didn't take it very well and ended up diving into one of the toilets. I imagine she would be just as prickly if you asked her about her death."
"Maybe Harry could talk to her," Lily suggested. "She might respond better to somebody who's closer to her age."
"You know, that is a very good idea Lily," Severus said. "You, Pomona, and Filius can accompany him. I do not think she would react very well to the dreaded bat of the dungeon asking her questions as I am sure she has overheard the students talking about me."
"We know now that last time it was Tom Riddle who set the Basilisk on the Muggleborn students, but who or what suddenly set her off this time?" Remus asked.
"That's what we need to find out," Minerva said.
The next day, Harry had breakfast with his parents and they explained what had happened at the meeting. "We thought that Myrtle would be more willing to talk to you than she apparently is to an adult," Severus explained.
Harry thought for a moment. "I'd be willing to do it, but I think Luna would be much better than me. She's already talked with Myrtle at Sir Nicholas' Death Day Party."
"Do you think Luna would be willing to talk to Myrtle for us?" Lily asked.
"I think she'd enjoy it," Harry said. "She's already made friends with the Gray Lady, the Fat Friar and a lot of the portraits." He laughed. "I'll bet she tries to make friends with the Bloody Baron or Godric Gryffindor next."
Severus chuckled too. "I should like to see that."
"I have Luna in Charms first thing this morning. I'll ask her to stay after class and explain what we're doing," Lily said.
At dinner that evening after Severus had cast his Muffliato, Lily told him what Luna had said. "She said she didn't mind at all talking with Myrtle again because she felt she was forgotten and lonely."
"We will do this Friday after class. There is no sense in waiting until another student is petrified," Severus said.
Dumbledore was peering at Severus and Lily, his eyes hard and his mouth narrowed into a straight line. What was going on now? We're they planning a way for the Slytherins to escape punishment for the petrified students by blaming it on Gryffindor knowing how much Severus' hated Gryffindor? He was not going to let that happen.
"The old goat's staring at us," Lily whispered.
"Let him stare. As far as I know he cannot read lips."
Friday afternoon Harry and Luna entered the second floor bathroom. Severus with Salazar's portrait was waiting outside with Lily, Minerva, Remus, Pomona, and Filius.
"Hello?" Luna called. "Myrtle, are you here? It's Luna. I talked with you at Sir Nicholas' Death Day Party."
Myrtle peeked out from one of the stalls and shrieked loudly. "What's that boy doing in here?"
"It's okay Myrtle," Luna assured her. "This is Harry Potter and he's a friend of mine." Luna used Harry's former name because she thought Myrtle would be more familiar with it.
'Ohh …" Myrtle said floating over to them. "I've heard people talk about you…they call you the Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry nodded. "Myrtle …May I call you Myrtle or would you prefer me to call you Miss Abernathy?" he asked, using his best manners.
"He's very polite," Myrtle said to Luna. "Unlike that awful Olive Hornby!"
"I mean no offense Myrtle, but could you tell us about the day you died?" Harry asked.
Myrtle floated in the air in front of them with her legs crossed underneath her. "Yes. Nobody ever asks me about it either!" She said petulantly. "I was hiding in that stall right there because Olive Hornby kept teasing me about my glasses. I heard someone come in and then speak. I realized it was a boy so I opened the door to tell him to get out, but I saw a pair of big yellow eyes and then I died.
"Myrtle can you tell me where you saw the yellow eyes?" Harry asked.
"Right over there," she nodded toward where the sinks were situated then started wailing loudly. "It took hours for anybody to miss me and find me!"
"That was wrong," Luna said. "They should have missed you in class and sent someone to find you."
Myrtle nodded and finding a sympathetic ear continued to tell Luna how she haunted Olive Hornby after her death until Olive complained to the Ministry and they made her stop so she came back to the site of her death.
