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Chapter 7.

Suspicion.

Second year.

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The next morning, the news was all over the school. Crab and Goyle were found petrified.

Harry, Daphne and Su entered the great hall together. Harry headed towards the Ravenclaw table. Su followed him, but Daphne headed towards the Slytherin table.

"Where is she going?" Su asked.

"Where else?" Harry sighed in exasperation. "She's going to ... talk to Malfoy."

"Should we listen?"

"Sure. It's bound to be interesting." Harry cast a listening charm to hear the conversation. It's a pity I still can't connect to the serpent flies and use their senses like Lilith, thought Harry.

Daphne sat on the other side of Malfoy. "Why Draco, where are the trolls?"

Malfoy glowered at the girl. "What do you want, Greengrass? Came to gloat again?"

"Me gloat? Perish the thought. So Draco, how are you holding up?" Daphne asked with fake concern. "Now that you don't have your two goons, it must be pretty hard to bully the other kids, especially the first years."

Malfoy sneered at Daphne. "I don't need them, Greengrass. Now, why don't you go back to Potter? I'm sure he ..."

"He what?" Daphne asked sweetly.

"Nothing." Malfoy grumbled.

"Draco, you weren't going to insult me, were you?"

Malfoy was silent and he only glowered at her.

The British Wizarding world was more than used to stereotypes. The Gryffindors were glory seeking morons who rushed into battle; Hufflepuffs were cowards and easily cowed; Slytherins were cunning and ruthless; and the Ravenclaws were smart. Wizards who belonged to the light side were good, honorable, forgiving and played by the rules and worshiped the ground Dumbledore walked. Wizards who belonged to the dark side were evil, ruthless; they bend or even broke the rules and were slaves to Voldemort.

Before the Wizarding world met Harry Potter, they thought he would be the epitome of a light Gryffindor - a moronic, glory seeking brat, a poster boy for Dumbledore and an all around nice guy. What they got, was quite different. Some even thought Harry would become a dark Slytherin due to Voldemort's killing curse. What no one suspected was the present Harry. He was neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin, but he was certainly dark. Instead of a brave or cunning Harry, the Wizarding world got a smart uncaring Harry. For all they knew, Harry Potter was an emotionless golem and not a true flesh and blood child. That Harry was a dark wizard further disconcerted. What perplexed many was that he was not the typical dark wizard.

Harry's meeting with Voldemort in the great hall was well known to the Wizarding world. While not all wizards believed the encounter was true, most of Voldemort's followers knew that their Dark Lord was not truly dead. They had no reason to disbelieve the encounter. They heard of Harry's accusation - that Voldemort was a half-blood. Some of them even checked Harry's statements; that Voldemort was Tom Riddle; that Harry was Lord Slytherin.

This put the death eaters in a bad situation. When they became death eaters, Voldemort was the Slytherin Lord. He was a pureblood who wanted to cleanse their world of the muggle taint. He was powerful and he offered power.

Now, Voldemort was a half-blood. He was not a strong wizard, but only a shade. He lost his title to a child that defeated him twice, the first time when Harry was only a baby.

Some of the wizards would have preferred to serve the new Lord Slytherin rather than the old one. At least, both of his parents were magical and both of them were among the strongest of their generation. That Harry was also extremely strong and he apparently hated Dumbledore, made him even more attractive for the position of Dark Lord. Voldemort not only had a muggle as a father, but his mother wasn't even a proper witch; she was an inbred squib with the mental capacity of Crabb or Goyle. Voldemort also enjoyed torturing not only muggles, but also his own death eaters, while Harry seamed to be calm and collected and lacked Voldemort's insanity. The new Dark Lord, if Harry decided to become one, was looking more and more appealing when compared to Voldemort.

There were of course a few insurmountable problems with this idea: first of them being that Voldemort might some day come back. The most important was that the Dark Mark would ensure either their loyalty or a painful death. Another problem was that Harry did not embrace their ideals. From what little was known of the boy, he despised the death eaters as much as he despised Dumbledore and he did not care about blood purity issues. Finally, there was the fact that Harry had not given any sign of trying to make any sort of contact with any Dark Family except the Greengrass.

Harry was also rumored to be quite dangerous if provoked.

Because of all this, virtually all Dark families decided to at least not antagonize the young Lord and take a wait and see attitude. At the very least, if Harry was not bothered by death eaters and their children at Hogwarts, and if Harry was annoyed by Dumbledore and his machinations, he might cause some trouble to the meddling headmaster.

Dumbledore rose to his feat and Harry turned his attention to him.

"As you know, yesterday Mr. Crabb and Mr. Goyle suffered an unfortunate magical accident. I am happy to tell you that their life is in no danger. Unfortunately, preparing a cure will take some time, so we will not be graced by their presence for a while.

