Chapter 14: Into the Chamber
"So what now?" Ron asked, once they had looked at everything in the box.
"Now," Harry said firmly, his eyes filled with determination and purpose, as he fastened the sword to his belt, "we go down into the Chamber of Secrets."
***
The journey down into the Chamber of Secrets was uneventful, though Harry couldn't help but be entertained by Hermione as she screamed the entire way down the slimy pipe and as she landed in a heap on the layer of bones on the floor. He had forgotten that Hermione, who had been with him during what seemed like every adventure, had been in the hospital wing, petrified, the last time Harry had ventured into Slytherin's chamber.
"What is this stuff we landed on?" Hermione asked repulsively, holding up a rat's skeleton between her thumb and her forefinger.
"I believe it's the skeleton of a rat, Hermione," Harry said, smirking as he watched Hermione yelp and promptly drop the bones back onto the floor.
"Let's just keep going," Hermione said, her head held high as if pretending that it didn't bother her that she was walking across what could be considered a rat graveyard. Yet even with her pretenses, Harry noticed her nonchalantly wipe her hand on her robes when she thought he wasn't looking. He smiled as he watched her walk boldly out of the front chamber.
The truth was, he missed her. Terribly. And even though they still acted like friends, perhaps even still like best friends, Harry couldn't help but feel that he was much happier when they were together as a couple.
He shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind from such thoughts. He was on a mission right now and couldn't afford not to be focused.
"Where does she think she's going?" Ron asked, once Hermione had disappeared around the corner.
Harry sighed and began to run after her. "Wait up, Hermione!" Harry called. "You don't know the way!"
They found Hermione in the main chamber, staring in awe and amazement at the carcass of a basilisk.
"Harry," she said, her eyes never leaving the body, "is this…?"
"The basilisk from second year?" Harry offered. Hermione nodded, biting her lip.
"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed. "That thing must be at least 50 feet long!" He tentatively reached forward to touch the smooth skin of the snake, and instantly recoiled, disgust written across his face. "And you fought this!" he exclaimed, taking a step back. "Incredible!"
Hermione, however, did not seem as excited as Ron did. "You fought this," she repeated quietly. "When you were only twelve…" Her voice faded off.
"Just a bit of luck, really," Harry said with detachment, shrugging his shoulders and looking around the chamber. It looked smaller than it did before, though perhaps he was simply bigger... The chamber seemed less eerie as well; the odd, greenish gloom he vaguely remembered had vanished, the carvings of the angry serpents seemed less intimidating. Though, maybe it was simply because this time, he didn't have to worry about a deadly basilisk lurking around each and every corner.
Harry made his way towards the statue of Salazaar Slytherin that lined the farthest wall, intrigued by the statue's face-its monkeyish appearance, the long, thin beard, the mouth that had once opened, releasing the enormous basilisk from within… --and Harry was suddenly reminded of the last time he looked at this statue:
He watched Riddle stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed-but Harry understood what he was saying…
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."
Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horrorstruck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole.
And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from it's depths. The basilisk.
Harry stared fixedly at the statue's face for a few more moments, ignoring both Hermione and Ron as they came up to his side, asking him what he was thinking.
"The basilisk came from there," he said suddenly. "From inside Slytherin's mouth."
"What?" Ron said. "How? It's stone…the mouth is sealed shut."
But Harry ignored him, and speaking in the snake language that had been both a curse and a blessing to him all his life, he spoke the words Tom Riddle once did to summon the snake.
And just like he thought would happen, the statue's mouth slowly opened, revealing the huge black hole, this time, thankfully, without a snake.
"Well, will you look at that," Ron said with a chuckle.
"Levitate me up," Harry ordered, pulling his wand out of his pocket.
"What?" Ron exclaimed, his smile instantly gone. "You're not going in there are you?"
"Ron's right, Harry," Hermione said. "It might be dangerous. You don't know what's in there."
"I'm going in," he said firmly, his eyes fixated on the opening in the statue. "Now, levitate me please."
Once in the air, Harry scrambled into the hole, and was instantly repulsed by the awful stench emanating from its depths. A snake did live here for over fifty years, he reminded himself, though that thought seemed to only make the terrible smell even worse. "Lumos," he muttered.
"What's up there, Harry?" he heard Hermione call out.
"Give me a minute," Harry called over his shoulder, as he made his way along the passage. The tunnel was the exact size of the basilisk, causing Harry to have to crouch down slightly as he walked to avoid scraping his head against the rough, arched top.
He continued along the passage, running his hand along the side and he walked. Even with his wand alit, he could barely see three feet in front of him, and he certainly did not want to get lost. But after winding his way through the passage for several minutes, his hand lost connection with the wall. Holding his wand above his head to see better, Harry saw a smaller passage, one fit for a human rather than a snake. Bravely Harry turned into this new passage and gasped with surprise when he came around the corner.
There, sitting unceremoniously on a wooden table, was Hufflepuff's cup.
