Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, JKR does…
This is going to be a regular time travel story, but it will be believable unlike many other stories I read which I found unbelievable, over-exaggerated and discontinued. Like soul-bond, inheriting skills they owned in the future etc. But in this story there will be none of it, but planned events and fun.
And this fanfiction will have Harry/Hermione pairing, but it will not be rushed into romance. If you are against Harry/Hermione pairing please don't read this and there will be minor to major 'Weasley' bashing and Dumbledore bashing, but eventually a grudging truce. I know there are a lot of stories like this, but please don't judge me from this because I am writing this from my personal view.
I have chosen not to endorse any idea of Harry/Hermione/Daphne pairing in this fanfic. Thank you for supporting and giving reviews regarding everything I had doubted off until now. I am still in need of your suggestions to proceed with this story.
Moaning Myrtle's Lavatory (Three Months Later)-
It was the last week of May and the end of the term examinations were just around the corner. Harry Potter was as usual waiting for his friends inside the loo. He was leaning on the door of a stall and was staring at the unopened entrance of 'the Chamber of Secrets' and fortunately for him Myrtle Warren was nowhere to be seen. He briefly reviewed the events that happened in last three months in his mind, which turned out to the most stressful months of the year. For some reason Snape kept an annoyingly close watch on him and his friends, so it became increasingly difficult to hold any study sessions with the Slytherin girls. And also impossible for him get out of Hogwarts' wards to meet with Sirius. Daphne and Tracey gave him valuable Intel from inside the Slytherin House, so it became an absolute necessity for them to keep Daphne's and Tracey's friendship with him a secret.
During this time he took Hermione to 'the chamber' and showed her the Library and its items which originally belonged to Salazar Slytherin. He did this with quite some difficulty getting out of Snape's watchful eyes and also because that if he didn't show her now, then she will have to wait for the next year to begin. Hermione was so thrilled when he took her to the chamber so much that she ransacked all the books from the chamber's Library and stuffed it inside her private library that is in her trunk that he bought her for Christmas. After that he explored the Chamber thoroughly and made notes of its structures, dimensions and plans. Now his beautiful girlfriend was working on plans to collect various ingredients necessary for a potion that would cure his bad eyesight which she found in one of the books he translated for her. Hermione wanted him to open up to her more and every time he shared a strong memory with her, he would get a snogging session that night and a cuddle on the couch in 'the room'. But Hermione also pointed out to him that if their friends needed to trust them, then they must give them a reason to, so she persuaded him to show them the Chamber while she continuously reassured him that they wouldn't think of him as 'the heir'.
Three months ago after mastering the Patronus charm, he requested Remus to help him with a lot of other spells and charms. At first Remus was reluctant to teach him, but after a number of hours of pestering and begging, Remus agreed albeit reluctantly. And then the kind-hearted man taught him many things that he never would have imagined to learn in Hogwarts. Remus at first taught him some fairly basic spells, but when he picked them up quite easily, Remus started teaching him seriously. Remus taught him many spells and charms that were far beyond the NEWT level, because Remus was convinced that he was exceptionally talented in learning the most advanced of magic easily. And he never disappointed the man as he did his absolute best to learn them and being very thorough in basics helped him to cast the spells fairly easily.
Above all that, he learned the day to day events about his parents' dating and love life during their seventh year. Remus was a close friend to his mother Lily just as he was with his father. His mother found out about Remus's special condition during their fourth year, but his mother didn't push Remus away like the werewolf-man expected her to instead she welcomed Remus open-heartedly. He also learned that his parents fought with each other a lot during the early years in school, because both had many similarities and equal amount of dissimilarities. Buy their fifth year both stopped fighting with eachother and started concentrating on more important things like studies and eventually by the end of Marauders' seventh year, both James and Lily understood each other on a level beyond comprehension and as a result they fell in love. The result of their true love turned his father who was an impulsive, immature Marauder rivalling Sirius Black into a mature and thoughtful man. And his mother, the bossy, rule abiding and short tempered witch, who was more like 'the previous Hermione', became a more controlled and calm lady.
And what story excited him the most was that during the war, after one particular incident where his father was bedridden after a particular duel with a Death Eater, his mother took care of him for the entirety of a full week. And during that duration their Patronuses changed to complement each other, his mother's initial 'Swan' Patronus transformed into a 'Doe' complementing with his father's while his father's 'Stag' Patronus grew much bigger Antlers showing signs of maturity and wisdom.
According to Remus, James Potter's change due to Lily Evans-Potter turned out to be the best change ever. After that James Potter became brave enough and went as far as to verbally assault Albus Dumbledore while defending his wife's logic and intellect and became very protective of his mother. Lily Evans-Potter showed her Marauder mischievous quality that was hidden within her and became the commanding personnel within the group of troublemakers and often tongue-lashed the four Marauders like children who were caught stealing candy. And much to his surprise he also learned that his father James and Sirius were beginner Aurors for the DMLE while his mother was a rising star among the Unspeakables, due to her prodigious talent in charms and her intellectual knowledge and creativity. But both of them quit their respective jobs eventually, his mother quit hers when she got pregnant and his father quit his when they went into hiding to protect him from Voldemort. It hurt to think that both of his parents gave up their dreams for him and in result they got murdered and he grew up into a flawlessly manipulated pawn in Dumbledore's grand game.
A sombre look marred his face when he thought of how all the stories stopped and what happened to Remus. Two weeks ago Severus-Bloody-Darn-Snape informed the entire Slytherin House about Remus's special condition. And the very next day the Headmaster got letters which kept pushing the old man to fire Remus, but Remus resigned before Dumbledore could fire him.
Harry was observant and paranoid for a reason. He being an 'Investigative Auror' made his mind and instinct to suspect of this act as odd, Snape revealing that piece of information to his own house without any specific reason. And also following him around everywhere under disillusionment charm. While Dumbledore teaching defence classes and swiftly resuming from where Remus left off, as just merely coincidental. So he looked into it carefully and it made sense to him and everything formed a pattern when he crosschecked it with the date it all began. And everything started after he succeeded in mastering the Patronus charm. And it made sense, Remus must have reported to Dumbledore about his Patronus and the old fool had to make sure that Remus didn't teach him anymore of anything useful. So he must have asked Snape to keep an eye on him and to make Remus's condition known if things go too out of hand. That was the only thing he could come up with, but he wasn't sure because everything was just speculation and circumstantial. But he had plans for Remus and when the school ends, he will enact to them accordingly, so that Remus would no longer suffer.
