"We saved the school you know" Harry said.
"I know mate" Neville clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Without us, the basilisk would still be roaming the castle attacking students." Harry persisted.
"Yes Harry, it is very unfair" Hermione sympathised with him.
Classes had been cancelled for the day while the McGonagall tried to restore some semblance of normality to the school. After the scene in the great hall Harry and Daphne had headed outside to get away from the whispers and the pointing. Hermione, Tracey, and Neville had followed. Daphne had told them everything that had happened, from the time it was discovered Hermione was missing to when Fawkes had flashed them to the infirmary.
Hermione started to apologise for causing all the trouble, but Harry waved the apology away "It is my own fault, I should have remembered I lent you the cloak so you could do your own investigation" he said "I seemed to have gotten into the habit of charging in to situations without thinking them through"
"You have a thing about saving people Harry" Daphne said "It is one of your more endearing qualities. Lucky I am here to reign you in when needed. Well most of the time."
Another group of students walked past them, seeing Harry they quickly changed course to avoid him, giving him a wide berth. One let out a little squeal when Harry caught her eye.
"Oh, come on" he said with frustration "I'm not asking for much, I don't want them to actually like me or anything like that. But if they would just stop recoiling in horror when they see me"
"The price of fame Harry" Tracey laughed "you did get your face plastered all over the Prophet sticking a sword into a basilisk"
"Godric Gryffindor's sword" Daphne corrected her.
"Yes, about that Harry" Neville started
Harry rounded on him "Don't even start" he warned Neville.
Neville just ignored him. "Charging into danger wielding Gryffindor's sword, saving everyone. If you carry on like this you will be sharing a dormitory with Ron Weasley and Seamus."
Everyone laughed, including Harry who added "I would rather sleep in the chamber with the basilisk"
Daphne looked up as an owl started circling. "And here's another one."
"A sickle says it is for Harry" Tracey offered, there were no takers.
"No bet" laughed Hermione "They are all for Harry"
Harry had been swamped with mail that morning, the photo in the Daily Prophet prompting many a letter writer.
Hedwig had taken it upon herself to intercept every owl intent on delivering mail to Harry. She quickly dealt with any suspicious mail, forcing owls to return malicious mail back to the sender, including howlers, much to the surprise of the more prolific howler senders amongst the parents. Some of the delivery owls were not pleased by Hedwig's interference and tried to get past her, leading to many a ruffled feather as Hedwig forcibly reminded them that if they insisted on delivering harmful mail, then they must accept the consequences. Most turned back after the first encounter.
By now the owl had been allowed to pass by Hedwig and had landed next to Harry. It was glaring at him, he had other deliveries to make, can't the boy just take the letter. Hedwig who had landed next to Harry barked at him to get him focused again.
"Sorry girl" he said and turned his attention to what appeared to be ministry owl by the looks of it. He took the letter and started to read.
"Really? They have to be joking" Harry said in frustration
"Problems Harry?" Daphne asked.
He handed over the letter. Daphne quickly read it. "Oh" she said "It appears that the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures has an issue with Harry for either 'owning and not registering a basilisk' or 'killing and not safely disposing of the remains of a basilisk'. They want Harry to attend the ministry and explain himself"
"That sounds serious, Harry" Hermione was worried "The Ministry. What are you going to do?" Her respect for authority kicking in to overdrive.
Harry laughed "I think Cyrus will be paying them a visit. I am sure Lord Greengrass can show them the error of their ways. Beside Amelia Bones has already cleared us of any wrong doing. We spent quite a bit of time over the weekend going through what happened in the chamber with her. She can be a very serious witch when she is working, she didn't cut us an inch of slack."
"The department just wants to get their hands on the basilisk" Tracey said "That's what this is about"
"So, what are you going to do with it Harry" Neville asked.
"I have a no idea Neville. But there is no rush, it isn't going anywhere, they are so magical they last for decades before they even start to degrade. " Harry said. He turned to Hedwig "You up for a delivery?" he asked and received a squawk of concern. "I promise I won't accept any more mail until you return" he said allaying her fear. She was very protective of Harry.
