The Chamber's Secrets
Like Tom said, the library wasn't much. It really was a small study located in the back of the mouth of Slytherin's statue. It was decorated in much the same way the Heir Dorms were, with a lot of green and silver. A single bookcase stood on one wall while two cabinets were on the opposite wall. A desk sat in the back with an old lantern for reading. The bookcase held a handful of very old books while the cabinets were full of sealed scrolls.
Harry grabbed a handful of each and put them on the desk to look at. Out of the corner of his eye Harry could see Tom, still possessing Ginny, standing off to the side with his diary clutched tightly in his arms, making Ginny look like an innocent school girl. It was very weird to look at.
The scrolls, Harry noticed, were full of notes and spells Slytherin was researching or found interesting. One even talked a bit about Horcruxes, which is where Voldemort got the idea to use them, but even Slytherin despised them and didn't mention them further. A handful of books were actually Slytherin's journals, full of his lessons learned under an apprenticeship, his misadventures as a child, teen, and adult, and of the early years of Hogwarts. Here, Harry discovered the reason why Slytherin hated muggles and muggle-borns.
During Slytherin's time, witches and wizards were hunted by muggles following the formation of the Christian religion in Europe. As the years past, it became more and more dangerous for the Hogwarts staff to recruit muggle-born students, for both the staff and potential students. Everyone assumed the danger was outside the castle but no one ever imagined that there was danger inside.
One ambitious muggle-born believed that his magic came from the muggle God and that it was his destiny to destroy all 'Devil worshiping witches and wizards'. He planned to destroy the magical world and insert himself as a follower of God and bring about a glorious age of Christianity. He gathered a few like-minded individuals to his cause but they were quickly stopped by the Founders. Ironically, the muggle-born was killed by muggles who thought he was a devil worshipper.
Following this incident and the continued persecution of wizards, Slytherin demanded that the Founders stop taking in muggle-borns. The other Founders disagreed and wouldn't listen to Slytherins arguments brought on by fear of a 'single incident caused by a foolish student. Unable to persuade the others, Slytherin created the Chamber and placed the Basilisk there incase another muggle-born tried to follow in the footsteps of the Believer.
The entrees stopped there and Harry assumed that it was shortly after this that Slytherin was banished from the castle. He obviously planned to return to continue his work but never managed it. Harry felt a small amount of pity for Slytherin as his hatred of muggle-borns came from his fear of them. Fear does terrible things to a mind, Harry knew that and so did Tom. He grabbed another handful of books, scrolls, and journals, shrank them with some difficulty and left the library. He knew he would return some time later to collect more but time was running out, he needed to get back to the school before someone realized that he and Ginny were missing.
With the Basilisk under his command now, Harry allowed the great snake to remain inside the main chamber. When asked how he had not been killed by the great snakes death glare, Tom had told him that the magic in the basilisk's eyes were controllable, the snake would only kill in self defense, for food, or on orders of it's master. There was a secret passage that led to the Forbidden Forest that the Basilisk could use if it got hungry. Harry and Tom then made their way out of the Chamber and to Myrtle's bathroom.
Harry's plan was simple; have Tom use Ginny's wand and his magic to leave several bruises and cuts on her body and robes. Then, Tom would use a memory charm on Ginny, making her forget about her experiences with the Chamber and about him. It went off without a hitch and Harry took the diary. He then ran back to the Slytherin dorms where, once in the safety of the Heir Dorms, used the magic of the diary. Using the diary's magic, Harry drained it of the soul fragment and its magic and placed it in himself.
Immediately he felt the effects. He felt stronger, more powerful. He could feel the magic now flowing through him, and it was intoxicating. He couldn't help but laugh as he felt the power flowing into his body. If this was what only half of Voldemort's power felt like, he couldn't wait to get his hands on the rest of it. Also like expected, the diary gave Harry more of Voldemort's memories. The memories filled in the blanks of everything before Riddle's fifth year when he opened the Chamber and made the diary Horcrux. It also contained everything Riddle knew about the Chamber, and large random bits of knowledge throughout his life.
His new memories also included the ones made this year about its possession of Ginny. As the diary also drained Ginny of some of her life force and power, Harry got those too. He was now probably top student in the school in terms of power, however he would need to spend quite a bit of time learning as many spells as he could, including the large amount he knew from Voldemort's memories. He knew that as he grew older and his new magic matured with his body, he would grow even more powerful.
