The second floor corridor outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was deserted, save for the faint hum of enchanted lanterns. Their flickering light barely touched the damp corners of the hall, where mildew crept between old stones and time seemed to stand still.
Harry stood just outside the bathroom door, his wand clenched in his hand.
Draco joined him seconds later.
"You sure she's not in there screaming today?" Draco asked with a sideways glance.
"Only one way to find out," Harry murmured.
They entered quietly, careful not to disturb the silence. The bathroom had always been eerie—its cracked mirrors, dripping taps, and ghostly aura made most students avoid it.
Today, it felt even colder.
Moaning Myrtle wasn't there.
Draco moved toward the largest sink. "This one. It has a snake etched into the side."
Harry examined it. "Tom Riddle opened the Chamber from here. But I don't know Parseltongue well enough."
Draco hesitated. "What if the entrance isn't magic-triggered anymore? What if it was left open, or damaged?"
Harry knelt, tapping his wand against the sink. "Revelio."
The pipe shimmered faintly.
Then a whisper slithered up from the drain.
"Kill...kill..."
They froze.
Draco looked pale. "It's moving again."
"Come on," Harry said. "We have to warn someone."
---
Snape's Classroom – Same Hour
Snape was mid-lecture when the torches along the wall flared blue. He paused.
A coded signal.
Trouble.
He dismissed the class with a flick of his wand. Half the Slytherins hadn't even packed up when he was already out the door, robes trailing like smoke.
He moved fast.
---
Corridor Outside the Bathroom
Draco and Harry nearly collided with Professor McGonagall.
"What are you two doing up here?" she demanded.
Draco opened his mouth, but Harry stepped forward. "Professor, we think the entrance to the Chamber is in Myrtle's bathroom. The monster—it's awake."
Before she could respond, Snape arrived, eyes flashing.
"Potter. Malfoy. Inside. Now."
---
Inside the Bathroom
Snape's wand scanned the room like a compass seeking truth. He paused at the sink.
"Parseltongue magic," he murmured. "Old. But recently disturbed."
He touched the edge of the basin.
It spun.
Harry and Draco watched, stunned, as the sink began to descend, revealing a long stone chute.
McGonagall gasped. "The Chamber of Secrets."
Snape turned to them. "You are not going in. Not this time."
"But—"
"No. I will."
He looked at Harry for a long moment. "If I'm not back in ten minutes, you tell the Headmaster. And you do not follow."
Then, without another word, Severus Snape vanished into the dark.
---
Deep Below – The Chamber's Edge
Snape moved carefully, wand aglow. The walls down here pulsed faintly, and air vibrated with ancient magic.
There were no whispers now. Only a silence that pressed like a weight.
Then he saw it.
Stone shed skin.
A basilisk scale.
Snape reached for it.
Something hissed behind him.
He turned just in time to see a shadow slither between pillars.
It wasn't the beast.
It was the memory of one.
A projection—or a trap.
Snape stepped back, breath shallow.
"Riddle," he whispered. "You left more than just a diary behind."
The echo smiled with ghostly eyes.