╔═══════════════╗

╚═══════════════╝

VICTORIA ARRIVED AT DUMBLEDORE'S PAST OFFICE WITH THE DIADEM IN HER HAND. the girl merely shed off the hood to the invisibility cloak as she stared at dumbledore's portrait expectantly.

     "professor, I don't have much time left. I suggest you advise me on my next steps", victoria rudely urged, not wanting to be caught by snape or anyone else.

     the dumbledore portrait hummed in amusement.

"usually, godric's sword would be hidden behind my portrait...", portrait dumbledore started. "though now it's possibly elsewhere".

victoria raised a brow in confusion.

"you're telling me...you sent godric's sword elsewhere?! what else am I supposed to use to destroy it?"

     victoria was beyond impatient. the girl had wanted to get this over with and go back to oliver and draco, at least for christmas.

"the diary was demolished by the basilisk's poisonous fang", dumbledore chimed in, clearly not affected by the girl's rashness.

"basilisk's fang?"

victoria had perhaps foreseen a small memory from draco in his second-year when she was going through his thoughts on the astronomy tower. but nothing interesting really happened from the boy's standpoint.

"the chamber of secrets. find it and use the poison from the basilisk's fang. this is as far as I can advise you", dumbledore said as the man faded into a still position once again.

victoria clicked her tongue as she hovered the cloak's hood over her head again. the girl wondered where the hell the chamber of secrets were, and how the hell she was even supposed to open it.

though if it was truly a basilisk that lied within the chamber of secrets, she'll just have to ask someone that has seen it before.

perhaps, the creator himself.

•♛•

     "it's you again", the portrait of the salazar slytherin spoke.

     "indeed. how do you do?", victoria asked, still enforcing common courtesy even though she really didn't have time since all students were at dinner currently.

     "have you come to ask me about the elder wand? or perhaps the resurrection stone?", salazar inquired, clearly seeing that the girl was in possession of the invisibility cloak.

     "not at all, in fact, my goal has taken a little turn for the better", victoria smiled.

     "oh? to think you were quite the ambitious one".

     "I am. I'm very ambitious on keeping my new family alive, but that's besides the point here. I need to know how to open the chamber of secrets", victoria requested, making salazar raise a brow.

     "only my heirs and heiresses can open the chamber. you...you cannot speak parseltongue, therefore you cannot and will not open it", salazar immediately shot down.

     "parseltongue? then teach me the necessaries to open the chamber", victoria demanded, nearly making salazar laugh in the girl's foolishness.

     "you think parseltongue is just something you can learn?", the old man mocked, clearly holding that skill as a major accomplishment.

     after all, not many, or really any at all could speak to snakes naturally.

     "and plus, even if you get into the chamber, you won't make it past the basilisk".

     that statement made victoria grin.

     "then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. your little pet was murdered by harry potter years ago. perhaps the body's in the process of rotting right now", victoria said.

     "harry potter again", salazar spat, clearly having as much distaste for the boy as draco or really any other slytherin did.

     "in fact, he used godric's sword to do the deed", victoria added on, clearly dumping more oil into the skyrocketing flames.

     if portraits could turn red, victoria was sure salazar would be as red as a chili right now. though she appreciated the man's emotion, as now she knew what drove him mad.

"indeed it's quite a pity", victoria lied. she was glad there wasn't a snake just slithering around school and waiting to attack or maybe even eat children.

not that she really cared much about the safety of others, only oliver.

"also a pity that I was hoping to use the basilisk's fang instead of godric's sword. I suppose I can go for the sword inste—"

"you may be cunning, but you don't strike me as a fool girl. that sword can only be wielded by gryffindors, and you, are clearly not one", salazar interrupted.

     "I may not be able to wield the sword. but surely a gryffindor under my imperius curse can", victoria said, seeing the noggin in salazar's brain start to spin as his brows furrowed.

     salazar let out a huff of dissatisfaction, as victoria spoke up once again.

     "teach me how to open the chamber of secrets. and I shall cease to bother you for the rest of your plenty years here", victoria offered.

     "I'll teach it to you only if you can find the chamber first", salazar replied.

     "find it? it took nearly 800 years for someone to discover it after you, and another 50 after him", victoria claimed in disbelief.

"you're a witty girl. find it or no deal", salazar said as he fell still once again.

victoria scoffed as she displeasingly walked off, successfully draping the entire cloak over her being as she strutted towards hogsmeade so that she could apparate out to dumbledore's grave.

     though the girl knew that that shouldn't have been her current priority, victoria decided that it'd be best for her to retrieve the wand before anyone else.

     after all, she was the current owner since she disarmed dumbledore.

     a part of her had also wondered that if she broke her wand in half and stabbed the diadem with it, would the crown break since her wand core was made of a basilisk's scale. but she soon dismissed that idea, as the scale was not the same as the poisonous fang.

     arriving at dumbledore's white tombstone, the girl quickly opened the top with a simple alohomora. the top harshly landed on the ground as victoria inched closer to the deceased old wizard.

     "my apologies professor, but it was destined, as I am the descendant of antioch peverell", victoria mumbled as she gently slipped the wand out of dumbledore's freezing hands.

the wand's tip sparked a little as it adjusted to its new master. victoria marveled at her new wand, smiling as she tested it out by closing dumbledore's tomb.

the girl then apparated back to hogsmeade, reentering hogwarts as she started on her hunt for the chamber of secrets.

it was safe to rule out all the common rooms, except for perhaps the slytherin one. though the girl wasn't sure she would find it soon, she knew she had to quicken her work pace.

as oliver and draco were still waiting on her return.

╔═══════════════╗

╚═══════════════╝