Chapter 58
Bellatrix woke slowly. Her body felt sluggish as she found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Then, slowly, the shock of it came as she was reminded of her last coherent memory, when she had tried to chase after her lord.
"Is this hell?" she wondered in a raspy voice.
"No," the answer came from a cold voice, and she looked up and found herself staring at a familiar face sitting opposite her.
"But you will wish so...."
.
.
.
0000
LILY EVANS
Hogwarts had yet to start after the holidays, but the students had begun to come back in droves as they saw the news of the attack on Hogsmeade. Some came for gossip, others came in fear, and many simply came to get back their belongings.
"Why haven't you captured Peter yet?" she questioned as she found herself summoned to the Headmaster's office, and by now it was highly suspect that the boy was one of Voldemort's followers, and yet neither the Headmaster nor the Aurors had done anything against him.
"He is the one who passed out intelligence to Voldemort," and she looked between her brother and the Headmaster, seeking an answer.
"Indeed, it pains me to say that he has turned to Voldemort's side, but the Dark Lord does not yet know that we are aware of his spy," the Headmaster added softly.
"So what?" she asked angrily.
"We are going to use him," Alder added from the side, and she was surprised by his presence here.
"Use him?" she asked, and now she was frowning.
"How? Why?" she asked, and she had never been much fond of the boy, but James and the rest had always sworn by him. He was timid and had a strange way about him, and Lily had never felt comfortable with how he would gaze at her and McKinnon sometimes.
Now she knew why.
"Well, as for how that is one reason why you are here," he added, and so they wanted to set a trap.
"I am not much fond of involving students in this war, but Alder was insistent that you would be willing to help," the Headmaster asked.
"Still, there is no compulsion here, Miss Evans...."
"I will do it," she cut in quickly, and this was not just Alder's war. This was everyone's war, and if she could play a part in ending it, she would.
"What do I need to do?" she asked, as Alder smirked.
"Nothing too serious. We just want you to continue the ruse, and once you go back to your dorms, we want you to make a few passing remarks about what was discussed here," and now she was interested.
"What remarks?" she asked.
"Just make mention of Bellatrix and how she is being tortured by the Department of the Mysteries, and how they are trying to seek information regarding some sort of a cup," and that seemed rather strange, but in the end, she would do whatever was necessary.
"Is that all?" she asked, and the Headmaster shook his head.
"I am afraid not," and then he leaned forward.
"We have called you here because we wish to employ your newfound powers for something," and they did not need to elaborate on what they were speaking of.
"My ability to speak to snakes?" and the Headmaster nodded.
"Indeed, we believe that the basilisk that Voldemort unleashed was the very same creature that was hidden in the school by one of its founders, Salazar Slytherin," and she remembered Alder telling her the story of the Chambers years ago when they had just begun their journey.
It all seemed so distant now, as she looked at her twin and saw his somber expression.
"You want to locate the Chamber of Secrets?" The Headmaster's eyes lit up.
"Well, the thing is your brother has already done that," and her head snapped towards him at once.
"What!" and he shrugged.
"But we need your abilities to open it," he added.
"You did not tell me!" and he chuckled.
"You never asked," Alder countered, and that was no justification.
"Where is it?" she asked, rather enthusiastically.
"So, you are willing to help us?" the headmaster asked, and that was not even a question.
"Of course," she answered.
"Honestly, I would be willing to do anything to end this war as soon as possible," and she doubted that she was the only one.
"I have seen the pain and the devastation it has caused. The divide that it has revealed, and I know that the quicker Voldemort falls, the quicker we can be rid of all this nonsense and start a journey towards healing," and there was silence until Alder added.
"Don't worry. Voldemort's days are numbered now," he added as she stood up from her chair.
"So where is it…?"
.
.
.
And then she found herself in the abandoned girls' bathroom on the second floor, and the place was rather famous for one reason.
"Moaning Myrtle," she realized, and Alder nodded.
"I believe she was the first casualty of this war," and the murder of Moaning Myrtle had been a mystery for years now, and now it all made sense.
"Still, I see no door," added the Headmaster, and she would agree with him, as Alder walked around the stalls with a pensive expression.
"Here," he suddenly called out, and she followed after him, as he pointed towards a steel knob.
"What is that?" she asked.
"Look at that symbol," and she followed his finger and saw that it was a snake.
"Slytherin," she realized, and he nodded.
"Now you just need to use your parseltongue and whisper open, and I believe the opening will reveal itself," and it was worth a shot, so she closed her eyes and tried to use her powers.
"Open," she whispered, and yet it was her own voice.
"Open," she tried again, and it was still nothing, as doubt filled her heart.
"Just wait," Alder added.
"Put yourself in the same place as you were in Hogsmeade, remember how it felt hearing that voice, how it felt to speak in it, and then try again," and she followed his advice and waited.
"Open," and the place began to shift, and the stalls began to shift as her eyes widened in surprise until she found herself staring at a tunnel.
