Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on the Harry Potter universe. All recognizable characters, plots and settings are the exclusive property of J.K Rowling. I make no claim to ownership nor do I make any profit.
Acknowledgments: Thank you to my betas Umar, Luq707, Yoshi89 and Fezzik for their work on this story.
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Recommendations:
Harry Potter and The Prince of Slytherin by The Sinister Man.
Harry Potter and The Boy-Who-Lived by The Santi.
Growing Up Black by ElvindorkNigellus.
The Hero and The Veela by JackPotter.
Stepping Back, and Honour Thy Blood by TheBlack'sResurgence.
The Mind Arts by Wu Gang.
A Cadmean Victory by DarknessEnthroned.
Magicks of The Arcane by Eilyfe.
"Speech."
'Internal Dialogue.'
Parseltongue.
Memories/In Story Text.
Harry Potter and The Dark Lord's Equal
By ACI100.
Year 2: The Looming of Shadows.
Chapter 18: Check.
February 6, 1993
The Headmaster's Office
9:13 PM
Harry knew that something was wrong before he even reached Dumbledore's polished oak door. The gargoyle had leapt aside without complaint or hesitation, but something did not feel right. That thought only intensified further as he took to the stairs at a flat sprint and emerged on the landing.
No voice prematurely welcomed him into the office.
Desperately, Harry hoped that Dumbledore's age had simply caught up with him at long last and that he had merely decided on a nice relaxing nap. Realistically, Harry knew that was not the case. He doubted Dumbledore would be sleeping much at all tonight. Not with what the Chief Warlock viewed as his inevitable removal from his position as Hogwarts Headmaster looming on the horizon. And surely not with the Heir of Slytherin running around the school. Certainly not now that they had proven themselves able to defeat one of Hogwarts's most talented professors in open combat. Loathe as he was to admit it, Harry was not blind to Snape's obvious talent. The fact that a student had bested him did not sit well with Harry. Nor did it encourage him in regards to his prospects against the same, mysterious assailant.
With all of this racing through his mind, Harry knocked hard on the oak door several times. Normally, Harry would show decorum. He would perhaps knock again and then, if no answer was given, he would retreat back the way he had come and wait to discuss this business the next day with Dumbledore.
But this was not a normal occasion.
Nothing about that diary had been normal.
Whatever it was, Harry knew that somehow, some way, this mysterious diary had some connection to the Heir of Slytherin. And if he trusted anyone to put those pieces together, it was Dumbledore.
It was this which enabled Harry to justify the complete abandonment of any and all decorum as he threw open the door to the Headmaster's office and quickly scanned the room, looking for the man in question. To his dismay, Dumbledore did not seem to be present. He was not going to give up that easily. Harry thought that perhaps, Dumbledore had quarters off of the office. Stepping further into the room, he cast his eyes around, looking for any potential nook or cranny that may connect this study to a more personal set of quarters.
Then, with a jolt, Harry's mind flashed back to the conversation with the twins, and he actually swore aloud at his idiocy. With a flourish, Harry removed the map from his robes and quickly scanned it for the dot belonging to Albus Dumbledore. For a second, Harry saw nothing. Terrifying thoughts of Dumbledore somehow suffering the same fate as Snape, whatever that might be, flashed through Harry's mind. If the Heir had bested Dumbledore, then he really did not stand a chance at all. But mercifully, he found him, and his eyes narrowed.
Dumbledore was outside the castle. The path he was taking seemed to be leading him towards the edge of the Hogwarts grounds. Surely he couldn't be leaving? He had been certain that the Board of Governors met every Sunday night, and today was Saturday. But then, Harry saw the other dot on the map, and his confusion only grew. It was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Harry had no idea what he could be doing here, but on the night after the petrification of Hogwarts' resident Potions Master, Harry thought it safe to assume that in one capacity or another, Fudge was here for reasons concerning the Chamber of Secrets.
But if that was true, Harry held information in his hands that was potentially essential to the investigation. So with no further thought, Harry threw his cloak back over his robes, assured he was still in possession of the diary and began the trek down to the ground floor and out of the castle at record-breaking speed. On most occasions, such a statement would be a blatant hyperbole. Tonight, however, with the aid of the map, Harry was actually quite certain that he truly did make the trek in record time. After all, he had literally used passages he had never known existed before that night.
Thankfully, he was out on the grounds in no time, though to him, it felt like an eternity. With another glance towards the map, Harry realized that Dumbledore and Fudge were walking the path to Hagrid's hut.
And then it clicked as dread closed around Harry's heart.
The Ministry had expelled Hagrid last time. It made perfect sense. Obviously, Dumbledore had argued in his stead, which was probably why he was allowed to keep his job as Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts instead of ending up in a far less comfortable cell in Azkaban. Now, with the reemergence of the threat that was the Chamber of Secrets, the Ministry had returned.
And as best they knew, they had only one viable suspect…
Harry redoubled his efforts to reach the hut quickly as these thoughts flashed through his mind. As he drew close, he realized that he could actually see the figures of Fudge and Dumbledore as they approached the door to the hut. Then, just as Harry was within earshot of the duo, the door opened, and Hagrid omitted the two of them inside. He had also greeted them with a crossbow, something that actually caused Harry to internally wince. If Hagrid was trying to look innocent, that was most certainly not the way to do it.
Once Fudge had stepped inside, Dumbledore followed, but he did so at a deliberately slow pace. When he was sure nobody was watching, the Hogwarts Headmaster cast a sideways glance over his shoulder. In response, Harry allowed his disembodied hand to show for only a fraction of a second. He remembered how Dumbledore had somehow noticed him on Halloween and assumed, with relief, that the same thing had happened here. Dumbledore nodded minutely and allowed the door to close slowly enough for Harry to slip inside the hut. As he did so, however, the Headmaster cast a look towards Harry that was very obvious in its meaning.
Stay quiet.
