Harry Potter the Visored
Chapter 38
So I'm finally back in the groove and I am going to be wrapping up the Chamber of Secrets Arc. I have been working on a plan for this for a while, refining it as I continued to brainstorm and read other fanfics, until it has become the chapter you are reading today.
I hope you enjoy this.
Disclaimer: Tite Kubo created Bleach and J. K. Rowling created Harry Potter.
"Zanpakuto Talking"
"Mental Talking/Parseltongue"
"Kido/Zanpakuto/spells"
'Thoughts'
"Hollow/wraith/horcrux Talking"
Harry was currently sneaking through the halls of the school in his Shinigami form with his Invisibility Cloak, heading toward the out of order First floor girls' lavatory, making sure to avoid any Students or Teachers that he came across.
Why was he heading to such an odd destination whist making absolutely sure to be kept hidden while in Shinigami form?
Well, the answer to that question goes back to a few days after Harry came back from Christmas Holidays, when he gained information about just what was going on at Hogwarts in regards to the student attacks.
xXflashbackXx
Harry was walking through the corridors, heading down to the kitchens to deliver a Christmas gift to the House Elves as a thank you for all the consideration that they gave him in terms of meals, when he was surprised by the appearance of Moaning Myrtle, the Ghost that haunted the out of order lavatory on the first floor.
"Lord Shinigami," said Myrtle respectfully as she floated in front of Harry.
"You're Myrtle, right?" asked Harry, "Is there something you need?"
"I think there is something you need to know," said Myrtle's ghost, "when I was alive, I once hid in the girls' loo because I had been bullied by some students. I was hiding when I heard a strange hissing sound and when I peeked out, the last think I remember was seeing a giant golden eye gazing at me. The next thing I knew, I was a ghost."
"You have my sympathies," said Harry, "but why are you telling me this now?"
"Well," said Myrtle, "recently I've been hearing that sound again, and after talking with some of the other ghosts, I learned that the two attacks had happened minutes after hearing the sounds. I wanted to tell you now because I just heard the sounds again and saw a girl walking past my stall."
"Do you think she could be in danger?" asked Harry.
"That's why I came to you, Lord Shinigami," said Myrtle, "as much as I'd like company, I don't want someone else to suffer."
"Harry," said Ryuge urgently, "you must make haste and help that girl."
"Why?" asked Harry mentally, "What's going on?"
"I will explain on the way," said Ryuge, "but if you do not hurry, then all will be for naught. Don't forget to grab your cloak."
xXflashback endXx
"So where did you hear the voice?" asked Harry as he pulled off his cloak in Myrtle's bathroom.
"Over here," said Myrtle as she floated over a central column that had a ring of sinks set into it, "this is where I heard the hissing sound."
Harry inspected the sinks and saw that one of the taps had an image of a snake set into it.
"What do you think Ryuge?" he asked his Zanpakuto.
"While I truly hope I am wrong," said the Zanpakuto Spirit, "but try ordering the sink to open using the language of snakes."
Deciding to trust his Zanpakuto's instincts, Harry gazed at the tap and took a breath and uttering a single word, "Open."
As the hissing sound left the Young Visored's mouth, the sinks sunk into the ground allowing the column they were attached to to open up and reveal a long dark pipe that stretched down into the ground.
"It is as I feared," said Ryuge in Harry's mind, "Harry, not only is the life of that girl now in danger, but the entire school is now at risk of perishing."
"Why?" asked Harry, "Is it something in the chamber?"
"Think Harry," said Ryuge, "you've read Scamander's book. What creature speaks the language of snakes and possesses a 'gaze of death?'"
"Kuso," swore Harry as he realized just what had been terrorizing the school, "Myrtle."
"Yes?" asked the ghost with a start.
"I need you and the other ghosts to inform the staff that the students need to be evacuated or brought to safe areas as soon as possible," said Harry, "tell them that the beast that has been attacking students has been identified. It's a Basilisk."
Myrtle's already grey visage paled even further and she quickly flew out of the room to alert the rest of the staff while Harry gazed down into the pipe and steeled himself.
"Here goes nothing," said Harry before jumping down into the darkness.
xXsceneXx
'Ugh, it stinks down here,' thought Harry as he traveled through the dark tunnels under the school.
"Be wary Harry," said Ryuge, "the gaze of the basilisk may still be able to harm you in your spirit form, and its venom is caustic enough to cause severe damage."
"I'll remember that," said Harry aloud as he glanced at a massive empty husk that likely belonged to the serpent he was currently hunting, "any advice?"
