DISCLAIMER THE FIRST: It is by JKR's writing alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the grace of coffee that thoughts acquire speed, the back acquires pains, the pains become a warning. The warning is that I make no money from this. It is by JKR's writing alone I set my mind in motion. Any recognizable bits from HP & the Philosopher's Stone are hers and hers alone.

PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness. And they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy... or they become legend." – Jim Harrison – American Poet – (1937-)

LAST UPDATED ON: 12-07-2014

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN – VOICES

Chapter Specific Note: Canonical timeline is being messed up. JKR felt the need to stretch everything out over 9 months to fit her story but it stretches credulity. So the Dueling Club scene happens much earlier due to the perceived need to protect oneself from Slytherin's monster.

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Dr. BELL'S OFFICE, YORK – JUNE 14th 2010 – LATE AFTERNOON

Katie smirked, "You never did listen to Penny did you? I mean if I remember right she found you all over Hogwarts at night even after her repeated warnings."

Luna affected a shocked look, "I listen to Penelope all the time…just not in school."

Katie giggled, "Of course her being Harry's personal assistant now probably helps."

Luna nodded, "There is that. It is true I drove her to distraction my first two years. Even as Head Girl she always took the time to try and 'correct' my behavior if only for my own good. Sadly this attention and my lack of compliance focused so much of the bullying I experienced on me."

Katie frowned, "Be that as it may, Luna, Ravenclaws for all their smarts weren't known for their tolerance of odd behavior. I always thought this rather weird given how so many geniuses have been called crazy in their time."

Luna shrugged, "In our day, Ravenclaws always had two chips on their shoulders. They always felt people put up with them only to use their smarts as Ronald use to try to get Hermione to do. Then they disliked being linked, like Hufflepuffs as being lesser than Gryffindors or Slytherins. My behavior hurt efforts of the House to finally win some respect. When Cedric was chosen as Hogwarts' champion, even though he was not a lion or snake, his selection was seen as another slight against Ravenclaw. So times were tense in the tower and I suffered for a time because of it."

Luna took a sip of her tea, "Of course the student's reaction to me was typical of how Magicals acted to perceived mental health issues as you know so well. I am amazed Harry was able to deal with the issues surrounding him being a Parselmouth as well as he did."

Katie shrugged, "It was a near thing. I shudder to think how it would have gone if Harry had been the reclusive boy I knew my second year. He would have simply walled everything off, internalized it and gone a little bit more crazy."

Luna reached out and squeezed Katie's hand, "Your caring made it all possible to help Harry…and me as well."

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FROM THE PAGES OF THE POWER HE KNEW NOT – KATIE BELL

Magicals in Britain have never dealt well with mental illness. Perhaps because the mind is a difficult maze which resists easy fixes and Magicals have traditionally been all about easy fixes. A spell here, a potion here, a bone regrown and viola! You are as good as new. Sadly this doesn't work with the human brain.

Because of this, Magicals seem to be almost medieval in their treatment of mental illness. Most it consisted of shunting them off in sanitariums or a wing in St. Mungo's. They also treated it like a contagious disease. So free spirits or the slightly odd where treated even worse than one expects of people who are different. This applied very much to Luna's early time in Hogwarts.

It almost applied to Harry's as well.

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DADA CLASSROOM, HOGWARTS, NOVEMBER 6th 1992 – LATE AFTERNOON

"Will you just look at that strutting ponce!" Ron snarked.

Harry had to grin. While he wasn't on the best terms with the redhead, things had quieted down between them now that Ron had left Neville alone. In this case, Harry totally agreed with Ron. In fact he almost agreed with Snape given how the look on the Potion's professor's face seem to show he felt the same way.

"Ronald! Be nice! He is a professor," hissed Hermione.

Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Neville and tried not to smirk. Try as they could, Hermione still had this weird crush on Lockhart. Of course it seem half the younger witches did as well. While Harry had only had a few brief chances to talk with Daphne Greengrass, he was happy to find out she wasn't one of them.

"A professor of quackology maybe!" Ron said with a chuckle.

Snape raising his arms cut off whatever retort Hermione had. Harry leaned forward eagerly even if he had to roll his eyes at how Snape always managed to billow his cape doing the simplest of actions. Even with Lockhart present, Harry felt he could learn a thing or two since Snape certainly had some skills. He was eager to learn given the events last year and a potential murderer on the loose at Hogwarts.

