I have had some people who've told me that I have made some errors in my story, overlapping some facts about Percy being a Parselmouth and Harry having trouble with the summoning charm. I am only human, and I had forgotten about those details. Percy CAN speak Parseltongue and Harry JUST learned the summoning charm. I went back and changed the summoning charm, but still haven't gotten off my lazy butt for the Parselmouth. I apologize, but after all I'm only human.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.
Thank you to my Beta (who I now call new again), Teufel1987. The help is much appreciated.
Twin Trios
Chapter 8
The hall erupted in turmoil. No one could believe that for the second year in a row a Weasley had been sorted in Slytherin; especially the Gryffindor Weasleys. For some reason, they had not been surprised when Ron had been sorted into the house of snakes but the fact that Ginny had also been placed there came as a major shock, judging by their reactions. Ray stood up.
"I demand a re-sort!" he cried out. "There is no way that my sister is an evil snake like that traitor brother of mine." The headmaster quickly stood up and the hall quieted down, though much slower than normal.
"Your request is granted, Mr. Weasley. Ms. Weasley, please place the hat on your head once again." While everybody had been complaining and discussing the surprising sorting, Ginny had been able to take the hat off and was slowly making her way towards the Slytherin table, and more specifically, towards Harry, Ron and Hermione.
However, seeing she had been ordered by none other than the Headmaster, she didn't have a choice. Ginny spun around and headed back up to the stood. In just less than a minute, the hat spoke again.
"SLYTHERIN," This time it was positive (at least, that's how it acted) and even a little bit angry that it had been forced to re-sort someone. For the second time that night, Ginny took off the hat, but this time she ran to the Slytherin table before anybody could stop her. The commotion dimmed after a while, and Professor McGonagall called out the next name. Harry thought he saw Dumbledore's face twist in displeasure at Ginny's sorting, but couldn't be sure.
After the sorting was finished and Transfiguration teacher had taken the stool and hat away, the Headmaster stood up.
"Welcome," He started. "To another year at Hogwarts; I trust that all of your heads have emptied out over the summer and you are back ready to learn. But before we get into all of that, dig in!"
He spread his old arms out and the food magically appeared on the tables from the kitchen. Harry's mouth watered instantly. The food that the elves prepared here was even better then the food that was made at home by his mother. Not that he would ever tell her that.
"Pass the chicken, Harry!" Ron asked him, his eyes looking like he was in dreamland. Harry guessed that starving on one meal a day would really do that to a guy. Ron was a growing boy, after all. Harry was slightly taller than Ron, but when Harry looked at his family, he thought that if Ron had been fed properly for his entire life, then he would be six inches or so taller than Harry.
Harry complied with the hungry boys' wish, grabbing the cut up chicken and gave it to Ron, who then dumped some onto his plate before starting to eye up the mashed potatoes. Harry felt himself get tapped on the shoulder and turned around.
There stood Ginny, looking like she was doing her best not to cry. Her fists were clenched, looking like they wanted to punch someone.
"Can I sit with you guys?" she asked in a weak voice, sounding like she was afraid they would be too cool to sit with her and say no.
"Of course you can!" Harry exclaimed and moved over so she took the seat between Ron and him. She sat down and started to slowly take food, looking down. Harry was just about to ask her what was wrong when he heard something that would soon become an established routine.
"I'm telling you, Ronald, a woman finds men who can eat politely attractive! It doesn't make them embarrassed to go out into public and eat with their man!"
Hermione's voice could be heard even over the noise of the great hall. Harry groaned. Classes hadn't even started yet and his two best friends were already at each other's throats.
"Why should I care if I'm attractive or not Hermione? I just want to be me and if they don't like that then they can deal with it." Ron shot back.
'Not a bad point,' Harry thought. Ron might even be able to scoop out a victory in this contest. Which was rare, since he usually wins once or twice per month. They argue at least twice per day, and even though sometimes it's a draw, Hermione is often the winner. Ron seemed to be better at looking at the entire picture, unlike Hermione, but was much slower.
"Um, Harry?"
Harry turned back to the redhead. He had almost forgotten that she was there, having been so amused by the fact that his friends were at it already.
"What are they doing?" She continued. "Ron never argues with anybody…"
"That," Harry told Ginny, "Is called the 'Ron and Hermione argument game'. You see, although we're all best friends, they argue loads. Every month, I have a tally of who wins the most. Last year it was always Hermione." He paused. "But they don't know that, so Shh!"
