To those who asked, I still don't know if the baby's a boy or a girl but my husband and I are both wishing for a boy so please pray for us... and oh, the baby is due on July...so near my birthday hehehehe... Oh, by the way, can anyone guess who's gonna be Draco's girl in this story? Here are some responses to reviews but I'm sorry I cannot respond to all so I'll just say thanks to everyone who reviewed and I hope you'd still review after this chapter -)
Jonquille: Hey, surprise...surprise! It's not only Harry who's going to be in trouble here hehehe but it's not that bad, don't worry.
Canislupus: Thanks for the warm and pleasant review! It's so nice to hear that somebody is very excited about the story -)
Justin Hale: Thanks for the compliment though in my opinion, I still suck in the romance part of the story... hopefully, I'd get better at it soon... -)
IOCI and Candie: Hey, thanks for your reviews! I hope you didn't suffer from VD withdrawal this time... By the way, do you know each other personally or something? Just curious, I have this feeling that you do...and it's kind of cool because I only know one person here though I haven't seen her yet. Oh, by the way, can you guess who's gonna be Draco's girl?
Devue and AngelHarper: Oh, new reviewers! This is great! I hope you'd continue enjoying the story -)
Chapter 20 - Back to SSPEW
With fire raging inside his heart, he allowed himself to dwell for a while about the could-have-beens ...
..Sirius who died while the ministry was still in denial... Hagrid who, in his effort to gather support from the giants, was trampled upon during a giant clan war... There were also several nameless witches and wizards whose only fault was to defy the dark lord...
Things might have been different if only Fudge was not too cowardly to face the enemy head on. Some deaths could have been prevented...Some damages lessened. But no, he just kept on sending his men whenever he deemed it safe enough to do so. Never let anyone be fooled that Fudge didn't know the situation... That would be a terrible misinformation.
Yes, Fudge was now aware that the Dark Lord was back but instead of focusing all his energies onto defeating the known enemy, he resorted to a most trouble-free way of dealing with the problem - the usual diversionalry tactics - such as discrediting Dumbledore, Harry, the Order who had done nothing but lessen the impact of the Dark Lord rebirth. He had done that so that the people's anger would be diverted to them instead of on his own inadequacy as the supposed-to-be protector of the people - that way people won't blame him as much... or so he thought.
Harry glared daggers at the pompous man who possess not even an ounce of guilt in his body for all the wrong things he had done. Gone were his usual reservation against violence towards anybody... especially those in authority... But he didn't care anymore...
...It's payback time...
He raised one hand, too furious to even consider the repercussion of attacking the minister... but then he felt a gentle but firm hand restraining his wand arm. WIth a sigh, he reluctantly turned to face the one responsible for his distraction - Hermione.
"Harry, please don't..." Hermione pleaded though from her expression one might concur that she meant the exact opposite.
"Just one curse, honey. Just something to remind him not to do that kind of slandering to anyone ever again." he countered with all the patience he could muster.
"But you'll get into trouble."
"I've been in trouble all my life. I got used to it." came Harry's factual reply.
"Harry..." Hermione squeezed his arm lightly.
"No." was Harry's firm reply.
"Harry!"
Just then, the minister fell on the floor, rolling with uncontrollable mirth - an utterly demeaning behaviour for a high-ranking official like him. But nobody dared laugh on his face. Some snickered at the back but otherwise, the crowd just stared at each other nervously, unsure of what to make of the situation.
Harry heard Hermione's audible sigh of relief. "Whew! For a minute there, I thought you're going to do something really drastic." she casually commented, smiling broadly as she did so.
"Mione, I haven't done anything ... yet." he stated matter-of-factly.
The smile froze on her face. "Not you? B-but who?"
Harry shrugged noncommitally. He caught Draco's conspiratorial wink seconds before Fudge was hit by the Tickling Charm but deemed it best not to mention that tiny and irrelevant detail. "Who cares? I suppose I'm not the only one interested in blasting his head off. In fact, he got lucky - "
Harry was cut-off rather rudely by a stunning spell sent his way by a terribly furious minister. Fortunately, his instinct for self-preservation saved him from the maliciously cast spell though not from the two men who crept from behind him and quickly grabbed his arms effectively hampering any detrimental activity from him.