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Harry and the girls entered Hufflepuff's hidden room.

"Hello Harry, girls," Luna said cheerfully.

"Hi Luna," Harry quirked an eyebrow at Luna's chipper tone. "You're awfully well disposed. What's up?"

Luna giggled cutely. "It was so fun watching Malfoy trying to swagger without his goons behind him." Biting her lip, she looked at him thoughtfully. "But aren't you worried about Dumbledore finding out you petrified them?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry lied smoothly.

"Aren't we working together now?" Luna asked. "You can tell me about it. I will never betray your trust."

'Should I tell her?' Harry questioned the girls.

'We did make a deal to work as allies against our common enemies,' Su said.

'As much as I hated being kept in the dark before we bonded, I now think it was a good strategy to not tell me until you were sure of my loyalty," Daphne offered.

'She seems trustworthy, but we barely know her,' Lilith said, 'and you can not enter her mind and see that what she says is true.'

Harry pondered the girls' words for a few moments, but Luna interrupted his thoughts. "If you don't trust me yet, give me the same bond you gave Daphne and Su," she said making Harry's eyes go wide.

"How?"

Luna shrugged. "I can feel the link between you."

"And do you know the consequences if I did it?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure," she shrugged.

"It's not something to be done lightly. It's a modified familiar bond. If we do this, we'll be forever linked together. There is no going back..."

"Okay," Luna interrupted Harry.

"Okay?" Daphne asked. "Just like that?" At first I thought she was insane, and then I realized she was faking it, but now, I begin again to doubt her sanity.

"Yup," Luna said happily. "Can we do it now?"

The reasons for Harry's familiars' decision were bigger than Luna's. Su did not have a choice; she had to choose between certain death and trusting the boy who saved her. Lilith became Harry's familiar after he saved her life. She was alone for a long time and she felt Harry would be a good companion. Daphne cared for Harry since he saved her and she was intrigued by him from the moment she laid eyes on him. After he saved her in the broom incident caused by Malfoy and Weasley, she developed a crush on him. After that, over her first Hogwarts year, Harry and Su quickly became her friends. Daphne's choice was not an easy one; she was a Slytherin and taking such a risk was contrary to her cautious nature. Luna's quick acceptance was a shock to all of them.

'Girls?" Harry thought, "I like Luna, but what do you think?'

'I can feel she is magically powerful and she has the same aims as us,' Su replied. 'I am in favor.'

'The more the merrier,' Lilith said. 'I am also in favor.'

'Me too,' Daphne said.

Harry shook his head at Luna. "Very well, but we can't do it now. The bond requires close proximity until it is fully established. We have to wait for the summer brake preferably or for the Christmas holidays if you are willing to endure a bit of discomfort and your dad allows us to stay together."

"Ok," Luna smiled. "Christmas it is... So, are you going to tell me about the petrification now? Or do I have to wait."

Harry shrugged. "I think we can tell you a little about it now. Not even Dumbledore could use legilimency on you." And even if he does or you betray us, it isn't like we can get into any trouble, Harry thought.

"So? It was you, right?" Luna asked.

"Okay, you're right," Harry sighed.

"So you can control the basilisk?" Luna asked.

"How did you know about it?"

"It's not that hard," Luna shrugged. "About forty years ago, if I remember correctly, the Chamber of Secrets was opened by the heir of Slytherin who left messages written in blood on walls. A few students were petrified like Crabb and Goyle was, and a girl died. Hagrid was accused; he was expelled and his wand broken. Dumbledore saved him from Azkaban and gave him a position as the groundskeeper. Oddly enough, the man who caught Hagrid with a dangerous monster was a Tom Riddle."

"I see. Voldemort framed him," Harry said. "What I don't understand is how you knew it was a basilisk?"

"It's not that hard if you know a bit about magical animals. It was Slytherin's monster and it can petrify or kill. There aren't that many magical animals that can petrify and kill using magic and a basilisk is the only snake that can. Keeping in mind that Salazar was a parselmouth, it's an easy deduction to make."

"I see."

Luna turned worried. "Sooner or later, someone will make the same connection. You are Lord Slytherin and a parselmouth. It will not be that hard to make you look guilty. They could even put you on trial."

"Let them."

"Harry..."

"Trust me Luna. Nothing would make me happier than being put on trial."

"But why?"

"You'll see."

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"Mr. Potter, Ms. Li, please remain," Flitwick said after he finished his charms class.

Harry and Su stayed behind and waited expectantly for the professor to speak.

"The headmaster informed me of your decision to skip some classes. He wanted me to speak to you about."

"There's nothing to talk professor," Harry sighed. "There are three classes that are a complete waste of time, not only for me, but also for the rest of the Hogwarts students."

"Please explain," The professor asked.

