**Disclaimer** In this time stream, I do not own Harry Potter. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and the characters and all that stuff are hers. I make no money with this. My only hope is that somewhere, in some corner of the multiverse, exists a world in which I created said amazing idea. Maybe there's one for you, too.

"I've got it!" Harry exclaimed suddenly while he, Hermione, and Ron were sitting in the Common Room one night.

"Got what, mate?" Ron asked curiously.

"A place where we might be able to practice Defensive Magic! A place where we can hide a bunch of students without Umbridge or other people knowing about it or finding it!"

"Well, let's have it!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "The sooner we get everything set up, the sooner we can start!"

Both his friends were looking at Harry excitedly, and Harry couldn't help but grin and pause for dramatic effect. It wasn't often that he had them both on the edge of their seats. Finally, when Hermione was starting to give him a look and Ron looked about ready to fall out of his chair, Harry continued. "It's simple, really. I don't know why I never thought of it before. A place big enough to hold many people and still have room for practice. A place we'll have access to, but one that teachers and other unwanted people won't. A place that's out of the way and won't draw attention if we're casting loud spells."

"Harry, JUST TELL US ALREADY!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, causing Ron rub one ear in pain.

"Just savoring the moment," Harry grinned. "The place I'm thinking of is pretty well known, especially to us. And I'm the only one that can get us in. The Chamber of Secrets."

Ron's and Hermione's smiles vanished and they looked uneasily between Harry and each other.

"Harry," Ron quietly ventured, "I've been in there, too, remember. It's...well...it's not a nice place."

"What if there's still Dark Magic or Dark Creatures in there?" Hermione asked. "After all, it was Slytherin's secret chamber. Who knows what evils could still be lurking?"

"I killed the basilisk, Hermione."

"I know," she continued, shuddering as she recalled the fearsome beast that had left her literally petrified Second Year, "but that doesn't mean there couldn't be more. What if there were traps or other curses to keep others from interfering?"

"Parselmouths are fairly uncommon, Hermione," Harry reminded his friend. "And," he added, "if I'm not mistaken, even if the trait wasn't exclusive to Dark Wizards throughout history, there weren't any muggle-borns with the ability. It was mostly passed on through old families."

"Sounds about right," Ron nodded. "If the occasional muggle-borns were found to be a Parselmouth or a Metamorphmagus, muggle-borns in general would probably be looked down upon a whole lot less by the so-called pureblood elite. "

"So, by that reasoning," Harry continued, "Slytherin wouldn't have felt threatened by anyone who could enter the chamber because they would be at least a half-blood, more than likely a pureblood from what respectable House. Which means no traps."

"I guess…" Hermione sighed. "But still, as Ron said, it's not really the nicest place."

"Not quite the right ambiance, with the bones, snake skin, and giant snake corpse." Ron agreed.

"That's why we're going to go down there," Harry explained. "The sooner the better. We can set up places to practice, clean up some of the more disturbing stuff, and move on from there."

"When do you plan on doing this, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Why not start now? Or at least check it out" Harry answered, standing up from his chair. "The sooner the better. Plus, at this time we won't be missed as easily."

Pulling out his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map, Harry briskly walked over to the portrait door. "Filch and Umbridge are nowhere near the bathroom, so we're all clear," he announced after glancing at the charmed parchment.

Ron sighed as he and Hermione got up from their comfortable seats to follow Harry. Knowing the state of the Chamber, Ron and Hermione convinced Harry that they should first change into some more perishable clothing. Things would probably be pretty dirty in there.

"Figures it has to be at night," Ron muttered as they gathered at the portrait once all three had changed. "And here I was hoping for a good night's sleep."

"Though maybe without your snoring the rest of your dorm mates will finally get one," Hermione countered. Ron would have countered with a witty retort of his own but, as is typical, he couldn't think of one before the moment was gone.

The trio quietly snuck into the bathroom under Harry's Cloak, which was becoming much too crowded for all three of them to fit under. Thankfully, no one had noticed them on the way in, and Moaning Myrtle wasn't around. After they had removed the Cloak and come to the entrance, Ron had a sudden thought.

"Harry, we know you can get in and anyone who speaks Parseltongue can get in also. But what about someone who can mimic the sound? I heard you speak to the sink back in Second Year, and I think I remember it well enough to replicate it. Could someone who's heard the correct words in Parseltongue, maybe Malfoy or someone who watches us enter, get in with that?"

"Oh. True enough, I hadn't thought of that. You could try it," Harry answered.

