The Warlock and The Trickster Chapter 1: The Warlock and The Trickster, a Harry Potter + Merlin Crossover fanfic

Will follow the flow of Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets book. Merlin and Loki will take on the same appearance as in the BBC Merlin and MCU Loki, but Loki's abilities are based on the Norse Mythology and MCU combined. Multiple POVs. Some dialogs taken exactly from the book.

Disclaimer: Characters associated are not mine and belong to their respective owners.

There were hushed whispers and excited giggles that erupted once the students filled the hall for the feast.

"Do you see him? That one on Professor Snape's left? Those are incredible green eyes."

"True, but have you looked to the person next to him? Those blue eyes are beautiful," a girl from Ravenclaw said rather loudly. "But, yes, you have a point. You know what? They're both good looking."

There were dreamy sighs that followed.

The Ravenclaw head girl cleared her throat to shush them down, though not without sparing a smitten glance herself to the said two men sitting with the faculty members.

Let it be said that female students (and some would argue a handful of male students as well) were washed over with a spell that turned them like lovesick fools (as some boys from Slytherin muttered under their breath) the moment their eyes landed on the staff table.

The sorting was done in the same fashion last year when the present second years were freshmen themselves. It wasn't long when Dumbledore began introducing the two new addition to the faculty—the bit the girls were waiting for, and the bit most boys disliked because of the girls' excitement, but at the same time excited for since it meant feast afterwards.

"For this term we have two teachers who will be joining us," Dumbledore started. "At Professor Binns unexpected retirement, we have Professor William Gaius Emrys to fill his vacant slot."

The male with striking blue eyes stood, giving a short friendly wave and a smile that had, again, most girls and some boys murmur in anticipation for the end of boring history classes (in their opinion though, the subject was unexciting as it came; still, they would give the new professor a chance).

"As for our newly vacated position of Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, we have Professor Loki Odinson for this term," the Headmaster continued.

The man beside Professor Emrys stood alongside the latter. Professor Loki was the person with emerald eyes, looking at the student body with an indescribable gaze before flashing a brief smirk. Not far to his left was Professor Snape who didn't appreciate having the position snatched from under his nose again.

A boy from Gryffindor, probably Seamus, scrunched his nose in confusion, turning to Dean. "What's up with their names?"

Dean shrugged, though indeed those were some weird names. Emrys sounded familiar, and if he wasn't mistaken a name related to the legendary Merlin. The name Loki Odinson was just as uncommon, and he didn't know where he might have heard it from. Neville turned to Hermione to ask, only to decide against it after seeing her positively taken to either which of the new professors—could be both—but at the same time concerned that Harry and Ron were yet to arrive.

She set aside her worry, thinking they were likely held up by some personal matters. Besides, Mr. Weasley would bring the two himself to Hogwarts in case they didn't catch the train. Instead, she focused her attention to the new instructors. She felt the eagerness to prove herself, seeing as Professor Emrys and Professor Loki, albeit looking young, appeared to be just as no nonsense like the other members of the faculty.

Hermione smiled to herself. She would start tonight her advanced reading on the History textbook.

…

As the feast wore on, it seemed as if only the two professors were unaware of their effects to the students.

Merlin nervously pulled at the hem of his sweatshirt.

It was ridiculous really, how somebody like him who has been around for centuries could be this anxious. He had been in front of important people, gave advice to kings and queens, and yet teaching young wizards and witches was making him jittery. He did it before, but in a less systematic manner; nevertheless, he had been a teacher once that he shouldn't be feeling this way.

Part of it, he realized, was fearing he would fail, that there would be a single student who would end up either another Morgana or another Mordred; worse, both. Merlin's comfort was the world of magic of the current generation. Perhaps it was too much to hope that magic and non-magic would coexist in a single world, but the proper separation of their worlds was enough of a progress. Besides, this also benefited both parties in terms of independent growth, with magic existing on a place where it could breed and run freely.

As the second year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindor poured in, Merlin waited with bated breath until the class settled down on their seats.

"Good morning, class. I'm Professor Emrys and I'll be handling your History of Magic."

It wasn't long for his nervousness to come to pass as the students attentively answered his questions as he gauged what they learned so far.

At the same time, he idly wondered if the God of Mischief was having the same enthusiasm Merlin has.

…

Loki was unimpressed at the simplicity of Midgardian magic. Staring at the poor excuse of a wand on his hand, he scoffed at how primitive the sorcery of Earth that the people who could actually wield it still required a conduit to harness its capabilities. He supposed it was expected of them, as so far he had seen only the strongest of their kind could perform sorcery without any wand.

The very same person happened to be at Hogwarts as well and was enjoying his stay as a young instructor of the plain history of Midgardian Sorcery, claiming it has always been a dream of his. Admittedly, it was akin to retelling what you have seen, and Merlin certainly experienced most, if not all, in the books.

When Loki landed on Midgard out of a whim, he had been drawn immediately to the strong force that seemed to be bounded on Midgard itself. To his surprise, it was contained in a vessel of a nondescript young man who dressed no better than a manservant. There was an instant spark of connection between them at their first encounter; the man sensing Loki instantly as an otherworldly being, and Loki in turn sensed that this was no ordinary Midgardian.

This human, Merlin, being an immortal was far from what Loki expected.

There was a sincere smile that broke from Merlin then, completely trampling the tension between them after he deemed Loki not a hostile entity.

It moved forward from there.

The Midgardian Sorcerer was the closest to a friend that Loki has—Thor's friends were never his friends—not that he would admit it aloud, of course. Merlin has a terrible habit of teasing and would highly likely not put it down for at least a century.

Merlin became a reason that wasn't merely a whim to have trips to Midgard. He found another being he could closely relate to in the last place he expected within the Nine Realms. Consequently, Merlin also found a friend in a being he wouldn't consider before—an alien.

How they came to be never became a subject on their conversations that mostly consisted of politics and wonders of their respective planets. Asgard was an interest of Merlin, more so was the idea of other worlds out there. In return, he would interest Loki on parts of Midgard that were never or hardly ventured, places where Midgardians avoid usually. A specific location Loki had taken a liking was the one they called Devil's Triangle, an area in an ocean which they both found out an entrance to a pocket dimension that was annually opening twice or thrice. Whenever the entrance was opened, there would be a strong whirlpool sucking down whoever or whatever was crossing it.

The journey wasn't as grand as Thor and his friends', but the adventure was one of most memorable to Loki in all the years he lived.

At the moment, Merlin's interest was posing as a teacher to children. He asked for Loki to humor him and said that it would be like another adventure of theirs, only more grounded than what they usually partake in. The trickster knew better. It wasn't a mere tagging along but rather a call for a trusted ally in case of a dire situation. Loki's senses weren't fooled either, feeling the thrum of dark magic residing in this particular half of Midgard. It wasn't highly active, nor lying dormant. Having the same apprehension, Merlin took it upon himself to protect those who could be in need.

It led them to this school, where a concentration of malice seemed to be directed on. Despite it, Loki noticed that Merlin was relieved to find it heavily warded than it appeared, though to be fully assured of the security, Merlin decided to plant the both of them among the unsuspecting Midgardians.

They even went as far as to "demonstrate" in front of the faculty, which was hardly needed when he and Merlin were way more experienced than these old men and women. Merlin told him it was only logical as they were trying for teaching positions, jobs where they would earn payment for their services. Loki realized that it would be actually tedious, though he relented seeing Merlin gave a brief lecture on history of Old Magic that had the faculty interested, especially when Merlin also performed what they called wandless magic. It was the most basic of spell that was akin to flicking a switch in terms of difficulty for the both of them, but it had the faculty lean in interest. Loki deemed it more than enough to secure Merlin the position, if the name he gave, William Gaius Emrys, didn't earn him recognition yet.

The God of Mischief took the other vacant position and followed Merlin's example, giving a lecture on the Dark Arts. Midgard's version of dark magic wasn't far from what the dark elves practice during Malekith's rule, and Loki was learned of them. On a test given by the Headmaster—a requirement to be passed by those applying for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor—Loki casted a simple shielding spell that held strongly against five kinds of hexes. There were murmurs of appreciation at his usage of only one spell without even a wand. Assured that he was already secured for the position, Loki was asked by the Headmaster if he happened to also be knowledgeable in physical combat which earned surprised looks from his fellow staff. Loki admitted that he was skilled with knives and a few choice of weapons, and this seemed to be an answer the Headmaster was looking for, proceeding to congratulate him and Merlin, welcoming them to the faculty.

At the beam Merlin threw his way, Loki completely missed the Headmaster's eyes twinkling at the two of them.

Presently, when the students of houses Slytherin and Ravenclaw flooded in and he told them that they would proceed to a practical approach on the subject by asking them to follow him to a wider classroom, Loki's lips pursed to a smirk.

He might as well enjoy this while it lasted.

By supper, the students regaled stories of their first class in History and DADA, both subjects which the students of four houses could generally agree that they enjoyed.

There were those who recounted the lecture on dragons by Professor Emrys as part of the introduction to the topic of Old Religion. Hermione has been more rapt than ever as Professor Binns hardly covered the topic. This lead to her more extensive research in the library of Hogwarts. After discovering that dragons were intelligent creatures who used to be capable of speaking at the time of King Arthur and Merlin, most students became curious and asked why this was no longer the case. Professor Emrys answered that those kind of dragons had been long extinct, replaced with the dragons they knew today. The young professor even included the gamekeeper, Hagrid, saying the half-giant was more knowledgeable of the dragons of the current era and would probably be glad if he were to be asked a thing or two about them since Hagrid has soft spot for such. Harry was surprised that Hagrid was mentioned by a professor, no less, who seemed to appreciate the gentle giant's fondness for magical creatures that were considered by most dangerous. Harry remembered Norbert last year and he wondered if he was in Romania now with most of his kind.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts had been tiring after Professor Loki not only taught them at least three basic shielding spells, but also a few basic movements on fencing. Although they had no idea that physical defense would be entailed in the current term, the students were too pumped with adrenaline to care. They only used long and thin wooden sticks for now (safety precautions), and they had been sweaty and their muscles ached by evening but it was worth it. As Professor Loki said, a wizard was only useful with his wand. The physical defense (and offense) were quite as useful as magic—Most wizards are still vulnerable to steel, Professor Loki reminded them.

Overall, it was a promising start of the term.

The feast hall was packed with students, with the faculty following suit in random succession. Professor Loki and Professor Emrys were the third to arrive after Professor McGonagall. Their arrival garnered interests once again that only doubled after they displayed their teaching expertise. Even some of the male students who were annoyed the previous night by the professors' effect on the females had joined the recounting of the lecture with Dean and Seamus.

Hermione, on the other hand, broke her reverie with startled blinks when her plate suddenly produced food. She blushed in embarrassment when Harry caught her staring at both professors.

"Well, I can't help it. They're both fascinating," she retorted at Harry's silence. She picked at her food. "And they know how to keep the class interesting."

Harry nodded. "They do, don't they? I mean, I thought History would be as bad as Professor Binns'."

She hummed noncommittally, looking at where the faculty was. Professor Snape had joined. "You know, interestingly, I decided to look on to something when Seamus mentioned their names being er… weird."

"Dean mentioned that the name Emrys was associated to Merlin," Harry recalled. "Could they be related by any chance?"

"It's the odd thing, you see. Merlin doesn't have a recorded family tree, so we don't really know if he has descendants."

"Can't it be that Emrys is an actual family name then? It used to be the case for Muggles, right? Taking a name and making it a surname when the names stopped being only first names."

"You're right," she relented. "Though you have to admit it's quite an uncommon name. Emrys. A name recorded to have been solely used by the greatest wizard." She perked up, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, but you know what, Harry? It's Professor Loki's name that is quite unique." For some reason, Professor Loki preferred to be called by his given name instead of Odinson.

"And why's that?"

