Chapter 24
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬
Part One
━━ 𓆙 𓆙 𓆙 ━━
The way down into the Chamber was cold, and while the boys seemed to scream on the way down, Cassidy was having the time of her life. She was sliding in-between Ron and Harry, her laughter intermingling with their screams. She didn't even bother to register how much her necklace was glowing.
"This is so much fun!" Cassidy whooped, the cold air whipping her face as they slid further down.
"Fun?!" The other two boys yelled in confusion.
Before she could answer, the slide came to an end, and all of them popped out onto a pile of small bones. Harry fell out first, Cassidy second, and Ron last, though he quite unfortunately landed on Cassidy.
"Ow!" She yelped, while Harry got up and dusted himself off, aiming his wands at Gilderoy, who was standing not too far from them. Ron blushed furiously as he got off of Cassidy, her signature scent of sugar and shea butter permeating his senses.
"S-sorry." He mumbled, looking away as he held out his hand to help her get up. Cassidy, whose face was now covered in dirt, took it without a second thought. Her wand hand whipped to focus on Gilderoy, and Ron did the same. He looked down, noticing what they were all standing on.
"Ugh!" Ron exclaimed.
"Now remember," Harry started. "Any sign of movement, and you close your eyes straight away." Cassidy nodded, and Harry started into one of the tunnels to their right. Lockhart hesitated, and Ron and Cassidy stared him down, wands pointed at him threateningly.
"Move." She hissed.
"Go on." Ron added.
Reluctantly, Gilderoy followed Harry, Ron and Cassidy in his wake.
They moved through more tunnels, Harry directing them through this way and that. Finally, they came to quite a peculiar place, at which Gilderoy, Cassidy and Ron hesitated before entering. Harry seemed to go through it with ease. There looked to be shells of something lying on the floor.
"What's this?" Ron asked nobody in particular.
"They look like...." Cassidy trailed off, trembling slightly.
"A snake." Gilderoy completed.
"It's a snake skin." Harry corrected, still inspecting them.
"Bloody hell." Ron breathed. "Whoever shed this must be sixty foot long... or more!"
Gilderoy Lockhart fainted just then, dropping to the floor with a great thud, and Cassidy snorted.
"Blonde git." She said, letting her guard down.
"Heart of a lion, this one." Ron added sarcastically, and they both sniggered while he lay unconscious on the floor. Suddenly, he arose again, grabbing both of their wands and choosing to use Ron's one, aiming it at the two before aiming it at Harry.
"The adventure ends here, boys." Lockhart said cunningly.
"And girl!" Cassidy pointed out.
"Yes. And girl." He seethed. "But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, how you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body."
Cassidy longed to strangle Lockhart, but she held her ground. Even if he was outnumbered, he was still the one that held their wands.
Cassidy's pulse spiked, her eyes darting to Harry. No. She had to stop this. Her muscles tensed, preparing to move, but would she make it in time?
"OBLIVIATE!"
Cassidy lunged.
The impact sent both her and Lockhart crashing against the wall opposite, the force rattling through her skull before everything went black.
A few moments later, Cassidy stirred, groaning softly. The sharp scent of dust filled her nose. Something warm pressed against her back, but when she shifted, it was clear whatever—or whoever—it was had cushioned most of her fall. Her head still pounded, but she wasn't completely out of it.
"Cassidy!"
Her eyelids fluttered open at the sound of Ron's voice. His face was inches away, blue eyes wide with concern as he knelt beside her.
"Ron?" she croaked. His hands hovered over her as if unsure whether to touch her or not.
"You—you're awake." His voice was breathless, relieved. She was about to reassure him when-
Rumble.
The chamber shook violently, and Ron helped Cassidy to her feet just as dust and debris filled the air.
"Harry?" Cassidy shouted, rushing over to him after snatching her wand from Gilderoy's hand. "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright, what about you?!" He shouted over the deep rumbling.
Ron made to follow her, but suddenly a great wall of rock and debris blocked him from doing so, separating the trio. Cassidy and Harry ducked, trying to take cover from the rocks.
