A/N: Quick note here: Italics is Parseltongue, while underlined italics are quotes.

Altered Fates

Part Three: Sirius Trouble

Chapter Ten: A Grudge and Explorations

On the night of April 10, 2004, a few weeks after the match against Ravenclaw, Harry was looking at the Marauder's Map fairly late, watching for Sirius Black when Weasley woke up from a nightmare talking about spiders wanting him to tap-dance. When Weasley went back to sleep though, Harry spotted something that could prove the Malfoys right: Peter Pettigrew. Curious, and intent on getting answers, Harry decided to hunt down Pettigrew and find out how he was alive. But when Harry got to the same corridor as Pettigrew, Pettigrew went right past him, and Harry saw nothing. Before he could figure out how, he spotted Snape's name on the map and quickly whispered out "Mischief managed."

Snape quickly caught up to him and asked "What are you doing wandering the corridors at night?"

"I was sleepwalking."

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He too was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle."

"I don't strut about, and I'd have thought that Draco would tell you that I'm not arrogant, Professor. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could lower your wand." Harry would have defended his father as well, but Mr Grace's journal had quite clearly stated that his father, while a loyal friend, also had one of the biggest heads in the school.

Snape, intent on punishing Harry for something, demanded "Turn out your pockets." Since he only had the now-blank map, Harry obeyed. "What's this?"

"Spare bit of parchment."

"Really? Open it." Once Harry had followed his orders, Snape touched his wand to it and said "Reveal your secrets." Nothing happened. Snape tapped it harder, saying "Show yourself!" Still nothing. Now quite upset, Snape hit the map hard calling out "Professor Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!" Immediately, lines started appearing, one after the other, as though six people were living inside the map and had decided to respond to Snape's demand. Each line, though similar in content, was written with a slightly different style of handwriting. The comments were similar enough to believe that they knew each other, yet the handwriting was obviously different enough that it had to be six people.

"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

"Mr Spike would like to suggest that Professor Snape go back and play with his chemistry set."

"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mssrs Moony and Spike and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."

"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."

"Ms Buck would like to remind Mr Padfoot that Snape made a very worthy adversary."

"Mr. Wormtail would like to thank Ms Buck for her reminder and bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."

Snape was extremely furious when he read it, while Harry could barely contain his laughter, and if it weren't for Lupin's timely arrival, Harry was sure that he would have been at least jinxed, if not hexed or cursed. "Harry, you alright?"

"That remains to be seen." Snatching the map back, Snape handed it to Lupin claiming "I have just now confiscated a rather curious artefact from Mr Potter. Take a look Lupin, it's supposed to be your area of expertise. Clearly it's full of Dark Magic."

Lupin read the still-shining writing, and if Harry was reading him right, he was doing some rather quick thinking. "I seriously doubt it, Severus. It looks to me as though it's merely a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product. Nevertheless, I shall investigate any hidden qualities it may possess. It is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise. Harry, would you come with me please? Professor, good night." Lupin then lead Harry to his classroom before turning to him. "Now, I haven't the faintest idea, Harry, of how this map came to be in your possession as I happen to know it was confiscated by Filch about fifteen years ago. Yes, I know it's a map. But quite frankly, I am astounded that you didn't hand it in. Did it never occur to you that this, in the hands of Sirius Black, is a map to you?"

To be honest, Harry hadn't thought of that, but he didn't say so. "Professor, that map is one of the two things that I have that belonged to my father. I wouldn't have willingly handed it in even if it meant I could never fly again. Besides, I've heard a good argument that Sirius might be innocent."

"Too much like his mother," Lupin whispered as he shook his head. "Black is guilty, Harry, there is no doubt of that in my mind."

"Well there is plenty in mine."

