Tom Riddle, currently hiding in the body of Ginny Weasley through a diary, was frustrated and very confused. From what he could tell the basilisk he had set loose was still out and about in the castle, but after the last attack he had yet to see it again. He knew it wasn't dead, because he would have heard if the Professors had found and killed it, or even realized what it was.
Instead it looked like it had gone out and never come back to the Chamber, which was odd. And there was no way he could try and locate it without getting caught.
Which meant he would have to find a new way to rid the school of muggleborns...or hope to stumble across the basilisk.
Dumbledore had an uncomfortable look on his face as he announced to the school...
"Students, due to a recent pipe burst the second floor has been deemed unsafe for you to use until the mess is cleaned up and the pipes fixed. Also, because of all the recent incidents with the pipes malfunctioning the water charm is now considered a mandatory spell for all years and the teachers will be showing you how to adjust it appropriately. Another note is that one of the lesser known charms called the 'chamberpot' spell will be taught to all years until the pipes are fixed," said Dumbledore.
Erik had to raise his hand.
"When you say chamberpot you don't honestly mean the same thing they used in the middle ages in place of the toilet do you?" he asked slowly.
Judging by his expression, it was exactly that. Erik wasn't the only one with a disgusted face.
Most of the girls were horrified...so was Lockhart for similar reasons.
All this because he had to rip out a large section of pipe with a basilisk stuck inside it and deliver it to Count D. Though the look on Dumbledore's face when he had to explain why the second floor was now off limits was pretty funny.
"I am not using a chamberpot to use the bathroom," stated Harry flatly.
"Yes, well, neither are we," said the twins, sidling up to Erik and Harry.
"What would you say to a potentially profitable endeavor in which we don't have to squat over something to take a piss?" asked Fred.
"We're listening."
"Here's the thing."
"We may..."
"Or may not..."
"Have a map that would lead us straight to Hogsmeade."
"Wait, Hogsmeade as in the village outside the castle? That Hogsmeade?" said Harry, already getting an idea of where this was going.
The twins nodded.
"You want us to help set up a distraction so students can slip out of the castle and borrow the bathrooms in the village."
"More than that...we could charge for the use of said distractions," said Erik, catching on himself. He could care less about the idea of popping a squat in the woods. He knew how to survive in the wilds were toilets weren't exactly going to be common.
The twin's eyes gleamed at the thought of profit.
"Here's what we'll do..." started Harry, and the group leaned in.
It was an underground system of students. While the teachers made do with their own way of disposing their waste, the students quickly learned to make use of the (surprisingly many) abandoned homes in Hogsmeade. When Harry explained what was going on to the residents of the village, they were more than sympathetic to the problem and agreed not to mention that the students were out in the village outside the scheduled weekends. At least until the plumbing was fixed in the castle anyway.
The twins didn't mind the extra detentions, because they were getting quite a bit of gold selling distractions for the students to use to keep Filch and the other teachers busy.
Meanwhile Harry and Erik were the ones selling 'passes' for students entering the village...and keeping said exits hidden with a spell on the 'pass' that would obliviate the knowledge of where the exit was located.
Needless to say when the issue was resolved, the twins had made more galleons in that month alone than they had selling their pranks before. They were now very close to their goal of owning and operating a prank shop to rival Zonko's.
"I am going to kill Lockhart," said Erik.
"Yes, but the question is will you leave enough for Snape to have a piece of the idiot too?"
"Of course I will. He needs something to vent on, after all," said Erik, as if he was astounded Harry would think otherwise.
"So...practice later?"
"Only if you don't mind doing something you might consider boring."
Harry was about to answer him, but then he stopped and stared.
"Isn't that Ginny Weasley?"
"It is. Why is she carrying an old book like that?" said Erik, frowning.
He wasn't psychic or magically sensitive, but the book gave him some really bad vibes.
So the two followed her into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where she threw the thing into a toilet.
Harry did the smart thing and stunned her, while Erik confiscated the book. His mental defenses were higher than most of the castle, partially because of his experience with mental intrusion (thank you Charles) but mostly because he had been upgrading his occulmency barriers left and right every chance he could. And with decades of experience that meant his barriers were pretty strong...and extremely nasty.
