A/N: Most characters and the main plot belongs to J.K. Rowling.
~Parseltongue~
The group of five friends were on their way down to the dungeon to go to Nearly Headless Nick's Death day party. Hermione was the one who was the most enthusiastic out of them all, but they were all interested in it, at least a bit anyway. They were glad that Nick had told them to grab some food, because they were all getting hungry, they had, after all, spent all day in the room of requirement training. They had only grabbed a few sandwiches, enough to keep them going. Thy didn't intend on staying for very long, they were hoping to get to the Great Hall at the back end of the feast. As they approached the classroom which was being used as the room for the party, they began shivering. They should have expected that really, even when you're near one ghost, it's cold, so when there were more, it definitely wasn't going to be pleasant. Harry cast a warming charm on them all, receiving nods in thanks. Once they were at the door, the warming charms weren't quite as effective as they were earlier. It still felt cold, but not as cold as it would be, Harry thought.
They opened the door, and were surprised to see so many ghosts, they had only expected a few, yet the classroom was full to the brim with them, and possibly even more crowded than they thought, as there could be some who were sharing the same space. As soon as they entered, Nick headed for them. "Ah, Mister Potter and company, lovely of you all to join us !" He said, loud enough for every ghost in the room to hear. Some looked over at them in surprise, probably at the fact that they were here instead of being at a feast, where there was actual food, others looked at them with curiosity, as if asking 'What the hell are you doing here ? The feast would be much more fun for you.'
The group and Nick exchanged pleasant conversations for a little while, before the ghost had to leave, some more ghosts had just arrived, and he needed to welcome them. They made their way around, and found a young girl, with a glum face, with dark hair and thick glasses covering it. Hermione was the one to approach her first. "Hello Myrtle, nice to see you here." She said to the girl. The girl just looked at her incredulously, as if she didn't believe that Hermione was happy to see her at all.
"Yes, well, I do like to leave my bathroom from time to time, it gets a bit depressing staying in the same place one died, especially if there aren't any students visiting." The ghost replied glumly. Harry really didn't want to spend his evening talking to her, she seemed to pull down everyone's mood, so he looked around, searching for an excuse to go somewhere else. At that point, he saw Peeves, the Poltergeist. He looked at Daphne, and noticed that she seemed beyond this world, he almost laughed at the expression on her face, but kept it in, he didn't want someone to think that he was laughing at them. He nudged her with his elbow, and she looked at him, almost with a look of desperation, and once again, he had to hold in his laughter. Once he had that under control, he tilted his head to his left, in the direction of Peeves. She seemed to understand, and she nodded. Leaving, without Myrtle noticing was easy, he didn't think she had actually seen them, and so, they made their way to the Poltergeist.
As soon as he saw them, he began saying hello, in his own way. "Oooooh, it's Potty Wotty Potter and Greeny Greengrass ! Have you been up to naughty things, Peevsies should tell Dumblydore, yes he should." He said, full of energy, and hanging upside-down.
Harry didn't know where he found the energy to behave like this on a constant basis, he knew he wouldn't be able to. "No Peeves, we're not up to anything naughty, Nearly Headless Nick just wanted us to come, so we did. Anyway, scared anybody to death this year ?" Daphne asked. Last year, she had been walking around with Tracey at the beginning of the year, and they had both been scared to Jupiter and back by the Poltergeist. They had been out past curfew, they had wanted to see what the castle was like by night, and they had turned a corner, and Peeves was waiting there, hanging upside-down as he is now, and smiling happily, as if catching someone out of bed after curfew was the best thing in his life.
"Well," he began pensively, "there was this one first year, who was doing the same as yous last year, only this time, I decided that I wanted to see something else, so I decided to go around them, and open doors all around them, to make them think that someone was coming. Two little Puffys, so I just had to open a few doors around them when they tried going back to their roomsies, and they ran away. They ended up spending the whole night running around, It was so much fun, and I haven't seen them out ever since." He shared with them, with as much joy in his voice as there ever was.
