Severus's agitation was evident as he stalked up and down in Albus's office, much as he had done the day before. Unlike yesterday however, Albus and Remus were not amused by their colleague's behaviour; they were just as worried as he was. Harry had now been missing for four and a half hours.

After bursting into Lupin's rooms-on looking back, Severus couldn't believe he had been restrained enough not to just blast the door off its hinges, rather than try to knock it down-Severus, showing uncharacteristic distress, had shared the fact that Harry was missing.

Remus had immediately abandoned his plans to spend the evening with Nymphadora Tonks. After snatching up his wand and transfiguring his scanty covering into clean robes, he had caught up with Severus, who had refused to wait even the short time it had taken Remus to make himself decent, and they had both headed straight to Albus's office.

After hearing about Harry's inexplicable absence, Albus did not waste any time; he knew Severus would not be wasting time asking for his help if he had not exhausted all of his own ideas as to where his son might be. His first order of business had been to summon the castle's ghosts. Albus had sent them off to search every nook and cranny that they could think to access. He had even questioned Peeves as to whether he had seen Harry. After much pseudo-sycophantic posturing for the headmaster's benefit and inane riddles about ‘the Chosen One', Severus had pointlessly produced his wand, ready to blast the poltergeist into another plane of existence-if only ‘twere  possible!  

Remus had put a soothing hand on Severus's tense arm and Albus had dismissed the useless and supremely irritating spirit of mischief with strict admonitions to keep his eyes open for Harry and to let either himself, Professor Snape or Professor Lupin know immediately if he discovered Harry's whereabouts. The poltergeist had whizzed through the closed oaken door singing, ‘Oh potty, wee Potter, where have you gone'.

Argus Filch had also been questioned, but to save time, Albus, accompanied by the two younger wizards, had swiftly presented himself at the caretaker's door; Filch would have taken forever to limp to the seventh floor and the headmaster's office. The squib denied all knowledge of having seen Harry anywhere within the castle that day. Albus questioned him closely but to no avail. But when they left the close quarters of the caretaker's fusty office, it was Remus's wand hand that twitched this time, when he thought he saw a gleam of nasty satisfaction in the protuberant, rheumy eyes, at the knowledge that Harry was missing. Remus knew Filch disliked all the students, but for some reason, he disliked Harry in particular. Foul man. Perhaps, as Severus had once done, Filch saw James, rather than Harry.

Albus next led an increasingly foul-tempered Severus, and a very subdued Remus-both men expressed their anxiety in very different ways-back to the seventh floor. Periodically, one or other of the wizards would cast a ‘Point Me' spell, but each attempt failed to indicate in which direction Harry may be.

Wondering where Albus was now leading them, they followed as the surprisingly sprightly mage marched in the direction opposite to the one that would return them to his office. Puzzled, and almost bumping into Albus, they were following him so closely, they stopped abruptly in front of a truly ghastly tapestry depicting a crazy looking wizard-Remus vaguely remembered having once been told his name was  Barnabas the Barmy-attempting (and failing miserably) to train trolls for the ballet. Severus had a vague recollection of having noticed the tapestry on the odd occasion he used this corridor, but he spared barely a glance for the ridiculous wizard and his dancing troupe  now.

Albus had not spared the tapestry a glance...he stood staring at the blank stone wall opposite the tapestry and naturally, Severus and Remus copied him. But after almost half a minute of total inactivity, Severus exploded.

"For God's sake, Albus, what in the hell are we doing here?"

Albus seemed to come to himself. "My apologies Severus, but behind this wall is a room that Harry has made frequent use of in his time at Hogwarts. I myself have actually made use of it once."

Two pairs of eyes, focused on the wall again, then settled back on Albus's face. Before Severus could explode again, Remus said with a patience that Severus could only admire at a time like this, "Perhaps you could gain us entry, Albus?"

Albus sighed. "I am afraid, my boy, that I do not remember precisely how to gain entry." Both Severus and Remus gaped identically and Albus rushed to explain. "It was purely accidental that I ever accessed the room in the first place, you see. I cannot remember what I did to make the door appear."

