Ascension: Rogues of the Fallen Sun

by Define Anachronistic

(AU) After the traumatic end to his first year, Harry Potter is a man on the run, pursued by friends, foes, and forces unknown. But that's only the most immediate of his problems. Ancient monsters, Rogues, escaped convicts, and Witch-Hunters are all waiting for him over the horizon. His second year is shaping up to be even crazier than his first.

15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER EIGHT

Chagrin

Anthony would be lying if he said that Harry's performance hadn't motivated him.

Cedric had done him a favour and joined him for his early morning training while Marcus was recovering in the Hospital Wing. Even though he had only practiced with Anthony and Marcus once or twice before, he was still able to notice and comment upon the difference in his efforts.

Anthony had decided to double down on his training since he had seen what Harry was capable of in the duelling arena. Someone who was his age, Muggle raised, and had attended all the classes that he had, was duelling at a high enough level to put a Sentinel on the back foot. It was frustrating, but in a way, it was also inspiring.

Anthony had let himself believe that it would be years before he was strong enough to hunt down Lancer, but now he felt like it could be a matter of months instead. That was why he had come at his training with a renewed sense of purpose, because he felt his goal was far closer to becoming a reality than it had been yesterday.

"I don't think you'll have anything to worry about." Cedric reassured him as they walked back to their respective common rooms. "You're as good as any Auror Initiate needs to be."

Anthony couldn't stop the grimace that those words caused, but Cedric had his eyes forward, so he missed it. "I just want to be the best in my year of Cadets." He felt bad about the lie, especially as what he had planned was the exact opposite of what an Auror should do.

Cedric smiled. "You're talking about Harry?" Anthony was surprised, as he had never brought him up in conversation before. "I know how you feel. I've been trying to catch up to Eliza since we first got our wands, and it is annoying sometimes, but I'm honestly grateful for it."

"Why?" They had reached the main staircase, where Cedric would go down for the Hufflepuff basement and Anthony would go across to Ravenclaw Tower.

Cedric began to descend the stairs as he answered. "Because having someone to catch up to only makes me work harder." He glanced back at Anthony. "Because I want it all the more."

Anthony watched him go, considering his words, and he only continued walking when Cedric was out of sight. As he neared the common room, he just so happened to glance out of the window at just the right time to catch sight of a head of white-blonde hair ducking into the forest.

Stomach dropping, Anthony scrambled to open his bag, reaching for the Marauder's Map. Once it was open and activated, he tapped his wand against the parchment and whispered, "Find me Vincent Lancer." The Map didn't even flicker.

Anthony released a shuddering breath, before feeling furious with himself. If just the sight of a familiar shade of hair was enough to make him lose his nerve, then how was he ever going to kill Lancer? In order to distract himself from his internal self-disparagement, Anthony began to examine the undetailed flap of the Map that represented the Forbidden Forest, stopping when he came upon a familiar name.

Luna Lovegood.

Anthony vaguely remembered her. She had been one of Terry's weird "associates" during their time at Pendle's, providing his brother with both strange ingredients from her father's garden as well as bizarre stories that Terry just ate up. Anthony could not remember exchanging more than two words with her in his entire life, but he knew that he couldn't just let a First Year wander around the Forbidden Forest alone.

With the help of the Map, it only took two minutes to get from the seventh floor to the Entrance Courtyard, and three more to reach the treeline. Checking the Map again, he was relieved that she had not ventured deeper into the forest, where it would be impossible for him to locate her even with his helpful Artifice.

Reaching Hagrid's enclosure, Anthony was about to call out for her, when he felt a small, cool hand clasp around his own. Turning quickly, Anthony saw Luna was standing next to him, having appeared out of nowhere, holding a finger to her lips. "Don't call out. You'll startle them."

"Startle who?" Anthony was a little ashamed of how terrified he sounded, but Luna made no comment on it.

"My new friends." Letting go of his hand, she indicated for him to follow her. Luna led him across the enclosure, to a large paddock that contained five morbidly familiar creatures.

"Thestrals." Anthony muttered sourly.

Luna looked up at him with a smile. "You can see them?"

Anthony wanted to smack himself. He had always kept his awareness of these spectres to himself, not even telling Terry about it, and now he had blurted it out to a near stranger. "Yeah. Look, don't tell anyone. Alright?"

Luna nodded seriously. "I understand. Many small-minded people consider them bad luck." Her smile returned quickly. "Your secret is safe with me, Anthony Goldstein."

Anthony nodded slowly as an obvious fact finally made itself evident to him. "You can see them too?" He knew that Thestrals could only be seen by those who had seen death, but she didn't seem to carry the same weight he felt every day.

"My mother."

It was only now that Anthony realised just how invasive his question was. "You don't have to tell me."

"That's alright. I love talking about her." Luna sounded just as happy as when she was introducing him to her friends. "She was a Spell Crafter, and a really talented one. She would make all these little spells to entertain me while she worked."

Anthony winced, as he could see where this was going. "She let you stay with her while she worked?" That didn't seem very wise to him, as Spell Crafting was one of the most dangerous jobs in the world for a reason.

"Yes. My mother used to say that I could be quite the little terror if I was left on my own." Luna's voice had turned wistful at that, as though she missed her mother's scolding. "Three years ago, she was creating a new spell, but something must have gone wrong. She was standing right there one minute, and the next she was lying on the floor across the room."