Nodding, Ron walked over to the sink and took a deep breath. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts and remember exactly how Harry had sounded, Ron attempted to mimic the noise. His first tries he seemed unhappy with, but on the fifth try he seemed quite satisfied. To Harry, though, it all sounded like a snake and a cat trapped in a washing machine in the back of a dune buggy. When the door didn't open, Ron looked relieved but also a bit disappointed.

"I know it didn't sound too great, but that's how you sound when you speak like that, Harry. I may have been a bit off, but not by much."

"Parseltongue is most likely a partially magical language, Ron," Hermione answered. "You can't just mimic it based on what it sounds like to us. There are probably sounds our ears can't detect, and Harry's voice could easily be layered with magic without us being aware of it. Only a Parselmouth can fluently speak it, though I suppose with years of training and study you could learn a word or two."

"How about no," Ron answered. "We'll leave that stuff to Harry. I just wanted to make sure."

Harry nodded. "Well, now we know. But let's just get in the Chamber now, if that's fine with you guys."

Hermione and Ron nodded, and Harry walked over to the sink marked with the snake. Just like before, he tried as best as he could to imagine that the little snake was real. Closing his eyes and focusing, Harry spoke.

"ᔛOpen upᔛ"

The snake language was easier to use now than it had been before. Whether that was from Voldemort's return or just more Parseltongue usage Harry didn't know. Regardless, the sink began to sink to the floor once again, revealing the large pipe that led to the Chamber of Secrets.

"Ugh," Hermione remarked, looking at the pipe with clear distaste, "Was it this grimey before?"

Harry and Ron glanced at each other. "Um...yeah?" Ron answered.

"Hermione, it's big pipe in a bathroom that's been around for over a thousand years. What did you expect?"

"Well, I certainly don't want to slide down that," she huffed. "Isn't there another way in?"

Harry shrugged. "Not that I saw. Ron and I didn't ask too many questions the first time. We were in a bit of a hurry and Lockhart had us distracted."

"Well, there must be another way. I doubt Slytherin or Voldemort would have resorted to sliding down a gross pipe like this. Try asking for stairs."

"Asking for stairs?" Ron asked. "You think it would do that? Seems more like Harry just says a password to open the chamber, not talk to some intelligent being."

"Just try it," Hermione sighed. "We let you try your ugly hissing noises."

Before Ron could retort, Harry walked up to the edge of the pipe.

"ᔛGive us stairsᔛ"

When nothing happened, Ron grinned triumphantly, though inwardly he had been hoping they wouldn't have to slide down the pipe again. His butt had been sore even weeks later.

Hermione sighed, walking over to peer into the pipe. "I guess I've got no choice," she lamented. "Though we should check and make sure there aren't any obstacles. Lumos!"

Hermione's wand tip immediately glowed, and she pointed it down the hole. Much to the trio's surprise, there was a small staircase on the edge of the pipe that spiraled downward and along the pope's wall. There hadn't been any noise to suggest it had come when Harry requested stairs, so it must have been there the whole time.

Hermione grinned triumphantly and took a tentative step onto the stairs. When they didn't explode or break away, she continued, with Harry close behind and Ron bringing up the rear. Harry grinned as he heard Ron muttering things like 'time frame,' 'rushed,' and 'Lockhart.'

They were surprised yet again when, after all three were on the stairs, the steps began to slowly descend.

"Harry, it's like an escalator!" Hermione exclaimed. "But it has to over a thousand years old! Amazing! The Founders really were witches and wizards ahead of their time"

Ron frowned. "What's an excavator?"

"No, Ron," Hermione corrected, "escalator. An excavator is a machine the size of a giant that Muggles use to dig large areas with more efficiency. An escalator is just like this: a staircase that moves up or down so you don't need to walk."

Ron's eyes widened in amazement. "Muggles have that stuff! That's sweet! And a little scary. Wonder what people like the Malfoys would do if they found out Muggles have that kind of power!"

Harry and Hermione glanced nervously at each other.

"Um, yeah! Wouldn't want the Malfoys promoting even more anti-Muggle prejudice and fear because of the Muggles', um, supreme weapon, the excavator. Let's...uh...keep this hushed up."

Ron nodded, though wasn't exactly sure what had his friends acting so strangely. Probably nerves upon entering the chamber. "Fair enough."

Even with the moving stairs (or, as Ron called them, 'eskalaters'), it still took a while to reach the Chamber. It was, after all, quite far below the ground.

"The first thing we'll want to do," Hermione announced after lighting a few torches, "is to clear up this passageway." The steps had taken them to the original corridor where Lockhart had suffered a sudden case of memory loss. The floor was still littered with bones of small animals, which was both gross and a little unnerving. The section that had caved in due to Ron's wand exploding had been partially cleared due to both time and Ron's efforts while Harry was fighting the memory of a younger Tom Riddle. However, the main entrance was still partially blocked, and the fallen rocks didn't make the chamber look any more comforting.