He stopped his stream of thoughts when the door opened and Luna walked in first followed by Neville, Daphne, Hermione and Tracey.
"Harry, why are we here?" Daphne asked in a little annoyed tone, because end-of-term exams were only a week away and Harry was robbing them off their precious study time.
Harry instead took out his Blackthorn wand and with a flick the door closed and he placed a powerful 'confundus' and a 'notice-me-not' charms on the door and a monitoring charm just in case Snape decided to snoop. Just to make sure that nobody was around he took the Marauder's Map and tapped it and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good…" and the Map became visible on the piece of parchment. He checked it and found that Snivellus was in the dungeons while Dumbledore was in his office, but something caught his attention because Draco Malfoy was wandering in the corridor. But Draco's movements were erratic like he was looking for something, then it became clear Draco followed them and was looking for them. And finally Draco's dot stopped near the stairs close to the wall and went still it was like Draco was waiting to catch them when they come back. He decided to deal with that fool when they come back up, so he let the fool wait for now. "Mischief managed!" With that the Map closed shut.
"Trust me Daphne; this will be worth your time." Harry said, but he needed some things from his friends and it was time that he included them in their adventure.
"Open." Harry hissed in Parsletongue and the basins moved to show the entrance.
"Provide us with Stairs." And with that the tiles outside the entrance rearranged itself and huge blocks of stones moved and aligned to give them stairs.
He turned and found that all his friends with the exception of his girlfriend were staring at him with their mouth agape. There were a mixture of emotions displayed on their faces like fear, shock, surprise and awe. Daphne and Tracey were the ones with most shock, because they were Slytherins and they had a good idea of what he just did.
"Harry, you…can speak…, Parsletongue? Harry, are you a…, Parslemouth?" Tracey stuttered as she asked in shock. At this both Neville and Luna too understood the depth of what Harry just did and some pieces clicked and they too started showing signs of fear.
"Yes, Tracey, I am a Parslemouth. All will be explained in time, so be patient and follow me please." He replied and turned to the stairs and walked inside.
Hermione immediately followed behind her boyfriend into the deep tube like entrance. Soon one by one every one of his friends walked inside the dark tunnel and they reached a platform which was covered with small bones of various creatures. This officially freaked out every one of them, for Harry and Hermione it was disgust due to unhygienic environment, but for the others it was fear.
"Harry, where are we going?" Neville asked in a light, but scared tone while the others weren't faring any better.
"To the Chamber of Secrets, of course." He simply replied with a smile, but he didn't notice the look of horror his friend were giving him.
Then they continued walking and reached the section where the huge Basilisk's skin was lying around. This further frightened his friends with the exception of Hermione, as she has already seen this before. None of them were thrilled to go any further, but as Harry was walking carelessly they followed, but with a lot of doubts looming in their minds. After a few minutes of walking they reached the entrance gate of the Chamber, but it was already opened as Harry didn't close it the last time he visited.
He walked in through the gate followed by Hermione and then he turned to see that the others weren't following him. He turned to Hermione, but she gave him a reassuring look and then he sighed and waited for his friends to join him. Luna who was at the last suddenly started walking to join Harry and Hermione looking casual then Daphne slowly walked forward taking a leap of faith and following her friend Tracey walked forward, so did Neville. Just as he was going to take the metal staircase to actually go into the chamber Neville interrupted him.
"What in the bloody hell is that?" Neville almost shouted while pointing at the laying figure of the dead snake at the far end of the Chamber which almost looked like a sleeping snake when seen from a distance.
"Neville…, don't…don't…don't shout. You…might…wake it up" Tracey stuttered in fear of the huge snake.
"Calm down girls, that thing is already dead." Hermione said casually while an amused smile was on her face and with that she walked down the staircase.
"Oh, the naughty little snake is dead?" Luna asked dreamily while everyone stared at her, but they eventually gave a sigh and shrugged it off.
With that they proceeded forward to the left of the Chamber staying away from the huge dead Basilisk. Daphne's shock finally wore off and she asked him, "Harry, what is that? Is that the Monster of the Chamber of Secrets? Are you the Heir of the Slytherin? Are you the one who opened the Chamber last year and led the attack on the muggleborns?" She asked in close successions and finally took a deep breath trying to calm down.
"That Daphne is a Basilisk and yes, it was the Monster that resided in the Chamber of Secrets. And no, I am not the Heir of the Slytherin and I certainly didn't lead any attack on any muggleborns." Harry said calmly as he expected such questions sooner, but was glad that they only asked after being patient enough.
"Who is the Heir of Slytherin then?" Daphne asked curiously now that Harry has denied being the heir.
"Tom Marvolo Riddle, he is also known as Lord Voldemort." Harry replied and when he said that name all four of his friends flinched simultaneously.
"But that can't be, you-know-who is dead. And even he was alive he couldn't have just…walked into school and opened the Chamber of Secrets undetected, can he?" Tracey was one who asked this continuing the flow of Daphne's questions.
"Voldemort maybe dead, but he enchanted a few cursed items and gave it to his most trusted Death Eaters. I can only assume that one of those Death Eaters slipped one such item into a student's belongings. And this student unknowingly used that item and became bewitched and this person helped in opening the Chamber and let the item control the Basilisk to attack the muggleborn students." Harry explained the news carefully to his friends who didn't know about any of these things.
"How do you know this? And what happened to the 'enchanted item'?" Neville asked clearly surprised by the whole story, because nobody knew any specific details of what happened in school last year.
"I stumbled upon the item accidentally when this student was desperately trying to dispose of it, as it must have scared this person. I saw the opportunity to end the nightmare and then when I found the entrance of the Chamber I brought it here and destroyed it carefully." Harry explained to them while keeping his face impassively.
"And did you kill the naughty snake, Harry?" Luna asked still a tinge of playfulness in her tone.