Immediately, Harry wanted to object. He wanted to rip the cloak off and pronounce to Fudge that he had actual proof Hagrid was not the Heir of Slytherin. Honestly, how they thought Hagrid was the Heir of Slytherin in the first place was quite baffling. Riddle must have truly had some reputation for the then Headmaster, Armando Dippet, to believe him. Or perhaps the old man with white hair from the memory had already gone a bit senile by that point. Harry really knew nothing of him, so it was impossible to say one way or another.
"Terrible business, Hagrid." Fudge was saying. "With all of the petrifications going on and the disappearance of a Hogwarts Professor, by Merlin, you must see how this looks?"
"I didn't!" Hagrid moaned. "I'd never! Professor Dumbledore, you know I'd never!"
"I have full and complete faith in Hagrid, Cornelius." Dumbledore agreed, and Harry actually felt a shiver run down his back. The intensity in Dumbledore's voice and stare was awe inspiring.
To Fudge's credit, it did not dismay him. Well, he blustered for a moment, but he did manage to recompose himself with admirable proficiency. "Be that as it may, Dumbledore!" Fudge exclaimed. "Your faith is neither here nor there. We have to look as if we're doing something!"
And in that moment, Harry lost any and all respect he had for Cornelius Fudge.
Positive publicity was one thing, and it was certainly valuable, most of all for somebody in Fudge's unique position. But never could Harry justify falsely incriminating a man for acts you could not prove he was responsible for simply for some publicity. "I'm sorry, Hagrid." Fudge continued. "If the attacks keep up, you'll be returned to the castle right away. You have my word."
"Where are ya takin' me, then?" Fudge suddenly looked rather guilty and was suddenly hesitant to speak. Harry and Hagrid realized the answer at the exact same moment. Dumbledore had obviously known, or suspected, since he did not react. "Not Azkaban?" Hagrid moaned.
"If you've done nothing wrong, Hagrid," Fudge said sheepishly, "you'll surely be back to the castle in no time. You won't be in a high security cell, I-" Fudge's voice was cut off by a sudden knock on the door. Hagrid reached for his crossbow, but Dumbledore caught his eye and shook his head. Instead, the Headmaster himself opened the front door and admitted the newest entrant.
"What's he doin' here?" Hagrid asked, outraged as soon as he saw the visage of Lucius Malfoy enter his hut. For his part, Harry had much the same question as Hagrid.
"My, my," Lucius drawled, "so confrontational for somebody in such a… compromising position."
"I don't want ya in me house, Malfoy."
Lucius sniffed. "House? Is that what you'd call it, Hagrid." He sneered as the giant man flushed. "I assure you, I will be out as swiftly as possible. I have no intention of spending any more time in your… house than strictly necessary."
"What is it you are here for, Lucius?" Dumbledore asked and for the first time that night, he did not seem quite as confident as usual.
"I'm here on behalf of the board, Headmaster." Lucius said promptly. "Terrible business what's going on. All of us wish to see it cease immediately. Despite your… many talents, you've thus far been completely ineffective in your efforts to apprehend this… Heir of Slytherin."
Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "They have proven rather elusive, yes. You can rest assured, however, that I will not rest until I am indeed more effective in apprehending them."
"How… noble of you." Lucius said with a bow. "Though I'm afraid the matter is now out of your hands, Dumbledore." In an overly dramatic fashion, Lucius Malfoy withdrew a rather immaculate piece of parchment, which he promptly handed to Dumbledore. "As you can see, you've unfortunately been the victim of a unanimous vote of no confidence."
Harry actually gasped, but thankfully, Hagrid's outraged reaction drowned him out. In the moments following the revelation, Dumbledore shot a hard, firm look towards Harry. He was very clearly instructing his protege not to interfere and if Harry had to guess, it was very clear that nothing could transpire that would change Dumbledore's outlook on that.
"I must confess, Lucius, that I did indeed see such a vote as inevitable given… recent events. I was, however, under the seemingly false assumption that the board only met on Sunday evenings?"
Lucius's lips thinned. "Ah, yes, that is usually the case. In light of the… tragic disappearance of your Potions Master, we decided an emergency meeting was in order."
Fudge was spluttering. "See here, Lucius! We can't remove Dumbledore! The attacks will only worsen if he's not in the castle."
"I'm afraid the vote was unanimous, Minister. Even if I retracted my vote, which I am frankly not inclined to do, our dear Headmaster still loses by a wide majority."
"And how many of 'em did ya have to bribe and blackmail, Malfoy?"
"Hagrid," Dumbledore warned. "now is not the time for such bickering." Dumbledore turned to Lucius. "If the board wishes my removal, Lucius, I shall of course willingly step down." Then, he glanced in Harry's direction. "I think you will find, however, that I will only ever truly be gone from this castle when none here are loyal to me."
Dumbledore and Hagrid shared one last, significant look before they exited. Hagrid seemed rather confused, but spoke anyway, as if he too had somehow realized Harry was present. Silently, Harry wondered whether or not Dumbledore had informed him of just that with Legilimency. "I… uh… if anybody wanted to find anythin', all they'd have to do is follow the spiders. Tha's all I'm gonna say."
Minutes later, Hagrid and Dumbledore had both respectfully been led off the property. To Harry's horror, Lucius Malfoy did not immediately leave. In fact, when all others had vacated the hut, he assured them all that he would be with them in just one moment. Then, to Harry's terror, he raised his wand.
"Homenum Revelio."
Harry did not know of that spell but by this point, he knew enough Latin to figure it out, for the most part.
It must be a spell to reveal human presences, or movement, or something similar.
But then, Harry realized he must have interpreted the spell wrong. Whatever effect Lucius had been going for, it obviously didn't work. For a second, the man looked annoyed, but then, he was recasting his spell. When it came up empty again, he shook his head slowly, sweeping out of the hut and after Dumbledore, Fudge and Hagrid.