Billy, Chuck and Matt watched the seen unfold with a bit of trepidation. They braced themselves for any unfortunate incident albeit half-heartedly...They have no intention of making another grand exit from the castle they had come to consider as their second home but it looked like things might get sticky soon enough.
Even the normally calm and collected Dumbledore seemed appalled by the sudden action of the aurors.
"What's the meaning of this, Cornelius?" he asked behind a polite facade though the uncharacteristic icy tony of his voice meant business.
The minister laughed maniacally. "Ha-ha-ha. Don't think I'm fooled, Albus. How dare that insolent brat attack ME like that?"
"ATTACKED? What are you talking about? Harry did not do anything to you?" exclaimed Hermione indignantly.
"We'll see, young lady." stated the minister in a strange tone. There was an unmistakeable mad glint in his eyes that alarmed those who had notice it. "Men, seize that brat's wand and cast the necessary spell to find out the last spells he used." he commanded one of his men and was swiftly obeyed without question.
The said blind follower pried the wand away from Harry's firm grip and performed the 'priori incantatem' as the minister ordered.
Fudge addressed the crowd arrogantly. "See what your golden boy has been up to."
But no one paid attention to his mindless gibberish. Instead, the people waited with bated breath, some expecting the worst and some expecting Harry to get away with anything, after all he was still the only boy-who-lived.
As for the afore-mentioned boy-who-lived, he was currently smirking, his eyes openly mocking the minister's every words and deeds... his hands clenched as though waiting for the right moment to strike.
The minister anticipated the result with sickening eagerness. Unfortunately, he was about to get one of the biggest disappointments in his pathetic life.
...Harry's wand shivered for a moment before a shimmering blue light emanated from its tip... Then the light vanished and the wand shivered once more but no one was interested with the next result - the first was more than enough to prove Harry's innocence.
A collective sigh of relief followed Fudge wide-eyed incredulity. "IMPOSSIBLE! Someone must have tampered -"
"As you can see, Cornelius, the last spell he used was a 'shield charm', from the Hogsmeade incident I suppose. You're accusation is once again baseless and malicious. Please don't make me lose whatever little respect I still have for you." stated Dumbledore in the same chilly tone he used before.
"No! This only proves one thing. Clearly, the boy is using dark magic to erase the last spell he casted." Fudge argued once more.
Snape gave a pointed look at the unreasonable man and stepped in to join the battle of wits. "I beg to differ. I would hardly consider a Tickling Charm a dark spell and assuming he did, do you really believe he would just employ such a childish curse when he could inflict something much more damaging?" he commented disdainfully as if speaking with a person of awfully inferior intelligence.
But Fudge seemed unfazed by the mockery. In fact, he appeared to be more resolute and agitated than ever. "So, that's how it is then...Lucius is right. There's a conspiracy against me. That's why the ministry kept bungling their jobs. You must have tipped You-know-who whenever there's an scheduled raid or rescue attempt through the snake..." he spat, pointing one finger at the furious Potions Master. "...so that the people would lose confidence in me and oust me from power." Then he pointed his fingers to those who considered his foes. "YOUR A DISGRACE TO THE NAME OF WIZARD!" he spat venomously.
"You're talking nonsense, Cornelius. Do you realize what you're saying? How dare you!" Professor McGonagall stood up in a fit of rage.
"I've never been more lucid." declared the minister stubbornly. "MEN, ARREST POTTER AND HIS ACCOMPLICES!"
As soon as the foul command escaped from his mouth, a whirlwind suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the hard earth immediately trembled and blood-curdling screams were heard from the men previously man-handling Harry. They now had their hands covered with third-degree boils and both their wands reduced to ashes. Witnessing the strange scene, the students scampered towards a more stable location to avoid disaster while the staff appeared oddly unconcerned.
The aurors who rushed inside instantly found themselves disarmed and paralyzed courtesy of the staffs who felt that the minister's command was way out of line and of course the whole student body were only too willing to join in on the fun.
