Harry Potter Squib Tales Chapter 90: Summer Break, Take Three! (Patreon)

Chapter 90: Summer Break, Take Three!

Harry POV

“Open,” Harry hissed, and the wall groaned and creaked as it pulled back, revealing the long, winding staircase that led into the Chamber of Secrets.

“Thanks, kid,” one of the Curse Breakers said, while another whistled.

“It’s impressive every time I see it,” a third figure commented. This one had an all-too familiar mop of red hair, and combined with the freckles and similar facial features it was easy to tell he was a Weasley. William “Bill” Weasley to be exact.

The fourth person in the girl’s bathroom (who wasn’t Harry or Myrtle) was a goblin, and he had a pinched expression. He’d had the same one the entire time Harry had known him, so he didn’t pay it any mind.

The quartet (plus Harry) descended into the Chamber of Secrets, following the path. It had gotten scrubbed and cleaned up with dozens of magical lights attached to the walls providing illumination.

Compared to the first time Harry came down here, it was like night and day. So much brighter, so much cleaner, and so much less… snake-y.

The Basilisk’s shed skin had been collected – one of the first things to go – and there were a bunch of other places that had been carefully combed and inspected by the various Gringotts Curse Breakers that had been hired to ensure it was safe.

After an entire school year, most of the Chamber had been fully explored, and most of the traps disabled. The reason why Harry was still with them was because some spots still couldn’t be broken into easily and needed a Parseltongue to open the way.

He didn’t mind helping. Exploring the Chamber was fun, and he was getting extra credit in History and a bunch of House Points from the teachers (mostly thanks to Professor’s Flitwick, Vector, Binns, and Babbling). By now, Gryffindor was a clear shoe-in for the House Cup this year.

‘Can’t wait for the end of year feast tonight,’ Harry thought idly as he stood in the center of the Chamber of Secrets, where just last year he’d fought Tom and the Basilisk. He could still see patches of discolored stone where the Horcrux’s ink had stained the ground alongside the giant serpent’s blood and venom.

His Third Year had been a wild one. Yet another near-death experience under his belt courtesy of the Dementors, and of course there was the legions of historians, researchers, Curse Breakers, and more who’d come to Hogwarts to explore and study the Chamber of Secrets (which of course necessitated his participation).

‘Thank God and Merlin that it’s almost over,’ Harry thought with relief. ‘Hopefully next year won’t be so bad.’

For some reason, he could almost hear somebody laughing at him from the distance. Looking around, he couldn’t find anybody, so the Boy Who Lived shrugged and went back to standing around waiting for something to happen.

Ever since he’d summoned a spirit around Christmas he’d been having these weird flashes, like something was watching him. He couldn’t prove it was more spirits who’d taken an interest in him, but that definitely seemed like something they’d do.

‘Just ignore it,’ he told himself. ‘They can’t do anything to me and they’re just annoying voyeurs.’

“Harry! Can we get a hand with this statue?” Bill called out, and Harry snapped out of his thoughts and wandered over to the red-head.

Bill and one other Curse Breaker were standing at the foot of the giant statue of Salazar himself, eager to

“Speak, Greatest of Hogwart’s Founders!” Harry hissed out, and the mouth of the statue creaked open. It was big enough to let a Basilisk through, so it was also big enough to let a

“Are you almost finished mapping the tunnels?” Harry wondered curiously. The mouth of the statue led to a series of giant tubes and tunnels which snaked (heh) throughout the castle and its grounds.

“Not quite,” Bill said. “We discovered a new set of crossroads that stretch out towards the west, so we think we’ve only discovered a third of the total number of passages!”

“That’s… seriously paranoid,” Harry said slowly. “Didn’t you already find fifty individual tunnels?”

“Forty-two, actually,” Bill’s companion spoke up as he floated a rope ladder up into the mouth so they could climb inside. “With eleven crossroads and sub-chambers, with one as far as the mountains to the north of Hogsmeade!”

“The man was definitely prepared to bugout if anything ever happened to Hogwarts,” Bill agreed. “Some of the sub-chambers have enough supplies to feed to an army, too. Or, they did. The Basilisk ate most of them, the rest spoiled after the preservation spells faded.”