OoOoO

"What are you all looking at? I just told the snake to stop attacking Justin and it did just that. What's with you all?" Harry asked hotly. All around him, students looked at him with amazement and suspicion. Even Snape had a calculating look on his face.

Ron grabbed his arm, "Come on, Harry; let's get out of here!" Next to him Hermione looked stricken as she wrung her hands in worry.

Harry fought free, "No! I'm not going anywhere till I know what's going on!"

"What's going on is you talked to a snake," said Ernie MacMillan with a bit of distaste evident in his voice.

"Yeah, so?" Harry asked. Seeing how this seem to shock people even more he went on, "Yes I can talk to snakes. I did it for the first time right before I found out I was a wizard. So what? Hagrid can talk to lots of animals and for that matter so can Professor Sprout."

"They can talk to certain magical animals, Harry. You can talk to normal snakes. It means you're a Parselmouth," Eddie Carmichael, a 3rd year Ravenclaw pointed out.

Harry threw up his hands, "Again so what? Yay! Harry Potter can talk to snakes. What's the big deal? Madam Hooch has the eyes of a hawk yet nobody blinked the first time we met her."

Snape smirked but Lockhart spoke up first, "Harry my boy, speaking to snakes is a hallmark of Salazar Slytherin. It is why Slytherin House's symbol is a snake. Many notable Slytherins have been Parselmouths. The Dark Lord was one as well."

All around Harry murmurings sprang up. Listening to the many comments Harry glowered at everyone for a moment. Even his friends seemed taken aback by this revelation. Finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay so since I can talk to snakes, what did you say it was called? Parselmouth? Okay so I'm a Parselmouth. Does this suddenly mean I'm some budding Dark Lord? Or that I must be the Heir of Slytherin and opened the Chamber of Secrets, right?"

The room fell silent as many seemed shocked Harry seemed to be about to admit to it.

Harry shook his head, "Come on! Sure the Sorting Hat wanted to put me into Slytherin before I talked my way out of that because I thought Malfoy was a prat…which he is." Harry saw the surprise followed by revulsion on Snape's face at this revelation. Sadly almost all of his fellow Gryffindors looked shocked and suddenly mistrustful except for Neville, Colin and his fellow Quidditch teammates. Hermione just look stunned.

"Let me get this straight. I, a guy who didn't know I was magical until I got my Hogwarts letter is suddenly able to figure out I'm an heir to some legacy I've never heard of and was able to find a chamber not even Headmaster Dumbledore can find so I can try to kill muggleborns even though I am practically one myself? Not to mention my own mother was a muggleborn! Yet you all think I'm supposedly out to kill them all now simply because I can speak to snakes?" Harry said with exasperation heavy in his voice.

All around him students exchanged looks. Harry noticed how Padma Patil in the back didn't seem to rattle by it all. Something he had read about India in the Little Whinging library popped to mind, "Hey Padma! I know in Muggle India there are lots of snake charmers. Any chance there are these Parselmouths in India?"

Every head turned to the Ravenclaw who was startled at the attention. She blinked a few times before shyly nodding, "Yes. The ability to speak to snakes is seen as a blessing and in times long past the Nagā Jībha were sought out to drive out snakes out of the fields without killing them."

Harry turned to Seamus, "How much you want to bet St. Patrick was a Parselmouth? I bet there are other Parselmouths around but seeing as how you lot seem to jump to the conclusion they must be evil, well I can see why they might keep it to themselves."

Once again muttering broke out all around Harry. He turned to Justin, "Look mate, all I said to the snake was to warn him off you. This is only the second time I've talked to a snake. I mean if I did wanted to do you in, why would I do it in front of a roomful of witnesses? I mean aren't Slytherin's supposed to be cunning? Having a snake bite you to death before two professors and a class filled with students doesn't sound like Slytherin cunning to me. It just sounds stupid. I may be able to speak to snakes but I am not stupid."

The murmuring and muttering all around him was still going on but at least the tone was less accusatory. Harry looked over at the teachers and saw Lockhart looking vacuous as usual. The potions professor however…

Snape raised an eyebrow with a faint look of approval, "There might be hope for you yet, Potter."

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FROM THE PAGES OF THE POWER HE KNEW NOT – DAPHNE GREENGRASS

Contrary to popular opinion, my school time 'Ice Queen' persona was not a way for me to keep the children of Death Eater's away from me. Surprisingly this actually applied to Tyra Rowle who was widely seen as simply a stuck-up bitch. If my fellow Slytherins only knew! Growing up in the Orkney Islands, Tyra learned a lot about Muggles and enjoyed their culture given how limited the magical community there was. However with an uncle of the likes of Thorfinn Rowle meant she had to distance herself from Malfoy and his goons along with Nott and Parkinson or risk being sucked into the Dark Lord's orbit by proxy.

