Chapter 21: Temperamental Train Ride
Disclaimer: If there's an unlimited realms of possibility then perhaps there may be a timeline where i am responsible for creating both Bioshock and/or Harry Potter but alas it is not this one. I own neither of them, i'm just toying with the people and places included.
Returning to Hogwarts after the end of the holidays was a painless and smooth transition, arriving early, Harry was already on the train by the time the majority of students had started to turn up, sat in a compartment around the middle of the train with his feet up resting on the other bench, book open in his lap, notepad to the side with a handful of notes taken that he had been working on when he had been left to his own devices at the Leaky Cauldron.
tap, tap
He looked up, glancing at the doorway, Terry stood, waiting for Harry to acknowledge him. "Have a good summer?" He asked as the Ravenclaw walked in and sat down opposite him.
"Wasn't too bad, ended up going to France for a week part way through, did you know the school there actually lets people tour it during the summer to see if they want to send their kids there? Man, some of the things there put Hogwarts to shame." Terry explained drawing a look from Harry.
"What does it do? Safe place to learn Magic?" He asked jokingly, "a sign on the front that says no trolls allowed?" He continued making light of the interesting events that had happened the year before.
"Try double the optional classes, they can learn Alchemy there. Their potions classroom isn't in the darkest, dirtiest dungeons and they regularly update their classes." Terry explained, and Harry found himself frowning. The fact that Hogwarts had fallen that far behind when it like to class itself as one of the... he corrected himself, the best school to learn magic was a bit of a wakeup call. Though certain aspects had come into question he hadn't really put much thought about it. "I was speaking to some of the older years and apparently our curriculum hasn't changed much in the last fifty years, in fact there's less being taught now. Did you know they had a duelling class? It got cancelled about thirty years ago, but we've missed out on so many things."
Harry was admittedly only half listening to his friend talking, his thoughts had been focused on the warning from the House Elf that had visited him, a warning of a threat to the school that had hit before. Though from what he heard from Terry did match up with what he had guessed from the sheer quantity of unused classrooms, some with layers of dust so thick that he wondered if they had been used in hundreds of years, let alone the last thirty years. He thought the house elves were meant to keep them clean and tidy, but they probably left them for the same reason everyone else didn't use them. There was enough empty space in the castle that was being used that the out of the way classrooms weren't even necessary to be prepared for students moving about, not even for sneaking into for a little personal time.
The part of his attention that was stolen by the threat kept drawing his attention, with Elizabeth's ability they had the potential to look for it, to find out what it was before it could cause a threat here and now, but they made no effort to look, to find out what it was to prevent it from causing the problem that they were warned about. He closed the book he had sitting in his lap, not that he had spent much time reading the book in question, idly flicking through the pages while his mind was focused elsewhere. "I'm sorry Terry, there's something I need to do quickly. I'll be back in a few moments." Harry muttered, standing up and walking out of the room, leaving the stunned Terry sitting there wondering about what had just happened. Harry walked down the corridor, calmly sidestepping other students that were running back and forth looking for their friends before moving into the toilet at the end of the cart. He closed the door, locking it and looking into the mirror quickly, deciding on how he was going to do what he wanted to do.
A tear started to open around him and he found himself in a familiar place, a sea of Lighthouses, the doorway to every time and place, every possibility. One of these had to lead to the threat in question and if he could identify the threat there then he could prevent it in his own time. With the bonus that he could return to the exact point he left and not raise suspicion. Walking to the stairway away from the lighthouse he watched as platforms raised up forming a walkway in front of him. Elizabeth had explained it a little bit beforehand when she had led him along it, the path wasn't so much of a literal path, it was his own mind creating the pathway, none of this actually looked like it did, it was just how his mind pictured it all so it wouldn't overload him, he walked along, watching the water run off the wooden boards that made the walkway as he focused on where he wanted to go, he wanted to go to a time where the threat was active, he wanted to be somewhere near it. The Walkway responded to his thoughts, veering sharply off in one direction, towards another lighthouse that matched all the others that were around him. it hit the bottom of the walkway and he walked up the steps, his footsteps loud and crunching on the stony floor. He looked around, part of him wondering whether this was a good idea as he got closer, the voice in the back of his head warning him that he knew nothing about the threat that was there, nothing on its capabilities and how to deal with it if it comes to attack him. He reached up for the door, hand gripping the handle to push it open when another rested on top of his. he jumped, turning sharply, pulling his hand free. He turned his head and looked at the person to see one of the Lutece twins standing there, looking at him with curiosity.
