Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's/
This is a shorter chapter I'm afraid, we're back to what used to the normal chapter length when the story started; there didn't seem much point trying to throw in a lot of filler to pad around a couple of important events before everything starts to kick off.
I've also corrected my blunder with the Fidelius Charm, I glossed over one of the key facts to do with the death of the secret keeper and misinterpreted how it works, but that should all be fixed now.
So this the next one!
Chapter 55
The return of the other students also meant that Harry's favourite target for legilimency practise had returned. He'd moved well beyond trying to cast the charm on him from his sleeve while his victim napped in front of the fire, and now, in the first free period following Arithmancy and Runes, Harry was proudly skimming the surface thoughts of the hapless Colin Creevey without needing anything more than brief eye contact.
Creevey didn't have a great deal to share except a growing dislike of potions, frustration and despair at his coming grade, so Harry switched targets, brushing at the edges of the minds of a scatter of the younger years who were brave enough to meet his eyes. Most of them were afraid of him, or at least very uncomfortable under his attention, so he gleaned next to nothing else from them. He did learn that one of them had been mysteriously abducted from Umbridge's office before he could have a nasty accident with some very corrosive liquids. Dobby was doing well.
A loud thump jolted him from his hobby and announced Neville's return from the library.
He'd acquired a very large book on magical cacti, presumably at the instruction of Professor Sprout, and proceeded to open it mumbling about mimbulus mimbletonia under his breath.
'Looking for something interesting?' Harry asked. He had a choice between finishing his Runes essay, something he'd rather not do at that minute, and finding excuses to distract himself. The latter seemed the more preferable of the two.
'Assyrian magical plants,' Neville replied absently, still flicking through the pages. 'There's supposed to be very special soil types that Hannah needs to survive.'
'Still calling it Hannah, then,' Harry laughed. 'Has she found out yet?'
'She's only been back for one night,' Neville frowned, 'who would have told her?'
'Professor Sprout,' Harry grinned. 'She's bound to mention the prized possession of her favourite pupil to the best Herbology student in her house.'
'Please stop,' Neville pleaded, looking very red and slightly faint. Clearly he hadn't considered that.
'That bad?' Harry smirked. 'Look on the bright side, now you know that she really will be flattered that you've named it after her. Professor Sprout will say nothing but nice things about Hannah, your Hannah, that is, the cactus.'
'How would you like it if I constantly teased you about Fleur?' Neville demanded, closing the book.
'I wouldn't,' Harry admitted, 'but you've rather missed the moment for that. Still, I'll stop, but only when you've asked her to Hogsmeade, otherwise I'll just get worse and worse.'
'That's the most horrible way to make sure I ask her out,' Neville muttered. 'You couldn't have just tried to convince me she would say yes, could you?'
'I don't think it would be as fun,' Harry remarked cheerfully. 'Do you know anything about runes, Nev?'
'Nothing that you don't know,' he shrugged. 'I don't even take the subject.'
'So I'll have to wait for Hermione to come down and start enthusing about her essay to figure what I might have missed out and can use to fill in the last inch or so,' Harry realised.
'I'm not sure she's done it yet,' Neville told him, lowering his voice. 'I heard from Ron that Lavender told him she was up all night. Apparently she had some kind of nightmare, she wasn't taking anywhere near as many notes as normal today; she must be tired. Ron's been pretty withdrawn too, I've only seen him voluntarily speaking to the guys in our dorm, Hermione and Lavender.'
'Ron's father died just before christmas,' Harry explained sombrely, thinking back to their Runes and Arithmancy classes. Hermione had looked more tired than usual, and he couldn't remember seeing Ron doing anything more than stare out the window morosely at breakfast and lunch.
Ron not eating must be a warning sign of something wrong.
'I didn't know,' Neville looked mortified.
'It's not exactly something to shout about is it,' Harry pointed out.
'No,' Neville said softly. 'It explains what he said to Romilda Vane, though.' Harry raised an eyebrow and Neville elucidated. 'She was asking about your adventures in the early years, Romilda's well known for having a bit of a crush on you. Ron told her that they're only adventures for the people who don't get hurt and walked off.'
'They're not adventures at all,' Harry commented, agreeing with Ron for the first time in a while. 'Too many people nearly died. Me, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and more. Calling them adventures is naive and thoughtless.'
