Stay - Mattheo Riddle

Clues

Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk. Professor Binns blinked. 

"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "Ideal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk snapping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers —"He stuttered to a halt. 

This time, it was a young Kirra Potter's hand that was waving in the air. "Yes Miss - er...?" 

"Potter. Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?" Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, Kirra was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead. 

"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that I suppose." He peered at Hermione and Kirra as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale —" But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. 

Kirra could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest. "Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see . . . the Chamber of Secrets . . . You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution." He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued. 

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school." Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic." 

There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed. "The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible." Hermione's hand was back in the air. 

"Sir — what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?" Mattheo kept his eye on the young Potter girl. Mattheo knew for a fact that the Chamber was real and he was going to do anything he can to make sure that Kirra didn't end up anywhere near the chamber, and more importantly than that, near his father.