Chapter 11
'First night and I'm already being summoned.' Harry thought as he walked silently behind McGonagall. At the gargoyle, she mumbled the password and they rode the stairs to the headmaster's office. Upon entering Harry saw the oldest Weasleys along with Fred, George, Ronald, Percy and Ginny. 'So this is why they were missing at dinner.' Harry turned to Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his desk as always with that grandfatherly smile but his eyes weren't twinkling as much. "Headmaster you called for me." Dumbledore leaned back. "Yes, Harry. How are you, my boy?" Harry nodded with a smile. "I'm fine headmaster, and you?" "I'm doing great my boy." Silence settled for a while. Dumbledore finally broke it. "I'm afraid what brings us here is not as joyous as I would have wished, with rather unsettling questions."
"Professor?" Harry asked uncertainly. Dumbledore looked into Harry's eyes. "Harry did you or did you not attack Ginny Weasley the day she disappeared?" "Excuse me?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows, looking at Dumbledore as if he had grown another head. Ronald cut in, face as red as his hair. "Don't try to deny it Potter, Ginny told us everything!" Dumbledore raised a and to quiet the boy. Harry turned back to Dumbledore. "Sir, I was in my dorm room the night before the message was written and I was there when the students discovered the message." "You were also there when I was left in that bathroom." Ginny said, looking straight at Harry. "What?" "Because you left me there. You are the one who took me into and out of the chamber and left me there." Harry laughed in disbelief. "Are you seriously going to believe this?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter." McGonagall said. "We are going to believe it until we find a reason not to." Harry's face went blank. "You have no proof I was there that night. You cannot accuse me of anything." "Then perhaps you can give us the proof Harry. Veritaserum would work just fine." Dumbledore said. Harry laughed dryly. "You would give a minor veritaserum for something so stupid and risk Azkaban." "Not if you take it willingly." Arthur replied. Harry let his hands fold behind his back. "And if I refuse?" "It will prove you are guilty." Percy quipped, glaring at him. The raven smiled, eyes roaming the faces of those present. They returned to Dumbledore's and he cocked his head to the side. "Well, then I refuse." Dumbledore went to say something but Ginny beat him to it. "You bastard, I knew you would refuse." "My secrets are my own and I won't let a bunch of fools get into my head." The people in the room squawked in indignation.
"You accuse me so thoroughly of attacking Ginny but have you thought for one second that she may be lying. That she just wants attention and is jealous that her crush will never recognize her. That she will always be invisible." He stated softly as if talking to first graders. The Weasleys became furious but a thoughtful look entered Arthur's face. "How could you say that about Ginny?!" Molly screeched. Harry shrugged. "I just spoke the truth. If you are all so eager to find out the truth why not just give the girl veritaserum because clearly, I won't take it?" The question was directed to Dumbledore. The old man sighed. "Alright. Ginny are you willing?"
Ginny nodded, determined to expose Harry for who he was. Harry smiled smugly at her, already planning. 'Lita, will you play dumb star-crossed girl for a second.' 'I can't believe you are sending me into the cunt's head.' She griped. Harry mentally rolled his eyes. 'Just do it.' Ginny sat down in the offered chair as Dumbledore produced a vial of veritaserum. He poured three drops onto Ginny's tongue. Ginny's face went slack as the potion took over. "What is your name?" "Ginevra Molly Weasley." "How old are you?" "Eleven years old." Dumbledore nodded. The group huddled around to listen closely. McGonagall was watching Harry's face closely. "What happened on the night you were attacked?"
Ginny replied. "I was walking to my dorm to do my homework when I heard some noise. Before I could look what it was I was hit with a spell and everything went bank. I then woke up in a large room with snake statues and saw…" she seemed to fight with herself before her face went slack again. "A boy. He was wearing the Slytherin uniform and when I asked him who he was he said he is Tom." Dumbledore's eyes widened a fraction. "He did something with his wand and I passed out again. When I woke up again I was in a bathroom." She went silent.