Luna didn't look like she was about to cry, she didn't even look all that upset, but something in her voice made Anthony put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't say that he was sorry, because that wouldn't be of any use. Instead, he tried to help by giving her what he himself had wished for. To speak with someone who understood.

"My first memory was when I felt my mother stop breathing." Anthony spoke quickly, nervously, as he had never told anyone this before. "I don't remember, but I was told that I was with Terry and his parents while my own were having a night to themselves. When they brought me back, Death Eaters were already in the house, and they all started fighting." His voice was steady, unaffected, as he had relived the memory of what happened next a thousand times.

"I don't know how, but I must have made my way to my mother during the fighting. What I do remember is her." Anthony could picture the only memory he had of her. "She was bleeding and lying against the side of the armchair, and I climbed into her lap because I was scared, but I just felt her breathing stop."

It was Luna's turn to put a hand in his shoulder, and the feeling of something new, comfort for a memory he had never shared before, almost made him break. Instead, he waited a minute before continuing. "This was months after You-Know-Who was defeated. Almost every Acolyte but one had been captured, and the whole world must have felt so safe. Of all the places in the world that he could have gone, Vincent Lancer chose our house." Anthony swallowed, thickly. "It isn't fair."

Luna stood with him in that spot for a long time, as the two of them watched the Thestrals go about their business. As they did, Anthony couldn't help but envy Luna for the peace she exuded when speaking about her mother, when he felt nothing but anguish when speaking about his own.

Anthony hoped he will feel the same when he finally put Lancer down.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The first thing Harry noticed when he opened his eyes were the drawn curtains in the bed next to his own.

Sitting up, it took a moment for Harry to realise that he was in the Hospital Wing, and it took him another to remember how he had got there. Just as the humiliation of defeat was beginning to settle in, he finally noticed the person that had been sitting still at his bedside the entire time.

"You were so still, I thought you were a part of the furniture." Harry said, hoarsely.

Flamel didn't crack a smile. Instead, he reached for the jug of water at Harry's bedside table. "Thirsty? You sound as though you've swallowed a frog."

Harry didn't take the offered glass of water, instead staring intensely at Flamel. "Why are you here?" He asked, bluntly. "Come to gloat? You were right. I wasn't ready." His voice was sour. "You're always right."

Flamel remained calm, which only served to irritate Harry further. "I'm just happy that you are alright." He nodded at the bed beside Harry. "Especially compared to that young man."

Harry felt his anger rise for a multitude of reasons that even he couldn't fully understand. Flamel's lack of support and abandonment, followed by his abrupt return and thinly veiled scolding. "It was an official duel, so injuries like that are allowed. Besides, he caused his own burns." Harry defended himself.

Flamel remained infuriatingly calm. "No one is blaming you for anything, Henry."

Harry was now angry that Flamel's level attitude wasn't allowing him to properly express his anger. Knowing that he'll most likely snap and say something that he couldn't take back, Harry said, "Please leave. I want to be alone."

Like a child trying to hide from the world, he lay back in his bed and turned on his side away from Flamel. After a minute, he heard his master stand and walk away from him.

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The school's reaction to his duel with Marcus was a lot more varied than he would have expected.

When he was released the day after the duel, Madam Pomfrey making quick work of his concussion, Harry found himself the centre of attention from his year mates. Apparently, going toe to toe with s Seventh Year was rather impressive, especially as they had both ended up in the Hospital Wing.

Marcus was bedridden for a few more days, as his fire spell had burned his leg to the bone, and it was resistant to magical healing. As such, Harry was the only one the student body had to question about the duel, which was not a good thing as his already short patience had dropped to almost zero.

Harry's nightmares, previously kept at bay for weeks by his own exhaustion, had returned with a vengeance. Something about the sensation of drowning, of being at another person's mercy, had seemed to trigger unwanted memories of his time in the gauntlet. He normally would have asked Flamel to send Eos to Hogwarts, in order to help him sleep, but with them being on such bad terms right now he didn't even consider it.

Desperate for a good night's sleep, Harry was forced to return to stealing Dreamless Sleep Potion and made his way back to the Hospital Wing not two days after his release, hidden under the cover of his Invisibility Cloak.

However, his numerous robberies of Pomfrey's potion cupboard the previous year were not without consequence. As he opened the cupboard with his Kindjal, an obnoxiously loud wail was let out, causing Harry to flee. As he hurried back to Ravenclaw Tower, he spotted three Sentinels hurrying towards the Hospital Wing to investigate the triggered Caterwauling Charm.

With the Hospital Wing's supplies being kept under guard, Harry was forced to consider making his own Dreamless Sleep Potion. However, as he looked through Advanced Healing, he was forced to accept that this was a potion that was outside of his comfort zone. While he would have felt no qualms about attempting it if it were for class, Harry was far more cautious as it was meant for his own consumption. He didn't want to make a mistake with a potion that could damage his mind.

Harry would have been irritable enough if it were merely his lack of sleep that he had to deal with, but as it turned out, not everyone in the school was very impressed with his performance against Marcus.

Several times over the second half of November, Myrose had tried to get under his skin about Harry's failure. He was able to ignore him, as he was so far beyond being scared of the Slytherin Sixth Year at this point, even though Myrose always made sure to try and antagonise him when there were other people around, as though trying to get him to incriminate himself. Myrose's efforts had the opposite effect, as the prospect of a sixteen-year-old who had the same strategy as a five-year-old Dudley Dursley was an amusing one.

