"We have a change of staff for the year. Due to the escalating tensions in the war, and Grindelwald's forays into attempting to invade Britain, Assistant Headmaster Dumbledore has joined a ICW coalition. As such, he will temporarily be replaced as Assistant Headmaster by Professor Slughorn. Professor Babbling will take over the duties of Slytherin Head of House. We welcome the esteemed Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel as teachers this year for Transfiguration. Professor Perenelle will be teaching the younger years. Professor Nicolas will be instructing the Sixth and Seventh Years. As always, the Forbidden Forest remains as such. The first hogsmeade weekend will be held in two weeks. Your head of house will collect your permission slips tonight. Now, without further ado, the feast!" A wave of his wand, and the food appeared on the table.
We ate, and departed for our rooms. Peter and I gave our permission slips to Professor Merrythought.
The next morning, Algie and Lucy joined us at the Gryffindor table.
"How was your first night?" Peter asked Lucy. She had poured herself a cup of tea and grabbed some bacon and eggs.
"They gave me some difficulties. But I set them straight." She said with a smile that was all teeth. A chill went down my spine, and I felt momentary pity for the poor Slytherin who had tried to haze her. That pity was quickly replaced with satisfaction. I taught Lucy well it seemed.
Professor Merrythought made her way towards us. She handed Minerva and Reg their time tables. Then handed Lucy and Algernon theirs. "Tom, Peter. See me in my office today after breakfast." She told us and proceeded to hand out times tables to the rest of the house.
Peter and I shared a look with each other. After breakfast we went to Professor Merrythoughts office. Her office was contradictory. Despite the light colors the office was decorated in, there was a certain There was a tank in the far corner where a grindylow floated. Along the back wall there was a row of bookshelves. Along one wall, there were plants enclosed by glass. Curiously, there was a rack of hand to hand weapons along another. Nestled in a corner, there was a cabinet which had doors that were locked with chains. In the center of the room there was a large wooden desk. Behind the desk there was a plush, leather office chair. Professor Merrythought sat in the chair. She was going through papers. The desk had a foe-glass in corner. Aside from this there was a small stack of parchments on her desk, along with two cases. Two straight back wooden chairs set in front of it.
"Have a seat." She said, and we complied.
"I was going over your records. Both of your records. You two are at the top of your classes. There are a few classes that you need work on. Namely Astronomy and History of Magic. Mr. Riddle, you have shown great aptitude for runes. Mr. Pevensie, you are one of the most gifted Potion's students that I have seen this decade. We were going to originally fulfill your elective requests and bequeath each of you with time turners to facilitate your increased course load. However, Headmaster Dippet and I, along with Assistant Headmaster Dumbledore, have decided on another course of action. Your first week will be spent on the core subjects for your third year. If you are successfully in these exams, we will be moving you up to fourth year for these. Mr. Riddle. You will be taking an additional test in runes for fourth year. Since you are muggleborns, and they tend to test extraordinarily high in Muggle Studies, you will both be taking the third and fourth year end of year exams for that subject. Should you be successful, I will arrange an OWL for that class this year along with the fifth years, and you will sit the Muggle Studies NEWT with the seventh years next year. We will still be issuing you with Time Turners because of scheduling conflicts with third year electives and fourth year classes. However, if you agree to this, we expect you to be prepared to test out of the fourth year electives at the end of this year, and have a full fifth year schedule for the following school year. This includes your history of Magic Class"
"I agree." I said. I didn't even have to think about this.
"As do I."
"Good. We'll start with your Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. Are you ready now?"
"Sure." I said. She waved her wand, and the third year exam popped into being in front of us. We got down to it.
The next week was a blur of tests and revisions. Some of the questions were simple. Other bits were difficult not because of the lack of knowledge, but because it had been years from my perspective since I had last reviewed that part of the subject matter. The third year test for CoMC was a cakewalk. We had spent nearly two and a half decades learning about magical creatures. Even though we hadn't encountered some of the creatures in Narnia, there were principles, guesses, such as the diet of magical creatures that lived in water, that appeared to be universal. There wasn't a question of whether or not we'd pass the test. We also caught up with Arithmancy. It was comparable to regular mathematics, there were some differences in the some expressions were solved, but it was largely the same. Runes were trivial. After the week of exams, we were issued time turners. I spent my first version of Saturday training Reginald, Minerva, and Lucy. After four hours of training, I spun back to that morning. While Tom One was training those three, I went into my trunk library and spent time researching any and everything I could find on Niffins. My son was out there, and I would find a way to bring him back. Niffins were capable of interdimensional travel. I needed to find a way to summon him. Then there were enchantments that could be used on a box. I'd be imprisoning him temporarily, but there had to be a way to turn him back.
I read until I knew that Tom One and co were done with the Room of Requirement, grabbed a nap, and a few things from my trunk. I had "forgotten" to return Luci's Elixir, and needed that. I went to a stall in one of the boys bathrooms, and spun back yet again to just after I went asleep.
While Tom Two was in his trunk reading, I went to the room of requirement.
I stood outside the room, and paced back and forth thrice. I ordered the room to give me a double lab, partitioned into two halves.