"Are you sure this is the path you want to take?" Rosalind asked, no sign of phrasing her comment in the way she normally did, no double talk with her twin, no leading him on to get him confused, it reinforced the seriousness situation.
"The fact that you're telling me this means that it's a problem, I have to do this." Harry said seriously, and Rosalind nodded her head, stepping back.
"Very well, it's not up to me to decide your actions." She said dismissively, and Harry pushed opened the door, walking through it.
HPCVHPCV
At Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Elizabeth knew that Harry had left the train the moment it happened, both being in his office at the time, ironically enough they had been talking about the same thing that had been troubling Harry. Dumbledore being under the belief that the problem needed to develop before they could do something about it, to catch the person and take whatever was causing the threat.
As they were talking the devices on his bookcase started to go crazy. Dumbledore reacted in almost an instant, up and checking the tools that monitored the health of Harry. "What does it mean?" Elizabeth asked, standing up from the chair she had been sitting, walking over to him, and looking at the devices.
"It means, that Mr. Potter has gone wandering without you." He said calmly although Elizabeth could see a slight edge in what he was saying, he was not happy that Harry was wandering around in potentially dangerous situations by himself.
"What is he doing!?" Elizabeth muttered sharply, she had requested that he not do something like this without her yet, not until he had fully understood the risk that he was getting into.
One device cracked and shattered, showering the two of them in silver fragments, Elizabeth let out a small scream, quickly covering her face, caught off guard by the sudden breaking of the device. "What does that mean?" She asked, already having an idea as to what that meant.
"It means, Mr Potter has done something dangerous and paid the price." A cultured voice spoke out and the two turned around, looking for the new visitor.
"Robert," She spoke quickly, with a familiarity that made Dumbledore Ease his grip from the wand that she hadn't even seen him draw. "What has he done?" Elizabeth asked with a dreadful anticipation sinking in.
"He acted without truly thinking things through, searching for what the potential threat would be and opening a door into a situation he didn't fully understand. You need to come with me." He said, and Elizabeth cursed under her breath. "My apologies Professor Dumbledore, where we are you going, you won't be able to follow." He said with seriousness that stopped Dumbledore from speaking for a moment. "Elizabeth, you know where to go." He said, and Elizabeth nodded her head, the tear already forming to the side of her with enough distance to stop Dumbledore from making his way through. Robert Lutece walked in ahead of her and she turned back to Dumbledore.
"I will find out what is going on and I will bring him back," she promised starting to walk before stopping again, looking back over her shoulder at Dumbledore. "What was the device that broke?" Elizabeth asked though she already had a feeling as to what it was.
"It monitored his life signs," Dumbledore spoke softly, dread tipping his voice. "That it broke can only mean one thing." He said, and Elizabeth nodded her head a grim look on her face.
She walked through the tear, it closing behind her as she spoke "If it's true, then it's good that he wasn't here." She said as it shut, walking in the direction that would lead straight to him. "You idiot Harry, what have you done?" She muttered under her breath her pace quickening, heels clicking on the wooden boards that sprung up infront of her to make her path.
Splash, splash, splash.
Rhythmic splashing of water drew her attention and she turned, a row boat was coming towards her, a familiar sight from what was almost a lifetime ago.
"Perhaps now he'll look before he leaps." Robert spoke with nonchalant resignation. In the back of the boat she could see Harry lying there motionless
"I believe it was the looking that got him into trouble in the first place." Rosalind mocked as the boat pulled up to the dock at the bottom of the Lighthouse that Elizabeth stood at.
"How is he?" She questioned as they lifted him up onto dry land.
"He'll live, much to his regret," Rosalind explained as the two started rowing away again. "He might have a bit of a headache when he awakens. And hopefully next time he'll knock before he opens a door."