One day, as Harry's class was waiting to enter Arithmancy and Myrose was in the middle of re-enacting his drowning in the water sphere, Harry couldn't stop himself from smirking. Myrose, who had kept his eyes on Harry as though hoping to watch him breakdown, immediately stopped and demanded, "What's so funny?"

"You." He shrugged, before adding, "Funny isn't the word I'd use though. Pathetic is more accurate. But then again, I expect it runs in the family."

Myrose's eyes bulged. His older brother had been dismembered and imprisoned by Harry's own mother, and it hadn't escaped his notice that Myrose senior hadn't escaped Azkaban, which had to have had some kind of impact on his younger brother.

Apparently, it did, as Myrose howled like he had just stubbed his toe and pointed his wand at Harry. "Entomorphis!" The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws around Harry, content to merely listen as Myrose spewed his nonsense, let out cries of shock as the sickly orange spell headed towards them.

Fortunately for them, Harry was quicker on the draw than Myrose was. "Protego!" The spell collided with Harry's shimmering Shield Charm, but instead of dissipating upon impact, it rebounded towards its caster.

Myrose clearly wasn't expecting that (which makes two of them) so he neither moved nor raised his wand to defend himself in order to prevent the spell from hitting him in his face. As Harry watched, Myrose's entire head began to transform into that of a giant centipede, the body stemming from where his neck had once been, and the dozens of legs were kicking in the air as he toppled over in clear agony.

Professor Vector chose that exact moment to step of her classroom, and her eyes landed on Myrose and then turned to Harry with his wand still drawn. As her eyes narrowed, Harry repressed a sigh.

It took a bit of convincing, but when Vector checked his wand in order to see what the last spell he cast was, she could not deny that he was telling the truth. Harry just knew that as the Head of Slytherin House, she didn't want to believe that her own student had been in the wrong here.

As she sent them inside and told them to go over today's reading while she escorted Myrose to the Hospital Wing, Harry had to stop himself from turning to Anthony. I don't know why you fancy her so much, mate. The teasing remark was ready on his lips before he remembered that they weren't exactly best friends anymore.

That thought stuck with him all throughout class, when he hadn't given his old friends much thought all term. Was it because of his sleep deprivation? Or did he simply miss having someone to talk to now that Flamel had stopped checking in on him? Well, whatever it was, he didn't like it, so in order to distract himself, Harry headed for the Library Tower after class in order to refocus on his room expansion project.

Having found the necessary books, he descended from the library's third floor, stopping on the second as he saw a familiar flash of copper hair. Heading towards the W.O.M.B.A.T Healing section, he stopped when he saw the familiar sight of the Second Year Hufflepuff girls crowding around, judging by her mass of curly dark brown hair, Megan Jones.

"-your sister been spending a lot of time with Lupin." Susan was saying. "Are they shacking up?" The girls around her tittered, as though she what she was saying were scandalously funny.

Harry stopped halfway around the bookshelf when he heard that. To his knowledge, and to the knowledge of the Marauder's Map, Lupin had only been spending any extended time with Hestia. Despite their surnames, Harry would never have guessed that they were related, as they were clearly of two different ethnicities: Megan was black, and Hestia was white.

Susan seemed to notice that Megan was ignoring her, so she doubles down. "I know you take after your mother, but that doesn't explain how your sister became such a whore." The girls burst out laughing, as though this was the funniest thing they had ever heard, and Megan's hands were shaking as she reached for a book.

None of this was enough to set Harry off, but the sight of Susan's smug face, satisfied in the result her words had created, certainly was. "Do you get off on insulting people who won't fight back?"

The girls quickly turned to face him, startled that they were no longer alone despite the level of noise that they had been making. "What did you say?" Susan demanded.

Harry didn't deign to repeat himself. "First Michael, then Megan. I've noticed you only ever seem to go after people who won't fight back. Very cowardly. It seems that you've inherited little of your mother's courage." Harry knew that he had gone overboard, but he wanted to fight someone, and Susan Bones was as good an opponent as any.

While her friends hissed at his cruel words, Susan marched towards him while drawing her wand. Harry did the same. "I thought I told you to never speak about my family!"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "So, it's okay for you to talk about other people's mothers, but not your own? Bit hypocritical." Susan made a spitting noise and raised her wand level with his chest and Harry did the same. "Ready when you are." He goaded.

Harry saw her open her lips, but he never found out if it were for an incantation or not, as Madam Pince rounded the corner at that very moment. "What on earth is going on here?!" Harry thought it was fairly obvious and waited for one of the girls to explain, but as he moved his eyes away from Susan, he noticed that the rest of the Hufflepuffs had fled at some point, leaving the two alone in the aisle.

"Duelling in the Library? Desecrating books!" Her eyes landed on the Healing book that Megan had dropped in her haste to escape. "Detention! Both of you! Detention!"

And that was how Harry found himself in his first ever Saturday Detention.

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When it came to supervising Saturday Detention, the teacher's used a rota, and it was just Harry's luck that the teacher who was assigned to the first detention of December was the one who liked him the least.

Before the winter sun could even rise, Harry and Susan had met outside of Hagrid's home and stood in silence until the giant man emerged from his home. "Follow me." He said curtly, as he led them into the Forbidden Forest, towards the enclosures. When they arrived, Hagrid twirled his wand and conjured pitchforks, shovels, and wheelbarrows.

"What are we meant to do with that?" Susan asked, with her nose wrinkled.

"What do you think?" Hagrid sounded exasperated. "I need you to clean out the Unicorn stables."

Ignoring Susan's complaint that it was Automaton work, Harry asked, "Then we can go?"