"Very impressive," the Headmaster added as he stepped forward and they found themselves staring at a dark tunnel.
"Would stairs be too much to ask?" Alder added, and she closed her eyes once again, and this time the feeling was tight there for her to grasp.
"Stairs," and the ground shifted as stairs appeared in the tunnel, and slowly they began to walk down the tunnel, as the Headmaster led them through the darkness. The place was damp and dark, and once they hit the ground, she spotted shed skin, and they found themselves staring down a large causeway with large snake statues decorating the sides.
The Headmaster moved his hand, and the fires were lit as they revealed the end of the causeway.
"Where is your wand?" she asked Alder, who was still walking empty-handed.
"It's broken," he answered, and she frowned.
"How?" she asked, and he shrugged.
"It just did," and that was strange.
"Sometimes wizards are rumored to outgrow their wands. It is rare, but I have heard about such instances," the Headmaster added from the front as they slowly walked forward until they reached the end of the causeway.
"Well, all the records I have ever read did show Salazar to be a rather vain man," he added, and given that she was staring at a carved-out depiction of him, she would agree with them.
"It seems as much," Alder added, but there was nothing here.
"Open," she whispered again, and the massive marble statue began to shift, as those eyes slid open and the mouth opened up.
"Well, it seems like the place is full of surprises," and so they walked forward once more and found themselves walking through a tunnel that led into a large, round room.
"This must be the place where Salazar spent his last moments," and there was a table there, with some old, rotting parchment paper, and a broken bed to one side. A library with some ancient tomes and an empty portrait.
"Well, it seems like this place is empty," but then suddenly Alder called out from the side.
"These books might help us," Alder added, and the Headmaster nodded.
"Indeed," and just as he was talking, she heard a voice deep in her ears.
"Who dares to disturb my slumber?" and with a blink, she found herself staring at a person in the portrait.
"There," she said, as Alder and the Headmaster turned towards her.
"What?" Alder asked.
"Don't you see it, the portrait?" she said, and he frowned.
"There is nothing there," he said, and she frowned.
"This is not a joke. Look, there is someone in it," she said.
"They cannot see me, child, for they do not possess our gift," and it was an old man with a long beard and green eyes who stared down at her.
"I see now," the Headmaster added.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Salzar Slytherin...."
0000
ARCTURUS BLACK
Arcturus had vowed to put an end to that wretch that was Tom Riddle, the second he had laid hands on his blood. The bastard had the audacity to make them all bow their heads to him when he was nothing but filth.
Blood mattered. Heritage mattered.
Power. Power was a fool's tool, and the boy wished to rule their society through his ill-gotten power. The nerve of him. He would have been happy to ignore him, but the bastard had chosen to tear up his family.
He had killed his granddaughter; estranged as she may have been, she was his blood, and Black blood mattered the most, and the most painful thing for him was that it was her own family who had brought her down.
Her own father. Her own sister.
Still, Arcturus had struck, and the bastard had now gone full mad. Attacking Hogsmeade in the way that he had shown his true nature. This man, who claimed to be a blood purist, cared little for blood or loyalties.
He was a mad man hungering for power. He was a half-blood born through ill means and wished to devour their entire society to satisfy his greed and hunger. And Arcturus would not let him.
The attack on Hogsmeade had been devastating, but with the revelation of his true nature, the rank and file had begun to flee as they realized his unstable nature. He had abandoned his own people in that village, leaving them as fodder for the basilisk he had summoned.
The demon had turned on the very people who had created him, and now they were all scampering to run away. Woe was that his own son was no different.
Arcturus had half a mind to kill him right here, but the bastard was his son, and he was not heartless as he had been when he had let his own daughter be killed.
"The Dark Lord has gone mad," Cygnus whispered, and the only reason the idiot had been taken in by the bastard was because of his name, and with all that gone, he was nothing but a useless prick.
"He was always mad. You were simply too blind to see it," Arcturus countered as he turned to face him.
"I ought to kill you right here for what you have done," and Cygnus ground his teeth for he knew what he had done.
"I ought to give you to the Ministry and let those Dementors suck your soul from you," and the Ministry had launched a grand operation against the damned curs and was now hunting them down like dogs.
This was now a full-on war, and the fires had been lit.
"I had nowhere else to go," and the Ministry had raided his previous compound, and so he had fled to their ancestral home, and no Minister would be fool enough to try and raid the ancestral Black manor.
"Boy, you think too highly of me. Even if I were to forgive you, that boy. The one who is hunting your fellow men like dogs," and he knew well whom he spoke of.
"He would tear down these wards all on his own just to kill you," and he would not stop him.
"She...."
"Do not speak another word!" Arcturus roared, and he had spoken enough.
"If you wish to keep your life, then you will do exactly as I say," he demanded.
"Do you understand, you buffoon?" he asked, and he nodded solemnly.
"Now then, tell me about this cup that was given to your daughter by that wretch...."
0000