p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not for the first time, an argument had broken out at number 4, Privet Drive./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They didn't happen often, for the Dursleys knew not to annoy or upset Harry, but when they did it was always loud. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I WILL NOT HAVE THAT DRATTED SNAKE AT OUR KITCHEN!"Uncle Vernon shouted. "IT'S COMPLETELY UNHYGIENIC, AND DANGEROUS FOR DUDLEY TO BE AROUND!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry had accidentally let the Dursleys know about Jaculus one morning shortly after the end of term. And whilst it meant that Harry now no longer had to hide his faithful companion, it had led to arguments like this. Surprisingly though, the Dursleys had not made the connection between Harry having a pet snake and Dudley's apparent allergy to snake bites. (In truth it was actually because Jaculus' bites were more potent but the Dursleys needn't know Jaculus was venomous at all. The more weapons Harry had in his arsenal the better.)/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed, "I promised to keep Jaculus away from the food but i have no control over where Jaculus sleeps." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That morning Vernon Dursley had woken up like usual and walked downstairs to find Jaculus sleeping on the counter next to the fruit bowl./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that's not good enough, keep it in your room or else!" Uncle Vernon shouted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed again and picked up Jaculus, got down from the dining table and walked up to his room. As he left he heard a loud belch come from the Dursley's son, Dudley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed. Ever since he had come home for the summer holidays, the Dursleys had been a mix of terrified and furious. Harry had spent his first year at Hogwarts duelling Gryffindors, getting past a dozen deadly magical obstacles and had even snuck a prize, in the form of a blood red gemstone, past the school teachers. A prize which was now sitting in a small box under a loose floorboard in his room. Compared to that, life with the Dursleys was dull, slow and monotonous. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomach ache. He missed the castle, with it's secret passageways and moving staircases, his lessons (particularly his secret ones with the portrait of the Dark wizard Kryillos), the post arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in his emerald-green bed in the Slytherin dormitory and antagonising Weasley, Granger, Finnigan and Longbottom. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"To top it off, however, the Dursleys had locked away all Harry's school things. His spellbooks, wand, robes and Cauldron were all locked in the cupboard under the stairs the moment Harry had gotten back from the station. When they had discovered Harry's pet snake, they had tried to lock Jaculus in the Cupboard as well, but the snake had always managed to escape. Harry knew that Uncle Vernon had been to a pet shop to look at cages for snakes, but he hadn't bought one yet. Though, with more incidents like the one that morning, Harry was sure it wouldn't be soon until Uncle Vernon brought one home. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Thankfully, Uncle Vernon had not bought a lock for Harry's window yet. Near daily, Harry received messages from his friends from Hogwarts, whether it was packets of sweets or letters that let him communicate with them, Harry was thankful for this, as he suspected that he would be even more bored if he had no contact with the wizarding world./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He placed Jaculus in his room and spied the stack of letters and presents he had received that morning. Several packages from Draco and his family plus a card and a box of sweets, a package and card from Pansy, Theodore and Blaise, and another set of letters from Crabbe, Goyle, Orphelia, Daphne, Tracey and Millicent. Harry had just started to get his fingers into one of the packages sent by Draco when he heard his Uncle shout from the kitchen: "BOY! COME DOWN HERE NOW!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed and went downstairs, resolving to open the packages later, when he wouldn't be disturbed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he arrived downstairs he heard the beginning of Uncle Vernon's speech. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, as we all know, today is a very special day." Harry paused outside the kitchen door, hardly daring to believe it. Whilst the Dursleys had never exactly given Harry a proper birthday, they had never called it a 'special day' before./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This could well be the day i make the biggest deal of my career." Harry's heart sank. Of course; Uncle Vernon was talking about his stupid dinner party. How naive he had been. Harry opened the door to the kitchen and was greeted with a loud "What took you so long?" from Uncle Vernon. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry shrugged and sat down at the table. Uncle Vernon glared at him suspiciously until Harry had sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""As i was saying." Uncle Vernon continued, "This could well be the day i make the biggest deal of my career. I think we should run through the schedule one more time before they get here. We should all be in position at eight O'clock. Petunia, you will be -?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""In the lounge, " said Aunt Petunia Promptly. "Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good, Good. And Dudley?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll be waiting to open the door." Said Dudley. He put on a foul, simpering smile. "May i take your coats Mr and Mrs Mason?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They'll em style="box-sizing: inherit;"love/em him!" Cried Aunt Petunia rapturously. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent Dudley." Said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Harry. "And em style="box-sizing: inherit;"you/em?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending i'm not there." said Harry, whose voice carried only a hint of sardonity. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastly. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight fifteen -"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll announce dinner." Said Aunt Petunia./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And Dudley, you'll say?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""May i take you through to the dining room, Mrs Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to and invisible woman./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My perfect little gentleman!" Sniffed Aunt Petunia./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And you?" Said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending i'm not there." said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Vernon tells me you're a em style="box-sizing: inherit;"wonderful /emgolfer Mr Mason... em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Do /emtell me where you brought your dress Mrs Mason..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Perfect... Dudley?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How about: "We had to write an essay about our hero at school Mr Mason, and em style="box-sizing: inherit;"i/em wrote about you.""/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn't see him laughing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And you boy?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry emerged from the table. "i'll be in my room making no noise and pretending i'm not there." He said, struggling to keep his face straight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Too right you will. The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs Mason back to the lounge for coffee Petunia, and i'll bring the subject round to drills. With any luck i'll have the deal signed and sealed before the em style="box-sizing: inherit;"News at ten/em. We'll be shopping for a holiday home in Majorca this time tomorrow."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry didn't feel too excited about this. He doubted the Dursleys would like him any more in Majorca than they would in Privet Drive./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Right, i'm off into town to pick up dinner jackets for me and Dudley. And em style="box-sizing: inherit;"you/em, " He snarled at Harry, "you stay out of your Aunt's way whilst she's cleaning." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite it being a beautiful day outside, Harry went upstairs to his room. He had the stack of presents on his bed to keep him occupied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He opened the door to his room with mounting excitement. Eager to open the first parcel, Harry barely shut the door as he went in. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He laid his hands on a parcel from Draco. He quickly found the accompanying letter, tore it open and read:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry;/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Happy birthday, I hope the Muggles are in their place./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"It is quite boring here, without Hogwarts. Father continues to train me to duel, though i've scuffed the new duelling robes he got me. The Elf fixed those pretty quickly however. Personally though, i am more interested in quidditch. Father has said he will buy me a new racing broom for my birthday. He said he would buy you one too, but that we should not send it to you whilst you are at the muggle's house but.../em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry skimmed the rest of the letter before turning to his presents. The largest of them was heavy, and felt like a book. He tore of the velvety paper covering it and saw the title; em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Quidditch teams of Britain and Ireland/em. Written in emerald green ink on this inside cover was a note from Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"My favourite team is the Foulmouth Falcons, though i do on occasion support the Ballycastle Bats or the Montrose Magpies./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry quickly flicked through the pages with a broad grin on his face. He could tell that he was going to enjoy this./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He opened the other packages that Draco had sent him. There was another book, a em style="box-sizing: inherit;"compendium of racing brooms of the world. (from 962 - 1992). /emIn this book Draco had left messages throughout, commenting on the various brooms detailed inside. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a miniature model Nimbus 2001, which soared around on the palm of his hand, doing loops and corkscrews. Lastly, in the envelope, there was a picture of Draco and his family at Malfoy manor. Written on the back, presumably by Mr. Malfoy as the handwriting was different to Draco's, was a message saying:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"1 week before the start of term we'll take you to buy your things at Diagon Alley along with Draco./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was just mulling this over when he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around to find Dudley looking at his presents. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So you do have friends at that freak school you go to." When Harry didn't answer Dudley continued. "I wondered, of course. I mean, it's your birthday and nothing arrived in the mail." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry got to his feet, letter still clutched in his hand. "Careful Dudley." He said in a low, malicious tone./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's you who should be careful Harry. I know Mum and Dad locked up all your books and stuff in the cupboard."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry stayed silent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I wonder what they would do if they found all this, " He gestured to the stack of presents and letters lying on the floor. "Nothing good. They might even lock you up in the cupboard with all your weirdo books."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was still silent, he thought he knew where this was going, though he also saw a way to make sure Dudley would stay away from him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Of course, if you give me something, " his piggy little eyes landed on the package of sweets from the Malfoys, "Like those sweets, then i won't tell Mum and Dad that you're doing magic stuff up here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Alright, " Harry said slowly, "But you should try one first."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why?" Said Dudley, clearly impatient./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, magic sweets are an acquired taste, you might not like them."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dudley snorted and held out his hand./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry dove his hand into the bag, careful to make sure Dudley couldn't see what he was doing. Looking around he saw peppermint toads, fudge flies, chocolate wands, crystalized pineapple and many others, but they weren't what he was looking for. At last he laid eyes on it. A small, sickly green lollipop. An acid pop. He withdrew his hand from the bag and gave the lollipop to Dudley. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What were you looking for?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The best one." Replied Harry. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dudley stuck the acid pop into his mouth and sucked. The effect was instantaneous. His face scrunched up, then became one of pain as the acid pop started to burn a hole through his tongue. He dropped the acid pop, which was by now just a stick, and ran from the room, hands clamped around his mouth as his eyes started to stream. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry laughed as Dudley ran downstairs, then quickly started to pry the floorboard loose as place all his birthday things under it. He had just replaced the floorboard when a shrill voice screamed,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""HARRY! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For a second, Harry debated waiting in his room but, reasoning that this would only make her more furious, went downstairs to face Aunt Petunia./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He put on an innocent face as he walked into the kitchen, which was still wet from Aunt Petunia's cleaning./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""WHAT DID YOU DO!" She screamed at him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nothing. " Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""DON'T LIE TO ME YOU DID-" she looked around, as if scared the Mason's would hear her from the kitchen, "-you did magic!" she whispered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No i didn't" replied Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""THEN WHY-" she said, now back at full volume, "-HAS THERE BEEN A HOLE, BURNT THROUGH DUDLEY'S TONGUE!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh that, " replied Harry, feigning ignorance, "Well that might have something to do with the wizard sweet he ate."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""THE em style="box-sizing: inherit;"WHAT/em HE ATE?" Her voice got even higher, which was not something Harry thought possible./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The wizard sweet. I told him not to. Told him he wouldn't like it but did he listen? Noo-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""FIX HIM!" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well i would love to, but i don't know how."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Aunt Petunia seemed to boil over, and then deflate. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She seemed also dizzy as she mumbled to herself. Harry only caught a few words of what she was mumbling. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Wait...Vernon...the boy...magic."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was so stunned, he didn't know what to say. Even Dudley had stopped crying to gape, teary eyed and mouth wide open, at his mother, who was currently steadying herself with a chair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She forced Harry to sit in the living room chair whilst she gave Dudley a tub of ice-cream and a spoon. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She seemed to sit in quiet melancholy, only roused when the doorbell heralded the arrival of Uncle Vernon, back from picking up the dinner suits./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She rose once more and exchanged quick words with Uncle Vernon. Predictably enough, soon Uncle Vernon was storming into the living room with thunder in his eyes. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The berating he got, was the worst one of all time. Uncle Vernon was so loud it made the walls shake. Harry was sure he saw a passerby stare at the house before they moved on with walking their dog./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In the end, they decided there wasn't much they could do./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was forced to work back-breaking labour around the house and garden. Cleaning the windows, washing the car, mowing the law, trimming the flowerbeds, pruning and watering the roses and re-painting the garden bench. The sun blazed overhead, making Harry hot, tired, sweaty and aching all over when he finished. They forced him straight up to his room and Uncle Vernon locked the door. Where Harry collapsed onto the bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As for Dudley, they babied him until he would be allowed to stay in his room, watching television and eating ice-cream whilst the other Dursleys were coaxing the Masons into signing the contract. They would explain his absence as a simple fever, though asked him not to have the television on too loud./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was quarter to eight when the doorbell rang again. The Masons had clearly arrived. Harry heard voices travelling from up the kitchen, and smelled the large joint of roast pork sizzling in the oven. Earlier he had seen Aunt Petunia's Windtorte Pudding sitting on top of the fridge, and the thought of that only made him hungrier. It amused him, however, to think of Aunt Petunia in her Salmon-pink cocktail dress, and Uncle Vernon in his black dinner suit and bow-tie. It was the complete opposite of how Harry envisioned them, which made him laugh./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He sighed and wondered if he should have given the sweet to Dudley. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Heee would have found it anyway." Jaculus reasoned. "And bessssidessss, if not the acciid pop, then the chocolate frogsss would have gotten loossse, or he would have made himself sssick on beansss. Or fizzzzing-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I get the point," replied Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""At leassst you still have all the presssentsss and cardsss," Jaculus replied. "You could open them in peace."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah. I'll do that." Harry agreed, and reached into the floorboards and pulled out the rest of the items he had been given for his birthday. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As the sound of Aunt Petunia's shrill laughter drifted up from the Dursley's lounge, Harry turned his attention to the presents under his floorboards. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He chose the letter from Pansy next, and it's accompanying present. Bound in a soft, velvety parchment, her letter read:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry,/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Happy birthday. I am well, and my mother has mellowed down somewhat. She is still angry at me, though i have recently been spending time at Theodore's from which i am writing you this letter./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I hope that you have been well since i last wrote, and that the muggles are staying out of your way. They really should learn their place in wizard society, and i highly doubt that they are treating you with the respect you deserve./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Anyway, attached is a present i bought you from Diagon Alley, it should certainly make the astronomy homework much easier. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry placed the letter down and unwrapped the present. inside was a beautiful wooden, almost telescope. there were some complicated dials at the back, and when Harry looked through it, he couldn't see his room at all, only the moon reflected against the stars. Wondering why Pansy had gotten him such a gift, Harry turned back to the letter./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I have gotten you is a lunascope. It means you won't have to mess around with moon charts when we're given homework by Professor Sinestra. Simply look through the Lunascope, and it'll show you the exact position and phase of the moon./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry smiled. This would certainly be useful, Harry could remember only too well the frustration he had when dealing with mounds and mounds of moon charts the previous year./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He moved onto the next parcel, one from Theodore. After inspecting the parcel first, Harry determined that it was probably a book, as it felt heavy and was about the right shape. The letter was the same as the other letters though, and Harry tore it open and read the message./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry, /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I've finally gotten back from my Uncle about what the stone we found was. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This caught Harry's attention. Theodore had previously said that he was going to try to find out what the stone was, and as they had had no idea where to begin looking, then Theodore finding out what the object was, was big indeed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Although he couldn't be positive, he said the description of the stone sounded a lot like the legendary philosopher's stone, one of the four goals of alchemy, along with chrysopoeia, the creation of panaceas and alkahests, and Spagyric. I think this makes sense, as the only known person to make a philosopher's stone is someone called Nicolas Flamel, who is a friend of Dumbledore's. It sounds like Flamel asked Dumbledore to guard his stone. Though there are some problems with that idea. i've sent you a book that gives details on the philosopher's stone. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Otherwise i'm fine. I hope you are too, and that the muggles know their place. Pansy's been spending a lot of time here recently, i think she's trying to avoid her mother./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Full of excitement, Harry tore open the wrapping on the parcel which Theodore had sent him. inside, just as the letter had described, was a copy of,em style="box-sizing: inherit;" a history and study of the philosopher's stone and it's creator, Nicholas Flamel/em. By Zosimos Ortolanus. The book was bound in a rich, scarlet leather, that exactly matched the hue of the stone. The Title was embossed in gold and the author name was made of silver. Excited, Harry placed the book carefully next to his bed for later./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The last parcel Harry had received was from Blaise. Inside was a handsome set of Emerald Green Gobstones. He also had sent a letter that read very similarly to the other letters from Draco, Theodore and Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry, /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I hope you're well. Don't let the Muggles get you down, there's only 4 more weeks of summer left before we're back at school. I'm doing fine here, Mother has gotten another husband, a Gobstones maker, and this is from his newest line. Personally, i don't see what she sees in him, but i don't mind all the gifts he's gotten me. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Anyway, Happy birthday. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry skimmed the rest of the letters. They all said pretty much the same things, with even the surprisingly articulate ones by Crabbe and Goyle fitting this trend. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed and lay down on his bed. Despite the fact that this was the best birthday he had ever had, and that he had received some amazing presents, the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world was a way out of life with the Dursleys. Although he certainly had the Dursleys under his thumb and his latest trick against Dudley was glorious, Harry just always felt disconnected whenever he was staying here. Like a part of himself was missing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He heard Aunt Petunia's shrill laugh drift up from the floor below. Presumably the Dursleys would be starting on Dinner soon. Harry's stomach rumbled. A cheese sandwich wasn't exactly the most filling of foods to eat, and to supplement that with sweets wouldn't be the best idea. Ignoring this he ate an every-flavour bean. Then promptly spat it out because it was spinach flavoured. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Lost in memories of Hogwarts and his friends, Harry soon drifted of to sleep. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Although he was promptly woken the next morning by Uncle Vernon, who woke him with a loud "BOY!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sat bolt upright and almost bashed his head against Uncle Vernon's, who was standing over his bed. Clearly the course of one night and few drinks had not mellowed Uncle Vernon in the slightest. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you call this!" Uncle Vernon said as he gestured to Harry's floor, where discarded wrapping, letter and presents lay strewn about, with the little model Nimbus zipping around Uncle Vernon's ankles./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought we told you that you weren't to talk to any of the other - em style="box-sizing: inherit;"weirdos /em- at that place you go to."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You mean Hogwarts." Harry said, getting off the bed and starting to pick up his presents, especially the moel nimbus, which was in danger of being crushed by Uncle Vernon's foot./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Uncle Vernon when deep purple as he always did when Harry mentioned the wizarding world to him. Perhaps antagonising Uncle Vernon wasn't the best idea, especially early in the morning, but Uncle Vernon was already pretty angry as it was. Keeping him mentally unstable would only give Harry more power./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"With Uncle Vernon now at the tipping point, he said, slowly, "What. Did you do. To Dudley. Yesterday."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, i didn't do anything to him. It's his own fault that he ate the sweet."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So you fed him - something - that, that-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Burned a hole in his tongue?" Harry supplied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""FIX HIM!" Uncle Vernon shouted, all pretence of being in control of himself lost./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I can't." Harry said quickly, "Even if i knew the spell to fix him, which i don't by the way, then i would need my wand, which you've locked up, and i also don't have any motivation to fix him, which you can't give me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Uncle Vernon looked like he was going to boil like a kettle when he next opened his mouth, though his words came out in a forced calm voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How can we get him fixed?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You can't." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next day Uncle Vernon came back to lock Harry inside his room. He had decided, over the course of the night, that Harry was to be confined to his bedroom indefinitely. He had fitted a bolt-lock to Harry's bedroom door, and it was only opened whenever the Dursleys let him use the bathroom, Uncle Vernon also set about installing a cat-flap into which food could be passed three times a day. They had taken away all of Harry presents that he got for his birthday, including the book that held answers about the philosopher's stone, and the small box that held the stone itself. Since Harry had locked it, there wasn't too much danger of the Dursleys finding out what was inside it. Harry also knew for a fact that in the early morning, Aunt Petunia had buried the contents of the sweet bag Draco had gotten Harry in a hole in the garden. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"None of this really bothered Harry. Draco or one of his other friends usually sent a letter once a week, and whilst Harry couldn't immediately contact them due to his lack of an owl, when Harry got a message next he would simply attach a letter to their owl and send it back with a plea for help. The only problem now was surviving that long, for the Dursleys often forgot to pass him food or water. Thanks to Jaculus sneaking Harry a quill and ink, Harry could, at least, write the letter and subsequently had it composed within an hour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and Harry had not received a letter from any of his friends yet. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking behind the clouds and wondered miserably what was going to happen to him. Life at the Dursleys had hit an all time low. Even lower than whenever Aunt Marge came to visit. He thought miserably of magicking himself out of the room, but the rational part of his brain quickly stomped on that idea, telling him that freedom from the Dursleys meant nothing if he got expelled. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunia's hand appeared, pushing a bowl of tinned soup into the room. Harry, whose insides were aching with hunger, jumped off the bed and seized it. The soup was stone cold, but Harry drank half of it in one gulp. Then he sat down on his bed, and drank the other half more slowly. He even finished the soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowl./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He put the empty bowl back on the floor next to the cat-flap and law back down on his bed, somehow even more hungry than before. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite his initial hopes at his plan being swiftly executed, right now, Harry had doubts about it. What if his friends didn't send any owls? What if the owls refused to take his letter? And what, if they got the letter, would the Malfoys do to get Harry away from the Dursleys?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"With these questions rattling around inside his head, Harry slowly started to drift off to sleep. He dreamed he was inside a glass cage at the zoo. People goggled at him through the glass as he lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Draco's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Draco didn't hear him and moved on. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley and Uncle Vernon started wrapping their knuckles on his cage, like the boa constrictor at the zoo. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Stop it, " Harry muttered, as the rattling pounded in his sore head. "Leave me alone, i'm trying to sleep."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through the window. And something was tapping on the glass, and goggling through the bars at him. It's sharp, orange eyes, and long talons told Harry instantly, that this was Ascalon, Draco's pet owl. And he was carrying a message. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /As soon as Harry removes the letter from Ascalon's claw, he made to take off, but Harry cried "Wait!" rather loudly. He paused, listening to hear if the Dursleys had woken up. Ascalon just stood there, looking at him like he was annoyed. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sorry, " Said Harry, "But I need you to deliver a message back to Draco."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Ascalon still just stood there, and Harry assumed that mean he could attach the letter to his leg. Carefully, he removed his hand from Ascalon's feathers and quickly headed over to his draw, where the letter Harry had written was stored. Rushing back over to Ascalon he fumbled slightly with tying the letter to Ascalon's leg, but soon it was attached sturdily enough that it wouldn't fall off. Then Harry waited. Ascalon didn't move. Harry was confused, he'd seen Draco post letters before, when they were in the school owlery. Draco had simply attached the letter and Ascalon had gone on his way, so what was the problem now? br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /After waiting around for almost a minute in which Ascalon could have been stuffed for all he moved, Harry finally said, desperate and in a low voice "Oh, just go already damn you!" This was what caused Ascalon to finally move. With a quick flap of his wings and a soft hoot, Ascalon flew out of the window. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and flopped down onto the bed. His hand, which had been clasped around the letter Draco had sent him, relaxed and Harry read through the letter he had been sent by Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It wasn't anything too special. In fact, it was almost monotonous in it's message, but of all the letters Harry had ever received from Draco, he knew that this was going to be one that he would cherish forever, simply because it had been the one that had rescued him from a life of enslavement from the Dursleys./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite it being very late, almost midnight if not after, Harry couldn't go back to sleep. His mind was awash with all the possibilities and scenarios that the letter he had sent now brought. However, as one's mind is oft to do in these circumstances, Harry soon starting worrying about what could go wrong. Ascalon could be prevented from giving the letter to Draco. Draco could decide that he couldn't do anything, and Harry would be stuck there. Or maybe, Draco does turn up, but there's nothing Draco can do to convince the Dursleys to let Harry go and Harry is still stuck in his room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"These thoughts sent Harry into a sort of pseudo-sleep, where he couldn't tell you what day it was or what the time was, but he could think about matters. And when he finally woke from this pseudo-sleep it was almost 10 in the morning. He looked down at the cat flap. The bowl had been taken away and replaced with a single, green, apple. Hungrily, Harry snatched up the apple and bit down into it. It was soft, and warm. It lacked the satisfying crunch you get from biting down into an apple, and the juices were tasteless due to heat of the apple, but Harry still ate it down to it's core, which he then tossed into his bin by the cupboard. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Then, as he did so often these days, he just sat around his room, except this time he was waiting for Draco to contact him. Of course, that simply added another layer of frustration to his predicament, as now with nothing to do, but everything to wait for, it seemed like time was simply, slowing down. He looked at the clock hanging on his wall. Surely it couldn't have been only five minutes. He was already hungry again!/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At quarter past eleven Aunt Petunia let him out to use the bathroom. On his way to the bathroom, Harry tried to look at the house to see if any thing had changed. Perhaps a letter, or even Draco himself, or his father, here to negotiate Harry's release. But there were no such signs. Everything was normal. Or, as normal as it could be. It seemed that Dudley, at least, had gotten used to the new hole in his tongue, as Harry caught a glimpse of him absent mind-idly poking a dinner knife through the hole on his way back from the toilet. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Past 11:30, Harry was back in his room, waiting, and hungry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't suppose you have anything to eat do you, Jaculus?" Harry asked of his pet snake, who was sleeping on the window sill./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Trusssst meee, you don't waaant what iii've been eating." Was the snake's only reply. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry shrugged and returned to waiting. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /At 1:20 the cat-flap rattled again and a plate with a single sandwich and a glass of water emerged through. Again, Harry ate the sandwich, almost in one bite. It was made of cold ham, stale cheese and that disgusting half-and-half bread Harry was convinced Aunt Petunia only got to torture him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /As the hands on the clock rotated further and further, Harry was soon growing anxious. Surely Draco had received the letter he had sent. Malfoy manor wasn't that far from privet drive by air was it?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was five past five when Harry got this next meal. Half a pork-pie and a carrot. Harry barely had the heart to eat at all by this point, convinced as he was that Ascalon had somehow failed, or Harry hadn't made the instructions to Ascalon clear enough. Knowing that this was his last meal of the day, Harry decided to get an early night, of which he was sure that the Malfoy might turn up tomorrow, having simply been delayed in departing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As soon as he was asleep, however, he was almost instantly woken up by someone shaking him awake. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"...Wassa...waayah?" He mumbled, incoherently./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Here, put these on." A familiar voice said as they handed Harry his glasses. It took Harry a little while to figure out who said it. It was only after he had put on his glasses and looked up to see a blonde haired, silver eyed boy looking down at him, that he realised Draco had arrived. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wha? Draco? How?" He mumbled, still half asleep. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I got your letter, stupid. Y'know, I thought you were joking at first, but Father insisted we come and see if that was really the case."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Your father's here?" Harry asked, a little groggily./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, he's down in the dining room where all those pictures of that fleshy beach ball are. He's waiting for us, so get dressed, quickly, and gather up anything you need from this room." Draco replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sure." Harry said, already running to the cupboard./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco dutifully turned his back whilst Harry pulled on a pair of Dudley's old trousers, his old shirt that was three sizes too big and a pair of old socks. After rolling up the sleeves on his shirt so his hands could move freely, Draco turned around. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Good, have you got any more clothes in here?" He asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, all my robes are in my trunk."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Perfect, lets get out of this muggle mud-hole then."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They started to make this way to the door when Harry quickly turned around again, and dashed to the windowsill to unceremoniously grab Jaculus. He thought he heard a hiss of indignity as he stuffed Jaculus up his sleeve./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Downstairs was an even odder scene than Harry pictured it. Somehow he couldn't place, regal, smart and the just overall wizarding looks of Mr. Malfoy in the Dursley's dining room, sitting at the table, and yet here he was. Harry noticed with a grin that all the Dursleys were looking terrified, and seemed to flinch as Mr. Malfoy spoke./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Harry, You're here. We can be on our way then. Dobby should have all your Hogwarts things. They were under the stairs, weren't they?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, they were."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmmm. You might want to check to make sure that Dobby has em style="box-sizing: inherit;"all/em your things." He said, lazily./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"So Harry quickly rushed into the hallway to see Dobby, busy sorting his things. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Hello master Harry, Dobby should have all your things sir. Is this what you wish to take to school with you, sir?" He asked in his squeaky voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry quickly surveyed everything the elf had piled up. Books, robes, quills and ink. Harry first retrieved his wand, which was sitting on a copy of a beginner's guide to transfiguration. All of a sudden he felt like he was part of the wizarding world again. The temptation to cast a spell there, just to see if it really wasn't all just a fantasy he had made up was great, but Harry resisted. There would be plenty of time to cast spells at Malfoy Manor. He next looked for the book Theodore had got him. He was pleased to see it was still where it was supposed to be. Lastly, he looked for the small box that held the Philosopher's stone. That was a little harder to find, hidden as it was under the robes the Dursleys had haphazardly shoved into the cupboard. He placed the small box in his pocket./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." He said to the elf, who was nervously expecting his judgement. "It's all here." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Dobby was visibly relived at this, and Harry felt the tiniest twinge of guilt for the poor elf. But that was gone as he returned to the Malfoys, where Draco was giving Dudley the death stare. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Does the elf have everything?" Mr. Malfoy asked. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, he does." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then maybe he's good for something after all. Come, we'll be travelling to the Manor by side-along apparition. It'll be a bit uncomfortable, but brief."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He held out his arm and Harry, copying Draco, grasped it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry felt Mr. Malfoy's arm twist away from him, and he redoubled his grip. The next thing he knew everything was black, he was pressed very hard from all directions. He could not breath, there were iron bands tightening around his chest, his eyes were being forced back into his head, his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull. But then it stopped. Harry looked around. Although he felt a bit nauseous from the apparition, his heart leapt as he looked around and saw the Albino Peacocks and iron gate which showed him that he was at Malfoy Manor. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Come, Draco, It's late, I want you both in bed when we get in. Harry, you remember where you're sleeping don't you?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said, finding it hard to conceal the broad grin he got at being back at the Manor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good, Dobby will take your things up. Won't you?" He said as he whacked Dobby around the head with his cane. The elf's cries of agreement were silenced by Draco, leading Harry through the iron gates./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It hasn't changed since you were here last Christmas, even your room is exactly as it was, " he said as the massive front door opened for them, "granted, because of those annoying raids, father's planning on taking precautions and has moved most our really dark stuff to a secret chamber under the drawing room. Did I tell you about that?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I can't remember, " replied Harry truthfully. All Draco's anecdotes seemed to merge into each other at some point. "But besides, has Theodore told you what he uncovered?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, " Replied Draco, looking a little confused, "Why?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well," said Harry, lowering his voice a bit. Draco skipped a step so he could be closer to Harry, "Theodore reckons that what we got from the rooms under the trapdoor last year, was something called the Philosopher's stone." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You know, that rings a sort of bell," Draco said, "I think one of Father's associates who specialises in procuring old manuscripts and such, I think he told me a story about the stone once."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you remember it?" Harry asked, curious./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, it wasn't particularly interesting." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, apparently the Philosopher's stone is supposed to be an alchemical stone that can turn stuff into gold and make you immortal and stuff. Theodore sent me a book on it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were outside Harry's guest room, and they both eagerly went inside to sit on the bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you have the book?" Draco asked, a hint of greed in his eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, it should be with my stuff." Harry said, as he went to look through the trunks he had brought from the Dursleys. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"And the stone?" Draco asked, even more eagerly. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Here." Said Harry as he reached into his pocket and withdrew the small box which held the Philosopher's stone. He passed it over to Draco who opened the box and eyed the stone with a hunger in his eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found what he was looking for, the handsomely bound copy of em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A history and study of the Philosopher's stone and its creator Nicholas Flamel./em He also passed this to Draco, who was still looking at the stone hungrily. Still, he put the stone down to read the look at the book. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Did you read it yet?" Was his first question, after carefully examining the cover and flicking to a random page in the book./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I didn't get the chance," Harry replied, yawning. "The Dursleys confiscated it before I could."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He thought he saw Draco's knuckles whiten briefly before he said "Lousy Muggles. Well, we should get some sleep. I don't want father to catch us oversleeping in the morning. We'll have plenty of time to read this over the summer, we've weeks left before school starts again." And with that he left both the stone and book on Harry's bed as he exited the room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry woke the next morning with a wide grin on his face as he saw the ends of the Malfoy's four-poster bed. He got up quickly and dressed in some comfortable wizarding clothes, still marvelling in the fact that he was able to wear them, and went downstairs into the dining room. Draco joined him on the stairs down and they continued the conversation they had been having the previous night. Before long, they were at the table, which was loaded with all manner of delicious foods like apple dumplings, coffee cake, devilled kidneys, eggs benedict, eggs bourguignon, eggs Neptune, mountains of french toast and milk toast, chocolatines, pancakes and a large quiche held centerplace at the table, and to top it off there was a large full English breakfast sitting in front of him. Harry was utterly gobsmacked. Days of near starvations by the Dursleys had left Harry hungry and now he was presented with a feast on par with the ones at Hogwarts, he found it hard not to try to eat everything at once. Draco, who was sitting next to him, had started to eat already, though Harry noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy seemed to be waiting for someone else, as there was a chair opposite Mr. Malfoy that was empty. Nervously, Harry started to eat, and soon enough a very strange man indeed walked up to the table. He was strange, with very long hair and a beard, much longer than Dumbledore's. When he sat down, both hair and beard rested on the floor. He was wearing a heavy cloak made of animal skin and dragon hide, and carried a silver halberd, around which a two-pronged flag flew, flapping in the wind, despite there being no draft in the dining room. Underneath his beard, he was wearing normal wizard robes of red, white and green. Around his waist was a belt filled with very large pouches. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Szelatya, you had a good journey I hope." Mr. Malfoy said as he reached over to shake Szelatya's hand. Harry noticed with a shiver that Szelatya had eight fingers on his hand and no thumb. When he grasped Mr. Malfoy's hand it looked like his fingers were braided around Mr. Malfoy's. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It was very fruitful." Szelatya said, with a very thick accent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then you have-" Mr. Malfoy asked eagerly, /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The Táltos drum of Matthias Corvinus, as he led the black army of Hungary in battle against the Czechs." Szelatya finished impressively. "I do." And from his robes he produced a large drum, half a meter in length and so large Harry wondered how Szelatya managed to fit it in his robes. Mr. Malfoy took the drum and handed it to Dobby, who promptly vanished and returned with a leather pouch. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Here you are, five Kulm grzywna of silver." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Thank you very much, Mr. Malfoy. That drum is very powerful, I assume you know what you are going to do with it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I do, thank you. Would you stay for breakfast?" He asked, indicating the table next to him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No thank you, I must really be going. I will take some food for the road though," he said standing up and retrieving his halberd./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""By all means."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And to Harry's surprise Szelatya grabbed the entire quiche dish and placed it into his robes where the drum had mysteriously come from. He then turned, and left the hall. Harry was relived to see from Draco's face that he was not the only one who had found Szelatya strange and unnerving. He started eating soon afterwords though, and Harry copied him, but having lost his appetite a bit, didn't eat as much as he originally planned./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Afterwords Harry and Draco raced around the manor on brooms, Harry having borrowed an excellent comet 260 from Draco. It was exhilarating flying through the air again. Harry had not ridden a broomstick since the flying lessons the previous year, but found that, despite it being nearly a year since he had last flown one, flying came back naturally to him, as if he had spent his whole life on a broomstick. He didn't managed to beat Draco however, who had actually spent his whole life on a broomstick. Next, Harry broke in his new set of Gobstones that he got from Blaise spectacularly, as he played several games with Draco, winning a fair few times, though both of them were heavily soaked in the foul-smelling liquid that squirted from the stones when they went in for lunch. Dobby cleaned them up with a wave of his hand as they sat down for lunch. Lunch, of course, was just as scrumptious as breakfast, with Harry particularly liking the brown Windsor soup./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That afternoon, however, it was time for Draco's duelling classes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry had heard much about these classes from Draco in his many letters. Some ex-teacher from another school was employed by Mr. Malfoy to teach Draco duelling. Because Harry didn't have anything else to do, he decided to watch Draco duelling. The first thing he had to do, however, was put on a duelling suit. Harry found this inordinately hilarious the first time he lay eyes on the garb. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco was wearing shorter robes in green, white and black. But over those robes he was wearing metal boots, which were laced up to his knees. Metal kneeplates, thigh guards, shin guards, gauntlets and pauldrons. Around his chest, supported by a cross of belts, was a large singular metal plate, with the Malfoy crest emblazoned on it in green lines. To top it all off, Draco was wearing a wizard's hat, but it was missing a brim, and was all floppy so it drooped down his back. It was held in place by a helmet, that reminded him of pictures of Greek warriors he had seen during Muggle school. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry was doing his best not to laugh, but it was hard not to, as Draco simply looked ridiculous. Something of this must have shown on his face however, as Draco blushed and said "Shut it, Potter" Harry held his hands up in mock defeat and said "I didn't say anything." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco glared at him for a second before walking off to meet the instructor, who, although wearing the exact same getup as Draco, with the colours simply swapped for burgundy, saffron and maroon, looked a whole lot less ridiculous. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the instructor looked much more comfortable in his robes than Draco, that he looked a lot less ridiculous, or perhaps it was due to his epic moustache, Harry couldn't tell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So, Master Malfoy, have you been practicing the wand movements I showed you last session?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, sir." Draco said, slightly sardonically./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, we'll soon find out. First position. En garde." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Both Draco and the instructor raised their wands to the same position, straight out in front of them. Harry noticed, that where the instructor's arm was rigid and unmoving, Draco's arm was wobbling slightly. The instructor noticed this too, raising an eyebrow, but didn't mention it, and instead indicated to Draco. On cue, Draco cast "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae!/em" And a white hot spark shot out of Draco's wand-tip at the instructor. It trailed through the air until the instructor bat it aside with a wave of his wand. Where it landed, there was a small burn on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bene, Draco. Do less of a pronounced jab next time. Again." The instructor was definitely Italian, Harry thought, as he watched Draco repeat the spell. Again, the inductor deflected it. After repeating the spell half a dozen times in half a dozen different positions, Harry started to noticed something. The Italian wizard didn't seem to have any eyelids. Harry didn't see him blink once whilst he told Draco to use a different spell, (This time one that used a sharp cutting motion instead of a jab, and produced a light gouge in anything it touched) or when he had Draco practice his aim and was nearly scalped by a ricocheting jinx, or even when one of his boots caught fire. Indeed, Harry was so preoccupied with trying to see if the man had eyelids, that he didn't notice Mr. Malfoy was right behind him until he spoke, which made Harry jump./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what do you think of Signor Marozzo?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The instructor?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy nodded./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He seems to be very good." Harry replied, not entirely sure why Mr. Malfoy was asking for his opinion, and almost certain that he was underselling Marozzo's actual abilities./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, he is." Mr. Malfoy said, in a very monotonous voice. "He was originally a duellist and instructor at L'accademia per eccellenza nei duelli magici, but was forced to leave his country for rather complicated reasons. He moved here, to England where I asked him to train Draco over the summer holidays."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ok." Harry said tentatively. He wasn't entirely sure where this conversation was heading, or what Mr. Malfoy wanted from him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco tells me that you're an excellent duellist, Harry. That you've beaten him several times last year."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry didn't know how to respond to that, so stayed quiet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy looked directly at him now. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'll be blunt. Harry, I wish for you to train alongside Draco here, whilst you are staying here at the manor, and for you to continue training Draco when you go back to school in September."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I- I would be honoured, but I don't know how to train someone to duel." Replied Harry, a little flustered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That part wouldn't be complicated. Simple, regular, practice duels with Draco and your assistance whenever you both learn a new spell." Mr. Malfoy asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose I can do that."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent. Achille!" Mr. Malfoy shouted across the room at the Instructor. Both Draco and Marozzo stopped what they where doing and looked up at Mr. Malfoy. "I would like to introduce your new pupil, Harry Potter." He said, as he placed a hand on Harry's back and led him towards the pair. Marozzo, like so many other wizards, gave a little start at the mention of Harry's name, and his eyes instantly shot up to Harry's forehead, where his lighting-bolt scar was slightly visible underneath his bangs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I pantaloni di Merlino..." Marozzo whispered. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter, a pleasure indeed." Curiously, unlike other wizards Harry had encountered, Marozzo did not try to shake Harry's hand, instead simply stood staring at his scar./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So," Mr. Malfoy said, bringing Marozzo back to reality, "You would be willing to accept Harry as a second student?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Of course, of course. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure. To train the great Harry Potter; It would be an honour."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent. Why don't we finish there for the day. I'll have the kitchen elves whip us up something. Now, Marozzo, about last night..." and they trailed off, leaving Harry standing awkwardly next to Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sorry about that." He said, trying to break the silence, "Your father ambushed me. I couldn't really say now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco's face then softened, and he said "Oh well. At least I'll be able to see you in these ridiculous robes. Plus I might actually beat you for once."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Smiling again, Harry replied "Don't count on it, I bet I'll still be better than you." They both laughed as they returned to the room where Draco changed out of his robes and into some more comfortable ones./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dinner, of course, was style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The table was piled high with mountains of game meat, vegetables and varying sauces, ranging from viscous red cranberry sauce to runny gravy. It was as delicious as breakfast or lunch. After dinner, when Harry was full and a little drowsy from all the food, he went upstairs to his room and started to read the book Theodore had gotten him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He had opened it and flicked through the first couple of pages before his eyes started to glaze over. He shook himself back to sense and tried to read again. He found he couldn't do it. Perhaps he was just too tired to really grasp what was being said by the book, or maybe it was because the book itself was being dreadfully boring, beginning, as it did, on a philosophical examination of the stone as a concept. Soon enough Harry found that he just couldn't force his eyes open any longer, and almost instantly fell asleep. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In the morning Harry went downstairs to find an equally scrumptious breakfast as the day before, and also a letter waiting for him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Your Hogwarts letters have arrived." Mr. Malfoy said to Harry and Draco, who had come downstairs next to him. "At least that fool, Dumbledore, is good for one thing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry handled the letter of yellowish parchment and tore it open. Inside, written on green ink as it always was, was a paragraph telling Harry to catch the Hogwarts express as usual from King's cross station on september 1st. There was also a list of books he would need for the coming year, although calling it a list was generous, as it only contained one item, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2/em, by Miranda Goshawk"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry looked over at Draco, who had already finished reading his letter, and asked "I wonder who's going to be teaching defense against the Dark arts this year?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't know." Replied Draco. "It could be that they didn't get anyone new in. I mean, we haven't been told to get any new books."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Quirrell is still teaching." Mr. Malfoy said, not looking up from his paper./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco and Harry looked at one another. "Does this mean that there wasn't any curse?" Harry asked, perplexed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Maybe Quirrell just got lucky." Draco replied. "I mean, i saw all the records of previous teachers whilst i was on that detention for Filch remember. And there wasn't any defence against the dark arts teacher that stayed for more than a year. Plus, i remember visiting Hogwarts when i was younger, i heard people talking that some of the defence against the dark arts teachers were so incompetent, they didn't even show up for classes."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""In any case," Mr. Malfoy said, interrupting Draco's and Harry's mutterings, "It means that we don't have much to do when we visit Diagon Alley. We'll simply conclude my business with Mr. Borgin, get your books and leave."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't forget my present!" Draco said, angrily. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Of course, Draco, i'll get you your racing broom as well."