"Loki was a name from Norse Mythology. He was the God of Mischief, and brother of Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. Loki was a sorcerer and the brains to his brother's brawn. He could shapeshift and was adept in illusions."

That's… "A god?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Remember Greece having a set of their own, right? Since their religion is polytheistic. Scandinavian countries have their own set too. Oh, their own mythology is interesting, Harry. You'll learn a lot! Maybe next time you and Ron can come with me at the library to browse books."

Harry couldn't say no to her enthusiasm, making him nod absently in agreement. It must be fun having an uncommon name, seeing his was as common as Michaels and Johns. Not that Harry minded though. At least he wouldn't have people like Hermione researching his family's backstory and origins.

A thought came unbidden to Harry when his eyes darted to Professor Emrys and Professor Loki who were both engaged in a conversation. A quite farfetched, although entertaining, idea formed in Harry's mind.

What if?

Professor Emrys, who was also talking with Professor Sprout in sidelines, paused shortly as if sensing eyes on him. His blue eyes followed a direction that lead straight to Harry's curious gaze.

When Harry didn't break the eye contact, Professor Emrys offered an odd smile that wasn't too happy.

Merlin exhaled. "I think I know now where to—or rather, who to." When Loki raised an eyebrow, Merlin elaborated, "You do know it's the amount of dark magic that is piled in this place is what lead us here. I know now why and who it leads to."

"One of them?" Loki gestured to the body of students, guessing correctly. They kept their voices down to not be overheard.

"Yes." Merlin pushed away his plate, appetite gone. "It's him. The student they called The Boy Who Lived."

Merlin wasn't unfamiliar with the story: Voldemort murdering a married couple and was going for their son of barely a year old. Without knowing it, the boy, Harry Potter, became famous after the Dark Lord was said to be destroyed by him, and Harry surviving the killing curse and sporting a mere scar in the forehead as a mark for it. Merlin himself was equally fascinated and saddened by the story. Saddened for a boy so young losing both of his parents, as well as a godfather who went to Azkaban after the tragedy, resulting to a newly orphaned Harry to be given to relatives who hardly knew he existed. It was as if Harry Potter lost two families at once. On the other hand, Merlin was fascinated at the Old magic invoked accidentally by the boy's mother. He hadn't known it was possible for another person other than him to do so. The magic served its purpose well with its effect on Harry consistently protecting him like an invincible blanket.

Although, there was also something baffling that continued to linger around Harry as well that was akin to a residue not removed. A residue of something powerful and unkind. Merlin feared it was Voldemort's own way of leaving his stain on the boy.

At the sudden spike of it, his theory was confirmed.

…

Loki regarded the way Merlin's fingers were clenched on his table napkin.

"He's sick," Merlin said unbelievingly, voice hoarse in a whisper.

The trickster didn't have to know who Merlin meant. There was only a single lot the Midgardian Sorcerer has no love for.

"Tell me more," Loki requested, directing Merlin away from the hall after he excused them both from the supper.

As he listened to Merlin telling him a tragic story of a family broken by this Dark Lord Voldemort, Loki realized that Merlin was beyond frustration and anger. It was fear; fear for the boy who happened to be their student; fear for Harry who would be targeted by the Dark Lord. He might be inactive for the moment but whose likes were not to stay hidden for long. Merlin was so sure that Voldemort would rise again to finish what he started.

Merlin recounted the lives lost because of the evil of men, and that Voldemort was just as terrible as Morgana, Mordred, Nimueh, Morgause, and many more he could vividly remember. And Merlin had seen those lot rise and fall in his years alive.

It didn't take long for Loki to recognize that Merlin already made up his mind on the matter, only that Merlin himself had to be nudged in that direction.

"Your instincts tell you to protect this boy, this school, and the people in it, as well as go after this awakening Dark Lord… Even if it's not your battle." Loki's lips twitched, either at how he seemed to have known Merlin too well to read him easily, or at Merlin's impulsiveness, he didn't know.

"Yes," Merlin said firmly. "It's my purpose to protect."

"Your late king, yes. The whole humanity, no."

"Then what am I to do? Bask in this immortality that I never asked for?" Merlin snapped.

"No, but never feel responsible for anything that turned out wrong. These people are not your obligation that you're willing to jeopardize your safety for them. You are an immortal against the natural causes, but steel and magic stronger than yours can still fell you."

Merlin appeared to have a lot to say to that, like saying he was getting tired of waiting for someone to rise that he began doubting the possibility of it, that he might as well had followed Arthur in the afterlife—to name one.

Instead, Merlin sighed and looked at Loki with determined eyes. "I won't die. Besides, I don't think you'll let me anyway." He gave a wry grin, easing the growing tension in a snap.

He continued, sidling closer to Loki's side. "Won't let your Midgardian friend leave you, right?" He gave the trickster a soft elbowing.

Loki scoffed, making Merlin giggle, with the thought of the Dark Lord and the boy put aside for the meantime.

Of course Loki wouldn't let Merlin die.

On the following day Merlin found himself free for three hours, he tasked himself into wandering the halls of Hogwarts. It has been a while since he had been here, and it was true that he had seven years as a Slytherin student to have a bit of lurking around, and another seven as a Ravenclaw student, though that was mostly in the dungeons, and the Ravenclaw Tower. As a professor, he has a more definitive excuse for wandering around in different house territories. Perhaps during the middle of the night, he could tag Loki along to acclimate the God of Mischief in the castle.

Merlin barely passed the Quidditch field when he heard a loud bang, followed by retching sounds and raucous laughter.

As he came closer, he found out that the laughter came from a bunch of Slytherin students, presumably the Quidditch team about to practice. The painful retching sound, though, was by none other than Ronald Weasley, sitting up on the ground and vomiting slugs on his front, crowded by a handful of Gryffindor students, among which was Harry Potter.

"Are you alright?" Merlin asked as the group parted for him when he immediately rushed beside Ron.

Ron would have answered if not for the incoming belch of another batch of slugs. The Slytherins stopped their guffaws when Merlin came to the scene, instead reducing themselves to sniggering at Ron's rather green face.

"Hagrid is nearer. It'll be best to bring him there for the meantime," Merlin told Harry and another of Ron's close friend, Hermione Granger. The two nodded and helped their friend on his feet, supporting him on their way to the gamekeeper's hut.

Meanwhile, Merlin turned to the others, asking a female witness from Gryffindor about what happened. He wasn't pleased when he heard the story. Merlin sighed, knowing this was bound to happen occasionally.

The Slytherins promptly shut up once Merlin's attention was on them. He pretended not to notice Malfoy's big gulp behind his defiant exterior.

"Can I talk to you, Mister Malfoy?" Merlin asked without a change in his tone. "Alone."

Draco glanced briefly to his clique before sending Merlin a scowl as he followed. Merlin didn't bring him to his office and settled for the nearest unmoving staircase where there were no students.

"What you said wasn't nice," Merlin began mildly, looking at the boy for any reaction. Draco merely grunted and glared at the floor, refusing to look up at Merlin.

"She deserves it," Draco sneered. "She insulted me by saying I became part of the team because I bought my way in!" He caught himself, ears turning red at the tips. It seemed as if Draco didn't believe he justified himself to a professor, and something told Merlin it never happened before.

"So even if you could have proven her wrong by showing you have the talent, you retaliated by insulting her back," Merlin concluded. "That word is never nice, Mister Malfoy. She can't help being Muggle-born and so do the people you also insulted when you mentioned that word out of spite."

"What, are you insulted too?" Draco retorted. It was without heat and resembling curiosity more than anything.

Merlin shook his head. "No, but if I was there to hear it, you would have insulted me. My mother wasn't a witch."

Draco frowned at the past tense but decided not to ask. "Your family name is Emrys. It sounds like Pure-blood's." Though when he thought about his homeschooling before Hogwarts, when he was tutored about the families of Pure-blooded wizards, he didn't recall Emrys being part of it. And he wondered now why it didn't when it was a name associated to the greatest wizard, Merlin.

Merlin gave a small smile as if reading Draco's mind. "Ah, yes, Emrys was a secondary name of Merlin, wasn't it?" He hummed in thought. "Did you know that Merlin was a half-blood too?" he continued. He grinned at the scoff Draco was sure to give. "His mother was a homely woman who lived in a small village miles away from Camelot. Merlin's father was a Dragon Lord who was on the run after King Uther banned the likes of him from his kingdom. It was when he stumbled upon Ealdor, where Merlin's mother lived, that they found each other."

Draco still refused to look at Merlin, though he was clearly listening intently.

"My point is, Draco, that if back then when magic was persecuted, bond between two opposite people persisted either way, why shouldn't it be now when magic exists freely and isn't only limited to those whose blood runs with it? Why can't we all stand in the same level, where none is above over the other? It'll be difficult to reach that stage but not impossible." Merlin crouched low, kneeling in front of the boy who seemed small then as he took in Merlin's words. "I know you grew up being taught of your worth as a Pure-blooded wizard, and while I don't fault your pride for being one, it doesn't mean that the others who are unlike you are automatically beneath you. You're young, Draco, and you have more to learn outside Hogwarts and your home. Know that you can be your own person and not someone living to anybody's standards and expectations." Merlin placed his hands on Draco's shoulders, squeezing them briefly. "You will be your own great person someday. I could feel it."

It wasn't a punishment, no—it was never Merlin's aim in the first place. He promised himself that he would try to fix the house rivalry if he could, seeing that the bit between Gryffindor and Slytherin was in dire need of it.

To teach the boy a lesson, Merlin deducted ten points to at least remind Draco that what happened wasn't fully disregarded. Though in Merlin's opinion, the minus points simply went over the boy's head as his mind reeled over what Merlin said.

Harry watched in sympathy as Ron pitifully emptied the slugs from inside him. Hagrid was right though; it could have been worse if Malfoy was the one puking slugs. Imagine Lucius Malfoy marching down Hogwarts and… Harry didn't want to think about it.

He was idly picking at the treacle fudge Hagrid offered earlier when there was a knock on the door. Hagrid stood and opened it to find Professor Emrys standing awkwardly.

"P-Professor Emrys!" Hagrid exclaimed, eyes darting worriedly around the state of his hut.

"Hello, Hagrid," Professor Emrys greeted politely. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh, no, professor. Of cours' not. Er… it's a bit untidy though," Hagrid mumbled, embarrassed.

"It's a home then," Professor Emrys said with a sincere smile. "Hello, Mister Potter and Miss Granger," he said when he noticed the two. He turned to Ron with worry. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to Madame Pomfrey. I came here as soon as I had a talk with Mister Malfoy." Harry perked up at this, making the professor smile apologetically. "Though I have to clarify that I didn't gave him detention, and I only gave him a deduction from house points. What he said was disrespectful, yes, but it wasn't a just cause for a detention. I'm sorry."

Harry glumly stared at Ron who was occupied by his vomiting (the basin was half full then). He wondered if Professor Emrys was lying, that he was another person under Lucius Malfoy's thumbs. Like Snape, he thought darkly. There were too many people against Harry's liking who didn't want to touch Malfoy because they were scared of Lucius. It was stupid.

"Tea, professor?" Hagrid offered, cutting through the depressing silence that ensued.

"It's alright, Hagrid. No need to trouble yourself. I came here to lift the curse from Mister Weasley." Professor Emrys went forward to where Ron has his head leaned on the basin.

Professor Emrys took out his wand and made a few swish until he pointed it at Ron. They all patiently waited for a few moments until Ron finally heaved a huge sigh of relief when his last belch was never again followed by another.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I turned over my stomach. My abdomen hurts."

Professor Emrys nodded. "Make sure to visit Madame Pomfrey first once you return. You're excused from my class for today." He turned to Harry and Hermione. "You two also."

"Oh, um, thanks, professor," Ron murmured weakly. "For the excuse and fixing me."

Professor Emrys chuckled. "It's the least I can do." He ruffled Ron's hair mildly. "You're a brave boy to stand up for your friend. I think that's enough to give Gryffindor twenty points," he added with a wink.

