A/N: Okay, I've decided that I'll only continue a story if I get a review. Not because I'm after popularity but because my workload's rising at the moment and I can't afford to have too much on the go.
evildictionaryninja: Thanks for staying with me. It's not always going to be centre on Hari, though. This'll actually be the last Hari chapter in my Calasier Avamela Prologue. Next, I'm moving on to Noalith.
Calasier Avamela Prologue
Hari - Chapter 2: The Chamber
Hari irritably dusted himself off. His royal clothes were practically ruined now. He felt like spitting but knew it was not appropriate. It would just make things worse. Another flump told him that Maltandir had landed beside him. His sweeping robes, so inappropriate for a Nimohtar, were surely tarnished beyond repair from the slide before, Why such a ridiculous alias? Gilderoy Lockhart, the great fraud! This world will be reeling for months when they know what Maltandir has done in this persona! Even more so if they know his true identity!
Hari had not needed so much persuasion to act in the name of safety at Hogwarts. As soon as he heard of the Weasley girl's kidnap, the horrible thought had occured that this heir of Slytherin had turned his eyes upon purebloods and thus, the Slytherin beauty was in danger. Maltandir had caught him getting the story of the pathetic sobbing spectre of how she died by the monster. Bellime was at his belt, his glasses were left behind, his hair smoothed back and his rich elven clothes, now soiled, were worn with pride.
He would not save the Weasley girl, though. He would not rescue one of the wicked female race. He would not give them the satisfaction. As though reading his thoughts, Maltandir said, in clear Elvish, "You must not be rough with the girl. It is not her fault that she was captured."
"You did not have to accompany me, Maltandir." Hari retorted, eyeing the silly, impractical robes he wore now covered with slime,
"Ah, I think this would be a good way to let Gilderoy die." Maltandir sighed, "It is very dreary being such a silly persona." I agree to that, thought Hari. Instead, he said aloud,
"So, your alias shall die as he lived: in a brainless attempt at glory. How befitting."
Maltandir said nothing to this but followed Hari's conjured light down the passageway. Hari made no sign of terror at the sight of the beast's shed skin. Anyone who had willing strode into a Warg hive or boarded a Drow warlord's ship of his own free will could easily accomplish this. He also gave no sign of wonder at the snakes carved into the wall. He simply spoke in serpent tongue to it and it opened. The reason he could speak serpent tongue was because the language of beasts was a common practise in Valivial. He was not exactly fluent in serpent tongue as many thought Harry was but all he needed was the basics to enter the Chamber.
Without having to be told, Maltandir stayed outside, though his face told him how concerned he was. This did not bother him. He ignored people worrying for his welfare. He strode smoothly down the Chamber, his eyes, though still those of a human's, flicked side to side with enhanced vision, detecting any movement, There is someone behind the pillar at the far end. Yet, it seems not all there. Pretending he hadn't noticed, he headed straight to the girl at the feet of the great statue, Slytherin, no doubt. Perhaps within that statue is where the Basilisk lies. Why else would such an unnecessary thing be here? Slytherin is not such a vain fool to have his own craven image in a place no one will see it.
He reached the statue, took one look up at the statue's face and glanced over his shoulder, "So? You are Slytherin's heir, Tom Marvolo Riddle?"
The teenage boy moved out into the dim light, with a look of concealed surprise, "You know me?"
"I had a look through the genealogy of Slytherin. I'm glad of you taking so long to act. That gave me enough time to research the family tree down to you, Dark Lord Voldemort." He sighed and couldn't help but smirk, "They are fools to run around like headless fowl when all they had to do was look through the archieves and work their way down to you. The Heir of Slytherin is a much too obvious clue. You ought to be more careful."
Riddle raised an eyebrow, "And, who might you be? I have not seen you around the school."
"I can give you only my assumed name." Hari pushed back his fringe, "Harry Potter."
Riddle's eyes widened, "You cannot be! I have seen you-"
"When you were possessing this girl?" Hari gestured at the girl, "Yes, I know about that, Riddle." He nodded at Riddle's increasingly astonished expression, "You see, I knew it ever since Lucius Malfoy slipped it into her cauldron at Diagon Alley. He shall be dealt with in due course. Mortals would not have noticed but I have heightened perceptions. I saw it there and senses your presence, though I knew not who you were at the time."