Elizabeth looked down at the unconscious Harry, his breathing slow and ragged. "What did you do?" She repeated the question she had asked before and sat by him. The fact that they had left meant that he was probably going to be fine soon enough, like what had happened with her the first time she had died. There was shock, there was confusion and there would no doubt be pain, but unlike her, he wouldn't be able to just handwave it away. Now all she had to do was wait for him to wake up and see what he had learnt.
That was the advantage here, they could wait as long as needed. Time was a bit funny like that. Though with the way he had acted, Harry was not going to be looking forward to the lecture he was going to get when he woke up. Too many things were reliant on him not getting himself killed and he seemed to underestimate just how badly some people would miss him.
HPCVHPCV
He staggered out of the public bathroom walking into the rain, holding a tissue to his bloody nose, the world still slightly spinning around him as he tried to gather his bearings, he struggled to keep a steady walk so as not to draw too much undue attention. It didn't work as a wave of dizziness hit him, dropping him to his knees as he emptied the content of his stomach into the sewer drain that was at the side of the road. "Sir, are you okay?" A female voice asked, and he managed to slightly turn his head, looking at the black-haired woman before another wave of nausea caused him to throw up again. His arms shook from exhaustion, muscles burning as he dropped to the floor falling flat into the rainy street. The woman quickly knelt next to him, shaking him to try and get a response while calling out for someone to call an ambulance.
HPCVHPCV
Harry walked back through the train, still soaked to the bone, his head hurt, not his scar but his entire head, like something had started drumming in the back of his head and just started marching around for additional effect. Students looked at him as he walked by, many sniggering at him and the state he was in, some of them looked concerned and even tried to ask him if he was okay but he waved them off. He entered the compartment he had been in and dropped down into the seat opposite Terry next to his discarded book, "what happened to you?" Terry asked in surprise.
"Don't ask." He groaned slightly, removing his glasses, and placing them by his side. "Let's just put it this way, I need to work on my dodging and awareness." He said, leaning back into the bench and letting his head rest on the wall, closing his eyes, if anyone asked, the water was from a spell that he had failed to move out of the way, he wasn't going to point fingers at anyone to get them in trouble but as far as anyone would care, he was hit by a water spell. But then again, trying to explain swimming in an ocean of time, space and dimension probably wouldn't go over too well, both the explaining part and what the reality of telling others would bring about. It wasn't worth the hassle. His mind was still trying to pull together what he had experienced. It had been a cave of some description. Dark, wet, littered with the skeletons of rats and other small creatures. And that voice... he shivered slightly, a look from Terry made him shake his head, passing it off as being cold as he cast a light warming charm on himself. It wasn't a complete lie, he was cold but the thought of the voice that he had heard complaining of its hunger had sent chills down his spine all before he caught glimpse those eyes.
"So, I saw you were on the front page of the Prophet the other day." Terry commented with a slight smirk and Harry groaned, leaning his head back against the compartment wall and looking up at the ceiling.
"Lockhart?" he asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be. He had avoided the paper and other related things since returning to the Magical World because he knew exactly what would have pulled him onto the front page of the Prophet.
"Lockhart." Terry agreed, "there was a whole article about his announcement... read more like an advert for his new autobiography but it was all there for everyone to see." he commented, turning, and looking out the window as the terrain continued to roll by. "He's the new Defence teacher... though something just doesn't seem right about it." Terry stated with a look of doubt, something he had been thinking about had been gnawing away at him. "You ever have those situations where there's something at the back of your mind, but you just can't think what it is?" He asked, and Harry nodded his head slowly, it had been that situation like that which had led to his current problem. He closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away but it wasn't going. "Something we'll have to keep an eye on, at least with the stash of books in the Common Room we can keep up with the other stuff if he does turn out to be weird."
"I think if he lets us down too much then Elizabeth is probably going to kick him out of the class." Harry said with a small smile, ever since her confrontation with Snape, she had earned a bit of a reputation, even if she hadn't done anything since then. The situation with Quirrell had been kept secret, no one outside of the Heads and Dumbledore knew what she had done so all the others had learnt was that Quirrell had left for reasons that were his own. Rumours of a duel between the heads and Quirrell spread because the portraits didn't know how to keep their mouths shut but as no one was saying anything the truth remained hidden. The only ones that did know were the group that he was part of that had been investigating during the time and yet even they didn't know all that there was about the project. All they knew what that the stone was saved and the perpetrator had fled into the night, working out that it was Quirrell very quickly but they all agreed that it would be better not to talk about what they had learnt largely because they didn't want anyone to try and steal the stone before Dumbledore had a chance to get rid of it and only Harry, Elizabeth and the Professors had known that it was Voldemort that had been involved, there was no need to cause panic at this point.
