Days passed, and Hogwarts had gone from uneasy to feverish.
Every whisper was sharper, every stare heavier.
Harry Potter — the boy who lived — was now the boy who hissed.
You could see it in the halls.
People stepped out of his way, half in awe, half in fear.
Some even made signs against the evil eye, as though Parseltongue were contagious.
And Potter, bless his pure heart, didn't help himself by scowling at everyone like he was plotting their demise.
Feeling discouraged by their unwarrented hatred and suspicion
All the better for me.
While the staff busied themselves shadowing Harry, and the students obsessed over the mysterious "Heir of Slytherin," that had been revealed thanks to a question posited to Professor McGonagal which allowed all to know the chamber was a creation of the founder Salazar Slythering, in which it was said he harboured a monster meant to cleanse the school of all those who in his opinion were unfit to learn magic.
Thanks to this I had room to maneuver as everyone was left dithering and worrying.
The Chamber was open, well at least they believed it to have been — The pieces for this year were falling into place.
The basilisk would not be unleashed upon the student body this year, instead i had other plans for it.
But for now, I needed confirmation.
Where had the first known victim — the ghost girl — died?
I left the common room under the excuse of "needing air," which wasn't a lie.
The Draconis common room was comfortably warm, but the air inside had gone a bit sour, as the four young ladies had received far more news about the chamber thanks to Lady Draconis and Helena than the others in the student body were made aware of.
Fear of the unknown had crept in and taken residence within their hearts and the mood was darkened without Cassius being able to do anything about it at this time.
Up through the dim corridors I went, past the suits of armor that muttered to each other like old soldiers, until the torches began to thin.
The third-floor corridor had a reputation, even before the Chamber mess.
Few ventured here unless they had to.
A leak somewhere in the pipes left a damp chill in the air, and the faint sound of dripping water echoed endlessly.
I stopped before the old girls' lavatory — the one no one used.
And for good reason.
The door creaked open with a groan that sounded almost alive.
"Hello?" I called softly. "Myrtle?"
A sob answered me — followed by a splash.
"Ohhhh… another one come to laugh at me, have you?"
The voice floated from one of the cubicles, wet and echoing.
I stepped inside, boots clicking on cracked tile.
"Hardly. I came to ask a question."
The ghost emerged slowly from a stall, translucent but unaffected by the water that had been pulled up by her exiting a toilet spilling onto the floor.
Myrtle Warren.
Otherwise known as Moaning Myrtle.
The newest of Hogwarts ghosts, having only appeared in 1943 after her unfortunate demise during her third year.
Her round glasses glimmered faintly in the dim light, her expression a mix of suspicion and delight.
"Well," she said, floating closer until her face was just inches from mine. "Aren't you handsome. You're new."
Coyly she coiled her pigtailed hair around one of her hands almost as if trying to do so seductively.
"Cassius Snape," I said smoothly. "House Draconis."
Her eyes widened.
"Snape? Ohhh, the son of that dour old man?"
"Yes, though i suppose i myself am not nearly as dour, least i hope im not."
That earned me a giggle — shrill and girlish.
She circled me like a shark scenting vanity.
"You have such lovely eyes," she sighed. "No one ever visits me except those who tease or make fun of me but you—"
"Are here on business," I interrupted. "To ask you... about your death."
Her mood turned on a Knut.
"Oh," she said flatly. "It was dreadful."
She floated away swaying her hips a little as she walked the aisle of bathroom stalls before turning to look over her shoulder.
"It happened right here in this very cubicle." She intoned almost sweet like as if her previous sorrows were a thing of the past. "I'd hidden because Olive Cornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then i heard somebody come in."
Choosing not to question her i simply let her continue on, she entered the stall and took up a seat on the toilet, waiting until i approached opening the stall door, to find the young ghost, seated, legs spread before me, though thankfully still wearing her full school robes so nothing improper was showing.
"They said something funny, a sort of made up language. I knew it was a boy so i unlocked the stall door to tell him to go away, and... i died."
"Just like that?" Cassius questioned. "How?"
"I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes, by that sink."
With her tale ended, Myrtle looked shy for a change, if a ghost could blush she would be doing so hard, until she sunk into the toilet and slipped away leaving Cassius alone to his thoughts.
'Damn it, so even with Riddle not forming Horcrux's he still had access to the Chamber, and worse yet had caused the great beast within to kill.'
The Basilisk wasnt what everyone thought it was.
At least form the knowledge Cassius knew from Fan created lore.
The great snake was a guardian of the school not a mass murdering kill machine.
Purging the school of all those unfit to wield magic was not as it sounded, it did not mean to purge muggleborns, but rather muggles themselves.
You have to remember this was back a thousand years ago when the wizarding community was being persecuted every day thanks to the actions of a number who always tried to enslave the muggles of the world.
Being vastly outnumbered, when the founders created the school as a safe haven for those with magical ability to develop and train themselves, the Basilisk was meant to be a means to protect the school.
Should the muggles send their armies to storm the school and by doing so attempt to cause harm to the students and staff within the great snake would protect them.
Of course like all things, over the generations his meaning was misunderstood until it finally became what was known today where the school was meant for pureblooded families only.
though the location was confirmed, Cassius needed some more time before he'd decide to open the chamber himself, the reason being... he needed to prepare to face off against the great beast.
For a creature who'd lived hundreds of years with the grand goal of protecting the school only to be commanded to take action against the very students he was meant to protect, the great beast in fanfictions had been driven insane, in that state parseltongue or not Cassius would need to take efforts to contend with it.