- Dumbledore Continued -

"Get out before I force you." Amelia snapped at Dumbledore, interrupting him from another tirade. Her wand dropping from its holster into her hand, he weighed his options before storming out with a clenched jaw and fist.

Robes flying out behind him, magic simmering in anger as he made his way back to his office from the hospital tower. Every misgiving he had ever had over the damn Riddle twins was coming back, he had so wanted to believe he could use them in this war. He knew having the Dark Lord's Heirs on his side would have not only been a great motivator to the common public but also been something the Light could've used to promote him. The ever kind and forgiving leader of the Light taking in and guiding them away from their father's path.

He had kept an open mind in their first year. Defending them against James and Lily, and allowing Severus to place Hartford on the quidditch team. But he was still cautious, watching silently, ever careful and prepared for the worst. He had been pleasantly surprised by them, they were almost the exact opposite of their father. They seemed kind to their friends and classmates, enjoying the company of students from every house. Very social compared to their reclusive and distant father. Having a large group of what seemed to be more friends than followers. Often he could find the twins by the lake messing around with their group of friends, practising with the Slytherin quidditch team on the field, and the one that baffled him, but gave him the most hope, was studying in the library with year mates from other houses. Mostly Neville Longbottom, who Severus admitted to pairing with Hartford for Potions help, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones.

He had finally relaxed when he watched them both stand in front of the Mirror Erised, neither had seen anything, being truly happy in their lives. He had been able to subtly use Legilimency on the twins, and from the very brief look he got, they had been telling the truth. Unfortunately, they both seemed to be proficient enough in occlumency, like many pureblood students, that they would feel him, fight him off, and possibly identify who was using it against them if he went deeper than surface emotions and reactions. Then the Philosopher's Stone went missing! Henry Potter and Ronald Weasley had done their job, defeating Quirrell, who he had dosed with his own creation. It was a potion that worked similarly to the Imperius Curse. It gave the potion maker complete control over the drinker, and it couldn't be fought off like the Unforgivable. It also made the drinker extremely suggestible, small whispers in the ear became their thoughts and memories. Because of that, he was able to manipulate Quirrell into believing he actually had Voldemort on the back of his head and he was working for the wizard trying to restore him to a body. With a little basic illusion spell, Henry believed the same thing when he confronted Quirrell.

He had been quite pleased when he watched the confrontation from the shadows, Weasley had been injured by the chess game, leaving it to be just Quirrell and Potter in the final dungeon room. Quirrell had done his part perfectly, ranting about Voldemort, using phrases Dumbledore had heard Tom use in Hogwarts, and on the battlefields. Henry even retrieved the Stone from the mirror. It was perfect. They had a quick scuffle where Quirrell knocked Potter out and Dumbledore stepped in, killing Quirrell now he wasn't needed. Using Fiendfyre to destroy the body and evidence before he finally took both Potter and Weasley back to the infirmary. He spun the flawless story of how when Quirrell grabbed poor Henry, he burned into ash, how Henry saved the Stone from Voldemort and how he, in turn, saved Henry. But when he had gotten the stone back from the boy, he had been horrified to discover it was a well made fake. He had no leads as to who had the real stone. It couldn't have been Henry, he wasn't smart enough to create a fake and then hide the original, let alone hide his thoughts about doing so.

Quirrell hadn't been able to disobey his orders, and all the Professor's involved with protecting it or knew about it had been clean. He had done a quick scan of their mind's, he hadn't wanted to risk missing anything. Even now, he had no idea who had the real stone, but maybe the twin's should have been looked at. They knew how the mirror worked, no, he was going crazy, they couldn't have done it. There was no way they had even known about the stone, let alone how to get to it and create a fake. But he was still looking into it, he did suspect the true Voldemort had taken it. He had brought the stone to Hogwarts to lure the Dark wizard out of hiding. But it had seemed like Voldemort hadn't taken the bait so he had turned the stupid stuttering Quirrell into the perfect pawn. He now wondered if Malfoy and LeClair had been a part of it, they were clearly dark and evil if tonight had anything to show for it.

That brought Dumbledore back to his musing's about the Riddle twins. Their second year had started, and he found himself watching them again. Pondering the ways to sway them to his side, it wouldn't be the easiest due to them being raised by the Black and Malfoy families. But with their Mother's horrific story with their conception, he knew he had a chance. He had been patiently waiting for the perfect moment to insert himself into their lives, offering his hand in help and kindness. He had hoped that he would be able to manipulate Sirius and Andromeda when he had heard the stories of them rebonding with Cassiopeia. But so far the two weren't responding to his missives, he would have to rectify that while Sirius was at Hogwarts tonight.