"You know, your father never set much store by the rules, either. But he and your mother gave their lives to save yours. And gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle unprotected with a killer on the loose seems to me a pretty poor way to repay them! Now, I will not cover up for you again, Harry. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir." Harry's estimation of what had been his favourite professor plummeted quite a bit with that statement. Lupin had claimed to be friends with his parents, yet didn't even think that a fellow friend of his father's could be innocent of the crime he'd been charged with? A crime that most said would have been out of the realm of possibility of the perpetrator? Then to guilt-trip him like that because he, Harry, wanted answers? Sure, Sirius was supposed to be a cold-blooded killer, but where were the witnesses?

Lupin started talking again, clearly seeing the defiance in Harry's Avada-green eyes. "I want you to return to your dormitory and stay there. And don't take any detours. If you do, I shall know," Lupin said, tapping the map.

Harry had made it to the door before he turned around. "Professor, just so you know, I was out of bed because it showed someone in the castle. Someone who's supposed to be dead, if Sirius is guilty."

"Oh, really? And who might that be?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

Lupin turned to face Harry, disbelief clearly showing on his face. "That is not possible," he firmly stated.

"It's what I saw, so unless the Map makes mistakes, he was there. Good night, professor." Harry then stepped out of the classroom, before falling to the ground, his eyes feeling like they were on fire. Lupin quickly rushed to Harry and carried him to the Hospital Wing.

A few minutes after they arrived, and after deadening the pain, Madame Pomfrey was chiding Harry. "Basilisk venom, Mr Potter. If you had just come and visited me after you received the bite, I could have prevented this. But no, you insist on staying away and dealing with it on your own."

"But Fawkes healed me, Madame Pomfrey. I thought he took care of it," Harry objected.

"Phoenix tears only eliminate the poison in the venom, Mr Potter, it does not eliminate the venom. Unfortunately, you are the first person to have survived the bite of a Basilisk, so I have no idea what it's effects will be. Luckily for you, it appears to have been only beneficial." Lupin demanded to know what could possibly be beneficial about feeling like your eyes were on fire. "Unfortunately, that appears to be part of the change. His eyes are quickly changing to match a snakes' eyes-slit pupils and very little white. You see, Harry, your eyes are now better than any I have ever scanned, including that of a werewolf's, who are supposed to have the best eyesight of any land creature. And considering the Basilisk is a snake, I would guess that your senses of taste and smell would also get much better. Also, your musculature and skeletal structure seem to be a lot tougher and stronger than they were when I treated you after the Dementor attack, and exponentially more so than when that idiot vanished your bones. However, I would like to keep you under observation for the weekend."

"But Madame Pomfrey, Nico was also bitten by the Basilisk. Why hasn't he been affected by it?" Madame Pomfrey had no answer to that, and just repeated her demand that Harry stay in the Hospital Wing for the weekend.

Well, Harry wasn't going to stand for that, so when Draco went to visit him the next day, Harry was nowhere to be found. When he asked his cousin, Nico had no idea where he was either, and he mentioned that Harry was not in the dorm, so Draco just went exploring. Draco finally stumbled upon Harry inside the Room of Requirement, laughing at something he was reading. "Hey, Harry. What's so funny?"

"Just a tale in this book. The guy in here could easily be a Slytherin, if he weren't a Muggle. Listen. 'A reporter once asked him what led him into politics. "Ambition," he replied. "Pure, unadulterated ambition." "What keeps you in politics?" was his next question.. "Anger. Pure, unadulterated anger."' Doesn't that sound like a Slytherin?"

"Yeah, it does. Who's the Muggle?"

"Our greatest Muggle Prime Minister, Winston Churchill."

Draco started laughing at that. "Churchill? A . . . a Muggle? You're joking, right Harry?"

"Um, no. Why?"

"Oh, Harry, they have really kept you in the dark, haven't they? Come on, you really need to see something." Draco then lead Harry down to a section of the castle that he had never been in: the area directly beneath Gryffindor Tower. Once they were inside the dungeons beneath the tower, Draco started counting off the suits of armour before pausing directly in-between two of them. Then, to Harry's shock, he heard Draco hiss out "Open" in a language that as far as he knew, only he and Neville spoke: Parseltongue. The wall opened up while Draco turned and said "You have no idea how long it took me to convince Nico to teach me that word, nor how long it took me to get them to agree to a Parseltongue password."