Flitwick was Harry's favorite teacher for a good reason. He always listened for the reason. If he agreed, he backed you against anything. It was one of the reasons Ravenclaws were not bothered too much by the rest of the school.

Snape was always protecting his snakes even if they did something wrong. And Dumbledore backed up Snape to the hilt.

The head of the Hufflepuffs and her students on the other hand, were too ... pacifist in their deals with others. Because of this, they were usually walked over by both Slytherins and Gryffindors.

Mcgonagal was so strict and "respect the rules and authority" that she let Snape walk all over her students as long as he was backed up by Dumbledore. She did not rescind Snape's unfair detentions and point deductions. She was probably trying not to undermine his authority as a teacher.

Flitwick on the other hand, listened to his students and if they were right, he usually took steps to correct what was wrong. Because that and because the ravens did not usually involve themselves in anything besides learning, they were not bothered too much.

"There are three classes that are useless," Harry said. "First, there is history of magic. Most of the students fall asleep in that class. The second is potions. I am already more advanced than the fourth years because of private study. What Snape does, is more than useless, it's stupid. He's not teaching properly. He explains nothing of why and how ingredients react with other and he makes his students nervous. He is actively sabotaging all students except his snakes. That is no way to learn such a delicate subject. I find it much easier to learn on my own. And finally there's DADA. At least Quirrell had some knowledge of defense, even if he choose to stutter his lessons. Unlike him, who at least had his facts straight, Lockhart teaches his biography when he's not telling of his obviously fake adventures and spells. If you read any of his seven books he forced all students to buy at outrageous prices, you'll see that I am correct."

The professor was silent for a minute, and then he nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, you are quite correct. I don't know why Albus let's this situation continue," he sighed. "As there is no rule that forces you to come to classes and you only have to pass your exams, you are free to study in private."

"Thank you sir."

'I wonder why Dumbledore is so adamant about us going to classes,' Su asked thoughtfully after they exited the classroom.

'Well if we can do it, then the other kids can do the same thing. He probably wants all students to come to these classes. If all students started to skip them, there would be questions asked and Dumbledore would be forced to do something about it, like hiring competent teachers.'

'You're probably right. I wonder why it's these three classes in particular though," Su wondered.

'Well, it's said that those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. It must be one of his schemes,' Harry shrugged. 'The result of Snape's potion classes is fewer aurors, since entering Snape's OWL class requires an Outstanding," Harry said thoughtfully.

'And the result of the DADA teacher are weak students and future adults that are not able to fight,' Su said.

'Yes.'

'Does that mean Dumbledore wants the Wizarding world dumb, defenseless and weak?' Su asked.

'Maybe; who knows how his mind works and what he desires to achieve. It's possible he wants to dumb down and weaken the students, especially in DADA. If he does, the chance of a new Dark Lord decreases. As long as there is no powerful Dark Lord to lead, Dumbledore has enough magical power to defeat the death eaters.'

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Harry and the girls, in their pixie forms, were leading the basilisk through the school, toward his targets - three Slytherin upper years, children of death eaters, and future death eaters judging by their actions and behavior.

'Harry, we have a problem,' Lilith said. 'Our three future statues are not alone. They are bullying a first year puff.'

'I see...I'll go and put him to sleep.' Harry sped forwards and stopped behind the scared first year.

"Do you think sorry is enough?" sneered the bigger of the three Slytherins.

"I already said I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bump into you," sniffled the kid.

"Well that's just not enough, brat."

Harry positioned himself behind the boy, so that his actions would not be seen. He drew one of his alternate wands and stupefied the boy, who fell down.

Having more than one wand was technically illegal, but Harry couldn't care less. While the magic signature from the wand's stupefy spell was very weak and would disappear very fast, Harry did not want to risk someone like Dumbledore recognizing it on the boy. Because of that, Harry used one wand for schoolwork and another for his less than legal actions.

"What the fuck?" shouted one of the Slytherins at the crumpled form of the first year.

"The little shit fainted," said another in disgust and turned around to leave. However, his eyes fell on the basilisk and he froze.

The other two glanced at the frozen boy. "What happened?" asked one of them in a scared tone. They heard a hiss from behind them and turned around, to be petrified.

"Good job, Sam," Harry complemented the snake. "Let's go back to the chamber so you can eat."

"Yes master," the snake hissed in anticipation of a fat juicy cow.

'What about the puff?' Daphne asked. 'Are we going to leave him here?'

Harry smiled. 'Yes. The boy will be thoroughly questioned. The professors will find out about the bullying and maybe they'll uncover their eyes and pull out the fingers from their ears. Maybe they'll finally do something about the bullies from this school. At the very least, the school will know someone or something has something against the junior death eaters.

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Luna

The next day, Harry and the girls met with Luna in Hufflepuff's hidden chamber.

"So, three more," Luna said. "It won't take long for someone to find out about the similar events from the past. If you keep petrifying purebloods, you may get into trouble."