Although he was extremely concerned when Rose Potter and Ginny Weasley were sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor along with Astoria Greengrass. The younger sister to The Riddle's friend Daphne, that connection was enough to start up a friendship. He had seen the three first years join the Slytherins in the library, at the courtyard and even down by the lake. He didn't like them bonding, he wasn't sure what it was that made him uncomfortable beyond that they were Voldemort's children, it was something else that nagged at him. But he ignored it and forced himself to relax and replan. Hopefully, he could use that friendship to sway Hartford and Hermione when the time came. It wasn't like Voldemort would spare the sister of the boy-Who-Lived or the daughter of the pureblood blood traitors. He also didn't like the friendship that appeared to be growing between Neville Longbottom and the eight Slytherins. Severus had admitted he paired Neville with Hartford in the hopes of 'preventing Longbottom from killing his classmates in potions.' But he was wary of it going further than just tutoring friendship. He couldn't have any of them figuring out what he had done, and he had future plans for Longbottom, he would not let anyone ruin them.

Then the Chamber of Secrets was opened, of course, his attention went straight to the Riddle's, watching them like a hawk. Only a Slytherin Heir could open the Chamber. But despite his fear, they showed no signs of having found it, he had tried to glance at the surface of their minds but unfortunately didn't find many reasons to be around them and Severus' deflected his attempts to summon them. He frowned heavily, Severus had been rather protective of them, he would have to look into that. Severus was meant to be his inside pawn. But still, he had kept an eye on Hartford and Hermione, but they appeared to have no involvement. That was when he felt it. Tom Riddle's oppressive magic. It wasn't his children, but him! This was perfect! The world would know that Voldemort was still alive and the common folk would look to him for answers yet again. He traced the magic to a stupid little first-year Muggleborn Gryffindor who had his old diary. Creevey couldn't fight the possession once it had a hold on his core, and of course, he hadn't suspected anything strange about the diary until it was too late.

But now, with them being the ones to miraculously find Creevey, saving him and claiming to have stopped Voldemort. They had to have been involved. He had wondered how the diary got inside the school but had assumed a loyal follower slipped it to Creevey. Now he was certain it had been the blasted Riddle twins. They had to have been trying to bring their father back to full power using the Horcrux embedded in the pages. He needed to get his hands on that diary, he couldn't let Amelia give it to the Unspeakables. The Horcruxes were his secret for how he would train Henry to defeat Voldemort. He would've done it himself, but he had, had his time. He defeated Grindelwald, now he would be the trainer and leader to the next hero while keeping his respect and power with half the work.

Dumbledore sighed, it was draining constantly being on the alert, but at least he was almost to his quarters. He could sit down with a lemon tea and figure out his next move. It was clear he would have to deal with a few things, he couldn't let Amelia or her Auror's find anything they wouldn't understand. Everything he did was for the greater good. The masses were stupid, and needed him to protect them and lead them away from the evil Darkness. Finally, he could see the Golden Griffin statue that guarded the Headmasters Office, when he heard the voice of his most regrettable hire.

"Albus!" Gilderoy cried joyfully. "How wonderful it is to find you here!" Dumbledore groaned as the oblivious man sidled up to his side. He had hired Lockhart solely because he knew of the man's secret about obliviating people and stealing their stories for himself. He also knew that because the man didn't do any of the work or study himself, he wouldn't be able to teach the miscreants information they didn't need to know. It was ridiculous what some people wished to teach the impressionable minds of children, or how stupid some students were, trying to press for answers at dangerous costs. He knew what was best. But unfortunately, he hadn't accounted for how annoying, self absorbent, and idiotic Gilderoy actually was. And apparently, he had been useless enough for students to send memories to the Board of Governors! He could only imagine the damage that would happen if Bones, Malfoy and LeClair looked into his hiring choices.

"Yes, Hello Gilderoy." He greeted the man reluctantly, this annoyance was the last thing he needed right now.

"Terrible thing," Gilderoy hummed, shaking his head in sadness. "I just heard the news, you know, from Sirius and Minerva. About the seven students in the infirmary with the latest attack. Just terrible. Of course, if I had been there, I could've saved them, but I was protecting the Slytherin students. Although Severus has relieved me of that duty now." Gilderoy rambled as he watched Dumbledore open the passage to the Headmasters office, the spiral stairs winding upwards.