"You think so?" Terry asked and got a nod in acknowledgement.
"I'd be surprised if she didn't. She tolerates Snape because the man knows what he's teaching even if he's terrible at teaching, if Lockhart isn't any good she'll probably try and get him thrown out... or throw him out herself." Harry added the last bit to himself quietly though internally he also added a little bit extra 'though if push comes to shove we can't guarantee that she won't just push him into a dimension that will keep him out of the way.' A bit dark in the grand scheme of things and to be honest if the guy was just an over acting fraud he highly doubted that she would do anything dramatic, but the thought was there.
"Nah... she won't do it." Terry dismissed, and Harry just smiled, "she didn't throw Quirrell out and he spent half a lesson just doing the introductions." Terry commented, and Harry chuckled with amusement at how close to the truth Terry was. Not only did she eject Quirrelmort from the school, but she dumped the spirit into the middle of the ocean.
"We'll see, I haven't actually seen her for about a week now. She had to go in to set everything up and get ready for the school year." This didn't count the lecture that was still ringing through his ears.
BANG
throughout the train compartment loud bangs echoed through, smoke engulfing the compartment. Students screamed in surprise as older ones tried to banish the smoke away. Harry and Terry opened the window letting the smoke dissipate, pulled out by the wind. "What... the hell... was that?" Terry asked, coughing sharply still waving his hand to try and clear the air. He looked at Harry and his coughing faded stared in shock. Harry who had also been struggling to breathe through the smoke found his attention captured by Terry.
"Why are you sparkling?" They both asked at the same time and then tore their gaze from each other and looked at themselves, they were covered in glitter.
"We've been glittered bombed." Harry said in disbelief and all down the train they could hear more shouted complaints about it. "Who the hell did this?" Harry asked in confusion as he reached up to the baggage racking where the smoke and the bang had come from, he fumbled around, grabbing at the top to see if there was anything there and frowned as he found an envelope. He pulled it free from where it had been stuck down and held it up to show Terry. "Dare I open it?" He asked, and Terry nodded.
"Who knows, perhaps it'll tell us who the person who set this prank going." Terry reasoned as Harry slowly opened the letter, holding it at arm's length just in case there was anything else to come with it.
When nothing happened, he reached into the envelope, pulling out a small card. "Congratulations, if you've found this letter before the halfway point, you've shown that you know how to remain aware of your surroundings. If you didn't then I hope you enjoy the little gift." A deadpan stare as he flipped the card around showing it to Terry. "Your illustrious Defence Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart." Harry finished with a growl. "He does realise this means war." Harry said, and Terry chuckled.
"I think some of the doubts will have been stopped before we even arrive though. Setting a trap like this, while simple it's well done, no one looks up there cause half the time we don't even bring bags in here to put up there." Terry reasoned. Sure, they had book bags, but the compartments were generally enough to have four people in and still have room for the bags and the majority of times people were reading books from said bag, so no one put them up there. "But how could he expect first or second or even third years to look into things like this, the first years won't have been taught any magic by this point, the second years... us, have barely covered the basics and the third years will only properly start looking into things like this along with dark creatures this year." Terry quickly continued his mini rant as he continued to try in a futile effort to brush off the flitter that had managed to cover them both.
"It was risky as well..." Harry muttered thoughtfully. completely distracted from the rant as he studied the glitter, it was basic stuff that could be found in any craft store. "There are people who are allergic to this stuff, at least in the non-magical world, I don't know about allergies in the magical world but I've yet to properly see one..." He trailed off, flicking a bit of glitter off his finger before turning his attention back to the window. "Risky... but I'm assuming that he either took that into consideration and had something planned in case that happened... or he possibly looked into our medical files and broke several privacy laws." Harry added in a small attempt at humour but at the same time his mind was trying to work on what kind of privacy laws the wizarding world had.