"So, do you know why Lockhart did it?" Tracey asked "I mean surely this just the sort of situation that he takes advantage of. Claiming all the glory for himself"
"What?!" Hermione asked "You don't mean that surely"
"It is what he does, Hermione." Daphne said gently, trying not to shatter Hermione's good opinion of teachers. "You didn't think he did all those things he claims in his books did you"
"Of course not" Hermione laughed "He is rubbish with a wand. But I didn't think he took credit for other people's work. I just thought he used poetic license to exaggerate his own experiences"
"Sadly, no" Harry advised her "But, watching his memories I am not surprised he gets away with it. He had better recollection of what I did in the chamber than me, and the attention to detail… But in this case, I have no idea why he let us take the credit."
"Going by everyone's reaction, it was a wise move on his part" Neville teased.
"Yeah, how is it that you guys kill a troll and you are brave and talented children, but I kill a basilisk and I am an evil dark lord?" Harry asked in frustration.
"It is the snake thing Harry" Neville felt sorry for his best friend "People just equate snakes with dark lords, and remember there was that article about you being a parselmouth. Everyone probably thinks it was your basilisk that went out of control"
"Yup" said Tracey with a laugh "No Special Award for Services to the School for you."
"Lucius, so good of you to come" Sirius greeted Malfoy as he stepped out of the floo. He looked around, Black manor appeared to be the worst for wear. It was dark and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years.
An ancient house elf appeared and bowed so low his nose almost touched the ground. "Lord Malfoy" the elf said with reverence in its voice. "You honour this house with your presence, a true pure blood Lord who…"
The elf was interrupted by Sirius "Kreacher, just take his cloak. And refreshments in the parlour"
Kreacher took Lucius' cloak and bowed again before wandering off muttering under his breath.
"Sorry about the surroundings Lucius" Sirius said as he showed Malfoy into the parlour "But for this business it provided a secure and neutral setting" Sirius hated Grimmuald place and avoided coming here unless he had to, but there was no way he was letting Malfoy into the actual Black manor.
This puzzled Lucius until he saw Cyrus standing by the hearth warming himself. Neutral territory? Maybe, after all they both married daughters of the Black family.
Lucius looked at Cyrus, how things had changed since their run in with each other a few short years ago in Diagon Alley. Then Cyrus was just a bit player in their world, some money, a seat in the Wizengamot, and a solid family name.
But was that true? Had he been wrong about Cyrus even then Lucius thought. Whilst Cyrus was an Unspeakable in the department of Mysteries, was that just an acceptable veneer for the man Cyrus truly was? Cyrus had been a ruthless duellist, even at school. As a Ravenclaw, when he first started dating Slytherin Roxanne, Cyrus had been the target of the entire Slytherin house. But only for a brief period. After he put a sixth-year prefect in the infirmary and beat another comprehensively, it was tactically decided they Cyrus was obviously a Slytherin who had tricked the sorting hat into putting him in Ravenclaw and was left alone.
Since then, he and Roxanne had been a formidable pair, the fact they found the missing Potter boy, and successfully kept him hidden in plain sight until Hogwarts, proved they were smart and resourceful. Even Lucius had been fooled which rankled him more than he would admit.
And the boy himself, the things he has achieved with a wand, obviously they had trained him well. The memories Lucius had seen of duels in the common room, taking on Quirrell/Voldemort, and facing down the entire house with use of parseltongue thwarting Lucius' plans. And only 12 years old.
Then there was the basilisk. Lucius sighed, if only Draco had shown half the talent of Potter.
"Lucius, we have recently obtained something, and would like to offer you first option" Cyrus stated "Given your status in our world, your financial capacity, and your other interests"
"Ah yes the basilisk" Malfoy replied "Pass on my congratulations to Mister Potter, it was quite the feat."
Cyrus nodded "I will"
"Tea, Master" Kreacher said as he placed the tray in the table.
"Thank you Kreacher, that will be all" Sirius dismissed the house elf who was now staring at Lord Malfoy with longing. He indicated towards the arm chairs "Lucius, Cyrus, please sit"
They both sat down facing each other, neither touched their tea.
"I see McGonagall has cancelled the duelling competition. A shame really, but not surprising seeing how badly her lions were doing." Lucius said
"Yes, it is a shame, I would have loved to have seen my two in action. Daphne is most disappointed" Cyrus agreed "And Harry, well Harry does like a good fight."
"Maybe we can find him another basilisk to slay" Sirius laughed.
"I presume that is why we are here" Lucius got down to business "You have a basilisk for sale. I have to admit I have no need for one, but oh the business opportunity. I am not surprised you would like to hand off the sale of such magnitude to a more experienced person such as myself, the sums of galleons involved must be staggering and somewhat daunting for a less seasoned businessman."