Thankfully, this time everyone present had a fully functional wand and a few more years of magical education under his or her belt. Within a quarter of an hour, the bones were gone, the rocks had been shifted to the side or Vanished, and torches had been lit to to shed some more light into the eerie room.

The one thing they had left alone was the giant snake skin. No one dared touch it, for fear of poison residue or anything else harmful, and the skin itself seemed to resist spells cast upon it. Deciding that it was better to just leave it alone, the trio decided to move on to the main part of the chamber.

As they neared the door with the intertwined snakes, Harry warned his two friends. "When we get into the chamber, you'll probably see the basilisk. Neither of you two have truly seen it before, so just try and remember that it's dead. Ready?"

They both nodded, and Harry commanded the door to open. The snakes unwound, and the wall opened to reveal the long chamber.

As they entered, Harry examined the long chamber that he'd nearly died in. During his first visit there hadn't been much time to admire the architecture, which was actually quite stunning if one could get over the looming creepiness.

The big stone pillars carved with snakes were magnificent to look at, rising up to support a ceiling lost in darkness. Knowing how long ago that these had been made, it was really a testament to their amazing craftsmanship that they still stood at all. Beyond the corpse of the King Snake, he could see the enormous statue of Slytherin himself. In Harry's opinion, Slytherin hadn't been the most attractive of men. He almost looked like a cave man or a monkey. If Harry ever decided to have a statue made in his honor, he decided that he'd make sure it looked good, even if it slightly differed from reality a bit. In a hundred years, no one would know that anyway. They'd just marvel at the handsome bloke Harry Potter had been.

When Ron and Hermione followed Harry in, Ron gasped in surprise and Hermione let out a shriek. After their brief moment of shock, they managed to calm down. They continued, though, to stare at the fallen beast with a mixture of fear and amazement.

"Hard to believe you killed that thing in second year," Ron remarked.

"I had quite a bit of luck and help," Harry answered. "Without the hat and the sword, Fawkes taking out its eyes and then healing me, and Riddle being distracted by Ginny, I wouldn't have had a chance."

"I'll never decide whether you have the best luck in the world or the worst," Hermione added. Harry had to admit there was some truth to that.

When they neared the corpse, Hermione frowned thoughtfully. "There's barely any rotting at all. This thing looks like it could have been killed yesterday. That's amazing!"

"I think remember Charlie saying once that ancient, highly magical creatures are both resistant to magic and infused with it, giving them even more protection" Ron remarked. "Maybe things like basilisks and dragons don't rot fast since they live so long and are full of magic? The Chamber probably helped preserve it too, keeping a lot of creatures from getting to it."

Hermione bit her bottom lip, thinking. "Could be. It sort of makes me wonder how much something like this would be worth."

"Hermione, I don't need the money," Harry began to protest, but she wouldn't hear it.

"There's no sense letting this go to waste, Harry," Hermione argued. "It's been a long time since a basilisk was killed or even found in magical Britain. A basilisk this old and this large could easily be the the largest recovered in centuries. Maybe ever. According to ancient magical law, the slayer of a magical beast has sole claim to the spoils. You're the one who killed it."

"But I don't want the money!" Harry exclaimed.

"Just because you don't want the money doesn't mean you can't use the money for better purposes," Ron explained. "But we're not going to let this thing rot away when it could be practically a gold mine. Give the money away if you want, but money isn't something to waste or dismiss out of hand even if you have enough as it is. Believe me, I know."

"Ron, I'm sorry," Harry quickly answered, "I forgot about your family and money. If you want it…"

"Harry, whether it's profitable or not, we should remove this thing anyway," Hermione interrupted. "I'm sure we could find people who would be more than willing to clear it away and make use of the corpse. And it's not just about money, though I agree wholeheartedly with Ron that it shouldn't be wasted. Basilisk hide could probably be used to make armor or other protective things. Any preserved fluids or organs would be rare and powerful potions ingredients. Money isn't the only thing we can get from it."

"Fine," Harry sighed, giving in, "but I'm still finding a use for any money it brings in. I'm not going to just let it sit in my Vault for years and years."

"That's as it should be," Ron answered, glad that Harry was coming to his senses. "We should look around a bit more. Maybe there's more stuff around. Not another snake or anything, but there could be more skin like we saw before we came in."

They decided to stay as a group, carefully inspecting the large chamber for signs of anything that had been missed, good or bad, the first time Harry had been in the Chamber of Secrets. As they went, Hermione did her best to light any torches in order to provide more light. She also taught Harry and Ron some cleaning charms that could hopefully diminish the slime and grime levels at least a little bit.

