Lightning Always Strikes
Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter rightfully is copyrighted towards its publisher and creator J.K. Rowling, and also owned by Bloomsbury Books, Warner Bros., and any other publishers that gave us the books and produced the movie adaptations. The thirteenth installment in the Final Fantasy main series – Final Fantasy XIII – belongs solely to the owners of Square Enix.
A Dueling Club sounded cool. What wasn't cool was it was Lockhart's idea, and he somehow got Professor Snape to go along with the whole idea. The two teachers dueled first as demonstration but Snape was victorious. The first time Lightning silently cheered for the git. After several students tried their luck, Lightning was paired with Malfoy who managed to summon a snake using Serpensortia.
Now, while Lightning could have done something such as hiss and reveal he was a Parselmouth, Lightning was smarter than that. Pulling out an ocarina he started playing a few melodious notes and "charmed" the snake into a calm state before gently picking it up much to the shock of everyone watching.
"It's not hard to tame a snake. Most snake charmers in India do similar to what I just did. Ask the Patils. They'll tell you."
And of course Lightning was correct in a sense. Snake charming was a practiced art, known well in the muggle world. Most wizard-born just don't know this. It would have been a nice lesson in learning different cultures, after all. So Malfoy was humiliated in the end, because he wanted Lightning to be scared of a big snake (the snake wasn't really big). Poor little git never knew Lightning was friendly with snakes.
It brought some rumors (mainly circulated by Malfoy) days later but not many believed them.
As for said snake, it was released back into the wild and never seen again.
=0=0=0=
Oliver tried to get Lightning to play again for the team. He only wanted to do it once and the bludger incident had Lightning become a spectator forever on days he would feel like seeing a game. Otherwise he did other things that were of better use for him (exercising when he felt he was slacking off, and focusing on school work). Oliver cried for losing the world's best Seeker...
As he cried, Lightning mused at the sight of spiders. He was watching the many small spiders (unlike the giants lurking the forest) move in a perfectly straight line, trying to escape the castle through a crack in the wall.
"Well, at least Ron can sleep better at night."
Ron's arachnophobia scared the boy greatly. With the spiders somehow marching out the castle, the twins would have to find other ways to prank their baby brother. He decided to do some quiet study in the library. That's where his new friends Tracey and Daphne were at. Then another petrification happened. This time the student, Justin what's-his-name was with Nearly-Headless Nick; the ghost was also petrified somehow. Quiddich was canceled for the rest of the year. If Oliver was a crying snob now, this news would have killed him.
=0=0=0=
Christmas came. Rocky-road fudge bars, a Quiddich History book, an eagle quill that looks like it cost 10 Galleons, toiletries stuff such as a toothbrush, paste, and a roll of dental floss (likely Hermione's gift since her parents are dentists), a new sweater courtesy of Mrs. Weasley, and a plum cake (also from Mrs. Weasley). From the Dursleys he got a toothpick that showed signs of having been overused... disgusting idiots. The gifts were nice and Lightning had gotten Ron and Hermione some gifts he thought would have been nice (and three Galleons each for them): for Ron he gave him a muggle chess set seeing the boy loved chess and Hermione got several (muggle) novels from great writers.
"How did you get this book?"
"Well I had Professor Lockhart sign my permission slip while he spoke about his days as a Seeker," she answered with a love-induced sigh.
Great... fangirl crush.
Ron gagged, which earned him an elbow in the gut. So it explains how Hermione knew how to brew Polyjuice Potion, a topic brushed upon a few weeks ago in Potions class. Said potion was secretly brewed in the girl's loo, where Myrtle was known to haunt.
"So... you really want to do this?"
"Yes! That slimy git has to be the heir! He bloody crowed about muggleborns being the next targets when Filch's cat was found, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. However, how ARE we going to do this, and who are we targeting?"
"Well you were busy with your things, mate so Hermione and I got hairs for our targets."