Ginny giggled and looked away. When she looked back Harry noticed that her eyes didn't look as upset as they did when she had come to ask to sit with him.
"So why were you upset?" He asked then immediately regretted it. Ginny instantly looked down again and her eyes started to tear up, even though she managed to hold it in.
"It's the other Slytherin girls…" she started, looking anywhere but at Harry. "They were calling me names and things like that." Her tone clearly said that she didn't want to discuss it anymore. But Harry really couldn't help it.
"They are?" he commented frowning. "Ginny, tell me the next time that happens. I'll talk to them."
Ginny frowned, but nodded anyways. With that, the topic turned to much happier things.
"So you play seeker for Slytherin, right? I keep meaning to ask you about that! You got it in your first year, youngest in the century, right? You must be amazing."
Harry blushed and looked down modestly. "Well, yeah I guess I'm pretty good. I've never missed catching the snitch." Ginny looked at him with an admiration that made him slightly uncomfortable.
"But that's not to say that the other seekers aren't as good," he hurried on. "I just got to the snitch faster…" He trailed off, realizing that he wasn't really helping the point that he was trying to prove. He just sat back and began to eat his chicken again. He looked over at Ron and Hermione and saw that Ron had a smug look on his face and Hermione was sulking. Ron must've won the first argument of the year.
When everybody was done Dumbledore stood up.
"Once again, welcome to your new year at Hogwarts! I hope that your heads have all emptied over the summer and are ready to learn new material. I would like to remind all students that they are to stay clear from the forbidden forest on the grounds. This is for your own safety. Also, I would like to remind students that the full list of banned items is outside of Mr. Filch's office, if anyone would like to check."
He was looked at the Weasley twins for both of the standard announcements, though Harry knew that he really didn't expect them to obey the rules.
"Also, we have a new staff member this year. Bravely taking on the post of Defence against the Dark Arts, we have Gilderoy Lockhart." Almost the entire female population of the school clapped enthusiastically at this, while the males were looking less than pleased, not that everybody didn't know this already.
"Now, off to bed!" Dumbledore called out. Harry didn't need any encouragement. He stood up stretching as the students started to go to the dormitories for the night.
"Come on Ginny, follow us," Harry called out to his friend, knowing she wouldn't want to be with those jerks that were making fun of her and her family. Ginny obliged and quickly followed the Slytherin trio out of the hall, into the dungeons and then to the common room.
"Salazar," Hermione told the wall. It opened, and at the questioning look on Harry and Ron's faces, she explained "I heard it from a prefect upstairs."
They walked in.
"The girls sleep there, Ginny," Harry pointed to the left door. "And the guys sleep there. You're allowed to come into our dorms, but we aren't allowed in yours."
"Got it," Ginny confirmed, nodding her head. "I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll be heading off to bed, okay?" The trio that may soon become a quartet all agreed they had no problem with that, as they went to bed not even five minutes later.
!#$%^&*
Harry woke up with a start to find something moving in his bed. He grabbed his wand and lit up the tip, revealing his friend the basilisk.
$ Callidus, what are you doing in my bed? It's two in the morning! $ Harry complained. The snake didn't seem to care since he had slept a lot on the train. Now that Harry thought of it, it wasn't surprising that all that the snake wanted to do was sleep. He was on Harry's wrist a lot.
$ I thought you might like to know that I was going exploring, but maybe I shouldn't have bothered. $ He hissed annoyed that his kindness hadn't been appreciated.
$ No, it's not that. I $ Harry tried to salvage the situation. $ I was just surprised to wake up and find something moving in my bed. Where are you going exploring? $
$ The chamber, $ was the answer that Harry got. $ I want to see if I can wake and befriend the basilisk in there. Perhaps find out some nice hunting grounds too. $
$ Be careful $ Harry whispered.
Callidus slithered onto the floor, landing with a decent thud that somewhat surprised Harry that his dorm mates didn't wake up to. The snake then started to slither away, so Harry rolled over and went back to sleep.
!#$%^&*
When Harry came down in the morning he found Ginny curled up in an armchair, writing in what looked like a black book. 'Probably a diary,' Harry thought. 'I've heard that some girls are into that sort of thing.' When she saw him she quickly put it away.
"Good morning Harry," she said to him in a tone that suggested that it was anything but. She looked really tired and her hair was a mess. At the same time, a different girl came down the staircase.
