Slytherin's Secret
(Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of J.K Rowling's original characters, settings, or plots. I do however own Zahra Kovalenko.)
Hello, everyone reading this. After reading so many I finally attempted my first story for the first and last book I've read. The story is about an OC, Zahra Kovalenko, and her adventures as a Slytherin and a friend of Harry Potter. It is told from her point of view so that you can see her interactions with Slytherin's and so you don't read the same book for the thousandth time. That being said, Enjoy ;)
A figure in black robes with green trim wondered the hallways of Hogwarts castle. She adjusted her matching long raven colored hair before continuing on her way back to the common room in the dungeons.
Out of nowhere, someone grabbed her arm and the next thing she saw was a place she hoped to never return to.
"Harry," the girl said, in a threatening tone if one did not know better.
"Zahra," mocked The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry James Potter.
"How did you just apparate inside Hogwarts grounds?" Zahra asked.
"You'll see," Harry said with a mischievous smile, "I have something to show you."
He led her past the massive skeleton of the basilisk the pair slayed just two years ago at the end of their second school year. A forty foot tall statue of Salazar Slytherin himself greeted them. Harry walked straight up to the statue and requested, "$Salazar Slytherin, show me your secret chambers$."
Twin golden staircases appeared both leading into the mouth of the statue. Like two years ago, when Zahra and Harry battled the basilisk, the two sides retracted into the face leaving another passage through Salazar's mouth. Fortunetly, no basilisk slithered out eager to devour both of the students while.
"After you," Harry said.
Nervously, Zahra climbed the stairs. Sure, she trusted Harry and she knew what he said being able to understand parseltongue herself, but she did not trust the chamber itself. Wand first, she slowly climbed. At the top, she shot a look back at Harry who nodded his encouragement to keep going. Zahra turned down the plain, drafty stone corridor. She could not see more than fifteen feet in front of her. With a loud crash, the entrance slammed shut behind him. Zahra stumbled around in the dark until she found Harry. All at once, dim torches burst into flame along the length of the passage.
About twenty feet into the chamber, it separated into two with a smaller passage branching off to the right. Since the torches illuminated this branch of the tunnel, Zahra correctly assumed it led to whatever Harry desired to show her. After a short walk, they came to a fancy silver and green door. Cautiously, she opened the fancy door.
When it swung open, it revealed a room with stone walls covered with paintings. At the end, a large casket which Zahra presumed to be Slytherin's himself. An old carpet still in perfect condition laid beneath their feet.
"Why, hello, young Mr. Potter, brought a friend this time have you?" A painting of a older man with an old-fashioned grey mustache said.
"Hello, Sir Wilkins. I'd like for you to meet my friend Zahra Kovalenko, a Slytherin in the same year as me. She's the one I was telling you about." Harry introduced.
Zahra joked, "Good things only right."
"I might have let a few of your not so bright moment slip, " Harry laughed.
When she gave him a murderous glare he quickly backpedaled, "Joking, just joking."
"So," asked Zahra attempting to get the information she wanted like a Ravenclaw, "what were you going to show me?"
"These," Harry advertised with a wink, summoning several books to his hand with a silent summoning charm.
"The books I have in my hand are Salazar Slytherin's own personal diaries. And there is much more," Harry said.
Pushing an empty bookshelf, it rotated to reveal another room. This space was filled with shelves lined with ancient looking books. Because of magic, the books remained clean like Madam Prince would have wanted.
"This," Harry announced turning around and raising his arms in the air, "is Slytherin's personal library."
Dramatically, braziers lit the library negating the feel of the damp stone. "If Granger knew…"
"Yeah. We'd have to stun her to get her out of here," Harry remarked.
"Are you going to tell me how to apparate?" inquired Zahra
Harry chuckled, "Slow down. I'll tell you. I wanted to as soon as I found it. When I came down here like you suggested."