Turns out in the end Malfoy wasn't the heir. He wished he was though because he wanted to have fun cleansing the school of all mudbloods and make his father proud. OH, he wished Hermione would be a victim next. But Lightning learned about the wizarding prison called Azkaban from Malfoy when the boy said the Ministry raided his house last week. In the end the pinkette was very glad the potion wore off in time when he and Ron left the common room and back to the loo.
Then Lightning discovered that he still had his catgirl fetish: Hermione had somehow gotten the hairs of her target mixed with cat hair and grew cat ears and a tail. At first Hermione was hiding and didn't want to be seen until Lightning had enough, ripped the door open, and then discovered his returning fetish. Of course, it was nothing like the catgirls as predicted in anime, but Hermione's current predicament was similar. If Hermione was older... and Lightning was older, then maybe...
...
...
... Okay, moving on.
She was capable of recovering from it after she concocted a very believable white lie of spell gone wrong. But it didn't happen until around February. Serah and Snow were friendlier with the girl afterward for some odd reason.
=0=0=0=
T.M. Riddle... at least it's a nice-sounding name. Some of the name's he's heard in the Wizarding World were just plain bizarre at times. He recalled this particular name as being in the trophy room, a T.M. Riddle had a special award given to him or something for special services to the school. This book was found in Myrtle's toilet, wet and the girl was crying that someone threw it through her head before running off. When this reached Ron the red head said it could be evil.
"And how could this be evil, Ron?"
"Well, my father works at the Ministry, and he's seen books before that do strange things to other wizards and witches. There's one book that if you read it, you can never stop. Then there's another book where you read with one hand while walking around and you never bump into anything or anybody."
Lightning blinks. "Like that would ever happen." Then again, Serah was like that sometimes back in Bodhum before the whole l'Cie bull... minus the porn book thing. In another universe, Hatake Kakashi looks up from reading his Icha Icha Paradise. He looks left, then right. With a shrug, he continues to read his porn in view of the public whilst walking down the street.
Ron noticed the name on the book and spoke up about it, prompting Lightning to ask where and given proof that Ron WASN'T a dunderhead like Snape believed at times next to Neville. When Ron decided to leave Lightning alone, the preteen would finish his homework, and then curiosity peaked decides to write in the diary. It responded back.
He learns about the Chamber of Secrets and who was "responsible".
=0=0=0=
"The Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago. This book is fifty years old," said a fully-healed Hermione, tapping it excitedly.
"... So?"
Hermione was caught up in what Lightning was looking into, now not alone in this whole thing. She brought out a Revealer, which was a muggle eraser but magically charmed. Bought at Diagon Alley during the shopping day, she tried to reveal whatever was in the diary. Nothing. Lightning wisely said nothing. Theories were passed back and forth, but none of the constructed theories were what Lightning knew (from seeing the "memory" inside the diary). He could have said something, really, but Lightning really did not want his friends to get hurt if something terrible happened that forced him to use his l'Cie magic-type spells.
So the diary was forgotten for a time, and put away.
Valentine's Day however was a nightmare. He stared with undiluted horror at the pink monstrosity that was called the Great Hall. And guess who did this crap? Yes. Professor Lockhart. Lightning made a hasty retreat when one of the goblin-looking creatures bounced up (and it had loathed to do this too) in nappies and wings magicked on its back. He wanted to murder Lockhart, but he didn't feel like going to jail. So Lockhart golems in the Room of Requirement were used as anger management control.
=0=0=0=
Hermione was in the Hospital Wing, clutching a mirror in one hand and in the other hand a torn piece of paper which Lightning had taken. She was petrified.
"I'm going to kill whoever did this."
That was a promise.
=0=0=0=
Ever since the Chamber of Secrets stuff started up, Lightning (and company) has done investigations. His trek into the forest when Hagrid was arrested by the Ministry (to look busy) and he said aloud to "follow ta spiders" yielded the Acromantula Nest in the Forbidden Forest created by Aragog, Hagrid's pet spider as seen in the memory from the diary. He killed half the nest and was rescued by the magic car Ron stole to get to Hogwarts. The diary was then discovered stolen and his things scattered everywhere. He went in search for it, and after finding Myrtle again did she say something about seeing something strange coming from the (located) entrance. Dumbledore down the line was sacked from his position and the message delivered by a smug Lucius Malfoy. The old man left without incident, a whimsical smile on his face as if he knew a secret.
