Disclaimer: Not mine! Hers! Blame Her!
Chapter 9
Shacklebolt did meet with Harry the next day to discuss what occurred.
"Snape only knows that a plot has been put in place that will rid the school of muggle-born. It does seem to have originated with Malfoy's father."
"And we still can't do anything about him?"
"No."
"How about outside the law? Pick him up, beat him up until he tells us what's going on?"
"I'm an auror. I can't condone that. We have to work by the book. However, I have informed my boss. Dumbledore wasn't happy about that, let me tell you."
"He's going to be even more unhappy if he reads the upcoming Quibbler."
"Oh, give another interview?"
"No. It just happened that we interviewed Malfoy while a reporter for the magazine was on the landing with us."
Shaklebolt's eyes widened in surprise. "And we didn't notice?"
Harry shrugged. "She's a student. This will be her first article. I promised to help her write it, as long as my name doesn't show up as an author. Talking about politics! That would be stepping right into it."
The Defense professor agreed.
Harry explained his recruitment of the ghosts, and his other plan.
"Assuming the Chamber of Secrets is important to this scheme, I'll begin searching for it in the lower dungeons. The Slytherins seem to like it, the slugs, so I'll start there. There's a good chance that I won't find it, but just in case. . . . And I'll feel better doing something."
"Keep me informed. Did you really find Hufflepuff's secret chambers the first day in the castle?"
"I saw the door the first day. It was a few weeks after that that I hunted down the opening mechanism."
"Well, good luck with your search."
ADND
It was about two weeks later, the search of the dungeons had led to the discovery of an old, unused classroom hidden behind a suit of armor, a corridor with barred cells through a secret door, and an empty broom closet with an unnoticeability spell on the door and a large, comfy chair inside a few dozen paces from the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room.
Yesterday, the Slytherins had beat the Gryffindors at their strange flying game, Quidditch. The Gryffindors had dominated the game, point wise, until the capture of the little golden ball by Malfoy.
This morning, though, there was something wrong. It began at the Gryff's table, and spread from there to the 'Claws, and finally reached the 'Puffs. Someone was attacked last night - a first year Gryff was in the hospital. Harry got up and headed there.
There were a number of first years outside the hospital wing. They were sitting on benches that seemed to be there for visitors who were waiting to see friends. From them, he learned the name of the student, Colin Creevey. Harry tried the door, but it was locked. He knocked.
"Yes? Mr. Ranger, isn't it? Are you injured?" the healer asked.
"No, Healer Pomfrey. . . ."
"Then go away. No visitors allowed."
"By who's orders?"
"Dumbledore's."
Harry nodded, and said, "I'll be back with permission. Meanwhile, what is the extent of his injuries?"
"I can't tell you that."
"You will, Healer Pomfrey, when I come back." Harry hurried away.
He went to the Great Hall first, under the assumption that Dumbledore would be there. He wasn't, but Defense Professor Shacklebolt was.
"Professor, you heard the rumors?"
"Yes, Mr. Ranger. I was hoping that Dumbledore would come down and explain it."
"I'm looking for him now. We need more information, and I'm afraid that the longer we take, the colder the trail is going to get."
"You are right. Let's go to his office."
They made their way up three flights of stairs to the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Reaching the door, there was a "Come in, Kingsley, Harry," from Dumbledore.
The investigators entered.
"You heard?" Dumbledore asked.
"We should have heard from you!" Harry spat out. "What happened?"
"Minerva was going down to the kitchens for some hot chocolate. She found him in the corridor between the central staircase and the Entrance Hall on the first floor. He had a tray of snacks that he probably got from the kitchens. Besides that, we don't know anything."
"And the extent of his injuries?"
"Petrified, like Argus' cat."
"Can it be reversed?"
"Yes, once the mandrakes are matured, Professor Snape can create a reviving potion."
Harry looked at the two older men. "What could cause the petrification?"
"I would guess a very powerful spell, but I don't know of any spell that would do that."
"Yet you have a potion that will reverse the effects?"
"Yes."
Harry put hit palm to his face in frustration. "What. Causes. The. Effect. That. The. Potion. Is. Used. To. Counter?" This was the greatest wizard in the world? He wondered.
"A medusa or a cockatrice. I've heard of spell misfires that have caused partial petrification. I think it's a side effect of a muscle strengthening spell that goes wrong. There are two poisons, both made from cockatrice parts, that will cause petrification, but it isn't instantaneous, taking three days for the more expensive, difficult one, and over a week for the other. They both have similar effects, though, starting at the extremities, and slowly working towards the core. Due to the time it takes, they usually aren't fatal as the victims can get cured."
"So Mr. Creevey is dead? How can he be revived? You haven't any clerics like ours on this world."