"Yes, Luna I killed it, when it didn't obey my commands. It only obeys the heir not everyone who are Parslemouth. I tried to command it into making it to go into hibernation for a few hundred years at least, but it didn't work, so I had no other choice but to kill it." Harry said nonchalantly as if it was a daily occurrence which only further enticed the attention of his friends. Meanwhile Neville, Tracey and Daphne stood there looking at him with stunned shock. Luna on the other hand was looking at the dead snake with a dreamy look.
"Okay, to the actual reason of why I brought you all here. There are some things in here that I would like for you to take a look at…" With that he took them to the chamber's Library and he opened the entrance.
With that he walked inside the Library and proceeded to the far end where there were numerous items placed carefully. There were various eggs and other items while he moved the Basilisk eggs to safety of his secure trunk, the other eggs and items must be disposed of or sold carefully to well set organizations, so that it will fall into the wrong hands.
"Okay, people here we are, this was Salazar Slytherin's storage and Library. If you accept this task that I may give you then you may have a busy summer, so step out if you are not interested." He warned them as he didn't want to force anything upon them. None of them moved; they simply stood firm ready to accept whatever task that was going to be thrust upon them.
"We have a collection of items here which once belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself. Here we have perfectly preserved Dragon Heartstring and essence of various varieties of Dragons even from species that are currently known to be extinct. Phoenix feathers of red and blue and there are also three preserved eggs of each type of Phoenix. And note the fact 'Blue Flame Phoenix' is not seen in seven centuries, they are very valuable and may well give you a fortune if you sell them, so be careful. Unicorn hair, Veela hair, Dittany stalk, Thunderbird tail feathers, Wampus Cat hair, White River Monster spine, Rougarou hair, Nundu's whiskers and Griffin's tail hair and mane. These are all exclusive wand core materials and I believe Ollivander would like to have them, especially the Griffin's mane and tail hair, because the last Griffin was seen in 1893 and it very well may be extinct. Now there are Griffin's Eggs and Dragon's Eggs, but the Dragon's eggs are of various varieties which range from a few dozen types of species. Next the Dark items and I honestly don't know half the items of what they are, but I do know a few which are the 'Foe Glass', 'Magic Absorbing Locket' and a 'Curse Resisting Cabinet' and the others are unknown. Next is the Potion ingredients which consist of quite a few rare items such as products from Basilisk and Griffins and Dragons, but the others are commonly found in a regular Apothecary. The remaining items are Goblin made battle Armours, Swords and many other Weapons and Battle Equipments and Goblin made trinkets. We need to get rid of all this and we are going to do it one way or another this summer and I am in need of your help." Harry finished his explanation of the long list of items found in Salazar Slytherin's personal collection with a sigh.
"What kind of help, Harry?" Tracey asked now really curious after she heard the entire list.
"I need your help to either sell all these to responsible people or in the worst case scenario dispose of these items in its entirety." Harry was thinking that if his friends could sell these then he will not have to get involved at all, so to keep his involvement under tight wraps.
"Harry, then I will take all wandlore related items and sell them accordingly to Ollivander under the right price. And the Phoenix and Griffin Eggs too, because the Ollivander family own magical farms for Magical creatures which is where he gets the necessary magical substances for Wandlore. And we can split the money equally." Tracey was thrilled to earn some money for her family, because her father was a ministry official and he was the only source of income in the family and her mother was disowned, so her mother didn't inherit anything from her family.
"I don't want any money Tracey you can keep the entirety you earn for yourself. But you will have to promise me that they won't go to the Black-markets at any cost, that's all I ask." Harry said with a smile surprising everyone. At this Tracey gave a huge grin, because then she wouldn't need to share and at the same time she would make her parents proud. And maybe raise her family's status from middle class to upper middle class little did she knew that she was underestimating the value of the items.
"Thank you, Harry. I really appreciate it." Tracey said and was about to take the items, but he stopped her.
"Tracey, wait. I have designed some very safe ways for you to transport the items and I will provide them to you in a minute, so please be patient. And I need one egg from both of each species of Phoenixes and I will keep them safe, while you can take the rest." Harry had already designed pouches for each and every one to transport the items safely. Harry on the other hand wasn't going to lose the opportunity to get his hands on such items which he could research later on. Tracey nodded in agreement, but when she was going to ask him what the way was to transport them and why he needed two Phoenix eggs, but Daphne cut in.
"Harry, then I will take all the Dark objects and the Potion ingredients. These Potion ingredients will be enough to make up for my mother's disappointment in me. And as you mentioned that the Dark objects are not to go to the Black-market at any cost, so they need to be sold to Dark object destruction section or to the department of mysteries in the ministry and you would need perfect negotiation skills to do that and I can convince my father to do that for us. And besides this will fetch my father a fortune from the Ministry if negotiated carefully…" Daphne had a genuine smile on her face that Harry would trust her with all these items to sell without expecting anything of fair value in return.
"Good Daphne, but I don't like the idea of this going to the department of mysteries, but maybe I can make some arrangements and pull some strings that they are not misused in any way." Harry replied and gave a nod to her with a smile.
"Daddy has a friend who works as a Dragon tamer and he has many friends who would like to get the Dragon eggs. I can take all the Eggs to my Daddy and he will be able to sell them, as they are perfectly preserved. Even if they aren't, my uncle works in a magical museum in Sweden and he would like to have them. And I promise that I will tell Daddy to not to sell them to Black-market dealers." Luna was still a little enthusiastic about the whole issue as she and her Daddy will be happy to help Harry.
"Thank you, Luna. I'll get you all the Eggs properly sealed for you to carry easily." He gave her a nod and gave a brotherly smile and Luna smiled back in return.
"Harry can I have a few sword from the pile of Goblin made weapons? Gran would like to have some Goblin made battle swords, because she loves them. And she has been trying to teach me sword fighting, but it is not going very well, so this may help me get into her good graces." Neville asked him a little nervously.
"Sure Neville, there are twenty six swords and a collection of various other weapons in there, so take whatever and as many as you want…" Harry nodded and gave his permission to his friend.
"Thanks Harry." Neville replied with a broad grin on his face.
"Harry, what happened to the books? And why are you so keen on emptying the entire place? And are you sure those eggs are still alive; I mean they have been here for over a millennium. And what are you going to do with the dead snake that is lying around? And what are you going to do about the remaining Goblin items?" Daphne furrowed her brow in deep thought, because she had so many more questions to ask, but she decided to ask Harry when she they were private.
