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A/N: This takes place in the Chamber of Secrets with heavy spoiler alerts. There is also heavy Dumbledore bashing though the Weasleys and everyone else are good. I am not sure about the Malfoys at this point. They seem good in this chapter but they might be bad until I make up my mind. This is basically a "What If?" story in a very AU universe at least towards the end. Also, this features heavy Harry/Ginny due to obvious reasons that will become evident in the story. Plus, this may have a harem or Harry/Multi but for now is solely Harry/Ginny. But enough rambling and enjoy the story!
CHAPTER 1:
Harry Potter breathed a sigh of relief and sank to his knees. He stared at the disgusting mangled form of the dead Basilisk that he had just slain thanks to Fawkes' help. The Sword of Gryffindor still glowed despite being covered in dark blood. The Boy-Who-Lived coughed and grimaced. Suddenly, a strangled moan diverted his attention.
"Ginny!" Harry called, realizing the poor girl was still there. "Are you alright?"
Harry crawled over to the teenage witch swiftly and cradled her head in his lap. He placed the Sword beside him on the ground and stroked her long red hair and rocked her back and forth softly. The youngest Weasley was sobbing fearfully as she returned to the land of the living and clutched Harry's school shirt for dear life.
"Shh," Harry cooed hoarsely. "You're okay. You're safe now. The snake is dead and Voldermort is gone."
Ginny winced at the name and Harry groaned. Why did people have to be so fearful of the terrorist? He had only been a memory, albeit a living one and they still were afraid of him!
"It's alright, Ginny," Harry reassured. "Fawkes will come back. You'll see. They'll get us out of here."
"Thank you, Harry," Ginny moaned wearily. "Thank you for saving me."
Exhausted and stressed out from the fight, Harry and Ginny collapsed into the embrace of slumber, holding each other comfortingly.
What the young people didn't know, however, was that Hogwarts was currently in panic mode. Percy Weasley had discovered that his younger sister and younger brother had vanished when they didn't show up for dinner that evening. They also realized that the Boy Who Lived was gone as well. Chaos erupted and the teachers tried to maintain law and order while the students rioted that the Chosen One had vanished along with two other students.
Rumors of the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets had been spreading like wild fire. There were those that believed Potter had gone Dark and was secretly petrifying students to invoke fear and terror and pave the way for his rise to power. There was the other half of the school that strongly believed Potter was innocent and refused to wear the badges despite peer pressure and bullying. This half believed the monster from the Chamber of Secrets was behind the attacks though no one else believed them as they were a minority.
Needless to say it got so crazy that even the Board of Governors were notified by Mister Filch and Professor Snape against the Headmaster's wishes. The Board called the Aurors to scour the school, maintain the peace, and find out what the devil was going on in Hogwarts. It had been a disaster like no other. Dumbledore was currently sweating buckets as he tried to figure out how it had all gone so wrong.
Things had been going according to plan as he gave Professor Lockhart a fear charm that made him want to pack up and leave Hogwarts. He also used Legilimancy to give Harry and Ron the idea to get Lockhart for help. After all, if they had any common sense they would definitely ask a smarter and more capable teacher for help like their own Head of House or even himself for that matter.
But that couldn't happen. Harry had to die and this was the way to do it. It would also release Voldermort into the word and expel the Horcuxe from Harry's head. If he didn't recover it didn't matter because his death could be used as a sacrifice for the greater good and would turn him into a martyr and saint. If he survived then the Horcuxe would be gone and they could get to work on transforming him into a human weapon to defeat Voldermort as the Prophesy demanded.
Then he, Dumbledore, would be hailed the Mentor of the Chosen One and the true hero who bravely fought from behind the scenes and caused the events to happen. He would be viewed as a Prophet and a Sage and would secure his claim to the Potter Fortune as the boy's true Guardian. Once the idiot Dark Lord was dead, Harry could rot for all Dumbledore cared. But for now he had a plot to enact. At first, the said plot was going smoothly and they got trapped in the Chamber as planned.