As Harry comforted the boarhound, Fang, once all of the previous occupants of the hut were out of earshot, only one line stuck out in his mind.
Follow the spiders.
February 7, 1993
The Room of Requirement
7:03 AM
Once Harry and Neville had completed their morning workout, Harry filled his brother in all but blood in about all the occurrences from the previous day. His account was honest and unfiltered and by the time he was done, Neville was pale and rather weak looking.
"What are we going to do?" He moaned. "No Dumbledore, Hagrid being suspected, and that diary… what are you gonna do with it, exactly?"
Harry paused. "Give it to McGonagall, I guess. My plan was to let Dumbledore have a crack at it, but since he's gone, McGonagall is probably our next best bet." He was sure that they would find out for certain at breakfast, but it appeared as though it would be McGonagall replacing Dumbledore at the helm of the school.
Neville seemed to hesitate before asking his next question. "And what about what Hagrid said? Follow the spiders. Are you going to tell McGonagall that?"
Harry hesitated. "I… don't think so. It's not that I wouldn't rather she looked into it, but I just don't think she'll take me seriously. I think I'm gonna have to investigate on my own."
"No offense, Harry, but how the hell do you plan on doing that? This castle's probably going to be in lockdown within the next couple of days now that everybody realizes Snape has gone missing."
"The cloak." Harry answered without having to think about it. "I'll scout the spiders out over the next few days, or for the week, or for however long it takes. Then, when I've figured out their pattern, I'll follow them with the cloak."
"B-b-but what if they lead you right to the Chamber, then what?"
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. "I'd love to say I'd run back and get McGonagall, or Flitwick, or both, but part of me thinks that it'll be me against the Heir in the end, no matter what I do."
"I'm coming with you!" Neville proclaimed.
Harry blinked. "You're… what?"
"Don't be like that! I'm coming with you! I didn't start killing myself every morning for nothing. You always say that you trust me — prove it."
"Neville," Harry said carefully, "I don't want you to get-"
"To get hurt? Harry, if we can't stop the Heir of Slytherin, who knows who's going to get hurt next. Who's to say it won't be me anyway? If the Heir really does want to get to you, going through your best mate is probably a pretty decent way to do it." He scowled. "Or Dean, he's a muggleborn, and he's my friend too!"
There was a span of time that stretched on for about thirty seconds in which Harry and Neville stared intently at one another. Harry was waiting for any hesitation, anything that he could jump on to persuade Neville against his chosen course of action. After that time had passed, he saw none, so Harry could do little more than sigh.
"Fine, but I'm pushing it back a bit then. Me and you are spending at least the next week practicing curses, defenses, and duelling."
Neville set his jaw. "Let's get started then."
Several hours later…
After what Harry considered to be a very productive few hours of practice, he and Neville began to work their way back towards the Gryffindor common room, intent on finding their other two friends. Neville had come a long way in the several hours in the Room of Requirement and if nothing else, Harry could take that as a small, moral victory. After Neville's spot of danger at the end of last year, anything Harry could do to help ensure the safety of his best friend was essential in his eyes.
About halfway to the common room, Harry removed the map from his pocket and activated it. He had already shown Neville the map, but his eyes still followed it with interest. Harry noticed two dots on the map quite close to him and Neville. When, two corridors down, the dots continued to follow them, Harry stopped. "You two can come out now." He said and with matching snickers, the Weasley twins stepped out from behind a suit of armour.
"Look at you go." Fred commented wryly. "Finally realized how useful the map is, eh?"
"You could say that, yes." Harry said, thinking that after last night, he probably wouldn't go very long without checking the map. "What is it?" He asked them, not missing how eerily similar this was to the day they had given him the map, as well as their conversation yesterday. Both of those occasions had been fairly serious, so Harry correctly assumed that this was no different.
A few minutes later, the four of them were locked up in an abandoned classroom and the twins began their pitch after explaining that, at breakfast, McGonagall had officially taken up her role as Interim Headmistress. According to her, the school would soon be on a full lockdown. Unfortunately, such things had to be passed through due process, so for now, the lockdown was not yet in place. Apparently, it had also been announced that they had a new potions professor on the way, but she had not yet arrived. Aside from her gender, McGonagall had given nothing about her away.
"But anyway," George said, "onto the real reason why we dragged you here, as you'll probably put it." Harry actually managed a weak smile in reminiscence of the last time he had been dragged off by the twins less than twenty-four hours earlier. "You remember the duelling club that Lockhart tried to start up?"
Harry's lips thinned. "Vividly." He said, sounding an awful lot like a certain missing Potions Master.
"Well," Fred jumped in, "with everything going on, me and George thought it'd be a good idea to restart it. What, with this Heir of Slytherin dickhead running around the castle petrifying people, we thought it might be a good idea to practice, you know?"
Clearly, George realized what Harry was thinking, for he jumped in before Harry could cut down the idea. 'Yes, yes, we know it's probably not going to help us beat the Heir right now. But, who knows? It could make the difference. Maybe we could last long enough to cry out for help? And plus, even if it doesn't help us against the Heir, defense is bloody useful. It's a good life lesson, even if it doesn't help us right now."
Harry was torn. It would likely be of no use against this Heir of Slytherin and with the castle soon to implement airtight security, it could be a logistical nightmare. But then again, he'd wanted to be able to practice duelling more than once a week for some time. And now, with this inevitable increase in security, he viewed the prospect of being able to continue weekly lessons with Flitwick as highly unlikely. With that in mind, Harry would need training partners if he wanted to be at his absolute best.
"We're not the first ones you've approached about this, are we?"
The twins shook their heads in unison. "Angelina, Alicia, Lee, Oliver and Katie have already agreed."
Harry sighed. "If I accept, and I won't speak for Neville, but if I accept, how are we not going to get caught?" He knew perfectly well how he wasn't going to get caught. When combining his cloak of invisibility with the map, he was practically undetectable. Especially if that spell from Malfoy had done what Harry thought it had. That was something he should look into. It was not a pressing matter by any stretch, but something to explore.