Started Harry, "The first Saturday of this year, I finished all my schoolwork. So, I decided to come down here. I had to go the hard way that time. Down the chute again. Last time, I found out how to make the stairs. I found this passage and the rest is history. If you push the bookshelf on the left, it leads to his personal chambers with more than a few bed and bathrooms. There is even a newly updated kitchen. It has a few sittings rooms…"
"An underground mansion," interrupted Zahra.
"Pretty much," admitted Harry.
Tapping her foot against the floor she asked,
"Can you get to the point?"
"Yeah," answered Harry with a laugh, "so I read one of his books. It taught me this ability called flaming. Basically like apparition but flashier and more magically draining. The former, you disappear with a burst of flame like a phoenix. Salazar said Godric Gryffindor taught him how to do it. I can teach you if you want."
"Please, it sounds useful. And you can side-along apparate with this ability?" Zahra asked.
"Yeah," Harry answered with a nod, "but you cannot flame more than one other person with you. Why don't you just read the book?"
He tossed the Slytherin the book from her founder. "You see the problem is all these books on the shelves cannot be removed from the chamber. And some have even worse curses on them. All books which I detected those harmful wards have been marked with a red X."
Zahra asked, "So, no book can be taken out of the chamber?"
"His diaries can be."
"So no book other than his personal diaries can be taken out of the chamber?" Zahra questioned for clarity.
"Yeah," nodded Harry.
"Bummer," grunted Zahra.
Zahra took a seat on the comfortable carpeting with her newly borrowed book. After reading the introduction, she glanced up to see Harry reading one of the diaries. "Are you going to enter any of the side competitions?"
Harry then picked his head out of the journal and after a moment stated, "Probably not. I like the sound of a quiet year without stones, snakes, or dementors."
"I'm hurt," Zahra joked putting a hand over her heart. "A year without Malfoy would be nice though."
"Talk about it," mused Harry.
"You know," Harry continued, "I would have been in Slytherin if it was not for Ron."
"Really! I don't think the green and silver would fit you. And definitely not the politics."
Harry ignored the last part in his response of, "Yeah! The sorting hat said I would do well in Slytherin. Only because Ron told me 'Not a single bad witch or wizard has not came out Slytherin' did I end up going to Gryffindor. I begged the hat for any house other than Slytherin."
Seconds later, Harry mumbled, audible to Zahra who was only a few feet away, "I don't think I've ever told anyone that."
She pretended like she never heard and awaited a provocation to speak again. It came when Harry politely returned her question. "Well, I think I might do the dueling tournament. Now that you're not doing it I think I might have Hogwarts' fourth year dueling spot locked up."
"Confident, much?" Harry said eyebrows raised. "We don't even know if that is how it is organized."
"Not too much," Zahra assured. "You would most likely win the spot if you tried."
Harry shook his head, "I doubt it. We usually split our duels but I lost to Su Li once. You never lost to anyone else in or below our year. You beat Astoria and two of her friends."
"They were first years though," protested Zahra.
"You were a third year. The same year we found out Sirius was innocent. Zahra, our childhood has been stolen from us whether you like it or not. We've been forced to grow up and face things most adults don't have to because of Voldemort. We had to use every ounce of smarts, courage, cunning, and about everything else to even see this tournament. Neither of us were ever just third years. You are just an extremely talented, young witch. So, you used your talents to win an unfair bout."
"Yeah, I guess."
"You act so unselfish like a Gryffindor sometimes," commented Harry.
"The rest of times?" Zahra asked.
"Pure slimy snake," Harry quoted Ron.
For the third time in a week, the Great Hall was packed with students. All three competing schools filled the house tables on a cloudless, Halloween night. However, today was different from past Halloweens. Today the champions from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and Durmstrang Institute, would be selected. The best seventeen year olds of their generation would be selected to represent their schools on the world stage. 1994 marked the first year three new side events were added when Hogwarts hosted. Along with the tournament, there was dueling ( individual, double, and five on five) academic, and quidditch competitions.
"Welcome students to the Halloween feast," grandly announced Dumbledore as he rose from his high chair. "Before dinner, however, the moment you have been waiting for. Three champions will be announced poised to compete for the honor of hoisting the Triwizard Cup. Bring out the cup!"