"Six of the Slytherin second years managed to escape your care Gilderoy." Albus hissed as he placed his hand on the blonde man's shoulder and roughly guided him onto the stairway. Ignoring the excuses coming from the pathetic man he wondered how Gilderoy had ever been sorted into Ravenclaw.

Finally, they reached his office, all the gold and silver enchanted instruments lining his desks. Books he had stolen from numerous lords over the years, or banned and removed from the Hogwarts library spanned across the large shelves that lay around the outskirts of the room. Fawkes asleep on his perch, thankfully he had stopped fighting the forced familiar bond between them years ago. The portraits of old Headmasters and Headmistresses watching or glaring as he entered, many of them too stupid to understand that everything he did was thought out and planned for the greater good. It was a relief to know they couldn't betray him and only a few had secondary portraits outside of Hogwarts. He shot a glance at Phineas Nigellus Black, the man who was the least helpful of the previous Headmasters or Headmistresses, he didn't like the fact a Dark orientated and Black by birth wizard had been Headmaster. He hated that he couldn't remove any portraits from the wall, if he could have, he would've burned Phineas many years ago. He had never trusted the man even though he couldn't betray what happened inside the office to anyone.

"They had no right to run away." Gilderoy sniffed as he brushed imaginary lint and wrinkles from his robes. "If I hadn't been so concerned with protecting the entirety of Slytherin and planning how I would take down the one responsible, I would've noticed them sneak away. Such a shame that."

"On top of losing six students who may have been behind the attacks themselves," Dumbledore continued to rage, ignoring Gilderoy's words. "You were so incompetent that students have been sending memories of your lessons to the Board of Governors!" Gilderoy was taken aback by Dumbledore's rage, blue eyes wide in fear as he felt the aggressive magic licking at his skin.

"Now, that, the students, I mean." Gilderoy stuttered, even knowing the Headmaster defeated Grindelwald and that Voldemort had been afraid of him, he hadn't thought the man had this kind of side to him.

"I have had enough of you and the way you strut around this castle as if you have my standing!" Dumbledore thundered. "You never did any of the things in your books nor are you capable of them. You are nothing but a fraud who couldn't even fool children!" Gilderoy was backing up, trying to reach the stairs, he had a sinking feeling in his gut. His wand out, in a shaking hand. He was extremely gifted at the 'Obliviate' Charm, he had to protect his reputation. Although he was nervous, this wasn't some small town wizard who got lucky. It was Dumbledore!

"What do you think you can do against me?" Dumbledore smirked, blue eyes crazed as he pulled out his wand. The elder wand he had won from Gellert all those years ago was warm in his hand.

"Now, now, Albus," Gilderoy stuttered, "We can talk about this."

"Of course we can." Dumbledore chuckled manically, "But that doesn't mean I want to." He raised his wand and in a complete turn around of personality, chanted calmly,

"Avada Kedavra"

- Interview Continued -

"What did you do?" Dion asked sharply, his face white like he already knew it would be something stupid, Cassiopeia looking between her two children desperately.

"He taunted him." Hermione breathed as tears leaked out of her green eyes. Amelia felt a helpless kind of shock as Cassiopeia let out a wounded cry and collapsed on her son's bed, pulling him into her arms with a sob. Pureblood etiquette be damned, this wasn't the time to fall back on decorum, not after how much danger their children had been in. The other parent's feeling much the same way. Clutching their children's hands and listening to the children recount everything that had happened.

"HARTFORD!" Dion bellowed in a mixture of anger and horror.

"I had to!" Harry cried, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Mione and the others were in danger! He was going to release the Basilisk inside the school!" Harry was breathing quickly as he tried to explain. "He wanted to hurt Dumbledore by hurting as many of the students as possible before taking him out last."

"You could have been killed!" Cassiopeia cried as she clutched her son to her chest.

"Mum, can't breathe." Harry whimpered, smiling when she let go with a soft sorry and moving to hold his hand instead.

"Sometimes, I wonder how you weren't a Gryffindor." Dion sighed, rubbing his forehead stressfully. Amelia had to crack a soft smile at the extremely affronted look that crossed Harry's face. Like that was the most offensive thing he had ever heard his father say. Because she could see it in the way they acted and looked at each other, Dion was his father, regardless of the blood and magical line.

