Harry Potter and the Seers' Truth
By Lady Lestrange
Sisshasss-A-Sisshasss
(A/N: I know, I have to come up with a good name for the Ravenclaw chapter. Why isn't anyone helping me? This is your review challenge. Help me out. Think of a good name, and you get a yummy picture of your choice: Tom, Draco Harry or Ginny under an Invisibility cloak.)
10 REVIEWS. Here's the new chapter—I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 10 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. LOL Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to reviews follow the story.
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infringement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. THANKS JK.
--LADY LESTRANGE
***
(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down FOUR times. --Lady Lestrange)
UP TO THIS POINT: Parvati has been having dreams and visions about the Dark Lord, Harry and a Prophecy Child. So far, they are not sure who the prophecy child is, and it is important for them to find him/her. The Sorting Hat is not sorting, so the students have "little brothers and sisters" to show around. The dream team thinks that The Sorting Hat failing is a plot to hide the Prophecy child from the teachers and anyone who can help insure that he/she stays on the side of light. No one is sure that the brothers and sisters actually belong to the house they are currently in.
The Hogwarts Express has been attacked. Dark Marks have been in the sky. The floo network is compromised. The Minister of Magic has been turned. Snape is now teaching both Defense and Advanced Defense, but it looks like Advanced Defense is just an excuse to let the Slytherins and Ginny and Edward visit the Dark Lord. Mrs. Figg is teaching potions and we know very little about her so far, except that she was against Dumbledore's suggestion to make Poly Juice Potion.
Beatrice is an animagus, a bunny. Edward's granny looks like she could have given the Dursleys a few pointers on cruelty. Slytherin is a house at war according to Snape, divided between Death Eaters and those who want to stay on the side of light. Harry uses his Invisibility Cloak and finds out when it is ripped, the Invisibility spell ceases. There is an unwelcome addition to Myrtle's bathroom, Olive Hornby. Peeves is his usual annoying self, but the Baron seems to have a little less control over him.
Samara, for some reason, lofts some wicked, powerful curses. She doesn't look like she has total control over them, which isn't really surprising since she's learned magic on her own from a book, that Harry is sure is a dark book. She seems to like Draco, but don't assume this is a romance. It is not. Ginny is still hearing voices in her head. Harry's scar is hurting more, and neither he nor Ginny know what this means. Ginny is closer with Harry this year, but again, not romantically. There is Edward, the new Gryffindor, who seems interested in Ginny, but Ginny really hasn't gotten over Tom.
We find out about Neville's powerful auror parents. We learn that Neville has a memory charm that was put on him as a baby. He's a more powerful wizard than anyone ever thought as evidenced by his yew wand and the way he reacts to Snape's ministrations in trying to remove the memory charm. We might wonder why Snape is trying to do this himself, instead of enlisting the help of Madam Pomfrey. Sirius and Lupin are on "fieldtrips" with the sixth and seventh years.
Of course we can also wonder why Snape is so determined to teach his classes advanced spells like the Patronus, or we can just chalk it up to Snape, being mean. The Fifth year class starts apparition classes and we meet Professor Sinistra. We also visit Hufflepuff, where we see The Wall, and Slytherin house, where we discover, to our amazement, a magic room that Draco shares with Samara, but Samara has a very unslytherin use for the room. Ravenclaw to come next weekend.
The chapter, CHAINED AND CHARMED, takes place at the same time as DANCING IS AN OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE-when Samara was in Slytherin, dancing. It is Saturday afternoon. Harry and the Gryffindors examine Samara's Dark Book, after they come back from lunch. They find an extreme potion, and decide they need to make a trip to the Chamber of Secrets. Ghastly Ghostly Dinner is when Gryffindor's meet with Samara after her little trip to Slytherin. Samara and Beatrice are persuaded by Edward to help him steal his snake back from his brother Ethan. Things get a little out of hand, and Samara learns more about Slytherin than she ever wanted to know.
Now the Gryffindors are mad at her. Samara wants to make up and be friends with them, but is it possible to befriend both Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy? How far will she go to make up, or will she just find some valuable information to store away for future use? (So, don't you want one of those Tee shirts?)
LIONS AND TIGERS: We see a very stressed out Snap both in Harry's memory of what happened with Snap and Neville and in the actual DADA class. We find out Trelawney doesn't want Samara in her class and Samara decides to take Ancient Runes instead. McGonagall assures Samara that Trelawney has done her a favor. McGonagall further talks to Samara about her experiences in Gryffindor, opening the door to give Samara someone to talk to, if she so chooses. We also learned lots more about animagi in McGonagall's class. Snape dismisses the Gryffifndors and keeps the Slytherins after class. We find out it's because Snape wants them to practice their patronus because the Slytherins are so lousy at the spell. Could it be because there are so few happy memories to chose from? In DRAGON BREATH AND BLUDGER BATS, Ginny and Edward set the Slytherins up with fire mints, and Samara gets extremely angry at them both because they hurt her friends. In an effort to contain her anger, she goes to the Quiddich pitch where she meets Fred and George. After lobbing a few quaffles at them in her anger, they decide to ask her to be a Beater for Gryffindor. She refuses, but later when she talks to Draco, he is not very nice to her, (hey, who said Draco was a nice guy?) so she wonders whether or not she should take the Beater job. In WISH IT REAL; WISH IT NOT we see into one of Ginny's dreams. If you don't remember this dream, go and re-read chapter 28. In Chapter 29, THE SPELLING BEE, Samara is feeling homesick and friendless until Draco invites Samara back to Slytherin. Also, includes a short intro into what's coming up in potions class. In Chapter 30, CHILD OF GRYFFINDOR, Neville and Snape break the Imperio part of the Memory Charm. The trio discusses the Founders' spells, which put their gifts in the Sorting Hat; however they do not have the original parseltongue version of Salazar's spell. Ginny also sees Edward painting and the reader sees a bit of Ginny and Tom's relationship. In SLYTHERIN GAMES—Well, if you don't remember it, you better re-read. Voldemort is finally out and angry—burning and pillaging and we see a little-known inside version of Slytherin through Ginny's eyes. In STICKY SITUATIONS, Samara uses her adhere charm on the Weasley twins, Neville sticks Beatrice's wand to his with bubble gum, and Edward is sticking in Gryffindor. In OW POST the Slytherins get even for the Dragon Breath Mints, among other things—In the Ravenclaw chapter—I'm still trying to think of a good name for it—Help me please—we meet a number of Ravenclaws and find out a little more about the characters, in Ravenclaw as well as Edward and Samara. So do you think either of them are really Ravenclaws? Hmmmm? In chapter 35 we meet Sirius again who plans to have a talk with Dumbledore about his keeping Harry safe and of course what that nasty Snape is doing to poor Neville. Stay tuned for more Neville and his awesome auror parents coming up after this--
AND NOW ON TO THE STORY:
Sisshasss-A-Sisshasss
(A/N: You remember what that title means right? Or do you need a parseltongue brush up course? 10 suck up points to anyone who tells me what the parseltongue means in their review).