HPCVHPCVHPCV
"How is he?" Dumbledore asked as Elizabeth re-entered the office through a tear, to him it had been fifteen agonizing minutes of not knowing anything and not being able to do anything other than come up with worse case scenarios. His devices that he used to monitor Harry's health seemed to still work when he went wherever he did, but the ones tracking them always failed, for them to shatter in such force had to mean that something drastic had happened.
"He'll be fine eventually, for lack of a better word... he did die. Just not here." Elizabeth explained weakly as she herself tried to wrap her own thoughts around the entire situation, having experienced it before it was still confusing and disorientating.
"He died?" Dumbledore managed to choke out in disbelief... the prophecy surely... but he's alive now and is apparently fine. Dumbledore's mind refused to work properly, the cogs turning trying to figure out the meaning but not truly able to grasp it.
"The power we both have is strange... weird... messed up... there are many words that could be used to describe it, we visit a different time and place and we become part of it, not in the way that creates an entire life and trail for us, we are people in that world that can live and die. Upon dying though we don't just die." She paused thoughtfully before sighing and continuing. "I'm talking in circles." when we die in that world we're ejected, removed and end up in the in between."
"Then you're immortal?" Dumbledore asked, and Elizabeth quickly shook her head.
"No, God no, we're just like everyone else. we live, we breath, we can die, we can be injured and hurt... We can break." Elizabeth added softly casting her glance away from Dumbledore and towards the window.
"It happened to you?" Dumbledore asked carefully, much of her background was a mystery still, she had given the briefest of explanations covering her abilities but none of the events that had transpired in her past. To Dumbledore it had been vexing, a puzzle missing ninety percent of its pieces, a good book with half the chapters torn out. He watched her expression, losing that of someone calmly analysing a situation and turning pained before the mask locked firmly back into place.
"It was a few years after I started to fully grasp my powers, I was investigating a person, someone I wanted to see if a different time and place could bring about a change in a person, one mistake, one slight difference in their past broke him and sent him down a completely different route..." She trailed off, taking a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. "And I still refused to see it. I was arrogant, there was change, and I baited him into what I wanted him to be... which led to his death." She huffed, not wanting to show the regret from the suffering that she had caused to that version of Comstock/Booker. There had been redemption in him. She pushed him and goaded him and tried to break him, to make him what she hated and at the end, when he had finally confronted his demons, he was killed. "And mine shortly after." She finally added pushing herself back to what she needed to do, not focusing on the demons of her past. She clapped her hands together gently, placing them on the desk and lifting them, the tell-tale sound of a tear opening as a small statue of a Big Daddy started to appear before Dumbledore. "This is a Big Daddy, they protect the Little Sisters, with lethal force. This is what killed him and then what proceeded to kill me." She closed her eyes, shivering slightly and then slowly brought her hand to her side.
"There's no scar here, there's no wound and no mark of what killed me. The Big Daddy charged me, deeming me a threat to the Little Sister and sent me through a wall, I was impaled on a steel bar and died." Another shiver, her eyes closed as images of finding her body flashed to the forefront of her mind. Dumbledore looked to say something, but she shook her head before he could even start. "Don't, let me finish and then ask, otherwise I don't think I'll be able to start again." She requested, and he nodded his head in understanding. "I was done with that world, that place and that time. I had no intention of going back after the door was shut. But it kept gnawing at me. The girl that I sent him after, to test him to see if he would save her was still in danger. I tried to run away, after all when you can go anywhere and to any time you can just leave it all behind you can't you?" She asked, slightly pleadingly. Her eyes closed briefly, she brought her hand up, wiping away a tear that had started to form before it could properly fall. If it started she wouldn't stop and she'd become a mess. "So, I went back. This is where it all breaks, because you've already died in that world, how can you exist and be dead at the same time? I'm not talking about that dimension's version of me. But actual me. The universe has a way of balancing things even if you don't think it matches. I went back, and I had no powers, I was powerless with nothing but my wits and a death seeker outlook. I came an inch away from truly dying, not just being kicked out of that time but truly dying. Without the Lutece's I would have died and none of this would have happened. For Harry it's the same thing, if he returns to that timeline, he'll have lost this power for the duration that he's there. If he goes in without myself then he isn't getting back out again unless someone there knows how to create it with technology and the only two that do... they don't exist anymore... in a way..." She trailed off again weakly, knowing that the two in question were the Lutece Twins and that they could and did appear whenever they felt they needed to.