One by one, Dumbledore wandlessly dimmed the braziers previously illuminating the hall. Meanwhile at the Slytherin table, Zahra rolled her eyes at the blatant display of magic. Sitting next to her girlfriends Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis, she, like many others whispered excitedly with her friends. In Slytherin, they bet on the possible champions from each school. Zahra already had five galleons on the seemingly unlikely possibility Harry would be involved somehow. Through being his friend of three years, she knew different.
She redirected her attention back to the main focus. The glimmering Triwizard Cup brought in on a wheeled stand. No less than a second later was another artifact brought to center attention. In the lack of light, the Goblet of Fire compensated shining brilliantly with magic. Tall, blue flames leaped from the top reminding onlookers this was no ordinary cup.
Dumbledore sauntered towards the goblet leaving the students hanging in suspense. Zahra was not left out as she tried to peer over Gregory Goyle's thick head.
"The champion from Durmstrang is," Dumbledore announced as a slip of paper was ejected from the goblet and eloquently drifted down into the aged headmaster's palm, "Viktor Krum!"
Noise rose from her own table though not many wore green. Zahra clapped politely, but was dwarfed by the hollers of the fur coated Durmstrang contingents. The tall and muscular man every quidditch fan knew ascended the steps to Dumbledore. When all cheering died down, Dumbledore moved on to Beauxbatons. "Fleur Delacour!"
At the Ravenclaw table, a girl with flowing blonde hair rose. Briskly, she followed in Viktor's footsteps with an orgulous stride approaching the headmaster. After exchanging a handshake with the man, she continued into the room behind the high table entered by Viktor moments earlier.
"Last but not least, from the hosting school, your Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!"
The loudest of cheers Zahra every heard in Hogwarts erupted for the well-liked Hufflepuff, Head Boy, and Charms prodigy. The members of Slytherin house stayed completely silent during the announcement. While most Slytherin's rooted for Cassius Warrington, a fraction of the snakes desired a six-year student, but still seventeen, Joshua Montague for Hogwarts champion. These kids mostly came from grey families like hers. Zahra supposed she could get behind the charming brown haired Puff. With all champions, safely behind closed doors, Dumbledore declared the ceremony complete. However, the Goblet of Fire disagreed. Three more pieces of parchment were rapidly ejected from the sacred artifact in Weasley hair red flames. With one last hurrah, the goblet spewed forth another name. Darkness fell upon the students as the goblet was magically extinguished. All of the parchments were caught by the hosting Headmaster who took a careful look at each one. Any onlooker could see Dumbledore's shoulders sag.
With a shaky voice, he called, "Harry Potter."
Then, "Ron Weasley."
Then, "Hermione Granger."
And last, "Zahra Kovalenko."
Two shocked looks from directly to her right and across came as soon as the name left his lips. Zahra quickly embraced her friends Daphne then Tracey whispering, "If I never see you again, know that I loved both of you as the truest of friends, companions, and everything in between. Daph, you were like a sister to me. Thank your family for everything they've done. If they hadn't taken me in...Thank you."
"Don't make me cry. This isn't a goodbye, Zahra. I expect to see you tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and at my home in the summer," Daphne told her with a sadness in her usually unreadable eyes. "Besides," she added, "you're the most talented witch I know. We believe in you."
Before making her way to Dumbledore, Zahra shot a quick glare at the other "champions". Weasley jaw hung just above the floor as he stared into space. Or maybe he was staring at the other Beauxbatons veela. Zahra couldn't tell from her angle. Slapping him hard on the back, Granger stirred Weasley from his mental shutdown. The boy was no patzer at chess but that was about the only thing he was good at if you didn't count wolfing down food. If he managed to survive, Zahra would consider herself impressed.
Granger considered the smartest witch of her age, (Zahra however disagreed and would insist Daphne as best in the year, but she was biased) would be challenged in the tournament. However, the muggle-born possessed weaknesses like the obsessive nature in which she demanded knowledge and her naiveness towards wizarding culture.