Furious expostulations from Severus were cut off when the Bloody Baron appeared around a corner and floated towards them. "What news?" asked Albus, and in his dour, sepulchral voice, the Slytherin ghost informed them that his search had been in vain; he had not seen the young Gryffindor anywhere.

As he responded to the headmaster's pointed and increasingly desperate questions and explained exactly where he had searched, Sir Nicholas, the Grey Lady, the Fat Friar and numerous other less exalted spirits floated up with equally depressing news. Even with their ability to ignore walls, doors and all solid objects, the Hogwarts' ghosts had failed to find a trace of Harry.

Severus looked ready to explode. "Did you search behind this wall?" he demanded harshly, pointing to the wall Albus had wasted time staring at so uselessly.

"Severus..." said Albus in a gentle tone but his words were cut off by Sir Nicholas.

"But my dear Professor," the Gryffindor ghost said, "all that is on the other side of that wall is the outside." He indicated several yards down the corridor with a transparent arm, and Severus and Remus both turned to see a small recess where, now that they thought about it, a window was situated.

Severus rounded on Dumbledore. "What in the hell are you on about, old man?" he roared. "There is no room here." He spun around, his robes swirling angrily about him as he threw his arms wide to encompass the narrow stone corridor.

"This bloody corridor is just a thoroughfare. I should have remembered but I just followed you blindly because I thought you had a plan. But this bloody boy has me so worried, it's a wonder that I remember my own name, let alone exactly where I am in this labyrinth that only loosely resembles a castle." The last was said through clenched teeth.

"Severus," said Albus in his most placating tone, "the room is very cleverly enchanted. This is its location. I am at least sure of that. It can apparently become whatever the user wishes it to be. It can only be seen once you are inside it. If the room is in use, it would not be able to be seen, even from outside the castle.

"And yet you do not know how to get in there!" bellowed Severus, nearly apoplectic with rage and worry.

"Is there anyone who perhaps would know, Albus?" asked Remus, who, although nearly sick with worry himself, was maintaining a much calmer façade than his colleague.

Albus's head was cocked to one side as he thought, an endeavour not made any easier because Severus's booted feet were ringing out against the stone floor as he stalked up and down the narrow passage. The ghosts looked on morosely. Suddenly, the old face brightened a little and he called in a clear, ringing voice, "Dobby!"

Severus stopped his crazed pacing as soon as the name left the headmaster's mouth and a loud crack simultaneously echoed off the walls as the tiny house-elf appeared out of thin air. The sight of three grown and powerful wizards and numerous ghosts, set Dobby atremble; even so, he bowed low to the headmaster. Severus could still see, despite his obeisance, that the elf was wringing his hands together in fear.

"Professor Dumbledore is calling for Dobby?" he squeaked, his voice even higher than usual.

"Yes, Dobby, I did. Please do not be afraid. You are not in trouble, but I do need your assistance."

"If Dobby can be assisting Professor Dumbledore, he will," declared the elf, his voice a little less fearful.

"Thank you, Dobby. Harry Potter informed me last year that it was you who told him about the Room of Requirement. I believe you elves call it ‘the Come and Go Room'?"

Dobby looked around, only now becoming aware of exactly where they were. He began to visibly tremble again. "Dobby only wished to help Harry Potter," he squeaked. "Dobby did not think he was doing anything wrong." Dobby's bat-like ears had drooped and he was wringing his hands together harder than ever.

He began edging towards the solid brick wall, his head tilted dangerously towards it. None of them were close enough to prevent the little elf from bashing his head against the wall, but Albus managed to produce a cushioning charm between his head and the wall before Dobby could make contact with the unyielding stone a second time.

He looked puzzled for a moment as he straightened his tower of hats. "I would be happy, Dobby, if you did not punish yourself again, for anything, while you work for me. Is that very clear?" asked Albus in a very stern voice.

Dobby bowed low again. "Yes, sir. Dobby understands. Thank you, Professor Dumbledore sir."

Dumbledore inclined his head while Severus seethed. "Albus," he bit out, "can we get on with this? It is not the time for a wizard/house-elf interaction lesson."

Albus ignored Severus's ire. "Would you please open the room up for us, Dobby."