"Good morning Harry," said a smiling Daphne Greengrass with her perfectly done silky black hair. Harry blushed and tried to answer, though nothing came out. Daphne didn't seem to mind though and just giggled as she passed Harry, which to Harry was sort of odd, for the Slytherin that was normally quiet.
"Umm… Good morning Ginny," he tried to say, though it came out as a croak. At least he managed to actually say something. Clearing his throat and regaining his composure, Harry turned back to Ginny.
"How was your night," he asked, dreading the answer. She obviously had had a rough night and was not enjoying the school year so far. 'But to be far,' Harry thought. 'It's only just started. We haven't even had a day of classes yet.'
"It could've been better," she admitted, looking down at her feet. "But nothing I couldn't handle."
Harry looked at her and tried to say as neutral as he could. "I'm sure." Just then Hermione came down and joined them, her book bag full in case they didn't have time to come back to the dorm and get their books.
"Good morning Harry, Ginny," she greeted them. A murmured good morning was the answer from both Harry and Ginny. They waited in silence for Ron, though Harry had a feeling that Ron really wouldn't be coming down unless Harry went and got him.
The door of the boy's dorm opened and the three Slytherins looked up to see who it was, hoping that it was Ron and Harry wouldn't have to go get him for once. Alas, it was not to be as a head of platinum blond hair appeared flanked by two dark haired individuals. They watched as it made its way downstairs until the face of its owner showed up.
"Potty, Mudblood and Weaslette!" Draco Malfoy almost looked gleeful at having the chance to make fun of another Weasley this year. His name did stutter ever so slightly on Harry's though, Harry was pleased to notice. It appeared that Malfoy had learned something last year, even though it seemed like he showed no sign of stopping.
When nobody answered, he continued while smirking. "You know, I was thinking about trying out for Quidditch this year. My position is Seeker, did you know? I think my new Nimbus 2001 broom would be able to beat that junk that the current seeker uses, wouldn't you?"
Harry clenched his fists, trying not to be baited by the aristocrat and doing something he would regret later on. Hermione did the same as her could hear the paper that she was holding being squished. Ginny, on the other hand had no experience in keeping her temper with Malfoy.
"Yeah right! The current seeker was able to get on the team by his talent, not by buying his way onto the team. Besides, why would they want a new one when the current one has never missed the snitch and won them the cup last year?"
Malfoy smirked and looked slightly pleased that he had managed to bait one of the three into an argument. "Because," he said with no small amount of cockiness. "I'm far more qualified then that half-blood that currently is on the team. And by the way, what would you know about money, Weaslette?"
Ginny stepped forward like she was going to punch him, but was pulled back by a combined effort of Harry and Hermione. By the time they had gotten her calmed down, Malfoy had probably fled to the great hall for breakfast.
"I'm going to go and get Ron," Harry announced, afraid if they gave their friend any longer they wouldn't have any breakfast. He walked up the stairs, skipping every other step. He opened the door with a squeak to find that all the other Slytherin boys where already up, except for his best friend of course.
He walked over to Ron's bed and poked him. Ron stirred, and murmured something in his sleep before rolling over and pulling the covers over his head. Not even bothering to try again, Harry got a bucket and filled it with water from his wand. He then proceeded to dump it on his friend.
Grumbling about stupid friends with water and a drying charm later, Ron and Harry made their way downstairs to where Ginny and Hermione were waiting. Hermione had roped Ginny into a conversation about what her classes are going to be like, probably to distract her from the rise Malfoy had gotten out of her.
The four of them walked to breakfast. The hall was moderately full, some people having already gotten their schedules and left, but it wasn't unheard of for people to have slept in and rushed on the first day of classes. After some breakfast, Snape handed out their schedules. He gave Harry a curt nod before moving on to the rest of the tables.
"Why?" Ron groaned. "Why do we always have to have our potions lessons with the Gryffindors? And we have to be with them during Defence against the Dark Arts too! Merlin help us!"
"Shut up Ron," Hermione snapped back. "They aren't that bad as long as the professor doesn't try to make us partner them." Ron for once didn't answer that but he did look at Hermione's time table, just to gasp.
"Why are all of the Defence against the Dark Arts lessons highlighted on your timetable?" he asked, incredulously. Hermione tried to keep a blank face, but her cheeks still tinted slightly red as she mumbled an excuse, hastily stuffing her timetable in her bag.