So while Tyra was labeled as a bitch, I was tagged the Ice Queen of Slytherin. Perhaps it was because my family was richer and more powerful than Tyra's given how she is just as pretty as I am. Well perhaps not as pretty but I digress. My persona wasn't for my protection, however. No, I did it because I found most of my classmates boring, churlish, unimaginative and a bother to be around. Like my friend Blaise, I affected airs simply to make people work to get to know me. Almost everyone who did was worth my time.

People like Harry Potter.

I had had my eye on him since his first sorting. If there is one thing I have always prided myself on was being observant and a having keen eye for behavior. Harry didn't fit the legends and he barely fit being a Muggleborn. His non-uniform clothes screamed a deeper story and his jumpy actions were suspicious as well. It wasn't till Katie took an interest in him did Harry start to act a bit more like I had expected him to. However even then he continued to surprise me.

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INFIRMARY, HOGWARTS, NOVEMBER 8th 1992 – MORNING

Harry rolled over with a bit of a painful groan when he heard the door to the ward open. The Skele-Grow had been just as painful as the nurse had warned. However he was surprised to see Daphne instead of Madame Pomfrey coming towards him with a tray of food.

Harry had to grin as she laid the tray down on the table next to his bed. "Now you're not here to poison me to give Slytherin a chance at the Quidditch Cup are you?"

Daphne face didn't change from her normal bored look, "You flatter yourself, Potter. I'm here because I work here as an intern on the weekends. I'm trying to get a jump on my electives. Given how often you get injured, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you."

Harry grabbed a bit of toast, "So you want to be a Healer? What about your House? I mean didn't you just say it was just you and your little sister?"

Daphne didn't reply but merely pursed her lips.

Harry frowned, "I'm not trying to pry. I'm just trying to figure all this House business stuff out. Neville has been helping me but I've got so much to learn. So if I just made a terrible social gaffe, I didn't mean it."

Daphne continued to look at him before she finally gave a small smile, "It's a good thing you talked the Sorting Hat out of Slytherin, Harry. You are far to earnest for your own good."

She sat down on the edge of her bed, "As for being a healer, it's something I'm looking into. In America my mother has a cousin who is doing some bold research into merging Muggle medical science and magic. She is causing quite the scandal. Her work fascinates me. However, you are right. I do have responsibilities to my house should my father die. But I'm not going to put my life on hold on the odd chance he dies early."

Harry nodded, "Okay that makes perfect sense." Harry suddenly smirked, "I'm sure you'll be a smash at being a Healer by intimidating your patients into healing up quickly."

Daphne smacked him lightly on the arm, "Says the wizard who speaks to snakes."

Harry's face fell, "Don't tell me you believe I'm some evil Dark Lord in training?"

The blonde sniffed, "Please! I know there are at least two druids in Wales who are Parselmouths. Once again the rabble rush to judgement before thinking."

Harry laughed, "Rabble, huh?"

Daphne smile sweetly, "If the shoe fits…"

Both teens chuckled over this.

Harry finally reached out and took Daphne's hand. The blonde looked surprised at the sudden gesture but didn't pull away, "Daphne, I want to say how much it means to me that you didn't rush to judgement. Maybe it's because we're family of sorts and maybe because you're just smart. Maybe a bit of both. Whatever the reason, I just want to thank you. Even Hermione seemed to jump to the Parselmouth Harry equals Evil without much thought."

Daphne gave another disdainful sniff, "Hermione needs to use her brain for thinking and not just a fact repository. She should get her nose out of a book and do a bit of in-person research. If there is one thing the truly smart people in our society learn is the books are written by the winners and here at Hogwarts one man controls which of those book is or isn't in the library."

Harry looked around. Luckily the closest portrait was meters away and its occupant was asleep. Turning to Daphne he said softly, "I take it your family is not a fan of the Headmaster?"

Harry was gratified how this shocked Daphne enough that it showed on her face before she clamp down on her emotions. See that Harry had seen it regardless caused a rueful smile, "You continue to surprise me, Harry. And yes my family doesn't trust the Headmaster and neither did your grandparents. The Zabinis are the same way and I'd wager if you talked to Hannah she'd tell you that the Abbots probably don't as well."

