Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

It was Saturday. Now that we had no classes, Quincy returned to the library while I was back to explore the castle corridors after waking up early and having a quick breakfast.

"This just does not want to work out, does it…?" I murmured, walking along the 7th-floor corridor as I intended to head back to our 'headquarters.'

My search was fruitless as any empty room I found was not really hidden. Anyone walking by could come in any time they wished. At least, ours was atop the North Tower, and you had to actively climb up a ladder to get there, lowering the chance that someone would just… come up. I tried looking around everywhere, even in the dungeons. I even considered the abandoned bathroom there but heard the ghost who inhabited it wailing… I bet our ritual would fail simply because of the interference of her loud tantrums.

"Haaah…" I sighed again, stopping at the giant tapestry, watching the funny-looking wizard on it, trying to teach the trolls to dance… to… do ballet? "Heh… Barnabas the Barmy." I chuckled, walking up and down before it. I started to remember the tale, reading it when I was smaller, warning young witches and wizards about the danger of going too far with things. "Maybe I am doing just the same?" I asked myself, and it was that moment when I heard a click.

Turning around, searching for the source of the sound, I saw a door on the empty wall. One that I was sure it was not there before. I couldn't be mistaken… or…? No. I had walked past here many times already, and there were no doors here before. None. By the time my thoughts caught up with my body, I was already gripping the handle, pushing it down, and entering the newly found room.

"What the…?!" I gasped, stepping into the ancient-looking room. Its walls were void of all decoration, made from bare, grey stone, the same as the hard ground. Looking up, there was no ceiling, only the projection of the sky, representing the outside world, just the same as in the Great Hall. "No way…!" I gulped, feeling my stomach lurch as in the middle, there was the same ritual I was about to set up, all prepared, only missing its two core components. The sacrifice and the recipient.

If I say I was flabbergasted, I wouldn't be even close to what I was feeling at that moment. I immediately considered someone was in on us… but that should not be possible. Someone else wanted to do the ritual? No… that was also not possible, simply by the fact that this knowledge had to be inherited. Did Father tell the Headmaster about it? Did he put this here? I… I don't think so. Why wouldn't he inform me about it, then? Why would he warn me he only collected enough materials for two tries?

All these questions and more were swirling in my mind while I walked around the room, watching the magical circle etched directly into the stone floor. The seven goblets that should be placed at its key points were all there, filled with the exact amount of ingredients. All the rare plants, magical beast parts, everything was laid out perfectly. I just only had to add the last 'ingredient,' step into my spot, and let the magic begin.

"This is… nonsense." Still, in disbelief, I laughed as I tore my eyes away, watching the enchanted ceiling. "This is even better… If we can do this under the full moon, it will be even more effective! Which is… two weeks away… I hope I can find you again!" I licked my lips before exiting, closing the door and watching it slowly disappear.

…
…..
……

"We need to talk…" I whispered, arriving in the library in a hurry and finding Quincy sitting at one of the tables, reading a giant book filled with multiple cutouts of old newspapers and hand-written reports.

"Okay…" She answered, watching my face that tried to look calm, but she immediately noticed my excitement, the fact that I was trying to regulate my breathing after rushing down to get her. "I also found something."

I said nothing in response, only helping her clean up before we left the library, trying to look nonchalant. Looking around, making sure we were alone, I led her up to the 7th floor, taking some extra turns to double ensure when we arrived there, it was only the two of us.

"So… we are not going to headquarters?" She asked as we took a different route to the 7th floor.

"No." I shook my head, saying quietly, "I found a hidden room! It appeared from nowhere!"

"A… hidden room?" She asked, furrowing her brows, watching me stop before the tapestry of Barnabas. "Where?"

"There." I pointed at the empty wall. "It appeared right there, out of thin air! I walked in, and it was… perfect!"

"Perfect?" She tilted her head to the right, watching me, then the stone slabs making up the wall. She ran her fingers along, knocking at it, but it was solid, and even when she tapped it with her wand, nothing changed. "What do you mean by perfect?"

"It had a complete ritual set up inside already!"

"You are joking!" She whirled around immediately.

"Nope! When I got out, I watched the door disappear."

"..."

"Are you…?" I tried to ask, but she shook her head.

"No, I believe you. This is Hogwarts we are talking about! It was built with long-lost, ancient magic. I can easily see it summoning a room to the exact requirements of a wizard! I just… well, I would think it would do so for the teachers! Not for… us!"

"Maybe it does indiscriminately?" I asked, crossing my arms, "Doing it for those who need it? Who want it?"

"Could be… The question is, how do you make it appear? What did you do?"

"I was watching him." I pointed at Barnabas over my shoulder before turning to face it once again after Quincy walked next to me. "I thought I may be just as mad to go this far for some stupid idea of mine."

