I've gotten some very interesting reviews... a couple of people pointed out that Harry should be Scanning everyone he meets now, but you're all forgetting something. He CAN'T use his Terran spells without inhibiting his progress in wizarding magic. So, unless necessary, he won't be using them.
And, please people, no more suggestions for pairings. I've seen/heard it all by now. I'm sorry for all the Harry/Ginny and Harry/Hermione fans out there, but that will NOT be happening. I really can't write a Harry/Harem. Or rather, I could, but it would completley ruin the plot of this story. Any relationships may develop in late third, fourth or fifth year, ok?
Disclaimer: I am a college student, working for little more than minimum wage. Based off that alone, I am not J.K.Rowling. Thusly, I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter Three: Will the Real Heir of Slytherin Please Stand Up?
A month had passed since Harry's conversation with Ginny, and Harry was glad she had almost fully recovered. Ginny had confronted Ron about his ignorant comment, and Ron had been subject to Ginny's favorite curse: the Bat Bogey Hex.
Lockhart's classes were dismal as usual, but Harry still had loads of fun Metamorphing his face so only Lockhart could see. Sometimes he looked like a werewolf, at others he looked like a vampire. When he really wanted to disturb Lockhart's sanity, Harry used his Metamorph powers to make his face slowly sag and appear as thought it was melting off his skull.
Hermione had not long ago reluctantly admitted that Lockhart didn't know what he was teaching. Harry had proven it to her by using his blossoming Legilimency skills to pull some memories from Lockhart and share them with his friends. Apparently Lockhart was a complete fraud, using the Memory Charm to take credit for the works of others. Hermione had been completely shocked at that.
"I trusted him!" Hermione whispered, horrified. "How can he just get away with that? Surely someone would have noticed before!"
"Not if he's constantly away," Daphne pointed out. "If he's away getting more stories or writing them, the people can't call on him to do a repeat performance."
"Do you think he's Obliviated us?" Theo asked.
"No," Harry said firmly. "He hasn't. For one thing, there are too many witnesses at any given time. And for another, our Occlumency shields should be able to withstand any Memory Charm except from someone with Dumbledore's power, and let's admit it; there's no way Lockhart's even a tenth of Dumbledore's power. He couldn't touch us if he tried in a real duel."
"He's right," Hermione agreed. "Especially with all the training you've been giving us, Harry."
"Actually, I'm going to add a new element to your training." Harry then proceeded to charm everyone's clothes to weigh an additional ten pounds each. After that, he quickly taught them all the charm, and told them to increase the weights of all their clothing after dressing in the morning, and to remove it only after undressing.
"You'll gain speed as time goes by. Make sure you increase the weights whenever you feel comfortable with it," Harry ordered.
"Won't the additional weight crush our bones as we keep increasing it?" Blaise asked.
"No," Harry answered. "Not if you do it gradually. True, if we suddenly added twenty tons to your clothes, then you'd likely crush your bones, but by building your way up, you make your bones stronger with your muscles."
"Ah," was all Blaise said.
"Anybody else got any questions? No? Good. Let's get to class." These weights won't train all the bones, though, Harry realized. Only by actually manipulating the gravity itself can we do that. I wish I knew how to enchant clothes with Gravija… normally casting Gravija on it won't last long… and I'm not supposed to be casting my Terran spells except in emergencies… We'll just have to wait until I can arrange for all of us to go to Terra to get the training clothes.
More time passed, and Harry noticed that Ginny was getting paler and paler, and when Harry tried to talk to her about it, Ginny seemed exhausted. Is it the stress of classes, or is she sick, or what? Harry thought with concern and frustration. Finally, Harry decided that he would confront her during the Halloween feast, as that would be the one time almost guaranteed that she would come to the feast.
Halloween arrived, and Ginny was looking like she had lost about a pint of blood. Harry was getting quite concerned, as were Ginny's friends. They had even confided in him that they were worried. Of course, they felt he should do something about it, but Harry had no idea just what was wrong! Dispelling it could simply make Ginny worse!
During the feast, however, Ginny was nowhere to be found. "Where's Ginny?" Harry asked Lucille, one of Ginny's friends as the feast was drawing to a close.
"She's in bed back in Slytherin," Lucille said sadly. "She really isn't feeling too well."
"Have you seen how pale she's gotten recently?" Mallory interjected. "I wouldn't be feeling well with that either!"
"In bed? That means she's inside the girls' area of the dorms, and that means I can't get in," Harry mused.
"Rip… tear… so hungry… fresh… KILL!"
It was disjointed, but Harry definitely heard another voice. "Did anyone hear that?" he asked quickly.
"Hear what?" Hermione asked.
:It was in Parseltongue,: Quetzalcoatl told Harry. :No one would have heard anything but some very low hissing.:
Parseltongue? That means… we have a killer snake on the loose! Harry leapt to his feet and took off as fast as he could with the weights on; no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't afford to dispel the weights and reveal his true abilities to Dumbledore. But he knew that sooner or later, his ability to speak Parseltongue would be revealed, and he couldn't let some innocent die! What if it's Ginny?
Harry followed the snake voice to the stairs, but it was quickly retreating. It had been hard to hear to begin with, but now, it seemed, it had finished its job. Not on my watch, Harry thought grimly. "Carpe Retracto!" he yelled, throwing his wand up to point at the huge chandelier on the ceiling. A bolt of purple magic erupted and attached itself to the chandelier before starting to pull Harry up. Harry's forward momentum carried him to the wall, where he launched himself outwards again, heading to the third floor he had heard the snake go to. Harry released the magic as he was over the third floor landing and rolled upon impact.
Harry had the sinking feeling that he was too late even as he raced through the corridor. Hmm, looks like Moaning Myrtle's flooded her bathroom today… Harry noted before reaching the end of the corridor. He looked up and saw two things definitely out of the ordinary: Mrs. Norris, Filch's beloved cat, was an ashen gray color with its fur bristled up against some enemy. It's been Petrified, Harry realized. At least it's not permanent.
But it was the second strange part of the scene that Harry blinked several times at. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened," he read aloud. "Enemies of the Heir beware." He frowned. The Chamber of Secrets, according to Hogwarts: A History, is a secret part of Hogwarts that Salazar Slytherin made. After much searching, no one has ever found it. It says that only Slytherin's Heir should be able to open it, and the message seems to verify that the Heir is responsible somehow. But how was Mrs. Norris Petrified? Could it be that there's someone else with the Petrify spell? Or was it the Dark magic Mrs. Sprout mentioned? Or was it some magical creature?
:You heard that snake before, right?:
Harry nodded to himself. Magical creature, then, and probably of the snake variety. That makes sense, as Slytherin was apparently well known as a Parselmouth. Harry suddenly had an idea. Wait, if it's a snake, maybe Seth knows what it was!
Before Harry could ask Seth, however, students had come upstairs and saw what Harry was looking at. They gathered around and started whispering to themselves.
"Is that Mrs. Norris?"
"What's wrong with her?"
"Is that cat dead?"
"Looks like Myrtle's flooded the bathroom again…"
Filch, who happened to be passing by, looking for his cat, saw the crowd and immediately moved forward to get rid of the bothersome students. Bet they're all making fun of the old Squib, Filch thought bitterly. How arrogant they are, with their magic, not caring if they put the Squib of a pureblood family to work like a common Muggle!
He pushed through the crowd and saw Harry Potter in the center of the crowd, frowning thoughtfully at something in the puddle on the floor. Following his eyes, Filch saw the lifeless form of his cat.
"Mrs. Norris!" Filch cried, rushing forward as he made to pick up the cat. Suddenly, a firm, strong grip had his arm, preventing him from reaching his beloved pet.
"Don't," Harry said firmly. "There's no way to tell if touching Mrs. Norris will curse anybody else."