"He is just petrified, my boy," Dumbledore said, condescendingly. "He'll be right as rain as soon as the potion is given."
"And how soon until that happens? He may have information on his attacker."
"The mandrakes won't be ready until spring."
"And you will leave a student petrified that long?"
"He's perfectly fine. Just petrified."
"Anything else you can tell us, Headmaster Dumbledore?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore just smiled and shook his head.
"Let's go, auror. We have work to do."
"What more could you possibly do?"
Harry looked at the headmaster angrily and said, "Lots."
As they left the spiral staircase, Harry asked, "So, was he ignorant or trying to hide something?"
"I'd say ignorant. Otherwise, he could have tried to keep us from the investigation through misdirection or stonewalling."
"Alright, so he's not necessarily a suspect. You should talk to Professor McGonagall; you're both teachers. I'll talk to the Gryffindors, and whoever gets done first goes to the kitchens. Oh, and can you get some of that reviving potion? I'm not familiar enough with your world to know where you would get something like that."
"Yes. And we might want to bring in the real aurors, too."
Harry found out that the Gryffindors had a party after the game, despite the loss. They consoled themselves with the fact that they gained so many more points during the regular part of the game, the Slytherins played violently and Referee Hooch didn't catch all the infractions, and their opponents had been given new, faster brooms from Malfoy's father. They had butterbeer and harder stuff, and lots of snacks. However, during the party the snacks had started to run low, so Colin was ordered to go get some more from the kitchens.
"Why Colin?"
Olliver Wood, who was answering most of the questions, shrugged. "He knew where the kitchens were. He's also a bit taken advantage of - he's very excited to be a wizard, and will do just about anything an older witch or wizard asks if they show him some new magic."
"Did he go alone?"
"I think so. I don't think anyone went with him." None of the others around thought he went with anyone. He got an approximate time from the students. One student thought he remembered Colin leaving with someone, but wasn't paying attention. Harry left the common room.
Standing outside the portrait guarded entrance, he thought about what he heard and what he knew and didn't know.
"Are you going to stand out here all day, young man?" the painting asked him.
"Just thinking. I wonder if you might answer some questions?"
ADND ADND
"We probably can't get the potion until tomorrow," Shacklebolt told him. "The apothecary isn't open on Sundays. St. Mungo's might have some. I haven't checked. Did the elves have anything useful?"
"No, just that he came alone around eight thirty, which corresponds to when he's said to have left the Gryff common room. However, I found a whole bunch of witnesses who said he wasn't alone when he started."
"Really? Who was with him."
"Genevra Weasley. She left him somewhere around the third floor, and later returned to the Gryffindor tower alone."
"That doesn't make sense. The Weasleys have been on the Light side for, well, forever. There's never been a Weasley who was accused of being a Dark Wizard."
"Question, do we take her in for questioning now, or after we have the potion. If she can petrify someone with a spell, it might be safer to have only one of us approach her, and the other ready with the potion, just in case."
"Agreed. I'll check with St. Mungo's."
"Did Professor McGonagall have any helpful information?"
"Yes, he had put down the box of snacks, and was trying to take a picture of his assailant at the time he was hit by the spell. It probably destroyed his camera; when they checked it to see if he succeeded in capturing his assailant, the film was burned."
"Another piece of the puzzle that doesn't make any sense."
ADND ADND ADND
While Auror Shacklebolt checked into getting some of the reviving potion from someplace, Harry went back to the hospital wing. Most of the first year Gryffindors were still there. He noticed that the littlest Weasley was there and that she looked like she was very upset and had been crying.
"I'll try to get you in to see him, if you wait a bit."
Harry knocked, and once again, Pomfrey tried to keep him out.
"Sorry, Healer, but this time I do have permission to see Mr. Creevey."
"Very well, but I don't see what good it will do."
Harry wasn't sure either, but wanted to see for himself. As he was brought to the bed, he stopped suddenly, startled.
"He's been turned to stone!"
"Yes, Mr. Ranger. I thought everyone knew by now that he had been petrified."
"Yes, but I was thinking of the Petrificus Totalus spell. It stiffens you up, but doesn't actually turn you to stone."
"Yes, well this is really stone."
"And a potion will restore him?"
"Yes. You just sort of pour it on the mouth, slowly, and as it works it's way in, it restores him. He'll be just fine by the end of the school year."
"Hopefully, by the end of today," Harry said.
"What? The mandrakes won't be ready for months!"
"Yes, but there's more mandrakes in the world than the castle hot-houses produce, and there's more sources of potions than Potion Master Snape."
"Well, yes, but. . . ."
"Is there any reason not to go elsewhere to get the potion?"