Neville looked at him thoughtfully and then nodded slowly. 'Ron said pretty much the same thing to use afterwards.'
Harry returned to his Arithmancy essay, tapping his quill on the table and wracking his brain for anything else he might know about the divination of numbers.
Nothing immediately useful sprang to mind and he sighed, abandoning any last hope of managing to reach the length Professor Vector had prescribed to the class. Every essay she set seem just a little longer than anyone could realistically write about the subject for.
Neville had returned to flicking through his giant Herbology tome, frowning more and more deeply.
'Something wrong?' Harry inquired.
'I'm going to have trouble re-potting Hannah,' Harry stifled a laugh, 'the silica content of the soil has to be just right or it becomes too alkaline and she'll die.'
'Can't you just order some special soil from wherever it's native too?'
'Hannah comes from Assyria, but I guess I could,' Neville nodded. 'It's cheating really, you're supposed to make your own blend of soil types, but it would be better than letting her die.'
'What would Hannah think if you let her namesake wilt from neglect?' Harry grinned, rolling up his essay and tucking it into his bag. 'I'm going to go and give this to Professor Vector,' he announced. 'It's not due until tomorrow, but I don't want to see it anymore.'
'Fair enough,' Neville chuckled. 'I've got lots of things to research for taking care of Hannah, so I'll still be here for a while.'
'I might go for a walk down near the lake,' Harry told him. 'Don't wait for me or anything.'
'I wasn't going to,' Neville shrugged. 'I've got a DA meeting to do, the first one since everyone's come back.'
'Enjoy,' Harry smiled, knowing Neville genuinely did take pleasure in helping and teaching the DA members. He hoped that once it had served his purpose for him that it could be in re-instated officially. He was almost tempted to go just to make remarks to Neville about the plant Harry had bought him while Hannah was listening, but it wasn't worth putting up with the other students. They'd almost certainly try to rope him into teaching them something.
He passed Ron and Lavender talking just outside the portrait, and, unable to resist temptation, caught Ron's eye. The red-head looked away immediately, but Harry had long enough to glimpse a fragment of conversation with Hermione about her terrible taste in necklaces and the constant aching sadness that clouded his thoughts.
Harry hadn't really lied to Neville, he been a bit misleading, but he hadn't lied to his friend. That was a line he was trying not to cross if he could help it. The chamber was directly below the lake after all.
Glancing back down the stairs he caught Lavender's back disappearing into the passageway behind the Fat Lady. Binns wouldn't notice if he was absent from History of Magic should he not come back in time. Neville wouldn't say anything about Harry's absence.
'Hello, Myrtle,' Harry greeted calmly, glimpsing a flash of pearly white through the door of her cubicle. 'How have you been?' He asked, opening the chamber.
'Harry,' she floated shyly over. 'I've been ok.'
'Seen anything in the Prefect's Bathroom?' Harry inquired, smirking. He face went silver, and a slightly dreamy look came over her face. 'Actually, I'm not sure I want to know,' he decided playfully.
'Are you sure?' Myrtle looked disappointed.
'If you must tell me,' Harry smiled, 'then go on.'
'Cedric Diggory was in there yesterday when he came back after christmas. He had a really long bath,' Myrtle sighed, 'all the bubbles ran out.'
'You're incorrigible,' Harry grinned. 'Didn't he see you?'
'No,' Myrtle giggled. 'I can be sneaky if I want to.'
'Well no peeking on me if get made prefect next year,' he laughed, starting down the stairs.
'No promises, Harry,' Myrtle called after him. He could practically hear her blushing.
The Chamber of Secrets was colder than he expected and Harry was shivering by the time he had crossed the thorough the gaze of serpent effigies lining the hall to reach Salazar's study.
'Cold?' The painting asked.
'It's not warm down here,' Harry commented, casting a couple of warming charms over himself to remedy things. 'Why couldn't you have included a fireplace or something?'
'Where would I put a chimney for the smoke?' Slytherin countered.
'You're Salazar Slytherin,' Harry retorted. The founder gave him a flat look and shut his mouth before breaking out into a smile.
'Nobody's turned that line around on me since Godric got himself killed chasing myths.' He stroked the head of his snake, smiling nostalgically. 'Why have you come?'
