Chapter 7 Snake Charmer
The next day the school was in chaos due to the fact that Professor Quarrel had not showed up for any of his classes or even left a note to announce the classes had been canceled. This brought the students who couldn't stand him great joy, and brought the professors great stress as they all voiced their complaints at the weekly staff meeting making Albus's head pound. "Albus, our class schedules are full enough without us having to teach extra classes. You've got to find another professor to take over the post." Minerva scowled as the other professors all muttered their agreement and nodded their heads.
Albus was at a loss on how to handle the situation and was about to put his foot down and just decide to teach the class himself when suddenly there was a knock at the door. He got to his feet and opened the door to see what Filtch needed this time, and staggered back in complete shock as the face of a witch who he had believed to be dead stepped passed him and handed him a folder with her resume inside of it before taking a seat between Severus and a very shocked Minerva. Dumbledore gaped and shook knowing now that it had been the new arrival who had sent him that howler, and who had ripped his world apart and flipped it upon in axis so completely.
"Lady Brown, you're alive?" he stammered in complete shock.
"Of course I am you addle minded old codger. Who else would have taken Harry Potter from that so called home that you placed him in, against his mother's wishes, and would have ensured that you paid every last knute that you owe my grandson back to his personal accounts. Honestly, Albus you really need to get ahold of your faculties, elsewise the school board of governors might just think that you are no longer up to the task of running the school and will have no choice but to have you replaced." Marry said as she toyed with one of her silver curls with a smile upon her face.
"What? Why are you saying this?" Minerva asked confused.
"Come now Mini, you and I both know very well that my grandson, should have never been placed with those retched muggles. I could very well have Albus stripped of his post as Hogwarts headmaster and have him chucked into Azkaban for his crimes against my grandson, but I've decided to be lenient, if he will allow me to take on the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for the rest of the year, and then will evict Professor Bins, and allow me to take that post from next year onward. Besides it's no great secret that he's not exactly excited for the job since he's dead. I think that I more lively professor will bring the appalling grades in that course all around back up to a standard that the School Board will approve of. Besides, my grandson, has told me that he finds it extremely boring, and the only reason that he is able to keep his grades up in that course is because of his friends among the four Hogwarts houses." Mimi said with a smirk on her face that made Severus have to fight back his desire to chuckle under his breath from behind his coffee cup.
"That's impossible, Merry, Harry Potter never arrived at Hogwarts, and his relatives have been imprisoned for abuse and neglect, and perhaps even murder of Harry." Albus said shaking.
"Oh, you are clueless. Trust me, Albus, If I say that my grandson is alive and well, and that he finds Professor Bins a complete boar, trust me that I'd never lie on such a matter. Further more, it will please you all to know, that my grandson, splits his time equally between my home and that of his true birth father who lives in France away from all of this bigotry. I had hell convincing him to allow my grandson, to attend the family school, instead of Beauxbattons, so you need to stop attempting to manipulate things to suite your needs and get to the job of enriching the minds of the young witches and wizards that were entrusted into your care, and never forget that it is because of distrust in you Headmaster, that this was all done." Mimi said with her arms crossed.
"Fine, the D.A.D.A. position is yours for the rest of the year, and I will ensure you the position of History of Magic Professor for next year." Albus sighed as he was suddenly made to feel about two inches small when everyone in the room surrounded the newest professor to their school and started chattering happily. "The Potter boy is here, but where? How could I have missed him? She can't be serious about James Potter not being the boy's biological father, can she? If James's is not the boy's father, than who is? I must find a way to speak to the boy's father and get him to see that this really is all for the greater good." Albus thought as he left the staff room with his head in a fog of sorts.
Later that evening Toby Harrison Prince was stretched out on his bed in the dormitory studying his History of Magic textbook, with Draco, while Crabbe, and Goyle made their parchments into airplanes and tossed them back and forth, when a silken voice made all except for Toby jump clear out of their skin. "Master's Crabbe and Goyle, that does not look as if you are studying. Five snakes will be taken from each of you for you blatant display of respect for your studies. Mr. Prince, I need you to come to my office, at once, your father, has arrived, and wishes to have a word with you about something important. I do believe that he said that it was in regards to your grandmother." Severus said calmly as Toby gazed up to meet his eyes, and nodded silently as he snapped his book shut and placed it into his trunk before following his head of house out of the Slytherin Common room.
