章 42: An interesting history lesson, for once
Oleandra stifled a yawn, covering her mouth with her hand. Goodness, how could History of Magic be this boring? How could this exciting world that she had always dreamed of be this mind-shatteringly dull? The simple truth was that History of Magic was actually as fascinating as it was bizarre. The fault actually lied with the ghost teaching the class. Professor Binns, it seemed, was determined to take as many students as he could with him off this mortal coil by death via extreme boredom.
Thanks to Ingwaz, she didn't have to take notes since the rune increased her concentration, but she at least had to be awake to hear what was being said; otherwise Oleandra would have to actually open the course book to review. Ugh.
To take a break from the tedium, she glanced across the room. All students from the three other Houses had elected to sit as far as they possibly could from her. Unlike Filch, most students seemed to have convinced themselves that she was the Heir of Slytherin. It was the most logical conclusion, considering everything that had happened thus far, and Oleandra didn't blame them for it.
Oleandra noticed a hand rising from the shapeless masses before her. What was this, someone was actually going to ask a question? Who else could it have been but Granger?
"Miss — er —?" asked Professor Binns.
"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," she said.
Suddenly, the entire class was wide awake. Still, Professor Binns didn't seem convinced of the validity of the question. His subject dealt with facts, and not myths and legends, according to him.
Still, Granger wouldn't let it go this easily. She put up her hand again, waving it as if she were flagging down a cab.
"Miss Grant?" Professor Binns said in his reedy voice.
"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?" Granger insisted.
It seemed as if this had finally convinced him. That, and the enraptured audience, something he had never experienced before. The ghost began his story.
Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years ago. Back then, most magical communities were isolated from each other, living in bloodline clans, preserving their skills across generations since times immemorial. The inequality between pure-blooded Wizards and Muggle-born Wizards stems from this era.
This was a time before the International Confederation of Wizards united Wizards and Witches across the globe. This also meant there was no International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, which meant Muggles were fully aware of the existence of magic. There are and always have been precious few Wizards, so it was natural that Muggles would be scared of their power, and oppress them with sheer numbers.
It was in such deplorable conditions that the four founders banded together to create a school. If Muggles could gain strength from unity, so could Wizards! For the betterment of Wizards everywhere in the British Isles, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin gathered every single bit of magical knowledge they could, by hook or by crook, and had a castle built: Hogwarts. All of the unique spells of the different bloodline clans were now available to every single Wizard in Britain, which revolutionized the usage of magic itself. Obsolete spells were phased out and new spells were born, which resulted in the standardized magic system that Wizards use to this day.
However, a rift grew between the founders. They had founded Hogwarts so that all Wizards could benefit from the communal knowledge of their species, but Salazar Slytherin thought differently. Yes, he agreed that spells should be shared so that their species could grow stronger, but what he didn't agree on was the others' definition of their species. He didn't want students of Muggle parentage to learn his magic, only the descendants of the bloodline clans.
In the end, their disagreements reached such a point that Salazar Slytherin simply left, but not before he had built a hidden chamber in the castle, the Chamber of Secrets. According to legend, no one but his true heir would be able to break the seal that hid it, upon which the horror within would be released, cleansing the school of the unworthy.
_
After the class, Oleandra and Daphne went straight to Draco, who was busy talking with Pansy Parkinson about something.
"Draco, do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?" Oleandra asked excitedly.
"Well, I do know a little," Draco smirked. "It was before Father's time, but he knows all about it. He won't tell me anything about it, though. Where was I? Ah yes, the last time the Chamber's been opened was fifty years ago, and a Mudblood died. How great is that? I hope more of them are killed this time, especially that Granger!"
"Wow Draco, that's soooo interesting," cooed Pansy. "Tell me more!"
"That's about everything I know, sorry," shrugged Draco. "Trust me, I wish I knew more too. Then I could help the Heir of Slytherin!"
"We could make it our club's provisional goal to find out more," suggested Oleandra. A place like a Founder's secret room was bound to have something interesting in it!
"There must be something," said Daphne, thinking. "Students from the Noble House of Gaunt, who are known to be descendants of Slytherin, attended the school, but apart from that incident fifty years ago, there's never been any mention of killings related to the Chamber of Secrets."
"It's such a shame they died out," said Draco wistfully. "So many ancient Houses have fallen, it's all because of those blasted Mudbloods. The way our society is currently going, it's all going to end badly, you know."
How any of this was the Muggle-Born Wizards' fault, Oleandra had no idea, but it was clear to her that they had hit a dead end. They would have to look elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Pansy was looking more and more aggravated. Who did those two skanks intruding upon her quality time with Draco think they were? She had been friends with Daphne, but they had hardly spent any time together since their first year. In her opinion, she had no right to be her follower any longer! But the Greengrasses were as or even more powerful than the Parkinsons, so Daphne had no need to be anyone's flunky.
"If you must know," said Pansy, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "There's another of Slytherin's secret places right here in the dungeons. I could show you if you want."
Anything to get those twins out of her hair!
"That's great!" beamed Draco. "Show us the way!"
"NOOOOOO!!!" screamed Pansy internally.
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