"Well, you have the map." Fred said reasonably. "And we know the castle better than anybody. We can get the older kids there if you can get yourself and Neville there if he wants to join."
"And our brother and your other mate." George added. "If they're down, of course."
"I'm in." Neville said at once, not even waiting for Harry's answer.
The twins smiled broadly as Fred clasped Neville on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, mate."
Harry sighed. "Well, I guess I'm in too, then." He said with exasperation. "Neville's good at a lot of things, but subtlety isn't one of them. If I don't help the prat, he'll get caught the first night and get all of you in trouble."
Despite his glare, Neville was laughing just as hard as the other three as they all exited the abandoned classroom.
February 9, 1993
The Great Hall
8:12 AM
To Harry's slight dismay, the full castle lockdown had begun that very next day after his conversation with Fred, George and Neville. On the upside, this would hopefully lessen the threat of the Heir of Slytherin. On the downside, it had made giving McGonagall the diary near impossible. Harry's only option would be to sneak out and find her at night while she was patrolling the corridors. This would raise so many questions on her end that he might not even get the chance to give her anything before he was sent back to bed with a month's worth of detentions. He would have to wait and hope an ideal opportunity presented itself. For now, the diary was locked away in his trunk, protected with a Parseltongue password, something he'd implemented soon after the duelling club fiasco.
Presently, Harry was drafting a letter to Dumbledore on the matter of the diary as everybody else around him ate. He thought that at the very least, Dumbledore might be able to get McGonagall to listen to him. Or, failing that, he could hopefully advise Harry on what to do next. This was assuming, of course, that an owl could actually reach Dumbledore. Honestly, Harry had his doubts on that front. If Dumbledore had left Hogwarts, Harry suspected that he was hidden behind a remarkable set of wards. But, there was always the hope that he was wrong. Currently, Harry thought clinging to that hope sounded far better than drowning in the seemingly ever present wave of despair that had ravaged the castle for the past number of months.
To his slight surprise, Harry was distracted from his meal by the arrival of two owls. One was Hedwig, and she had Augusta's reply to the letter Harry had written her several days ago clamped in her beak. The other owl was one that Harry did not recognize. It was elegant and somehow looked regal as it presented its leg pompously. Bemused, Harry removed the letter from said owl, but he did still read Augusta's letter first.
It was blunt and to the point.
Harry,
Do not go and needlessly risk yourself over this hogwash. As despicable as the man is, Snape is talented, extremely so, even. If this mysterious attacker bested him, it is best you stay out of harm's way and allow the situation to resolve itself. I'm afraid that if it doesn't very soon, there will be no need to worry, because Hogwarts will be closed. I've heard rumblings of it over the past few days. I think they're just waiting for one more attack before it happens.
Stay safe and don't do anything foolish.
Augusta
Harry felt a painful vice close around his heart. Hogwarts couldn't close. It was home for Harry. Sure, he had the comfortable confines of Longbottom Manor, but Hogwarts held a special place in his heart. He was not remotely ready for the inevitable despair that would accompany the closure of the school.
With a dark look to Neville that signified he would explain later, Harry opened the second letter, which was at least more pleasant than the first, if admittedly just as surprising for Harry.
Dear Harry,
I had hoped you would write to me sooner, but I suppose I should start the exchange of letters, since you don't seem to believe that I was being serious.
First of all, are you okay? Papa heard that Albus Dumbledore is no longer Headmaster of Hogwarts because of a teacher disappearing mysteriously. We don't have many details in France, but I hope you're doing okay. I know that you are close with the Chief Warlock, so I hope that isn't bothering you too much, even if you're not physically in trouble.
Aside from that, how have you been since the gala? How was your Christmas and how are your classes? I don't suppose you've learned how to vanish objects yet?
Write back soon,
Gabrielle
Admittedly, Gabrielle was right. Harry had not been entirely convinced that she had been serious when asking him to write. Part of him had suspected it to merely be formality or out of obligation. Because after all, why would somebody like her bother with him? Did she not have far more interesting uses of her time? But still, her lighthearted jab about the vanishing spell drew a small smile, even if part of him fumed that no, he had not yet figured that out. In his defense, he had been rather preoccupied about other matters. Which raised the question, how much to tell her? For now, he thought that simply answering that he was perfectly alright and that things were a bit uncertain would suffice. The reminder at the bottom of the page of how far ahead of him she was did give him an idea though, one that manifested in the final line of his return letter.
P.S. There was a spell that I sort of saw used a few days ago and I had never heard of before. I thought you might know it, since you're a few years ahead of me and what not. The incantation was Homenum Revelio.
February 10, 1993
The Gryffindor Common Room
10:16 PM
Hermione took a heavy seat beside Ginny with a humph that caused the other girl to wince. "Ginny, what's going on?"
"W-w-what are you talking about?" Ginny asked.
Hermione glared. "Ever since last Saturday, you've avoided me. Every time I see you or try to talk to you, you're… different. It's like you've lost all of your confidence and you're scared of your own shadow. It's like you're a different person." When she said this, Hermione could not help but notice the way Ginny winced.
"It's nothing." Ginny said hastily. "Just this whole Heir of Slytherin business, you know? It's got me n-nervous."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. She did not believe Ginny, not in the least. "Where's that book of yours?" She asked.
Ginny's head snapped up as if she had been shocked. "B-book?"
"Yes, book." Hermione pressed. "You know, that plain black one you always carry around. What is it anyway? A diary?"
Ginny nodded demurely but did not answer Hermione's question. With another humph, Hermione swept to her feet and left. Clearly, Ginny wasn't in the mood to talk. Perhaps the loss of her diary had upset her, or something? In fact, the last time Hermione remembered seeing Ginny with the diary was… right before she stopped avoiding her.
