Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Let's Try That Again, Shall We?
Chapter 59: Slytherin's Monster, Part III
She was supposed to be guarding things. She was sure of that. She had been in the rooms a few times, before her master sealed her in the chamber and allowed her to sleep, but she never understood anything he had been working on in there. She had her little den behind the sculpture, and spent most of her time in there curled up and asleep.
She would wake up every few months to hunt. Occasionally rats would find their way through the walls, or fish would come in through some connection to the lake. Oh, the entrances to those were magically blocked off to her, of course, to keep her in, but she wasn't complicated enough to resent it. That was just the way things were.
She had been rather small when her master left her — still small enough to ride around on his shoulders. When she was young — before the chamber was built — he had carried her around with him whenever he was working. At first in his pocket, or up his sleeve — that was before the magic in her eyes was fully developed, and she was allowed to peek out at the world if she liked. That was a nice time.
Later on he had to block off her eyes with a spell, but she still had plenty of other senses, and anyway it was nice to be big enough to ride around on his shoulders. She liked his children, too — they made a fuss over her and tried to feed her all sorts of delicacies. She didn't always like everything they brought — strawberries and cream, cakes, custard, oatmeal, boiled vegetables — it was all very puzzling. It was nice to try new things, though.
He hadn't started the chamber until after the school was built. She was a whole four feet long by then! He spent more and more time down there, bringing her with him whenever he went. Eventually he explained she would have to stay there some day as a guard, and that it was very important because no one else could do it properly. She was important!
She wasn't happy about having to stay there, but her master was very apologetic and promised to visit her regularly once that happened. And the day came when he set her up in her den and left her for the night. She trusted him to come back, and he did, the next day. She would greet him every time he came in, and ride on his shoulders while he worked, and once in a rare while he took her outdoors with him so she could see the sun. That was a nice time, too.
She watched him get older and more feeble, and only vaguely understood what was going on. He brought his projects in the Chamber to stopping points and sealed their entrances. Every so often he would come back to visit her, but the visits came more and more infrequently, and he looked less and less well each time. He explained that eventually he would come no more, and that she would be alone. That was scary, but she had been getting more and more used to the idea, and the spell on her den really did allow her to sleep soundly unless a noise awakened her.
There were no tearful goodbyes. He just stopped coming. She slept, mostly, sometimes eating whatever crept or swam in. Very slowly, she grew. Her master would be so impressed to see her now!
Then another speaker came, after a very, very long time. He never tried to find any of the other rooms in the Chamber, and seemed to think she was the most important thing in it. That was confusing, but very flattering. And he let her come out and roam around the castle! She was fascinated to find out what had changed, and what had stayed the same. But he had never taken care to cover her eyes like her master had, and eventually a girl saw her and died. He didn't seem upset about it at all, but he also never came back after returning her to her den.
The next speaker knew how to cast spells on her eyes, but only did it halfway. She was puzzled by this, but was forced to obey him as he led her around the school. Then something startled him, and he seemed to be arguing with himself. He led her into a storeroom and told her she would be safe there, and to wait for him to come back. It wasn't like she could get out. She sat there for about a month, waiting.
While she was there, on three different occasions house elves appeared before her. These promptly died from her gaze. Since she was unable to hunt, and a little hungry, and had no one to tell her not to, she ate them. They were okay, but tasted funny and didn't have much meat on them.
Then someone opened the door and called her by name. They weren't a speaker, though. She knew she wasn't supposed to listen to them. That meeting didn't go very well.
She was supposed to be guarding things. She was sure of that. She had been in the rooms a few times, before her master sealed her in the chamber and allowed her to sleep, but she never understood anything he had been working on in there. She had her little den behind the sculpture, and spent most of her time in there curled up and asleep.
She would wake up every few months to hunt. Occasionally rats would find their way through the walls, or fish would come in through some connection to the lake. Oh, the entrances to those were magically blocked off to her, of course, to keep her in, but she wasn't complicated enough to resent it. That was just the way things were.
She had been rather small when her master left her — still small enough to ride around on his shoulders. When she was young — before the chamber was built — he had carried her around with him whenever he was working. At first in his pocket, or up his sleeve — that was before the magic in her eyes was fully developed, and she was allowed to peek out at the world if she liked. That was a nice time.
Later on he had to block off her eyes with a spell, but she still had plenty of other senses, and anyway it was nice to be big enough to ride around on his shoulders. She liked his children, too — they made a fuss over her and tried to feed her all sorts of delicacies. She didn't always like everything they brought — strawberries and cream, cakes, custard, oatmeal, boiled vegetables — it was all very puzzling. It was nice to try new things, though.
He hadn't started the chamber until after the school was built. She was a whole four feet long by then! He spent more and more time down there, bringing her with him whenever he went. Eventually he explained she would have to stay there some day as a guard, and that it was very important because no one else could do it properly. She was important!
She wasn't happy about having to stay there, but her master was very apologetic and promised to visit her regularly once that happened. And the day came when he set her up in her den and left her for the night. She trusted him to come back, and he did, the next day. She would greet him every time he came in, and ride on his shoulders while he worked, and once in a rare while he took her outdoors with him so she could see the sun. That was a nice time, too.
She watched him get older and more feeble, and only vaguely understood what was going on. He brought his projects in the Chamber to stopping points and sealed their entrances. Every so often he would come back to visit her, but the visits came more and more infrequently, and he looked less and less well each time. He explained that eventually he would come no more, and that she would be alone. That was scary, but she had been getting more and more used to the idea, and the spell on her den really did allow her to sleep soundly unless a noise awakened her.
There were no tearful goodbyes. He just stopped coming. She slept, mostly, sometimes eating whatever crept or swam in. Very slowly, she grew. Her master would be so impressed to see her now!
Then another speaker came, after a very, very long time. He never tried to find any of the other rooms in the Chamber, and seemed to think she was the most important thing in it. That was confusing, but very flattering. And he let her come out and roam around the castle! She was fascinated to find out what had changed, and what had stayed the same. But he had never taken care to cover her eyes like her master had, and eventually a girl saw her and died. He didn't seem upset about it at all, but he also never came back after returning her to her den.
The next speaker knew how to cast spells on her eyes, but only did it halfway. She was puzzled by this, but was forced to obey him as he led her around the school. Then something startled him, and he seemed to be arguing with himself. He led her into a storeroom and told her she would be safe there, and to wait for him to come back. It wasn't like she could get out. She sat there for about a month, waiting.
While she was there, on three different occasions house elves appeared before her. These promptly died from her gaze. Since she was unable to hunt, and a little hungry, and had no one to tell her not to, she ate them. They were okay, but tasted funny and didn't have much meat on them.
Then someone opened the door and called her by name. They weren't a speaker, though. She knew she wasn't supposed to listen to them. That meeting didn't go very well.
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