"You will have to fight without using your eyes," said Ryuge, "you must keep them closed to avoid the lethal gaze of the King Serpent. You will have to rely on your ability to sense its Reiatsu if you wish to survive."
Harry nodded as he came face to face with a large stone wall with a carving of two snakes set into it. Raising his hand, he channeled his Reiatsu into his blade, before swinging his sword and cutting a square hole in the wall with a few quick swipes that was large enough to climb through.
Harry quickly made his way through the hole and found himself in a large stone chamber with a massive carving of a stone head set into the wall. Lying on the ground was a redheaded girl that Harry recognized from the Sorting as Fred and George's little sister lying on the ground with a male teen wearing the Hogwarts uniform standing by her.
Harry's eyes widened as he felt the teen's emanating Reiatsu. It felt so twisted and wrong that the Reiatsu he'd felt from the Hollows he had fought felt warm and fuzzy in comparison.
"What the hell are you and what have you done to that girl?" growled Harry as he drew his Zanpakuto.
"So you're not a normal student," said the being in a calm voice, but Harry could feel the twisted corruption that filled it, "interesting. Still, you should've brought something better than that sword to this fight."
The male being snapped its hand out and Harry's Zanpakuto was ripped out of his hand, clattering to the ground behind the teen, who now had a sinister smirk on his face.
"Who are you?" asked Harry warily.
"My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle," said the being, "but you might know me by another name, Mister Potter."
Using the wand in his hand, the now named Tom Riddle wrote his name in the air using glowing letters that appeared from the tip of the wand like ink from a pen.
Tom Marvolo Riddle
Flicking the wand several times, Tom caused the letters to rearrange themselves to form a new, much more sinister message. One that sent a chill down Harry's spine as he realized just whom he was now facing in this chamber.
I Am Lord Voldemort
"You," gasped Harry.
"Indeed," said Tom, "you see, in my youth, I attended school here. I found out through some research that my lineage dates back to Salazar Slytherin himself, and because of that, I discovered this chamber and its mission: to purge the wizarding world of Mudbloods and Muggles, leaving only the pure."
"What does this have to do with the girl?" asked Harry.
"I am getting to that," said Tom, "after the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore grew suspicious of me and began to keep a closer eye on my activities, forcing me to create a diary with instructions on how to continue the work. This poor, foolish, stupid girl, she was so desperate for a friend that she poured her heart and soul into the pages, allowing me to leech away her life and gain physical form. Now I shall finish my work."
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!" declared Tom in Parseltongue.
Harry felt a large presence enter the chamber and quickly shut his eyes to protect him against the killing gaze, focusing on feeling the Reiatsu of the creature to avoid it. Reacting on instinct, he leapt to the side and felt the presence of a massive serpentine creature dive through the space he had just occupied. Harry then flipped backward to avoid the creature swallowing him by leaping backwards over its head.
Seeking to level the playing field a bit, Harry focused his Reiatsu and aimed his hand downwards, "Bakudō #21: Sekienton!"
A cloud of thick red smoke exploded outward, filling the chamber and obscuring everything from view, allowing Harry to take a quick breather while the massive snake tried to locate him.
'If I'm going to beat this thing, I'm going to need more power,' thought Harry as he remembered the reputation of Magic Resistance that Basilisk skin had, 'I've gotten up to two minutes in training. I hope it's enough.'
Harry closed his eyes and brought his right hand to his face, drawing upon the darker Reiatsu of his Inner Hollow before swiping his hand downwards, causing the mask that adorned his Hollow's face to appear on his.
"Okay," breathed Harry in a slightly distorted voice as he felt the surge of power, "still need to get used to this."
Diving to the side as his senses went off, he dodged another lunge from the King Snake and drew his wand, pointing it in the direction of the beast's presence. Channeling his Hollow Reiatsu into his wand, Harry pulled off a trick he had learned while training with his Hollow powers, firing off a crimson Cero bolt that streaked through the smoke before impacting something, and from the serpentine shriek of pain, it seemed like he had actually managed to injure the Basilisk.
"Avada Kedavra!" yelled the spirit of the young Voldemort, sending an emerald bolt flying through the smoke at Harry.
The bolt of magic struck Harry painfully in the chest and knocked him off his feet, but otherwise didn't cause too much trouble, but he had to quickly roll out of the way as the Basilisk tried to eat him again.
"It seems the Killing Curse has no effect on you," mused Tom, "boy who lived indeed."
"SHUT UP!" yelled Harry as he fired another Cero bolt at the voice.
"My my," taunted Tom, "getting short tempered are we? You'll have to do better than that if you want to save the girl."