***
Ron and Hermione were, of course, bickering when Harry climbed out of the statue, the last Horcrux safely tucked away in his robes.
"Help me down, will you?" Harry called down at them, smirking when he saw them both jump in surprise.
Once down on the ground, Harry pulled out the Horcrux, pure excitement and exhilaration written across his face.
"But how do we destroy it?" Hermione asked as she inspected the artifact, tracing her finger lightly over the yellow and black jewels that lined the outside.
Harry's smile instantly faded. That simple question had been on his mind a lot lately, and he had yet to think of the answer. He racked his brain for ideas.
"To erase Dark Magic from an object you need to find the essence of it, while still using the spell," Bill had said.
Hufflepuff's essence… friendship and loyalty.
But how…
Harry sighed as he looked to his friends for help.
Friendship and loyalty.
The three of them, inseparable now for six years, epitomized the very core of Hufflepuff. It was so simple, so obvious.
"Perhaps," Harry began, setting the Horcrux carefully on the ground and pulling out his wand, "we say the spell together."
"What spell?" Ron asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"Demo atrum veneficus navitas ut est intus simultas," Hermione quickly answered for him, causing Harry's head to snap in her direction in amazement. And when Ron still appeared confused, she added, "It's the spell we used to destroy the locket, and the one Harry used on the wand."
"Oh."
"Wands at the ready then," Harry said. "On the count of three." And when both Hermione and Ron were ready, he said determinedly, "One…"
"Two…"
He took a deep breath.
"Three!"
And together, the three of them spoke the words to do the spell. Yellow light streamed from each of the wands, connecting and forming a cage around them and the golden cup. Harry, Hermione, and Ron, emotionally connected since that fateful adventure with the troll, suddenly became connected by magic.
Energy radiated from the cage, building up with great intensity until Harry felt as if he could no longer hold onto his wand. He snuck a glance at Hermione and Ron, and saw them both struggling as well. He then noticed that Hermione seemed on the verge of losing her control, and that the light coming from her wand was gradually fading. You have to help her, he realized, and with a great push of magical energy he hadn't realized he still had in him, the stream of light coming from the end of his wand exploded. The explosion of light surrounded all of them, blinding them. And when the light slowly faded, Harry realized that the cage was gone. And so was the cup.
"Wow," Ron said after a minute, staring in awe at the spot on the ground where the cup had been. Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to even out his breathing.
I'm still standing, he realized suddenly. Every other time he had destroyed a Horcrux, he had either passed out, or had been thrown backwards through the air before promptly passing out. Yet this time, all three of them were still standing, though somewhat shakily, not a scratch to be seen.
It's because we're in this together, a voice said in his head.
Of course. Things were always easier with the support of friends.
We're stronger together.
There was no denying it. They were stronger together. The three of them, together, were unbeatable. Hermione was their brains, Ron was their optimism, and he was their strength.
Harry recalled the times when the three of them were separated, angry at one another over silly arguments and misunderstandings…the time when Hermione had his Firebolt taken away out of fear that it had been tampered with; the time when Ron failed to believe that Harry hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire… Those were the times when Harry felt the weakest, the most vulnerable.
"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided," Dumbledore had once said. "Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust."
Dumbledore had been right, of course. Harry was as powerful as he was because of the support of his friends. He would be nothing without them. He thought back to the scared little boy that he used to be before he entered Hogwarts, before he had met Hermione and Ron. How much of an impact their friendship had had on him…
And then there was Hermione…
Harry glanced up and saw her standing across the chamber, her back towards him.
She was his everything: his source of strength to keep fighting, his motivation to succeed. She was the one who never gave up, who never let him settle for anything less than his full potential. She was the one who would spend hours and hours searching through all of the books in the library…to help him. And even when everyone else had turned away from him-even Ron-she was the one who was always there.
There was no denying the fact that he was stronger with her.
He remembered the explosion that resulted from their first kiss, the new, incredible magical power that came from their love for one another. His magic had improved tenfold during the few months they had officially been a couple. But lately…
Harry closed his eyes and he felt all the blood rush to his face as he fully realized his stupidity.
He had thought he was protecting her by distancing himself from her; but really, all he was doing was weakening himself. He couldn't pretend any longer that it was because of stress that his magical power was declining the longer they were apart; he couldn't pretend any longer that he was having nightmares every night simply because the end was drawing nearer. It was because of Hermione. Hermione was, and always would be, his source of his strength, his motivation, and his power. Without her, he was nothing.
I've been a right idiot, he muttered to himself.
And taking a deep breath, he called out "Hermione!" as he started to jog towards her.
But Hermione put her hand out, causing him to come to a stop. She was standing completely still, her eyes unblinking, as she stared in front of her towards the entrance to the chamber.
"Hermione," he said again. "We need to talk."
She didn't say a word; in fact, it appeared to Harry that she hadn't even heard him.
Finally she spoke, her voice sinister and grave.
"Someone is coming."
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