But then shit hit the fan. Fawkes, Dumbledore's own Phoenix, had betrayed him. Even the Sorting Hat turned against him delivering the Sword of Gryffindor to Harry. Albus was furious. It had been hard to steal that from the goblins. That was what the article in the paper during Potter's first year had really been about. Not Voldermort attempting to steal the Stone. It had been him attempting and managing to steal the Sword of Gryffindor. Luckily, he managed to escape without being caught or have his face detected.
But now things were going terribly. His prized sword had been taken from him and handed over to Potter who would most probably win and be hailed the hero. Dumbledore's plans were foiled from the start and then those bloody Aurors poured into the school. Even Snape went against his orders and called Amelia Bones to sort out the mess. It had gotten so out of hand and Dumbledore wished he had made a better plan than charming a first year witch to open the Chamber of Secrets. He didn't realize it would release the Basilisk! That was not according to plan.
He was breathing heavily and plotting his escape for surely the Aurors would discover who was behind it and capture him. No sooner had he thought that then the door to his office banged open and Lucius Malfoy, Amelia Bones, and the Minister of Magic strode into his room. Dumbledore put on his grandfatherly smile and playful twinkle in his eyes as he peered over his obnoxious glasses and smoothed his robes.
"Amelia and Cornelius, what a pleasant surprise!" Dumbledore laughed genially. "Would you like some Lemon Drops? Please have a seat!"
"It's Mrs. Bones to you, Headmaster," Amelia snapped and Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Now, now," Cornelius Fudge protested. "Let's all be civil here. We are adults after all. But pray tell, what is this madness I hear rumor of Dumbledore? Please let it all be one big foolish prank!"
"I'm afraid it is no prank," Amelia Bones said firmly. "My Aurors have discovered that the Boy Who Lived has gone missing and that will not be tolerated. He must be found at once and this monster from the Chamber of Secrets must be killed. This chaos must stop."
"Monster? Chaos?" Dumbledore chuckled patronizingly. "Are you at the right Hogwarts, Madam? Surely you do not believe the rumors? There is no monster. The chamber is a myth!"
"And yet students have been petrified and no suspect has been found," Amelia growled. "Moreover Hagrid has reported that his chickens have been slaughtered and that reptilian scales were found in the drainage pipes by the House Elves. All the signs point to a Basilisk and the last known Basilisk was believed to have resided in the Chamber of Secrets."
"Oh poppycock!" Dumbledore snorted. "Hagrid isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and as for the chickens. I am sure he miscounted. How else could we eat chicken every night for supper if one or two of them didn't die? Also you cannot trust the House Elves about their word. There is a reason why they are slaves after all."
Suddenly, Dumbledore was interrupted by Lucius Malfoy who started talking in a monotone with his trademark sneer. "I don't give a damn about monsters, chambers, or dead chickens. All I care about is that there is even the mere hint of danger posed to my son, Draco. That shall not be tolerated. The Board of Governess has doubted your ability to maintain position as Headmaster at Hogwarts due to old age and your many other duties in the government. You have too much power and now things are getting out of hand. It is time for you to step down from duty of Headmaster and allow the school to be cleansed of whatever maniac is harming the Pureblood youth."
"Cornelius! Amelia!" Dumbledore begged now frantic. "You can't possibly believe Malfoy? Don't you know he has the Dark Mark on his arm? Don't you know he serves Voldermort? You need me to stop him from returning!"
"Oh please, Albus!" The Minister of Magic drawled. "Stop making up wild stories to save your hide. Voldermort is dead and gone. Lucius Malfoy has been pardoned of any war crimes he may or may not have committed. You though have not been pardoned for the crime of allowing your students to come to harm. Effectively and immediately, you have been discharged from this school and will be detained for questioning. Enough dillydallying. I will see you next at court, Albus. You have severely disappointed me!"
Albus Dumbledore was numb with shock and stunned with disbelief. He was frozen stiff and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. It was rather humorous to behold. Truth be told though, he had long since suspected that this day would come and had hoped that Fawkes would be around to help him escape. If you go out, go out with a bang so to speak. Sadly, the phoenix was gone and he was alone.