Dobby wrung his hands again. "Ah, sir. Dobby will try. But if Harry Potter is already inside the Come and Go Room, Dobby will not be able to enter because he does not know what Harry Potter has asked the room to become." Dobby's voice became softer and softer as his explanation went on. He inched a little towards the wall again until he saw Professor Dumbledore raise a silver eyebrow in warning. Dobby just stood there, wringing his hands, a tremor running through his tiny frame every few seconds.

"Just see if you can open it please, Dobby," ordered Albus.

After another scared glance at the other two towering wizards, Dobby moved to the centre of the corridor and faced along it. The three wizards and the remaining ghosts watched as the elf paced forward, muttering to himself, before turning, walking back whilst still muttering and then repeating the process a third time. All three wizard's eyes widened as a handsome carved door shimmered into view where the mundanely blank wall had been seconds before.

Severus was the first to break out of his trance and he moved forward and pushed the door open. Remus and Albus were very close behind and they almost ran into Severus because he had come to a halt just beyond the threshold. They could immediately see why.

They were standing in a room that was as big as a cathedral-it seemed at least that big because the furthest reaches of it were totally in shadow and impossible to see. Apart from many very narrow pathways that wended their way throughout, and were mostly devoid of detritus-except where something seemed to have fallen from one or other of the teetering mounds of rubbish-they found themselves staring at acres and acres of old furniture and artefacts that seemed to have been hidden away in this room over what must have been centuries.

Severus exclaimed in utter frustration and dismay. His shoulders were tense as he walked forward several paces, but then he stopped, his stiffened spine drooping somewhat as he seemed to realise how hopeless a task it would be to search through the mounds and mounds of discarded and forgotten treasure. Instead, he bellowed, ‘Harry!" in an angry voice.

Remus moved off to another pathway and laid his wand flat on his hand and whispered, ‘Point me, Harry Potter."  Nothing whatsoever happened. His wand lay completely still. Dumbledore turned back to face Dobby whose head was peeking around the door jamb.

"Dobby, what did you ask the room to become?" he asked. Severus had moved back and was looking murderous. Dobby began to tremble anew.

"D-Dobby is asking the room to become ‘the place where things can be hidden'." His high-pitched voice quavered and his tennis-ball eyes were nearly bugging out of his head as he stared at the angry potions master.

"And the only way that this particular incarnation of the room would have opened up to you, is if it was empty, or else it is what Harry wished it to be?" Dobby nodded so that his ears flapped."

"This place is huge Albus," said Severus angrily, aware that he was stating the obvious. "If Harry's in here, it could take us a week to find him."

"Or he may not even be here, Severus," reasoned Remus quietly. Severus wanted to hex him for also stating the obvious but he managed to reign in his predilection for violence when under pressure.

Albus spoke again to Dobby. "What did you ask the room to become when you came to warn Harry and his friends that Professor Umbridge was coming?"

"I-I is saying ‘I need the room where Dumbledore's Army practises," whispered Dobby.

"Then we will try that," said Severus, striding towards the exit. Dobby scurried out of the way.

"One moment, Severus," said Albus. Severus and Remus turned back and watched as their boss took out his own wand and performed the ‘Point Me' spell. He did not fare any better than Remus. "Forgive me, Remus," he apologised as he put his wand away and left the room. "It is not that I do trust your spell-work. It is just that I like to check things myself."

Remus smiled. "I rather think that if any of us were going to succeed with a ‘Point Me' spell, Albus, it would be you. I am under no illusions as to who is the most powerful wizard in this little group."

As soon as they all stepped into the corridor, the door vanished into nothingness again.  "Remus looked at Dobby. "Dobby, if the room will become the room where Dumbledore's Army practised, then that will prove that Harry is not in the room where all things can be hidden. Is that right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then get on with it," ordered Severus shortly. He seemed to be operating on his last nerve. Dobby began pacing back and forth and the wizards heard him say, "Dobby is needing to enter the room where Dumbledore's Army practised."

Immediately the door appeared again and Severus wasted no time pushing it open. They could see immediately that there was no one within. This incarnation of the room was much smaller and the walls were lined with wooden book cases full of  leather-bound tomes on Defence, a huge mound of squashy  silk cushions stacked in a corner, and at the far end of the room, there was a shelf that held many instruments for the detection of dark wizards or magic.