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Life at the Manor was a different as possible with life at privet drive, although some aspects were similar. Mr. Malfoy spent most of his days working in the drawing room, entertaining a menagerie of guests, ranging from ordinary ministry workers to strange men and women from a variety of places, who were sporting a variety of weird looks. Harry swore he saw one woman with a forked tongue who reminded him incandescently of Jaculus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"However, the biggest difference between Privet Drive and Malfoy Manor, was that everyone was appreciative and friendly to him. Every guest of Mr. Malfoy, no matter how strange or unnatural they were, always found time to meet him, to talk to him and congratulate him on his defeat of Voldemort. And Harry appreciated that when he met these people, their eyes never looked straight at his scar like so many others. Indeed, they found it much more interesting to talk to him. They asked him about his studies, the spells he had learnt, the duels he had fought, any enemies he had made. All were suitably impressed when Harry told them of the passageway under the trapdoor that he had gotten through last year, though he neglected to mention that the prize was possibly the philosopher's stone, instead telling them he had arrived in the room to find the strange mirror broken, with no prize in sight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In return they told him of stories of their own, of being chased by Scottish Houndsmen, who's sleek black crups were as big and shaggy as highland cattle, and whose barks could be heard for miles. Of outwitting Caipora in the Amazon rainforest, and chasing down mangkukulam and mambabarang in Indonesia. Several, it turned out, had curse scars, but none were like Harry's. They were spread out, like big, black spiderwebs, over the person's arm or chest, which rendered the body part almost impossible to move properly. Sometimes they would randomly spasm, lashing out at anyone and anything nearby, sometimes moving left when the person was indicating right, or sometimes even not moving at all and simply hanging there, limp and useless. Either way, they were all very interesting, and Harry was sad to see each of them go, but that was when he could stomach their looks of course./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not all of the guests were there for Mr. Malfoy of course. Crabbe and Goyle visited semi-regularly, with Pansy and Blaise showing up from time to time. But it was Theodore's visit that stuck out the most to Harry. It was a few days before Harry and Draco were set to go to Diagon Alley, and by that time Harry had read though the book Theodore had gotten him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So Harry-" He had asked when they could find a private place to talk, "-What do you think?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I think you're right, it is the Philosopher's stone." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So what does that mean?" Draco said. "Because we don't know how to use it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then we learn." Said Theodore impassively. "The school must have books on alchemy. My father says they teach Alchemy at Hogwarts at NEWT level if enough people are interested." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But we can't wait that long." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Obviously, but since they teach it then they must have books on it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How difficult do you think it'll be to learn though?" Asked Draco. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well," replied Harry, "if it's NEWT level then it must be pretty advanced-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, but it is also taught at Beauxbatons from before they do their OWLs, so it can't massively difficult."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Beauxbatons?" Asked Harry, for he had heard that name before, though couldn't place exactly where he remembered it style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The French wizarding school, Though I hear they take students from all around Europe." Replied Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't they join the school at eight years old?" Said Theodore with a bit of a laugh. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yeah, and I hear that they do their OWLs in sixth year em style="box-sizing: inherit;"and/em they stay at school during the summer holidays." Replied Draco. They all chuckled a bit at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Of course, " said Theodore, " My mother says that Beauxbatons students are the most beautiful in the world. That whilst they're at School they only drink from the magical Flamel fountain, which makes even the ugliest student there more beautiful than anyone else in the world."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry suddenly remembered where he had heard the name Beauxbatons before. In the book Theodore had gotten him it had said that Beauxbatons was where Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel has been educated. And that later a fountain had been built there in their honour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""There is one other thing," Harry said to the two boys, "I don't think we should take the stone back to Hogwarts with us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I see what you mean, but what other choice do we have?" Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We could leave it somewhere?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Like Gringotts?" Suggested Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, we're going there anyway." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wasn't it already stolen from Gringotts though?" Asked Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, but if no-one knows it's in Gringotts then no-one will try to break in." Said Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore looked like he wanted to argue to point some more, but clearly couldn't find any good points to make so stayed silent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So it's settled then. When I go to withdraw some gold from my vault, I'll also leave the package in there." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They all agreed to this plan and next Wednesday, after a hearty breakfast, Harry and Draco both went to the fireplace to travel to Diagon Alley by floo powder. Despite having used floo powder before to travel to and from Hogwarts during the last Christmas holidays, Harry still didn't much like using it. It made him feel nauseous and queasy whenever he exited the green fire. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Let's get going. You two, follow behind me immediately. We're going to the White Wyvern and then to Borgin and Burke's. Hurry up now. The White Wyvern!" He said as he threw a pinch of floo powder into the flames. He stepped inside and in an instant was gone. Draco was next. After another cry of "The White Wyvern!" He too, had been transported./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Now it was Harry's turn. He took a deep breath and scattered the powder into the flames. It felt like a warm breeze was coming from the fireplace. He stepped into the flames and immediately felt his eyes sting as they dried up and got ash in them. Blinking rapidly as his eyes started to water, he cried "The White Wyvern!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He immediately felt the familiar feeling of being sucked down a giant plug hole. His eyes were burning from the green flames and hot ash as he landed on the stone floor of what he assumed was the White Wyvern./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Trying not to immediately vomit he looked around and saw Draco and his Father waiting. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Good." Mr. Malfoy said, "Let's get going. Quickly now." And he walked out the door of the pub. Brushing himself off and checking his pockets for the stone as he followed Mr. Malfoy, Harry quickly glanced around the pub before he left. It was a dismal sight. The Pub was incredibly small, and was barely wider than the fireplace. No more than ten people could have fit inside the building at one time, and there were half as many seats. The stone brick walls were decorated with tattered flags flying insignias that Harry didn't recognise, yet which seemed to be slightly menacing and ran a chill down his spine. There was also some weird purple fungus creeping up from under the floorboards, which occasionally released puffs of purple spores which burst into flames. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The bartender was standing in front of a large cabinet full of unlabelled bottles, in some of which the liquids seemed to be moving of their own accord. Stranger than the building though, was the people there. Most covered their faces with long, flowing cloaks, which meant Harry couldn't discern anything about them. Though he did notice that one woman was sporting a taloned, scaly, left hand./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The bartender himself was strange. Although he looked normal, wearing a simple but practical robe, he smoked a green cigar which seemed to be oozing a black liquid onto the floor. And when he breathed, Harry noticed that the left and right parts of his chest moved out of sync with one another. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /All in all, he was glad to be out of the shop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He followed Mr. Malfoy past shops containing all manner of strange objects. Live gigantic spiders wrestled with each other across the street from a shop called Msaw Ætare./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He knew instantly what shop they were headed towards, and it wasn't because he read the sign. Borgin and Burke's was the largest shop in the alleyway, and the only one someone like Mr. Malfoy would be likely to visit./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As they opened the door to the shop a brass bell clanged loudly and Draco immediately moved to inspect the objects on display, Harry right by his side. Mr. Malfoy moved over to the counter and rang a bell there, before saying, "Touch nothing, you two."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco, who had reached for a stained glass eye, said "I thought you said you were going to buy me a present?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I said I would buy you a racing broom." Said Mr. Malfoy, drumming his fingers on the counter./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's the good of that if i'm not on the house team?" Draco replied. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well surely a better broom would increase your chances of being picked for the house team" said Harry, who was eyeing various blood-stained torture divides that were hanging from the ceiling./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose." Said Draco, idly eyeing a bloodstained pack of cards. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Suddenly, a door opened on the other side of the counter and a sloping man appeared behind the counter, smoothing back his oily hair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again." Said Mr. Borgin, in a voice as oily as his hair. "And young Master Malfoy too -charmed and - who is that next to him?" His dropped a bit for suspicion as he addressed Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry Potter." Mr. Malfoy replied, a little impatiently./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Really? Well i'm sure we'll have em style="box-sizing: inherit;"something/em that you'll find interesting Master Potter. As for you Mr. Malfoy, I must show you, just in today and very reasonably priced-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm not buying today Mr. Borgin, but selling." Said Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You have heard, of course, that the ministry is conducting more raids?" Said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few -ah- items at home that might embarrass me, if the ministry were to call ..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Borgin fixed a pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you sir?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy's lip curled. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain amount of respect, yet the ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumours about a new Muggle Protection act - no doubt that flea bitten, muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it and as you can see, some of these poisons might make it em style="box-sizing: inherit;"appear/em-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I understand, sir, of course," said Mr. Borgin. "Let me see..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Can I have that?" Interrupted Draco, pointing at a withered hand on a plump cushion./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, the hand of glory!" Said Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste sir."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer Borgin." Said Mr. Malfoy coldly and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "no offence, sir, no offence meant-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""though if his school marks don't pick up, " Said Mr. Malfoy, colder still, "maybe a thief or a plunderer is all he's cut out to be."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""it's not my fault." retorted Draco, " the teachers all have favourites, that Hermione Granger-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I would have thought that you would be ashamed that a girl of no wizard talent beat you in every exam." Snapped Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry too got angry at this, as he saw Draco looking both abashed and angry, and didn't think Draco deserved it. He had, after all, gotten second place in most every other subject./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""is the same all over," Said Borgin in his oily voice " wizard blood is counting for less and less everywhere-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""not with me," Said Mr. Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""no sir, not with me sir." Said Mr Borgin with a deep bow./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""in that case, perhaps we could return to my list?" Said Mr. Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They started to haggle. Harry followed Draco as he examined the objects for sale. They paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals: Caution: do not touch. Cursed - had claimed the lives of nineteen Muggle owners to date./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward ... he stretched out his hand for the handle .../p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""done," Said Mr. Malfoy at the counter, "come, you two. Good day to you Mr. Borgin, I'll expect you at the Manor tomorrow to pick up the goods."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As Harry walked out the shop he noticed a display of shrunken heads in the rusty window display opposite Borgin and Burke's. For some reason feeling a little colder than he did previously, Harry followed Mr. Malfoy. He lead them past strange witches selling things Harry didn't want to look at, past large animals cages containing animals Harry didn't recognise, even past someone so large they reminded Harry of Hagrid, right into the bright sunlight of Diagon alley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now then, " Mr. Malfoy said to Harry and Draco. "We'll go to Gringotts first, then you can get your school supplies whilst I meet with someone. We'll reconvene back at flourish and blotts, then we'll get you your racing broom. Understand?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes father." Draco said. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The made their way to the golden white marble of Gringotts bank as Harry surreptitiously checked his pocket for the stone. Feeling secure the stone was still there, and not at all getting slightly fearful at the thought of bringing it into the bank where it was stolen from, (what if they recognised it?), Harry walked up the marble stairs after Draco and Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the top of the stairs. Making their way through the great marble hall, Mr Malfoy walked up to one of the goblins working at the counter that ran across the entire bank and swiftly they were on their way to Harry'a back vault. The dizzying speed of the carts unnerved Harry just as much as it had the previous time he had visited his vault. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As the goblin opened his safe door, although Harry was expecting it, he was still taken aback by just how much gold he had. Quickly shaking himself out of this stupor, he made a big deal of accidentally tripping into the gold so he could hide the stone underneath a mound of gold where it, hopefully, wouldn't be found./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm all right, I'm all right," Harry said as he quickly refilled his money bag, " just a little dizzy from the ride is all." Harry thought he heard the goblin guiding them give a little chuckle, but it was quickly turned into a cough as Harry looked at him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The next vault now, and quickly." Mr. Malfoy said to the goblin, who stopped his coughing fit at once and indicated they all get back on the cart. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"However grand and impressive Harry's vault has been, the Malfoy's vault was ten times that. It was as large as the Dursley's whole house, larger, even. The walls were piled high with golden galleons, silver sickles and a few bronze knuts. Dotted around were several odd artefacts, including a golden ram-skin rug, several gleaming silver swords, shields with moving snakes slithering around on them and several skulls made of a range of materials. Gleaming pendants varnished several mannequins and a small library of handsomely embossed tomes rested on a bookcase./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy ignored all of these things and grabbed a handful of gold, which he deposited to Draco, and a larger portion of gold which he kept for himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" When they returned to Diagon alley, Mr. Malfoy moved to go to his 'urgent business' and left Harry and Draco to do their shopping themselves. Neither of them minded this of course, but Harry was still curious what Mr. Malfoy was doing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" There were, of course, things that Harry and Draco needed to buy. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They needed to restock their inkwells, buy new parchment and Draco wanted a new quill./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After purchasing a new quill from Amanuensis Quills; A luxury pheasant quill with flecks of gold; they made their way to Flourish and Blotts. But they were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" GILDEROY LOCKHART/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" will be signing copies of his autobiography/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" MAGICAL ME/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" today 12:30 - 4:30 pm/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who's Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry asked of Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Some author I think. Writes about his adventures across the world battling the dark arts, but father says it's not very good. Thinks Lockhart is a phoney, but he was awarded the order of Merlin, third class, so there's that."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The crowd mostly seemed to be made up of middle aged witches, who were trying to get passed a harassed looking wizard who stood at the door saying, "calmly, please ladies ... don't push, there ... mind the books now ..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They stood at the door for a while, waiting for Mr. Malfoy to return. When he finally did he looked to be a little annoyed but it was hard to tell with him. Certainly, it was with a vengeance that he pushed his way through the doors of Flourish and Blotts. Harry and Draco followed him inside. It was filled to bursting inside, and a long queue wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. Harry and Draco avoided this line like the plague, instead making a dive for the copies of a standard book of spells grade two that they needed. Going up to the counter they paid for their books and tried to be on their way, but the crowd was now so thick that they were being pushed towards Gilderoy Lockhart. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry, Draco and Mr. Malfoy all made their way to the second floor of the shop, but on his way up, Harry knocked into a short, irritable-looking man who was dancingaround taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of people smells with every blinding flash./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oi! Watch it!" He squeaked as he fell to the floor. Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Draco - and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "it em style="box-sizing: inherit;"can't/em be Harry Potter?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The crowd parted, all of them looking straight at Harry, who was now feeling very self-conscious, just standing on the stairs. Lockhart matched forward, seized Harry arm and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face was bright red as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who had recovered from his fall and was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the crowd./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nice big smile Harry, together you and I are worth the front page."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" When he finally let go of Harry's hands he could hardly feel his fingers. He tried to sidle away from Lockhart, but he threw his arm over Harry's shoulders and clapped him tightly to his side./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" The crowd applauded again, "he had no idea," Said Gilderoy Lockhart, giving Harry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "what a momentous occasion this would be. We are arguably, two of the most famous people in the wizarding world. It was only inevitable that our paths would cross sooner or later. However, I recognise that Harry has not had the exposure the the wizarding world he deserve, and therefore I shall be giving Harry the complete works of mine, again, free of charge, to help him truly acclimate to this world!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The crowd cheered and Harry found himself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, he managed to make his way back to where the Malfoys were waiting. As he approached them, Mr. Malfoy clicked his fingers and instantly, Dobby was there next to them. Harry handed the books off to the elf and with a 'POP' the elf was off style="box-sizing: inherit;" /To his left he heard a chuckling and looked round to see Ron Weasley standing there, smirking. Next to him was what looked like the whole Weasley family, all of them red-haired and freckled. For some reason, the youngest of the Weasleys, and the only girl, was looking up at Harry and furiously blushing. She was carrying a dented cauldron with all her books in, and seemed to be trying to look at Harry without looking at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco immediately cane to Harry's aid. "You think that's funny Weasley?" He said, "I suppose you'd like it wouldn't you? Although I suppose you'd be used to the free books wouldn't you? You probably live off of other people's handouts don't you./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Ron went as red as the younger Weasley and dropped his books in the girl's cauldron and started towards Draco, but Granger held him back. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ron!" Said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with two identical Weasleys. "What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Lucius." said Mr Weasley, nodding coldly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Busy time at the ministry I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids ... I hope they're paying you overtime?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He reached into the youngest Weasley's cauldron and extracted a very old, very battered copy of em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A beginners guide to transfiguration./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Obviously not," He said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Mr. Weasley flushed a darker red than either of the other Weasleys./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We have a very different idea of what disgrace the name of wizard, Malfoy," He said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Clearly," Said Mr Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to a couple that were watching apprehensively and clearly Muggles. Presumably they were Granger's parents. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and here I thought your family could sink no lower -"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" There was a thud as the girl's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weaker had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all there heads; there was a yell of "get him dad!"; Mrs Weasley was shrieking, "No Arthur, no!"; the crowd stamped backwards, knocking more shelves over; "Gentleman, please - please!" Cried the assistant; it was only when the men had crashed into another bookcase and an incredibly large and incredibly heavy book titled em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A Practical guide to Transfiguring Weight/em landed on both their heads did they stop. Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an em style="box-sizing: inherit;"encyclopaedia of/em em style="box-sizing: inherit;"toadstools/em and Mr. Weasley had a cut lip. Mr. Malfoy was still holding the girl's old transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glowing with malice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can do for you -"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Pulling himself out of the sea of books he beckoned to Harry and Draco and swept from the shop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The end of the summer holidays came too quickly for Harry's liking. Although there were parts of Hogwarts that he missed, his time with the Malfoys had been even better than when he had gone over for christmas last year. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Draco when he thought of the Dursleys and the welcome back he would have to endure when he returned. On the last evening an impressive feast was served up by the Malfoys. It was almost on par with Hogwarts, with how much food had been served, for Mr. Malfoy had invited a host of guests, from people in the ministry, to other families, like the Notts and the Parkinsons. There were even a few of Mr. Malfoy's more palatable acquaintances, such as Achilleas Marozzo and a woman called Spákona Veleda, who was the divination teacher at Durmstrang Institute. Harry was as happy as he could be, surrounded by all these interesting people, as he dug into a delicious leg of roasted duck./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Although Harry and Draco slept in a little getting up the next morning, they were sufficiently ready that this didn't matter too much, however, much to Harry's annoyance, he was constantly just there. Looking at him, half-hidden behind walls, underneath furniture or whenever he thought Harry wasn't looking. It had been happening all summer he had stayed at the Malfoy's but it was much more frequent during this past few days and especially now, the morning they were going to leave. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It bugged Harry all throughout breakfast as he ate a helping of bacon and eggs, and when he finally went to confront the elf about it, he couldn't find him anywhere. After trying several more times and failing he was in a thoroughly sour mood when Mr. Malfoy told them to go to the car. Although he did get a bit of a shock of realising that the Malfoys actually owned a car. It was old-fashioned, certainly, and the headlights had a disconcerting habit of occasionally blinking, but otherwise no-one would know it was a wizard car. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you nearly done Otto?" Mr. Malfoy asked of a short man with a large beard and close-cropped hair who was dressed like a bellhop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye, sir, just a few more bags left. " The man replied as he placed several suitcases into the boot. Harry was vaguely curious of how such a small boot would be able to fit so many bags, and also how it would be able to fit Harry, Draco, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and Otto (who was driving), especially since it seemed to only be able to fit two at best. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." Mr. Malfoy replied, "Harry, Draco you two go in first." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boys did as they were told and when Harry climbed into the back his jaw dropped. The interior was as big as a limousine, complete with fancy wooden paneling upon which moving carvings danced around a forest. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy got in next, and Mr. Malfoy tapped the layer between the driver and passengers, and said "Whenever you're ready Otto."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye, sir." was the reply, as Otto tapped the dashboard with his wand and it meowed and started purring like a cat. As they left Harry found himself staring at the manor house, wondering when he would come back. It was there that he saw, for the briefest of moments, Dobby, staring at him from behind a tree with his green eyes shining out from the shade. This thoroughly annoyed Harry, as he knew that he would now never learn what it was exactly that the elf wanted from him. Despite this, Harry found the car ride much more enjoyable than he ever thought he would. For one thing, none of the Malfoys seemed to be comfortable in a car at all, and it was enjoyable to see the normally unassailable and unmoving family shudder with fear whenever they turned a corner or stopped in traffic. They practically jumped out of their skins when a passing truck driver honked his horn at Otto. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They reached Kings Cross half-past ten and the Malfoys all quickly got out of the car, with their faces slightly paler than they had been before they left./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Come on." Mr. Malfoy said to the others as they made their way to platform 9 3/4. Harry thought Mr. Malfoy didn't trust himself to speak all that much. Otto wheeled their luggage loaded trolleys to the station, and then excused himself to go and drive the car back. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry had caught the Hogwarts express the previous. The tricky part was getting onto platform 9 3/4, although Harry wasn't worried about his chances. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms 9 and 10. It didn't hurt, but had to be done carefully so that no unusually observant muggles noticed you vanishing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and Draco wheeled their trolleys to face the divider and prepared to go through. Draco went first, and he made it through without any issues, vanishing into the platform beyond. Harry aimed his trolley, checked to make sure Jaculus was tucked safely into his sleeve. He bent low over the handle of his trolley and walked purposefully towards the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it he broke into a run and - out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse, a glimpse of something dark green flash - but suddenly, he had broken through to the platform, the lights of platform 9 3/4 shining in his eye, Draco waiting patiently for him amongst the sounds of owls hooting and cats meowing at each other as students walked by. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy walked through just after, and they were definitely glad to be back in a part of the wizarding world, no matter how small. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco! Harry!" Came a cry from a voice Harry recognized as Pansy. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, Pansy, you're here already?" Draco drawled as he looked around at Pansy, who was walking towards them flanked by Crabbe and Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, my trunks are on the train already. I saved us a compartment." Pansy replied as Crabbe and Goyle shifted to flanking Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who else is here?" asked Harry. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Just us, i think. I haven't seen Theodore or Blaise, though i might have glimpsed Daphne a few minutes ago."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Shall we board the train then?" Harry asked of Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You go on, i want a few words with my parents first."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry shrugged and indicated to Pansy who took Draco's trolley and led the way to the carriage her trunks were on. It was at the far end of the platform, away from all the business of the other end. They loaded the trunks onto the luggage racks above them and waited for Draco to arrive. Which he did, a few moments later, with Blaise in tow as well. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what was that about?" Pansy asked of Draco after they had all been re-introduced to each other./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nothing, really. I simply wanted to ask father something about my new broomstick." He replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, yes, you said you'd be trying out for the team this year didn't you?" said Blaise, who had seated himself next to Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, " replied Draco with a gleam in his eye, "I think i'm going to succeed in getting on the team."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore arrived ten minutes later, and twenty minutes after that, the train started huffing and moving out of the platform. Harry looked out of the train window. It was a familiar sight, the houses flashing past the window as the train left the platform. Soon enough they got to discussing Hogwarts, and the big topic of conversation was the defense against the dark arts, for all of them had heard the rumors the previous year, that the teachers only lasted one year in that position. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""i mean, maybe the curse is broken." said Blaise, about half an hour after they had left the station. "Quirrell had studied dark stuff abroad, maybe he figured out how to break the curse."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A few years ago, they had an actual curse-breaker take up the post." said Draco lazily, "If she couldn't break the curse, then i highly doubt that that idiot could. He can barely cast any spells whatsoever, he's so scared all the time." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What if it just wore off?" asked Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Curses don't just simply wear off, " sighed Theodore, "Have you ever talked to Daphne? Her bloodline is cursed because of something one of her ancestors did ages ago. Apparently, her little sister is pretty seriously affected by it. So if that curse is still going after centuries, one that was cast maybe 50 years ago wouldn't just wear off now. No, if you ask me, something's broken it or changed it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Perhaps Dumbledore stopped it. He is really clever and all."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""If Dumbledore wanted to stop it he would have done so long before we ever arrived at school. In fact, father says that Dumbledore shouldn't even be headmaster if he can't even stop a curse like that." said Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Would a different headmaster be able to stop the curse though?" asked Blaise. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well it might be tied to Dumbledore himself." said Theodore, "My father told me that the curse only started when Dumbledore was Headmaster. It could be that when he retires, the curse goes away." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well then, it's all the more reason why he should be leaving the school." said Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you think Dumbledore would even do during retirement though?" asked Pansy. "I mean, does he even have a house outside of Hogwarts?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm not sure. Father didn't even consider the Dumbledores for inclusion in the twenty-eight, so i doubt he can own any large property. Apparently, in his youth, he lived in Godric's Hollow, but i've no idea where he lives now." replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Just then, they were interrupted by a commotion in the hallway./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, just carry the bag, then it won't bump into everything."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We've hauled it up the entire train, my arms are tired."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, look, there are only a few more compartments left, if you can't drag it down the hall then- oh, now look what you've done..." There was a loud THUMP and a cry of "OW!" from the people outside the Slytherin's compartment./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What on earth is going on out there?" Draco asked as Harry opened the compartment door and looked out into the hallway./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The scene that greeted him was utterly chaotic. There were three people in the hallway, Hermoine Granger and Ron Ginny Weasley. All three had their trunks with them, with Granger's and the younger Weasley's being abandoned on the floor as they tried to help her get up from the floor, having apparently been knocked to the ground when the other Weasley's trunk had dropped on her head and split open, strewing clothes, books, potion ingredients, parchment, ink and quills all across the floor. Ginny was covered head to toe in ink and seemed to have a mild concussion, as she couldn't keep her balance properly when trying to get up from the floor. Granger and the other Weasley were also splattered in ink, but less so than Ginny, and both were trying to help her on the floor. The compartment behind them, which housed a bunch of scared-looking first years, was blocked from opening by Ginny's trunk, and also had ink covering the walls. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The three looked up to see Harry looking at them, and for a moment there was silence as both parties stared at each other. Then Ginny blushed and went pink, Granger gave him a sullen look and Weasley scowled. Harry smirked and gave a laugh, "Draco, you're going to want to see this!" Draco appeared behind Harry and he, too, contemplated the scene for a second before he, too, burst out laughing. The other Slytherins all got out of the carriage at that point and started laughing at the scene before them as well. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My, my, Weasley. And here i thought span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I/em /spandisliked blood-traitors, but you take it to a whole new level don't you?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Weasley's ears went pink. Ignoring Ginny, he picked up his wand, which had been abandoned in the floor, and started towards Draco. "Ah, now, do you really want to do that Weasley?" Draco said as he and all the other Slytherins raised their wand and pointed them at him. Weasley seemed to be stuck as to what to do, And simply stood in the corridor, wand half-raised, but unmoving. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, Ron, don't listen, help me with Ginny, we need to get her a place to lie down." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Weasley seemed to contemplate this for a moment, then apparently deciding that his sister's health was more important than revenge, he grabbed one of Ginny's arms and hosted her off the ground. This was difficult to do as Ginny was desperately trying to hide herself from Harry, but Weasley managed it whilst Granger tided up the area around them. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You know, It's not surprising Weasley failed to do a basic hover charm when you think about it," Draco said as the three were leaving back up the train, "I mean, he's so poor at magic, one might think you were adopted from a group of muggles. At least that explains why you like him, Granger." Ron's ears went even pinker than before, and he turned around to confront Draco, but as he was carrying Ginny at the time, there was little he could do but swear at him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How vulgar, Weasley, you kiss your mother with that mouth? Well, not your mother, obviously, but maybe Granger's here. I'm sure she's used to living with filth- Well now, no need to get all flustered, Granger-" For she had just turned around, fire in her eyes and pointed her wand straight at his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You know, I'm really sick of you, Malfoy-" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That makes two of us." Draco said nastily as he raised his wand in turn./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a brief moment as both of them looked at each other then they said, simultaneously, "MIMBLE-WIMBLE!" "SCINTILLAE!" Draco's spell missed Granger by millimetres, in fact, it singed her hair, and ended up hitting the glass behind her, cracking it and leaving a large burn mark that blackened the window pane. Her spell, however, had not missed. And whether or not it was due to her proximity, her anger or just because it was a more powerful spell, what should have been a simple tongue-tying charm, instead pounded Draco in the throat, bruising him, knocking him to the floor and leaving him sputtering and gasping for air. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Come on Ron." She said as she marched out of the train carriage. A stunned Ron quickly followed her, still carrying Ginny, whose mouth was open with awe, shock and surprise. The rest of the Slytherins stood around for a moment, also stunned by what they had just seen, before they quickly unfroze and gathered around the sputtering Draco, who was lying on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They dragged him back into the compartment and let him lie down on the seat whilst Theodore muttered "Finite." There was a flash and Draco started sputtering and coughing. Blaise went to find the trolley witch to get some pumpkin juice whilst Draco retched and mumbled words amid bouts of more coughing. He returned, not five minutes later, with some ice cold pumpkin juice which Draco drank, then winced as he tried to drink more. The bruise on his throat was flashing all kinds of colours now, and was currently a deep purple that covered his entire throat. It was impressive that he was making any sound at all, given that every breath was undoubtedly causing him pain, yet he still managed to say, "I'll kill her! I'll kill that filthy little mudblood I swear!"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Draco," said Pansy in a motherly sort of way, "You shouldn't talk right now. Drink some more pumpkin juice." He did, and much of the rest of the journey was spent like this, with Draco wheezing out every kind of insult imaginable against Granger. They brought more pumpkin juice from the trolley witch when she arrived, as well as a healthy dose of sweets to keep them fed until they arrived. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /In fact, Draco was still ranting about it when they exited the train at Hogsmeade station. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Where do we go now?" Asked Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think that, as second years, we now take the carriage to school." Said Theodore. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Where do we go for that then?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Follow the crowd, I suppose," Replied Theodore. "It's only the first years that'll be going by boat."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" So they started walking behind some fifth year Ravenclaws, and soon found themselves in front of a large number of black carriages. As they could see other students getting into the carriages, Harry supposed that they were going to drive them up to school, despite not having a horse to pull them. "shall we get inside one of them then?" He said, approaching the nearest one and opening the doors. "You coming, Theodore?" For Theodore was looking at the area in front of the carriage with a look of slight revulsion. "Ugly looking things, aren't they?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Assuming he was talking about the carriages themselves, which were very gothic and all black, Harry replied, "Well you don't have to look at them for long, a doubt it's more than A five minute journey up to the castle."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose." He replied and climbed into the carriage. A few moments later, and they were off. Trundling up the route towards Hogwarts. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Waiting for them at the gates was the stony-faced Professor McGonagall. "Quickly everyone, this way. Take your seats at the house tables with no fuss please. Quickly now. And what happened to you?" She asked when she saw Draco and his throat. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry paused, what exactly could they say? That they'd broken the rule on duelling before they even arrived at the school?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He tripped and fell on a rock, Professor." Said Theodore. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Really?" She replied in a tone that showed she obviously didn't believe it. "Potter, take Malfoy up the Hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey should be able to fix him up in a jiffy. Mind you don't miss the feast, though."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, Professor." Said Harry, and he and Draco walked through the door into the school./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Whilst the hospital wing wasn't massively far from the great hall. it was far enough that Harry knew they were probably going to miss the start of the feast. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what's happened here then?" Asked Madame Pomfrey after Harry and Draco walked in. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco fell and hit his throat Madame Pomfrey." Replied Harry. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmmm." Was her only answer as she looked at Draco purple throat. She then got out her wand and waved it in a circle saying, "Episkey!" Within seconds his bruise receded. He probed it gingerly with his finger. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Stay there one second. I'll get you a throat-clearing potion. I don't think it's blocked, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially with the feast." And she walked into her office, mumbling about students eating too much./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Fell over and hit my throat. Really?" His voice was sounding much better style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Blame Theodore, not me." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey clearly didn't believe it." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, but what can they-" he was cut off by Madame Pomfrey returning and holding a small orange vial. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Here, drink, and hurry on back to the great hall now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco took the bottle and opened the lid. Harry and Draco were overwhelmed by the smell of honey and lemon, but Draco downed it all in one gulp, and they left the hospital wing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was in the middle of sorting when they snuck back to their places at the Slytherin house table. They sat down next to Theodore who whispered, "Hows the throat?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Fixed." Whispered Draco back. "What did we miss?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The Hat's song and a few sortings. Nothing interesting though, a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were quiet as McGonagall called out the next student's name. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Harper, James." A boy with dark skin and hair walked up to the sorting hat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Isn't he from a pure-blood family?" Whispered Draco to Theodore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I think so, but their family lost a lot of gold and married mudbloods a few generations ago, so it's probably not as pure as other's."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Suddenly, The hat cried, "Slytherin!" And Harry, Draco and Theodore all cheered as James Harper sat down at the Slytherin table. Draco leaned over to shake Harper's hand as "Henry, Percy!" Was called to put on the hat, who almost at once declared him a Ravenclaw./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Everything was going fine, and finally it was time for "Weasley, Ginny!" To be sorted. Harry noticed that part of her hair was still dyed black from when the ink had spilled all over her. It provided an interesting compliment to her fiery red hair, and made it look like her hair was actually on fire when she moved. She was sorted into Gryffindor with her brothers, but somehow managed to get a seat which gave her a direct line of sight to Harry. She started blushing furiously and shifted herself so as not to look at Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After Dumbledore had made his speech and the food arrived, Harry noticed something. He happened to be looking up at the staff table when he noticed it. Quirrell was not looking like his usual self. Certainly, he was dressed the same. He was still wearing that ridiculous turban, but he seemed to be holding himself differently. His nervous fear of everything around him had faded somewhat, and he was now looking at everyone with a kind of suspicion. He also seemed to jump a lot more whenever another teacher initiated a conversation with him that he wasn't expecting. Was this all the influence of Quirrell's mysterious master? Had Quirrel been punished for allowing the Philosopher's stone to slip through his grasp?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Does Quirrell seem a bit different to you?" He asked of Theodore between mouthfuls of pork pie./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Theodore stared at Quirrell for a moment and then said "Yeah, he does a bit. It's like, I don't know, his eyes are different."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you think that's going to be a problem?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Not unless we discuss the stone in front of him. I mean, we got it past him in the previous year didn't we?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Still, it was a subdued and slightly worried Harry that made his way to the Slytherin common room that night./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he lay in his bed wondering about what the next year would bring, he couldn't help but wonder who Quirrell's Master really was, and if he had taken a more active part in watching over Quirrell from now on./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next day, however, Harry found to be much more enjoyable than his late night musing had told him previously, despite it starting off on a bad note. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Things were looking down at breakfast, where, much to their consternation, they observed Weasley telling the story of how Granger had attacked Draco, complete with mimes of how large his throat had swollen too. This got many raucous laughter from the Gryffindors, especially Finnigan and Longbottom, two who had constantly been at the receiving end of many spells during their last year at Hogwarts./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco glared at them across mountains of toast and kippers. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll get them. They'll wish they'd never crossed me." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Didn't you say that last year though?" said Theodore, who was digging into some bacon and eggs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco ignored him. "Suit yourself, " replied Theodore in a taut manner, "But how exactly are you going to 'Get them'?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I Don't know yet." Draco drawled in reply, "But it'll be painful."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't think simply jinxing them is going to be enough." Said Harry. "You'll have to do something big if you want them to stop."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmmm." Was Draco's only response./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Professor Snape was moving up the house table, handing out timetables. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Whilst Draco was quietly thinking about what he could to the Gryffindors, Harry looked at his timetable. "We've got defense against the dark arts first, with Quirrell." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Have you heard the rumors about him?" Asked Theodore. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I didn't know there were any." admitted Harry/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""There are people saying" Theodore replied conspiratorially, "That Quirrell is actually Voldemort in disguise."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's ridiculous, " said Harry, "Voldemort's dead, how could he be Quirrell?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, no-one knows exactly what happened to him the night he attacked you do they? And my father told me that the curse on the Defense against the dark arts position would only be lifted when Voldemort himself took the position."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, but Quirrell is a stuttering, stammering idiot. We barely got taught anything by him last year."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, but he's also faking that, isn't he? Remember last year? At the third floor corridor?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry remembered. Quirrell had jarringly changed from a stammering idiot to something else, something in service to an unknown master./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I still don't think Quirrell is Voldemort though. Even if he's in disguise, i doubt Voldemort would be able to hide from Dumbledore." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, it is just a rumor. I wouldn't put too much stock in it." Still, It left Harry feeling slightly uneasy as they made their way out of the great hall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Defense against the dark arts was different to how Harry remembered it. Instead of starting off the lesson how he had in the previous year, with much stammering before he finally got to the subject of the lesson. Harry was surprised at how quickly and clearly Quirrel spoke now. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Y-You are in your second year now. B-because of this, you-you will be encountering much d-darker creatures and spells. Than Last year. S-Some of you might f-find them dis-disturbing, however, you must learn to-to handle en-encounters like this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry remembered what he had thought of Quirrell during the feast yesterday. Those eyes, suspicions and everywhere, they were here too, hovering over the class and resting on everyone, though Harry noticed that they wandered in his direction more often than anyone else's. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You-you're first lesson will be on C-Cornish p-p-pixies. They are v-very dangerous if n-not properly handled."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He indicated towards his desk, upon which there was a large cage suspended, hovering in mid-air. There was a sheet covering the cage and when Quirrell removes it with a flick of his wand, Harry saw several electric blue creatures immobilised and drifting about in the cage, occasionally bumping into one another. Despite this, none of the creatures seemed to be able to move at all, instead, all Harry could see was their beady, black eyes moving around, observing their style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The-the M-ministry of Magic c-classification f-for them is 3 or c-competent wizards should cope."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco snorted loudly. Everyone looked around at him. Seeing the looks on all their faces he explained, "Well they're hardly dangerous are they? Surely a classification of 3 is too generous. I mean you find them in curtains for pities sake, it doesn't take much to get rid of them."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""N-now Draco," Quirrell responded, a little intimidated by Draco's moorish response, "the m-ministry has trained experts who d-decide on these c-classifications, and t-they have decided a r-rating of three is sufficient. R-Remember, the tale o-of Dymphna Furmage, who was ab-abducted by p-p-pixies whilst on holiday."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah well." Draco whispered to Harry, "She was a filthy mudblood wasn't she?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry chortled in response to this statement./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A-anyway," Quirrell continued as if there had been no interruption, (though some of the other classmates were still looking at Draco with curiosity), "there are several sp-spells that can be used t-t-to stop a p-pixie. The kn-knockback jinx, t-tickling charm and s-s-slowing charm are all known w-ways of stopping p-p-pixies, however I will be t-teaching you the ebub-ub-ublio jinx, which would surround the p-pixie in an imp-penetrable magical b-bubble./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The incantation is... is..." Harry recognised that Quirrell was steeling himself to say the word without stuttering. It was actually quite annoying really. "...is Ebublio." Quirrell took a deep breath and continued, "the wand movement is this:" and he traced a lowercase e symbol in front of him, his wand leaving a special blue fire trail burning in the air to clearly demonstrate to the class./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All of y-you get out y-your wands and practice on these," He waved his wand a second time and a cute stuffed pixie, as big as the real thing, appeared on the desks in front of the students. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"This is a joke, right?" Draco drawled as he prodded the stuffed animal. Since the class had erupted into the bustle of practicing a new spell, no-one But Harry had heard Draco say this, but he could tell by looking at the faces of the other Slytherins around him that Draco wasn't the only one thinking this. Theodore was looking at the stuffed animal in front of him with contempt and disgust, a look which was mirrored by Blaise, Pansy, Daphne and Ophelia. Crabbe and Goyle looked as gormless as ever, though Harry thought that even they thought this was dehumanising./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Still, all the Slytherins began practicing the ebublio charm as they had been told. At least until they realised how simple the charm actually was. Draco managed it on his first go, and that was with an incredibly half hearted attempt. Harry and the rest of the Slytherins managed it after only a couple tries, and after that they were simply waiting around for the rest of the car to catch up to themspan style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"./span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"But then, eyeing the cage where the pixies were still immobile, Harry suddenly thought of a very fun idea. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Draco," He asked slowly, "What do you think of letting the class practice on something real?"/span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);" Draco looked confused for a second, but then after seeing where Harry gaze was directed suddenly cottoned on to what Harry was thinking./span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);""I think it's exactly what this dim-witted class needs to liven things up a little."/span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"Harry raised his wand. Under his breath, whilst Quirrell was distracted at the back of the class, he cast alohomora on the cage. The door squeaked open a little. The pixies in the cage stared at Harry, then the door, then back at Harry, almost pleading for him to let the go free. Harry pointed his wand again and cast finite, the charm-cancelling spell./span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a brief moment when the pixies, not having used their wings in who knows how long, plummeted to the bottom of the cage but then: it was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them grabbed a spindly looking Ravenclaw and hoisted him by his ankles up on the rafters. Several shot through the windows, showering the students, Harry and Draco included, in bits of broken glass. Harry felt hundreds of tiny cuts on his arms as he moved them up to cover his face, though some bits of glass managed to get through and cut his cheeks and eyebrow. The same had happened to Draco though Harry noticed that it suited him and gave him a sort of rugged, handsome look. Meanwhile, the pixies had destroyed the class more effectively than if the Bullingdon club had thrown their most raucous party inside the classroom. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, upended the waste bin, grabbed bags and books and threw them out the open window; within minutes the class was crouching underneath desks, trying to shield themselves from the carnage./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Quirrell was trying to make sure his turban was staying on, as two pixies had grabbed it and were trying to unwrap it and strangle him with it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The bell rang and there was a mad dash for the door. Being the furthest away, Harry and Draco were the last to leave, but as Harry glanced back into the classroom he saw Quirrell staring back at him. For the briefest of seconds their eyes met and Harry's scar burned white hot before Harry rounded the doorframe and lost sight of Quirrell. They were still laughing about it as they approached the greenhouses on the other side of school./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did you see the face of that Ravenclaw, Turpin, or whatever his name is."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, I especially loved the bit where he wet himself from fear."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bit disgusting though, if you ask me. I'm glad I took the long way around him dripping from the rafters."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, undoubtedly."