"You!" Filch hissed. "You did this to my cat! You killed her!"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "If I did, then why would I have stopped you from possibly getting cursed? I could have easily just let you touch her and claimed I didn't know that was going to happen."
"You all hate me!" Filch spat. "Especially you Slytherins! I know what you do. Charming the suits of armor to trip me, sending jinxes at me down the hall, laying traps for me, muddying up the castle… you do this just to hurt me!"
"Listen to yourself, Filch!" Harry answered, raising his voice. "The important thing right now is finding out what happened to your cat! If it could happen to her, it could happen to any of us!" The murmurs that had died down as Filch began arguing with Harry rose up again, this time with a fearful note. Harry looked at the crowd. "You!" he said, pointing at a random student. "Find Dumbledore. He'll know what to do. You, find McGonagall. You get Snape. You, find Flitwick. Tell them Mrs. Norris has been Petrified on the third floor by Myrtle's bathroom. Go!" The four he pointed out scurried off.
"Petrified?" Filch asked confusedly. "But Mrs. Norris looks dead!"
Harry shook his head. "Wingardium Leviosa." He floated Mrs. Norris up to eye level. "Notice how ashen her body is? Don't you see how her hairs, even minutes after her supposed 'death' haven't fallen back down? No, she's been turned to stone. That means she can be saved with the Mandragora Potion. Professor Sprout is working with a bunch of Mandrakes in the Greenhouses, so when they've matured, Mrs. Norris will be fine," Harry said soothingly. But I'm not about to use Dispel on her; having Mrs. Norris out of the way is a blessing for any late night runs I may need to make.
:The same holds true for whoever is responsible for this,: Quetzalcoatl reminded Harry. :In fact, that may be the motive for choosing this victim to start with.:
Harry mentally cursed. Damn, you're right! We need to find out what this monster is and stop it!
:Do you think it could have been a monster that managed to go through a portal from Terra? This is a magic-rich environment, after all.:
Harry considered that option for a moment. I doubt it. If that was true, then who would have written the message on the wall? No, this was a monster already present.
Malfoy stepped forward, joining Harry and Filch in the center. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware! That means you, Mudbloods and blood traitors! The Heir will purge the school of all impurity!"
"Oh shut up, Malfoy," Harry said tiredly. "Purity of blood isn't important. Look at Crabbe and Goyle, for instance. Purebloods, yes, but they aren't great shakes at magic are they?" Sniggers throughout the hall resounded as Malfoy's face turned slightly pink. "And then there's Hermione, a Muggleborn who's better than you in grades and spell-casting, and she started out with less knowledge than you did with your family. And then there's me, the halfblood who can kick your ass any day of the week." Malfoy scowled and was about to reply when Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and, to Harry's horror, Lockhart arrived. Malfoy quickly retreated.
Dumbledore spied the floating form of Mrs. Norris and read the message on the wall. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened… What happened to your cat, Argus?"
"It was clearly the Transmogrifian Torture!" Lockhart exclaimed.
"No, she's been Petrified," Filch said in an annoyed fashion, glaring at the overly-bright blue robes Lockhart was wearing today.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and inspected the floating cat. "So she is. If I may ask, who diagnosed her?"
"Young Potter did, sir."
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked, surprised. He hadn't expected Harry to know how to identify Petrifications, despite Sprout's report of his interest in the Mandragora Potion. Interesting. Let's see how much he knows. "How did you know?" Harry quickly repeated the symptoms he'd told Filch. "Well done. I noticed that you ran out of the feast a little early today. Would you care to explain why?"
Harry rapidly constructed a memory that resembled what had truly happened in the Great Hall, but feigned confusion and horror. "I heard a voice. It was faint, but definitely there. It was saying stuff like 'kill' and 'rip' and 'tear.' I was concerned that it was after Ginny Weasley, since she hadn't shown up for the feast, so I followed the voice as fast as I could. I couldn't keep up, though. I think it was the beast of the Chamber, judging from the message," Harry concluded, indicating the message written in blood.
"So you know the legend," Dumbledore observed. He looked around, noting with amusement that very few seemed to know what he was talking about. "Perhaps you could share with your classmates?"
Harry repressed a sigh; he had to obey to keep up appearances. "Sure, Professor." He turned to face the other students. "The Four Founders, as we all know, built Hogwarts. Each of our houses is based on the name and ideals of them. Helga Hufflepuff was known for her loyalty, Rowena Ravenclaw for her wisdom, Godric Gryffindor for his bravery and Salazar Slytherin for his cunning.
"The Founders, however, had an internal argument. Godric, Rowena and Helga all wanted the school to be open to everyone, but Salazar believed that they should only teach those whose families were magical as well. Unable to resolve the argument one way or the other, Salazar eventually left Hogwarts. This very argument has led to the creation of the idea of pureblood supremacy.
"The legend of the Chamber of Secrets builds on this. It states that Salazar built an extra room somewhere in Hogwarts, a room that only he or his Heirs could access, and in that room he placed a monster, a monster that his Heirs could control. Supposedly, the Heir of Slytherin was meant to then use the monster to purge Hogwarts of all those with Muggle blood. There has been much searching for the Chamber, but it has never been found," Harry finished. "The legend may be found in Hogwarts: A History."
"A succinct and wholly accurate summary," Snape praised. "Twenty points to Slytherin." McGonagall did not argue.
"Now the question is, who is the Heir of Slytherin?" Dumbledore murmured. "Minerva, Severus, Filius, Gilderoy, we need to discuss our plans."
"My office is the closest, Headmaster," Lockhart volunteered.
"Thank you, lead the way. Harry, please levitate Mrs. Norris to the Hospital Wing for Argus. I will be by later to check for curses."
"Yes sir." The crowd slowly started to dissipate as students headed in various directions. Harry and Filch began walking to the Hospital Wing.
After a minute of silence, Filch spoke up, desperately wanting to know just one thing. "Why did you stop me from possibly getting cursed? You all hate me."
Harry sighed. "You know, I don't really hate you. I don't like the fact that you do your job pretty damn well, despite the fact that you're a Squib. You know loads of the secret passageways and you're very quick and silent. That makes it hard for anyone to get around at night. That can irritate anyone."
"You know I'm a Squib?" Filch asked, surprised. He hadn't revealed that secret to anyone but the Headmaster.
Harry shrugged. "It's a little easy to figure out once people pay attention. I've never seen you with a wand in hand, and you always clean the Muggle way. Most students don't even realize that you're a Squib. Messes are pretty easy to clean magically, so they don't think much of making them. Your reaction to it, in their point of view, is uncalled for and overly harsh."
"So, you think that my hiding the fact that I'm a Squib is actually the cause of the hate?" Filch asked with a bit of curiosity.
"Ultimately, yeah," Harry affirmed. "But on the other hand, telling them may make them pity you, and that feeling just sucks. Or the more sadistic students could take advantage of that." He shrugged. "You can go on hating us students for being able to use magic, or you can explain your situation. It's all up to you, really. It's your life."
Filch appeared thoughtful as they reached the Hospital Wing. Silently, Harry levitated Mrs. Norris onto a bed as Filch explained the situation to Madame Pomfrey, and Harry exited. "Potter!" Harry turned around to see Filch standing outside the Hospital Wing. "Thanks."
Harry understood that Filch was talking not only about levitating Mrs. Norris, but for showing Filch that not all the students hated him. Harry bowed his head as memories flashed through it, memories that seemed eerily similar to the present situation.
Flashback
"Thanks, Harry."
"For what?"
"Restoring my humanity," Squall answered quietly. "If you hadn't made the effort when we first met, I would have become heartless, obsessed only with gaining power and following the rules. You showed me that even a mercenary retains his humanity. So, again, thank you for saving me."
End Flashback
Flashback
"Thanks, Harry."
"Why are you thanking me, Quistis? You're the one who helped me find this book, not the other way around."