"Daphne, Hermione and I need those books as it is in Parsletongue, so I am the only one who could read it and translate it. And I want this place empty, because next year we are going to use this place as our official battle studio for duelling practice. I have a plan to get rid of the Goblin items and the snake, so I will do it this summer." Harry said hesitantly, because both the Slytherin girls would love to have the books which once belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself, but surprisingly both the girls took it fairly well.
"And about the eggs, I have to agree, Salazar Slytherin was indeed a genius. The man used an obscure form of blood-based preservation charm that is specifically designed in a way to keep it homeothermic and alive, but dormant enough for the eggs to not develop or hatch. I can't explain it in detail without going into a lecture. But I have to say that the man must have been extremely brilliant to do this in late-ninth century with no such details that we have now at hand. And besides that, items like the Dittany Stalk, White River Monster spine, Rougarou hair and Wampus Cat hair are all exclusive wand core materials that were not discovered or used until early 20th century and to think that Slytherin knew of all this during a millennia ago makes me think what kind of genius he was." Meanwhile Hermione who was silent through the entire trip was impressed by Harry's knowledge and reasoning, because she too had doubts if the eggs were indeed alive.
"Hermione get me the bags…" He asked to his girlfriend with a smile and Hermione immediately took some pouches that are all under 'undetectable extension charms' and various other security features and gave it to him.
"Okay guys, listen carefully. These bags are etched with runes and when we place all the items in here it will sustain the items in its current state. But the side effect of the runes is that, they will only recharge if they are in the magical atmosphere with enough magical density in the air like Diagon alley or Hogwarts. If the runes doesn't recharge then you need to get rid of the items within three months from now or else the runes will fail." Harry warned and hoped that they would get all the items to the right people, because if this works then Griffins and extinct species of Dragons and Phoenixes will indeed thrive again in this world.
Harry transfigured a broken stone slab into various egg holders of various sizes which were big enough to hold all the eggs and he also transfigured an encasing lid that would protect the eggs. After that he made stone holders for the dark objects which cannot be simply stored in a bag, as they weren't sure what the objects could do. He placed the necessary items into a pouch and handed them to Luna as she was most excited one. Then he did the same with Tracey and while he stored the bags for Daphne and Neville, he did it carefully and arranged the items and placed charms to ensure the items' safety.
"Okay guys, now as our business is over, let's get back. But we are not going the same way back; we are going to take a different route. First route will take you behind the Gargoyle statue in the Dungeon Corridor, the statue is displaced enough for a person to squeeze through out. Tracey, Daphne you both should always use that exit always in the future, as it is near the Slytherin dorms. And don't worry about the security, as I have already warded the statue with runic circles which are powered by the school's magic which will actively cast 'notice-me-not charms' and 'confundus charms' strong enough to make Dumbledore fuddled. But a person must be very close in proximity with the entrance for it work so always be careful at all times. And it is also a one way out. You both can use it get out of the chamber, but not get in, we have other ways for us for that and I will show it to you next year. Meanwhile the rest of us will be using the next exit which leads to the trophy room in the third floor, they are hidden behind two pillars and all the additional instructions I gave Daphne and Tracy applies for us too." During the conversation Harry slowly led them to the right side of Salazar Slytherin's sculpted face where there was a crack stone entrance which looked like an equally cracked boulder with steps inside which ascended straight to the top. There was another cracked stone entrance with stairs which curved to the right and move in a different direction, but still upwards to the top.
"People follow Hermione; she'll lead you to the respective places and will show you how it's done." He waved his hand motioning for Hermione to continue, but she looked at him confusedly.
"What about you, Harry? You are coming with us, right?" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes looking at his curiously.
"I have some things to finish up and then I will seal the other entrance and meet up with you in 'the room'." Harry said casually with a smile while waving his hand off and not stressing the last word, but Hermione picked it up nonetheless.
With that none of his friends questioned him further while Hermione kept giving him suspicious glance, but eventually agreed and led her friends through the substitute entrance. He immediately took out his wand and pointed it on a random pillar of the chamber and with a swish a runic circle started to appear with a fiery carving. And the circle ended and a runic circle was etched into the pillar. And then he took his miniaturized firebolt from his pocket and enlarged it wandlessly and nonverbally. He mounted on his broom and flew higher into the rocky passage exit which led to the mountains outside of Hogwarts. All the while he placed subsequent runic circles on the passage walls which were secure enough to not break or fall down. After placing all the runes he flew down and reached the chamber floor after that he shrunk down his broom and charged the main rune he etched first.
Once that was all done he walked out through the official entrance while he let the chamber entrance be kept open, but he closed down the main entrance in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and let the wards on the door fall and with that he walked out. He draped the invisibility cloak on himself and opened the Marauder's map and activated it with the password. He saw that Draco Malfoy was still waiting for him and he was genuinely surprised by the conviction the boy showed in this. A mischievous grin marred his face and with that he walked to meet the blonde haired ferret.
He walked towards the stairs under the protection of his cloak and when he saw a figure under a pathetic attempt on a 'disillusionment charm' which he saw through the very moment he came near the stairs. He took out his Blackthorn wand and immediately sent a stunner which laid the ferret down cold and then he transfigured Draco's dress into a pink frock and tops and then he casted a 'memory charm' and flawlessly erased anything suspicious he found in the ferret's memory. For the next ten minutes he used Legilimency to penetrate into Draco's mind to learn everything about Draco's family and parents just in case for a future reference. After that he muttered 'enervate' and revived the blonde ferret and with that he casted a single powerful 'confundus charm' on the dazed blonde. After that he used his Legilimency and instructed Draco to 'walk around the castle and show your pride to everyone'. And when Draco started walking with a glazed look on his face he laughed for a while and started walking to the 'room of requirement' to meet with Hermione.