Harry went over to the sinks and examined them closely. On the side of one of the faucets were two small snakes; one pointing upward and the other pointing downwards. Harry noticed that this particular sink was right across from the stall where Myrtle had been hiding when she died. "Luna, I think I found something important."
Luna excused herself from Myrtle for a moment and went over to where Harry stood. "See the snakes on the side of this faucet?"
"That faucet never worked," Myrtle declared.
"Yes, I see them, Harry. Are they important?"
"I think this might be the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets." He turned back to Myrtle and asked. "Myrtle, there are some professors waiting outside. May they come in?"
Myrtle who was still floating in a seated position giggled and then said coyly. "For you Harry, I'll allow them to come in."
"Thanks, Myrtle." He opened the door. "Myrtle, said its okay for all of you to come in. I think I found the entrance to the chamber too."
Severus came in first with the portrait of Slytherin floating in front of him followed by Lily, Filius, Minerva, Pomona, and Remus.
"It's this sink right over here," Harry said going over to the sink. "See the side of the faucet with the two snakes on it? Myrtle said it's never worked either."
"Can you open it, Harry?" Lily asked.
"I can try," Harry said. He hissed at the faucet and said "Open."
"That's what that boy was speaking," Myrtle said to Luna.
The snake that was pointing upwards went downwards and the snake that was pointing downwards did the reverse. Suddenly the sinks that had been in a tight circle parted and the one with the snakes on the faucet sank down into a hole revealing a steep, dirt incline which they would need to slide down.
"Wait a second," Harry cautioned. He hissed again saying, "Form stairs." To his complete amazement, steps formed all the way down to the very bottom. He took a step down and found them to be very solid.
"Harry," Severus cautioned.
"It's okay, Dad. They're solid."
Severus nodded and levitated the portrait again. "I'll go first. You, your mother, and Remus will follow me."
"Okay," Harry said, stepping back up and out of the way.
"Harry, if you die down there; you can share my toilet," Myrtle said.
"Umm…thanks, Myrtle," Harry replied as he followed Severus down the stairs.
"I think Myrtle has a crush on you, Harry," Lily teased.
"Brilliant," Harry muttered.
"You are probably the first boy who's ever been nice to her," Remus added after hearing Lily's comment.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Lily and Remus cast a Lumos Maxima so they could see where they were going. The first thing that saw was many, many skins that the Basilisk had shed plus the bones of small animals. By the length of the most recent skin shed, Severus estimated that Nessendra's current length was close to 15.240 meters.* He whistled, but didn't stop to examine them. He could do that later. He stopped and took four pairs of sunglasses with mirrored lenses out of his pocket. "Before we go any further, we need to put these on in case Nessendra is out or comes out unexpectedly."
All of them donned the sunglasses and continued on until they came to a wall with a round iron door on it with four snakes on it. This time Salazar hissed at them as only he knew the password. The snakes began to move and suddenly the big door swung open. They could see there was a long walkway with heads of snakes lining both sides of it. It ended at a wall with the huge sculpted head of Salazar on it. Nessendra was nowhere in sight thankfully.
As they stepped up and into the room, a rat ran squeaking past them. "Yuck!" Harry exclaimed.
"Nessendra's den in inside my sculpture," Salazar said. "Please set me down in front of it and I will summon her."
Severus transfigured a piece of wood into a chair and lowered the portrait onto it and then stepped back.
Salazar hissed, "Nessendra!" He hissed a second time, "Nessendra!"
A door in the sculpture's mouth slid up and they heard loud hissing that seem to echo throughout the chamber. "Who is there? Who is calling me?"
"She wants to know who's calling her," Harry translated for the non-Parseltongues.
"It is I Nessendra, Salazar Slytherin," he answered.
She hissed again sounding joyful and hopeful, "Salazar, is it really you? I thought you had abandoned me." She slid out of her den and they saw her for the first time. She was a greenish-grey in color and her head looked somewhat like a dragon's and she had spikes along the top of her head with a few on her neck area and her body was heavily scaled. She spotted Slytherin's portrait and slithered over to it and began hissing at it so fast that Harry was almost unable to follow what she was saying.