"Don't worry. We have everything planned out."

"Very well, Harry," Luna sighed, "If you're sure ... anyway, I had potions with Snape today. He was really angry," she said smiling at the memory.

Daphne nodded. "The professors are getting awfully preoccupied with it. I heard they're going to buy the ingredients that are missing from making a potion to cure the petrified students; I think they want to cure them before Christmas."

"That's strange," Luna said. "When Voldemort petrified them, the kids were cured at the end of the school year."

"Of course they were," Harry snorted. "After all, they were not purebloods. If the professors waited a few months to harvest the ingredients from the school's gardens, they wouldn't have to expend so much money. After all, who cares if muggleborns remain frozen for almost a year? If they are purebloods however, it's a completely different thing."

"You're right," Daphne nodded. "If something happens to a muggleborn or a half-blood, no one cares. But if it happens to a powerful pureblood, it's a grave matter."

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A weak later, Harry petrified another Slytherin. This time, the professors were even more worried.

The next day, at dinned, aurors came in through the doors of the great hall.

Dumbledore stood up with a furious expression on his face. "What is the meaning of this?"

One of the aurors stepped forward. "Headmaster Dumbledore, we have reason to believe that one of your students is responsible for the petrification committed upon five purebloods. We have reason to believe this person has a dark artifact in her possession. The minister himself authorized this action."

"Very well," Dumbledore sighed. "But I hope we will find this proof. I will be very displeased if I find out that one of my students was accused unjustly."

Two aurors advanced upon the Gryffindor table. They stopped in front of Ginny Weasley and the girl squeaked in fear. "Ms. Weasley, please stand up."

The small redhead looked like she was about to cry. "Me?" she asked fearfully.

Ginny's brothers - Fred, George and Ron stood up, wands in their hands.

"Mr. Weasley, sit down," Mcgonagal told the three boys. She glared at them until they grudgingly obeyed. "Good," she nodded. "Do not worry; I will see that this business is taken care of."

Dumbledore, the heads of house, the aurors and Ginny left the hall.

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After the aurors left, Harry and the girls met with Luna.

"Harry? What is happening?" Luna asked angrily. "Why are the aurors thinking Ginny is guilty? Did you have anything with it?"

"Is she a friend of yours?" Harry asked.

Luna nodded. "Before my mom died, we were pretty close."

"I see," said Harry. "Don't worry; Ginny isn't in any danger. I guess I should tell you more about what is going on," he sighed. Harry told the girl an abbreviated story of what was going on. After all, she was not yet fully trusted. They could not tell her about their greatest abilities.

"So, let me get this straight," Luna said when Harry finished. "You saw Lucius Malfoy put a dark artifact in Ginny's bag. You somehow broke in the Weasley house and stole it. Then, you used legilimency on a house elf that belongs to Malfoy, and you found out that Malfoy gave the dark artifact to Ginny in hopes of the artifact taking control of her, and ordering your pet Sam to petrify those who were not purebloods."

"Yes," Harry nodded, "that's about it. You'll get the full story on Christmas, but for now, this will have to suffice."

"So Malfoy got worried that only purebloods are petrified and he decided to put a stop to it," Luna said.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "However, Ginny doesn't have the diary, she was never in contact with it, and so she has no taint from it. The aurors will have no choice but to let her go."

"And Malfoy will get very worried," Daphne said.

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The next day, at breakfast Dumbledore explained that the aurors received false information from an anonymous source. "Ms. Weasley is in no way responsible for the petrification," he said. "Also, I am happy to tell you that tomorrow, the students will be cured."

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When the petrified students woke up, they only remembered two large yellow eyes and then, nothing.

Someone, probably a Ravenclaw who somehow found out about the similar incident in the past, or one of the professors who certainly knew why Hagrid was expelled and why, or Malfoy who started it, said something to someone about the similar case. The next days, rumors were all around the school. The same thing happened decades before. The only difference was that when it happened in the past, there was also a message written in blood; it was a message from the heir of Slytherin.

While in the past no one knew who the heir was, now they knew. Harry himself admitted it when he came face to face with Voldemort. He was able to talk to the snakes. The Daily Prophet said he was a Dark Lord, he didn't like Dumbledore and he was disgusted by the death eaters. All those who were attacked came from families suspected of being death eaters.

Harry Potter certainly looked guiltier than Ginny Weasley. And Harry Potter looked guiltier than Hagrid as well.

Harry James Potter, Lord Potter, Lord Slytherin, boy-who-lived and the next Dark Lord was now the primary suspect, just as he wanted to.

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Author's Notes: Not too much happened in this chapter, but it had to be said. Next chapter, we'll have the end of the semester and Christmas.

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Please review. Any input would be appreciated.

Published: January 25 2009.

-voider-

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