'To learn, of course,' Harry responded dryly. 'And maybe discuss a few ideas with you.'
'Well if you want to learn something it would be best for it to be blood magic,' Salazar decided. 'That or you can try and improve your duelling skills.'
'Why not both?' Harry asked, gesturing at the time-turner.
'As long as you don't overuse it,' Slytherin agreed. 'You were using it too much last year, but we didn't have much choice to make sure you were skilled enough to survive. It would be best to only use it once or twice a week, just to avoid putting to much stress on your mind and driving you insane.'
'We wouldn't want that,' Harry agreed. 'Then there'd be two senile people in here.'
'That's why you should only use it sparingly,' Salazar quipped, 'best to only have one of you at a time.' Harry laughed at the retort, and sat down at the desk.
'Blood magic first,' he decided. 'I can learn in here for a bit, while future me practices wand motions outside.'
The founder nodded approvingly. 'Before we start on blood magic have you got anywhere with the mind arts?'
'I'm capable of utilising passive legilimency now,' Harry answered proudly. 'I haven't tried it on more than a handful of unprotected minds to avoid the risk of detection, but I can do it.'
'It shouldn't make too much difference,' Salazar shrugged. 'The connection is so faint and slight it takes a very competent practitioner to detect or prevent.'
'I noticed Dumbledore's,' Harry disagreed.
'You're naturally gifted at this branch of magic, all our family is, you're more than very competent.'
'Thanks,' Harry smiled. Most of the compliments he got from the painting were down to being a part of his bloodline and family. Salazar Slytherin had been a very family orientated man from what Harry could see. Proud too.
'The truth is the truth,' the portrait nodded. 'Now, blood magic. Do you remember what I taught you before.'
'You pretty much told me that it used blood as a medium and was often sacrificial based,' Harry summarised.
'I doubt I said it so simply and inelegantly,' the painting remarked snidely, 'but that is a very basic paraphrasing of a rudimental understanding.'
'I'm happy to listen to a more elegant definition,' Harry told him flatly, putting his feet on the desk. Salazar eyed his raised toes distastefully, but relented.
'Blood magic is any magic that uses blood as a medium, sacrifice or focus,' he explained. 'Most commonly it is used as a sacrifice, and a medium simultaneously. Not many wizards do more than dabble in such a dangerous branch of magic, but those that do normally utilise it for rituals, wards and enchanting.'
Fleur might find this interesting, Harry noted, wondering if he should tell her, or if she might be safer not messing with it.
'You're not listening,' the painting snapped.
'I was considering the applications to enchanting,' Harry retorted.
'You were thinking about Fleur Delacour again,' Salazar corrected, smiling softly despite the acid remark. 'You had that silly smile on your face.'
'I'm listening now,' Harry conceded, trying not to flush at the founder's remark.
'Good. Since it's such a powerful medium for magic, the most powerful and personal as far as we know, it can be used to create powerful wards, ones that only someone of the same blood can cross, such as those in this chamber, or ones that require a sacrifice of blood to bypass. The latter can be useful in creating traps, if your enemy thinks that spattering a bit of blood will grant him entry he might be tempted to risk it. Once he's within the wards a clever enough casting can leave him trapped or, two way wards that allow entry for everyone and exit for only one person are useful. I cast two sets over my home so that any attackers would be trapped between them for as long as I desired.'
'Can they be broken?'
'Blood magic wards are very powerful,' Slytherin responded, 'but yes, if you're of sufficient puissance then you can overpower the magic behind them and eradicate them. I wouldn't advise it, though. Anyone capable of creating blood magic wards is likely powerful in their own right, and since the magic is tied to their blood you'll be forced into a conflict of direct magical strength.'
'What about the wards tied to this chamber?' Harry inquired. 'How do they work?'
'The wards of this chamber are bound to my blood,' Salazar explained with a touch of pride. 'Only a parseltongue can open the entrances, and only someone of my bloodline can pass through the other wards. It's why you can apparate in and out of here, but nobody else can.'
'Except Voldemort,' Harry reminded him.
'Except Voldemort,' Slytherin admitted, 'but I doubt he would come here until it's worth the risk. He has nothing here that he cares for and no reason to come until he wants to enter the school. He never came back after leaving the school, not even at the height of his power.'
'What about portkeys?'
'Only someone of my blood can portkey here, though anyone who has seen the inside can create a portkey here.'