As they explored, it soon became obvious that no one had been in the chamber for a long, long time. Tom Riddle's original adventure probably began and ended with walking in, summoning the basilisk, and leaving to go kill things. The chamber was mostly bare, except for the slime, mold, and cobwebs that the three worked to make at least a dent in. They found a few old books, but time and the damp condition of the chamber had pretty much destroyed them. Hermione had almost been in tears when she realized that they'd found thousand-year-old books, but she couldn't read them.

As they neared the end of the chamber, Ron pointed at the Salazar statue's open mouth. "Isn't that where the basilisk came from?" he asked. When Harry nodded, he cautiously walked over toward it. "I think I'll pop in and see if there's anything good. Maybe there's more snake skin. Or maybe old Snake-lips left some secret chamber in here."

"A secret chamber within a secret chamber?" Hermione asked skeptically. "What would be the point?"

"Who knows? The old guy was batty, we know that much from all this." Ron neared the edge of the mouth and prepared to hop in. "Here's to not dying," the redhead muttered before blindly jumping inside.

Moments later they heard a loud scream. Rushing over as close as they dared, Harry and Hermione held their wands up high, ready for the worst.

"What is it, Ron?"

"It's not another monster is it?"

"Are you hurt?"

"What's wrong?"

"I LANDED IN A PILE OF SNAKE DUNG!" Came the reply, causing Harry and Hermione to glance meaningfully at each other before lowering their wands with a collective sigh.

"AND THERE'S A FREAKING SPIDER THE SIZE OF MY HAND! AND ANOTHER!"

Hermione expression turned worrisome once again. "Ron, that could be a venomous breed. You need to calm down and remain still. You probably just startled it. Most animals won't bother you if you don't-"

"REDUCTO! REDUCTO! TAKE THAT, BITCHES! REDUCTO!"

"Or you could just blast them all to Oblivion," Hermione muttered. "Why listen to me?"

"That's good that there's spiders, though," Harry remarked. "That means that we won't be having any more snake problems."
"Ron doesn't appear to think so," Hermione giggled, though she stopped quickly when the noticed him climbing out of the mouth-shaped hole.

"Nothing much in there," he remarked. "Few shreds of skin, and some awful smelling dung, but no secret chambers or anything."

"Don't forget the the freaking spider the size of your hand," Harry cheerfully added.

Ron shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"You know, I wasn't planning on saying 'I told you so...'" Hermione began as cheerfully as Harry.

"Then don't."

"Well, I just did, so now I don't need to." Hermione triumphantly replied, causing Ron's frown to deepen.

"Hey, I was just checking, you know. I didn't see you volunteering to go into any...HEY! What's that?"

"Honestly, Ronald, what part of 'there's no secret chamber within a secret chamber' do you not-"

"Wait," Harry interrupted. "I think that might actually be something." That effectively shut them both up.

"It looks like writing…" he mused, squinting, "but it's hard to make out. It's all...squirmy."

"Harry, there's nothing there."

"Just some weird scratches in the wall like some bloke went insane."

"ᔛSpeak my name and behold my legacyᔛ"

"Harry," Hermione whispered, sounding afraid, "you just spoke again in Parseltongue."

"Those are words, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "They must be written Parseltongue."

"What did they say?" she asked nervously.

"Speak my name and behold my legacy," Harry answered, being sure to speak in English this time.

"Well, go on then. Not sure I wanna find out Slytherin's legacy, but we've come this far. We don't want anything dangerous just lying around in here." Ron answered.

"Salazar Slytherin!" Harry loudly announced. Nothing happened.

"Try saying it in...you know…"

"Right. Got it. ᔛSalazar Slytherin!ᔛ"

Just like the door with the intertwined serpents, the wall parted, opening up a large doorway just asking to be entered.

/:Note:/ Ever have it where you wake up and this weird idea pops into your head? And throughout the day your mind keeps adding to it until you're like 'Holy crap I have to write this down'? Well, that's the origin of this story right here. It wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote it down. I'll probably write until the full into/idea/brainstorm is out, and then if people like it I'll keep going. For those of you wondering about my other story, Magical Repopulation, let's just say that my computer decided it was hungry and I didn't feel like completely rewriting a chapter or two as of now. There will probably be a bit of delay on that, especially as I get this story out of my head. Sorry about that. Anyway, if you like this story feel free to let me know. I love getting reviews and PMs, so don't hesitate to voice your thoughts, good or bad. I have a pretty good idea about where this is all going, but I'll still listen to any suggestions you guys have. That's it. Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!