“Lots of treasure, too,” the other Curse Breaker said eagerly. “Bunch of old artifacts and tomes! And a bunch of magical traps!”

“Yes, and lots of traps,” Bill confirmed with a nod. “We’ll be gone for a bit.”

“Could I come with you?” Harry wondered, bored with just standing around.

“Err, alright,” Bill said after sharing a look with his friend. “Lemme just check real quick. OI! Garbok!”

“What is it, Curse Breaker Weasley?” the goblin inquired, looking up from a pile of documents and treasures he was sorting through with the other Curse Breaker.

“We’re gonna take Harry with us if that’s alright!”

“I can open doors and disable traps if they need Parseltongue,” Harry said, trying to convince him.

“That is fine, we are just going to be cataloguing the discoveries from the last expedition into the tunnels,” Garbok replied dismissively. “Be sure the youngling doesn’t get stabbed or eaten or anything.”

“Yeah, I’ve had enough of that for one year,” Harry drawled. The goblin shot him a fang-filled grin, which Harry returned, barring his teeth like a shark at the dentist’s office.

The goblins were a war-like race, and they respected violence and those capable of enacting said violence. Slaying a Basilisk, a creature that didn’t lose out to dragons or nundus, as well as destroying a Horcrux, had made the Boy Who Lived quite famous amongst the goblins.

Having gotten the go-ahead from the man (goblin) in charge of today’s exploration, Harry followed along behind Bill and his friend into Salazar’s mouth.

Once inside, the throat opened up into a tunnel large enough for two Basilisk’s side by side to pass through, which then led to a three-forked crossroad. One branch led to the Forbidden Forest, another went to a series of tunnels beneath the lake, and the final path went under Hogwarts itself.

From here, it was possible for a traveler to go wherever they wanted, and secret supply caches had been built into hidden rooms all throughout.

It spoke to Salazar’s paranoia that many of the tunnels were laden with traps, many of which were nasty yet ingenious.

One trap contained a curse that targeted anyone with a few pounds of iron or steel. The exact amount of weight of a longsword, in fact. So, Muggle knights were the target. Or Godrick Gryffindor, who was known to use a sword of his own. Another one was a curse that caused any vermin like lice, ticks, or fleas that might be present to go wild and attack anything nearby. Essentially, it was a trap for ‘dirty Muggles’ who might be infested with parasites.

And then there were the purely mechanical traps, like a pitfall, a rolling boulder, and a fake tunnel primed to collapse if too much weight entered. The founder of House Slytherin was a madman whose hate for non-magicals was on display with every trap and curse they came across.

‘I would call it impressive if not for the fact his pet nearly killed me,’ Harry thought as he moved slowly through the passageway behind the Curse Breakers.

They eventually reached a section that was covered in glowing mushrooms, the fungi providing enough illumination to see that they were in a circular crossroad that had four paths. One had caved in, but the others were still intact.

“So, this is the new section of the tunnels we found,” Charlie said, gesturing to the area. “Keep heading down that tunnel next to the collapsed one and you’ll find yourself in a cave that’s in the mountains. And over there, to the right, there’s a supply cache down that way that we’re investigating. Got some traps we’d like to see if you can do anything about.”

“Sure, I’ll take a look,” Harry said, walking towards the spot the Weasley had indicated. “Show yourself!”

By uttering that phrase in Parseltongue, it caused a couple sections of the tunnel to shift and light up, the curses laid upon the stone to reveal themselves.

“Bill, we should definitely try to get him to join us when he graduates,” Mark (that was his name!) whispered to Bill Weasley.

The red-head snorted. “Good luck with that. He’s the best damn Quidditch player here at Hogwarts I’ve seen. Merlin, he’s better some professionals. He’s born for the sky. No way he’ll want to spend his days down below the ground.”

Mark whined a little, disappointed by the lack of Boy Who Lived accompanying them on future trips into deadly, trap-filled tombs and ruins.

“Let’s see… a metal rusting curse, and some sort of transmutation spell,” Bill said, waving his wand as he checked the spells that had been revealed.

“Odd that he combined them,” Mark muttered. “No, wait, hang on, I figured out why he included those curses. See that part, there, where the spell lines connect? After the metal has rusted away, some of the rust is transmuted into a sort of primitive thermite, designed to obliterate the bodies completely in a sort of spontaneous combustion event.”