Remus crossed to the nearest bookcase and looked at some of the titles. It was a very impressive and a very beautiful set of books. He picked up a whistle that rested on one of the shelves and twirled it around by its leather thong as he looked over the rest of the room.

"When you're ready, Lupin," growled Severus, turning away in disgust. Remus looked around one last time, and on a whim, he put the whistle in his pocket before he moved back into the corridor. The door melted away again.

Albus sighed and smoothed first one and then the other bushy eyebrow. Severus was pacing again and Remus stared unseeingly at the tapestry of the idiotic wizard and his trollish ballet corp.

"So Dobby," said Albus, wearily, "the fact that we have been able to open the room to where Dumbledore's Army practised, means that it is impossible that Harry was in the room where things are hidden."

Dobby nodded his woolly-hatted head. "You is correct, sir. Harry Potter cannot be in the Come and Go Room at all, because it changed from one room to another, and he was in neither one."

Severus was standing at the small-aperture in which the window was set, staring out onto the grounds. Now he turned around and leaned back, sitting on the edge of the sill. He rubbed his fingers across his forehead, but he knew the ache that was pounding against the inside of his skull was not going to go away. Not until Harry had been found. They had wasted nearly three quarters of an hour in this blasted corridor and the frustratingly pointless, hidden room. The hidden room that did not contain the hidden-or was it lost-boy?

Severus set his lips as he rubbed harder in an attempt to counter the intensifying pain. If he was hidden, Severus promised himself that he would blister Harry's backside when said backside once again came to light!

"Thank you for your help, Dobby," said Albus in a flat voice. Dobby blinked his huge eyes and tears welled up in there green depths.

"Dobby will keep looking for Harry Potter until he finds him," he stated emphatically. "Dobby will get his friends to help." With that, the tiny, determined elf Disapparated, leaving the three dispirited and desperately worried wizards in the company of Nearly Headless Nick, the only ghost who had not floated off to do whatever ghosts did in between their interactions with the living residents of the castle.

"I shall follow the house-elf's example, headmaster," Nick said mournfully, "and continue the search. I can see that young Harry's absence is a source of great concern to you all, as indeed, it is to me." He began to float along the corridor. "I shall go and see if Myrtle is back. She may have seen our young friend."

Albus's head snapped up from where he had been studying the tips of his pointy-toed shoes that peeked from beneath his robes. His eyes shone with renewed fervour.  "Myrtle? Myrtle was not part of the ghostly contingent searching for Harry? I had not realised."

"Probably down in that wretched lake," said Nick. "She spends a considerable amount of time down there during the holidays as the chances of anyone entering her bathroom are quite remote and therefore she hasn't anyone to transmit her misery to. The only one who can be impressed by her moaning and groaning is herself when she talks to herself in the mirror."

Albus started off down the corridor at a cracking pace. "We will check on Myrtle, Nicholas. You go and search somewhere else. Come, Severus, Remus."

The two younger men hurried in their boss' wake, having to put on a spurt of speed just to keep him in sight. When Albus was on a mission, there was no holding him. Remus kept his breath so that he could keep pace with Albus as they descended one staircase after another, but Severus wasn't going to just play follow the leader.

"What the hell are you about now, old man? Is there a particular reason that we are going to converse with that spirit of misery. My time would be better employed searching for my son!"

"Patience, Severus, my boy. The elves and the ghosts will continue searching. And I have an idea." Albus stepped off the last tread of a wooden staircase and turned to hurry along a second floor corridor.

Severus seethed and even Remus could not see what advantage there would be in questioning the ghost when it seemed she had probably not even been present in the castle when Harry had disappeared.

Albus had pushed open the door of a girl's bathroom when Severus and Remus both stopped abruptly next to a wall where faded red letters spelled out the words: ‘THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.' And right underneath that: ‘HER SKELETON WILL LIE IN THE CHAMBER FOREVER.'

Remus put out a hand and touched the word ‘skeleton'. "Ginny," he said softly. Severus stared at the malignant words for a few seconds, then with his lips set in a grim line, he  entered the bathroom. Albus was already talking to the morose, bespectacled, transparent figure of Moaning Myrtle.