Astronomy Tower-
Albus Dumbledore was gazing into the setting sun and the tower was giving him an incredible view. He was thinking of many things, but his thoughts often wandered to one Harry James Potter and this was one such occasion. Sitting in his office wasn't helping him anymore, when the portrait of the former Headmaster Dippet and the Sorting hat was often lecturing him about his 'rather unhealthy interest in the boy'. Last two weeks of teaching D.A.D.A gave him a good opportunity to observe the boy carefully and he saw something most people missed. He saw a form of completely ruthless anger that often surfaced in Harry's eyes whenever Mr. Malfoy made some scathing remark about Ms. Granger. Harry was extremely protective of Ms. Granger which often resembled to his father's protectiveness of his mother. And according to him James Potter and Lily Evans were the most perfectly matched couple he had ever met. And even when they were in school it was rather clear to him that Severus Snape never really had a chance with Lily. But Severus Snape turned out to be a very valuable tool when it came to dealing with Voldemort, so he used Snape wisely and he will only dispose of him when it becomes necessary.
And he also noticed that Harry wasn't like his father or his mother, while Harry had their talents, but not their playfully gentle personality. Harry wasn't a Stag or a Doe, he was a Wolf. A 'Wolf' born to a 'Stag' and 'Doe', the boy was born a predator and right now he was learning how to hunt. A predator similar to him, he could understand now, why he couldn't control or manipulate the boy. The only thing he could do now was to guide the boy to his best of abilities and mould Harry to succeed him to be the next 'Leader of Light'.
But just like any teenager Harry is immature and naïve and Albus could see that robbing of the boy's remaining innocence was an unforgivable crime. But if he has to make Harry to be the next Albus Dumbledore then he will have to be hardened him through pain, suffering and agony. Harry Potter required his guidance and he will give it to the boy even if the boy was unwilling to want it. But Sirius Black must not be the one whom Harry should turn to counsel for, but simply removing the Marauder forever or even temporarily would make the boy to close off completely. So turning Sirius to his side using immoral ways was a necessity and it was the only thing he could honestly think off, so he decided that it was for the greater good.
And since he came to that conclusion, he also understood the reality of sending the boy to the Weasleys will not be the best course of action. Some promises have to be broken and some people will not get what they want, but it is for the greater good. Because Harry Potter is a predator and he will undoubtedly tear apart the family like a child with candyfloss. But before that he will have to show that he was still the alpha of the pack to make the boy follow him and he knew that will not work for long, because he was simply too old for this.
"It is time to get Sirius Black on our side, but I will wait a little longer just when the time is right. Severus must be the one to subdue Black that would keep him sated for a while. Yes, for the greater good, this must be done." Albus Dumbledore mused impassively as the sun hid behind the horizon and the darkness of the night fell upon the land.
Examinations-
The next week passed too fast for their own liking and the exams were upon them very quickly. On sixth their exams began, and on that very day they had 'The study of Ancient Runes' and Arithmancy and on the very next day they had Transfiguration and Charms.
The day started with 'The Study of Ancient Runes', which according to Hermione should have been a full theoretical exam. They sat in classroom 6A while 'Professor Babbling' distributed three papers to each of them and each had diagrams of runic systems which he easily recognized as the basic alarm ward, a magical trigger and locking charm represented in runes and was asked to recognize and decipher it. Being a master in the art of magical runes and especially when he learned the art by deciphering and breaking rune system embedded in security wards made him a true master in the art. He liked the subject, but disliked the class because everything was theory and now he was genuinely excited to show his skills by deciphering the diagram of magic rune system. This may have been difficult to decipher for mere thirteen year old students, but he once broke wards which would incinerate people if triggered by people who don't have the correct cipher access. This didn't include various other jinxes and hexes overlapping the magical stream system and not only had that he usually did this on daily basis. So the three diagrams were nothing, as he flawlessly deciphered all three diagrams and completed within four minutes and waited another four minutes to submit it still setting up a speed record.
And with that he was out of the class, but he waited outside for his girlfriend to finish. He expected her to join him within ten minutes at most, but he waited there for almost fifty minutes and she finally came out as the second person to complete the exam.
"What took you so long?" Harry asked with an annoyed look on his face as he stood outside the classroom for forty minutes.
"The question is how you completed it in eight minutes; we had to endure 'Babbling' babbling about your flawless accuracy in deciphering for the last hour. And you do know that you completed exam within eight minutes which is the fastest a student has completed in over a century." Hermione gave him an exact same annoyed look and he returned a sheepish grin.
"Well you know; I got a little carried away." Harry grinned while scratching the back of his head while looking at his lovely girlfriend.
They started walking to the next class which turned out to be transfiguration, but Hermione started asking him about how he solved the diagram easily.
"Harry, how did you decipher it so quickly?" Hermione asked him seriously and curiously.
Harry took out his wand and cast a 'Muffliato' on their robes and then he said, "Well you know in the field it is absolutely necessary to disable the security wards around a compound before you attack. But you have to do it within a matter of minutes in the least or else you will be dead before you can draw your wand, so I learned to disable it in close successions in a matter of seconds. Honestly today I am disappointed in myself that it took me two and a half minutes to decipher three basic runic systems and write it down in paper which in total took four minutes."
"FOUR MINUTES? You actually did it in four minutes and waited for the next four minutes to give the paper back just to avoid suspicion…" Harry was glad that he cast the silencing charm on their clothes or else everyone in the castle would have heard it, but he cut her before she could start ranting.
"Hermione, remember that I had mastery in the 'Art of Runes', so it actually was a necessity to do it that quickly. You have to do it much faster than this in the field or you will die and it was just basic rune systems nothing complex, so honestly it is not that big of an accomplishment." Harry said quietly like whispering it to her with a smile.
Hermione was silent for a few minutes contemplating what he said, but started again with an entirely other topic, "What I can't understand is that why did professor Babbling gave us a runic diagram to decipher…?", and this caught his attention.
"What do you mean?" He asked back at her curiously as he adjusted his glasses.
"Last time she gave us a dozen questions regarding runes and their characteristics and told us to answer it, so why the change?" When Hermione finished, he was filled with curiosity, so he asked her.
"So you mean that this time things are changing, like day to day things. Not some very drastic changes, but even if it is small then it still triggers the 'butterfly effect'." He mused out loud and Hermione nodded and she said.
"We should make notes of all the changes we have made until now and what that are happening as a result of it and then we might have a better picture of what may happen." Hermione suggested seriously and he nodded.
"You are right. And that is probably the best idea. And I honestly don't know what I did to deserve you." He gave her a sly grin which suggested flattery.