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Slytherins were busy discussing the events of the previous lesson. They had stopped by the hospital wing on their way to Herbology to get all their cuts mended. Madame Pomfrey has not been pleased. "Absolutely ridiculous, letting pixie loose in a classroom, what was Quirinus thinking? And here I thought he was more sensible than that." She continued in this vein for some time, until all the Slytherins had been patched up and sent on their way. She had done a good job, though the particular spell she had chosen to use had left them all with faintly glowing marks where their cuts had been. She had assured them that they would fade within the hour, but presently they all looked like slightly demented Christmas trees./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As they arrived in front of Professor Sprout, she scored at them and said "I suppose you're all late because of a pixie attack too are you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They all nodded. Professor Sprout sighed and said, "Do you know if anyone else is coming?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think that there was someone more badly injured that Madame Pomfrey insisted stay in the hospital wing." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Go into greenhouse three then, and mind the venomous tentacular, it's teething."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They made their way to the greenhouse, opened the door and slid inside. It was a strange sight that met them. About twenty pairs of different coloured earmuffs were lying on the bench. Harry noticed a spindly vine of the venomous tentacular slither it's way around a pair and make its way towards Pansy, who recoiled and moved to the other side of Draco, away from the strange plant. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Professor Sprout made her way inside at this point, apparently having convinced herself that any further waiting would be futile./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We'll be re-potting mandrakes today." She said as she took her place behind a trestle bench in the centre of the greenhouse. "Now, who can tell me the properties of a mandrake?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"A boy whom Harry knew by sight as Terry Boot put up his hand, and so did Draco. Professor sprout chose Terry to answer, however. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Can't mandrakes be used to reverse curses and the like?" He said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Correct, five points to Ravenclaw." Said Professor Sprout. "It is a powerful restorative that can be used to return someone who has been transfigured or cursed back to their original state, and therefore form an essential part of many antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco put up his hand first this time. "The cry of a mandrake can kill you if you hear it." He answered bluntly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Exactly right, ten points to Slytherin. Now, as our mandrakes aren't adults yet, their cries wont kill you, but they will knock you out for several hours. Now everyone grab a pair of earmuffs and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure those earmuffs are nice and tight." There was a scramble as everyone tried to grab a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. "Now, after you place them on your head, you must only remove them when I give the thumbs up, understand?" They all nodded. "Right then, earmuffs on." Professor Sprout Said as she placed her own earmuffs on her head. Harry snapped his earmuffs on his own head. They completely shut out all sound. Professor Sprout rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard. Harry let out a gasp of surprise that no-one heard. Instead of roots, a small, muddy and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of its head. He had pale green, mottled skin and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Professor sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor sprout dusted off her hands, have them all the thumbs up and removed her earmuffs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Four to a tray - there is a large supply of pots over there - I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and Draco were joined by Crabbe and Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What a day this is." Drawled Draco as they began filling their plant pots with dragon dung, "first fake fluffy pixies, and then screaming mud babies. I wouldn't be surprised if McGonagall announced she married Snape in transfiguration this afternoon."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't put that image in my head." Harry laughed. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /after that they didn't have much chance to talk. Their earmuffs were back on and they needed to concentrate on the mandrakes. Professor sprout had made it look incredibly easy, but it wasn't. The mandrakes didn't like coming out of the Earth, but they didn't seem to want to go back in it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists and fans he's their teeth. Harry saw Draco attempt to tickle one and get bit on the finger. Harry spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot. By the end of the class, Harry, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching and covered in earth. They traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash before heading off to transfiguration./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, though Harry was relived to hear no announcement about her and Professor Snape's impeding marriage. He was supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but didn't seem to be doing a very good job as all he seemed to do was give his beetle a lot of exercise as it raced around the table avoiding his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The only good thing about transfiguration was that it was the last lesson of the day. The slytherins decided to go to the courtyard, where, sitting down on the stone steps, they got into an argument about cobbing. It was only after they had been talking for a few minutes that Harry became aware that someone was watching him. Looking up he saw a very small, mousy haired boy staring at Harry as though transfixed. He was clutching what looked like an ordinary muggle camera and the moment when Harry saw him he went bright red./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All right, Harry? - I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I know i'm in Gryffindor, but - d'you think - would it be alright if - can i have a picture?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A what?" Said Harry, offended. The other Slytherins were looking round at Colin too. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"A picture, so I can prove I've met you." Colin said eagerly, edging further forwards. "I know all about you of course. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when you-know-who tried to kill you and how you've still got the lighting scar on your forehead." (His eyes raked Harry's hairline), "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the pictures in the right potion they'll move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's brilliant here isn't it? I never knew all the odd things I could do were magic until I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad couldn't believe it either, he a milkman. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send back to him. And it would be really good if I could have one of you -" he looked imploringly at Harry- "Maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It took Harry a few seconds to process what Creevey had just said. Fortunately, it was Draco that replied first. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"'Your friend?'" He said, standing up and moving closer to Creevey. Crabbe and Goyle also got up and flanked Draco as they usually did. "I'm sorry, but who exactly gave you permission to breathe here? You are in the company of people so far above you, people who have family trees older than Hogwarts itself, and you think it's okay to just ask one of them for a photograph?" Creevey took several steps back at this point as Draco, Crabbe and Goyle marched forwards. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"There is a word for people like you, did you know that?" Creevey shook his head, backing up even further now. "For people with no magical heritage, no knowledge of the wizarding world, no abilities, who get accepted to Hogwarts out of pity, do you know what that word is?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Creevey shook his head again, now backed up against the fountain with nowhere else to go. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Mudblood," Draco whispered into Creevey's ear. Creevey had turned pale white and sunk to the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Remember that name, Mudblood," said Draco, still whispering, "Remember that, next time you're in class, or the next time you're reading a book, remember. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"You were never meant to carry a wand/em."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"and with that, Draco grabbed Creevey's camera and tossed it into the water of the fountain./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Creevey spent a lot of time over the next few days ducking out of sight whenever he saw Harry and Draco coming down a corridor. This wouldn't have bothered Harry normally, yet he felt that Creevey was following him around and simply trying to duck out of sight whenever he thought Harry or Draco could see him. He just wasn't especially good at doing so. Several times now Harry and Draco had caught Creevey waiting behind a suit of armour or a stone pillar, hoping they would pass him by without noticing. And every time they caught Creevey, Draco or Harry sent him on his way with the "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae!/em" Jinx. Yet every time they would find him, the next day, doing the exact same thing. It was infuriating, and Harry had half a mind to report him to Professor Snape. But that was kind of an empty threat, for whatever reason, Snape regarded Harry with suspicion, dislike and general contempt. For Harry to ask Snape for anything would mean that the situation was incredibly dire./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That weekend, Harry was jostled awake at half past nine by Draco, already dressed in his emerald green quidditch robes. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Wazzup?" He said groggily as the green light of the dormitory hit his eyes. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Quidditch, remember?" replied Draco who was clutching his new, jet black, Nimbus 2001. "Marcus says we'll have breakfast first, then go to the pitch." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sat bolt upright. He had been saying that he was interested in going to the Slytherin practice sessions, for he had spent most of the summer learning quidditch moves from Draco, and now that he was back at Hogwarts he had found a new appreciation for the sport. Harry dressed in record time, pulling on his robes and grabbing a hat and scarf, for it was cold, and, Harry assumed, still frosty and mildewy on the ground, though he could only assume this, as he couldn't tell from the light that was making it's way through the windows of the dormitory. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They made their way out of the common room, and met up with all the other Slytherin players. Marcus Flint, the captain and chaser, led the way out of the common room flanked by the two other chasers, Adrian Pucey and Graham Montague. The two beaters, Perrigrine Derrick and Lucian Bole, were holding a conversation with the keeper, Miles Bletchley, about the prospects for this year's quidditch cup. Draco and Harry led the rear end of the procession, with Draco immediately starting a conversation with Harry about Granger, which was one of the two subjects that he most commonly talked about these days. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How can they let her continue?" He said, fire raging in his eyes. Though that could have been a reflection from one of the braziers lining the corridors. "I don't get it. She has no inherent magical ability, no magical family, nothing! How can she be allowed to stay here?" Harry had learned from previous experience that to try and communicate with Draco when he was in this state was complete futility. If he tried to respond in any way or even to defend Granger's existence at this school, (Not that he was in any mind to however), then he would be met with sharp rebuttal and pointed glares. So for now he simply listened, occasionally saying "Yeah, " and "uh-huh, " whenever Draco paused for breath./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Soon, they reached the dining hall, which despite it still being relatively early, was quite packed with students. They all sat down at the Slytherin table and started to dig into breakfast. Derrick and Bole each took a toast skewer each and started eating the lot. Harry stole himself a few bits of bacon, eggs, and toast, and Draco had the same as him. About five minutes after they had all started eating they were visited by Professor Snape. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Flint." He said in his usual Oily manner, "I want a word." With a quick glance at the rest of the team he got up from the table and followed Snape a short distance away, but out of earshot of the rest of the team. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you think they're talking about?" Asked Miles as he bit into a part of a chicken leg./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who knows. Something about quidditch if you ask me." Replied Lucian, as he too, bit into a chicken leg./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Thanks for stating the obvious, mate. " They saw Snape hand Marcus a small slip of paper, and then Marcus returned to the Slytherin team with an oddly somber, yet delighted face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What was all that about?" asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well it appears that the Gryffindors have booked the quidditch pitch for today." There was cry of outrage at this/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They were disqualified last year, how can they be given preferential treatment this year?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They're not even any good, why are they training?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's the first week back, they don't have a full team yet!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I know, i know, " Marcus said over they numerous cries from the slytherin players, "it is completely unfair, however Professor Snape has given me this, " he held up the piece of parchment that they had just seen Snape hand to him, "it says that we are allowed to train as well today, owing to the need to train our new seeker. " He looked pointedly at Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So we'll have to practice with the Gryffindors?" Lucian said with a look of pure disgust on his face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We'll be able to see what their tactics are, that's useful." replied Miles/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What would be the point of that? The Gryffindors are as slow as their brooms, they won't have any tactics."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""When i joined the school, " Marcus said, interrupting Miles' and Lucian's debate, "Gryffindor were the fastest team in the school. And though they're obviously not that anymore," he said smirking, "Every good team needs good training dummies."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The whole of the Slytherin team plus Harry broke into identical smirks at this, and finished their breakfast with laughs and smiles on their faces, before making their way out of the great hall. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As they were walking across the bridge that connected the grounds with the castle, Harry heard an odd clicking noise coming from his left. He paused and looked around, but there was no-one there. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's up Harry?" Draco asked. He had stopped too and was looking at the spot Harry was, however he clearly couldn't see anything strange either. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought i heard... Something, i'm sure it's nothing though." he lied as he continued to walk across the bridge. But Harry couldn't get that sound out of his head. It reminded him of something, but what was it? He felt like it might have been something from the Dursleys, but that couldn't be right. What would something so blatantly muggle as for Harry it to associate with the Dursleys be doing at Hogwarts? /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They crossed the bridge and quickly found themselves at the quidditch pitch, though strangely, there wasn't any Gryffindors flying around./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco had noticed this too, and quickly remarked, "What, are they late, or something?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But Marcus was looking skeptical. "I've never known Wood to be late for anything to do with quidditch."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's going on then?" asked Lucian, who was swinging his beaters bat around experimentally. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm not sure. Oh, no wait, there they are." Several gold and scarlet blurs had just flow out of the changing rooms, and started to lap the pitch. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent." Marcus said. Though his face looked like he had just been sprayed by a gobstone. The Slytherin team started walking onto the pitch and very soon they were noticed by Wood, who flew at them in such a rage that he landed rather harder than he meant to, and staggered a bit on landing. Harry laughed inwardly to himself. Although Wood had been one of the first people in the wizarding world Harry had ever met, or at least had a conversation with, looking at him now, Harry found himself slightly put off by Wood's moorish nature. And he wouldn't soon forget the incident last year in which the Gryffindor seeker, Adrian Fergus-Fuller, had barrelled into him during the Gryffindor vs Slytherin game. It hadn't helped, of course, that it turned out Adrian had been using an illegal vision-enhancing charm to increase his chances of catching the snitch. Something which Harry privately thought that Wood had known about, if not sanctioned himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Flint!" Wood bellowed, flecks of spit flying everywhere. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Wood cowered under Marcus as he said, with a look of trollish cunning on his face, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The three Gryffindor chasers, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, all landed at that time as well as the two Weasley twins, Fred a George, and, to Harry utter surprise, so did their sister, Ginny Weasley, clad in the scarlet and gold robes of a Gryffindor seeker. When she caught sight of Harry she blushed furiously and hid behind George. Harry was suddenly very aware that there were no girls on the Slytherin team./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""But i booked the pitch!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah," said Marcus, "But i've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practise today on the quidditch pitch, owning to the need to train their new seeker./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You've got a new seeker?" said Wood, distracted, "Where?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At this point, Draco, who previously had been hidden behind the other, larger, Slytherin players, stepped out from behind, smirking all over his face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" Said one of the Weasley twins, who was looking at Draco with disgust./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Marcus, as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly, "Let me show you the generous contribution he's made to the Slytherin quidditch team."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words "Nimbus Two Thousand and One," gleamed under the Gryffindor's noses in the early-morning sun. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Very latest model. Only came out last month. " Marcus said carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outsrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old cleansweeps, " He smiled nastily at the Weasley twins who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives, "Sweeps the floor with them."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Gryffindors all looked dumbstruck and completely lost for words as Draco and the rest of the Slytherins smirked so broadly their eyes were reduced to slits. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But what about you? I hear you have a new seeker too. I hope it's not that little Weasley girl. She looks like one good blusher hit would finish her off."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Slytherins all laughed at this and the twins, now having gotten over their shock at the revelation of the new Slytherin broomsticks, loudly came to their senses and started bellowing at Marcus. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oi, don't about our sister that way you half-bred troll!" Shouted Fred, moving closer to stand in front of Ginny. George, on the other hand, had pulled out his wand from under his robes and was pointing it at Marcus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Marcus simply laughed. "And what are you going to do with that, Weasley?" He asked, smirking and pulling out his own wand. Lucian and Peregrine pulled out their own wands, and Fred pulled out his wand as well. They were locking eyes with each other when, "All right, fine." Wood had spoken. He was looking warily at the wands in the hands of the Slytherins and had clearly decided that both teams training at the same time was not with one of his players getting injured. "You stay on your side of the pitch, we'll stay on ours. No one crosses over for anything. Deal?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose. If it's the best you can offer." Marcus put away his wand, and both he and Wood shook on it. Though each looked like they were trying to crush each other's fingers./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" After that, nothing really interesting happened for a while. Marcus made the Slytherins do various warm-up exercises, flying around the pitch, weaving in and out of the goal hoops and stands, things like that. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pitch, Wood was doing very similar exercises. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"He's copying us." Remarked Draco as he came to a stop in mid-air in front of Harry, who had taken a seat in the stands. "Well, it's not going to do him any good, we fly well because of our brooms, and we don't have museum pieces like that lot."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco!" Shouted Flint from across the pitch, "I'm letting the snitch out. Give it five minutes between each capture, got it?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes." Draco Shouted back. Harry saw Marcus open an old wooden chest, which contained several quidditch balls in it, then, very briefly before it disappeared, he saw a flash of gold that belonged to the snitch. Draco had seen it too. Without a word to Harry he was off, soaring through the skies to the location of the snitch. Suddenly, Harry heard it again. A strange clicking noise, but when he tried to look around for the source, he couldn't find it. Unnerved, Harry contented himself with looking at just how poorly the Gryffindor team were style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Compared to the Slytherin team, the Gryffindors were slow, sluggish, and seemed entirely uncoordinated. The new seeker, Ginny, was doing well though. That was, when she forgot Harry was in the stands. Whenever she looked over at Harry the best that could be said about her flying ability was that she knew how to hold on. This was similar to how the Weasley twins were acting, except whenever they saw Marcus, they gripped their brooms so hard Day thought he saw the handles cracking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Then suddenly, whoosh! A bludger had soared right past Harry and smashed into the handle of Ginny's broomstick, shattering it and sending Ginny hurtling to the ground. Bell dived to catch her and just managed to before she hit the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The twins dived to the Slytherin end of the pitch where Marcus and Lucian were laughing, Lucian having apparently hit the bludger at Ginny. Harry raced down to the pitch as the rest of the Slytherins landed next to them, bracing themselves for the tidal wave of Gryffindors. He briefly registered the odd clicking sound in the air again, but didn't worry about it as he made his way to the pitch./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""...well they're uncontrollable, Wood, it was an accident-" Marcus was saying slyly as Harry moved within earshot. "Don't give me that." Wood replied. "I know you hit that bludger right at her, on purpose." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well in any case it's not like she was harmed or anything." He said indicating towards Ginny who was white as a sheet. "I mean, really, things like this happen in matches all the time, you can't just pretend they won't."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's not the point!" Snapped Wood, "you hit a bludger at one of our teammates-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what are you going to do about it?" Asked Marcus, smirking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll teach you some manners!" Shouted Fred. As he pulled out his wand. Instantly ever member on the Slytherin team, and Harry, pulled theirs out and pointed them straight at Fred. In response, the Gryffindor team all pointed their wands at the Slytherins, expect for Wood, who, it seemed, wanted to try to defuse the situation. He was standing in between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, arms out, trying to lower the wands on each side. "Fine, Flint, you can have it your way, we'll leave, just put your wands down."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry heard it again, the clicking noise, louder this time./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Very well, if you're too scared to take us on."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was getting louder now, or getting closer./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Whatever, we're going now, okay?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And then it suddenly dawned on Harry where he had heard that funny clicking sound before. It reminded Harry of Dudley's old cine-camera, which had been broken after Dudley sat on it. But then he saw it. Creevey. Hiding in the trench at the side of the pitch, taking photo after photo. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You!" He nearly bellowed and Creevey knew he had been found out as he scarpered, but Harry had other ideas. "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Obscuro/em!" He shouted and a thick, black, cloth wrapped itself around Creevey eyes, blinding him. He dropped the camera, which shattered and Harry started to move forward but then came a shout of "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Slugulus Erecto/em!" And Harry instantly felt like he'd been punched in the stomach by Dudley. He collapsed on the ground and suddenly felt very sick. He felt it move up his stomach, through his throat and then he vomited. He vomited disgusting, slimy slugs. He tried to move but he retched again, and another wave of slugs came spewing from his mouth. There came another cry and a yell as one of the Gryffindors got blasted back through the air and onto the ground. There was a tense, almost audible atmosphere for a second before both teams erupted and started hurling spells at each other. Harry barely registered through all the flashing lights and shouts of "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"tarantallegra! /emand "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"expelliarmus!". /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He got hit by another spell, which made him grow painful antlers out the top of his head. It also gave the slugs antlers, which made it feel like knives were being dragged across his throat and the inside if his stomach. Barely aware of what he was doing, he tried to get up and move away from all the chaos, but as he got up he was hit by a third and final spell which knocked him to the ground. Unconscious. Surprisingly, Harry's last thoughts before he lost consciousness were of Aunt Petunia, dying Dudley's old clothes grey as a surrogate school uniform./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry opened his eyes to the blinding lights of the Hospital wing. At first he wasn't entirely sure why he was there. He had a vague memory of something grey flashing before his eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He blinked. The Hospital wing came into sharper focus, and Harry tried to sit up. He instantly regretted it. As soon as Harry had sat up, his stomach had given a massive lurch and he felt like there was a large whirlpool inside of his stomach. Not wanting to see what it was that was inside of his stomach making him feel worse than all the times Dudley had hit him combined, he lay back down and instead just tried to look around by moving his head. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah good. You're up." Madame Pomfrey said as she walked over to where Harry was lying. "I don't want you moving. Goodness knows how many spells you got hit with back there and I don't know what kind of damage it did. I reversed most of it with em style="box-sizing: inherit;"finite incantatum/em, but I'm not sure what kind of lingering effect the spells might have produced."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What happened anyway?" Asked Harry as he took a sip of water from a glass that was lying next to his bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Duelling. I expect." Replied Madame Pomfrey sternly. Harry was suddenly very grateful that Madame Pomfrey never asked questions. Apart from not wanting the teachers to know that a battle had taken place on the quidditch pitch, Harry didn't think it would look good if it emerged that that had all happened because he had attacked a first year./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm going to perform an examination on you, because I don't think I got all the spell effects reversed. How do you feel?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"My stomach doesn't feel very good." Harry replied as his stomach, almost as though it had heard him, gave another lurch. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Queasy stomach," Madame Pomfrey muttered as she wrote something on a clipboard. "Anything else?" Harry shook his head. "No headaches?, no itchy feet?, no desire to sprout feathers and fly south for the winter?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No." Harry said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." Madame Pomfrey said as she made some more notes on her clipboard. She then walked back to her office. Harry wondered what had happened at the quidditch pitch after he had been knocked unconscious. Certainly, he had been the most injured, for he was the only person in the hospital wing, but what had happened to Draco? Or Marcus? Who had broken up the fight? And what kind of repercussions could he expect from this?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Before he had the chance to imagine what horrible punishments might be in store for him, Madame Pomfrey's office door swing open and she returned, holding a frothing, electric blue potion. "Drink this." She said as she shoved the potion into his hand. Harry did so. It tasted like tadpole ice cream, or, at least what Harry thought tadpole ice cream would taste like. Instantly he felt a warmth in his stomach. Sitting up, he found his nausea and queasiness had completely vanished. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Head back to your common room quickly, it's almost time for lights out." And sure enough when Harry looked out the window it was already dark./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He pulled on his robes and moved quickly through the corridors to the Slytherin common room. He pondered briefly about visiting Kryillos in his secret little room, but decided that if he had waited all summer, then he could wait a bit longer. And besides, if he got held up and got caught by a teacher, then he would probably be in even more trouble than he already was. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Ah, Harry. You're all better then?" Said Draco as Harry climbed through the portrait style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Pretty much." Harry replied. "What happened after I got knocked unconscious?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco's face soured. "It was one of those blood-traitor Weasleys that got you." He said as Harry sat down in an armchair next to him. "Spells kept hitting you after you were down. We tried to wake you, but we had half a job trying to keep ourselves from being hit by those lunatics ourselves." "So what stopped it?" Asked Harry. "The little Weasley girl went and got a teacher, I think, because Professor sprout came hurrying over and put a stop to all of it. She dragged us to the hospital wing -after putting you on a stretcher- and left Madame Pomfrey to sort us all out whilst she went and got Professor McGonagall and Snape. They were livid. Well, you know what they're like, McGonagall went and got Dumbledore, then proceeded to tell us how much trouble we were in, you know. She was on the verge of expelling us, but I think Dumbledore must have changed her mind or something because then she made us all 'assistants' to Filch, instead of expelling us." "What about the team?" Harry knew that the last time someone had gotten into big trouble and had also been on the quidditch team, they had been given a two-year ban from playing quidditch. "McGonagall did want to ban all of us from playing quidditch at Hogwarts ever again, but Snape stepped and pointed out how ridiculous that idea was, so instead the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin has been cancelled and declared a draw. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have also been given one-hundred points each, which is stupid really, they didn't do anything."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what's this assistant to filch thing about?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I've no idea. We're just to go to his office tomorrow morning."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed. He had been expecting that, given he was unconscious, he wouldn't be given detention. But now it appeared that he would have to face an unjust punishment alongside Draco and the rest of the Slytherins. "I think I'll go to bed then. Get an early night." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Goodnight then." Said Draco as Harry wandered into the dormitory./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hello Jaculus." He said as he saw the snake lying on his bed. Jaculus gave a hiss of acknowledgement. Harry lay down on his bed and stared into the ceiling. He wanted to get revenge, badly. On Creevey, on the Weasley brothers, on Wood. On the entire Gryffindor team to be honest./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As though Jaculus had read Harry's mind, the snake hissed, "There are many waysss to get revenge, Harry Directly, or indirectly. You may even find that something ssssorts your problemsss out for you. Right now there'sss sssomething ssstiring in the bowelssss of the cassstle. Ssssomething ancient and deadly. A power you would be wissse to sssseek asss your own." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you mean?" Asked Harry, who was confused yet intrigued by the words of Jaculus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Jaculus paused for a moment, then said. "I cannot sssay, but beware, for you are not the only persssson in this cassstle which can control this power, and the other one with thissss ability will ssseek to dessstroy you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You enjoy being cryptic don't you?" Harry joking said to Jaculus. The snake said nothing in response. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry suddenly smelt a strange smell. Confused at first, he realised it was the smell of smoke, and it was coming from Jaculus. "Why do you smell of smoke?" He asked. Jaculus stuck it's tongue out and tasted the air around it's body. "I don't ssssmell of ssssmoke. Perhapssss your ssssenssse of sssmell is damaged from the sssspellsss."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Resolving himself to go back to Madame Pomfrey in the morning, Harry was fast asleep by the time Draco came to bed almost an hour later./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's strange." Said Madame Pomfrey after Harry had been to see her in the morning after he had had breakfast and had described his problem to her. "I wouldn't have thought you would have nasal damage with the spells you were hit with." However she gave Harry a potion to help with his sudden smoke-smelling problem. It was a strange potion. Instead of drinking it, he was instructed to heat it, and let the vapour waft into his nose. He felt quite stupid, sitting in a small cupboard with his only source of light being the fire under the flask the potion was sitting in. As the smoke and vapours didn't want to seem to want to go into his nose, Harry had resigned himself to cupping his hands around the top of the flask and taking deep sniffs. Mercifully, it only took about five minutes for the whole potion to be vaporised and Harry thanked Madame Pomfrey before making his way back to the Slytherin common room, where Draco, Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle were waiting for him to return. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What are we doing then, Harry?" Asked Theodore as Harry returned. "Well, I was going to visit Kryillos today. He said he was going to teach us the freezing charm when we got back from the summer holidays." "Sounds good to me." He replied and with the immediate future within sight, they made their way to the secret dungeon where Kryillos lived. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry knew immediately that something was wrong the moment they stepped into the room. The entire place was a wreck. The walls were blackened and scarred, the various training mats had been burnt to ashes and the bronze braziers which lit the room were melted into puddles on the floor. But worst of all, the portrait which had contained Kryillos had been stripped of its occupants, the frame had half melted into slag, and the little canvas that remained was burnt black. When Harry pushed back the tattered canvas he saw that most of it had been cut away, like with a knife. The missing shape formed a rough square, and it seemed obvious to Harry that whomever had done the damage to this room had also stolen Kryillos. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What happened here?" Asked Draco as he touched the scorched brick and it crumbled away under his fingers. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think it's pretty clear what happened." Said Theodore, who was inspecting one of the melted braziers, "The question is, who? And why? Because the only person who could have gotten into this room is a parslemouth, and as far as we know, Harry is the only parslemouth in school."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well clearly there's someone else who knows parsletongue in this school isn't there?" Said Draco. "My father says Dumbledore knows parsletongue. Perhaps he did this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I can't see Dumbledore doing something like this." Replied Harry. But even so, the thought lingered in his mind. Dumbledore was well known for his dislike of the dark arts, and Kryillos was a dark wizard in every sense of the word, despite his nice demeanour. Maybe Dumbledore had gotten so angry at this secret dark sanctum in the castle that he had caused this, for Dumbledore was certainly powerful enough to do all this damage. Or maybe, it was this unknown person who sought the ancient power in Hogwarts that Jaculus had warned him about. Was this their first move against Harry?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not having much to do in the destroyed room, they left and went back to the common room. No-one spoke much when they returned they were still in shock by what had happened. They just sat in the common room thinking. Blaise half-heartedly suggested going to the library to do some revision, but failing to get any kind of support for his idea, he just went by style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was nearly lunch before Harry realised he and Draco had detention with Filch. They rushed to Filch's office on the ground floor and arrived there minutes before they would have been late. "Stragglers, eh?" Sneered Filch, "You had better not be late or else I'll make sure you're punished good and proper, oh yes. What with the amount of trouble you're in, I doubt Dumbledore will stop me from hanging you by your ankles in the dungeons." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry looked around. As expected the entire Slytherin and Gryffindor quidditch teams were there, and the blood-traitor twins in particular were looking at Harry with malice in their eyes, though it could easily be mistaken for abject curiosity. Strangely though, their sister wasn't in the lineup at Filch's office. Harry wondered what had happened to her. He doubted that she was let off the hook, for Filch seemed to be expecting someone else and she was the only person missing. The clock struck twelve and Filch immediately stuck a name off a list he had in his hand, cackling as he did so. Filch obviously was enjoying the little power he had over the students./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Right you nasty lot, today, from now until curfew, you'll be cleaning the school with me." He gave a wide grin and added, "Without magic."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Cackling again, he instructed them to pick up an assortment of cleaning tools and marched them off to the trophy room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was dreadfully boring work. First the trophy room, with it golden cups and silver plaques. Harry's head was so full with names after five minutes that he thought he might soon forget his own. He did have a good laugh at Wood, however, who was simultaneously over-cautious and over-zealous in his cleaning of the quidditch cup and past records of Gryffindor quidditch captains. Contrastingly, Marcus was so lazy in his cleaning of Slytherin trophies that Harry was sure they were somehow more dirtier than before he had left them. It was half past two when they left the trophy room, all worn out and tired, and none of them liked it when Filch gleefully told them of all the other bits of cleaning they had to do. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Their second task was to clean some bewitched graffiti off of the walls in the transfiguration classroom. This was confounded by the fact that the graffiti was magically enchanted so that whenever someone tried to remove it, it moved out of reach or twisted into different shapes. It was tantalising, trying to get the graffiti off, but they managed it in the end, though not before the clock had struck four. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Deary me, it seems like they're not going to be done in time are they my sweet?" Filch cooed to Mrs. Norris. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Their next task was just as dreadful as the last. And the task after that was even worse. Harry was exhausted, annoyed and hungry as he picked up a puppy crup that a Hufflepuff prefect had let escape from the Hufflepuff dormitory. Harry had had to chase it through dozens of corridors before it trapped itself in a corner and Harry had scooped it up. On his way back to Filch's office he met with Draco, who was clutching a pup of his own. "This is intolerable." He said as he walked down the stairs. Though Harry had to admit he looked a little cute clutching a pup that was trying to lick his ears. "My father will hear about this, students shouldn't be made to do things like this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry nodded along. "I mean, this is way to big of a punishment for what happened, honestly I-" but Harry didn't hear what he said next because he had just heard something. It was quite apart from the ranting of Draco or the distant mutterings of the portraits on the walls. It was a voice, but unlike any voice Harry had heard. It was a voice to chill the bone-marrow, a voice of breath-taking, ice-cold venom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Come ... come to me ... let me rip you ... let me tear you ... let me kill you./em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sshh." Harry said to Draco. "What?" Draco spluttered. But Harry just shushed him again. He kept listening for the voice. The crup pups that they were holding had gone quiet too. Perhaps they could also hear the voice, Harry thought. He strained his ears again, but the chilling voice had vanished. "What are you doing?" Asked Draco, disturbing Harry's concentration. Harry quickly explained what he had just heard. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Are you sure you heard something? Maybe you're just tired." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, I definitely heard something." Harry said a little angrily. But then he sighed. It was late, and he was tired. Perhaps in all his musings about ancient evils and the theft of Kryillos, he had just misheard some of the mutterings of the portraits. Still though, the chill it had sent down his back had been real enough./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"What with all the things Harry now had to do, he found it shocking how quickly October had arrived. It signalled its arrival with a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madame Pomfrey was kept busy with a spout of colds. Draco had gotten one, and Madame Pomfrey had given him a pepperup potion, which worked instantly but left the drinker smoking at the ears afterwards. Raindrops the size of bullets thundered against the castle for days on end. The lake rose, the flowerbeds turned into muddy streams and Hagrid's pumpkins grew to the size of garden sheds./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite all the things worrying him, Harry was still excited for the Halloween feast. No amount of cleaning slug brains off the walls could dampen his spirits. Harry had been a little worried that Professor McGonagall would say that they couldn't go to Halloween feast as an extra part of their detention, but she said no such thing. There were rumours that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons to perform at the feast, and since he had never seen a dancing skeleton before in his life, Harry was very excited. Finally, the day arrived. Harry walked alongside his classmates through the corridors, which had been lined with live bats on strings and giant pumpkins. Then, they reached the great hall. It was spectacular. The ceiling showed a cloudless night dotted with hundreds of sparkling stars. Hagrid's pumpkins were floating at the ceiling, each one holding a candle which glowed as the pumpkins jeered at them. The food was suitably spectacular, with the largest lamb Harry had ever seen sitting on the table in front of him. In the dishes around him were beef and firewhiskey pie, Colcannon, pumpkin bread, and eggs pickled in various liquids, along with loys of others. There were many bottomless punch bowls containing delicious drinks. Harry's favourite were the warm apple and pumpkin spice, which they drank through cinnamon straws, the pomegranate and ginger drink, which had real floating eyeballs in them that stared at them as they drank, and a green drink which Draco called acromantula venom and tasted like lemons, cranberries and spiced tea, though he assured Harry it wasn't actual acromantula venom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After they had all eaten, Dumbledore brought in the troupe of dancing skeletons which dazzled them all with their wacky shenanigans. Harry found it particularly funny when they started swapping heads. After the skeletons had finished their routine and bowed the entire hall burst into applause and the skeleton's jaws hit the floor from excitement. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The ghosts aren't doing anything this year are they?" Harry shouted to Draco over all the applause. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, they're doing something else from what I gather." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What are they doing?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Strangely, I think one of them died."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry didn't know what to say to this, so kept quiet. After they had all finished clapping, which took quite a long time, Dumbledore stood up to give his speech. Which Harry ignored completely. He was too full to listen to Dumbledore talk about anything and only started paying attention when everyone was leaving. Everyone left through the doors and into the corridors. Since Harry and Draco wanted to get back to the common room as soon as possible, they had Crabbe and Goyle muscle their way to the start of the line. However, once they turned a bend, the whole procession stopped. Harry and Draco pushed their way to the front to see what was going on. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /On the wall hung Mrs. Norris, frozen solid with fear and above her, daubed in blood, were the words /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Shouted Draco. Harry stared at him. His cold eyes were alive. His usually bloodless face was flushed as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile, cat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's going on here, what's going on?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Attracted, no doubt, by Draco's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in Horror./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He shrieked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"His popping eyes scanned the corridors, as if he thought he could see the person who attacked him. There was a dead silence in the hallway. None of the students dared say anything to the irate caretaker./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Argus,/em" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept down to where Mrs. Norris was hanging, and unhooked her from the torch bracket./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Come with me, Argus," He said to Filch. "We need a private room. Quirrinus, i believe your office is closest."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""O-o-oh, y-y-yes. Of c-c-course. R-right this way, Head-Headmaster." Quirrell stuttered as he lead the procession of teachers away from the rest of the students. Professor Flitwick was left to control the students, who had now started to break out into fits of mutterings and hisses as they tried to silently discuss what had just happened. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ladies and Gentlemen, please, if you be so kind as to make your way to your dormitories quickly." Came the squeak of Professor Flitwick. "Prefects, i'm leaving you in charge. And students, remember, the mind creates many wild stories when given a lack of information. Do not let your imagination get the better of you. An early night is what you need right now. Quickly now, back to your dormitories!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Jaculus!" Harry whispered in parseltongue to the serpent coiled around his arm, "follow professor Dumbledore, tell us what they're discussing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""At oncccce." Jaculus replied, as Harry leaned down to the cold floor so Jaculus could slither off to spy for him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco looked ecstatic throughout the journey back to the slytherin common room. Harry wasn't entirely sure what to make of this. He hadn't seen Draco with a look like this in his eyes before, an almost primal hunger. It was scary, yet at the same time, Harry found himself intoxicated by the same feeling. He was getting a chill running down his spine as he thought about what had just happened to Mrs. Norris. Certainly, the killing of a cat was nothing special, but for Harry, what had happened to Mrs. Norris served as a warning, a message, that mudbloods didn't belong at Hogwarts. And if they couldn't understand the warning Mrs. Norris posed, thought Harry, then the literal message written above it in what Harry assumed had to be blood, should make things clear. Although he wasn't too clear on what the chamber of secrets was. It sounded impressive though. In Harry's eye, the chamber of secrets was a place of regal stature, filled with dark knowledge, much like the collection at Mr. Malfoy's Manor, except in Harry's fantasy the dark artefacts and books were not locked behind glass cases, where they could only be observed, but they were sitting on tables, where ghosts made of smoke instructed people on how to use them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They soon arrived at the Slytherin common room, where the some of the Slytherin prefects ineffectually tried to get everyone to go to their dormitories. But people wouldn't, there was just too much to discuss. And since a lot of Slytherin house had lived with a revulsion, however slight, of mudbloods, then the idea that they might soon be leaving the school, voluntarily or otherwise, excited them. At least it gave them something to talk about other than homework or quidditch. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Draco," said Theodore when they had managed to find some comfortable seats, "didn't your father attend Hogwarts the last time the chamber of secrets was opened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes," continued Harry, "And what did it mean by, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"enemies of the heir, beware/em?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco, who was now clearly revelling in his newfound power, took a moment to comfort himself on his sofa before telling them all he knew about the chamber of secrets./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Legend has it, that when Hogwarts was being built, Slytherin wanted to admit only pure-blood wizards, or those from wizarding families. He had seen, first-hand, the damage muggles could do when they feared something, and in those days, most muggles feared magic. Muggles would form large groups and capture people, forcing them to pretend they were wizards only to then kill them. Of course, because they're really stupid, they hardly ever killed any witches or wizards, but the damage they caused to communities was great, and Slytherin recognised that if the muggles every smartened up, they could rise up against Hogwarts in numbers that threatened to destroy the fledgling magical community. However, when he tried to explain his fears to the other founders, they rejected them, saying that muggles were not a threat, and to admit muggle-born witches and wizards was a boon on the castle, not a curse. So Slytherin, recognising that the other founders would not listen to him devised a new plan. He built a secret chamber in the castle, filled with powerful magic,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"and then left the school, saying that one of his descendants would return to the school and use the power stored within the chamber of secrets to cleanse the school of all the muggle-born."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And this chamber had been opened before?" Asked Harry, who was revealing in this newfound knowledge of Hogwarts. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, almost 50 years ago now. To tell you the truth though, I don't know much about it." Replied Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And this power in the chamber, do we know what it is?" Harry Asked again./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nope."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What about the location of the chamber?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Draco shook his head. "People have searched, but nothing was ever found. Not even a hint as to the location of it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Can I assume that the heir of Slytherin is also lost to time as well then?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Pretty much." began Theodore. "My father did a lot of research on noble blood lines for his book, and he tried tracing the Slytherin line. It ended up with a family by the name of Gaunt, but the last descended family members of the Gaunt name, well, one died in Azkaban and one vanished when they were eighteen, their father died impoverished and all their property was seized by the ministry. There was another branch, Sayre, but they migrated to America and founded, Silvermorny, I think? The American school of wizardry. There aren't any descendants of the Sayre line left. Well, reportedly there's a squib line somewhere but that doesn't really count."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Just out of curiosity, are there any other of the founders descendants left?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore paused for a moment then said, "Well, Ravenclaw doesn't have any descendants left. The gray lady was the only daughter of Ravenclaw, and she died before she could have kids. Although there was a family in Sweden, around 1650 or so, that claimed descendance from her. They're still around, I believe. Gryffindor never had children, although he did adopt a small girl he found alone in the woods. She took the name Gryffindor and her descendants are now the McKinnons. Although they're mostly all dead now. Gryffindor had a cousin, Cenric, and his descendants are now the McClaggans./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"And with Hufflepuff there's just too many to count. She's got so many descendants all of us here probably have a small drop of her blood in us, whether we like it or not." He finished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So basically, we have no idea who's doing it, how they're doing it, or what their motive is?" Summarised Blaise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh come now Blaise, we know why they want to do it." Said Draco, smiling./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then why go after Mrs. Norris? She's not even human, and Filch is a wizard, not a muggle-born."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Whilst thinking of a suitable rebuttal to this point, something suddenly dawned on Harry. "Well, to be fair, has anyone actually seen Filch do a spell? Do we even know if he owns a wand?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say and closed it again. Try as he might, Harry just couldn't think of any time he had seen Filch cast a spell. Everyone else seemed to be having this thought as well, as they were all gazing into the ceiling, not quite focusing on it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He's certainly not a muggle born." Said Theodore. "But that can only mean..." He finished, staring at Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco, who suddenly caught on to what Theodore was saying exclaimed, "It can't be!" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"it's the only thing that makes sense, if he really isn't a wizard." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What are you talking about?" Asked Harry who was thoroughly confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They bother looked at each each other then looked straight at Harry and said, simultaneously, "He's a squib."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You mentioned that before, what is it?" Harry replied, puzzled/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It means he was born to wizard parents but has no magical powers. Kind of the opposite of mudbloods." replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that must be why he was attacked then." Said Draco. "I doubt the heir of Slytherin wants Squibs in the castle any more than they do mudbloods."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Even if he is a squib," said Blaise, who raised his hands to get everyone's attention. "That doesn't mean he was targeted because of it. If you ask me, this is all just one big practical joke someone's playing because it's Halloween."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Someone did something to that cat though. And the fact that Dumbledore couldn't fix it seems pretty suspect." Replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Mrs. Norris is probably already fixed. It just looked like someone stunned her to me." Said Blaise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They continued arguing like this for nearly half-an hour before Jaculus finally arrived back with news./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ssshee hasss been petrified." Jaculus reported. "Sssshee isss not deaad, Jussst frozen, immobile and unthinking. Dumbledore and the otther teacherssss Don't know how to fixxx heeer. Buuut, it wasss daaark magic thaaat diid thiisss, of that, theeey are sssure."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For a few days, they school could talk of nothing else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Harry had seen him scrubbing the message with 'Mrs. Skower's all purpose magical mess remover', but to no avail. The words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking, red-eyed, through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students an trying to put them in detention for things like 'breathing loudly', and 'looking happy'./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Blaise had abandoned his previous theory, and was now thoroughly toting the line that Harry and the rest of the second-year slytherins were following. And the rest of the Slytherins were all wondering who could use such magic. Draco, especially, was invested in finding out who the heir of slytherin was. quite often he could be found, in the library, amidst dozens of books with titles like, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Secrets of Salazar Slytherin: The lost rooms of early Hogwarts/em, or em style="box-sizing: inherit;"The Old magic of Arthurian britain, Spells, Enchantments, and common practices./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The following wednesday, Harry was silently laughing at lunch after having finished potions. Longbottom had been made to stay behind and scrape tubeworms off the desk. An immensely disgusting process, as tubeworms popped if people tried to move them quickly, resulting in a smelly, pus-like liquid going everywhere and giving you a purple rash if it landed on your skin. Longbottom had just walked into the great hall looking like a beetroot, and Harry could smell him from across the large room. Taking this as his cue to leave, Harry decided to make his way to the library, to see Draco. On his way there he walked into the path of Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was moving towards him. Harry would have completely ignored him, however, Fletchley did something rather odd. When he caught sight of Harry, Fletchley turned and sped off in the other direction. Confused and a little shocked at this reaction, Harry shouted "OI!" at Fletchley, who immediately froze, as if he had been hit with the full body-bind. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What exactly are you running from, Fletchley?" Harry asked as he moved closer to him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""W-w-w-wha-what am i-i-i r-r-run-running f-f-from?" Fletchley stuttered, sounding exactly like Quirrell had last year. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes. What is it about me that gets you so scared, Fletchley?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Y-y-y-w-w-we-we-well p-p-p-people ar-ar-are s-s-s-sa-" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh just spit it out would you!" Harry said, annoyed at Fletchley's incessant stammering. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Fletchley gulped and said, very quickly, "people think you're the heir of Slytherin." Harry was a little taken aback by this, but didn't let it show on his face. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And do you think i'm the heir of slytherin?" Harry asked, knowing full well that the only way he could have gotten this reaction from Fletchley, was that if Fletchley thought he was the heir of Slytherin. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, no-no-no, of-of course not." Fletchley said, quickly. Harry just smiled and walked off, leaving Fletchley utterly confused and terrified. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found Draco in the library, just as he had expected. This time he was immersed in a book called, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Cryptids; How medieval sorcerers his their secrets./em" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Have you found anything?" Harry asked of Draco. Draco closed his book and sighed. "Nothing. Or at least, nothing interesting. Some of them reference the fact that dark wizards had different methods of hiding their secrets, but they never elaborate. Cowards. Dark magic is only feared because people don't understand it, but how can they expect people to understand it if they lock all the information about it behind a gate." He stole a glance at the iron doors which stood, barring people from the forbidden section. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well what's stopping you from getting into the restricted section?" said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco looked at him like he was stupid. "Have you been hanging around Crabbe and Goyle too much? It's forbidden, Potter."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, " replied Harry, "But we have an invisibility cloak. There's nothing stopping us from coming back here after lights out and finding the book you want."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco took a breath, clearly planning on replying, but then paused, unable to come up with a counter argument. "You're right. Okay then, we'll do that. Yeah."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""By the way, where's the history of magic section? I want to get started on the essay for Binns."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, over there. " Draco said, pointing at a shelf about three down from where they were standing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Thanks." Harry walked over to the shelf that draco pointed at. On his way though, something caught his eye. He paused and found himself looking at the spine of a book which was titled, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A Beginner's guide to Alchemy./em Harry was curious. He had read the book Theodore had gotten him, that copy of, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"a history and study of the philosopher's stone and it's creator, Nicholas Flamel, /emand it had given Harry a passing interest in Alchemy. He picked up the book. It was old, and clearly hadn't be handle in years. There was a thick layer of dust settled on the top of the book. Harry opened the book to the first page. It started with an introduction, like many books did:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"If you are reading this then you have a passing interest in alchemy which has brought you to these pages. Alchemy is the composition of waters, movement, growth, embodying and disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies and bonding the spirits within bodies./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Inside this book you will find a simple guide to many things Alchemical, though this book also comes with a warning. Alchemy touches upon elements of dark magic, and often, Alchemy is used for the most vile of dark practices, and is also concerned with many span style="box-sizing: inherit;"matters/span of life and death. More advanced Alchemists will often create life, just to destroy it. Should you still wish to continue after reading this, you do so at risk of your soul. If you wish to stay away from Alchemy forever after this, i don't blame you./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was not deterred by the warnings presented by the book, but intrigued. He checked the name of the Author. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Ion/em. This was a strange name, Harry thought, but otherwise he disregarded it. Strange names weren't anything strange to Harry, not after living in the magical world for a year now. He closed the book, then went to the history of magic section and found the book he needed, a very large, very boring book on the Medieval Assembly of Wizards called, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Importance of the oldest Wizarding Assembly in England and it's most famous cases/em. He took both books to Madame Pince to check out of the library, who looked at him questioningly when she saw the em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Beginner's Guide to Alchemy/em, but said nothing, for which Harry was glad. He didn't want to explain to anyone why he had an interest that book./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Back in the common room, Harry completely ignored the history of magic essay he was supposed to be writing, instead taking his time to peruse the Beginner's guide to Alchemy some more. It was truly a fascinating book. It started by giving examples of some elements of Alchemy that the reader might have been familiar with. And Harry was shocked at just how many varied examples were given. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Wand-makers often describe wand cores as living, able to choose their owner. If wand cores are alive and all living things have a soul, we can say that the act of building a wand is like giving a spirit a body, which is something done quite often in Alchemy. Death is the act of losing one body whilst the spirit remains intact. Normally Death would claim lost spirits, but body-less spirits can be found in the world as ghosts, and similarly, spirit-less bodies can be seen as victims of the Dementor's Kiss. Separating body and spirit is also common in Alchemy. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It continued like this for some pages, listing basilisks, elements of transfiguration, and certain potions as Alchemic in nature. Indeed, Harry was so engrossed in his book, he didn't even realise what time it was until Draco tapped his shoulder, saying "Are you ready to go?" It took Harry a second to realise what he meant, but then said, "Yes, let's go." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and he and Draco quickly made their way to the Library, only encountering a tired Professor Flitwick on their way there. Draco was a little nervous, but Harry wasn't. The book was still buzzing on his mind, he was itching to go back and read it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Eeeeuuuhhh, yuck." Draco had just stepped on a spider that was scuttling across the hallway. But it didn't seem to be alone, for another one had just scuttled into it's place. And another one. And another one. In fact, now that Harry looked properly, the entire floor seemed to be a highway for spiders, as dozens of them were crawling across the floor. Draco had noticed it too. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's not natural." he said, observing one scuttle over his shoe. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah," said Harry, "Let's just get the book and get out of here." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They made their way to library even quicker after that, not wanting to run into any spiders any more than they wanted to run into any teachers. But they were lucky, there was nothing between them and the Library except for empty corridors. But still, Harry breathed a sigh of relief when they made their way into the the forbidden section./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They didn't waste any time hanging around. Draco quickly found what he was looking for and they made their way out of the Library and back to the common room. After dodging around Filch, McGonagall and several ghosts, they finally arrived back at the common room. Unaware he had been holding his breath, Harry said, "Let's not do that again for a while." whilst panting heavily./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah." Replied Draco, who was similarly out of breath. "But still." He held up the book. "We got what we wanted."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Have you ever seen spiders act like that though?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No." Said Draco, who looked just as confused as Harry did./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For their next project in Defence against the Dark Arts, Quirrell started to teach them the Disarming Charm. And whilst he himself admitted that this was a fairly advanced charm, Quirrell admitted he wanted to get the defensive spells taught before they started on any more creatures. Upon announcing this, he distinctly glared at Harry and Draco for a second before moving on./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Strangely, Harry noticed that whenever Quirrell looked at him, a flash of sharp, hot pain would sear through his scar. And although he was expecting it this time, that didn't stop it from hurting./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In order to make sure time was not wasted by students having to go get their wands after they had been disarmed, Quirrel had given each student a basket of sticks. They were to hold a stick in place of their wand whilst their partner practiced disarming them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found this quite an easy charm to get the hang of. It only took him two tries before he managed to disarm Crabbe. And this was quite an achievement as Crabbe was infamously known for having a strong grip on his wand, something that was often criticised by the likes of Mcgonagall and Flitwick. Additionally, despite being generally contempt towards Harry, Quirrell awarded Slytherin House 10 points for being the first one to successfully perform the charm./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco didn't have as much luck as Harry, though to be fair to him, whenever Draco attempted to disarm Goyle, Goyle instead dropped the stick he was holding so that Draco's spell didn't affect him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You idiot Goyle!" Said Draco after this happened for the fifth time. "Hold it!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay." replied Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco readied his wand and cast "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Expelliarmus!"/em again. And to his credit, Goyle did not drop his stick, but Draco's spell only caused his stick to wiggle in his hand, not fly out of it. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Dammit!" Said Draco, as Goyle dropped the stick a few seconds later. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"it's really more of flick." Said Harry, who had come over to watch Draco try the spell. "Here. Goyle, pick up the stick again, and don't drop it." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Goyle did so as Harry moved into a position in front of him. "Expelliarmus!" Cried Harry, and with a flick of his wand, Goyle's stick flew into the air and hit a Ravenclaw on the other side of the classroom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I didn't drop it." Said Goyle immediately, and rather stupidly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, all right." Said Draco, with his voice betraying just a hint of impatience./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Goyle picked up another stick from the basket and Draco cried, "Expelliarmus!", flicking his wand before Goyle was ready. Whether or not the stick flew as far as it did because of Draco's competency with the spell, or because Goyle had thrown it from his hand when he had fallen, Harry could not tell, but either way Draco looked pleased. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So have you found out anything about the chamber of secrets?" Harry asked Draco after class as they made their way down to the hall for lunch. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No." Sighed Draco as they made their way through the large doors to the great hall and sat down at the Slytherin table. "I don't know what I could be missing though. Well, aside from every book about the subject being removed from the library."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How do you mean?" Asked Harry as he bit into a large kipper./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't know." Replied Draco. "It's like every book gets to a point where they say, for more information, look here in this particular book. But when I go to look for it, it's gone from the library."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who could have been taking them out though?" Asked Harry, again./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that's the thing, there's no waiting list or anything, it's more like they were never in the library to begin with."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""But I thought that every book ever published was in the Hogwarts library," said Harry, shocked. Every time he had wanted to check out a book, a copy of it had been in the Hogwarts library. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, there are some things that aren't in Libraries." Replied Draco. "One of a kind manuscripts for instance, or cursed books."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What are cursed books?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Books with some kind of spell or enchantment placed on them that make them dangerous to the reader." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"There are books like that?" Said Harry, bewildered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh yes. Father knew someone who collects them. She has hundreds in her collection, like sonnets of a sorcerer, which causes you to speak in limericks for the rest of your life, and The Red King's Play, which causes you to start bleeding from your eyes when you finish reading it. But the books I want aren't any of those. They're stuff that should be in a library."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think you should put it from your mind for now. I mean, you've got that quidditch match against Gryffindor tomorrow. You'll be no good if your mind is focused on why some books are there and some aren't."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco sighed. "You're right. What have we got next?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Herbology, I think."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco paused for a second, then said "We're still doing the mandrakes aren't we?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry nodded. Draco groaned./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The next Saturday arrived with an excited atmosphere in the common room. Everyone was expecting the Slytherins to thrash the Gryffindors, given that they had the fastest brooms, and were looking for payback after word of the quidditch pitch duel had gotten out./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and Draco went to breakfast early, and were amused to see the Gryffindor players all looking uptight and not talking much. At eleven o'clock the Slytherin team started to make their way to the Qudditch pitch. It was a muggy sort of day, with a hint of thunder in the air. Harry parted ways with Draco at this point to go and find a seat in the stands with Crabbe and Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"About five minutes later the Gryffindors walked onto the pitch to a roar of noise. Annoying, this was mostly cheers for them, as large amounts of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were supporting Gryffindor in this match, but Harry made his boos and hisses heard along with the rest of the Slytherins./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After the Slytherin team had made their entrance, Madame hooch made Marcus and Wood shake hands, and then told both teams to mount their brooms./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was silence as Madame Hooch counted down from three... two... one... Madame Hooch gave a sharp blast on her whistle and Harry roared and the fourteen players shot up into the sky. The difference between the two teams was immediately obvious. The Slytherins started to manoeuvre around the Gryffindors before the latter had even managed to locate the quaffle. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Marcus shot up to the goalposts, passing the quaffle to Adrien Pucey, who promptly steered right around Wood and threw the quaffle into the goal hoop. Harry cheered with the rest of the Slytherins. The match continued like this for quite a while, with Slytherin scoring five more goals in as many minutes. It was during this time that the youngest Weasley, Ginny, got hit by a bludger from Lucian. One of the Weasley twins, (Harry thought it might have been Fred, though he didn't particularly care,) had not been fast enough and had narrowly missed deflecting the bludger away from his sister. Harry groaned with the rest of the crowd as Ginny got hit in the shoulder so hard she got knocked off her broom and fell towards the pitch. Fred dove down to catch her whilst Lucian laughed. Then suddenly, WHAM! It could be heard across the stadium as the other Weasley broke his bat against Lucian's head, flying in at breakneck speed from behind him. Lucian flew forward from his broom, unmoving, and Madame Hooch's whistle almost couldn't be heard over the roar of outrage from the Slytherin supporters. Luckily, the ground was soft due to it raining, but that still didn't stop Lucian from making a loud crunching sound as he hit the earth. Madame Hooch looked furious, and awarded a penalty to Slytherin, but Wood blocked it. Harry couldn't blame the Slytherins for playing angrier after this. There was no way the Gryffindors could win now, what with the score being 210-10 half an hour later, but that didn't seem to matter to the Slytherins. Play got increasingly more violent as time went on. Peregrine Derrick seemed especially eager to avenge his comrade, relentlessly pursuing the Weasley twins and grasping their brooms to try and unseat them. Ginny seemed even more nervous after this, and her shoulder looked to be broken as she couldn't move it without flinching from the pain. It didn't help that after he had finished with the Weasley twins, Peregrine concentrated bludger attacks on her, with the result that by the end of the match she was bloodied, bruised and had several bones broken. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After the match had ended, Harry went to the Slytherin changing rooms to meet up with Draco. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Those filthy blood-traitor Wesleys!" He said as Harry walked in. He had changed back into his school robes, though the snitch he had caught was still hovering around his head like a large annoying fly. "Stop it!" He said, catching the snitch and stuffing it into his pocket. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I saw what they did to Lucian." Harry said. "Do you think he's going to be okay?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix him." Assured Draco, though there was some doubt in his voice. "I'm going up to the hospital wing now to check on him. The rest of the team is already there."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" So Harry and Draco marched up to the hospital wing. When they arrived they saw Lucian lying in the bed, completely unconscious. "What's it like?" Draco Asked of Marcus when they got close to his bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Marcus looked around at who had spoken before saying, "It's not good. That was a serious blow to the head, and Madame Pomfrey thinks it's best to let him heal naturally than to try to heal him up by magic." He was so unexpectedly somber when he said this, that Harry was slightly taken aback. He had been used to the loud, jokey Marcus, so to see him like this, so quiet, so defeated; it scared Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry glanced around the hospital wing. Ginny was in a bed as far away from Lucian's as possible, and Madame Pomfrey was performing various incantations to heal her numerous injuries. She hadn't allowed the other Gryffindors into the hospital wing, for fear of what might happen if Gryffindors and Slytherins were face to face with one-another again. She stole a glance at Lucian's bed and said, "no more than six visitors at a time." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Since Harry was not actually a part of the team, it was he that left, leaving Lucian in the company of his teammates./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Waiting outside the doors to the hospital wing were the Gryffindor quidditch team, along with all the Weasleys attending Hogwarts. They looked up when Harry opened the door, evidently hoping for news about Ginny, but glared when they saw it was Harry. Harry glared back. He thought that the Weasleys should get much more than a few lost house points and detentions for what they did. Lost house points were worth nothing. They weren't a real punishment. In order for a punishment to be real, it needs to be felt. It needs to hurt as much as the crime committed. Then he suddenly remembered something one of the guests at Malfoy Manor had said to him when he had stayed there. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Cursed scars never heal/em. Harry smiled. He had suddenly realised what needed to be done./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next day Harry could be found in the library, his head inside books a second-year probably shouldn't be reading. "What are you looking for?" Draco asked. Harry explained to him his plan. Draco smirked when Harry finished explaining it. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, you won't find what you're looking for in any of these books." And he indicated at the shelves around them. "The kind of spell you're looking for is in there." And he pointed towards the restricted section./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The problem is though, that in there I can't exactly browse, and I don't know what book it'll be in." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well you're in luck then. I know exactly what you're looking for, I saw of copy of it when we went to take the other book. So how about tonight, we go to the library again, and put back the book I have whilst taking the book you want." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Okay." Agreed Harry, seeing this as good an opportunity as any./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were making their way back from the library, when Harry heard his name being whispered very loudly. Thinking it might be Creevey again, he spun around, anger in his face and already drawing his wand to hex Creevey. But there was no-one there. Confused Harry placed his wand back in his pocket and continued walking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What was that about?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought I heard-" started Harry, but he never finished that sentence because he heard the voice again, louder this time. He spun back around and saw who was making the noise. It was Aslaug, the red-robed wife of Kryillos, and she was calling to him from a painting of three fat wizards who were all plying cards, and all cheating./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aslaug!" Said Harry, rushing over to the painting. "What happened to you? What happened to Kryillos? We went to the room to find it all destroyed and the painting missing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We were attacked." She said quickly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""By who," Harry interrupted. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"A woman in a dark robes, I couldn't see her face, she used magic in a way I have never seen and stole the painting of my beloved. I barely managed to escape. I've been looking for you ever since."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why?" Asked Harry quickly. Draco was very interested too, and Crabbe and Goyle were making sure no-one would interrupt them. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Because something about her seemed familiar. I don't know what it was. But Harry, be careful, don't trust anyone, especially anyone you haven't seen before, or anyone who is acting differently. She acted like a person with many threads in many different places, and someone who can manipulate people on that scale make for the darkest of wizards." Aslaug said very quickly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay, what will you do now?" Harry said, matching Aslaug's speed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I will hide, and try to gather information. If I find anything I will contact you again."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay. Bye."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She nodded and ran out past the cheating wizards into the other portraits and out of sight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They dared not discuss anything until they got back into the Slytherin common room. Harry gave Jaculus a small cut of meat from the dining room table and sat down on his bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what should we do now?" He asked of Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, I don't think we can do anything other than keep our eyes open and go about things as normal." He said as Theodore walked into the dormitory. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What's up?" He asked, and Harry explained to him their encounter with Aslaug./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's concerning." He replied after Harry had finished relaying the whole story. "... A magic like nothing she had ever seen before?... That's very concerning." Then it suddenly looked like he had been hit by a revelation, because he then said, "You don't think this person could be the heir of Slytherin could you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What?" Said Harry, a little surprised. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Think about it," said Theodore, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A magic like nothing she had ever seen before/em, and what did Dumbledore say? He had no idea how Mrs. Norris was petrified. That it required powerful dark magic to pull off. This mystery witch could easily be the heir of Slytherin."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""But that begs the question, why now?" Said Draco. "If they're a student, why wait until now to open the chamber? Doubly so if they're a teacher, and what reason would they have to steal the painting of Kryillos, and destroy the room?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They all thought but couldn't come up with anything. Still though, they all agreed that currently, she was the most likely candidate./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /That night, the Library raid went off without a hitch, much like it had the previous time they tried it. Draco had picked out for Harry a book called em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Darkeste magicks of the Fouleste kinds/em. The cover was made of a strange, waxy, type of leather and the pages seemed to be stained with blood. It was on their way back that they saw something. A long, black cloak. Harry and paused under the invisibility cloak. If this was the woman, had she noticed them? She didn't seem to have, and the cloak was slowly moving up the corridor, examining the paintings./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But then Harry heard something. Something that made his blood curdle and the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Hungry... Sooo Hungrry... to hunt... tear... I smell flesh!/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry wasn't the only person to have heard it, the cloaked woman had heard it too. She quickly looked around and bolted down the corridor, moving out of sight in a flash. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Come on!" Harry whispered to Draco, who was looking utterly confused, but moved along quickly in the cloak beside Harry. They rounded the same corner as the cloaked woman, but couldn't see her. It was a long corridor, and they should have been able to see her, but she had vanished into thin air./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They made their way back to the common room and when they were back in the dormitory Harry explained what had happened to Draco and Theodore. But that just left them with more questions than answers./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The next day it was Monday, so Harry didn't have much of a chance to examine the book he had taken from the library. This, combined with the fact that Harry wasn't really excited to look into the blood-soaked pages meant he only started reading it the next Saturday. About halfway into the book was the spell Draco had said Harry was looking for, and Harry now knew Draco had been right. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Acribignis/em em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Secucer/em was the incantation, and although the diagram wasn't very clear on what it did exactly - owing to the fact that the diagram had been covered by a blood stain - from the description using words like em style="box-sizing: inherit;"extremely painful/em and em style="box-sizing: inherit;"irreversible/em, Harry knew it was what he style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was Sunday when he decided to enact his plan. Under his cloak, Harry made his way to the quidditch pitch, where he knew Gerorge Weasley was doing detention, cleaning the quidditch supplies and the stands. It was almost dark, so Harry knew he had to do it quick. It didn't take him long to find George, who was enchanting a brush to sweep the floor whilst he made a tower out of exploding cards. Harry silently moved behind him. "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Acribignis Secucer!/em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" George turned around at the wrong time. The spell hit him dead in the face and he collapsed on the ground, screaming in agony. Harry ran away as fast as he could. He was a little shocked by how much damage had been done, but at the same time, felt powerful. This wasn't like at the Dursleys, where, whenever Dudley had hit him he had been able to get away with it relatively unscathed. Now, Harry had the power to seek revenge on those that wronged him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he was moving up the grounds to the castle he could see Madame Hooch making her way to the pitch to investigate the screaming. Harry smiled. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry woke the next morning feeling happy. Indeed, he felt happier than he had felt for a while. But initially, he wasn't sure why he felt the way he did. Obviously, his sleeping brain had been running through the events of yesterday, for Harry could still see an after-image of the light from the curse he had used floating around his vision. Why would this make him happy though? Or at least, happier than he had been for a long time. Then his scar twinged and brought Harry back down to Earth./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He got up, dressed, and made his way to the great hall with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore, and the rest of the Slytherins. At breakfast, Harry did not initially notice that something was wrong, and it was only when Pansy pointed out that several of the teachers and all of the Weasleys were missing from the great hall, did Harry realise what must currently be happening. He smiled to himself. Draco had been right. Dark magic was not something to be feared, especially not when it gave you this much power. Power, it appeared, that even the teachers couldn't manage./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Let's go visit Lucian." Harry said when they had all just about finished eating. "He might have woken up, we should bring him something to eat." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Since it was a Sunday, and none of then had much to do, they decided to go visit Lucian. Crabbe and Goyle were given the task of bringing the food from the table, but Harry wasn't sure that was such a good idea. He felt they might eat half of it before they arrived./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" But when they arrived, they found Madame Pomfrey had locked the hospital wing doors. They knocked, and she appeared in front of them, closing the dues behind her. In the brief period in which the doors were opened, Harry saw a crowd of teachers all huddled around one bed. He had no doubts as to who that bed belonged to./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We would like to visit Lucian." Draco drawled at her. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'm sorry, but the hospital wing is off limits right now. You'll have to come back later."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How much later?" Draco asked, a sneer playing about his lips./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Later/em." Replied Madame Pomfrey, rather brusquely, and she closed the door./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did you see those teachers?" Asked Theodore. "What do you think they're doing? There hasn't been another attack had there?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Draco gave Harry a knowing look, but said nothing. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I know a way we can find out." Said Harry. He reached into his sleeve and out slithered Jaculus. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Can you sneak in there whilst we distract Madame Pomfrey?" He said to the snake. Jaculus nodded in reply and Harry placed the serpent down on the floor, right next to where the door would open. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He knocked on the large wooden door./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought I told you, " said Madame Pomfrey as she opened the door, "to come back later." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, sorry Madame Pomfrey, but you see I think I left a book in here the last time I came to visit, so..." said Harry, quickly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Madame Pomfrey looked at him suspiciously for a second before glancing back into the hospital wing. "There are no books on his bedside Mr. Potter, I suggest you look where you saw it last." And she shut the wooden doors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry glanced down to the floor and noted That Jaculus had made it inside. Now all they had to do was wait./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did this mean," Said Goyle, suddenly and slowly, "That we can eat these?" He indicated to the armfuls of food he had Crabbe were carrying. Harry observed that a lot of the food they had brought had already been eaten, with the crumbs sticking to each of their jumpers. Draco had evidently noticed this too for He said, rather dryly, "Yes, yes it does."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As the Slytherin posse roamed the hallways, looking for something to do, Harry found that the general state of gossip had changed. Whispers circulated around the halls, all of them discussing the recent attack on one of the Weasley brothers. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Saw him as they brought him to the hospital wing, it was awful, his whole face was burnt off, smelling of something rotten..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nah, mate, I heard he got his eye blasted out. That they found it halfway across the grounds..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ooh, do you think he got attacked by the heir of Slytherin?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""'course not Matilda, he's a pure-blood."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Still though, the Wesleys aren't exactly the purest of pure-bloods are they?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was intoxicating. Harry found himself smiling more and more as he heard each juicy bit of gossip. In fact, he was so carefree, he didn't even notice when a scraggle of first year Gryffindors walked into him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Watch it! You filthy first-years." Harry pulled his wand out and trained it on the nearest first year, a black-haired boy with funny looking eyebrows./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Calvorio/em!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Instantly, the boy's hair started to fall out. At first he looked like he had aged about fifty years, with a bald crown gleaming from his head, but soon he was completely bald, his hair fallen onto the floor around him. The Slytherins all laughed. He started to tear up and tried to cover his newly bald head with his hands before dashing off in the opposite direction to where they were headed. It was then that Harry noticed that the group of Gryffindor first-years also happened to include Ginny and she was looking at him with a very strange look in her eyes. It was fear, certainly, but there was something else there. Awe, perhaps? Harry couldn't tell. He pointed his wand at her and said "Now run along, unless you want the next one to be more painful."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Ginny went red and immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction, tripping over her robes in her haste to get back./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ha!" Draco exclaimed whilst the others laughed. "Did you see his stupid little head? You should've done something else, Harry. Give him antlers or some such."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, but he was ugly enough already, don't you think?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They laughed their way back to the common room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Jaculus returned after dinner, with news of what was going on in the hospital wing. Madame Hooch had found him, like Harry had known, and had brought him to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had immediately recognised it as dark magic, and sent for Dumbledore, who had in turn called upon Professors Quirrell, Snape, Flitwick, and McGonagall to aid him. But so far, they hadn't been able to do much other than ease the pain. The other Weasleys, Granger and the brother's friend Lee Jordan had been let in to see him whilst Dumbledore contacted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as well as Saint Mungo's hospital for magical maladies and injuries. A team of healers had arrived moments later and they took him to the hospital, where he was now being treated by specialists./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Filthy blood-traitor. They should let him live with the pain in my opinion." Remarked Draco after this account. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But still though," started Theodore, "who could have done this?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The heir of Slytherin." Said Pansy. "Or that mysterious woman."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco glanced at Harry, then motioned for him to follow him whilst the others continued their conversation about who could have been the perpetrator./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They made their way out of the common room and round a few of the dungeon passages before Draco cornered Harry in an alcove. He quickly checked to make sure no-one was around then said, "You haven't told them yet, have you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry shook his head. "No, only you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good. I don't think you should tell anyone, not even them. Currently everyone thinks you're the heir of Slytherin, and if you get expelled..." he replied, leaving the sentence hanging in the air. Neither of them wanted Harry to get expelled. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I know. I'll try sticking to the shadows a bit more, but if you can draw the attention away from me, that would help."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Be loud. Obnoxious. Jinx random people." Harry replied. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't worry Harry," Draco said assuringly, "You can count on me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We should get back. The others will be wondering where we are."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Weasley did not return the next day, or the day after that. It wasn't until almost a week later that he returned back at the school. Annoyingly, he made rather a big deal out of it. The spell Harry had hit him with had left it's mark alright. The scar that it had left him with looked utterly revolting; it looked to Harry like Weasley had been slashed with a large and rusty knife, struck by a bolt of lightning, and been scolded by boiling water, all in the same place. It certainly looked painful and Harry noticed that whenever he thought no-one was looking, Weasley would prod it slightly and wince in pain. It had also had an effect on his eye. His left eye no longer moved in it's socket, and the white of his eye was now blood-red, with black burn marks around the edges. Despite this though, Weasley paraded around the castle, showing it off to people, none of whom seemed at all put off by it's disgusting nature./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He acted, in Harry's opinion, as though he had just fought Voldemort, and survived. Harry longed to sneak up to him and cast the spell again, this time on somewhere more sensitive, but the arrangement he had made with Draco prevented him from doing that, and he didn't think the teachers would like it much. As they had agreed, Harry hung to the back of the group whenever the Slytherins travelled around the castle, and Draco almost always found a reason to jinx other students. It it had gotten him into a slight bit of trouble with Filch, but it had done what it was supposed to do, and take the heat off of Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry had even heard whispers that it was Draco that was Slytherin's heir, not Harry. An idea which amused the both of them as neither of them knew who the identity of the mysterious lady was yet. Harry, Theodore, and Blaise had spent the afternoon when Draco was in a detention looking through documents for information about the students in sixth and seventh year, for Harry thought that it must have been one of them that held the identity of the mysterious woman. This was, however, difficult, as Harry couldn't place any recognisable features to the woman, other than height, and since all the girls in sixth and seventh year didn't have much noticeable variation in height, they have this up as a fruitless endeavour. She must have stuck again however, because when Harry and Draco when to see Lucian Bole, who was still unconscious in the coma, they noticed one of the beds had been cordoned off with large medical screens that obscured the occupant from view. He motioned to Draco, who nodded and started to keep a look out for Madame Pomfrey, who was currently sitting in her office. Harry snuck over and glanced through the screens to see who was in the bed. It was an older boy, a Gryffindor, and his expression looked like he had just seen something terrifying in front of him, yet his body was slightly twisted as if he had been caught in the middle of the act of turning around. Draco gave a cough and Harry quickly retreated away from the boy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So someone else has been attacked!" Draco whispered as they made their way back to the common room. "Do you know who it was?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No idea." Replied Harry, "Some Gryffindor fourth year I think, I've never seen them before."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"A group of Hufflepuff girls gave them nasty looks as they walked by, and Draco sneered back at them. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I wonder if they were a mudblood?" Said Draco, completely unperturbed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, if you all that business about the chamber of secrets and Salazar Slytherin, then they must be, mustn't they?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose. But Mrs. Norris wasn't a mudblood, was she?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, well she also wasn't human, was she?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They continued this back and fourth when until they made their way to the common room entrance. (Unsurprisingly, Granger's name came up often when Draco discussed who should be targeted next.)/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When inside the common room they informed the others about who they had seen in the hospital wing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, I heard about that." Said Pansy. "Dallon Moore, I think his name was. He's been there for a while now. Apparently he was up in the corridors in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Snape found him. Thought he was faking it at first." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Who told you this?" Asked Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"one of the portraits by the second floor." Pansy replied, pointing at the ceiling. "Some Tudor witch I think."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"So it wasn't Aslaug, Harry thought./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The winter term approached sooner than expected, and with it - and the news about Dallon Moore - a roaring trade in talismans, amulets and other protective devices swept the school. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This is a load of garbage." Draco said one morning as they saw Longbottom purchasing a rotting newt tail from a Ravenclaw first year. "I've barely seen even one item which could genuinely protect you from an attack for sale." Draco, it transpired, had picked up quite an eye for what artificers were selling legitimately protective artefacts, and which weren't. About the only thing he had purchased which he said was legitimately protective, was a baby dragon's horn on a cord. However, he didn't wear it. In fact, he had sent it off to his father almost immediately for, in his own words, "What would I need protection from? Father will find this interesting though."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had told Draco that they were going to the south of France for Christmas, and since Draco said he preferred a cold, snowy Christmas, he and Harry has put their names down to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays. (So Did Crabbe an Goyle, obviously.)/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry was excited for Christmas at Hogwarts. Last year he had stayed at Malfoy Manor, so he was interested to see how Christmas at Hogwarts would compare. Of course, Christmas at Hogwarts also meant that they would have to deal with the other people staying behind as well, which included the likes of Granger, and the whole Weasley family./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But before they could enjoy Hogwarts at winter, they still had classes to attend before the end of term./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Potions, one Thursday afternoon, proceeded in the usual way. Twenty/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled the classroom, quickly criticising the Gryffindor students, who couldn't seem to make a swelling solution right. Of course, it probably didn't help that Draco kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Weasley and Granger. Draco was just showing Harry a small, silver, statuette of Merlin that he had taken from a Gryffindor first-year, when Crabbe's cauldron suddenly and violently, exploded. It showered the whole class, and a face full of it got on Harry. It was agony like he had never experienced. His face grew to the size of a pumpkin, and any slight movement caused Harry immense pain, which was annoying because people were shrieking and bumping into him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft. When I found out who did this..." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry immediately hurried over, despite the pain it caused him. He took a large swig of the antidote and almost immediately, the pain was gone, and the swellings subsided. Once everyone had taken the antidote, Snape swept over to Goyke's cauldron and scooped out the twisted, blackened remains of a Dr. Filibuster's no-heat, wet start firework. A silence fell over the class. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"If I ever find out who through this," Snape whispered, "I will make sure they are expelled."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I bet it was Granger." Draco said, an hour later after class had ended. "Did you see her face? She looked all pleased with herself, and with that Weasley. Aren't his brothers known for their practical jokes?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think they should both be expelled." Said Harry, who was still fuming./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"However, they couldn't do much against the pair, so had to merely contend themselves with practicing the jinxes the wished to use on them. They had decided to use Kryillos' old room, because no-one but them knew where it was, and it wasn't too bad once you got past the smell of burnt stone. Harry and the rest of the Slytherins started to teach each other the stinging jinx em style="box-sizing: inherit;"stimus vesparus. /emThey made such good progress with it that each one of them had the jinx down within a day or two./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that works well." Theodore commented after casting the spell at a numb Goyle for a second time. "What other spells can we learn?" He said to Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"We'd have to find some in the library." Replied Harry. "The stinging jinx is all well and good, but we can't really defend ourselves at the moment, so I think we should find a spell to do that."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry kept thinking about it during class, and resolved to ask Professor Flitwick about it when class had ended. He had to be careful how he phrased it though. He didn't want Professor Flitwick to think that he was teaching himself and others how to be expert duellers. He ran through it in his head one more time./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Hello Professor Flitwick. I was wondering, with all this business about Slytherin's heir on the loose, if you could teach me a spell to defend myself with?/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Yes, thought Harry. That didn't seem too sinister. And it didn't reveal his true motives either. It seemed perfectly natural that a student would feel scared in these dark times, and Flitwick would feel obliged to assist him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The bell rang to signal the end of class and Harry stayed behind, intent on asking his question./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Professor?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes Potter. What can I help you with?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well sir, I was wondering-" but that was as far as Harry got before a loud cry filled the corridors outside./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry rushed to the classroom door and pulled it open, just in time to hear Peeves, screeching at the top of his lungs: "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTACK!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was so loud that it drowned out the sound of the mob of students making their way down the corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oi," said Harry, grabbing the robes of a Hufflepuff he recognised as Finch-Fletchly, "what happened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Haven't you heard?" Replied Finch-Fletchly, who was white in the face and looked terrified, "Nearly-Headless Nick, he's been petrified!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
div class="storytext-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: font-size 0.3s ease 0s; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px; max-width: 100%; overflow: auto;"
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry let go of Finch-Fletchley and followed the crowd towards where nearly-headless nick was floating. There were so many people crowded around Nick that Harry had to push his way past a group of first years before he actually saw what had happened. Nearly-headless nick was no longer the the pearly-white and transparent most ghosts looked, but was black and smoky, floating horizontally about six inches off the ground. His face showed an expression of utmost terror./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"McGonagall was trying to shepherd students away from the site, with not much success. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Quickly students, back to your classrooms, this matter doesn't concern you. Please, return to your classrooms."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"After Harry had gotten a good look at Nearly-headless nick's lifeless body, he made his way to the great hall where Draco and the other Slytherins would be. He saw them at the other end of the table and rushed over, saying, "Have you heard?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Someone's been attacked?" Supplied Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yeah, Nick, the Gryffindor ghost." Harry finished at he sat down opposite him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""How could something attack Nick?" Asked Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I've no idea, but it's like it killed nick or something. He was all inky and dark, it was... it was terrifying."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The Slytherins all stared at Harry. They had never known him to be scared of anything before. This in turn caused them to get worried and scared themselves./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""We need to find this thing, or whoever's controlling it." resolved Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""We don't have any leads on either though." said Theodore, "Draco's research has turned up nothing on the location of the chamber, and our best lead as to who the heir is has vanished." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry thought for a moment, but couldn't think of their next step. However, Theodore supplied an idea./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""It's a bit of a stretch," he said, "But this monster, it can't be moving about without consequence, can it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well it can." Said Draco, "That's why no one has caught it yet."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""No, you misunderstand it's like-" He looked around the hall for a suitable example, "It's like this right - if an animal kills another animal, its not just the predator that benefits. Although the predator will take it's share of the food, scavengers will eat from the carcass, insects will lay their eggs in the dead flesh, and eventually the carcass will rot away and the plants will use that to grow. I think that this creature in Hogwarts, it's must have consequences of being here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I think i see what you're saying," said Draco, "It's like a chain reaction, everything the creature does affects something else-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""-So even if we haven't seen the creature itself, we've seen the effects of it-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""And a creature that powerful, it must have some pretty obvious reactions."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly!" Finished Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What?" said Harry, utterly confused by the whole conversation that had just gone on before him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What are some odd things that have happened this year?" Draco asked, "Things that wouldn't have normally happened."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I dunno, people being petrified?" Replied Harry, still as confused as ever./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly, we're looking for a creature that can petrify people." Said Draco triumphantly/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry looked at Draco like he was stupid, "Really? I would never have guessed that." He said, in the most sarcastic tone he could mange./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco glared at him, but continued, "There are other strange things too. Remember when we snuck off to the library that night? Remember the spiders?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yeah," replied Harry, still not sure what Draco was getting at./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""They were acting like they were scared right? So if we assume that they were scared of this creature, then we know the creature can petrify people, and spiders are scared of it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh!" said Harry, suddenly realising what they were getting at. "I've been hearing voices in the walls. If that is the creature, then it must mean that the creature is intelligent, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly." replied Theodore, "and the school roosters-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""We have school roosters?" Asked Draco, surprised./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Not anymore, they're all dead. So that means it probably eats roosters." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So in total, we're looking for an ancient monster, that can paralyse people, scare spiders, is semi-intelligent, and eats roosters." Harry concluded. "That can't be a massive list, can it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""One would certainly hope not." Answered Theodore, sardonically./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They made their way to the library, and started looking through books for any mention of the creature they were looking for. However this turned out to be much easier that they initially thought. They had scarcely been looking for more than five minutes when Blaise, who was looking in a copy of Faem style="box-sizing: inherit;"ntastic beasts and where to find them/em, said, "I think I've found it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You're joking!" Exclaimed Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I don't think so. Listen to this: the most striking feature are its yellow eyes, anyone looking into these eyes will suffer instant death. It will eat all manner of mammals, birds and reptiles, can live for thousands of years, and basilisks are uncontrollable except by parselmouths. I mean, it doesn't fit all the elements, but it certainly seems likely." Finished Blaise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You're right." Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""There's got to be more books on basilisks here somewhere." Asked Harry. To his surprise, it was Jaculus that answered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What about, mosssst macabre monssterss?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry quickly found the book and searched the glossary. There was indeed an entry about basilisks. Upon flicking to that page and reading the entry, Harry got a chill. This was certainly the monster they were talking about./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Blaise was right." Harry said to the others. "Listen to this;em style="box-sizing: inherit;" Of the many fearsome a style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; color: #483a3a;" title="Beast" href=" wiki/Beast"beasts/a and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it./em That fits pretty much everything, I can hear it because I'm a parselmouth, that was what those strange voices in the walls are, and that's why all the roosters were killed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes, but the question is now, how are they moving about the school? Surely people would have seen a giant snake moving about the castle." Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""are you certain you heard it em style="box-sizing: inherit;"in/em the walls, Harry?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Absolutely, why?" Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco paused for a moment to think, then said, "you don't think there's a passageway built specifically for the basilisk in the walls do you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well at this point, nothing would surprise me." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Unable to think of anything more to research, and feeling they had found enough all ready, they made their way back to the common room, where they relayed their discovery to the rest of the Slytherin second years./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Despite not having any new leads, Harry felt comfortable as the term ended. Perhaps it was the Christmas atmosphere, or the new silence that now deafened the school, that made him this way, or maybe it was simply the fact that Harry knew he could control the basilisk if it ever showed it's face again./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Virtually the entire castle had left for Christmas. Harry, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were the only ones left of the Slytherins, (aside from Lucian Bole, who was still in the hospital wing.) To their annoyance they found out that the Weasleys and Granger were going to be staying in Hogwarts over Christmas too. This didn't end up bothering them much, because despite the general lack of people in the corridors, they never seemed to be around./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Which is a shame." Draco exclaimed one morning, "because I was really looking forward to jinxing them until they were blue."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry had gone to Professor Flitwick before term had ended and asked about defensive charms, to which he had been directed to the protego charm. They had spent a hard few weeks learning the spell, but had recently gotten good enough to the point where they were able to consistently cast it, with only a few minor failings./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"When they woke on Christmas Day, they knew immediately that Hogwarts had changed. Everything seemed to be that perfect level of cold where it was chilly, but you could easily warm yourself by the fire. The air smelled of cinnamon and gingerbread cookies, and the glass that was separating the lake from the dormitory had frozen over, revealing a lovely snowflake pattern on the windows. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry looked down by his bed and saw a boatload of presents. He got out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown, inadvertently waking Draco in the process. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Merry Christmas." Harry said as Draco rose, groggily. this snapped him out of his slumber almost immediately, and he greeted the pile of presents by his bed with enthusiasm. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The presents Harry received for Christmas were wonderful. Amongst other things, he got a luxury dragon feather quill, from the now extinct Catalonian Fireball, as a present from Draco. A book about alchemy from Theodore, and most strangely of all, beautifully decorated, silver, knife from Pansy, alongside a small pendant. There was a note attached to the handle, which Harry read. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry, Merry Christmas. You might be thinking this present it a bit strange, and I don't blame you, because it is. This is a specially enchanted knife from the sorcerers of Ireland. It's been enchanted so that only the person with the pendant can draw it. If anyone else tries to draw it, it will cut them, and the next time you unsheathe the blade it will tell you who has unsheathed it, should you let the blood trickle off the blade and onto some parchment. Although the one you have is new, they are highly praised by historians as they can trace the ownership of the blade through the ages, as the blade never forgets. Morgan Le Fay herself owned one, as well as several other notable ancient wizards./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Huh." Was all Harry had to say about this. He showed it to Draco, and Draco found it equally as strange. Still though, Harry wore the pendant that had come with the knife./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The Hogwarts feast was incredible, and the great hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry from the ceiling. Dumbledore led him in a few of their favourite carols./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" After this, when some of the teachers had gotten tipsy on eggnog, Draco started to loudly proclaim about the new sweater he had received that morning from his mother. It was a deep emerald green, emblazoned with the Slytherin crest on the top corner, and hemmed in silver threads. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry and Draco are as much as they could stomach, taking third helping of almost everything before they left Crabbe and Goyle at the table, eating fourth and fifth helpings as fast as they aired in the plates. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They made their way back to the common room, for Jaculus had just given Harry an idea. Jaculus had suggested that, in order to find out more about the basilisk and how's it was moving about, they might check the places where the basilisk had been previously. The first of which, was the girl's toilet where Mrs. Norris had been attacked. They had decided to do this today, as if there was any day in which they were almost guaranteed that no-one would be inside a scarcely used girl's toilet, it was the day when most people weren't in Hogwarts, and had better things to be doing. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They had also decided to wait for Crabbe and Goyle, because lookouts were better than no lookouts, and they didn't lose anything by keying them tag along./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco had received an issue of the daily prophet from his father, but merely skimmed it, not finding anything interesting in its pages. Harry and Draco decided to pass the time playing wizard chess with the new wizard chess set Draco had received from his grandfather/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They had played three games -in which Draco had won all three- before Draco said, "alright, I'm not waiting any longer. I'll drag them to the room if I have to."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak as an added precaution and they went off in search of them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" They found Crabbe and Goyle, not in the great hall, but in the dungeon corridor, arguing with Percy Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""There you two are. Have you been pigging out in the great hall all this time? And what are you doing here?" Draco said to Percy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You want to show a bit more respect to a school Prefect!" Replied Percy, outraged. "I don't like your attitude!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco sneered and Harry said, "I was sorry to hear about your brother, Weasley, but at least you'll be able to tell them apart now, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"He and Draco burst out laughing, joined a slightly bit later by Goyle, then Crabbe./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Percy flushed bright red and marched out the dungeon corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"That Peter Weasley," Draco began, before he was interrupted by Crabbe, who corrected him. "Percy."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Whatever. I've seen him snooping around here before. I bet I know why he's really down here. He's hoping to catch Slytherin's heir single handed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""That'll be a challenge." Replied Harry, "given that we haven't even found a trace of her since that day."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""True. Anyway, you two," he addressed Crabbe and Goyle, "we're off to the girls bathroom where the cat got it. You stand guard at the entrance, tell us if anyone's coming."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Crabbe and Goyle looked at Draco a little stupidly for a second before Goyle said, "Yeah."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They made their way to the girl's toilet, not encountering anyone on their way there./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Once inside, Harry didn't notice anything unusual. Or at least, he didn't notice anything that might indicate the location of the entrance to the chamber of secrets. It was, however, incredibly dingy. In fact, it was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror, was a were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was slightly damp and there were a few candles lighting the room, burning low in their holders. The wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched, and one of them was dangling off it's hinges./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What are we looking for?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I dunno, anything." Replied Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They started to move about the bathroom, but stopped when they noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were inside, watching them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oi, you two! You're supposed to be watching outside, not in here. What, do you think that Snape might materialise out of the mould?" He reprimanded. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Crabbe and Goyle looked shocked, but did as Draco said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Come here," said Harry, who had just opened one of the stalls. Inside, resting on the toilet seat, was a cauldron, with a potion still inside it. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Looks like someone didn't want Snape to know what potion they were making. Best not to touch it, you've no idea what it might be." Said Draco. Harry closed the stall door and continued looking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They had been searching for well over fifteen minutes before Crabbe and Goyle arrived back in the bathroom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Didn't I tell you-" began Draco, but Goyle cut him off. "-Sorry, but someone's coming."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Quickly, under here!" Hissed Harry, pulling out his invisibility cloak. They all crouched down behind the sink and Harry had just enough time to pull it around them all before the door to the bathroom opened. Harry snuck a quick peek through the folds of the cloak at who was there. He almost let out a gasp of surprise. Standing before them, completely the opposite of his normal self, was Quirrell, pacing around the room, muttering to himself. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry couldn't hear what it was that he was saying, because he talked so fast and so softly, but from the looks of him he could tell that Quirrell was concerned about something. Eventually he stopped pacing and stared directly at the mirror. Harry pulled back a bit to make absolutely sure he couldn't see him. Then he heard something, an unnatural hissing, coming from Quirrell which Harry heard as, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"open/em. Suddenly the sinks started vibrating, a loud grinding sound could be heard. It lasted for about two minutes before It happened again, at which point Harry dared himself to take another look. But he didn't see anything. Quirrell had vanished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry was in shock. He and Draco rushed out of the second floor bathroom, and back to the common room, Crabbe and Goyle having made their way to the hospital wing, citing stomach issues. They were panting and out of breath when they finally arrived back at the common room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Half blood! Half blood!" Harry said as they made their way inside. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They sat, silent, in the chairs for several minutes whilst they processed what had just happened. It was a while begged they said anything, but it was Harry that spoke first./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Quirrell is the heir of Slytherin."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""But what reason would Quirrell have to attack muggle-borns?" Asked Harry. "He was the muggle studies teacher, surely he should love muggles."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Maybe that's just it." Replied Draco. "Maybe he got so sick of muggles because he had to teach about them, that he snapped. Found out he was their heir of Slytherin, or to be honest, he probably just learnt parseltongue, I doubt a half blood would be able to open the chamber naturally, but - what is it Harry?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Remember those rumours at the start of term?" Harry said, not looking at Draco, "People all thought that Quirrell was Voldemort, or something, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yeah," replied Draco, tentatively./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well, what if he was Voldemort? I mean, it would make more sense that Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin and was just disguised as Quirrell, rather than Quirrell being the heir himself."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" There was silence as Draco contemplated this. They were lying on their backs in the dormitory, staring at the snake pattern that was carved into the ceiling. Looking at the snake up there, Harry wondered, was this what the basilisk looked like? Were the stone fangs on the snake as big here, as in real life? And what about those yellow eyes?, for the descriptions of basilisks had all mentioned what yellow eyes they style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Should we try to do something then?" Asked Draco, snapping Harry out of his musings. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What?" He said, distracted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well is just that. It's Vol- You-know-who we're talking about here. Even Dumbledore didn't want to face him, and we're nowhere near as powerful as Dumbledore. So, should we try to do something, because if we do anything, he'll probably kill us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" There was a pause and then Harry said "He hasn't killed us yet." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Despite this, they decided to go and check out the bathroom the next day, reasoning that there was virtually no chance that Quirrell would go to the same place two days in a row. When they got there, however, they found someone there, but it wasn't Quirrell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You!" Draco hissed, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the bushy brown hair of Hermione Granger./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Clearly taken by surprise, Granger scrambled, and nearly tripped over her own robes. Weasley was there as well, and although he too had been been started by Draco and Harry's appearance, he had immediately pulled out his wand to counter Draco's. Harry pulled out his wand too, and pointed it at Weasley. Weasley snarled at him. Harry sneered back. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wait! Ron, put down your wand." Granger said, running over to Weasley and pulling his arm down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Listen, Potter, Malfoy, I -" she took a deep breath, "-I know who the heir of Slytherin is, and I know you do too."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry was completely taken aback by this. It was not what he had expected her to say, and it was perhaps the sheer shock of it that caused him to lower his wand. Draco though, still kept his wand trained on her face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Although obviously scared by Draco's wand being inches away from her face, Granger continued, "As much as I loathe you two, I know that you at least want the attacks to stop,"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh yeah?" Sneered Draco, but let her continue./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""The four of us will be much better at stopping them together, than apart, and it is for that reason that I, that is to say, Ron and myself, want to help you stop him." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry glanced at Weasley. He didn't seem remotely interested in helping them, but also seemed unlikely to disobey Granger./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Draco, can I have a word?" Harry asked, indicating they move out of earshot from Weasley and Granger. Draco followed him, though kept a suspicious eye on the pair the whole way through. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What do you think?" Harry asked, quietly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I think they're up to something." He replied. "And how do they know that we know who the heir is?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry thought for a second. "We should ask them something. Try and trap them in a lie."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Then what?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, if they answer truthfully then we agree to an alliance."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""And of not?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Then we jinx them into oblivion."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco look at Harry for a second, then nodded, and he and Harry went back to the pair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So tell me, " he said, directing his question to granger, "What do you know about the woman?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"She looked confused for a second, before realising what they were up to and shaking her head, saying, "The heir isn't some woman, it's Professor Quirrell."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"So she did know. And somehow, she had managed to find out, not only Quirrell's identity, but it stood to reason that she also knew that they knew, like she had said. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry and Draco looked at each other. How had she gotten this information?, when it had taken Harry and the Slytherins until Christmas to figure it out. And also, why was she only telling them now? br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /These questions fluttered around Harry's head, but he had made an agreement with Draco. They would form the alliance with Granger and Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""All right." Said Draco, "What do you know about Quirrell?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I- well- nothing, really, aside from that he is the heir of Slytherin." Granger admitted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry gave her an inquisitive look, before saying, "All right. You have your alliance."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Granger smiled, which Harry found to be a strange sight, and said "Thank you. Now, I think we should lay some ground rules. Firstly, I don't think any of us should be duelling each other whilst we're working together."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco sneered, but before he could say anything, Harry cut in, "We control the group." He said. "You tell us what you know, we decide what we're doing and when. You don't do anything without us knowing, and all meetings are organised by us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"These terms were slightly outrageous, and Harry expected Granger to balk, and try to talk him down, but to his surprise she agreed to all of them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Where are we meeting?" She asked, "because I don't think we should do it here. I mean, if this-. I don't think we should be doing it here, because most of you aren't even allowed in here. We could try a classroom I suppose, but then there's the chance of Quirrell walking in on us-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry held up his hand to stop her. He looked at Draco, who seemed to know what he was thinking about. He nodded, and Harry said, "Follow us, we know a place where we can talk undisturbed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"He Led the way out of the bathroom and Granger and Weasley followed, slightly nervously. Harry walked them to the dungeons, where he and Draco blindfolded them, and directed them towards Kryillos' old room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Once inside, he removed the blindfolds and grabbed a chair whilst they stared around at the place. It must have been some sight, Harry thought, with almost all the stone blackened from fire. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So what do you think we should do first?" Asked Harry, once Granger, Weasley, and Draco had all sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well, I think we should try and search Quirrell's office." Said Granger immediately. "We need to find out how he's controlling the monster in the chamber of secrets if we're to stop him."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""He's a parselmouth." Supplied Harry immediately. "The monster in the chamber is a basilisk, he's controlling it through parseltongue."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Granger looked surprised at Harry's immediate and complete knowledge of how Quirrell was controlling the monster. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"However, I do think searching his office is a good idea." Harry said, when it was clear Granger or Weasley wasn't going to say anything. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes, Quirrell must have some sort of plan." Said Draco. "The legend goes that the heir of Slytherin will rid Hogwarts of all of the muggle borns. Given it's now Christmas, and he's only attacked three people, then he's clearly either incompetent, or working towards a bigger goal."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So?" Said Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So, " Replied Harry, "it means that two days from now, you two are going to distract Quirrell whilst we sneak into his office."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Why you two?" Said Weasley again, "Why not me and Hermione?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry gave Weasley a loathing look. "Because he already suspects us, and we want to stay as far away from him as possible."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""But Why?" Said Weasley for a third time./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry was getting rather angry now, but it was Draco who replied first. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Because Harry is the best chance we have of stopping the basilisk, and he certainly can't do that if he's expelled, but he can do it if either of you two are expelled, which makes you much more disposable, don't you think, Weasley?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Weasley stood up at this, drawing his wand. Draco did the exact same, and had his wand pointed at Weasley's face faster than blinking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Do it, I dare you." He whispered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Ron, No!" Said Granger, tugging on his wand arm again. "We'll do it." She said to Harry, still trying to restrain Weasley. "After lunch in three days time."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry agreed, and led them back to the great hall, feeling it wise to leave Draco to go back to the common room himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Next Tuesday, Harry, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were all sitting at lunch, but neither Harry, nor Draco were eating much. What might they find in Quirrell's office? Talismans of great, Dark magic, perhaps. Or books on how to perform the most vicious of cursed, such that you wouldn't even find in the restricted section. Over on the other side of the hall he saw Granger nod at him and get up to distract Quirrell, followed doggedly by Weasley. Harry took a last swig of pumpkin juice and got up from the table, quickly making his way to the defence against the dark arts room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" When close, he pulled the invisibility cloak over all good of them, and they made their way inside the classroom. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"There was something eerily quiet about entering an empty classroom when it wasn't term time. They rapidly made their way too the back of the classroom, where the office was located. The door was locked, but Harry manned to get it open with a quick "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"alohomora/em."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The inside of Quirrell's office was strange, though it was the first time Harry had ever been inside a teacher's office, and therefore he had no idea what to expect./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" On one of the walls, Harry saw a row of tribal African masks, each with exaggerated faces of fear, and horror. In one corner of the room there was a pile of yellow cushions sitting next to a telescope, which was cracked. The skulls of several animals Harry didn't have names for lined the shelves, and dangling next to Quirrell's chair was a string of teeth, from various style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Get looking!" Harry whispered. For some reason he didn't want the room to hear him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"But Goyle had scarcely stepped onto a faded carpet lying on the floor when it attacked him, trying to wrap him up and strangle him like a boa constrictor. Harry, Draco and Crabbe immediately started to shoot spells and jinxes at the carpet. Something seemed to be happening, and very soon, Quirrell's carpet dropped Goyle, and lay limp and seared on the floor. Harry prodded it with his foot, but the carpet didn't move./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Okay, look, but be careful, and don't touch anything unless it's absolutely necessary." Harry instructed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"But it appeared that the carpet was the only defence Quirrell had against intruders, or at least it was the only defence they could see, as nothing else attacked them. It didn't appear that there was anything interesting to find though, or at least there was nothing related to the chamber of secrets, anyhow. Thinking it was time to cut their losses, Harry directed the group back to the common room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Waiting outside the entrance to the dungeons were Weasley and Granger./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""How did it go?" She Asked, when they got close enough./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Nothing." Said Harry, leading her further into the dungeon and out of plain view. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Are you sure you looked hard enough?" Criticised Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes I'm sure, but if you want to go and double check, be my guest, just watch out for the carpet that tries to strangle you, Okay?" Replied Harry, sarcastically. Right now he wanted nothing more than for Weasley to be strangled by a moth-eaten carpet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Perhaps Granger realised that things were getting tense as she took Weasley back to their common room, telling Harry they would look over things in the morning. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Later that evening, Harry and Draco were sitting in the common room discussing ways that Granger and Weasley could know what they knew, when Harry excused himself to go to the bathroom. It was on his way there, that he heard it again. The voice, the blood-curdling voice of the basilisk. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Hungry, so hungry, must, feed, must KILL!/em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"It was close to him, Harry knew that. He listened closer and could hear the serpent muttering to itself as it travelled. Harry decided to follow the noise, despite knowing how risky it could be it run into a live basilisk. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He followed the sound up a stairway and round a corridor, before taking a left and realising he had gotten there too late./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"There was a boy lying on the floor. He looked to be from Ravenclaw, and Harry felt sure he wasn't dead. The body was facing the window, which, in the current light, would allow it to become the perfect mirror. Harry kneeled down to look more closely at the body. It was then that he heard the quick pitter-patter of running feet. He got up sharply, this was not a situation he thought it a good idea to be seen in. However, He had barely stood up when Quirrell rounded the corridor. He seemed out of breath, and was playing his cowardly self./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""P-p-potter!" He sounded genuinely surprised to see him here./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Who-Who's t-t-that b-b-behind you?" He stammered. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry listened carefully. There didn't seem to be anyone else coming towards them, and there were no portraits lining the walls of this corridor. If there was any place that would be perfect to see who Quirrell really was, it was here./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh, drop the act, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Professor/em." Harry said, stressing the last word./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I-I-I -d-d-don't know w-what you me-mean, " stammered Quirrell,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"very convincingly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I mean," said Harry, drawing his wand very slowly, "that you're not the cowardly, scared, defence against the dark arts teacher that you pretend to be, are you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Quirrell continued to look confused for a second, before seeing that Harry wasn't going to budge, and dropping the act entirely./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well done, I must say." He said, slowly clapping as Harry gripped his wand. "I mean, I'm impressed. Not even Dumbledore has figured it out, yet you, a lowly second year, managed it. What tipped it off?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry didn't answer. He felt he might have overestimated his chances against Quirrell. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Not going to tell me? Fine!" Quirrell said, pointing his wand straight at Harry. He didn't say anything, just launched a green ball of light out of his wand. Harry scrambled backwards, and cast the shield charm, but when the green ball hit, it failed to hold, and sent him flying into the wall. He looked up, and his head was spinning. There were two of Quirrell slowly walking towards him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Impressive." Commented Quirrell. "Not many second-years can cast a shield charm at all, let alone one that could stop a dark charm." He waved his wand again, this time directed towards the nearby suits of armour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"With a clanking of metal, they sprung to life, and made their way to Harry, their arms outstretched. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry tried to scramble backwards again, but he was still dizzy from the blow to his head, and instead fell over, dropping his wand on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"One of the knights picked up his wand whilst the other restrained him. Harry struggled, but the grip of the suit of armour was too strong. Harry looked up and saw Quirrell pointing his wand, point blank at his face, then a blue flash of light and nothing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry stirred. His mind was groggy, he felt like he had just been hit by Dudley, only a hundred times worse. He heard voices. One was Dumbledore's, but one was from someone he didn't recognise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""-but I won't, Albus, I promise you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""The boy is harmless, I don't see why you need to take him at all!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""He was found at the scene of the crime, and attacked Quirrinus. All the evidence points to him."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So in light of circumstantial evidence, you decided to lock him up with no solid proof?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""As I said, it won't be Azkaban, you have my word, I'll just take him to the Auror office. They'll be able to keep an eye on him and-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry let out a groan as he tried to move his head and the voices stopped abruptly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Harry, can you hear me?" Asked Dumbledore, moving closer to him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What?" Asked Harry, looking up at the people around him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There was Dumbledore, obviously, In his pale-blue robes and with his long, silvery beard. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /A short, portly man stood next to Dumbledore and was looking at Harry with equal concern. He was wearing a pin-striped suit, a scarlet tie, a black cloak, and was nervously clutching a lime green bowler hat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Snape was there as well, though Harry didn't think he had been speaking. He stood somewhere next to the door, trying to be out of sight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Can you hear me?" Dumbledore repeated./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes." Replied Harry. "What's going on, where am I?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He looked around. He had never seen a room like this at Hogwarts before. It was large, and circular. A number of funny little silver instruments stood on spindle-legged chairs, whirring and occasionally emitting puffs of smoke. On the walls there were portraits of old witches and wizards, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, upon which sat the sorting hat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You're in my office, Harry." Said Dumbledore. "Are you alright? What happened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry recounted the story of what had happened to him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I see." Said Dumbledore, clearly thinking hard./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The short, portly man, however, said, "Preposterous. Quirrinus is a respected member of the magical community. I don't believe he would do something like this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I'm sorry, who are you?" Harry Asked the portly man./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh, right. I'm sorry Harry, I haven't introduced you. This is Cornelius Fudge, he's the minister for magic." Said Dumbledore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What does the ministry want with me?" Harry Asked, flabbergasted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""They believe that you are the one responsible for the recent attacks, and have come to take you away." Said Dumbledore, sternly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""But that's ridiculous," said Harry, "it's Quirrell attacking the students, not me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Professor/em Quirrell, Harry, and I don't believe you're the one attacking the students. The ministry on the other hand-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Now now, Albus," said Fudge, jutting in, "it's not like I believe the boy has the power to do all these horrible things, but the governors are pressuring me to do something, and the boy is better off in the care of the aurors than lynched and hauled off to Azkaban."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Might I add, Dumbledore," said Snape, appearing, bat-like, from the shadows, "that if Quirrell is who you think he is, then Potter would undoubtedly be safer with the aurors, than here, at Hogwarts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly." Said Fudge, enthusiastically, though looking a bit confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Dumbledore contemplated Snape's words for a moment before saying./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Very well, fudge, I will allow your aurors to keep an eye over Harry until the true culprit is found. However, I want you to let him have contact with his peers at all times, and if you intend to keep him past the time term starts up again, he must also continue his education." said Dumbledore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Of course, of course," said Fudge, "I shall see to it personally. Shall we be going then. Sooner is better than later, don't you think?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What about all my stuff?"asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I shall have a house elf transport it. Here." Dumbledore said to Fudge, offering him a pot of what Harry recognised as Floo powder./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Are you sure floo powder will be best for him in his condition?" Asked Fudge, nervously./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I'm sure Harry will be able to stand it, won't you Harry?" Dumbledore asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry nodded, though stopped quickly as it made his head spin./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Very well, Come on Harry. Hold on tight." Fudge said as he threw a pinch of the powder into the flames, which instantly turned an emerald green./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""One moment Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry quickly turned around and saw Dumbledore holding out his wand. Harry took it, thanking Him before clutching Fudge's arm as fudge cried /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Auror office, ministry of magic!"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry felt the familiar twist of using floo powder, and in a second he found himself stepping onto the ashen carpet of the Auror office. Despite it being so late, there were a number of people still working at the cubicles, which were decorated with maps, and charts, and clippings from the daily prophet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""This way, Harry." Said fudge, directing him away from the cubicles and towards a large door marked: /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Head of the Auror office/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Rufus Scrimgeour/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You'll like Rufus." Said Fudge, smiling at Harry. "You're very similar, in a lot of ways. Here we are." He said, as he opened the doors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Rufus Scrimgeour looked rather like an old lion, in Harry's opinion. He had a mane of tawny hair and bushy eyebrows, and though he was sitting at a desk writing a note, he seemed to exhume an air of toughness and power, as well as wit and strategic thinking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Ah Fudge, I have that report on those highland warlocks you wanted." He said, without looking up./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Excellent, excellent. Rufus, I'd like you to meet someone." Said fudge, his hand still on Harry's shoulder./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Rufus looked up, his eyes fell on Harry, then immediately went to Harry's scar./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Harry Potter." He said, with some amusement and curiosity. "What's this about, fudge?" He Asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well," Fudged sighed, "There's been another attack, not dead, and Harry was found at the scene, and taken to Dumbledore. He's asked the Auror office to look after him for the time being." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Scrimgeour looked like he wanted to ask Fudge some questions, but refrained from it for the time being./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well then Harry, I'm sure you're rather tired. Why don't I fix you up a bed hmm?" He waved his wand, and the chair in front of his desk turned into a lovely, warm, bed. Harry didn't realise how tired he actually was. The floo powder had shook him awake, but he almost immediately collapsed on the bed, and fell asleep as Scrimgeour and Fudge left the room./p
/div
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When Harry woke, it took him a moment to realise where he was. Harry looked around the room. He hadn't noticed it before, but the room was very Spartan. There was hardly a picture on the walls that wasn't directly related to Scrimgeour's work as an Auror. The desk upon which Scrimgeour worked was about the most decorated thing there, and Harry had a feeling that that was because it was handed down from one head of the Auror office to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The window outside suggested to Harry that it was nearly the middle of the day, though he was surprised to find that the view was one overlooking the cliffs next to the sea./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Since he was still in his school robes, he made his way out of the office, hoping he might find Fudge. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /As it happens, Fudge was outside the door and talking to Scrimgeour, but both of them stopped abruptly when they saw Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Harry, there you are. Did you have a good rest?" He asked jovially. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry just nodded./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we've arranged a place for you to stay Harry. If you'll just follow me." He said, leading the way down the hall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry followed him, not saying a word. He felt incredibly awkward, having just slept until midday in the office of one of the most important people in the ministry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now then Harry," said Fudge, jerking Harry from his contemplations, "The Auror office has a number of safe-rooms that they use for various things, you know; Protecting people, keeping an eye on them, that sort of stuff. Rufus has kindly lent us one of these such rooms as a place for you to stay until you're back at Hogwarts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry snorted inwardly. He doubted that it was out of the kindness of his heart that Scrimgeour let Harry stay there. Harry suspected it was more likely that Scrimgeour wouldn't dare turn down an offer from his boss./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Here we are Harry." Said Fudge when they arrived at a nondescript door at the other end of the corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry walked inside. It was somehow more Spartan than Scrimgeour's office, and it reminded Harry of a hotel room he had once stayed in with the Dursleys. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The walls were made from the polished black marble that was everywhere in the ministry, and so were the floors, the only thing that provided any hint of release from the drab aesthetic was a window, which was somehow displaying a view from inside a cottage. The whole thing was split into three sections: a bedroom, a bathroom and a main room. The bedroom looked like the rest of the building, except it had a double bed in it, upon which lay a duvet and cushion which both had an image of a lit wand inside of an 'M'. A logo which Harry recognised as the Auror office logo. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The bathroom was exactly how you would expect it, with all the furnishings matching the black marble of the ministry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In The main room sat a couch, a coffee table, a small bookshelf and a table, upon which sat a number of leaflets, a plate of biscuits, a bowl of fruit, and a flagon of pumpkin juice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All of Harry's stuff was there, including,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Jaculus!" Said Harry, as he noticed the curled form of the serpent sleeping on top of his luggage. Jaculus looked up at this and slithered into Harry arms, nestling where it usually slept, around Harry's arm./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry noticed that Fudge was looking apprehensively at Jaculus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you not like snakes, minister?" Harry Asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well... I mean... it's just that, well, they're certainly not my favourite animal, but if you like them Harry, then... Anyway, this is where you'll be staying, as I said. The food and pumpkin juice is self-refilling, and three times a day, a meal will be sent to here. A Prophet will be delivered to your door every morning, free of charge of course, and someone will be by later to show you around the place." And with that, he left./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sat down on the couch, not sure what to do next. There was a copy of the daily prophet on the coffee table, but given the headline was "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Mrs. Carnegie's Christmas Cookbook reaches all time sales high./em" Harry didn't think the contents would interest him much./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was coming up to four before anyone came to see Harry. They made a slight bow as Harry opened the door, and said/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So you're the famous Harry Potter."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah." Replied Harry, nonchalantly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well i am Mordecai Berrycloth. Rufus has kindly asked me to show you around our humble little office."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry noticed that Mordecai, unlike other wizards, didn't look at his scar, instead, he kept looking into Harry'S eyes. He found it quite unnerving./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay." Said Harry. He let Jaculus slither onto his arm and pulled on a cloak, having changed out of his school robes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mordecai brought Harry to Scrimgeour's office, where he said, "This here is the head office, as you might have guessed. Don't go in there unless you have something important to tell him."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He didn't seem incredibly intelligent, Thought Harry as he followed behind him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mordecai next brought Harry to the Cubicles where he had seen the other Aurors the day before. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Everyone!" Mordecai said, loudly to the Aurors assembled there, "This is Harry Potter, as I'm sure you all know. Due to strange circumstances at Hogwarts, we have been asked to watch over him until he can go back to school. You should have gotten a memo about it. That's all."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was fiercely reminded of that time last year when he had gone to the Leakey Cauldron and had been rushed by a mob of people. Except, no-one seemed to care. A few people nodded at Harry and Mordecai, some checked their intrays and read the piece of paper there, and still others ignored them entirely./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In a strange sort of way, Harry found it refreshing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Say, " said Mordecai, turning to Harry, "Y'don't reckon' that ol' Rufus will mind me showing you around the rest of the department do you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I- er- don't, no." Replied Harry, eager to see more of the ministry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mordecai smiled and led Harry down one of the many corridors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, first up is the improper use of magic office. They deal with stuff wot violates the statutes of secrets. Which also means they control the trace, so don't annoy them until you're seventeen. Or jus' learn wandless magic. Then you can just say 'I didn't mean to turn him into a frog, I was just flippin' him off."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"A witch in deep purple robes that was writing something looked up at him in shock, but Mordecai just grinned a toothy grin at her./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's wandless magic?" Harry asked as he and Mordecai made their way to the next sub-department./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, it's exactly what it sounds like, really. Magic without a wand. Difficult to do, but dead useful. Funny too, you never forget a look on a dark wizard's face when they've disarmed you and think you're cornered, when suddenly, 'BAM', you wave your hand and they're hog-tied."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Can you do it then?" Harry asked, enthralled by Mordecai's words./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye. Tracked a man selling ancient dark wizard skulls to Africa once. Was taught it by some of the local wizards there, 'cause it's commonplace there y'know. Africa don't have much wand-wood, so they make do with what they got. And they all got hands. A beautiful people, they really are."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was intrigued by this description of wizards outside of England, something which he hadn't thought much about before. He was also excited to hear more stories from Mordecai, but they had reached the next area. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The Wizengamot administrative services. They deal with the courts and such. " Mordecai said. "And it's about as boring as a book on Merlin's curliest pair of shoes. You want my advice? Don't look for a job here. And if you do find yourself here somehow, leave. Of course, technically I'm supposed to be on the Wizengamot, given I'm an Auror an' all, but i don't think I've attended a trial since I got here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what happened to the wizard who was selling skulls?" Asked Harry, eager to hear more of the story./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmm? Oh, well, i had to be careful tracking him, because those skulls contain some nasty magic in them. We have special vault in the ministry where we keep dark wizards remains, 'cause they're almost poisonous, y'see. Do some dead nasty stuff to you if you're not prepared. So anyway, I had be careful. And I'd tracked him to Egypt, where he was looking for the skull of some Egyptian wizard, Hotep-someone, I don't know, but I knew that if he got his hands on it, he could do some massive damage. And he found this pyramid, and had to get up to the top to open it, see, so I chased him up and reached the top of it just as he opened the capstone. I try to arrest him there, but he jumps inside. Once inside, I shout 'surrender!' To him. Give him a chance, you know. But he shouts back, 'You won't stop me, Mordecai! It is inevitable, you just haven't seen it yet!' Now, I've no idea what he's talking about, but I see him open the casket of this Hotep-fellow and pull out his skull. Instantly, he seems different. I try to stun him, but the spell just bends away from him. He shouts again, 'it is inevitable!" And raises his hand, pointing it at me, and I think, well, this is it, I'm gonna die. But then his eyes flash green and he explodes into a powdery substance, leaving the skull on the floor. Now, there's no way I'm picking that thing up, so I try to shoot it with em style="box-sizing: inherit;"reducto/em, but nothing happens. So I do the only sane thing. I light some Gabrathian fire, and some fiendfyre, and get out of there as fast as possible. It's probably still burning to this day." He finished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry mind was reeling from this story. Being an Auror sounded incredibly cool. Harry started to daydream about being an Auror, with the result that he didn't really pay attention as Mordecai said, "This is the Administrative registration department. Basically just a bunch of registries of people. You got the Werewolf registry, the Animagus registry, the death eater list. All that good stuff."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The death eater list?" Harry asked, surprised. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oh, yeah. Anyone convicted of being a death eater gets their name put on this register. It's not incredibly useful, since they're all in Azkaban, but still. Moving on."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They walked down to the next door where the sign, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"department of intoxicating substances/em, hung on some oak doors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Massive buzzkills." Mordecai commented. "Any drink that comes out, they say if it can be sold to underage wizards. Still though, they have examples of every drink ever made stored there, so they can't be all bad."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Next up, was a very lively office, in Harry's opinion. The centre of it held a massive duelling ring, and Harry noted that there wasn't desks in the office. Instead the walls were lined with shelves filled with protective gear that resembled the ones he and Draco had had to wear the last summer./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My second favourite place in the whole ministry." Declared Mordecai. "The Hit wizard office." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What's a hit wizard?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They're sometimes called failed Aurors, but they're really specialists." Replied Mordecai. "Basically, if an Auror is trained to hunt down and arrest dark wizards, then hit wizards focus on the arresting part, with extreme prejudice. Most everyone here would give any decent dark wizard a run for their money on their own, and hit wizards are trained to work in squads. Plus, there's no enchantment they can't break, if given enough time."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Mordecai!" Came a voice from further in the room. A wizard, with shoulder-length black hair and mutton chops came over. "Care for a challenge?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oh, not today thank you, I'm just showing Harry here, around the ministry."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry Potter?" The wizard Asked, laying eyes on Harry's scar. "My word. What brings you to our humble office?" He said, shaking Harry's hand./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Me, Parsifal." Said Mordecai./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah. Are you interested in a career as a hit-wizard, then Harry?" Said Parsifal. "I can assure you, a highly trained hit-wizard can beat any one of those Aurors, no-problem. We're the best duellists in the wizarding world."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Is that why each member has specially reserved beds in St. Mungo's?" Jested Mordecai./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, what's a bit of fun without danger eh?" Said Parsifal, jovially./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Besides, Harry wants to be an Auror." Replied Mordecai./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A pity, that. Well Harry, if, when you're busy being the greatest Auror of history, you have time to visit, I will happily teach you the ways of us lowly hit wizards." He bowed, just like Mordecai had done, and went off to talk to one of the other hit wizards./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""As I said, fun people. Bounties are also posted here, so they get a lot of foot traffic." Mordecai said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who would need bounties?" Harry asked, as they made their way to the next office. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Aurors-for-hire mostly. Aurors that aren't employed by the ministry." He added, seeing the look on Harry's face. "But you get hit-wizards going after them too, if they need a bit of cash."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They went through the last few offices rather quickly. The investigation department assisted the aurors in investigations. The medical law enforcement patrol handled petty crimes like thievery. The magical witch watchers looked for fugitives at strategic places. And the misuse of muggle artefacts office was so small and boring, Harry didn't remember anything about it at all./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" It was very quickly that Harry went to sleep that night, exhausted as he was by the day's activities./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /in the morning, Harry woke and dressed, and after he had finished a fine English breakfast, he was visited by Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry, I heard about what had happened, are you alright?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm fine, how's Draco?" Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Worried." Said Mr Malfoy, and he began to tell Harry about what had happened in the aftermath of his fight with Quirrell. In summary, the whole school thought Quirrell a hero for riding them of Harry, whom everyone thought was the heir of Slytherin. The only people who thought otherwise were Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall , as well as the Slytherins./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" In turn Harry told Mr Malfoy about everything he knew about Quirrell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I see." Said Mr Malfoy after he had finished. "This is a serious issue. I'll have to work carefully on this. It would be best if you didn't get involved Harry, I dont want this to be more complicated than it has to be."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well I can't really go anywhere mr. Malfoy." Replied Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes. Very well Harry. I'll see you later." And he left with a swish of his cloak./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Over the next few weeks, Harry grew to make good friends with many of the people in the Auror office, as well as the wider department./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He saw many Aurors come and go, sometimes going away for weeks at a time before returning, either triumphant, or with more information. Presently, the Auror office was concerned with a group of highland warlocks. An Auror called Dorian Fungerbury explained the problem to him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You see, there are several groups around the isles which have practices which we would call dark magic. The problem is, that they wouldn't call it dark magic, and sometimes use those dark powers, almost daily, but to no harm. So instead of arresting them, we decided to keep tabs on them, and to only interfere if things go wrong. Now this group we're looking at, they believe in a giant dragon that lives under the sea. Strange, I know, but it takes all types. They recently started to believe that their great sea dragon is awakening, and have started to do rituals which are seriously affecting magic in the region. Muggles are starting to see the Aurora borealis in the Outer Hebrides for Merlin's sake. Anyway, the big problem for us, is that they all live in a giant clam shell which floats along under the water, which makes it nearly impossible to find. But we'll stop them in the end. We always do."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry also got a lot of messages from his friends at Hogwarts, telling him what was going on at their end. Draco and Theodore had yet to do anything, but were planning on certain things, alongside Granger and Weasley, surprisingly. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"it was January when Harry got any real news about the situation at Hogwarts. The ministry got a message that Quirrell had absconded in the middle of the night, and that he had injured Professor Sprout in doing so. There was now a full hunt for Quirrell, but to Harry, it only meant he would be spending more time at the ministry. Of course, Harry was perfectly fine with this. People like Mordecai and Parsifal had begun to teach him tricks, which Harry though would be very useful. For instance, Parsifal taught him that if you fired a spell, then by slightly twisting your wand and poking it forward as you cast the spell, then the power of it's effects would increase. Harry had quickly mastered this, and when practicing it in his room, he had managed to launch an old potions bottles so hard, it shattered into pieces so fine it looked like sand. He had also used it against one of the younger hit wizard's shield charms , which had had the effect of breaking it, violently. However, being January, it also meant that the start of term was upon him, and, as per Dumbledore's request, Harry was educated at the ministry. The day's work, alongside notes from class, were sent to Harry, and he had to send stuff back. This effectively cut down the amount of time Harry had with the aurors to Very little./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was nearly Easter before Harry was able to leave to go back to the ministry. And despite how much fun he had had at the ministry, and how many interesting things he had learnt, he was sorely missing his friends./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He got one final visit from Mordecai and Parsifal, perhaps the two people He had made friends with the most at the ministry, before He was scheduled to leave. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'm gonna miss you Harry." Mordecai said, shaking Harry's hand. "You were the one lively thing at this place. Feel free to pop by any time. And if you do decide to go for a career as an Auror, I'll pop in a good word."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He gave a roguish smile, and Harry smiled back./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye, well, my offer still stands, Harry." Said Parsifal. "Anytime. And here, I want you to have this." He handed Harry something. It was a small golden badge. The badge of a hit-wizard. "Since you might not become one yourself, this is at least the one thing hit-wizards have above Aurors."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""thank you." Said Harry, at a loss of what to say./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, you'd best be gong now then." Parsifal replied. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry nodded, and stepped into the emerald fire, saying "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts."/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry stood up, out of the fire and found himself in Dumbledore's office, like he had expected. There was Dumbledore, looking grim. It was exactly as Harry remembered it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry." Said Dumbledore. "I have something I want to tell you. Please sit down." He indicated to a large comfy armchair, before him. Harry obliged./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you know about the circumstances surrounding Quirrell's death?" Asked Dumbledore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry was shocked. "I didn't know he had died, sir." He replied, truthfully./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He did. And he was killed, by lord Voldemort."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was certainly not expecting this. He was also a little confused as well, as far as he knew, Voldemort at the very most had been possessing Quirrell, and he didn't see any reason why Voldemort would turn on Quirrell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As if he had just read Harry's mind, Dumbledore said. "Quirrell was being possessed Harry. He was being possessed by Voldemort, and it was Voldemort that killed him when he decided to leave Quirrell's body."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why are you telling me this sir?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""To put you on your guard." Dumbledore replied. "Voldemort... He is angry, Harry. Angry that you are the one that defied him, that your mother's love stopped him from killing your whole family. He sees you as someone he must kill before he is able to fully restore his power. You have no idea how close you were to being killed this year, and I want to put you on your guard for the rest of it. But take that off your mind for now. Go, and spend time with your friends again. The danger is gone, at least for now, so you deserve time to celebrate."