Harry awoke on Friday wishing that he had just had another bad dream. Unfortunately, real life seemed worse than his dreams right now. Fred and George had been gone from the school for the past five days, spreading the word that the Ministry was compromised. When they came back, yesterday, they were secretly put in the hospital wing to give them a little rest and privacy. No one knew what had happened at first, but last night, he and Ron, under the invisibility cloak, had finally visited them, after they had completed their conversation with Sirius.
They learned that the twins, along with Lupin, and Lyle Applegate had approached Rookwood to tell him about the Ministry being compromised and allowing him a chance to join Dumbledore and the side of Light. Instead of answering, Rookwood drew his wand, and spoke Avada Kedavara, killing Lyle Applegate. Only due to the lightening quick werewolf reflexes of Lupin were the rest of them still alive. Rookwood was taken to trial where today, in spite of Dumbledore's testimony, the Minister Cornelius Fudge pronounced that Rookwood was under the Imperious curse when he spoke the spell that killed Lyle Applegate before the eyes of three other wizards. The twin's testimony was not admissible because they were under age and Lupin, as a werewolf was not trusted. Therefore, Rookwood was released back to his old job of supervisor of the Askaban guard.
"We should have cursed the old bastard first," said George. Lupin told us that he was suspected before for dealing in the Dark Arts.
"You can't condemn someone before they even have a trial," said Harry. "Then we'd be as bad as Barty Crouch, Sr."
Lyle never even got to play keeper," said Fred. "Not one game." His voice caught and he started to cry.
Harry had never seen the twins so depressed, and it shook him to the core of his soul.
"We brought some food from the kitchens," Ron told them, but the food went untouched.
Ron and Harry stood by helplessly watching.
When they got back to their common room, Ron turned to him. "I don't want to play keeper," he said softly. "Not like this."
It was Hermione who finally snapped them out of their despondency. "I know what you need," she said, pulling the Invisibility cloak back around them. "You need to get this mystery solved. We have to find the prophecy child and win that child to the side of Light, and crush Voldemort once and for all."
"Where are we going?" Asked Harry.
"To the Library." said Ron. "Where else?"
"No," said Hermione. "My room. I got a package from Viktor today."
"Really?" said Harry. "Why didn't we see it at breakfast when the owls came in?"
"Because Dumbledore is having all owls with items from Albania, Drumstrang and points east, delivered to him. Students have to open the packages in his office to be sure they aren't receiving some kind of dark artifacts."
"You didn't open it in front of Dumbledore?" said Ron.
"Of course not," said Hermione. "Anyway, he was at the Ministry. I just told Professor McGonagall it was a gift from Viktor--a book I had wanted. She knew I had visited Viktor this summer in Bulgaria."
"We're definitely a bad influence on her," said Ron. "Lying to McGonagall—"
"I wasn't lying," said Hermione, incensed.
"Come on," said Harry.
Once in Hermione's room, the boys waited anxiously, while Hermione opened the box that contained Salazar's book. First she pulled out a parchment. "That's Victor's letter," she said nervously refolding it. "He thinks now, because I sent him the question about the Founders, that maybe we could pick up where we left off. He says now that he's learned how to apparate that will make all the difference.
Harry said nothing, but Ron turned a little red around the ears. "What did you tell him?" he demanded.
"Nothing yet," said Hermione, pulling out another package that fell open. Inside was a second book, entitled: Bamboozling the Basilisk: Saving the Boy Who Lived and other Students from Slytherin's Serpent, by Gilderoy Lockhart.
"What's this?" asked Harry picking up the book and looking at the picture. On the cover was a very bad rendition of Harry Potter caught in the coils of what looked like a large, but very ordinary snake. Obviously, the illustrator had never seen a basilisk, then on the other hand; people who did see basilisks generally died before they could draw pictures. On the Chamber floor next to Harry and the snake was Lockhart, defending Ron. Ron held his defective wand aloft, which made him look like he had botched the spell as he stood over Ginny who was curled in a terrified ball.
Neither Ron nor Harry spoke, but Ron looked like he was ready to explode any second.
"I didn't ask him to send that," said Hermione. "I—he knew I liked Lockhart and well—the rest of the world still thinks Lockhart is a very prominent wizard, so, I'm sure, Viktor just thought it would help—"
Harry looked again at the picture. His image was now struggling against the snake, which was thrashing wildly about the Chamber like a muggle cartoon. Although Harry's image had been turned upside down several times, he had not lost his glasses, nor had his hair moved from its neatly parted style and Ron still was showering the Chamber with fireworks from his spello-taped wand. The tiny firework flames were rebounding off of the snake and disappearing in puffs of smoke. All the while, Ginny wailed like a two year old in a temper tantrum. Gilderoy brandished a very tacky Sword of Godric Gryffindor, which looked oddly like something that could be bought in a muggle discount store. Harry couldn't help it. He burst into laughter.