"It would be an insult to Professor Snape."
Harry was about to reply, when he thought about Journeyman Drisco, the leather worker. If Harry needed a scabbard, he'd give the Journeyman time to do it, rather than pick one up in Shrewsbury. Disco was part of the community of Blue Mountain. If he couldn't make a living there, he would have to move on, and Harry liked his work. He had made the straps that held Harry's Bag of Holding, as well as a number of other leather items Harry owned.
"Unfortunately, we can't wait. We think Colin will have information on the attacker. He was, after all, trying to take his picture." Harry indicated Colin's hands which were held up next to his face. "The sooner we find out what is going on, the more chance we have to avoid further attacks."
The healer nodded slowly.
"I have another question for you: do you have a private room here?" Harry asked, looking at the various doors in the walls of the large hall. Creevey's bed was surrounded by privacy curtains, but there seemed to be more doors than would be needed for just storage and restroom facilities.
"The teacher's room is unused at the moment. Professor Kettleburn has been very careful so far this year. Why?"
"Auror Shacklebolt and I will want some place private to conduct some interviews."
"I suppose you can use it."
"Good. Uh, is there any reason to keep his friends out? It will probably help them to see him, even if there's nothing they can do. At least they will have some facts, rather than just hear-say or rumor."
"But they have to leave him alone; chips and cracks while he's petrified can be very serious when he's revived."
"I'll guarantee than he's protected if you let me let his friends in."
"Very well. But this is a hospital, so they have to keep the noise down."
"I'll make sure of that, too."
Harry went to the door and looked out. About six first years were out there, including Genevra and Luna Lovegood, who appeared to be comforting her friend.
"As long as you don't touch him and don't make much noise, you can visit him."
They jumped up and crowded the door where Harry was standing.
"Calm down, relax, and follow me."
He led them to the statue that used to be Colin Creevey. This seemed to upset the Weasley girl even more.
"Don't worry. They'll soon have him fixed. Ginevra? Do you want to talk about it? You're very upset."
She shook her head, and ran out of the room.
"Alright, everyone out. I think I better find Miss Weasley before she does something that she'll regret. Out!"
"I'll try to follow her," Luna said, running after her friend.
Harry got the others out, and started using the new information source he had discovered.
He went up to a portrait, and asked, "Did you see one or two first year girls go running past?"
"Yes, they were in quite a hurry and went that way." He pointed the way that Harry was going. Harry took off running until he came to the central staircase. The tall room had portraits on all levels and in between.
Harry asked another painting, and went down two floor. Second floor was where the Library was, but it was also where he had been earlier in the day. He ran straight for the girl's bathroom where he was sure Weasley went. He looked in, but it was empty.
"You can't be in here. This is the girl's bathroom!"
Harry turned to the end of the room where he was sure no one had been a moment before. There was a ghost there. It appeared to be a student.
"Hello, Miss Ghost. I am Ranger Harry. Or, as they often call me, Harry Ranger. What is your name?" Harry included a bow in the introduction. He had heard of this ghost, and thought maybe if he flattered her, he would avoid her moaning.
The ghost was a little surprised at the formal greeting. "I'm Myrtle Huntington. I was killed in this very bathroom."
"I'm very sorry to hear that. You didn't see two girls come running in here, did you?"
"No. You're the first person in here today. Most people avoid this bathroom."
"Did you see anyone here last night?"
"No, I was, um, someplace else last night."
"Thank you. I'll probably be back."
"That's alright. I like talking to you, Ranger Harry."
Harry left and stood outside. If they didn't come here, where did they go. The only other major destination on the second floor was the Library. Harry went there.
Harry checked with the librarian, Miss Pince. He found out that the two girls had come in here, and were then told to leave, because the red headed one was crying too loudly.
Harry figured there were two places that Luna would take her, assuming Luna could direct her. One was the Gryffindor common room. The other was back to the hospital wing to get some calming potion. Harry had heard about it; sometimes things got too difficult for the students and they had anxiety attacks. Theoretically, the camaraderie of the 'Puffs kept that from happening too often, and the drive to have the best grades caused it to happen most often among the 'Claws.
Harry decided to try the Gryffindor tower under the assumption if Weasley got a calming potion, she would be put into a bed in the hospital. Heading up the main staircase he met Luna coming down.
"Hello, Luna."
"Hullo, Harry."
"How's your friend?"
"She's very upset, and I'm not sure why. This isn't like her."
"Maybe she was good friends with Colin?"
"Maybe. It's hard to know when we're in different houses. But when we have classes together, which is Transfigurations and Charms, they don't sit together very much."
Harry nodded. "What did you think of Colin? Ever hear of anything like that?"