"Them?" Harry asked, only to gasp in shock at what was revealed: an extremely long corridor that seemed to stretch on forever. And on both walls were numerous portraits, so many that they seemed to be beyond count.

Following Draco inside, he was shocked to recognize the first four portraits: the Founders. "Harry, welcome to Godric Gryffindor's Chamber of Secrets, more properly known as the Hall of Greats. You recognize, of course, the Founders. Milords and ladies, allow me to introduce Harry James Potter, the boy I've told you so much about."

"So, this is the boy that has brought my house so much honour! Glad to meet you!" Godric Gryffindor called out.

"Come here, let me take a closer look at you," Salazar said. Once Harry did so, Salazar studied him. "Hmm, so you're the Parselmouth who ended up a Gryffindor. Tell me, how is it that you ended up in Godric's House and not mine?"

"Because of my own immaturity, Lord Slytherin. Draco here was trying to become my friend, but because he acted like his father, I turned him down. Between the way Draco was acting and the news that Voldemort was a Slytherin, I asked the Hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin. For that, I am sorry."

"I don't mind, I was just curious as to how you ended up there, especially considering you're one of my descendants." Harry stared at him in shock while Salazar turned to Draco and started speaking in English again. "Draco, who is this Voldemort character that Harry mentioned? Why haven't you told us about him before?"

"I have, milord. He is the Dark Lord I told you about. Most call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who. Harry is one of the few people who calls him by his real name."

Rowena huffed at that. "Please, Voldemort is obviously a fake name. Who would name their child 'flight from death'? Does anybody know his real name?"

To Draco's shock, Harry answered "His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half-blood, born to a witch and a Muggle. He has also claimed the title 'The Heir of Slytherin.' In 1944, during his Fifth Year, he used a Basilisk to attack Muggleborns, then he used a Horcrux to do it again last year."

"HE WHAT!" Salazar shouted loudly. Yet the portrait next to him remained asleep. Whoever was inside was definitely a sound sleeper. "He attacked Muggleborns under MY NAME and using my beloved Eithne? Then he goes and makes a Horcrux? He is no heir of mine! Mr Potter, I want you to go down to my Chamber and claim lordship over House Slytherin, immediately! Once you have claimed the title of Baron Slytherin, a silver ring should appear on your left middle finger. It will have a carved snake with small emeralds for eyes."

"How can I? I'm not one of your descendants."

"Oh no? Then how can you speak Parseltongue? It's quite rare for British wizards to be Parselmouths. Then there's your eyes. They are a genetic marker for all my magical descendants."

"What are you talking about? Plenty of wizards have emerald green eyes."

"Yes, but your eyes turn the colour of the Killing Curse when you're mad, don't they?"

Draco quickly answered, saying "Definitely. You have no idea how many times I've had those eyes on me. It was getting so that I was starting to think that it was his natural colour. No offence, Harry."

"None taken. But if I'm a Slytherin by blood, then how could I use Gryffindor's sword? Dumbledore said that only a true Gryffindor could have pulled it from the Sorting Hat."

"Oh, that's quite simple, my boy. Anyone with enough courage to be in my house can pull the sword from my hat," Godric explained. He then turned to Salazar and said "I told you my enchantment would work! Merlin did know what he was doing with Excalibur after all, so why did you think it wouldn't work with the Hat?"

"Because Merlin's enchantment only required that a certain person be able to pull it from a stone, Godric! Yours not only required a certain person be able to pull it out, but that it could be pulled from wherever it was at the time instead of keeping it in the hat!"

"So there's no chance of me being Godric's descendant?"

The Founders then turned to Helga. "No, you're not. You're the heir to Salazar on your mother's side, and the heir to three Houses on your father's side, but none are Godric's. I believe that the only house that still has Godric's blood is the Weasley family."