Harry and Daphne both laughed at this, Harry didn't know what happened last year, but was sure to ask Daphne later on. They continued talking, and even shared a few ideas with the Poltergeist, who promised that the two of them would be safe for this year, but they weren't sure if that was true, he was, after all, not the most trust-worthy of people in the castle. After Peeves left, the two of them went off to find their friends. They were sat around a table in the corner, eating their sandwiches, and talking. Harry and Daphne both walked up to the table, seemingly not being noticed by the group of three, so decided to scare them, not that they knew how, as the room was full of ghosts. Harry had an idea, and motioned for Daphne to come closer. He whispered in her ear what his plan was, not noticing the little shiver she got when he did so, and they put their plan into action.
Neville was currently eating his sandwich happily, just listening to the girls talk, mostly about classes. He hadn't heard them talk much about Lockhart since they worked out that he was a fraud, but he didn't press the fact, he knew that both girls were heavily disappointed in him. He was just about to take another bite, when he heard growling in his right ear, which resulted in him turning around with such speed, he was surprised he didn't sprain his neck. What was odd, was that there was nobody there, the closest ghost was probably a good 2 meters away from them, Nicholas had made sure to keep that little area clear for them to eat. As he was looking around, he heard a shriek come from the direction of the girls, so he looked around again. Tracey seemed to be looking around, confused.
"Did you just hear growling ?" He asked her.
"No, I heard light whistling. Is that why you turned around so quickly ?" She asked
"Yes, I thought that a dog had somehow managed to get in, and with last year's experience, dogs aren't my fa-" He was cut off, as Hermione seemed to let out a little shriek this time.
"Something just grabbed my ear, it c- Oh, I get it, Harry, Daphne, get out from under that cloak." She said with exasperation. Once she said that, it clocked with the other two. Harry and Daphne both removed the cloak, laughing silently. Harry waved his wand over the two of them, and the three others could now hear them. Some of the ghosts turned around and looked at them as if they were strange, they didn't think that they would find a way to amuse themselves here. Once the laughter died down, there were applause going around the room. The group of five looked around to see what was the cause for such applause, and they noticed that Nearly Headless Nick had gone onto the stage.
It was soon interrupted by a loud sound. A load of ghosts, who were all carrying their heads in their arms, entered the room. Harry guessed that this was the Headless Hunt Nick had been talking to them about earlier, and Harry remembered his request: 'say that you are scared of me' were his exact words. So, that was what Harry was going to do, along with his friends, of course.
The Headless Hunt began taunting Nick for all sorts of things, but mainly for the thread of skin which held his head onto his body. Harry decided that it was time to act, but before he could, Hermione got up, and cleared her throat loud enough to get the attention of the stage. Everyone fell silent, and looked at her. "I think that the thread of skin makes Sir Nicholas even more frightening. I mean, sure, he can't hold his head in his hands like a lot of you, but can you just leave your head hanging down the side of your neck ? I don't think so. Personally, I would be more frightened if I found someone with his neck almost cut off, than full, because it shows that he had a more painful death, and if I saw something like forty different attempts to cut his neck, I would be mortified at his resistance." As she finished, everyone just looked at her gobsmacked, not many people disturbed the Headless Hunt, well, not many ghosts anyway, and this girl had just done that, and pointed out some good points. The members of the Headless Hunt looked at each other, hoping somebody had something to say against that, but none of them did. Nearly Headless Nick just looked at her with immense gratitude, he knew that even if they didn't accept him, he would have gained respect from many ghosts now.
"Erm... Well, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," the leader of the group began, looking around his group for disapproval, but found none, "would you- would you like to join the Headless Hunt" He said, almost hesitantly. Hermione had made some good points, and he just hoped that he wouldn't be looked down upon now, because he had rejected the ghost many times.
