The Arrival
Harry and Lyra were busy trying to make sense of the message from the Centaurs. From Lyra's interpretation, Harry, The Usurper, and the unknown person represented by the constellation of Bootes the shepherd; were surrounding the crown for the King of Serpents. One of them would get it, but it was unknown who would. Harry still didn't agree that he was represented by Hercules, so he tried to look for other meanings. The only other constellations close to the crown that he felt had any meaning to him were the Lyra and Draco constellations. However, while Lyra was almost certainly involved, he doubted Draco's involvement.
Recently, whenever he saw the other boy, he was always focusing on work but would flinch towards his shoulder if he saw Harry's eyes on him. Most of the time they were just passing in the hallway, in the great hall or library; he was never without a book or homework and was studying as much as a Ravenclaw. Harry had turned some of his focus towards Anthony Goldstein as the boy had been splitting his time between fussing over Harry for another Gandalf performance and staying close to Hermione to study for exams.
After their Saturday detention with Professor Snape, Harry heard about a disturbing situation where Eugene Fiddlewood, the boy who had tried to give Hermione the poem, had brought her a new one while studying in the library. As he read it to her in front of everyone, Anthony interrupted him by shoving him away and yelling at him. There were many different versions of what he said circulating, but most of them revolved around ordering him to stay away from Hermione or terrible things would happen to him. Unfortunately, terrible things did happen to him, as the following morning, he was found next to the grand staircase on the second floor, petrified. Next to him, written on the wall was a message, written in red.
Those who insult the Heir of Slytherin will be condemned to a life in stone.
The rumor mill went crazy about the 'message in blood,' which turned out to just be a paint spell. The Slytherins were also in a huge fuss as Fiddlewood was another pure-blood student who had been petrified. Tracey, along with Blaise and Daphne was trying to get the ghost of the 'Bloody Baron,' Malcolm Constantine, to issue a public statement to the house to condemn the actions of the Heir controlling the basilisk. He refused to make such a statement and started to avoid them. Then things got worse when MacNair returned to Hogwarts, along with Auror Yaxley.
The two entered Hogwarts on a Monday morning at breakfast holding an arrest warrant for Hermione. Choosing such a public and populated time of day turned out to be a mistake as a great number of students alongside Harry and Lyra stood in their way. His whole arm couldn't be seen, but MacNair's hand looked like it had a gray sunburn with skin flaking away and a slight tremor to it as well.
As the two adults already had their wands drawn, Harry and Lyra had their staves out as well. Hermione stood behind the mass of students trying to get to the front of the group to say something but was pushed back. Eventually, Dumbledore made it past the students to confront the two men.
"You will not be taking a student in my care from these grounds," he said in no uncertain terms.
"You have no choice in the matter," Yaxley smiled. "Our warrant is signed by the Senior Undersecretary herself," he passed the paper to the headmaster. "This is happening whether you like it or not."
Dumbledore read through the paperwork, then turned to the mass of students behind him, "Miss Granger, would you please come here?"
Hermione hesitantly pushed through the group of students. Yaxley started to walk forward to meet her, but a stamp from Harry's staff placed a large barrier between him and Hermione, causing him to quickly pull his hands away and take a step back.
"Miss Granger," Albus Dumbledore began, "This warrant is to place you in custody under suspicion of causing the recent attacks on the school. You are to be placed in a Ministry-approved holding cell, pending a full investigation and trial." She began to whimper a little as objections started to be shouted from students around the room. "Fortunately for you, there are Ministry-approved holding cells here at Hogwarts. There was an incident back when I started as a teacher where a foreign dignitary was suspected of a crime at Hogwarts and needed to be held here before being extradited."
"No!" Yaxley yelled, "She is to be taken to the ministry holding cells! Not whatever posh VIP room you have prepared."
"I'm sorry," Dumbledore smiled. "There is nothing in your warrant about what facility she is to be held in."
Hermione braved a smile, and asked, "Headmaster? Can I still study for my exams?"
"You'll find the holding cell quite quiet and conducive to studying, even if you will not be allowed to leave."
There was a bit of silence before an older Ravenclaw spoke up, "Are you telling me that she's going to be put in a quiet room, by herself, away from everyone, where she will still be able to study for exams?"
"Yes, Miss Cornus," the headmaster replied. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
There was more silence before Miss Cornus asked, "How many holding cells do you have?"
Someone else called out, "Me too! Who can issue an arrest warrant for me too?"
Professor McGonagall shouted over the students clamoring for a sequestered study room, "You will all use the library for studying! That is what it is there for!"
"Indeed," Dumbledore stated. "I will escort Miss Granger to her study… I mean a detention cell. Professor Flitwick, if you would be so kind as to act as your student's guardian for any questioning, the rest of us can proceed with our days. Classes start in fifteen minutes."
The following morning, students arrived at breakfast to another message, 'written in blood,' in the Great Hall that read:
Blood traitors will be the first to fall.
Bend the knee and give your allegiance to the Heir of Slytherin.
No students had been petrified, but the message was met first with fear, as the Unspeakables still hadn't informed anyone of when the already petrified students would be cured, and also because they were dealing with a Salazar Slytherin's basilisk along with someone claiming to be the founder's heir. Auror Yaxley refused to release Hermione from the Hogwarts holding cell, not that she wanted to leave her cozy study room. The gossip network relayed messages to the student body that since no one had been petrified along with the message, the Senior Auror was claiming that it was just someone trying to get him to release the Ravenclaw girl.
The house of Slytherin was a constant source of debate. Tracey had passed on to Cho Chang that Malcolm Constantine had been a muggleborn, igniting fierce arguments in the house as that piece of information was disseminated among its members. The house ghost hadn't spoken to anyone since his exchange with Tracey, but any time he was confronted by one of the students, he simply acknowledged the claim with a nod and moved on.
Along with the new message, and the Baron's family history revealed, most of the students were very confused about who to support. Snape was still no help, he continued to tell them to make up their minds and stop the ridiculous house meetings, that they were acting like a bunch of Hufflepuffs by trying to decide as a group.