Well, that wasn't surprising, considering the fact that every Weasley had been sorted into Gryffindor, despite at least one member being more suited to another. "Assuming I do claim the title of Lord Slytherin, what will that do for me?"

"Simple, my boy. You will be considered of age in our world, and you will also be able to control who the Head of Slytherin is, and you have some influence when it comes to hiring teachers. You will also gain control of my vault and manor, out in the fens. Also, you can pass the ring on to the next of my descendants that you wish to inherit the title."

"I see." Then Harry noticed something he really should have noticed earlier. "Salazar, do you realize that you don't look much like your bust in the Chamber?" While the bust looked vaguely monkey-like, Salazar himself was actually quite handsome, if a little intimidating. (And, irritatingly, with Harry's emerald green eyes as well as other similar features).

"The bust? You thought that was me?" Salazar started laughing at that. "That's not me! That's the bust of Rowena's father, the man that allowed us to turn his castle into a school!"

Harry then turned to the other founders and asked, "Wait, why aren't you surprised about the Basilisk?"

The four portraits all started laughing, this time, loud enough to wake the fifth portrait. A male voice called out "Would you keep it down, please? My husband and I would like to go back to sleep."

Godric laughed again. "Arthur Pendragon, if you two would just stop going at each other like rabbits in heat, you might actually be awake when we have visitors."

While Arthur blushed and woke his husband (which both Draco and Harry were confused about,) Rowena explained. "We knew about the Basilisk from day one. Salazar hatched Eithne to protect my castle should Arthur's father, Uther ever find out about it. King Uther Pendragon hated magic with a passion ever since his wife died because of magic. He hunted all of us down and Salazar suffered the worst of all of us as he actually lived in Uther's realm. It wasn't until Arthur met Merlin that Arthur started to stop believing his father about magic."

"Yes, thank God. Luckily Merlin trusted me enough to tell me about his gift, otherwise who knows what would have happened." The two boys turned back to Arthur's portrait, where he was now sitting on a couch with another young man, one that was now dressed in a blue shirt and green scarf and hair that was truly black, not just a dark brown like Harry's. "If he hadn't told me, we definitely wouldn't have gotten married," Arthur said as he kissed the other boy, who was now blushing madly.

"Arthur! We have company!"

"I know, but I do love you, my hawk."

"I love you too, clot-pole, but I don't think it's appropriate to shag in front of company."

"Come on, Merlin, you don't mind when it's Salazar or the others."

Harry interrupted their argument there. "Wait a minute, you're Merlin? I thought that you had a long white beard and wore robes as odd as Dumbledore."

Both boys in the portrait started laughing. "I told you that Dragoon disguise would come back to haunt you one day, Merlin!"

"I know, but I have to know, is that really how people see me these days?"

"For the most part," Draco answered. "But I thought that you were married to Guinevere, your Majesty?"

"First, call me Arthur. Only my subjects call me Majesty. Second, are you kidding? Gwen was in love with Lancelot, never me. We got married in our world so that I would have a queen, while Lord Slytherin married us in the magical world so we could be with the ones we love. Unfortunately Lancelot died before he and Guinevere could be married."

"What about Mordred? We all heard that he was the son of you and Morgana."

Arthur and Merlin's eyes darkened when Draco mentioned Morgana. "I could never cheat on Merlin, even if I was enchanted, especially not on my half-sister. Morgana definitely treated Mordred as if he were her son, but Mordred was a Druid and Celtic. We are Britons, with a little Roman heritage somewhere in the line."

"What do you mean you couldn't cheat on Merlin?" Harry asked.

"Arthur and I have a soul bond, Harry. No matter what kind of magic was put on us, we couldn't cheat unless we wanted to, and that could never happen."

"Huh, interesting. Oh, and Lord Slytherin? Dumbledore said that Riddle transferred some of his powers to me the night he attacked me and nearly died. How do you know that's not why I seem like your descendant?"

"You actually believed that? Abilities like Parseltongue are passed down through our blood, and nothing done that night could have given you Parseltongue."

"So you are a blood supremacist?"