"So you have not seen Harry in here today?" Severus heard Albus ask.

"Nooo!" moaned Myrtle. "He doesn't even come and visit me now that he's living in the castle during the holidays. I thought he was my friend."

"Myrtle! Focus!" Dumbledore's voice had become its sternest and the ghost sniffled and wiped her nose on the back of her transparent hand. "Were you in here the day Harry, his friend Ronald and Professor Lockhart went down into the Chamber of Secrets? Did you see Harry open it?"

"Oooh yes!" said Myrtle, her voice trembling with the deliciously chilling memory. "It was awful! He made the same noises as the voice I heard just before I died!" She shivered with macabre enjoyment.

"Are you saying that this bathroom is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" interrupted Severus in a stunned voice, and for the moment, the fact that Harry was missing and they were supposed to be trying to find him was pushed to the back of his mind. "And that it was Harry who discovered it, and not you?"

"That is exactly what I am saying, Severus."

Severus's face darkened with a rush of blood. "Harry was alone when he went into the chamber and rescued Ginny Weasley.  He killed the Basilisk?"

He was having trouble getting his head around this information. He had had no idea that it had been Harry...none of the staff had or it would have been a topic of great interest in the staffroom and during meals in the Great Hall. "He told me that he had been in the chamber, but I assumed you were there too. I think you and I-and Harry, if we ever find him-need to have a little talk, old man. But for now you can tell me how the wretched boy discovered that the entrance was here?" 

"By using the brain that you have often derided him for not using enough. And with a little help from Miss Granger."

"But I thought Hermione was petrified," said Remus, surprised, and Severus's head snapped around to level a glare at the werewolf. Remus did not see. "It was weeks after she was petrified that Harry had his adventure, wasn't it?"

Remus had heard an abridged version of events, albeit it years later; Harry, at Sirius's behest, had related some of his life story to his godfather and Remus, but both men had been sure that the young boy had only skirted around the edges of his adventures within the castle. Harry did not like talking about himself, especially when it concerned anything to do with dark magic.

Dumbledore had never related the story of the Chamber of Secrets to his staff-Minerva, of course knew, as she had been present when the boys, Ginny and Lockhart had returned from their adventure-telling them only that the Chamber had been discovered, Ginevra rescued and the monster within destroyed. All had assumed that Dumbledore had rid them of the horror of the Chamber and the secret it had kept hidden for centuries.

"Perfectly true, Remus. But Harry found a torn page from a library book screwed up in Hermione's petrified hand..." Albus went on the describe the events that led to Harry and Ron-along with a very reluctant Lockhart-descending who knew how far beneath the castle to find the Chamber where the Basilisk dwelled. Severus looked suitably horrified that his son had almost gotten himself killed once again.

Albus finally said, "Harry told me that the entrance was here, in Myrtle's bathroom, but he never said exactly where in the bathroom the entrance was." He turned to Myrtle who was miserably studying the products obtained from a rigorous excavation of a large pimple on her chin. "Where, is the entrance, Myrtle?"

Myrtle wiped her hand on her ghostly robes and pointed to the cracked old sink in front of the toilet cubicle, where she had been sitting atop the cistern during her talk with Dumbledore. Albus moved forwards a few paces and bent to examine the sink, the pedestal and the plumbing.

Severus took the opportunity to glare at Remus again and say in a voice of angry restraint, "So you knew about this too, Lupin?"

Remus turned surprised tawny eyes upon Severus. "Well, only the bare bones, Severus. I had no idea the staff did not know; after Harry had related the story-or what he was willing to relate-to Sirius and me, I just assumed that the excitement had settled down over the break and before I took up my post in Harry's third year. I did not hear a word about the Chamber of Secrets during my year of teaching Defence."

Severus transferred his angry glare to the bent form of his wily old friend and mentor. "One more of the suicide missions the old man sent Harry on, no doubt," he hissed quietly, to no one in particular.

"You are quite wrong, Severus," said Dumbledore in a slightly muffled tone as he checked the underside of the sink where it joined the pedestal, his hearing apparently totally unaffected by his posture or his venerable age. "If you recall correctly, my dear boy, I was not even in residence at the time, having been suspended by Lucius, ostensibly acting for the whole of the board of governors."