Hagrid's eyes narrowed, and Harry knew he had made a mistake in speaking. "No, I need you to do the Hippogriffs as well." He glanced at the lightening sky before adding, "You'd better hurry. I need to bring them in for their dinner, and if it's not done by then I'll have you both back here tomorrow."

Turning to pick up his half of the equipment, Harry tried to hide his anger. If this had been last year, Hagrid would have invited him into his home instead of actually conducting the detention, but now that they weren't friends anymore, Hagrid was going out of his way to make things difficult for him.

If she were anyone else, Harry would have felt bad that Susan had been dragged in the middle of this. It wasn't exactly fair that she would receive a harder detention then her rule breaking deserved just because of him, but to her credit, she stopped complaining once Hagrid left.

When Harry was finished with his half of the Unicorn stables, he reluctantly went over to check on her, not wanting to come back the next day just because she was feeling lazy, but to his surprise she was moving on to the Hippogriff stables at the same time he was.

Perhaps there was something to that Hufflepuff work ethic after all.

However, just because neither of them was slacking off in their cleaning efforts, didn't mean that it was an easy job. It was only after the sun had set behind the mountains when they finally finish their assignments. Even with the early winter evenings, that was ridiculous as far as Harry was concerned.

Just as they finished, Hagrid returned with the first of the Unicorns, and began to examine their work. Hungry and tired, both Harry and Susan watched him anxiously, waiting for his verdict. When Hagrid finished looking into the final stable, he turned and gave them a single nod, silently dismissing them.

"My clothes are ruined!" Susan complained as they made their way back to the castle.

Harry eyed her costly apparel with a critical eye. "Why would you wear such expensive clothes to an outdoor detention anyway?"

Susan glared at him and waved a hand at his clothes as though they were wafting cartoon stink lines, which after the day he'd had they might as well be. "Not all of us are brave enough to wear Muggle rags every day."

As the entered the Entrance Hall, Harry glanced down at his clothes, double checking that he hadn't worn some of Dudley's hand me downs. He wasn't. "There's nothing wrong with-" he started to say before he was interrupted by an eerie, echoing voice.

"-for my master. Hunt for my master. Kill for my master!"

"What the hell is that?!" Harry yelped, drawing his wand.

Susan rose an eyebrow at him, looking amused at his reaction to the voice. "What? Did you see a spider?" She snickered at her own joke.

Harry glared at her. "Not funny. Seriously what is that?"

"I don't know what you mean." She seemed genuinely confused as to what he was talking about. Before he could explain, the voice spoke again.

"Enemies to eradicate from my master's walls! Enemies to kill by my master's will! Enemies to-" The voice was still there, but growing faint, as though it were moving away from the Entrance Hall.

"Seriously Potter, what are you talking about?" Susan had watched for the last few moments as Harry turned repeatedly on the spot, trying to locate the eerie voice.

"It must be invisible or something." Harry said, wishing he had help, but it was half past four on a Saturday afternoon, so everyone was either in Hogsmeade, the library or in their common rooms. The only help he had was Susan Bones.

"Whatever that voice is, its headed for the basement." Harry took off running in the directions of the school kitchens. He needed to know what he heard, and he didn't want to go alone, so he hoped that the idea of her House being in danger would be enough to get her to accompany him.

When he heard footsteps behind him, he withheld a smile.

"You better be serious about this, Potter." Susan warned.

"I think it might be a ghost or something. I don't know of any creature that can speak English and has the ability to turn invisible-" Harry stopped talking and running at the same time, as he came across a shocking sight in front of the entrance to the kitchens.

Susan bumped into his back. "Potter, why'd you stop-?" She stopped her question halfway through when she saw exactly what he did. "Holy Halcyon! Is he alive?"

There, right in front of the giant painting of the fruit bowl, was Isaac Myrose.

He was lying on his side with an entire casket of Elvish wine spilled onto the stone floor beneath him, soaking half the corridor in the red liquid. Myrose face was half submerged in it, but his one visible eye was wide open, and coupled with his wide-open mouth, it was clear that the last thing he saw made him terrified.

Harry wished he could say that was the worst of it.

Across the corridor, on the wall opposite the painting were twelve words that were clearly written in blood:

The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened.

Enemies of the Heir, Beware.

The word "enemies" stirred his shocked brain into thinking. The voice spoke about enemies of its master. Harry remembered. But who could do this in Hogwarts and expect to get away with it? The answer came to him clear as day. Voldemort. Only Voldemort would try to do this in Dumbledore's school.

Susan shook him by his shoulders, as she had been trying to get his attention. "-out if it! We need to call someone for help. Potter, we should-!" She stopped speaking as the entirety of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team rounded the corner, heading towards the kitchen, their loud conversation coming to an abrupt end as they saw the Harry and Susan standing over an unmoving Myrose.

Cedric quickly lived up to his position as a Sentinel.

He took command of the scene immediately, telling Harry and Susan to remain where they were, while dispatching three of his teammates to fetch Professors Sprout, Flitwick and Dumbledore, before asking the two Second Years for their explanation. When he heard that they had spent the day in detention with Hagrid, he sent off another player to go fetch him as well.

When they had completed their retelling, Lord Dumbledore arrived at the scene looking hardly out of breath, unlike the Beater that had been sent to fetch him. As the poor boy doubled over behind him, Dumbledore rapidly began to examine Myrose with his wand.

"He's alive." The Headmaster said with some relief. "He is merely petrified." Harry was a little surprised at how relived that made him.