It was at one such meeting that Blaise finally ended the discussion by standing up and saying, "Look, I know everyone here is loyal to the House of Slytherin." He received nods all around the room before continuing, "However, this 'Heir' of Slytherin? We have no idea who it is. Are they here with us tonight?" His question was met with silence. "If it turns out that Granger is the Heir, are any of you going to bend the knee to her? What if it's a Weasley?" This was met by grumbles and curses. "I didn't think so. So I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to study for my exams and then go home to enjoy my summer break. My mother got engaged again, so there will be a wedding towards the end of the summer, and some of you will be receiving an invitation to what will be a very blue wedding."
With that, he sat back down and picked up a book to start reading.
Cho, who was starting to stop hanging out in the shadows of the common room, took a step out of her alcove, and said, "Studying sounds a lot better than worrying about some snake and an Heir that won't reveal themselves to their own people."
She sat across from Daphne and Tracey at their table, took a random book from the table, and opened it up to start reading as well. That action seemed to spur the rest of the house to disperse and just move past the discussion of any action regarding the basilisk.
Friday morning, it was announced that Blaise, Cho, Tracey, and Daphne were found petrified in the Slytherin common room. Through Hayden, his remaining contact in Slytherin, Harry found out that the four of them were found making a toast together while looking out the window into the lake. Hayden surmised that the basilisk must have been in the lake, looking into the common room.
The Heir was finding ways around the roosters stationed in the castle. Dumbledore had started placing them around the grounds as well in an attempt to keep the basilisk from entering the forest again. When Harry and Lyra went to Newt's office to check on the progress of Brandt and the Usurper, he found the headmaster meeting with him as well.
Newt turned to Harry as he entered the office, "I just spoke with Arcturus, he expects to arrive in a day."
"Is there anything else we can do?" Lyra asked.
"Not unless we can find the Chamber of Secrets before this other serpent arrives," Dumbledore replied.
"How is it getting into the lake?" Harry asked.
"The Chief of the Merfolk village says it just appears there, so there must be a hidden door beneath the surface. I explored the entire undersea wall that is next to the school and could not discover any type of entrance."
Lyra pushed her lips together and squinted like she was trying to force a revelation, then dragged Harry out of the room. Back in their common room, she led Harry into their tree where Whispers was once again having some kind of meeting with Astray. She ignored the Urisk as he vanished and turned to face Harry, crossing her arms.
"What?" he asked.
"Do that thing you do, when you figure stuff out."
"What?" Harry repeated.
"You do it when you need to, like putting a puzzle together in your head, do it now. I tried and I can't figure out what to do next."
Harry knew what she was talking about, it was like when figured out how to get out of the cuffs. He just needed to connect all the things he knew and see where they all led. Taking a deep breath, he sat down and closed his eyes. Starting with everything the Usurper and The Giver told him about the King and the "Secret Chamber" in Hogwarts. None of that was going to be any help until he was in the Chamber itself. He didn't even know how to open the door with snakes once he found it and doubted a simple unlocking charm would do the trick.
Who knew about the last time the chamber was opened? Headmaster Dippet… the portrait wouldn't help them. He's the reason they had to wait so long to bring the Usurper here. He mentioned someone named Tom who turned in Hagrid for releasing the basilisk. No… Hagrid brought in an acromantula, not a basilisk… Aragog! He brought in Aragog! Why hadn't he made that connection before? Tom must have framed Hagrid because he had a creature that could fight against the King of Serpents! Though even now, when it was as big as a house, it was no match for the creature.
Where did he know the name Tom from? He was starting to get a headache. He knew that name from somewhere, it was just itching in the back of his head… Of course! The man who owned the Leaky Cauldron. No… that was stupid. Where else did he know the name from? His head was hurting even more before he fell across the memory he was looking for.
Opening his eyes, he stood up and dug through his pouch before digging out his photo album. Whispers and Lyra watched in silence as he peeled through the pages until he got to the photo Colin took of him in the trophy room when Draco challenged him to a duel. Looking as close as he could to the photo, he saw a plaque behind him with the name he was looking for:
1942-43 Award for Special Services to the School, Honoring Tom M. Riddle
"What's that?" Lyra asked.
Whispers leaned in close to the photo, and said, "Rid-dal."
"The next piece," Harry replied, wincing from the pain in his head, and began rubbing his temples. "Hagrid was framed for opening the chamber because he had Aragog, a creature that could withstand the basilisk. He was framed by Tom M. Riddle who got an award from that idiot Headmaster Dippet. Riddle is the Heir of Slytherin."
"If he went to school in 1943, he must be like…" Lyra stopped to count in her head, "almost fifty-five years old!"
"Or he has a kid. We should tell Newt." This time, Harry grabbed Lyra and pulled her as they jumped out of the tree, landing with the grace of cats as they ran back to their Head of House's office. Whispers just stayed where he was in the tree.
When they got back to the room, the Headmaster was just leaving, but Harry called out, "Wait! We know who the Heir is!"
Dumbledore spun back around, shock on his face, as Newt looked speculative at Harry's declaration.
Lyra followed up by revealing their discovery, "It's someone named Tom Riddle!"
The change in Dumbledore was instant. His normally friendly face changed to one of an inquisition, and darkness blossomed around the room in a sinister reflection of how Harry's staff projected light, as it came from everyone and nowhere while centering around the headmaster. The powerful wizard and the darkness descended on Lyra as he asked in a way that was both calm and demanding, "How do you know that name?"
Lyra had frozen at the display of power in front of her, but Harry stepped in front of her quickly, "He's got a plaque in the trophy room. Dippet's portrait said that he turned in Hagrid for opening the chamber, but now that we met Aragog it makes sense that he was the one who framed him too. The spider can fight against the basilisk, so he got Hagrid expelled."
"You told us that the person responsible for the last opening was dead, Albus," Newt spoke up. "Is there anything we need to know now?"
