Chapter fourteen

Harry was sitting with his friends and girlfriend in one of the larger corridors, they had conjured blankets, pillows and Dobby had brought them hot drinks and snacks.

'So when is this person supposed to arrive?' Hermione asked.

'At ten, so he should be here by now, let's hope he can fix the wards.'

'So if they weren't dismantled no one could have sabotaged any potion?' Seamus asked.

'No, but anyone with a dark mark or a dark object would have been discovered straight away. Like with Quirrell in first year, the wards would have picked up that he had the spirit of Voldemort on the back of his head. Ginny would have been saved from going through all that last year.'

'She's still having a hard time, during the holidays mum took her to see a mind healer and Pomfrey is still talking to her even if she's not trained,' Ron said.

'Do you think it was Dumbledore who lowered the wards or Dippet?' Neville asked.

'No idea, but if I was to guess I would say Dumbledore. He got Snape out of Azkaban after my parents died, then he was a teacher. He couldn't have without the wards being lowered, not with his dark mark. Doing a bit of research into Dippet, the only thing that happened was the chamber of secrets, but since no one believed it was real the wards weren't configured for the chamber. But look, the chamber was opened again, even though it wasn't Ginny's fault, I was able to open it to go down there with Ron. Right now that tap is still the same and I checked it, it still opened, I closed it again, but that basilisk is still down there even though it's dead, the fangs still have poison in them.'

'You're right, Professor Dumbledore should have sealed it, even against a parselmouth.'

'Do you know you own that basilisk sweetheart?'

'I own it, but Slytherin put it there.'

'You killed it, so you own it, which means you could claim the parts, sell them if you wish. I know the potions guild would pay you a lot of money just for the skin and blood.'

'Well, I suppose I could get Charles to contact them, but it's not like I need the money. I suppose I could donate it to St Mungo's or something. I could even donate some to Hogwarts so they can buy new brooms and maybe more books.'

'It's something to think about mate, but you would be best contacting them now, before it rots,' Ron said.

'Then I'll contact Charles, see what he has to say,' Harry glanced around, 'Did you feel that?'

'Feel what?' Neville asked.

'Sort of like a prickle over your skin, a tingle.'

'You can feel wards Harry. That is how it's described in the books. There are only a few that can feel, sense or see wards,' Hermione said.

'If you can feel it then that unspeakable must be reactivating them,' Dean said.

'Yeah, he must be,' Harry glanced out the enchanted window, Hermione had cast an invisible barrier on it to stop the cold seeping in, they were also charmed to stay warm, 'He is, I can see the shimmer out there,' Harry pointed, 'It's sort of a transparent silver sheen, it's rippling.'

'If you can see wards mate then maybe you should become a warding wizard when you leave Hogwarts. Being able to see them would make warding a place easier, you also would have to dismantle them so seeing them you could see when they fall,' Ron said, 'It's similar to curse breaking, Bill said he gets this feeling when a curse is broken, he can't see it but he does feel it.'

'A warding wizard, yeah, that's something to think about.'

The friends stayed in the corridor until it was close to dinner. Seamus, Dean, Neville, Ron and Hermione left first to give Harry and Luna some time alone. They might only be thirteen and twelve, so they most they did was hold hands and give each other the occasional kiss. They mainly sat together and talked about school work or what they might like to do when they were older. Luna did say she would like to get married and have at least four children, Harry said the same. Being alone he thought it would be nice to have a few kids and they could keep each other company as well.

During dinner Harry was told that the headmaster kept glaring and it seemed to be aimed at Harry. He didn't really care, the headmaster had put the students at risk by lowering the wards that were supposed to keep all students safe. Now the friends who knew about the unspeakable that had been to Hogwarts and recast and strengthen the wards felt a lot safer than they had over the last two years. The friends did notice that Snape was not at the table, they all believed he was no longer in the castle otherwise the wards would sound an alarm that it had picked up the dark mark.

On the day of Severus Snape's day in court, Harry was nervous. He knew it would be okay but he was still nervous. Ron, Hermione, Neville and a few other friends tried to keep Harry occupied so he wouldn't keep thinking about Snape and what was happening. After the last class of the day Harry was sitting with his friends and his girlfriend at the Gryffindor table. Even though most students remained at their own house table, it was not against the rules for students to sit at other house tables.

Just as dinner finished Charles stepped into the great hall with Minerva. Charles headed towards Harry, Minerva went straight to the staff table.

'He was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months, he was also heavily fined, which will go to you once all the paperwork is finalised. He will never return to Hogwarts in any capacity.'

Harry grinned then he was being kissed by Luna, hugged by all his friends, he stood then hugged Charles.

'Thank you, I'm sure every student in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would thank you as well, if they knew.'

'Just doing my job Harry. Now I got a reply from the potions guild, they wish to take possession of the remains of the basilisk. I spoke with Professor McGonagall, she is going to allow them entry when they arrive in a weeks' time. Now they did tell me that someone wrote to them at the end of last year about a basilisk, they were inquiring how much they would pay for a full dead basilisk. They wrote back and said that they were need to see the specimen before they could give an accurate price, but they believed it could reach up to five million galleons. They asked when they could inspect the snake and was told it would be sometime this year but a few things needed to be sorted before that could happen.'

'Do you think it's the one down in the chamber?'

'There has not been a sighting of a basilisk before the one you killed in more than five hundred years. It's possible that someone found one and just didn't advertise it, but I feel that is highly unlikely. I would say someone tried to sell the one you killed. They could not tell me who wrote them as the letter was not signed, they did however send me a copy to see if I could determine who wrote the letter.'

'I didn't tell many people, I only told my closest friends, a few others were only told recently. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Neville, Ron and Ginny were the only ones that knew at the end of last year.'

'You know it wasn't us mate, you saved my sister from that thing and almost died to do it. We owe you mate.'

'No you don't and I know my friends wouldn't do that to me anyway. So will I need to see the potions guild?'

'Only to allow them to enter the chamber. Now I spoke with my friend, the unspeakable, he has explained that for now the chamber is still accessible to parselmouth's, but the moment the basilisk is gone he will seal it.'

'Do you think I could go down there with them?'

'You would need to speak with your head of house, but why would you want to?'

'Well, I never really got a chance to look around, I mean Salazar Slytherin built that chamber, one of the founders. For all anyone knows there may be something else in there. I don't mean another basilisk but something that belonged to him. If he did leave something then it should be displayed somewhere in the castle, it would be part of history.'

'True, well, speak with Professor McGonagall, I'm sure if there was something she would like it brought into the main part of the castle, unless it is dangerous. Now I should go, I have a meeting at the ministry.'

Harry saw a quick flick of Charles eyebrows which told him the meeting was about Sirius. Harry couldn't wait until his godfather's name was cleared, then he would really feel like he had a family.

'So what is supposed to happen with potions?' Neville asked.

'Since Dumbledore is only now finding out Snape can't return, I'm sure he will be working on another teacher. Let's hope they are a better teacher than Snape.'

'They would have to be, no one could be as bad as he was. I wonder who will take over as head of Slytherin?' Ron asked.

'Professor Babbling was a Slytherin, she teachers ancient runes, maybe it will go to her,' Hermione said, 'She's fair, she gives points to all who deserve them and takes them away from everyone even the Slytherin's.'

'Then she sounds like a fair teacher,' Neville said then began eating his desert while everyone else also got stuck into their puddings or icecream. It seems Hogwarts was changing a little, but for the better.