Harry Potter and the Eye of Isis

Chapter 17 - The Mysteries of Chambers

Oddly enough, Harry didn't even have to attempt to use Legilimency in order to know where Ron, Hermione and Neville were standing. He could see a faint green glow around their bodies and knew that the Eye of Isis was allowing him to see through the disillusionment charm. As he walked towards the lifts, his friends following him, he wondered if that meant he'd be able to see through invisibility cloaks too.

With the lifts in sight, Harry casts his eyes over at the man sitting at the visitor's check-in station. The tall, gangly man has his feet propped up on the desk, and thankfully, had not taken notice that anyone had entered the Atrium. Harry raised his wand at the man and whispered, "Htp-k." The effects of the spell were instant; the man teetered in his seat for a moment and then fell to the ground snoring loudly. His immediate slumber made it easy for Harry to walk over to the lifts and enter one. He held the door open long enough for the three silhouettes of green to follow him into the lift.

Once they were all inside, Harry pressed the number nine button and the lift began down the shaft. Anticipation raced through Harry as they descended each level. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that putting one security guard to sleep would open the door of opportunity. The Ministry had to have placed additional security measures on the Department of Mysteries since he and his friends just strolled right in last year (at least Harry secretly hoped they had so that not just anyone could do what he was about to).

Just as the lift stopped Harry turned back and looked at Ron, Hermione and Neville. "I can see you guys through the charm. I'm not going to remove it until we're through the door. Hermione, I want you to go in right after me and mark the door we enter through." She nodded her head at him. "Neville, count to ten and then enter, Ron, you count to fifteen. Remember, the moment Ron enters the room and closes the door behind him all of the doors will begin to rotate. Don't move; that's when I'll remove the charm."

They all seemed to know exactly what to do and exited the lift with their wands at the ready. Harry slowly made his way down the corridor leading towards the door. No one was present, not even a silhouette of a person hiding by a disillusionment charm or under an invisibility cloak. Harry peered quickly down the corridor that led to the stairs to the tenth level where the courtroom was, but he saw nothing. Amazed at how easy this was he quickly made his way past the empty chair in front of the door and opened it.

He had barely slipped in when a red star appeared on the back side of the door and Hermione quickly moved to his left. Neville entered, followed by Ron, who closed the door, immediately causing the wall to begin its rotation. Harry ignored this more a moment as he removed the disillusionment charm from his companions.

"It was too easy," Hermione said suspiciously. "We shouldn't have been able to just stroll in."

"I agree," Harry nodded fearing that the danger really lay ahead of them, beyond the doors. "But we have to move on. Neville and I will start on the door to the right of the star," Harry pointed at the door they entered through as it circled them. "Ron, you and Hermione start on the left. Remember to mark the doors if you get the opportunity and that we don't have much time. You guys find the book with the Ritual of Life in it, copy it and get back. Neville and I will be as quick as possible."

Harry watched Ron and Hermione run at the door to the left of the star and disappear through it. As soon as they were gone, he and Neville charged their door and pushed through to reveal that they were in the brain room. Harry smartly had hung onto the door and quickly charmed the image of a brain on the door so Ron and Hermione would know which one it was. He then grabbed the back of Neville's robe and pulled him back into the main room knowing that they probably didn't need that room.

The moment they were looking at the revolving doors again Neville pointed to the one with a brain on it. It was now directly across the one with the red star. Harry sighed, realising that the doors shuffled as well. At least he could hope the marks stayed on them.

On their third try, Harry and Neville entered a room they hadn't seen before, and still had not crossed paths with Ron and Hermione or anything remotely dangerous. This room was a grand as the Great Hall and lined with floor to ceiling bookcases, which were stuffed with books.

"I think we just found the library," Neville said as he looked up at the vast collection of literary works. Neville removed his mirror from his pocket. "Hermione?"

It only took a few seconds for Harry to hear Hermione's voice. "Did you guys run into trouble?"

"No, we found the library," Neville looked back at Harry, who had just charmed the front of the door with a book. "Harry marked it."

"Okay, we're on our way towards you guys."

Harry was going to exit the room but stopped when he saw a flicker of light appear at the other end of the hall. "What's that down there?"

"I don't know, let's go check it out."

As Harry and Neville walked towards the light Harry caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly grabbed Neville and shoved him behind him as he turned on the movement. Facing it, he saw what looked to be a ripple in the air. It wasn't a person or any kind of object; the air just appeared to be rippling. Slowly, Harry stretched his arm out towards it. He stared addictively at it suddenly wanting very badly to touch it. Just as he was about to, Neville snatched up Harry's arm, yanking him away from it.

