The Secret Chamber

Disclaimer:

There's a little content taken from the "Hogwarts is here" DADA-101 course: Lesson 3; I don't claim any rights on that content. Of the remaining parts, I only claim Fanfiction rights and nothing else.

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11 September 1991. Great Hall, Hogwarts.

8.00 AM

Chione, Lyra's owl, landed in front of her holding a little package with a small note on it. Lyra's face brightened as soon as she saw that and she was practically rolling with joy. If it weren't for the fact that there were so many people there, she'd have danced then and there in elation. Her custom made trunk had arrived. It was finally done! She couldn't wait for her classes to end to check it out!

If Zale saw it, he'll probably go bonkers... and she looked forward to it.

"What's in that?" Daphne asked while filling her plate with bacon.

"S-E-C-R-E-T," Lyra put a finger on her lips and didn't plan on telling her.

Thinking about what and all she'd do with her custom made trunk, Lyra noticed that Zale was looking too excited for who knows what.

Assuming that it was probably a letter from his maternal grandparents whom he liked too much, she decided to ignore it. But then, Zale nudged her, holding two long parchments, "Come with me"

Hurriedly taking her package with her, Lyra grabbed a cup of milk, "My breakfast!"

"We'll get it from the kitchen later on, or else, I'll give you all the chocolate frogs that I have. So, now come on," With an excited look on his face, Zale pulled her all the way to the seventh floor and they went inside the Room of Requirement.

"What's the matter?" Lyra did an arm roll intending to ease her right arm which had become stiff from Zale's pulling.

"Here," he pointed at the two long parchments that he had brought, "Sign it."

Lyra raised her eyebrows at him and pulled out the parchment from his hand to take a look. It read:

' IMSC's Distance Learning Program '

IMSC, i.e. International Magical Student Committee, was a department under ICW (International Confederation of Wizards). But she heard that their Distance Learning Program was meant for only Homeschooling students.

She looked at the parchment, then at Zale, then again at the parchment to make sure that she had read it correctly, "Isn't this only for Homeschooling witches and wizards?"

"No," Zale shook his head, "Although the majority of IMSC's student community consist of Homeschooling Witches and Wizards, there is a minority who choose to enrol even after being admitted into a Magical School. The only thing they'd require is a recommendation letter from their Headmaster/ Headmistress."

"Well, what's the catch?"

"Hogwarts' syllabus is somewhat lacking compared to theirs and IMSC is recognised by each and every country. They'll even give you preferential treatment."

"Do I have to?" Lyra knew that it'll be beneficial to her if she enrolled, but she already had a lot to do. She had yet to even find a clue on Silver Phoenixes even though she had already searched half of the Magical Creatures Section in the library in the past week. Not to mention the homework, there was also Zale's 'dodgeball game', her potions practice and transfiguration practice. She wasn't talented in transfiguration and thus she had to put in triple the effort that others had to. She knew what Zale was suggesting was definitely good for her, but still, she had never worked this hard before. Her past week was so hectic that she was exhausted physically, mentally and magically. Any more and she'll break down.

"You are signing up. If you do, you'll be learning a lot more than what's taught here. I know you are not used to this, but in the beginning, it was like that for me too. Just bear it for a little more and you'll be fine," Zale looked at her. He too knew how overwhelming it would be in the beginning, so he felt that it was okay to give her a little leeway, "I'll give you all my homework to copy and I'll help you in every way possible. So, please sign up, alright?"

Sighing in resignation, Lyra decided not to think too much and just let it be. At most what could happen? She'd die out of exhaustion. That's it. It was much better than being murdered by someone else just because she was weak. What's more, Zale told her that he'll help her, she'll have to make the most out of this opportunity, right?

She took her quill and started to fill in her details, "We can choose the subjects?"

"Yeah, only Magical theory and Charms are compulsory. Other than that, it's our own choice on what subjects we want to take."

"So what do you plan on taking?"

