The atmosphere in the Ravenclaw common room was subdued that night. But it momentarily spiked up into one of interest when Dan returned. Professor Flitwick scolded him heavily, saying how dangerous being out in the corridors alone was, ending in twenty points being taken away from Ravenclaw. Dan didn't see much point in doing so; he doubted very many people were worried about who would win the House Cup this year.

Dan found Lee and Spencer talking to a group of Ravenclaws but broke off and met him when they spotted him.

"Where have you been?" Lee hissed once they were all settled somewhere where they couldn't be overhead. "Spencer had to cover for you and nearly got into trouble himself!"

"What did you say to Professor Flitwick?" He asked.

"I told him you had gone to the hospital wing to have your bandages changed," Spencer said. "It was all I could think of on short notice."

"Well I have been to the hospital wing," Dan said, adding quickly at Lee's facial expression, "but not on medical reasons." He told them all they had found out.

"A Basilisk?" Lee whispered. He was unusually pale. "In our school?"

"Have you heard of it before?" Dan asked quickly.

"Only once.." Lee said. "My grandpa told me a story that had one in it, I didn't think it was a real thing."

"It's real alright," Dan said grimly.

"What are they doing about that girl?" Spencer asked. "Ginny Weasel or something like that."

"Ginny Weasley," Dan answered. "And they're-"

"Wait, is she the sister of that red head you're friends with?" Lee asked with furrowed brows. "Ron?"

Dan nodded. Ron hadn't said a word all the way back from the staff room. Any consolation Dan had tried to say died on his tongue, sounding stupid. So they had all walked back to their houses in silence.

"I can't imagine how he's feeling now," said Lee with a sad shake of his head. "Or the rest of her family for that matter. Poor girl.."

But Dan remembered something. Ginny had been trying to tell Ron something all those days ago at lunch. He had a feeling that it had been something to do with the Chamber of Secrets. If only she had said it before her brother had walked up. She seemed awfully nervous and sickly looking. And now she had been taken down to the Chamber itself..

Dan ran a hand over his head. They had thought they were finally solving the mystery and getting down to the core of it. Now it seemed they had been too late. The monster had succeeded, Ginny was surely dead...

The common room was full, yet it was as quiet as if only a few students were there. Everyone talked in whispers and quiet voices. As dark drew nearer, many students turned in for an early night. Dan had never before seen the atmosphere so subdued.

He was just thinking about turning in as well when there was a vibration in his pocket. He jumped, before realizing what it was and diving his hand into his pocket. He pulled it out and held it up to his ear, Lee and Spencer looking at him curiously.

"We're going to tell Lockhart what we know," Harry's voice spoke through the coin. "Come if you want."

Dan shoved the coin back into his pocket. He looked around the almost empty room, making sure no perfects were there. He stood up, but someone grabbed his wrist. Lee was looking at him with a pleading gaze.

"Don't go again," he said. "It's dangerous, something bad will happen. I can feel it."

Dan looked between the door and Lee, feeling torn. Lee was as much a Hufflepuff as he was a Ravenclaw. He held his friends very dear to him. He didn't want to put him through any more stress than he already had with his injuries and disappearances, but...

"I need to solve this, Lee," he said. "That girl, even if the chances of her being alive are slim, I have to do something."

Lee's eyes widened. "You're not going to go down into the chamber, are you?"

"I- I'm going to do whatever it takes to save as many people as possible-"

"Dan, no!" Lee said desperately, standing up, still gripping his robes tightly. "Please don't, just stay here, let the teachers work this out. You're only a student-"

"So is that girl," said Dan firmly. "How do you think she's feeling right now?"

"She's dead, Dan! The monster has been aiming to kill his whole time, it's only by some miracle that no one has died yet. There's no way she's been able to evade him."

"Well I can't just sit around here doing nothing if there's something I can be doing," said Dan, yanking his sleeve away from Lee's grasp. He jumped away from Lee before he could grab him again.

"If you go, I'll tell Professor Flitwick," Lee threatened frantically. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he stiffened. He fell backwards, but his arms didn't extend to catch himself. He landed with a thump onto the carpet, as stiff as a board.

Spencer was standing behind him, wand drawn, staring down at Lee with a mixture of determination and horror, as if he couldn't believe what he had just done.

"Don't worry," he said in a falsely calm voice, putting his wand into his pocket. "I'll unfreeze him once you've left."

"Uh.. thanks.." Dan said, unsure of how to react. Lee's eyes were the only thing able to move, which were wide and staring at Dan, begging him not to go. With one last look, he ducked out of the common room and started heading towards Lockhart's office. Even before he opened the door, he could tell there was much too much noise coming from within the room. He wrenched open the door just in time to see Professor Lockhart go flying into a trunk sitting on the ground. His wand went flying into the air, and was caught by Ron who threw it out the open window.