"Not for that, Harry. Thanks for helping me to get out of my shell and overcome my insecurities to make friends. You helped me see that I'm not just a bit of a bookworm, that the only thing holding me back is myself. So, thank you for saving me."
End Flashback
Flashback
"Hey, Harry. Thanks."
"Eh? For what, Tsuri?"
"I was beginning to give up hope that people could look underneath the exterior and see the true me. All anyone ever seems to see is how I look, but you and your friends, you guys took the time to get to know me, discovering that I, too, am human. Thanks for saving me from my pit of despair."
End Flashback
Thank you for saving me, Harry thought, closing his eyes. Why do they all say that? "It's what I do," he whispered as much to Filch as to himself before turning on his heel, cloak billowing out behind him as he walked away impressively to check on Ginny.
As it turned out, Ginny had been safe in the common room the whole time, according to her account, in any case. Harry was glad, but at the same time confused. Who is the Heir?
For the next week, the entire school was buzzing about who could possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. Unsurprisingly, most students suspected a member of Slytherin house. And the majority of them suspected either Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy, the two opposing leaders of Slytherin.
Harry rather thought that the very idea of him being the Heir of Slytherin was stupid. One of his best friends was a Muggleborn – Hermione – and Harry had protected blood traitors – the Weasley family. Furthermore, Harry himself wasn't pureblood, as his mother was Muggleborn.
"I swear, sometimes I think the students are just a mob of idiots," Harry ranted to his friends in the halls.
"Don't worry about it, it'll die down soon," Hermione soothed.
"But the question remains: to whom belongs the title Heir of Slytherin?" Blaise asked, calm as ever.
"And what's the beast in the Chamber of Secrets?" Theo added with a frown.
"I'm certain it's a snake of some sort," Harry told them. "The voice I heard was in Parseltongue." And there have been too many people watching us for me to ask Seth. This is just getting flat-out annoying.
"A snake that Petrifies people?" Daphne repeated with a frown. "That sounds familiar somehow."
"Back on my world, there were loads of creatures able to Petrify unwary travelers," Harry suggested. "How about I run through them?"
"Couldn't hurt, and we can tell you if they exist here."
So Harry started rambling off names. The two main ones that were for sure here on Earth were the Cockatrix and the Basilisk. "It's gotta be a Basilisk, then," Harry concluded. "It's a snake, and it can petrify people in my world."
"We don't know if it has different powers on this world, though," Theo pointed out.
"A quick trip to the library can fix that!" Hermione assured them. An hour later, she had found the correct page. "Let's see here…
Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and Basilisk flees from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.
"That's certainly much more lethal than the Basilisk from Terra!" Harry exclaimed. "Killing with just its eyes?!"
"That scratches out the Basilisk idea, then," Hermione said sadly.
"Not necessarily," Blaise pointed out. "It said 'all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death,' correct?" At the nod, he continued. "But what if the beam has been interrupted, somehow?"
Harry's eyes lit up. "You mean like through a reflection, or through something!" Blaise nodded. "The glare wouldn't have full power," Harry thought aloud. "It might just be able to Petrify someone."
"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Daphne asked caustically. "If Salazar Slytherin put a Basilisk in there, even a baby one, it'd be absolutely enormous after a thousand years. How's it getting around without being seen?"
No one had an answer. "Well, it's still our best guess for the moment," Harry concluded after several moments. He looked around. "I'm going to ask Seth." He brought Seth from the tattoo-state in his skin and gently woke him up. "Seth, I have a question."
"What is it, Harry?" Seth yawned.
"Let's suppose we're facing a Basilisk back on Terra. If it was really, really strong, could it use its paralyzing gaze to kill instead of Petrify?"
"Ah, so you've discovered this world's Basilisk?" Seth asked amusedly.
"Yes… wait a second, you knew?"
"Of course. Magical snakes know every single kind of snake there is, magical or not. When we transferred to this world, my own magic linked with the first available magical snake in the area and gave me this world's knowledge of snakes."
"You can sense other snakes?" Harry asked, dumbfounded.
"Only if they're very, very powerful or close by."
"Would a Basilisk count as powerful?"
"Yes."
"Is there one nearby?"
"Not at the moment… but there was one on Halloween."
"Where was it?" Harry asked eagerly.
"The best way to put it would be… inside the walls somehow."
"Could you sense where it went?"
"No, it went too far for me to tell."
"Thank you very much. You've been very helpful. Do you want to sleep in my skin again, or explore a bit?"
Seth gave the snake equivalent of a yawn again. "Sleep, please."
Harry changed Seth back into his tattoo form. He's getting lazy… "Seth told me that he can sense powerful magical snakes in the area, and that he sensed a Basilisk in the walls on Halloween."
"The walls?" Daphne asked skeptically.
Hermione's eyes widened. "Of course! There are pipes leading all over Hogwarts for water and such; the Basilisk must be using the plumbing!"
"So simple, yet brilliant," Blaise murmured. "The Heir is crafty indeed."
"So now we know what the monster is. We know that the Heir must be a Parselmouth, but we don't know who it is or where the entrance to the Chamber is," Harry summarized.
"We should tell the teachers what we know!" Hermione stated.
Daphne looked at her incredulously. "And what would we say? 'Oh, Harry here's a Parselmouth, and he asked his magical snake that he keeps hidden away using his Metamorphmagus powers what the creature was, and the snake told Harry that it was a Basilisk using the plumbing to navigate Hogwarts'?"
Hermione blushed in embarrassment. "But the students and teachers have to be warned somehow!" she insisted. "There may be deaths next time!"
"How about an anonymous note?" Theo suggested.
"That'd be hard to pull off," Harry reminded him. "Our handwriting is pretty easy to recognize, especially for teachers who grade our work all the time."
"What if one of us wrote using our non-dominant hand?" Hermione asked. "That should be different enough to keep us anonymous."
"I'll do it," Harry volunteered. "I'm ok with my left hand, but I always write with my right hand."
So, fifteen minutes later, Hermione took the note Harry had written and sent it off with a school owl – Harry was afraid that if he sent it off, Hedwig would be upset with him. The note read thusly:
Headmaster Dumbledore,
The monster within the Chamber of Secrets is a Basilisk. The reason the cat got Petrified was because it saw the Basilisk's eyes in a reflection of the water. It's using the plumbing to get around the school. Location of the Chamber of Secrets and identity of Heir of Slytherin still unknown.
It was addressed to Dumbledore for a very simple reason. Despite the fact that Dumbledore was a manipulative bastard, he was still Headmaster. To send it to a lesser teacher would make Dumbledore suspect that someone knew of his cruel manipulations.
That night, Dumbledore received the owl and read the note with a perplexed look on his face. "I don't recognize the handwriting…" Dumbledore mused. Let's see if I can figure this out, then. The "Headmaster" aspect means that it's a student, past or present, that holds respect for me. That excludes most of Slytherin house, with the exception of Harry Potter and his friends. But it couldn't be them; Harry would surely confess it to me personally to make me proud.
Dumbledore took a second look at the actual message. A Basilisk? That makes sense… it's known as the King of Serpents, and Slytherin likely would have wanted the most powerful monstrous snake to be the horror within the Chamber. Yet its eyes are deadly, not meant to Petrify… oh? Through a reflection? Yes, that would make the glare's magic weaken, so it's conceivable that a Basilisk could Petrify. Using the plumbing to get around? How ingenious! It fits with the last time the Chamber was opened as well…
Dumbledore interlocked his fingers together with a pensive expression. The writer of this note must be very intelligent, perhaps a Ravenclaw, to have made the connection between the fact that only descendants of Slytherins are Parselmouths and the Chamber of Secrets. From there it is a simple leap to look for the most powerful of serpents. The idea of the plumbing is absolute genius; that solves the mystery of how the monster was getting around unseen. In fact, it's almost as though the writer has access to the knowledge of the last time Chamber of Secrets opened.