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found his way to the Slytherin common room. There was an uproar when he got back, and it was the good kind. There were whoops and cheers coming from people Harry had never met before, but the only ones Harry cared about were those from Draco, Theodore, Blaise, and Pansy. And incidentally, they were the ones who cheered the loudest./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Welcome back Harry!" Several people said, as he passed by them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We knew Quirrell couldn't beat you!" Said a red-headed first year, loudly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Tell us what happened!" Said a gruff-voiced sixth-year./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, go on Harry, what happened?" Cried several other Slytherins in tandem./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All, right, you want to hear the tale do you?" Harry said, climbing onto a table so he could address the whole common room. Everyone cheered and whooped at this, and Harry took a deep breath to begin his story./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, I suspected Quirrell from the start you understand? I couldn't quite prove it, but there was something about him that didn't sit right, if you know what I mean. So when the first attack happened, I knew instantly who did it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry smiled as he paused for breath and saw the entire common room in captivated silence. Mordecai had at least taught him how to tell a good story./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he told the story, Harry paraded across the table, acting out the more exciting scenes, sometimes using Crabbe or Goyle to play the part of Quirrell so he could have an easy target. In the end, though it was filled with embellishments and half-truths, even people like Draco, who had been with Harry for most of his journey, were enthralled. Harry was sure that most of the people in the common room could disprove almost everything he said, but none of them seemed to want to. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry became, if it was possible, an even bigger celebrity that night. People were so impressed with him and his story that they stayed up late into the night, loudly recounting Harry's tales with even less levels of accuracy, so that Harry was sure that pretty soon, it would become the stuff of Hogwarts legend. Which of course meant it would be sensationalised and blown out of proportion for decades to come./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Summer was creeping on the grounds around the castle, though it hadn't yet lost it's misty mornings, which were a hallmark of springtime weather. Sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers as large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. Inside the castle things were much better, but in a strange way. Most Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs all either glowered at Harry with inordinate amounts of contempt, or veered away from him in corridors. One particularly spindly Hufflepuff first-year actually veered so hard, she ran head-first into a column, nearly knocking herself out. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Needless to say, Harry was loving it. Why should he care if the rest of the school thought him a deranged lunatic? The only house that actually commanded any respect in this place was the Slytherins, and they all loved him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Strangely, there were exceptions to this. Granger and Weasley, though they stayed as far away from him as possible, didn't think that Harry was a villain for getting rid of Quirrell. They still loathed him, and he them, but there was a sort of mutual understanding between them now, much to the annoyance of Draco. Although he never said anything, Harry could tell that he was annoyed at the white peace between them, and that he longed to have another duel with her. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite this, Harry had been given another thing to think about. Subjects for the next year. Everyone else had been given the forms to fill out during whilst Harry was still at the ministry, so this meant that everyone was advising him on what to put down. Looking at the subjects, Harry didn't know what to put down. He had to keep doing all his old subjects, naturally, and since most of them were ones that you were required to have as an auror, Harry was unsure what to pick. There were, of course, ones that Harry wouldn't have picked in a blue moon. Muggles studies was about as useful to him as an owl that couldn't fly, and since Harry's eyes had started to glaze over when he had been reading the description of Arithmancy, he assumed that to be an indication of the subject as a whole. Marcus Flint had described Divination as "a very dumb subject. Half the time I don't even known what I'm doing, and the other half, I feel like an idiot." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This left Care of magical creatures, which Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Ophelia were doing, and the study of ancient runes, which Theodore, Blaise, and Daphne were doing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry signed up for these, and handed his form to Professor Snape at his office later that day, who glowered at him with his usual malice whenever Harry crossed his path. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He scanned the page for a few seconds before saying in his soft, quiet, voice;/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you sure you want to do these subjects? You cannot give them up until fifth year, you know. Your entire future could be determined by what you put down on this bit of paper. Think carefully now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry thought it a bit out of character for Snape to be concerned for his future, but then realised that the heads of houses where probably instructed to say this, so as to quell any doubts students may have. Since Harry thought it incredibly likely that he was going to drop these subjects at NEWT level anyway, he didn't much care if they were going to decide his life or not. The way Harry saw it, it was He that was going to determine where his life was headed, not some ink on a bit of parchment./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Clearly something of this must have shown in his face as Snape said, "Very will Potter, if that is all then be off with you. There is enough filth in this dungeon without you staying here any longer."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry didn't know what to say to this, so left. it was true that the dungeon was a very horrible place. What looked like the remains of a failed potion could be seen staining the floor, and every so often Harry was sure that he could see wisps of bright green smoke peel off from the floor. As Harry passed the door he noticed a jar of what looked like live, black, hairy, spiders. There were about a dozen or so and they were all manically scrambling over each other, trying to either kill each other or climb out of the jar, Harry couldn't tell. As he left the dungeon, this reminded Harry of something. It took him a while to realise what it was, and when he did realise it, he wondered how he hadn't noticed it before. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There were still no spiders in Hogwarts. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Admittedly, it wasn't like he had been looking for them, but since he got back he would have expected to see one at least, maybe an abandoned cobweb here or there, its silvery strands marking the territory of each particular spider, but there was nothing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This made Harry feel uneasy like there was something unfinished he had to do. He usually always got this feeling when he had to do an essay for McGonagall or Binns. That there was a conclusion that he was missing or that he had forgotten to make a particular point. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He tried to shake the feeling as he travelled back down the corridors to the Slytherin common room, but just couldn't get rid of it, though, the atmosphere of the common room certainly did a lot to help distract him from it. The Slytherins had kept a state of low-level, constant partying going on ever since Harry got back, with the result that anyone trying to do work in the common room would have found it nearly impossible given the noise of fun and games. Additionally, since Slytherin were supposed to play Hufflepuff in the quidditch match tomorrow, then they were being even louder than usual, with the idea that it was best to loosen up before a match, not get more tense by worrying about things like strategy or pitch conditions./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hey, Harry!" called Theodore, beckoning him over to their table, where about a dozen butterbeers were lying. Harry went to grab one, but was stopped by Theodore who said, "Hold on, these aren't for drinking yet." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you mean?" Asked Harry, confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's a game." Theodore replied, "I've just invented it, here-" and he directed Harry to stand at one end of the table. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco, do you want to play?" he asked, looking at Draco who was sitting on one of the couches nearby./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sure." Replied Draco, who got up and stood at the opposite end of the table to Harry. "So how do we play this?" Draco asked of Theodore, who had sat down in Draco's recently vacated seat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh it's simple. I've modified these butterbeers so that they're like Bertie Bott's beans. You shoot a spark into one of the glasses, and it glows a colour, you can then decide whether to drink it yourself, or make your opponent drink it. "/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And who wins?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, well, " replied Theodore, "Whoever gets the least bad tasting drinks, I suppose." he finished, with an evil smile on his face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All right then." Replied Harry, and pulled out his wand. "I'll go first shall I?" Draco nodded and did the same opposite him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""One more thing, " Said Theodore. "The more powerful the spell, the more intense the flavour." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry gave him a dirty look, but Theodore just returned one of feigned innocence./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At random, Harry chose a glass closest to him, and cast em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae, /emusing the trick he had been taught by Parsifal. It glowed an acid green which instantly made Harry think that he wasn't going to drink that particular butterbeer. Harry picked up the glass and sniffed it. It was so strong it made his eyes water./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You drink." He said to Draco, who glowered at him, and Harry was sure he could see him retching on the inside. But he took the glass from Harry and took a sip. And then smiled. "Peppermint." He announced to the Slytherins, who cheered. "Okay Potter. Try this." He cast his spell into the centermost glass, which glowed a dull, coppery orange colour. Harry picked it up and tried it. He immediately retched, completely overwhelmed by the taste of uncooked, mouldy, chicken. The crowd around them laughed merrily. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Drink it up Potter, come on!" Draco said nastily, clearly enjoying the reaction Harry was having. Harry lifted the glass again and quickly gulped it down, without trying to think about the flavours in his mouth. People cheered when Harry finished it. Egged on now, and determined to get Draco back, Harry fired a spell into a glass close to Draco. The liquid inside glowed a pleasant pale gold colour, and Harry changed his mind, deciding to try that one for himself. However, when he brought it up to his lips and took a swig, he coughed and spluttered, because the flavour was not what he thought it was. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Mashed Potatoes." He said, disappointedly to the ecstatic crowd around him, who all cheered and drank normal, non foul-tasting butterbeers. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm beginning to think this game is rigged against me." Harry said as he tried two more butterbeers, and got flavours of dog food and tomato, at the same time Draco was getting flavours of Toffee and Honeycomb./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh not at all." Replied Theodore, grinning from ear to ear. "You just need to have an eye for this sort of thing. Observe." And he picked up a glass that was close to him. After casting em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae! /emHe made a big deal of taking in the aromas and commenting on how much he loved chocolate, before taking a sip. Upon which his face immediately soured and he let the brown liquid dribble back into the butterbeer./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What flavour was that then?" Asked Harry, who was distinctly cheered up now. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Dirt." Theodore mumbled. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that?" Harry said, mockingly. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Dirt." said Theodore, a little louder and more dejectedly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They all had a fun time with Theodore's game, and all too soon they were getting sleepy and decided to call it a night./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Next morning was the dawn of the quidditch match. Slytherin Vs Hufflepuff. The game was really more of a formality at this point, as no-one was close to beating Slytherin in the points, but everyone agreed that they weren't going to miss a chance to see Hufflepuff get humiliated, though, as Draco pointed out, one didn't necessarily have to look far to find examples of that. The entire house was a humiliation to the entire school, and had the highest numbers of mudbloods out of any house./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"People did one of two things as Harry made his way up to the quidditch pitch, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle as Draco had gone on ahead to prepare. They either stayed well away from him, with most keeping a respectable three meters away, or tried to antagonise him by doing things like push into him on their way past, or stand on his feet. With the former, Harry didn't care much, and with the latter, it only took one glare from him to get them to back off./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The stands were pretty crowded when Harry arrived to take his seat next to Theodore and the others. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Quite a turnout for a dead ringer of a match isn't it?" Said Theodore as Harry sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well maybe they think they'll win." Said Harry. "I mean, people love to cheer for an underdog."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's some underdog they're going to have to be though. Don't they have to get three hundred points to even be in second place?" Replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah." Said Harry, chuckling. "Still though, you'd think there'd be less enthusiasm given that they have no chance of winning."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Apparently someone's thinking along those lines. Look." And Theodore pointed at a red-haired girl who was striding away from the match./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Isn't that the Weasley girl?" Asked Harry, squinting at the barely visible red and black blur./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Must be. I doubt there's anyone with as red hair in the entire wizarding world, let alone in Hogwarts. I must say, if I had hair that colour I'd want to go bald. I wonder if it's a family curse?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who would deserve a fate so rotten do you reckon?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Maybe he annoyed Cyprian. He had a thing for family curses."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""True." Replied Harry. He had come across stories about Cyprian whilst reading. It was said that he was a particularly vindictive sorcerer, causing great punishment at very small or perceived slights. Cursing an entire family line to have flaming red hair seemed like the type of thing he would do, if he was feeling generous. Some on his more outlandish punishments include chaining a man to a rock in the middle of the ocean, and refusing to let him die. Transfiguring a woman into a jackrabbit then having a pack of bloodthirsty crups tear her to peices, and, perhaps most famously, cursing several lines of kings with great misfortunes, with perhaps the most creative being that time he cursed a french queen to give birth to a mound of frogs instead of children./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The match was underway shortly, and Harry could not help noticing the difference between the two teams. The Hufflepuffs were all tense and nervous, whereas the Slytherins were laughing around and joking with each other. Madame Hooch blew her silver whistle and ordered the teams in formation. After the two captains shook hands, Madame Hooch blew her whilst again, and the players kicked off./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And there they go! Flint going immediately for the quaffle and dodging Macavoy, Preece, and heading straight for goal." Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor, was commenting as usual. "It looks to be an early goal for Slytherin and- yes- he's done it- Flint has scored what was quite possibly the fastest goal in Hogwarts history." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The people around Harry went wild, and Harry went wild with them. Marcus Flint was an incredible chaser, and The Slytherins were lucky to have him. Flint did a quick victory lap of the stadium before Madame Hooch blew her whistle to resume play. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /This time it was the Hufflepuff chaser, Tamsin Applebee, that got the quaffle. Yet she didn't have it for long as Lucian, having recovered spectacularly from his hospital visit, aimed a bludger at her broomstick, which hit the handle of it and caused the top to snap off and Applebee herself to go careening off in the other direction, dropping the quaffle into the arms of Adrian Pucey, who flew off to the goal posts and feinted left, before putting the quaffle into the rightmost hoop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All in all, it was a pretty one-sided match. The Slytherins had scored three goals apiece before anyone from hufflepuff managed to score one. (Malcom Preece, with the help of a very long and very lucky throw by Herbert Fleece, the Hufflepuff goalkeeper.) Still though, after the 27th Slytherin goal, it got rather boring to celebrate each one, and much more interesting to boo and heckle the Hufflepuff players when they came near the Slytherin end of the pitch. In fact, Harry felt Personally responsible for an insult which had caused Maxine O'Flaherty to hit a bludger into the stands, which was a foul and gave Slytherin a free shot on the goal, which Hufflepuff conceded, obviously./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The game had gone on for nearly two hours at this point, and Draco wasn't even bothering to look for the snitch anymore, which was probably the reason that Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker and team captain, caught the snitch whilst it was hovering at the other end if the pitch, meanwhile Draco was having a conversation with Derrick about the finer points of mulled mead./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When the match was over, the school made their way back to the common rooms, chatting and discussing the match as they went along. It was a pretty sour look, all things considered, as three-quarters of the school were upset that Hufflepuff had lost, grumbling about it, as if that would do anything to change the score, and the remaining quarter, Slytherin, were being so loud and ecstatic that they more than made up for the rest of the school's miserable attitudes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For some funny reason, however, Harry had a strange feeling when he walked back into the school. He dismissed it though, as end of match jitters./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That evening, in the great hall, and before dinner, Dumbledore called for silence as he stood up to talk to the school. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well done Slytherin! What a fantastic quidditch match to end the year on."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Both Harry and Draco snorted in unison, though no-one paid them any attention./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, as it happens, i do have some more good news to tell you all."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was an outbreak of muttering at this, of people wondering what Dumbledore could be about to tell them, though Harry distinctly heard Macmillian saying "Slytherin winning is good news?" Harry kept it in his mind to jinx him later./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dumbledore waved for silence again, and continued, "Madame Pompfrey has just informed me that the madrake restorative draughts will be ready in a couple of weeks time, so we will soon be able to cure all those afflicted by this terrible curse." There was an outcry of cheer and applause at this, which lasted for well over half a minute before Dumbledore could wave for silence again, "And lastly, due to Professor Quirrell's unexpected absence, " Several eyes shot towards Harry before looking back at Dumbledore, "The Defence against the dark arts exam has been cancelled." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was, perhaps, an even greater cheer for this than the news that the petrified students would soon be fixed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What a bunch of hypocrites." Said Draco at Harry's right./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Absolutely." replied Harry, clapping along with the rest./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The feast was fantastic, and as well suited to a victory feast as any could have been, and although Harry's evening was slightly marred by the fact that the muggle-borns would all be alright, as Theodore said, "It wouldn't have lasted anyway."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Even Draco, who had spent much of the year praising the works of the unknown heir, had admitted this to be true./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was on a full belly that Harry and the rest of the Slytherins made their way back to the common room, however they were held up by the crowd, which was pushing them the other way./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oi! Watch it!" Harry remarked as a Hufflepuff boy pushed past him. When the boy turned to see who he had knocked against, he looked downright terrified, briefly lost his footing on the stone floor, and topple over, right into a Ravenclaw girl. Then, apparently hysterical, the boy cried "He's going to kill us all, just you wait! Was petrifying people not enough Potter! Now you have to kidnap someone too!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Completely nonplussed as to what the boy was talking about, Harry grabbed him from the clutches of the Ravenclaw, and, holding him by his collar, he told him, "Listen hear you little Mudblood," Harry registered the cries of shock and outrage with some satisfaction, "If I had wanted to hurt you, we wouldn't be talking right now, understand?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boy nodded, looking into Harry's eyes as though terrified they might turn him to stone. "So tell me, what has happened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boy's lip was quivering so much, Harry thought it might fall off when he said, "T-t-th-th-there's a-a n-n-new m-message on the wall out side the girl's bathroom." He said it very quickly, and Harry was half surprised that he didn't faint from fear./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What does it say?" Harry hissed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For a second, Harry thought he had slipped into parseltongue by accident, as the boy looked even more terrified and completely lost for words. But he then said, "T-the, I-it said th-that, y-you'd, I-I-I-I mean the h-heir of S-Slytherin, h-had k-k-kidnapped someone, a-a-and l-left th-them to d-d-die there!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a shocked gasp at this, and Harry dropped the boy, who fell to the floor and scrambled towards the Ravenclaw girl, who helped him get up. The whole corridor was looking at Harry, and Harry knew why. He glanced at Draco, who knew instantly what Harry needed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What are you all staring at? Get out of here, go on." And with several muttered conversations breaking out amongst the crowd, they started to disperse, slowly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and the Slytherins started to move too, but away from the direction the crowd was going./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry knew what he had to do. He had made his mind up previously that if the monster or the heir attacked again, he would go to the chamber of secrets to investigate. And if the boy was to be believed, then there was someone else down their now, someone who wasn't the heir, or the monster./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Slytherins arrived at Kryillos' room, where they all waited for Harry to say something./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm going alone."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was outcry at this. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What about the trapdoor last year?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You'll be hurt!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We work better as a team!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We all helped with the trapdoor, we can help this time!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It'll be dangerous!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What if you find the basilisk, or the Heir?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry held up his hand for silence, and they all obeyed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It'll be dangerous, yes, and we did work well together last time, but we know the dangers facing me this time. A wider range of people means more people to get hurt, and I'm a parselmouth, which means I can control the basilisk, unlike you lot./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"I'm also a half-blood, so the basilisk or the heir shouldn't attack me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There looked to be protest again, but Harry cut them off. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's my decision, and it's final. There's no use arguing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The only person who hadn't protested against Harry's decision was Draco, who stood up to Harry's defence./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry's right. He's the best duellist in our year and probably even better than those doing their OWLs right now. He can handle anything that he meets, and remember, this chamber was designed to be accessed by the right people , which means that Harry'll get through just fine, we'd only slow him down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"We can help in other ways. The teachers will be scrambling right now, so it's our job to make sure that they don't realise Harry is down there until he comes back, so that they don't interfere with what he's doing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Understood?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The other Slytherins all seemed to be pacified by Draco's argument, and Harry silently thanked Draco with a smile as he sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We can't go straight away though. That area's going to bustling with teachers, so we'll have to be careful./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore, Pansy, you come with me, Draco, I want you and the others to wait here until Pansy returns, then follow her. She'll tell you more later."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco nodded, and assumed de facto leadership of the Slytherins whilst Harry, Theodore, and Pansy made their way to the common room to pick up the invisibility cloak./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"On the way, Harry filled them in on what he wanted each of them to do./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Theodore, I want you wait outside the bathroom. Try and scare off any student that goes poking around, but don't engage with the teachers unless absolutely necessary. They're smarter, and less likely to be frightened by tricks. Wait for Pansy to return then set up a perimeter. If you can't scare things off, get a message to Draco, who'll be waiting in the bathroom for me. He must mustn't be found out, because he'll be my connection to Hogwarts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They had reached the common room now, and quickly collected the cloak before throwing it over themselves and leaving./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""If I need anything, help or assistance, or something like that, then I'll let him know. Probably a good idea to get Crabbe or Goyle, or one of them to wait with him, in case I need some brawn instead of brain./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Pansy, when we arrived at the bathroom, Theodore and I will hide whilst you take the cloak and make your way back to Kryillos' room. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /say 'em style="box-sizing: inherit;"open/em' to open it." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Pansy nodded, and he heard her quietly practicing the word under her breath as they walked. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough that Harry thought the door would open for her./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bring them back to the bathroom, use the same method we used when leaving the trapdoor room last year, then help Theodore in setting up the perimeter, do you both understand?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They nodded, as they turned a corridor and found themselves staring at the wall where the new message had been written./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was directly underneath the first one, and was written in the same scarlet blood. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever/em./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They stared at this for a second before Pansy asked "Who'd you think's been taken?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Some muggle-born, no doubt." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you really want to save them?" Theodore asked. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Perhaps. I know I want to get to the bottom of this though, and I doubt we'll have a better chance to do so than now." And with that, Harry pushed open the door into the bathroom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The place was flooded with water, but Harry ignored that and marched directly over to the faucets where he had seen Quirrell returning from./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But he was finally stumped. For all his planning and assurances, he had no idea how to actually open the chamber. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He turned around and handed the cloak to Pansy, who left and said to Theodore, "Get in position." who promptly nodded, and left the room, leaving Harry all style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He turned back to the faucets and considered them for a second./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"If Slytherin had wanted his heir to access the chamber, then he would have made some assurances that only the heir would be able to access it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"If it had been a secret passed down through the family, then he was truly stumped. He had no idea if he was related to Slytherin, and if he was, then he certainly hadn't been told any great secret./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he was wondering this, something caught his eye. It was a small carving of a snake on the side of a tap next to the one Harry was currently facing. Harry stared at it. It almost seemed to be alive, to be dancing in the candlelight playing off it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was Slytherin's mark./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Yet That didn't help Harry. He knew that this was the entrance to the chamber, and some crudely drawn snake wasn't going to help him find that. But then he remembered something that had been said to him on his very first day in Hogwarts./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Slytherin could talk to snakes. That's why his house crest is a serpent./em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Might he simply have to speak in parseltongue to get the chamber to open, like with Kryillos' room?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He tried it. He said "Open." In parseltongue to the carved serpent, just like he had taught Pansy to do. Immediately, the tap began to glow with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move. The sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He carefully lowered himself into the pipe, then let go./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark, slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as his, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downwards, and he knew he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Deeper, perhaps, than he had gone last year, when they had gone searching for the Philosopher'a stone./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe levelled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel, large enough to stand in./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;""Lumos", /emHarry muttered, lighting the end of his wand tip and staring into the darkness beyond./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He steeled himself and made his way through the tunnel./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was so dark inside the tunnel that Harry could only see a little ahead of him, even with the light from his wand. The shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The tunnel was as quiet as the grave and Harry was listening for any sound, because, despite what he told the other Slytherin's, he was scared that he wouldn't be able to control the basilisk, and that it would petrify him, and leave him here to die, or eat him. And then no-one would ever find his body./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He jumped as he stood on something and it cracked, but under closer inspection, it appeared to only be a rat's skull. In fact, now he looked around at the floor, the whole area was filled with small animal bones. He shivered and made his way forward, round a dark bend in the tunnel./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry froze. He had seen something up ahead. Something large and curved. Harry could just make out the outline of it in his wandlight. It wasn't moving./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry moved closer to it, his heart beating so fast it was amazing the sound wasn't reverberating around the tunnel./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Very slowly, with his eyes as narrow as he could make them, Harry edged forward, his wand held high./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous, green; lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry exhaled. He was a little shocked at the size of it, but gladdened it wasn't the real thing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He stopped for a second to catch his breath, before moving on past the giant snake skin. At the very least, thought Harry, if he didn't find anything here, then he would take some of the skin back as a trophy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite this cheery thought, every nerve in Harry's body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he would find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry approached, his throat very dry. If the serpent scratched onto the copper faucet had seems real in the candlelight, then these stone carving were practically living, breathing beings./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He could guess what he had to do much easier here than at the faucets. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Open." Said Harry in a low, faint, hiss. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking inside shadowy corner, behind a pillar? br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He pulled out his wand and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of his stomach, he thought he saw one stir. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry had to crane his neck to look up at the giant face above: it was ancient and monkey-like, with a long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth chamber floor. And between the feet, face down, lay a small, black-robes figure with flaming red hair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Ginny/em. Thought Harry as he cautiously made his way towards the body./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He dropped to his knees next to her body and looked to see if she was still breathing. Keeping a tight grip on his wand, he turned her over. Her face was as white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't petrified, but somehow, he wasn't entirely convinced that she was dead either./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not wanting to carry Ginny all the way back to the bathroom he tried to shake her, but her head just lolled helplessly from side to side./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""She won't wake." Said a soft voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry jumped and spun around on his knees, expecting to come face to face with the woman, but instead, a tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry was looking at him through a misted window./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who are you?" Harry asked, gripping his wand tightly by his side./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boy stared at Harry for a moment before replying, "I have many names."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Would I know any of them?" Harry asked, not trusting the boy before him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, most definitely." The boy replied in the same, soft voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""so what do I call I you?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Tom." Tom replied. Harry stared at Tom. There was something strange about him. Barring the fact that he stood in a strange, Misty light, Harry felt a connection to Tom, like they had been old friends but had fallen out of touch. But that was impossible. Harry had had no friends before Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure of that. Perhaps it was because he wore a Slytherin uniform that Harry felt a connection to him, though he had never seen Tom in the Slytherin common room before./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You're the heir of Slytherin." Harry said. "Funny, I thought it was a woman."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Tom smiled and said "Well, l have been acting through the Weasley girl here, so in way you are right."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Acting through/em. That was an odd choice of words, Harry thought./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you a ghost?" He asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Tom kept smiling that seductive smile and said quietly. "A memory. Preserved in a Diary for fifty years."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He pointed towards the floor next to the giant statue's toes. Lying open there was a little black diary. Harry wondered how it had got there./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why are you here?" Asked Harry. "You're the Heir of Slytherin, above you is a whole school filled with mudbloods, so why abduct this one?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well," said Tom, "You might say I'm here because of you. And as for that girl, well, it's rather a long story. I suppose the real reason she's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you mean?" Replied Harry. There was something Very fishy going on here./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The diary. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"My/em diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes: how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes, how-" Tom's eyes glinted, "-she didn't think the incredible Harry Potter would ever respect her after the quidditch match. I must say, I admire your handiwork. When you cast that curse on Ginny's brother, I knew at once who had done it. Curses like that require a certain em style="box-sizing: inherit;"calibre/em that most people lack, unlike the two of us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All the time he spoke, Tom's eye never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's very em style="box-sizing: inherit;"boring/em, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on, "But I was patient. I wrote back, I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"No one's ever understood me like this Tom ... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in. It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket /em..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Tom laughed a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""If I say it myself Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured her soul out to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I needed. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of em style="box-sizing: inherit;"my/em soul back into em style="box-sizing: inherit;"her. /emEventually I poured enough of my soul into her that I started to become her. That I started to exist outside of her. And all that culminated in what you see before you." He finished, spreading his arms wide. "I am nearly whole once more."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This chilled Harry to the bone, but he didn't let it show on his face as he said, "Well that's all very well and good, but it doesn't explain why you haven't attacked anyone for a while now. The petrified students will be getting cured soon, and to be perfectly honest, the attacks seem more like accidents than actual attacks."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry thought he saw Tom's mouth twitch when he said this, and smiled to himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. I wanted to meet you Harry." Tom style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Me?" Harry replied, taken aback./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""oh yes. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time. Ginny told me all about you Harry. Your whole fascinating history. It's left me with so many questions."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Like what?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Like how it is exactly that a young boy with no extraordinary magical talent whatsoever was able to deafest the greatest sorcerer of all time when he was a baby. How did you escape with nothing but a scar, whilst Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed and his essence, scattered."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why do you care? Voldemort was after your time." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Voldemort," said Tom softly, "is my past, present and future, Harry Potter./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, and I am Lord Voldemort."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This sent Harry's mind reeling. He stared at the ghostly image of Tom, of the sixteen year old boy who had grown up to murder Harry's parents and so many others./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You see?" He whispered. "It was a name I was already using at school, to my most intimate friends only of course. You think I was going to keep the name of my filthy muggle father forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, though my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No Harry, I fashioned myself a new name. A name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry's mind had gone blank, yet somehow, he forced himself to say something./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You know, in a way, I have to thank you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was completely unsure of what he was saying, but he couldn't think of anything right now, much less a way out of the chamber. Tom clearly hadn't expected this reaction, as he seemed curious as to what Harry was going to say next./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I mean, if you hadn't gone and killed my parents, I would never have gone to live with the Dursleys, and I never would have realised just how stupid and incompetent muggles are." The words just kept rolling out of his mouth, yet Harry didn't see any reason to stop them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bloody hell, I might even admire you for what you did. Your campaign against muggles and mudbloods. The efficiency that you dealt with all who opposed you, and of course, the depths of magic you delved into that other people were too scared to."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a pause as Tom contemplated Harry's words./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You are certainly unlike what Ginny thought of you, Harry." He said, finally. "You know, I've wondered. There's a strange sort of likeness between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, and we were both raised by muggles, as I was raised in a muggle orphanage. Probably the only two parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even em style="box-sizing: inherit;"look/em something alike, and now it appears we have the same mindset. You are very interesting, Harry Potter. Very interesting indeed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry gave a sly kind of smile. He was still rattled by the revelation of Tom's real identity, but he was quickly coming to his senses. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, preferably with Ginny in tow, though he would happily leave her here if need be./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How about a test, Harry Potter." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sorry?" Said Harry, not having paid attention to what Tom was saying./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A test. Or, an exchange, if you prefer. I was, or at least, this book," he indicated towards where the diary lay open on the floor, "was created with the intention of passing on the knowledge of Slytherin's heir to a new generation. To allow a new wave of terror to purge the muggle borns from this school after I was gone. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /I can pass that onto you, if you impress me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what would do have to do to impress you?" Asked Harry, who was starting to get excited./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, it's just the matter of a simple test." Said Tom, "look." And he pointed towards the face of the giant statue./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four, but close your eyes as you gaze upon me./em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry stared in awe as Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Star-struck, Harry saw the mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from it's depths./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Too late, Harry felt a movement behind him, and Tom grabbed Harry's wand from behind him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hey, give it back!" Said Harry, turning to face Tom, but he had scarpered back to the wall, and Harry had no time to face him as a loud thud hit the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He heard Tom's voice hiss, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Kill him/em." Then he shouted to Harry, "You must control him Harry Potter, or else you will never leave here alive!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Immediately, Harry tried to say something back, whether to the serpent or to Tom, Harry did not know, but a large lump in his throat prevented him from doing either. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He managed to hoarsely croak out, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Stip/em." but he didn't think anyone other than himself heard that./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Instead, he ran. However, he was not paying attention to where he was going and ended up running head-first into the wall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My my Harry, if I didn't know any better, I would say you were confounded." Came Tom's gloating cry from across the room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You-!" Harry's anger boiled as he tried to insult Tom back, but he couldn't, as he had to dive out of the way of an incoming bite from the serpent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Stop it!" He tried to hiss to the serpent, and although he got the words out, the basilisk paid no attention to them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was dripping wet now, and furious. It was alright for Tom. He was a ghost, or memory, or whatever, and couldn't be harmed by the serpent, but Harry could be harmed, and didn't much appreciate Tom's little jabs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As if on cue, Tom cried, "Don't be a em style="box-sizing: inherit;"wet/em blanket Harry, you'll get the hang of it!" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He was sitting on some rubble that had clearly fallen from the ceiling ages ago, and was looking like he was having the time of his life./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""look at it this way, your clothes can't get any more soggy!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This infuriated Harry more than it should have, and he marched forward, intending to give Tom a price of his mind, but the basilisk had other ideas and as Harry started to March towards Tom, it struck again, tearing some of Harry's robes as he dived and landed face first onto the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I guess I was wrong, you can get more soggy!" Came Tom's gleeful cries as Harry picked himself up again, fuming./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Land on your back next time, I think that's the only part of you not completely soaked through!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This cycle of abuse continued with Harry having to endure such comments as, "You should've brought your swimming trunks Harry! br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It's a good thing the basilisk has his eyes closed, else he might be too embarrassed to attack you!/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" You know, it's very disgraceful to Slytherin to turn his secret chamber into a water park, Harry!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Eventually, Harry had enough. "Oi!" He said to the basilisk, turning around and staying at his face, which, in hindsight was a bad idea, but Harry was too fuelled by rage to think straight. "Stop it!" He shouted in parseltongue, before turning around to face Tom, who was waiting patiently for him, and currently relaxing on the rubble./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry marched over, (thankfully not tripping over his own feet on the way there,) and gave Tom an absolute tirade of insults. It lasted for at least five minutes, and when he was done, Tom simply pointed behind Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What!" Said Harry, turning around. But then he saw exactly 'what'. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The basilisk was lying on the floor, immobile, and seating instructions. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Congratulations, Harry Potter, you have tamed the basilisk." Tom whispered in his ear, slipping the wand back into his pocket./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So, I control the basilisk?" Harry asked, not daring to believe it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, what now?" Asked Harry. Staring at Tom, who was looking sharper and clearer than before. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You do what you want." Tom shrugged, "Though I warn you against using the basilisk too much."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I know it's dangerous." Harry said, confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh no, not at all. Well, not to you, at least. It's more the fact that people get suspicious when you use him too much. The one and only time I managed to kill a muggle born with him, I promptly had to pin the murder on someone else, and stop all my attacks. That's why I created the diary you see."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who was the person you pinned the murder on?" Asked Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oh, some Gryffindor idiot called Rubeus Hagrid. He had a strange love of dangerous creatures, so it wasn't hard to pin it on him and his pet acromantula." Replied Tom. "He was expelled and i was given an award for services to the school for my efforts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I got Hagrid kicked out last year." Said Harry. "He'd managed to acquire a dragon egg illegally and hatched it in his hut. It would have burned the school down eventually so we managed to get the ministry involved, and after a whole bunch of shenanigans, he was eventually sacked."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good riddance." Said Tom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" There was another pause then Harry asked. "What are you going to do now?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I shall return to simply being words on a page, for I have done what I was created to do." He said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what do you want me to do with your book?" Harry Asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hide it, where it may be found again by the right person. My time will come again, and the wrath of Slytherin will rage through this school once more."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, goodbye then, Voldemort." Harry said, holding out his hand. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Tom looked apprehensive, then shook it, "Goodbye, Harry Potter." He said, before poofing out of existence./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry turned towards the diary, but found his way blocked by the basilisk. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Uhh..." said Harry, unsure of what to say. "Go back to your slumber, until I call you again."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" He wasn't sure if this would work, but the basilisk seemed to understand, as it slithered back into the mouth of Slytherin./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry picked up the book, and placed it in his robes before going to check on Ginny. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wha- Harry!" She squeaked, tripping on her robes as she tried to get up. "Wha- Where are we? Where's Riddle? Quick, we need to get out of here before-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Calm down. Tom is dealt with, you're okay. Follow me." And Harry marched off, making his way towards the tunnel he had come in through. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"however he stopped when he realised that Ginny wasn't following him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What?" He Asked, exasperatedly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, it's just that, my brothers, they don't want me going near you." She said, shyly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was incensed. "Well You're welcome to stay down here. It'll be a nice life, in the dark, with only the rats and the giant snake for comfort."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She didn't need telling twice. In a second she had rushed forward and grabbed onto Harry's arm, and he couldn't be bothered to shake her off./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" When they finally reached the chute Harry had come in through, he was initially confused as to how they were going to get back up, but he spotted a small, carved, snake and, guessing what he had to do, asked if politely to go up. Instantly, a tall spiral staircase revealed itself, and Harry and Ginny spent the next ten minutes climbing through the staircase, and through corridors, and up some more staircases, until they reached a wooden door. Harry opened it and walked through, finding himself in the girls toilet where the entrance to the chamber of secrets was. He had apparently just walked out of a cubicle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry!" Said Draco, surprised at his entry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you? -what happened?" He said, almost lost for words./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll explain later. For now though, we need to get this one back to her dormitory." He pointed at Ginny who had finally let go of his arm./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, that won't be hard." Commented Draco. "Guess who else remembered where the entrance to the chamber was."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah." Said Harry, realising that granger and possibly Weasley were here also./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did they hinder you in any way?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, they've been surprisingly helpful." Draco sounded a bit confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." Said Harry. "They can speed things along. If we do this quickly then no one will ever now we were here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The act of getting everyone back to their respective common rooms was almost as big a challenge as finding the chamber of secrets itself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When he opened the door to the girl's toilet, Harry was initially surprised, as there didn't seem to be anyone there, but then suddenly Theodore appeared from out of the shadow of one of the braziers./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry!" He exclaimed, "you're alright!" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sssshhh!" Said Harry, Hushing Theodore, for he was wary of any teachers that might be patrolling around. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sorry." Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's fine," said Harry, "listen, where are granger and Weasley? It was this one, " he pulled Ginny in front of Theodore, "That was kidnapped, and we need to get her back to her dormitory quickly."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Follow me." He said, leading the group round a corridor. "By the way, they found out you have an invisibility cloak." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Hmm." Grunted Harry. He would have preferred that no one outside the second year Slytherins, especially not Granger and Weasley, knew that he had an invisibility style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'm sorry," said Theodore, interpreting Harry's grunt correctly, "but they caught Pansy taking off the cloak and demanded to know where you were. Pansy brought them to me, and they threatened to tell Dumbledore and McGonagall if I didn't tell them what was going on, so I told them and they agreed to help. Here we are."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At once, the group was Dogged by Granger, Weasley, and Pansy. Granger immediately snatched Ginny away from Harry, which Harry thought was rather rude. He had just rescued her, after all./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What- Who was the heir of Slytherin?" Asked Granger, eyeing Harry suspiciously./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry wondered what exactly he sounds tell her, but then decided on, "It's none of your business, Granger. Now, take Ginny back to the Gryffindor common room and it'd probably be a good idea to burn her robes. They stink rather badly."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Granger looked incredibly confused for a moment, but that quickly changed to outrage a need disgust as she said "You don't get to order me around, Potter."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Fine." Said Harry. "Ignore me. I'd like to see you try to explain to the teachers why you're standing here, when everyone is supposed to be in their common rooms. And why Ginny is soaking wet and stinks of sewers."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Granger glared at him and Harry sneered back, before turning to Pansy and indicating for her to follow him as they marched down the corridor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" After a bit of discussion, they gave Pansy the invisibility cloak, and sent her to round up the rest of the Slytherins, whilst Harry, Theodore, and Draco made their way to Kryillos' room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what happened Harry?" Asked Draco, sitting down on one of the blackened stools./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes. Who Kidnapped the Weasley girl?" Asked Theodore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry thought for a second and wondered how exactly he should phrase this. "There was, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"something/em, waiting for me in the chamber of secrets. It called itself a memory, and had been living in a diary owned by Ginny. Throughout the year, it had been steadily leeching life force from Ginny, and using her as a- well, I don't know quite what- but he was performing Slytherin's will through her. But there is one thing I want you two, and no one else to know."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's that?" Draco and Theodore said in unison./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The person who owned this diary, who created it, he was a student here, who went by the name Tom Riddle." Continued Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why does that name sound familiar?" Asked Draco, staring at the ceiling as he tried to remember where he had heard the name before./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry glanced at him for a moment before saying "Tom Riddle is the real name of Lord Voldemort." And holding up the diary, which was surprisingly not damp./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The impact of this revelation shook both Draco and Theodore, who visibly recoiled in their seats as they saw the diary. Harry didn't blame them, there was a lot of power in this diary, he could feel it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, I don't want the others knowing this, do you understand?" Repeated Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yeah, of course."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Absolutely." They said. Harry could tell they were still a little shaken by his reveal, but pressed on with his account anyway./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This diary was apparently made as a weapon by Voldemort when he was still in school. He had problems with completing Slytherin's work when he was there, so left this diary so that others might continue his work later. He asked me to hide it, so that a future student might complete his work later."