Sir Nicholas looked over-joyed at this, but hid it well. "Well, considering that you have rejected me on many occasions, I am surprised to hear you ask me this. I will accept your invitation happily." He said, the joy seeping out of his voice a little at the end. At this point, there were applause all around, and ghosts taking it in turns to congratulate Nick. He assumed a kneeling position on the stage, and the leader walked up to him as if he was knighting him. He pulled his sword out of his scabbard, and rested his sword on his left shoulder, and said "Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, I declare you a member of the Headless Hunt, we swear to defend your honour for as long as you keep it," he then rested it on his right shoulder, "we swear to treat with fairness," and finally, he rested it on Nick's head, "and most of all, we swear to welcome you as a brother. So mote it be !" With this, a blue glow originated around Nick, and on his right shoulder, appeared a badge of a hand holding a head. Cheers were once again filling the room, a bright smile on Nick's face as he stood up, and looked at his badge proudly.
Once the applause died down, the group of five friends decided that it was time to leave. Just as they reached the door, Nick appeared in front of them. "My friends ! I am eternally grateful for what you have done for me today. It has been something which I have been trying to do for longer than I can remember, and it was made possible thanks to you. If you ever need anything, come find me, and I will do what I can." The group of five gave him a nod of acknowledgement, and left.
They were half way back to the Great Hall, and there was still a quarter of an hour before pudding was over. Just as they turned a corner, Harry heard it, a faint whispering in the distance. "Can you hear that ?" He asked his friends.
They all turned around to look at him curiously. "Hear what, Harry ?" Daphne asked, on alert.
"The whispering, I heard it just a few seconds ago." He said, but it continued. "And now." He looked at his friends to see if he saw something on their faces, but there was nothing to signal it.
~I sssmell blood... Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me... Kill you~
"I think it's going to kill someone !" He said, as he began running in the direction of the whispering.
"Harry, wait !" He heard someone shout behind him, but he paid it no mind. There was nothing else in his mind right now apart from the whispering, he needed to reach it, to prevent it from killing someone, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he could prevent someone from dying thanks to this weird voice which only he could hear. Seems he ran faster than his friends, he had gained some space on them, but he knew that if this person or thing was dangerous, he would need his friends' help, so he decided to wait for them.
Once they reached him, Hermione was about to speak, but Harry didn't have the time right now. "Later, Hermione, we need to move." He said with urgency. The others followed him. They arrived at a corridor, but there were a load of students present. There was confused talking. Harry and his friends pushed their way through the crowd, until they reached the front. What they saw, shocked them. On the walls, with what seemed to be blood, there was a message written. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... Beware." Harry looked at the message confused, he didn't understand why he heard whispering of killing, until he heard Tracey let out a gasp. She pointed passed the wall, so, Harry looked at the spot where she was pointing, and was shocked at what he saw. Mrs. Norris was hanging off a torch bracket. Harry paled at this.
From behind them, they heard shuffling. They turned around to see Filch coming, along with some of the teachers. They all gasped when they saw the message, and Filch wailed when he saw his cat. "Who did this !? Who killed my cat !?" He bellowed angrily, nobody had ever seen Filch this angry before. If they weren't scared of him before, they were now, and those who were, well, they were now terrified of the man.
"Argus," Dumbledore said calmly, something which no one expected given the circumstances, "she is not dead, only petrified, we will be able to cure her. Professor Sprout, I hear, has a plantation of mandrakes, which will, once they have fully grown, be able to be turned into a restorative potion. However," He said, looking out over the crowd, "I strongly advise caution, to all. Now, prefects, lead your houses to your common rooms, please."
Harry couldn't believe how calm the man remained in a time like this. He quickly looked to his friends, and tilted his head towards Dumbledore. They all understood what he meant, and waited with him. Once all the students had departed, the teachers looked at the students oddly. "Why are you not on your way to your common rooms ?" Snape asked them, looking anywhere but at Harry's eyes. Harry never understood the man, sometimes, he looked only in his eyes, others, he looked anywhere but his eyes.