"No! My wife Isobel was a Muggleborn, same with my mother. I just think that Muggleborns should either have a school just for them or that they should be raised in our world from birth. Muggles, for the most part, are a threat to us, and Muggleborns force us to reveal ourselves to some of them."

Draco interrupted before a real debate could start. He had been visiting the Hall of Greats for more than a year and knew only too well how the portraits loved to debate. "Yes, that's all fascinating milord, but I do need to continue Harry's tour." He quickly dragged Harry away before saying "Sorry, but if they started a debate with you, we could still be here by the time our grandchildren were coming to Hogwarts."

"How would you know?"

"I've been coming down here ever since the first weekend of our Second Year. The portraits usually give out some pretty good advice." Harry quickly learned why it was called the Hall of Greats instead of the Hall of Heroes, as Draco introduced him to portraits of several Dark wizards and witches on the walls in addition to the heroes of Magical Britain. In addition to the Founders, Merlin and Arthur, there was the Gryffindor Emeric the Evil, Phineas Nigellus Black-the most hated Hogwarts Headmaster in history (and one of the few Slytherin Heads,) Queen Elizabeth Tudor-the last witch-queen of Britain and her mother Anne Boleyn-both of whom were former Slytherins, Hufflepuff Dilys Derwent, Armando Dippet-Dumbledore's predecessor as Headmaster and former Ravenclaw, and several dozen Ministers of Magic before Draco stopped again. "Harry, allow me to introduce to you to the only man to hold the office of Minister of Magic and Prime Minister at the same time, the leader of the British nation against both Hitler and Grindelwald: Sir Winston Spencer Churchill of Slytherin House, class of 1892. Milord, allow me to introduce to you Harry James Potter, the boy made famous for being the only person to survive the Killing Curse."

Harry stared in disbelief. Sure enough, there was the man who had quickly become his hero. Winston Spencer Churchill, Slytherin Prefect, Former Minister of Magic and Prime Minister 1940-1945. Prime Minister 1951-1955 Born: 1874, Died 1965. "It's an honour to meet you, Mr Churchill."

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Potter. Tell me, why has Mr Malfoy brought you down here specifically to see me?"

"Because you are my hero, Mr Churchill, and I believed you to be a Muggle."

"And why am I your hero?"

"This past Christmas, the noted alchemist Nicolas Flamel sent me two books of quotations that you said. They sent them to me because they think I could be your successor, especially considering we have another Dark Lord running around, and he is intent on killing me. Mr Flamel thinks I could easily become the voice of the British nation against him."

"And what do you think?"

"I think that I could do it a lot easier with those books than without them, sir."

"You would probably be right, Mr Potter. It is a good thing for a young man to read books of quotations.-'"

"'-The quotations when engraved upon the memory give good thoughts.' I know, that's one that I have definitely memorized."

"Continue to memorize them, Mr Potter and you will go far as an orator."

Draco interrupted again, saying "Sorry, Mr Churchill, but there is one more portrait that I wanted to show Harry."

"Very well, but come back soon, Mr Potter."

"I will, sir." As they left, Harry asked "If Churchill was a wizard, then why did he die so young? I know that Headmaster Dipper didn't die until he was over 300 years old."

"Just because our magic allows us to live quite a bit longer than Muggles doesn't mean we can't die at an age believable to be a Muggle. There are several diseases that we can't cure and Churchill died of one of them: Dragon Pox. We still don't have a cure for it, my grandfather died of it about five years before we met."

"Oh, I'm sorry Draco. I guess it's because we live so long that makes it so hard for us to accept change?"

"Yeah, it is. But sometimes change happens too quickly. Before the Statute of Secrecy, my family loved mixing with Muggles, assuming they were rich enough. But after it, we pretty much cut ourselves off from the Muggle world."

"Only 'pretty much'?"

"Yeah, we still own quite a bit of stock in several Muggle companies. Even Father must admit that there are some things that Muggles do better than us, like shoes."