Cyrus sat in his chair smiling at the arrogance of the man.
"I can offer you a good price for the complete beast" Lucius continued "Nothing like the value of its individual parts mind you, but a fair price none the less. There is a lot of time and effort to break down the carcass and find the best price for the individual pieces."
"The demand will be high, there hasn't been a fresh basilisk for sale for over a hundred years" Sirius pointed out "And parts from that one still command a good price, even if they are finally losing their magical protection and are starting to decay" Sirius too had been studying the market, like everyone else it seemed.
Cyrus nodded, he had spent a most of the last 2 weeks since the children went back to school working out the logistics involved. "Well actually I thought I would give it a go myself. I mean after all, even if I make a complete mess of the process, the Potter estate will be hundreds of thousands of galleons ahead. After all, it's not like we had to buy the basilisk."
Lucius couldn't help but agree, it would be pure profit for the Potter estate, and probably a nice handling fee for the Greengrass estate.
"No, what I actually had wanted to discuss was a rare book" Cyrus said before calling for Toby who had been waiting in the kitchen with Kreacher.
Toby walked into the room, a well-mannered house elf did not just 'pop' into a room with visitors, and especially not in someone else's home.
"Rare books are not really my thing" Lucius started to say as he watched Toby place a small book wrapped in a velvet cloth upon the table between Cyrus and himself. He felt it, even before the house elf had unwrapped and displayed the little black book. "No" he cried as he reached for the diary before being thrown back in his seat by Toby's banishing spell. Toby wagged his finger at Lucius.
"Forgive me" He quickly showing his empty hands, he was not happy about being banished by a house elf, but he used Dobby the same way when conducting his shadier deals.
"That is fine Lucius, the book contains a powerful compulsion charm. It can affect those without the will to resist such things." Cyrus couldn't resist having a gentle dig at Lucius after the way he had just been carrying on. "So, I am sure you recognize Tom Riddle's school diary."
Lucius did his best to look disinterested "I have never seen that before in my life"
Cyrus stood up "See I told you we were wasting our time. Toby, we are off"
Toby started to fold the cloth back over the diary.
"Wait!" Lucius cried out. Cyrus and Sirius looked at him.
"I mean, we can discuss the diary in broad terms" Lucius said "Not that I am admitting any knowledge of what it is or could be, and I am definitely not claiming ownership"
Cyrus arched an eyebrow at him.
"May I ask where you obtained it?" Lucius asked cautiously.
"Whilst Harry was slaying his basilisk, Daphne was rescuing Miss Chang from the clutches of the diary. Daphne has amazing resistance to all forms of compulsion and mind spells."
"Miss Chang?" Malfoy tried his best to look puzzled, Sirius almost laughed at the act.
"It is ok Lucius, everyone knows. Well everyone who counts." Sirius laughed "Miss Chang remembered quite a bit about the chat you had with her at your faire. Don't worry, nobody is going to tell on you. Bones is not interested as she can't prove anything beyond Miss Chang's memory, which give her current fragile mental state, won't hold up at trial, so you are free and clear, you got away with it."
Malfoy couldn't help himself and a relieved expression crossed his face.
"Of course, the Chang family knows it was you" Sirius said watching the smile disappear from Malfoys face "And as they are well connected in China, I am guessing your fireball hide importing business will be experiencing supply problems for the foreseeable future"
"I can take the business off your hands if you want" Cyrus offered "I am on very good terms with the Chang family, what with Daphne saving their daughter's life and all. I will offer a fair price."
Malfoy was seething, first being denied the basilisk business, then the diary being linked to him, and finally the loss of one of his few remaining profitable businesses.
Malfoy ignored the offer and turned his attention back to the diary. He could feel the evil presence emanating from it. There is no way he could leave here without it. If the Dark Lord ever came back, and it was a distinct possibility based on what he had seen from the Quirrell memory, he would need to have it.
Then in a moment of blinding realisation it hit him. The diary, was it the means to bring the Dark Lord back? He had been reading up on various ways of defeating death and rituals on resurrection, could the diary be the key? Was that why the Dark Lord gave it to him?
"Lucius? Are you ok?" Sirius asked.
Lucius looked up "Sorry, was just trying to determine an appropriate value." Lucius was frantically thinking, what could he offer that was would be acceptable. He couldn't offer gold as he would need all that he had.
"Since it is a schoolboys diary, how about something Hogwarts related" he said in a flash of inspiration "How about my place on the Board of Governors, you can appoint anyone you want and I will fully support the appointment."