By the time they had finished explaining things for a second time, both their Heads of Houses had arrived looking far more harried than the Headmaster. Harry was afraid that they were going to have to tell the story again, but they simply waited patiently for Dumbledore to complete his examination. When he did, he rose up and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Hagrid's arrival.

"It wasn't them, Albus!" Hagrid bellowed as he charged into the corridor. "They were with me all day in detention!"

Dumbledore raised a hand. "I do not believe that they are responsible for this." None of the teachers, nor Cedric seemed surprised by this, but Harry was a little annoyed to see that the rest of the Hufflepuff team looked put out, as though they had expected the two Second Years to be guilty. "This is magic that is far beyond the capabilities of two W.O.M.B.A.T students."

"Does that mean you know what's behind this?" Susan asked, fearlessly.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, but this case should be familiar to many." He glanced at Hagrid who looked unusually grim. "Professor Sprout, would I be correct in assuming you have had a sudden shortage of Mandrakes in your greenhouses?"

Sprout looked just as confused as the rest of them at this non sequitur, but she answered anyway. "Yes, Headmaster."

Dumbledore merely nodded as though that confirmed a theory he was working on, before turning back to the Second Years. "What I would like to know, is how the two of you came to be in this corridor tonight?"

Harry spoke quickly, before Susan could throw him under the proverbial Knight Bus. "We came to the kitchen to get some food. We hadn't had any lunch, you see." Harry regretted making Hagrid look bad, especially as he had come to clear his name, but if it was a choice between the two of them, Harry would choose himself every time.

After all, it wasn't like they were friends anymore.

Dumbledore stared at him for a long moment, and Harry made sure to stare just over his shoulder in order to avoid eye contact. Eventually, he asked Harry a single, probing question.

"Is there anything either of you would like to add? Anything at all?" Harry could see that Dumbledore had turned his gaze to Susan, and much to his relief, she seemed just as reluctant as he to look directly into Dumbledore's eyes. "Any detail you may have could help our investigation."

For a few tense moments, Harry was sure that Susan was going to tell them about the voice that he had heard for no other reason than to exonerate herself, but he was more surprised than he had ever been when she kept her mouth firmly shut.

Harry gave the teachers a solemn shake of the head. "Nothing at all, Professor."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

While the teachers had taken their story as the truth, the rest of the school was much harder to convince.

There were all sorts of rumours flying around the castle, and each of them was as ridiculous as the last. One afternoon, he overhead a group of Gryffindor Third Years convince each other that Harry and Susan had caught Myrose trying to smuggle escaped Death Eaters into the castle. Another rumour he had heard in the common room was that Myrose had kidnapped Susan and Harry, like the hero he supposedly was, went to go rescue her.

His favourite was the one where Myrose had walked in on Harry and Susan about to enact a Dark Ritual in front if the school kitchens, and the Slytherin Sixth Year had sacrificed himself in order to the save the school. Harry had been unable to stop himself from laughing at that one, causing the Fourth Year Slytherins that were telling it in the courtyard to glare at him as he walked past.

One thing that all the stories had in common, was the fact that everyone seemed to think that Harry had actually hurt Myrose in some way. Their mutual antagonism was well known, and it only made him gladder that he hadn't told Dumbledore about the voice he had heard. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team would have circulated those rumours even quicker.

Harry could tell that he was the only one that was happy with this decision. Over the following week, he caught Susan staring at him in class, as though trying to make sense of why he had heard a voice that she couldn't. Harry couldn't blame her, as he was wondering the same thing.

He, along with the rest of the school, was also wondering about something else.

On the Monday after Myrose's petrification, while Harry sat in Charms Class, staring at the clock while the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws around him struggled to master the Summoning Charm, Susan raised her hand and called for Professor Flitwick's attention.

"Miss Bones? Having trouble with the assignment?"

Susan lowered her hand. "No, sir. I was just hoping you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets."

The class became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Every student in school had picked up their copy of Hogwarts: A History over the weekend, only to find it missing any details about a secret chamber, and from what Harry had gathered, he wasn't the only one who had struggled to find answers in the library.

It was now Monday morning, and Charms was the first class they've had since the incident. Harry suspected that there were other teachers dealing with similar questions in their classrooms at the very same moment.

Flitwick cleared his throat. "I think that is a question best reserved for History of Magic, wouldn't you agree?"

"But sir, we don't have History until Thursday, and Professor Archibald always gives precedence to older students when it comes to office hours." Harry hadn't been aware that she could sound so polite.

Flitwick glanced around the classroom, and once he saw their eager faces, seemed to accept that there was no way around it. "Oh, all right then. Where to begin?" He sat himself down at his desk, with the air of a man who needed to get off his feet, even though it was only half past nine on a Monday. "I suppose it all begins with the founding of this school."

"The four founders all came to know one another in King Arthur's court, once each had become an apprentice of Merlin. For a while they were happy, but Arthur's kingdom fell, he and Merlin were killed, and sorcerers became the enemy of mankind once more." Flitwick paused then, and the class leaned forward, hanging from his every word. "They came north, far north, until they reached the childhood home of Salazar Slytherin. You know it now as Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts belongs to Slytherin?" Michael blurted out.

"The lands? Yes." Flitwick said, much to Michael's visible disgust. "Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were both bastard half-siblings who came from penniless Muggles, and Hufflepuff had been exiled from her foreign land. Slytherin, however, was the last of a wealthy wizarding family, and brought his friends to the place of his birth. But while the lands remain unchanged, the castle and neighbouring town was built by the four over the course of many years."