"Don't touch it, Harry," he insisted, "I've got a bad feeling about it."

Harry numbly nodded his head, deciding that Neville was probably right. And the moment that Harry voluntarily moved is hand away, the ripple grew in width and height until it resembled a door. Quiet suddenly, a slender silver handle appeared and began clicking as if someone were trying to turn it. Harry and Neville both had the good sense to duck to the side of one of the bookcases. They both saw Hermione and Ron enter the room as they did this and Harry frantically gestured at them to hide. He let out a quick sigh as they disappeared from his sight.

However, his relief was short lived. The sound of the newly present door opening made his heart race in his chest. He struggled with his own emotions to quickly get them at bay. He knew he could, and would have to face whatever or whoever it was that just entered the room. He reminded himself that he'd recently been tested by gods and passed; he could certainly face whatever anomaly emerged in the Department of Mysteries.

All of Harry's attention was on the sound that emerged from the door: a person breathing very evenly, obviously unaware that anyone was in the library. The soft clicking of heels against the floor led Harry to believe that it was a woman who'd emerged. The footsteps sounded just like Aunt Petunia clicking her way across the kitchen floor when she wore her high-heeled shoes.

Harry quickly darted his head around the bookcase for a peek. After the extremely quick glance he looked over at Ron and Hermione, who were hiding across the hall, and then to Neville, who was looking at him with a questioning expression on his face. None of them knew exactly what to do, and Harry, who'd led his friends to this point, knew he needed to think of something quickly to keep from getting caught by the woman who had a very keen resemblance to Professor McGonagall. Harry had wondered for a brief moment if his head of house had a younger sister.

The moments passed by too quickly, and before Harry could do anything, the woman was striding right by the bookcase that he and Neville were hiding beside. She didn't seem to notice though that two sixteen-year-olds were ducked behind it, she just continued towards the exit. Harry almost sighed when he caught sight of Hermione. The woman had passed her and Ron, but clearly Hermione didn't think they were out of danger. She was using her hands to draw an object in the air. Harry realised that Hermione was referring to the bookmark they had placed on the outside of the door, and all of the other marks for that matter. The moment this woman walked into the revolving hall, she would realise that someone had come into the Department of Mysteries.

When the door closed behind her, Harry leapt from the side of the bookcase and began running towards the other end of the library. Everyone followed this notion, realising that he was trying to get as much distance between them and the entrance, knowing that the woman would probably come back in search of who'd made their way into the chambers. Once they were all at the end of the hall, they all huddled together looking at Harry for a solution to this predicament.

"We knew we'd run into some resistance," Harry said quietly. "I think we have no choice but to try and continue. I can put the charm back on you two," he told Ron and Hermione, "that way you can continue in here. Neville and I will move on. We only have a little bit of time left, and I think--" Harry's voice abruptly stopped when he saw the door swing back open. He quickly pointed his wand at Ron and Hermione and made them disappear. He then grabbed Neville's hand and dragged him to the opposite side of the room ducking behind bookcases the whole way.

The woman was obviously aware that the numerous shelves of books would be excellent hiding places for any Marauders and looked between every shelf as she made her way towards the back of the hall. Luckily, Harry and Neville managed to sneak by her when she was looking the other way. The moment Harry reached the spot where the anomaly had first occurred he reached out grabbing a part of the ripple. When he did this the door appeared again. Before thinking about it, he clicked the handle and pulled Neville in with him.

Harry and Neville said nothing to each other as they took in the vast room in which they now found themselves. It seemed endless, lined with file cabinets as far as the eye could see. A smile spread across Harry's face. "This has got to be it," he said to Neville. "I bet there is a file in here for every witch and wizard in our world...and probably some who aren't. Let's get your mum's file and get back to Ron and Hermione."

They slowly made their way down the cabinets until they reached the first L. Neville continued searching through the Ls until he pulled out a large file that said, "Longbottom, Alice". As Neville performed a duplication charm on the file Harry looked at a nearby file cabinet that held P. Unable to stop himself, he wandered over to it and opened it. His curiosity had actually led him there to look at his parent's files but when he saw his own name, he yanked his file out instead.

His eyes quickly scanned through a brief history of his life. He pushed the first page to the side and saw what looked to be a legal document that named Arthur and Molly Weasley his magical guardians. It had been authorized by Sirius Black. Harry flipped the document to the side and found Sirius's will. Harry was astounded that no one told him that it existed or what it contained. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he read the will.