Dumbledore rubbed his temples. That would suggest a student whose father or mother had extensive knowledge of what happened, or whose grandparents lived it. There can't be many of those left; most of that age group were killed during Tom's reign of terror…ah, Augusta Longbottom comes to mind, but young Neville, unless he's suddenly developed a spine and some brains, cannot be the author of the note.
But what if the author had allies helping? A smart one with Neville's information could possibly work it out… and if I recall correctly, Dean Thomas has an impressive skill at forgery. However, Dean, too, is a Gryffindor, and more interested in playing Gobstones than working out mysteries of intelligence. On the other hand, Hermione Granger is surprisingly intelligent, and she is a Gryffindor as well, Dumbledore thought triumphantly.
Something kept nagging at him, however, until Dumbledore managed to pin down the thought. Hermione and Neville may get along well, but Dean Thomas is not nearly so tolerant of her ever since she began associating with Harry.
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, frowning. Oh, why am I even bothering to try to work it out when I can simply use Legilimency on the students? I'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I should make use of this information.
Dumbledore walked over to his fire and tossed in some Floo powder. "Severus Snape!"
The next day at dinner, Dumbledore stood up to address the entire school. The students almost instantly quieted. "As you all know, there was an incident little more than a week past in which there was a message claiming that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened. For those of you who have read or heard the legend, you know that there is some sort of creature within. I believe that we have identified the creature. It is a Basilisk."
Screams erupted throughout the entire hall from the elder students who had either read about or heard about the gigantic lethal snake. After a few moments, Dumbledore raised a hand to restore the silence. "Our intelligence believes that the Basilisk is making its way through the school through the plumbing system, so no area is safe. The most devastating part of the Basilisk is its eyes, which can kill by simply locking eyes with you." Most students looked very pale at this point. "However, looking at it through a reflection will merely result in Petrification, which we can cure with the Mandragora Potion. For your own safety, please carry a mirror at all times and use it to look around a corner. Furthermore, each teacher will be personally escorting you to your classes and meals until the Heir of Slytherin can be found and stopped.
"As for the Heir, I need your help." There were murmurs of shock at this. "Despite what you may think, not even I am infallible. I cannot be everywhere at once, nor do I know everything." Yes, Dumbledore thought to himself. Just keep on playing the old grandfatherly card. "To control the Basilisk requires the use of Parseltongue, the art of snake-speaking. If any student sees another making hissing and spitting sounds, please alert a teacher immediately. The sooner this threat is taken care of, the sooner we can return to our normal daily lives." There are only two possibilities: Harry Potter, and the Heir. Harry is almost definitely a Parselmouth, judging from the fact that he heard the Basilisk heading off to its victim. He simply hasn't had the opportunity to talk to a snake. And when he does, the entire school will think him the Heir, making it so much easier for me to put myself in a position as his guide and trusted counselor.
Dumbledore repressed the urge to grin evilly as he prepared for his next public announcement. "As my colleague Professor Gilderoy Lockhart pointed out to me last night" – Dumbledore had manipulated him into saying, rather, but the great idiot stood up and bowed proudly – "the Heir may attack anyone personally with Dark magic, and so there is a new mandatory club headed jointly by Professors Lockhart and Snape: Dueling Club! In this club you will take everything you have learned about magic and learn to employ it to your advantage. Thank you for your attention, and enjoy the remainder of your meal."
Dinner continued as usual, but Severus Snape was not enjoying it. Instead, he was thinking very deeply. He, too, had made the connection that Potter was a Parselmouth from his admission of hearing a voice no one else could and from the discovery of the identity of the Basilisk. Dumbledore had, however, arranged for Snape to match up Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, since they were well known as enemies. Snape was then to teach Draco Serpensortia, the Snake Summoning Charm.
The way the Headmaster is operating, it's like he WANTS the school to despise Potter, Snape realized. It was all too easy for him to figure out why, as well. He'd known for quite some time that Dumbledore wished to fully control Potter for some reason. Thankfully, Snape had managed to conceal the fact that Potter had somehow countered Dumbledore's Memory Charm, and he was surprised to find that Potter and his friends had managed to keep that knowledge secret as well.
Snape had checked Potter for Occlumency during every class, and without fail always encountered only the most meager of natural defenses before finding memories. Not only that, but he saw what he recognized as fake memories that Dumbledore had implanted. Somehow, Potter has combined the failed Memory Charm into his own memories to repress his original ones, Snape eventually realized.
Now, during dinner, Snape was wondering whether he should warn Potter. On one hand, during that last announcement, he should know better than to speak Parseltongue. On the other hand, it could be that Potter didn't know about his gift. Snape suppressed a snort at the thought. Of course he should know about his gift! He's a Slytherin! But it would be a sign of good faith to tell him what will happen…and that will help towards my debt to his father.
That settled it. Snape was going to tell Potter about the plot against him. His Unbreakable Vow of loyalty to Dumbledore didn't prohibit telling of Snape's part of the plan as long as Dumbledore himself didn't say otherwise.
That night, Harry noticed a new posting on the message board in Slytherin. The Dueling Club had grouped the first through third years together, and the fourth through seventh years together, and the first group had its first meeting the next day, directly after classes. After that, the groups were to alternate days. Figures, Harry thought to himself. Hopefully Snape'll balance out Lockhart and make this a good club.
The next day, during Potions, Snape was being his usual self, belittling the Gryffindors when he found an opportunity, but at the same time giving subtle hints on how to make their potions better. Hermione caught them as usual and whispered them in layman format to her Gryffindor peers, who had learned by now to listen to her when it came to class.
"Potter, stay after class to discuss your potion," Snape ordered as he passed by Harry's desk.
"Yes Professor." As ordered, Harry remained after the bell rang, and approached the desk. Snape hurriedly cast a Silencing Charm and Imperturbable Charm on the door, followed closely by an advanced locking charm.
"There, now we will not be disturbed," Snape said in satisfaction. "Potter, there is something I must tell you."
Harry was at full attention. "What is it, sir?"
"I have been ordered to pair you and Draco Malfoy together in the dueling club today and tell him to use Serpensortia on you."
"Serpensortia?"
"It is a charm that will summon a snake. The more magic that goes into it, the more dangerous the snake," Snape explained.
Harry quickly made the connection. "Someone knows and wants to reveal my status as a Parselmouth," he said aloud. "Who?"
"I cannot say," Snape said, gritting his teeth. Even approaching this subject was a strain due to the Unbreakable Vow.
Harry looked at him piercingly. Surely Snape would tell me if he could. He looks as if he's in physical pain even as we talk about it, though. But what could a mere discussion do? Harry was suddenly reminded of the last time Snape had pulled him aside in private to tell him of the Memory Charm Dumbledore had placed on him. Wait a minute, Snape said he was forbidden to speak of it. That means… he's sworn not to talk of it! Harry's eyes widened. "It's a vow, isn't it? No, don't answer that," Harry quickly added. "No need for you to hurt yourself further."
Snape's mouth curled into a small smirk of triumph. "Quite perceptive, Potter." He is a true Slytherin. Cunning and intelligent. Let's see if he can work out who holds me to it.
Harry began pacing back and forth, and was suddenly struck by an idea. "You can't reveal who is behind the vow, but can you deny people who aren't?"
Snape thought for a moment before nodding. Dumbledore hadn't said anything about people who had figured out the vow, and so that was fine. "Whenever you're ready, Potter."
"Are you bound to someone under the age of fifty?" Harry first asked.
"No." Excellent line of questioning, Snape thought to himself smugly. With that one question, he was able to eliminate almost everyone he knows.
"Eighty?"
"No."
"One hundred?"
"No."
Harry didn't know many people over the age of one hundred years old. The only person he did know was Dumbledore. "Is it someone I know?"
"Yes." He's close, Snape thought triumphantly.
"Is it Dumbledore?"
"…" Snape kept silent, thereby confirming Harry's suspicions.
