Out of the Chamber

After much too much time spent climbing up seemingly endless stairs, Ginny and Henry finally reached the top of the staircase.

"Finally", Henry said. He was gasping for breath. He did not like long, winded staircases. Not at all. There were just a few steps left, his head was finally sticking above ground.

"Tom?"

A round-faced, chubby boy with blond hair was standing there, together with a red-headed boy who kind of resembled Ginny.

"What is it with people confusing me with the guy who opened this chamber?"

"Tom Riddle opened the Chamber?", the round-faced boy asked for clarification.

"Yes."

"Who are you?", the red-headed boy butted in.

Henry felt those two were friendly. They just were rather worried, at the moment. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't miffed.

"I'm the one who went down there, faced a murderous version of a sixteen-year-old Lord Voldemort, destroyed it, and came back up with the girl he dragged with him."

Ginny's head appeared beside him.

"Ginny! You're here!", the red-head exclaimed.

"Yes. I am here, and still alive and kicking." She grinned at the other boy.

The two of them took the last steps up the stairs.

"He saved you?"

"He did. Can we go to Professor Dumbledore's office now, please?" They'd decided upon that for a destination. The Headmaster should be informed of recent developments, after all.

"Dumbledore is back?"

"He is. I arrived with him."

"We'll show you the way. You're not a student here, right?"

"No, I'm not, and thank you."

They had reached the end of the bathroom, and with the other two boys, made their way to the Headmaster's office.

"Ron, Neville?", Ginny asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could the two of you wait outside?"

"Uh, okay", blond hair said.

"Thank you."

After Henry begged the Gargoyle to let him in, they climbed the stairs, until they stood outside the office door.

They entered.

When Albus Dumbledore heard Henry tell his story, he couldn't quite believe it. When Henry presented his conclusion of what the diary was, he was trying to puzzle out how the boy even knew that this kind of thing existed.

But the hardest part for Albus was when Henry asked him: "Sir... you knew Tom, didn't you?"

He swallowed. "Yes, he was a student here when I was still a teacher for Transfiguration."

"You recognized our similarities when you first met me, didn't you?"

"Yes." He closed his eyes. Guilt swelled up. He'd promised. He'd said "I will.", "I promise."

And he'd made that promise without ever intending to keep it.

"You knew."

"I guessed." He still hadn't opened his eyes. He was expecting a scolding, white-hot fury every second, and it would be entirely deserved.

"Thank you."

He opened his eyes, wide in shock.

"Pardon?"

"I said 'Thank you'. Honestly, your age must influence your hearing. Okay, that was a bad joke, but... I mean it. Thank you for not telling me that tidbit. It was infinitely better not to know."

Had Henry really just said that?

"That's... I was sort of expecting you to be really angry at me for withholding information."

"I guess I would be, but... it's not really changing what I have or want to do. It's just giving me doubts and nightmares of turning out like my Grandfather, or reminding me that I have some really, really horrible, stupid relatives on his mother's side. That isn't exactly what I needed to know when you first met me. If you withheld from me information like 'You'll have to defeat the Dark Lord sometime', then I'd be angry, because I could have used quite a lot of training, and without that knowledge, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have given it to me or I wouldn't have applied myself, if you catch my drift."

Albus Dumbledore was doubly happy he'd chosen to tell Augusta the Prophecy. She'd prepared young Neville well, without filling his head with thoughts about how great he was.

"That's a rather mature answer."

"Thank you, sir. Now, what are we going to do? I mean, Ginny's parents will need to be told something, and the Wizarding World in general will need some story as well. I mean, some sort of press release is needed."

Ms. Weasley perked up here. That was apparently something she wanted to know, too.

"I guess the whole truth is pretty much out of question."

Both Henry and Ms. Weasley nodded.

"Nobody needs to know about Henry's family connections", added Ms. Weasley.

"Would you like people to know that you went down there, Henry?"

Henry looked up.

"No. No, I don't want to be hounded by the press."