Fudge stared at the scene before him with mounting horror. Seeing his men taken down at such an alarming pace wiped all the cockiness away from him. He was on his own now. In the corner of his eye, he noticed two balls of fire bouncing lightly on top of Harry's outstretched palms. In a blink of an eye, the previously arrogant minister lost his nerve and was reduced to a cowering and whimpering child left alone in the dark.
"Lucius is right. I should have listened to him from the start. They're ganging up on poor me. Oh no, they're going to kill me. Heaven, help me, please..." he chanted, clasping his hands together in a form of prayer.
But Harry was not fooled. His instinct dictated that the man was up to something fishy. "You're delusional, Fudge. If only you've done well as the protector of the people and not of rich and influential wizards, then we would have ended up as allies."
"I.Am.Not.Going.To.Ally.Myself.With.Dark.Forces." Fudge stressed out.
"Really? Sorry to burst your bubble but . you already had... by listening to another dark lord wannabe." Harry replied casually.
"You mean Lucius? He is an upright and respectable citizen. How dare you insinuate s-such a-" Fudge replied, unable to finish his sentence in a nervous fit.
"Your sense of logic defies my comprehension. Perhaps it's time for you to visit St. Mungo's. Too much ambition must have addled your brain to great proportion." The flames gradually died out as Harry said the words, then turned his back to the man. "Please don't do anything foolish again. I'll make sure you'll regret it. Consider yourself warned." Then Harry nodded slightly in Chuck's direction before making a tentative step forward. He counted up to three.
One...
Two...
Three...
BOOM!
As expected, Fudge quickly recovered from his stint, his wand poised to attack. The manic glint returned to his eyes and an almost hysterical laughter escaped from his lips... but before he could fire a single curse, he suddenly found himself covered with ice, his mad expression clearly captured in the transparent sheets of frozen material.
Harry turned to face the minister and smiled wryly. "You had your chance and you blew it - big time."
The next day, the castle was in uproar about the articles that appeared in the local newspapers. For once, the reactions were similar but with varying levels of indignation.
"HOGWARTS: UNDER YOU-KNOW-WHO'S CONTROL?"
Former Minister Cornelius Fudge and two aurors were rushed to St. Mungo's Hospital by Hogwarts professors for treatment after a riot broke out at the school last night. According to some reliable sources, Former Minister Fudge and his trusted aurors went to the school to arrest Harry Potter and the SSPEW students for questioning but they were met with violent resistance from both the students and the staff.
'It was really scary! They were ganging up on us. Potter had them under control." stated an auror who went with Fudge.
There's a rumor that the Potter group are currently in hiding but as of press time, nobody from Hogwarts has made any comment or statement regarding the incident.
- The Daily Prophet
FROZEN FUDGE GOES NUTS!
Last night, Hogwarts was forced to defend its own against the unwarranted attack by the minister and his aurors. Harry Potter and his friends were about to be arrested for alleged practice of Dark Magic when the incident occurred.
'It's totally ridiculous! I mean, it's Harry. He has saved our asses several times and you-know-who murdered his parents so why the hell would he turn against us?' commented an indignant student from the Slytherin house who wished to remain anonymous for his own protection.
As of press time, the two aurors treated for severe burns were already released from St. Mungo's but Fudge was still under observation. According to the healers, he might be suffering from an acute mental illness that has been ignored for so long.
With the current minister unable to fulfill his duties, who's going to be the new minister?
- The Quibbler
But the school itself was lacking of any activity. The teachers cancelled all the classes for the day and, for some mysterious reason, encouraged them all to spend their time practicing defensive and offensive spells - and the strangest request of them all - to talk to Neville Longbottom. Now, they had nothing against the boy. He was nice and all but why the hell would they be asked to talk to him? Was he ill or something?
Somehow, none of the teachers deemed it necessary to give them the details for such a strange request.
But not everyone was as painfully clueless to what was going on.
Draco Malfoy, for one, was totally aware of the situation. In fact, he was currently holding his father's letter in his left hand and Harry's note, written in haste before he left, in his right hand. Based on his stoic face, no one would have guessed that he was stressed out with both letters. Only the slight crease on his forehead betrayed his thoughts...and the ummm... barely noticeable jumpy attitude.
"Hey, Draco. I know it's you." a dreamy voice suddenly floated out of nowhere causing Draco to jump up in surprise.