"I can see that. We don't have much need to walk places with brooms and the Flue." Harry was looking around at the portraits when he asked "Hey, where's Tom Riddle's portrait? It should be right around here."

Draco looked, and sure enough, there was no portrait for Tom Riddle anywhere in the 1940's section of graduates. "Who knows? There are several portraits throughout the Hall that should be here yet aren't. Up ahead though is another portrait with a married couple, one that I'm sure would make you want to come back here, even without the others we've met. Ah, here we are."

The portrait he stopped in front of was one of the last portrait in the hall, and Draco was right, Harry would have come back here just for this one. "Mum? Dad?"

"Harry! Oh, you've grown so much! You look so much like your father, you know?"

"Yeah, that's the most common thing for me to hear, that I look just like Dad but I have your eyes."

"Hey, Harry. How's Quidditch?"

"It's great, Dad. We're favourites for the Cup this year-"

"More like every year since you joined, Harry."

"True, Draco. But this year is going to be our year."

"What position do you play?"

"Seeker, ever since First Year."

"And the best in the school. Only one person has managed to beat Harry to the Snitch in all the games he's played, and that was because of the Dementors."

"Dementors! What are Dementors doing at Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban-"

"Azkaban? What was Padfoot doing there?"

"Well, Mr Potter, Black is the one who was accused of betraying you to the Dark Lord."

For the first time, James took a close look at Draco. "Oh, it's you. Are you finally going to tell us who you are, young man?"

"Dad, this is Draco Malfoy, one of my newest and best friends, and my number one rival at Quidditch. He's my opposite on the Slytherin team."

"Hmm, then you'd be Lucius' son? Well, if Harry trusts you, then I guess I'll be nice. But what are you talking about with Sirius? He couldn't have betrayed us!"

"Well, Mr Potter, first, when was this painted?"

"We had it painted on October 30, 1990, why?"

"Okay, then you'll know what I'm talking about. Uncle Sirius is believed to have been your Secret-Keeper and betrayed you the day after this was painted."

"Ha! I told you we couldn't trust that rat, James! I told you that Pettigrew being a rat was bad news!"

"Uh, Mum, what are you talking about?"

"Simple, dear. Sirius was never our Secret-Keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew, a rat Animagus."

"A rat? Bloody hell, that's even worse than Weasel's! How did you trust him? A rat is notorious for being untrustworthy."

"Well, Malfoy-"

"Draco, Dad. He's not his father and he is one of my best friends."

"-Draco, Wormy had been our friend since First Year. Eric didn't trust him after we took the potion, but then again, he never really trusted him in the first place. And what did you mean about it being worse than a weasel's?"

"Weasel is Draco's nickname for one of my former friends, Ron Weasley, who's Animagus form is, ironically enough, a weasel."

"Harry James Potter! Are you saying that you're learning to become an Animagus?"

"Mum! I want to be more like you guys, so when I found out that Dad was one, well of course I wanted to do it."

"Well, how far are you?" To answer his dad, Harry instantly changed to Flash and back again. "Huh, that's interesting. A Gryffindor with a Slytherin-coloured Animagus form. Are any of your friends Animagi?"

"Draco is the last one to have taken the potion, and he's working on becoming a fox. Hermione Granger-a Muggleborn a lot like you Mum, is going to be an owl, Nico Grace is a Golden Eagle, while Neville Longbottom is a cougar. Nico and Neville have both finished their changes."

"You're friends with Neville? Then I guess that means that Frank and Alice raised you?"

Harry was confused at that. "Nooo, I was raised by Aunt Petunia." To Harry and Draco's shock, Lily's eyes went Avada-green and she very nearly exploded with rage while James just dived for cover behind a couch. "Mum? What's wrong?"

Once she had calmed down, Lily asked "Who sent you there, Harry?"

"Hagrid did, under Dumbledore's orders, why?"