Harry's eyes narrowed at this, "That is interesting given how my family and the Abbots were not only Light side families but also worked with Dumbledore."

Daphne shrugged, "Don't forget Neville's family. I wouldn't be surprised if Dame Longbottom isn't suspicious of what happened during the closing days of the war.. There were too many odd happenings during the last war. Too many specific houses were hurt while others, for no apparent reason, were barely scratched."

Harry frowned. Neville really hadn't told him a lot about the war but he did remember one thing which came up one night last year after the unicorn incident in the forest. Neville had quietly wished the aurors had been allowed to be more lethal. Ron had gone rather ballistic on this and said how the Light didn't murder.

He looked into Daphne's brilliant blue eyes which seemed to be appraising him, "Well given, from what I've learned, our side wasn't doing much more than stunners and the like. So if the other side is using nasty spells, it stands to reason we'd suffer."

Daphne nodded, "Exactly! Yet why did the Headmaster as Chief Warlock do this? History is filled with wars and the Light never used to shy away from killing their enemies. Merlin's sakes Potter, you own family is rather renown for killing off Dark Wizards. So why the change? Was this something Dumbledore felt important after the Grindelwald war? Some long range scheme of his or simply important families got targeted because they were important? I don't know nor does my father. It doesn't keep us from being suspicious though."

Harry realized he was still holding Daphne's hand so he gave it a squeeze, "Thank you for telling me this Daphne. From what I've picked up from Neville, information isn't free."

Daphne shrugged, "Our two houses have been business partners for generations. Right now House Greengrass barely profits from trade which used to make us rich due to the goblins running the House Potter fortune. Not that they are being malicious. They simply make decisions based on their logic and not in the manner of allied Houses. Helping you is helping my house."

Harry grinned, "Even so, thank you. A lot of weird things have been going on so it's nice to know I'm not the only one with some suspicions about a certain wizard."

Daphne's eyes narrowed, "Really? Again you intrigue me! Perhaps after your bones finish regrowing we might compare notes in a walk around the lake? It won't be too long before the snows make our normal route impassible."

Harry raised Daphne's hand to his lips and gave it a courtier's kiss, "My lady Greengrass, it would be an honor.

Daphne gave a tight smile, "Well I best be off. I don't think Madam Pomfrey wants me fraternizing with the patients."

Harry watched her walk out of the room, noticing that even at thirteen, Daphne was shaping up to be a finely figured witch. These thoughts were interrupted by a pop.

With a groan, Harry turned over and sure enough sitting on his bed was Dobby the house elf.

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MYRTLE'S BATHROOM, HOGWARTS, DECEMBER 6th 1992 – LATE AFTERNOON

"I not sure I like what you're planning Harry," Hermione said as she slowly stirred the cauldron in front of her. "The Polyjuice is coming along nicely. Why can't we stick with the original plan?"

Harry looked at Neville who just shrugged. Turning back to Hermione, he sighed, "Look Hermione, the plan hinges on you getting a NEWT level potion correct on your first attempt as a Second Year. From what I can tell you probably will do it brilliantly but a lot can go wrong between now and when it's finished. We still need to break into Snape's ingredient stores. Plus we still have to get the hairs and that itself is going to be dicey. I just think Daphne's suggestion should be something I try. If it doesn't work out, we still have our original plan to run with."

Neville nodded, "I agree with Harry. It isn't a slight on your potion's skill. I think I would have blown up half of Hogwarts if I even looked at the instructions you're using. It's just Daphne was right about Salazar Slytherin using parselmouth codewords built into the wards so he could go anywhere in the castle. I mean if Harry can open the Fat Lady's door using parseltongue, well I can't see it not working on the Slytherin dorm. With his cloak, he should be able to just sneak in. Besides, if he gets trapped, Harry won't have to worry about the time limit involved with the Polyjuice."

Hermione frowned, "I'm sorry. I don't want to sound like Ronald but I'm not sure how we can trust Daphne. She is a Pureblood and a Slytherin."

"So? In case you forgot I almost was a Slytherin," Harry pointed out. "That and if my dad had been more traditional, I'd have been a Pureblood myself. Come on, Hermione, my grandmother was a Greengrass so the family can't be all that bad."

Hermione looked unsure.

Neville cleared his throat, "I know I haven't really had a chance to go through it with you, Hermione, but you have to understand House Greengrass has been business partners with House Potter for generations. Like Daphne said to Harry last month, helping him is helping her house."

Hermione carefully added another ingredient before looking slightly mollified, "Well from what I can tell she does run with the Slytherins who seem to ignore Draco and his crowd."