Quickly regaining his composure, he turned to face the intruder who dared deprive him of the much-needed solitude. He put up a steely mask and addressed the person haughtily. "Know what?"
"That you hexed the minister to save Harry from doing the same thing himself." the unwanted intruder pressed on.
"That's totally ridiculous! Why would I do such a thing?" replied Draco incredulously but the intruder seemed unconvinced.
"So why did you? I seem to notice a particular lack of open hostility between the two of you."
"Come on, Loon - err- Lovegood, don't be daft. There's no sense in fighting someone who don't even remember you."
The girl raised one eyebrow at that. "Whatever you say, Draco, whatever you say." Then before she left, she added lazily. "Oh, by the way, do you know that you're almost as handsome as Ronald when you smile? You should do that more often."
Draco almost gagged at her words. He wasn't sure if he should be pleased or insulted by the comparison. Almost handsome? Puh-lease! As far as he was concerned, he was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. Definitely incomparable to that hot-headed Weasley. 'Perhaps that girl needed to have her eyes examined by the specialists.' he thought irritatedly.
The four travelers reached the site quicker that they had anticipated. It was almost anti-climactic after their impressive departure from Hogwarts but who's complaining? Definitely not them.
"Is this it?" inquired Harry curiously upon seeing a large mass of fallen debris and splinters of wood.
His companions nodded solemnly.
"I told you we won't find nothing here." said Matt as they continued examining the ruins for some clue to an underground chamber.
... The...heir...has...arrived...
...evil...must...be...stopped...
...free me...free me...free me...
"Sshhh...Did you hear that?" asked Harry.
"Hear what?" asked Billy, straining his ears to try to find out what he meant.
The other two appeared not to have heard the voice too...and Harry immediately understood... The words were uttered in parseltongue.
"...Who...are... you?" he hissed back.
...Salazar...Slytherin...
"...You..are...evil!...Why...should...I...free...you?"
...I.. am ...not...evil...I...just..want...to...find... the... impostor... who... tricked ... my ... faithful... servant... into ...serving... him...
"How...can...I... be... sure... that... you... won't... harm...us... afterwards?"
...I... solemnly... swear... that... I... wouldn't ... harm... any... of... you... That's ... a... wizard's... oath... and... breaching... that... oath... would... result... to ... my ... utter... destruction...
Harry turned to his friends and translated the conversation to them and confirmed if the Wizard's Oath really worked. When the three agreed, Harry set to work to liberate the entrapped wizard, hoping that the action would be beneficial for them.
"Fine... open...up..."
To their amazement, a heavy metal trapdoor embellished with life-life animated snakes suddenly appeared a few feet in front of them, where fallen, jagged stoned lay scattered.
The four cautiously lifted the door and they all shuffled inside a narrow path, just eight feet wide, with walls covered with one painting of a stern-looking wizard after another. The path eventually divided, then twisted sharply, and finally became what seemed to be an endless flight of stairs.
At last, they reached the deepest chamber - a high-vaulted cell, barely illuminated by low-burning torches fueled by magic. And there, hovering behind the vaulted cell, was Salazar Slytherin himself, in his silvery and ghostly splendour.
"...Open... up..."
Harry raised his eyebrow questioningly as Slytherin floated out of the vault in haste. "I would never have guessed that you're own heir would be the one to lock you in here." he commented. Thankfully, the ghost could not
"I beg your pardon? What heir are you talking about?" asked Slytherin indignantly.
"Voldemort... or Tom Riddle... you know, the one who fancies himself as the dark lord?" replied Harry, puzzled that Slytherin didn't seem to know his own descendant.
"Surely you're not suggesting that you're thinking he's my heir!" Slytherin bristled with annoyance.
"Isn't he? He told me himself that he's your heir and everybody else was thinking the same thing. He went to Hogwarts, you know, so many people are quite aware of his background." stated Harry though the turn of the conversation was so in conflict with his own knowledge.
"That's totally ridiculous! If he's truly my heir, don't you think I would have arranged for him to study at such a mundane and watered-down version of a magical institution instead of the ultimate wizarding school that I, myself had built? He's a fraud!" roared the voice of Salazar Slytherin after being woken from his deep slumber.
