Well, I'd like to start by saying that I reall, really don't like this chapter but I can't seem to come up with a better one so bear with me.

I'd like to thank my reviewers for pointing out mistakes like typos and so on, don't hesitate to PM me if you prefer doing it like that. I do plan on fixing my stories eventually.

Now, on to the subject of updates. I have the next chapter mostly written so there won't be much of a wait for the next update.

Return to Hogwarts

Harry and his friends found themselves on the train back to Hogwarts. This Christmas Holidays had been the best in Harry's short life. He had managed to spend quite a bit of time with his godfather and honorary uncle. It had been nice to be able to simply be himself and not to have to worry about someone trying to poison him or having to endure the judging glares from his fellow students.

Admittedly, it had taken Mrs. Weasley and Bill some time to become comfortable with Nehebkau's presence but their wariness had more to do with the actual viper than with Harry's ability to communicate with it.

The Hub group, minus Fred and George, had managed to commandeer a compartment to themselves and Hermione had locked the door as Harry had on the way to King's Cross Station.

Nehebkau seemed to be very happy as he rested, coiled on Harry's lap, lulled to sleep by the rhythmic sounds of the train and Harry's body heat. Hedwig had apparently elected to fly to Hogwarts as she had flown off a little while before they had left the Burrow.

Harry was sitting between Hermione and Ginny. Ginny had fallen asleep almost as soon as the train had started moving while Hermione had taken out the book on wards, a book on arithmancy and her notepad. Harry was looking over at her notes trying to see what it was she was trying to do.

"Hemione," asked Harry, after giving up trying to decipher the complicated arithmancy calculations. "what are you trying to create? It looks like your trying to hide something."

Hermione finished jotting down a few things and looked up to Harry with an excited look on her face.

"Well, I was thinking, since the basilisk kills or petrifies with a stare if I could create a ward that would occlude the caster we might be able to avoid being killed while still having an inkling of what is happening. This would create a light distortion field kind of like frosted glass in front of the caster. All you could really see is shapes. Worse off we would only get petrified instead of killed."

"That isn't really a ward now is it?" asked Harry.

"No and I don't think it's going to work either. I don't think I know enough arithmancy to create new spells yet. It's still fun trying to make it work and I learn from my mistakes."

Harry sat back and thought of the time he had spent at the Weasley's home. This summer he might be the one inviting people over to his home. That was a novel idea to Harry. He had never had a friend over at the Dursley's, then again, he had never had a friend until he had gone to Hogwarts.

Harry was broken out of his musings by a knock at the compartment door. It was Justin. Hermione unlocked the compartment door to let the Hufflepuff in.

"Hey Harry ... bloody hell it's that snake!" cried out the Hufflepuff as he noticed Nehebkau on Harry's lap.

"Yeah, he was given to me for Christmas. The headmaster gave his approval a while ago. He said something about not being ashamed of our abilities and how it's not what we can do that makes us who we are but what we actually do or something like that." explained Harry.

"He actually said 'It is not our abilities that define us but our choices.'." corrected Hermione.

Justin didn't seem too comforted by the thought.

"Honestly," said Ginny. "I've been playing and petting Nehebkau during most of the holls and he hasn't done anything to me or to anyone in the house."

And as if to prove a point she took the snake from Harry's lap and transferred it to her own.

"Who? What?" asked Nehebkau as he was abruptly awakened.

"Normally he would be dangerous but I told him not to do anything to anyone. And really he was just confused and angry because of Lockhart's botched spell." Harry said.

Justin sat down with Neville and Ron looking warily at the snake.

They sat and talked about their Holidays for a while. Justin eventually left to go find his friends from Hufflepuff.

A while later, there was another knock on the door of their compartment.

This time Cerdic and Cho were both standing outside wanting to talk to Harry.

"Well, I just had a chat with the rest of the team and if Quidditch starts up again we'll take you up on your offer." said Cedric as he sat in the place Justin had just vacated.

"We've come to the same decision." said Cho as she sat next to Hermione.