Severus just gritted his teeth. He was sure that Dumbledore had known more about what had gone on than he was now letting on, but he could not credit that even Dumbledore would send a twelve year old child after a basilisk.

Albus straightened and began peering more closely at the taps, running his long, clever fingers all over the metal. "The reason Harry and Ron got caught up in this final act was entirely down to my staff. Ah!" His fingers had come in contact with an irregularity in the smooth metal and he bent his head to peer more closely. "A snake!"

"What the hell do you mean it was entirely down to the staff?"

Albus sighed and turned to face Severus and Remus. "The boys had gone to the staffroom to inform the teachers that they had discovered that the monster within the Chamber was a Basilisk. As is their wont, Harry, Ronald and Hermione had been ...er, investigating, particularly as they were desperate to disprove the commonly held belief that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin."

"What!" exclaimed Severus and Remus in identical outraged tones.

"How is it that I heard nothing of this?" added Severus angrily.

"The reason, I imagine, is that if your Slytherins heard the rumour, they discounted it out of hand. They could not countenance a Gryffindor being Slytherin's heir. And the other three houses were unlikely to come to you with the opinion that they were sure that Harry Potter was the heir of Slytherin." Severus scowled. He knew that he would be the last staff member that any student who was not a Slytherin would come to for advice, or to express their concerns.

"Harry went through quite a difficult time at the hands of most of his fellow pupils, I am afraid. Very similar to his fourth and fifth years." Albus sighed heavily. Severus's face was set. He knew that he had only added to his son's misery during these horror years...during all of Harry's years at Hogwarts.

Remus shook his head, more upset than he could say that Harry's second year had been as traumatic as every other year of his school career. He wrenched himself away from his troubled thoughts as Albus continued his tale.

"Anyway, the three intrepid Gryffindors had been observing and collecting information for most of the year and Miss Granger's torn page finally brought it all together." Albus sighed again. "In retrospect, I am amazed that neither I, nor any member of my staff, ever thought of a Basilisk."

"That is not so unusual," said Severus, a little defensively. "The Basilisk kills; it does not petrify. Not one of the affected students died, Albus."

Albus nodded slowly. "Thank Merlin none of them did die. But that I am afraid was the misleading fact. The only other real clue that I had was that someone was killing the school roosters. The crowing of a rooster will kill a Basilisk. But it was just so isolated a thing when not combined with other facts"

"It is too late for self-recriminations, Albus," said Remus, gently. "As you said, no one else on staff realised either. That is a formidable amount of brainpower unleashed on the subject, but no one thought of a Basilisk. And I do not imagine Harry ran to you as he gathered his other bits of evidence."

"No, he did not." Albus sounded sad and slightly disgusted with himself. "I did ask him straight out, after young Mr Finch-Fletchley was petrified, if he had anything he would like to tell me. He paused for a few seconds and then he said ‘no'. I let him go." Albus shook his head and sighed. "I should have pushed. Harry had been hearing the Basilisk from within the walls...within the pipe-work. He could hear it because he could understand Parseltongue. But of course, he did not understand what that meant. If I had just put two and two together..."

There was half a minute of silence as Albus lamented his lack of action three years previously. Then he seemed to shake himself out of his reverie. "Where was I...ah, yes, the boys had gone to the staffroom. Whilst waiting, they heard Minerva's announcement that all students return to their common rooms and that all the staff meet in the staffroom. The boys surmised that something terrible had happened and they hid, wanting to find out exactly what was going on, knowing they would not be told otherwise.

"That was when they discovered that Ginevra had been taken. And before you spontaneously combust, Severus, because you think Harry and Ronald went haring off by themselves, let me tell you that they did not. They went to Lockhart because he was supposedly going to investigate."

"Investigate!" scoffed Severus. "Head for the hills, no doubt!"

"Precisely, my boy. And that is what Harry and Ronald found him about to do. He was packing and they forced him to go with them to this bathroom because Harry had worked out that this was where the entrance was." Albus gestured at the tap. "And I believe this is it. There is a small engraving of a snake on the side of that tap."

Severus and Remus stared for another few seconds at Albus before they both moved forward to look where the old man had indicated.