"Cockatrice could do it, but you can't hide one of them. A Medusa, but if that were the case, I think there would be more statues. They tend to collect them."
"So I've heard. A gorgon would do it. . . ."
"'Gorgon' is just another name for a medusa. Actually, the three Gorgons were orignally cursed women, and one of them was named Medusa ," Luna explained.
"Not where I'm from. Medusa are women with snake hair, and gorgons are metal armored bulls. Basilisks could do it with a look. They're supposed to be really slow, though."
"I never heard that. And I didn't think they petrified you, I thought they killed you with a look."
"Maybe we're talking about different creatures with the same name again. Basilisk - eight legged lizard, big spike on its nose, turns people to stone with its gaze, will turn itself to stone if it looks at a reflection of its own eyes?"
"No. Basilisk, the king of snakes thus large, kills with a look. Oh, my!"
"What?"
"Can be killed by hearing a cock crow. All of Rubeus' roosters have been killed since school started."
"But Mr. Creevey was turned to stone, not killed."
"I'll have to look it up. Maybe I'm misremembering something."
"Alright, I'll go check with Games keeper Hagrid, you go to the library. Just be careful, alright?"
"You, too. If whoever it is thinks you are getting close, they will attack you."
Harry discovered that during the week or so before All Hallows Hagrid's roosters were killed. He didn't know anything else about it, except that his chickens were alright. Harry shook his head. Wizards! Didn't they have any common sense? A highly unusual event - just the roosters being killed, followed by another highly unusual event - the petrification of a cat, and he doesn't think to bring it up? Harry admitted that he wouldn't have known of the basilisk connection, but someone might!
He headed back into the castle.
Most of the morning was gone, so Harry made his way to the Great Hall for lunch. He didn't see Genevra, but did see her brothers. He went over to them.
"Hello Misters Weasley."
"Hello Mr. Ranger," one of the twins said.
"How may we help you again?" the other asked. He had interviewed them in their common room about Colin.
"Just worried about your sister. She was very upset when she saw Mr. Creevey in the hospital. She went running off, and a friend of hers took her back to your tower. Just want to make sure she's fine."
"She was in her dorm room last we heard."
"Hadn't left it since coming back with Luna."
"Keep an eye on her. I think the attacks are hitting her pretty hard."
"We will."
"Thanks for caring about our sister. You know she had a crush on you."
Harry looked at them with a surprised expression.
"Ever since she was a little girl, she had dreams of marrying the Boy-Who-Lived. Her daydreams were shattered when she found out you went off and grew up without her."
"Wonderful! I'm already gaining a reputation in my own world I have to deal with. This, I don't need."
"What sort of reputation are you getting?"
"That I come back from adventures where very few if anyone else does. It's not true, but it's my reputation at the moment. Or was when I left my world about three years ago."
"Better you than us, mate."
Harry shook his head. "Yeah. I don't think I could stand a reputation as a prankster."
The twins grinned at him as he made his way back to the Hufflepuff table.
During lunch, Auror Shacklebolt returned and waved Harry to the doors of the Great Hall. Harry quickly excused himself, and left with the tall auror.
"I got it from St. Mungos. I had to get the head of Magical Law Enforcement to contact them and release it to me, but I got it."
"Ginevra is in the common room. Miss Lovegood thinks that this might be a basilisk that we're facing because all the roosters have been killed. She's going to check on the petrification thing. Ginevra was very upset about Mr. Creevey's attack. I don't know if she's faking it, or really upset. We can use the potion to revive the victim and question him, and if he confirms what I've heard, then we go get Miss Weasley."
"Sounds like a good plan. Let's get to the hospital."
Colin revived slowly as Healer Pomfrey dribbled the potion into him. First his lips softened, which allowed them to open some, which allowed more potion into him. Eventually, the rest of him started softening. The healer stated that he would be alright when she saw that he started breathing. It took about a half hour for him to be completely restored.
"Mr. Creevey. Glad to see you awake," Shacklebolt told him. "I do have a few questions for you."
"And I have some too," Colin replied, looking around. "How did I get here?"
"You were brought in last night. Did you get a good look at what happened to Mr. Filch's cat?"
"Not really, all I heard was that she was petrified."
"Correct, she was turned to stone. Which brings me to you. Last night you were sent to get some snacks and encountered something that you wanted to take a picture of. Can you tell me what you saw?"
"It was a snake. The biggest snake I've ever seen. I got my camera up to take its picture, and that's the last thing I remember. Wait! What about Ginny?"
"Was she with you?"
"Not when I met the snake. She went off at the second floor to use the bathroom, and said she'd meet me on the way back to the central stairway."
"Maybe that's why she's so upset?" Harry asked.