"Stupefy!" Amelia Bones chanted and before Dumbledore could react, the Grand Manipulator fell flat on his face like a plank of wood.
"An that's that!" The Head of the DMLE muttered.
"Finally!" Lucius drawled. "Now let's find out what is really going on here."
Eventually, the Aurors reported back to Amelia Bones with a disturbing story. During the search, Minerva McGonagall had been made temporary Headmistress until the Board could vote on a proper one and elect a true Head. But the search at Hogwarts turned tragic. The Aurors had been crawling over the school to search for Ginny and Harry and Ron.
An Auror by the name of Ms. Nymphadora Tonks had the brilliant idea to look in the girls' loo. After all she was the only female Auror in this contingent and used to go to Hogwarts only recently. She went to the loo and discovered that one of the sinks was gone. In its place was a large tunnel that stank of death and decaying flesh.
Tonks was shocked to hear a boy screaming for help. In a flash she Apparatated down to the bottom of the whole and was floored to find Ron Weasley there with none other than Professor Lockhart. The Defense Teacher had glazed eyes and a goofy grin. He was giggling creepily and mumbling to himself asking what his name was and where they were.
Though tired and stressed from screaming for help to the point of exhaustion, Ron Weasley hoarsely explained that his sister and Harry Potter were behind the wall of rocks in the Chamber of Secrets. He revealed how Hermione had discovered that the one behind the students Petrification was a Basilisk just seconds before she was stunned. He told her how Harry and him went with Lockhart who was just trying to escape.
Tonks gathered the exhausted boy in her arms and Apparatated to safety. She sent him off to Madam Pomphrey for the night and told Amelia everything. The witch was shocked at how mere second year students figure out the mystery and discovered the entrance to a legend when not even the revered Headmaster and all his staff could do it!
Together the Aurors attempted using every single spell they could think of to get Harry and Ginny out of the Chamber. But the rock wall was solid and wouldn't budge. They couldn't even hear Harry and Ginny when they tried shouting at them for help. Amelia knew that not even a Master of Legilimency could break through solid rock especially when he didn't know where the students were. They kept trying for several hours but then a few rocks began falling from the ceiling and the ground began to shake.
Frightened and not wanting to harm the students trapped behind the walls they decided all they could do was abandon the Chamber and seal off that section of Hogwarts. The girls would have to get a different bathroom for now. Thus, it was with a heavy heart that Amelia ordered her Aurors to abandon the cause and help restore order to the rioting students and keep an eye out for the Basilisk in case it got out. So far as they knew there was no other way to get out of the chamber except through a wall of solid rock and none of them had the skill to break it or even Transfigure it at the risk of bringing the school on top of their heads and killing two students.
So it was that the case was closed and the Boy Who Lived and Ginny Weasley were declared dead due to a tragic accident. They decided not to let people know that there was a monster in the school otherwise Hogwarts would see dozens of angry Howlers from pissed off parents and many withdrawals of students. That could cripple Hogwarts both financially and reputation-wise. While Amelia wanted Hogwarts to be safe and all the students moved to another school. Lucius convinced her and Cornelius that this was for the best.
After several days, order was finally restored and classes and Quidditch resumed. Soon the sheep of the Wizarding World forgot about the ordeal though a few bright students wondered where Potter was and what really happened to him. The event was just hushed up and when people asked about him they said he died in a tragic accident along with Ginny Weasley. Of course, the Weasleys were distraught and needed some time to recover.
Two funerals were held though no one saw the bodies which caused even more speculation for a short while. Of course, there was no one but the Weasleys to mourn the loss of Potter as his reputation at the time had been somewhat lacking. Most of the school thought he was behind the attacks and viewed his death as "good riddance to bad rubbish." His fans though were greatly saddened and tried to solve the mystery behind his death. Eventually they too forgot as exams rolled around and no one realized that Harry and Ginny were actually…
…Alive!
To Be Continued…