When he arrived in his father's office the door instantly shut and he was quickly led into his father's personal living quarters where his grandmother waited for them both with a smile upon her face. "Dad, Mimi, what is this about? Is something wrong?" Harry asked upon being pressed down into a comfortable armchair by the fire.
"Toby, dear, do you remember what we discussed about your scar, and what had to be done to get rid of it?" Mimi asked as she gazed at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin's basilisk upon the wall.
"Yes, Mimi, I remember! What's happened? Have we gotten the last potions ingredient to remove the piece of Tom Riddle's soul from my body?" Harry asked.
"No, but considering that Albus Dumbledore now knows that I am more than alive, and the fact that you are also alive and in attendance at Hogwarts, we will need to step up our plans to rid you of the Horcrux. He doesn't know that Severus is your father, because with the help of my older brothers who work in the Ministry I've had all of those files that pertain to you and your father sealed. Not even the Goblins at Gringots will aid him in his search. My task of obtaining the last needed potion ingredient will be made even easier since, as of tomorrow, I will be your new History Of Magic Professor. That said to keep your cover and your true identity safe from Dumbledore and those who would harm, you it goes without saying that you are not to call me Granny or Mimi outside of the privacy of either your father's or my own living quarters. Is that clear?" Mimi asked.
"Yes Mimi, I understand completely." Harry nodded as he hugged first his father and then his Mimi tightly with joy on his face.
The next day Toby awoke extra early and was the first of Slytherin house to get to the great hall. He instantly saw Hermione, and Neville at their table discussing how Neville could do better in Professor Snape's class. "Hi, there Hermione, Neville. How are the two of you doing this morning?" Toby asked as he plopped down into a seat at the Gryffindor table making Percy Weasley give him a puzzled look.
"We're fine, unless you count Ron going on and on about how the Slytherin's and the fact that Neville and I are friends with a member of Slytherin house." Hermione smiled as Toby reached for his favorite breakfast foods as the Weasley twins each took a seat on either side of him.
"Oi, Prince, do you want to help us with a new prank potion?" George asked.
"Better yet, why don't we just play a prank on the entire school?" Fred said.
"That sound's fun, except for the fact that you don't have fresh potions ingredients, and my head of house will notice if any go missing from the class stores or his personal stores. However, I like a joke as much as you do, so I'll give you this. I brewed it over the summer with my Gran, and I've lust been waiting for an opportunity to use it." Toby smiled.
"What does it do?" asked Fred as he sniffed the potion.
"How long will it last?" asked George with a smirk.
It is supposed to last for twenty four hours, and according to my Gran, will change everyone's hair to match their house colors, and will even change the professor's hair color to either match that of the house that they have control over, or, will change their hair the same color as the robes that they are wearing. My Gran, said that she had once used it when she was a student, so of course, you can't tell anyone that you got it from me." Toby smirked as the twins leapt up from the seats and bolted for the kitchens as fast as they could run before breakfast began. Ron entered the Great hall, and sneered at Toby with disgust upon his face.
"Hay, Snake Prince, what are you doing sitting at the Gryffindor table? Shouldn't you be sitting with the other snake Charmers?" Ron asked as Draco rolled his eyes.
"Well, well weasel breath, it seems that for once we are in agreement over something. Come along Prince, there's no use consorting with blood traitors, and mud blood filth." Draco said making Hermione's head hang and the tears start flowing.
"Hermione is muggle born, there's no shame in that, Draco. My mother was a half blood believed to be and treated like a muggle born. That's said, I'd like it if you apologized to Hermione, as she is one of my many friends. Just because I am in Slytherin House, and my father was a Slytherin before me, with both his mother and his mother-in-law being in Ravenclaw, and my mother was a Gryffindor, so you'll understand me when I say that I am friends with those from all houses, as the blood of those who came from at least three of the four houses runs through my veins." Toby said crossing his arms.