"Maybe," Shacklebolt answered.
"So, she's safe?"
"Yes, physically, Mr. Creevey," Harry said. The boy looked at Harry and then his eyes widened.
"You're Harry Potter!"
Harry put his palm to his face and turned away, shaking his head.
He heard Shacklebolt explaining the name change to the boy. Harry called out, "I'll go get Miss Weasley."
He reached the Gryffindor common room's picture and asked the Fat Lady if Miss Weasley was still in the tower. He was told that she wasn't. He rolled his eyes, wondering where she might be, and headed back down to the Great Hall. While, admittedly, going down seven flights of stairs was easier than climbing them, Harry felt that the castle was too tall for it's own good. It certainly was too big for the number of students in it.
In the Great Hall he checked the Gryffindor table, but she wasn't there. He asked some of the other first years if they knew where she was, but they didn't and she hadn't been down to dinner. He headed back to the Hospital Wing. At the landing of the grand staircase in the Entrance Hall there was a sign.
Her bones will lie in the Chamber of Secrets forever!
Harry rolled his eyes and headed to the second floor. As expected, the portraits reported that the youngest Weasley was heading in the direction of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Harry entered and found it empty.
"Myrtle," he called softly. She appeared from one of the stalls.
"Hello, Ranger Harry."
"Myrtle, did you see anyone come in here in the last half hour or so?"
"Yes, a little red haired girl came in, and said something to that sink over there. The sink moved, showing an opening. She hissed something, and steps appeared in the hole, a spiral staircase. She went down, and the whole thing closed up."
Harry went over to the sink in question. He tried the taps, but they didn't work.
"They haven't worked at least since I was alive, and that was fifty years ago."
Harry saw the small symbol of a snake on the pipe. He scratched his head, thanked the ghost, and left. He found Shacklebolt still in the hospital, but worried about him, because of the time it was taking to get back.
"Don't know what's going on. Miss Weasley has gone to the Chamber of Secrets. . . ."
"You know where it is?"
"Yes. But before she went, she left a note saying 'Her bones will lie in the Chamber forever.' This isn't making sense."
"Where is the Chamber?"
"Through Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But we still have the basilisk to consider. How do you kill one? I know how to fight them in my world, but its a completely different animal here."
"They are extremely rare, and extremely dangerous."
"Wait, Luna said they could be killed by a cock's crow. Gameskeeper Hagrid is out of roosters, think someone in Hogsmeade might have one?"
"Or we could transfigure one," Shacklebolt said with a smile.
"Or get a Professor of Transfiguration to create a bunch."
"The more the merrier! You check the Great Hall, I'll check her office. We'll meet at Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."
"See you there!" They left Colin in the care of Madame Pomfrey, and went their separate ways.
Harry headed for the Great Hall but ran into a stream of students being led by the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw prefects. They were on their way to the central staircase to return to their towers. Something had happened in the Entrance Hall, and they were being sent to their common rooms.
Harry hurried to the Entrance Hall, and found most of the teaching staff at the landing.
Harry went up the stairs to the landing and saw them clumped around the warning sign.
"Professor McGonagall," Harry called to get her attention.
"Mr. Ranger, we are really quite busy here."
"Yes, I know, Miss Weasley has gone to the Chamber of Secrets. But Slytherin's monster is a basilisk, and Professor Shacklebolt wants you transfigure a bunch of roosters for us."
"How do you know about Miss Weasley?" she asked, shocked. "We haven't gotten a count of missing students yet!"
"The portraits saw her. Please, Professor, if we're going to save her, time may be important, and we need those roosters."
"Oh, very well. I'll transfigure some for you, and then send some to common rooms. A basilisk? You're sure?"
"As sure as we can be without seeing it."
"Now, we need something to transfigure. Having it about the same size would be useful. . . ."
Harry reached into his bag of tricks, and pulled out some books. He checked the names, in case he had to replace them, put one back (a tome from his own world that was virtually irreplaceable), and pulled out a few others. McGonagall turned three books into cages and another three into the birds. Harry caged them up, thanked the professor, who was explaining that they were facing a basilisk, and left.
McGonagall thought Albus' question after she told him about the basilisk was not what she expected.
"Who told you this?"
"Mr. Ranger. He and Kingsley figured it out."
"Very good. Have the prefects taken roll yet and given us a list of missing students?"
"No, but Mr. Ranger also said that Miss Weasley went into the Chamber."
Albus' eyes widened. "He found it? Where is it?"
"Er, I don't know. He didn't say."
"Which way did he go?" When Minerva pointed the way towards the Great Hall, the Headmaster ran off.