"IMSC's Astronomy and Herbology portions are the same as Hogwarts and I don't like potions, so I'm taking DADA & Transfiguration."

"Then I'll take DADA and Potions" Lyra put a tick mark against those subjects and read the final part of it. It read:

' I, ______________ (your name), until I am of age, swear not to use my wand in front of muggles nor will I misuse it in any way. I will never break the Statute of Secrecy, underage or not. '

She couldn't believe her eyes. Did it mean that they could get rid of the trace in their wands? She looked at Zale and he nodded, confirming her suspicion, "This is the most important reason for which I wanted you to sign up."

"You should have told me this before itself," Lyra humphed, but she was nevertheless overjoyed and signed it immediately.

The instant they were done with the form, both of them went straight to Professor Snape's door and knocked on it. After a little while, they heard his voice, "Come in."

Entering the room, they saw Snape who was correcting their last week's homework. Moreover, from the look on his face, he was probably pissed to be disturbed and if there wasn't a good reason for it, they'll probably be done for.

Lyra gulped as Zale started, "Professor, Sorry to disturb you, sir, but we need a letter of recommendation from the Headmaster"

"Reason?"

"Sir, it is for our enrollment in IMSC's student program."

"Aren't you overestimating your abilities?" Snape asked, but nevertheless, his expression eased.

"We'll try our best, sir." Mustering up her courage, Lyra put on a smile and assured him. Thankfully, Snape's dislike towards has considerably lessened in the past week as Lyra was very hardworking and talented in the Potions class. If not, Lyra wouldn't have the confidence to even bring this up in front of him.

"Whatever. If I see any kind of slacking off in my class due to this, then beware of the consequences," Snape pointedly stared at them as if he'd bore a hole through them.

"We'll certainly not slack off sir," Zale and Lyra didn't cover and said looking straight at Snape.

"Very well, I'll get your recommendation letters from the Headmaster, come get it by this evening." He took the two applications and waved them off, "You may leave"

"Thank you, sir"

....

DADA Classroom, Hogwarts.

01:00 PM

' While the static spells only use magical energy during the time taken for casting the spell, Dynamic spells like the Patronus Charm (which we will not be learning until later), will continue to draw on your magical energy for as long as the spell is in effect. '

Lyra read from 'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection', their DADA Textbook, not paying attention to what Professor Quirrell was stuttering. The spell that she had learnt: the Disillusionment charm and even the wand-lighting charm were Dynamic Spells. On the other hand, spells like Alohmora, the Knockback Jinx were all Static spells. The last time when her Disillusionment charm began to wear off, it was probably because her magical energy was not enough to support the spell anymore.

Just as she was thinking, Professor Quirrel passed by her seat and she immediately pretended as if she was paying attention, resisting the urge to run away from there. It was already their third DADA class since school started, but Lyra still couldn't come to like the class.

Don't get her wrong, she liked the subject itself very much, as it was one of her favourite subjects other than Potions and Astronomy. Furthermore, it wasn't due to the Stuttering Quirrel and his garlic filled classroom either. Although she disliked the smell, it wasn't to the point of feeling repugnant.

It was just that she felt repulsive towards Quirrel. Whenever he passed by her seat, she'll get the urge to run away from there. As if she wasn't supposed to be there. That she should never be in his vicinity. Perhaps it was her imagination running wild, but she knew that it was the same repulsive feeling that she got when she hugged Harry, only a bit more prominent.

Why would she feel like that? Maybe there was some esoteric reason for Professor Quirrel, but why she felt the same towards Harry too? Normally she didn't feel like that when she was around Harry. Only when she hugged him. As for Quirrel, that too was when he came near her.

Why was that?

Pulling her mind out of those thoughts, she attempted to focus on something else. When she looked up from her book, she noticed Professor Quirrel's pet bird, a raven, staring at her. This was the weirder part. Whenever they had DADA class, that raven would be looking at her. It was as if... it was observing her all the time. And it totally creeped her out. When she met its eyes, she felt a chill down her spine and she was covered in goosebumps.

