The wind cut sharp and cold across Cassius's face as the three streaked through the night sky—three streaks of silver and black slicing above the Forbidden Forest like falling stars.
Cassius angled his broom downward.
"Keep close," he called back, though he didn't need to.
Daphne and Cho were already tight behind him, matching his pace with sharp precision.
They had flown with him often enough to sync instinctively.
But this wasn't practice.
Tonight's flight throbbed with urgency.
They had heard the narrative Cassius explained to them as they raced through the castle and again in the air, going on a mission of rescue rather than conquest was exciting for them.
The thought of breaking into the chamber of secrets and rescuing the kidnapped Ginny was just the next step on their path to becoming first rate witches, ones worthy to remain standing by his sides.
Cassius felt it reverberate through the air.
It pulled him like a lodestone.
"There!" Cho shouted over the wind, pointing toward the dark line of cliffs at the edge of the grounds.
Cassius nodded.
The outside entrance—hidden, ancient, and never mentioned in the books at least until the end when Fawkes carries all the children and Lockheart out of the chamber until the ascended back to the surface of the castle grounds.
Cassius slowed, hovering before a jagged outcrop of stone that jutted from the cliff face.
To any normal eye it was just another shadow.
But as the three racingly approached it was clear from above that this rocky outcrop bore a secret.
A yawning tunnel revealed itself—dark, deep.
Cho shivered at the sight of it, almost like she could feel the power that went into making this place, or perhaps her instincts flaring up about the beast still residing within the chamber.
The three dove their brooms into the tunnel racing down into the earth.
Daphne lit her wand.
"Lumos."
The air got thicker the deeper they went, until finally they reached the bottom of the grotto.
Daphne and Cho followed close behind, careful, silent.
The deeper they went, the more the darkness seemed to lean in around them, listening.
Storing away their brooms the three proceeded on foot, wands drawn ready for anything.
Cassius did not choose to act casually better to fit his created narritive and deciding to be careful with how he presented himself.
Further down, a faint echo drifted from within—like a distant girl's gasp swallowed by the dark.
Ginny had reached the chamber.
Cassius's pace quickened.
"We're almost there," he murmured.
The last step fell away into a massive stone platform overlooking a serpentine tunnel. The walls were damp, glistening like the body of a sleeping snake.
They continued their rushed expedition, upon reaching the vault door.
Daphne exhaled, awed. "Cassius… this place…"
Cho swallowed. "it's the chamber isnt it?"
Cassius didn't deny it.
Using a muffleato spell on himself, to cover up his use of parseltongue the vault door opened, allowing the three to enter.
Slytherin's Chamber slid open before them like the throat of a giant ancient beast, revealing its heart.
Ginny Weasley lay unconscious in the distance—tiny, fragile, pale—before the towering stone statue of Salazar Slytherin, next to a giant mass of whitish-green that looked something like a massive egg.
Cassius's eyes softened, just briefly.
"Found her."
He had beaten Harry and Ron.
And the boys hadn't even entered the castle bathroom yet.
~
Back in Hogwarts, Harry and Ron burst into the second-floor corridor—breathless, frantic, buzzing with shock and desperate hope.
"Here—here!" Ron rasped, dragging Harry toward Myrtle's bathroom. "This has to be it!"
Harry nodded, forcing the door open.
They had taken some time to collect some things from their dorms, just in case.
The warning about danger had struck a cord with both boys and felt the need to take precautions, even if it meant wasting some time in doing so.
The bathroom was dim and echoing, the dripping taps the only sound.
Myrtle hovered above the sinks, glaring indignantly.
"Oh, you two," she huffed, crossing her arms. "I liked you better when you were girls. What do you want?"
Harry rushed forward. "Myrtle—how did you die?"
Myrtle blinked. "Well, if you must know—"
Ron cut her off, eyes scanning wildly. "Forget the story—how do we get IN?"
Harry stepped closer to the sinks, staring at the engraved serpent.
"I think… I think it's Parseltongue."
He leaned forward.
"Open," Harry hissed.
The stone rumbled.
The sink split open, revealing the massive vertical shaft.
Ron's eyes widened. "Bloody hell."
Harry gripped the edge. "We're going."
He didn't hesitate.
He jumped.
Ron cursed and followed.
The slide swallowed them both, shooting them down in spirals of cold stone and dust.
Harry landed hard on the damp underground floor.
Ron crashed down a moment later with a groan.
"Next time—warn me," Ron muttered, clutching his ribs.
Harry got to his feet, wand raised. "Come on. Ginny's down here somewhere."
They ran.
The tunnel twisted endlessly—dark, low, eerie.
Bones littered the sides.
Water dripped from unseen cracks overhead.
Ron flinched at a clatter behind them.
"Please don't let that be something alive," he whispered.
They pushed forward until the massive metal serpent gate came into view.
Harry stepped closer.
Ron pointed at the serpents. "Think you can… you know… hiss at it?"
Harry swallowed.
He leaned in.
"Open."
The serpents shifted, the metal folding away.
The gate parted.
Ron exhaled in relief—until they stepped through and froze.
Someone was already there.
Not one someone.
Three.
Cassius stood confidently in the center of the Chamber, standing vigil as a guard.
Daphne and Cho were kneeling at his sides clearly tending to someone or something behind the boy.
Their robes shimmered faintly in the green chamber light.
Ginny lay unconscious at their feet, but breathing steadily—tended to by Cho, who had a damp cloth pressed to her forehead.
Cassius glanced over his shoulder as Harry and Ron stumbled in, covered in grime, panting and wild-eyed.
"Well," Cassius drawled, "that took you long enough."
Ron's face drained of color. "N-no… you—already—"
"We won." Cassius said simply.
Harry moved forward, anger blazing in his eyes. "Ginny—what did you—"
"Relax." Cassius gestured lazily toward Cho. "She's safe. Or safer than she would've been if you two had arrived first."
In this moment Ron didnt even remember the bet he'd made, or the lack of stakes stated for the bet.
But seeing the situation well in hand, Harry chose not to linger, they had lost, the hero of the day was Cassius and the girls not them.
Ron was just happy to see Ginny safe but the girls were tending to her wounds and any interference by him would be a hinderence instead of help.