When the dust had cleared, Cassidy heard Ron's voice, slightly muffled by the wall of rock between them. She coughed, some dust in her throat and eyes.
"Harry! Cassidy!" Ron shouted uncertainly. "Harry!"
After helping Cassidy up, the two ran over to the wall separating them from Ron.
"Ron!" Harry shouted.
"Ron, are you okay?!" Cassidy shouted, her voice wavering.
"I'm fine!" He answered. Cassidy felt a wave of relief wash over her, and Harry relaxed his shoulders.
Before she could say anything else, Cassidy heard a loud groan from the other side, one that sounded suspiciously like Gilderoy's.
"Hello." She heard his voice. "Who're you?"
Ron hesitated. "Ron Weasley."
"Really?" Gilderoy said, like this was the most fascinating thing in the world. "And, uh...who am I?"
"A great big git, that's what you are-" Cassidy started, before Harry covered her mouth.
"Lockhart's memory charm backfired!" Ron yelled. "He hasn't got a clue who he is!"
"It's an odd sort of place, isn't it?" He chuckled. "Do you live here?"
"No." Ron deadpanned.
"Really-?"
Ron took a rock that Gilderoy was holding to knock him out.
"I quite like Ron like this." Cassidy admitted, giggling the way she did around the twins. Ron blushed.
"What do I do now?!" He asked the two, exasperated.
"You wait here, and try and shift some of these rocks so we can get back through," Harry instructed. "We'll go on and find Ginny."
Ron nodded. "Okay." Harry started to walk off, but before Cassidy followed, Ron called out to her.
"Cass!" She turned around, peeking through the small gap and seeing his blue eyes look up at her.
"Yes, Ron?" Cassidy asked softly. He turned red from her tone.
"B-be safe, yeah?" Ron stuttered, looking everywhere but her eyes. Her lips curved into a smile, despite everything.
"Can't make any promises, but I'll try my best." She answered. Before he could say anything else, she was gone.
Harry and Cassidy approached a massive, circular door, its surface covered in intricate carvings of twisting serpents. The snakes seemed almost alive, their stone bodies coiled in eternal motion, waiting for a command.
"I think this is where your Parseltongue comes in handy," Cassidy quipped weakly, glancing at Harry.
He gave her a small smile before turning to the door and hissing in that eerie, unnatural language. The sound sent a sharp chill down Cassidy's spine. She hated hearing Parseltongue—not that she'd ever tell him.
With a deep, grating rumble, the snakes slithered backward, unlocking the door. It swung open slowly, revealing the Chamber beyond.
Cassidy and Harry stepped forward, wands raised, her necklace burning hot against her skin. A familiar whisper curled around her thoughts, low and menacing.
"Kill... this trinket is made... to kill..."
A damp, musty scent filled the air, thick with the stench of ancient stone and stagnant water. The Chamber stretched before them, vast and ominous, bathed in an unnatural green glow.
Towering stone pillars coiled like serpents lined the walls, their carved heads looming, empty eyes watching. Water pooled on the slick stone floor, reflecting the eerie light. And at the far end, carved from the very rock itself, was the enormous face of Salazar Slytherin, its mouth slightly agape—waiting.
Cassidy's necklace pulsed, the glow intensifying. Something was here. Watching. Waiting.
They stepped forward cautiously—then froze.
"Ginny," Harry breathed.
She lay motionless on the damp floor, her red hair fanned out around her, skin deathly pale. The moment Cassidy saw her, she ran, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She crashed to her knees beside Ginny, her hands shaking as she touched her freckled face.
"Ginny! No, please..." Cassidy's throat tightened, tears stinging her eyes.
Harry knelt beside them, his voice raw. "Ginny—oh, Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up. Wake up, please..."
"She won't wake."
The unfamiliar voice sent a jolt of terror through Cassidy's chest.
Slowly, she turned.
And there, standing in the dim green light, was a boy. Tall, dark-haired, and far too composed for someone who had been nowhere to be seen moments ago.
Harry's breath hitched.
"Tom?"