"That conniving old coot!" Harry yelled in frustration. "You've been following his orders for how long?"
"…" Snape still couldn't discuss it, as Harry had phrased it to incriminate Dumbledore.
Harry blinked, then realized the position he had put Snape in. "OK, how long have you been forced to take orders from people with long, white beards?"
That was more general, so Snape was able to answer. "Thirteen years."
Less than a year before I was born, Harry worked out. "Can you tell me the reason you took the vow?"
Snape slowly nodded and reached one hand to his left arm. He pulled his sleeve back and showed Harry his left forearm. On it was a mark – a tattoo? Harry thought – of a skull, its jaws open wide as a snake emerged from it as a tongue. "This is the Dark Mark, the brand the Dark Lord used to use to call his followers to him and create terror in the hearts of men. I'm ashamed to say, I used to be one of his most avid followers."
Harry's eyes narrowed. An old follower of Voldemort? But he said "used to be." "I assume you switched sides before the war ended?"
Snape nodded tiredly, shame showing clearly on his face. "I had just gotten my Mastery for Potion-making, and the Dark Lord lured me in with promises of a new lab and fresh ingredients with all the time in the world to create and test new potions. He told me he was working to unify the wizarding world, to make it stronger than ever by cleansing the current government.
"I foolishly believed him, and started making potions for him. At first it was all nice and simple: a few dozen Pepper-Up potions there, a Rejuvenation Draught there, nothing terribly harmful at all. I had plenty of time on the side, so I worked on my best idea yet: a way to make werewolves harmless during their monthly transformations, to keep their sanity under the presence of the full moon. I had been inspired by an incident that happened a few years past, but I'll tell you about it later.
"After almost a year of hard work, I finally did it. I had developed the Wolfsbane Potion and successfully put myself in history books for a ground-breaking new development in Potion-making." Snape sounded almost nostalgic at this point. "I was so happy, especially when the Dark Lord asked me to make as much of it as I could, providing all the ingredients himself. 'The werewolves will now definitely support us!' he told me. 'You, Severus, will be honored greatly after we complete reunifying the wizarding world! You have bridged the gap between wizards and werewolves!'
"The Dark Lord was so pleased, he invited me to come along to the demonstration the following full moon, where he had taken fifteen werewolves, all dosed with Wolfsbane. But when I went, I saw horrors, horrors beyond anything I'd seen before, committed by those monsters. They were in full control, I could see it in their eyes, and the Dark Lord was laughing as they ripped and tore through an entire Muggle orphanage." Snape looked particularly sickened. So did Harry. Quetzalcoatl found himself in the interesting situation of being ill at the images but not having a body to throw up with.
"After returning to my home and being violently sick, I realized that I had two options: I could continue on serving the Dark Lord and forgo my morals forever, or I could switch sides. That night, I contacted Dumbledore and we made a deal, resulting in our current situation," Snape concluded, rolling down his sleeve to cover his arm once more.
Harry nodded. "I understand. Thank you for telling me."
"You deserved to know," Snape answered, his voice returning to its usual tone of cool indifference as he checked the clock. "You have Dueling Club in an hour. Leave me; I have Potions to brew."
Harry left with a new understanding of the strict and harsh Potions Master. When he arrived at the Slytherin Common Room, he was very quickly jumped on by his friends, who were very curious what Snape had wanted. "It is not my secret to tell," Harry said simply, and his four friends backed off, knowing that Harry's sense of honor would keep him from telling anyone unless absolutely necessary.
Harry looked through his wardrobe and noted with a frown that he didn't have any wizarding dueling robes. They're probably more inhibiting anyway, more formal and flashy than anything else, Harry reasoned as he noticed that no one else was changing into dueling robes either. I suppose they're not necessary.
:I would imagine not. After all, this is a club, not a formal duel,: Quetzalcoatl reminded Harry.
I just wish I knew who the Heir was! Harry thought desperately. Or where the Chamber of Secrets is so we can get rid of the main threat!
:That is why we must keep searching.:
If I could use Scan without delaying my progress with wizarding magic, I'd be Scanning everyone right now and seeing who the Heir is! Harry sighed in frustration. The spells are hard as they are right now. I can't afford to halt my progress; it'll make me vulnerable.
:Do not worry. Next year you'll be able to use Beginner level spells without slowing down your magical progress.:
That doesn't help me in the here and now, Harry snapped. He was instantly apologetic. Sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you. It's just so frustrating, keeping myself from casting Terran spells.
:There is no need to apologize. I was expecting it a while ago, actually.:
Still, I'm sorry.
:Apology accepted, then.:
Harry did some homework before heading down to the Great Hall with the rest of the first through third years for the Dueling Club. Lockhart and Snape were already there, waiting for everyone to come through.
"Ah, you're all here!" Lockhart said joyfully from atop something in the center; the House tables had been moved aside and a dueling platform was created in the middle of the room. "Now, here you'll learn the noble art of dueling! Professor Snape here was kind enough to volunteer to be my assistant in this club…"
Snape turned to glare at Lockhart so hatefully that Harry wondered how Lockhart wasn't at least scared. Must be the buffoon factor working for him. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Snape asked in a sleek voice.
Lockhart beamed. "Indeed! Everyone, please watch as we demonstrate a short duel." He and Snape faced each other and drew their wands in front of their face. Then, as one, they turned away from each other. "Now we walk three paces," Lockhart said to the class, "turn and cast!"
"Expelliarmus!" Snape cast quickly as he turned around.
Lockhart made an exaggerated motion with his wand before the spell hit him, sending Lockhart flying back several feet in midair as his wand rose up into the air, where it was promptly snatched by Snape.
"Ah, yes, the Disarming Charm," Lockhart said, brushing himself off. "An excellent idea to show them that, Severus. But I could have blocked with an extra swish…"
Snape's death glare could rival the Basilisk's, Harry thought amusedly as Lockhart suddenly looked a little nervous.
"Right then, pair off with someone in your year and practice the Disarming Charm. Remember, it's Expelliarmus!" Lockhart told everyone. "No shields or anything else, just the Disarming Charm."
Theo and Daphne looked at each other and nodded. Blaise and Hermione did the same. Harry repressed a sigh and awaited his fate. "No, I think it's time to break up the Dream Team," Snape said with a sneer. Harry marveled at Snape's ability to act. "Granger, you're with Bulstrode. Nott, you're with Weasley. Greengrass with Finch-Fletchley. Zabini, Crabbe. Potter, you'll be paired up with Malfoy."
Harry saw Draco's smirk and longed to wipe it from his face. "Yes sir." He walked over to Draco.
"On three!" Lockhart said after everyone had a partner. "One, two, three!"
Draco had started on two. "Expelliarmus!" he cried.
Harry had expected this, however, and ducked the spell instinctively. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled.
Draco dove to the floor. "Densaugeo!"
Harry sidestepped the Buck-Tooth Hex and aimed his wand. "Tarantallegra!" he cast coldly. "If you stop following the rules, so will I."
Draco was still getting up when his legs started flying everywhere, resulting in him falling on his face. "Finite Incantatem," he spat, pointing his wand at his legs.
At the same moment, Lockhart had noticed the chaos going on all over the Great Hall. "Stop!" he yelled and everyone stopped. He looked around at the newly disheveled students. "Why don't we have a pair step up here and show us what they know?" he asked Snape.
Snape nodded with an evil-looking grin. "Let's have Potter and Malfoy."
Lockhart beamed as he nodded. "Come on up, boys."
They got up on opposite ends of the stage and faced each other. Snape was busy whispering in Draco's ear, and Harry noticed that Draco began to smirk as though he'd already won.
"Remember, nothing too dangerous," Lockhart said nervously.
Neither Harry nor Draco answered; they were too busy trying to stare the other down. They drew their wands and held them firmly at their sides. "Scared, Potter?" Draco whispered with a sneer.
"You wish," Harry replied.