"Good but that doesn't solve the main problem." said Hermione looking up from her notes.

"And what's that?" asked Harry.

"Well, Quidditch is becoming a bit of arms race. It's not so bad in the professional leagues since they all buy the top brooms on the market but for the school championship it is a problem." she explained.

"She's right. We're simply going to have the same problem next year." said Cho and she looked at Hermione's arithmancy notes, not that they had anything to do with the situation being discussed.

"So what do we do?" asked Ron.

"We put forward a proposal where the school purchases brooms every three years for the house teams and those brooms have to be used for Quidditch." Hermione explained.

"It would solve our problem but that's an expensive proposal." said Cedric. "I'm not sure the governors would want to allocate the funding for it."

"Then you need to get alum .. uhm .. ulimi ... people who have graduated to donate funds or setup a trust to help with the cost." said Neville. "My Gran does things like that all the time."

"The word you were looking for Neville was Alumni. And that's an excellent idea." said Hermione.

"Sirius and I would put some money for that that's for sure." said Harry.

"Good. Neville was it?" Cho asked of the timid Gryffindor.

Neville simply nodded.

"You and I will work out a proposal for the Headmaster when he comes back. Can you ask your Gran for some advice?"

Again Neville simply nodded.

"Ok then we'll have another meeting let's say in three weeks to look over the proposal with all team members minus the Slytherins, they would do everything in their power to squash it."

Everyone agreed it was a good idea and Cho spent some time talking with a very nervous Neville about what they would need to do and when they could meet to work over the details.

"I see you have a new pet Potter." said Cedric.

"Yeah, it was a surprise gift. I even have a permission slip from the headmaster. He said 'It is not our abilities that define us but the choices we make'. And said I shouldn't be ashamed of being a parseltongue." explained Harry once again.

"That's parslemouth. Parsletongue is the language." interupted Cho.

"I guess if he gave his permission it's not dangerous?" asked Cedric with a little concern in his voice.

"Only if you attack him. I can't stop him from defending himself." said Harry. "Nehebkau'll be in my dorm most of the time anyway."

"I wonder how Dean and Seamus'll react to him." Ron said with a bit of a grin.

The rest of the trip back was accompanied by curious students wanting to see Harry's new pet. Most simply peeked in through the compartment door window while a few bolder students, mainly from Gryffindor, actually knocked to take a closer look. Harry even noticed a few Slytherins from various years stop and take a look.

Luna Lovegood came over to talk with Ginny. Apparently they were friends and shared many of the same classes. Luna did not appear troubled at all by the rather large, and rather venomous viper sitting on Ginny's lap and after a few moments was stroking the Nehebkau as if they were close friends.

Finally, the train pulled up to Hogsmead station and the students scrambled to get a carriage. The Hub group and many of the older students were the first to get a carriage as they had, had their luggage shrunk.

Harry and friends brought their things up to their dorm. Nehebkau made himself comfortable on Harry canopy frame as if he was resting in tree branch while Hedwig, who had apparently made it to the school before the train, made her way to her perch.

Ron, Neville and Harry were all settled in by the time Seamus and Dean arrived. Harry had decided to wait for them before going to the feast to explain about his new pet.

"Hey Ron, Neville, Harrrrrr ... bloody hell it's that snake!" cried out Dean.

"I'd heard it was on the train but didn't think it was for real." said Seamus.

Harry went on to explain, once again, about what the headmaster had said and how it was safe as long as you didn't attack him.

As if to prove a point, Hedwig landed on the canopy next to the viper.

"You see, even Hedwig knows he won't do anything. You have nothing to worry about." explained Harry.

Seamus and Dean didn't look all too convinced but after looking at the headmasters permission slip decided not to make any trouble over it.

The feast that evening was subdued. People who had been happy and smiling while on the express were now worried and tense. Many had managed to forget about the attacks during the Holidays but now that they had returned found themselves thinking of it once again.

This was of course, not helped by the absence of the headmaster or McGonnagall's announcement.