"No, he is still dead," the Headmaster told them as the darkness and pressure receded from the room. "I need to go meet with the parents of the recently petrified. I will see you all at dinner."
Dumbledore left the room quickly. As he left, Tina Scamander entered the room at the same time. It took a little while to catch her up on everything that had just happened. When she finished figuring it all out, she frowned and said, "He's hiding something. I just can't tell what."
"What I'm curious about," Newt began, "is how you managed to figure that all out in such a short time."
"Harry does this speed-thinking thing," Lyra tried to explain. "You've seen it, right? He just kind of spaces out and his eyes twitch all over the place?"
"They do?" Harry said with a shocked and embarrassed tone.
Tina sat them down at the table as they had been standing the whole time, so far. "Let me guess something," she said with an exacting glare at Harry. "When you are doing this 'speed thinking,' does it feel like you are running a marathon in your head? And it gives you a headache?"
Harry nodded vigorously, "That's exactly it!"
"My sister can do it as well," Tina told them. "She is a natural Legilimens. The spell that some people use to examine memories of others, she does on her own without a wand or incantation and has been doing it since she was a child. She picks up stray thoughts of others just walking near people. She also does what is essentially legilimency in her own mind."
"I'm reading my mind?" Harry asked, with a look of confusion.
Tina shrugged, "Maybe? You're certainly not a natural Legilimens, if you were, we would have known a long time ago, but you might be doing something similar. Don't overdo it, my sister would often do this kind of self-reading when she was young until it would make her sick. A headache is a sign that you should stop. Performing too much magic will make you tired and pass out as I'm sure you've experienced. Overdoing mind magic has much worse consequences. When you speak with your occlumency tutor, make sure you tell her about this."
Harry resolved that when his head stopped hurting he would try to see if could figure out anything more from random bits of information in his head. In the meantime, he gathered up Whispers and headed to dinner with Lyra. The meal was quiet and he saw that the Slytherin table had left four seats open where their occupants normally sat but were now in the infirmary, posed while raising glasses to toast something.
Tracey was Harry's first friend and seeing the empty spot where she sat filled him with sadness. Sadness and rage. He had already resolved to enact his vengeance on the Heir for kidnapping him and beating him along with the destruction of the basilisk to fulfill his promise and debt to the Usurper for everything it and The Giver had done for him. It had already been personal, but now… now it was something else.
As his thoughts ran wild, Greg leaned over to him and punched him in the shoulder, "Stop it. You're doing that thing again."
Harry's head snapped up as he saw a good portion of students around him seem to shiver as if they had just come in from the cold.
"Sorry," Harry apologized.
"I know how you feel," Greg said with a serious tone that didn't fit with his normal speech pattern. "I know you don't like him, but Vince was my oldest friend. That stupid snake got him too."
"I'm going to kill it;" Harry told Greg, "the Basilisk and the Heir."
"I'll be with you if you'll let me." The two boys exchanged a nod before their attention was drawn to a commotion outside the Great Hall.
Dumbledore was walking backward as he was arguing with Blaise's mom while she stormed into the hall. She wore a royal blue jumpsuit with a long cape trailing behind it. Following behind her were two men in periwinkle blue uniforms holding pikes with blue feathers just below the spear tip. There was fury in her eyes that seemed to manifest as gold sparkles as she pushed past the Headmaster with her guards and walked up to the podium in front of all the students.
She already had the attention of all the students as she entered so she didn't waste any time when she was before them, saying, "My son… and others… have been attacked by a monster. I am offering a boon to whoever kills the creature. I'd prefer this 'Heir of Slytherin' to be brought to me… alive, but if they need to die, I won't object. Anything that is within my power shall be given to the one who fulfills this charge."
She gazed at the students and took a deep breath through her nose as she saw their desire to accomplish the task. After another moment of silence, she spun around and saw Gilderoy Lockhart sneaking away from the table.
"You," she pointed at him. His eyes widened like a mouse being spotted by a hawk. "I will speak to you in your office. Now."
He meekly nodded and followed Alessandra Zabini and the guards out of the hall, all eyes following them as they went. As Harry's eyes followed them, his eyes met with his sister's for a moment as she gestured for the two of them to follow. Grabbing another sausage from the platter on the table, he and Whispers followed after. As soon as they were in a private spot, the three of them turned invisible and silenced their pursuit.
They quickly caught up with Lockhart, who was moving a bit too slow for Blaise's mom, so the two guards had simply grabbed him under the shoulders from each side and were carrying him, with his knees bent under him towards their destination. When they got to the Defense classroom, the woman in blue pulled out her wand and silently unlocked and opened the door so they could all enter, Harry, Whispers, and Lyra slipped in silently behind them.
Zabini summoned a chair to the middle of the room and the guards deposited him into it, she then told them, "Guard the door. Don't let anyone in."
Once they were outside, she closed and locked the door with magic, leaving the children and demiguise hidden in the corner. Lockhart looked like a caged animal as she circled him in the chair, never taking her eyes off him as she moved.
"It took me quite some time to figure out why you're afraid of me since we've never met before. Though you didn't react with fear until you heard my voice. So it makes me think you've met one of my friends. Who was it?" she demanded.
Lockhart pulled his knees up to his chest in the chair, fearful of an attack and trying to protect himself while making himself as small as possible. He looked close to playing dead, like a possum if he would just break eye contact with the woman before him.
"Giselle is far too young… So was it Nikoleta? Fabianne?"
Lockhart whispered the name, "Katinka…"
"Oh!" Zabini's eyes widened, then a smile blossomed on her face, "I understand now. You're caught in a cycle, aren't you? She died before you… and somehow you keep surviving… that is… most incredible." She licked her lips like a plate of meat had been placed in front of her.
"Are you going to kill me?" Lockhart asked almost hopefully.
Zabini's eyes glowed golden for a moment, before she replied, "I'm going to offer you something better. If you manage to accomplish the task I gave to Hogwarts, I will break the cycle. You will have your freedom."
