The morning after the incident with Mrs. Norris, Hogwarts was abuzz with rumors.
Everyone knew for certain that Kronk had cleaned off the bloody message, healed the cat... and then quietly gone off to wax the floors in the west wing.
Some were beginning to wonder whether he was still a student at all—or if he had somehow become part of the staff...
"Isn't it weird?" Ron said to Hermione as they walked through the corridors. "I mean, everyone's freaking out about the Chamber of Secrets, and Kronk's more worried about the bathroom tiles."
Indeed, Kronk took his "job" very seriously.
That afternoon he was alone, pushing his cart full of tools, whistling a Peruvian melody, while investigating a complaint reported by Moaning Myrtle about a "menacing noise in the second bathroom on the right."
"Let's see, Myrtle, did you drop someone's diary again?" he said as he entered the deserted girls' bathroom, protected by a "Temporary Maintenance Permit" signed by Dumbledore.
Yes, the Headmaster was thrilled that a student was so eager to help around the school—but whenever the topic of salary came up, he conveniently remembered he had urgent business at the Ministry...
Myrtle emerged floating from one of the cisterns.
"It's not my fault, something's crawling through the pipes!" she protested a bit too energetically for someone who was dead. "I heard a horrible hissing sound last night!"
"Probably rats again," Kronk replied, pulling out his industrial-grade plunger—a device with carved runes and a steam motor that released bubbles.
He shoved the plunger into one of the older pipes and pulled the lever.
CLANG.
A metallic sound echoed.
"Huh?" Kronk turned the handle, puzzled.
Something metal had blocked the device.
He applied more force and—CLACK!
The stone slab beneath one of the sinks slid barely a centimeter.
Kronk stepped back.
"Was that supposed to happen?"
He crouched down, wiped the floor with a cloth, and revealed a symbol carved in stone: a snake curled in a circle.
"Well, that's definitely not standard plumbing..." he blinked.
As he touched it, a hidden mechanism gave a soft click and the sink lowered slightly, revealing what looked like a small black opening—too narrow to crawl into, but clearly not part of the regular plumbing system.
Myrtle screamed.
"I told you! There's something down there!"
Without thinking much, Kronk pulled a tissue packet from his pocket and dropped it into the hole.
Nothing happened.
Then he stuck his head in.
"Hello... anyone down there?"
A barely audible murmur—a serpentine whisper—made him frown.
"Sounded like my Uncle Ernesto after a really spicy soup..."
He pulled out his maintenance notebook and scribbled:
Strange conduit under second girls' bathroom sink. Snake symbol. Possible unidentified magical creature nest. Judging by the smell, area has poor ventilation.
→ Check with Dumbledore. Bring flashlight. And cookies. Gas mask needed?
He closed the notebook and reset the sink so everything looked normal. Just then, Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed in.
"Kronk!" Harry panted. "Have you noticed anything weird around here?"
"Aside from outdated plumbing, weepy ghosts, and pipes that speak in riddles?" Kronk replied with his usual smile as he spun the plunger like a gunslinger and holstered it. "Nah, all quiet."
"You sure?"
Kronk shrugged.
"Well, I found a snake symbol carved in stone under that sink, where there's a secret tunnel with creepy whispering sounds and very damp air. Oh, and Myrtle almost exploded. But other than that, everything's fine," he said casually.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at him, mouths agape.
"WHAT!?"
"Yeah, yeah," Kronk said, pointing at the sink like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Right there."
Hermione ran to the sink and began examining the floor.
"This is a secret entrance!" she said in awe. "What the legend says... the Chamber could be right underneath us!"
Ron looked at him, amazed.
"How do you keep stumbling into legendary stuff by accident?"
"I dunno," Kronk said thoughtfully. "That opening has the dimensions of a medium shower drainpipe, completely against code and honestly too tight for a so-called ancient monster."
McGonagall's class had been very enlightening in that regard.
"No one listens when I say it!" Myrtle sighed dramatically.
Harry turned back to look at Kronk, who was already pulling another bottle from his cleaning box.
"What are you doing now?"
"Cleaning the sink, just in case. You never know what kind of secret portals might have mold. Safety first!" Then he looked at Ron and Harry. "By the way, you two just earned a fine for entering the girls' bathroom."
"Are you seriously doing this right now?" Hermione asked wide-eyed.
They had just discovered the entrance to the Chamber!
"Rules are rules," Kronk said solemnly. "Twenty points from each of you!"
"Wait, why am I getting points taken off too?!" Hermione protested.
"You let them in, you're an accomplice!"