February 12, 1993
An Abandoned Classroom
8:13 PM
Unfortunately, with the enforced lockdown of Hogwarts, the Quidditch season had been cancelled. The upside to this was that Fred, George, Oliver and possibly the girls, Harry wasn't sure, had managed to spend enough time devising wards over the past few days that now, the abandoned classroom in which they all stood in was protected extremely well. Harry had contemplated offering the Room of Requirement as a destination, but that was a secret he'd really rather keep to his close knit group of friends, at least for now. He may have still offered it had it come to that, but luckily, it hadn't. The older students assured Harry, Ron, Dean and Neville that no professors would be finding them.
After this explanation, the first thirty or so minutes of their meeting were spent drilling some basic defensive spells. Then, the twins, being the masters of chaos that they were, proposed some mock duels.
"Let Harry duel one of you lot." Ron said immediately. "He'll trounce the three of us and I wouldn't mind seeing him lose for once."
"I'll duel you." Katie told Harry. "It's the most fair thing. I'm only a year ahead of you, so it should be competitive."
Harry shrugged, but his heart rate quickened. Here was his chance. It was easy to tell against Moody and Flitwick that he was improving, as he was lasting longer and longer and doing better and better each time. But still, it was hard to gauge exactly how good he was when duelling such outstanding wizards. Now, duelling Katie, who should, in theory, be able to beat him without too much trouble, might be a good gauge. On paper, he should lose, but she was no prodigy and was a good benchmark to see how he might fare against older students. She was quite talented among her yearmates. Near the top of her wanded subjects, but not the top of the year, per se. This left Ron to duel Neville, Alicia to duel Angelina, Lee Jordan to duel Fred, George to duel the sixth year, Oliver Wood, and Dean to sit out the first round. He would duel the winner of Ron and Neville next.
Ron and Neville went first. It became evident very early that Ron was in over his head. He had improved a lot this year and was among the top tier of Charms students in the year, but Neville was on a different level in a duel. He and Harry had practiced Defense quite a bit this year. Neville had obviously spent quite a lot of time practicing on his own as well, and the countless hours they had put in this week within the Room of Requirement probably helped. As a result, Neville bested Ron quite easily. To his credit, Ron took it like a sport and Fred and Lee went next. Again, this was a mismatch. For all of their trouble making, the twins were actually ridiculously talented. True, they were not the best academic students in their year. Harry thought that if they actually applied themselves in the theoretical portions of each class, that might well change. With this in mind, it was not overly surprising when Fred bested Lee without much trouble. Then, Harry and Katie stepped forward and Harry's heart rate quickened once more.
As soon as the duel started, Katie jumped to the side, attempting to blindside Harry with an Expelliarmus from an odd angle. Harry easily rolled under the spell, taking them all aback. Clearly, nobody else had trained in combat. It was a fairly standard maneuver, but not one you would likely know unless you practiced. When Harry came up, he shielded, allowing Katie's barrage of spells to splash harmlessly against his shield. Then, he leapt out from behind his shield and countered. He chained a stunner, disarming spell and full-body-bind together. Katie dodged the first two and managed to just barely shield the third. Harry's eyebrows rose. Protego was a fourth year spell. When taking into account that he himself had learned it in his first year, he supposed it wasn't terribly surprising that as a third year, Katie knew of it. Still, it might make things more interesting. Perhaps it was time for Harry to up the action a little bit.
For another minute or so, the two traded spells. Katie had not managed to get Harry with anything, but Harry had opened a cut on her arm with a well placed Diffindo. Then, he saw the opening he needed. When Katie lashed out with several spells, Harry did not shield, as she obviously expected him to. Instead, he dodged to his left, avoiding the first two. As the third, a full-body-bind which was right on track to hit him in the chest neared, he batted it straight back at Katie. Shocked and panicked, she hastily erected a shield, but that, in the end, was her undoing.
"Bombarda."
The bolt of red energy from Harry's wand blasted straight through Katie's shield, throwing her back about ten feet and sending her wand skidding from her hand. Harry lunged forward and seized the wand, mentally adding the summoning charm to his list of things to learn. Honestly, after Gabrielle had used it at the gala, it should have already been there. He was actually about to learn it anyway, as he was making his way through the fourth year curriculum in Charms, but it had just become a priority. In any case, Katie had been beaten and to say she was surprised was an understatement. As she put it, it hadn't even been close. The crazy thing, to Harry, was that he hadn't even used non-verbal casting.
So the test had been conducted. It turned out, he was good.
After Harry and Katie, George and Oliver duelled. This was the most intense duel of the lot and clearly the most skillful. After more than ten minutes of frantic back and forth, Oliver managed to subdue George, but the fourth year had given the sixth year more than a scare. Next, Angelina and Alicia duelled. This one lasted somewhere between five and ten minutes and was also extremely competitive. Eventually, Angelina managed to disarm Alicia, thereby ending the duel.
"One more round?" Fred asked, eliciting nods from the gathered students. "Harry, my fine fellow," Fred said with a wicked grin, "care to play with the big boys?"
Harry nodded curtly, not acknowledging the taunt as he squared off with Fred. He was a year older than Katie and very obviously more skillful. This would be by far the best opponent Harry had duelled if one disregarded Flitwick, Moody and Quirrell. This became evident early on. For the first three and a half minutes, Harry was pretty much forced onto the defensive. Fred actually wasn't using many high level spells, per se, but, he was creative to a fault. He was using minor spells in ways Harry would have never even thought of. His duelling style was chaotic and unpredictable which, in retrospect, Harry probably should have expected. Only when Fred conjured ropes, then lit them on fire with the Incendio charm before trying to entangle Harry did the younger lion realize he had a true fight on his hands.