Color returned to Gilderoy's face like he was taking his first breath after nearly drowning, "You can do that? You wouldn't just kill me yourself?"
A chair from behind her scooted under her as she sat down in it, crossing her legs and relaxing, "I've never killed anyone. Some people just die, there's nothing I can do to stop it. My husbands have just been reckless fools."
The Defense Professor was starting to get back some of his bravadoes, "Of course not, silly of me to suggest such a thing. Well rest assured, now that Gilderoy Lockhart is on the case, I shall have this basilisk stuffed and mounted in your manor in short order."
"And this 'Heir of Slytherin,'" she added. "Alive is preferable, others can do what I won't sully my hands with. Though, I might want to watch." Her smile was predatory.
She stood up gracefully and exited the room, closing the door behind her, keeping the three invisible people trapped in the room with their professor, still sitting in his chair. Harry looked at the fuzzy sparkles that were Whispers and his sister and wished for a way to communicate with them without talking, but then just sat down on the floor and waited for Lockhart to do something.
The man was just sitting there, staring at the ceiling and smiling. It took him nearly ten minutes before he stood up and went to the office in the back of the room. Harry frowned when he didn't close the door so they could leave without him noticing, but he saw the form of Whispers approaching the office and he and Lyra followed closely behind to keep him out of trouble. Lockhart was in the back of the room digging through a trunk and throwing various pieces of clothing into the air until he got to what he was looking for.
With a great heave, he pulled a heavy black jacket out of the trunk. It had large scales on it and looked like the jacket Brandt had worn when had shown up at the infirmary when Hermione had been attacked. After laying the heavy armor on his desk, he opened another trunk and started tossing out various pieces of equipment; swords, belts, bows, and various other pointy things. Finally, he settled on a very interesting-looking axe. It had a short handle with the beard reaching halfway down the handle and had a blue gem at the shoulder.
Even though he couldn't see Lyra's face, Harry assumed that her face looked like his - perplexed at their teacher gearing up for war. After he gathered together a few more things; gloves with golden plates covering the back of the hand and fingers, a helmet with a dark visor, and a bandolier filled with potions; he stalked out of the room, giving the children their chance at escaping.
Harry and Lyra showed up after breakfast to another detention with Professor Snape. Last week, he seemed to be putting Harry on all sorts of massive potion batches and Lyra on ones that required a more delicate touch. Harry was hoping the two of them could switch as he was getting tired of just endless stirring and hacking up large amounts of ingredients… though he was being punished, so he wasn't sure if Snape would change his role just because he wanted to.
The two of them waited outside the classroom with the other students waiting for the professor to arrive. When he did, he ushered everyone into the classroom but stopped the two of them at the door.
"No, not the two of you," he grinned sinisterly. "The both of you have a special detention in the Permissible Forest tonight." The other students watching seemed to tremble a bit at the idea of detention in the forest.
Harry shrugged. They could stay up late tonight as there were no classes the next day. Though he had another realization and turned to Lyra just as she got the same idea.
"Dueling club!" they both said together and rushed off to get changed out of their robes into different clothes.
After having to tear off his robes in his duel with Hermione and another set of robes getting destroyed during the paint fight after getting hit with the cutting hex, both Harry and Lyra decided to wear more disposable outfits to the club. They had missed the previous week at their detention and had heard about Lockhart instructing the group on distraction spells; low power spells to disorient and distract your opponent. Blaise was going to reteach them the spells, but he was not petrified in an infirmary storeroom with the other victims of the basilisk.
Apparently, when the parents of the frozen students visited, Madam Pomfrey had been yelled at for keeping them locked in the dark, but she brushed off their concerns and just said that the house elves were keeping them clean and dust-free. As a master of her domain, she wanted to make sure that the beds were clean and ready for actual injuries that needed to be treated immediately. The parents weren't happy, but there was nothing that could be done about it and none of them wanted a statue of their child in their homes.
All prepared to go, Harry and Lyra made their way to the Great Hall. The number of students attending the club had swelled to almost the entirety of the school. Some were there because they wanted to prepare for an attack, some were there because of the safety in large numbers, others were there because there wasn't much to do on Saturday, and the rest were there because they were honestly interested in the dueling club. Harry and Lyra wanted to see what Lockhart had planned after witnessing the exchange last night between him and Blaise's mom.
When they entered, there were sounds of confusion from the students already there, as there were no dueling platforms set up. Instead at the front of the room was a long rack of clothing, like what you might find in a muggle department store. Along the sides of the room were sectional booths, and various trunks near the stage.
Once everyone had gathered, Lockhart made his entrance from the room behind the teacher's table. He was dressed in the heavy dragon scale coat he had taken out the night before, along with the gold-fingered gloves and some kind of metal plates covering his thighs and knees over the top of his pants. The helmet he had been wearing last night was missing so his face and dazzling smile could be seen by all.
"Welcome! Welcome all!" he called to the waiting students. "I see most of you look disappointed by the lack of dueling platforms today, but as always I still have an important lesson to teach all of you." The students all looked on in anticipation. "I'm sure most of you joined this club due to the danger that the school is facing this year and your friends and classmates falling victim to the basilisk hiding in our castle. So dueling is not particularly useful right now, as a serpent isn't likely to obey the various dueling requirements, nor is it going to bow before attacking, is it?"
That made a surprising amount of sense to those who had little.
"So for this lesson, we are going to focus on how to prepare yourself for a fight. Not a duel, a fight. And the most important part about being in a fight is being able to move. For my explanation, I need two volunteers."
Nearly everyone in the room jumped and waved for attention as Lockhart called out a second-year Hufflepuff girl and a seventh-year Gryffindor boy. They both looked happy with themselves as they joined the defense professor on the stage.
"Both of you are very different," he began, addressing both them and the other students watching. "Not just because of your age or gender, but because of your size. Mr. Ferlet, can you identify the jacket I am wearing?"
The Gryffindor boy nodded and replied, "Dragon scale. If I were to guess, I'd say a Hebridean Black."