Draco hung his head, not wishing to lose someone he believed to be a real friend over his father's teachings, so he apologized, making all of the jaws of each and every Gryffindor drop in utter and complete shock "I'm sorry that I called you a Mud Blood Granger. If my best friend can look passed it than so can I, just don't tell my father." Draco said before walking away.
"Did, he just do what I think that he did?" Ron asked gaping at Draco's back.
"You see, Ronald, not all Slytherin's are evil and dark, yes, I know what you all say about us in Slytherin house, and it's not fair. Anyway I'll see you all in class, I'm going to go and eat with Draco before his frown falls off of his face." Toby chuckled as he left for the Slytherin table.
As the Great hall filled and Breakfast began, Fred and George both returned and slid into seats at the Gryffindor table to take part in the morning meal. As they all left for their morning classes and awaited their professors to arrive they all started laughing at each other as their hair changed colors. They were still giggling as an Irate Potions Master stepped into his class room and slammed the door making the laughter die instantly. "Rest assured, that when the culprits of this prank have been discovered, that they will be in detention for the rest of the year." he snarled as he gazed around the room and took notice of the fact that there wasn't a single student who also hadn't been affected Even his own son, was sporting Slytherin Green hair that had silver streaks running from root to tip.
The laughter continued as the day went on, and the students caught sight of the other professors. Even the new D.A.D.A. Professor hadn't been spared. The blame was instantly placed upon any student who had not eaten in suspicion that they had been the one's behind the prank, though by the end of the day Albus who was sporting an impressive mane and beard of turquoise and sunshine yellow, was certain of exactly who had pranked the entire school, since she had done it in her time as a student. Of course, Mimi laughed it off with her purple and hunter green striped hair. "Come now, Headmaster, I did tell you that my grandchild had taken after me, his mother and father in his skills. I may or may not have brewed the potion with him, but I had noting to do with placing it into the food and pranking the entire school this time." Mimi laughed as she winked at the Weasley twins and her grandson secretly in turn.
The rest of that first year passed without incident unless you counted many pranks that were played upon the entire school, and some that were played solely upon Headmaster Dumbledore by an unseen person or a Snowy white owl with soft brown eyes, much to the delight of the potions master.
Second year for Toby and his friends started with a moan from the boy's and a swoon from the girls as the newest D.A.D.A. Professor Gilderoy Lockheart took his post while Mimi Brown took the post of History of magic professor to everyone's pleasure. She made the class so much more interesting, as was testament by the grades that her students were making, and the smiles upon their faces after each class. The entire school's worth of students loved their new professor so much in fact, that it ended up making it very hard for Albus to discover which of the first year boys from each house, was Harry Potter in disguise. All of the students in first year and up would enjoy a warm hug from their new professor, and she truly cared for all of them as if they were her own grandchildren, so it was unsurprising that most of the first years and many of the higher up students chose to turn to the older witch instead of their own heads of house, when they had problems.
As the year progressed, Toby started hearing things, voices that said the most horrendous things that seemed to be inside of the very walls of Hogwarts. Due to her bond to Tom Riddle, Mimi also heard the voices, and after Toby had found Tom's Diary in moaning Mertle's bathroom on the second floor and brought it directly to her feeling afraid when he realized what it was, when he was sucked into it after writing within it's pages one night. Mimi shuddered as she took the diary that she had seen so many times in the hands of the wizard that she had once loved. She knew without a doubt that it was one of his Horcruxes, and placed it with the others.
Later that night after yet another student was petrified, Mimi decided that it was time to make her move. She knew the words that would open the Chamber of secrets as Tom had taught them to her, since she wasn't a natural parcel mouth. Toby wanted to come down into the chamber with her, but she refused to allow it, just incase the Basilisk didn't recognize her, or worse didn't care, and simply killed her then and there. So you could imagine her horrified shock and relief when she entered the chamber and was greeted by the sight of the Basilisk, who not only recognized her and slid the protective transparent lid over it's eyes, but brought the boy in the invisibility cloak to her Last Mistresses attention.