"Aguamenti!" He countered, dousing the flaming ropes before sidestepping and continuing his spray of water. Fred, unwilling to get doused in similar fashion to his flames shielded. Harry fired a Bombarda once more, but he put a very low amount of power into it. Of course, Fred did not realize that. He did exactly what Harry had hoped for. He dropped his shield and made to lunge out of harm's way. Unfortunately for Fred, he had finally decided to put non-verbal casting to the test. He had frozen the water which had pooled around Fred's feet. As a result, one-half of the Weasley twins went head over heels and for a second, it looked as though Harry would win. That was until, to his shock, Fred seemed to split in two before landing. Suddenly, Harry was duelling two of Fred and he realized immediately that he would lose.
He kept up the duel for another minute or so, but without knowing which Fred to focus on, he was wasting time and energy trying to fight both. Eventually, he chose wrong, allowing the real Fred to snare him in ropes and end the duel. Still, according to the gathered crowd, Harry's performance had been more than impressive.
"Harry," Oliver had said, "Fred is one of the best students in his year with practical magic and he's two years older than you. You duelled for five minutes and it was a nail biter. Hell, you might've won if not for the doppelgänger charm."
"Outrageous!" Fred protested with a smirk. "I'd never have lost to Harrikins. I'd have found another way." It was said in a way that was very obviously a joke, so Harry just smiled back, but there was a sort of competitive edge to his expression.
"I'm going to figure out how to counter that spell." He promised, silently remarking that it was the second time that spell had been his downfall. "And when I do, I'm going to trounce you."
Fred smirked. "You can try, Harrikins. You can try. I'll still wipe that cocky look off your face though."
Harry's grin only broadened. "The last time I had this cocky look on my face, Fredikins, was at the feast." His grin turned predatory. "We all know how that competition went, don't we?"
Several hours later…
Harry and Neville stayed behind for about an hour after the rest had vacated the room and returned to the common room. Neville was working on chaining spells together while Harry was working on the bone-breaker. Still, he had been having no success with the spell. He was clearly doing something wrong, but he was not sure what. It wasn't like he could go and get books on the spell, either. They were all held up in the Restricted Section. But after an hour of repeated failures, Harry resolved to sneak into the Restricted Section that night under his cloak and find books that may have something to say on the matter.
For now, Harry and Neville were sneaking back to the common room under Harry's family cloak. That was until Neville elbowed Harry hard in the ribs. For a second, Harry thought they were about to be attacked. His wand flew into his hand in an instant but a second later, he realized that he had overreacted. As far as he could tell, there wasn't anything troubling anywhere near them. When he peered curiously at Neville, his best friend gestured to the line of spiders creeping down the hall.
"Do we follow them?" Neville asked. Harry nodded and the two of them followed the spiders. They followed them until they realized that they were retreating out onto the grounds. Neville made to follow further, but Harry grabbed his arm. "What?" Neville hissed.
"Not now." Harry insisted.
"Why not?"
"We're not prepared. We should scout them for a few days. We know we were on the second floor when we saw them, so that's a good place to start. We'll follow them for the next day or two. Then, when we're sure it's a pattern and they're always going to the same spot, we'll follow."
Neville blinked. "That's… really clever, actually."
"Why the tone of surprise, Neville?"
Neville smirked. "You didn't really think about things last year, did you?"
Harry sighed. "Nope, you've got me there. I've learned though. Constant vigilance, Neville. It's all about constant vigilance."
February 14, 1993
The Great Hall
8:27 AM
Honestly, Harry had thought Hogwarts couldn't get any worse. Then, Gilderoy Lockhart had decided to turn the Great Hall pink. If that wasn't bad enough, the idiot had actually hired dwarves to deliver Valentine cards. Truly, Harry sometimes wondered what level Gilderoy Lockhart's idiocy could reach. Worse still, Harry knew immediately that he was going to have the mickey taken out of him all day when Gabrielle's owl delivered what he assumed to be her reply. He had made the mistake of telling Neville who the last letter had been from, and the prat now recognized the owl. Seriously, did it have to come in on Valentine's Day? That was literally ideal material for Neville.
Sighing, Harry opened the envelope and read the reply.
Harry,
I hope everything clears up at Hogwarts. It's terrible, a Professor going missing and the Chief Warlock getting blamed for it. I just hope you do your best to stay safe.
I do know what the Homenum Revelio charm does, yes. I'm very curious to hear where you might have picked it up though. It's not even a fourth year spell. Homenum Revelio is a spell that detects any person around you. It detects human presences by searching for a soul. It spreads outwards from your wand like a wave. If it is able to interact with a human soul, it is triggered. I know of no way of avoiding detection, in case you are curious and please do not try to find one. I know you probably are not aware of it, and I really should not even bring it up to you, but there is a branch of magic involving the soul. It is disgusting magic. The blackest magic imaginable. I don't believe in "light and dark" magic, but there are definitely some things you should stay away from. Please trust me on this, Harry, and I'd love to hear the story around the Homenum Revelio spell.
Oh, and I will make it easy on you. The incantation for the vanishing spell is Evanesco — you're welcome.
Stay safe and in touch,
Gabrielle
Harry's brows furrowed. He had never heard of soul magic, as Gabrielle had suspected. He was curious why she was so adamant against it, but he would take her word for it. He was curious about the whole "light and dark magic" thing, too. It wasn't something he had actually looked into, but he assumed dark magic was a thing, not a belief. That was definitely something to explore at a later date.
And how on earth had he unknowingly evaded the Homenum Revelio if even Gabrielle, a girl older and more knowledgeable than him had no idea how to avoid it?
All of these thoughts were washed from his mind when he saw Neville's mischievous grin. Before he could start in on him, Harry leaned towards his friend, making up his mind in an instant. He had scouted the spiders over the past few days and was fairly sure he had figured out where they were going. And honestly, with all of this pink nonsense going on, he needed to do something productive today. Or, at the very least, have something productive to do that night which he could think about all day to take his mind off the Valentine's Day drama.
"Tonight." He whispered to Neville before he could take any digs at Harry.