Once he made sure the diary was hidden in his trunk, Harry returned to the bathroom for the next part of his plan. Ginny was still lying on the floor where he and Tom left her. He made a show of kneeling down to check her pulse in case Myrtle was watching. She was. There was a scream and Harry looked up. Moaning Myrtle was starring wide-eyed at Harry and Ginny.
"Myrtle, quick, get a professor!"
She didn't need telling twice. Myrtle floated out of the bathroom at high speed. Once she was gone Harry slowly picked the girl up and carried her out of the bathroom. He had taken one step when someone called out to him. It was Professor McGonagall.
"Mr. Potter, what's going on? What happened to Miss Weasley?"
"I don't know Professor, I just saw Professor Lockhart emerge from the bathroom. I was curious as to why he was in a girl's bathroom so I went inside. I found Ginny just lying on the ground. Moaning Myrtle saw me and I asked her to get a professor."
"Very well Mr. Potter. I'll take Miss Weasley to the Hospital Wing, you come too."
McGonagall took Ginny from Harry's arms and carried her down the hall, Harry following close behind her. Once Ginny was in a bed and Madam Pomfrey was checking her over, McGonagall left. Harry sat in a nearby chair, playing the part of the concerned friend. A few minutes later and Professor McGonagall returned with Professors Dumbledore and Snape and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley rushed for her daughter while the professors turned towards Harry.
"Mr. Potter, please explain everything you saw" asked Dumbledore.
Harry repeated the story he made up with Riddle. He was walking along the hall when he saw Professor Lockhart emerge from the girl's bathroom. He didn't see Harry and was acting funny. Curious, Harry entered the bathroom to find Ginny unconscious. Myrtle then found them and alerted McGonagall. Throughout the story Mrs. Weasley was crying and holding Ginny's hand.
"Well Poppy," said Dumbledore, turning to the school's nurse "what's the diagnosis?"
"Miss Weasley has several bruises and cuts all over her body. Her robes protected her upper body from what I believe to be the worst of it. She's also had her memory modified but I don't know of what. Beyond that there's no sign of any worse injuries."
"Dumbledore, I want Lockhart arrested!" Mr. Weasley said, furious.
"Of course, I'll alert the Aurors immediately and I'll have Gilderoy questioned. I assume you, your wife, and Mr. Potter will stay here?"
The professors then left, leaving Harry alone with the Weasleys. Harry felt uncomfortable being alone with the Weasley parents after what they did last summer and what they said to Ginny. He made to leave but Mr. Weasley stood in front of him.
"I want to thank-you for what you did for my daughter."
Harry just narrowed his eyes and chose not to respond. Mrs. Weasley gave a loud sob and Mr. Weasley looked grave.
"I know you don't think the best of us because of what my wife put in that Howler at the beginning of the year" here Mrs. Weasley gave another loud sob and whispered 'I'm sorry' over and over while stroking Ginny's hand, "but please try to understand, we love our daughter very much. If you're her friend…I guess we can accept that."
Mr. Weasley offered his hand but Harry didn't take it. They should be apologizing to their daughter for what they did, not him. He sat back down next to Ginny's bed and waited.
It was a long, quite half hour before Professor Dumbledore returned. He looked very upset and Harry feared for a second that his plan had been shot to pieces. The Weasleys stood and walked over to the headmaster.
"Well?"
"Me and a group of Aurors questioned Mr. Lockhart under Veritaserum and he denied any involvement in your daughter's attack but it did expose a few troubling things. It turns out that Mr. Lockhart's 'achievements' were really performed by other witches and wizards. He tracked them down, got the full story from them, then used a Memory Charm to make them forget. He has been arrested for those crimes and the use of Memory Charms had provided the Aurors what they believe is enough evidence to arrest him for your daughter's attack as well. As we speak he's being carted off to the Ministry for trial."
Harry was amazed by what he was hearing. The plan had been to frame Lockhart for the attack and get the fool out of the school. He had no idea that he had actually done all those crimes. He had doubts that someone would believe him but now no one would believe Lockhart. The fool was finished, he'd be lucky to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. The Weasley children came in at that moment and began to talk with their parents. Ginny meanwhile stirred.
"Uh…Harry?"
"Hey, glad to see you're awake."
She took one look around and her eyes got wide. "Oh no! Was I attacked?"
"Not by the Chamber no, but apparently Lockhart did something to you and then modified your memories. He's been arrested so he can't harm you anymore."
Ginny then burst into tears and grabbed onto Harry like her life depended on it. He held her close until someone cleared their throat. All of the Weasleys were standing behind him and Ron and the twins weren't looking to happy.
"Mum!"
"Ginny! My baby!"