The trio walked Ginny to her first lesson, which was Transfiguration before going off to their Herbology class. They got there just before the bell, which was a good thing because if they didn't then Harry was pretty sure that Hermione wouldn't talk to Ron for a day.
"Hurry up you three," Professor Sprout called out to them. We're going to be in green house three today. Grab some earmuffs and we'll be off."
Harry grabbed the last pair of non-pink earmuffs, much to Ron's dismay and embarrassment. The class laughed at his unfortunate situation. Hermione, on the other hand had absolutely no problem with wearing pink earmuffs. In her opinion, they were only for protection so it didn't matter what colour they were.
"Come on Harry!" begged Ron as Professor Sprout led the class to greenhouse three. "Why can't you wear the pink earmuffs? Pink is… uh… totally your colour." He finished lamely.
Harry stopped and gave Ron a look that clearly told him that he wasn't going to be able to change Harry's mind so he shouldn't even waste his breath trying. Around them people chatted about what they thought they would be doing this lesson.
They all went into the greenhouse and saw a table right at the entrance.
"Gather round," Professor Sprout called out. About half of the Ravenclaw-Slytherin class obeyed, most being Slytherins. When the other people noticed what the ones who had listened were doing, they copied. Soon everyone was silent and ready for the first lesson of the year.
"Welcome to the first lesson of your second year at Hogwarts," the professor started out. "Today we will be studying Mandrakes. Who can tell what a Mandrake is?" Hermione raised her hand then waited patiently to be called on.
"A Mandrake is a plant that you may use in many potions. It is the main ingredient in the Rejuvenation potion that is used to cure people that have been petrified. The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it."
"Well said Ms Granger. Ten points to Slytherin. Now, today we are going to be planting baby Mandrakes. While their cries are not fatal, they can still knock you out for several hours. For this reason, everyone put your earmuffs on!"
The head of Hufflepuff demonstrated how to properly plant the baby Mandrake, then had them split into groups of three to give it a shot. Harry struggled a bit against the plant. In his opinion a plant that could kill you shouldn't be exposed to you when you're twelve!
When they were all done, they headed towards History of Magic, which Harry was expecting to be just as useless as last year. He was correct, of course. He used the time where the teacher is always lax to revise his transfiguration notes from last year.
In Charms they did a review of what they had learned last year and in Transfiguration the first thing that Professor McGonagall did was have them turn a goblet into a box. Harry noticed that Daphne was one of the last ones to get it. Maybe Transfiguration was her worst class.
After everyone had completed the task, which took about fifteen minutes, she went onto a preterm speech, similar to the one that she had given them last year. Harry had a theory that she has a lecture designed for every year.
They met up with Ginny at dinner. Much to Harry's relief, she looked and said that she felt much better than she did in the morning. She enthusiastically described the speech that she had received in Transfiguration. Ginny also started to describe the Defence against the Dark Arts class that she had had.
According to her, Professor Lockhart could be a good teacher, though Harry noted she did say it with a slightly pink tinge on her cheeks. 'Great,' Harry thought. 'Another Lockhart fan, though she doesn't seem as obsessed as the rest of them.'
"I guess we'll just have to find out on our own, won't we?" Harry said to the three of them. After, that not much was said as they were all really hungry from being used to eat whenever they wanted… at least it was for Ginny and Hermione. Ron was used to being starved while Harry was on a much smaller scale.
Later that night, Harry was getting into bed when Ron suddenly turned to him. The sun had just set ten minutes ago, so Malfoy and everybody else were still out.
"Harry, do you think Hermione likes Professor Lockhart?" Ron asked him looking really worried. Harry almost laughed out loud, but managed not to.
"Of course she does," he said. He waited until just before Ron was about to say something that he continued. "She likes all the teachers. They are basically flawless in her opinion. We may have been able to convince her of many things, such as relaxing around exams and how not to be a Know-It-All, but this one facet of hers still hasn't changed."
Ron turned slightly red. "You know what I mean!"
But Harry was already in bed, pretending to be asleep. Ron sighed, exasperated, and then went to bed himself. Within ten minutes Harry fell asleep for real.
!#$%^*&
The rest of the week passed by quickly for Harry; he continued to wave and say hi to Daphne whenever she passed, and she always responded. He did notice thought that whenever she was around other people she seemed cold and unfriendly.