"So," Riddle said, slowly, "you knew all this time...yet you never acted."
"I did not act, yes, because I do not care for this school as much as I appear to. If I act, it is for personal reasons. Still, I was waiting for the right time and place to settle you." Bellime was raised, ready to strike. But, Riddle still had more to say,
"But, you cannot know how I am here!"
"It was an educated guess." Hari shrugged, "When you were young, you somehow managed to implant some of yourself into the book there," He gestured carelessly at the diary in the girl's arms, "and have been living off the girl's lifeforce ever since. Correct?"
He took the stunned silence as a yes. Now, Riddle was beginning to pull himself together, "Impressive, Potter. Very impressive. But, three things puzzle me still."
"I see no reason to answer questions of one who will soon die but say on."
"First," Riddle's dark eyes roamed Hari's rich clothes (cleaned with a previous spell in the tunnel), the shining sword, the sleek hair and the unblemished, impassive face, "you have not taken a wand with you. You seem to think a sword is sufficient against the great Basilisk of Slytherin, which I suppose you know about as well." He added, with the slightest hint of bitterness, He must have been relying on my ignorance,
"A mortal's arrogance," Hari answered, "is to rely on one strength alone. Most of all with wizards. They have this ridiculous notion that a wand is all-powerful and can save them from anything. I, on the other hand, know such skills as to not need an exterior tool. Second?"
Riddle pulled a face at this reply but cleared his through and went on, "Secondly, you talk very calmly to me when I am sure you know that little Ginny's life hangs by a thread. You do not even look at her. Am I correct in saying that you did not come down here to rescue her?"
"Very good, Riddle." Hari nodded, suffering a glance at the girl, "She was a fool to be taken in by you and is guilty of these crimes on all counts. Even if she lives your hold, she will be left to starve here. I have neither time nor will to rescue the damsel-in-distress or for damsels in general. Like I said, personal reasons."
Riddle raised an eyebrow, seemingly intregued by him now, "You surprise me, Harry Potter. You masquerade as an innocent child with such flawless acting, seemingly without effort, and this is what you are inside!"
"Your third question?" Hari had no patience for grovelling,
"Yes, thirdly, you speak of us as mortal like you are not human yourself."
"Yes." Hari nodded, "Surely, a thing of your intelligence will realise that I am not human. I do not deny it. But, again, you don't need to know who I am since you will die here."
Riddle pulled a face, "We'll see about that, shall we?" He stared up into the statue's face, making Hari confirm what he was about to do. He spoke a summoning in serpent tongue and the Basilisk emerged. Hari smiled, facing it without fear, eyes wide open. The Basilisk hit the stone floor and reared its head. Hari held no terror for the thing. He kept one amused eye on Riddle as Hari continued to glare at the beast right in the eye, who grew rapidly frightened. Finally, he gave a distressed cry of, "Why aren't you dead?"
"I have already told you." Hari raised Bellime, "I am not human, not of this world. Nothing here holds a true threat to me." With that, he leapt elegantly into the air and Bellime became a blur. He reached the ground after the heavy severed Basilisk head and more gracefully. Raising his head, he saw Riddle shaking like a leaf before the pillar, "Now, for you." He crossed to the girl and opened the diary. Riddle trembled even more but Hari did not spare a glance. He placed a hand between the pages and chanted a spell.
After a moment, a maddened laugh filled the room, "Y-you fool! You just gave me some of your life! You have brought back Lord Voldemort!" Riddle laughed estatically, not seeing the raised Bellime. The laugh was abruptly cut off when the sword went straight into Riddle's stomach,
"You are the fool, Riddle." Hari stated, matter-of-factly, holding Bellime still, "Do you not know that, if you are alive, you can be killed?"
The widened black eyes stared straight at the falsely young face, "Dumbledore is more cunning than I thought. He countered the Dark Lord with something more merciless and deadly. I am not the wicked one here." With another flash, Bellime cleaved him from gut to crown. Then, it was put back in its sheath. Hari strode away from the body, separated from the girl by the Basilisk's body. The diary's ink-blood dripped on the floor, destroyed.
As Hari stepped out of the Chamber, a voice from the shadows spoke, "You will leave the poor girl to starve?"
"If you want to rescue her, Maltandir, then do so. But your conscience cannot affect mine."
A/N: Ooh, you can see why they call him Calasier Avamela now, don't you?