“That’s nastier than the trap we saw a week ago that collapses a tunnel and then fills it with Fiendfyre,” Bill winced. “If the smoke didn’t get ya, the heat and flames would.”

“He knew what thermite was?” Harry asked, surprised. He only knew about it thanks to Ed.

“The man wasn’t an idiot,” Mark replied. “And it’s likely he stumbled across it by accident. Seen it before, too. Sometimes people just invent things that are convergent developments. Egyptians invented a spell that makes something as smooth and shiny as a mirror, and the Indians created something identical around the same time.”

“Interesting,” Harry murmured.

“Well, let’s get to disarming them,” Bill suggested, and Mark nodded. The two took a few minutes to disable the curses, and when they were done, they carefully cast a few more spells to check the way forward.

“Nothing,” Mark announced.

“Yeah, not seeing anything else,” Bill agreed. “Move up.”

They kept going along the tunnel, slowly but steadily while Harry trailed behind. Both Curse Breakers cast spells every couple of steps to make sure there was nothing else hiding.

“Hang on, got something up here!” Bill suddenly announced three minutes later, stopping short as a red barrier suddenly appeared and blocked them from continuing.

“A blood ward?” Mark wondered, wand waving.

“Looks like it,” Bill replied. “The spell is only anchored to the stone, though. We can tear it down by damaging the tunnel itself.”

“Strange, that seems lazy based on what we’ve seen so far,” Mark murmured. “Harry, could you check for us?”

“Show yourself,” the Boy Who Lived declared, and used the magic in his voice to cause runes to appear on the floor and ceiling.

“Ah-hah! I knew it!” Mark crowed. “Old bastard hid some runic enchants that would trigger if the blood wards were removed in any way!”

“What do they do?” Charlie asked as his partner knelt down to examine the runes.

“Bombarda runes,” Mark said after a moment. “They’d bring the tunnel down on top of anybody here. And turn anyone nearby into chunky salsa at the same time.”

“Delightful,” Charlie grimaced while Harry felt sick to his stomach at that visual image.

The runes were erased after some effort, and the tunnel walls were broken to destroy the blood ward.

That done, they made their way through, finding a small, square chamber carved out of the solid stone. Six entire bookshelves lined the walls filled with books and specimen jars, with a duo of silver mirrors in between on the right and left walls. A wooden worktable stood in the center, laden with potion making and alchemical equipment, some of which that Harry recognized from Ed’s laboratory.

However, there was a gap between two of the bookshelves opposite the entrance to the room, containing an elegant mural of a green snake made with the scales made of malachite, emeralds and peridots and the eyes were red garnets.

“Whoa,” Harry whispered in awe.

“Another supply cache,” Mark noted as he looked around.

“Nah, this is something else. A personal study of some sort,” Bill replied with a shake of his head.

He then cast diagnostic spells around the room. Several spots lit up, revealing areas where curses were hidden. Mark did the same, and his spell showed where less magical traps were placed.

“This must have been one of Slytherin’s workshops,” Bill said after they disabled everything left in the room.

“Seems like it. Potions, mostly, but some alchemical research equipment, too,” Harry claimed.

“Think you’re right, kid,” Mark agreed. “And… yes! Check this out!”

He approached the workbench and shifted some things, revealing a petrified toad sitting atop a bunch of broken pieces of shell.

“This is where he made the Basilisk,” Bill realized, awe and terror dripping from every word.

“Wow, okay, we gotta get out of here and let the boss know,” Mark said quickly, though his own eagerness shone through. “This room is probably trapped to high hell with stuff we can’t even recognize!”

“Or notice,” Bill said, suddenly suspicious. “Harry?”

“On it,” he said, and whispered “Show yourself!” to the room.

Immediately a dozen spots that hadn’t been revealed during the first scan of the room revealed themselves, and both Curse Breakers winced.

“That’s a Time Trap! I thought those only existed in old Greek tombs!” Bill uttered in disbelief, pointing his wand at a curse shining within one of the mirrors. “And over there, by the shelf! It’s a Druidic curse that hasn’t been seen in centuries that causes thorny vines to erupt from every orifice!”