"It's not funny," said Ron. "That git didn't have anything to do with saving anyone from that basilisk! I thought he lost his memory."
"He did," said Hermione. "He's still in St. Mongo's. This story was written by a ghost writer."
"But someone had to tell the story," said Harry. "He wasn't even there!"
Hermione shook her head sadly. "His other books were fabrication. Why not this one?"
"Forget it," Ron grabbed the text and tossed it into the corner where Hermione had a stack of used parchment she apparently hadn't yet bothered to clear for re-use. It hit the wall and fell open and unheeded in the corner. "Where's Salazar's book?"
"It's here," said Hermione. "But you'll never guess where Viktor finally found it."
"Where?" asked Harry.
"Knockturn Alley. The Librarian at Drumstrang told him that he had seen a copy of such a book at a used bookstore there, so since Viktor was excited to practice his apparition, he went there to get it."
"I'm surprised he didn't just apparate it here," said Ron dryly.
"He wanted to," said Hermione, "But of course, the apparition wards around Hogwarts prevented that. She bit her lip.
"And?" prompted Ron, but Hermione didn't answer.
"Let's just see what it says," said Harry opening the thin green book at random. A mixture of symbols met his eyes. He had no idea what they were. Suddenly they swam before his eyes, becoming in his mind's eye so many snakes. "Speak to me," he hissed in parseltongue, and the book in his hand suddenly wrapped itself tightly around Harry's left wrist. While moving and slithering up his arm, it began to speak, in parseltongue, for Harry's ears only: Only one of my blood will be able to speak the great language of the ancient serpents. Only my heir will have the gift either from my blood or from my work. Only you will—
"Stupefy!" Ron and Hermione stood in front of Harry with wands drawn and the book lay slythering madly on the floor. Then it was still: a small innocuous, green book.
"What did you do that for?" demanded Harry.
"Harry, it was going to bite you," said Hermione. "I don't think you should pick it up again."
"Well, how are we supposed to read it? It's in parseltongue. Neither of you can read it," he snapped.
"Harry," said Ron, grasping Harry by the shoulders. "Calm down, Mate. We'll conquer this together."
"What do you mean together!" shouted Harry. "Since when have we conquered anything together? Ever! Who faced Quirrel and Voldemort at the Third Floor Corridor?"
Ron flinched at the name of Voldemort, but Harry continued hotly, his wand now drawn. "Who saved your sister's life in the Chamber? Were you there? No! You were babysitting that git Lockhart! Were you there in the maze? Did you take hold of the Tri-Wizard Cup with me? Did you? Did you see—see—my parents? –Did you--duel with the imposter? No! You are—"
"Stupefy!" The spell hit Harry squarely from behind, and he crumpled mid-sentence. "What in the bloody hell are you three doing?" Ginny demanded.
"Language, Ginny," said Ron softly, "We got a book," he continued, indicating the volume on the floor.
Ginny sat on her bed and began to laugh, but it was not a pleasant laughter, it was a high pitched maniacal laughter. "You got a book," she said. "And Harry tried to read it? Let me see."
"No. I don't think we should," said Ron protectively.
Hermione levitated the book with her wand and opened it to the first page. "I touched it before," said Hermione, "But now, that I've seen what it did to Harry, I'm not so sure I should have touched it. It hissed at Harry, and then--"
"It spoke in parseltongue," said Ginny, as she moved forward to examine the book.
"I feel like I've seen this book before." Ginny searched her brain for a memory that she felt should be there, but wasn't. "It's in parseltongue—" she continued, glancing back at Harry who was still unconscious, on the floor.
"Harry?" said Hermione.
"I don't know—" said Ginny frowning. "Maybe we should take him to Madam Pomfrey."
"Or maybe he will be alright now that he's not in contact with the book," said Ron. "What do you think Hermione? You know how Harry hates to be in the hospital wing—"
"Ennervate!" said Hermione.
"Oh," said Harry as he awoke and clutched his scar. "Headache." He looked around at Ron, Hermione and Ginny. "Who stunned me?" He asked.
"I did," said Ginny. "Sorry."
"I heard the book," said Harry. "It's definitely parseltongue and if I just—" he reached out for the book again.
"No!" shouted all three of them together.
"Don't touch it," said Hermione. "Let's just look at it like this first." She flipped to the first page, which had English writing on it. It said:
This book was written for a parselmouth. If you are not a parselmouth, you should pass this book on to another. It does not belong to you. If you wish to learn the secrets here, turn the page and sign your name in your own blood. I hereby trade, all that I am, to learn--
Hermione turned the page with her wand and examined the next page. It said, I dedicate my life and death to the purification of the wizarding world. The signature section was completely blank. But that meant nothing, thought Ginny. The blood could seep into the page like it did in the Diary. Hermione turned the page. Here were the squiggle lines that Harry had first looked at. To Ginny, they seemed to be moving. Apparently, Harry saw something different too.
"If I just—" he reached out again, and Ron pushed him back.
"Harry if you try to touch it again, we're going to have to take you to Madam Pomfrey. Can't you just look at it and read it?"
"I don't remember that much," said Ginny thoughtfully, "but it's not like there are thousands of letters in Parseltongue. We should be able to translate, without your touching it, Harry. Snakes don't have the range of sounds that human beings have. This squiggle is 's'. This one is 'sh'. This one, 'ths'." She continued through the sounds for a moment and then Harry began correcting her and putting his own sounds in.
"Not 'ths'," he said. "That's 'fs'."
"You're right," Ginny agreed.
"Doesn't sound any different to me," Ron whispered to Hermione.
"Me either," she agreed.
"Of course, I had the same trouble with 'Wingardium Leviosa ,' Ron continued still at a whisper.
"'Wingardium Leviosa-a," Hermione corrected.