"Not a bad thought." She chuckled, watching the trolls beating the poor wizard with their clubs. "Hmmm… And you just stood here while the door… appeared?"

"No," I spoke, thinking back, and started to pace up and down the same way. "I was walking up and down like this, and while doing so, thinking about my plan-"

*click*

"Exactly like that." I turned towards the wall, almost falling over, and both of us could see the door standing there, decorating the previously empty wall.

"Woah!" Quincy took a sharp breath and walked forward, opening it without hesitation. Once again, going in, it was the same room as before, making me grin with elevation. This was exactly what we needed, and Hogwarts provided it.

"See? I told you, it has everything!"

"Yes… yes, it does!" She licked her lips.

"Now we just need the sacrificial beast!"

"About that…" Quincy turned towards me abruptly, looking into my eyes, "I think I found what your Father hinted at!"

"I'm listening."

"Have you ever heard about the… Chamber of Secrets?" She smiled, looking like a crafty little fox.

"No… it does not ring a bell. But this place could be called that, couldn't it?" I joked, making her giggle.

"Then we would be dead! Like Myrtle Elizabeth Warren!"

"Who?"

"Moaning Myrtle!"

"Once again… who?"

"Haaah!" She walked around, sitting down on a puffy chair as I followed suit. She was about to continue when we looked at each other, then to our left, and not just the chairs appeared, but we had a round table next to us, filled with snacks and drinks.

"Okay, this is not the Chamber of Secrets; this is the Chamber of Awesomeness!" I laughed loudly, grabbing at the juiciest looking, bacon-filled sandwich, and chomped into it.

"This is… something else!" Quincy nodded, following suit as we started to have lunch while talking. "Moaning Myrtle is the ghost occupying the out-of-order bathroom in the dungeons!"

"Oh! That one! I see, I see! I never knew her name! So… what does she have to do with all of this? Was she a sacrifice too?"

"Kinda." Quincy nodded, explaining it to me between bites from her sandwich. "Back in 1943, this Chamber of Secrets was opened, and a monster from inside was released, attacking mudbloods! The whole thing culminated in it finally killing one! The school was almost closed down because of it!"

"Waaaait!" I raised my hand. "Something was released from the Chamber? It only attacked mudbloods?"

"Yep!" Quincy smiled, watching the cogs in my head turn, "It is said that Salazar Slytherin himself built it and hid a monster inside! Only his heir can open it!"

"It was HIM!" I jolted, springing to my feet, coming to a conclusion immediately. HE was at this school in that timeframe! Since taking up the leading position in the Wizarding World, HE so many times proclaimed that HE was the last of the Gaunts, the last of Slytherin's blood, that it was common knowledge. If that Chamber had been opened, only one man could have done it!

"I think so too." Quincy nodded. "Although the papers say otherwise."

"Meaning?" I asked, sitting back and calming myself down.

"The reports that I managed to collect are speaking about the fact that Rubeus Hagrid was the culprit, raising a dangerous spider in secret that caused the death of Myrtle."

"That… Hagrid?" I asked, as his name was high on the Most Wanted Wizards list, and he was a staunch supporter of Dumbledore.

"Yes. There is more… it says that HE, still a young wizard, caught him in the act, but Dumbledore protected him even back then! Hagrid was expelled but remained under Hogwart's care all those years, even working here as the gamekeeper! But I don't believe it. I mean... the part that it was him who did it."

"Me neither." I agreed at once. "It was mudbloods who were attacked. Dumbledore protected the 'culprit after' HE caught him… all this just… doesn't feel right."

"No, it doesn't, especially if you check the descriptions of the victims! Only one died, but multiple were attacked!" She continued, taking a big gulp from a bottle of butterbeer. "All of them were petrified!"

"A basilisk!" I gasped, my eyes glowing bright as a lighthouse.

"I think so too! The descriptions I found of the injured and the one dead, all the symptoms match how a basilisk kill! All of it! The others were simply lucky to not look directly into its eyes! The school was on the verge of a shutdown, and I think HE was not ready for that! He simply resealed the Chamber!"

"I could kiss you now!" I declared, grinning, feeling that everything was coming together so suddenly it made me dizzy. This was the best day of my life!

"...." Quincy simply lowered her head, turning tomato red from head to toe, but I did not mind it, nor was I in the mood to start teasing her. I wasn't lying anyway!

"Okay… Okay! Let us think and plan this out!" I exclaimed happily, standing up and walking in circles. "We need to come up with something good and execute it at once! We are dealing with a basilisk here!"

"And if we go down to get it…." Quincy added, clearing her throat, trying to look unflustered, with no real success, "There are no mudbloods here for it to kill. What if it turns against us?"

"Yes… that would not be the best… so… that is why I say we need to be extra cautious and plan this out." I said, sitting back down, looking into her eyes, "You are the best!"

"Hauh…" She blushed once more, and this time, I could not help but start teasing her.