Chapter 4: Find a Snake, Search for Stone
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October 31st 1970, The Great Hall
Hydrus sat between the boy Ashling and Evan during the Halloween feast. He and his 1970 friends were pretty close, considering how long they had known each other.
Hydrus found out a few things about his friends, things like Ashling had an older fourth year sister in Gryffindor called Kira, and Evan loved toffees and fudge but generally disliked chocolate.
Unfortunately, Hydrus also found out that someone had declared an official feud between House Black and House Avery thanks to him… not the greatest thing ever.
Halloween had always been a hard time for Hydrus Black and Harry Potter. He couldn't stop thinking about everything that had gone wrong. He couldn't stop thinking about how everything could go wrong. He couldn't stop thinking about the future and the past.
Halloween was a time where Hydrus felt lost, confused and alone.
But this Halloween, on top of all that, the green-eyed boy felt as though he was forgetting something. Like he was forgetting something huge. And it was annoying him, to say the least.
As the Black heir sat, wallowing in his thoughts, Evan Rosier's voice cut into his mind.
"Hydrus, are you going to actually eat or are you going to just stare at your food for the rest of eternity?" The small boy asked whilst Ashling let out a snort of laughter.
Shaking his mind free, Hydrus silently pushed his plate away, shooting a small smile at his friends, though his eyes portrayed how he was really feeling. As he stood up, Ashling cocked her head in question.
"I'm just going to the loo. I'll be back soon." He said, noticing as the others exchanged a worried glance.
Hydrus navigated the corridors, paranoid as he looked everywhere and nowhere all at once. Forgetting what year group he was in for a moment, he climbed the stairs to the prefects bathrooms, splashing some water in his face.
Hydrus's green eyes were a miserable dull grey in the mirror, a flickering light flashing and humming behind him. Suddenly, Hydrus leapt backwards, his breathing heavy, and he instinctively looked towards the bathroom entrance, stumbling backwards slightly.
In that moment, the resemblance between himself and Draco Malfoy frightened him. He reminded himself of Malfoy moments before Harry Potter had nearly killed him. Hydrus let out an angry cry… in parseltongue.
He yelled again and again. Oh, how he wished Hermione was there to calm him down. Though they would never admit it, both had been having nightmares since they had arrived in the past world.
"Ssstop it! Jussst sssstop! Calm down Hydrussss." He yelped in snake-language, pacing back and forth.
That was when it hit him.
The basilisk was alive.
"Oh, Merlin." Hydrus breathed.
He ran out of the doorway and found his way down to the girl's bathroom, daring to ignore Mrs. Norris when the devil cat hissed at him, before he stood before the sinks.
"Praissse Sssalazar Ssssslytherin. Sssuperior Sssssalazar Sssslytherin!" Hydrus hissed in Parseltongue.
The green-eyed boy watched with pure satisfaction as the girl's sinks began to shift down, the familiar vile smell of the chamber of secrets entering his nostrils. Hydrus winced, taking his wand from his pocket, before daring to jump down into the pipes.
He could feel the air whipping against him as he descended, falling faster and faster and faster until…. "ARESTO MOMENTUM!" He yelled, aiming his wand at himself.
Hydrus was relieved to find that he didn't crash onto the ground once again, although he was just as relieved that their weren't any mad Defense teachers in the chamber who wanted nothing more than to erase his memories.
The boy brushed down his robes, scrunching up his nose as the smell of dead rats hit him all over again. I wish that the Basilisk ate something more pleasing in scent… Hydrus thought, casting a quick glance behind him before continuing on through the tunnels.
The further away from the entrance he went, the darker the pipes became.
"Lumos." Hydrus whispered, slowly raising his head to look at the familiar statue before him. "Ssssnake! Oh great sssnake, awaken and arissse." He hissed, staring intently at Slytherin's face.
To Hydrus's surprise, the statue did not move, but a reply came out. A reply of a hiss.
"A sssspeaker? What do you want and whatssss in it for me?" The giant snake asked, malice lacing it's voice like the venom in its fangs.
"I am the heir of Sssslytherin!" Hydrus said in panic, immediately regretting it as the snake's cold laughter echoed around the chamber and Salazar Slytherin's mouth opened.
Hydrus squeezed his eyes shut, the sound of scales slithering slowly approaching him sending shivers down his spines. 'It can smell your fear.' He reminded himself.