If it was possible, Ron turned a shade darker than his hair as Hermione looked back and forth between Ron and Professor Emrys in awe, while Hagrid was sitting at the background with a proud beam. Harry's mood lightened as he grinned at his friends.

He supposed he could take back what he thought about Professor Emrys. He didn't seem so bad after all.

But as they returned to Hogwarts to get Ron to the clinic, Harry wondered if he was the only one who noticed Professor Emrys's eyes glowing golden when he performed a wordless reverse spell.

October rolled like the mist of winter mornings of Asgard. Loki had not heard from Thor, or Heimdall, of any order from the Allfather to come back. There was a tiny voice in his head bitterly telling him that Odin hardly cared if he was gone for too long. It was the voice that has been part of him for centuries.

No news from Asgard was as good as any news from there though. He pushed the thought away, suddenly remembering with disgust the cake Merlin made and turned rotten. For the deathday celebration of one of the ghosts of Hogwarts, the warlock had said. Loki would never understand Merlin's fascination with the specters lurking around the castle. It wasn't as if spirits had never lived among Midgardians.

Merlin was planning to join the said celebration tonight, with the anticipation more than of the trio's the nearly headless ghost invited. Initially, Merlin had accepted when he knew the student he was keeping an eye on would be there, but Loki suspected the reason that Merlin had never been invited to a deathday party—even when he posed as a student before—played the larger role in his acceptance.

Loki didn't join the Halloween feast the Midgard seemed to hold in high regard and was sitting by the windowsill with a tome from the library opened on his lap when he heard a hiss.

In his childhood years, he and his brother had taken care of snakes as pets which served more as Loki's friends. Liking snakes was what he and Thor have in common, therefore he knew a hiss of a snake when he heard it.

It was a distant sound echoing along the stone walls, and Loki could only guess where it was coming from. He stood up, straining his ears to hear farther until the hissing stopped. When it returned a few seconds later, he exited his room and followed the sound. As he walked on the candlelit corridors, the sound became louder… and louder…

Loki stopped in an empty hallway.

There was a glistening puddle of water on the floor, and on the wall to his left were foot-high words written with blood judging by the coppery smell.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

Before Loki could make out the figure hanging underneath it, there came hurried footsteps of three people. From the other end of the corridor were the three students: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.

His eyes connected with Harry's that had Loki formed an inkling as to what the boy concluded after seeing Loki arriving first at the scene. Suspicion and fear clouded the young gaze, which the trickster caught in time before a swarm of students freshly from the feast came bounding to the location.

A voice read the message aloud, adding a degrading term that effectively crashed the silence. The caretaker elbowed his way past the throng, stopping in horror at the sight of what Loki realized was the cat that was always prowling around Hogwarts with the caretaker.

Accusations immediately flew across, with Filch demanding to see punishment. The Headmaster arrived with the other professors without Merlin. He calmly listened for a while, dissecting important bits and asked for the trio to follow him. The Headmaster asked to use Loki's office as it was the nearest.

Harry looked smaller and smaller under interrogation combined with Filch's sobs and would occasionally throw Loki glances that said the boy was considering telling that he saw Loki first at the scene. He held back, thinking of the possible repercussions of pointing a finger to a professor.

Loki commended the reign Harry has on his emotions. He wryly thought that a boy was displaying control far better than Thor.

"It wasn't any of them, I can assure you," Loki said after Harry's lame attempt of saying they were on their way to their beds. "I was here first and then shortly came Mister Potter, Miss Granger, and Mister Weasley."

Professor Snape's attention was turned to Loki, an eyebrow raised. "Well, that makes you the suspect, professor."

Loki was unfazed despite the title being told with a sneer. "That would mean I have to eliminate them as they were my witnesses, I suppose. Can't be seen vandalizing the walls and petrifying a cat," he countered coolly, much to Snape's ire.

"Oh, you two, will you quit it!" Professor McGonagall snapped at them both. "Professor Snape, this is now the time to accuse without proper facts. And Professor Loki, you're not helping by being sarcastic. This is no ordinary matter so please behave as adults." Her mind reeled back on the feast and remembered another person absent. "And where was Professor Emrys? We didn't see him tonight."

"At a deathday party," Loki answered disinterestedly.

"That's where we were from!" Harry explained, corroborated by his friends. Snape wasn't quite satisfied that it didn't made sense if they were on their way to the dormitory without stopping by the feast; deathday foods were not edible after all.

"We're not hungry!" Weasley retorted, punctuated with an undisguised stomach growl. Snape looked triumphant.

Loki watched Harry, noticing that the boy was hesitating to blurt out the truth as to why he came to the same place Loki ended up by following the hissing of a snake.

"Did you hear it too?" the trickster asked him. The boy's head snapped up to Loki in shock. "You heard the same sound, didn't you? That was why you were there. You followed it."

"I-I… I heard the voice," Harry admitted, swallowing. "I'm not the only one who heard it then."

Loki kept to himself first that it wasn't specifically a voice he heard, but he has the suspicion that they were both talking about the same thing either way.

"What does this voice said, Harry?" Dumbledore gently inquired.

"Bad things," Harry murmured. "L-Like it was going to eat. It kept saying it's hungry, and words like blood…eat…kill."

McGonagall kept her gasp at bay while Snape's expression hardened. They were quiet that even Filch stopped his crying.

Dumbledore addressed Loki, face maintaining an unreadable expression. "Are these also what you heard, professor?"

"No, I only heard hissing. Like that of a snake, only it sounded distant in the beginning and louder by the time I reached the corridor."

Dumbledore considered something for a moment. Whatever it was, he didn't share it. He sent the children to turn in for the day and gave Filch instructions to wait for Professor Sprout's Mandrakes to grow fully for the potion to cure the petrification; Loki had been correct in his assessment.

There were only the four of them left before Dumbledore asked Professors McGonagall and Snape to check on the students.

When it was finally the Headmaster and the God of Mischief alone, Dumbledore asked Loki, "Can you speak to snakes, Professor Loki?"

As far as Loki knew, it was an ability only when he shapeshifted into a snake. Loki shook his head. "I knew it was a snake because I've taken care of a number of them before. It was familiar, but, no, I couldn't speak to them directly. Nor any from my family that I know of," he added, seeing it was the follow-up question.

"I see. I suppose it means you have a set of impressive senses, if you can hear what we were not able to." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled knowingly behind his half-moon spectacles. "Good night, professor. Happy Halloween."

If there was one Loki underestimated the most, it must be the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Merlin heard from the ghosts about what happened. Past midnight, he heard it straight from Loki.

"What of this chamber that they fear?" Loki curiously asked.

"Unfortunately, even I do not know what's in it. I was never in the year it was opened. When I first came in as a student, it was hardly mentioned. They knew it exists and that was all. The second time I entered as a student, I was a Ravenclaw. It was years after the Chamber of Secrets was opened that it became some sort of legend to scare off notorious students." Merlin vaguely remembered a certain group of boys from Gryffindor who were making a name for themselves in terms of mischief, never caring for rules and warnings, and would have ventured to the Chamber of Secrets themselves if they knew where exactly it was. It was good to be in Ravenclaw that time and not in Slytherin since that was the house who got the brunt of the pranks during that certain generation.

"Basing from what you said though, a large serpent maybe?" Merlin shrugged, half shuddering. "I must confess that I never encountered one, ever." It was quite disturbing that there happened to be a huge snake lurking in Hogwarts, undiscovered. Although, he was firm in believing Salazar Slytherin didn't hide the creature to murder unsuspecting students, rather it was there to serve as one of the many protections of Hogwarts. As for the single casualty, there had to be a definitive reason.

Merlin wasn't surprised when on his next class, Hermione Granger inquired about the Chamber of Secrets. She didn't expect Merlin to answer her fully though, as she thought he was young for a professor, but she had hopes that Merlin's parents, if ever, had attended Hogwarts by the time the Chamber of Secrets had been opened and possibly past to their son some stories.

Merlin gave them what he could. He knew it wasn't best to leave them in the dark. Curiosity unsated bred more thirst to discover the unknown.

Unfortunately, Merlin didn't know that wasn't how easily it worked between Harry Potter and his friends.

Merlin kept an eye on the three who were last to leave the room. He was concerned at the three's tendencies for adventures that could turn to misadventures. While Merlin wasn't one quelling children spirits, he could only wish they were careful.

Loki begrudgingly settled beside Merlin. He wasn't a fan of sports, and he could be doing something else than watching children in broomsticks zipping around the field.

He relented to come along once Merlin began his teasing after seeing the trickster grading written, short examination papers. The students did give their best efforts in putting into words what they learned in practice; the last thing Loki could do was to read all thoroughly and mark them accordingly. To Merlin, Loki was warming up to his teaching position and was being a good teacher by appreciating his students' works.

And so he was there, with a ridiculous, green knitted cap to support Slytherin while Merlin sported a red one for Gryffindor, although the latter whispered that he was actually betting for Slytherin, and Loki in turn could actually support Gryffindor despite the opposite colors they wore. Merlin mentioned not wanting to look bad to Harry, especially when he was personally looking out for Draco, who Merlin has taken a close watch, too, after giving the blond boy a talk on discrimination months ago.

There was a hint of rain that day, though Loki doubt it would stop the game. He endured through an hour of noise from all sides, as well as Merlin's sharp jabs on his side to urge him to clap whenever Slytherin scored. Merlin sat up on his seat every time there was a one-on-one between Draco and Harry on a different part of the field away from most players. From what Loki gathered, Draco was a newer player than Harry, though he wasn't faring that bad for a beginner. Merlin commented on the sidelines that they both have the talent for flying; Harry, who was greater by a notch due to being part of the team since last year, whereas Draco showing promise as a Seeker once he collected more experience under his belt.

It was when the commentator announced the Snitch spotted when Loki noticed a different ball, the one they called Bludger, bending against its physics to hurtle itself straight to Harry's direction with what appeared to be an unstoppable force.

Merlin was already looking at him when Loki turned to his right. They both peered below to the field and watched the rogue Bludger tailed Harry Potter who was after the Snitch, with Draco Malfoy not far.

In a moment of confusion, Harry stalled a second more that had the Bludger colliding horribly against his elbow. There was unmistakably a broken arm, but it didn't stop the boy, speeding towards where he had seen the Snitch. His uninjured arm reached blindly until it felt the cold metal of the Snitch.

Several things happened at once—Harry fell from his broomstick as he was only riding with his legs when he caught the Snitch; the whistle rang, which Harry heard midair; the yells from the audience and teammates were also heard by Harry, together with the swish of wind from the incoming Bludger about to hit him the second time.

Harry closed his eyes to prepare for the ugly landing and the terrible crash of the Bludger against him that was soon to follow. They won anyway, and Harry felt the victory would override the pain he was about to experience.

Except nothing came.

From the audience box above stood Merlin and Loki like the rest, though in their case, they weren't standing with bated breath and were in fact performing magic: Merlin keeping the rogue Bludger immobile by overpowering the enchantment that rigged it, and Loki was keeping Harry a few inches above the ground. They simultaneously grounded their magic, with Merlin murmuring a quick dispelling spell to send the Bludger away while Loki lowered Harry on the ground to his side, opposite of the broken arm.

The audience broke into loud cheers and applause as the Gryffindor was announced winner, completely missing the save done by the two.

The second incident happened the same evening.

It was in the middle of the night where most were asleep except Merlin and Loki who were discussing what Merlin had insisted an attempt on the life of The Boy Who Lived earlier at the Quidditch field. Loki, on the other hand, begged to differ, arguing that it had a different feeling, and that it was quite a different tactic, if the writing on the wall on the night of Halloween was intended to be a threat for the boy.

There were hurried footsteps that went past Merlin's room. Peering outside, it was the Headmaster carrying what appeared to be one end of a statue with Professor McGonagall on the other end. Merlin emerged to help.