"So you taunted him?" Amelia asked, trying to keep the interview on track. The sooner they had answers, the sooner they could start the cleanup and the sooner those affected could rest and recover.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, turning to look at her. "I don't even remember what I said, I just wanted to make him angry."

"Why?" Amelia asked although she had a sinking feeling she knew where this was going.

"So he would set the Basilisk on me, instead of sending her up to the entrance hidden in the girl's bathroom."

"The girl's bathroom?" Amelia chuckled disbelievingly, she didn't think anything in this investigation would ever make sense.

"To be fair, the entrance was made before indoor plumbing." Theo piped up, the six students erupting into giggles at the memory of that particular conversation. It brought a smile to all the adults in the room, at least they were already showing signs of still being able to be children.

"So, you taunted him, what happened next?" Amelia asked, letting them settle back down before continuing the questions.

"It worked," Harry said simply, he looked proud of himself, but darted his eyes towards his parents, biting his lip, worried for their reaction. His mother was silently crying, but at least she stuck to clutching his hand tightly instead of squeezing him into a tight hug again.

"He ordered Aziza to kill us, he was still chaotic and wild, but he also seemed heartbroken. Like he didn't want to kill us, but his need to get revenge on Dumbledore was more important." Hermione theorized.

"But we could tell she was battling the control he had over her. She could sense our magic and bloodline, she didn't want to harm us." Harry explained, "I opened my eyes, but kept my head down so there was no chance of eye contact."

"Eye contact?" Amelia asked, baffled, Magical Creatures was not a strong suit for her, never taking the Care of Magical Creature class elective, or reading into it for fun.

"A Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death." Harry quoted a line from one of his favourite Magical Creature books, Most Macabre Monstrosities. Only a few copies were known to exist still, the Riddle Library had one, another one was actually in the restricted section in the Hogwarts library. It was written by one of the first notable Parselmouths of history, one of Salazar Slytherin's ancient ancestors from Greece. Herpo the Foul. He was also the one, who after years of experimentation, hatched the first-ever recorded Basilisk.

Hermione noticed the confused look on Amelia's face.

"The stare is only fatal if eye contact is made directly. If it is a reflection, then the stare only petrifies its victims. We aren't sure how all the students were petrified instead of killed, but somehow they must have only seen the reflection." She explained.

"I will look into that." Amelia nodded, perhaps the professors or students who found each of the victims could shed some light onto how, although it wasn't the most important thing currently. She was more than grateful that it was only petrifications she was investigating and not deaths.

"So, how did you survive the Basilisk?" Amelia asked, getting back on track. She had noticed Heiress Greengrass and Heir Nott were yawning in their beds, Heir's Zabini and Malfoy were lying back in the beds leaning their heads on their Mother's shoulders. All eight of the Slytherin's were pale, weak and shaky, and she even suspected Heiress Lovegood was asleep already.

"Aziza, she was following his orders to kill us, and lunged at me." Harry picked back up. "But I had managed to grab the diary from the floor from where Creevey was. And I threw it up above my head, making her bite the diary instead of me." Everyone's mouths were open, staring at this tiny wisp of a twelve-year-old, who was looking mighty smug and proud of himself. Amelia felt unable to speak for a moment, Harry's parents looked as shell shocked as she felt.

"When the diary was bitten, the memory screamed as these holes of pure magic appeared in his body. It was awful to see actually." Hermione added, her father grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "There were so many holes that they were linking up until he exploded in light and then he was gone."

"Aziza came back to herself then, she was confused from the compulsion spells and being freed so harshly made it worse. So she curled up for a nap." Harry smiled at the memory of the large snake slumbering.

"Creevey also woke up for a moment, he recognized us and asked for help. Admitting that he opened the Chamber, but he got really upset and tried to tell us he was sorry and didn't want to, he tried to fight it. It wasn't long before he passed back out. He hasn't woken back up since." Hermione nodded, eyes darting to the closed-off bed further down the room, cut off with the curtains.

"So with the diary being pierced by the Basilisk venom, the memory shade was destroyed along with Voldemort's control over the Basilisk and his connection with Mr Creevey's core." Amelia speculated with a sigh. "Alright. Thank you so much, for what you have done for Hogwarts and her students. You should never have been in this situation and we will be looking into every mistake that led to this and also doing everything we can to avoid this sort of thing happening again in the future. But on behalf of the Governor's I thank you for your services to Hogwarts."

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There is one more chapter to come before this year is over and we move on to their third year at Hogwarts!

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