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why not use it now?" Asked Theodore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry smiled. "I think it might be incredibly risky for us to use it's power right now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Once the rest of the Slytherins had arrived, Harry spun them the tale of how he had made his way through the underbelly of the castle, and how he had arrived at the chamber of secrets, only to find it abandoned, with no sign of Slytherin's monster, or the heir. Only Ginny, lying unconscious on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were all suitably impressed, and quickly made their way back to the common room once he had finished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next morning, was a tense one. There were rumours floating about the school that they were going to close Hogwarts down and send everyone back to their families. As Harry hated the Dursleys more than he disliked the way Hogwarts was run, he was rather annoyed with this. Doubly so, since he had actually dealt with the problem, but couldn't tell anyone, lest he be questioned and potentially kicked out for breaking so many rules./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"One thing Harry did want to look at though, was the award Tom said he had been given, and since the trophy room was merely a door away from the great hall, he popped in there after breakfast with Draco and Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It took a bit of searching, but Harry finally found the award that had been given to Tom. It was very small, and very plain. Simply a silver shield, upon which was engraved the words:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Awarded to Tom Riddle/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"For special services to the school/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's weird, really. Seeing something like this." Commented Theodore as they stared at the little plaque. "I mean, the Dark Lord, as a teenager, not much older than us. It almost seems like it shouldn't exist and yet, here it is, In front of us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry knew what he was talking about. It was almost otherworldly, yet also oddly humbling./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You know, he told me he grew up in an orphanage." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You mean Saint. Cyprian's?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""dunno. He told me it was a muggle orphanage though."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh. Well, no then. Saint Cyprian's is a wizarding orphanage." Draco replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do mean, a wizarding orphanage?" Asked Harry, turning to face Draco. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, if a wizard dies, and no will can be found which states who the child should go to, then the ministry takes them in and ships the off to Saint Cyprian's."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I would have preferred going there than living with the Dursleys." Harry muttered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh no you wouldn't. You hear all sorts of horrible stories about the place. They say the matron there, Mrs. White, was actually a hag who had tried to perform a beautifying charm on herself, only it didn't work and she got stuck halfway."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That doesn't seem too bad." Said Harry, thinking of the Dursleys and how an ugly had would seem like a breath of fresh air next to Aunt Petunia or Dudley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""oh it gets worse." Said Draco, and he launched into a conversation about all the horrible things Saint. Cyprian's was known for as they made their way out of the great hall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The rest of the school year passed without much really happening. The season turned from Spring to Summer, and the blazing sunshine glared at them through the windows. Not much had changed in school. People were still worried about the heir of Slytherin, but got increasingly more lax about it as time went on without any attacks, which was a bit sad, because, as Draco said, a bit of healthy fear never hurt style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Jaculus was not giving Harry any more warnings about 'ancient evil' so Harry assumed that the snake had merely been sensing the presence of the Basilisk, which was now slumbering, awaiting Harry's command./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There were no more Defense against the dark arts classes, and there was a rumour going around that Dumbledore was planning on on scrapping the subject entirely, "Which just goes to show his incompetence." Said Draco, one morning after they had heard this particular rumour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Several weeks after Harry's escapade into the chamber of secrets, the restorative potions were finally ready to be delivered to the victims./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Clearly, the staff were hoping to see if any of the cities knew what had attacks them, but all they remembered seeing was a pair of yellow eyes reflected at them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Well, apart from Mrs. Norris. When she woke she just meowed and scampered off into the arms of Filch. Harry very briefly felt pity for Filch, as he saw him hug Mrs. Norris tightly, but then remembered he had given him detention on several occasions for what Harry considered to be very minor things like jinxing students, so that pity very quickly vanished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Additionally, Ginny was seeming sociable again. She wouldn't go near Harry, but Harry suspected that was probably because Granger and Weasley had forbidden her to go near him. Indeed, he never found her outside the company of them. It seemed like they didn't trust Harry in the slightest, which Harry was completely fine with./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"During all the free time Harry had with Defence against the dark arts cancelled, Harry had found a nice spot to hide Riddle's diary. He had placed the book inside a hidden compartment in the Slytherin common room, and had written a small note about where to find the book, and hidden that in another book, which he put on the bookshelf in a completely unvisited part of the school library. It wasn't foolproof, but Harry thought he would find a better spot for it, once he had learnt more magic./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Eventually, it was time for the students to leave for the Summer holidays./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They had a wild time on their way from Hogsmede station to King's cross. Making the most of the little time they had left in which they could do magic, They practiced Duelling, and played exploding snap until all their eyebrows were singed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Soon, too soon, they were approaching the station, where Harry would have to leave for the Muggle world./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he looked back on the year, Harry was only concerned by one thing. He hadn't discovered the identity of the woman who had fled from him that night in the corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry sighed. That would just have to be something to figure out next year. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The Hogwarts express slowed and finally stopped. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry turned to his fellow Slytherins when they got onto the platform. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"listen, one of you will have to come get me from the Dursleys soon. I won't be able to stand two months with only Dudley to talk to." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They can't be all that bad, can they?" Asked Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, you have no idea." Said Harry, and he marched into the Muggle world./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They didn't happen often, for the Dursleys knew not to annoy or upset Harry, but when they did it was always loud. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I WILL NOT HAVE THAT DRATTED SNAKE AT OUR KITCHEN!"Uncle Vernon shouted. "IT'S COMPLETELY UNHYGIENIC, AND DANGEROUS FOR DUDLEY TO BE AROUND!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry had accidentally let the Dursleys know about Jaculus one morning shortly after the end of term. And whilst it meant that Harry now no longer had to hide his faithful companion, it had led to arguments like this. Surprisingly though, the Dursleys had not made the connection between Harry having a pet snake and Dudley's apparent allergy to snake bites. (In truth it was actually because Jaculus' bites were more potent but the Dursleys needn't know Jaculus was venomous at all. The more weapons Harry had in his arsenal the better.)/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed, "I promised to keep Jaculus away from the food but i have no control over where Jaculus sleeps." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That morning Vernon Dursley had woken up like usual and walked downstairs to find Jaculus sleeping on the counter next to the fruit bowl./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that's not good enough, keep it in your room or else!" Uncle Vernon shouted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed again and picked up Jaculus, got down from the dining table and walked up to his room. As he left he heard a loud belch come from the Dursley's son, Dudley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed. Ever since he had come home for the summer holidays, the Dursleys had been a mix of terrified and furious. Harry had spent his first year at Hogwarts duelling Gryffindors, getting past a dozen deadly magical obstacles and had even snuck a prize, in the form of a blood red gemstone, past the school teachers. A prize which was now sitting in a small box under a loose floorboard in his room. Compared to that, life with the Dursleys was dull, slow and monotonous. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomach ache. He missed the castle, with it's secret passageways and moving staircases, his lessons (particularly his secret ones with the portrait of the Dark wizard Kryillos), the post arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in his emerald-green bed in the Slytherin dormitory and antagonising Weasley, Granger, Finnigan and Longbottom. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"To top it off, however, the Dursleys had locked away all Harry's school things. His spellbooks, wand, robes and Cauldron were all locked in the cupboard under the stairs the moment Harry had gotten back from the station. When they had discovered Harry's pet snake, they had tried to lock Jaculus in the Cupboard as well, but the snake had always managed to escape. Harry knew that Uncle Vernon had been to a pet shop to look at cages for snakes, but he hadn't bought one yet. Though, with more incidents like the one that morning, Harry was sure it wouldn't be soon until Uncle Vernon brought one home. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Thankfully, Uncle Vernon had not bought a lock for Harry's window yet. Near daily, Harry received messages from his friends from Hogwarts, whether it was packets of sweets or letters that let him communicate with them, Harry was thankful for this, as he suspected that he would be even more bored if he had no contact with the wizarding world./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He placed Jaculus in his room and spied the stack of letters and presents he had received that morning. Several packages from Draco and his family plus a card and a box of sweets, a package and card from Pansy, Theodore and Blaise, and another set of letters from Crabbe, Goyle, Orphelia, Daphne, Tracey and Millicent. Harry had just started to get his fingers into one of the packages sent by Draco when he heard his Uncle shout from the kitchen: "BOY! COME DOWN HERE NOW!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed and went downstairs, resolving to open the packages later, when he wouldn't be disturbed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he arrived downstairs he heard the beginning of Uncle Vernon's speech. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, as we all know, today is a very special day." Harry paused outside the kitchen door, hardly daring to believe it. Whilst the Dursleys had never exactly given Harry a proper birthday, they had never called it a 'special day' before./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This could well be the day i make the biggest deal of my career." Harry's heart sank. Of course; Uncle Vernon was talking about his stupid dinner party. How naive he had been. Harry opened the door to the kitchen and was greeted with a loud "What took you so long?" from Uncle Vernon. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry shrugged and sat down at the table. Uncle Vernon glared at him suspiciously until Harry had sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""As i was saying." Uncle Vernon continued, "This could well be the day i make the biggest deal of my career. I think we should run through the schedule one more time before they get here. We should all be in position at eight O'clock. Petunia, you will be -?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""In the lounge, " said Aunt Petunia Promptly. "Waiting to welcome them graciously into our home."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good, Good. And Dudley?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll be waiting to open the door." Said Dudley. He put on a foul, simpering smile. "May i take your coats Mr and Mrs Mason?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They'll em style="box-sizing: inherit;"love/em him!" Cried Aunt Petunia rapturously. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent Dudley." Said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Harry. "And em style="box-sizing: inherit;"you/em?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending i'm not there." said Harry, whose voice carried only a hint of sardonity. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastly. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight fifteen -"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll announce dinner." Said Aunt Petunia./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And Dudley, you'll say?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""May i take you through to the dining room, Mrs Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to and invisible woman./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My perfect little gentleman!" Sniffed Aunt Petunia./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And you?" Said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending i'm not there." said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Vernon tells me you're a em style="box-sizing: inherit;"wonderful /emgolfer Mr Mason... em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Do /emtell me where you brought your dress Mrs Mason..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Perfect... Dudley?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How about: "We had to write an essay about our hero at school Mr Mason, and em style="box-sizing: inherit;"i/em wrote about you.""/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn't see him laughing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And you boy?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry emerged from the table. "i'll be in my room making no noise and pretending i'm not there." He said, struggling to keep his face straight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Too right you will. The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs Mason back to the lounge for coffee Petunia, and i'll bring the subject round to drills. With any luck i'll have the deal signed and sealed before the em style="box-sizing: inherit;"News at ten/em. We'll be shopping for a holiday home in Majorca this time tomorrow."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry didn't feel too excited about this. He doubted the Dursleys would like him any more in Majorca than they would in Privet Drive./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Right, i'm off into town to pick up dinner jackets for me and Dudley. And em style="box-sizing: inherit;"you/em, " He snarled at Harry, "you stay out of your Aunt's way whilst she's cleaning." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite it being a beautiful day outside, Harry went upstairs to his room. He had the stack of presents on his bed to keep him occupied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He opened the door to his room with mounting excitement. Eager to open the first parcel, Harry barely shut the door as he went in. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He laid his hands on a parcel from Draco. He quickly found the accompanying letter, tore it open and read:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry;/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Happy birthday, I hope the Muggles are in their place./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"It is quite boring here, without Hogwarts. Father continues to train me to duel, though i've scuffed the new duelling robes he got me. The Elf fixed those pretty quickly however. Personally though, i am more interested in quidditch. Father has said he will buy me a new racing broom for my birthday. He said he would buy you one too, but that we should not send it to you whilst you are at the muggle's house but.../em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry skimmed the rest of the letter before turning to his presents. The largest of them was heavy, and felt like a book. He tore of the velvety paper covering it and saw the title; em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Quidditch teams of Britain and Ireland/em. Written in emerald green ink on this inside cover was a note from Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"My favourite team is the Foulmouth Falcons, though i do on occasion support the Ballycastle Bats or the Montrose Magpies./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry quickly flicked through the pages with a broad grin on his face. He could tell that he was going to enjoy this./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He opened the other packages that Draco had sent him. There was another book, a em style="box-sizing: inherit;"compendium of racing brooms of the world. (from 962 - 1992). /emIn this book Draco had left messages throughout, commenting on the various brooms detailed inside. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a miniature model Nimbus 2001, which soared around on the palm of his hand, doing loops and corkscrews. Lastly, in the envelope, there was a picture of Draco and his family at Malfoy manor. Written on the back, presumably by Mr. Malfoy as the handwriting was different to Draco's, was a message saying:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"1 week before the start of term we'll take you to buy your things at Diagon Alley along with Draco./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was just mulling this over when he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around to find Dudley looking at his presents. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So you do have friends at that freak school you go to." When Harry didn't answer Dudley continued. "I wondered, of course. I mean, it's your birthday and nothing arrived in the mail." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry got to his feet, letter still clutched in his hand. "Careful Dudley." He said in a low, malicious tone./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's you who should be careful Harry. I know Mum and Dad locked up all your books and stuff in the cupboard."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry stayed silent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I wonder what they would do if they found all this, " He gestured to the stack of presents and letters lying on the floor. "Nothing good. They might even lock you up in the cupboard with all your weirdo books."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was still silent, he thought he knew where this was going, though he also saw a way to make sure Dudley would stay away from him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Of course, if you give me something, " his piggy little eyes landed on the package of sweets from the Malfoys, "Like those sweets, then i won't tell Mum and Dad that you're doing magic stuff up here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Alright, " Harry said slowly, "But you should try one first."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why?" Said Dudley, clearly impatient./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, magic sweets are an acquired taste, you might not like them."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dudley snorted and held out his hand./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry dove his hand into the bag, careful to make sure Dudley couldn't see what he was doing. Looking around he saw peppermint toads, fudge flies, chocolate wands, crystalized pineapple and many others, but they weren't what he was looking for. At last he laid eyes on it. A small, sickly green lollipop. An acid pop. He withdrew his hand from the bag and gave the lollipop to Dudley. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What were you looking for?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The best one." Replied Harry. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dudley stuck the acid pop into his mouth and sucked. The effect was instantaneous. His face scrunched up, then became one of pain as the acid pop started to burn a hole through his tongue. He dropped the acid pop, which was by now just a stick, and ran from the room, hands clamped around his mouth as his eyes started to stream. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry laughed as Dudley ran downstairs, then quickly started to pry the floorboard loose as place all his birthday things under it. He had just replaced the floorboard when a shrill voice screamed,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""HARRY! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For a second, Harry debated waiting in his room but, reasoning that this would only make her more furious, went downstairs to face Aunt Petunia./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He put on an innocent face as he walked into the kitchen, which was still wet from Aunt Petunia's cleaning./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""WHAT DID YOU DO!" She screamed at him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nothing. " Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""DON'T LIE TO ME YOU DID-" she looked around, as if scared the Mason's would hear her from the kitchen, "-you did magic!" she whispered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No i didn't" replied Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""THEN WHY-" she said, now back at full volume, "-HAS THERE BEEN A HOLE, BURNT THROUGH DUDLEY'S TONGUE!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh that, " replied Harry, feigning ignorance, "Well that might have something to do with the wizard sweet he ate."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""THE em style="box-sizing: inherit;"WHAT/em HE ATE?" Her voice got even higher, which was not something Harry thought possible./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The wizard sweet. I told him not to. Told him he wouldn't like it but did he listen? Noo-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""FIX HIM!" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well i would love to, but i don't know how."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Aunt Petunia seemed to boil over, and then deflate. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She seemed also dizzy as she mumbled to herself. Harry only caught a few words of what she was mumbling. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Wait...Vernon...the boy...magic."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was so stunned, he didn't know what to say. Even Dudley had stopped crying to gape, teary eyed and mouth wide open, at his mother, who was currently steadying herself with a chair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She forced Harry to sit in the living room chair whilst she gave Dudley a tub of ice-cream and a spoon. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She seemed to sit in quiet melancholy, only roused when the doorbell heralded the arrival of Uncle Vernon, back from picking up the dinner suits./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She rose once more and exchanged quick words with Uncle Vernon. Predictably enough, soon Uncle Vernon was storming into the living room with thunder in his eyes. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The berating he got, was the worst one of all time. Uncle Vernon was so loud it made the walls shake. Harry was sure he saw a passerby stare at the house before they moved on with walking their dog./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In the end, they decided there wasn't much they could do./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was forced to work back-breaking labour around the house and garden. Cleaning the windows, washing the car, mowing the law, trimming the flowerbeds, pruning and watering the roses and re-painting the garden bench. The sun blazed overhead, making Harry hot, tired, sweaty and aching all over when he finished. They forced him straight up to his room and Uncle Vernon locked the door. Where Harry collapsed onto the bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As for Dudley, they babied him until he would be allowed to stay in his room, watching television and eating ice-cream whilst the other Dursleys were coaxing the Masons into signing the contract. They would explain his absence as a simple fever, though asked him not to have the television on too loud./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was quarter to eight when the doorbell rang again. The Masons had clearly arrived. Harry heard voices travelling from up the kitchen, and smelled the large joint of roast pork sizzling in the oven. Earlier he had seen Aunt Petunia's Windtorte Pudding sitting on top of the fridge, and the thought of that only made him hungrier. It amused him, however, to think of Aunt Petunia in her Salmon-pink cocktail dress, and Uncle Vernon in his black dinner suit and bow-tie. It was the complete opposite of how Harry envisioned them, which made him laugh./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He sighed and wondered if he should have given the sweet to Dudley. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Heee would have found it anyway." Jaculus reasoned. "And bessssidessss, if not the acciid pop, then the chocolate frogsss would have gotten loossse, or he would have made himself sssick on beansss. Or fizzzzing-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I get the point," replied Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""At leassst you still have all the presssentsss and cardsss," Jaculus replied. "You could open them in peace."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah. I'll do that." Harry agreed, and reached into the floorboards and pulled out the rest of the items he had been given for his birthday. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As the sound of Aunt Petunia's shrill laughter drifted up from the Dursley's lounge, Harry turned his attention to the presents under his floorboards. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He chose the letter from Pansy next, and it's accompanying present. Bound in a soft, velvety parchment, her letter read:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry,/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Happy birthday. I am well, and my mother has mellowed down somewhat. She is still angry at me, though i have recently been spending time at Theodore's from which i am writing you this letter./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I hope that you have been well since i last wrote, and that the muggles are staying out of your way. They really should learn their place in wizard society, and i highly doubt that they are treating you with the respect you deserve./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Anyway, attached is a present i bought you from Diagon Alley, it should certainly make the astronomy homework much easier. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry placed the letter down and unwrapped the present. inside was a beautiful wooden, almost telescope. there were some complicated dials at the back, and when Harry looked through it, he couldn't see his room at all, only the moon reflected against the stars. Wondering why Pansy had gotten him such a gift, Harry turned back to the letter./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I have gotten you is a lunascope. It means you won't have to mess around with moon charts when we're given homework by Professor Sinestra. Simply look through the Lunascope, and it'll show you the exact position and phase of the moon./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry smiled. This would certainly be useful, Harry could remember only too well the frustration he had when dealing with mounds and mounds of moon charts the previous year./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He moved onto the next parcel, one from Theodore. After inspecting the parcel first, Harry determined that it was probably a book, as it felt heavy and was about the right shape. The letter was the same as the other letters though, and Harry tore it open and read the message./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry, /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I've finally gotten back from my Uncle about what the stone we found was. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This caught Harry's attention. Theodore had previously said that he was going to try to find out what the stone was, and as they had had no idea where to begin looking, then Theodore finding out what the object was, was big indeed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Although he couldn't be positive, he said the description of the stone sounded a lot like the legendary philosopher's stone, one of the four goals of alchemy, along with chrysopoeia, the creation of panaceas and alkahests, and Spagyric. I think this makes sense, as the only known person to make a philosopher's stone is someone called Nicolas Flamel, who is a friend of Dumbledore's. It sounds like Flamel asked Dumbledore to guard his stone. Though there are some problems with that idea. i've sent you a book that gives details on the philosopher's stone. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Otherwise i'm fine. I hope you are too, and that the muggles know their place. Pansy's been spending a lot of time here recently, i think she's trying to avoid her mother./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Full of excitement, Harry tore open the wrapping on the parcel which Theodore had sent him. inside, just as the letter had described, was a copy of,em style="box-sizing: inherit;" a history and study of the philosopher's stone and it's creator, Nicholas Flamel/em. By Zosimos Ortolanus. The book was bound in a rich, scarlet leather, that exactly matched the hue of the stone. The Title was embossed in gold and the author name was made of silver. Excited, Harry placed the book carefully next to his bed for later./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The last parcel Harry had received was from Blaise. Inside was a handsome set of Emerald Green Gobstones. He also had sent a letter that read very similarly to the other letters from Draco, Theodore and Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry, /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I hope you're well. Don't let the Muggles get you down, there's only 4 more weeks of summer left before we're back at school. I'm doing fine here, Mother has gotten another husband, a Gobstones maker, and this is from his newest line. Personally, i don't see what she sees in him, but i don't mind all the gifts he's gotten me. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Anyway, Happy birthday. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry skimmed the rest of the letters. They all said pretty much the same things, with even the surprisingly articulate ones by Crabbe and Goyle fitting this trend. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed and lay down on his bed. Despite the fact that this was the best birthday he had ever had, and that he had received some amazing presents, the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world was a way out of life with the Dursleys. Although he certainly had the Dursleys under his thumb and his latest trick against Dudley was glorious, Harry just always felt disconnected whenever he was staying here. Like a part of himself was missing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He heard Aunt Petunia's shrill laugh drift up from the floor below. Presumably the Dursleys would be starting on Dinner soon. Harry's stomach rumbled. A cheese sandwich wasn't exactly the most filling of foods to eat, and to supplement that with sweets wouldn't be the best idea. Ignoring this he ate an every-flavour bean. Then promptly spat it out because it was spinach flavoured. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Lost in memories of Hogwarts and his friends, Harry soon drifted of to sleep. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Although he was promptly woken the next morning by Uncle Vernon, who woke him with a loud "BOY!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sat bolt upright and almost bashed his head against Uncle Vernon's, who was standing over his bed. Clearly the course of one night and few drinks had not mellowed Uncle Vernon in the slightest. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you call this!" Uncle Vernon said as he gestured to Harry's floor, where discarded wrapping, letter and presents lay strewn about, with the little model Nimbus zipping around Uncle Vernon's ankles./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought we told you that you weren't to talk to any of the other - em style="box-sizing: inherit;"weirdos /em- at that place you go to."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You mean Hogwarts." Harry said, getting off the bed and starting to pick up his presents, especially the moel nimbus, which was in danger of being crushed by Uncle Vernon's foot./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Uncle Vernon when deep purple as he always did when Harry mentioned the wizarding world to him. Perhaps antagonising Uncle Vernon wasn't the best idea, especially early in the morning, but Uncle Vernon was already pretty angry as it was. Keeping him mentally unstable would only give Harry more power./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"With Uncle Vernon now at the tipping point, he said, slowly, "What. Did you do. To Dudley. Yesterday."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, i didn't do anything to him. It's his own fault that he ate the sweet."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So you fed him - something - that, that-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Burned a hole in his tongue?" Harry supplied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""FIX HIM!" Uncle Vernon shouted, all pretence of being in control of himself lost./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I can't." Harry said quickly, "Even if i knew the spell to fix him, which i don't by the way, then i would need my wand, which you've locked up, and i also don't have any motivation to fix him, which you can't give me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Uncle Vernon looked like he was going to boil like a kettle when he next opened his mouth, though his words came out in a forced calm voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How can we get him fixed?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You can't." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next day Uncle Vernon came back to lock Harry inside his room. He had decided, over the course of the night, that Harry was to be confined to his bedroom indefinitely. He had fitted a bolt-lock to Harry's bedroom door, and it was only opened whenever the Dursleys let him use the bathroom, Uncle Vernon also set about installing a cat-flap into which food could be passed three times a day. They had taken away all of Harry presents that he got for his birthday, including the book that held answers about the philosopher's stone, and the small box that held the stone itself. Since Harry had locked it, there wasn't too much danger of the Dursleys finding out what was inside it. Harry also knew for a fact that in the early morning, Aunt Petunia had buried the contents of the sweet bag Draco had gotten Harry in a hole in the garden. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"None of this really bothered Harry. Draco or one of his other friends usually sent a letter once a week, and whilst Harry couldn't immediately contact them due to his lack of an owl, when Harry got a message next he would simply attach a letter to their owl and send it back with a plea for help. The only problem now was surviving that long, for the Dursleys often forgot to pass him food or water. Thanks to Jaculus sneaking Harry a quill and ink, Harry could, at least, write the letter and subsequently had it composed within an hour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and Harry had not received a letter from any of his friends yet. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking behind the clouds and wondered miserably what was going to happen to him. Life at the Dursleys had hit an all time low. Even lower than whenever Aunt Marge came to visit. He thought miserably of magicking himself out of the room, but the rational part of his brain quickly stomped on that idea, telling him that freedom from the Dursleys meant nothing if he got expelled. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunia's hand appeared, pushing a bowl of tinned soup into the room. Harry, whose insides were aching with hunger, jumped off the bed and seized it. The soup was stone cold, but Harry drank half of it in one gulp. Then he sat down on his bed, and drank the other half more slowly. He even finished the soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowl./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He put the empty bowl back on the floor next to the cat-flap and law back down on his bed, somehow even more hungry than before. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite his initial hopes at his plan being swiftly executed, right now, Harry had doubts about it. What if his friends didn't send any owls? What if the owls refused to take his letter? And what, if they got the letter, would the Malfoys do to get Harry away from the Dursleys?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"With these questions rattling around inside his head, Harry slowly started to drift off to sleep. He dreamed he was inside a glass cage at the zoo. People goggled at him through the glass as he lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Draco's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Draco didn't hear him and moved on. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley and Uncle Vernon started wrapping their knuckles on his cage, like the boa constrictor at the zoo. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Stop it, " Harry muttered, as the rattling pounded in his sore head. "Leave me alone, i'm trying to sleep."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through the window. And something was tapping on the glass, and goggling through the bars at him. It's sharp, orange eyes, and long talons told Harry instantly, that this was Ascalon, Draco's pet owl. And he was carrying a message. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /As soon as Harry removes the letter from Ascalon's claw, he made to take off, but Harry cried "Wait!" rather loudly. He paused, listening to hear if the Dursleys had woken up. Ascalon just stood there, looking at him like he was annoyed. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sorry, " Said Harry, "But I need you to deliver a message back to Draco."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Ascalon still just stood there, and Harry assumed that mean he could attach the letter to his leg. Carefully, he removed his hand from Ascalon's feathers and quickly headed over to his draw, where the letter Harry had written was stored. Rushing back over to Ascalon he fumbled slightly with tying the letter to Ascalon's leg, but soon it was attached sturdily enough that it wouldn't fall off. Then Harry waited. Ascalon didn't move. Harry was confused, he'd seen Draco post letters before, when they were in the school owlery. Draco had simply attached the letter and Ascalon had gone on his way, so what was the problem now? br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /After waiting around for almost a minute in which Ascalon could have been stuffed for all he moved, Harry finally said, desperate and in a low voice "Oh, just go already damn you!" This was what caused Ascalon to finally move. With a quick flap of his wings and a soft hoot, Ascalon flew out of the window. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and flopped down onto the bed. His hand, which had been clasped around the letter Draco had sent him, relaxed and Harry read through the letter he had been sent by Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It wasn't anything too special. In fact, it was almost monotonous in it's message, but of all the letters Harry had ever received from Draco, he knew that this was going to be one that he would cherish forever, simply because it had been the one that had rescued him from a life of enslavement from the Dursleys./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite it being very late, almost midnight if not after, Harry couldn't go back to sleep. His mind was awash with all the possibilities and scenarios that the letter he had sent now brought. However, as one's mind is oft to do in these circumstances, Harry soon starting worrying about what could go wrong. Ascalon could be prevented from giving the letter to Draco. Draco could decide that he couldn't do anything, and Harry would be stuck there. Or maybe, Draco does turn up, but there's nothing Draco can do to convince the Dursleys to let Harry go and Harry is still stuck in his room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"These thoughts sent Harry into a sort of pseudo-sleep, where he couldn't tell you what day it was or what the time was, but he could think about matters. And when he finally woke from this pseudo-sleep it was almost 10 in the morning. He looked down at the cat flap. The bowl had been taken away and replaced with a single, green, apple. Hungrily, Harry snatched up the apple and bit down into it. It was soft, and warm. It lacked the satisfying crunch you get from biting down into an apple, and the juices were tasteless due to heat of the apple, but Harry still ate it down to it's core, which he then tossed into his bin by the cupboard. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Then, as he did so often these days, he just sat around his room, except this time he was waiting for Draco to contact him. Of course, that simply added another layer of frustration to his predicament, as now with nothing to do, but everything to wait for, it seemed like time was simply, slowing down. He looked at the clock hanging on his wall. Surely it couldn't have been only five minutes. He was already hungry again!/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At quarter past eleven Aunt Petunia let him out to use the bathroom. On his way to the bathroom, Harry tried to look at the house to see if any thing had changed. Perhaps a letter, or even Draco himself, or his father, here to negotiate Harry's release. But there were no such signs. Everything was normal. Or, as normal as it could be. It seemed that Dudley, at least, had gotten used to the new hole in his tongue, as Harry caught a glimpse of him absent mind-idly poking a dinner knife through the hole on his way back from the toilet. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Past 11:30, Harry was back in his room, waiting, and hungry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't suppose you have anything to eat do you, Jaculus?" Harry asked of his pet snake, who was sleeping on the window sill./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Trusssst meee, you don't waaant what iii've been eating." Was the snake's only reply. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry shrugged and returned to waiting. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /At 1:20 the cat-flap rattled again and a plate with a single sandwich and a glass of water emerged through. Again, Harry ate the sandwich, almost in one bite. It was made of cold ham, stale cheese and that disgusting half-and-half bread Harry was convinced Aunt Petunia only got to torture him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /As the hands on the clock rotated further and further, Harry was soon growing anxious. Surely Draco had received the letter he had sent. Malfoy manor wasn't that far from privet drive by air was it?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was five past five when Harry got this next meal. Half a pork-pie and a carrot. Harry barely had the heart to eat at all by this point, convinced as he was that Ascalon had somehow failed, or Harry hadn't made the instructions to Ascalon clear enough. Knowing that this was his last meal of the day, Harry decided to get an early night, of which he was sure that the Malfoy might turn up tomorrow, having simply been delayed in departing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As soon as he was asleep, however, he was almost instantly woken up by someone shaking him awake. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"...Wassa...waayah?" He mumbled, incoherently./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Here, put these on." A familiar voice said as they handed Harry his glasses. It took Harry a little while to figure out who said it. It was only after he had put on his glasses and looked up to see a blonde haired, silver eyed boy looking down at him, that he realised Draco had arrived. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wha? Draco? How?" He mumbled, still half asleep. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I got your letter, stupid. Y'know, I thought you were joking at first, but Father insisted we come and see if that was really the case."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Your father's here?" Harry asked, a little groggily./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, he's down in the dining room where all those pictures of that fleshy beach ball are. He's waiting for us, so get dressed, quickly, and gather up anything you need from this room." Draco replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sure." Harry said, already running to the cupboard./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco dutifully turned his back whilst Harry pulled on a pair of Dudley's old trousers, his old shirt that was three sizes too big and a pair of old socks. After rolling up the sleeves on his shirt so his hands could move freely, Draco turned around. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Good, have you got any more clothes in here?" He asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, all my robes are in my trunk."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Perfect, lets get out of this muggle mud-hole then."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They started to make this way to the door when Harry quickly turned around again, and dashed to the windowsill to unceremoniously grab Jaculus. He thought he heard a hiss of indignity as he stuffed Jaculus up his sleeve./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Downstairs was an even odder scene than Harry pictured it. Somehow he couldn't place, regal, smart and the just overall wizarding looks of Mr. Malfoy in the Dursley's dining room, sitting at the table, and yet here he was. Harry noticed with a grin that all the Dursleys were looking terrified, and seemed to flinch as Mr. Malfoy spoke./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Harry, You're here. We can be on our way then. Dobby should have all your Hogwarts things. They were under the stairs, weren't they?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, they were."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmmm. You might want to check to make sure that Dobby has em style="box-sizing: inherit;"all/em your things." He said, lazily./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"So Harry quickly rushed into the hallway to see Dobby, busy sorting his things. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Hello master Harry, Dobby should have all your things sir. Is this what you wish to take to school with you, sir?" He asked in his squeaky voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry quickly surveyed everything the elf had piled up. Books, robes, quills and ink. Harry first retrieved his wand, which was sitting on a copy of a beginner's guide to transfiguration. All of a sudden he felt like he was part of the wizarding world again. The temptation to cast a spell there, just to see if it really wasn't all just a fantasy he had made up was great, but Harry resisted. There would be plenty of time to cast spells at Malfoy Manor. He next looked for the book Theodore had got him. He was pleased to see it was still where it was supposed to be. Lastly, he looked for the small box that held the Philosopher's stone. That was a little harder to find, hidden as it was under the robes the Dursleys had haphazardly shoved into the cupboard. He placed the small box in his pocket./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." He said to the elf, who was nervously expecting his judgement. "It's all here." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Dobby was visibly relived at this, and Harry felt the tiniest twinge of guilt for the poor elf. But that was gone as he returned to the Malfoys, where Draco was giving Dudley the death stare. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Does the elf have everything?" Mr. Malfoy asked. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, he does." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then maybe he's good for something after all. Come, we'll be travelling to the Manor by side-along apparition. It'll be a bit uncomfortable, but brief."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He held out his arm and Harry, copying Draco, grasped it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry felt Mr. Malfoy's arm twist away from him, and he redoubled his grip. The next thing he knew everything was black, he was pressed very hard from all directions. He could not breath, there were iron bands tightening around his chest, his eyes were being forced back into his head, his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull. But then it stopped. Harry looked around. Although he felt a bit nauseous from the apparition, his heart leapt as he looked around and saw the Albino Peacocks and iron gate which showed him that he was at Malfoy Manor. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Come, Draco, It's late, I want you both in bed when we get in. Harry, you remember where you're sleeping don't you?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," Harry said, finding it hard to conceal the broad grin he got at being back at the Manor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good, Dobby will take your things up. Won't you?" He said as he whacked Dobby around the head with his cane. The elf's cries of agreement were silenced by Draco, leading Harry through the iron gates./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It hasn't changed since you were here last Christmas, even your room is exactly as it was, " he said as the massive front door opened for them, "granted, because of those annoying raids, father's planning on taking precautions and has moved most our really dark stuff to a secret chamber under the drawing room. Did I tell you about that?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I can't remember, " replied Harry truthfully. All Draco's anecdotes seemed to merge into each other at some point. "But besides, has Theodore told you what he uncovered?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, " Replied Draco, looking a little confused, "Why?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well," said Harry, lowering his voice a bit. Draco skipped a step so he could be closer to Harry, "Theodore reckons that what we got from the rooms under the trapdoor last year, was something called the Philosopher's stone." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You know, that rings a sort of bell," Draco said, "I think one of Father's associates who specialises in procuring old manuscripts and such, I think he told me a story about the stone once."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you remember it?" Harry asked, curious./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, it wasn't particularly interesting." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, apparently the Philosopher's stone is supposed to be an alchemical stone that can turn stuff into gold and make you immortal and stuff. Theodore sent me a book on it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were outside Harry's guest room, and they both eagerly went inside to sit on the bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you have the book?" Draco asked, a hint of greed in his eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, it should be with my stuff." Harry said, as he went to look through the trunks he had brought from the Dursleys. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"And the stone?" Draco asked, even more eagerly. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Here." Said Harry as he reached into his pocket and withdrew the small box which held the Philosopher's stone. He passed it over to Draco who opened the box and eyed the stone with a hunger in his eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found what he was looking for, the handsomely bound copy of em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A history and study of the Philosopher's stone and its creator Nicholas Flamel./em He also passed this to Draco, who was still looking at the stone hungrily. Still, he put the stone down to read the look at the book. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Did you read it yet?" Was his first question, after carefully examining the cover and flicking to a random page in the book./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I didn't get the chance," Harry replied, yawning. "The Dursleys confiscated it before I could."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He thought he saw Draco's knuckles whiten briefly before he said "Lousy Muggles. Well, we should get some sleep. I don't want father to catch us oversleeping in the morning. We'll have plenty of time to read this over the summer, we've weeks left before school starts again." And with that he left both the stone and book on Harry's bed as he exited the room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry woke the next morning with a wide grin on his face as he saw the ends of the Malfoy's four-poster bed. He got up quickly and dressed in some comfortable wizarding clothes, still marvelling in the fact that he was able to wear them, and went downstairs into the dining room. Draco joined him on the stairs down and they continued the conversation they had been having the previous night. Before long, they were at the table, which was loaded with all manner of delicious foods like apple dumplings, coffee cake, devilled kidneys, eggs benedict, eggs bourguignon, eggs Neptune, mountains of french toast and milk toast, chocolatines, pancakes and a large quiche held centerplace at the table, and to top it off there was a large full English breakfast sitting in front of him. Harry was utterly gobsmacked. Days of near starvations by the Dursleys had left Harry hungry and now he was presented with a feast on par with the ones at Hogwarts, he found it hard not to try to eat everything at once. Draco, who was sitting next to him, had started to eat already, though Harry noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy seemed to be waiting for someone else, as there was a chair opposite Mr. Malfoy that was empty. Nervously, Harry started to eat, and soon enough a very strange man indeed walked up to the table. He was strange, with very long hair and a beard, much longer than Dumbledore's. When he sat down, both hair and beard rested on the floor. He was wearing a heavy cloak made of animal skin and dragon hide, and carried a silver halberd, around which a two-pronged flag flew, flapping in the wind, despite there being no draft in the dining room. Underneath his beard, he was wearing normal wizard robes of red, white and green. Around his waist was a belt filled with very large pouches. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Szelatya, you had a good journey I hope." Mr. Malfoy said as he reached over to shake Szelatya's hand. Harry noticed with a shiver that Szelatya had eight fingers on his hand and no thumb. When he grasped Mr. Malfoy's hand it looked like his fingers were braided around Mr. Malfoy's. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It was very fruitful." Szelatya said, with a very thick accent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then you have-" Mr. Malfoy asked eagerly, /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The Táltos drum of Matthias Corvinus, as he led the black army of Hungary in battle against the Czechs." Szelatya finished impressively. "I do." And from his robes he produced a large drum, half a meter in length and so large Harry wondered how Szelatya managed to fit it in his robes. Mr. Malfoy took the drum and handed it to Dobby, who promptly vanished and returned with a leather pouch. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Here you are, five Kulm grzywna of silver." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Thank you very much, Mr. Malfoy. That drum is very powerful, I assume you know what you are going to do with it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I do, thank you. Would you stay for breakfast?" He asked, indicating the table next to him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No thank you, I must really be going. I will take some food for the road though," he said standing up and retrieving his halberd./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""By all means."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And to Harry's surprise Szelatya grabbed the entire quiche dish and placed it into his robes where the drum had mysteriously come from. He then turned, and left the hall. Harry was relived to see from Draco's face that he was not the only one who had found Szelatya strange and unnerving. He started eating soon afterwords though, and Harry copied him, but having lost his appetite a bit, didn't eat as much as he originally planned./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Afterwords Harry and Draco raced around the manor on brooms, Harry having borrowed an excellent comet 260 from Draco. It was exhilarating flying through the air again. Harry had not ridden a broomstick since the flying lessons the previous year, but found that, despite it being nearly a year since he had last flown one, flying came back naturally to him, as if he had spent his whole life on a broomstick. He didn't managed to beat Draco however, who had actually spent his whole life on a broomstick. Next, Harry broke in his new set of Gobstones that he got from Blaise spectacularly, as he played several games with Draco, winning a fair few times, though both of them were heavily soaked in the foul-smelling liquid that squirted from the stones when they went in for lunch. Dobby cleaned them up with a wave of his hand as they sat down for lunch. Lunch, of course, was just as scrumptious as breakfast, with Harry particularly liking the brown Windsor soup./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That afternoon, however, it was time for Draco's duelling classes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry had heard much about these classes from Draco in his many letters. Some ex-teacher from another school was employed by Mr. Malfoy to teach Draco duelling. Because Harry didn't have anything else to do, he decided to watch Draco duelling. The first thing he had to do, however, was put on a duelling suit. Harry found this inordinately hilarious the first time he lay eyes on the garb. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco was wearing shorter robes in green, white and black. But over those robes he was wearing metal boots, which were laced up to his knees. Metal kneeplates, thigh guards, shin guards, gauntlets and pauldrons. Around his chest, supported by a cross of belts, was a large singular metal plate, with the Malfoy crest emblazoned on it in green lines. To top it all off, Draco was wearing a wizard's hat, but it was missing a brim, and was all floppy so it drooped down his back. It was held in place by a helmet, that reminded him of pictures of Greek warriors he had seen during Muggle school. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry was doing his best not to laugh, but it was hard not to, as Draco simply looked ridiculous. Something of this must have shown on his face however, as Draco blushed and said "Shut it, Potter" Harry held his hands up in mock defeat and said "I didn't say anything." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco glared at him for a second before walking off to meet the instructor, who, although wearing the exact same getup as Draco, with the colours simply swapped for burgundy, saffron and maroon, looked a whole lot less ridiculous. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the instructor looked much more comfortable in his robes than Draco, that he looked a lot less ridiculous, or perhaps it was due to his epic moustache, Harry couldn't tell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So, Master Malfoy, have you been practicing the wand movements I showed you last session?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, sir." Draco said, slightly sardonically./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, we'll soon find out. First position. En garde." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Both Draco and the instructor raised their wands to the same position, straight out in front of them. Harry noticed, that where the instructor's arm was rigid and unmoving, Draco's arm was wobbling slightly. The instructor noticed this too, raising an eyebrow, but didn't mention it, and instead indicated to Draco. On cue, Draco cast "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae!/em" And a white hot spark shot out of Draco's wand-tip at the instructor. It trailed through the air until the instructor bat it aside with a wave of his wand. Where it landed, there was a small burn on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bene, Draco. Do less of a pronounced jab next time. Again." The instructor was definitely Italian, Harry thought, as he watched Draco repeat the spell. Again, the inductor deflected it. After repeating the spell half a dozen times in half a dozen different positions, Harry started to noticed something. The Italian wizard didn't seem to have any eyelids. Harry didn't see him blink once whilst he told Draco to use a different spell, (This time one that used a sharp cutting motion instead of a jab, and produced a light gouge in anything it touched) or when he had Draco practice his aim and was nearly scalped by a ricocheting jinx, or even when one of his boots caught fire. Indeed, Harry was so preoccupied with trying to see if the man had eyelids, that he didn't notice Mr. Malfoy was right behind him until he spoke, which made Harry jump./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what do you think of Signor Marozzo?