"Flattery will get you everywhere Mr. Potter. And to answer your other question, you waited for more than two decades, so I think we can find something to do today, can't we?" Harry's smile widened as she gave a slight graze on his hand with hers and smiled back coyly. With that they headed to Transfiguration class.
Upcoming weeks-
The next two weeks were tiring in the least, but all their exams of the years were finally over. Transfiguration exam consisted of practical demonstration of the Draconifors spell, transfiguring a Teapot into a Tortoise and then a Hedgehog into a pincushion and finally giving a detailed answer of the uses and the nature of Animagi transformations. They flawlessly did what they were told, as he changed a nearby statue into a 'Ukrainian Ironbelly' using Draconifors spell. And he performed the other two also very easily and flawlessly, so did Hermione, so much that he was sure that they would both get an 'Outstanding' in the paper. Daphne had no problem with transfiguration while Tracey told them that their study sessions helped her perform better in the exam. Neville told them that he did very well in transfiguring the items, but his tortoise had a slightly shiny shell on top. Luna said that her exams were very easy and she had no trouble in anything.
Charms exam was fun because he used the 'cheering charm' on Neville and 'freezing spell' on a conjured rabbit. And finally he used 'Reparo Maxima' and mended everything that was broken with a single wave of his wand and he did it non-verbally. He did this by copying Dumbledore's act in professor Slughorn's house back in sixth year last time around and professor Flitwick was clearly impressed with him. Hermione told him that she did exceptionally well in charms and he wasn't surprised, because he knew that his girlfriend was extremely brilliant, skilled and her wand perfectly fitted for her use of charms just like his mother's wand.
Arithmancy exam was difficult in standard and according to Hermione the questions she gave were far more difficult than last time. She gave long and hard essays regarding magical number history and uses behind such numbers. The exam wasn't difficult for them, but he used his Legilimency on Hermione and instructed her to make it look like they too struggled to complete the exam. He did this to avoid suspicion, because professor Vector was very observant and she usually found their unusually high skill in the art as suspicious.
'Care of Magical Creatures' exam was a joke, because Hagrid just like last time told them to keep a Flobberworm alive for an hour. Last time he was very happy for the easy exam, but this time he found it useless and boring. He loved the gentle giant and respected the man for his talent in handling magical creatures, but that doesn't mean that the giant knew how to conduct an exam. But he didn't know if it was his lack of enthusiasm or the experience due to handling more dangerous creatures like Dragons, Chimaeras and Basilisks, maybe it was both but honestly he didn't care.
Potions exam didn't change much, because Snape told them to brew 'Confusing Concoction' within an hour's time. And as usual he shined in the art much to the genuine hateful chagrin of Snape and he did it so perfectly that he completed the exam with forty four minutes time and he got the potion to be its perfect light blue colour. He gave Snape no bloody way to deduct marks from him in any possible way. And even if Snape did try to deduct marks, when the paper goes to the external evaluators hired by 'the board of governors' of Hogwarts then Snape will get fired for misconduct in professionalism or in the least case scenario will get a black mark in his Potioneering record. He also heard from Daphne, Tracey, Neville and Hermione and as a matter of fact they all got it to perfect potions again much to chagrin of Snape. Snape didn't care about how his Slytherins did and he most grudgingly agreed that both Granger and Potter were prodigiously skilled in potion. But Neville Longbottom besting his set level of difficulty was unacceptable, therefore he decided that it was time to increase the level again to make sure that Longbottom and other students from other houses apart from his suffered in his class in the upcoming year.
Astronomy, Herbology and History of Magic exams were overly easy for him, Hermione and all of his friends. Neville was exceptionally talented in Herbology and he was genuinely happy that his friend could shine in a subject. Luna too said that her exams were going very well and she too did well in charms, potions and Herbology, but had a little trouble with transfiguration and D.A.D.A. And they assured her that next year she will do it much better and gain 'Outstanding' in everything.
While he noted that Hermione was right, because almost all the exams changed this year either drastically or maybe a little when comparing it to the events in their last timeline. So he agreed that things were indeed changing, but it was changing now and it took three years for changes to happen in daily life scenario, so maybe he had a little time or no time at all. But eventually he decided to keep his eyes open because he only had a layout of what may happen, but he also had a gut feeling of how must will change.
Exams at an end-
They were walking out of D.A.D.A exam; which was a great disappointment for him and Hermione, while for Neville it was easy. Unlike Remus's exam last time which turned out to be an obstacle course which was fun and productive, this time Dumbledore's exam was a spell demonstration. They had to pair up with someone and he would cast a spell and the other would use a shield while in the next turn the other would cast the same spell he would have to use a shield. The spells to cast were 'Freezing spell', 'seize and pull charm' and 'Orbis jinx', he paired up with Hermione and successfully cast the charm and defended himself perfectly and so did his beautiful girlfriend earning a fake-proud smile from Dumbledore.
Comparing both Remus's and Dumbledore's exams gave him a good idea of what's happening. Dumbledore wanted to know what he was capable off and the old fool played a rather clever game to know of his skills.
"Harry, Hermione, I am off to the common room. Dean and Seamus are waiting for me, are you both coming?" Neville asked in a little hurried tone.
"No, Neville we are off to the library, our exams are over and we don't have classes, but I still have a few things to refer, so don't wait up for us." He had other plans regarding the evening so he dismissed Neville. Neville nodded gratefully and went off with his friends, while he turned to Hermione and gave an intense look which said business and she in turn nodded to him exasperatedly and followed him as he walked.
As they walked he took out his map and activated it to make sure that no one was following them, and he didn't turn it off. With that he took the moving stairs ascending to the seventh floor, but Hermione was getting impatient.
"Harry, where are we going?" She furrowed her brows in frustration, because her muscles were aching after three long stressful weeks.
"To the room of hidden things, we have an item to retrieve from there…" Harry slowly snaked his hand into hers and gave her palm a short squeeze.
Hermione relaxed into his touch and looked at him curiously, "Is this item what I think it is…?" She drawled out without completing the sentence.
"Yes, it is. And we have to get it before we go for the holidays which are going to start in a few days." Harry was cool about the whole situation. But Hermione was frustrated and too stressed to even look for a darn tiara that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw.