"Now turn around," Lockhart ordered, "and take three steps. And… begin!"
Harry was naturally faster when Draco wasn't cheating, so he managed to get off the first shot. "Expelliarmus!"
Draco wasn't expecting Harry's speed, and was blown back a few feet. Unfortunately, he managed to keep his wand by tightening his grip on it. "Incendio!" Harry cast, hoping to catch Draco off guard by setting his robes on fire.
Draco managed to dodge the fire spell and waved his wand. "Serpensortia!"
A rather large snake emerged from his wand, one that made Seth wake up from within Harry's arm. "Harry! That snake is an Inland Taipan! Don't aggravate it; its venom is one of the most potent of Muggle snakes!"Seth warned hurriedly in a low hiss. No one but Harry heard it under the obviously angry hissing of the Inland Taipan.
"Humans! Humans everywhere with pointy sticks!" the Taipan was hissing in alarm as everyone drew their wands reflexively.
"Don't worry, everyone," Lockhart said in a grandiose fashion. "I'll take care of it." He whipped his wand and flicked it at the snake, sending it flying about thirty feet straight up in the air before it fell back down in almost exactly the same spot.
"Stupid human! Fear, I smell fear! Where is it?"
Harry quickly noticed where its head had jerked to face one of the Ravenclaws. He quickly ran through his repertoire of spells; he had nothing that would stun or kill a snake instantly. Setting it on fire with Incendio was the closest thing he had to a killing spell, and Harry didn't want the snake to bite anyone. Shit! Well, there is one thing I can do… "Seth! Attack!" he cried in English, releasing his magical snake from its tattoo state on his arm as he thrust his arm out.
Seth shot out of Harry's sleeve like a cannon and landed almost directly on top of the Inland Taipan. The sudden noise had attracted its attention, and the two stared at each other intently, hissing for a moment. Only Harry knew what they were saying.
"Back down, Taipan! I serve one who speaks the serpent tongue, and he requires that the humans in this school remain safe."
"You small and weak. I crush you!"
Seth lashed out faster than the eye could see and lodged his fangs in the Taipan's body, unleashing his poison. The Taipan almost immediately slowed to a crawl. "What you do to me?" it demanded angrily.
"I slowed you down," Seth said smugly.
"Thanks, Seth," Harry said in English. "I'll take it from here. Incendio."
"Agh! Burning!" The Inland Taipan screamed in pain before it was fully consumed by the flames.
Harry smirked and faced an ashen-faced Draco. "Looks like the tables have turned, Draco. I commend you; I was hoping to keep Seth a secret for a while longer, but all good things must come to an end, I suppose." Seth slithered back to Harry, who picked him up and wrapped him loosely around his neck.
It was then that Snape recognized Seth as the snake that aided Harry in their duel in Diagon Alley prior to Harry's first year. Where was he hiding him? Snape asked himself curiously, reviewing his memories of what he'd seen before Harry had released him. It's as if he's not even there… Potter must have learned how to magically conceal that snake of his, Seth he called it. You're full of surprises, Potter.
"Serpensortia!" Draco cast again, this time with a fearful look on his face. He quite obviously didn't want to face Harry and his snake alone. This time, a viper erupted from the wand and was already coiling back to strike, aiming at Justin Finch-Fletchley.
"Stop right there!" Harry yelled at it, his focus on speaking English slipping enough to fall into Parseltongue. The viper crumpled down, obeying the orders of the Parselmouth. A second later, Harry realized what he'd done, as did the entire room. "Shit," he muttered in English.
The room instantly began muttering. "He's a Parselmouth!"
"I knew he was evil!"
"No wonder he's good with snakes! The slimy Slytherin!"
"He must be the Heir of Slytherin!"
"Kick him out, break his wand!"
"Being a Parselmouth is evil!"
Harry slapped a hand to his forehead. "Come on! Are you all really that stupid?!" he yelled at the crowd, who instantly shut up. "I just stopped that viper there from attacking a Hufflepuff! How does that make me evil?!" Lockhart, who had backed into a corner when he heard Harry speak Parseltongue, and Snape, who was groaning inside but was smirking on the outside, decided to let Harry speak.
"You spoke Parseltongue!" Ron cried out, his voice full of betrayal.
"So? You've got red hair!" Harry replied, mimicking the tone perfectly. "Just because I can do something doesn't mean I use it to hurt people! Look at you, all of you! You all have wands! All of you can just use Wingardium Leviosa to levitate someone over a hundred feet in the air before dropping them!"
Seeing the shock, Harry pushed his advantage. "And what about the Tickling Charm, Rictusempra? If you put enough power behind it, you could make someone laugh so hard they can't breathe, which could kill them too!"
Now almost all of the students were looking at each other, not having thought of that before. "We are an armed society!" Harry continued. "I may be a Parselmouth, but that doesn't mean that I'm evil!"
"Then why'd you hide it?" Justin asked in an accusing manner.
"To avoid a situation like this," Harry answered scathingly. "And for your information, those who actually took the time to become close friends with me last year already knew. It's not like it's something to bring up in dinner conversation, especially with the whole 'The Chamber of Secrets is open!' situation. I didn't want to be thought of as Slytherin's Heir."
"Didn't the Headmaster say that a Basilisk is on the loose?" one first year Hufflepuff asked. "Isn't that a snake?"
Instantly the crowd was in an uproar. "I didn't do it!" Harry yelled at them, but there was to be no denying the crowd as they grew still louder. Snape was about to interfere when he could sense Harry's magic gathering. "SILENCE!" he finally bellowed with all of his mighty lung-power. Harry's magic flared and he cast the Terran spell Silence on them all. There was instant silence. Harry took a couple of deep breaths. "Now, listen to me, all of you. I am not the Parselmouth you're looking for. I've been using my skills to try and locate the other Parselmouth, the one controlling the Basilisk, but I haven't found him or her yet. Now, let me tell you just why it's a stupid idea to think that I'm the Heir.
"Firstly, one of my best friends is a Muggleborn named Hermione Granger. Why would I want to kill her?" She waved at Harry, who smiled at her back. "Secondly, my mother was a Muggleborn. It'd be a little hypocritical for me to kill all the Muggleborns, as I wouldn't exist without them. Thirdly, I just stopped that viper –" Harry indicated the viper that was still lying on the floor. "– from attacking Justin. I told it to stop where it was, and it still obeys. Why would I save a halfblood if I hated all those of Muggle descent? Fourthly, the last person who wanted to kill all those of Muggle descent was Voldemort." The crowd gasped. "Oh, get a pair, all of you. Anyway, Voldemort killed my parents. Why would I share views with him?
"Now, I'm going to dispel the Silencing Charm," Harry said, waving his wand. "Finite Incantatem. Now, if any of you still think I'm the Heir, you're a bloody idiot."
Despite the fact that the Silence spell had been taken off, no one dared to talk as Harry got off the stage and left the room, followed closely by his friends. The crowd made way for him, giving him a clear path out.
"Do you think they'll leave you alone?" Daphne asked as Theo repressed his chuckles.
"No," Harry said flatly. "There are far too many idiots in there for my speech to actually stop all the rumors. Five Galleons says that a Gryffindor accuses me of setting the snake on Justin by tomorrow night."
"You're on!" Theo said joyfully. "Prepare to cough up those five Galleons!"
Both Harry and Theo were wrong; no less than three Gryffindors had accused him by the next night. Parvati and Lavender had accused him at the same time, followed closely by a third year Gryffindor Harry didn't know. Theo dutifully paid a smug Harry five Galleons, who pocketed them.
Anyone with half a brain and even slightly observant of the school could see that Harry had in a day become the outcast of the school, the scapegoat. The Gryffindors believed that Harry had somehow set the whole thing up to put the blame on someone else. The Hufflepuffs were of two minds; half saw the loyalty that Harry had to his friends, and the other half were so fiercely loyal to their own that they thought Harry was guilty anyway. Thankfully, the Ravenclaws had been reasonable and gave Harry the benefit of the doubt.
