Chapter 64: 64 The Chamber Opened

It took Albus, Minerva, Severus, and Thorfinn over an hour to search through the large interweaving pipe system that they had discovered under the castle. Any time they came to a spot that required them to go up, they marked it and went another way. Albus had suggested they split up to search faster and both Minerva and Thorfinn refused.

They reasoned that if they discovered anything, there were too many twists and turns for them to get to anyone quickly. Also, keeping their force concentrated, guaranteed mutual support if it was needed. This decision was fortunate, because nearly right afterwards, they stumbled across a large ornate metal door, almost like a hatch. It was covered with snake designs and carvings of snakes, a sure sign that it was the chamber.

“Minerva, if you would.” Albus said and pointed to one particularly large snake carving that seemed to be on top of the others. “Tell it to open the door. It is a snake and should speak the proper language.”

“That is an excellent idea.” Minerva, a master transfiguration caster, easily brought the metal snake to life. “Open the door, please.”

“Assha shaaa.” The snake said, then there were a dozen large clangs and the snake hissed.

“Thank you.” Minerva said and the door swung open. “Attack spells from here on out.”

“We are not first year students.” Severus said.

“Enough.” Albus said, almost with a laugh. “We are entering a very dangerous place.”

“You're actually excited about this.” Severus said, almost in disbelief. “We don't know what the creature could be or what we will be facing.”

“As long as we are careful, things should work out.” Albus said, then quickly strode into the chamber without them.

“Albus!” Minerva exclaimed, looked at the others for a second, then she sighed and quickly followed. Inside was a large room with a giant stone face of Salazar Slytherin at one end and all along the walls were dozens of pipe entrances.

“We would have found our way here eventually without having to open the door.” Thorfinn said.

“At the very least, we could break through the rock wall, if the door proved... formidable.” Severus said.

“Search quickly for any signs of movement or recent activity.” Albus said from in front of the stone face.

“I can tell you right now that there has been none.” Minerva said and waved at the layer of dust on the floor. “Unless the creature can fly, nothing but us have moved around in here.”

“He's trying to distract us.” Severus said, seeing Albus' wand moving as he cast silently. “He knows the creature is hidden.”

“Since that face is the only feature of the room, it's only logical that the creature must be ensconced behind it.” Thorfinn said. “The problem is, what do we go about it?”

“We can't blast it, if that's what you're thinking.” Minerva said. “It would surely wake the creature.”

“Then what would you suggest?” Thorfinn asked. “Standing here and waiting for it to come out?”

Minerva sighed and looked over at Albus. “Any luck?”

“No, unfortunately.” Albus said and the four of them stood there in silence as he thought about it for several minutes. “Severus and Thorfinn, go to the door and cut it off, then bring it in here.”

The two men walked over to the large metal door and used a severing charm to slice off the hinges, then levitated it in through the opening and brought it over to him.

“Minerva, have the snake say the same thing.” Albus said as he turned the door towards the face.

“Everyone, step back.” Minerva said and commanded the animated snake to repeat itself.

“Assha shaaa.” The snake said and then to everyone's surprise, the stone face shook for a moment and then the mouth dropped open, almost as if Salazar himself was surprised that they had opened it.

“Oh, dear lord.” Minerva said as she covered her nose and mouth at the stench.

Albus waved his wand and the inside of the lair lit up. All four people took in sharp breaths at the sight of a giant coiled snake that lay in front of them. It was still asleep, despite all of the noise they had been making.

“It must be an enchanted sleep.” Thorfinn said.

“The Draught of Living Death.” Severus whispered.

“We will not be administering the antidote.” Minerva said and the three men turned to look at her. “Kill the damn thing and let's get out of here.”

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“I wish it was that easy.” Albus said and looked at Thorfinn. “Any ideas?”

“By the coloration and the sheer size, I'd say this is a basilisk, probably hand raised by the founder himself.” Thorfinn said. “It's going to have strong protections on it, so we need to research it and try to find some way to...”