Harry snorted, "Daphne can't stand the little ponce anymore than I can. She says he has a million excuses for how I beat him in Quidditch and any moment he'll give me what's coming to me. Apparently there are actually a lot of Slytherins who don't like him."

Neville frowned, "Yeah but given how much power Mr. Malfoy has, there isn't a lot most of them can do about it except either pretend to agree with him or ignore him like Blaise and Daphne do."

A loud sloshing caused the three teens to turn to see Moaning Myrtle pass through her stall door before coming up short in surprise. "You all! I really should tell the Headmaster you are up to no good! Just like Harry's father and friends! Oh the trouble they got into!"

Harry smiled warmly at the ghost. As annoying as she was, he had picked up how lonely she was and so it was easy to calm her down, "Oh come on Myrtle. My dad was a prankster, right? We've told you; we're just trying to find out who has opened the Chamber of Secrets. We don't want anyone to die."

Myrtle crossed her arms, "Why not? I could use the company. Almost all the other ghosts are old and stogy so they never want to talk to me! I could use a friend. Besides why should I be the only one who got killed when the Chamber of Secret gets opened? Nobody got petrified when I was in school! No it had to be Moaning Myrtle who died!"

Neville and Harry looked at each other in confusion but Hermione quickly cut in before Myrtle started her traditions wailing and crying, "Oh we're so sorry Myrtle! If we'd known you had died the last time the chamber opened we wouldn't have come here. It must be unpleasant to have to be reminded of how you died."

Myrtle looked surprised before actually smiling, "Oh it was rather dreadful! I was in this stall right here crying.. That absolutely horrid Olive Hornsby had been teasing me about my glasses all day and I just couldn't take the four-eyed jokes any more. So I came here to get away from it while everyone else was in class."

Harry quickly looked at Hermione and just as he expected, the young witch's face was a mixed of sympathy and sadness. He was sure she was remembering her own brush with death in a girls lavoratory.

"All of us here know firsthand how cruel school kids can be Myrtle," Neville said quietly.

Harry nodded, "That is for sure. So what happened? You don't have to tell us you know. If it's too painful."

Myrtle shook her head, "You're the first to ever ask. No one want ever wants to talk with four-eyed Moaning Myrtle!" Myrtle looked like she couldn't decide to starting moaning or continue gossiping. Finally the urge to gossip won as she drew in closer and lowered her voice as if confiding a dark secret. "So here I was crying away when I heard someone come. I then heard this odd hissing sound and then what sounding like rocks being dragged across the floor. It was a boy's voice; an older boy. So I opened my stall to yell at him to get out when I saw these two yellow lights almost like eyes and suddenly I was floating up out of my body. I think I became a ghost because it took me awhile to realize I was dead."

The three teens looked at each other. Harry finally spoke up, "Myrtle, you said hissing. Would you recognize it again if you heard it again?"

Myrtle nodded.

Harry fished out a handkerchief out of his pocket and tossed it on the floor. He looked at Hermione, "I think yours would be more lifelike. Do you think you can transfigure it into a snake?"

Hermione nodded. With a look of concentration, she worried her lip for a second before saying clearly and precisely, "Forma Serpentis!" as she did the elaborate flick, double swish and jab.

Harry grinned as his handkerchief changed into a replica of a small garden snake. He concentrated on it before saying, "§ Tell me your secrets! §"

While both Hermione and Neville shuddered at the evil sounding hissing, Myrtle's eyes went wide. "Merlin! That sounds so much like what I heard!" Her face suddenly fell and looked rather concerned, "Come to think of it, I think I've heard it again recently. But it was more like a young girl's voice though. Until just now I thought it was probably just the pipes. They do hiss and gurgle at times."

Harry cast a quick Finite spell on his handkerchief. He looked up to see both Hermione and Neville looking thoughtful. "So you think you've heard a witch speaking parseltongue lately?" Harry asked.

Myrtle nodded, "I believe so. Ever since the first attack I have sort of stayed away from this room. So I've been hanging out in the Black Lake a bit more." The ghost made a face, "The Merpeople aren't much better; they hate me just like everyone else at Hogwarts."

Hermione looked at Harry for a moment before frowning, "Myrtle, why do you stay here at all?"

The ghost once again looked surprised, "It's where I died. Where else I am I going to go? I may wander the grounds but I am tied to here."

"But why?" Hermione asked again.