“Yeah, definitely need the boss to bring in more people,” Mark said, looking around nervously.

“Hey, why is that wall glowing?” Harry asked, confused by the fact that the mural of the snake had lit up as well.

“Now that’s interesting,” Mark murmured. “Hey, Billy, you think this might be a door?”

“The other side is either hollow or leads to a tunnel,” Bill said as he waved his wand at it.

“Only one way to find out,” the Boy Who Lived said, stepping up to face the wall.

“Open!” Harry hissed, and the bejeweled carving on the wall seemed to squirm before the entire structure pulled back, revealing a long passageway.

Unlike the other tunnels that had been found throughout the Chamber of Secrets that were crudely carved out of the earth and left bare, this one was had smoothed out walls and tiled, with what appeared to be the moldering remains of a carpet on the floor, and rusting torch sconces on the wall.

“This looks like an entrance,” Harry said, eyeing what he’d uncovered, and an idea struck him. “Hey, do either of you think that perhaps this is the real entrance to the workshop? Because I don’t think I see Slytherin crawling through his own mouth to get here.”

“I think you’re right, kid!” Mark exclaimed gleefully. “This must be the reason entrance to the Chamber of Secrets! Or one of them, at least.”

“Well reasoned, Harry,” Bill said, patting the dark-haired 3rd Year on the shoulder.

“Then that means this leads back to the Basilisk den!” Harry guessed.

Charlie and Mark grinned at that, and double-checked to make sure no traps showed up inside the tunnel. Once they were sure no curses were going to hit them, the trio moved through the corridor that had been made, and eventually came to another wall.

A quick whisper of Parseltongue opened it up for them, and when they stepped out, they found themselves back in the main area. In fact, they could see the goblin overseer and the other Curse Breaker staring at them in surprise.

“Well, it seems you had an adventure,” Garbok replied dryly.

“Sure did. Best part is that we found a new way into the tunnel system,” Bill said.

“Yeah, climbing into a dude’s mouth isn’t the best way to do it. Get’s weird after a while,” Mark agreed. “Heard so many jokes about it that it’s gotten stale.”

Bill nodded in agreement, before looking at Harry. “Why don’t you head on up, now? It’s almost time for the End of Year Feast, isn’t it?”

“Oh! You’re right!” Harry nodded in agreement.

He made his way out of the Chamber, not wanting to be late for the feast.

‘Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, and we probably did the same for the House Cup,’ he thought to himself as he headed through the hallways. All those extra credit points had really piled up over the year, despite Fred and George’s best attempts to undo it all.

A few hours later, Harry wondered if perhaps some of Ed’s Divination talent had rubbed off on him, because things happened exactly as he’d predicted.

Also, to pretty much everyone’s surprise, Professor Lupin was still sitting at the teacher’s table, completely untouched by any issues that might force him to retire at the end of the year.

Silently, Harry prayed that the secret werewolf would stay on for another year. He’d been the best teacher they’d ever had. And it would piss off Snape, which was always a good thing in his books.

111 &&& 111

The train pulled into Platform 9 and ¾ after a long ride through the countryside, and Harry felt a mix of emotions as he stared at the milling crowd of people waiting for their children to disembark.

Harry always felt a little jealous seeing other kids with their parents, but spotting Sirius standing off to the side waiting for him brought a spark of fondness into his lonely heart.

‘I have a family of my own, now,’ he thought to himself, smiling softly. He then looked over at his friends. For the ride back, the boys of Gryffindor had decided to ride together while the girls had their own cabin to themselves. The way they’d giggled had worried him great.

‘I just hope they aren’t talking about us,’ Harry thought with a wince.

“Well… the year is finally over,” Ron said, stretching a little as the train came to a stop and let out a whistle blast. “Those exams were brutal! I thought Care of Magical Creatures and Divination were supposed to be easy classes!”

“They were easy. But the tests sure weren’t!” Dean huffed in agreement.

“I’m just glad the unspeakable evil this year happened so early. Maybe next year we won’t have to deal with anything at all!” Nevile said hopefully, shivering a bit as he recalled the Dementor attack around Christmas.

“Sucker’s bet, Nev,” Dean said with a shake of his head.

“Yeah, you’ve gone and jinxed us,” Seamus commented. He then looked around. “Got any plans?”