Mrs. Weasley then rushed back to her daughter's side. The two cried together while the other Weasleys crowded around Ginny's bed. Harry chose that moment to leave.
Harry took a detour to the Room of Requirement to pick-up the diadem before returning to the Slytherin dorms. Once again Harry performed the ritual to remove the soul fragment and put it in himself. This Horcrux contained most of Voldemort's later years at Hogwarts and a few of his adventures after, as well as filling in more blanks throughout the rest of his life. The gaps in Voldemort's life were becoming smaller and smaller.
It also gave Harry the location of two more Horcruxes, the Gaunt Family Ring at the Gaunt Shack and Hufflepuff's Cup in the Lestrange Vault in Gringotts. The first he could get once he found a way to move around freely but the second would be near impossible to get. Only one Horcrux, Slytherin's Locket, was at an unknown location. It's location was probably stored somewhere within the other Horcruxes but it mattered little at this point. As the third Horcrux the Diadem contrained another twelve and a half percent of Voldemort's soul and magic. He was now up to around sixty four percent of his soul and magic, when he added in the soul from the diary, and if he had to guess was somewhere in the top percentage power wise in the world, and once he got the ring he would be even higher. Voldemort magical power was legendary after all.
With the magic he now had at his command he could easily practice all kinds of magic. The spells and knowledge the Horcruxes provided would be of great use in the future. Finally, he no longer needed to play Quidditch to protect himself. He had magic now! He would let Malfoy continue to make a fool of himself next year. After all, he would be busy and cheap entertainment would be welcomed.
Harry had chosen an interesting time to find the Chamber. Riddle's last attack had resulted in a Ravenclaw Prefect being petrified in the Library. It happened when she saw the Basilisk in her mirror as she was checking her make-up. Harry's 'alibi' almost absolved him of suspicion but not everyone believed he wasn't responsible.
The next morning everyone woke up to find out that the groundskeeper Hagrid had been arrested for the attacks and Dumbledore temporarily suspended. Of course, all anyone could talk about was Lockhart. Many people, mostly the female population, were completely shocked by his actions and a large majority of the students were questioned and examined to see if he did anything to them. If it could happen to Ginny Weasley, it could've happened to anyone. So far nothing had been found but that didn't stop the rumor mill.
With Lockhart gone Defense Against the Dark Arts had to be taught by all the teachers. Students suddenly became more interested in the class as nobody knew who would be teaching their class that time and what they would teach. The class was most productive when it was canceled and the students were required to do independent studies.
With the latest attack and Dumbledore gone, Hogwarts was practically overflowing with fear. Only two people didn't have any fear at all, Harry and Draco. Draco was being his usual self, strutting about the castle like he owned the place and bragging about how his father was the one to remove Dumbledore from the school. Harry of course was the only one who knew where the Chamber was and who was behind it and, as such, the only one who knew that the danger had passed.
He also kept the Horcrux remains hidden in his trunk. Although the items were no longer Horcruxes and dangerous, Harry believed it was a good idea to keep them hidden. Ravenclaw's Diadem was supposed to be missing and its magical properties were still useful. Voldemort's memories also revealed that Ivy knew about the Diary, or at least part of it, and that it was best for it to disappear.
Ginny and Penelope Clearwater's attack was the last eventful thing that happened the rest of the year. Months went by without an attack and the school slowly let its guard down. The professors kept alert, in case the Heir made another attack just before the school year ended but nothing happened. The Basilisk's victims were successfully restored though they could give no information about what attacked them, they had no memories.
There was no winner for the Quidditch Cup this year as the matches had been canceled after the last attack yet Slytherin won the House Cup easily thanks to Harry. All the Slytherins had a party the last night of term to celebrate that as well as the worst defeat Gryffindor had ever had.
Before he boarded the Express the next morning, Harry snuck back down to the Chamber to retrieve a set of scrolls from Slytherin's library. There, he had discovered an unusual find that interested Apollo and Artemis as well. Apparently, in the last years of his life, Slytherin attempted to make a written language for Parseltongue. Slytherin was interested in combining the powerful form of Parsel Magic, magic using Parseltongue, and Runic Magic. The whole thing was an experiment and not entirely finished but Harry decided to finish it himself.
The train ride was fairly quiet. Ginny and Luna rode with Harry, and Tracey joined them for half of the trip. Luna read a copy of The Quibbler the entire trip while Artemis lay in her lap. Apollo curled up next to Ginny, who was writing in her new diary. Even with Voldemort's powerful memory charm Ginny had spent too much time with his Diary so it was fairly difficult for her to forget about it. She remembered nothing about its true power, only that she had a diary but it was lost somewhere within Hogwarts. Harry replaced it with the one she currently had as a present.