Sirius had left all of his money to Harry and Remus Lupin. According to the will, it was to be split evenly between the two and deposited into their Gringotts accounts. Buckbeak was willed to Hagrid, and Number Twelve was given to Albus Dumbledore. It also stated that should Sirius pass away before Harry turned seventeen, Arthur and Molly Weasley were to be given magical guardianship, but the physical guardianship should remain with Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

Harry mumbled bitterly to himself as he stuffed the will back into the folder and slammed it back into its place in front of his father's folder. He slammed the cabinet draw shut and pivoted around so he could lean against the cabinet. "Great," he whispered under his breath, "something else that they have neglected to tell me. I now belong with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore won't let them have me either."

"What?" Neville asked as he approached Harry. He had seen his reactions to the file and watched silently as Harry cried over whatever it was that he had read. "What did you find out, Harry?"

"Nothing important," Harry said miserably, "or at least nothing that Dumbledore thinks is important for me to know."

"Poor little Half-blood. Still shedding tears over what he can't control."

"Did you hear that?" Harry snapped his head around looking for the source of the voice, not fully paying attention to Neville as he alertly looked about the room. "It sounded like..."

Harry trailed off, forgetting that he was even talking as he walked towards the hissing sound. He knew exactly what it had to be, and he wanted to know why a snake was slithering around the Ministry, and if it had been sent there by Voldemort.

"Where are you?" Harry hissed as he walked to his right, deeper into the room lined with file cabinets.

"He looks but never sees, Master," it hissed.

This startled Harry and he abruptly stopped walking coming to a conclusion as to who the snake's master probably was. "Is Voldemort your master?"

"My master is the greatest wizard of all time...Salazar Slytherin."

"Slytherin is dead." Harry said as he looked back at Neville. He pointed at Neville and then covered his eyes with his hands hoping that Neville would get the message that Harry thought this snake could possibly be a basilisk.

"My master can never die," it insisted. "You must be a great wizard too...if you can speak with me."

"Tell me where you are so that I can look at you while we speak."

"Look up."

Harry did as he was told but still saw nothing. He practically spun around as he tried to find the snake. It was during this spinning that he caught a glimpse of the shimmering hide of the snake. Harry chuckled to himself as he realised that it was a portrait that was speaking to him.

"You can take your hands off your eyes, Neville," he told his friend. "It's a portrait." And that made sense to Harry. That was why the snake was insisting that his master could never die. It was probably taking orders from a portrait of Slytherin.

Harry decided he wanted to get a better look at the portrait, wondering if it held any clues and curious as to why it was tucked away in such a deep, dark place within the Ministry. He and Neville approached to watch the snake rear up and pose as if it were going to strike at the two. When they didn't flinch it slithered to the back corner of the portrait where Harry notice there was a man sitting in a chair. That man rose and walked to the front of the portrait.

"Who are you?" he asked immediately. "And which one of you is a Parselmouth?"

"I'm the Parselmouth," Harry answered. "And my name is Harry Potter."

"You are very cunning if you have arrived in the hall without being detected." Slytherin obviously knew they were not adult wizards. "Are you of my line? Do you attend Hogwarts?"

"We both attend Hogwarts," Harry answered. "We're in our sixth year."

"What house?"

"The only house that could produce students sly enough to manage this," he answered hoping that Slytherin would come to his own conclusions about their house affiliation.

"Excellent." Slytherin now occupied so much of the portrait that Harry could no longer see the snake, or anything else, in the background. "What is it that you and your companion seek, Harry?"

"Truth," Harry said honestly. "The headmaster has been hiding a great many things from us in the past six years and we want the truth. We want justice for the Wizarding World."

"I can only imagine the lies that your headmaster has been weaving since control of Hogwarts was given to that Muggle loving fool," he said grumpily. "Tell me, have either of you heard of the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry and Neville both nodded, but Neville spoke. "Harry's been in it--"

"In my second year," Harry cut Neville off so that he wouldn't give Slytherin too much information. "The basilisk is dead though. It was slain before I could do anything."

Slytherin shook his head slowly as he reflected on the monster he had hidden in the chamber. "It disheartens me to hear such things, but the chamber has other uses and mysteries...if you are brave enough to find them."

Harry and Neville quickly glanced at each other. "Like?" asked Harry.

"I'm afraid that it wouldn't be much fun to tell you, Harry, I want you to find out for yourself." A smile played on his lips. "When you are through here, I'll take you there."

Harry looked a bit confused at his statement. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'll take you there," Slytherin said again, his smile even wider.

Harry nodded slightly at Slytherin, seeming to realise what the founder was telling him, and also coming to a conclusion as to why this portrait was hidden so deeply within the Ministry. If it truly was a doorway, as Harry suspected, then it would give the enemies of Hogwarts easy access to the school.