At closer look, Merlin realized that it wasn't a statue but rather a petrified student, Colin Creevy.

"Professor Emrys, we have to bring him to the hospital wing." Dumbledore gestured at the end of the hallway as Merlin replaced McGonagall on the other end. Dumbledore instructed McGonagall to wake Madame Pomfrey to meet them at the hospital wing.

They reached the destination in short time, not long after Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall. Harry Potter was on the last bed, presumably sleeping under sedative.

Merlin helped heaving the petrified boy to the closest bed.

Professor McGonagall detailed how he was found by Dumbledore: assumed to be on his way to visit Harry. Merlin did remember this boy being fond of Harry.

"He brought his camera," Merlin observed. "You don't suppose..."

Dumbledore carefully pried the camera from the frozen hands, upon opening the back of it, a jet of steam shot out. It smelled unpleasantly of burned plastic film.

Melted, of course it had to be. The baffling situation wouldn't be made easy for them.

Merlin quietly agreed with Dumbledore that the more pressing question was how in the world could this happened.

There was a campaign to start the Dueling Club.

Merlin, growing more concerned each passing day, was the first to ask permission for it. He also suggested that Loki should be the one to oversee the club. The trickster wasn't that happy when he was the last to hear the news.

Merlin argued that Loki was the most logical choice to handle it, despite the God of Mischief's distaste against whiny children who couldn't handle a bit of pain and those who would surely resolve their petty fights through duels.

As much as he protested though, it was already decided the day before Merlin brought it up to him.

On the first club meeting, Loki was met with eager faces of almost all of the student body from the four houses. It was bound to be chaotic with children this many. Thankfully, he need not to tell them to settle down once he stood atop the platform.

"Today marks the beginning of the Dueling Club," Loki began, sharp emerald eyes assessing boys and girls. "What you will learn here will be more advanced than our lessons in class. We will not be following a set of curriculum here; spells you know of that others don't are encouraged." He didn't have to remind them that the curses that would land them in prison wasn't counted. They should know as much. "This club encourages strategic thinking to measure how quick you are in your feet. Use what you learned in and out of Hogwarts, because the real world is not as forgiving. Lastly, the club aims to have its members learn from each other, and that should remind you that there is always strength in number." Merlin gave him a proud smile which Loki pretended he didn't notice. "But also remember that it doesn't mean you are weak alone. This club's purpose is also to ensure that on your own, you will be able to fight and survive your way."

Giddy anticipation thrummed among the students. Loki nodded to Merlin, continuing, "Professor Emrys will be my assistant in this club. We will demonstrate a short duel in which you can all pick up new spells to practice and add to your ammunition. We will also be demonstrating the basics such as the stance and proper etiquette in a formal duel."

On the other end of the stage was Merlin, with his bloody red scarf (what he was using since Loki met him) wounded around his neck, tucked under his jacket. He was grinning, clearly enjoying the prospect of dueling against the trickster, seeing as he never had been privy to it. They did measure their strength before, out of curiosity, but never against each other.

They both decided that this should be fun.

They bowed down, wands ready for the sake of show, especially when their duel would eventually end up with them using magic without incantations.

Loki took the first move by pointing his wand near Merlin's ankle where a flicker of small fire broke out caused by a mild Incendio. The trickster wasn't going for an offense but rather a distraction ahead of the disarming spell that would follow.

Merlin, though, was agile enough to keep up, blocking the Expelliarmus that Loki had thrown his way. If it had been somebody else in Merlin's place and was unsuccessful in defense, they would found their own self expelled against the wall, colliding with a sickening crunch at the back.

The good news was that he was Merlin, and never did he expect Loki to downplay his abilities.

In retaliation, Merlin used the same tactic on Loki. Instead of a harmless fire by the feet, he yelled Duro, pointingon the trickster's feet and interrupting Loki's advance. He knew from his years of observing Loki that you wouldn't want him to get to you at close quarters when he was the enemy, since it was when his deception was more underhanded.

Knowing it would only take Loki a split second to escape, Merlin adhered the trickster's hardened feet on the stage with a Colloshoo.

It took Merlin a bit late to realize Loki wasn't making any move from where he stood.

Loki was figuring out Merlin's steps ahead of him.

A loud Carpe Retractum hit Merlin squarely on the chest in a moment of hesitation. He was pulled halfway and was expelled with a Depulso. Merlin resisted most of the impact that only sent him a few good inches from the edge of the platform.

Adrenaline bubbled in Merlin at the first contact of one of the offensive spells they both practiced the night before, seeing as they only knew a spell or two of the modern magic. If one were to look closely, the spells they used so far was on the first couple of pages of the spell book the Room of Requirement graciously provided. They couldn't afford yet to blow their covers—the Greatest Wizard of all time and the God of Mischief didn't simply stroll into Hogwarts.

Loki removed the casting on his feet. "Finite Incantatem... to terminate spell effects." He glanced at the students who never removed their eyes from the duel of their two professors. Gesturing at the direction Merlin flew, Loki smirked. "Carpe Retractum and Depulso are a good combination if you want your opponent to fly gracefully like that."

There was a collective giggle among the children. It didn't last long when they forgot to notice the history professor recovering on his feet, catching the other professor unaware.

Merlin yelled an Incarcerous. Though instead of ropes, a cloth-like cover appeared on Loki's mouth, effectively preventing him to cast incantations. Not that they need words in the first place, but Merlin couldn't help but retaliate after Loki's display.

"An Incarcerous that I tweaked to produce a mouth cover instead," Merlin explained. "And that is how you shut up a professor. It's not advisable to be used on all of your professors though. But we don't want Professor Loki's silver tongue running, do we?" Merlin winked at the students. He smiled sweetly at Loki's scowl. "Effective if you don't want your opponent to cast spells that require incantations, but nonverbal spells are also—Hey!"

Loki's eyes glimmered dangerously when he swiped the wand from Merlin's hand with his will.

"Alright." Merlin sighed. "There are wizards who can perform nonverbal magic. Like Professor Loki here." The audience turned to Loki in awe. "But I'm sure you also know there are wizards who can perform wandless magic."

Loki returned to Merlin his earlier spells just as easily with flicks of his wand. Merlin tilted his head challengingly, making no move to mutter even an Accio to get his wand back nor to release his feet.

The trickster gave what appeared to be a Baubillious, only it was green, mimicking the sparks of Verdillious. Merlin clashed it with a Confringo that canceled each other's attacks.

The duel was supposed to be a tutorial of sorts, and yet it went down as wandless versus wordless due to the heat of the moment between Merlin and the God of Mischief.

Not that the audience were complaining though.

The Weasley twins started the placing of bets, which had most of the students slipping them a galleon or two. Professor Emrys and Professor Loki have an equal amount of bets placed on them, with most of the Slytherin house and Ravenclaw rooting for the trickster while houses Gryffindor and Hufflepuff for the warlock.

Unbeknownst to them, the Headmaster and a number of the professors had also filed in. Dumbledore was fondly watching the children cheer for their professor of choice. Amusement lighted the features of the Headmaster when he saw the surreptitious (at least what the Weasley twins thought) passing of coins and the two listing tallies.

"This duel is unorthodox," Snape said with distaste. "They're showing off instead of teaching."

"It is an amazing display, Severus. We don't always get to have the chance to see an exciting duel like this," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "Besides, the students don't mind."

"It encourages them to be reckless," Snape sneered.

"Or it will teach them how to be wary of certain spells if they see the effects first hand. Have faith on your students, Severus, and trust your fellow professors," Dumbledore advised. "They did what most duel instructors won't—demonstrate a real process of dueling that is outside the premises of rules. Perhaps, one day, this will be of use to them."

Snape was miffed but promptly went quiet once the Headmaster's eyes returned to watch the two new professors of the semester ending their duel with a flourish—Professor Emrys with his feet now free, palm opened and in close proximity, hovering by Professor Loki's chest, and after proving that he was adept in wandless magic, could have dealt serious damage to his opponent; Professor Loki, who didn't once bother to remove the bounding spell on his mouth, has the pointed end of his wand poised a centimeter away from Professor Emrys's neck that should it had been a blade, Professor Loki could have felled his opponent in one clean slice.

It was difficult to decide who would have won in an evenly matched duel. In the end, the audience, who watched with their breaths taken away, erupted into a round of applause and cheers.

The way Merlin's eyes went golden, and the way Loki's magic shifted around him in a faint emerald-green simmer in the heat of the duel went unnoticed by the rest, except by the trickster and the warlock.

And, most likely, by the Headmaster himself if the knowing look behind his spectacles were to go by.

…

The adrenaline was yet to be extinguished from their systems when they called two students of their choice to face each other off. Loki laid down the rule of disarming only.

Merlin, somewhat unsurprisingly, picked the Slytherin he had taken a shine on recently—Draco Malfoy. Apparently, from an outsider's perspective, this came as a surprise. Loki in turn picked The Boy Who Lived, a way also for Loki to gauge the boy by himself.

The remaining students were paired to practice off stage, though this had the students conflicted whether to watch the duel about to happen on the platform, or experience a duel themselves, excited as they were.

Spells were thrown back and forth between those partnered up, although some were one-sided after disarming their opponent at first try. Merlin took it upon himself to roam around to keep a watchful eye for possible accidents. Meanwhile, Loki was the one to give pointers and correct stances.

Harry and Draco were off to a start of both excitement and nervousness. Draco, the first to give into his nerves, inclined his wand only at the count of two, his attack hitting Harry on the chest. It didn't look pleasant, but Draco's own open expression of shock was visible. He appeared to be on the verge of apologizing—if his twitching as if debating with himself was to go by—until Harry sent a tickling spell that doubled Draco over in laughter.

An exchange of hexes that were basically harmless followed. The main rule of disarming alone was thrown out of the window, and Loki, as much as he would never it admit aloud, didn't want to break their competition that reminded him strongly of he and Thor on their younger days. Of course, the hexing part was only by Loki, while Thor would wrestle him on the ground for it.

The duel's harmless disposition was abruptly cut short when Draco, in a reflex against Harry's spell that had the latter catching him unaware, conjured a viper that slithered on the stage. The students who were keeping up on the duel gasped at the live snake hissing at anybody it laid its eyes on.

Merlin gestured for Loki to obliterate the adder when it had taken an interest on a Hufflepuff student who stood frozen in fear. It was an impressive conjuration by a twelve-year-old, and by Midgardian standards, it was already a feat. Though when Loki noticed Harry approaching the viper inch by inch, he believed that what he would witness was far more fascinating.

Loki shook his head at Merlin. He didn't have to turn to know Merlin sent a disapproving look.

Harry began muttering words that sounded like a snake's hiss. The snake reared its head to the boy, eyelids blinking and fangs bared. Harry was unfazed, and his unintelligible words went louder…

Harry was talking to it.

Loki had read of Parseltongue from tomes he used to gather information on Voldemort. Like Harry, the so-called Dark Lord was also a Parselmouth, a rare trait passed on from one of the Hogwarts's founders himself, Salazar Slytherin. Asgardians have their Allspeak that enabled them to understand any language and be understood in theirs, but it was limited to human language and was never on animals nor supernatural creatures of Midgard. Merlin, with his ability to speak to and command dragons, has been an interest to the trickster. Perhaps he wouldn't be even wrong if, like Merlin, Harry Potter was the last of his kind in the current generation to possess this trait.

"Vipera Evanesca!"

The conjured snake was smoldered into nothing when Merlin's spell came into contact with it. He dismissed the class with a cheerful note of the next meeting's time and date. When he glanced at Loki though, there was no amusement but only reproach.

"Why did you do that?" Merlin demanded after the last of the students exited. "I told you to banish it! And now there's a kid much more terrified of snakes more than ever."

Loki snorted. "He's bound to see worse in this world that he would rather be in a pit of snakes."

"What if it bit a student, Loki? Did you ever think of that?"

The trickster rolled his eyes. "I believe that's where their healers are for."

