Tom the Heir of Slytherin & Salazar vs. Godric? (was CoS question)

[Brenda M.]

No: HPFGUIDX 105202

>>> Pippin wrote:
> 
> The Chamber is most likely one of those magical objects with a
> mind of its own. I'm not sure anyone could find it unless it
> wanted to be found. The snake marking on the tap could be like
> the Dark Mark or the writing on the Marauders Map--only visible
> under certain circumstances. Riddle *wanted* Harry to enter the
> Chamber--if he hadn't, perhaps Harry would have searched in
> vain, parselmouth or not.
>
>>> KB responded:
> One of the most fortunate (i.e., fateful) circumstances for HRH was 
that Diary!Tom had already opened the Chamber (through Ginny) and 
released the Basilisk. Without that, I don't think they would have 
found the entrance to the Chamber. So IMO it's not so much that the 
Chamber *wanted* to be found as that it already *had* been found. <<<
> How? Diary!Tom says only that it took him "five whole years" (CoS, 
p. 230) to find it; he does not say how. <<<


Brenda now:

Pippin, it is quite neat to compare the Chamber's snake marking to 
the Dark Mark or the Marauder's Map and how they remain invisible 
till the needs arise. I have read a few posts saying the Chamber of 
Secrets somewhat resembles the Room of Requirement. But I always 
understood this as an internal change than external (i.e. the snake 
marking was still there, but the Chamber would be closed). It makes 
more sense that the entrance marking will disappear altogether; 
Salazar probably didn't want Godric (or someone like Dumbledore) to 
discover the snake carving and put it together.  

KB, you have brought up a very interesting point that I have not seen 
being discussed so far. How *did* he find it? And if it was the 
simple matter of speaking in Parseltongue once locating the entrance, 
why did it take him "five whole years"?

And how did he find out he was the Heir of Slytherin anyways?

My first take is that he probably heard it squirming its way around 
in Hogwarts plumbing, whispering "let me rip you
 rip
 kill
"  Or 
something along the line of "Tom Riddle
 you are the Heir of 
Slytherin
 and you must fulfill the great legacy of Slytherin that 
awaits you
" (the Basilisk probably said something much different to 
Tom Riddle than to Harry). But this doesn't explain WHY it took him 
five *long* years. I mean, he is thought to be "the most brilliant 
student Hogwarts has ever had" (paraphrasing D-Dore's words in CoS) 
and something doesn't seem right to me.  

So I'm thinking, Tom Riddle probably had it much harder to learn the 
existence of the Chamber and how to operate it. One scenario I can 
think of is that Salazar Slytherin left a diary of his own, 
preserving himself as the Hogwarts founder. To me, leaving one's 
memory in a diary seems so awfully clever that maybe he had learned 
it from someone else. However, if this was true -- then how did he 
find that diary, and where was it kept all along? Could it be that it 
was kept in another secret chamber we know of -- in the Malfoy 
mansion!

What if there was another great war (much like Voldemort vs. 
Dumbledore) about a thousand years ago, between Slytherin and 
Gryffindor. The Malfoys could have been Salazar's trustworthy 
friends/allies/servants (you name it) or even the Secret Keeper. 
Salazar strikes a deal with Malfoy.

"Yo 'sup, Malfo. I have this diary instructing my Heir-to-be how to 
purse those filthy Mudblood and whatnot, but I need a place to hide 
it. Would you be a darling and fetch me your house. I will build a 
secret chamber inside since I trust no one but myself but my house 
will be too risky now. For a consolation prize I will fill it up with 
my precious gold, but you will give them back to me when this war is 
over."
(Apologies for the sarcasm, I just read the "Harry Potter and the 
Chamber of Secrets: the Abridged Script" in the Files section and 
still laughing hysterically.)

I mean where on Earth did Malfoys get their hands on all that gold. 
Is it only me, or does it seem like he owns about half of all the 
Wizarding gold there is?!?!


Brenda