Chapter 13 - Retreat to the chamber
Harry lunged through the portrait, shocking the fat lady out of a blissful slumber. "Hey, watch where you're going!" She shouted as he stumbled his way down the hall. Through his fear and anger, he raced to the only place in the castle where he could be alone, where he could not be found, the Chamber of Secrets.
He ran through the halls with the images of his closest friends in pain, his own head burned from the inside. Harry ran up the stairs, oblivious to the fact he was still in his pajamas, to the upstairs girls' bathroom until he reached Myrtle's bathroom. There he stopped at the faucet with the serpent.
"Harrashhet sith, Sharthhh harrash…" he hissed to the sink. And following his command, the massive top to the basin structure raised to the ceiling. The sinks separated leaving the gateway only he was capable of opening. Still clutching his head in pain and blind to the world, he leaped into the opening, sliding down the pipes to the outer chamber. Within a few minutes, he was facing the massive gate that sealed the Chamber of Secrets itself. Another command and the door swung open for him.
He felt the pain in his head grow duller as he passed the stone snakeheads marking the path to the statue of Slytherin, where he killed the Basilisk so long ago. The spot still showed telltale traces of the fight. Still clutching his head, he collapsed near to the same spot where he found Ginny dying at Tom Riddle's doing. There he stayed until morning. His dreams were peaceful and soothing, the dull throb passed to a light twinge. Peace, this place was his last refuge.
"Harry, wake up. It's time for us to talk."
He heard in his mind.
"W-Who's there?" He asked out loud as he stood.
"An old acquaintance, Harry; I can offer you a solution. I know how you feel. My family was killed by the same wizard as yours."
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Harry spun around, expecting the voice to be coming from behind him.
"I can't. You know there are only two who can open this chamber, you and 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'."
"Then how can you…"
"Like so many others, I had fallen to him, my life is gone. I can only speak to you here, in this place. I've been able to link to your mind… to be able to tell you how I managed to ease the pain. He did to me what he's doing to you now, to my family and my friends," the mysterious voice claimed.
"Tell me. HOW can I get this bastard out of my head? How can I keep him from hurting those I care about?" His rage at the thought that he wasn't the first person tormented like this by his enemy grew.
"He wants you dead. And you want to live. One of you will win. If he thinks he won, he will come out into the open, and then you can strike."
"How can I make him think he won? I'd have to be dead first."
"That's right. He must think you're dead or near death, then he'll come out to gloat. I'm sure he read your thoughts, like I have?"
"No. He only puts images in my thoughts."
"No, he can do more, I have seen his mind too, and I can offer my advice. My time is short, and I need to leave. I will be able to come back like this soon."
"TELL ME… What do I have to do?"
"He must be convinced you want to die and are willing to die at your own hands. Then he'll show himself here in this chamber. Then you can strike."
"I have to die?"
"Good-bye for now…"
"NO, WAIT..." Harry was alone not only in the chamber, but in his thoughts. The voice in his head had left. The strain this short conversation had left him, again, emotionally drained. As he slumped to his knees, all he could think about was 'He must think you're dead or near death', but how?
'How can I make him think I'm dead?' He asked himself. His thoughts drifted back to the summer, how alone and lost he was, just as he is now. 'If I were dead, then it'd be over for me. I'd be free for this burden. I didn't want this, why should I be the one?'
To finally be at peace, to leave this grief behind and feel the peaceful slumber, the thoughts were real.
"Maybe things could be better if I were dead," he said to himself. Now he wasn't trying to convince the mysterious voice, he was convincing himself.
"I've lost my friends. I don't have a family. No one will notice or care if I'm gone. I should just go away."
He stood and looked in the empty chamber. He never noticed anything else except the tunnels he ran through four years ago. There was the skeleton of the Basilisk, its flesh long since rotted or eaten by rats. Past that, there was an archway, the same one where he first saw Riddle. He pulled himself to his feet and dragged himself there. The doorway passed to a living area in the chamber with a musky four-poster bed, dresser and a pair of leather wingback chairs. His mind had been so drained from his "conversation" that he collapsed into the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
- - -
"Hermione, he just ran out screaming like a mad-man." Ron screamed to her as they ran down the hall. "He couldn't have gone too far."