Cyrus was surprised by the offer. Roxanne and he had discussed at length what Lucius might offer for it, but of all the things of value he possessed this was the last thing they imagined. The diary itself was worthless to them, apart from maybe causing a bit of trouble for Malfoy if Voldemort ever came back. Croaker and his team had already examined it and gleaned what little information they could from it. Being offered a place on Hogwarts Board of Governors for it was a bargain.
"Done, I will get my lawyer to draw up a contract of sale" Cyrus said "Unless you would be willing to swear a magical oath on the conditions of the sale?"
Lucius pondered that, magical oaths were tricky things and he avoided them at all costs, but he could not leave without the diary. He would have to be very careful with the wording of the oath.
Lucius arrived back at Malfoy manor and immediately locked himself in his study.
Dropping the much watched Quirrell/Voldemort memory into the pensieve, he spent the next hour watching the ending over and over again. It was definitely the Dark Lord and the black cloud could only be some form of spirit.
He searched through the pile of books that he had on his desk, all of them dealt with ways to avoid death. It had taken him months to obtain some of the more obscure ones. He finally found the one he was looking for, an old journal written centuries ago. Lucius read and reread it until he was sure.
The Dark Lord was not gone, he remained attached to this world through a soul anchor, probably the diary, waiting to be restored to his body.
Lucius made a decision, it was an all or nothing choice but he could see no other option.
Everybody was against him, his fellow death eaters were distancing themselves from him since his failed attempt at taking over Hogwarts, his political ambitions were being stymied by the return of Lord Black with his Greengrass and Potter alliance.
His business enterprises were struggling, the muggle economy was in the grip of a recession, and what little money that it was making, was greatly diminished by the goblins new exchange rates.
His business in the magical world was just about to take a hit with the import of dragon hides from china about to cease if Black was to be believed.
His fellow wizards were losing their respect and more importantly losing their fear of him. Damn them all, he would make them all pay.
The Dark Lord was still out there and Lucius would find him and restore him back to power. Then Lucius would show them the real meaning of fear. From Lucius investigations he already had a place to start looking with rumours of strange happenings in Albania.
It would mean that he would have to disappear for a while, maybe years, but Narcissa would understand that sacrifices have to be made. He could trust no one else to do this, and indeed he did not want to share the Dark Lord's gratitude with anyone.
He called for Narcissa, they had plans to make and unfinished business to finalise.
"Come on, we will be late for the match" Daphne tried to pull Harry to his feet. He was leaning against a rather large boulder that protected him from the wind and reflected the sun. He was very comfortable where he was.
Harry sighed, it was so nice sitting in the sun after a long and bitterly cold winter. Whilst most of the other students were busily making sure they got a good seat for the Ravenclaw vs Slytherin Quidditch match, Harry was stalling as long as he could. Alone time with Daphne in their spot by the lake, while the sun shone down on them was about as perfect as it could get as far as he was concerned.
Reluctantly he got to his feet, watching a game of Quidditch wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon really. Now that he was up, he started looking forward to the match.
He took Daphne's hand and smiled at her "Well come on then" he said with a smile as they started walking towards the Quidditch pitch.
"HE'S COMING!" a voice behind him cried.
Harry and Daphne spun around with wands drawn only to be greeted by the sight of a terrified house elf.
"Dobby?" Harry queried.
Dobby was in tears "HE'S COMING!" he cried the warning again.
"DAMN YOU TO HELL, POTTER!" another voice filled with hatred and loathing snarled at him as a spell flew at him from behind his back. Daphne reacted first and pushed Harry out of the path of the spell. It just missed him and went on to shatter the boulder that they had previously been leaning against. The boulder split in half.
"You are an insolent little half-blood! It is time someone put you in your place." It was Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy. He started to rain down spells on both Daphne and Harry, alternating between them, firing one spell at Harry and the next at Daphne. He was incredibly fast and accurate, after all, he was a powerful and skilled wizard in his prime and had no qualms about attacking children. After all, he was only going to teach them a lesson, not do too much permanent damage.
During the initial onslaught, Harry was doing everything he could just so he didn't get hit. He recognised most of the spells coming towards him, all of them were dark and designed to do permanent damage unless the counter curse was cast immediately. Limb withering, disfigurement, and some very nasty skin melting hexes. Harry was overwhelmed, dodging and shielding with no chance to return any spells.