"100% correct, take three points for Gryffindor. Dragon scale is one of the most magically and physically resistant materials in the world. Regular dragonhide is much less resistant but more tolerable for casual use, like the gloves you all wear in Herbology. It is also easier to style into something fashionable. Dragon scale takes a skilled craftsman to turn into something like this jacket and while it does look good on me, this kind of jacket can't be styled as easily as the hide under the scales. Its primary purpose is protection."
He let that soak in before asking both of the volunteers if they had ever worn dragon scales. Both of them replied no.
"While it is often a Gryffindor trait to protect a younger and more vulnerable target like Miss Crane here, she should not wear a jacket like this."
With that said, he took off the jacket and handed it to the girl. As soon as it was in her hands, Lockhart released it and it fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Try as she might, she couldn't lift it off the ground to put it on. Once she gave up, Lockhart gave her five points for the attempt and stepped out of the way, and gestured for the Gryffindor boy to pick it up and try it on. It looked a bit difficult to do, even for him, but he managed to put it on slowly.
"How does that feel?" Lockhart asked.
He shifted his shoulders in the coat, and replied, "Sturdy, heavy."
"Take it off and levitate it over to the table behind us."
Ferlet took it off and placed it on the ground then drew his wand and point-cast the levitation spell at the coat. It didn't move. He tried it again, but still nothing. Frustrated, he performed the whole wand movement and incantation, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Like lifting a heavy stone, you could see the strain on his face as the jacket slowly lifted off the ground and floated in jerky movements over to the table where it fell with a heavy thud and Ferlet let out a large breath that he had been holding.
"Difficult?" Lockhart asked and the boy nodded as he panted from exertion. "I did tell you it was very resistant to magic. This should be a reminder to all of you not to neglect physical training just because you have magic." Lockhart approached the table and swung the jacket back onto his shoulders like it was a regular cape.
"So, today, you are going to try on different outfits, and try to find outfits that you would want to fight in. Balance your ability to move with protection. None of the outfits are magical, but I have added some very basic enchantments to some which add weight or make them lighter. You have booths all along the sides to change in. When you're done, we'll do some exercises outside, just to see how well you picked your outfits."
There was a mad rush to the clothing racks as students started tossing clothing around, occasionally arguing over something in particular. Lyra approached one of the trunks and opened it to find a large selection of shoes. Harry opened another to find different hats and gloves. Harry pulled out his staff and started to try to figure out if any of the gloves inside gave him a better grip on his first focus.
About five minutes later, Lockhart called out from the stage, "If anyone is interested in trying on a dragon scale jacket, I have a few up here on the stage for those waiting to use a changing booth!"
Many students formed a very disorganized queue to the stage, from both sides to try on one of the heavy, magic-resistant jackets. In addition to the black one Lockhart had been wearing before, there were three others, green, red, gold, and red with white tips on the scales. Harry joined the queue to the side with the red and white jacket.
He saw that all the students in front of him were surprised by the weight of the jackets or tried to levitate them with similar results as the Gryffindor who had tried before. The professor was giving out house points like candy for every attempt and more for successful ones. As Harry was getting closer to the front of the line, he saw Draco on the other side of the stage moving towards the gold jacket. He could barely lift it off the ground and started to move it to put an arm into the sleeve. Feeling a bit vindictive, Harry began to twist his staff to sap a bit of Draco's strength, which made him drop the heavy coat to the floor. He tried a few more times to pick it up before a few people laughed and he just kicked at it and stomped away.
When it was his turn, Harry did the opposite, giving himself a boost of strength from the staff before picking it up and putting it on. Lockhart looked on, impressed at the show of strength. Just to see what it was like normally, Harry deactivated the effect and felt the weight settle on his shoulders and his knees absorb the full weight. Trying again, he took it off and hoisted it back to his shoulders. After getting points for his attempt, he went back to find a good outfit.
Slowly students headed out to the courtyard in whatever they had picked out. Some children were wearing full suits of armor, others had much less clothing. Quite a few of the girls and a couple of the boys were wearing sundresses and heels. Harry and Lyra tried to take the exercise seriously. Harry found some loose-fitting pants with plenty of pockets in them and a pair of athletic muggle trainers that had a button on them that seemed to pump air into them and give them a snugger fit. He still wore the shirt and vest he had worn to the winter party, but also took a pair of leather gloves and a baseball hat.
Lyra had done similar with shoes and pants but didn't choose to take a hat. The gloves she picked out ended up having no fingers on them, and she claimed it helped her better hold her wand while still allowing for a good grip on her staff. Thinking it was a good idea, Harry tried to find another, similar pair, but couldn't locate one.
Out in the courtyard, Lockhart had them line up on one side and take turns running to the other side. It became obvious immediately who had picked bad footwear and most of them ran back to the Great Hall to change into something else. Lockhart also commented on those who had chosen to wear armor and showed plates covering their legs allowed more freedom of movement than full-leg armor. The class went on for a while longer until everyone was exhausted from all the movement.
As they finished up, Lockhart made a surprise announcement, "One more thing before you all head off! I have received quite a few complaints from students, COUGH Ravenclaws COUGH, that I put our big dueling tournament too close to exams and the time to do your final preparations. Therefore, we will be holding the event next Saturday!" There were scatterings of applause and excited voices that he let go on for nearly half a minute before continuing, "Read up on proper dueling attire and present yourselves to compete or watch in seven days from today!"
There were cheers from the students assembled as they started to run off to return their borrowed outfits. On the way back, Lyra suddenly pulled Harry to the side where Lockhart was chatting with two older Slytherin students.
"I need to kill that basilisk, so tell me whatever you know about the Chamber of Secrets," he ordered them.
"But…" one of them started.
"Yeah, I know about your Slytherin rules. What's number two? Make your own way. Do you like my dragon scale jackets? If I kill that beast, pick one of them. Hell, I'll have a basilisk-scale coat made for you each of you AND you can have a dragon jacket. Do you want to make your own way? Tell me what you know."