Ron rolled his eyes. As if he didn't know that spell—sometimes Hermione could be so dense.
"Turn the page, Hermione," said Ginny.
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Neither wanted to say how creepy this was, listening to the two of them hiss at each other, but they also didn't want to leave. It seemed that the book might still have some hold over Harry and they didn't want to take any chances with Harry or Ginny.
"There's a lot of other things I'd like to read in this book," said Harry but I think this is the spell that Salazar used to put his gift in the Sorting Hat. Hermione, get the copy we have from the library. I want to compare them."
Hermione nodded.
"OK, first line," said Harry.
Ginny hissed, and frowned. "Is that right?" she asked.
Harry looked over her shoulder checking. "Yes, that's right," he said. "Definitely." Harry hissed and then translated. "My word makes all tremble with dread. Speak with my gift until they are dead."
Hermione sucked in her breath, "And the rest of the founders heard: What I put in the hat comes out in your head. Speak with my gift. You've NOTHING to dread?"
The next line seemed to be a bit more confusing. Harry and Ginny couldn't quite agree. "In the copy," said Harry, "We have the word, Slytherin."
"It just means snake," said Harry.
"But in parseltongue," said Ginny, "It is a very specific kind of snake. It is a young snake, that devours its nestmates—like the basilisk does—but not necessarily just a basilisk, and the way the reference is set up, I think Salazar means this is his heir." She shook off Ron's hand, which he had placed, on her shoulder.
"Then, the next part," said Ginny means eating, or giving power by feeding, but it doesn't make sense. It says 'feeding is feeding'."
"No," said Harry. "Sisshasss, can mean feeding or it can mean power. It is power is gained by feeding. Death/eating/devour completely—Death Eaters."
"You're right," Ginny agreed. Sisshasss, but the familiar, is still the basilisk."
"Yes, but Salazar obviously wanted his heir to "free the nest of vermin" rather than "set free".
"So," said Ron, "Salazar asked his heir to continue his work to kill muggle borns—what else is new?"
"And squibs," said Harry.
"But it doesn't look like he's asking," said Ginny.
"We were right though about Salazar giving exact directions on how to open the Chamber," said Harry. "What Ginny and I are not sure about is—if Salazar gave his heir the choice—"
"He didn't," insisted Ginny.
"But," said Ron, "It says: Open the door with your precious voice. When where and how, I leave to your choice."
"No," said Harry. "That's what Salazar wanted the other founders to believe that he said."
"So what did he really say?" asked Hermione.
"Just how to find the Chamber, and he sings its praises. It really is the best place to raise a basilisk, and that was Salazar's goal: to raise a basilisk and use it as a weapon. There's also nothing about a language. Apparently either the heir would already have parseltongue, or if the Hat gave it to him, which I think may be probable, he didn't have to learn it. It was just part of the gift."
"I'm sure, Salazar's gifts came with a price," said Ginny. "Let me look at it again."
"And the brave and wise stuff—the stuff about 'your toil', its just not there at all. I think he just put it in to make the other founders happy, and there's nothing about toil." Said Harry.
"No toil?" said Ginny. " So what does this word mean, Harry? hisssuss. Is it some kind of slave, or worker?"
"It means all that you are—prey," said Harry softly.
Suddenly Ginny remembered another telling her—It won't take much to free me from the diary—just all that you are—" She could see the scrawled round letters swim before her eyes, and hear the basilisk hissing, just before it struck--sisshasss, hisssuss.
For one wild moment, Ginny wished that she had the diary back. She wanted to understand. She could ask Tom. She felt that it was imperitive that she understand, and then she mentally berated herself. The last thing in the world that she wanted back was that diary! Tom Riddle had caused enough turmoil in her life. She shuddered, remembering.
"Well let's see what we have," said Ron looking over Hermione's shoulder. She had written notes comparing the two verses—the one in parseltongue for his heir and the one in English for the founders.
English--------------------------------Parseltongue
What I put in the hat.-----------Speak with my gift
comes out in your head -------until they are dead
Speak with my gift. -------------My word makes them
You've nothing to dread------ tremble with dread.
Slytherin who --------------------Heir of mine--
weakness abhors---------------- Cannibalistic snakes
Power is here—say "yes"------Power is death-eater.
and it's yours.
A familiar I lend you; -----------Obviously the basilisk
close your eyes and ------------ but to
you'll see.-------------------------- free the place of vermin
A powerful ally, to bind -------- (school?)
or set free-------------------------------------------
Of evil and sloth -----------------of mudbloods and squibs?
your world she'll purge-----------------------------
----------------------------------------Abominations
----------------------------------------cannot endure ---
----------------------------------------ambition's urge
-----------------------------------------Salazar's obsession
-----------------------------------------with pureblood.
---------------------------------------- abominations.
Open the door ---------------------In snake's way
with your precious voice-------- of measuring,
When where and how,------------ but exact directions
I leave to your choice------------- to the Chamber of Secrets-
-----------------------------------------It's the best place to raise basilisks.
For I've left a language --------------Follow my instructions.
In the Hat that Sorts-----------------------------------------------------
My instructions, My power,------------- No language stuff is in
your brains and cohorts------------------- the Sorting Hat.
--------------------------------------------------Salazar's actual spell is
--------------------------------------------------My instructions, My power,
--------------------------------------------------MY brains and MY cohorts
Be braver than brave --------------------Better than brave
and wiser than wise ---------------------and Better than wise.
For with your toil, --------------------Toil isn't right-It means
your ambition will rise. --------------all that you are-
---------------------------------------------prey-hissus (Nothing
--------------------------------------------- about the other Person)
--------------------------------------------Salazar's power, Salazar's ambition.
"This is what we have found out," said Hermione. "I think it means—"
"It means," interrupted Ginny, "That Tom never had a choice! I had a choice. I chose to write in that diary. It was a bad choice, but it was mine. Mine! Tom never chose. They TOLD HIM to put the hat on his head. THEY TOLD HIM.