"I think I would know if the heir of Sssslytherin was sssspeaking to me." Hissed the basilisk. "Sssso. I will asssk thisss once more. What do you want and whatssss in it for me?"
"I wish for ssssome of your venom. In return, I will allow you to sssslither around the ssschool at night you agree to keep your ssssecond eyelid clossssed." Hydrus hissed, wincing when the snake sniffed him.
"You sssssmell like a Gryffindor." The Basilisk said. "And yet, you are a Sssslytherin. Why issss that?"
"I wanted to ssserve the mosssst ssssuperior houssse." Hydrus spoke clearly. This seemed to please the snake.
"If I agree to your termssss, when will you take my venom?" The snake asked.
"When my friend Hermione arivesssss." Hydrus replied.
"Issss this Hermione alsssso a sssspeaker?" asked the snake, slithering around Hydrus once again. The boy was almost certain that the basilisk was coiling him now.
"No." Hydrus managed to keep his voice from wavering. "We are trying to ssstop he who imprissssoned you."
"Jusssstice?" The snake questioned, uncoiling and slithering around. "How do you think that would be jussstice for me? That sssspeaker before was the heir of Sssslytherin. You are almosssst cccertainly a Gryffindor."
"Did you want to kill that girl?" Hydrus questioned. He heard the snake freeze.
"What?" The basilisk queried.
"I ssssaid, did you want to kill that girl." Hydrus repeated.
The snake hesitated before answering, "You puzzle me, ssssnake child. Tell me, what issss your name."
"Hydrussss Black. What about you, almighty ssssnake?" The boy said.
"I am named Viltisssss." The great snake replied.
"You are from Lithuania?" Hydrus asked, "That meanssss hope." He was suddenly greatful that his father had forced him and his brothers to learn so many languages.
"You are very ssssmart, ssssnake child. I am impresssed." Viltis admitted. "You know of the horcruxessss, correct?" He asked.
"Yessss." Hydrus said, nodding solemnly. He was surprised the Basilisk was willing to give him information just like that. "You will be able to be free sssstarting tonight. Jusssst don't forget about the second eyelid ssssso you don't accccccidentally petrify or kill sssssomeone. You are a good sssssnake, Viltissss."
"You May open your eyes, sssspeaker. I have my ssssecond eyelidssss closed. Do you trusssssst me?" The basilisk asked.
Hesitantly, Hydrus nodded, cracking open an eye. The Basilisk's eyes seemed bright green with the second eyelids down.
"You may go now. I am going to resssssst." The basilisk have a swift nod before slithering away, back into the pipes for a while. "Sssssee you ssssssoon."
"You assss well, Viltissssss." Hydrus returned the nod before making his way back up the pipes; this time, he actually noticed that there was a ladder to help people down and up. Very helpful.
Hydrus returned to the Great Hall with a large smile plastered on his face, leaving Evan and Ashling to question his whereabouts.
Whilst some things in Hydrus's life were a little hectic, at least he had an alliance with an old frienemy.
§
November 19th, 1970, Deathbane's Library
Mid November found Hermione Lupin scanning the shelves for one book in particular that her former self hadn't looked at or studied nearly enough.
It was the book called 'The Philosopher's stone', although it really just had some half truths about the Resurrection stone.
Hermione had been silently questioning the location of the odd relic ever since she had been left alone for a couple of days; Remus was at a week's sleepover with Sirius, her Father was working and her Mother had the flu.
She knew that the stone had to be somewhere. But the question was where?
The girl chewed the end of her quill, scanning every line of the book in front of her, when she noticed something that caused her to raise an eyebrow. Page forty was about how the stone needed to be stored. Page forty three was about the previous travels of the stone.
But where was the page that had forty-one on one side and forty-two on the other?
It was gone.
Immediately, Hermione hopped up and searched through the shelves where she had originally found the book. There were another three copies of the book that would hold the answers.
The second book also had those pages missing. The third one as well. And the forth.
So Hermione went to all the other local Libraries.
Every single one had page forty-one and forty-two missing.
Then, the realisation dawned on Hermione. She knew, at that moment, that someone else was looking for the stone. Considering who's possession it ended up in by the time Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley started Hogwarts, Hermione had an idea as of who was looking for it.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was also searching for the Resurrection stone.
But then a larger question sparked in Hermione's mind.
Whilst Albus Dumbledore seemed a bit mad, he was not a fool. He couldn't be looking for the stone so he could speak to his sister once more.