"So, what should we tell? How about that an Unspeakable expert was called in and found a solution? It isn't too far from the truth, anyway."

"That would work. But, what should we tell your parents, Ginny? I don't know them, so..."

"I guess sticking with the truth would be the best, more or less." Ginny looked slightly green while she said that.

"Okay... so, I can go home now, right?"

"Yes, well, you could..."

That was the moment a rather angry Lucius Malfoy came in.

And stopped dead in his tracks after looking at Henry.

"Master! …."

Albus could see Henry squirming. "You're confusing me with someone."

Lucius Malfoy's face went ashen. He'd just basically confirmed every single suspicion Albus had ever had, and he obviously knew it.

"Headmaster, didn't the memo of your suspension reach you?"

And Albus Dumbledore went into the explanation of how he was still here, ending with a few half-threats, upon which Lucius Malfoy stormed out angrily.

Afterwards, Albus would be told the highly amusing story of how Neville Longbottom managed to free the house elf with a bit of trickery and a sock, but now, he took Henry home.

Henry was feeling like lead when he came home, mainly from climbing lots and lots of stairs. He really, really hated stairs.

When he told Ptolemy what had happened, his cool was gone, and he burst into tears. He didn't want to have an idiotic monster as a grandfather. He wanted parents. Actual parents, that cared for him, and loved him. Not a family history that seemed like having been taken out of some family drama!

Ptolemy didn't know what to do.

Henry was sobbing, like the twelve-year-old boy he was, and Ptolemy had no idea how to treat him like a child, for once. Sure, his sense of wonder was child-like, but his sarcasm about any- and everything pretty much helped. He hadn't ever seen him cry before.

"Hey, kid, it's okay... There's no need to cry, Henry..."

The boy sobbed even harder, then, suddenly, he stopped.

"You must think I'm a baby."

"I don't. You've just gone into shock, kid. Happens to anyone."

"I don't want him to be my family."

Yes, he could understand that sentiment.

"Does it change who you are?"

"What? No, I don't think so, why?"

"Because it doesn't matter, Henry. You're still Henry Evans, child prodigy, Unspeakable trainee, Parselmouth. And now, let's speak about something else. How would you like to take your Potions Mastery Exam this summer?"

"Really? I could? Don't you think I'm a little young?"

"You're ready, that's what matters. Come on, I'll file the forms. You'll be the youngest English Potions Master ever!"

A smile spread on Henry's face.

"That would be great."

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore had called Ginny and Ronald Weasley, as well as Neville Longbottom, into his office.

"Ms. Weasley, I guess you know what this is about. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, do you remember the events of a few hours ago?"

"When that boy appeared and claimed he'd helped Ginny?"

"Exactly. Now, he did tell you the truth, but I'm afraid, Mr.s Weasley and Longbottom, that you should not, I repeat, should not reveal this to anyone."

"Why?", Mr. Weasley asked.

"What do you think would happen if it was known what that boy did? The press would hound him for sure. Mr. Longbottom, I am sure you can remember how some of those reporters are."

"Vultures. So... we shouldn't tell anyone about him, because them vultures would try and descend on him?"

"Yes, that is what I mean. Instead, the information will be released that an Unspeakable went down there."

Ms. Weasley was frowning. "You said before something about how that that wasn't too far from the truth, anyway. What did that mean?"

"I fear that is an answer you must ask Mr. Evans yourself when you meet him. Now, just in case, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

A few days later, Henry was finally introduced to most of the other Unspeakables, with the codename "Aenrichus". Most codenames were more nicknames, anyway, but in this case, it had been shortened to "Richus" just a few seconds after he had been introduced.

His colleagues' respect for him had gone up several notches after his qualifications had been read to them, and most were pretty sure that he would make a good Potioneer. They needed more of those, anyway. When his interest in Wards was brought up, there were several who really, really wanted to teach him.

He was called "bright", "charming", "clever", and variations of those more often than he could count in the next few days.

All in all, his life was rather nice.