Myrtle's face grew cross but before she could get angry Harry jumped in, "She has a good point, Myrtle. Sure you died a horrible death here but why stay? You said it yourself no one talks to you and the other ghosts snub you. I mean if you don't take part in things like Sir Nicolas' deathday party, why keep haunting Hogwarts? I'm sure your family misses you."

Myrtle folded her arms tightly against her chest, "Nobody ever missed me!"

Neville perked up, "I don't think that's true. I'm sure you parents loved you. Even if they are still alive I'm sure you have grandparents who are waiting for you to cross over."

Myrtle shook her head, "Oh it's easy for you to talk of crossing over; you're all still alive!"

Hermione took a few steps toward the ghost, "Exactly! We are still alive. But you're not Myrtle, not anymore. Why not accept it? I doubt you have anything to fear in the afterlife. Besides who knows? Why stay here and be miserable when you can pass on and perhaps be born back into this world for another go?"

Harry nodded, "She's right Myrtle. By staying here you're letting that bully Olive Hornsby win. After 50 years she still has you crying in the bathroom. Take back your life…or un-life I guess from her. Don't let her keep you miserable forever."

Myrtle just stared at the three teens for a moment. She cocked her head to the side for a moment and then smiled a brilliantly warm smile. Suddenly she was surrounded by what looked like brightly colored butterflies which swirled around her…

…and the she faded out into a cascade of bright light which seemed to fill the room with soothing warmth and a feeling of joy.

The bathroom was silent except for the lows hiss from the burner under Hermione's cauldron.

Finally Neville spoke, "Wow."

Harry nodded, "Yeah…wow."

Hermione looked at Harry, "What do you think those butterflies were?"

Neville looked confused, "What butterflies?"

Hermione looked at Neville in surprise, "You didn't see all those brightly colored butterflies before she passed on?"

Neville shook his head.

Harry suddenly gasped, "Wait! I think I know what they might be and why Neville didn't see them. Remember how I told you I bumped into Luna after the time I had detention with Lockhart? Well I heard that voice I told you about and when I asked Luna about it, I wondered if there was some creature, like thestrals, that could only be heard by people who've seen death. She mentioned something about threnodies which were butterfly-like creatures. She said they help shepherded the dead to their next life."

Neville's nodded, "So you and Hermione could see them because you saw Professor Quirrell die last year?"

Harry nodded, "I think so. It would fit with what Luna said. She saw her mother die in an accident. Although she said she's only caught glimpses of them. I'm betting they were so clear to Hermione and I because of them taking Myrtle."

Harry turned to Hermione, "You know Hermione, that was a great thing you did. I hadn't even thought to wonder why she was hanging around when she was obviously so…Hermione, are you all right?"

Hermione blinked and quickly turned to Harry, "What? Oh yes, thank you Harry. I guess I saw a lot of myself in her."

Neville's eyes narrowed, "But that isn't what you were thinking about was it?"

The bushy-haired witch shook her head, "No. She said she heard someone hissing and now we know it was parseltongue. Harry, you said you heard a voice which Lockhart didn't hear. Maybe you were asking the wrong question. It wasn't that he couldn't hear the voice; he just didn't hear what you were hearing in words."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise as the implications hit him.

"Blimey! You're saying that whatever is in the Chamber is a snake?" Neville asked.

Hermione shrugged, "It would seem so but what sort of snake petrifies people? I don't think I've ever read of anything like that."

Harry nodded, "It's something to research. Right now getting into the Slytherin common room might be a bit premature. I may need to sneak into Hufflepuff."

Both Hermione and Neville looked confused so Harry spelled it out, "Okay so 50 years ago it was an older boy who was the parselmouth. Now Myrtle said it's a younger witch. So that rules me out from opening the chamber if I was being controlled somehow. Now Daphne told me she knew of at least two parselmouth Druids in Wales. So maybe we should be looking at someone who is young, female and Welsh."

Neville looked shocked, "You can't be serious? You think Megan Jones might be the one opening the chamber? Sure she's a Pureblood but she's got to be one of the nicest girls in our year! She's a Hufflepuff! How could she be the Heir of Slytherin?"

Harry made an airy gesture with his hand, "Slytherin's are about cunning. What better way than pushing yourself into a different house to hide? Besides is she's really loyal to Salazar's legacy well maybe that is what got her sorted into Hufflepuff."

Hermione shook her head, "While I agree with Neville, I think Harry is right to at least check her out. I think it would be easy. Catch her unawares and have Harry say something in parseltongue which would cause her to react. Something like, 'I know it's you' or maybe 'we're on to your plan!' which will cause her to respond differently if she understand it rather than just hearing Harry hissing."