Merlin's irritation evaporated into exasperation. "And it will reflect badly on you. These children have parents who would like to have a word with you if there was any incident that happened under your care."

"Since when did I care for Midgardian opinions?" Loki snapped. "And if you're going to ask why I let the animal for a little longer, it's because I want to confirm if Harry Potter can indeed talk to snakes. You said it yourself that it originally came from Salazar Slytherin, who you mentioned built the Chamber of Secrets which we speculated to house a gargantuan creature that is likely to be a snake; a basilisk, if I'm to make a wild guess. The chamber can only be opened by the heir, and here we have Harry who happens to be a Parselmouth since the death of Voldemort. Do you know the implication of this, Merlin?"

Merlin's eyes widened as the realization dawned to him. "You think Harry is the heir of Slytherin," he said weakly. "You mean to say that he's the one sending the basilisk to petrify students?"

"Yes, and no. I'm sure he's the mentioned heir, but, no, he's not the one commanding the basilisk," Loki said firmly. "He's only a child who doesn't understand yet the extent of his ability and the power he has over those he can command."

"If only a Parselmouth can control the basilisk, then who else? Who can possibly—" Merlin stopped.

Loki nodded, knowing well that Merlin figured it out. "There's no other explanation for it."

"But we should have been alerted when he got in." Merlin paced around the room, tying to wrap his mind on the fact that Voldemort slipped in Hogwarts undetected. It was still a hypothesis, mind, but knowing how Loki could piece together clues and being beyond good at it, Merlin was immediately inclined to believe him despite the impossibility.

Voldemort couldn't have been inside Hogwarts all along, then perhaps it was his will that was left to resonate along the castle grounds. Merlin had found out that Hogwarts has a solid security that remained undented, and to further fortify it, he weaved his own power of Old Religion. It formed a connection between Merlin and Hogwarts, with a part of it extended to Loki as well.

"There are other ways to go in undetected," Loki said. "I doubt he's lacking in tricks. He found it difficult, probably, but not impossible. His corporeal form is gone, but he isn't dead."

"So he entered having a different form," Merlin finished. "A phantom then?"

"Unfortunately for us, we have no clue as to what he is now. However, there's still a move we can take." A smirk began forming on Loki's lips. "We have to see this chamber they speak of."

The deep frown that etched itself on Merlin's face had somewhat lightened. "You mean you want to hunt the basilisk down."

"Hunt? I'll have you know that I'm not as barbaric as my brother. This is a magnificent creature that will be of more use alive," Loki reasoned. "I'll take it back with me."

It was enough of a reassurance to Merlin. Asgard, despite being a place he hasn't been, was bound to be greatly advanced than earth in terms of sorcery and technology. He never once doubted the legitimacy of stories Loki had regaled him with.

"When we find it, it'll be another feat to write on your list," Loki commented dryly.

"Just like old times," Merlin mused.

It seemed though that the students themselves had worked out that Harry was the heir.

Only because of completely different reasoning—Harry egging the snake to Justin, the boy who stood frozen during the meeting of duel club.

Merlin kept an ear to the rumors floating around that spread like wildfire within twenty-four hours. Apparently, they made Harry into a terrible young boy who was on the path of being a Dark Lord himself. Merlin could only sympathize with the boy from sidelines.

It turned even worst when Justin was found petrified not far by also a petrified Nearly Headless Nick, with the latter's circumstances the most disturbing. Even the non-living wasn't safe from the creature.

And the two just had to be stumbled upon by the poltergeist, Peeves, who loudly declared Harry Potter being caught in the act.

Before Merlin could pacify the situation though, there were a handful of students who were immediately on the scene, with Professor McGonagall on their heels. She whisked Harry away to the Headmaster's office.

The children dispersed into hushed whispers carrying harsher words. Merlin could only sigh in defeat. He and Loki have to act fast and locate the chamber as soon as possible.

"Professor Emrys?" a timid boyish voice spoke.

Merlin found Draco Malfoy without his usual companions, purposely waiting for the crowd to break to corner the history professor.

"Mister Malfoy?" Merlin was slightly surprised seeing him alone.

"It's Draco, professor. Mister Malfoy is my father," the boy corrected him, though his eyes did not leave the floor. Merlin didn't speak, seeing Draco's hesitation to say something more. "It's… it's about Potter."

Merlin smiled kindly, leveling himself to the boy. "What about Harry, Draco?"

"Well, I'm not sorry that I conjured a snake. I'm proud of it." Draco met Merlin's eyes straight. "I-It's not my fault they're talking about Potter like he'll become worse than You-Know-Who. It's not like he couldn't be!"

Merlin regarded him with patience reserved for stubborn children… and a once stubborn Arthur. "Nobody is blaming you for it, Draco. We can't help their opinions, but we can choose not to take part in talking behind Harry's back."

"I'm not," Draco retorted. "I mean, my friends are because they have huge traps. I don't defend Potter to them, but sometimes I ask them to shut up because they're very noisy."

It was very Draco of him. "That's the least we can do for Harry." In spite of the antagonism Draco projected to Harry, he actually cared. Merlin's lips twitched into a small smile. "Worried, aren't you?"

Draco shook his head vehemently. "Of course not! Pure-bloods are safe." He crossed his arms. There was a bit of pink on his both ears.

"I mean, worried for Harry?"

Draco looked stricken at the question as if he couldn't decide whether to be offended or embarrassed. He settled for both, harrumphing snobbishly. He turned his back in an instant without excusing himself from Merlin.

Merlin could only find the rude gesture amusing.

"Congratulations on your last game of Quidditch, by the way," Merlin called out.

Draco stopped, turning back to Merlin. "We didn't win," he said sourly.

"No, but you heeded what I told you and proved yourself capable. Congratulations are still in order." Merlin winked.

Draco flushed under the praise. You would think that for a boy who came from a prominent family, he would be used to compliments.

Meekly, Draco nodded in thanks and muttered an excuse to leave.

One could be in Hogwarts for several years and yet you could only uncover barely a quarter of its quirks.

Merlin and Loki were exploring the castle during past midnight, carefully avoiding the wandering caretakers and a certain trio—or sometimes duo—with a penchant for disobeying curfews.

Ah, the curiosity of children.

Merlin could only hope they were being careful. They might be in the grounds of Hogwarts which, while a secure and safe place on its own, still has unaccounted dangers within that have been part of the castle since its creation.

They visited the hospital wing once, where two students were lying in their last position before being frozen. On a small bed was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, who was in as much of the same state.

"They're lucky," Loki said in a low voice.

"Lucky they're petrified?"

"Yes." Loki touched the forehead of Colin Creevy. "If Asgardian basilisk is the same as a Midgardian one, then you know that it promises an instant death once its gaze came into contact with yours. Petrification is the better choice, don't you think?"

"Now that you pointed it out," Merlin murmured. "Not that I'm not glad, but how?"

Loki hummed in thought, passing by the occupied beds with silent steps. "It could be that they didn't meet the basilisk's gaze directly."

Merlin glanced at the damaged camera. "Colin saw it through the camera."

"And the recent had seen it through the ghost."

"And the cat?"

"There was a puddle on the floor that evening. It saw the reflection."

Merlin suppressed a shudder. They were lucky indeed.

Sadly, for Merlin and Loki, they weren't as fortunate in locating the chamber.

February was quite a strange affair, particularly the fourteenth.

St. Valentine's Day levitated the mood, somehow. There were fewer decorations, and the celebration was mostly between students. Chocolates and gifts were passed on; cards with poems and sweet messages were given either anonymously or personally.

Even Merlin and Loki got their fair share.

By the end of Merlin's first class that day, three female students handed him colorful boxes decorated with elaborate ribbons. They smelled of sweet cologne, and Merlin didn't have the heart to reject them. He thanked them awkwardly as they walked away, giggling.

By the end of his second class, it was a pair of female twins who approached, and Merlin could feel his embarrassment at the attention even more, seeing there were other students who saw the Patil twins handing him four small boxes in brightly colored gift wraps. According to the twins, color blue was for Merlin, and the greens were for Loki that they couldn't give to him in person since their DADA class wasn't for another day.

Merlin hasn't been including those between his classes, gifts handed to him when he was spotted at the hallways and such, and those he got from the faculty even, courtesy of Dumbledore who was giving away sweets during every occasions.

At least though, Merlin wasn't alone in the predicament.

"Why did they give me these?" Loki demanded, gesturing at the pile of colorful boxes at his table.

"It's a tradition of ours. It started a bit later in my years. You give a present to the person you admire and or adore. Usually, you give chocolates," Merlin informed him as if reading on a textbook, though he was fighting the urge to snigger at the trickster's expression. "Now, now, they find you charming, that's why." Loki scowled from the small gift given to him by Madam Pince (for always visiting my library; pretty sure curious students had visited it more often), turning to Merlin who didn't bother to stop his chuckling.

"You find this funny," Loki deadpanned.

"You have to admit it is. I wonder if we'll get this much attention if they knew we're actually older than Hogwarts itself," Merlin mused.

"Or if they know it's your name they have been using to curse."

Merlin winced. "Been hearing a lot of variation of it since we got here."

"You haven't heard a lot then." Loki snapped his fingers at the spot where the accumulated presents used to occupy. The pile vanished into thin air. "There are sorts of talk floating around between us."

"Oh?"

A mischievous smile formed on Loki's lips. "They believe their two professors are having a clandestine affair at night."

Merlin would have choked if he was drinking.

A beat passed. "Wait. What?"

"We are having a clandestine affair at night," Loki pointed, face betraying nothing of his amusement.

"For an entirely different reason!"

"Well, they don't know that, do they?"

Merlin groaned. "And you didn't even correct them."

"Because it is laughable."

"Yeah, no offense, but you're not my type too."

"We have established that long ago."

"If I'm some good looking blond, you'll probably dig me," Merlin muttered under his breath. Like Arthur, maybe.

Loki turned sharply to him but promptly looked away just as quick.

Merlin interpreted it the other way.

"That's your type? Can't we be any more similar?"

"Don't assume my preferences."

"I'm not. You just confirmed it."

A shadow passed over the trickster's face that left swiftly. There was something off in his reaction, try as he might to hide it.

Merlin dropped the subject in spite of his curiosity.

Another double attack soon followed. It was a Ravenclaw prefect this time, and one of the trio, Hermione Granger.

To Merlin's relief, they were only petrified just like the other three before them. Their theory was confirmed when a circular mirror was spotted near the new victims.

Merlin was wary as to how Harry and Ron would deal with the situation. Knowing them, the two were bound to ignore the newly adjusted curfew. It was highly likely that they would be going out later in the evening, therefore Merlin, along with Loki, had been purposely patrolling by the Gryffindor Tower.

Nobody noticed a pair of professors missing from their post and following two unsuspecting boys huddled under an invisibility cloak that didn't make them invisible under Merlin's and Loki's vision. Still, it was a pretty neat cloak.

Merlin and Loki were led to Hagrid's hut, where in the front porch appeared two boys. Hagrid ushered them inside, eyes looking out and squinting near the professors' location.

Loki gestured for them to get nearer. They barely crept from the left side of the hut when they heard another pair of voices getting closer.

It was the Headmaster and another familiar man. Once they were closer, Merlin recognized him as the Minister.

Merlin's frown and confusion deepened as Hagrid was accused of the Muggle-born attacks. Merlin didn't like this one bit. They might know something he did not, but like Dumbledore, Merlin has his confidence on Hagrid.

"There's someone else coming," Loki said in a whisper.

It was a man with blond hair of the same shade of Draco's. Merlin was correct in his guess when the man was called by his name.

Merlin was unsurprised at the display of rudeness by Draco's father, and while his son wasn't lacking in that display either, Draco was at least showing promise in improving.

In the end, Hagrid was taken away, saying something rather loudly about following the spiders. Once the voices were a good distance away from the gamekeeper's home, two pairs of feet shuffled from the back exit. Harry and Ron were again hidden under their cloak, making their way back to the castle.

