Al Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

4 - Back to the Chamber

-Scorp! – the little boy heard that someone was whispering his name, but he wasn't sure if it was reality or still a dream. – Scorp, wake up!

Scorpius opened his eyes and saw Albus Potter standing next to his bed. He satu p and looked at his best friend.

- What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?

-We gotta check the Chamber again – Al whispered excitedly. – Remember the books? We have to know what they are about, who would bring books to the Chamber of Secrets? Dad never mentioned books when he described what the Chamber was like!

Scorpius tried to keep his eyes open and stood up. There was no question: Al told him what he was up to, and he was obviously gonna join him, whatever it takes. He looked around the room and saw that everyone else was asleep.

- Shouldn't we wake them up? They could come with us or at least they would know where we went if something happens to us...

- What could happen to us? – Albus laughed. – The snake is dead. Books won't hurt you.

- Listen, Al. I think you are the coolest on earth, and I know you are not stupid, but sometimes I really would be glad if you waited 2 seconds before you start talking – Scorpius grinned at his friend who already knew what he was talking about.

- You're right – he rolled his eyes. – Someone had to take the books with them. And that someone might be there and might be dangerous... maybe I really should wait with talking at least until I think it trough...

- No worries, Gryffindor will always be there to welcome you – Scorp laughed.

- I prefer Slytherins – Al muttered. – But anyway, we shouldn't tell anyone what we are up to. It's harder to walk on the corridors with 5 people than just the two os us. And they might be frightened of the Chamber, they are not Gryffindors, are they?

- Very funny – Scorpius put his tongue out. – Maybe we really shouldn't tell Vince about our little adventure. You know his father hates me, I mean, he hates my dad, and Vince doesn't even dare to tell him that he is in the same room as me. He said he will never tell him that we are friends.

- My dad doesn't really like your dad either, still I told him I want to invite you during the christmas holiday – Albus shrugged. – Why can't Vince tell his father about you?

- That's different. You love your dad, but Vince is afraid of his. He says even his mother is afraid of his father. That he is violent, but sometimes he can trick him, because he is not very clever. So he hopes that he can keep our friendship as a secret. Buti f we get caught and they write to our parents... maybe Prof Longbottom would mention in what company we were...

- Let's just tell noone. Vince would feel bad if we told Lorcan and Will, but not him – Albus said and the two boys agreed on not telling anyone about their adventure. They ran to the second floor on the dark corridors and fortunately they didn't meet anyone. When they entered the bathroom they saw that the taps were on their place and there was no hole at all.

- How the hell do we get in there? We have to tell the snake ont he tap to open up, but how do we do that? – Albus asked angrily. Scorpius walked around the taps but didn't find any other entrances.

- Can't you speak parseltongue? Your dad could, couldn't he? – Scorpius asked.

- He can't anymore. And I never could. But I can try, we can't lose anything.

Albus took a deep breath and started to produce very strange noises with his mouth and tongue.

- You seem like an idiot – Scorpius raised his eyebrow.

- If you can do it better, feel free...

Scorpius tried it, too, but obviously he couldn't do it better. They were standing in front of the taps not having a clue about how to enter the Chamber, when suddenly they heard quick footsteps from the corridor. They ran into a closet and closed its door just before someone entered the bathroom. The boys couldn't have looked out without getting noticed, but they listened carefully. 

They heard that the mysterious someone hurried to the taps and started to hiss. That person spoke parseltongue for sure, he (or she? they couldn't really tell by the hiss) didn't just imitate it. Al knew that his uncle Ron once managed to say some words in parseltongue without really knowing the meaning of them, because he remembered how they sounded, but in this case it wasn't like tha. That person must have been born with the talent.

 The children heard the taps moving and a minute later everything went silent. Scorp held down Al's hand and made him wait for another minute before they opened the door of the closet. They saw that the Chamber was open, but the person must have jumped down. The boys walked to the hole and looked down.

- Well, if we really want to know who is doing what with the books down there, I guess it's time to jump – Scorp said. – We should bring broomsticks, but we don't have any and there's no time to try to get some, because the door may close while we are away. The person who is down there must have thought about coming back again, so we must find something there we could use for coming up...

- So you think we should jump? – Al looked at his friend suspiciously.

- No, I don't know what to do, I had to think it trough, but there is no time for it, we have to decide now, and you certainly think we should jump. So I'm in.

Albus looked into Scorpius' eyes, then nodded. There was really no time to think it trough and Scorp was right: he wanted to take the risk. 

They took each other's hand and jumped together into the hole. They landed on the wet floor a few minutes later. When they stood up they saw a broomstick lying on the floor. It was too dark to see the type of it, buti t wouldn't help them anyway, they didn't know which student had which type of a broomstick. They barely knew anyone in the school except for their roommates and other children of their year. 

The boys started to walk quietly trough the tunnel, but they didn't dare to make light. They both had their wands in their hands but just in case. They reached the end of the tunnel without being interrupted by anyone. They went on close to the wall until they reached the spot they thought the books were lying. Al whispered the word and the little light at the end of his wand appeared immediately. 

Scorpius looked at the title of the book, and in the very same moment another want lighted up and fired a red beam towards Albus. He fell on the floor. Scorpius tried to look at the attacker but the light on the wand blinded him after having spent a few minutes in the dark. The next beam hit him and he fell next to his friend, unconscious.