"We want to speak with Professor Dumbledore." Harry said, trying to remain as calm as he could. He was sure that a little worry seeped through his voice, as Dumbledore looked concerned immediately.
"Very well, professors, please check to make sure that all students are within their common rooms. You will go in groups of two. You may leave." Once he said this, all teachers left for the common rooms, and those who didn't, returned to their classrooms. "Follow me." He said, looking at the group of five. They made their way to Dumbledore's office in silence. Once they reached the stone gargoyle leading to the headmaster's office, he said "Chocolate frog", and they made their way into the office. Dumbledore took his seat behind his desk, and conjured the necessary amount of chairs for the students.*
"So, what is it that you wished to talk to me about ?" He asked after a few seconds of silence. All at once, they began saying what they wanted to say, but Dumbledore didn't understand a word of it. He lifted his hand to silence them, and they obliged. "Now, Harry, why don't you explain ?" He said, looking at the emerald green eyes, which had already begun to show a small amount of power.
"Well, you see, we attended Sir Nicholas' death day party, and we were just on our way back to grab something to eat at the Great Hall, when I heard this voice. I asked my friends if they had heard it, but they didn't. It didn't bother me then, because it was whispered, so I just assumed they weren't listening, but then I heard it again, and when they all said that they hadn't heard it again, I began to get worried. We ran in the direction of the voice, and while following it, we found everyone in the corridor with the message." He said. Dumbledore noticed the bit of panic in Harry's voice. He assumed that the boy felt somewhat responsible for it, as he could hear this voice.
"What did this voice say ?" He asked.
"It- It said that it smelled blood, and that- that it wanted to kill." Harry said, feeling a little worried. He didn't know if he should be telling this to Dumbledore or not, but the old man had been extremely useful during the holidays, and hoped that he would be again. At this, Dumbledore looked away pensively. There was utter silence, none of the students dared talk, and interrupt the man. After a few minutes, the headmaster looked back at the group.
"Could I talk with Harry alone, please ?" He asked, looking at the other four of the group. They all looked worried for a little moment, so he reassured them. "Do not worry, we won't be long." They all nodded, Daphne looked at Harry in the eyes, asking a silent question. He nodded, and they all left. Once the door was closed, Dumbledore aloud the castle wards to set up some privacy wards to his office. "Now, do you remember what I told you about the night you got that scar, and the Horcrux ?" He asked.
"Yes, you said that the reason I survived was because the curse backfired, so when the curse hit him, his soul searched for the only living thing left, which was me." Harry said confused.
"Yes well, it is possible, that that night, Voldemort left behind some of his powers along with the horcrux, not willingly of course, but I guess that he did. Have you ever tried talking to a snake, Harry ?" Dumbledore asked the boy, and once he did, he already knew the answer as he saw the boy stiffen.
"Voldemort gave me that ?" He asked, a little shocked. He was positive that he had already heard that somewhere, but he couldn't think when.
"Yes, I found out when I first met him. I had gone to visit him to tell him about his acceptance at Hogwarts, and when I did, I found out that he was already twisted minded, but I hoped that I could change that. Oh, how wrong I was." He said. It almost sounded as if he was disappointed with himself, as if he should have known back then what the boy was to become. Harry didn't say anything, he wasn't the type of person to know what to say to someone to cheer them up. "Anyway," Dumbledore continued after a moment of silence, "I was wondering if you heard a snake, maybe it was the thing which petrified Mrs. Norris, maybe it was just a normal snake, hunting a rat, but the next time you hear this, I want you to come straight to me, alright ?" He said. Harry nodded. "I would recommend you telling your friends about your ability, if you haven't already, or they might get a shock at some point, and lose trust in you."
Harry nodded at this. Just before Dumbledore released the wards, Harry spoke up again. "Can I tell them about the prophecy as well ?" He asked rather bluntly. Dumbledore didn't seem surprised at this.