Finally, three days before the final exams, Ginny Weasley ended up missing and the heir struck again, with the message that her bones would lie in the chamber forever. This prompted classes to end and everyone locked in their houses. Thus we now arrive to right now. Lightning had overheard that Ginny was kidnapped by the heir and McGonagall told the professors the school will be shut down. He kept hidden behind the suits of armor as the conversation in the Staff Room continued, with the other professors asking Lockhart to "use his great magical skills" to find the chamber. The man obliged and left in a hurry. Lightning followed. Glad he did.
The man was going to leave the school, and was confronted by Lightning for it. The man admitted everything he says was a lie. Professor Lockhart was a memory stealer/eraser. The spell, Obliviate, erases a target's mind and new ones could be put in place. A spell heavily used on muggles when they see anything magical. Kind of abusive to tamper with memories; they ARE precious things to humans. His books were real but all of them were from others he memory charmed and stole for himself to make money.
Lightning did not let the man leave and threatened to beat the crap out of him and the man did flinch. Mainly 'cuz his wand was stolen and used against him. Lightning took Lockhart to Myrtle's haunted bathroom where he revealed his Parselmouth ability. It took awhile until the right word revealed the entrance. A brief thought occurred: Was Slytherin a sexual deviant? The chamber entrance was in a girl's restroom after all...
Anyway, Lockhart was pushed down into the tube first before telling Myrtle he'll return shortly and jumped right in. He was attacked by Lockhart seconds later after reaching the bottom, his wand taken back, and the man threatened his life. He deflected the memory erasing spell with Blazefire Saber, and somehow it rebounds and hits the man. For reasons unknown, it caused a cave-in and he was now cut-off from the man who can no longer recall his own name. Lightning went further into the tunnels not worrying for the man's safety, soon coming into the chamber itself and a door engraved with snakes.
Someone's life was in danger. Why care for a fraud that lied about his entire life?
Open.
And it does.
Stagnant water is seen, and it barely comes half an inch over the stone it covers. He soon reaches a large opening. A face was carved into the wall depicting an old man with a long beard twisting into snake-like arms... What the hell...?
"Ginny!"
The Weasley's little sister was unconscious and on her face in the dirty floor. Racing up to the girl he flipped her over. She felt cold to the touch and very pale. She was barely breathing.
"It's no use."
Lightning sets her down quickly and shoots to his feet.
A spell shot from the shadows and Lightning moves out of the way, casting a Thunder spell. A scream is heard, signaling he had hit the target. Out came a young man in his late teens with dark hair and wearing Slytherin colors on his school uniform.
"Who are you? What have you done to Ginny Weasley?"
"So you are Harry Potter. You look like a freak with the pink hair," the older teen said.
"It's all natural."
The teen smiled. "Whatever then. So, Mr. Potter... you are here to stop me?"
"... You're the heir?"
"Yes. I'm sure you remember what I showed you in my diary."
"Shit... you're Riddle?"
"I'm more than that."
And Lightning learned that Tom Riddle was really Voldemort as a teenager. This was a ghost of Riddle in his youth, somehow having absorbed the life force of Ginny to be projected in a solid corporal form. It was very clever, and evil...
"I was powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets after a month, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her, and she did back to me and it was very sweet. It was all her doing. She opened the chamber, commanding the beast inside the chamber to do my bidding through her." Riddle had a nasty smile on his face.
"So through her, you finished what Slytherin wanted to do: cleanse the school of what you call filth."
Riddle lets loose an evil laugh. The more the man spoke in his arrogant tone, the angrier Lightning got. This boy would grow up to become the person who everyone feared and were likely cowardly to stand up against sans the bold and the brave. Riddle was a pure manipulator-type, getting Ginny's defenses lowered to directly control her, causing all those petrifactions that should have been deaths if it weren't for coincidences. The deaths of the chickens and roosters in Hagrid's garden were all his idea, too. He even took credit for Dumbledore being driven out of the school.