At that time she felt someone nudge her, turning around she saw Susan, Daphne and Zale looking at her worriedly. She just gave them a comforting smile and shaking her head, she mouthed them 'nothing'.

Seeing that she was still distracted, Zale, who was sitting beside her silently passed her a Chocolate Frog. And before she could even eat it, the Chocolate Frog jumped out in front of the whole class.

Everyone became silent for a moment including Professor Quirrel. Then all the students burst out laughing, well, everyone except for Lyra. She knew she was in trouble. Even Zale was grinning, but the reason was entirely something else.

"Miss Bo-Bones! Mr Osmon-nd! De-detention for today! And out of my c-class! Now!" Professor Quirrel stutter-yelled.

"Sorry Professor," Lyra hung her head down as if she was really apologetic about it. But in reality, she was too thrilled that she was able to leave the DADA class to even care about the Detention that she just got. She wordlessly picked up her things and left the class along with Zale.

The instant they left the classroom, Lyra let out a sigh of relief and Zale stretched his arms, "Ah... we're out of that stupid class. I was wondering how I was going to skip the class, and here we are..."

Lyra looked at Zale who had a smile on his face and she felt her lips curve into a smile.

"Finally you smiled huh?" Zale who was still smiling crossed his arms behind his head, "Took you long enough."

"Did I ever tell you, Zale?" Lyra smirked and Zale looked confused, "What?"

"That you are an idiot?"

"Hey!" he pouted dramatically, "I just demonstrated how to be a true Slytherin, and you are stating that I, Zale Amory Osmond, am an idiot?"

"Yeah, you are! Now stop arguing and let's get go—," before she could finish, Lyra was splashed with ink yet again, "AH...Peeves!"

....

7.00 PM

Professor Quirrel wanted them to babysit (or petsit?) his pet bird for their detention, much to Lyra's dismay. The bird was very quiet and behaved, so Zale and Lyra didn't have to do anything other than filling up its meal plate and changing its water. And they just had to do it once. Zale and Lyra didn't want to waste their time and thus began duelling in the room after placing a silencing charm, so as not to alarm Quirrel who was next door, doing who knows what.

Lyra had improved leaps and bounds in the past week, but Zale's reflexes were also impressive enough.

"Lumos," Lyra casted her overpowered wand-lighting charm, and Zale was forced to close his eyes due to the light's intensity. And within that moment, Lyra immediately cast the Knockback Jinx, the only jinx that she had managed to learn in the past week, causing Zale to fall on his back.

"I got you," Lyra smirked and offered her hand to pull him up. He took her help and stood up dusting off his pants, "Didn't you already master the control over your charm? Then how?"

"Of course I did it on purpose, you idiot!"

"Should have figured, you're a Slytherin for a reason after all," Zale sighed, but his mouth nonetheless curved into a smile, "Well, at least you'll be able to defend yourself against novice wizards now"

"So you do admit you're a novice?"

"Merlin," he rolled his eyes, "Why did I even agree to help you?"

The two bickered for a while then sparred again and again, and as time passed, the two of them were felt their stomachs rumble in hunger. They weren't allowed to go to dinner until their detention is over. And by the time it's ends, dinner time would already be over. Thus, the two decided to make do with a few snacks for now and when it ends, they could go to the kitchens to eat dinner.

By the time their detention was over, it was already 9.00 PM and they were so famished that they made a beeline to the kitchens, and Zale introduced her to the world of Pizzas. When they left the kitchens, it was 10:00 PM. And the curfew starts at 10.

Lyra didn't bring Sirius's map along with her as it was too valuable to be carried around all the time, and they heard Filch's voice when they were walking towards their common room. Lyra was already fully fatigued and couldn't manage to cast the Disillusionment charm. Zale took out his map again saw that there were no secret passages nearby, but a place was circled out without any label. Zale pulled her towards that place and saw that there was a hidden door. No one would expect it to be at such a place, and if he hadn't seen it on the map, he wouldn't have noticed it either.