"Ginny! Ginny!" Ron was trying to hold her, and speak to her. "He was no innocent! He's evil!"
"No-o-o-o-o! He was eleven!" Ginny shouted. "Don't you see, he hadn't done anything wrong—he just obeyed his teachers—"
"He did make a choice," said Harry. "He could have chosen a different house."
"He may have belonged in Slytherin, but he shouldn't have had to pay that price! He didn't know! He was raised by muggles. He didn't know any wizards. How could he know?" Ginny screeched red-faced. "If something offers a boy power—a boy who never had anything of his own—Something that says you can be the greatest wizard of all time—Something that your teacher has just told you to TRUST! How else would he answer? Who would say no?—No one—No one would--"
"I said no," Harry said softly.
"But you had already met Ron—" Ginny began.
Hermione and Ron turned to look at Harry, shock and fear written all over their faces.
"Harry?" squeaked Ron, "The Hat offered you Slytherin?"
Harry nodded silently.
"Me too," muttered Ron. "I was always afraid to tell you, mate—"
"Ugh!" Cried Hermione. "How could it even think of Slytherin?"
"How could it think at all?" said Ginny cryptically, turning to leave the room.
"Ginny, where are you going?" asked Ron. "It's late."
Ginny's voice rose into an imitation of her mother's "Haven't we told you never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. It's clearly full of dark magic!"
Ron stared at her.
"It was Godric Gryffindor's hat," said Hermione.
"I don't care if it was __ hat. It was Full of Dark Magic and they put it on his head. They-put-it-on-all-of-our-heads! I have to think," she said, and pulling out of his grasp, she headed out of the common room.
"Ginny wait," said Ron.
She wanted to be alone. Sometimes when she was alone, she could almost feel His presence. Almost—but it was just make-believe. Fantasy, she reminded herself. He was gone. There were only the random bits and memories, but maybe that would help her understand. She needed quiet to feel close to Him. She should have stayed in her room—put up the privacy shield—but it was hard to do that when she knew that Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the room. They wouldn't let her close herself off like that. Even Hermione was so protective. It wasn't like first year--
As she walked along the corridor, she heard Filch, but she wasn't scared of Filch. She had far too much dirt on the old squib for him to turn her in, and he knew it. He had known it since first year.
She had reached the second floor bathroom and stood outside of it for a long while, waiting and listening. Tonight, there were no ghosts. Where were they? "Tom?" she whispered. "Tom! Damn you!"
"She knew some would say that He was already damned. He was evil, but she didn't believe it. Oh, Tom," she muttered to herself. "You were innocent."
Even as the thought crossed her mind, she wondered if Tom Riddle had ever been truly innocent, and yet she suddenly knew, there really was a Dark Wizard that had imprisoned him. Her thoughts rolled over the times when she had written in the diary—a silly little girl with fairy tales in her head—I'll free you from the Dark Wizard, Tom. But in the end she had done nothing to save him. What right did she have to be called a Gryffindor? He was in need of her help, and she had done nothing. Hot tears coursed down her face. What happened? She wondered. What happened when they put the Sorting Hat on your head, Tom?
Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be alone with her thoughts. She leaned against the cold castle wall, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
==
She had already decided to go back to Gryffindor when they caught up with her. She couldn't see them, but she could hear them. They were under the Invisibility Cloak.
"Psst, Ginny," whispered Ron. "Please come back to the common room. We'll leave you alone," he said.
"We promise."
"OK," said Ginny. She took one last look at the second floor bathroom. Why had she walked here? She wondered. Was it Tom that liked the dark solitude of the Chamber of Secrets, or was it Salazar? Certainly, she had never liked the place.
Ron and Harry pulled her under the cloak with them as Filch came up the steps.
It was very cramped and Ginny leaned against the wall trying to decide to where put the arm that was nearest to Harry: down at her side? Around Harry? Harry seemed to have the same problem. He choose to lean his arm up above Ginny's shoulder against the wall of the corridor until Ron's first movement, caused his hand to side down to her shoulder, to catch the slinky material that threatened to slide off of them. "Sorry," he said as his arm brushed against her.
"It's ok," she said smiling and relaxed against Harry's arm. Immediately, he pulled her in close. She could feel the warmth of his chest, his breath in her hair, and the beating of his heart. She could feel the racing of her own heart in her throat, but she told herself it was only because Filch could catch them any minute.
"Be very still," Harry warned. "We don't want any parts uncovered."
Ginny blushed furiously, and was very grateful that it was dark.
"Stoop down a little Ron. I think your shoes are showing," said Harry.
They stood cramped and still for an eternity until Filch had passed.
"One question," asked Ron, stepping out from under the Invisibility cloak.
"No," said Ginny.
"Did the Hat give you a choice?" asked Ron. Ginny hadn't moved, and she noticed, neither did Harry. He still had one warm arm around her; the other clutched the Invisibility Cloak.
"Not really," she said. "I already had the diary, Ron."
"The Hat knew that!" exclaimed Ron. "But maybe, it would have given you the choice of Slytherin anyway—"
"No," said Ginny, finally stepping out from under the Invisibility Cloak. "Without the Diary, my other choice would have been Hufflepuff."
==
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Ron, Harry and Ginny had expected everyone to be in bed, but were surprised to find Lavender, Parvati, Hermione and Dean in the common room.
"We came down here because Samara and Beatrice just went to bed," Hermione explained. "Parvati had a nightmare."
"A Seeing," Parvati corrected. "I need to go to Madam Trelawney."
"No," Lavender insisted. "That woman is corrupting you. She twists everything you say."
"I agree with Lavender," said Dean.
"But I have to document it—" Parfait insisted.
"We'll do it," said Hermione. "Do you trust me to write it correctly?" she asked as she pulled a parchment and quill from her bag. "Exscribo" she commanded the quill.