"And now Harry Potter, because you now know everything, I am afraid that to finish my mission... you will have to die. Your unique magic you used earlier will have no effect on my monster."
And Riddle summons the monster by speaking in Parseltongue. It turned out to be what Hermione had discovered before being petrified: A giant ruddy Basilisk.
Lightning recalled the Basilisk info and its eyes would cause instant death. So he started running. Riddle ordered the snake to chase him down and it was a game of cat and mouse. A dangerous game of cat and mouse... Lightning was sending Blizzard spells but some of them miss since Lightning couldn't really see without risking a glance into killing eyes.
"Damn, what to do, what to do!"
He kept running, using the Haste spell to keep ahead of the monster snake seeking him out. He soon returned back out of the pipe-like maze and rushed away, jumping over the snake's sweeping tail. Riddle sent spells trying to clip Lightning for his pet to kill, but he was nimble. The Haste buff helped well.
"Take this!"
Riddle watched as a spell of some sorts had struck his great serpent and it hissed strangely as something affected it. Riddle had no idea what.
"What did you do?" he commands.
Lightning stayed quiet. Bravery, Faith, Vigilance, and the EnElement spells are not "learned" yet at this point in time. The same for most of his Saboteur spells as he is still training to properly unlock the rest, only having Deprotect and Deshell as the only available spells. He had casted a successful Deshell on the creature. Basilisk have highly resilient skin and is high impervious to most magic. The Deshell had weakened its resistance to magic.
"KILL HIM!" Riddle hisses in the language of the snake.
A cry is heard and Fawkes arrived with the Sorting Hat which lands on his head. Fawkes meanwhile flew up, distracting the snake as Riddle screamed. Lightning saw in the shadows of the projected lights of the chamber Fawkes ripping the snake's eyes out. It was now blind.
"Alright! Time to go to work!"
"Curse your blasted bird, Potter!" Riddle shouts.
He was promptly shut up with a gunshot to the shoulder and the teen fell to the ground wailing in agony. Fawkes flew away as Lightning shifts the weapon, and goes into Synergist role. Shell and Protect are casted, and then a change into Ravager and he casts a Blizzard. The snake hisses in pain as the icy spell impacted it.
"Fawkes! Grab Ginny and get her off the watery ground!" he yells, hoping the phoenix was still there. His shouts were answered as the phoenix returned and snatched Ginny, taking her off the watery ground. Lightning raced around the ankle-deep circular pool in the center and leaps onto the statue head of Salazar.
"Hey, Potter! Quick, reach into my hat and grab the sword!"
"I have one already!" he tells off the Sorting Hat, not understanding the Sorting Hat had Gryffindor's Sword in his body (did it count as a body?).
The basilisk hisses and charges forward.
Bad idea.
"Thundara!"
The tier 2 spell impacts the snake. Because of the water on the ground, the damage was doubled and the giant snake was in tremendous pain. Riddle's screams are also heard, being electrocuted by the aftershocks of the spell radiating through the water. Sparkstrikes are fired in bullet form, before the ice attribute is used in physical attacking, Lightning getting close to the snake. He dodges the snake's twitching tail barely several times, continuing to damage the snake with Blizzard and Fire spells (the Deshell was still in effect) until finally the snake's large mouth was open. It was used for Lightning's final move to pierce through the roof of its mouth and into the brain, a Sparkstrike used. But he felt tremendous pain and cursed himself for not looking out good enough. In the process of killing it, he inadvertently got one of its poisoned fangs in his arm. He escaped as the snake collapsed and ceased moving.
"Damn... was too careless."
He fell to one knee, trying to shift into his Medic form but a sharp burst of pain crippled his mind.
Riddle is heard laughing, still in pain and twitching from the electrical shock, but laughing nonetheless.
"You got bit. You may have killed my pet, but it's too late. Did you know a Basilisk's venom can almost instantly kill humans? You got seconds to live."
Riddle was shot in the head by Lightning, and the teen collapsed. Then Blazefire Saber clatters to the ground as Lightning slumped.
