"Sauronion: Son of Sauron"

By Loki Palmer

Author's Note: Harry Potter and all related characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Lord of the Rings and all related characters and languages belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. Arphen Randir belongs to me. :)

Chapter 25

Many students had seen the announcement about a new Defense Club. Even Arphen was interested to see who would preside over it.

"I hope it is Professor Flitwick presiding over this, Harry. Did you know he used to be a dueling champion?"

Harry shrugged. "It would not surprise me if he was … being so short, he would be hard to beat."

The whole group grinned as they walked into the Great Hall. The grins faded upon seeing the last person they were expecting.

"Good evening, boys and girls," said Professor Lockhart. "Welcome to the Defense Club. Now, Headmaster Dumbledore has given me permission to start this club in hopes that you may be able to defend yourselves against whatever evil things you may face … for full details, see my published works."

"Details on what?" said Arphen under his breath to Harry and company. "How to avoid a bad hair day?"

The small group sniggered, but Lockhart paid them no attention. "Now, I have enlisted the help of Professor Snape for this demonstration, but don't worry – you should have your Potions Master still in one piece when I'm through, never fear!"

"Daph, I would be five Galleons that Professor Snape mops the floor with Lockhart's moussed hair. Would you take it?"

She smiled at him, trying to suppress her laughter. "Are you serious, Arphen? What idiot would contradict you in that bet?"

"You underestimate Professor Lockhart too much, Lord Arphen," said fellow Gryffindor Lavender Brown. "Parvati and I will contradict your bet."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Your loss, ladies." To Arphen, she thought, "Ου εγνων οτι εν Γκριφυντορι ιδιοτας εχομεν." (I didn't know we have idiots in Gryffindor.)

"Την ιδιοτειαν Λοκχαρτος ου γινωσκουσιν, Δαφφη."(They aren't aware of Lockhart's idiocy, Daph.)

The two Professors saluted each other and walked ten paces. "One … two … three!"

"Expelliarimus!" said Professor Snape. The spell sent Professor Lockhart flying head over heels to hit the ground, disarmed to everyone's great amusement. Parvati and Lavender coughed up the money.

Professor Lockhart got back to his feet. "I'm okay, boys and girls. The Disarming spell is a useful one, but I could have blocked it if I wanted to do so."

Arphen, Harry, and their general company had to hold their sides in laughter. This guy was a certified idiot!

"How about some practice here? Lord Arphen, Lord Potter, how about the two of you?"

"Might I suggest someone from my own House, Professor?" said Professor Snape. Ronald Malfoy, perhaps?"

The two faced off. "Scared, Potter?"

"You wish," said Harry with a smirk.

"Now, on the count of three," said Professor Lockhart, "cast a spell to disarm, do I make myself clear? One … two …"

"Stupefy!" Ron said. Harry dodged it.

"Rictusempra!" Harry's spell hit Ron, who started cracking up in laughter.

"Finite incantatem!" said Professor Snape, ending the laughing fit. Ron glared at Harry.

"Serpensortia!" A snake burst from his wand.

Harry froze. He knew there was a time when he could speak to snakes, but now, he could not remember how to do so. Shit … this snake looked mad …

§Who daressss awaken me from my ssslumber?§

Much to Harry's shock, Arphen stepped in, glaring at the snake. §Down, boy! Down! Unless you calm down, I will freeze you to the floor! Down!§

The snake, recognizing the threat as serious, calmed down as Professor Snape vanished it.

Arphen could sense everybody looking at him in fear. He ran out of the Great Hall.

~SAURONION~

Harry and company found him in the Gryffindor common room.

"Arphen, you never told me you could talk to snakes!"

"It's an extension of my ability to speak to animals, Harry. My action tonight was ill-thought. Now everyone is going to think I'm the Heir of Slytherin – which I'm not."

The Twin Terrors looked at each other, then at Arphen. "Even though everybody doesn't know that you aren't the Heir –"

"– You could still have some fun with scaring your fellow students."

Arphen steepled his fingers. "Fun, you say? Scare, you say? My dear Twin Terrors of Gryffindor, don't tempt me … but to put everyone's minds at ease, let's stop by Gringotts first."

~SAURONION~

"May your gold flow and prosper, Lord Ragnok!"

"And may your enemies tremble at your approach, Lord Myrddynson! How may We of Gringotts be of service today?"

"Well, I am curious to know who the Founder's Heirs would be, so I may put the minds of my friends at ease, knowing I am NOT the Heir of Slytherin."

"Let's start with an Inheritance Test, then, Milord."