"But they wouldn't enter the Chamber by themselves, would they?" she called after him. Then she thought about his adventure the previous year with Hufflepuff's rooms. Yes, she said to herself, Harry would.
Harry reached the bathroom without encountering anyone. He found Shacklebolt already there.
"Got three. Let's check that sink."
Harry was sure that there was some mechanism for opening the sink, but was unable to find it.
"How about we just blast it?" he asked.
"Sounds like a plan. A messy plan, but a plan, none the less. On three. One. Two. Three. Reducio!"
The sink disappeared in a spray of pipes, ceramic, and wood. Beneath it was the described hole, the steps still in place.
As Harry was about to begin the descent, Kingsley stopped him.
"I'll go first. After all, I am the teacher."
"If you insist. But before we go, I'd like to get some weapons."
Harry pulled out his sword and scabbard from his bag, along with his magic knife. He then nodded to Kingsley, and they stepped onto the spiral staircase.
This one, like the one to the Headmaster's office, started moving. The steps spun round and down the pipe, new steps appearing at the top, so Harry could get on the escalator. They went down for a long way. Shacklebolt lit his wand in the darkness. The rooster he held crowed. Harry pulled out a lantern and lit that. The pipe still went down.
"We're pretty deep. You don't suffer from claustrophobia, do you Harry?"
"No. Considering some of the caverns I've been in, I would be dead now if I did. Wonder how far down this goes?"
"Only one way to find out."
And still it went deeper.
"I certainly hope the steps reverse themselves when it's time to go up," Harry remarked.
"It would be painful to climb all that way."
"At least it would have steps. Imagine trying to climb this pipe without them?"
"Nearly impossible. I've reached the bottom."
Harry did, too, a moment later. They began exploring their location. The first room was filled with animal skeletons. A further one had a giant snake's skin.
"Looks more and more like a snake-basilisk," Harry remarked.
Finally they reached a large, round, metal door.
"Like a giant hobbit hole," Harry remarked. "Except for the snake motif, and the metal. See any way to open it?"
"Probably a secret word, like the sink."
"Of which we don't know. I can try to pop the hinges."
"If you do we will kill you," said one of bas-relief snakes.
"How about tell me how to open the door, then," Harry replied. But half way through, the door started opening on its own.
"What was that?" Kingsley wanted to know.
"I speak snake," Harry answered. "I've done it all my life. Some people don't like it, though, so I usually keep it to myself. Usually my adventuring companions find out, as we always seem to run into giant snakes in underground lairs."
"Got any ideas?" Kingsley asked, looking into the dimly lit, but still illuminated, Chamber.
"Yes, you go along that wall, I'll go along this wall. If we see Weasley, we stun her and figure out later what's going on. If one of us goes out into the open for any reason, the other stays to the side ready to light up their wand and make the cock crow to kill any basilisks that happen by."
"I'll go along with that. Do this often?"
"Attack an unknown enemy in an underground lair? Far too often to consider it accidental. Let's go, and quiet. Stealth and surprise are our friends."
Kingsley chuckled at that, and nodded. They slipped into the large room and went their separate ways. Harry, trained and more used to moving quietly, did so quickly. He was most of the way to the other end of the Chamber when he saw the body. He moved behind one of the snake decorated pillars, and looked. It appeared to be Miss Weasley and someone else. Harry put one of his two roosters on the ground near the pillar. He then moved silently towards the figures.
As he got closer, he confirmed that the one on the ground was Miss Weasley. He still didn't recognize the other, although Harry could now tell that he was wearing Slytherin robes.
"Step back from the girl," he said, brandishing both his wand and his sword.
"What do you think you can do with that?" the figure asked, pointing at Harry's sword. Harry took a test swing which should have gone through the figures' robes, which it did, and cut them, which it didn't. It passed through them as if they weren't there.
"Ginny said you were muggle raised. How pathetic."
"Then Ginevra told you wrong. Who are you?"
"I'm Tom Riddle. I was head boy in Hogwarts fifty years ago."
"Another ghost!" Harry said with disgust.
"No! I'm a memory! I'm the memory of Tom Riddle that he committed to paper. And You're Harry Potter! Poor Ginny was so disappointed that you had grown up some how and left her behind. She was just broken-hearted."
"So, you what? Forced her to do your bidding?"
"Hardly. Hardly any force, either. No, I just sort of borrowed her body when I needed things done. Much easier that way."
"And why won't she wake up?"
"Because that would allow her to fight back. I'm slowly draining her life force, and will soon have all of it, leaving poor Ginny without any life left."
"Well, you've failed. We'll stop you."
"You can't. It's unstoppable now. Soon I will be fully corporeal! I'm getting solider. I think I can even pick up Ginny's wand." He did so, and cast a spell at Harry. Harry jumped out of the way, and returned a disarming spell of his own. Riddle stopped it with a shield.