He had fun teaching Ginny how to get around Hogwarts. Sometimes Harry would think of something specific that he wanted to tell her about or show her, while other times she just lead the way and Harry would come along to spend time with her or just to guide her back if she ever got lost. On occasion, she managed to get them into an area of the castle that Harry didn't know, but the worst thing that happened was they were a bit late for dinner.
Harry's classes had been a bit more difficult than they were last year, but they still were no problem with them. He had decided to only study ahead in his duelling skills, since what was the point of going to school if he knew everything?
He was rudely shaken awake at seven on the first Saturday of term by a tall boy. He focused and found himself looking at Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain.
"Get up if you wish to keep your position." He told Harry, which was Marcus Flint for, 'get your butt out of bed.'
That's why ten minutes later Harry was walking across the common room when he heard his name being called. Looking around, the source of the noise was soon identified in the form of a mane of red hair.
"Harry," she called again, now that she had his attention. "Can I come watch you play Quidditch? Ron always tells me how good you are and stuff, but I want to see you myself!"
"Uh, yeah, Of course you can. Just make it obvious that you're a Slytherin otherwise Flint will have a fit." Ginny nodded then ran upstairs again. Harry only had to wait for a few minutes when she appeared again with her Slytherin scarf wrapped around her neck.
"Let's go," she said, walking past Harry. Harry could practically feel her excitement, and that confused him. They were only going to a Quidditch tryout, and it was for him. All the other members of last year's team were returning, though four of them were in seventh year.
"Why are you so excited?" he finally asked her as she gave another hop. Ginny turned and smiled at him.
"You," she said pointing her finger at him. "Are about to beat up Draco Malfoy in a way that is perfectly legal! I have to see it!"
'I suppose when she puts it that way it makes sense,' Harry thought. After coming up from the dungeons and leaving the castle, Harry and Ginny finally reached the Quidditch pitch where the rest of the team was already waiting. Harry could see that Malfoy had already given them their new brooms, probably hoping to bribe them into hitting harder at Harry.
What Malfoy didn't know was that Flint was a Quidditch fanatic and he would choose who he honestly thought had a better chance to give them the cup. Harry made a mental note to write to his mother about getting him a Nimbus 2001. It wouldn't do to be the only player on the team without one, would it?
"Hurry up Potter!" Flint yelled at him. Harry and Ginny parted ways. As he ran off he saw that she took out a quill and the same black book he had seen her writing in the very first day. Flint saw her.
"Who's that?" He asked suspiciously. Harry pointed at her Slytherin scarf and the Quidditch captain relaxed a bit and continued with his speech
"Okay team, listen up," Flint started, his team looking slightly wary for the speech that was surely about to come out of his mouth. "Today we're here to put together the best Quidditch team we can. The only position up for grabs is the seeker position. Draco Malfoy, whose father kindly donated us these brooms, wishes to challenge the current seeker, Harry Potter. Harry here was able to help us to the championship last year. Now, everybody but the seekers, get in the air!"
The team got on their brooms and kicked off. After making sure they were out of hearing range, Flint turned back to the two second years.
"Listen. Potter, I don't care if you won the cup for us last year. Malfoy, I don't care if your father bought us these new brooms. What I do care about is which one of you is the better seeker. We are going to have a best of three for the position. The first person to catch two snitches gets the spot. They will be released one at a time. Now go!"
Not waiting for any more encouragement, Harry got on his broom and went back up into the air. He had barely flown all summer, and welcomed back the rush of air that he didn't know he missed. He heard Flint blow his whistle, signalling that the snitch was out.
Harry circled the pitch from around the height of the teacher's stands. It was the strategy that Flint had had him use last year and it had worked. He saw Malfoy was about ten feet below him, alternating his gaze from Harry to searching for the flying gold object.
After five minutes of searching and having to dodge a few Bludgers, Harry decided to test Malfoy's skills with a broom. Acting like he saw the snitch, he dove. To his pleasure, Malfoy also dove with him. He raced along, going down as fast as his broom would go, which wasn't very fast. Malfoy was catching up easily. He dodged a Bludger by doing a sloth grip roll. As he was doing it, he saw the snitch for real.
Harry immediately changed course and went the opposite way. Draco Malfoy had been focusing on the snitch that he had thought Harry had seen and has unprepared for the change up direction. Harry's hand closed in on the snitch. He then flew to the ground, where Flint was waiting.
"Good play, Potter," he complimented. "I'm glad to see you still got it. Now, prove to me it wasn't a fluke." Just then Malfoy touched down, looking upset.
