Uncovering Secrets (Max)

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School was great; he was enjoying himself more than he expected, but at the same time, seeing his older siblings doing so well and in higher years than him made him a tad bit jealous. He wanted to be as good as them, but people seemed to be like, "Oh, you're blank's brother, right?" and that annoyed him. It meant he couldn't really make friends with many older years, since they associated him with one of his siblings.

In any case, Nico was determined to make a name for himself - but first, that meant finding out exactly what name he wanted. At the moment, it was a Potions master, but if his still-green-tinged hair was anything to go by, it would be a while more before that happened. Wincing a little at the memory, he glanced around the empty hallway before slipping quietly past the doors.

He was out on his latest adventure, having read about it in one of the history books he borrowed and needing to see for himself what it was all about. Moaning Myrtle, a secret passageway that led to a Basilisk (which had been, apparently, killed already) that was accessible only by saying open in parseltongue. He didn't know it, but what was the harm in trying?

Making sure he was alone, Nico glanced around the empty bathroom and saw nobody - not even a ghost - and shrugged to himself, slightly disappointed. Moving towards the sinks where the entrance to this chamber was supposedly kept, Nico stared at the sinks for a while, examining them individually and then as a whole, trying to identify a difference. As he walked, he started randomly hissing, trying to imitate that of a snake, wondering if it would work; in any case, if he didn't at least try, he would never know.

Guest

Being back at school was great. It meant he didn't have so much of a 'don't do this' and 'don't do that' atmosphere around him. Of course, there were rules, and he had to not do certain things, but at Hogwarts it didn't happen so much. Mostly because he had more to occupy himself with.

However, Max was more than a little bit annoyed that he hadn't caught up with Elyah yet. He missed the Hufflepuff, but Freddo had yet to help him find her.

The time would come soon enough, Max was sure of that much.

Today, however, Max was not thinking about trying to find Elyah. No, instead he was trying to find adventure. Which had currently led him to the First Floor. Max wasn't considerably well read, truth be told, and History of Magic was b-o-r-i-n-g! So, Max didn't really know about the Chamber of Secrets, he was just curious about the bathroom that always flooded.

Not thinking anyone would be in the bathroom, Max had slipped through the door, looking around to find the bathroom uncharacteristically dry. Well, that seemed to have scuppered his fun for the day then....

Until.

Max's eyes landed on another person. Someone roughly his age. Who was hissing. Frowning to himself (and not really acknowledging the danger of what the other boy was trying to achieve) Max moved a little closer. "Hey - what are you trying to do? You do know that the film Dr Doolittle isn't real, and talking to animals is like, completely impossible! Besides... there aren't any snakes here, are there?

"Unless you have one hidden somewhere? Now, that would be cool!" Max continued, tilting his head a little bit to try and see what the boy was doing better. "Oh, and I'm Maximillian, by the way, but most people think that name is too long, so they just call me Max. What's your name?"

Guest

Nothing was happening, and Nico was getting just a tad bit stubborn-headed, resolving not to leave until he figured it out. After all, one just didn't walk away from a mystery, and the thought of finding this hidden chamber thing made him even more excited. Not once considering the implication of what he was doing, he continued walking around, trying different variations of hissing and wondering if he could either find someone who did speak it and get their help or if there was anything in any books on how to speak parseltongue.

A sudden noise made him jump a little, and he spun, hoping that it wasn't a Professor or a prefect. Upon seeing a fellow Gryffindor he had caught sight of a few times in the common room but never really had a conversation with - there were too many people to even begin knowing them all, and he had only been there for a short time - Nico relaxed a bit more, instead listening to what the male had to say.

Gesturing towards the sink, Nico gave a little shrug. "Open the chamber of secrets he explained, returning to the first thing the Gryffindor - Max - had said, working his way from the top to the bottom instead of the other way around. "And, actually, it is possible. Or, at least, it's possible for people to talk to snakes. Ever heard of parseltongues?" He paused, shrugged a little. "And no, I don't have any snakes. The only ones in this room are the..." Nico trailed off, eyes growing wide.

That's it! he thought, realising something and turned, momentarily distracted by his epiphany. "Of course," he murmured to himself, moving back towards the taps. There had been one tap with a pair of snakes engraved into the metal. He had dismissed it as decoration before, but now... Gently he ran his finger over the intricate carvings and smiled to himself.

Only then remembering that there was someone else there, he turned, motioning to the boy. "Over here. See the snakes? I think this may be the entrance to the chamber, but I don't speak parseltongue, so I don't know how to open it," he explained, pointing it out.

A flush creeped across his face as he realised he had done it again - gotten so caught up in something that he had forgotten his manners. "I'm sorry," he apologised, sticking out a hand. "I'm Nico." Hopefully Max wouldn't think him too weird for this, for making friends with the other Gryffindor was definitely something Nico wanted to do.

Guest

"The Chamber of what?" Max asked, moving closer because he was definitely very curious about a chamber. Though, he wasn't sure what a chamber and a sink had to do with one another, so he wasn't one hundred percent sure he'd heard right. Truthfully, Max hadn't heard of the Chamber of Secrets, because he wasn't that interested in magical history.

"Parseltongue. Isn't that a Slytherin thing?" Maximillian asked, trying to remember where he'd heard that before. He was quite sure it had something to do with Salazar Slytherin, but he honestly couldn't remember. "Or... was that something else? I don't know, but why would you want to talk to snakes, I mean yeah, they're poisonous, or some are, but they're not exactly the most powerful animal in the world. Like, I'd personally rather speak to a lion, or a big cat, because they're so powerful! Are you a parseltongue?" Max asked the curious boy before him.

His question, the last one, anyway, was answered a moment later though, and after looking at the sink, Max sighed. "I guess you'll never see inside the chamber, then. Unless you know a parseltongue who would be able to help us, of course? Though, I don't think there is anyone in the school who knows how to... Well, not that I can think of, but I don't know many Slytherins..."

"Nico is a cool name!" Max replied with a grin. "You're in Gryffindor too, right? But, you're not in my year, so... this is your first year?"

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» The Secrets Come out (Sasha & Sierra)
» Ruins and Secrets (Valentino & Mina)
» the incompatibility of secrets and younger sisters // raffaele cassan