"Inspired by the existing schools of magic in Egypt, the four had agreed to take in and educate as many witches and wizards as they could manage. They wished to protect magical children from the age of turmoil that they were living in and pass down all that Merlin had taught them. For many years, their dream remained a solid reality, but unfortunately, things did not remain peaceful forever."

"For reasons unknown, Slytherin began to view the Muggle-born students as an unnecessary risk to the school's security. He tried to convince his old friends, but they wouldn't agree with his point of view. How could they? Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were both Muggle-borns themselves."

"With his former founders refusing to see things his way, Slytherin left the castle that had once been his home in order to take the school by force. However, in the time that it took him to raise an army, the other founders did the same. Many former students had remained loyal to those who took them in and educated them, and they wished for Hogwarts to remain the same for future generations."

"The rest, I believe, is common knowledge. There was a battle in Hogsmeade between the founders and their supporters, a battle which ended in Slytherin's death. In his final moments, he informed his former friends about the monster he had left in a hidden chamber in the school, a monster that his heir would one day command to purge the school of those he deemed to be his enemies."

"Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff remained vigilant for the rest of their days, but no monster ever revealed itself. Historians believe that it was merely a failed trick on Slytherin's part, as they have searched the school many times and found no trace of a secret chamber."

"But Professor, Headmaster Dumbledore said that this was familiar." Susan said accusingly. "This has happened before!" There was a sudden uptick in sound, as everyone seemed to think it necessary to speak with their closest neighbour about this revelation.

Flitwick struggled to make himself heard. "Settle down, settle down!" When the room was finally quiet once more, he continued. "Yes, this has happened before, decades ago, but the culprit was never caught." This time Flitwick couldn't stop the noise from rising up as everyone began speaking at once, but one voice made them heard above all.

"Pureblood!" Terry had to shout to make himself heard. "Myrose was a pureblood, but Slytherin's enemies were Muggle-borns! Why was he attacked?"

The class quieted again, as they each looked to Flitwick for answers, but he looked just as helpless as the rest of them.

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Harry thought the legend of the Chamber of Secrets made an interesting story, but he was certain that no one was going to take this seriously. After all, it was obvious that Myrose had simply annoyed the wrong person, and they had used the ancient myth as a flimsy scapegoat. But just because something was obvious to him, didn't mean that it was so to everyone else.

However, it would be folly on his part to overlook even Dumbledore's apprehension of Myrose's petrification, so after classes were done for the day, he headed straight for the library.

He vaguely noticed larger crowds than usual in the Library Tower, but he thought nothing of it. Ignoring their stares, Harry made his way to the Care of Magical Creatures section of the library where he would spend the next few hours conducting his research. He thought identifying Slytherin's monster wouldn't take all that long, as the number of creatures that could petrify their victims without a single visible mark had to be few.

As it turned out, he was right, there were a limited number of creatures capable of petrification. In fact, there were so few of them that Harry had no luck in identifying which of them were capable of being the monster in question.

Gorgons seemed like a good bet, until he learned that they were every bit as mortal as humans and wouldn't have been able to survive the thousand years since Slytherin's time. He had thought that he had found something with the Cockatrice, but they had never been domesticated, and like the Gorgon, they were incapable of surviving for longer than a century.

The Basilisk had sounded like his best bet, as they could survive for over a thousand years and were capable of being controlled by a Parselmouth such as Slytherin, and it would explain why Harry had been able to hear it and Susan had not. However, Basilisks were incapable of petrification, as their stare killed, and their poison was known to melt both flesh and bone.

Besides, a giant serpent would have been difficult to miss.

Harry decided that his first idea was the right one. Myrose got on someone's bad side, and they used a modified Statue Curse on him before framing the entire thing on the so called "Heir of Slytherin".

After a long evening spent in the Library Tower, Harry was making his way back to the Ravenclaw common room, hoping to make it back before the Second Year curfew. Christopher Watkins wasn't half as cool as his older brother, and he had been going out his way to make life difficult for Harry since he had dropped out of the Quidditch team, and Ravenclaw's loss to Hufflepuff a few weeks ago didn't help matters.

Just as he was about to turn the corner that would lead to the Main Staircase, Harry saw the glimmer of a spell reflected on the surface of the polished chest plate on a suit of armour up ahead. He turned on his heel, drawing his wand as he went, casting, "Protego!"

The bright purple spell was rebounded from his shield, smashing right through the nearest window with a massive shatter that echoed all throughout the corridor. It was hours past sunset, so when the strong winds made the torches along the walls burn out, the corridor was plunged into darkness.

Experiencing deja vu, Harry made sure to put his back to the wall beside the suit of armour, as he was reminded of a similar organised attack that occurred last September. He quickly saw that he was right, as two figures were ahead of him, two were closing in from the corridor to his right, and a burly figure was blocking the passageway to the Main Staircase.

Harry shouldn't have been all that surprised, as Myrose and his friends had always been a cowardly lot.

Even through the gloom, Harry could recognise that stringy silhouette anywhere. "You might as well stop hiding, Fredricks. Only you would think that cologne smells good." Harry goaded. "And mating Trolls, I suppose. Speaking of, did your mother pick it out for you?"

Fredricks hurried towards him, but he was quickly stopped by the smaller figure at his side. The girl said something to him that quickly made him calm down, before she turned to Harry and demanded to know, "What did you do to Isaac?"