The two sat in silence for several moments, Dumbledore thinking over what she had said, torn in his sadness for what she had to go through and amazement at the capabilities of these powers. There were several questions he wanted to ask, to study the power, the Teacher and Academic in him wanted to learn and to understand it, but there was a more pressing concern that pushed itself to the front of his mind that needed to be cleared up. Harry had travelled to Hogwarts to find out what the potential threat was, he had no clue what
"How did Harry die?"
"He's not sure himself..." Elizabeth responded with a slight shrug, glad at the topic shifting away from her. "All he remembers immediately before the incident is hearing a hissing voice of some kind and bright yellow eyes."
"So, he was killed by something just by its look." Dumbledore asked, feeling concerned, there weren't many things that could do that, those that could he knew of nothing like that which could be anywhere in the forest, his mind raced through potential creatures, each one being dismissed one at a time as it failed to fit the profile of what they were working with. "What else did he learn while he was there?"
"There had been a few attacks while he was there, students were petrified by something, no one seemed to have any clue what, but it concerned one of the houses and a secret chamber." She paused, thinking back to what Harry had told her. "There had been writing scrawled on the wall, Enemies of the Heir beware, the Chamber of Secrets had been opened."
"That was the writing? Exactly that?" Dumbledore asked sharply, and Elizabeth nodded, surprised at the sudden shift in tone. To see Dumbledore, lose his composure like that seemed to be an unusual thing to happen, the calm collected Grandfather figure shifting into the powerful wizard that everyone knew him to be. "Then it's related to him." Dumbledore said, his form shifting again, weariness showing on his features as he leant back into his chair. "Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, of course, how did I not put the pieces together after he had left..." Dumbledore trailed off as a moment of dawning realisation could be seen on his face. "Riddle, the heir of Slytherin, something that kills with no physical contact." He stood up walking towards a bookcase. "There are a few creatures that can kill like that but none of them have a connection to Slytherin."
"I'm afraid you've lost me." Elizabeth spoke, she had seen the snake motif in the Slytherin logo and in the name, but she didn't know of any snake that could harm without touching.
"I have a theory... it'll take some time but if I'm right, then I think it will be this." He pulled down a black tome, placing it on the table and opening it, flipping the pages quickly to the one he needed. "Severus was working on a project that required some ingredients from this species of snake, they're heavily controlled when they are bred, blinded at a young age because their look has the capability to kill." Dumbledore spoke as he opened to a picture of a giant snake that coiled around the photo, next to the snake was a mannequin of a human and the size difference was staggering. "I hope that it's not true, but my gut tells me it is. But until something is revealed we don't know if what he saw is going to happen here."
"But the warning was the same." Elizabeth protested, and Dumbledore shook his head.
"And you would have us persecute someone for what they could have done? force them into a role that they may not take?" Dumbledore questioned, and Elizabeth winced, realising the comparison that he was trying to make even if she had only glossed over the story, she had left out part that had pushed her to be so aggressive to him in the first place. "They're children, they still have the chance to learn, to change their ways. If we were to persecute them for what they could do, would they learn and stop, or would they just be pushed into doing what you feared they would do?" He closed the book, thinking on the situation, relaxing slightly as he did so. "You have the ability to look into anything, to see what can and could be. but with it, you cut yourself off from the here and now. Your mind works to show you what an outcome could be from a limitless possibility and you don't know which will be the one that plays out here, so you guide it and you risk it completely falling apart. A situation I know of personally, all these titles I have, it's easy to lose sight of how much you should interfere, it's one of the reasons why I chose to stay here. to help guide but not control the students of the next generation." Dumbledore explained and slowly Elizabeth nodded her head, understanding what Dumbledore was trying to say, if she pushed too hard to make sure everything went right then she'd risk the chance of it all blowing up in her face and ending worse than what the original outcome could have been.
