Amulet of time 1: The Age of The Founders

Chapter 20: Slytherin Spies

" You can't be serious!"

" I'm sorry, Gin, but I'm afraid I am. Simbi and Nirah told me that the meetings would be held in 'the Chamber', and that's the only secret chamber I can think of. I mean, think about it. If you were going to spy on one of the other founders, and you didn't want anyone to find you, then you would go somewhere they couldn't reach. The Chamber of Secrets is the only part of Hogwarts I know of that the others would be unable to access."

" Wait a minute," Christabel spoke up, " Could you please tell us what you mean? I'm a little confused, and I think Ardwick and 'Tea are as well."

The other two nodded in agreement. They had never heard of the Chamber of Secrets before. The time travellers looked at each other briefly before Harry launched into the tale of his second year at Hogwarts, Ginny adding details he was unsure of. Once they were finished, the three Anglo-Saxons were staring at them in awe.

" Amazing! You killed a basilisk when you were twelve!" Ardwick loudly exclaimed. Hermione looked at him disapprovingly, then sighed in defeat. In her book, boys would never learn to behave in a civilised manner in a library.

" That's by the by, Ard. We need a course of action. After being best friends with Harry for four and a half years, I like to know what's going on around the school. The best way to find out what Slytherin is up to would be to follow him around for a while."

" Ron, I appreciate your logic, but I think we should take this to my mother. We shouldn't go spying on one of the professors, it's dishonest. My mother might know what's going on..."

" I don't think so, 'Tea. If Slytherin is having snakes spy on Gryffindor, and is meeting them in the Chamber of Secrets, he obviously doesn't want anybody else to know about it. If we follow him down there at the next meeting, we can see for ourselves what's going on and report back to Lady Ravenclaw when we have some hard evidence."

" But Harry, you're the only one that will be able to understand him. Anyway, I thought you said you were sending your snakes to the meeting. Why would we need to go as well?"

" I see your point, 'Mione, but what if they get caught? I mean, Slytherin might have a specific group of snakes he is using, and Simbi and Nirah might seem suspicious. I know he doesn't know about me being a parselmouth, but he might not want to take the risk. He could hurt them, and I couldn't let that happen. I think I should be the only one to go."

" What! You can't!"

" Harry, that's dangerous!"

" NO!"

" What if he sees you..."

" STOP IT! I've made up my mind. I'm going to the next meeting, and that's final. I think we need to know what's going on and I'm the best person to do it. In the meantime, we should all take turns watching him for any suspicious behaviour. Agreed?"

The rest of the group reluctantly nodded their heads. They could see Harry's logic, but they weren't happy with the situation. They were afraid he might get hurt, but trusted him to be careful and do the right thing.

Three weeks after the Hallow'een feast finally came, and with it the quidditch tryouts. Harry and Ron were on the pitch early, getting out school brooms and transfiguring temporary quidditch balls. It had been decided by the founders that the pair of them would be the best people to lead the tryouts, as they were more familiar with the game, and so would be able to make good suggestions for players. For that day they were instructed to treat all of the Houses equally, so as to make the selections fair. They were not to favour their own House teams.

Gallatea had been practically bouncing off the walls since breakfast. She had been eagerly awaiting the tryouts since she had first seen the quidditch pitch, and was doubly excited now that the day had finally arrived. She had spent the previous evening cleaning and tidying her broom, Harry's broomstick servicing kit open in front of her. Harry had lent it to her so she could get her broom into the best shape possible. He knew she wouldn't have to worry about the tryouts, as she was a fantastic flyer, but he knew she would feel better if her broom was in good condition. He really admired Gallatea's broom. It had been handmade by her mother as a birthday present two years ago, and the craftsmanship was exquisite. Harry loved his Firebolt dearly, but would kill for such a personalised broom. It was made specifically for the girl to fly, and responded poorly to anyone else who tried to fly it. It was just as fast as his Firebolt, which he found strange considering the fact that it was a thousand before his broom was made, and technology shouldn't have advanced that far.