Daphne was having her own problems, in the split second after she had pushed Harry out of the way, Malfoy's had hit her hand that was still extended, and the spell was starting to take effect. To her horror her hand was turning into stone, first her fingers, then the palm and it was slowly working its way up her wrist. And to make matters worse, she too was unable to do anything but defend.
But all was not lost, slowly but surely, she was able to put some distance between herself and Harry. This was making it more difficult for Malfoy to keep them both on the defensive with the gap between spells getting longer as he had to adjust to the wider angle of targets.
Suddenly Malfoy let out a laugh of triumph as he got a spell through Harry's shield and hit him in the face.
Harry cried out in pain as his face felt like it was on fire, he could feel the skin start to harden and crack as he blindly threw up the strongest shield he could manage as Malfoy sent another spell at him, breaking his alternating pattern of attack as Malfoy's hatred of Potter overtook him.
Daphne pounced on Malfoy's lapse in judgement, having a split second between defensive spells, she cast her first offensive one, a lightning fast cutting curse that was on Malfoy in the blink of an eye.
Malfoy felt the curse hit him with a blaze of pain. The curse took him just below the elbow on his right arm. He watched in horror as his hand, still holding the wand hit the ground.
He looked back up, Potter was still reeling from the effects of the spell. He noticed with some small satisfaction that his face was ruined, the skin all burnt and cracked, a bit like roasted snake skin he thought with a wry smile.
"Dobby" he said with pain in his voice "Stop this bleeding and get me back to the manor. And don't forget my arm and wand" He was losing blood, but in a matter of minutes he would be home with the arm reattached and he would be as good as new in a few days. Pity the same could not be said for Potter and the Greengrass girl. He laughed, revenge whilst painful, was sweet.
Dobby didn't move.
Daphne however did. She cast a cauterizing spell at Malfoy's arm to stop the blood lose. She did not want to be responsible for killing him, as loathsome as he was.
Harry meantime had recovered enough that he could see again. He looked at the arm and the wand laying on the ground. Without hesitation he cast a powerful incendio at the severed limb, it instantly burst into flames and in a very short space of time it was ash, leaving the wand just lying there by itself, still clasped by the empty dragon hide glove that Malfoy had been wearing.
"No!" Malfoy cried out and stepped towards Harry who stunned him. As Malfoy fell to the ground, Daphne stunned him again.
"Dobby, can you take Daphne and me to St Mungo's urgently please?" Harry asked the house elf.
Dobby looked at Malfoy, and quickly looked back at Harry. He didn't say anything just grabbed Daphne and Harry by the arm and they disappeared.
Malfoy was woken by the renervate spell from Dobby.
Malfoy quickly sat up and reached for his wand. Then the memory of what happened came flooding back. "ahhhhh" he screamed in rage.
He picked up the wand by its tip in his left hand, the unburnt dragon hide glove still wrapped around the handle as if mocking him of the hand he had lost. He flicked the wand trying to loosen the gloves grip, it was stuck to the silver snakes head handle and didn't move.
"Here Dobby, grab this" he said as he presented the wand handle first to Dobby. Dobby grabbed hold of the glove as Malfoy pulled the wand out of the gloves grip. He quickly reversed it so he was gripping the handle in his left hand. He gave it a quick flick and a blasting spell flew from the end and shattered a small rock on the ground. Not too bad thought Malfoy, good enough until he could get a replacement arm. Not nearly as easy as getting his own reattached, but if you know the right people and get it done fast enough, not an insurmountable problem. This had been his last act before disappearing in search of the Dark Lord, this setback would not stop him.
"Drop your wand Malfoy" a loud voice commanded.
Malfoy spun around to see a semi-circle of four aurors, all with their wands drawn, all pointing at him. He assessed his chances, maybe if he still had his wand hand. No, he thought, the odds were too much against him.
Malfoy raised his hands, or would have done if he still had both. The sight of the missing hand drew the attention of the aurors for a split second. It was enough. Malfoy cast a blasting curse in a wide arc into the ground in front of the aurors raising a large cloud of dirt and rock that flew at the aurors temporarily blinding them. He quickly tried to disapparate. Nothing happened. Damn, Hogwarts wards, he remembered too late.
"Dobby, get me out of here" he commanded as he turned to the elf.
"Master gave Dobby a glove!" Dobby replied with wonder in his voice staring at the dragon hide glove in his hands. "Master gave Dobby clothes. Dobby is free"
Malfoy let out another scream of rage as he was hit by four stunners.