"No... It can't end like this..."
A cry is heard and Fawkes flew down, setting Ginny down. He opens his blurry eyes and moans as Fawkes cried. Crystal-like tears drip down its beak, and into his open wound. A hiss is heard. Fawkes was healing Harry of the poison, saving his life. In no time Lightning was no longer inflicted by the Basilisk's poison, the venom neutralized by the healing properties of the tears. He shifts into Medic role regardless to cast an Esuna on himself followed by a Cure, and then looks to Riddle who was getting back up.
"Damn... you just won't die, huh?"
He saw the diary, and quickly grabbed it. Riddle screams when Lightning had the ingenious idea to use one of the fangs as a weapon. The poison basically destroys the diary, and thus destroys the spirit of the diary. Tom Riddle was no more. Enemy defeated. All of the stolen life energy returned to Ginny, who gained a healthy skin color once more and started to breathe.
The pink-haired preteen was glad Ginny didn't die in this ordeal. He casts a Cure on her just in-case, and then returns to his Commando role.
"Ginny, are you okay?"
"W-Where am I?"
She opens her eyes, and sees the pink hair of one Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.
"The diary, Ginny... you're inside the Chamber of Secrets."
She gasped. "I'M SO SORRY! IT WAS THE DIARY! IT CONTROLLED ME SOMEHOW!"
"I know what's happened and its okay, Ginny. I saved you from dying here. I destroyed the diary and also killed the Basilisk."
"What?"
She looks to what Lightning pointed at, and she paled. That was one big-arse snake.
"Harry... Thank you," she cries, hugging him tightly.
Lightning smiles a bit, a sigh of relief let out. Ginny hears a melodious trill and sees Dumbledore's phoenix.
"Wow, he's beautiful."
"Dumbledore's phoenix... when I killed that snake I got fang in my arm and the poison almost killed me, but Fawkes cried into my wound and... well, his tears healed me. I forgot that a Phoenix has the ability to heal all wounds and injuries with its tears."
Fawkes trills with pride, eliciting smiles from the two children. Ginny was helped off the dirty watery floor, and Lightning made sure to grab his weapon and holster it. Ginny was in awe of what Harry had just put away.
"Ginny... we should get out of here."
"But how?" she asks.
Fawkes trills again, and flew around them before they all vanish in a trail of flames. Phoenix Fire Teleportation. Oh, wait... Lockhart was still in the chamber. Well, he was rescued a short time later, with no memory of himself. He would be admitted into Saint Mungos, and it becomes his new permanent residence. Dumbledore had returned, as the School Board decided Dumbledore was better to be back to handle the heir of Slytherin situation. Ginny was saved from mortal peril and her family was very happy that Harry Potter saved their youngest.
The diary retrieved thanks to Fawkes was proved to be the culprit, a dangerous ghostly parasite it was passed off as. Lucius Malfoy did not like that when he found out, and Lightning learned the crazy elf belonged to said bastard of a man. He trucked Lucius into freeing Dobby, and Lucius ran off after trying to attack Lightning but was repelled by the freed House Elf (this happened of course outside Hogwarts out of anyone's eyes). When Dobby turned to thank Lightning, he only asked Dobby not to do crazy things again and then asked him if he would be willing to work at the Hogwarts Kitchens.
That is where Dobby is now.
Exams canceled in celebration for Harry Potter: Awarded for Special Services for Hogwarts and solving the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. The only ones not happy were those of Malfoy's groupie. All the petrified victims had been cured, too. Needless to say, Lightning was glad no one was dead. Because of this Lightning and Ron have now really bonded as good friends because Ginny was saved from a fate worse than death. Oh, and Hagrid was freed from Azkaban, and proven innocent of events that happened when he was in school as a kid fifty years ago.
School ended on a good note, and no one knows that Lightning was a secret Parselmouth. Well, Lockhart knew, but with his memory erased, no one will learn. Then Sirius Black escaped Azkaban Prison during that summer.
Year Two end. Time for what is my favorite of the HP series: the Prisoner of Azkaban arc.
