Entering the Chamber

[Susan Miller]

No: HPFGUIDX 90476

--- Kneasy wrote:
> Since I submitted the original Possession post a week or so ago, 
> aspects of the whole Chamber question have been bothering me. <

<snip>

Agreeing with Kneasy, I think there is very likely to be several 
entrances to the Chamber. In fact, I think many of the secret 
passageways in Hogwarts are related the the Chamber. I think this 
fact was demonstrated when Ron's wand malfunction in the Chamber 
tunnel FAR below Hogwarts was able to cause a cave-in and block the 
roomy passageway way up on the 4th floor. This is the secret 
passageway that the twins and Sirius mention. I think this is good 
evidence that at least those two passageways are related. I think 
most or all of them are related - and many of them lead out.

<snip stuff wondering about Myrtle's unawareness>

I think that it wasn't the CHAMBER that was unlocked from the 
bathroom, but the enclosure that was keeping the BASILISK caged. We 
know that the Basilisk had free roam of the lower chamber because of 
the animal skeletons at the bottom of the chute. But I think it could 
not go farther until the sink mechanism opened a lock somewhere 
between the bathroom and the lower chamber. At that point, it was 
free to travel through the entire network of pipes and tunnels, from 
which point Harry was able to hear it.

>  Tell me, how did Tom get *out* of the Chamber all those years 
> ago? He certainly didn't use Fawkes. It's a long slide down to the 
> bottom - and there are no steps.
> 

As to how Tom got *out* of the chamber, I think it could have 
happened thus: We know that the Basilisk was able to get into the 
bathroom after it had been opened. We also know that Tom could speak 
to the Basilisk and that it took his orders. Tom could have told the 
snake to carry him back to the bathroom and then return to its lair 
far below. Then Tom could reseal the lock mechanism using 
parseltongue, thereby capturing the snake back in the lower chambers 
until the next unsealing.

> Harry first hears the Basilisk during his detention with Lockhart - 
> this is within the first few days of the start of the school year. 
Is 
> it likely that Ginny has already opened the Chamber in that short 
time? 

Harry did not notice any snakey sounds in his first year, so the 
Basilisk seemed to be out of the way until Ginny actually freed it 
from Myrtle's bathroom, which I think could have happened early on, 
before Ginny started to become suspicious. Yeah. I think Ginny could 
have opened it within that short amount of time.

<snip>
>
> I strongly suspect that there is another entrance.. Bets?
> 

I wouldn't bet against you on that, Kneasy, although I came to 
suspect the network of passageways, of which the Chamber is a part, 
because of my thinking about how Quirrell (<-- obligatory Quirrell 
mention) might have escaped the dungeon.

I DO believe that the Chamber has other entrances. For one thing, how 
did all the animals get into the Chamber to become Basilisk food? 
Rats, ok. Rats are everywhere. But it says "other small creatures". I 
think some of the other entrances are small enough for small 
creatures to get in, but not big enough for enormous basilisk snakes 
to get out.

If all the secret passageways in Hogwarts link up to the Chamber, 
which I think is a possibility, then an interesting thought presents: 
One of the secret passageways leads to Honeydukes. Does anyone think 
that kindly Mr. Honeyduke is unaware of a hole in his storeroom? He 
doesn't have stuff piled on it, so he seems to be keeping it clear 
for some reason. Perhaps he is purposefully allowing unknown beings 
access to Hogsmeade through his storeroom? Maybe this is where the 
fabled vampires live? 

And how about the other secret passageways? The twins know of several 
which they haven't told us, the readers, about. And I'd bet a sickle 
that there are even more that not even the Twins found. Did Salazar 
build all those, too? Where do they go and why? The head reels. There 
is much to be straightened out in the next two books.

~ Constance Vigilance