"We need to gather our two other housemates," Harry told Slytherin and then grabbed Neville's arm and marched him away a few feet. "If this leads back to the castle...well, it would make an easier way home."

"It would also mean that Voldemort can get into the castle." Neville pointed out. "He can open the chamber that means Slytherin would lead him through the doorway to."

Suspecting the nervousness within Neville, Harry decided to calm him. "Neville, you can't be afraid of Voldemort. We can defeat him...and if Slytherin inadvertently helps us," he glanced over his shoulder at the portrait again, which seemed to have faded of life and looked like a Muggle portrait of a man again. "We should take his help."

"Are you sure about this, Harry?" a slight stuttered accompanied Neville's question. "I mean...are you sure?"

"It's going to be okay, Neville," Harry placed both of his hands on Neville's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "We were meant to work together." Now was the time to tell him, Harry knew the time was right and he had no intention of keeping this information from Neville. He wasn't going to leave him in the dark even if Dumbledore did feel that children should be left in the dark.

"Your wand has a phoenix feather core?" he asked Neville in order to round the conversation to its point.

"Yes, Mr. Ollivander said only two other wizards have a wand like mine. He said they were great wizards."

Harry nodded slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable with being lumped together with Voldemort in that sense. He certainly didn't feel great after what he'd done in Egypt. The ramifications of the Unforgivable curse were beginning to be left by Harry...he had used it without a second thought.

"Those other two wizards are me and Voldemort. We have wands with a feather from Fawkes at the core. We have brother wands; it's why we can't duel each other. Mr. Ollivander told me that Fawkes gave another feather, and that feather is at the core of your wand, Neville."

Harry's serious demeanour didn't fade as he pressed forward, telling Neville everything that he knew. "There's more. That prophecy that we came here for last year; it was me but it was given before we were born, Neville, it wasn't name specific, only date specific--"

"It co...could have been me?" the stutter became a bit more prominent.

Harry nodded. "That's how I found out when your birthday is...Dumbledore told me that you and I were the only choices. Voldemort choose me but that doesn't diminish the fact that it could have been you. And that tells me that you have as much magical skill as I do."

"That's why Professor Lupin is giving me private lessons?" Neville posed it as a question but it was truly a revelation.

"I believe that you and I are meant to fight him..."

"Together," Neville finished Harry's sentence somehow sensing that he already knew all of this. As much as it was a shock, it wasn't truly sudden...at least not in Neville's mind. It was beginning to make sense.

Harry was going to say more to Neville, but was stopped by a voice coming from the inside of his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the mirror seeing Ginny's frantic face in it.

"Harry! Get back to Hogwarts now. Snape has found the reciprocal mirror in the dungeon, and he thinks that you put it there," she said almost breathlessly. "I had to destroy my mirror that was connected to it because he was trying to break the charm on it that refused to show him the holder of the mirror. I don't know where he and Dumbledore are now. You've got to get everyone back to the castle...NOW!"

"Ginny, get my cloak and Parvati and go to Myrtle's toilet. I'll meet you there."

"But Harry--"

"Just do it, Ginny, please."

Ginny nodded quickly and disappeared from Harry's mirror. He didn't have to call on Ron and Hermione because Neville was already in the process of giving them instruction on how to get to the location where he and Harry were having heard what Ginny was telling Harry.

Harry made haste towards the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, pointing his wand directly at the monkey-faced old man. He closed his eyes and imagined a snake before him, and then opened his mouth so he could hiss at the portrait. Ron and Hermione arrived, breathlessly, just in time to see the portrait swing open. Harry reached back grabbing both Ron and Hermione by their robes and pushed them through the portrait hole. Once they were through, Neville jumped after them. Harry firmly grasped the portrait so that he could be sure that it closed behind them before he launched himself through closing the doorway in the process.

Harry hadn't really paid attention to what he was going through; he was only focused on getting out of the Department of Mysteries. Before he barely had time to register that he was sliding, he slipped out of the mouth of the statue of Salazar Slytherin within the Chamber of Secrets and splashed straight into the water. Harry swam to the edge and hoisted himself out. Everyone else had already done this and was staring at the giant basilisk that was still lying exactly where Harry had slain it. He too let his eyes linger on the carcass for a moment and wondered why it hadn'tdecomposed at all in the past four years. Then he reminded himself that he was on the verge of getting his friends in trouble again that he brought his sense back to what was important.

"Harry, what about the charm?" Ron asked knowing that only Harry could see him. "You need to remove it."

Harry nodded quickly and pointed his wand at Ron and Hermione. Once they were visible again he held out his hands obviously wanting something. "Quick, everyone give me everything that you took from the Department of Mysteries. This will be the perfect place to hide it since I'm the only one who can get in here."