Arphen pricked his finger and let the blood drop into the bowl. Ragnok looked at the results.

"Your Highness is correct; He is not the Heir of Slytherin, but of Merlin – hence the reason why We sometimes address Him as Lord Myrddynson."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that news.

"As for the other Founder's Heirs ..." Ragnok looked over the detailed document that an unnamed Goblin had given him, "what do you know, besides Lord Potter, Heir of Gryffindor we have two others in our presence …"

"Who are they?" said Harry. Everyone was on edge.

"Luna Lovegood is the Heir of Hufflepuff and Lady Hermione Potter is the Heir of Ravenclaw. The Heir of Slytherin, at this present time, is still Lord Potter's nemesis."

"Voldemort," said Harry in an icy tone.

Ragnok gave them a grave nod. "Yes … although his original name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. According to this family tree document, Tom's mother was Merope Gaunt, a witch, while his father was a Muggle, Tom Riddle. In spite of his claim to be the champion of Purebloods, Voldemort was himself not a Pureblood."

~SAURONION~

Draco's sleep had been uneasy in these recent times, plagued by nightmares of his time growing up in the Malfoy Family under the authoritarian fist of his father. Lucius would meet any disobedience and any disrespect from his son with a smack from his cane, a rap upside the head or even a swift Cruciatus would teach the lad to follow his orders, not to question them.

Much as Lucius would have liked to believe that he had molded himself the perfect little dragon to follow the Dark Lord when He would return, the little dragon hated him and everything he believed.

It was obvious to Draco that the intelligence of Slytherin had made a drastic decrease since the days when his Father was in school. His little brother, Ronald, had swallowed the Pureblood supremacist propaganda without any question. The only reason why Draco ended up in Slytherin was that his Father had threatened dire consequences if he ended up anywhere else.

"Was this all worth it?" he wondered. He had gone to speak to his godfather, Severus Snape, about his upbringing, the nightmares, and the fear that had resulted. Having gone through horrific physical abuse at the hands of his alcoholic Muggle father, Professor Snape understood his godson's predicament and would allow him free access if he ever needed to talk.

"Your godfather is right, you know," said a voice in his dorm room.

"Who is that? Who's there?"

A tall, dark-haired figure wearing green robes faded into view. "Almost one thousand years and this castle hasn't changed much … now that I think about it, scratch that. It has changed, but such is life."

Draco's eyes widened. "Salazar Slytherin?"

"Affirmative. You are smarter than many of the other dolts around here, but as I was saying: your godfather is right. It makes me ashamed to think that my House has degenerated into a habitat for those devoid of intellect. The majority of this is due to Pureblood supremacist bovine excrement that says that Muggle-borns are subhuman – and many thought I was a Pureblood supremacist?"

"You were not a Pureblood supremacist?"

"HELL NO! Back then, there was some distrust of Muggle-borns on my part, but I did not think them sub-human! I didn't want to kill them either!"

"Why did you distrust them?"

"Draco, the other Founders and I built this castle in the middle of a war between Muggles and wizards. I feared that the Muggle-borns may side with the Muggles against us. Godric and the others disagreed. I did leave the school for a time, but I came back to find that Godric had put his trust in the right place. The Muggle-borns were so happy for their education that their talent helped us to put the war to a quick end before we killed off everybody else." He sighed. "War is terrible, Draco. I find myself discontented with my present heir, whom you may know by the name of Voldemort."

"My Father's master."

"The very same. If another Muggle-Wizard war broke out, the result would be disastrous for the Wizarding World. Have you ever heard of the atomic bomb?" Draco shook his head. "Ah … the Purebloods don't pay attention to what happens in the Muggle news anyway … the idiots ..."

"How would you know about the atomic bomb?"

"Word gets around like wildfire in this castle, Draco. The news of America dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, then another on Nagasaki was a great shock to me. These two bombs vaporized those cities to ash in mere seconds. Now, imagine that happening to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade … even Hogwarts herself ..."

"We would all be boned at that point," said Draco.

Salazar nodded. "Crude, but yes, we would be boned. For this reason, and others I'm sure you can guess, I have decided to reject Voldemort as my heir and replace him … with you. You are the first Slytherin in such a long time that wants to make a change for the better. You say you came into Slytherin because your Father had dire threats for you if you did not? I say, perhaps Heaven had its own reason for placing you here. So, what do you say?"

Draco went to his knees like a knight before his king. "I accept."

Author's Note: The plot starts to thicken. Read and review!

Smiles,

Loki Palmer