"We don't know anything," the other said. "It's the Chamber of SECRETS, not the Chamber of Openly Available Information." His friend gave him a weird look until he continued, "What? Can you think of a single word that sounds good for the opposite of secret?"
He thought about it for a second then nodded, turning to Lockhart, "He's right. The only person who might know more would be the Baron's ghost, as he knew the founders, but he doesn't talk much, and certainly not someone who isn't a Slytherin."
"We will look for more information for you, but you better pay up if we get the goods."
Lockhard nodded and gave them a small jingling bag, "Consider this a down payment. House points are for suckers. I expect results."
Harry and Lyra ducked behind a gargoyle as their professor paced back toward them. When he was gone, Harry looked at his sister and said, "We can ask Malcolm about the Chamber. Everyone will go after his ghost for answers, but we have his portrait to talk to!"
It was getting too close to dinner for them to venture down into the dungeons and they had their night-time detention later on, so they shelved the discussion with the portrait of Malcolm Constantine for later. Harry still had a small headache so he didn't want to try to dig for answers in his own head yet, so he just ate dinner and wondered what they would be doing tonight.
After the sun had set, Filch retrieved where they were waiting in the courtyard. Harry and Lyra had been actively avoiding him since their altercation with Mrs. Norris being petrified. He was almost snarling at the two of them as he approached. Most teachers carried a rooster in a cage with them when they walked outside; Filch, on the other hand, carried one by the neck as it struggled and made choking noises.
"Get a move on, you little demons," he ordered them. "You might have the teachers fooled, but I know troublemakers when I see them. My money's on one of you two as the Heir of Slytherin."
Lyra looked like she wanted to yell at him, but Harry just grabbed her arm as he bit down on his tongue to keep quiet. If anything, their silence made Filch angrier as they crossed the grounds toward Hagrid's hut.
"No snappy comeback? Think silence will keep you from getting what's coming to you? You both were there when my cat got petrified and you're the only one to see the Heir, that's a bit too convenient if you ask me. I bet you're just whispering into the walls and getting that snake to attack all the students in this school. Harry Potter, the golden boy. No one survives so much dark magic and comes out fine. I'm sure your secrets would have you expelled in a second if they came out."
Harry was squeezing Lyra's arm a bit too tight as now he was fighting to yell at Filch himself. They finally arrived at Hagrid's hut find the giant and his dog, Fang standing outside holding a torch.
"Evening Hagrid," Filch greeted him. "Don't work too hard keeping these two alive, drinks are on me if they come back missing a limb or don't come back at all." With a chuckle, he started walking back towards the castle, whistling a tune.
"Ignore that old fool," Hagrid sighed. "Anyways, light up your wands, and let's go," he tossed the torch he was holding into the campfire next to his hut, then picked up the crossbow that was leaning there.
By some kind of unspoken agreement, Harry lit up his staff to illuminate as much of the forest as possible, while Lyra just kept her wand drawn, ready to burn anything that attacked them. Hagrid didn't tell them about what they were going to be doing, just led them in the direction of the meadow where they had met the unicorns and thestrals. They didn't encounter anything along the way, but when they arrived, they saw three large unicorns in the center of the meadow with Newt Scamander standing among them, stroking them and talking quietly to them.
When Harry's light reached the horses, they approached him at a trot and greeted him with a few nuzzles on his face and rubbed the antler on his staff with their horns. Newt came up behind them and smiled.
"They really do like you, it's quite astounding. Silvanus told me that you fought with them like the Lampong, I'd like to see that sometime as well."
"What are we doing out here?" Lyra asked.
"We're going to meet Arcturus, Brandt, and the Usurper," he told them seriously. "They docked off the coast earlier today and have been sneaking the Usurper inland all day. They should be arriving soon."
"What's going on?" Hagrid asked. "I was just told to lead the little ones out here."
"Rubeus," Newt put on a very serious expression, "We are bringing a great magical creature to Hogwarts that we believe can kill the basilisk. Dumbledore knows about it and approves of it. It will be staying in the forest as we are trying to find it. It will need to be fed while it is here and it needs to meet you."
Hagrid's face changed with a multitude of emotions before settling on the curiosity of a child, "What kind of beastie are we talking about?"
"It's another snake, like the basilisk, but it won't try to kill you." Newt turned to Harry, "I believe you'll need to tell Mr. Hagrid about what you can do." He looked back to the giant man, "Harry will help control the creature, and again, this is with Dumbledore's knowledge and approval."
Hagrid looked at Harry with suspicion on his face. Harry took a deep breath in and said, "I'm a parselmouth."
Hagrid flinched and started to raise his crossbow, but then stopped and seemed to think, "Dumbledore knows? And he's ok with it?" Nods from Newt to both questions. The large man rolled up both of his sleeves to show numerous scars on each arm. Most of them were certainly teeth or claw marks. He pointed to two large circles that looked like they were from snake fangs, though from one just a little bigger than Flare.
"Got this pair here in the last war. You-Know-Who had all sorts of serpents at his command. This was from a Naga. Big ol' beastie, dark green snake, with the face of a woman. Made me cry after I broke its neck. I could hear You-Know-Who yelling at her in parseltongue as it attacked me, dunno what he was saying, but it couldn't have been good."
"Harry can translate for you if you want to talk to the Usurper," Lyra offered.
"Ya would?" Hagrid asked with a smile, Harry nodded.
"Well, we should get a move on," Newt interrupted.
With a swish of his wand, a medium-sized flying carpet drifted out of the forest. The unicorns backed away from the approaching object and watched silently as they all got on board and sat down. Harry did notice something strange though, as the rug sagged a bit under where the groundskeeper sat down when the other one they were on didn't seem affected by the large loads of supplies they hauled from the garbage beach over the winter break. It moved slower, for sure, but it didn't sag at all.