He tried to pull open the door, but the door didn't budge. He even tried the unlocking charm, and obviously, it didn't work either. At that time, Lyra, who was very frustrated, didn't even think about anything before pulling the door.

Surprisingly, it opened for her.

The two of them just entered the door and shut it close.

"What is this pl— aah...", before even they had the time to inspect their surroundings, they felt the floor shake, and they instantly fell deep inside of what seemed to be a long secret tunnel.

They fell onto something that seemed to be a cushion. The two of them cast the wand-lighting charm and looked around only to find a small entrance a few feet ahead.

They looked at each other and started walking towards that entrance.

What greeted them was an illuminated raised platform with a silver dagger on it and an egg that was placed in another raised platform. There was also a big and complicated ritual circle to the side.

"Zale, we are probably a few feet beneath Hogwarts, right?" Lyra turned towards Zale and seeing that he nodded, she pointed towards the egg and asked, "Then how could these two birds come in here?"

"What birds?" Zale tilted his head in confusion.

"You don't see them?! The silver-coloured birds?"

"No," he shook his head, "I can't see anything other than the egg."

Lyra, who was still in disbelief, rubbed her eyes a few times to confirm that the two birds were still there. She approached them to touch them to see if they were real and they chirped at her touch. (Do phoenixes even chirp? )

Unexpectedly, she could comprehend what they were saying!

*Look at her... It's the first time we have seen her after all these years* The bird on the right said and the other one agreed, *She has gotten both her parents' best looks*

*You guys knew my parents and me?* Lyra asked them, not noticing how she didn't speak human at all. She was conversing in their language.

The two birds nodded at her, *Take that dagger in your hand, and put a bit of blood on the platform*

She didn't know if she could trust them or not, and blood can be used in many dark rituals and it would totally harm her if her blood was misused. As she was pondering on what to do, the silver dagger flew over by itself and slashed her arm drawing a handful of blood, and the blood floated onto the platform and it got absorbed completely.

There was a shiny glow, after which Lyra and Zale heard an old man's voice, "The Silver Dagger is the key. Child, do not lose it," No matter how they looked, they couldn't find the source of the voice.

Lyra looked for the Silver Dagger but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Imagine that you have the dagger in your hands," the old man's voice came again.

Lyra closed her eyes and tried to imagine the dagger in her hand, even though the pain from her wound was keeping her from focusing. She gritted her teeth and tried to focus, and it worked. And when she imagined not having it in her hand, it vanished!

"I know you have many questions, but many of your abilities were sealed through blood interference. If you want to remove that, you have to get through the trials set by me," the old man said again as another room suddenly appeared, "When you pass the trial inside that room, you can proceed with a ritual in this ritual circle. Prepare the ingredients beforehand as they are very rare."

As Lyra was processing all the information that she had just heard, Zale tried to walk towards where Lyra was standing, but he was knocked back by an invisible force.

"Be careful, Zale," Lyra, who was pulled out of her thoughts, said, "I think this dagger is one of the 'things' that the Sorting Hat mentioned"

"There's a notebook over there!" Zale pointed at the ritual circle, at the centre of which lay a notebook. Lyra picked it up and saw that the process involved in the ritual and the ingredients required were all mentioned in it. She didn't know what this all meant, but she knew she had to do this. She had to pass that trial and do the ritual.

But for now, they need to figure out how to get out of this place and how to reach their dormitory. Lyra and Zale walked out of the room and noticed that there was a staircase at the place where the cushion had been.

They noiselessly glanced at each other and nodded before they started climbing the stairs. Before long the two silver birds flew over to them and chirped towards Lyra, *Come back here when you are ready*

Lyra nodded at them and waved them goodbye as they flew back to the secret chamber.

"By the way, when did learn those birds' language?" Zale asked looking at Lyra.

"Bird Language?" Lyra was visibly perplexed and Zale explained it to her, "Although I couldn't see them, I could hear them chirping and you were chirping back at them. If it's not bird language, then what is?"