"Salazar, why did you leave me? I was so lonely without you to talk to," she cried. "I kept wondering why you left me! Until that boy came and talked to me I had nobody for years and years! He promised to stay, but he left me, too."
Harry translated what she was saying, causing her to lift her head and sniff the air. She turned her great yellow eyes on the four who were standing in the background. "Who are they? Who dares enter our domain?"
"Nessendra, these are my friends and they will not touch anything down here without my permission. Where are your glasses?"
"I don't know, Salazar. I could never find them after that boy left."
"Professor Snape," Salazar called. "Can you use your wand to find Nessendra's glasses?"
"I can certainly try," Severus answered. He waved his wand and said loudly, "Accio Nessendra's glasses!" There was a loud rattling noise and suddenly a huge pair of glasses appeared flying into Severus outstretched hand. "Ugh! They are filthy and scratched! It looks as if Riddle buried them somewhere before he left." He pointed his wand at the glasses and said, "Scourgify" and then said, "Reparo." He turned to Slytherin's portrait. "How do I put them on Nessendra?"
"Fit them across her eyes and the ends hook over the spikes on her neck area," Salazar directed.
Severus did as he instructed and then stepped back.
"She is perfectly safe now," Salazar announced. "Now we need to find out if the entrance I created for Nessendra is still open." He hissed at Nessendra. "Is the entrance to the outside I made for you still available?"
"It isn't, Salazar," Nessendra hissed. "I tried to go out of it many times, but it no longer opens."
"Nessendra says it no longer opens Dad," Harry said coming up to Severus with Lily and Remus.
"You are a Speaker?" Nessendra hissed at Harry.
"Yes," Harry hissed back.
"Amazing," Remus murmured. "To think we were led to believe that Parseltongue was a dark talent and only dark wizards could speak it."
"We were given a lot of wrong and prejudicial information," Lily snapped.
"Harry, would you ask Nessendra if she would mind showing Remus and I where the entrance is so we can see if we can get it open again," Severus requested.
"Sure, Dad." Harry said. He turned back to Nessendra and hissed at her several time then listened to her response and hissed again. "Nessendra said if you follow her, she'll show where it is."
"Tell her we will follow her," Severus said.
Harry hissed Severus' request to her and she turned and started back in her den with Severus and Remus following her. "Whew!" Remus said sniffing. "This could use a good cleaning."
They followed Nessendra down a long tunnel that snaked off from her den and to a door carved from solid rock. They didn't try forcing it open if Nessendra couldn't open it, then they certainly couldn't
"We might have to use a Bombarda spell on it," Remus said. "We can always repair it once we get it open."
"Good idea," Severus replied. They both stood back and yelled, "Bombarda!" casting their wands forward. There was a tremendous explosion and the door fell away in big chunks, fresh air rushing in. As Salazar had reported, it led directly into the Forbidden Forest.
Nessendra stuck her nose out the door and sniffed the air and then slithered out the door and went directly into the Forbidden Forest.
"The door had to originally have pushed open both ways because she had to be able to go in and out easily," Severus speculated. "Riddle probably warded the outside so she could not get out."
Remus cast his wand at the chunks of rock and said, "Reparo."
Severus levitated the heavy door upright and maneuvered it into place. He and Remus worked on it until they were sure Nessendra could give it a slight push to open it from either inside or outside. Severus left it cracked open slightly so she could see she could still get inside.
As they walked back up the tunnel and into Nessendra's den, Severus put his hand in front of his nose and said, "You are right, Remus. It is very rank in here."
"While Nessendra's out hunting we can call the elves to clean it and lay new bedding down."
"Blinky?" Severus called. When the little elf appeared, looking about him with his eyes opened as wide as they could possibly be, Severus asked, "Blinky, do you think you and other elves can clean in here and lay down fresh bedding? Probably fresh grass and moss would be best."