"Yes," Parvati said. She took a deep breath, and began.
"There is a boy," Parvati said. " He's little—eleven--maybe twelve--In a wand shop. He's a Slytherin. I see his green robes and the Slytherin crest.
"Who cares about a Slytherin?" muttered Ron.
"Shh-h," admonished Hermione. "Don't talk, Ron. Tell us what else you dreamed, Parvati."
His hood is up. I can't see his face."
"OK, Tell us about the wand shop." Said Hermione.
"Olivanders. He was at Olivanders. He had gone through boxes and boxes of wands. They are all over the ground. There is damage to the store from his trying wands. Finally he found the right wand. Olivander said it was the right wand, but sometimes when he tried to use it, it fought him. Not all the time. Just sometime. It frightened him. They frightened him.
"Who frightens him?" asked Hermione.
There was a long pause.
"I don't know for sure," said Parvati. "No one. No one is there, but--"
She faltered, shrugging. "I just don't know, Hermione," she said.
"OK. Go back to the wand shop. Close your eyes and try to remember. Tell us everything you see."
He's a muggle born!" said Parvati excitedly.
"That's not a Slytherin," said Dean.
"How do you know," asked Hermione.
"His clothes. He has on some sort of muggle clothes."
"What do they look like?"
"Dark pants. White shirt. A tie."
"That doesn't tell us much, Parvati. Is there anything else you know?" asked Hermione.
"You know," whispered Harry. "I went to Diagon Alley the first time in muggle clothes and I'm not muggle born. For him to be in Slytherin—"
"You were a pretty special case, though," Ron whispered back
"Half blood, maybe?" suggested Dean.
"Didn't you just say you saw Slytherin robes?" asked Hermione.
"A Slytherin, playing at being muggle born?" suggested Lavender.
"Not likely," said Ron.
"This is at a different time," Parvati added. "The dream is skipping around."
"So the dream is not chronological?" asked Hermione.
"What?" said Parvati, opening her eyes.
"This is at two different times," confirmed Hermione.
"Three I think," said Parvati closing her eyes again. "He tried to hex another student. The spell backfired."
"That sounds like you Ron," said Dean. "Did he have red hair?"
"No. Black," said Parvati.
"Hey, guys, no one invited me to this slumber party," said Samara as she came down the stairs from the girls' dorm.
The group hushed her and she stood rubbing her eyes and listening.
"He's back at Olivanders again," said Parvati. "He's angry. He says he wants the wand fixed or he wants his money back."
Olivander tells him he said the spell wrong.
He knows he said the spell right. He's angry. He points his wand at Olivander.
Olivander asks what spell he was performing when it went bad.
There was a long pause---
"Well?" asked Hermione. "What spell?"
I don't know---I don't know He's ---upset. He won't say---He's angry
He shows Olivander his hands—Oh his poor hands."
Parvati started to sob.
"What happened to his hands Parvati?"
"Look at his hands, Parvati. What happened to his hands?"
"They're burnt!" She cries. "They teased him."
"And they teased him." Questioned Hermione. "About his hands?"
"No. They teased him about the wand."
"Why?"
"It won't work right. And the wand burned him."
"Oh your poor hands," Parvati cried. "Your hands…." She was sobbing harder.
Parvati dissolved into tears-- Rocking back in her seat and weeping uncontrollably.
Lavender reached forward to hold her sobbing friend. "Just let it go, Hermione. I don't see how she can function anymore. She hardly ever sleeps."
"Why would it do that?" wondered Hermione aloud. "Why would his hands get burnt from his wand? Olivander should have fixed it. It couldn't have been working right."
"He's switched hands," said Parvati. "At the end of the dream, he's holding the wand in his left hand instead of his right—"
"That shouldn't matter," said Hermione.
"I wasn't his wand," said Samara simply.
"Don't you think Olivander would have realized that?" snapped Hermione. "He's been in the wand business longer than you, Samara—Just because you've made your own wand—"
"I'm going back to bed," said Samara sharply, turning to go up the stairs.
"No, wait," said Harry. "I think you've got something there." Harry hesitated. "Remember when Snape was talking about wand cores, and that if you couldn't accio your own wand, it was likely you could accio another wand if it had the same core, but not a core that was completely different—"
Hermione nodded.
"Well, I was just thinking. If the wand was wrong for him, how would it act?"
"Olivander wouldn't have sold him a wand that was wrong for him," insisted Hermione.
"What if it was a second hand wand?" asked Ron.
"For a Slytherin?" said Lavender. "They'd be laughed right out of their house."
"Well, they were laughing," Samara pointed out.
"You remember, Ginny," said Ron. "Both of us had second hand wands our first year. They were bad enough for simple spells, but when things got more complicated, we needed our own wands. Olivander just gave me a longer wand, but you couldn't even use the unicorn hair core. Remember?"
"I remember," said Ginny softly.
"That's very unusual," said Samara, wand cores don't usually change.
"But not unheard of," replied Hermione.
"No," Samara continued, "But the core of a wand is like the core of a wizard. Some of the old magics even refer to people by the wood or the core of their wands—Yew for Hugh, Holly for Holly, Willow—I can't imagine what kind of event would change a wand—or a wizard-- to the point that the wizard couldn't wield it at all. Most of us could trade wands right here and do the spells fine. There wouldn't be any heat in the wand, like this dream is talking about. It must be theoretical, or symbolic in some way."
The group exchanged glances. "I think we should tell Samara about Parvati's other predictions," said Harry. "She has very different ideas than the rest of us since she studied the old magics. What do you think, Parvati?"
But Parvati was sound asleep on the sofa, Dean cradling her head in his lap.
Harry looked around. "Ginny? What do you think?"
Ginny had already left to go up to her dorm room.
"She said she had something she wanted to do before she went to bed," said Lavender.
"Well, I guess we'll have to ask Parvati in the morning what she thinks about telling Samara her other predictions.