"I spoke a different language?" Lyra didn't even realise she spoke differently at that time, "But I have never been able to understand other birds. They are the first!"

"Anyway, I've heard of people who could speak to snakes, like me, and I've even heard of people who could speak to dragons. But I never knew there could be anyone who could talk to birds," Zale mused out loud.

But Lyra caught on to the important point, "You are a Parselmouth?!"

Zale nodded and by this time they had already reached the surface. It was the same place from where they had fallen. They opened the door and came out into the castle's corridors.

"Tsk, What do we have here, Georgie? Ickle first years sneaking off to broom closet!"

"Yeah Freddie, very naughty kids, aren't they?"

"Hey! What are you two doing here?" Lyra looked at the Weasley twins who were smiling at the two of them with her eyes widened.

"Well, we are certainly not sneaking back to our dorms from a broom closet," Fred teased.

"Excuse me, we are not coming back from a broom closet!," Lyra whined, "Why is everybody talking like this? First Harry, and now you two..."

"You don't know?" George feigned shock and pointed at the two of them, "There are lots of talks lately that Madam Bones' only daughter is always seen with a boy"

Lyra blushed but didn't say anything, and Zale smirked at that, "Those people have nothing to do other than gossiping, and even if that was true, it has nothing to do with them"

"Ohhhh..." the twins teased them again seeing that neither of them denied it, but apparently they had a few more things to ask about, "By the way, how did you provoke Peeves?"

"Don't you ever ask about it!" Lyra glared at Zale, who sheepishly scratched his head, "It was all this genius' idea to 'help' me being vigilant"

Hearing that Fred's eyes twinkled as he looked at Lyra, "Georgie, are you thinking the same thing?"

"Yeah, Freddie, we can totally aid our Dear old Peevsie"

"Being pranked by Peeves is one thing, but do you guys honestly think you can prank me?" Lyra looked at them as if she was looking at idiots, "Me of all people?"

They nodded vigorously at that and Lyra just smirked, "Try me then"

=======

A/N: Okay... Sorry for this long rant, but, before you all start scolding Lyra or feel that Zale is the one who's pushing her forward, think about what were we doing when we were 11 years old? She already has a lot to do, on top of that Zale wants her to enrol in another study program, which is basically equivalent to studying in two schools at the same time. Although the two syllabi tend to have more in common, Lyra doesn't know that. Zale knows all about it because all of his ancestors were homeschooled. And he's been trained from a young age, he knows the darker side of the world. Lyra doesn't. Although she's exposed to gossip, that's it. Other than that she has always been a sheltered young lady. Does that explain it? She's mature than some of her peers, yeah. But she's not that mature to understand the consequences of being willful. Of being negligent. But she tries to cope up with it, doesn't she?

Also, the story has just started, hasn't it? I promise you that Lyra will definitely face a little of the darker side of the world and will understand. She'll grow. She's a child who has yet to grow, and Zale is someone who was forced to grow up just because of who he was. Because he knew things no one was supposed to know at that age.

I'm informing you guys in advance. The plot that deviates from the cannon would mostly have only Lyra and Zale. If not Amelia, Amory, Sirius, etc... would be there.

Only when the cannon events occur will I be able to include the others. I really can't see any reason to pull them in Lyra's plot other than when they attend classes together.

If you guys may be wondering why I introduced them... It was to show that all friendships don't stay the same. Even though they were thick friends earlier, they couldn't spend that much time together because they were in different houses.

Of course, they are still friends and they hold a gathering in the Hogwarts Castle grounds during weekends and chat. But, they don't interact much other than that and during their classes.

They too have their own homework and stuff. And Lyra has too much on her plate to even consider hanging out with her friends on normal days.

Lyra knows she's different from others and from her perspective, Zale knows almost everything about her, and he was a lot helpful and knowledgeable. To her, who had never stayed away from home, away from her family, she needed someone who is reliable. She also made sure that he'll never be able to harm her. Thus, her closeness with him.