"But...how..." It was Remus who voiced the question Severus wanted to know the answer to also. Albus had turned back to the sink and the tap. He turned the tap on but nothing happened.

"That tap has never worked," said Myrtle, her voice now disinterested. "Harry did try."

"And is that when you heard Harry speak the strange language?" asked Albus patiently.

"Yes..." her voice took on an excited edge again. "And then the tap glowed really brightly and the sink just fell away. There was a really big pipe and Harry and his friend and the professor slid down it. It did look like fun, but it was very dirty."

The three wizards looked at each other. "Can you speak Parseltongue, Albus?" asked Severus after a few seconds.

"No. That is one language I cannot speak."

"Perhaps if we just blasted the sink apart," said Remus, but he didn't sound very convinced that that particular plan would work.

Dumbledore was shaking his silver-haired head. He raised his wand and muttered a string of unintelligible words as he moved the wand over the sink in a series of arcs. Severus and Remus watched, transfixed, as a pale green glow began to emanate from the fixture. As Dumbledore continued incanting and his wand continued its very specific movements, the glow increased in density until it had become a malignant, putrid green that seemed to envelop them in its iniquitous haze. Albus stopped immediately, the glow reached the nadir, and with a single, emphatic sweep of his wand, the bilious glow disappeared.

"I think we would be unwise to try that course, my boy," said Albus in a subdued voice and the two younger men shivered involuntarily as the remnants of the soul-deep malevolence leeched its way out of the grungy little bathroom.

"Salazar Slytherin created the chamber and imbued it with powerful protective enchantments. This area would not, of course, have been a bathroom back in the days that the founders were alive. This would perhaps have been Slytherin's private chambers...perhaps the sink stands in what once would have been a garderobe. Slytherin would certainly have needed privacy to work on the construction of his big secret.

"Back in nineteen forty-three, the Chamber was opened again by the last of Slytherin's heirs, and Myrtle was killed.

"By Tom Riddle," said Severus. Albus raised his bushy eyebrows in some surprise. "You know about Tom Riddle?"  

"Harry told me about his meeting with the boy who was to become the Dark Lord."

Now Remus looked confused. "The boy who became the Dark Lord? But...but Voldemort is surely a man in his sixties or seventies...."

"He is, Lupin," said Severus impatiently. "But we have no time to go into all of that now. We have already wasted precious time, and Harry is still missing." He glared at Albus. "I presume your thinking is that Harry may have gone back down into the chamber to sulk?

"Perhaps you are right, but why he would feel the need to visit a place that must hold horrific memories for him, I cannot imagine." Albus opened his mouth to speak but Severus cut him off.

"But even if he did, we have no way of ascertaining whether your theory is correct or not. We cannot open the entrance."

"And is it likely that Harry would have shut the entrance again while he is down there?" asked Remus, "When he has to return this way? Would Harry have thought any of us-even you Albus-would have thought of him descending into the chamber?"

Severus spun away from the sink and glared at the ghost who had been a silent observer for the last several minutes. Myrtle's face became more translucent; she had paled under Severus's deadly glare. He wanted to scream with frustration, but in the next second, he spun back around when, with a sizzling flash of fire, Fawkes the Phoenix appeared; he settled his magnificent weight on Dumbledore's shoulder.

Severus stared dumbfounded for a moment then looked at Albus when he spoke. "We cannot go down there, but Fawkes can. He has been there before, in fact." Albus reached up and stroked the bird's fiery chest. With a few well chosen words, Albus told the bird what was needed of him and with a trill that reverberated deep in their chests, and another flash of fire, Fawkes was gone.

Immediately, Albus turned to the door to leave. "Come, gentlemen. Fawkes will find us." Albus held the door for Severus and Remus and just before he followed them out into the corridor, he turned back and ever gallant, he thanked Myrtle for her help.