All three people's heads whipped towards him. Harry looked relieved. "Oh, it's just you." Next moment he was turning back to Lockhart with a furious expression. "You're just a big fraud, though I think I knew that from the moment you failed to perform simple spells."

Lockhart was looking feeble and helpless at the point of Harry's wand. "What do you want me to do?" He asked weakly. "I don't know anything about the Chamber of Secrets, there's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," said Harry, prodding Lockhart to his feet with the tip of his wand. "We," he jerked his thumb to Ron and Dan, "think we know where it is, and what's in it. Let's go."

Dan following in somewhat confusion, they marched down the corridor and up the stairs. They passed by the wall where the messages were written before arriving at Myrtle's bathroom.

They sent in Lockhart first, who was looking very apprehensive. Myrtle was sat on the tank of her toilet in her stall.

"Oh, it's you three," she said. "What do you want this time?"

"We want to ask how you died," Harry said.

Myrtle's whole attitude changed at once. She acted as though she had never been asked such a flattering question.

"Ooh it was dreadful," she said with relish. "I died right here. In this very stall." Dan heard Lockhart whimper behind him. "I had come in here to hide because Olive Hornby had been teasing me about my glasses. I heard the door open and someone say something, but it sounded funny. Must've been a different language. Anyway, what really bothered me was that it was a boy's voice. I opened my stall door to tell him to get out, then-" she swelled with importance. "I died."

"How?" Harry asked.

"No idea," she said in hushed tones. "All I remember is seeing great big yellow eyes, then I was floating away. I wanted to haunt Olive Hornby so badly I guess I got to come back. Oh, she was sorry she ever made fun of me."

"Where did you see the eyes?" Harry asked.

"Somewhere over there," she said, pointing to the sink across from her stall. They all hurried towards it, while Lockhart stood against the wall, a look of terror on his face. They inspected every inch of the sink, even down to the pipes leading into it.

"Here's something," Harry said, pointing to a spot on one of the taps. Dan leaned closer. It looked like a small snake scratched into the metal.

"That tap has never worked," said Myrtle brightly as Harry tried to turn it on.

"Harry," said Dan with a sudden thought. "Say something in Parseltongue."

Harry stared at him for a moment before turning to the sink. He stared at it for a moment, then said in perfect English, "Open up." He turned back to them hopefully.

Ron shook his head. "English."

Harry turned back to it. He stared at it longer. Dan noticed he had begun to move his head slowly back and forth. He opened his mouth. A strange hissing noise came out, and the next moment the tap glowed an amazing white color and began to spin. Next moment, the sink started to sink into the floor. It continued to sink all the way out of sight, leaving a pipe exposed. A pipe big enough for a man to fit into.

Ron gasped and Dan stood completely awestruck. They had found it, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Dan already knew he was going to go down there. He couldn't not go, now that they had actually found it.

"I'm going down there," Harry said.

"Me too," said Ron.

"Same here," said Dan firmly.

There was a pause.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me," said Lockhart, the faintest shadow of his old smile on his face. "I'll be going I guess-"

He put his hand on the door handle, but Harry and Ron's wands were immediately turned on him.

"You can go first," snarled Ron.

Wandless and white-faced, Lockhart stepped up to the pipe.

"Boys," He said weakly, "what good will it do?"

Harry jabbed his back with his wand. Lockhart slid his legs into the pipe, shaking.

"I really don't think-" But Ron cut him off by pushing him down the pipe. A scream followed.

"What a wuss," Ron said. They waited a few moments, and when they didn't hear Lockhart hitting ground, Ron shrugged and climbed into the pipe. He slid down and was gone.

Harry climbed in next, but didn't go immediately. He turned around to Dan.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," he said. "I really wouldn't blame you. The last time you went exploring with us, it didn't end so great."

"I'm coming with you guys," Dan said firmly. "One of my friends was frozen right before I left because he threatened to tell. I'm determined."

"Hermione did that to one of my friends last year," said Harry. "Look. We've both got close friends in the hospital, and Ron's sister is down there. If nothing else, do this for them."

Dan gave a small smile. Harry turned back towards the pipe and he too slid down. Dan waited a moment, then climbed into the pipe. With a deep breath, he let go.

It felt like he was sliding down a slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in various directions, but none as large as theirs. The pipe twisted and turned in lots of different directions, tipping down steeply. At one point he knew that he had be lower in the school than even the dungeons reached.

He began to worry what would happen when he reached the bottom. But he need not, for at that exact moment, the pipe leveled out and he shot out of it. He landed on the ground with a wet thud, sliding on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel tall enough to stand comfortably in.

Harry, Ron, and Lockhart were all getting to their feet, the defense against the dark arts teacher as white as a ghost. They stood aside as he slid to a slimy stop.

"Yuck," He said, standing up with difficulty.

"We must be under the school," said Harry. "Probably miles under."