Though they weren't anywhere near as devious as Raven's barriers, which was a monster that would shapeshift into something even more worse every time it even looked like someone was getting past her defenses.
Her mental barriers went from dangerous to absolute lethal in less than a minute, and it only got worse the longer you were in her head.
Madam Pomphrey, when she did an in-depth scan of the girl, frowned. Then she did another scan which gave her similar results...and a third to confirm that. She ushered the boys out of the hospital wing, where she secluded Ginny Weasley from the public part of the wing before calling St. Mungo's for additional help.
Erik took possession of the book, seeing as how he could feel the thing trying to latch onto his mental defenses. Whatever this thing was, it was nasty.
If Madam Pomphrey had been alarmed, it was nothing compared to how Snape reacted once he realized what he had in his hands. Whatever the book was, it was a very Darke artifact if the expression on his face was anything to go by.
Erik made no mention of who had it, but he did comment that the monster inside the Chamber had been appropriately dealt with... even if the pipes had to suffer a minor accident as a result.
Dumbledore didn't need to know that the basilisk that once lived in the Chamber was now in the tender mercies of the infamous Count D, or that it was being given treatment for malnourishment and brainwashing.
Count D had high hopes he could rehabilitate the serpent and hopefully return it to the school as the guardian it was originally intended...or to find it an owner that could treat it with the dignity it deserved.
It was extremely rare to find a fully intact basilisk this old that hadn't been deliberately blinded. Either way it wasn't attacking the students anymore and Erik had thoughtfully shared the memory of Dumbledore's expression explaining why the pipes were out of commission for nearly two months while they inspected them.
"So what exactly is it? I felt the thing trying to test my barriers all the way here," asked Erik.
"I have no idea, but the amount of dark magic pouring out of it makes it an imminent threat to the students. Fortunately I have contacts in the Department of Mysteries who would be more than happy to investigate this and keep it from Dumbledore," said Snape.
"A pity we can't twist Ginny's sudden seclusion in the hospital wing as a reason to get Dumbledore thrown out," said Erik.
Snape paused, an idea already forming.
Erik overheard a rather shocking rumor that the Heir of Slytherin had attacked Ginny Weasley, a known Pure Blood witch, directly causing her to be put into an isolated room in the hospital wing.
The fact Madam Pomphrey refused to comment or let anyone know why she was in there for more than a few hours only fueled this rumor. Especially since several students had seen members of St. Mungo's in the hospital wing as well.
Meanwhile Snape used the uproar as a chance to deliver the book to the Unspeakable, who took it and said nothing. However no mention of it was made to anyone who was a known Dumbledore supporter, meaning he wouldn't be aware of it until after it was successfully destroyed.
Lucius was more than pleased over the rumors. Because less than a week after Ginny was sent to St. Mungo's for a few days observation, Dumbledore was promptly kicked out of the Wizangamot and his title as Supreme Mugwump removed. His titles as Headmaster were also thrown into question, because he had allowed this monster to attack a pure blood child on his watch, and it had been serious enough that she was in the magical hospital and not under Poppy's care.
Even Augusta Longbottom, Neville's terrifying grandmother, couldn't dispute that this had gone on long enough. And with the safety of the pure bloods in question, very, very few supported Dumbledore.
By March, Dumbledore was suspended as Headmaster pending investigation. McGonagall would have been placed as Interim Headmistress, but her protests over the suspension and the fact she was a known die hard supporter of Dumbledore's decisions (thus she could be directly influenced by the man) meant they had to pass her over.
Snape was now the interim headmaster until this mess was sorted out. Partly because Lucius was all for a Slytherin headmaster, but mostly because he was one of the few teachers who still argued with Dumbledore and wouldn't blindly follow his orders like McGonagall.
Needless to say the Slytherins were pretty pleased by this turn of events. Even if they were still regarded with suspicion as long as the chamber was considered open.
Erik's plans to get Dumbledore out of the castle legally were working. Now he had to keep him out.
Snape had no intention of teaching potions while he sorted out the mess Dumbledore had left...so he hired a 'temporary' teacher who was more than happy to take his place while he sorted out the paperwork.