"Harry we still have a week till the end of year and you have Quidditch match to practice. Can't we look for it later?" Hermione said in a tired tone which he picked up instantly and started thinking. Hermione had a plan to use her tiredness to get Harry to do something for her, so she set her plan into action and smirked knowingly.
"Okay, after we get the diadem, I will give you a soothing massage for thirty minutes." To this her face brightened, but it disappeared and a mischievous look came to her face.
"Double or nothing…" She said firmly while her lips twisted into a thin grin. Harry's face darkened a little and he gave a small glare, but sighed and nodded in agreement. And she immediately smiled brightly and within an instant she became the epitome of excitement.
They reached the seventh floor and walked in an 'L' shaped route from the 'room of requirement's' direct entrance and reached the other entrance of the room. They both stood before it and thought about the entrance and the huge door appeared. They pushed opened the door and entered it and saw all the junk hidden there.
"Harry, do you know where its correct location is…?" She asked with a groan seeing the size of the huge room.
"No, but I am sure that I can remember it once if I see the place again." Harry replied back with a reassuring smile, but she still had an annoyed look.
"From that look I am assuming that you don't remember it either?" He asked her as she gave him a small glare, but shook her head negatively. But on the inside she was laughing out loud, because she will be getting the massage much sooner than later, because she remembered where it was.
"If we visited the place last time without the whole place engulfed in fire, then there is a chance that I would have remembered it, but now I have no idea where to even start looking. I suggest we split apart and look for it separately, and then we will cover a lot more." Hermione just wanted to find the diadem and enjoy a hot massage from her boyfriend.
"I concur, we should split apart." He agreed with a nod.
"I will take right and you take left." Hermione said hurriedly and started walking. But he caught her hand softly and when she turned he said.
"Be careful." And to this she smiled and gave him a small peck to his lips and continued walking.
He slowly started walking to the left of the entrance looking at many things that were dumped in the room. There were many items, but no books because every single book was in the other version of 'the room of requirement' at all times due to his long-lasting request and that version of the room was heavily warded, so that none could find it. After half an hour of walking around he still didn't see any place that resembled the small table with the box which had the diadem in it. At this point he didn't care anymore, he was simply taking in the sights and walking around, but suddenly he heard a din and he turned only to see white mist covering the whole place and it started projecting images. He stood there in stunned shock when the images started to roll like a movie.
Hermione had a vague idea where the diadem was, so she instantly started looking where she thought off. And within ten minutes she saw the table and box on top of it hidden under big ropes. The beautiful silver goblin made diadem with a blue oval shaped sapphire embedded in it. She immediately took it and then she stuffed it in her backpack and walked to find her boyfriend who was obviously looking for it in the wrong direction. She was walking to her boyfriend and she saw him in a distance standing very still like a statue, so she hurried to find him, but when she reached him she saw him staring into a white mist which was projecting images. But when she started to pay attention to the film she was shocked to her very core.
Memories-
The rolling images in the white mist showed the images of a future Hermione before her marriage with Ron. It was sunset in the park and this park was near a lush green forest, she and Ron were sitting on a bench that was near the trees of the forest and were surrounded by flowers of all colours. She was laughing loudly while Ron was tickling her viciously and soon both fell into an embrace while Ron kissed her forehead.
She remembered that day; it was that day when Ron mentioned to her that he wanted to marry her one day. She was so happy that they slowly walked away from her apartment to the nearby park where they had fun. That park held a lot of fond memories which she made with Ron and Rose.
But the film continued as the view of the same memory changed to sideways look as she saw Harry standing deep in the forest behind the trees with a red rose in his hand. From his position he could see her giggling self with Ron straight ahead them. But image-Harry was in a dark shadow of the forest so he was invisible to them. And when the image-Harry saw her giggling self with Ron, he slowly crumbled into the ground with the support of the nearby tree while tears freely falling. And when her image-self fell into the embrace with Ron, image-Harry stood up with a great difficulty and brushed off his tears and placed the red rose which was in his hand gently on the ground and smiled weakly at them. And with that the image-Harry turned around and walked away from them and then disapparated away with a faint pop.
She stood behind Harry who was still staring into the mist-film, and then it became obvious that it was a memory. Harry's memory, but why was he watching his own memory, she didn't understand. Before she could muse any further the film continued cutting her off of all ensuing thoughts.
The next memory started playing and the scenery changed into an afternoon with the sun at its peak. Image-Harry was standing in the moor near the burrow with water up his feet, but just under his knee cap. Image-Harry was fully hidden behind the long golden-yellow grass that almost glowed under the noon sun. Image-Harry slowly moved the grass with his hand and saw her image-self in a white wedding costume with laces near Ron who was wearing a white tux with a rose in the pocket standing in the alter. The ceremony ended soon and Ron and she kissed deeply, after that the dancing began, while she started dancing with Ron with the entire Weasley family clapping around them. And slowly one by one her and Ron's friends and various other guests showed up and greeted them and she was smiling the whole time while Ron looked at her lovingly.
Image-Harry stood there watching silently, tears where threatening to fall as it was brimming in his eyes. But he didn't cry as he simply kept watching, he stood there for hours and finally it was evening and the sky darkened, but he still stood there watching. Finally she and Ron walked out of the burrow hand in hand laughing loudly and they were wearing a normal muggle dress and the entire Weasley family was there sharing both hugs and kisses. And in the end both she and Ron hand in hand just apparated away still laughing, while image-Harry stood there and watched and just as they left tears started falling, but mere minutes later he forced a sad smile into his face and turned away and walked and kept walking until his feets hurt and eventually the memory ended.
It was her marriage ceremony; she never even noticed that Harry was standing there for the entirety of it. And she never even invited him for her marriage, because she was angry at him for cheating on Ginny and thought of him as the-coward-who-ran-away. A piercing pain came to her heart, to see Harry's memories from his point of view. She would never be able to guess how painful it must have been for him to simply stand there and watch her being happy with Ron while he was in constant agony. Harry never had a family, didn't have the proper upbringing, didn't have much of a childhood, didn't have good friends and finally he had nothing to live for. He was always in constant pain and he always had problems that couldn't even be counted as normal. But even through all that he lived and fought for what he had every single day and to think that she thought of him as 'the coward' for eight long years even after knowing him for nine years made her sick.