Above the treeline, they could see Hogwarts behind them, and the forest stretched for miles in front of them. They continued to fly until they reached the end of the forest. Towards the horizon, they could see the lights of a small muggle city and Tina was there waiting for them in the middle of a large meadow.
"They're not here yet?" Newt asked his wife.
"Should be any time now," she replied while gesturing away from the forest.
They all looked towards the horizon for any signs of an approaching giant snake. After a few minutes, Harry saw a large shimmering light come over a hill far away.
"There!" he called out.
Everyone looked in that direction, but no one saw what he did. Night vision charms were cast, but still, no one saw what Harry started to describe as a large sparkling dome as it got closer. After a few minutes, Lyra announced that she could see it too and that it looked like disillusionment. Her comment confused Hagrid who stated that you can't see disillusionment because it was disillusioned. Lyra tried to explain to him that they could, but Harry could see better at night, while she could see better during the day. That confused the large man even more.
When the approaching lights got closer, Harry brightened his staff to give them a guiding beacon. As they got close, a large shape burst through the disillusionment field, and Hagrid got to see the Usurper for the first time. He stared in wonder and amazement at the great protector as the disillusionment was dropped to reveal Arcturus and Brandt on brooms, each balancing a large white orb on the front of their brooms.
"Welcome back, Steward Brandt," Tina greeted him.
Harry ran up to the Usurper, and hissed,
§You made it!§
The great snake surveyed the scene, giving a cautious glance towards the enormous man who was tapping his fingers together and dancing with happy anxiety,
§It was a long, strange trip.§
§You were right to trust in the one you call Brandt, he is a very good servant.§
§The one you call Arcturus is a powerful and frightening monster.§
Harry looked towards Arcturus who was also watching him.
"What did it say?" Arcturus asked. "Is it talking about me? You can tell me, I don't mind."
"It said that you're a monster," Harry repeated unabashedly.
Arcturus laughed, "Well, it's true, I have no objections to its assessment."
Newt, on the other hand, was looking at Arcturus with a furious glare, "You… are a monster. What have you don't to yourself?" He gestured towards the black crack running down the man's face.
"You know what this is, don't you?" He smiled at Newt. "I'd shake your hand, but I don't think you'd want to." Newt took a step back. "It's no problem, we have met before, a long long time ago. You might not remember it, but I was a firstie the year you got expelled."
Newt looked a bit shocked, and replied, "I don't remember you."
"It's no big deal. I have to take my leave now. I won't enter the forest, too many things in there that will try to kill me."
Brandt looked to his Lord. "There is something in the forest that might kill you?"
He gave a hearty laugh before replying, "Let me change my statement. There are too many things in the forest that I'd have to kill for trying to kill me. I'm sure Mr. Scamander wouldn't like me to slaughter too many beautiful creatures tonight."
Newt almost growled as Arcturus took the orb off his broom and tossed it to Brandt before taking off into the night sky. Hagrid had been not so patiently waiting his turn but kept his distance from the great snake who was glaring at him.
The Usurper hissed to Harry,
§This man is quite large.§
§He tastes of great strength, why is he dancing?§
Harry smiled,
§I think he wants to pay his respects to you.§
§He is a friend to the animals, like Newt.§
Harry tilted his head towards Lyra and the Scamanders who were watching with interest.
The Usurper cautiously moved towards Hagrid and reared up tall to look him in the eyes, tasting the air around his face.
"Can I touch it?" Hagrid asked, holding up a hand.
Harry exchanged words with the snake before replying, "Yes, slowly."
Hagrid slowly reached out and stroked the serpent's neck. Then with the other hand massaged the top of its head. Hagrid slowly sat down on the ground as the Usurper moved its head into his lap and relaxed into his petting like a very large puppy.
The Usurper hissed,
§I like this man. He has strong hands, and he brought me a snack.§
Harry saw that the Usurper was looking towards Fang, who was hiding behind a tree, and said quickly,
§Not a snack!§
§That is Fang.§
§Fang is a friend.§
§Fang fought against the King and survived.§
If the Usurper had shoulders it would have shrugged with the universal sign of 'whatever,' and closed its eyes as the petting continued.
Brandt was busy getting an update from Lyra and the Scamanders on the situation.
"MacNair is at the school?" he complained. "That will make our job harder. I've heard that he once took down a fully grown griffin by himself and without injury. I don't know how that would translate into a fight with the Usurper or a basilisk, but I don't think either of them would make it out without some kind of serious injury. At least Harry already cut him down a peg."
Harry smiled as Newt admonished Brandt, "Harry fighting adults is not something to encourage. He's eventually going to get in a situation with someone who isn't pulling their punches and will get seriously hurt."
"The plan of putting roosters around the school is working," Tina told them. "The basilisk seems to only be leaving the school through some secret passage in the lake. I'm betting that's why MacNair has his camp on the shore. He's hoping to catch the creature there."
"Then that's where should wait for it as well," Lyra added. "The Usurper can make a nest in the clearing where the last fight was. No one is going back there."
Hagrid had gotten up and approached the group. "I like your friend," he told Harry. "Such a beautiful beastie," he scratched at its head as it slithered next to him.
The Usurper also seemed happy,
§I like your friend.§
§He is large and warm.§
"The Usurper likes you too, Hagrid," Harry translated.
The giant man smiled happily and shed a tear, "I always wanted to know if the beasties liked me. I know Aragog does because he talks. Sometimes I think others just like me because I'm kind to them."
"How does Aragog speak English?" Lyra asked.
Hagrid shrugged, "He just does. Never happened while he lived with me in the castle, but I kept visiting him in the forest after I started working here and about five years later, he started to speak."
Newt was flipping through his expanded notebook looking for something and stopped on a page near the end. "What you're describing might be something called 'The Voice of the Forest.' I've heard of it happening with a few other creatures around the world, so it isn't limited to Acromantulas. In one case it was a unicorn. Essentially, the magic from a large number of magical trees enables them to talk to anything else in the forest. That's just the theory of how it happens, as there was a forest in Estonia with a species of magical bear that could speak while it was there. However, when it left the area, it lost the ability to speak." He shrunk the tome of his notes and stuck it back in his pocket.