Neville obviously got his meaning, for his face hardened and it seemed as if all plans to tease Harry had been forgotten.
All in all, Harry considered that interaction a success.
Late that night…
Sneaking out of the castle had been child's play for Harry and Neville. The use of the cloak in combination with the map made the practice positively trivial. Unfortunately, this meant that Neville had nothing to worry about. As a result, he teased Harry mercilessly. Not only about Gabrielle Delacour, but about that god forsaken Valentine he had received earlier that day in the common room, in front of the entirety of Gryffindor House.
"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad." Seriously, what was wrong with people?
Fortunately, as the two second year Gryffindors drew nearer to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Neville seemed to lose any and all motivation to tease Harry. "You're sure this is where they're going?" Neville asked for the hundredth time that day. In reply, Harry lit his wand without a word, raising it high above them and illuminating the steady line of spiders that were creeping into the forest. Neville scrunched up his face. "I don't like this." He muttered. "Not even a little bit."
"Honestly," Harry whispered back, "when me and Ron had to go into the forest last year for detention, it didn't actually seem that bad. The only scary thing we ran into was Voldemort. Since he's gone now, I don't see much to worry about. We'll just hope the spiders stay on the path."
"And there you go again," Neville muttered, "challenging Gran's damn gods of irony."
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed, but it did not last long. Within five minutes, the spiders had strayed from the path, and Neville had actually glared at Harry, as if the entire thing was his fault. As they were led further and further into the depths of the Black Forest, Harry wondered for just how long the forest stretched on. The foliage seemed to grow thicker and thicker the further they walked, and the forest quieter and quieter.
Harry didn't like it.
It gave the impression that at any moment, they could be ambushed by some wild, rabid beast. Of course, the unfortunate truth of the matter was that such a thing absolutely could happen.
Just as that thought crossed Harry's mind, there was a rustling of branches. Harry whirled to draw his wand but before he could, Neville cried out, causing him to spin in the other direction to check on his brother in all but blood.
And that was Harry's mistake.
When he turned, the massive thing behind him had a chance to grab him and hoist him off his feet before he could draw his wand. Harry struggled but it was fruitless. The monstrosity that was now carrying him effortlessly further into the forest was massive and overwhelming. Up ahead, Harry saw that Neville too was being hauled along. Then, with widened eyes, Harry realized what had attacked them.
Giant spiders.
And when he said giant, he meant GIANT! Like… the size of an elephant kind of giant. Immediately, he ceased struggling. It would be useless and would accomplish nothing more than wasting energy he could hopefully use at some point. His wand was safe in his holster. If the spiders gave him even an inch of separation, he could summon it to his hand instantaneously. But then what? What spell did Harry know that would be any use against something of this magnitude? Flagrete, perhaps? It was a controlled fire spell, but in the heart of a forest, he was hesitant to resort to that option. Personally, he wanted to escape alive, not be burnt to a crisp by his own spell in an attempt to defend himself and his friend against these monsters. Perhaps if he had to...
As an opening of sorts appeared ahead, a vague, crazy plan began to form in Harry's mind. It seemed too simple, but it might just work.
That was, if he could somehow verify that the necessary components were nearby.
Before he could think too much further, Harry was dropped by the spider. Thankfully, he managed to roll when he hit the ground, so he avoided serious injury. Neville did not land as gracefully, but he too appeared fine. For a split second, Harry was confused. Surely the spiders wouldn't just let him go and give him a chance? But then, he realized why.
There was a complete ring of spiders surrounding them on all sides.
They had nowhere to go.
Then, the spiders all began to call out in their own, unique language. A few moments later, a large, rather old looking spider emerged. The hair on his legs and torso was greying and his eyes were milky white. Harry thought he must be blind, but it was of no advantage to them given how many other spiders they would have to deal with.
"Why have you come?" The old spider asked, shocking Harry when it spoke in English.
"We-we were told to." Neville said, his brain kicking into gear before Harry's.
"By whom?" The spider asked, clearly disbelieving.
"Hagrid." Harry said, remembering that Hagrid tended to much of the forest. Perhaps he knew these spiders somehow? Perhaps he had some sort of cordial relationship with them.
Immediately, a hush seemed to fall over the crowd of monsters and Harry thought he may have succeeded. "Hagrid sent you here?" The spider asked again in its raspy voice, clearly still sceptical. "Why?"
"The Chamber of Secrets." Harry answered, deciding to go for it. He needed to stall for time, if nothing else. When he uttered those four words, a wave of unease seemed to spread among the monsters' ranks. Harry took the opportunity to lean in towards Neville. Hopefully the ring of spiders around them, who were all suitably distracted, obscured them from the seemingly leader's view. "Please tell me chestnuts might grow in this forest?"
Neville actually took a moment to stop looking panicked and instead look confused. "What?"
"Just answer the question!" Harry hissed.
"Um… probably? They were introduced to the British isles by the Romans, so…"
"What about the Chamber of Secrets?" The lead monster boomed. "What has happened? Where is Hagrid?"
"The Chamber's been opened again." Harry said. "Students and staff are being attacked. It was opened fifty years ago-"
"I am well aware." The spider cut him off. "Where is Hagrid?"
"Gone." Harry answered. "They thought he opened it the first time but he got off because Dumbledore used his influence to spare him. This time, he couldn't. He's been sent to Azkaban, the wizarding prison. But before he left," Harry said hastily, cutting in before the spider could get in another word, "he said if anybody wanted to find anything out, they should follow the spiders."
The spider's were in a buzz now and it took several minutes for their leader to corral them. "You are friends of Hagrid, then?"
"Yes." Harry answered at once, sensing some sort of connection between the monster and the groundskeeper.
"And what do you hope to learn, friends of Hagrid?"
"How students are being petrified." Harry answered at once. "I know it's not Hagrid, but we need to prove it. If we can prove that it's not him, he might be freed."