Slytherin House, if anything, had turned worse towards Harry. Harry Potter was not only the Boy-Who-Lived, but he also had Slytherin's Gift of Parseltongue, yet Harry refused to use his powers to cleanse the school of the filthy mudbloods! It was a perversion of the most powerful Founder's wishes! Or at least, so they thought.
Harry paid no mind to those who didn't believe him, however. In his mind, they were the fools who failed to see reason. No, Harry's worries were on a certain Headmaster with a long white beard. What's your next move, old man? Harry thought calculatingly. What do you plan to do next?
:You are quite lucky your Silence spell didn't affect your magic very much,: Quetzalcoatl informed him.
Yeah. Harry sighed as he strode through the hallways to the library. Suddenly, as he made a corner, he saw something that made him stop and stare. There, in the hallway, were two figures. Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor House Ghost, was no longer his usual silvery-white, but was frozen in expression, his whole spirit a dark grey. Behind him was a terrified Justin Finch-Fletchley on the floor. "Oh man, another attack?" Harry groaned, rushing over. He examined Justin and nodded. "Yeah, he's Petrified too…" He turned to face Nick. "I didn't think a ghost could get Petrified…"
Just then, to Harry's great misfortune, Peeves the Poltergeist emerged from one of the walls. He spotted Nick and his eyes widened. "ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK ON THE THIRD FLOOR! NO MAN OR SPIRIT IS SAFE!" Peeves bellowed.
Just my luck! Harry couldn't leave now, as otherwise he'd be assumed guilty. The problem was, he'd probably be assumed guilty anyway. People rushed out of all the classrooms and gathered around.
"Caught in the act!" Ernie Macmillan cried, pointing an accusing finger at Harry.
"I just got here!" Harry protested. "I was heading to the library!"
"A likely story!"
"Enough!" a commanding voice bellowed. All eyes turned to face none other than the Headmaster. "Harry Potter, please come with me. Minerva, kindly take care of Sir Nicholas and Mr. Finch-Fletchley."
The hall was quiet as Harry reluctantly followed Dumbledore to his office. He quickly reinforced his Occlumency shields and made sure dozens of recent memories were in his outer persona.
"Fizzing Whizbees," Dumbledore said to the guardian gargoyle, which jumped aside. Harry and Dumbledore then made their way up the stairs, and entered Dumbledore's office.
"I didn't do it!" Harry told him.
"I know you didn't," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "The portraits alerted me a few seconds before Peeves did, and at the time of the attack, you were not there."
Harry sighed in relief. "Do you have any idea who is behind this?"
"I have a suspicion, but I have no idea how he would have gotten past the Hogwarts wards again," Dumbldore said with a frown. "Voldemort's spirit is still out there somewhere."
"Professor, Hagrid told me that Voldemort was once a Hogwarts student. Surely you would have met him?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I did, and tried my best to keep him from turning to the Dark… but alas, my efforts were in vain."
"What was his real name?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "It would do you no good to know that, Harry. You and he were very similar in many aspects, but remember that you are different from him. I will tell you the story behind Voldemort when the time is right." Which is while we go Horcrux-hunting. There is a Horcrux behind this, I just know it, but who is it possessing? And which Horcrux?
"Professor?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I apologize. I was lost in memories for a few moments. The real reason I brought you here was to ask you this: do you have something you want to tell me?"
Harry shook his head. "No, Professor. I just hope we find the Heir soon."
"As do I, Harry. As do I."
Harry left, his mind whirling with thoughts. His experience with Dumbledore's Legilimency had suddenly made him realize something. I can use Legilimency to scan the minds of people around me! I can find the Heir that way! Harry could have hit himself for not thinking of it before.
When Harry returned to Slytherin, he was surprised to find that almost all of the Slytherins were in the Common Room, waiting on him. "What the hell?" he asked.
"Congratulations on fooling the Headmaster," one seventh-year said jovially.
"And the rest of the school," another added.
"You sure had everyone fooled!"
"Just keep up the good work, Harry!"
"Soon Hogwarts will be purged of the Mudbloods!"
Oh my God, Harry thought in horror. They think that I actually AM the Heir of Slytherin and that I was just keeping up an act in front of everyone else!
:Wait, Harry, you can use this,: Quetzalcoatl told him. :Now you can talk to Seth anytime in here without worrying, and the real Heir should become angry that you're taking all the credit.:
Harry mentally prepared himself and forced a cruel sneer on his face. "Those fools sure were gullible. I'm going to go for a walk and decide on the next victim."
"Make it a Gryffindor!" a few people called out as Harry turned around and left.
I feel sick for even saying that, Harry thought.
:Steady, Harry. You may need to keep up that act for a while.:
Oh God, I hope not. It goes against everything I am! I'm cunning, not a cruel murderer! I'm a mercenary, but I only kill when absolutely necessary!
:You have stronger morals than many I have known. The best thing to do would be to finish this as quickly as possible.:
Yeah. Harry sighed as he passed by Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Hmm? The floor's flooded again?
:Why not see what she's upset about?:
Why not? Harry agreed as he entered. "Hello, Myrtle. Are you ok?" he asked, not seeing Myrtle anywhere.
The teenage ghost floated out of one of her stalls. "This is a girl's bathroom," she said with a frown at him.
Harry shrugged. "I saw that you flooded the bathroom, so I figured I'd find out what was wrong."
"Come to throw something else at me, have you?" Myrtle accused, her lip pouting as she seemed almost about to cry. "Twenty points for going through my chest, fifty points for through the nose!"
"What, someone's thrown something at you?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Why would someone do that?"
"To make fun of me! 'Oh, Myrtle's dead! She can't feel it if we throw stuff through her!'" Myrtle said in mimicry.
Harry sighed and entered the stall, plucking a slightly soggy book out from the toilet. "Who threw this at you? I'll talk to him or her, whoever it is."
"You will?" Myrtle asked hopefully, then looked even sadder. "I was just in my stall, remembering how I died, and then a book just got thrown over my stall and through my entire body! I didn't see who it was."
"That's too bad," Harry said consolingly. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you die?"
Myrtle looked at Harry in shock. "I was just in my bathroom stall… this one, in fact! Anyways, I was in here, crying because Oliver Hornby was making fun of me with my big glasses, and then I heard a male voice. He was speaking strangely, almost like it was another language. I thought it was Oliver, so I got to my feet and prepared to give him a piece of my mind, but when I got out, the first thing I saw were these terrible big, glowing yellow eyes… and then, I died."
Harry blinked in surprise. "You died just by looking into someone's eyes?"
Myrtle nodded. "That's all I remember before I came back down, determined to haunt Oliver till the day he died. You should have seen his wedding!" she added with an undisguised glee.
"You must have died by looking into a Basilisk's eyes!" Harry realized. "Tell me, how long have you been dead?"
Myrtle thought for a moment. "About fifty years," she finally said. "I sometimes lose track of time, since no one comes in here to visit me."
Harry's excitement was starting to come to the surface. "Was someone arrested for opening the Chamber back then?"
"Not arrested, no," Myrtle replied, sounding pleased to be able to help. "But this big guy was expelled. He was called Hagrid, I think."
Harry's eyes widened, and after making his excuses, ran off to gather his friends, who all rushed off to Hagrid's hut.
"Open the door, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, pounding on the door. "We need to talk to you badly!"
Hagrid opened the door a few seconds later, blinking as he saw Harry and his friends with very, very serious faces. "Harry? What're all yeh doin' here?"
"We need to talk Hagrid, about why you were expelled in your third year," Harry said gravely.
Hagrid sighed and opened the door fully. "I knew that one o' these days, yeh'd be comin' around to ask. Come on in."
After everyone was settled down, Harry decided to start off the conversation. "I know you were expelled in your third year for opening the Chamber of Secrets. What I want to know is why."