"Blinky will get some other elves and be right back," he promised enthusiastically. Pretty soon he was back with ten other elves and they got busy snapping their fingers, making the old bedding, the animal bones, and the waste disappear. Several of them popped out, but were soon back with armfuls of long fresh grass and soft moss.
"They do so love a challenge," Severus murmured.
Blinky popped in next to Severus. "We is all done cleaning, Professor Snape. Does you want us to clean the rest of this place?"
"No, not right now, Blinky. Thank you and the rest of the elves for cleaning Nessendra's den. You may return to your regular duties now."
"Professor Snape," Salazar said. "Could you take me to see my library and my potion laboratory?"
"If you tell me where they are, I can certainly do that," Severus replied as the elves popped back out. He nodded at Harry. "Harry, would you please tell Nessendra where we are when she returns?"
"Sure, Dad."
Following Salazar's directions, Severus was quickly able to find both his library and potion lab. He lit the lanterns in the library and was thrilled when he saw how big it was, but then frowned as he noticed the gaps in the shelves where books had obviously been removed. "It looks as if your descendent might have helped himself to some of your books."
"I should have warded the books so they could not be removed," Salazar replied with a sigh.
"May I come back another time and examine your library more closely?" Severus asked.
"Of course!" Salazar replied. "I daresay you being the youngest potion master in England probably since I was; you will find the section on potions to be fascinating."
"I do not doubt you are right."
"My potion laboratory is in the next room through the door here."
Severus again levitated the portrait and went through the door into the lab. It was obvious that Riddle had never visited. The dust was thick on the floor and huge, thick spider webs hung down low.
"I wish to retrieve my journal," Salazar said. "I always kept it in that drawer underneath my work table."
Severus grimaced, but went into the room careful to avoid the thick, low hanging, now vacant spider webs and pulled open the drawer. He immediately spotted a black leather book with a lock on it, took it out and back to Salazar. "Is this it?"
"Yes! I'm so happy it was still there as I had much research and many potion ideas in that journal."
They returned to the room where Nessendra's den entrance was located and found Harry talking to her and petting her head while he spoke to her. She was making a strange humming sound that was almost like a cat's purr. Lily and Remus were looking on bemusedly.
"I believe Nessendra has become fond of your son," Salazar said.
"Harry does have that affect on people and beasts alike." Severus replied. "Harry," he called. "We must be leaving now before someone becomes suspicious."
"Dad, do you suppose you can resize Nessendra so she can live with Keb and Isis?" He turned to Nessendra and hissed, "I have two Egyptian Egg Eating snakes in a terrarium in my room."
"I do not think I can get her small enough for their terrarium," Severus said regretfully. "But we can come down here to visit whenever the headmaster is gone. I want to inspect the skins she has shed and Salazar has given me permission to examine his library."
"Okay," Harry replied. He turned back to Nessendra and explained in Parseltongue what Severus had said.
She hissed a reply back. "She says she understands and she will look forward to our next visit."
"Tell her that her den has been cleaned and there's fresh bedding for her to lay on."
Harry relayed the message to Nessendra who hissed a reply. "She said thank you; it was close to becoming unlivable."
Salazar said his farewell to Nessendra and promised to visit her tomorrow. Severus levitated him and they all went up the stairs again.
Minerva, Filius, and Pomona were still waiting as was Luna who was seated on the floor cross-legged having a conversation with Myrtle who was floating slightly off the floor.
"Is everything right again?" Minerva asked.
"Everything's fine now, Minerva," Remus assured her. "There definitely won't be any more petrified students."
Harry hissed "Close," at the opening and the sink came up and the others once again fitted tightly around it.
At the moment, the bathroom door burst open and Dumbledore followed by Hagrid burst in. Myrtle screeched loudly and dived into the toilet.
"What are you all doing in here?" Albus demanded. "What are you plotting?"
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