If things went right, the teacher would become permanent and he would either teach Defense...or he would be the new Headmaster. He found it much easier to deal with the students when he didn't have to teach them his favorite subject, and they found him easier to be around since they no longer had to stay in his presence unless they were in trouble.
Erik already had a plan to make Snape look better than Dumbledore. One even the more die hard Light supporters couldn't exactly complain about.
With the attacks stopped, Erik sent an anonymous letter to the Daily Prophet about the 'receipt' Count D had given him as 'proof of delivery' of a thousand year old basilisk from Hogwarts grounds...and a large section of pipe.
Considering the people of Hogsmeade had let it slip that Hogwarts had been having plumbing issues for months now, most figured out that the removal of the 'monster' in the Chamber of Secrets had required the students to sacrifice regular plumbing.
Erik casually mentioned that Snape had shown him a charm that could bend the pipes, thus allowing him to 'trap' the serpent safely with Harry's help. He refused to mention which one it was, for fear that the Weasley twins would over use it and cause another pipe break.
Since he was the start of this mess, and freed Snape from a post he hated, the hopefully former Potions teacher brought the rather intelligent Slytherin in for some more ideas. Erik promptly brought Harry in for some creative thinking, and Neville for a good idea on how the pure bloods would react.
Snape's idea to bring Erik in for some ideas worked out better than he could have hoped. At this rate he might actually become headmaster and say goodbye to dealing with snot nosed children on a daily basis...not to mention waking up early which he loathed to begin with. The only issue he had was keeping Dumbledore out of the school and away from the post of Headmaster.
Erik knew the best way to keep Dumbledore out was to get the court of public opinion in his favor. The odds were stacked against him, but if they could keep the old wizard away from Hogwarts until the middle of the next school year they might have a shot.
The first thing Snape did as temporary Headmaster was authorize something that was long overdue... replacing every broom in the school, whether it was magical or mundane. Those owned by the students were inspected by professionals, but the ones used by the school were sent off to be made into kindling. Madam Hooch was given more than enough funds to buy all new ones for the next school year... a topic she had complained about for years since the old ones started to malfunction, but Dumbledore refused to do anything about until he had no other choice.
Snape made it clear to the school governors that he wouldn't be above asking for donations if Dumbledore's claims that they "didn't have the funds to replace the brooms" used to teach flying lessons were true. They weren't, something that annoyed Hooch greatly when she found out. Filch was just glad to have brooms he could actually use now.
The second thing Snape did (one of Harry's suggestions) was to hire a second highly qualified Medi-wizard to help Poppy out in the event of a crisis. The man came with numerous recommendations and had specialized in underage magical children at St. Mungo's...which meant that the boys would have someone they could confide personal information to that they wouldn't to a witch.
It also freed her up to deal with the petrified victims while he dealt with the daily injuries that came with a magical school.
But one of the major changes he did was have the Slytherins work with the Ravenclaws during the more volatile classes like Charms, Transfiguration and Potions, while the Gryffindors were paired with the Hufflepuffs.
The number of 'accidents' during class dropped by sixty-five percent in the first week. Especially potions, since Draco could no longer antagonize the Gryffindors.
Little by little, Snape was improving his image over the dour bat in the dungeons that the students regarded him as. The fact they no longer had to deal with him directly on a weekly basis helped a lot too.
But it was Neville's idea that Snape enjoyed the best...because it would quickly become the preferred punishment for anyone who earned his ire...and it was supported by Sprout to boot.
They made a new greenhouse, one which would be maintained through strictly muggle methods and all wands outside of the teachers would be confiscated before entering.
Students caught breaking the rules (or bullying) would be sent to the new greenhouse where they would cultivate the most labor-intensive (yet hard to kill) plants in the muggle world to see if they could be used for potions. There they would spend a certain amount of hours weeding, fertilizing, watering or putting in seeds the muggle way.
As Harry could attest, having spent countless hours doing just that for his aunt's garden, it was thankless back-breaking work that would leave you bone tired at the end of it.
A large number of teachers supported the idea, to Snape's surprise.
Filch, Sprout, Flitwick, Hagrid and shockingly enough McGonagall agreed it was a good idea. Then again, it was a harmless way to punish students.