"How could Tom Riddle be a parselmouth if he didn't inherit it from you?" countered Harry while his three companions appeared amused by the exchange.
"What about you? You're also a parselmouth. Does that also make you my heir?" asked Salazar enigmatically.
Harry blanched at the horrible thought. "Of course not! According to Dumbledore, I only got that ... that trait when Voldemort tried to kill me. He said that Voldemort accidentally transferred some of his powers to me."
"Really now? Let me tell you a secret, lad... Dumbledore does not know everything... However, Rowena did and she had told me once that such an ability was a gift and could never be transferred from one wizard to another neither could it be inherited. Therefore, that fraud had nothing to do with your being a parselmouth."
"Great...just great..." Harry murmured dryly. Instead of being relieved, Harry felt unnerved by that revelation. He could never blame his ability to Voldemort again and that thought was a little disconcerting.
"So what shall we do to end his charade?" asked Slytherin eagerly.
"Are you really going to help us?" asked Billy curiously.
"Why do you doubt my willingness to help Hogwarts?" asked Salazar exasperatedly, highly offended by Harry's insinuation. "If you don't recall, I was one of its founders. I would always be there to protect it if necessary. Same as my school. Once Voldemort is gone, I could change it back to its original curriculum before the pretender intervened with a few added subjects of course. There's always some room for improvement."
"Sorry. It's just that we're still having a hard time reconciling what we know about you before and what you are saying now. You see, we were under the impression that you had wanted to err - purge the world of all muggles and muggle-borns witches and wizards..." stated Harry anxiously.
Slytherin shivered in blatant disgust. "Rubbish! How could the history been this distorted! Let me tell you, I did nothing of that sort. I had left Hogwarts for professional reasons and not personal ones. I had wanted to teach magic exclusively to the purebloods but it doesn't mean that I wanted to eradicate the entire nonpurebloods in existence. That would have been disastrous and downright evil. I was never like that! I just wanted to preserve our supreme wizarding tradition while the other founders were more accommodating but our differences in opinion never got in the way of our friendship. In fact, I had remained friends with the other founders till the time of our deaths. "
"Oh." For once, Harry was speechless.
The founder tapped his left foot impatiently. Unfortunately, the intimidating effect was lost because his audience did not even notice it. "What?" he asked. "Please do tell what you want before I lose my patience."
"The beacon...We need it to stop the pretender from controlling your students for evil purposes and to somehow nullify his power over the dark mark." stated Matt nervously.
Slytherin became curiously silent at that.
"B-but you don't have to give it to us, sir. If you would be kind enough to remove his control over the SSPEW mark, then it would be highly appreciated." added Matt hastily, worried that the founder might have thought that they were asking too much.
Slytherin raised one hand to calm them down. "I would gladly hand it over to you if that would be the best course of action. Unfortunately, it's not in my possession anymore."
"W-WHAT?" The four exclaimed at once in frustration.
"B-but if it's not with..and Voldemort doesn't have it either...then where is it?" asked Harry with a sinking heart.
"With my last living descendant of course." replied Slytherin as if that was an obvious fact. "It just needs to be activated." he added.
"Oh, blast! We're almost out of time. Where are we going to find your heir?" cried Billy in distress.
The founder rolled his eyes at that. "How could someone so young be so dense? Haven't you realized yet why that charlatan still cannot control the three of you when all the others were already putty in his hands?" he queried in mock amazement.
Billy, Chuck and Matt immediately turned to Harry whose face had lost its color at the unexpected revelation.
"M-me?" he gulped nervously and pointed at himself in disbelief.
"Oh, yes, you. Thank Merlin you finally caught on..." replied Slytherin, smirking in a self-satisfied way.
"N-no..." Harry mumbled to himself.
"Yes." Slytherin glowered at him, insulted by the lack of appreciation. "And now, perhaps you could help me recover my favorite pet, Nagini, from that impostor."
"Nagini?" exclaimed Harry in astonishment.
"Must you always repeat my words?" admonished the founder.
"Err- no, I was just a little shocked, that's all." replied Harry shame-facedly.
"Very well...I suppose we must return to Hogwarts before it's too late."
Author's Note: Please review...thanks -)