When they arrived at King's Cross, Rose met him a ways away from their father. Harry recognized the blonde woman standing next to him as the one that accompanied him to the Gryffindor/Slytherin match this year.
"That's our new stepmother," Rose explained. "She's some American witch named Amy Williams. She met Father in Diagon Alley last year and he's been sneaking off to see her ever since. That's where he was at the beginning of the year.
She moved in not long after term started and she and Father were married not long after. She's bloody annoying, trying to make me a 'proper little witch' and won't leave me alone. I'm never calling her Mum, ever."
The new Mrs. Potter was worse than Rose explained. She had a high pitched voice and was incredibly vain. She simply adored being the new mother to the Girl-Who-Lived. She tolerated Rose but was absolutely horrible to Harry, criticizing him, and claiming he wasn't even worthy to carry her bags. Harry hated her immediately.
Thankfully, Harry was able to mostly ignore her by staying up in his room. With his various projects to keep him busy Harry barely emerged from his room, even to eat meals. Apollo and Artemis hated the new arrangements. Amy was deathly afraid of snakes and though Harry longed to reveal his friends to her, he knew that there would be big trouble if they were discovered.
Thankfully, this had the benefit of allowing Harry to work on the Parseltongue Dictionary. Instead of individual letters, in Parseltongue, a rune could be either a syllable or an entire word. The trick was figuring out how the tongue moved. It was very difficult work as the three could never really agree on how to write a certain rune, thought thankfully most of the hardest work was already done by Slytherin.
Thanks to the wards around Potter Manor that kept the ministry from detecting magic, Harry also started practicing some of the more illegal spells, but spells that would help him conceal the fact that he could use magic, he wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible so he was able to practice all of the spells he had learned from Voldemort's memories. The first two spells he practiced were the Imperious Curse and Obliviate. He figured it would be easier to get revenge by using other people and then erasing all knowledge of his involvement from them. After all since everyone thought he was a squib, nobody would suspect him if someone was found under the Imperious Curse.
He also worked some on the Cruciatus Curse. He knew from his new memories that you had to want to see the victim hurt for it to work right, but he didn't think that would ever be a problem. The only thing he left alone for now was the Killing Curse, it would be another year or more before he learned that one.
Rose sometimes spent some time with Harry. It was to get away from Amy as much of what Rose did she didn't agree with, like riding a broom. Rose's time wasn't wasted, she read and reread nearly every scroll of Harry's notes as at last she would be going to Hogwarts at the end of summer.
Harry got a handful of letters from his friends. Luna wrote once a week and talked endlessly about the creatures she and her dad looked for. Tracey asked to borrow some of Harry's notes, especially his Muggle Studies as she had signed up for that class. She also said that Daphne asked about him every once and a while, but he no longer really cared.
Ginny didn't send a whole lot of letters as she didn't have her own owl and her three older brothers didn't like Harry that much. A couple days before his birthday Harry received an excited letter from her about how her father won seven hundred galleons from the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. She, her parents, and three of her brothers were going to Egypt for a month. Due to his punishment from last year, Ron wasn't allowed to go as was still stuck with his Aunt Muriel, much to Ginny's amusement. There was a family picture of them holding the winnings on the front of The Daily Prophet.
The day before Harry's birthday, Professor Dumbledore arrived at Potter Manor. He did not have good news.
"James, I'm sorry to tell you that there has been a break-out from Azkaban Prison."
"WHAT? But how, that place is supposed to be inescapable."
"I know, the Ministry is still investigating but that's not the problem. The escapee is Sirius."
James Potter froze and Harry felt a jolt. Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, the man who betrayed his family to Voldemort, and killed twelve muggles and James and Remus's good friend Peter Pettigrew had escaped. Harry knew Pettigrew was actually the one who betrayed them to Voldemort thanks to his new memories, but he wasn't going to say anything as he also knew he had taken Voldemort's wand the night he was killed, and Harry wanted that wand.
"His cell was found empty early this morning. I was alerted right away by Minister Fudge, who has also alerted the muggle Prime Minister. However, the problem is that for the past couple of months he has been muttering yours, Ivy's, and Harry's names in his sleep. The Minister believes that Black may try and kill you all in some mad attempt to bring Voldemort back to life.