The old man sighed. "I would prefer that you didn't, but I know how important they are to you, so you may, on the condition that they promise to swear the same vow you did." Harry brightened at the man's answer, he didn't like keeping such important things from his friends, and this would hopefully encourage them further during training. "Anything else you wish to ask me before I remove the privacy ward ?" He asked, looking down at Harry, who shook his head.
Once they were done, he pointed his wand at the door, and it opened. The group who were waiting outside walked in. They didn't even have the time to sit down, before Harry stood up. "I will inform them in the room of requirement." Harry told the headmaster, who nodded. "Good night professor." He said, a statement which was quickly echoed by his friends. The man returned their farewell, and they left. As soon as they were roughly 20 meters away from the headmaster's office, he was bombarded with questions. He didn't respond to any of them, except to tell them that he would tell them in a bit. They all huffed at this, and made their way up in silence. Harry walked past the wall three times, imagining a room similar to the living room at Potter Manor, only smaller. They walked in, Harry took the armchair which was facing the two sofas. Tracey and Daphne shared one, whereas Hermione and Neville shared the other. Once they were seated, Harry let out a sigh, figuring how to begin this.
"How about you start from the beginning." Daphne shrugged, reading his expression perfectly. Harry thought that that would be an ideal place to start.
"Alright, what I'm going to tell you cannot leave the room, and Dumbledore has asked me to make you swear a secrecy vow about it. I would have told you sooner, but I only just got permission from Dumbledore to tell you." The group in front of Harry seemed surprised at this. If Dumbledore had made him swear the vow, then it had to be sensitive information. They quickly agreed to that.
"So, what do we have to swear ?" Neville asked him curiously.
"Well, before I tell you, it will come as a shock, so try not to show it too much." Once again, they nodded. "So, I want you to say that you swear to not divulge the contents of the prophecy u-" As he said this, he heard gasps all around. "I told you not be too shocked," He said with a mock-disspointing tone.
"But Harry, a pr-" Hermione began saying, but was cut off by Harry raising his hand.
"Questions later, first the vow." He said. They all huffed, and one by one, they swore the vow. "Perfect. So, before I was born, there was a prophecy made, about me or, well, Neville, and Voldemort." Once Harry said Neville's name followed by the Dark Lord's name, the boy paled. "Don't worry, Nev, it doesn't concern you any more. Anyway, this is how the prophecy goes." He went on to say the entire prophecy to them, making sure to not forget anything about it.
"So you're telling me, that you're the Boy-Who-Lived, only because Voldemort marked you as his equal instead of me ?" Neville said, completely in shock, but he looked rather relieved.
"Basically, yes." Harry said with a shrug. "Anyway, the night when he came to my house, and killed my parents, and attempted to kill me, the curse backfired, I don't know why, but it did. Dumbledore thinks that it had something to do with my mother's , when it did, and the curse hit Voldemort, his soul was damaged, and so it split." At this point, Hermione gasped, already getting where he was going with this. "And so, it searched for the only living thing to attach on, which was me." After he said that, Neville and Tracey both paled, Hermione had both her hands in front of her mouth, purely out of shock, but Daphne looked at him sadly.
"So yo- you're a H- Horcrux, then ?" She asked him. This time, it was Harry's turn to look completely shocked.
"How do you know about Horcruxes ?" He asked her, still in shock.
"Well, the Greengrass family is considered dark by some families for a reason. During the 16th century, one of my ancestors was a Dark Lord, not anywhere near Voldemort's level, just a small-time one, and he collected a load of dark books which ended up in our family library, and when I was younger, I came across the term while reading one of the books." She shrugged.
"Your parents let you read those sorts of books ?" Hermione asked, looking completely outraged.