Harry just stood there as his Mimi strode angrily towards him and ripped the cloak from his head with a disappointed scowl upon her face. "Toby Harrison Prince, didn't I tell you, that you were not to follow me down here? Why have you disobeyed me, you could have been killed had the Basilisk not recognized me and showed that she still cared and respected me." she scolded as the Basilisk slithered up and sniffed at the boy's pockets.
"You have sssomething that you wisssh of me do dessstroy, don't you nestling of My Missstresss?" the Basilisk hissed.
"Yes, I think that this is what was causing you to attack our muggle born students." Toby said as he handed the diary over to the Basilisk who looked down at it with loathing.
"Toby, how did you get that, out of the place where I put it? Wait a minute, better question can you actually speak parcel tongue?" Mimi asked as she snapped to the fact that her grandchild had gotten into the Chamber without her.
"I can speek it, Mimi. As for how I got the Diary, there was a house elf named Dobby who got it for me." Toby smirked.
"A house elf! You are definitely as clever as your father. I didn't think to ward it against the house elves." Mimi said as a cold breeze blew and they suddenly turned to see a ghost like younger version of Tom Riddle standing beside the Diary with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Well, and what have we here? Two willing victims for my Basilisk to make me stronger and bring me back to the land of the living." Tom said.
"No Tom, I'm not going to let that happen. You'll not murder anyone else, and you'll not be returning this time." Mimi said as she picked up the diary and handed it over to the Basilisk who politely opened it's mouth.
"Who are you, and what are you doing? The Basilisk obeys me and me alone." Tom screamed angrily.
"You are your younger self, Tom, do you not remember anyone who you actually taught parcel tongue to that you once introduced to the Basilisk as your mate, ordering her to obey her as it would you?" Mimi asked calmly.
"Marry! No, don't! We can be together at last!" Tom pleaded as Marry nodded to the Basilisk who bit down onto the diary destroying it making Tom Vanish with screams of rage. They watched as Tom faded away and the Basilisk gave a relaxed hissing sigh.
"It hasss been sssimply horrible to be controlled by that thing, Missstresss Marry. I am in your debt and that of the boy, but I sssenssse the sssame darknesss within him. Have you the other two ingreedientsss for the Purity potion?" the Basilisk asked.
"Yes, I do, we only lack one last thing, that's why I came down here in the hopes of speaking to you." Mimi said as she removed a crystal flask from her robe pocket.
"You have alwaysss been an honorable human, and I can tell that you love your Grandnessstling very much and It will be a pleasssure to give you what you need to help the boy. Sssuch darknesss mussst not be allowed to return to thisss place. Take my venom, Missstresss Marry and Usse it to sssave the child . I will no return to my duitiesss of protecting this ssschool as I was asssked to do by Sssalizar Ssslytherin before he left. The Muggle born ssstudents will never be harmed by me again." the basilisk hissed after placing a fang gently to the opening of the flask and letting her venom flow freely.
"Thank you Naga, you have no idea how much this means to me." Mimi said as she hugged the Basilisk before the massive serpent slithered quietly back into her domain to relax in peace.
"So what now, Mimi?" Harry asked giving the Basilisk a look.
"Now we can get to brewing the potion that will take that piece of Tom's soul out of you, and can destroy the evil artifacts that he created without damaging them. Come along Toby, it's far passed your bedtime." Mimi said as she guided him out of the Chamber of secrets while mentally going over things in her mind. As they left the Chamber of Secrets, Naga slithered back to the opening at the base of the statue of Salazar Slytherin, and hissed softly allowing a bond to form with the nestling of Marry Brown. Harry stopped briefly and nodded at the massive serpent who had bonded herself to him.
"Yesss, Young massster, I ssshall alwaysss be here for you. If you ever have need of me, jussst call my name, and I ssshall inssstantly appear at your side." Naga thought making Harry smile as the door to the chamber shut blocking his view of the Basilisk.