"I am Happy to see that you have all returned to us happier than you had left. The headmaster, as you can all tell, is still away dealing with a misunderstanding with the board of governors."

Malfoy snorted at this pronouncement, drawing McGonagall's glare.

"In the interim, I have taken over many of the headmasters duties. We have also implemented new security measures to safeguard the students until the current crisis can be properly dealt with."

The headmistress took a sip of her goblet.

"A new strict curfew has been instituted and any students found breaking his curfew will find himself or herself suspended until further notice. The halls will be patrolled by professors at night to insure that no one breaks this curfew." With this McGonnagall sent her Gryffindors, specifically Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Twins a death glare.

"Students will be accompanied to classes, meals and the library by a teacher. No one is permitted to be on their own for any reason whatsoever. Now everyone follow your head of house back to your common rooms."

That night, the topic of conversation in all the common rooms was of course the new security measures and how it would affect friendships and study habits.

"Hermione, why haven't the aurors been called in?" asked Harry.

"Well, since the students are only petrified and it is easily reversible, they won't get involved. It's expected that there will be magical accidents in a school and since there is no lasting damage there's no need to bring the aurors in." she explained.

"Ok, then why haven't they simply bought some Mandrake for the potion?" asked Ron.

This time Neville had the answer.

"Mandrakes are expensive and not many people farm them since they can kill if you're not careful so it's very hard to find on the market. But I was talking to professor sprout before the Holidays and she said that they were trying a modified ageing potion in the fertiliser of one batch to see if they could speed up the growing process. So if everything goes well they should be back to normal in a week or two." explained Neville.

The next few days passed on without trouble, even Peeves was staying quiet. The extra duties were starting to wear already on the teachers as they had less time to prepare for classes and less time to sleep. This showed more in one teacher specifically.

Professor Lockhart looked as if he hadn't slept in over a week and he basically simply assigned reading in all his classes while he went to 'grade papers' in his office. The teachers hair was hanging limp and he had huge bags under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in weeks instead of simply missing a few hours of rest over the past three days.

Hermione was rather put out that she couldn't give the defence teacher the third degree since he was never really in the class and only assigned reading and essays.

"Honestly, how are we going to be prepared for our OWLs and NEWTs if he doesn't teach us anything?" said Hermione during lunch.

"Well, it's not like we're about to take them or anything. OWL's are only in three years." Ron said with a shrug.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Hermione under the misapprehension that Ron had seen her point. "We ONLY have three years to prepare!"

The rest of the Gryffindors stopped eating and looked at Hermione as if she was insane.

"We can study on our own Hermione. Sirius and Remus sent us some books on DADA just for that." Harry reminded her.

"Yes but without the practical aspect it won't do us any good. Defence is a very practical field, we need someone to help us, someone to correct our mistakes."

Later that evening in the Hub, Harry and the rest of the Hub group gathered to try and plan out how to find out who might have the diary.

"Well, we could start by looking through the Gryffindor rooms to see if we can find the book." said Fred.

"The girls could do the girls dorms and we could do the guys." continued George.

"I don't really want to start going through other peoples things." said Ginny.

"Well, we could look for signs of possession." said Hermione.

"What are they?" asked Neville.

"Sleep deprivation, waking up in places without knowing how you got there, loss of memory. A person being possessed will start to think they are losing their minds." explained Hermione.

"Well, we can keep an eye out in Gryffindor tower but what about the other towers?" asked Ron.

"I could maybe ask Justin to keep an eye out in Hufflepuff." Harry said.

"And I can ask Luna to watch the Ravenclaw tower." Ginny said.

A week after the return of the students from the Christmas Holidays, McGonagall had good news for the students.

"Thanks to a modified Ageing potion, the Mandrakes are now ready and the salve to restore Mrs. Clearwater and Mr. Creevy will be ready to administer by tomorrow."

This brought a cheer from three of the four tables. Percy appeared to have lost five years hearing how his girlfriend would be restored shortly.

The Slytherins of course looked bored or had a neutral expression.

But the next day would bring terrible news.