"Under the lake, I reckon," Ron said, squinting at the dark, saturated walls. They all turned to look at the darkness ahead.

"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand. It lit up, providing them a good amount of light. They began to walk, their footsteps slopping loudly in the tunnel. "Remember, if you see any movement, close your eyes."

But the tunnel was as quiet and still as a grave. The only noise for awhile were their footsteps, until Ron stepped on something with a crunch. It turned out to be a rat skull. Harry lowered his wand, revealing that the whole path was littered with animal bones of varying small sizes. Grimacing, Dan sidestepped around as many bones as he could.

Behind him, Ron suddenly grabbed his shoulder. "Dan- there's something- something is up ahead," he said hoarsely. Dan lit his own wand with a whispered, "lumos," and brought it up high. They froze, seeing the outline of something large and curved, lying across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.

"Maybe it's sleeping," breathed Harry, stepping closer. Dan squinted his eyes until he could barely see, then advanced forwards. The light uncovered a huge snake skin, green and slimy.

"Blimey," Ron whispered. "If that's how big the snake is-" it seems like he wasn't able to finish his sentence. Behind them, there was a sudden thump. Dans heart nearly shot out of his chest as he whirled around, but Lockhart had merely fallen to the ground, legs shaking.

Ron stepped over to him, holding his wand at the ready. "Get up," he instructed. Lockhart stood slowly to his feet, then suddenly launched himself at Ron. Harry reacted immediately, pointing his wand at Lockhart. But Lockhart was quicker, pointing Ron's wand at him and shouting, "Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand went flying through the air and Lockhart caught it and pocketed it. Dan pointed his own wand at Lockhart and yelled, "Stupefy!" but the spell whizzed past his arm.

Triumphantly, Lockhart bellowed, "Expelliarmus!" and took Dan's wand too. "The adventure ends here boys," he said, his beaming smile returning once again. "I shall take some of this skin up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her dead body." He raised Ron's patched wand and yelled, "Obliviate!"

The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Dan covered his head as rocks rained down from the ceiling. He saw Ron and Harry diving out of the way. Suddenly he was pulled roughly to the side, and fell onto the slimy, wet floor. A shower of dust hung in the air, and when it finally cleared, there was a wall of rocks mere feet in front of him.

Dan back-peddled away and stood on his feet. Ron and Lockhart were also climbing to their feet. But Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"Harry!" Dan yelled, praying that he hadn't been crushed under the falling tunnel rocks. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Harry's muffled voice answered from the other side of the wall. "Are you all okay?"

"We're-"

"This git isn't," Ron said. Dan turned around. Professor Lockhart was standing up, looking around as if the tunnel was an interesting exhibit. "He got blasted with my broken wand."

"Wait- He has my wand!" Harry said. There was a sound of a few rocks falling. "I don't think it's possible to get back through."

Dan examined the rock wall more closely. There was a small hole where to large rocks had fallen and no rubble had filled in.

"Get his wand," Dan instructed. There was a sound of shuffling, then Ron slid Harry's wand into his hand. A second wand was slid in too.

"That's your wand," Ron told him.

Dan nodded. "Here, Harry, there's a small opening in the wall and I think I may be able to stick your wand through."

Dan carefully slid the wand through the opening, making sure he didn't force it through and break it. Harry grabbed it and pulled it all the way through.

"Yes!" Harry said. "I've got it!"

"Right," Dan said, stepping back. "You've got your wand, but you're still stuck over there.."

There was a silence. "We could try moving the rocks with magic?" Ron suggested.

Dan shook his head. "I don't know what damage that explosion did, we could end up caving in the tunnel."

"Hello," Lockhart said suddenly, appearing at Dan's side. "Quick question, so sorry to interrupt.. where am I?"

Dan blinked at him a few times, then looked at Ron. Ron gave a look that said, "I told you so." It seemed as though Professor Lockhart had taken the memory charm he had intended to use on them. Dan couldn't help but feel he deserved what he got.

"We're.. uh.. underground."

"Splendid!" said Lockhart happily, and without another word he began to examine the tunnel wall. Slightly bewildered, Dan turned back to the rock wall. "What do we do now?" He asked desperately.

"Wait there with Lockhart you two," Harry's muffled voice said. "I'll go look for Ginny, and if I'm not back in an hour.."

There was a pause. Dan racked his brains for anything else they could do, they just couldn't let Harry go on alone with a giant snake roaming around. But the more he thought, the more apparent it was that they had no other options. Not if they wanted to save Ginny..

"We'll try and shift some of these rocks," said Ron, voice nearly cracking. "So you can- can get back through. And.. and Harry-"

"See you in a bit," Harry said, who seemed to be trying to inject some confidence into his shaking voice. There was the sound of footsteps, slowly fading quieter and quieter. Then they were gone, and all was quiet other than a constant drip from the dark tunnel.