"We MUST tell Professor Dumbledore, this is not good. If something's happened to him…"
"I know Hermione, he's still my friend too. I can't believe the look on his face, as if he was staring at death. I'll tell the Headmaster what happened, you keep looking for him."
Ron rushed to the statue of the Phoenix and gave the password only the Prefects were to use. Once the staircase appeared, he ran to the top, not waiting a single second. He hurriedly related the events to the Headmaster as they both ran back to the Gryffindor common room to begin the search.
Hermione ran out the same passageway, hoping to find him. In the state Ron described, Harry could be anywhere in the castle, he knew it better then anyone else, except for Ron and herself. Her first instinct was to look in the Quidditch pitch, but when she came to the main doorway, it was still sealed for the evening. She stood at the massive door, with her forehead on the elegant carvings, trying to think where he could have gone. She stood there thinking and realized nature's call would force her to stop her search for a minute. She looked around the hallway, with legs crossed, and thought where the nearest convenience could be found, the Slytherin dorms were closer, but she'd rather play Quidditch in her knickers then go there. Her dorm was not that close, but there was one girl's bathroom that was closer--it was home to a certain ghost. Hermione ran up the two flights to the hall that lead to the room the three had brewed the Polyjuice Potion.
Hermione ran into the bathroom, and to her shock, watched as the sinks re-set themselves exactly as Ron and Harry described.
"He's in the Chamber!" she screamed in horror, knowing he was the only one that could open the gateway. Forgetting her need that caused her to search for this room, she raced back to the Gryffindor common room.
"He's in the Chamber!" She screamed again, as she flew past the portrait doorway. Ron and Professor Dumbledore both jumped at her announcement. "I saw the sinks restored back to their normal state. He HAD to have gone there. He's the ONLY one that can open the chamber."
"Please, Miss Granger, calm yourself. If he felt the need for refuge to the chamber, then it would appear that he's trying to escape his problems. Mr. Weasley, you said he had more of his nightmares and ran frightened. Can you recall anything he may have said?"
"Well, first he called my sister's name as if there were something wrong. Then he called out Malfoy's name, he must have hurt Ginny in Harry's dream. Then he screamed…" He looked toward Hermione and swallowed hard and stared directly in her eyes. "Then he screamed your name, Hermione."
"I believe he's experiencing visions of what he believes could happen. One thing he never knew was his mother's talent at Divination, a talent he may have inherited. I fear that if he is a true seer. These visions may become reality."
"But isn't that all just nonsense? It doesn't follow any practical patterns. It's all just guess work."
"Miss Granger, I assure you Divination is as real a skill as Transfiguration. I suggest we plot a course of action to rescue Harry from the Chamber of Secrets before something happens to him."
"But, how can we open the chamber?" Ron asked. "He's the only one that can open it, only a Parselmouth can open the chamber."
"Mr. Weasley, how quickly you forget, there is another that can open the chamber, as before."
"You mean, V-Vold---"
"No. Can't you think of someone else that opened it?"
As if on cue, another entered the room after listening to the conversation from the stairwell.
"Sir, I think I can do it again, if I could remember how I did it the last time."
"Excellent Miss Weasley. You are exactly what he needs at this moment- his closest friends pulling together to help him, when he needs it the most. I will have Professor Snape prepare the Veritaserum potion. That is, if you are willing to take it for his safety."
"Yes, I'm willing. I'll do anything to help."
"Good. The potion should be ready by supper tomorrow; we will go in tomorrow evening. Mr. Weasley, since you are the only other person alive to have entered the chamber, you are tasked with planning the strategy for finding Harry and bringing him back safely."
- - -
Harry lay on the bed in the living quarters of the Chamber, in a dreamless state. He slowly woke and looked around to the strange surroundings when he remembered his conversation. His head fell back to the pillow, and he looked to the table beside the bed. He could make out a long shiny object. He reached for his glasses on the floor where they fell to get a focused view of the room, and picked up a jeweled dagger from the table. It looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he's seen it before.
He replayed the conversation again, and lingered on 'He must think you're dead or near death'.