"While I believe that is a little farfetched, we can never be too sure. In any case, it's best to better be safe than sorry. The Minister wants to assign Aurors to protect you here and while you leave. Unfortunately his has also asked to post Dementors around Hogwarts and I have reluctantly agreed. For yours and your family's sake, I suggest you leave the house as little as possible and don't allow Harry or Ivy to visit Hogsmeade this year."
"What?" came Ivy's loud voice.
"I'm sorry Ivy but it's for your own protection. As soon as Black is recaptured you can visit the village, I promise."
"Don't worry Dumbledore, I promise we'll take every precaution. Black ruined my family twelve years ago, I wont let him harm them again."
With this his pulled Amy into a tight hug and gripped Ivy's shoulder, completely ignoring Harry and Rose. Neither Amy nor Ivy noticed but Harry, Rose, and Dumbledore did. Dumbledore thought about saying something but let it go. James just probably grabbed those two because they were closer and he did only have two arms.
"Dumbledore, before you go, you should know that Black is an Animagus. He can turn into a large black dog."
"Thank-you James, that is really helpful information, I'll be sure to let the Ministry know right away."
The news about Blacks escape actually made Harry happy. This was because he knew that James and Amy wouldn't have signed his Hogsmeade permission slip and now Ivy couldn't go as well. Of course he could always sneak out of the secret passage that led from the Chamber of Secrets to the Forbidden Forest, just as soon as he mastered the Disillusionment Charm. He would have that mastered before summers end.
The Aurors arrived the next day and were stationed around the house. James also updated the wards just in case. Rose and Ivy were no longer allowed outside to fly, something which upset Ivy greatly as she was now bored. Without Ron to hang around with and no flying, Harry's twin sister had little to do around the house.
The only time they left the house was the day after their Hogwarts letters arrived. The family of five plus Remus floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron where they were met by a dozen Aurors. Most of them stayed with Ivy and James but one, a young cadet named Tonks who was working on her third year of training, refused to let Rose and Harry out of her sight when they tried to sneak away. In the end, they were forced to allow her and Remus to accompany them.
Their first stop was Gringotts. Harry was worried about Tonks and Remus finding out about his new vault but thankfully the goblins only allowed those who controlled the vault to discuss the contents and visit. Outsiders weren't allowed without permission from the vault holder. Remus took Rose to take some gold out of her trust vault while Harry deposited thousands of Galleons worth of gold and a few gold items he made into his new vault. After grabbing a sack full of Galleons, the group left the bank.
The next stop was Madam Malkin's for robes for both Harry and Rose. Having a Philosopher's Stone that makes gold a moot point to him, Harry had both his and Rose's school robes made from Acromantula silk, now that he could protect himself he did not have to worry about it being destroyed or stolen. Both kids had a laugh when Tonks supplied some interesting comments towards Remus while he was examining a pair of robes. Next were the Potions supplies. Harry refilled his ingredients while Rose got hers and Remus fetched a cauldron and set of phials.
As they were coming out of the trunk shop, they saw a large crowd hanging outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. At first Harry thought that they were watching Ivy, but then he heard a young boy mention a broom. Turns out, they were all interested in a new broomstick that had just come out last week, the Firebolt.
Then, James, Ivy, and Amy walked out of the store with a brand new Firebolt. Ivy proudly showed it off and pointed out some of its finer details. The crowd ohh'd, ahh'd, and clapped in all the right places while James and Amy just basked in the attention they were receiving.
Annoyed by his sister's actions, Harry pulled Rose into Flourish and Blotts. He would stop by before the end of his trip and buy a Firebolt, and he would give it and his Nimbus 2001 to Rose. Remus helped Rose gather her books while Harry shopped on his own. He needed an entire set for all the elective classes, including Muggle Studies. This was going to be an interesting year as Harry had to take the Muggle Studies O.W.L. at the end of the year.
Once everything was purchased, Rose practically ran for Ollivanders. She entered before Harry, Remus, and Tonks could catch up and when they entered, they found her bouncing with excitement at trying wands. Ollivander had already given her a wand to try so the three sat back to wait. Seven minutes and twenty wands later, Rose was the proud owner of a ten inch, dragon heartstring, willow wand. She was even more excited about her wand's connection to their mother Lily, who had also had a willow wand.
James and Ivy didn't appear to be finished yet so the group of four sat outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and ate some cones Remus bought them. Five minutes later, Ivy and the others arrived and the Aurors escorted the Potters back to the Leaky Cauldron where they quickly floo'd to their manor.
Edited: 10/18/2014
Changes: Grammatical errors fixed; wording changed slightly to line up with past edits.