Hagrid clenched his fists. "I was framed! Aragog never did nuthin' to nobody!"
"Aragog?" Hermione asked.
"My pet Acromantula," Hagrid said, a tear in his eye.
"You had a pet Acromantula?!" Theo asked incredulously.
"I am not surprised," Blaise said dryly.
"I managed ter get him out before I was expelled, though," Hagrid said happily. "He's livin' in the forest now. Even found him a wife!"
Harry frowned. "I've never heard of a spider of any variety having the power to kill without leaving a mark."
"That's cuz there ain't any!" Hagrid said simply.
"Then why'd they expel you?" Harry asked incredulously. "They had no proof!"
"I thought that when the attacks kept on the next year, the Ministry'd realize that and let me finish me education," Hagrid agreed. "But the attacks stopped after I was expelled. The Ministry never took a closer look."
"Typical politics," Harry muttered angrily. "Do you know who the real Heir is?"
"I don't know fer certain if he was the Heir o' Slytherin," Hagrid said slowly, "but the bloke who told Headmaster Dippet was Tom Riddle. Good old Dumbledore though, he managed ter convince Dippet to let me stay on as gamekeeper."
"Tom Riddle, huh?" Daphne repeated thoughtfully. "Looks like we have our next research topic, Hermione."
"You know, Hagrid," Harry said suddenly, "since now we know what the monster of the Chamber is, we can prove to the Ministry that you're not the one who opened it last time! Then you could buy another wand and start learning more magic!"
Hagrid's eyes widened. "Yer right!" he breathed. "Go on, off to the castle with yeh! I have me a letter to write!"
Harry and the others left. "That was a very good thing you did just now," Hermione said softly. "You just made Hagrid very happy."
"Hagrid deserves it," Harry said fervently. "He shouldn't have been expelled in the first place. There are truth serums that could have proven his innocence, but Dumbledore, in all his years as Headmaster, never once tried. Just one more thing to add to his list of injustices."
Harry was quickly going into his brooding mode, as his friends were beginning to call it. "Hey, snap out of it," Daphne said bluntly. "Instead of brooding, let's actually do something about it."
"Yes, let us return to the library with our new topic," Blaise agreed.
Harry nodded. "I've got something I want to check out first, though. I'll meet you at the library."
"See ya," Theo said cheerfully as Harry started walking towards the Common Room, where he had hidden the black book from Myrtle's bathroom. He thought he remembered something, but he had to make sure. He quickened his pace. If it is, it might be able to show me where the Chamber lies.
Harry reached his room and pulled the diary out of the trunk. He looked at the bottom-right corner, and was gratified to see "T. M. Riddle" in small gold letters. Harry eagerly opened the book, but to his surprise, there was nothing written in it. Grabbing his wand, he tapped the pages. "Revalo." Nothing happened, no words appeared. "Huh. Looks like he bought the diary but never used it. Rats, I was really hoping it could help." He set down the diary on the desk. Then Harry stood up abruptly, hoping to quickly join his friends in the library, but he accidentally knocked over one of his ink bottles, which spilled all over the book. "Damn it!"
But then, right before his eyes, the ink was seemingly soaked into the book. OK, am I seeing things?
:No.:
So I saw a book absorb a heck of a lot of ink without a splotch?
:So it would seem. It is obviously magical.:
Hmm… I wonder… Harry sat back down at his desk, taking out a quill and dipping it in one of his spare ink bottles.
Hello, my name is Harry Potter.
There was a pause, and Harry thought he'd been very foolish for a minute, but then the ink was absorbed. Words came up a moment later.
Hello, Harry Potter. I am Tom Riddle. How can I help you?
Harry was dumbfounded. A conscious diary? How? he thought in wonder. He decided to get directly to the point.
I don't mean to be rude, but I really need some information. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again, and from what I could find, you were around when it first opened.
Indeed, and I was the one who caught the culprit. Perhaps you would like to see the memory?
No need, I know who was expelled. Rubeus Hagrid. However, I found out that there are no spiders with the power to kill without harming the victim physically, and there are absolutely none with the ability to Petrify without injecting their venom, which should have been detectable. Hagrid had an Acromantula, which was supposed to be the monster of the Chamber, but it wasn't.
There was a pause. I… I didn't realize. All I knew was that Hagrid had a giant spider, and we had no idea what the monster was. The Acromantula was the only thing I could think of, so I reported him. I thought I was right, especially after the attacks stopped when he was expelled. Please send him my apology.
I will.
Do you have any clues as to what the monster really is?
Actually, we know what it is now. It's a Basilisk.
Hey, that makes sense! The girl who died in the bathroom didn't have a mark on her, and a Basilisk can kill with just its sight!
Thankfully, no one's died just yet. There has been a Petrification, though.
How did that happen?
It seems that if you look a Basilisk in the eye through a reflection, the magic weakens enough to just Petrify instead of outright kill.
That's pretty interesting. Any idea who the Heir is, then?
Dumbledore seems to think it was Voldemort, possessing someone.
Oh? My last owner told me that Voldemort was dead, killed by you in fact.
No, his spirit's still out there somewhere. I faced off with him again last spring to keep him from the Sorcerer's Stone. Who was your last owner?
Sorry, I never divulge what another's written in this diary. How's the Basilisk getting around?
Through the pipes, apparently. The Heir is pretty smart. What's the M. in your name stand for?
Marvolo. It's my grandfather's name, on my mother's side.
Tom Marvolo Riddle. Nice name.
Thank you. So, do you have a plan on how to locate the Chamber of Secrets?
Simple. After we identify who's being possessed, I follow him or her to it. Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I've got to go meet up with my friends in the library.
OK, until then.
Harry closed the diary, his heart pounding as he put it in his trunk. He could feel how the diary swept tendrils of Legilimency into his false persona, and he could sense the evil taint in those tendrils. At least I got a name. Tom Marvolo Riddle.
With that in mind, Harry started rushing to the library to meet his friends. That name is really starting to sound familiar. And that, that really evil magic I could sense… it feels even more familiar. It reminds me of when I faced Voldemort in Quirrel.
Harry quickened his pace. Wait a minute, Voldemort isn't actually his real name… could it be an anagram of some sort? Maybe… I'll work it out when I get to the library. Harry made it to the library, strode right past the librarian and rushed to his friends.
"Hey Harry… whatcha doin'?" Theo asked.
"I have a hunch I need to test," Harry answered, pulling out some ink, a quill and a sheet of parchment. At the top, he wrote the letters in Tom Marvolo Riddle. Then, one by one, he wrote out the word "Voldemort" using letters in that name.
Hermione saw what he was doing. "You think it's an anagram?"
Harry nodded. "But there are still several letters left…"
"Wait, wasn't he often called Lord Voldemort?" Daphne asked.
Harry's eyes widened as he quickly bent over his parchment and wrote the word next to Voldemort. "Only three letters left: I, A, and M."
The five looked at each other, realizing at once. "I am Lord Voldemort," they said in horrified realization.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Harry said in a shuddering voice. "I talked to him just a few minutes ago in an enchanted diary. I think he was trying to possess me."
"That diary must be the thing responsible!" Hermione said in equal horror. "Where did you leave it, Harry?"
"In my trunk in the Slytherin dorm!" Harry answered.
"Let's go!" Theo cried.
"We must make haste!" Blaise agreed.
They ran right out of the library, ignoring the yells of Madame Pince to keep it down and to walk in the library. Hermione didn't enter the dorm, as that was forbidden, but she waited outside for Harry and the other Slytherins.
But when the four of them entered the dorm, Harry saw that the trunk had been thrown open, and the diary was gone.
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Ha! Harry now knows the truth about Riddle, but he's been exposed as Parselmouth. What's gonna happen next? Things are happening much more quickly than in canon, ne?
Hope this chapter was up to snuff. Read and Review, people!