'How could I pretend to be dead or dying?' he asked himself. The dagger he held in his hand made him think. "No, I can't…" The image of opening his veins and allowing his life to pour out wasn't appealing. He held the blade as it hovered over his arm. The edge of the blade glided over his arm; it felt silky smooth to his touch as it slid across his wrist. His arm turned crimson as the opening oozed his warm blood. There was no pain or sensation to the wound. He sat and stared at his own blood as it spilled from his body. The cut was deep and long.
He stared at the growing red line as it continued to leak. The flow mesmerized him and as if in a trance, he slid the blade across his arm again, deepening the first cut. He watched the steady drip from his arm and the crimson stain on the once shiny blade. He drew it a third time, into the same opening, this time he felt it sting, the flow increased as he balled his fist.
He's been cut many times before, but the thought of sliding the blade across his own flesh made him think back to a graveyard, and Wormtail severing his own hand to resurrect the dark lord. He looked down to the blade again. He imagined the blade slicing through flesh and bone, and then he tried to remember. The wound he just opened lay inches from a scar he received on night so long ago. Was that the same blade Pettigrew used, how did it get here? The tinkling of steel on stone echoed through the chamber as the dagger slipped from his hands.
He tried to remember the voice, he knew it, but couldn't place it. He thought back to the voice, it was only a memory in his head. He looked to his arm, and watched the wound continue to bleed. He watched in amazement as the drops fell to the bed and grew to a puddle. He stared at the growing crimson pool, closed his eyes and imagined himself falling through the abyss. He remembered the images of the dreams he had since the beginning of the summer. Images of his parents, Cedric and Sirius were now joined with images of Hannah and Padma. He stared deeper and again saw images of a new mother and her new born child. He saw the image of a young woman floating in air, under the figure of a black skull and snakes as her blood dripped into a dark red pool.. . The last image was Hermione in his arms, as she bled; the wound made by the same blade that now lay at his feet.
"NOOO! It CAN'T be…" He remembered it all. He now could see the images while awake. Some he still couldn't understand, some he now knew had happened and some could happen. Some were too much for him to think about.
"Harry, I'm here."
"WHO ARE YOU?" he demanded as he jumped to his feet.
"I am the only one that can understand your pain, Harry. Tell me what you must do, and I can tell you how it will be done."
"What do you mean? 'What I must do?' There's nothing I must do."
"What about the prophecy? I'm certain someone had told you about it."
' The prophecy! ' Harry thought wildly, ' That's what he wants. ' He suddenly remembered where he first heard that voice, it was in this same chamber three years ago.
"Tom, you'll never get it from me." He clamped his hand over his arm to stop the bleeding, as he wrapped a piece of cloth around the wound he made and held it tight.
"So, you've figure it out, have you. Well all I need to do is search your mind and find it."
Harry fought the intrusion and tried to clear his mind of all thoughts, attempting to block his mind from his hated enemy. "You murdered my family. You hurt my friends to try and intimidate me. You won't win."
"I don't need to win. You'll do it for me. You silly little boy. Your pitiful powers are no match for the powers of the dark side. I alone control the dark forces. You've locked yourself in the one place you can't be helped."
"Yes, but you can't do anything else but invade my mind. You CAN'T Apparate here and you can't send anyone here either, I can leave if I want. So who's in control here?"
He summoned all his powers of concentration and held the link to his mind. "I know one thing, you bastard. As long as I hold you here, you can't escape either. You're a prisoner as long as I can hold you here."
"So it's a battle of wills, is it? Very well, CRUCIO!"
Harry felt the curse invade his thoughts. He felt the power course through his body. But he was able to shake off the effects with little difficulty. He was thankful he remember some of Snape's teachings from last year.
"You're weak, Tom. That barely tickled. If that's the best you could muster then I've been a fool to be afraid of you. There's nothing you can do while you're here, I won't let you out."
"Your pitiful friends are trying to rescue you, shall I let them in and we'll see who's weak?"
"Forget it skull-head. Maybe you should work on fixing that hole of a nose."
"So you've grown a wit, since we last met. This could be interesting after all. Shall I show you what I have in mind for the little bitch that you are so fond of?"
"You've forgotten. I'm alone, you've seen to that. There's no one I care for anymore." His resolve began to weaken.