"Should we introduce them?" Tina asked. "It might prove the theory if Aragog can speak to the Usurper without knowing parseltongue."
They all agreed this was a good idea, especially if the Usurper was going to be making a nest in the forest near the giant spider. They all needed a large cup of coffee, and a bucket for Hagrid, to stay awake before reaching to reach Aragog's nest. As they got closer, many webs blocked their way and a spider leaped from the trees to attack them. Hagrid just reached up and swatted the creature away as Tina brandished her wand to cut them a path through the sticky webs. They could see other spiders in the trees and the Usurper hissed at them which seemed to make them keep their distance.
Arriving at a deep gorge of a clearing between the trees, Aragog came out to meet them, his legs seemed to be healing, but they were still quite short and the gash along his side was still visible but no longer an open wound.
"Friend Hagrid. You bring a new monster into my home. It looks like the King of Serpents, but it is not. What are you?"
The Usurper twisted its head in confusion towards the enormous spider. The kingsbane was much smaller but showed no fear of the enormous creature. It craned its neck back and forth to look at it from different angles before replying,
§You are not a lordling, nor are you one of my brethren.§
§How do you speak?§
"As I live, I speak. As you live, you understand."
"They can understand each other," Harry reported.
§Aragog, is this one of the champions you sensed from me and my sister?§
Harry gestured towards Lyra and hoped the great acromantula could also understand him speaking parseltongue.
"It is, what is this creature? Why have you brought it to me?"
Both Harry and the Usurper replied together.
"This is the Usurper, the kingsbane, here to kill the King of Serpents."
§I am the Usurper, the kingsbane, here to kill the King of Serpents.§
"That was cool!" Harry smiled. "We said the same thing!"
Hagrid addressed the giant spider, "This beastie is going to sleep in the forest and wait for a chance to kill the basilisk."
"I will tell my children to stay away. Any that attacks this kingsbane, may be killed or eaten. Not all of my children obey me."
"Welcome to parenthood," Tina smiled.
Brandt had been silent for a long time, just observing the spectacle of the monstrous snake interacting with the monstrous groundskeeper and the monstrous spider while Harry chatted with all of them like they were playground friends. He followed along with Lyra as they headed towards the school and found the clearing where the last fight had taken place. Hagrid and the Usurper worked together to stack fallen trees into a nest for the snake to sleep under, moving them like they were mere sticks for a campfire.
When they were done, it slithered into the nest and poked its head back out, looking toward Harry,
§Tell your servant I wish to have more of the snacks he brought me in the cold waters.§
Harry replied,
§He's not my servant, I will ask him.§
Looking to Brandt, he asked about the Usurper's request.
"I think it's talking about the sheep," Brandt replied. "The snake seemed to like them more than the seals. Tell it I will send one every two days and not eat the elves that deliver them."
Harry translated the message and stressed not to eat the small men that would bring the food to it. It seemed to acknowledge the request.
Hagrid, Newt, and Tina stayed with the Usurper to observe it in its new home, and in Hagrid's case, to get some snuggles while Brandt led Harry and Lyra back to the castle. Once they were in the dormitory, Brandt smiled.
"It's good to be back," he told the children. "I ended up talking quite a bit to the Usurper since we were all alone together. Amazingly enough, it seems to be friendly for a giant, terrifying monster."
"It says you were very helpful too," Harry replied.
Brandt looked around suddenly then jumped back as Whispers fell from above him, but rebounded off Harry's shoulders and jumped straight into Brandt's arms.
"I missed you too, little guy," he ruffled the hair on the demiguise's head. "I need to leave now, but I wanted to ask if you have any of the shed from the Usurper laying around. I didn't get to pick up any while I was on the island."
Lyra smiled and ran off, coming back with a coil big enough to wrap around herself many times. Brandt took it from her and smiled happily before sending the children to bed and leaving the school.
From Hogsmede, he took the floo at the Hog's Head tavern to Knockturn Alley and made his way to the Dapper Bazaar. It was the middle of the night and some of the more seedy taverns were emptying into the streets. He walked with his wand in one hand and a simple dagger in the other. He tried to give off as much of an attitude that said, "I'm not to be fucked with" as possible.
Arriving at the door to the shop, there was just a coin slot where there would be a door knocker. He dropped five galleons in the slot before a buzzer appeared to be pushed. After several minutes, the old man proprietor opened the door looking very annoyed at being woken, despite that he had the coin slot specifically for waking him up at a price.
"What the hell do you want at this hour, Steward?" he asked.
"Is your wife awake? I need a rushed magical sewing job."
The man looked at him like he'd rather do anything except wake up his wife. However, after a silver container of galleons was pressed into his hands he let Brandt in and went off to do exactly that.
She arrived in a nightgown looking even more displeased than her husband, and didn't even have to open her mouth to tell him, "What the hell do you want?"
Brandt pulled an invisibility cloak from his bag along with the shed from the Usurper that Lyra had just given to him, "I need this skin sewn into the inside of this invisibility cloak."
"WHY?" she asked loudly.
Brandt sighed and patted his pockets until he found one more silver casing of galleons. Almost growling, he placed it on the table, and replied, "I want to be warmer while I'm invisible."
She frowned back at him, and took the materials, replying, "FINE!" Then stormed into the back room.
The old man glared at Brandt, "So? Coffee?"
An hour later, Brandt showed up at Black Manor and was escorted by Darby to Arcturus's bedroom. His Lord also had a "Why the fuck did you wake me" face, looking displeased at his Steward.
"My apologies, I thought this would be worth waking up for," Brandt smiled.
He laid the garment package on a table that the elf brought in and pulled out the cloak, showing the interior to Arcturus and garnering a curious look.
"It is untested but I present to you, the first of many: Anti-Mad-Eye Invisibility Cloaks."
Arcturus started to laugh, and turned to his elf, "Darby! Get us some rum!"