We don't know who else Samara will tell about the predictions," said Ron as if Samara wasn't there. "This is not something that we want common knowledge in Slytherin House."
A sharp retort was on the tip of Samara's tongue, but she stopped long enough to study their auras. Something very strange was going on here between the trio's auras—something she rarely saw even among siblings or couples. She has seen it happen with the Weasley twins; once when they were trying to convince Ron to try the original Dragon Breath Mints and then again when they were trying to convince her to remove the adhere charm she had placed on them. Both times the color blend had been a soft melon color. She saw it several times when Ginny and Harry were in close proximity to each other, but their shared color was a melancholy blue gray. When auras blended as if the two auras found what was similar in the other, there was usually a reason. It could simply shared happiness, or a shared desire, but in Samara's experience it usually went deeper than that. Regardless, it only happened for a moment and only where two souls were completely of the same mind—She had never seen it happen with three but, as she watched Ron and Hermine blended a greenish blue color, primarily Hermione's turquoise, which could have been a couple thing, but then, the real surprise occurred when Harry moved a little closer, and his aura, which had always had a bit of the healer's green in it, suddenly washed the deep healer's green over both of his friends, and their auras deepened to match his. It was so beautiful; it brought tears to Samara's eyes.
At once, Samara knew that Harry had shared some sort of comfort or healing with them. What they were working on was of life and death importance to them, whether she believed it or not—whether it was true or not. She had been flippant about their concerns before, but there was something vital in the prediction and although she didn't know what it was, she knew she had somehow caused them to be hurt—Perhaps if was because of their previous association with Draco Malfoy—and truthfully, she knew just by looking at Draco's aura that he wasn't as reliable as these three and sometimes—Pansy's word fit him perfectly—dangerous.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Well, hey. Don't cry about it," said Hermione and then Harry did something she never would have expected. He reached out and pulled her into their auras. "We have to be able to trust you," he said staring into her eyes.
She felt her aura trying to blend with theirs.
"I know," she said softly. "I see that, but trust runs both ways."
"But Draco—"began Ron.
"I see Draco for what he is," said Samara, locking eyes with Harry. "More than you do—"
He nodded "Will you tell them?" he asked softly.
"I see auras," she said to Ron and Hermione. "It just kind of slipped out with Harry, but I don't usually tell people—"
"Muggles, you mean," said Ron.
"Well, yes, muggles, but really anyone. I found when I told Harry and then later, I told Ginny and both times they altered their auras when I was near. You're doing it now, Hermione."
"I'm not doing anything," said Hermione hotly.
" Closing off," said Samara. "Sucking your aura in close to your body, putting up a wall to protect yourself. Usually Gryffindors aren't like that. Neither are Hufflepuffs, but Slytherins are and sometimes Ravenclaws."
Is my aura changing?" asked Ron.
Samara looked at him for a moment. "No," she said.
'Wicked," he said
Hermione looked from one to the other, her eyes narrowing. "This is ridiculous," she said. "I'm going to bed. It's late.
Samara looked after her.
"Don't' worry about her," said Ron. " She just hates for anyone to be able to do anything that she can't do. She'll come around. So tell us, what do you see, when you look at our auras.
"Well, usually, the basic colors stay similar, but there are layers of colors in wizards and witches—a lot more colors than muggles usually have. Some of the auras extend out as if that person wanted to embrace the world. You see a lot of that with Hufflepuffs, but Professor Dumbledore has an aura that extends outward too.
"What's Dumbledore's aura like?" asked Harry.
"Mostly, it's golden around his head with some flecks of green and purple in the gold around his body. It's almost transparent, although it can go opaque. It went to a dark green when he was calming some of the Gryffidnor's at breakfast last weekend and he has this shimmery over layers if you were looking at the whole thing through an oiled glass. I've come to believe that means the person has done Elemental wandless magic. I never saw it among muggles, so it must be a wizarding thing. I thought it had something to do with wandless magic, but I wasn't sure until Snape's wand class. Before that, there were only a few Gryffindors that had that shimmer, you Harry, Ginny, Neville and, Fred and George.
"Fred and George," muttered Ron.
"What?" said Harry. "I never did wandless magic before I got my wand in Snape's class. Well, maybe accidental—"
"No," said Samara. "Accidental doesn't make the shimmer. It has to be done on purpose."
I can't think of anything—"said Harry.
"And Neville?" said Ron. "Are you sure?"
"Oh, I'm sure of that," said Harry. "He accioed his wand before anyone else did when Snape was working on the memory charm. So doing wandless magic changes your aura?" Well people say, wandless magic alters the wizard. I guess what you see, Samara, is just the proof but I've never done wandless magic except for the accidental magic—"
Samara shrugged. "Are you sure it was accidental? Did you really want something to happen the way it did?"
Harry didn't answer. "Did he really want to sic the snake on Dudley? Did he want Aunt Marge to blow up?"
There's a slight difference in the auras of people who simply pull the magic from inside of themselves," said Samara. "As opposed to people who have used the Elements. Yours is definitely Elemental, Harry. I don't see how you could have done that without knowing—"
"We'd better do to bed," suggested Harry. "Quiddich tomorrow. If Angelina knew we were up this late—"
Well we won't tell her," said Ron as he started to climb the stairs to the boy's dorm.
"Quiddich! Flying! That's it, Harry. You've used the Air Elemental to fly," said Samara.
"No. I don't."
I didn't see it at first either," said Samara, "But flying is magic."
"Well, yes—" said Harry a little annoyed that Samara could possibly thing it was anything else.
"I was trying to fly –I don't know—technically, I guess. Madam Hooch said to grip your broom in a certain way. I did that. She said to pull up or push down. I did that. I was making the broom go where I wanted it to, but without drawing any magic."
"Of course it was magic," interrupted Ron.
"No," said Samara. "It wasn't. Not Elemental magic."