"Well, yes, my dad said that it was best if I learnt that sort of stuff while I was young, because it could always come in handy." She said, once again with a shrug. "Anyway, that's not important right now, what we need to figure out, is how to get the one Harry has, out of him. And, from what I've read, he would have to die for that to happen, and I'm not letting that happen." She said.
Harry smiled at her for that. "Don't worry about it, it's already been taken care of." harry said with another smile. They all let out a sigh of contempt.
"Well, why did Dumbledore make you swear a vow on it, then ?" Tracey asked. The group laughed at this, except Tracey, who didn't understand what was wrong.
"He didn't swear a vow for that, you dimwit, it was for the prophecy." Hermione told her friend, while laughing. Tracey looked a little embarrassed for that, but then began joining in the laughter with her friends.
After a moment, the laughter died down, and Harry got back on topic. "Anyway, when he did transfer part of his soul to me, Dumbledore thinks that he transferred some of his powers, too."
"Is that why you get spells so quickly ?" Neville asked.
"Partly, yes, but mainly because seems he had already done it, and his soul got transferred to me, it was like I just needed to go over it again, as if I had just forgotten it. It's like it was buried in my brain, I just had to access it, by doing the spell." The others nodded in understanding at his explication. "Anyway, something else I gained from it, was his Parselmouth ability." At this, all of his friends' eyes opened wide, that was something which they hadn't been expecting.
"Why didn't you tell us that before ?" Daphne asked, a little offended.
"Well, I would have, it's just that I thought that many people could do it. I only found out during the summer when I went to the zoo with Moony and Padfoot. They told me that it wasn't common, and that I should keep it quiet, because it is associated with Dark Lords." Harry told them, hoping that they wouldn't be too mad at him. They all nodded in understanding, something which Harry was relieved with. "Anyway, so that voice I heard earlier, it-"
"Was a snake," Hermione finished for him, "so that means that whatever petrified Mrs. Norris is a snake !" She said excitedly.
Harry was shaking her head as soon as she began her conclusion. "That's what I thought, but like Dumbledore pointed out, it might have just been a coincidence, and could have been a snake hunting a rat or something." Hermione looked a little put out at that, but he knew that she would bet over it. "Anyway, he told me that next time I hear it, to go straight to him." He finished. There was a big silence once he did. Nobody knew what to say.
After a few seconds, Daphne got up. "Well, this evening has been interesting, however, I'm getting tired, so I'm heading off to bed, and I assume that you are too ?" She asked, looking around.
"I'm staying here for a bit, I won't be able to sleep right now with everything I've just found out." Tracey said, and Hermione and Neville nodded their agreement.
"I'll join you- Erm, escort you." Harry rectified with a slight blush. Hermione and Tracey shared a smile at this.
"Anyway, good night." The three who were staying up for a while said, and it was returned by the other two. Harry and Daphne left the Room of Requirement, and used the secret passages to make it down to ground level quicker. They talked a little about what they had discussed with their friends, but kept it in code, so that nobody would understand, if they were listening in. Once they reached the blank stretch of wall which was the entry to the Slytherin common room, Daphne said the password, and it opened up.
"Good night, Harry." She said as she turned around towards the entrance. Harry bade her a good night, too. She was just about to enter the common room, when she stopped. She turned around once more, towards Harry. He looked at her with confusion, then, she did something he didn't expect. She walked up to him, and kissed him on the cheek, and she lingered there for a couple of seconds. "Thank you for sharing this with us Harry." She whispered in his ear. Harry shuddered when she did, but he was positive she didn't notice. Once she moved back, the both of them were blushing, and Daphne hastily made her way into the common room, the door closing behind her. Harry just stood there, staring at the door for a few seconds, before he reminded himself that he didn't need to cease working to try to understand things, he would be much more comfortable in bed, so that's where he went. What he didn't expect, was that he would have much sleep that night, because he couldn't get the lingering feeling of her kiss on his cheek out of his mind.
A/N: Thank you for all your reviews and follows. I hope you like this chapter.