Harry was busy studying his adversaries, (three boys and two girls, all Slytherin Sixth Years) when he answered. "What's it to you?"

The girl puffed herself up and said rather pompously, "I am his girlfriend."

Harry stared at her for a moment, disbelieving. Myrose looked like the by-product of a Troll and an old, leathery Bludger, and while Harry wasn't completely sure of this girl's name, he did know that Christopher and his friends had spent a lot of time sniffing around her when the Prefect was meant to be tutoring them. Simply put, she had options. Not great options, but options.

When she didn't admit that she was just teasing him, Harry cracked up laughing. "That idiot has a girlfriend?" He cackled. "Are you blind, or just a gold digger? Or maybe both?"

The girl, Hayley or something, gasped and Fredricks came to her defence, but in a very poor way. "The same could be said for your mother, Potter." Hayley gasped and slapped him on the arm, which was all the distraction Harry needed.

"Carpe Noctem! Fumos!" Harry saw the Nightmare Hex collide with Fredricks chest just as the Smokescreen Spell settled over the corridor. He took off running back towards the way he came, aiming a Stunning Spell at the last place he had seen Hayley. The sound of her body hitting the ground was enough warning to let him know to move so he didn't trample over her and Fredricks as he fled.

He didn't take the warning, but it was nice to have.

Harry stayed low as the remaining three shot spells after him, a few coming too close for comfort, but he had made it around the corner before one of them could think to vanish the smoke.

As he made the turn, Harry pointed his wand at a suit of armour and murmured, "Piertotum Locomotor!" As he used the Marauder password on the secret passageway that was hidden behind the nearest tapestry, he heard a loud choking noise followed by a crash as one of his pursuers was clotheslined by his animated guardian.

Peeking out from a small gap between the passageway and the tapestry, Harry watched as the last two ran past his hiding spot. Pointing his wand at the torch brackets, he whispered, "Nox!" and smiled at their startled yelps.

Before either of them could react, Harry cast "Brachiabindo!" on the girl, and she was yanked off her feet and into the air towards him. Harry rolled out of the way before she got tangled in the tapestry as she flew into the secret passageway and down the many steps that led to the first floor.

Harry stood before the final Slytherin with a vicious smile on his face. "Just one to go."

Instead of looking intimidated as Harry would have thought, the Sixth Year threw back a smirk of his own. "I watched your duel, Potter. You haven't got a clue how to Vanish, do you?" Before he could reply, the boy raised his wand and spat, "Serpensortia!"

With the sound of a gunshot, a long, heavy snake, easily as large as Gregg the Boa constrictor, landed on the ground between them with a thud. Harry, thanking his good fortune that the other boy hadn't conjured anything else, or he really would be helpless, spoke directly to the snake.

"Attack him." He commanded the serpent, and it immediately obeyed, turning to face its conjurer. While the boy stared at him, open mouthed, Harry flicked his own wand at him and cast, "Petrificus Totalus!" His arms and legs snapped together, and he fell backwards onto the ground with a great thump! just as the snake began to bite him repeatedly.

Harry would have marvelled at his own lack of care for the boy's health if he hadn't heard movement behind him.

As he turned, he saw the boy who had been clotheslined by the suit of armour earlier run around the corner, having finally got himself free from under its weight. He stopped when he saw one of his comrades being repeatedly bitten by a massive serpent, while the other was nowhere to be seen. For a brief moment, neither he nor Harry moved.

But the moment passed, and they both exploded into action.

"Sectumsempra!" The boy screamed, in rage or desperation, Harry was not sure. At the exact same time, Harry threw himself on the ground to avoid the spell's trajectory and, squeezing his eyes shut, he shouted, "Lumos Solem! Expelliarmus! Levicorpus!"

The first spell illuminated the dark corridor with a flash of bright white light, temporarily blinding his foe, while the second and third had him disarmed and hanging six feet in the air by his ankle. Recognising the spell that the boy had just tried to hit him with, Harry was not feeling charitable enough to let him get away with just a single Dangling Jinx.

"Liberacorpus!" The boy fell to the ground, landing with a heavy thud, and immediately began to scramble for his wand. Harry let him get tantalisingly close to it before he cast, "Levicorpus!" The boy yelped as he was lifted up again but groaned only when he saw Harry kick his wand into the darkness.

With a smile, he repeated the Dangling Jinx and its Counter-Jinx at least ten times, he wasn't sure of the exact number, and he only stopped when the boy went limp. The repeated trauma to his head had knocked him out.

Harry began to make his way back to Fredricks and Hayley Something, when he heard movement from the secret passageway. The girl emerged limping, having untangled herself from the tapestry, and she had her eyes opened wide as though she trying to adjusting her vision from the well-lit passageway to the dark corridor.

Harry didn't give her the chance.

"Flipendo!" The girl turned towards the orange jet of light, just in time to be struck with it dead centre. With a startled scream, she was launched back down the secret passageway's stairs, where hopefully, she would stay this time.

Harry made his way back to Fredricks and Hayley Something as though nothing had just happened. As he went, he examined not only the damage caused, but the surroundings themselves. Fredricks and his friends had chosen one of the few parts of the school that did not have any portraits. They obviously wanted to assault him without any witnesses.

Using the Mobilicorpus charm to carelessly toss the girl out of his way, Harry stood in front of Fredricks, observing him for a moment. The Nightmare Hex was not everlasting, and in the few minutes it had taken Harry to dispatch all of his friends, Fredricks had been freed from his nightmares, but judging by his crouched position behind the initial suit of armour that he had first seen the refection in, he was still haunted by them.