Dumbledore asked again "Did Harry attack you?" "No." The Weasleys gaped. "Why did you accuse him of attacking you." "Because I wanted people to see me for once. I am always in my brothers' shadow, they don't even recognize me at school. I also love Harry but he never sees me. If I can't have him I will ruin his reputation so no one will want him. Everyone will think he is a dark wizard and they will avoid him just like they did when they found out he can talk to snakes." Molly put her hands on her mouth in shock. "Ginny, how could you do this?" Taking this as a question Ginny replied. "Because I don't want to be invisible anymore." Molly sobbed into Arthur's chest. The potion finally wore off and Ginny's face cleared. She looked around with a smile, thinking they were staring because they pitied her. "Now do you believe me?"
Ronald glared at her in disgust. "Yeah. I believe that my sister is a big liar." "What?" Ginny asked in confusion. "But I just told the truth under veritaserum!" Before the situation could escalate further Dumbledore said benignly. "Now now, no need to fight. Ginny is still young and makes mistakes. She will grow out of it." Ginny went to protest. "But I…" "Quiet Ginny! We'll talk about this at home." The girl shut up, looking down at her hands still confused at what happened. Dumbledore turned to Harry, whose face was blank again. "I apologize for the misunderstanding Harry. You can go to your room now." Harry nodded and left without a word. The Weasleys followed moments later.
Dumbledore was left with McGonagall deep in thought. McGonagall said "Something went wrong. I believe Miss Weasley is innocent." Dumbledore nodded. "I looked into Ginny's mind before giving her veritaserum. She did see Harry drop her off in the bathroom. In the chamber, she saw who she believed was Harry. I'm not really sure, her vision was blurred. Something interrupted the veritaserum and took over her mind to answer for her." "Do you think Harry had something to do with it?" Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, but we can't prove it. We'll just have to keep a close eye on Harry." McGonagall nodded. "I don't trust that boy. He reminds me too much of HIM." she said with a scowl. Dumbledore nodded. "I get what you mean."
~Scene Change~
The following day was hilarious for Harry. As he walked the halls many students gave him pitying looks and whispered among each other. Some of them carried around the Daily Prophet to continue the gossip mill. He just ignored them like there was nothing wrong in the world. As he passed the entrance to the dungeons Draco joined him with Blaize in tow. The dark-skinned boy looked as curious as always when it came to Harry, seeking to know more. "So how do you feel about Black?" he asked. Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing much. Tall, pale, lanky hair, skinny as fuck at the moment I imagine. Why do you ask?" Draco groaned in annoyance. "He's talking about Black's escape from Azkaban." Harry put on a curious look similar to Zabini's. "Oh yeah. Azkaban is fabled to be inescapable. Makes you wonder how a weakened twelve-year prisoner with no wand escaped the terrible place flocked with soul-sucking, emotion-draining dementors. Black must be as good a death eater as they say he is to escape Azkaban."
"Aren't you afraid he'll come for you?" Draco asked nervously. Harry shrugged, entering the great hall with his companions. "No, not really. If he does come for me I'm sure the great Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore, Merlin first class, will be able to protect an innocent student such as I." Blaize couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, drawing the attention of a couple of people, including McGonagall. She narrowed her eyes at them.
As Blaize tried to recover from his episode, Draco was too busy giving Harry a skeptical look. "Innocent, you? You must be joking." Harry gave an innocent smile as they sat down at the Slytherin table. "Why Draco, why do you have such little faith in me?" The blonde just continued to stare in doubt. Tracy was heard speaking. "I wonder how classes will go today with dementors lurking around the school grounds." The topic drew his companions' attention away and Harry was free to ponder. Now that he has the lunar crystal he could perform the ritual on the first full moon. The only problem with that would be the shockwave of energy that will undoubtedly be released by the dark and powerful ritual. It would cause problems. Luckily he had an idea of how to solve that. He just finished his master studies with runes last summer and knew of a rune sequence that would absorb any extra energy.
When they finished breakfast they walked to their first Ancient Runes class. As Harry passed Ronald Weasley he noticed the rat in a cage he was carrying. He frowned a bit. 'That rat, according to Weasley, was given to him by his brother who got it from his older brother. Rats aren't supposed to live that long. Perhaps…" His thought process was interrupted by a boy snapping a picture of him. Luckily, Harry did not flinch away from the bright flash so it was probably a good shot. A short boy, Collin Creevy he reckoned, was the one with the camera. Harry chose to ignore the Harry Potter fan and go into class.