'What would happen if they tried?' Harry asked.
'I don't know,' Slytherin mused. 'Maybe you should get someone to try, just to find out. I suppose the portkey would just fail, or they might bounce off and arrive nearby. They might even vanish completely,' he enthused.
'Maybe another time,' Harry decided. He'd save playing with experimental magic until he no longer wanted to live a long and fulfilling life. 'How did you make the wards?'
'With great difficulty and over a very long time,' the painting replied proudly. 'I had to sacrifice something very dear to create them, I did it after my wife passed. We had matching lockets,' Harry's hand darted to the warm triangle of metal against his chest, 'my wife's went to my daughter, but I had to sacrifice mine to create these wards. It was the only thing I owned that I could use except my own life.'
'And apart from that?' Harry knew the founder would rather not talk about his wife and daughter too much. He still felt guilty for his sacrifice and the effect it had had on their lives afterwards.
'Every single protective spell I knew and could cast save the Fidelius Charm, which I considered trying to convert so that my bloodline would be permanent secret keepers, but the cost was already too high and I chose not to try.'
'I don't understand how you cast all these spells and then bind them to your bloodline,' Harry admitted.
'It's abstract magic,' Salazar agreed gently. 'You cast all the spells with runes rather than your wand, just as you did for the ritual to correct your eyesight. I drew a runic description of my intent within the confines of the chamber using my blood as ink, making it the medium and bond, and then combined with my intentional sacrifice that was enough.'
'I understand the concept,' Harry decided, turning it over in his head. 'I could probably draw the runes with a bit of help, but I'm not sure I would know what to do with the sacrifice.'
'As long as the value of what you're sacrificing is roughly proportional to what you're gaining then it will work. My locket was one of the last connections I had to my wife, losing it was painful, but protecting and aiding my future family was just as important, even if I personally valued the locket more highly than just about anything else.'
'I see,' Harry murmured. 'So if I wanted to create blood wards around a house to protect someone important to me I would have to sacrifice something of approximately equal value. I could use the ring Fleur gave me, then, to create more powerful wards than if I used my blood as the sacrifice.'
'Yes,' the painting agreed. 'Though if you only sacrificed the ring to create some effect unrelated to blood that would technically just be sacrificial magic, something Godric and I believed to be love based. It would also make no difference to the magic how great your sacrifice was once the maximum effect was reached. The ward you make can only be so strong, so there's a point at which sacrificing more makes no difference.'
'So how would I enchant something using blood magic?'
'That's the simplest use,' Slytherin answered quickly. 'The enchantments you place would simply be bound to your blood so only you and your descendants could safely use them, or use them at all. Using blood as a medium through which to create the enchantments would make them much stronger than normal too. Some of the most legendary magical artefacts made by wizards were likely made using a combination of sacrificial and a blood magic medium to create the desired effect.'
'A powerful sacrifice and a powerful medium to create the strongest possible enchantment,' Harry surmised.
'Exactly,' Salazar nodded. 'Though it would likely require a great deal of topical knowledge and a mastery of runes and relevant lore to have the understanding and intent required to create something quite so exceptional as those such artefacts.'
'The Caduceus is one,' Slytherin told him thoughtfully. 'It was seen in the classical era and earlier, but was lost after the fall of Rome. It was a staff of healing without comparison. Imagine a wand that was so powerful any healing spells cast through it were almost always successful. It was rumoured to be so strong that anything but death could be cured by a talented healer who possessed it. It was so famous it remains a part of non-magical mythology to this day.'
'Any others?' Harry asked, curious.
'A very long list,' Salazar smiled. 'I'll tell you about some of them in the future, but you have more important things to worry about now.'
'That's true,' Harry nodded. 'I can't think of a way to sneak out of here to the Department of Mysteries without running the risk of Dumbledore checking the wards and seeing I have left.'
'If you leave via the chamber he will not be directly alerted, but if he looks at the records at a later date it will be rather obvious.'
'So he has stop being headmaster for at least the time period in which I'm going to be away for,' Harry deduced.
'I believe so,' the founder agreed. 'You already have a plan to oust him, don't you?'
'Yes,' Harry agreed, 'but with the Minister losing power I don't know how long Dumbledore's exile will last.'