“Besides the World Cup? Nah,” Ron replied. “Might have to de-gnome the garden, though. They always come back around this time of year.”

“I’m looking forward to the Cup!” Seamus agreed. “The Irish are gonna win against the Bulgarians this time!”

“Know what? We should all meet up there,” Harry suggested, Dean and Neville nodding along in agreement.

“Does sound like fun,” Dean agreed. “Might be tricky to convince my mum, though.”

“We can help,” Neville promised. “And maybe we can also go do something else this summer?”

“That might be possible. Sirius has a castle out in the countryside. We could go camping there!” Harry suggested.

“Another castle? I dunno,” Ron muttered. “And we’ll be camping at the Cup…”

“We’ll come up with something,” Seamus agreed. “But it’s time to disembark.”

The doors to the train had opened, and the dozens of passengers had begun to spill out, unleashing a tide of youth upon the unsuspecting streets of London.

At that, Harry grabbed his trunk and Hedwig’s cage, and the group of friends made their way out of the cabin onto the platform, meeting up with the others from Hogwarts.

“See you at the World Cup!” Ron said, slapping Harry fondly on his shoulder.

‘You know it!” Harry replied with a grin.

He then shook hands with Neville, Dean, and Seamus, and said his farewells to the  girls afterwards, Hermione giving him a hug before she hurried over to her parents.

“Are you gonna miss me?!” a tiny blonde ballistic missile demanded as it tackled him.

“Astoria!” Daphne scolded her sister, rushing over. “Behave! And let go! You’re causing a scene!”

“No~!” Astoria whined. “I won’t see him for weeks!”

“Hey, come on,” Harry said delicately, trying to extract himself from the tiny girl’s surprisingly tight grip. “We’ll see each other at the World Cup.”

Eventually, Daphne peeled her sister off of Harry, dragging Astoria over to her parents.

“She’s a handful, huh?” Susan said, walking over, the last of his friend group he had to bid farewell. “I feel like I’ve gotten over the desire to have a sibling of my own after seeing how Astoria runs Daphne ragged.”

“She means well,” Harry said awkwardly.

“I’m sure she does,” the Hufflepuff said with a snort. She then leaned in.

“Bye, Harry!” Susan said, giving him a hug.

“See ya later, Susan,” he replied, returning the hug.

She smiled, then let go and ran off to meet with her aunt, who was waiting for her over by the exit.

Harry shook his head, trying to get his thoughts off of his friend. It was hard though, made worse by the wide, knowing smirk Sirius was giving him as he walked over.

“Zip it,” he muttered.

“Didn’t say a thing, prongslet!” Sirius replied.

“You were thinking it though!” Harry grumped. “Susan is just a friend!”

“Sure,” the Black drawled, before shaking his head. “Come on, then, Mr. Just Friends, we got something special planned for ya for your homecoming!”

Sirius led Harry out of the train station and over to the parking lot where a few other parents were departing with their children. One particular car stood out because Harry recognized it, and the person in the driver’s seat.

“Ed!” Harry said excitedly upon seeing who was behind the wheel.

“Hey, where’s the love for me, huh?” Sirius whined.

“Ed didn’t make insinuations about me and Susan,” Harry huffed.

“Not yet,” Ed replied cheekily, and the Boy Who Lived shot him a look of betrayal. Ed then popped open the trunk. “Put your stuff in there, then slip on into the front seat. You get to sit up next to me.”

“So I have to sit in the back like a child, is that it?” Sirius asked in mock hurt.

“Yes. Harry doesn’t smell like wet dog,” Ed retorted, and the animagus clutched his heart.

“How cruel!” he cried out, even as he slipped into the backseat of the car.

Harry then got into the front and buckled up. Once safety was acknowledged, Ed drove out of the station’s parking lot. They started going through London, and Harry noticed they weren’t going to Ed’s apartment.

“Where are we going?” he wondered.

“First, we’re getting lunch,” Ed replied. “What do you want? You can choose!”

“Ummm… hamburgers?” Harry inquired. He ate a lot of different foods at Hogwarts, but there was something alluring about greasy fast food.

Ed nodded and drove them to a diner where they ordered plenty of deliciously greased up burgers and fries. Harry enjoyed it, though the company was the best part. Sirius asked him how his time at school was, while Ed wondered if he had learned anything new.