So why was the Headmaster of Hogwarts looking for the stone?
Moreso, what would he want to do if he had all three deathly hallows in his possession at once?
But then again, he already had all three previously. So what was the exact date that the old man had found the Resurrection stone? Question after question came into Hermione's mind, a never ending cycle as she stared at the several broken books in front of her.
Hermione grabbed one of the books and issued it out on her Library account before she took it home and sat on her bed, flicking through the pages. Then she noticed something inscribed on the back of the book she had in her grasp.
A list of the top fifteen places that had owned the Philosopher's stone book first.
And 12 Grimmauld Place was number three.
It was time to pay Sirius and her brother a little visit…
§
"Sirius! Remus!" Hermione called, stepping through the floo into Sirius's home. "Are you here?"
"Who are you?" A frightened voice asked. Hermione looked around to see a boy looking at her with wide eyes.
"Regulus, right?" The girl asked. "I'm Hermione Lupin. Is your brother around?" She asked him.
"Sirius and Remus have gone to get some ice cream with my Father." Regulus replied, visibly relaxing. "What did you want Sirius for, anyway?"
"Actually, I was wondering if you had a certain book in your Library?" She asked.
Regulus raised an eyebrow but nonetheless showed her the way.
With the boy holding the ladder, monitoring her as Hermione scanned each and every shelf until she found the book she was looking for; it was high up and she had to use a ladder. It probably wasn't a good idea to show Regulus she could do controlled wandless magic.
The Lupin girl flicked through the pages until she found page forty. She prayed to Merlin as she allowed her eyes to read the page number next to page forty.
It was Page forty-three.
"OH, COME ON!" Hermione yelled, causing regulus to jump and knock the ladder and consequently make the girl lose balance.
Just before she hit the floor, she managed to slow her fall, thankfully Regulus wasn't looking. Hermione noticed that Regulus was in the path of the falling ladder and so she swiftly leapt to her feet, allowing her magic to subtly assist her in stopping the ladder from crushing the boy.
With wide eyes, Regulus stammered, "Th-Thanks!" Before adding, "What's up with the book?"
"It's missing a page. Every book is missing a page." She complained, then paused. "Regulus, I don't suppose Dumbledore visited you recently?"
"Yes, actually." Regulus informed. "The day after Sirius turned eleven. Don't tell me I told you this, but apparently he has something called trouble magic and Father had to be informed. I don't know what trouble magic is, though."
"Trouble magic is basically where Wizards and Witches have even more powerful magic when they're angry or frightened. It's fairly uncommon. I have it, as well." Hermione said with a small smile. "It would actually be very useful in battle."
"Hydrus also has Trouble Magic." Regulus told her. "Dumbledore said I don't have it."
"Did he come into this room, Professor Dumbledore, when he was here?" Hermione asked the boy, drawing the subject back to the man.
"Uh, I think so? I was on the way to my bedroom and I saw him browsing the shelves. I don't think he realised I was watching him." Regulus admitted, a faint embarrassed blush colouring his cheeks.
Hermione's suspicions were definitely confirmed. But the question of Why was still rolling around her head.
The girl now had a mission for her friend at Hogwarts, he had already woken the snake, but now he needed to sneak into Dumbledore's office and 'borrow' a book.
Dumbledore wouldn't have destroyed his own copy, would he?
"Thanks, Regulus." Hermione turned to the boy. "You've been a great help."
"Thanks?" Regulus questioned as Hermione ran to the floo.
It was time to write a letter.
§
Dear Hydy,
Remember what you did before in your first year at Hogwarts? Kind of hard to forget, wasn't it. Well, it turns out Dumbledore has begun his search for the Resurrection stone and the answers all lie on page 41-42 of the Philosopher's Stone book. I don't know why he wants the stone, still. Something doesn't quite make sense. My main problem of finding the answer of the Stone's location is that the Old Man has kind of erased every page 41-42, apart from the one that he has in his office! Yippee!
Ready to break the rules again?
Have fun!
~H.J.L
—
Satisfied with her letter, Hermione handed it over to Onyx, and the raven willingly took it and began his journey to Scotland.
...
A/N: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter, of course! Also, this chapter and ones of the future may be a little shorter than usual... writers block was painful, people! Special thanks to Lilywolfy for the idea of the Basilisk for this chapter!
Hopefully Writers Block won't curse me again ?
Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review!
~Narglez