"This is useless. You're only at third year. I'm way beyond seventh! You can't stop me!"
But as he was speaking a red beam of spell light came from the far wall and hit him in the back. The semi-corporeal wizard fell forward, dropping Weasley's wand. Harry dove, picked it up, and was back on his feet before Riddle finished his fall. The remnant shook his head and started to get up.
"He's disarmed," Harry called to Kingsley. Kingsley came out, wand in one hand, cage with rooster in the other.
"It doesn't matter!" Riddle said. "You can't defeat me. I told you, the process is unstoppable!"
"What process?" Kingsley wanted to know.
"He's draining Miss Weasley's life force. Quickly, take her and go. Dumbledore or Pomfrey might be able to stop it. I'll see if I can take care of semi-hard, here." He again slashed his sword through the student, who was just standing up, but again, it just passed through him.
"Good luck," Kingsley said, acknowledging Harry's plan. He levitated Weasley, tossed her over his shoulder, and ran out.
Meanwhile, Riddle was talking to the giant statue. "Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!"
Kingsley ran out of the room, leaving Harry to watch as the mouth of the statue opened.
"Luminos!" Harry said, lighting his wand. He waved it over the rooster, but nothing happened.
"You didn't notice, but I blinded your rooster with a cataract hex as you were walking up. He'll never see dawn again. But then, neither will you!"
"Oh, spare me the cheesy villain lines, Riddle. I eat evil wizards like you for breakfast."
"Now look who has cheesy lines! Slytherin's monster, kill him!"
The command to the snake had been given in snake language.
Harry responded in the same language, "King of snakes! Don't fight me. I am not your enemy."
"No, but you will be my dinner."
"I warned you!" Harry chanted and pulled a sprig of mistletoe from his belt pouch. He hoped he could get the spell off before the snake reached him.
"What are you doing?" Riddle demanded. "Nothing you do will save you!"
Harry reached the end of the spell, and spoke to the rooster.
"As your life depends on it, crow, my friend. Crow like the sun itself needs awakening."
Harry had cast the Druidic Speak with Animals spell correctly and the rooster complied. The bird crowed, and suddenly, there was silence behind Harry, where before there was the sound of the snake approaching.
"NOOOO!" Riddle screamed. "I will not be defeated!" Harry tested his sword one last time and found it still ineffective. He sheathed it and pulled out his magic knife. It was the same knife with which he threatened the ghosts the day of his sorting.
"What are you going to do with that?" Riddle asked.
"It's a knife. What do you think a fighter will use a knife for?"
Riddle crossed his arms and smiled at him. "Your sword didn't work. Why should your knife?"
Harry slashed through Riddles neck. "Because it's a magic knife, stupid!" Riddle was bleeding light from the wound. Harry followed up by stabbing him in the stomach. Riddle's mouth opened in pain, but no sound came out, and he bent over, clutching his stomach in pain. Harry brought the knife down on his back, which slammed the ghost-thing into the floor. The holes were leaking light, and it was spreading. Suddenly, with a flash, Tom Riddle's memory was no more.
Harry looked at his knife and raised his eyebrow in surprise. There was no blood to clean off.
Harry picked up the two cages; he hadn't needed the second one, but it was nice to know that there was a backup plan. As Harry trudged out of the chamber, leaving a dead, 60 foot long snake behind, he realized that he wasn't being smart about this.
He put the caged birds down, and cast finite on both of them. There, in font of him, were four books. He collected the two that Kingsley had carried, put them away, and headed upstairs. The spiral staircase did go up, too.
ADND ADND ADND ADND
Harry was surprised to find that the sink had repaired itself in their absence. It slid over the opening as Harry stepped out. He saw no one in the corridors as he headed to the hospital wing.
There he met Shacklebolt and a wide awake Weasley girl. Kingsley was out of his robes, dressed in rather nice muggle clothes.
"How's she doing?" Harry asked.
"She's cold and exhausted, but otherwise unhurt. There's residue of a possession."
"Well, that explains why she 'kidnapped' herself to the Chamber of Secrets. Riddle was in control of her."
"I'm so sorry!" Weasley cried.
Harry patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You weren't responsible."
"But I kept using the diary, even after I thought it was dangerous."
"Ah, yes, the diary. Riddle mentioned something about one. Do you still have it?"
"No, we gave it Madame Pomfrey," Kingsley said. "She found some residue on the book, but nothing actively hostile now."
"So what's in it?" Harry wanted to know.
"See for yourself. Poppy? Can you summon the book?"
Pomfrey did that, and Harry opened it up. Every page was soaked in ink, it still hadn't dried.