"All students are to return to their common rooms at once." came the announcement at the beginning of Harry's charm class.

Professor Flitwick accompanied the Gryffindors to their Common room and then his own Ravenclaws to theirs.

Harry and the rest of the Hub gang were waiting in the common room for Ginny but found that she never arrived. Ron approached a fellow classmate of Ginny's and asked her where his sister was.

"I don't know. We were leaving Defence class, Professor Lockhart said we could get there on our own and went back to his office, when we got to transfiguration McGonnagall was livid. Then she noticed that Ginny was missing, she locked us in the classroom and just got us now."

Ron had gone white with worry and the rest of the hub gang had a similar complexion.

Another first year came up to Harry.

"I heard McGonagall talking to professor Vector. She said that there was writing on the wall again. Something about someone being taken into the chamber and how the school would have to close."

Ron immediately started towards the portrait hole but was stopped by the rest of the Hub gang and dragged up to Hub itself.

"Ron, rushing out there won't save her." said Neville.

"It's my sister. Let me go." cried Ron as he fought against the arms holding him.

"I'm sorry Ron." said Hermione before putting him in a full body bind.

"We need to figure out where the chamber is." said Fred as he paced.

"What do we know about it." continued George.

Hermione took out a muggle pad of paper and a pen to make a list.

"It was open fifty years ago." she started.

"The Basilisk has a way to travel around unseen." said Neville.

"It killed Myrtle in the bathroom." said Harry.

"It could be that the entrance might be in her bathroom. After all that's close to where the first attack happened." said George.

Harry unfroze Ron.

"So how has it been getting around?" Harry asked.

They thought about this for a few seconds and finally Hermione came up with the answer.

"THE PIPES!" she said.

"Ok we need a plan. Hermione, Ron and I need to get to that bathroom and look around. You three need to go find the professors and tell them where we went, we'll go ahead and find the entrance."

"If anything happens, use this mirror to call my godfather or Remus Lupin. All you have to do is say their name into the mirror." explained Harry.

At this Hedwig hooted loudly and took of out of the trunk.

"What's up with her?" asked Ron.

"No time to worry about it now. We have to get moving before McGonagall comes back." said Harry.

The trio made their way out of the common room with no trouble. Finally they made it to Myrtle's bathroom. There, written in large red letters was a message. "Her bones will rot in the chamber forever."

They quickly entered the bathroom. Ron and Harry started searching for a secret passage while Hermione went to question Myrtle.

"What are our chances of finding the entrance when the headmasters never managed it?" asked Ron in desperation.

Harry was tapping the bricks with wand even if he knew it was a futile effort.

"The sink!" said Hermione as she returned from Myrtle's stall. "Myrtle says that she died when she saw yellow eyes staring at her form the that sink."

Harry quickly went to the sink and found an engraving of a snake on the tap.

"Try something in parsletongue Harry." said Ron.

"Open!" Harry said while focusing on the snake.

Immediately, the sink began to lower and a massive pipe was uncovered leading into the depths of the school.

Ron was the first down the pipe, not even thinking for one second of the danger he was jumping into.

Harry quickly followed suit as did Hermione.

The pipe was dirty and grime covered. The trio landed at the bottom with a loud crunch. The ground felt very uneven.

Hermione was the first to light her wand to discover that the ground was covered with the bones of dead animals, mainly rats.

"Well, now we know why there aren't any rats in Hogwarts." said Harry.

Ron wasn't really paying attention. Instead, he was staring at something further ahead in a cave like tunnel.

A giant skin, at least sixty feel in length and as tall as Harry lay there in the middle of the passage.

"My god!" said Hermione. "It must be ancient."

"Let's get going." Harry said and started forwards.

They continued for a few minutes down the dark abandoned cave until they arrived at a massive door. Harry already had a good idea as to what needed to be done and ordered the door to open in parseltongue.