"He… he… he cheated!" he spluttered. "I would've gotten the snitch if he hadn't done that dirty feint on me!" While he was complaining, the rest of the team had touched down to see what was taking so long. They were surprised to see Flint laughing.
"Malfoy that is the dumbest thing I've heard in my Quidditch career. It's your fault for falling for it. Now get back up in the air!"
But before everybody could take off again, seven scarlet dressed students appeared onto the field. Flint's smile was wiped off his face and all the Slytherins automatically went into defensive (and Gryffindor provoking) mode.
"Flint, I had the book pitched for today." The tallest one called over angrily. Harry could see his twin clutching his Nimbus 2000 like he was trying to break it. The rest of the Gryffindors just looked annoyed and a bit relieved.
"Ah yes." Flint said. "I was afraid this might come up. I've got a note." He took a piece of parchment out of his robes and handed it over to Wood. Wood eyed it like it might have a curse or a disease before taking it and reading it out loud.
"I, Professor Severus Snape, give permission to Marcus Flint of Slytherin house to practice on the Quidditch pitch in order to pick a new seeker." He looked up. "Who is it?"
Draco Malfoy shoved his way to the front like he had already earned the spot, much to Harry's annoyance.
"You?" Percy said, before starting to laugh. "I'm surprised you can even stay on a broom Death Eater." Malfoy looked ready to punch someone, but instead he settled for another taunt.
"At least I can stay on my broom during a Quidditch match, unlike you!" He had successfully goaded Percy. Percy took out his wand.
"Eat Slugs," he said while aiming for the blond Slytherin. A green spell shot out of his wand and hit the Slytherin. He leaned over, and barfed up a slug. Malfoy tried to stop but they just kept coming up. In between vomits, he retaliated.
"Rictusempra," he chocked out. A red jet of light came out of his wand and Percy started to roll on the ground laughing like there was no tomorrow.
Of course, being the Quidditch fanatic that he is, Wood ignored the fighting that his seeker of participating in and asked another question. "What happened to your old seeker?" Nobody answered.
As Malfoy was retreating back to the Slytherin team, Flint stopped Malfoy from vomiting with a simple Finite then dropped the bomb.
"That's it. Malfoy, I'm sorry but you just weren't good enough out there." He then turned to Harry. "Congratulations Potter. You made the team again and I expect you to get me another cup, you hear me?" Harry muttered consent under his breath.
"What!" Malfoy screamed his voice cracking. "You can't take him! My father donated the brooms so I could play on the team. You can't take a blood traitor like Potter over a Pureblood like me!"
The entire Gryffindor team were waiting eagerly to see what happened next. It was extremely rare that Slytherin fought in public like this.
"No," Flint said firmly, standing up straighter trying to look more intimidating. "I'm team captain and I decide. Potter beat you to the snitch once already, and with a way inferior broom. I can't have a seeker who loses his temper and attacks the other team. It could cost us the cup."
"You haven't heard the end of this," Malfoy threatened Flint, who did not look impressed. Malfoy stormed off, broom in hand. At that moment the Slytherins remembered that the Gryffindors were watching them. Not wanting to show any signs of weakness, they marched off the pitch with their heads held high.
!#$%^&*
Harry stored his broom then went outside. He found Ginny waiting for him. When she saw him come out, her eyes lit up and she began to jump up and down.
"Oh Merlin! Ron was right; you are an amazing seeker Harry! Amazing doesn't even sound descriptive enough. The way you spun so quickly, it was almost as though you and the broom were the same being!" Ginny continued to tell Harry about all the good things he had done, and to Harry's amusement, there were a lot.
"Well, I'm glad to know you approve." He said sarcastically, effectively stopping Ginny, who realized what she had been doing and look away blushing. Just then Harry's stomach rumbled.
"Let's go to the great hall." Ginny nodded in agreement.
They started to climb the steps up to the castle. Once up, the two headed to the great hall. When they reached the great hall Harry started to scan the Slytherin table, looking for Ron and Hermione. Ginny found them first.
"There they are," she pointed them out. They seemed to be talking normally, but Harry wondered just how long that would last. Almost like he had jinxed it, as soon as he was in listening distance he heard Hermione disapprove of something Ron had said. Once Harry had heard the topic, though, he actually agreed with Ron.