"You want me to fight?" growled Harry, "Then FINE! Come, Ryuge!"
Harry heard a yelp from Tom as his Zanpakuto flew through the air and landed in his hand, allowing him to slice through the flesh of the Snake as it passed him. Hearing the Basilisk shriek in pain, Harry smirked and rolled out of the way of the snake's thrashing tail.
"Bombarda!" yelled Tom, causing an explosion to detonate from his body, sending him flying across the ground, "despite your powers, you're still a child."
"Damn you," growled Harry as he fired a spell off from his wand that was deflected away by Tom.
"Not good enough," laughed Tom, "now how about we get rid of that mask. Confringo!"
Harry was knocked to the ground as the blasting curse slammed into his Hollow Mask, shattering it and dispelling the power he had gathered from his Inner Hollow, leaving him feeling drained.
"This is the end, potter," laughed Tom, "Basilisk, kill the boy."
Harry sensed the Basilisk approaching cautiously due to the injuries it had suffered, so he pulled himself shakily to his feet and aimed his hands at the incoming beast, "Kyōmon!"
A clear barrier formed in front of Harry stretching from wall to wall and floor to ceiling, causing the Basilisk to slam bodily into it, giving Harry his first glimpse of it's form. It had several bleeding cuts on its body and one of its eyes had been gouged out by the young Visored's blade, but the creature was still quite angry…which Harry saw in its golden eye.
"AAAAGGGHH" yelled Harry as agony ripped through his body. He felt like someone had poured molten steel through his veins and his skin was smoking and burning as if it were on fire as the Death Gaze of the Basilisk tore through his Gigai and attacked his spiritual form.
"Interesting," said Tom, "what an unusual reaction. And that barrier you erected, what are you, Harry Potter."
"I'm a Shinigami," growled Harry through the pain as he closed his eyes aimed his hand's at the Basilisk that was trying to break through the barrier, "and I'll show you I've earned the title. Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!"
"Whatever you're planning won't work, Potter," yelled Tom as he tried to fire off some spells to try and break the barrier alongside the King Serpent.
"On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens," continued Harry as blue flames gathered in his palms, "Hado #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!"
A blast of blue energy erupted from Harry's hands, shattering the clear barrier that held the Basilisk back before blasting through the snake, traveling down its massive throat through its maw, which had been opened to try and swallow the young Visored.
The snake let out a shriek of pain as the energy blew out of its nostrils and eye sockets, obliterating its remaining eye and severely damaging the beast's organs, before fading away, allowing the creature to fall to the ground, dead.
Harry let out a breath as the smoke from his Kidō cleared, revealing a flabbergasted Tom Riddle aiming a wand at him with a shaking hand.
"Impossible," he breathed, "you killed the Basilisk! HOW?!"
"I told you," said Harry as he limped over to where the diary lay on the ground, "I'm a Shinigami. Killing monsters is what a Death God does."
"What are you doing?" asked Tom.
"So it's through this diary that you gained physical form," said Harry as he raised his sword up.
"No…STOP!" yelled Tom.
"Blaze: Ryuge!" yelled Harry as he stabbed his Zanpakuto downward into the cover of the dirty book, the blade erupting in flames as it transformed into its Shikai state.
The diary burst into flames, causing Tom to scream in pain as his body began to burn away to nothingness along with the cursed book. Harry watched as the book was reduced to a pile of ashes and the specter of Tom Riddle finally burnt away to nothingness. Once the specter was gone, the Weasley girl on the ground gasped for breath and began coughing as color returned to her skin.
Thankful that the threat was over, Harry slumped to the ground, succumbing to the combination of his exhaustion from the fight and the injuries from the Basilisk's Death Gaze. The last thing he saw before passing out was a gold and red object flying into the room.
A bit of explanation.
Harry was able to survive the gaze of the Basilisk because he was already dead, similar to how Nick survived in canon. The reason he wasn't incapacitated was because of two things. One, his Gigai protected his soul somewhat, and the powers granted to him as a Visored also strengthened it, allowing him to endure the power, though it severely injured him.
Next, Tom accelerated his plans because of Harry. Due to his mixed relationship with the Weasleys, Ginny poured more into the Diary and Tom was able to take control of her with greater ease. This allowed him to draw her to the chamber where he could finish her off, but Myrtle was able to warn Harry due to the ghosts fear and respect for the Shinigami pushing her to.
Finally, the Zanpakuto was able to finish off a Horcrux, because it's basically like the soul of a Hollow: twisted and corrupted by darkness and evil, waiting to be purified by the edge of the Soul Slayer.
Hope that helped.
Until next time. Ciao.