They entered a massive chamber. The chamber was partially covered with water. It appeared to be a cave of some type and carved within the walls we giant snake statues. The room was illuminated by bright magical torches and the trio could clearly see to the end of the chamber. Standing there at the end of the chamber in front of a massive face carved into the stone wall was a tall, handsome young man, wearing Slytherin robes. The young man was semi-transparent, like a ghost but was in full colour contrarily to the ghosts Harry had met at Hogwarts.

"Tom." said Harry as they approached the young man. Harry in the lead with Ron and Hermione further behind.

"Harry Potter. I knew you would come." said the memory of Tom riddle.

Harry noticed Ginny laying at Riddles feet looking pale and lifeless.

"Ginny." cried out Ron as he tried to rush towards his sister but Hermione held him back.

"Oh, she lives still. But not for long." said Tom. "You see the longer we wait the more of this young girls life energy I absorb. When she passes away, I will be whole again."

Without warning, Harry threw out a bludgeoning curse at the memory of Tom Riddle but the spell simply passed straight through him as if he were nothing but a ghost.

"If that's how you wish to play it, then Lord Voldemort will accommodate you."

With this the ghost like figure bent down and picked up Ginny's fallen wand.

"I see that you already knew who I am or rather who I became. I must admit. You are much craftier than I would have thought. You had me completely tricked."

At this, a red beam shot out from behind one of the snake statues disarming Harry.

Riddle in the meantime started sending curses towards Harry but Hermione and Ron intervened and started blocking the curses expertly.

Harry drew his backup wand and started sending curses at Riddle but the shade simply ignored them as they all passed through him with no impact.

"Really, you would have done well in my ancestors house Harry Potter. Well indeed."

After a few spells Hermione and Ron started tiring while Riddle was becoming clearer and more solid.

In desperation Harry threw a spell he had only tried once before.

"Vis Phasmatis"

The blue bolt connected with the shade of Riddle sending him flying backwards into the statue of Salazar Slytherin.

"Hermione, Ron get Ginny out of here quick." said Harry as he rushed towards his fallen friend.

As Hermione took hold of Ginny with a Levitation charm, the mouth of Salazar Slytherin started to open and an ominous hissing issued forth.

"Blood ... I smell blood, finally I can feast!" and with those words the basilisk erupted from the mouth of Slytherin. Harry and Hermione had just enough time to turn their eyes away from the entrance. Hermione started running with Ginny in tow while Harry blindly shot out a spell that had saved him once before.

"Lumos Maxima"

Blinding white light erupted from Harry's wand and a mad hissing was heard coming from the Basilisk. At the same time, the doors to the chamber closed, on their own, sealing Ron, Ginny and Hermione in.

Harry turned to see that Hermione had stumbled and fallen when the basilisk had hit the ground hard as it trashed in pain.

"You've proven quite the adversary Harry Potter but you cannot win against Lord Voldemort, the greatest wizard to have ever lived."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest wizard to have ever lived!" Harry shouted as he fired another spirit banishing charm.

"Albus Dumbledore is a senile old fool that was chased from this school by the mere memory of me."

"Albus Dumbledore will never be gone as long as there remains in the castle those who are loyal to him."

As if these words had a power of their own, Fawkes appeared in a burst of flames and dived for the temporarily blinded basilisk, clawing at it's eyes and blinding it permanently.

"NO!" cried out riddle.

Harry took advantage of the diversion to throw another spirit banishing spell at the memory of Voldemort, sending him flying through the walls once more.

"Quick, RUN!" he cried out to his friends.

"Where, the bloody doors closed." asked Ron in a panic.

HArry quickly hissed at them to open.

Fawkes, in the meantime, had finished his gruesome task and had flown to Harry's side. Harry noticed that Fawkes carried in his talons a familiar beat up old hat. Looking around quickly to see if Riddle had had time to return he quickly placed the hat on his head.

'Bit of a pickle you find yourself in here eh Potter?' asked the hat.

'I have a sixty foot Basilisk and the pissed off memory of Voldemort here. I don't have much time. Can you help?' Harry thought quickly to the hat.

'Alright. So this is your typical dragon slaying scenario. Just take me off and put your hand inside me. You'll find something to help you there.' answered the hat.