"...Professor Lockhart Ron! And his favourite colour is lilac, not pink like you thought. You're supposed to read the book Ronald." Hermione said, sounding like Ron had suggested that she should drop out of Hogwarts.
"Why would I read that rubbish?" Ron asked. Harry privately agreed with him. He had tried to read one of Lockhart's books and had almost thrown it across the room. Any reasonable guy could see that his stories were faked; especially when some of them overlapped. Any girl could too, once they saw past his shiny teeth of course.
The argument was interrupted by Harry and Ginny's arrival. Ron and Hermione instantly went back to being civilized like a switch had been turned. Harry looked at the watch his mother had bought him during the summer and learned that it was only nine in the morning.
"So what are you going to do today, Ginny?" he asked her. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face before answering.
"I think I'm going to do some homework in the library." She answered.
"Do you want us to help?" Harry offered. Ron made a motion that screamed 'no I don't want to help.' Hermione gave him a look. Fortunately for him, his sister somehow didn't see it or decided to ignore it.
"Nah, I'm good. It's just a bit of Charms." With that, Ginny took her last bite, then got up and headed out of the hall. Harry saw her take a turn that would take her back to the dungeons to get her book bag.
As soon as she was out of sight, he motioned for his two friends to come closer and cast the Muffliato spell to make sure no one could over hear him.
"I want to go back to The Chamber today." He told them in a hushed voice. Even though he knew nobody could hear him, he still whispered. It just felt more right that way. "I think I'll go alone though. I want to try and read some of the books in the library. Why don't you two go to the library and look to translation spells to see if one would work with Parseltongue."
"Are you sure you should go down there alone?" Hermione asked him sounding worried. "We still haven't explored where the basilisk lives. It's still sleeping, right?"
"Don't worry," Harry told her comfortingly. "Callidus is down there as well. He woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago to tell me. He said he was going to try and befriend the basilisk. So he's down there if I'm in trouble."
Hermione still looked unsure while Ron looked like he thought it would be more fun to go to the Chamber of Secrets then it would be to go to the library and look for a translation spell.
"How are we going to find a translation spell for Parseltongue?" he asked.
"I don't know," Harry answered. "But you two should be able to figure it out. Even if it's only a spell that the caster needs to know."
Harry got up from the table and went back to the common room to change into his normal clothes. By the time he passed the great hall to head to the second floor Ron and Hermione were already gone. Harry continued on to the second floor, where he opened the entrance to The Chamber and then had the stairs come up.
Once Harry got to the bottom of the stairs, he continued on all the way to the library, not stopping to look at anything else. He thought it would be interesting to see some older spells and maybe even what had happened in those books titled "My life."
Harry decided to read one of the books on Defence first, since that was going to be the subject that he pushed himself in. He carefully looked at the different books. For all he knew some of them could be cursed. He quickly went into the chamber room and picked up a few rocks. He would have to risk it.
Harry picked out a book that looked nice, though Harry wasn't sure why he thought that since they were all untitled and almost all were bound in the same colour-green. But one did catch his eye: it was a black one that really stood out from all that green. He gently threw a rock at it, hoping it wouldn't do and thing to the rock that made it seem unsafe. It didn't.
Realizing that even if his rock hadn't been harmed, the book could still be cursed when opened. Harry walked away from the Defence section and wandered over to the My Life section. He assumed that they were in order and Harry believed that they would only harm a person who was not of the same bloodline, not that he was going to test that theory on Ron and Hermione.
He took the one that was on the left edge and opened it to the first page. This was also written in Parseltongue.
My name is Salazar Slytherin. As of now, I am a fifteen year old boy, born to the clan of Slytherin. My family tells me that we are special. I think I believe them. We can do magic, make things that shouldn't be able to happen, happen. My family thinks we are even more special then a normal magic-user because we can all talk to snakes.
We have to keep our talents hidden though. Those who cannot do magic would try to capture us and burn us alive should they catch us doing magic. They claim that magic is against what they call "religion" or something like that.
My parents say that all those unable to do magic, the non-gifted, should die because they are afraid and jealous of the things we can do that they cannot, and will kill us for that. I don't know what to think. They burn innocent magic-users because they are jealous and confused of our power, but yet some of the things they do aren't that bad.
The first page ended there, and when Harry turned the page he saw that his ancestor had forgotten about his book and stopped writing, because the next entry he had a much different writing style.
I had forgotten about this book in which I had planned to write down my feelings. But nevertheless, I found it again while searching for a different book. You aren't able to summon things in my room.