The images changed again and this time the scenery turned to St. Mungo's hospital where her worn looking image-self wearing hospital gown and was sitting in the bed with her hair untied and bushy and messy as ever. She had a joyful smile on her face as she was staring at a bundle of cloth in her hand. The bundle contained a red-haired small baby, it was her Rosie and Ron was sitting beside the bed and looked at her very tiredly. But he managed to give her a kiss on her lips and she returned the kiss and turned again to stare at her baby-girl. The entire Weasley family was standing around looking at her and her baby with huge genuine smiles.
But none noticed a man sitting on a bed opposite to her under a clever illusion and notice-me-not charm, while giving them a sad smile. Image-Harry's smile was genuine, but his eyes were devoid and hollow with no emotion or no hope in them, it frightened her to no end to see him like that. Slowly the unwanted and uninvited guest walked away after giving a final glance at her image-self and moved away through the door and disappeared.
And with that the entire image strip ended and they were back in reality. She stood there for what felt like eternity, she was at loss for what to think. But eventually she hid her tears and slowly walked behind Harry and stood next to him, and she noticed that he still hadn't noticed her. She didn't understand what was happening, but it was obvious to her that it was showing Harry's worst memories and fears to him. She turned to look into the white mist and suddenly the mist started to take shape and it turned into an intense looking thirty year old Ronald Weasley with a long cane in his hand. And it caught her breath and she started shivering and shaking. Meanwhile Harry was broken out of his trance with a rough shiver and when he noticed an older Ron he became both confused and amused, and when he noticed a shaking and shivering Hermione beside him it became clear to him, 'It's a Boggart and Ron is her worst fear' he thought.
"Riddikulus." And then the fierce looking Ron turned into a juggling clown. With this Harry's anger sky rocketed for no reason and he shot a red hot curse which came out due to all of his anger and hate and the Boggart was no more. The shape shifting creature turned into a mist and dissipated away into thin air and he grinned sheepishly due to the spur of the moment reaction.
And with that he pulled the crying Hermione into his arms and held her until she calmed down. She caught hold of his shirt and shook him roughly and comically, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING…, why didn't you….?" She broke down.
He held her tighter, and when she calmed down lifted her head and she looked at him. He simply looked at her with a cool look like nothing ever happened, "Yes, it still hurts and yes, I was shocked. But I am not an idiot to dwell in the past and besides everything is fine now, isn't it, so why should I bother with the past?"
"The Boggart showed us your memories, right? But a boggart shows a person's worst fears, not memories. So does that mean you have no worst fears other than losing me? Even if I am flattered and believe what you say about how you don't care, the memories tell otherwise, so you better give me a straight answer. And I want to know why you didn't tell me anything last time around?" Hermione asked fiercely due to her boyfriend's dispassionate response.
Those memories haunted him for a long time, during the years in the wild and during the first two years after coming back in time. He finally made a decision that he would never let it get to him, because now he had a real chance to prove to her that he truly loved her. He finally had hope for his future, what more could he want? After that decision every anxiety, stress and insecurity decreased both mentally and physically, eventually it stopped bothering him in dreams and thoughts. It became similar to a bad dream, something he would learn from but won't ever forget; but that would no longer control his life with fear.
"Hermione, you were happy with Ron, I couldn't just ruin it. You deserved happiness more than anyone, you were the reason we all survived in the first place and all we ever did was save you from a troll. And you repaid it with your loyalty and help for all those years, so you deserved something better than me. Taking your happiness away from you was unforgivable and if you got it with Ron, who am I to ask. And I never would have been able to give you that happiness that Ron gave, even if it was only a brief a time. And if my life is what it takes then it is a small price to pay." He just wanted to make it clear to her; he would care for her more than anything and always. As his love for her grew throughout the year, his greatest fear was watching Hermione with another man like she was with Ron. But he loved her so much to the extent if she thought that she wouldn't get the happiness she deserved from him and choose someone else then he would not forbid her or ban her. Instead he will be happy for her, and if it causes him to endure the same pain again, then he would do it in a heartbeat, even if it killed him.
"Well to answer your other question, one must desire something first to fear for it and I don't desire anything more than a happy life with you. So the boggart showed me my own memories and well that is the only theory I can come up with at the moment." Harry replied nonchalantly.
With that he placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close and started walking to the entrance, he could search for the diadem later. And then they opened the giant door and they walked out and he wished for his usual version of room, just so to give his girlfriend the massage he promised her. He subtly placed a 'Muffliato' and 'notice-me-not' charm on them wandlessly.
"Harry, why are we going inside again?" She asked now clinging onto him like he was her lifeline.
"To 'the room' of course, I still owe you a massage. And trust me you need it, the bloody diadem can wait." Harry replied again in the same carefree tone.
"How can you be so cool after what happened? We need to talk right now." Hermione made it clear that she was the one who was going to be making decisions.
"Mione, I came to terms with it a long time ago. And trust me when I say this, Snape was great mentor and example. I learned from him that; if the woman you love marry someone else then deal with it and don't expect her husband and son to be dead, not so you can have a chance at her. Don't worry my love, everything is fine and I will answer all of your questions, but nothing says that you can't ask questions while enjoying a massage." Harry replied with a kiss to her forehead.
"Harry, I already have the diadem." Hermione deadpanned.
"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, because we have a few hours before dinner, so it can wait." Harry replied back like he didn't care, while Hermione kept giving him a suspicious look, but he ignored it and kept walking.
And with that they both entered 'the room' and he began giving her the massage.
People you may be wondering why I ended this chapter like that and there is a reason. A message told me that my character building wasn't upto notch, so I decided to include this. And also this will help a great deal in setting a background for the future chapters. And if it is not too much trouble please tell me what I missed with the entire 'Chamber' debacle. And I am willing to make changes in the other chapters too, so if you find that I missed anything then I will gladly make the changes. With this the year ends and the fourth year will be coming up shortly and 'Lord Moldyshorts' will be making some appearance.
I am still open to suggestions for other pairings. Neville/Luna and Sirius/Amelia is confirmed and I will be making the entrance for the latter of the pairings stated above. And most of all people please remember this; I was not so sure about Harry/Hermione/Daphne pairing in the first place and now I have decided against this, so there's no reason for you people to tongue-lash me anymore.
Until next time,
Thank you…