I took the elixir out of an extended pouch, along with my notes. I spent another four hours analyzing the elixir, and got nowhere. I went into the second partition and spun back.
Tom Three began his analysis of the Elixir of Life. I began casting a bevy of revealing spells on the time turner. I'd have to return this at the end of my Hogwarts career, and it was two damn useful not have have permanent access to it. I spent four hours analyzing the various components of the time turner, packed up my various materials from both labs and exited the room. Then I went to the library and started my homework for the week. The library closed, and I headed back to my dorm, and crashed for ten hours. Sunday, I woke up late and went down breakfast. After grabbing a quick cup of tea I went down to the Chamber of Secrets. When I was going through my old papers from Narnia, I had found the letter I had left myself.
I opened the Chamber, and went down the steps. Now that I was on high alert, and had learned some measure of Occlumency, I felt a spell try to weave into my consciousness. Some sort of truth spell, combined with a compulsion to believe. I had been played the entire fucking time. Oh, he was dead. I had a few tools with me.
"Speak to me Salazar, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four!" I said. Salazar appeared in Basilisk form and shifted back into his human form.
"Long time no see Tom." He said.
"I know, it's been nearly a year. How have you been doing?"
"I've been well. I've taken to hunting german U-Boats. They're a good exercise. What brings you down here?" He asked. He seemed nervous.
"Just a few questions I had." I said with a smile. Then I sprang into action. Jadis' wand in one hand, chains wrapped around him. Then a prisoner's confinement snapped into place around him. All three defensive shields used in combat, reversed.
"Tom, what's the meaning of this?" He said.
"Salazar, you lied to me. I want to know what you lied about."
"Who gave you that information?" He said.
"That location of this information is moot. I want to know why you lied to me. I'll rip it out of your mind. I don't care." I drew my flintlock from my belt and pointed it his head.
"Tell me what you lied to me about. "
Then something happened faster than my eyes could track. He ended the incarcerous and broke my inverted shield spells. With a wave of his hand I was disarmed, and flying through the air. A wandless arresto momentum stopped me from being slammed into one of the stone walls of the chamber.
I drew my yew wand, and sent a lance of ignited phosphorus toward him. He starved the phosphorus of oxygen, and threw out a conjured spear towards me. I blocked that, and unleashed a wandless banisher that he blocked. A wave of water rose up and flew toward me. I froze it, and summoned my pistol, then I took aim and fired. He blocked the projectile.
"Oh, you've picked up some tricks." He said, and made a slashing gesture with his hand. I countered it and unleashed a reducto that he stopped with a shield.
"Enflammateur!" I yelled, conjuring a ball of flame the size of my head and throwing it at Salazar. He summoned more water to block the fire and I fired with my flintlock again. He blocked this as well. A snake formed in the water and flew towards me. I spun out of the way, and apparated just behind Salazar with a loud crack.
"Fulmin Somnus!" I shouted, An arc of electricity shot from my hands and struck him, crackling across his skin in jolts of blue lighting. I had invented the spell as a way to non lethally take down prisoners. It was my answer to a tazer. He dropped to the ground with a thud. I needed a way to question him. I bound him again, put him in a trunk, and hauled his ass to the room of requirement.
I placed him in a chair and bound him again with chains, then I carefully sketched a circle around him. It snapped into place and hummed with power. I sketched the arithmetic equations for the inverted spells around the circle and sealed the circle with a couple drops of my blood. It would seal the spell against him breaking it, only someone with my blood could do so. Then I murmured the counterspell to the taser and he woke up.
"Where am I?" He asked. He broke the chains, and immediately knelt on the ground to examine my spellwork.
"In a secure room, you have some questions I would like the answer to. What are you lying about." I said in a measured tone.
"I take it you've removed me from the Chamber then?" He asked.
"Yes." I said, and he smiled. Alarm bells began ringing in my head.
"Oh, very good Tom. Very good indeed. Also, the blood lock was a nice touch. I'll give you that. I want to thank you for solving a problem for me I've been facing for quite some time. You see, I could leave the chamber as a basilisk, but my incorporate bond prevented me from leaving the chamber willingly. You've just solved a problem that has been eluding me for centuries. Thank you for that." He said, and threw his will against my spells. I felt the magic crackle, meet and stop.
"The ward is blood sealed, the only one who can break it is me." I said with a smirk.
"Funny thing about blood. Did you know those who share blood can break it?"
"Good thing for me my mother is dead and my other family members are far away."
"But are they?" He said. He bit himself, hard and drew blood. Then he spat the blood into his palm.
"Cruor relashio!" He yelled. The spells I bound around him shattered. He gestured and I felt a wave of force slam into me. He walked over. Then he disarmed and bound me. He took Jadis' wand.
"I thank you for the wand, it's got quite a bit of power to it. This will come in handy." He said.
"You can't apparate in Hogwarts." I said.
"Oh, headmasters can, and once a Headmaster of Hogwarts, always a Headmaster of Hogwarts." He said with a cruel smile. He popped away, and I fumed against my bindings.