How I wish I had this book to write in when my family was caught using their magic by the non-gifted. They have only been gone for a few weeks or so, but already it feels like forever. The rage I felt as I was forced to stay in the crowd as a spectator as to not reveal myself as well... My father caught sight of me during his final moments, I am positive. His eyes lit up with recognition, and he mouthed the words 'be great, son.' I will father, I promise.
From that day on, I have decided to be against the non-gifted. I will not risk others losing their loved ones as I have.
Harry flipped to another entry. It appeared that Slytherin had been more careful this time and hadn't lost his diary.
A few weeks ago, I met three people; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. They are all really bright, especially that Ravenclaw one. The three of them want to build a school for the magical to be protected from the non-gifted.
I'm thinking about offering our family castle. I don't live there ever since the day that the non-gifted found my family. I have no use for it anymore so I just travel, trying to learn new magics, mainly Parseltongue. My family had never told me that our Parseltongue ability was something that was special just to our family and not a lot of other magic-users had the talent.
Yes, I think I'll let them use the family castle, on the condition that I am able to help run the school. I will see what I can do so the ones who don't have a magical background don't have to suffer by their parents hands. If they just aren't accepted into the school, then so be it. It is for their own good.
Harry stopped reading there. Much of this wasn't in history books, not that that really surprised him. He didn't read the rest of the first book, but sort of scanned it for information. He learned that Hufflepuff and Gryffindor had once been a pair. Rowena Ravenclaw was extremely short; around four foot eight according to his ancestor. Slytherin did not succeed in his bid to have no muggleborns in the school. Nothing else really interesting happened.
He put the book back where he had found it then headed back up to the castle. His watch told him it was around seven and his stomach told him that food sounded like a good idea. Heading back to the dorm, he changed his clothes before heading out for dinner in the great hall.
As he was walking through the common room, he noticed Daphne sitting in one of the nice armchairs near the fire.
"Hi Daphne," he said as he walked by. It was all he could really say to the pretty girl before he got tongue tied. She absentmindedly answered back with a 'Hello Harry,' not even taking her eyes off the black book she was studying from.
Not thinking twice of it, Harry went upstairs and met with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He could tell that they were itching to find out what he had done and read in The Chamber today, but couldn't ask because Ginny was there.
"How did your homework go?" Harry asked Ginny. Ginny was sitting next to Hermione and looked sort of neutral about the whole topic.
"It went okay, I guess." She answered him. He waited but she didn't elaborate on her answer. He didn't want to be pushy so he changed the subject.
"So are you going to try out for Quidditch next year?" He asked her, hoping to bring her out of her expressionless mood. It worked. Her eyes lit up like a Hogwarts Christmas tree.
"I seriously hope so. I mean, with almost the whole team graduating this year there is going to be so many spots open. I think I'll go for chaser. I can play chaser or seeker, you know, but since you're seeker I'll definitely go for chaser."
Harry nodded in agreement. He really hoped that Ginny made the team next year.
"Well, I'm tired," he announced to the people around him. "I think I'll go to bed."
"Yeah, I'll come too," Ginny said while Ron unsurprisingly wanted dessert and Hermione did too. That was a bit rarer. So Harry and Ginny left the hall. They entered the dungeons and were about half way to the common room when Ginny stopped abruptly.
"Harry, I forgot something in the library!" she said frantically. "I'm going to go get it."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Harry offered. The idea seemed to terrify Ginny.
"No, I'll be fine on my own." Without another word, she spun her red hair in a full circle and ran as fast as she could out of the dungeons.
Harry continued onto the common room by himself. He hissed "open" to the wall and it complied when he heard something else.
Rip ... kill ... tear. Soooooooo Hungry.
The voice was sort of raspy and old. Harry couldn't tell where it was coming from and looked around wildly. It almost sounded like Callidus. But he knew what Callidus sounded like and that wasn't it. And he knew it couldn't be the basilisk in The Chamber of Secrets, since he was the only one in Hogwarts that could both control it and know where it was.
Not thinking of anything that he could do, he entered the common room to find it empty. He went upstairs and went to bed.
And there's chapter eight! I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review!
I just sort of assume that all of you know what a sloth grip roll is. But in case you don't, this is the exact definition from Quidditch Through the Ages.
"Hanging upside down off the broom, gripping tightly with hands and feet to avoid a Bludger."