“It's asleep. Any defenses it has can't be active, which means as long as we act quickly, it won't be able to defend itself.” Minerva said. “Albus, hurry up! Who knows what will happen with so many of us here disturbing it.”

Albus gave her a look and she didn't back down. He sighed and waved his wand at the giant snake. He used magic to carefully pull the head out just enough to expose the neck. Severus and Thorfinn didn't need prompting as they went to either side of it and started casting severing charms while Albus held it steady. They were a third of the way through the snake's neck when a flood of power filled the chamber.

“No!” Albus exclaimed as the snake's eyes started to open. “Tell the door to close!” He said to Minerva and blasted both eyes before the snake fully woke. Minerva commanded the metal snake on the door and it spoke. The giant stone face closed its mouth on the giant snake and it woke up fully. It opened its mouth and hissed in pain and hatred at being disturbed. Venom flew out and Albus showed how nimble he was as he avoided the splashes of it and the blood the snake started expelling.

Severus and Thorfinn hadn't stopped casting the severing charms and were nearly halfway through the snake's neck. Albus used his wand to move the snake's head from side to side, so the wounds that Thorfinn and Severus were doing to it became wider.

“Almost there!” Thorfinn said and kept casting.

“HISSSS!” The snake said as it thrashed and turned to try and grab whatever it was on its side that was hurting it and making noises.

“Immobulus!” Minerva said and cast it on the large spurt of venom that the snake had spat at Thorfinn. He nodded at her in thanks and Albus did his best to hold the snake where it was.

“Severus!” Albus said as the snake fought against his magic.

“I'm at the spine.” Severus said calmly, despite being in a life and death situation. “One more... just one more...”

*SNAP!*

The head popped off the neck and flopped down to the ground.

“Hold it steady!” Minerva said and added her magic to Albus' and helped restrain the head, even though she was sure that it couldn't spit without a neck to direct it. It was better to be safe than sorry.

It took a short while for the neck to stop moving, even though the blood kept pouring out. After a short discussion, they decided to leave the stone face's mouth closed.

All four of them took several steps away from the scene of the battle and Albus conjured up four Griffindor cushioned chairs for them to sit in. They all plopped down into them and stared at the giant severed head of the snake.

Minerva's Immobulus spell ended and the venom suspended in the air dropped to the floor. A moment later, she felt a strong hand take hers.

“Thank you, Minerva.” Thorfinn said, his voice full of gratitude. “That was heading for my face, which meant that even if there was some kind of magical cure for basilisk venom and it was administered immediately, I still would have died.”

“There's no need to...” Minerva started to say, then he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. Her face went red at the gallant gesture and she wasn't sure how to respond.

“You were very smart and stayed back out of the way to let us handle the dangerous part. You were mindful of our safety while we were focused on dispatching the creature.” Thorfinn said. “It was quite admirable and I appreciate still having my life and my face intact.”

Minerva nodded demurely. She knew that he was sincere and she appreciated his thanks.

Thorfinn gave her hand a squeeze and let it go. “What should we do about this mess?”

“It will have to be reported to the school governors and the Ministry, of course.” Minerva said. “I think they will be quite relieved that such a danger has been removed from the school.”

“It will also help fill the school's coffers.” Albus said and the other three looked at him with surprise on their faces. “It's fitting, isn't it? Salazar's monster will be divvied up and sold to fund the school that he abandoned.”

The three of them exchanged looks, shrugged, and sat there for quite some time before they decided, almost as one, to stand up.

Albus dismissed the chairs and smiled at them. “Now, which one of you knows the way back to the proper tunnel to take us up to the castle?”

They exchanged looks again and Minerva was the first to smile. Albus let out a chuckle and Thorfinn barked a laugh that echoed in the chamber.

“Madam.” Thorfinn held an elbow out to Minerva. “Please allow me to escort you on another tour of the pipes.”

Minerva's smile went a little wider as she tucked her arm in through the elbow. “That's very nice of you, Thorfinn.” She said and the pair strode out of the chamber as if they were taking a leisurely stroll.

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