Lily's rage went off again and she walked out of the portrait. James then explained "Harry, you were never to go to Petunia. We had a very specific list of people for you to go to, and even if none of them were left, we said you were to go to the family of a Muggleborn that would take you in. We specifically stated that you were never to go to Petunia. Dumbledore knew that, he was one of our witnesses."

Draco shook his head. "I told you, Harry. Dumbledore obviously wanted you there so you'd be easily manipulated." He then checked his watch and said "We better hurry, dinner starts in about fifteen minutes. We will be back, Mr Potter, I promise."

"We won't have time, will we?"

"Don't worry, Harry. This end comes out right next to the Slytherin dorm, we have just enough time to make it."

While Draco was taking Harry on the tour of the Hall of Greats, Nico was in Ravenclaw Tower. His Ghost Diary-a book that listed how every ghost in Hogwarts died, was nearly done. All that was left for him was the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady, and the Baron had said that their deaths were intertwined. Before he even dared to ask her how they died, Nico made sure to find out what made her mad, and one of those things was calling her the Grey Lady. She hated the name and preferred to go by her name in life: Helena Ravenclaw, the daughter of Rowena. "Milady, could you wait, please? I wish to speak to you for a minute."

"You seek my mother's diadem. I cannot help you."

"Wait! While I am curious about the diadem's location, that isn't what I want to talk to you about. I'm here to ask you how you and the Baron died."

"The diadem and our deaths are intertwined. You cannot ask about one without the other."

"Helena, if it's necessary, then tell me about the diadem, but I'm not interested in it. I just want to find out how every ghost in the castle died, and you two are the last."

"Very well. I stole my mother's diadem. I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it. My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts. Then my mother fell ill - fatally ill. In spite of my perfidy, she was desperate to see me one more time. She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me. She knew that he would not rest until he had done so."

"The Bloody Baron."

"Yes, Baron James Rothschild. Not one of Salazar's children, but definitely one of his top students. He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. When I refused to return with him, he became violent. The baron was always a hot-tempered man. Furious at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, he stabbed me." She lifted aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her white chest. "When he saw what he had done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill himself. All these centuries later, he wears our blood as chains as an act of penitence ... as he should." she added bitterly. "The diadem remained in the hollow of the tree in Albania that I hid it in. But then, some years ago, a strange boy with a strange name asked me about it."

A strange boy with a strange name? And Albania . . . where Voldemort was last seen. "The boy, was his name Tom Riddle?"

"Yes, he swore to destroy it, but he lied."

"He's lied to many people."

"I KNOW WHAT HE'S DONE! I KNOW WHO HE IS! HE DEFILED IT WITH DARK MAGIC AND BROUGHT IT BACK HERE!"

"He defiled it? What kind of magic did he do to it?"

"The darkest of the dark arts, soul magic. The kind that my mother swore off after she accidentally created the Dementors." Then she looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Why do you ask? You know this. You have encountered the magic before. When you go to destroy it, and you will, know this: it is in the room where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask."

"Thank you, milady." So, the Ghost Diary was done, but what did she mean about Riddle defiling the diadem with soul magic, a kind that Nico had encountered before?

A/N: Yes, Nico is quite thick there at the end, isn't he? Any way, Harry is the only one affected by the Basilisk venom because of his Slytherin blood, which, in addition to giving him Parseltongue, gives his body the ability to become immune to snake venom after being exposed to it and using magical snake venom to help his health and enhance his body. The story about Churchill is from The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill, while the quote Harry and Winston use is actually modified from the original. The original quote read: It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give good thoughts. Slightly different, yet close enough to the original that it doesn't matter. It comes from Churchill's book My Early Life: A Roving Commission, originally published in 1930. My Merlin and Arthur is strongly based on BBC's show Merlin, and as you can tell, is fairly different from canon. And again, the effects of the Basilisk venom is loosely based on MariusDarkwolf's story Harry Potter and the Eyes of the Serpent. The tale of Helena Ravenclaw, aka the Grey Lady, is a combination of The Deathly Hallows book and second film. Her scene is just too good to not work in to my story, especially her little riddle for the location of the Diadem.