"What about that girl you were with last year, Cho is her name? Maybe I'll arrange a little visit with her."
"NO… She means NOTHING to me." His concentration began to wane at her name. "She only used me to find out what YOU did to Cedric."
"That worthless fool you brought that night? Ahh… I see. Even your friends use you. How sad. Maybe I'll amuse myself with that mudblood bitch of yours, Granger is it? I could show her what it's like to have a real man."
"NO you filthy scum. That type of deprived act makes you feel superior doesn't it. It's as sick as you."
"Here, Harry, let me show you in your mind what she's going to experience just before I remove her heart. Oh, I'll do that slowly so she can feel every exquisite moment of her life slipping away." Visions of Hermione being raped by the snakelike monster flooded his brain.
Harry's stomach knotted at the visions he witnessed. He tried to feign she was insignificant to him, that she was nothing. He wanted to, but he couldn't betray her like that. Harry collapsed to his knees, pulling his hands to his face to hide his fear. He couldn't hide his feelings for the invader in his head, as the dark lord continued.
"I'll have my pleasure with those meddlesome Weasleys too, a brother and sister that have a spot in your worthless heart. I'll have fun making him fuck his own sister and then force him to sever her head for me. How does that strike you?"
All Harry could begin to sob into his hands and utter a weakened "No…" before falling to his knees. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, 'GET OUT!' he kept shouting in his head, the pain gripped his head tightly, feeling as if it would burst. The split second before he slipped to unconscious, a bright blue flash wiped the smirking laugh from his mind. His limp body slipped to the cold stone floor, as he released his grip on his makeshift bandage.
- - -
The rescue party consisted of the headmaster, the potions master and three students. Of the group, only two had been in the outer chamber before and only one had been in the inner chamber, where Harry now lay. With the help of a memory potion made by the potions master, G inny was able to recall the words she used to open the chamber's entrance in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. 'Open' she hissed to the sink under the memory potion. The entrance opened as it had for Harry the day before, and the group slid down the shoot to the pile of bones where Ron and Harry landed in their second year.
"It was this way." Ron commanded and he led the group through the same tunnels. They soon passed the shriveled skins the Basilisk shed over the thousand years it lived in the chamber. The potions master eyed the skin thinking of retrieving as much of the priceless skins as he could.
"It's through here," he called as they passed the skins. To the others, this was a fearful sight, as only Ginny was the only other living person to have seen the snake. Within minutes the group was facing the same massive gate sealing the Chamber of Secrets Harry had passed through the day before.
Hermione froze when they came to the last gate to the Chamber. Afraid they were too late. "Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron asked.
"You don't think he's…" She raised a hand to cover her mouth, as if she were afraid to speak the words.
"I'm afraid he could be if we don't hurry, Miss Granger." Dumbledore replied. He spoke to Ginny, instructing her to tell the gate to open, just as she had before.
The snakes on the gate slithered around the doorway, releasing the bolts that held the door shut. It swung open the group entered the most inaccessible area of the school. The rescuers spread out to search the chamber room by room for him. Ginny stood as frozen as Hermione had been when she stopped at the very spot where her life nearly ended. She now had the chance to help Harry as he saved her.
"He's in here! HURRY!" Hermione shouted, she had been the first to find him. He lay on the floor, his arm still bleeding and from the amount of blood loss, they were none too soon. "He's still alive!" She screamed.
As soon as she touched him, his whole body cringed. He looked into her eyes and what color was left in him drained from his face. All she could see was emptiness in his eyes, his emerald color, gone.
"NO… He can't… NOT you!" Harry screamed as he tried to pull away from his friend. He tried to crawl away, but his weakened state left him unable to support his own weight.
"Harry? You're ok!" She told him, trying her best to calm him down.
"GET AWAY before he finds you…"
"Harry?"
"RUN!!!" He lunged at her to push her away, but when he slipped in his own blood and fell weakly into her arms. New images flashed through his mind as their eyes caught; black cloaked figures, a bright blue flash as a strange chubby house elf began speaking to his mind.
'Friends lost find you again, by your side stand they. Seek counsel from the wisest and triumph with them you shall. Sleep and safe you shall be when you wake.'
He passed out in Hermione's arms.