Harry has the odd feeling that he was being watched, and the feeling worsened after Hagrid was taken away.

More concerning was during his DADA classes. It was as if his own professor was solely keeping an eye on him. It did nothing on Harry's growing distrust on Professor Loki that began when the writing on the wall first appeared.

Almost everybody made him the perpetrator because of his Parseltongue, and nobody would dare suspect a professor even if he was on the scene the same time as Harry. It was unfair that he was the one to endure the tormenting rumors, and his peers avoiding him. For all they knew, Professor Loki was a Parselmouth himself and the heir of Slytherin. He certainly has the posh look in him. If only Harry has a way to prove his professor had been a Slytherin.

Harry's mood has been sour when he realized his last class would be DADA. He wondered if there was hope yet for a better instructor for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

It was in the middle of Herbology when fate seemed to smile on Harry.

He practically smacked the garden shears on Ron when he pointed at the spiders scuttling in an eerily straight line. Looking overhead, the line seemed to be heading towards the Forbidden Forest.

Ron didn't appear to like the prospect of going to the Forbidden Forest, at night even. They would be taking Fang with them anyway, not that it assured Ron.

They slipped to feed Fang and smuggle him to the Forbidden Forest with them. Memories of last year being there witnessing Voldemort drinking the poor unicorn's blood still made Harry shudder.

Harry paused, finding it difficult to see where the spiders were going exactly. It was pitched black even with the light of their wand, and he knew they were getting deeper and deeper into the forest. Ron's nerves were passing on to Harry that he almost yelped when he accidentally touched Fang's wet snout.

Suddenly, Fang let out an echoing bark.

Harry strained his ears and heard something moving… something big.

A bright light was flung into them. Harry struggled to see through the brightness when Ron shouted in relief.

It was Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia that they used to get to Hogwarts, and the rumbling he was hearing was its engine. Its state was pitying, and Harry felt even more guilty for hijacking the car from Ron's parents when they had been nothing but hospitable during his stay in the Burrow.

The trail was gone when the spiders scrambled away from the sudden blaze of light. Harry gestured to Ron with the intention of looking again for the trail. Ron didn't move from his position though, frozen in terror at something above Harry.

Harry didn't get the chance to find out what it was when a hairy appendage wrapped itself on his torso, hanging him upside down.

There were numerous clicking sounds as several spiders of varying sizes swarmed Ron and Harry's surroundings. Harry was then unceremoniously dropped. It occurred to him that the spider was speaking.

If the spider that lifted him was large, the one it was talking to was the size of an elephant.

The largest spider was called Aragog, whose every eyes were milky white. He was blind, it seemed.

To Harry's surprise, it asked Hagrid by name and was disappointed when he learned it wasn't him. Aragog grumbled about disturbing his sleep, giving permission to kill Harry and Ron to their utter terror.

"We're friends of Hagrid!" Harry cried. If he stopped talking, they would be sure meal of these spiders. "He's in trouble. That's why we came."

Heart pounding, Harry explained the circumstances that lead them there. Aragog's pincers clicked furiously at the accusations on Hagrid, but it was clear that he was listening intently until Harry was finished.

"That was years ago! They thought it was me, and they made Hagrid leave for it."

Harry learned that Aragog wasn't from the Chamber of Secrets but rather on some distant land and was given to Hagrid by a stranger. Aragog have never harmed a human out of respect for Hagrid who still visited him in the Forbidden Forest and even brought him a wife. Hagrid was a good man, Aragog said, and he was a friend of his.

"Then what is inside the Chamber of Secrets?"

"We do not speak of it, for it is an ancient creature we fear above all."

If a spider this large who was as menacing on its own and yet feared the creature of the chamber, Harry could only imagine with dread what it was.

Harry slowly backed away, politely saying they would go now. He has a terrible feeling that it wouldn't be that easy.

"Go? I think not. My children do not harm Hagrid by my command, but I cannot refuse them fresh meat that wandered so easily in our lair. Good bye, friends of Hagrid."

Harry spun as a great wall of spiders formed around him and Ron. The wand he was gripping tightly gave no assurances that they would leave the forest alive. Harry stood, ready to die fighting, when another blaze of light illuminated the hollow. It has an intensity brighter than the Ford Anglia's headlights, and it almost made Harry's head hurt if not for the warmth it emanated.

Fang barked at Harry's side. An arm—a human arm—wrapped around Harry's shoulders and guided him the other way. He blindly called for Ron but was shushed by the voice pulling him to the direction Harry and Ron saw the car last.

"It's alright, Harry. Ron is safe," a familiar voice assured him. "Don't let go of Fang. The light might not last long."

Harry kept up with a fast jog, pausing only when he heard the roar of Mr. Weasley's car. A door was opened and Harry hastily jumped inside, followed by Fang. The other door was opened, and Ron's head almost crashed on Harry's forehead.

The driver's and passenger's seats were occupied by the last two people they expected—Professor Emrys and Professor Loki.

"Professors!" Ron exclaimed in relief, just in time for a spider to hit the side mirror.

"Ron, keys for this?" Professor Emrys asked.

"W-We don't have it. It works on its—ah!"

A hairy leg slipped at the small opening of the passenger seat's window, protruding past Professor Loki and right under his chin. The DADA professor was unfazed, producing a small knife and cutting the leg, causing it to pitifully retreat. Professor Loki extended his armed hand out, catching the spider on one of its eyes. It shrieked in pain.

Ron could only watch from the back in awe. "Wicked."

Harry didn't have time to reply when he and Ron lurched forward. Moments later, the car was on air, expertly steered by Professor Emrys.

Harry's chest was still pounding loudly as they landed safely on Hogwarts ground, a few meters away from Hagrid's home.

The five exited the car; more like ejected them, if Harry was to be honest. The Ford Anglia zipped away back to the Forbidden Forest, leaving Harry and Ron standing awkwardly under their professors' gazes. Ron was already whimpering beside Harry as they both waited for the reprimand to come.

What they got though was Professor Emrys gathering them both in an embrace.

"That was reckless of you two! What if Professor Loki and I didn't make it in time? You two could have been—Are you two and Fang alright?"

Harry could only nod dumbly as Professor Emrys inspected them for injuries. Harry had never seen his history professor agitated. He was worried for them. Harry was never fussed over like this before by somebody other than Madame Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley, both who have maternal instincts. Never from any male adult, though. They all expected him, even Dumbledore, to be capable of handling it… handle Voldemort. Harry has nothing against that, mind, but there were times when he wondered what it felt like to have a father or a brother figure. Did he even have a godfather? If he has, he wondered, too, where he might be.

"Sorry, professor…s," Ron apologized, head hung low.

Professor Emrys sighed, ruffling Ron's mussed hair. "We're not asking for an apology, Mister Weasley, but next time you go out, we want you to at least tell somebody so you can have a guardian with you. I know that if Hagrid is here, he would have come with you. He isn't here though, and you should have someone with you."

"It's not like we'll be permitted," Harry said before he could stop himself.

"It's about the Chamber of Secrets, isn't it?" Professor Emrys asked gently. Harry's head snapped up. "We know. We've been on it ourselves, Professor Loki and I."

"You… do?"

"Of course," Professor Emrys said. Harry regarded him warily. He has a feeling he could trust the history professor. Professor Loki on the other hand…

Harry carefully eyed his DADA professor. Since that Halloween evening, he never trusted him. Should he, now?

Professor Loki didn't speak, nor did he break the eye contact. His eyes were eerily glinting, and his jaws sharp from Harry's angle.

"You don't trust Professor Loki, do you?" Professor Emrys supplied for Harry. "While I admire that you know not to easily give your trust away, I have to say that Professor Loki has my full confidence. I trust him with my life. Do you trust me, Harry?"

Harry nodded meekly. Trusting Professor Emrys wasn't difficult.

"Then you have to trust me too that Professor Loki is just as trustworthy as I am." Professor Emrys stood up. "We know you're searching for the Chamber of Secrets as well, and we're not above admitting that your search is probably more fruitful than ours, being new in Hogwarts and all."

"What do you know, professor?"

Harry half expected Professor Emrys to be hesitant in sharing what they knew. To his surprise though, Professor Emrys answered evenly, "We have a theory on the creature that resides in it." He glanced briefly at Professor Loki. "We think it's a basilisk, Harry."

"Blimey," Ron murmured under his breath. "No wonder even the spiders are afraid of it."

"It's a theory," Professor Loki finally spoke. "Loosely based on you being a Parselmouth and clearly hearing the creature's words."

Harry's shoulder slumped. "We thought it was Hagrid who opened the chamber and the creature was Aragog." Harry added at their puzzlement, "A diary showed me."

"A diary?"

"It has an imbued memory in it, of a former student and schoolmate of Hagrid's. He was there when a student died."

"And this diary?"

"I lost it," Harry lied. He didn't want to cause more issue on the ransacking. "What… what exactly can a basilisk do, sir?"

"Instantaneous death upon eye contact," Professor Loki said. "Miss Granger and the others are fortunate in their circumstances to be only petrified."

Ron bit his lip at the mention of Hermione. Harry knew he missed her terribly, even if he would never admit it.

"She'll be fine," Professor Emrys assured Ron with a smile. "Just like the others. We simply have to wait."

The silence between them was somber at the reminder of their petrified friend and the apparent dead end on their investigation.

Just when hope seemed to be lost, there was a sudden spark of epiphany that abruptly made itself known to Harry.

Harry gasped in realization. "The student who died before. Aragog said she was found by the bathroom. What if she never left?"

Ron's eyes widened. "You don't mean—Moaning Myrtle?!"

Harry ignored him. "Moaning Myrtle is the ghost living in the second floor girls' toilet. The one out of order ever since we first came here," he explained to the two professors.

"Do you think we could talk to her? Not now. It's late, and I don't think Professor McGonagall will appreciate us leading you to the girls' toilet, out of order or no," Professor Emrys said wryly. "Tomorrow, maybe?"

Harry informed them of their schedule for the next day. He knew he and Ron would find it difficult to sneak past patrols in broad daylight, but he couldn't wait long for night fall to hear from Myrtle. At least, they would have Professor Emrys and Professor Loki's supervisions as an excuse.

Harry and Ron were escorted to their dormitory by Professor Emrys, with Professor Loki keeping an eye out for any other patrollers who could possibly caught them herding back two students (Harry wisely keeping to himself his possession of invisibility cloak, though somehow he wondered if he had to bother. It seemed as if his professors already knew about it).

A few steps away from the portrait of the Fat Lady, Professor Emrys spoke, "Will you two promise me not to go alone if ever you reach a breakthrough on your investigation? That you'll get me and Professor Loki to accompany you two on what you are planning to do? Or at least one of us if the other isn't available?"

Harry still have qualms in trusting his DADA professor, but he found himself nodding, much to Professor Emrys's relief.

Ron went to bed without undressing. Harry, however, was far from feeling sleepy.

Half an hour of not finding sleep, Harry determinedly closed his eyes, willing the hours to come by faster rather than get himself to rest.

Loki noticed that Merlin was in high spirits immediately the following day.

At his raised eyebrow, Merlin grinned and shared the news of Mandrakes ready for cutting for that evening.

"And I suppose you have a hand in it."

"I may have quickened the process a bit."

"Just in time for their exams," Loki quipped.

Merlin looked indignant at what Loki was insinuating. "They're allowed to be excused."

It was by lunch when Loki asked him of a nagging question he had since last night. "Are you sure you want us to be accompanied by two children to the chamber?" For as long as Loki knew Merlin, he was under the impression that the Midgardian Sorcerer's self-preservation run for others and never for himself, and hearing him allowing two young boys to tag with them towards the unknown was quite uncharacteristic of Merlin.

Merlin didn't answer immediately, looking far away. "It's their spirit for adventures, I think." His gaze went farther than what was outside the window, beyond the time present. "Makes you want to follow them instead."