"There's no point in hiding from me, Fredricks. Brachiabindo!" The boy screamed as he was dragged out from behind the armour by invisible cords, scrambling at the ground, trying to find purchase. Harry couldn't stop himself from smiling as he enjoyed the way the tables had turned. "There isn't a single place in this school where I can't find you."

Harry took a moment, as he was enjoying himself more in this moment than he'd had since August.

As Fredricks finally came to a stop before him, bound and terrified, Harry asked him, "Would you like to repeat that comment that you made about my mother?"

"N-no." Fredricks stuttered.

Harry frowned, as though deliberating, but he had already made up his mind. "See, I don't believe you. I would feel much better if wasn't possible for you to say another word ever again." Ignoring Fredricks pleads, Harry raised his wand, intent on severing the boy's tongue, when a firm hand clasped his arm.

Harry was about to shake it off when he noticed that the hand was attached to an arm wearing a fuzzy, polka dot sleeve. Turning, he saw that the dim corridor was now lit by blue waves of energy, pulsating outward from the one who had stopped him.

Albus Dumbledore had arrived to save his students, and he looked furious.

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Dumbledore had told Harry to wait for him in his office while he gathered the five Slytherins and escorted them to the Hospital Wing. Knowing that he had been caught at the worst possible moment, Harry obeyed without a word, not wanting to make things more difficult for himself.

The griffin statue had jumped aside when Harry approached, so he had let himself into the office and slouched in the chair in front of the Headmaster's desk under the judging eyes of the past headteachers. It took a while for Dumbledore to arrive at his office, so Harry had plenty of time to think about what had occurred and what exactly he had done, which enough time to convince himself that he was innocent.

Fredricks and his friends, five Sixth Years, had attacked him without provocation. So what if he had gone a little overboard in his defence? They hadn't exactly left him with much choice, had they? By the time Dumbledore returned from the Hospital Wing and entered his office looking like the personification of a raging storm, Harry refused to allow himself to feel intimidated, as he was sure that he was in the right here.

Dumbledore did not sit down at his desk. No, instead he moved right past it and went to stare out the window, as though he could not even look at Harry. "What on earth were you thinking?" His voice was quiet, but it was filled with danger.

Danger that Harry did not heed. "I was thinking that I needed to defend myself from five older students when they attacked me from behind."

Dumbledore twitched, as though stopping himself from turning around. "We both know that you are more than capable of escaping without harm and alerting the teachers. No, you wanted to hurt them all by yourself, didn't you?"

Harry clenched his fist, but he wanted to keep his cool for this, if only to show Dumbledore that he didn't have any power over him. "You don't mind if I help myself, do you?" He didn't wait for an answer before taking a handful of lemon flavoured jelly babies out of the sweet dish.

It was that which finally made Dumbledore turn around. "Do you have any idea of how much I do to protect you?" He demanded. "From those who would bring harm onto you? Those who would exploit you, or study you? You acting like this only weakens the protections I am able to put around you!"

"I'm not an infant anymore." Harry said sharply. "I can take care of myself. Let them come."

There was something about his words that made the bottled anger disappear from Dumbledore's tense form, as he finally took his seat behind his desk. "Let the come." He scoffed. "You are still a child, and it was my mistake to think that you could be anything more."

Harry swallowed his mouthful of jelly babies. "What?"

"You are suspended from Hogwarts until further notice." Dumbledore said bluntly.

Harry sat up quickly. "What?!" He couldn't believe it, exams were right around the corner. "Are Fredricks and his goons are going to expelled at least?"

"No, I think a few detentions will be enough for them." Dumbledore said airily. If he were anything but a Sage, Harry would have launched himself over the desk in order to strangle him with his own beard.

Instead, Harry stood with enough force for his chair to fall and hit the ground with a loud bang before walking over to the fireplace. "Forget suspension. This school has brought me nothing but grief, and I'll have a better time learning magic literally anywhere else." He tossed a handful of Floo Powder and watched the flames turned green before turning back to Dumbledore. "Send my things along, won't you?"

Without waiting for an answer, Harry disappeared in a swirl of emerald flames.

Author's Note

So the chapter title should be fairly self-evident, right?

Aside from his loss last chapter, he knows he did something terrible to Quirrell, but it was covered up for him by one of the most powerful people in the world. One half of him wants to push his boundaries to see what else he can get away with, as I imagine him to be feeling fairly indestructible after literally getting away with murder.

The other half is still guilty and feels like it's too good to be true. In his mind, the other shoe is about to drop and he wants to hurry things along and have his life fall apart by his own hands if he has to, as he doesn't want to wait in suspense. His nightmares and crazy schedule aren't helping his mental state either.

Either way, he's become a little prick.

Anyway, onto other matters…

I got so into the Chamber of Secrets backstory that I ended up planning an entirely new story about the Four Founders, but it distracted me from this story, so I stopped.

Ideas I had but didn't have space to naturally put in this story was mostly centred around Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I imagined them to be poor half-siblings, Godric rises up to Knighthood in Camelot and chooses the name Gryffindor for himself.

The reason his emblem is a lion and not a griffin is because he split his emblem in two: Lion for himself, eagle for Rowena. This also works because I read somewhere that Ravenclaw means the black claw of a eagle instead of a raven's claw.

I already have an idea of where I can use the plot that I had planned for the Founder's story though, so I'm not even mad at it.