Harry nodded, "That makes sense."

Hermione held up a hand, "However I think you still need to check out Slytherin house. Did Daphne say those were the only other parselmouths? Or were they just two which are perhaps a bit more open about it?"

Harry was about to disagree before realizing Hermione was right. Daphne hadn't said they were the only parselmouths. "Okay, yeah I see where you're coming from and you're right. Slytherin House still is the best place to find this witch."

Neville rubbed his temples as if he was getting a headache, "It's going to be hard figuring out which girl it could be given most Slytherins are Purebloods. We can rule out Tracey Davis in our year, Genevieve Walker in Third year and Lucinda Urquhart in First Year given they're all half-bloods. That still gives us about 15 witches just in the first three years!"

"Well I think we can scratch Daphne off the list as well but you're right, there are a lot of potentials," Harry agreed. "Sorry to say but you'd be best at figuring out who we should target."

Neville blanched, "Well I hope Hermione helps me. I'm rather rubbish in the library."

Hermione sighed, "There is another problem, Harry. While I can help Neville find out who probably has the closest ties to Slytherin, I'm worried you won't be able to get into the dorms to really check. I mean yes you should be able to into Slytherin, but will you be able to override the wards into the girl's dorm?"

Harry blinked at this before frowning, "I don't know. I guess I'll have to wait till everyone goes to sleep and test it in Gryffindor."

"If not you'll have to bring Hermione or maybe Katie if you can't," Neville pointed out.

"Oh no! You're not roping me into sneaking into Slytherin House! If we get caught I'm betting the Board of Directors would try to have me expelled as an uppity mudblood!" Hermione said bitterly.

Harry smiled, "Don't worry Hermione; I would have asked Katie. I think she'd love the adventure. Beside we can't risk you; Neville and I are pants at research compared to you. It would take us forever to solve if we didn't have you. You're rather irreplaceable."

Hermione smiled shyly with a hint of red to her cheeks, "Thanks Harry."

Neville looked at his watch, "So now what Harry?"

Harry stared off into space for a bit before answering, "Given what Ollie and Katie said last year, I think what we're going to do is have all of us in the know have a chat together." Harry frowned, "I don't want you to freak but I'm going to ask Daphne to join us. She's had some pretty interesting insights into the Headmaster. I think she will be a big help. Besides, she could be our inside person to help us find the Heir if she's in Slytherin."

Hermione, "Well we might want to look into who had kids in Hogwarts 50 years ago. Maybe we should ask Hagrid. I think he got expelled somewhere around then. Maybe he knows something."

"Good thinking Hermione! We'll have to have the meeting here given that it would be too suspicious to head out to our spot on the Black Lake." Harry said.

"What about Ron, Harry?" Neville asked.

Harry frowned. With all the detention's Ron and Seamus were pulling because of the flying car incident, it had been easier to get away from him. Yet it was getting harder to make up excuses on where he was all the time without potentially being caught in a lie. Now that they were all looking at Ron as a potential spy, they had noticed he would hang around them even when it was obvious he'd rather be doing other things. It seemed to reinforce Neville's contention of Ron being made to stick close to Harry seem more and more likely.

"I'm not sure. I was actually thinking of asking the Twins for some help. I figure they might have some ideas on how to surprise Megan. Perhaps they can distract Ron a bit till the Yule break." Harry said thoughtfully.

Hermione made a very unladylike snort, "Knowing the Twins you're liable to end up giving Megan a heart attack instead of seeing if she's the Heir."

Harry grinned, "If only that were true. If it was we could have been rid of Malfoy last term!"

XxXxX

FROM THE PAGES OF THE POWER HE KNEW NOT – KATIE BELL

I often wondered while at school how the Headmaster could have left Harry with the Dursleys. Yet in looking back now for this retrospective, I cannot help but wonder what Harry's parents were really like. Peel back all the gushing stories and you see that both James and Lily were exceptional people and perhaps this was another reason for the Dursleys.

James was the leader who got three underclassmen to become animagi right under McGonagall's nose. While Remus was the 'Hermione' of the group, James was the leader who was able to make use of the talents of the people round them. He was the one which made the individual parts to merged into a much more effective whole.

Lily, in contrast, was simply brilliant. So many stories focus on her compassion, her beauty and the odd, whirl-wind courtship by James. I cannot help but think so much of this is because if they talked about her scholastic achievements it would leave a bad taste in the mouths of Purebloods to see how far a 'mudblood' like her had outclassed her Pureblood schoolmates.