"What happened?" Harry wanted to know.
"I was on the staircase and suddenly, she was waking up and shivering. Also, her pocket started to leak ink. Whatever you did, caused the thing to bleed out. It's virtually worthless as a book."
"Then I think that fixes the problem, except for Mr. Filch's cat's personality. I don't know about you, but I could use some food. I haven't really eaten since last night's dinner."
ADND ADND ADND ADND ADND
Dumbledore was not pleased with the fact that neither Kingsley nor Harry knew how to open the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was with them when they destroyed the sink to reveal a pipe, but the pipe had no steps in it. Except to go down by rope, and who knew how to come back up, there was no way to access it. And the bathroom repaired itself in about five minutes, so there was no guarantee that they would be able to get it open from below.
Snape was particularly angry that a whole, sixty-foot basilisk was just waiting down there to be harvested for potions ingredients and he couldn't do thing one about it.
Dumbledore, under direct questioning, admitted that Tom Riddle later changed his name to Lord Voldemort. Kingsley reported it to his boss, but a magical diary that tried to possess someone didn't make the Dark Lord undead. There was no proof that the unicorn killer of the previous year was Voldemort.
The strange thing to Harry's mind, was that Dumbledore didn't seem to care that no one shared his beliefs that Voldemort was coming back.
School moved on. Harry spent some time with Ginevra, trying to help her overcome her experience. He wasn't a healer, but Pomfrey didn't seem to think that the spirit needed to be healed after a possession. There was a man, a Fighter in Shrewsbury, that Harry had met once. He had been devastated by the violation that a Soul Jar had done to him. Harry hoped that he could help Ginny, as she preferred to be called, avoid that fate. Harry and the girl became friends; she said he reminded her of her big brother, Bill. This year, Harry did accept the invitation to the Weasley's for Christmas.
It was a very different affair than the previous year. The level of chaos in evidence was amazing, as was Mrs. Weasley's ability to withstand and overcome it.
Amidst all the confusion, Harry would get away and hike around the area. There were numerous farms in the county, as well as plenty of roads for automobiles.
It turned out that the Lovegoods lived in the area. Harry visited Luna and Od several times over Christmas break. Od was very pleased with his new reporter. She was happy to help her father. Harry helped Luna with an article on the Chamber of Secrets. He liked the final section where they speculated on where the diary came from.
How did this piece of Dark Lord paraphernalia end up in the possession of, and possessing, an eleven year old? The girl in question says it was found among her school books after a visit to Florish and Blotts book store before the school year. They certainly didn't buy the strange book there, and it is very unlikely that the book store stocked a diary that wouldn't show what was written in it and would write back to you.
So where did it come from? Here we enter the realm of speculation. Yet not wild speculations. It is known that many Slytherin students knew that the muggleborn were in danger this year (and didn't pass on that information to the authorities of either the school or the government). It is also known that the first person to exhibit this information and threaten the death of the muggleborn was Draco Malfoy. It is also known that his father worked with the Dark Lord, supposedly while under the imperius curse. And it is a further fact that Lucius Malfoy was in the book store when the student's books were bought, and handled at least one of them (in such a rude manner that her father and Malfoy got into a fist fight over it).
Those are the facts. Here is the speculation. If Mr. Malfoy supports the same anti-muggleborn ideals that his son so freely espouses at school, perhaps he thought that this object of dark magic would promote that agenda. Or, perhaps he had been given instructions by the Dark Lord to give the book to a Light Witch just entering Hogwarts ten years after he was killed as a method to restore himself to life from his memories. Whether that instruction was carried out because he supported the Dark Lord, or because he is still under the Imperius, is an open question that this reporter cannot answer.
Luna was getting better at reporting; Harry had to help her much less with this article than the one that reported the attack on the cat. Od Lovegood couldn't have been more pleased to see his daughter following in his footsteps. Harry enjoyed his visits with the strange family in their tower-like home.
He spent some time with the Tonks on Christmas day. Tonks was there, on break from classes. She filled Harry in on all the training - the dueling, combat in groups, detective spells, learning to think like a dark wizard. At least in her training 'dark' meant 'evil.' Harry just wasn't convinced it meant that to everyone, or that 'light' meant 'good.' But he avoided that topic, as it usually turned into a long argument with Tonks, and just enjoyed the day. The letters had become less, as Tonks and he were for the most part just doing routine work, and there's really not much you can say about routine in letter after letter. She let it be known that she was still interested in becoming his girlfriend. He still wouldn't give in while he was in the wrong Material Plane.
Soon the winter break was over, and Harry, Ginny, and Luna were back in school. Tonks was too, but that was a different school.