'What do you mean slaying?' asked Silias but the hat was already off Harry's head.

Harry quickly took off the hat and noticed that Ron was helping Hermione stand while running quickly towards the entrance to the chamber.

Harry quickly plunged his hand into the hat and felt cold steel in it. Grasping what felt like a handle Harry pulled and out came a beautiful five foot long blade. The sword was a typical longsword but in Harry's small hands it looked more like a claymore. Harry had to grab it with both hands to lift it.

Harry quickly stuffed the hat in his belt and turned towards the basilisk.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' asked Silias. 'RUN!'.

Harry was sorely tempted at that point but he still had to deal with Riddle. He didn't think that simply taking Ginny away would stop her from dying. He needed to destroy Riddle while he was still vulnerable.

The basilisk stopped it's mindless trashing.

"It hurtssssss ... the pain. I have been blinded." it cried pitifully.

"Then take your revenge on the one that brought the damned bird. You cannot see him but you can still taste and hear him." Riddle had returned once again and did not look at all happy.

Harry was in a bad situation. He was facing a sixty foot, enraged basilisk and Voldemort at the same time. Seeing how he had the sword in both hands he decided to try having a go at the basilisk. He ran quickly towards the beast. It seemed to hear him and lunged towards him. Harry quickly rolled to the right to avoid being swallowed whole. As he stood up he raised the sword over his head at struck as mighty a blow as he could to the beasts scales.

To his surprise the blade sliced through the basilisk like scissors through silk.

Harry quickly turned to look at his other enemy, wondering why he had not been cursed again. Apparently the last banishing curse had made Tom drop Ginny's wand. Of course, the wand was solid and would not go through the wall. It had apparently fallen in the water and Riddle was looking for it furiously.

Harry had not been paying enough attention to the basilisk and the creature sent him flying with a blow from it's tail. He did not hit the wall but was caught by a levitation spell from Ron as Hermione sent bludgeoning curse after bludgeoning curse at the beast.

Ron dropped Harry on the ground.

"Go on, Hermione's curses don't seem to be doing much." he said encouragingly as Harry caught his breath.

Harry took up the sword once more and ran towards the great beast to strike it in the head as it tried to bite him. The beast managed to swallow Harry whole but then screamed in pain and then stopped moving, finally dead.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione and Ron cried out in anguish.

Riddle in the meantime seemed simply angry.

A moment later a very slime covered and wounded Harry Potter crawled out of the basilisks mouth. Harry Potter tumbled out covered in blood and guts, his sword still clamped tightly in his hands.

"NO!" cried Riddle as he waded towards the great beast.

"At least I have the satisfaction of seeing you and your friends die Harry Potter." Riddle said as he approached Harry and took his fallen wand.

Hermione and Ron started sending a flurry of spells towards the young Voldemort and he found himself temporarily on the defensive, caught by surprise by the intensity of the attack. This gave Harry time to search for a means to destroy him.

Harry noticed one thing as Riddle fought with his friends. He was now defending instead of simply ignoring the spells as he had before.

'He must be human enough to be affected by spells again.' Harry thought to himself.

The next few words coming from Tom Riddle's mouth spurred Harry to action.

"AVADA ..." Riddle never had a chance to finish the spell.

Taking hold of his sword once again, ignoring the pain coursing through his body from the wound on his arm where a tooth from the basilisk had pierced his skin and shattered bone, Harry swung the sword at Riddle. The sword cleaved straight through his body with a spray of blood.

Tom Riddle turned to Harry Potter in surprise for a fraction of a second before being blown away by a steady stream of curses from Hermione and Ron. A dark cloud rushed out of the destroyed body and returned to the diary.

'Destroy the diary, I believe it is a Phylactery of some type, a container for his soul.' said Silias.

With the last of his strength Harry walked over to the diary placed it in the mouth of the Basilisk and closed it hard, piercing it's cover.

"I don't like bullies!"Harry said with conviction.

Black ink started flowing from the rip and Harry Potter knew no more.