For his part, Harry was eager to answer, and told them all about the extra credit he got for helping out in the Chamber of Secrets.

“To think that paranoid old coot had built an entire maze beneath the school,” Sirius muttered. “That’s insane.”

“It’s a major security risk is what it is,” Ed claimed. “Dumbledore is going to have to find a way to extend the range of the wards to cover these secret entrances. Otherwise anybody could sneak inside. Especially now that it is being mapped.”

“Good point. I’ll bring that up to Madam Longbottom and we’ll discuss this at the Board of Directors meeting later this week,” Sirius declared.

“I didn’t know you were on the board,” Harry said, surprised.

“It was one of the things the Malfoys stole when I got shoved into Azkaban,” he said grumpily. “The Blacks have a seat, and as Draco’s proxy, Lucius took it for himself. Mine again, now, but it’s taking a lot of work to untangle the mess he left it in.”

“At least you have it back,” Ed commented. “Now, dessert anyone?”

“No, I’m good,” Harry replied.

“Too many Chocolate Frogs on the Express?” Sirius asked knowingly, and the Boy Who Lived pouted.

“Well, then, I suppose it’s time to head back home,” Ed said. He paid the bill and everyone got back into the car.

Once more, though, they didn’t seem to be heading back to Surrey and were staying in London proper.

“Where are we going?” Harry wondered.

“You’ll see soon,” Ed promised. Then, a couple minutes later, he pointed off into the distance.

“There it is, our new home,” Ed announced as they drove towards a large apartment complex.

“You finally finished refurbishing the penthouse suite!” Harry realized as he stared up at the building.

“The dwarves worked hard to get it done before you returned,” Ed said. “Fine job they did, if I do say so myself. Behold! Pendragon Heights! Finest apartment complex in the land.”

Ed parked the car in a reserved spot, and then led Harry and Sirius into the building followed by a quick ride up an elevator.

“Welcome to my new home,” Ed said proudly as he led everyone inside the penthouse, showing it off.

Large windows let in a lot of natural light, and the penthouse was given wood paneling that provided a soft, cozy feeling to the whole place. Tables and chairs were set up in a dining room, and beyond that there was a living room with a giant home theatre entertainment set-up, and an assortment of antiques and artwork, both magical and mundane, filled several alcoves next to shelves full of books.

Ed gestured to the surroundings. “The glass was enchanted to be capable of repelling anything short of a tank round, and wards ensure that nobody will ill intentions can cause problems inside the entire building. There are runic arrays that provide temperature control and keeps the air pollution non-existent, and the entire building is powered by one of Delilah’s Tethys hydro-electric generators, so we don’t need to worry about the power bill.”

“Best part is that the runes and enchantments are all powered by the Ley Line, and the House Elves have their own rooms and they love taking care of the whole place, so the upkeep is low,” he continued. “I’m considering offering a House Elf maid service to the renters who live here as a cheap housekeeping option. It’ll just be a few pounds, and the money goes directly to Inky and the rest so they can buy the contracts of other House Elves to get them away from the Ministry’s control.”

“It’s amazing,” Sirius whistled.

“The other apartments and penthouses lack the same level of modifications, but it isn’t hard to apply after the fact,” Ed said. “If you’re still interested in buying a place here, Sirius.”

“Hell yeah I am!” he declared. “No more dreary Grimmauld Place for me!”

“Oh, and before I forget! This way, Harry!” Ed called out, ushering the recently graduated Third Year to a door that had a brass name plate shaped like a lightning bolt.

Opening it, Harry gasped as he saw it was filled with his stuff! He didn’t have much, but it was everything he’d left at Ed’s and Sirius’s places while he’d been at Hogwarts!

“Is… is this…?” Harry whispered, staring at the interior beyond the door.

“Yup,” Ed said with a nod. “This is your room. If you want it.”

“I… you really want me living with you?” he asked, feeling tears prickle within his eyes.

“Of course,” Ed said kindly, offering a genuine smile. “You deserve to have a place to call your own. Now, you never have to return to Privet Drive ever again.”

Harry had to hold back his tears as he gave Ed a hug. This was the best day of his life!