Loki was fully aware that it would fall on deaf ears should he point out that Merlin was no longer living in his past. There was no destined king to follow now, no knights to run after, no estranged sorcerers to save from themselves who fear their own power, and no destiny to keep up with anymore.

The God of Mischief looked the opposite direction, giving Merlin the time to reminisce.

…

Looking at the torn page they pried away from Hermione's stiff fist, Harry realized that Hermione had the same theory on the creature of the Chamber of Secrets as the two professors. Piecing together what they have and Hermione's torn page, the entrance of the chamber should be in Moaning Myrtle's own toilet.

All the more reason to reach her as soon as possible, he supposed.

With renewed determination, Harry dragged Ron with him to the staff room. History was their next class, and he could hardly wait for it to end to corner Professor Emrys and, well, Professor Loki who was in another DADA class of his—in which Harry wasn't sure whether it made him relieved or not. Harry decided to go for the next best person he knew would at least try to listen to him—Professor McGonagall.

The staff room was thankfully empty, and they could wait for Professor McGonagall there without seemingly suspicious.

Harry and Ron waited for the break signal that never came.

And then, Professor McGonagall's magically magnified voice rang, asking for all students to return to their dormitories while the teachers to the staff room.

Harry, meanwhile, with no intention of returning to their dormitory, spotted a wardrobe of sorts to hide with Ron. They listened as the crowd milled on their way to the dormitories and the staff room door banging open multiple times. From the space in between the musty cloaks inside the wardrobe, Harry could see some of the teachers were puzzled, while others downright scared. Neither Professor Emrys nor Professor Loki were there.

When Professor McGonagall arrived, the staff room fell silent and were at the edge of their seats as to hear the news.

"It has happened. A student has been taken by the monster into the chamber itself."

Harry and Ron shared horrified looks the same time Professor Snape asked, "What made you so sure?"

Professor McGonagall was pale when she said, "The Heir of Slytherin left another message beneath the first one: Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever."

"Who is it? Who was taken?"

"Ginny Weasley."

Harry felt Ron's grip on his elbow slacked, eyes wide in disbelief.

McGonagall told them about sending the students home tomorrow, of the end of Hogwarts that Harry couldn't accept himself, when another person entered the staff room. For a second, Harry thought it was Dumbledore or Professor Emrys. It was Professor Loki.

"I heard what happened."

Snape stepped forward from the rest who were looking ill each passing minute.

"A girl was snatched, professor. And I don't suppose you know of her whereabouts." Snape sneered, his distrust hadn't waned yet.

"Professor Snape, please," Professor McGonagall intervened, strategically placing herself between the two professors. "This is not the time and place to throw accusations."

Professor Loki impressively ignored Snape, addressing Professor McGonagall directly. "She was absent in my class today. Do you happen to know where she was seen last?"

Harry droned out the conversation. He glanced at Ron who was beyond worry, muttering; Harry realized he was talking to him.

"You don't think she's—but she's a Pure-blood!"

Harry wanted to tell him this was more than Muggle-born and Pure-blood. Without a word, Harry purposely waited for a chance to slip from the staff room with Ron in tow, once the faculty members left for their own quarters.

"Where are we going now?" Ron asked.

"Professor Loki."

They knocked on Professor Loki's office door, and for a while, Harry feared he was gone with his own search. He has no clue where Professor Emrys might be, and there was no time to wait.

Harry pried open the door knob that wasn't locked. He was past caring for manners—Ginny needed to be saved.

"Professor—"

Harry took in his professor's appearance. Professor Loki was wearing something else than his usual black robes: his attire was of green and gold, with vambraces covering his forearms. They caught him just in time to see him hiding a thin blade on his left boot; Harry bet it wasn't the only hidden weapon he has in his person.

Right then he didn't look every bit of a professor but rather like a warrior Harry usually saw on the shows Dudley used to watch on the telly. Only that Harry knew those were costumes and props, while Professor Loki was the real deal.

"Sir? Are you going for my sister?" Ron asked hopefully.

Professor Loki paused, regarding them each. "The basilisk is what I'm really after. As for Miss Weasley… she'll appreciate familiar faces."

Ron's back straightened, empowered by Professor Loki's words. "How about Professor Emrys, sir?"

"He's with the healers at the moment, been helping with the tending of those petrified since afternoon. I don't think they'll be finished any time soon."

Professor Loki looked at his wand, as if seriously considering whether to leave it or carry it with him. He caught Harry staring at him but didn't say anything, pocketing his wand like an afterthought.

"Lead the way to the entrance of the chamber."

…

The ghost they called Moaning Myrtle has been difficult to speak with at first without her wailing at her every word.

Loki was becoming impatient and was close to snapping at the ghost when its attention turned to him, sidling closer to his space, batting her eyelashes and giggling.

He heard Harry clearing his throat and asked again, "How did you die, Myrtle?"

The ghost encircled Loki from where he stood as she went on her tale. She gestured at one of the taps that she mentioned never worked.

"Say something in Parseltongue, Harry," Ron suggested. "Anything."

Harry hesitated initially. He was speaking in the common tongue on his first few tries until his words became hissing like that of a snake.

The sink vanished, leaving the pipe opened large enough for a grown man to fit in and slide down.

"I'll descend first. You two follow me."

Loki jumped on the space, letting the gravity drag him downwards. Not long after his landing, Harry and Ron followed less gracefully.

"We must be miles under the castle," Harry said, voice echoing.

"Under the lake, probably," Ron muttered.

Loki produced a green light using his wand, illuminating the slimy walls and the ground littered with small animal skeletons.

"Keep close, and I suggest you close your eyes right away at any sign of movement."

Up ahead of the dark tunnel was an outline of something huge and curved. Loki couldn't feel any sign of life out of it from his position. Upon closer inspection, it was only a snake skin that must have been at least twenty feet long. The basilisk should be greater than that now since it had shed already.

Ron gulped from behind Loki.

There was a faint light by the end of the tunnel, where it led to a solid wall with a circular door adorned with curled, poison-green snakes. There was no handle.

Harry didn't have to be prompted. He stepped forward to hiss the same words he did to the sink a while ago.

The entrance opened to a spacious chamber that no one would imagine lying underground. There were rows of gigantic statues of serpent heads lining on either sides. Loki assessed the surroundings with a sidelong glance. He took note of the flickering of the eyes of the statue.

From behind him, Loki heard a gasp. Harry came running past him towards a prone figure of black and red.

"Ginny! Ginny—don't be dead—please don't be dead—"

Towering a few feet away from the unconscious girl was a statue of a man with long, thin beard and with stone feet on the chamber floor. Loki tilted his head in recognition. Salazar Slytherin.

Loki kneeled on Harry's left, deft fingers finding the pulse point of Ginny Weasley. It was barely there, and her skin was rapidly turning cold, but Loki could sense the will to live underneath the pads of his fingertips. It was enough for now.

"She won't wake," said a new voice softly.

It was a young man of sixteen, if Loki's estimation was correct, bearing the symbol of the house of Slytherin. Loki wasn't one to forget a face, therefore he could safely say this person wasn't a student of his. Or if this was even fully a person with blur contouring his outline, as if Loki was looking through a foggy glass.

More importantly, Loki couldn't detect life from him.

"Tom Riddle?"

"Hello, Harry," Tom greeted smoothly. "I see you've brought company. Ginny's brother, Ron, right? And…" Tom's attention was suddenly directed to Loki. "A professor, is it? Strange. I don't recall them dressing as you do, sir. If you pardon me pointing it out."

"It's for a special occasion," Loki replied silkily. "And I don't recall having a student who's an apparition."

"A memory, professor," Tom corrected. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

"What do you mean Ginny won't wake?" Ron asked aloud, not really minding the conversation.

Tom Riddle was too happy to recount the tale of Ginny Weasley spilling her secrets to an invisible person. According to him, she wrote in the diary of her petty woes and concerns—of her brothers teasing her, of her secondhand things, and of course of the famous The Boy Who Lived who wouldn't even return her feelings.

"And I wrote back with nothing but empathy and kindness, the good friend I was, enduring the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl. I was patient, you see." His lips quirked. "Nobody understands me like you, Tom… You're a friend I can carry on my pocket… I'm glad I met you… I'm touched, really," he added mockingly before he laughed in a way that didn't suit him. It was cold, echoing inside the chamber.

"And you grew powerful than her," Loki concluded. "Gave a few secrets of your own, though not to make her not suspect but rather to feed her what you knew. For example, about this chamber." The trickster watched with satisfaction when Tom stopped cackling. "You began pouring your soul back into her."

Pride glowed sickeningly at Tom's eyes. "Very good, professor." He inched closer, encircling Loki from where he stood, humming. "Quick on the uptake. That alone earned you my respect, sir. Quite unlike those I had the luck to teach me. Well, it would explain why it took stupid little Ginny a long time to stop trusting her diary, and nobody's the wiser."

Harry and Ron seethed.

"No matter. It led me to you, Harry Potter. I couldn't have been more delighted. The very person I wanted to meet."

"And why did you want to meet me?" Harry asked angrily.

Tom's gaze zeroed on Harry's scar, and his expression became hungry. He told Harry of framing the gamekeeper years ago and how Harry had trusted Tom for showing that piece of memory.

"I've been wondering, you know, how is it that a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time, escaping with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry dangerously, pointing out that Voldemort was after Tom's time.

"That's where you're wrong, Harry Potter. Voldemort is my past, present, and future…"

Tom pulled out a wand—Harry's, that Harry didn't even notice snatched from him until it was too late.

Loki followed the movement of the wand as Tom began tracing in the air; writing was more apt a description.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Tom flicked his hand, where the letters rearranged themselves to form different set of words.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

This was Voldemort—a child in Loki's eyes but a Dark Lord in the making. He hated his own origin after growing up in abandonment. A man in nature, corrupted by hatred and malice and desire to bring the same predicament he had to others.

Midgardians. They bear the same makeup.

And to think Merlin was one of them, and this was the lot he subjected himself to.

Loki placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, calming the boy to prevent him from rising to Tom Riddle's bait. Loki has no time for all this senseless drivel—he heard the important tidbits for now.

"Ignore him," Loki told Harry softly but not unquietly, getting the rise out of the phantom much to the trickster's utter satisfaction when its face contorted into displeasure. "Miss Weasley require medical assistance as soon as possible."

"Oh, no, you won't get out of here alive," Tom seethed. He faced the great statue of Salazar Slytherin, opening his mouth wide and hissing words that only Harry was the other person who could understand. "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

The stone face moved, and the mouth opened wider and wider as if a door opening. Something stirred inside the statue's mouth, and Loki could hear it slithering to get out.

He turned to Harry and Ron sharply. "Carry Miss Weasley, and get the Hel out of here."

Loki saw Harry froze as the basilisk uncoiled on the chamber floor. He felt it crawling perilously closer to them, and without preamble, Loki conjured a cloth not dissimilar to Harry's invisibility cloak, only it was double the size of Harry's. Loki covered the three who were thankfully huddled in close proximity. He wrapped them with the cloak, their voices muffled underneath it, and he removed them from the path of the serpent.

Loki stood, back turned to the basilisk. He saw Tom watching him amusedly. "Professor seemed to be fond of hide and seek," he said idly. "No matter; it could smell them. But if you're so keen to go on first, who am I to begrudge you that?"

Tom hissed, "Kill him."

Loki narrowly ducked the strong snap of fangs aimed at his top half. Tom laughed at how close it came. Swiftly, without looking upwards, Loki rounded behind the basilisk, a knife darting towards its underside. As expected, he failed to nick the scale. Loki maneuvered carefully his feet on its wriggling scaled vertebrae as it twisted its body to reach Loki on its back.

Green sparks of lightning escaped from Loki's finger tips, hitting the snake from behind the head. When it hissed aloud in pain, Tom was no longer amused at the display.

