As he washed his hands he ideally noted the snake motif embedded onto the splash plate behind the sink. He glanced down the counter and realized it was the only one. Odd. He looked back at the snake. It seemed to slither a bit.
Was it a marker for the entrance?
Harry looked around for some sign of a trigger mechanism. He expected a rune of some type but reckoned a mechanical trigger was possible also. After several fruitless minutes of searching, he returned his attention to the snake engraving.
"How do I get you to open?" he asked in frustration. The snake gave a particular twitch in response and a second later, Harry heard the sound of stone grinding behind him. Turing he found a section of the floor had given way to reveal a wide tunnel dropping into blackness below.
Open? The Chamber of Secrets and the password to reveal its entrance is open? So much for Salazar being the cunning Founder. Harry considered for a moment. Why hadn't it been found before? Accidently if nothing else. After almost ten centuries at some point at least once someone had to say 'open' while looking at the sink's engraving.
Harry set that aside as he knelt down at the side of the tunnel. The scent of the monster was almost overpowering. It had definitely been through here recently. He touched the side of the tunnel expecting stone. It was metal, lead he thought. This wasn't a tunnel, it was a pipe. A beam of light from his wand showed a bend in the pipe just a few metres down.
"This is a really stupid idea," Harry muttered to himself. He sat on the edge of the pipe and slowly lowered himself down. Maybe the pipe levelled out after the bend. It was just a short drop to the bend. He should be fine. At least that is what he was telling himself.
Harry let go of the edge expecting a short drop to the bend. That is what happened. But what he didn't count on was the accumulated slime of possibly centuries of growth. As his feet hit the pipe bend, they slipped out from under him. The scream he let out as he continued to slide down the pipe was cut off as the bathroom floor returned to cover the pipe opening.
...
Snakes Why did it have to be snakes?
Harry shot out of the pipe to land in a heap on the stone floor. He lay there for a second and tried to verify that he was a) still alive, b) none of his bones were broken, and c) no monster was waiting to attack him at any moment. The pain coming from his back told Harry he wasn't dead and some subtle movements seemed to confirm nothing major was broken. Carefully, he glanced around. The monster's scent was stronger but was a couple hours old.
Harry stood up and looked around. The pipe opened up into a natural looking cave with a sandy floor. The sand was actually warm to the touch. Magical torches burned in sconces a regular intervals lighting the way further down the cave. Some kind of material that looked like canvas was lumped in several places in the cave. Further down Harry could just make out a pair of doors.
He glanced back towards the pipe he had just slid down. If he had known that he wasn't going to be killed on the way down the ride would have been fun. The pipe had branched off several times on the way down. Harry assumed the pipe had other openings in the school or its grounds. He hoped there was another way out because he sure couldn't climb out.
The 'canvas' turned out to be some kind of snake-skin. His medusa comparison was coming back to haunt him.
The doors were adorned with snakes and the Slytherin crest. The snakes were whispering to each other.
'Guess I'm in the right place,' Harry thought. "Open" he commanded. The two snakes glanced at him before the doors silently swung open. The air that hit him was warm and humid. That matched with what he'd read about snakes. They might hibernate in cool, dark caves in winter, but needed external heat if they were going to be very active.
More of the skins littered the floor as Harry moved down the hall silently. He was careful to look for traps or signs of an ambush. He held his wand at the ready just in case.
The hallway opened up into a vast cavern. Against one side of the cavern was a large pool of water with a huge statue of a really ugly man looming over it. Then he noticed the small lump of black cloth near the edge of the pool. Luna.
Harry moved quickly over to her and rolled the girl over carefully. The blonde Ravenclaw was breathing shallowly but her heartbeat was steady.
"She won't wake up you know," a voice announced. "Thank Salazar. Always writing about mythical creatures no one's ever heard of. Stupid little twit."
Harry stood up quickly to face the newcomer. He hadn't heard anything approaching and even now he couldn't pick up a scent.
The newcomer was an older boy roughly Sixth year in Slytherin robes. He was meticulously groomed and stood with a confident, almost arrogant, posture.
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
"Harry Potter. And you would be the Heir?"
The boy smiled widely at that. "You are a clever one. I have so wanted to meet you. The great Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Defeater of Voldemort! What an honour!"
"Wonderful, a fanboy," Harry mocked. The older boy's eyes flared briefly. Then it was gone and the boy smiled charmingly.
"Where are my manners? I am Tom Marvolo Riddle. And as you guessed, I am the Heir to the great Salazar Slytherin!
.....
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