Just as the class ended he saw Hermoine rush into a deserted corner and decided to investigate. When he got there he found no one and shrugged, deciding to go to his next class when the girl appeared on the other side of the hall seemingly without anyone noticing. Harry blinked. 'That was odd. Unless Hermione is extremely magically talented, she could not possibly have done that on her own. So Granger is using time turners now. Wonder what idiot gave it to her.' Promising himself to investigate it further later, he went to Potions class with the Hufflepuffs.
~Scene Change~
Theodore was ecstatic. He could hold his head up high again, he could proudly say he was a pureblood again. Harry had fixed whatever mess he created in his family and everything has gone back to normal. With that in mind, Theodore vowed never to interact with Harry Potter again unless under the pain of death.
~Scene Change~
'I'm almost there, I can almost taste justice! I'm coming for you Pettigrew, and I'll make sure to kill you and then fix my relationship with Harry.' Thought a black grim as it looked upon the giant castle. It slunk back into the darkness.
~Scene Change~
Harry stared down at the three items dubiously. "Where is the last one?" Was the only thing his exhausted mind could come up with. He was kneeling on the cold hard floor just at the edge of a rune array having just finished the ritual to bring all the horcruxes together. On the outer edge of the rune array was a series of separate rune symbols, these to absorb unneeded energy to prevent a backlash. In front of him was the lunar crystal, now a dull blue color because of the lost power. Harry made a mental note to put it in the moonlight every moon night to let it regain its energy.
Hershia coiled around the boy gently, sympathizing with his semi-failure. ~Maybe it is because the last one is a living horcrux. I heard that since live magical beings have more magical resistance it is difficult to draw them in.~ The raven nodded in understanding, relaxing into his familiar's comforting embrace. Hershia let her master brush her head distractedly as he was in deep thought. She had grown close to the boy. He was much like her Salazar; cunning and sadistic, but unlike her first master he did not particularly care about anyone. Well anyone other than that Draco boy he sometimes mentions. He had little regard for the rest of humanity. From what she deduced Harry had only one goal in mind; to regain his well-deserved freedom from two tyrants: Albus Dumbledore and Tom Riddle AKA Voldemort. Hershia herself did not like Harry's cold countenance but after spending some time with the boy she couldn't help but like him. She could tell he somewhat liked her too and that pleased her greatly.
Harry stood up ready to leave. ~I will see you the next time I visit Hershia. Stay well.~ ~Go well, Hadrian. Don't get into too much trouble.~ Hershia said. Harry nodded and left Hershia to her own devices. She slithered into the tunnels that led into Hogwart's old plumbing system. Though she was a basilisk over a thousand years old she was a female, and she loved to gossip. She hummed lowly to herself as she went by the dungeons to listen in on the Slytherins' conversations.
~Scene Change~
Harry laid in his bed among the snores of his roommates, deep in thought. He could only gain three of the four remaining horcruxes. The last one was a living horcrux most likely, as Hershia pointed out. that made it even more difficult to find because it was probably constantly on the move. Harry narrowed his eyes. Voldemort was smart, very smart. So it confused him how this intelligent man would make a horcrux out of a living thing that would grow old and die, taking his soul with it. Unless of course said living thing is immortal. Harry snorted. Voldemort would not trust anyone with something so important. Perhaps it was someone close to him, very close. Which rules out most of the death eaters. Who would Voldemort trust in his inner circle? Perhaps Malfoy, or Bellatrix, or even Snape. No. Voldemort would not be so stupid as to give any of them his very soul.
'Maybe we are looking at this all wrong. Maybe it is not a person he trusted.' Lelita suggested. Harry's eyes widened minutely. 'A creature he trusts with his life. It must be his familiar. Nagini!' 'Are you sure master? Nagini is not immortal after all, surely the immortal wannabe did not put his soul into a vulnerable snake.' Harry mentally nodded. 'I'm positive. Nagini is, for all intents and purposes, Voldemort's only friend and true companion. To make things even better she is his familiar and completely loyal to him. Nagini is always around the dark lord so it is easy for Voldemort to protect her. Even more, creatures bound to a wizard live as long as the wizard himself, and Voldemort hasn't planned to die anytime soon. What better choice?' 'That is convincing. Okay then master. How do we catch her?' 'I'll think of something.'