"Then as Madam Hooch was working with one of the other students, I just let my broom hover. I was thinking how beautiful it was up in the air—and then it just hit me—Air Elemental."
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender just looked at her blankly.
"I know where the magic in flying comes from. There are only two possibilities. Either, the wizard is using the broomstick itself as a wand, and pulling the power from himself, or he is drawing on an elemental source—most notably—air. Then I thought, it couldn't really be used as a wand. Brooms came before wands historically and anyway, the broom doesn't have a core, so what would be the magical essence? As I am thinking this, I am soaring faster and higher. I am thinking about how flying is like an art form—a dance--I could—would---um—I'm thinking about –"
A serene almost angelic smile came over Samara's features.
"Thinking about what?" Harry asked.
"Nothing really, I guess. Just feeling the movement and all of the sudden, Madam Hooch is up beside me, struggling to keep up. She says for me to get back to the ground and ships me out of the class."
Samara looked around at the Gryffindors. "I never really got to the point of consciously pulling from the elemental, I just was thinking about doing it, and my flying improved so dramatically, Madam Hooch noticed and took me out of the beginning class. Imagine if I tried to pull from the elemental? Imagine if I taught you, she whispered. Imagine the Quiddich games—"
Why didn't you think of this earlier?" Ron complained. "The game is tomorrow!"
"You were fighting with her," Lavender reminded them.
"There's other games," said Harry. "But, I think we need to practice this before Slytherin." As he started up the stairs to the boy's dorm, he thought about the rush he got when he first flew a broom. That time he chased Malfoy down in first year. It was so effortless—so natural. When he touched the Dragon's egg last year, he lost himself in the flying. It was a whole different kind of magic. A magic outside of himself. "Air Elemental," he murmured. "You may be right, Samara."
-
When Samara got to the room, Hermione was awake, sitting in bed reading. "I'm glad you're still awake," said Samara. "I have something I made for you a while ago-- Samara went to her drawer and brought out the tee shirt on which was printed "Muggle Born and Proud." A girl with bushy brown hair cavorted around the shirt.
The only place I still have long hair," lamented Hermione. Running a hand through the short thick curls that covered her head, and now reached almost to her shoulders. "Thanks Samara."
Samara frowned at the privacy shield around Ginny's bed.
"She already had it placed when I came up," said Hermione. "You won't get it down. I've tried before."
Samara took her wand from her hair and attempted to disrupt the shield, the equivalent of knocking. Nothing disturbed the shield.
Hermione looked at her, from over the top of her book. Her aura flushed with dark turquoise and Samara had the feeling that the words, "I told you so," were hovering on Hermione's lips, but Hermione said nothing.
"She's pretty good at that, isn't she?" commented Samara.
"Yes," said Hermione, closing her book. "I'm going to sleep. Shall I put out the light?"
"I'll do it," said Samara. "Do you think Ginny will like this?" she asked Hermione, as she pulled the tee shirt from her drawer.
It had a tiny, sweet yellow kitten on it. The kitten stood up and stretched and mewed, then it stretched again and this time, it became a lioness. The tiny mew, become a roar.
"She'll love it," said Hermione. "It's so precious." Hermione stroked the kitten and continued to stroke it, as it became a lioness. Hermione's aura mellowing into yellow.
Samara pulled two more tee shirts out of her drawer. Both had growling Gryffindor lions on them. "For Harry and Ron," she explained. "I want to give the shirts to them before Quiddich game.
Tee shirts depicting your house to all of my faithful reviewers. Author blows kisses. THANK YOU:
blue-blond sorcerress: Ask and you shall receive. Your chapter with Sirius—don't expect too many of them though—But Sorry. No Ginny/Harry. Harry's much too busy and in case you haven't noticed, Ginny's taken.
Kemenran Once again, your most original review is appreciated. LOL.
Reiven Glad you're excited to read my fic. Draco and Samara will be back soon. Kauket means exactly what she says: The two are one, but then, how much can you trust a snake?
Silverfox Love your reviews and love your fics. Harry didn't miss Neville's breakthrough. It's coming up, I just wanted to show that the Neville/Snape stuff was on-going without boring you. After all, Crouch used a time-turner. It's going to take a while. Neville/Snape finale coming up next. Sorry you guys had trouble with Harry talking to Kauket. Maybe I should re-check it. I didn't think it would confuse you. Please let me know if anyone else was confused. Basically, Kauket thinks of everthing in terms of food, which gives power and relationships are always prey/predator relationships. I agree that everyone has some of every house and one of the things I wanted to discuss in this fic is how, when you put people in houses, like the Sorting Hat did, the people tend to become like their house, and yet all of them are individuals, even the bit characters like Crabbe.
Plash Ricrem Glad you liked Filch's punishment. Sure beats cleaning the owlry. Also glad you weren't too confused by the Kauket/Harry conversation.
Trillium: Yes, Snape in Hufflepuff would have been very bad, but then Sirius was just being a joker, like usual. Unfortunately, as you found out in this chapter, our twin jokers are having a bit of a bad time. Sadly, it's called growing up in wartime and taking some adult responsibility. Poor twins, but don't worry, they'll snap out of it and be back to their pranks soon.
(Bluetigereye13@aol.com) : Glad you enjoyed. More coming.
Ilwinterhofal: We will soon learn what happened to Hedwig and she will return. Also, of course, that means we will hear from Hagrid too.
Elfmoon87: Glad you like Snape, Peeves and Myrtle. You will be seeing more of all three and not in the way you expect. More of Snape's enlightened teaching methods coming up. By the way, folks if you want a good read, go check out Elfmoon87's fics. They are really good.
Melbell Crookshanks, huh? You haven't figured out what happened to him? Well, you'll have to wait for the Slytherins to tell you then. As always, there is a reason for his strange behavior.
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OK, it's your turn now. GO REVIEW. 10 REVIEWS=ONE NEW CHAPTER. Sure beats paying for the book, doesn't it?
Lady Lestrange
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