Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 43: The Chamber of Secrets

Ginny's decision to jump down the hole that led to the Chamber of Secrets was an impulsive one, but she could never countenance being left behind and certainly not when the life of one of her brothers was at stake. That didn't change the fact that it was an impulsive decision, as she realized once it was too late to turn back and she could only wait to find out the hard way what was at the bottom of the tunnel she was now sliding down at breakneck speed. For all she knew, it might lead to a bottomless pit or a bed of spikes or simply the Basilisk's gaping maw. Indeed, there might not even be a need for an actual trap of some kind – given her speed, she could simply fly out of the bottom and crash into a wall. A pair of broken legs might be just as deadly as a pit of acid if no one knew where she was or how to get to her. Thus, she was greatly relieved when the steep slide finally bottomed out into a relatively flat arc that slowed her descent before dumping her out on the ground, if not gently, then at least without injury onto a filthy stone floor.

From somewhere back up the slide, Ginny heard a noise that sounded quite alarming until she realized it was merely Jim Potter yelling "Waahooo!" at the top of his lungs as he slid down. She rolled over to one side while briefly wondering how she'd ever had a crush on the boy. Even as serious as the situation was, he couldn't resist treating the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets as if it were an amusement park ride! A few seconds later, Jim shot out of the opening face-first and landed on the ground with a loud "Whooof!" He got up slowly, rubbing his nose with a pained hiss after sliding it across the floor. By the time he'd gotten up, Ginny had already cast a Lumos, and the light from her wand revealed a twenty-foot diameter circular corridor with a stonework floor. To her great relief, there was no immediate sign of a Basilisk. Then, she heard another rattling sound from back up the way she'd come, and a few seconds later, Harry Potter floated briskly through the opening while seated in a cross-legged position. He came to a stop in midair and then casually put his feet down onto the ground. Ginny and Jim stared at him in complete amazement.

"What?" Harry said with the faintest smirk on his face. "Protego Orbis. I didn't know what would be down here, after all. If nothing else, I didn't want to end up covered in filth." He nodded at the other two who were, indeed, covered head to toe in centuries of dust and grime. Then, he reached up with his free hand and tapped his glasses in a rhythmic pattern. Instantly, the lenses went black.

"Are sunshades really helpful down here?" Jim asked irritably.

"These are. I just activated the low-light function. To me, this corridor is now brightly lit. And in fact, Ginny, I'll ask you not to wave that Lumos in my face, thank you very much. It's very distracting."

"Whatever," Jim said before heading down the corridor.

"Don't get too far ahead, Jim!" Harry said in a deliberately patronizing tone. "After all, it's not like you have a wand or anything!"

Ginny and Harry followed after Jim. "So why are you here?" Ginny whispered. "Just to annoy Jim? I mean, let's be honest, I know you don't particularly like Ron or anything."

"No, but I like you and the rest of your family, and I don't fancy explaining to your mother that I let you get eaten by a giant snake while I was hiding in the girls' bathroom. Also, I owe George a life-debt, so I sort of felt obligated."

"Do you mean to say you actually felt compelled by the debt you owed George to come risk your life down here?"

"Between you and me? I don't think so. But if anyone else asks why I did something as Gryffindorish as this, the life-debt's my story and I'm sticking to it."

With that, the trio moved on through the gloomy tunnel. After a few minutes, the tunnel opened up into a larger cave and they stopped. Up ahead, they could just make out in the darkness what looked like a massive snaked lying motionless on the other side of some rocks.