No child is a cut-and-paste copy of various aspects of their parents. However one cannot discount exceptional people often have just as exceptional children. So was Harry dumped at the Dursleys to dull his potential? I began to see this as a possibility given how astounding the difference in Harry was from First Year to Second Year. This first came home to me when Harry approached Ollie and I to invite us to a meeting to discuss "those things" as we like to say among ourselves.

Once again I was struck how artfully (and mostly unconsciously) Harry had not only taken Ollie's advice about teamwork to heart but had gathered an interesting group of people to his him. I was surprised to see Daphne Greengrass at our meeting but also Sally-Anne, Fay and even Lilith. When I asked, Harry had shrugged and said they were in the know and every pair of eyes could potentially see what the others missed.

This acceptance of everyone smacked of what I later learned about Lily Evans. She saw potential in everyone, even in people like Severus Snape. And just like James, Harry was beginning to draw the best out of everyone around him.

Certainly there were missteps along the way. Harry's plan to scout out the Slytherin dorms yielding nothing of real importance. It was fun sneaking around, sticking close to Harry under his cloak but all we found was things like Pansy was a gossip, Tyra had a secret stash of Muggle novels and Miriam Jugson was a sadistic little bitch even to other Death Eater children like the Carrow twins.

Draco holding court and running his mouth in the common room didn't get us any good information other than it was obvious Draco had no clue who the Heir was. While Daphne was keeping an eye on her dorm-mates, none of us figured our mystery witch was liable to slip up conveniently when Daphne was around.

Megan Jones also turned out to be a false lead just as Neville had thought. She was a good sport about the odd prank the Twins had set up. It helped that I was able to have Leanne sort of set her up into the trap.

So as we boarded the train to go home on the Yule break, we all were stymied. Hermione and Neville were still researching the records of those in school when Hagrid was expelled. Given how much the half-giant looked up to Dumbledore, we all debated the best way to approach him to ask his own memories of that time.

However while the Yule break would end up being a major change in Harry's life, something unnoticed happened before we left for Holiday which would later change not only Harry's life but that of his godfather.

At the time this major event was nothing more than a curiosity. Something we felt was wicked cool but just one of those sort of magical things you end up accepting as part of the Hogwarts experience. So while interesting, not one of us present had any idea what a game-changer we had just been shown.

For who could have foreseen how the words, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good!" would change all of our lives?

XxXxX

Chapter 14 Preview: Harry finds out he's adopted! What could go wrong with a older adoptive sister like Tonks?

XxXxX

A/N: While I shamelessly use the Ice Queen version of Daphne, I do try to make her the reason a bit less of the clichéd "I'm protecting myself" to her just being a rich witch of means who grew up with privilege and thus has high standards.

Christmas Charlie-Foxtrot: There are a lot of things which I didn't really notice in Harry Potter the first few times I read the series. Then there are some of the things which always struck me as funny. The Christmas season in CoS was one of them.

* The Weasleys: Okay I can sort of see the idea the Weasleys might want to "gift" their kids with a better Christmas at Hogwarts than they could provide at home. However that totally goes against Molly Weasley's canonical actions. There is just no way she'd allow her "babies" to go nine months without her mother's love.

* Draco & Company: Okay now Lucius knows there is some terrible beast being unleashed at Hogwarts because he set it in motion. Sure it's not supposed to go after Purebloods but do you think someone like Lucius would put his heir at risk? Plus why does Draco & Co. stay at Hogwarts only that year? Well of course they did because JKR needed them to even though it would be the one year they'd almost assuredly be taken home.

* Hermione: Her canon behavior is not one of a happy family life. Plus I don't know about you but I wouldn't let my kid stay away from family for 9 months when I could see them at the holidays. That Hermione's parents always seem happy to allow her to stay away is also suspicious. While I have already showed the Grangers to be Yuppies who did sort of expect perfection, I think as she got older they would loosen up a bit, especially as she has good personality changes through the course of this story.

* Holidays: Additionally if many wizarding families follow "the old ways" then kids would be home prior to the Winter Solstice (usually Dec 21st) and probably would be home for a sort of Spring Break around April to coincide with Beltane. Also school wouldn't go so late in June as it would coincide with the Summer Solstice. Sure maybe JKR wanted that day so Voldemort could be resurrected on it but she actually never brought it up. Again, however, having school on such a magical/religious holiday makes no sense.