Last but not least, Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. Damn that boy. Trouble always seemed to come to him. Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry about him surviving. He had her full confidence and support if needed. Now, they could show the hours of hard work, sweat, and tears the pair spent last year in the room of requirement.
Back to the action. Forcefully, Granger pulled Weasley up off his lazy bum and followed Harry towards the high table. Harry himself just rolled his eyes. He divulged to Zahra he expected this to happen. However, neither expected her and his Gryffindor friends to ever be in danger. He just couldn't stay away from danger for his life.
After a speedy stop to embrace her little sister in all but blood, Astoria Greengrass, Zahra filed in behind the so-called golden trio.
The room Zahra entered was unlike she expected. Machines of various sizes in conjunction with discarded desks filled the room. A small space was cleared out for the champions in front of a massive grandfather clock.
Cedric was the first to notice them and also speak asking, "Why are you guys…"
Teachers poured into the room with two angry foreign headmasters behind them. "SEVEN CHAMPIONS, ALBUS!" Madam Maxine protested.
"HOGWARTS HAS FIVE CHAMPIONS. THIS CHEATING IS AS OBVIOUS AS THE 1646 INCIDENT!" she continued to scold. Zahra couldn't help but wince for the gaffer.
"She is right," Karoff cooly said, "we might as well pack and go home. Ready, Viktor?"
Alastor Moody spoke up making everyone flinch, "I remind you that if you withdraw or forfeit your contestant will lose your magic. The goblet is an ancient artifact that enters the contestant into a magically binding contract."
"So, what do we do?" the reasoned voice of Professor McGonagall asked.
"First, I say we find out how these children entered their names in the goblet," proposed Karoff.
"I read up on this tournament before coming here," Moody said learning upon his walking stick, "and the goblet is basically foolproof. I checked the age line myself. Only a super powerful confundus charm of a dark or light lord could have bypassed the enchantments and that magic leaves traces."
"Sir, I know a way." All eyes turned to the fourth year but Zahra never let any of the glares prohibit her. "An animagus transformation could have fooled your age line. No wards were enacted to stop animals or animaguses from entering. It would not work on them. Therefore, someone with an alternate form could have put our names in. However, this is very unlikely as only three wizards I know of have become animagi before their sixteenth birthday. An adult likely submitted our names."
"You seem to know a lot about the wards put around the cup," speculated Karoff.
"I would be willing to admit all relevant information to Madam Bones of the DMLE under Veritaserum," Zahra said.
She added to her original statement, "I did not put my name in the goblet and I have nothing to hide."
"Okay, Dumbledore," Madam Maxine sniffed like a bad odor filled the room, "that excuses one of your students, but what about the rest."
As the figures of authority now including the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, continued to hound the three extra champions, Zahra joined her fellow and the legitimate champions.
"What are you doing here little girl," the Beauxbatons champion sneered.
"Sorry for ruining your party. But my name has just been put in the Goblet of Fire and I'm not in a good mood," Zahra said trying to keep her composure. Sure, the insult was minuscule compared to some things she faced, but a few more pokes and she would show the Veela why you didn't mess with Zahra Kovalenko.
The excused champions remained silent all more interested in the fate of the other so-called champions.
"Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"No, sir," Harry responded.
Dumbledore studied the boy for a moment before announcing, "I feel the boy is truthful in his word."
Loud objections from two the two other headmasters and one particular head of house followed.
"Potter's as arrogant as his father. Of course, the brats lying!"
"How can you let him off just like that!"
"Albus, you must investigate this!"
"Silence, please!" He shouted over everyone.
"All the champions must compete. It is a binding magical contract. Unless you would like to lose your magic of course. At this point, it doesn't matter how their name got in the goblet. Regardless, matters will be presented to the DMLE for investigation. Until then, I think our champions need a good night's rest."
Zahra could definitely see how Harry hated Halloween now.
A.N. Zahra is a Triwizard champion! *Dramatic Music* Hope you liked it. I am new to this so please review and help me improve so I can post better chapters. No schedule for chapters to release yet. The next chapters will also be longer. Thank you.