"Now, the students should be arriving soon, shall we head to the Great Hall?" Dumbledore asked as he pushed himself out of his chair. "We'll watch, and we shall remain vigilant in case this threat does appear but for now, it would be best to keep it to the staff and not scare the students." He said as they left his office, making their way down to the Great Hall.
"Headmaster, Miss DeWitt." Lockhart spoke up, seemingly appearing out of nowhere as they reached the stairs to the Entrance Hall.
"Professor Lockhart, are you prepared for your first day of classes?" Dumbledore asked politely, with a slight bow of his head in greeting to the man.
"Yes, of course I am, in fact I think my first lesson has already happened. Thank you again for helping me set it up Miss DeWitt." He said politely, surprising her when she had spoken to him before she had always been on a first name basis but now he had switched to her surname. seeing the look, he smiled at her, teeth practically shining as he did. "I feel that when we are working we should keep to a professional manner, after all if the students can't see us respecting our titles, how can we expect them to do the same." He explained drawing a smile from Dumbledore. "I don't think I told you about the little... shall we say prank? that Elizabeth helped me set up on the students to teach them awareness of their surroundings." Lockhart started before stopping himself as they entered the Great Hall. "Actually, let's wait until they arrive, I want to see myself how they have done with it." He clapped his hands almost eagerly as they took their seats and now played the waiting game for the students to enter.
Their voices were heard, echoing through the large hall as they entered the building and Dumbledore steeled himself to keep himself from laughing as he saw the sight of the students entering. Nearly two thirds of them had signs of being caught in what must have been the prank that Lockhart had mentioned the candlelight causing many of them to sparkle with traces of glitter that still covered many of them. Some of them had managed to clear it but he could still see signs of it on their clothing and hair. Dumbledore turned his head to look at Lockhart who was grinning like a Cheshire cat and then turned to look at Elizabeth who had taken to sitting at the far side of the staff table, reminding both the students and the staff that she was part of both social groups and yet was outside of both. It had been an interesting choice when she had started to do that but he had to congratulate her on it as it showed that while she was connected to both groups, she was separate as well, giving troubled students a chance to come to her for help if they felt the staff were going to be unhelpful. at this moment though, she had lowered her head into her hands, her body shaking with barely controlled laughter as she saw the Ravenclaws take their seats, Harry half glaring at Lockhart and with a glance at her, he knew that she had been involved and shook his head taking a seat with the rest of his group of friends.
Shortly after, McGonagall entered with the first years and stepped up to the front, placing the stool down with the hat resting on top, everyone went quiet and the hat began to sing.
TBC
Well it's been a while, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I know not a lot has happened in this chapter but at the same time it's covered a lot of ground as some of the changes that lay the foundation for the future start to get put down.
With the Lockhart I'm currently working with I'm enjoying writing him, I can definitely see me using this interpretation a lot more in the future if I ever do other second year stuff.
I'm still thoughtful about the reveal that it was a Basilisk, in one way I feel like it's been too easy of a reveal, with Dumbledore piecing it together that quickly but at the same time, I do feel that with the situation explained right in front of him about the chamber and his knowledge of Riddle, combined with the potions request by Snape (which will come up in a later chapter) would have been enough to make him go "hang on a minute, I know this…"
With Elizabeth talking about her death to Dumbledore, I am well aware that part of the reason she was so aggressive to the Comstock/Booker of Burial at Sea was because of the fact that the Elizabeth/Anna of that timeline had died because of his lust for power but at the same time, the Comstock/Booker had tried to amend, he had tried to make things right and she was the one who pushed him down that path to ultimately prove herself right. Her guilt getting the better of her which leads into Burial at Sea chapter 2. But even though she was talking about her own death I'd think she'd want to avoid bringing up the death of a baby. It'll get looked at and developed a bit more later on.
Also, final bit I want to bring up is that one of my reviewers has actually created a TvTropes page for this fanfiction which is so freaking awesome, so major shout out to Wikisorcerer for creating it.
And that's all for now, I hope to have the next chapter done a lot faster. I may look into reuploading this one in the future, i'm still umming and ahhing about a couple of little bits. But for now i am happy with what i've got.