The spider seemed to hesitate. "It is no magic that is doing this." The spider said at long last. "It is a beast-"
"What kind of beast?" Neville asked at once.
"We do not speak of it." The lead spider said at once. "It is a monstrosity the likes of which we fear above all others."
That was at least something. Find out what these spiders were, find out what they feared, and connect the dots.
That was one thing that Harry could do.
"Thank you." Harry said graciously. "This information will help us free Hagrid." He paused. "You're going to let us go to free him, aren't you? If we can't leave, he might not be free."
"I cannot deny my children food, friend of Hagrid." The monster said as dread filled Harry's heart. "But," he continued, "I will not let Hagrid rot in that cell for a crime he did not commit. You may leave, speaker." He said, clearly addressing Harry. "But we are taking your friend as compensation."
There was a split second when Harry and Neville exchanged looks. For a moment in time, it seemed as if Neville was going to agree. Before he could, Harry was already in action. "Yeah, sorry, but that won't be happening." Then, before the spiders could do so much as move, his wand had snapped into his hand.
"Accio Chestnuts!"
Then, before the spiders could advance on them further, Harry conjured fire with the Flagrete spell, doing his absolute best to keep it under control while focusing on the summoning charm. He had worked on it extensively over the weekend, as he had promised himself he would. Thus far, however, he'd only worked on summoning objects to him that were within his line of sight.
There were no chestnuts within his line of sight. In fact, they could be scattered anywhere through the vast forest. Hopefully, desperation would serve as an excellent learning tool.
Fortunately, the conjured fire was buying them time. Enough time for Harry to begin picking off huddled groups of spiders with banishing hexes. He'd tried stunners, but had pretty much immediately realized they would be ineffective.
He couldn't keep it up for long though.
Dozens of them were advancing from all sides, and he couldn't fight them all at once. For all of his talents in defense, Neville just did not have spells in his arsenal that could be of assistance at this point. Mentally, Harry noted that would have to change rather soon, if possible.
Just as the spiders began to close ranks once more, a high pitched cry went up somewhere from the clearing. Seconds later, hundreds of chestnuts streaked into the clearing. At once, Harry began to banish them in dozens at large groups of spiders. Within a minute, they had retreated, and the path for Harry and Neville to escape was nearly clear. Desperately, the two of them took the opening. As they ran, Harry banished more and more chestnuts at spiders, which held them at bay long enough for Harry and Neville to make it out of the clearing. For his part, Harry kept summoning chestnuts every few minutes until they had once more reached the perimeter of the forest.
Only when they stepped back out onto the open Hogwarts grounds, now once more under the Potter invisibility cloak did Neville turn to Harry. With some pride, Harry realized that Neville did not appear overly winded. Clearly, the workouts from Mad-Eye were beginning to take effect. "Not that I'm complaining," he said, "but what just happened?"
"Spiders hate chestnuts." Harry said, in way of explanation. "It's a natural repellent. I figured if I could summon enough of them and surprise the spiders with them all at once, it might buy us enough time." He shrugged. "Honestly, I wasn't a hundred percent sure it would work on magical spiders, but I had to try. I couldn't think of anything else."
Neville nodded. "Yeah," he muttered, "that would work." Harry almost laughed. Neville, the Herbology nut that he was, seemed genuinely troubled that the thought hadn't crossed his mind.
"Don't worry about it." Harry told him. "You did what you had to do. I needed to know if they grew in those kinds of forests. If anyone could tell me that, I knew it would be you."
Neville smiled weakly. "Just because I'm curious, how did you actually know that?"
Harry's expression grew dark. "My aunt used to use them to ward off spiders." Harry left out the bit about him sneaking them into his cupboard at night for the same purpose. "But anyway," he said, "that's not important, let's get up to the castle."
Minutes later, in the Gryffindor dorms…
Harry knew even before he entered his dorm that something was terribly wrong. He couldn't explain why, he just did. Still, as much as he expected something unpleasant, the last thing Harry expected was for the spiders to at once be relegated to only the second most important revelation of the night.
When he entered the dorm, he froze, horror dawning his face. His trunk, which had been protected by a Parseltongue password, was somehow open, turned on its side, and had seen all of its contents spilled over the floor.
Worse still, there were two other beds that had been ransacked.
Ron's and Dean's beds had the sheets ripped off. In the case of Ron, his sheets were tattered and torn. But that was not the worst part.
The worst part was that the two of them were conspicuous by their absence.
And the writing on the wall, of course.
We have danced for too long, Harry Potter. I think it's time we end the charade.
Nearly all of your pieces have been removed from the board, leaving me open to strike you next. If you would like to recover said pieces before they are broken and discarded, you have exactly six hours to do so.
Oh, and here's a hint, Harry — upon his death, Dean Thomas will be the second mudblood to have died at my hands over the last fifty years at Hogwarts. The first just so happens to still inhabit the castle.
You better move fast, Harry, or you're going to lose the game.
Check!
Harry would not find out until sometime later, but there was still one more rather troubling revelation.
The only thing missing from his trunk was Tom Riddle's diary...
Author's Endnote:
Thank you guys so much for 1k followers on this story! Hopefully, we can keep that number climbing at a decent rate.
I am SO SORRY this is coming out two days late. I had a power outage that lasted for nearly 20 hours which pretty much screwed me over in terms of my upload.
Well, this story really did go from zero to one hundred fast, huh? :)
Oh, and for those of you who don't know, chestnuts actually are a natural repellent for spiders. Granted, their effectiveness is kind of a contested topic among some. Still, I thought it was a rather creative take on the spider scene, as well as a realistic one that didn't require Harry learning some outlandishly unrealistic magic at this point in his development.
Next chapter, titled, "Checkmate" will feature the confrontation in the Chamber of Secrets!
Please read and review.
PS: The next chapter will be posted on Sunday, July 19th, 2020 at approximately 3:00 PM EST.