Its tail thrashed, catching Loki unaware until his left foot got caught, tail constricting around it. Cursing at his carelessness, he was pulled out of balance.

"Throw him away!"

The thick tail connected to Loki's torso, sending him at the far end of the chamber, back hitting the right cheek of the statue before falling down the shallow pond of water below.

Though his physiology didn't allow him to sustain broken bones at the impact, it still brought pain and discomfort.

Rubbles from the ruined beard of the statue pinned Loki down. It wasn't a problem; he could lift the pile of concrete just as easily.

The basilisk, though, wasn't going to let him escape fast, crawling to the trickster in a speed that shouldn't be possible in its enormous bulk.

Loki could only watch in fascination at the bright, poisonous green creature.

"Over here!" Harry yelled from the other side of the chamber.

It earned both Tom and the snake's attention.

"KILL THAT BOY!"

Loki cursed at Harry's recklessness. Fool. Oh, the young and their idiocy.

Ron wisely remained hidden under the cloak Loki provided, much to his relief. Loki extracted himself from his position, sneaking past Tom to hide behind the nearest pillar. Tom had forgotten about him at the moment, favoring to chase the basilisk after Harry who was running blindly with closed eyes.

Loki located the Weasley siblings hidden in a dark corner of the chamber. Ron gathered his unconscious sister to his chest, both safely hidden under the invisibility cloak. Loki could see through the cloth that Ron was shuddering in fear, noting that it was far from cowardice, making Loki smile a little.

He heard Harry yelp, with the basilisk narrowly missing him. Cornered, Harry crossed his arms in front of him in defense.

For a second, Loki tensed, and he feared he was too late. Then came the sound of fluttering wings of a bird, of a phoenix of flaming red feathers that swooped down the eyes of the basilisk, scratching them by the edges that drew enough blood to make the serpent spit in agony.

Trust Merlin not to sit by and wait for their return.

"LEAVE THE BIRD!" Tom shrieked furiously. "THE BOY IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM! KILL HIM!"

The serpent swayed confusedly. While it was still deadly, it was in a disadvantage. Harry, meanwhile, was searching for something by his feet, underneath the hat—the sorting hat? —the phoenix dropped on Harry.

A gleam caught Loki's eyes. It was a thin, sharp sword with a ruby on its hilt.

Loki intervened, putting himself in between the giant serpent and Harry with his sword ready to wound the creature.

"No, Harry. Don't," Loki said softly, staring straight at terrified green eyes behind glasses.

"Sir?"

"Trust me," he told him calmly, watching until the fear receded into confusion and worry no longer for himself but for his professor.

"I won't… I won't be able to command it, professor. I wasn't able to," Harry murmured. "It will… It will kill you, sir."

"It won't. I promise you, Harry." Loki smiled sincerely, shushing the scared little boy when tears began welling up. "Hush now. You're a brave lad."

Loki turned from Harry, keeping him safe behind him, his back blocking Harry's view of the basilisk. The phoenix had stopped clawing at the serpent and was now flying overhead, keening.

Tom's attention was once again on Loki. He was calmer now, his expression that of wonder. "Touching." He clapped. "For last words. Oh, Harry, you're letting another die for you. Again."

"Be quiet, you mewling quim," Loki snapped, effectively shutting up a laughing Tom. Too easy.

Loki spared him no more of his attention, giving it to the great serpent that stood still that was awaiting Tom Riddle's command. The trickster craned his neck upwards and waited for the serpent's head to meet his eyes.

Their gazes connected—one bloody, and one of naked curiosity.

Nothing happened.

Loki gave the creature a proud smile, holding out an empty hand. He waited once more as the snake merely flickered its gaze at it.

And then it leaned at Loki's touch, nudging its huge head to his hand as if craving for affection. It twitched and hissed when Loki moved his hand away from the side of its face, right below its eye. He chuckled lightly, his palm going at the underside of its mouth, making smoothing gestures, enough to placate the basilisk.

Huge, bulbous eyes with thin slits for pupils came right in front of Loki's face, as if staring at the trickster with newfound fondness, and respect, when it realized it couldn't harm Loki.

Loki concentrated, holding the serpent's eyes and disconnected himself from the environment, mind searching for the connection to the basilisk. He was welcomed immediately inside the snake's head.

"Hello, human," it said inside his mind in a male voice resembling that of an adult. "What are you doing in my head?"

"I'm not a Parselmouth, you see. This is the only way I can communicate with you." The edges of Loki's lips curled upwards. "You know human language," he pointed.

"My father taught me many, many years ago, but he often spoke to me in my language."

"Ah. Salazar Slytherin, was it? He must be proud to have an intelligent son such as you."

"He built this place for me when I was young, but I began to grow, and my father had already passed away to make more room for me. Nobody came anymore for a long time until Tom—no, Voldemort, he told me. I was hopeful. I thought he will either free me or feed me something as large as a goat. Rats were too small, but I was hungry. Still am. But Voldemort was only interested in my ability, and he liked setting me after his… enemies, as what he called them. Unfortunately, I still wasn't rid of him even as some time had passed since his last visit."

"Did he make you eat human flesh?"

"I do not like human flesh. My father said they tastes odd so I never tried. Voldemort wanted me to before, but I always refuse that certain command."

"You can refuse a Parselmouth's command?"

"Yes, but it is painful because he is my Master. The boy is a Parselmouth like Voldemort, but he has no hold over me. Unless he defeats Voldemort and claim me, or Voldemort passes, or if he gives his claim to the boy. If I refuse my Master's command, it will hurt. Like when you did earlier on my back."

"I apologize for that lightning," Loki said back sincerely. "It is a trick I learned when I was a child. I can teach you how to repel it next time."

"You will teach me?"

"Yes, but first I have to ask you to allow me to briefly nullify your ability. The boy is a student, and there are also another two of them hiding. These people are not like me who isn't affected, and I do not want them to die."

"You will blind me?"

"No. Not blind you. Merely closing your power for a while… and heal your wounds as well."

"You can do that?"

"I can, if you let me. Also, if you'll be so kind, I want to ask of your venom to lace it on a small knife of mine."

"You're not asking for my fang? The venom will be more potent."

"You are too generous, but no. I have no wish to harm you anymore." Loki smiled comfortingly. "I will shut down your ability now." Emerald-green mist clouded the basilisk's vision momentarily and evaporated. "It's done."

"That was fast. And I can still see. Would you like the venom now?"

"Please."

Loki removed a small dagger from his hip, placing it flat on his palms and presented it as if an offering. He let the snake sniff at the object. Once satisfied, it bared its fangs, saliva dripping. Loki scratched the blade on a fang with feather-light movements, all grace and precision.

"It is done. Thank you."

The basilisk seemed thoughtful for a moment. "You're different, human."

"It's because I'm not a human, and I am not originally from this world. I am Loki of Asgard."

"Oh? Where is Asgard?"

"Somewhere far away, with open fields where you can freely hunt and roll under the sun or make a shelter in nearby caves."

"I like this Asgard."

"Good. I'll be bringing you there to your new home. If you don't mind?"

"Home?"

"Yes. Asgard will be your new home. You are not fit to simply live underground. It'll be a waste."

"My Master will forbid it."

"We'll take care of him." Loki smirked at this.

The expression didn't go unnoticed by Tom whose face contorted into another bout of fury mixed with confusion at the basilisk that never again moved to bite Loki's head off when he was right in front of it.

Tom hissed another command to kill and rip.

"I'm sorry. Bear with the pain a little more. I'll have him destroyed," Loki promised.

…

Harry, who faithfully remained behind Professor Loki, stared at him in shock at the turn of events.

"Keep the sword away and take this." Professor Loki handed him the dagger with basilisk venom. "Look for the diary and destroy it."

"Diary?"

Professor Loki nodded patiently. "That's where he resides, and that's what keeps him alive." He gestured at Tom. "Do it, and we'll be rid of him."

Without further ado, Harry shot past him and the basilisk, and to Tom Riddle's horror, towards the diary at the other end of the chamber by the shallow pond.

Tom, in possession of Harry's wand, sent a binding spell that narrowly missed Harry. Tom followed it with a strong stunning spell that went past the running boy, hitting one of the stone serpent heads. Harry ducked from the stray debris but was grazed below the back of his neck.

Harry winced at the sudden pain but went on, clutching tightly on the knife as Tom yelled, "Bombarda!"

His legs seemed so short and the diary too far away. He could barely register Tom turning in disbelief at the basilisk when it defied his commands to rip Professor Loki in half and go after Harry.

Ron met him halfway then; a truly welcoming sight of the redhead picking up the diary and throwing it at Harry in a flurry. Harry caught it with his Seeker reflex, opening it in haste that should have torn the diary apart.

"No!"

Without missing a beat, Harry brought down the blade at the very heart of it. It felt like he was meant to do this all along, and his mind darkly supplied whether he would tear Voldemort's heart the same way after everything he put Harry into—if Voldemort even has a heart, for that matter.

Ink oozed akin to blood pouring out as Tom Riddle's apparition screamed as if in intense pain, his form cracking until he was destroyed piece by piece. There was a bright shine before he was completely obliterated into nothing before Harry's eyes.

A heavy silence passed before Ron exclaimed, "Ginny!"

Harry's chest thundered when Ron brought her nearer. She looked paler—or rather her pallor was now of bluish hue. Both Harry and Ron knew it was a bad sign.

"Professor," Ron wailed at Professor Loki's approach. He shook his sister in an attempt to wake her.

Harry's breath hitched. Was this it? Were they too late?

The phoenix, almost forgotten with its silent flight, landed beside Ginny's head. Its beady, intelligent eyes looked down at her, and to Harry's surprise drops of tears fell exactly on Ginny's slightly parted lips.

Her skin escaped from its deathly shade, turning pale until color returned to her cheeks gradually. Her weak breathing evened out, and her eyes fluttered briefly before closing again and settling to a deep sleep.

"Phoenix tears. Healing powers… I forgot," Professor Loki muttered, looking relieved behind his cool exterior.

"Sir? Where's the basilisk?"

Professor Loki was somewhat amused at the inquiry. "Here." He lifted up his sleeve where a small snake crawled on his forearm, coiling around his wrist.

It was identical to the basilisk, only smaller. Harry gasped in realization.

"You made it small?" came Ron's incredulous expression. "I thought they're immune to magic?"

"I have to sneak him out. Difficult to do when he's meters long," was Professor Loki's reply that didn't really answer Ron's question.

If anything though, it only made Ron admire their DADA professor more.

When he thought about it, Harry did too.

"I hope you're not looking for a way to give me detention," Loki remarked dryly upon finishing the retelling of events that had transpired.

"That can wait, professor, seeing as I'm glad you four made it safely."

"Five," Loki corrected. "I brought the creature safely as well."

"Five then," Merlin agreed softly, sitting down on an arm chair. "So you already encountered him. Who would have thought he would show this early?"

"Us."

Merlin sighed tiredly that wasn't from aiding with un-petrifying the victims.

"He's clever, I'll give him that," Loki said. "Tearing his own soul into parts was becoming the most plausible tactic that he used."

Merlin had to conceal his disgust on how Voldemort dabbled with the Dark Arts of Old Religion. "And we don't know how many."

"We will," Loki said confidently. "Preferably before he assembles himself again." He recalled leaving his dagger with the basilisk venom to Harry for safekeeping and for Harry's own defense in case of another encounter with Voldemort.

"And something tells me it'll be sooner than we expected," Merlin said gravely.

"For the meantime, I have to leave you. I'll be looking into something as well that could possibly help our cause."

"Back to Asgard?"

"Back to Asgard."

…

"Are you my new Master?"

"No."

"The boy?"

"Neither him. You will answer to no one but yourself from now on."

The basilisk was quiet for a few seconds. "Who are you to me?"

"A friend."

"Friend… Will you give me a name?"

Loki's lips curled into another rare smile of his. "Of course… Jörmungandr."

end

To be continued at Harry's Third Year.