&&&&

An hour later, three weary and very worried wizards traipsed back up the stairs to adjourn to the head's office; they had just rechecked Severus's rooms. Before that, they had been outside, searching everywhere they could think to look; the places that Severus had already cursorily searched, including the nearest reaches of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid had arrived back just as the little party had reappeared from amongst the trees, very near Hagrid's cabin. The half-giant was a little tipsy, but certainly not as bad as any of the three wizards had seen him on occasion. The shock of hearing exactly why the headmaster and two of his staff had been in the Forbidden Forest was enough to sober Hagrid up. He had immediately volunteered to undertake a more thorough search of the forest, and to this end, he strode into his cabin and grabbed his cross-bow and his dog. He promised his employer that he would get back to them as soon as he had exhausted all possibilities or they contacted him to tell him they had found Harry.

As they reached the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the revolving stone staircase, the stone monstrosity jumped aside without benefit of a password, because it registered the current headmaster's magical aura. Dumbledore ushered his two young companions ahead of him, and they had reached the landing outside the oak door with the Griffin knocker, when they realised that Albus was no longer with them.

Severus and Remus looked at each other and then, in perfect harmony, they both rolled their eyes and stepped back onto the stairs. Albus was standing where they had left him, but he was looking down at the floor, a hand stroking his silver beard, his face pensive.

"Albus, what is it?" Remus spoke...Severus didn't think he could have been as patient; Harry's disappearance and Albus's usual waffling was really getting to him.

"Harry may not be in the Chamber of Secrets..." Fawkes had reappeared within a minute of leaving on his mission to communicate to his human that the Chamber was indeed empty. "But there is another very well hidden place that he may just have gone."

Before Severus or Remus could question further, Albus had set of at practically a sprint again. As they had done several times already that day, the younger men sped up to keep pace with their very much older leader as he descended several staircases.

"Was Harry only upset about our little subterfuge today, Severus?" Albus asked in a voice that didn't indicate by the least little hitch in his breathing that he was moving along at a rapid rate of knots.

Severus's brow creased. "What do you mean only? Isn't that enough for him to be upset about?" But then the look on Harry's face when he realised that Ginny was not part of the Weasley party flashed through his mind, and he amended his previous words, telling Albus how quiet Harry has been in Flourish and Blotts and why he thought that was.

"Is that all?" asked Albus, hurrying down a wooden staircase that would take them to the third floor.

"He was upset when one of the goblins took exception to dealing with Lupin."

"And he was upset about the whole transfer of Sirius' assets," added Remus. "It isn't that long ago that Sirius died and today brought that terrible night rushing back."

Severus scowled but did not say anything; it could only be a good thing for him to remain silent on the subject of Sirius Black. He and Remus hurried along behind Albus, along a little used corridor, before stopping outside a very solid, very intimidating door. Severus looked from the door to Dumbledore, and when Albus just put his hand out and pushed the door that was already ajar, open, Severus's mouth set into a grim line. "Why would you think he has gone down there again?"

"The door is unlocked, Severus. As you know, it is always kept locked."

Albus entered the small, windowless room and as the other two followed, there was a flash of fire and Fawkes appeared again, obviously summoned silently by Albus. Fawkes hovered in front of Albus, who reached up and grabbed his golden tail. "All of the creatures have long since been disposed of and the enchantments disabled, but Fawkes will get us there much faster than going through all the chambers."

Albus held out a hand. "Come, my boys...take hold." Remus looked totally bewildered but he grasped the papery-skinned hand and Severus, looking decidedly reluctant, took Remus's other hand in turn.

Severus was suddenly weightless and his hand was adhered to Lupin's. There was a rushing noise in his ears and he only had time to blink once before he found himself standing at the top of a wide set of five marble steps, Albus and Lupin standing next to him and Fawkes still hovering in the air above Albus.

The sight that met his eyes caused the knot that had tightened like steel bands in Severus's gut what seemed like hours ago, to loosen. Harry was here, seemingly unharmed and sitting cross-legged on the floor at the base of the stairs. He was totally still and staring fixedly at the only free-standing artefact in the chamber, besides Harry's Firebolt which lay on the floor next to him.

"Thank God," sighed Remus.

"Harry!" said Severus, more loudly than he had intended, his relief turning to anger. But it was as if Harry had not heard him; it was as if he did not realise that there was anyone else in the chamber with him.

Albus looked exceptionally sad as he gazed down at the young, messy-haired boy. "The Mirror of Erised," he said softly. "It appears you were right, Remus. Harry has missed Sirius far more than we have been aware of. He needed to see him again."