'Act fast,' Salazar shrugged. 'Get rid of him, the Ministry's replacement if you're certain she cannot be left in control, then go as soon as you are able.'
'I'll have to,' Harry responded. 'I'm sure that Fudge, the Minister, will jump at the chance to get rid of Albus Dumbledore and try and earn some credibility back, but his days are supposed to be numbered now, so I have little doubt the headmaster will be back if he wants to be.'
'If his martyr is here, he will want to be,' Slytherin replied darkly.
'No doubt,' Harry sneered angrily.
'Your godfather sounded willing to help you,' the painting remarked after a pause.
'It shouldn't be too hard to get in. If Dumbledore and Umbridge are gone nobody will be watching me and the only obstacle will be getting through the door into the Department of Mysteries.'
'You should ask Sirius Black about that,' Slytherin encouraged. 'If the Order of the Phoenix has been guarding the place all this time then they should be able to get in by now.'
'They better,' Harry nodded. 'Or I'll have to try and force my through. I could try the cloak,' he mused, 'but I'd still need to get rid of any physical barriers.'
'Yes,' Salazar agreed. 'Don't lose that cloak, Harry,' he warned seriously. 'That's a very rare and useful artefact, if it truly makes you and your magic undetectable to everything then you have something on a par with the Caduceus in your possession.'
'Really?'
'Oh yes,' Salazar nodded, staring curiously at the silvery cloak. 'It's not a story for now, you have enough on your mind for the moment, but in the near future it might be prudent for you to learn a little more about that cloak.' He adopted a faintly regretful expression. 'You should always know exactly how much something means to you.'
'It's the only thing I have from my father,' Harry said quietly. 'It's going to mean a great deal regardless of how useful it is.'
'Well I'm not advocating sacrificing it for any reason,' Slytherin said quickly, 'in fact I advise against for any reason other than to save your own life. It's likely very valuable.'
'How valuable?'
'Priceless,' Slytherin smiled ruefully. 'It's the sort of thing wizards spend lifetimes looking for.'
'How intriguing,' Harry murmured.
'Just don't lose it,' Salazar warned him sternly.
'I wasn't going to,' Harry grinned. 'I did wonder how good it was if it's capable of crossing age lines, the wards around Rita Skeeter's house and making me all but undetectable. Dumbledore did find me under it once,' he admitted though.
'Really?' Slytherin mused. 'That's quite an impressive feat, quite an impressive feat indeed. He may have outdone death.'
'He what?' Harry asked, perplexed.
'I'll tell you once this plan to do with the prophecy is completed,' Salazar promised. 'You need to keep your focus for now, not go chasing after obscure myths like Godric and I did.'
Considering Harry knew that both Salazar and Godric had been killed or consumed by their quests he was more than happy to listen to the painting. Unlike Dumbledore Salazar genuinely cared for his descendant and would have a good reason for waiting to tell him.
He reached for the time-turner, ducking his head through the thin gold chain. 'Any suggestions for what I should practice for my duelling?'
'Yes,' Salazar smiled. 'Try casting your Shield Charm and your silly butterflies simultaneously. If you can manage that then you'll have a very powerful defence to fall back upon.'
'How can I cast two pieces of magic at the same time?' Harry demanded. It sounded either impossible or useless since the intent behind one would be frail, rendering it fragile and pathetic.
'You can cast the Shield Charm wandlessly and wordlessly, yes?' Slytherin asked.
'More or less,' Harry answered. It wasn't quite as powerful when he cast without a wand, though it was faster.
'Then you have it down to a reflex already, a bit of practice casting both should allow you to combine the two spells into what will be effectively a single piece of defensive magic.'
Harry considered it. 'How is it any better than deflecting hexes from within the butterflies?'
'It's safer,' Salazar replied. 'You won't be able to attack, and it's less flexible than duelling while your animated defense protects you, but defensively it is stronger, should you need or want to weather a lot of spells in a short period of time then it may prove the best tactic.'
'I'll practise it,' Harry decided, flipping the turner several times.
'Practise chaining your wand motions too,' Slytherin added, as the room around Harry blurred and time spun backwards around him.
AN: Please read and keep on reviewing, thanks to everyone who does, and I hope my explanation of blood magic and related areas wasn't too incomprehensible, explaining complex, abstract things is not as easy as I thought it would be!