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The instructor?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy nodded./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He seems to be very good." Harry replied, not entirely sure why Mr. Malfoy was asking for his opinion, and almost certain that he was underselling Marozzo's actual abilities./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, he is." Mr. Malfoy said, in a very monotonous voice. "He was originally a duellist and instructor at L'accademia per eccellenza nei duelli magici, but was forced to leave his country for rather complicated reasons. He moved here, to England where I asked him to train Draco over the summer holidays."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ok." Harry said tentatively. He wasn't entirely sure where this conversation was heading, or what Mr. Malfoy wanted from him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco tells me that you're an excellent duellist, Harry. That you've beaten him several times last year."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry didn't know how to respond to that, so stayed quiet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy looked directly at him now. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'll be blunt. Harry, I wish for you to train alongside Draco here, whilst you are staying here at the manor, and for you to continue training Draco when you go back to school in September."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I- I would be honoured, but I don't know how to train someone to duel." Replied Harry, a little flustered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That part wouldn't be complicated. Simple, regular, practice duels with Draco and your assistance whenever you both learn a new spell." Mr. Malfoy asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose I can do that."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent. Achille!" Mr. Malfoy shouted across the room at the Instructor. Both Draco and Marozzo stopped what they where doing and looked up at Mr. Malfoy. "I would like to introduce your new pupil, Harry Potter." He said, as he placed a hand on Harry's back and led him towards the pair. Marozzo, like so many other wizards, gave a little start at the mention of Harry's name, and his eyes instantly shot up to Harry's forehead, where his lighting-bolt scar was slightly visible underneath his bangs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I pantaloni di Merlino..." Marozzo whispered. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter, a pleasure indeed." Curiously, unlike other wizards Harry had encountered, Marozzo did not try to shake Harry's hand, instead simply stood staring at his scar./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So," Mr. Malfoy said, bringing Marozzo back to reality, "You would be willing to accept Harry as a second student?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Of course, of course. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure. To train the great Harry Potter; It would be an honour."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent. Why don't we finish there for the day. I'll have the kitchen elves whip us up something. Now, Marozzo, about last night..." and they trailed off, leaving Harry standing awkwardly next to Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sorry about that." He said, trying to break the silence, "Your father ambushed me. I couldn't really say now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco's face then softened, and he said "Oh well. At least I'll be able to see you in these ridiculous robes. Plus I might actually beat you for once."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Smiling again, Harry replied "Don't count on it, I bet I'll still be better than you." They both laughed as they returned to the room where Draco changed out of his robes and into some more comfortable ones./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dinner, of course, was style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The table was piled high with mountains of game meat, vegetables and varying sauces, ranging from viscous red cranberry sauce to runny gravy. It was as delicious as breakfast or lunch. After dinner, when Harry was full and a little drowsy from all the food, he went upstairs to his room and started to read the book Theodore had gotten him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He had opened it and flicked through the first couple of pages before his eyes started to glaze over. He shook himself back to sense and tried to read again. He found he couldn't do it. Perhaps he was just too tired to really grasp what was being said by the book, or maybe it was because the book itself was being dreadfully boring, beginning, as it did, on a philosophical examination of the stone as a concept. Soon enough Harry found that he just couldn't force his eyes open any longer, and almost instantly fell asleep. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In the morning Harry went downstairs to find an equally scrumptious breakfast as the day before, and also a letter waiting for him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Your Hogwarts letters have arrived." Mr. Malfoy said to Harry and Draco, who had come downstairs next to him. "At least that fool, Dumbledore, is good for one thing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry handled the letter of yellowish parchment and tore it open. Inside, written on green ink as it always was, was a paragraph telling Harry to catch the Hogwarts express as usual from King's cross station on september 1st. There was also a list of books he would need for the coming year, although calling it a list was generous, as it only contained one item, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2/em, by Miranda Goshawk"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry looked over at Draco, who had already finished reading his letter, and asked "I wonder who's going to be teaching defense against the Dark arts this year?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't know." Replied Draco. "It could be that they didn't get anyone new in. I mean, we haven't been told to get any new books."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Quirrell is still teaching." Mr. Malfoy said, not looking up from his paper./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco and Harry looked at one another. "Does this mean that there wasn't any curse?" Harry asked, perplexed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Maybe Quirrell just got lucky." Draco replied. "I mean, i saw all the records of previous teachers whilst i was on that detention for Filch remember. And there wasn't any defence against the dark arts teacher that stayed for more than a year. Plus, i remember visiting Hogwarts when i was younger, i heard people talking that some of the defence against the dark arts teachers were so incompetent, they didn't even show up for classes."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""In any case," Mr. Malfoy said, interrupting Draco's and Harry's mutterings, "It means that we don't have much to do when we visit Diagon Alley. We'll simply conclude my business with Mr. Borgin, get your books and leave."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't forget my present!" Draco said, angrily. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Of course, Draco, i'll get you your racing broom as well."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Life at the Manor was a different as possible with life at privet drive, although some aspects were similar. Mr. Malfoy spent most of his days working in the drawing room, entertaining a menagerie of guests, ranging from ordinary ministry workers to strange men and women from a variety of places, who were sporting a variety of weird looks. Harry swore he saw one woman with a forked tongue who reminded him incandescently of Jaculus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"However, the biggest difference between Privet Drive and Malfoy Manor, was that everyone was appreciative and friendly to him. Every guest of Mr. Malfoy, no matter how strange or unnatural they were, always found time to meet him, to talk to him and congratulate him on his defeat of Voldemort. And Harry appreciated that when he met these people, their eyes never looked straight at his scar like so many others. Indeed, they found it much more interesting to talk to him. They asked him about his studies, the spells he had learnt, the duels he had fought, any enemies he had made. All were suitably impressed when Harry told them of the passageway under the trapdoor that he had gotten through last year, though he neglected to mention that the prize was possibly the philosopher's stone, instead telling them he had arrived in the room to find the strange mirror broken, with no prize in sight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In return they told him of stories of their own, of being chased by Scottish Houndsmen, who's sleek black crups were as big and shaggy as highland cattle, and whose barks could be heard for miles. Of outwitting Caipora in the Amazon rainforest, and chasing down mangkukulam and mambabarang in Indonesia. Several, it turned out, had curse scars, but none were like Harry's. They were spread out, like big, black spiderwebs, over the person's arm or chest, which rendered the body part almost impossible to move properly. Sometimes they would randomly spasm, lashing out at anyone and anything nearby, sometimes moving left when the person was indicating right, or sometimes even not moving at all and simply hanging there, limp and useless. Either way, they were all very interesting, and Harry was sad to see each of them go, but that was when he could stomach their looks of course./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not all of the guests were there for Mr. Malfoy of course. Crabbe and Goyle visited semi-regularly, with Pansy and Blaise showing up from time to time. But it was Theodore's visit that stuck out the most to Harry. It was a few days before Harry and Draco were set to go to Diagon Alley, and by that time Harry had read though the book Theodore had gotten him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So Harry-" He had asked when they could find a private place to talk, "-What do you think?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I think you're right, it is the Philosopher's stone." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So what does that mean?" Draco said. "Because we don't know how to use it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then we learn." Said Theodore impassively. "The school must have books on alchemy. My father says they teach Alchemy at Hogwarts at NEWT level if enough people are interested." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But we can't wait that long." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Obviously, but since they teach it then they must have books on it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How difficult do you think it'll be to learn though?" Asked Draco. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well," replied Harry, "if it's NEWT level then it must be pretty advanced-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, but it is also taught at Beauxbatons from before they do their OWLs, so it can't massively difficult."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Beauxbatons?" Asked Harry, for he had heard that name before, though couldn't place exactly where he remembered it style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The French wizarding school, Though I hear they take students from all around Europe." Replied Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't they join the school at eight years old?" Said Theodore with a bit of a laugh. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yeah, and I hear that they do their OWLs in sixth year em style="box-sizing: inherit;"and/em they stay at school during the summer holidays." Replied Draco. They all chuckled a bit at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Of course, " said Theodore, " My mother says that Beauxbatons students are the most beautiful in the world. That whilst they're at School they only drink from the magical Flamel fountain, which makes even the ugliest student there more beautiful than anyone else in the world."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry suddenly remembered where he had heard the name Beauxbatons before. In the book Theodore had gotten him it had said that Beauxbatons was where Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel has been educated. And that later a fountain had been built there in their honour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""There is one other thing," Harry said to the two boys, "I don't think we should take the stone back to Hogwarts with us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I see what you mean, but what other choice do we have?" Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We could leave it somewhere?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Like Gringotts?" Suggested Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, we're going there anyway." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wasn't it already stolen from Gringotts though?" Asked Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, but if no-one knows it's in Gringotts then no-one will try to break in." Said Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore looked like he wanted to argue to point some more, but clearly couldn't find any good points to make so stayed silent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So it's settled then. When I go to withdraw some gold from my vault, I'll also leave the package in there." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They all agreed to this plan and next Wednesday, after a hearty breakfast, Harry and Draco both went to the fireplace to travel to Diagon Alley by floo powder. Despite having used floo powder before to travel to and from Hogwarts during the last Christmas holidays, Harry still didn't much like using it. It made him feel nauseous and queasy whenever he exited the green fire. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Let's get going. You two, follow behind me immediately. We're going to the White Wyvern and then to Borgin and Burke's. Hurry up now. The White Wyvern!" He said as he threw a pinch of floo powder into the flames. He stepped inside and in an instant was gone. Draco was next. After another cry of "The White Wyvern!" He too, had been transported./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Now it was Harry's turn. He took a deep breath and scattered the powder into the flames. It felt like a warm breeze was coming from the fireplace. He stepped into the flames and immediately felt his eyes sting as they dried up and got ash in them. Blinking rapidly as his eyes started to water, he cried "The White Wyvern!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He immediately felt the familiar feeling of being sucked down a giant plug hole. His eyes were burning from the green flames and hot ash as he landed on the stone floor of what he assumed was the White Wyvern./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Trying not to immediately vomit he looked around and saw Draco and his Father waiting. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Good." Mr. Malfoy said, "Let's get going. Quickly now." And he walked out the door of the pub. Brushing himself off and checking his pockets for the stone as he followed Mr. Malfoy, Harry quickly glanced around the pub before he left. It was a dismal sight. The Pub was incredibly small, and was barely wider than the fireplace. No more than ten people could have fit inside the building at one time, and there were half as many seats. The stone brick walls were decorated with tattered flags flying insignias that Harry didn't recognise, yet which seemed to be slightly menacing and ran a chill down his spine. There was also some weird purple fungus creeping up from under the floorboards, which occasionally released puffs of purple spores which burst into flames. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The bartender was standing in front of a large cabinet full of unlabelled bottles, in some of which the liquids seemed to be moving of their own accord. Stranger than the building though, was the people there. Most covered their faces with long, flowing cloaks, which meant Harry couldn't discern anything about them. Though he did notice that one woman was sporting a taloned, scaly, left hand./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The bartender himself was strange. Although he looked normal, wearing a simple but practical robe, he smoked a green cigar which seemed to be oozing a black liquid onto the floor. And when he breathed, Harry noticed that the left and right parts of his chest moved out of sync with one another. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /All in all, he was glad to be out of the shop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He followed Mr. Malfoy past shops containing all manner of strange objects. Live gigantic spiders wrestled with each other across the street from a shop called Msaw Ætare./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He knew instantly what shop they were headed towards, and it wasn't because he read the sign. Borgin and Burke's was the largest shop in the alleyway, and the only one someone like Mr. Malfoy would be likely to visit./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As they opened the door to the shop a brass bell clanged loudly and Draco immediately moved to inspect the objects on display, Harry right by his side. Mr. Malfoy moved over to the counter and rang a bell there, before saying, "Touch nothing, you two."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco, who had reached for a stained glass eye, said "I thought you said you were going to buy me a present?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I said I would buy you a racing broom." Said Mr. Malfoy, drumming his fingers on the counter./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's the good of that if i'm not on the house team?" Draco replied. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well surely a better broom would increase your chances of being picked for the house team" said Harry, who was eyeing various blood-stained torture divides that were hanging from the ceiling./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose." Said Draco, idly eyeing a bloodstained pack of cards. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Suddenly, a door opened on the other side of the counter and a sloping man appeared behind the counter, smoothing back his oily hair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again." Said Mr. Borgin, in a voice as oily as his hair. "And young Master Malfoy too -charmed and - who is that next to him?" His dropped a bit for suspicion as he addressed Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry Potter." Mr. Malfoy replied, a little impatiently./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Really? Well i'm sure we'll have em style="box-sizing: inherit;"something/em that you'll find interesting Master Potter. As for you Mr. Malfoy, I must show you, just in today and very reasonably priced-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm not buying today Mr. Borgin, but selling." Said Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You have heard, of course, that the ministry is conducting more raids?" Said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few -ah- items at home that might embarrass me, if the ministry were to call ..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Borgin fixed a pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you sir?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy's lip curled. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain amount of respect, yet the ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumours about a new Muggle Protection act - no doubt that flea bitten, muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it and as you can see, some of these poisons might make it em style="box-sizing: inherit;"appear/em-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I understand, sir, of course," said Mr. Borgin. "Let me see..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Can I have that?" Interrupted Draco, pointing at a withered hand on a plump cushion./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, the hand of glory!" Said Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste sir."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer Borgin." Said Mr. Malfoy coldly and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "no offence, sir, no offence meant-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""though if his school marks don't pick up, " Said Mr. Malfoy, colder still, "maybe a thief or a plunderer is all he's cut out to be."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""it's not my fault." retorted Draco, " the teachers all have favourites, that Hermione Granger-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I would have thought that you would be ashamed that a girl of no wizard talent beat you in every exam." Snapped Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry too got angry at this, as he saw Draco looking both abashed and angry, and didn't think Draco deserved it. He had, after all, gotten second place in most every other subject./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""is the same all over," Said Borgin in his oily voice " wizard blood is counting for less and less everywhere-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""not with me," Said Mr. Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""no sir, not with me sir." Said Mr Borgin with a deep bow./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""in that case, perhaps we could return to my list?" Said Mr. Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They started to haggle. Harry followed Draco as he examined the objects for sale. They paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals: Caution: do not touch. Cursed - had claimed the lives of nineteen Muggle owners to date./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward ... he stretched out his hand for the handle .../p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""done," Said Mr. Malfoy at the counter, "come, you two. Good day to you Mr. Borgin, I'll expect you at the Manor tomorrow to pick up the goods."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As Harry walked out the shop he noticed a display of shrunken heads in the rusty window display opposite Borgin and Burke's. For some reason feeling a little colder than he did previously, Harry followed Mr. Malfoy. He lead them past strange witches selling things Harry didn't want to look at, past large animals cages containing animals Harry didn't recognise, even past someone so large they reminded Harry of Hagrid, right into the bright sunlight of Diagon alley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now then, " Mr. Malfoy said to Harry and Draco. "We'll go to Gringotts first, then you can get your school supplies whilst I meet with someone. We'll reconvene back at flourish and blotts, then we'll get you your racing broom. Understand?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes father." Draco said. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The made their way to the golden white marble of Gringotts bank as Harry surreptitiously checked his pocket for the stone. Feeling secure the stone was still there, and not at all getting slightly fearful at the thought of bringing it into the bank where it was stolen from, (what if they recognised it?), Harry walked up the marble stairs after Draco and Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the top of the stairs. Making their way through the great marble hall, Mr Malfoy walked up to one of the goblins working at the counter that ran across the entire bank and swiftly they were on their way to Harry'a back vault. The dizzying speed of the carts unnerved Harry just as much as it had the previous time he had visited his vault. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As the goblin opened his safe door, although Harry was expecting it, he was still taken aback by just how much gold he had. Quickly shaking himself out of this stupor, he made a big deal of accidentally tripping into the gold so he could hide the stone underneath a mound of gold where it, hopefully, wouldn't be found./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm all right, I'm all right," Harry said as he quickly refilled his money bag, " just a little dizzy from the ride is all." Harry thought he heard the goblin guiding them give a little chuckle, but it was quickly turned into a cough as Harry looked at him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The next vault now, and quickly." Mr. Malfoy said to the goblin, who stopped his coughing fit at once and indicated they all get back on the cart. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"However grand and impressive Harry's vault has been, the Malfoy's vault was ten times that. It was as large as the Dursley's whole house, larger, even. The walls were piled high with golden galleons, silver sickles and a few bronze knuts. Dotted around were several odd artefacts, including a golden ram-skin rug, several gleaming silver swords, shields with moving snakes slithering around on them and several skulls made of a range of materials. Gleaming pendants varnished several mannequins and a small library of handsomely embossed tomes rested on a bookcase./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. Malfoy ignored all of these things and grabbed a handful of gold, which he deposited to Draco, and a larger portion of gold which he kept for himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" When they returned to Diagon alley, Mr. Malfoy moved to go to his 'urgent business' and left Harry and Draco to do their shopping themselves. Neither of them minded this of course, but Harry was still curious what Mr. Malfoy was doing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" There were, of course, things that Harry and Draco needed to buy. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They needed to restock their inkwells, buy new parchment and Draco wanted a new quill./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After purchasing a new quill from Amanuensis Quills; A luxury pheasant quill with flecks of gold; they made their way to Flourish and Blotts. But they were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" GILDEROY LOCKHART/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" will be signing copies of his autobiography/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" MAGICAL ME/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;" today 12:30 - 4:30 pm/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who's Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry asked of Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Some author I think. Writes about his adventures across the world battling the dark arts, but father says it's not very good. Thinks Lockhart is a phoney, but he was awarded the order of Merlin, third class, so there's that."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The crowd mostly seemed to be made up of middle aged witches, who were trying to get passed a harassed looking wizard who stood at the door saying, "calmly, please ladies ... don't push, there ... mind the books now ..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They stood at the door for a while, waiting for Mr. Malfoy to return. When he finally did he looked to be a little annoyed but it was hard to tell with him. Certainly, it was with a vengeance that he pushed his way through the doors of Flourish and Blotts. Harry and Draco followed him inside. It was filled to bursting inside, and a long queue wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. Harry and Draco avoided this line like the plague, instead making a dive for the copies of a standard book of spells grade two that they needed. Going up to the counter they paid for their books and tried to be on their way, but the crowd was now so thick that they were being pushed towards Gilderoy Lockhart. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry, Draco and Mr. Malfoy all made their way to the second floor of the shop, but on his way up, Harry knocked into a short, irritable-looking man who was dancingaround taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of people smells with every blinding flash./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oi! Watch it!" He squeaked as he fell to the floor. Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Draco - and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "it em style="box-sizing: inherit;"can't/em be Harry Potter?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The crowd parted, all of them looking straight at Harry, who was now feeling very self-conscious, just standing on the stairs. Lockhart matched forward, seized Harry arm and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face was bright red as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who had recovered from his fall and was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the crowd./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nice big smile Harry, together you and I are worth the front page."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" When he finally let go of Harry's hands he could hardly feel his fingers. He tried to sidle away from Lockhart, but he threw his arm over Harry's shoulders and clapped him tightly to his side./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" The crowd applauded again, "he had no idea," Said Gilderoy Lockhart, giving Harry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "what a momentous occasion this would be. We are arguably, two of the most famous people in the wizarding world. It was only inevitable that our paths would cross sooner or later. However, I recognise that Harry has not had the exposure the the wizarding world he deserve, and therefore I shall be giving Harry the complete works of mine, again, free of charge, to help him truly acclimate to this world!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The crowd cheered and Harry found himself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, he managed to make his way back to where the Malfoys were waiting. As he approached them, Mr. Malfoy clicked his fingers and instantly, Dobby was there next to them. Harry handed the books off to the elf and with a 'POP' the elf was off style="box-sizing: inherit;" /To his left he heard a chuckling and looked round to see Ron Weasley standing there, smirking. Next to him was what looked like the whole Weasley family, all of them red-haired and freckled. For some reason, the youngest of the Weasleys, and the only girl, was looking up at Harry and furiously blushing. She was carrying a dented cauldron with all her books in, and seemed to be trying to look at Harry without looking at style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco immediately cane to Harry's aid. "You think that's funny Weasley?" He said, "I suppose you'd like it wouldn't you? Although I suppose you'd be used to the free books wouldn't you? You probably live off of other people's handouts don't you./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Ron went as red as the younger Weasley and dropped his books in the girl's cauldron and started towards Draco, but Granger held him back. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ron!" Said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with two identical Weasleys. "What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Lucius." said Mr Weasley, nodding coldly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Busy time at the ministry I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids ... I hope they're paying you overtime?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He reached into the youngest Weasley's cauldron and extracted a very old, very battered copy of em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A beginners guide to transfiguration./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Obviously not," He said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Mr. Weasley flushed a darker red than either of the other Weasleys./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We have a very different idea of what disgrace the name of wizard, Malfoy," He said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Clearly," Said Mr Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to a couple that were watching apprehensively and clearly Muggles. Presumably they were Granger's parents. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and here I thought your family could sink no lower -"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" There was a thud as the girl's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weaker had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all there heads; there was a yell of "get him dad!"; Mrs Weasley was shrieking, "No Arthur, no!"; the crowd stamped backwards, knocking more shelves over; "Gentleman, please - please!" Cried the assistant; it was only when the men had crashed into another bookcase and an incredibly large and incredibly heavy book titled em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A Practical guide to Transfiguring Weight/em landed on both their heads did they stop. Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an em style="box-sizing: inherit;"encyclopaedia of/em em style="box-sizing: inherit;"toadstools/em and Mr. Weasley had a cut lip. Mr. Malfoy was still holding the girl's old transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glowing with malice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can do for you -"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Pulling himself out of the sea of books he beckoned to Harry and Draco and swept from the shop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The end of the summer holidays came too quickly for Harry's liking. Although there were parts of Hogwarts that he missed, his time with the Malfoys had been even better than when he had gone over for christmas last year. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Draco when he thought of the Dursleys and the welcome back he would have to endure when he returned. On the last evening an impressive feast was served up by the Malfoys. It was almost on par with Hogwarts, with how much food had been served, for Mr. Malfoy had invited a host of guests, from people in the ministry, to other families, like the Notts and the Parkinsons. There were even a few of Mr. Malfoy's more palatable acquaintances, such as Achilleas Marozzo and a woman called Spákona Veleda, who was the divination teacher at Durmstrang Institute. Harry was as happy as he could be, surrounded by all these interesting people, as he dug into a delicious leg of roasted duck./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Although Harry and Draco slept in a little getting up the next morning, they were sufficiently ready that this didn't matter too much, however, much to Harry's annoyance, he was constantly just there. Looking at him, half-hidden behind walls, underneath furniture or whenever he thought Harry wasn't looking. It had been happening all summer he had stayed at the Malfoy's but it was much more frequent during this past few days and especially now, the morning they were going to leave. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It bugged Harry all throughout breakfast as he ate a helping of bacon and eggs, and when he finally went to confront the elf about it, he couldn't find him anywhere. After trying several more times and failing he was in a thoroughly sour mood when Mr. Malfoy told them to go to the car. Although he did get a bit of a shock of realising that the Malfoys actually owned a car. It was old-fashioned, certainly, and the headlights had a disconcerting habit of occasionally blinking, but otherwise no-one would know it was a wizard car. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you nearly done Otto?" Mr. Malfoy asked of a short man with a large beard and close-cropped hair who was dressed like a bellhop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye, sir, just a few more bags left. " The man replied as he placed several suitcases into the boot. Harry was vaguely curious of how such a small boot would be able to fit so many bags, and also how it would be able to fit Harry, Draco, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and Otto (who was driving), especially since it seemed to only be able to fit two at best. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." Mr. Malfoy replied, "Harry, Draco you two go in first." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boys did as they were told and when Harry climbed into the back his jaw dropped. The interior was as big as a limousine, complete with fancy wooden paneling upon which moving carvings danced around a forest. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy got in next, and Mr. Malfoy tapped the layer between the driver and passengers, and said "Whenever you're ready Otto."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye, sir." was the reply, as Otto tapped the dashboard with his wand and it meowed and started purring like a cat. As they left Harry found himself staring at the manor house, wondering when he would come back. It was there that he saw, for the briefest of moments, Dobby, staring at him from behind a tree with his green eyes shining out from the shade. This thoroughly annoyed Harry, as he knew that he would now never learn what it was exactly that the elf wanted from him. Despite this, Harry found the car ride much more enjoyable than he ever thought he would. For one thing, none of the Malfoys seemed to be comfortable in a car at all, and it was enjoyable to see the normally unassailable and unmoving family shudder with fear whenever they turned a corner or stopped in traffic. They practically jumped out of their skins when a passing truck driver honked his horn at Otto. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They reached Kings Cross half-past ten and the Malfoys all quickly got out of the car, with their faces slightly paler than they had been before they left./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Come on." Mr. Malfoy said to the others as they made their way to platform 9 3/4. Harry thought Mr. Malfoy didn't trust himself to speak all that much. Otto wheeled their luggage loaded trolleys to the station, and then excused himself to go and drive the car back. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry had caught the Hogwarts express the previous. The tricky part was getting onto platform 9 3/4, although Harry wasn't worried about his chances. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms 9 and 10. It didn't hurt, but had to be done carefully so that no unusually observant muggles noticed you vanishing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and Draco wheeled their trolleys to face the divider and prepared to go through. Draco went first, and he made it through without any issues, vanishing into the platform beyond. Harry aimed his trolley, checked to make sure Jaculus was tucked safely into his sleeve. He bent low over the handle of his trolley and walked purposefully towards the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it he broke into a run and - out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse, a glimpse of something dark green flash - but suddenly, he had broken through to the platform, the lights of platform 9 3/4 shining in his eye, Draco waiting patiently for him amongst the sounds of owls hooting and cats meowing at each other as students walked by. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy walked through just after, and they were definitely glad to be back in a part of the wizarding world, no matter how small. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco! Harry!" Came a cry from a voice Harry recognized as Pansy. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, Pansy, you're here already?" Draco drawled as he looked around at Pansy, who was walking towards them flanked by Crabbe and Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, my trunks are on the train already. I saved us a compartment." Pansy replied as Crabbe and Goyle shifted to flanking Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who else is here?" asked Harry. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Just us, i think. I haven't seen Theodore or Blaise, though i might have glimpsed Daphne a few minutes ago."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Shall we board the train then?" Harry asked of Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You go on, i want a few words with my parents first."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry shrugged and indicated to Pansy who took Draco's trolley and led the way to the carriage her trunks were on. It was at the far end of the platform, away from all the business of the other end. They loaded the trunks onto the luggage racks above them and waited for Draco to arrive. Which he did, a few moments later, with Blaise in tow as well. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what was that about?" Pansy asked of Draco after they had all been re-introduced to each other./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nothing, really. I simply wanted to ask father something about my new broomstick." He replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, yes, you said you'd be trying out for the team this year didn't you?" said Blaise, who had seated himself next to Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, " replied Draco with a gleam in his eye, "I think i'm going to succeed in getting on the team."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore arrived ten minutes later, and twenty minutes after that, the train started huffing and moving out of the platform. Harry looked out of the train window. It was a familiar sight, the houses flashing past the window as the train left the platform. Soon enough they got to discussing Hogwarts, and the big topic of conversation was the defense against the dark arts, for all of them had heard the rumors the previous year, that the teachers only lasted one year in that position. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""i mean, maybe the curse is broken." said Blaise, about half an hour after they had left the station. "Quirrell had studied dark stuff abroad, maybe he figured out how to break the curse."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A few years ago, they had an actual curse-breaker take up the post." said Draco lazily, "If she couldn't break the curse, then i highly doubt that that idiot could. He can barely cast any spells whatsoever, he's so scared all the time." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What if it just wore off?" asked Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Curses don't just simply wear off, " sighed Theodore, "Have you ever talked to Daphne? Her bloodline is cursed because of something one of her ancestors did ages ago. Apparently, her little sister is pretty seriously affected by it. So if that curse is still going after centuries, one that was cast maybe 50 years ago wouldn't just wear off now. No, if you ask me, something's broken it or changed it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Perhaps Dumbledore stopped it. He is really clever and all."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""If Dumbledore wanted to stop it he would have done so long before we ever arrived at school. In fact, father says that Dumbledore shouldn't even be headmaster if he can't even stop a curse like that." said Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Would a different headmaster be able to stop the curse though?" asked Blaise. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well it might be tied to Dumbledore himself." said Theodore, "My father told me that the curse only started when Dumbledore was Headmaster. It could be that when he retires, the curse goes away." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well then, it's all the more reason why he should be leaving the school." said Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you think Dumbledore would even do during retirement though?" asked Pansy. "I mean, does he even have a house outside of Hogwarts?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm not sure. Father didn't even consider the Dumbledores for inclusion in the twenty-eight, so i doubt he can own any large property. Apparently, in his youth, he lived in Godric's Hollow, but i've no idea where he lives now." replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Just then, they were interrupted by a commotion in the hallway./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, just carry the bag, then it won't bump into everything."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We've hauled it up the entire train, my arms are tired."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, look, there are only a few more compartments left, if you can't drag it down the hall then- oh, now look what you've done..." There was a loud THUMP and a cry of "OW!" from the people outside the Slytherin's compartment./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What on earth is going on out there?" Draco asked as Harry opened the compartment door and looked out into the hallway./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The scene that greeted him was utterly chaotic. There were three people in the hallway, Hermoine Granger and Ron Ginny Weasley. All three had their trunks with them, with Granger's and the younger Weasley's being abandoned on the floor as they tried to help her get up from the floor, having apparently been knocked to the ground when the other Weasley's trunk had dropped on her head and split open, strewing clothes, books, potion ingredients, parchment, ink and quills all across the floor. Ginny was covered head to toe in ink and seemed to have a mild concussion, as she couldn't keep her balance properly when trying to get up from the floor. Granger and the other Weasley were also splattered in ink, but less so than Ginny, and both were trying to help her on the floor. The compartment behind them, which housed a bunch of scared-looking first years, was blocked from opening by Ginny's trunk, and also had ink covering the walls. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The three looked up to see Harry looking at them, and for a moment there was silence as both parties stared at each other. Then Ginny blushed and went pink, Granger gave him a sullen look and Weasley scowled. Harry smirked and gave a laugh, "Draco, you're going to want to see this!" Draco appeared behind Harry and he, too, contemplated the scene for a second before he, too, burst out laughing. The other Slytherins all got out of the carriage at that point and started laughing at the scene before them as well. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My, my, Weasley. And here i thought span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: bolder;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I/em /spandisliked blood-traitors, but you take it to a whole new level don't you?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Weasley's ears went pink. Ignoring Ginny, he picked up his wand, which had been abandoned in the floor, and started towards Draco. "Ah, now, do you really want to do that Weasley?" Draco said as he and all the other Slytherins raised their wand and pointed them at him. Weasley seemed to be stuck as to what to do, And simply stood in the corridor, wand half-raised, but unmoving. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, Ron, don't listen, help me with Ginny, we need to get her a place to lie down." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Weasley seemed to contemplate this for a moment, then apparently deciding that his sister's health was more important than revenge, he grabbed one of Ginny's arms and hosted her off the ground. This was difficult to do as Ginny was desperately trying to hide herself from Harry, but Weasley managed it whilst Granger tided up the area around them. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You know, It's not surprising Weasley failed to do a basic hover charm when you think about it," Draco said as the three were leaving back up the train, "I mean, he's so poor at magic, one might think you were adopted from a group of muggles. At least that explains why you like him, Granger." Ron's ears went even pinker than before, and he turned around to confront Draco, but as he was carrying Ginny at the time, there was little he could do but swear at him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How vulgar, Weasley, you kiss your mother with that mouth? Well, not your mother, obviously, but maybe Granger's here. I'm sure she's used to living with filth- Well now, no need to get all flustered, Granger-" For she had just turned around, fire in her eyes and pointed her wand straight at his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You know, I'm really sick of you, Malfoy-" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That makes two of us." Draco said nastily as he raised his wand in turn./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a brief moment as both of them looked at each other then they said, simultaneously, "MIMBLE-WIMBLE!" "SCINTILLAE!" Draco's spell missed Granger by millimetres, in fact, it singed her hair, and ended up hitting the glass behind her, cracking it and leaving a large burn mark that blackened the window pane. Her spell, however, had not missed. And whether or not it was due to her proximity, her anger or just because it was a more powerful spell, what should have been a simple tongue-tying charm, instead pounded Draco in the throat, bruising him, knocking him to the floor and leaving him sputtering and gasping for air. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Come on Ron." She said as she marched out of the train carriage. A stunned Ron quickly followed her, still carrying Ginny, whose mouth was open with awe, shock and surprise. The rest of the Slytherins stood around for a moment, also stunned by what they had just seen, before they quickly unfroze and gathered around the sputtering Draco, who was lying on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They dragged him back into the compartment and let him lie down on the seat whilst Theodore muttered "Finite." There was a flash and Draco started sputtering and coughing. Blaise went to find the trolley witch to get some pumpkin juice whilst Draco retched and mumbled words amid bouts of more coughing. He returned, not five minutes later, with some ice cold pumpkin juice which Draco drank, then winced as he tried to drink more. The bruise on his throat was flashing all kinds of colours now, and was currently a deep purple that covered his entire throat. It was impressive that he was making any sound at all, given that every breath was undoubtedly causing him pain, yet he still managed to say, "I'll kill her! I'll kill that filthy little mudblood I swear!"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Draco," said Pansy in a motherly sort of way, "You shouldn't talk right now. Drink some more pumpkin juice." He did, and much of the rest of the journey was spent like this, with Draco wheezing out every kind of insult imaginable against Granger. They brought more pumpkin juice from the trolley witch when she arrived, as well as a healthy dose of sweets to keep them fed until they arrived. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /In fact, Draco was still ranting about it when they exited the train at Hogsmeade station. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Where do we go now?" Asked Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think that, as second years, we now take the carriage to school." Said Theodore. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Where do we go for that then?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Follow the crowd, I suppose," Replied Theodore. "It's only the first years that'll be going by boat."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" So they started walking behind some fifth year Ravenclaws, and soon found themselves in front of a large number of black carriages. As they could see other students getting into the carriages, Harry supposed that they were going to drive them up to school, despite not having a horse to pull them. "shall we get inside one of them then?" He said, approaching the nearest one and opening the doors. "You coming, Theodore?" For Theodore was looking at the area in front of the carriage with a look of slight revulsion. "Ugly looking things, aren't they?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Assuming he was talking about the carriages themselves, which were very gothic and all black, Harry replied, "Well you don't have to look at them for long, a doubt it's more than A five minute journey up to the castle."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose." He replied and climbed into the carriage. A few moments later, and they were off. Trundling up the route towards Hogwarts. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Waiting for them at the gates was the stony-faced Professor McGonagall. "Quickly everyone, this way. Take your seats at the house tables with no fuss please. Quickly now. And what happened to you?" She asked when she saw Draco and his throat. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry paused, what exactly could they say? That they'd broken the rule on duelling before they even arrived at the school?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He tripped and fell on a rock, Professor." Said Theodore. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Really?" She replied in a tone that showed she obviously didn't believe it. "Potter, take Malfoy up the Hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey should be able to fix him up in a jiffy. Mind you don't miss the feast, though."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, Professor." Said Harry, and he and Draco walked through the door into the school./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Whilst the hospital wing wasn't massively far from the great hall. it was far enough that Harry knew they were probably going to miss the start of the feast. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what's happened here then?" Asked Madame Pomfrey after Harry and Draco walked in. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco fell and hit his throat Madame Pomfrey." Replied Harry. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmmm." Was her only answer as she looked at Draco purple throat. She then got out her wand and waved it in a circle saying, "Episkey!" Within seconds his bruise receded. He probed it gingerly with his finger. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Stay there one second. I'll get you a throat-clearing potion. I don't think it's blocked, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially with the feast." And she walked into her office, mumbling about students eating too much./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Fell over and hit my throat. Really?" His voice was sounding much better style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Blame Theodore, not me." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey clearly didn't believe it." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, but what can they-" he was cut off by Madame Pomfrey returning and holding a small orange vial. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Here, drink, and hurry on back to the great hall now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco took the bottle and opened the lid. Harry and Draco were overwhelmed by the smell of honey and lemon, but Draco downed it all in one gulp, and they left the hospital wing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was in the middle of sorting when they snuck back to their places at the Slytherin house table. They sat down next to Theodore who whispered, "Hows the throat?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Fixed." Whispered Draco back. "What did we miss?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The Hat's song and a few sortings. Nothing interesting though, a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were quiet as McGonagall called out the next student's name. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Harper, James." A boy with dark skin and hair walked up to the sorting hat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Isn't he from a pure-blood family?" Whispered Draco to Theodore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I think so, but their family lost a lot of gold and married mudbloods a few generations ago, so it's probably not as pure as other's."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Suddenly, The hat cried, "Slytherin!" And Harry, Draco and Theodore all cheered as James Harper sat down at the Slytherin table. Draco leaned over to shake Harper's hand as "Henry, Percy!" Was called to put on the hat, who almost at once declared him a Ravenclaw./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Everything was going fine, and finally it was time for "Weasley, Ginny!" To be sorted. Harry noticed that part of her hair was still dyed black from when the ink had spilled all over her. It provided an interesting compliment to her fiery red hair, and made it look like her hair was actually on fire when she moved. She was sorted into Gryffindor with her brothers, but somehow managed to get a seat which gave her a direct line of sight to Harry. She started blushing furiously and shifted herself so as not to look at Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After Dumbledore had made his speech and the food arrived, Harry noticed something. He happened to be looking up at the staff table when he noticed it. Quirrell was not looking like his usual self. Certainly, he was dressed the same. He was still wearing that ridiculous turban, but he seemed to be holding himself differently. His nervous fear of everything around him had faded somewhat, and he was now looking at everyone with a kind of suspicion. He also seemed to jump a lot more whenever another teacher initiated a conversation with him that he wasn't expecting. Was this all the influence of Quirrell's mysterious master? Had Quirrel been punished for allowing the Philosopher's stone to slip through his grasp?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Does Quirrell seem a bit different to you?" He asked of Theodore between mouthfuls of pork pie./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Theodore stared at Quirrell for a moment and then said "Yeah, he does a bit. It's like, I don't know, his eyes are different."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you think that's going to be a problem?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Not unless we discuss the stone in front of him. I mean, we got it past him in the previous year didn't we?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Still, it was a subdued and slightly worried Harry that made his way to the Slytherin common room that night./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he lay in his bed wondering about what the next year would bring, he couldn't help but wonder who Quirrell's Master really was, and if he had taken a more active part in watching over Quirrell from now on./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next day, however, Harry found to be much more enjoyable than his late night musing had told him previously, despite it starting off on a bad note. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Things were looking down at breakfast, where, much to their consternation, they observed Weasley telling the story of how Granger had attacked Draco, complete with mimes of how large his throat had swollen too. This got many raucous laughter from the Gryffindors, especially Finnigan and Longbottom, two who had constantly been at the receiving end of many spells during their last year at Hogwarts./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco glared at them across mountains of toast and kippers. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll get them. They'll wish they'd never crossed me." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Didn't you say that last year though?" said Theodore, who was digging into some bacon and eggs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco ignored him. "Suit yourself, " replied Theodore in a taut manner, "But how exactly are you going to 'Get them'?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I Don't know yet." Draco drawled in reply, "But it'll be painful."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't think simply jinxing them is going to be enough." Said Harry. "You'll have to do something big if you want them to stop."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmmm." Was Draco's only response./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Professor Snape was moving up the house table, handing out timetables. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Whilst Draco was quietly thinking about what he could to the Gryffindors, Harry looked at his timetable. "We've got defense against the dark arts first, with Quirrell." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Have you heard the rumors about him?" Asked Theodore. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I didn't know there were any." admitted Harry/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""There are people saying" Theodore replied conspiratorially, "That Quirrell is actually Voldemort in disguise."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's ridiculous, " said Harry, "Voldemort's dead, how could he be Quirrell?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, no-one knows exactly what happened to him the night he attacked you do they? And my father told me that the curse on the Defense against the dark arts position would only be lifted when Voldemort himself took the position."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, but Quirrell is a stuttering, stammering idiot. We barely got taught anything by him last year."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, but he's also faking that, isn't he? Remember last year? At the third floor corridor?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry remembered. Quirrell had jarringly changed from a stammering idiot to something else, something in service to an unknown master./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I still don't think Quirrell is Voldemort though. Even if he's in disguise, i doubt Voldemort would be able to hide from Dumbledore." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, it is just a rumor. I wouldn't put too much stock in it." Still, It left Harry feeling slightly uneasy as they made their way out of the great hall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Defense against the dark arts was different to how Harry remembered it. Instead of starting off the lesson how he had in the previous year, with much stammering before he finally got to the subject of the lesson. Harry was surprised at how quickly and clearly Quirrel spoke now. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Y-You are in your second year now. B-because of this, you-you will be encountering much d-darker creatures and spells. Than Last year. S-Some of you might f-find them dis-disturbing, however, you must learn to-to handle en-encounters like this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry remembered what he had thought of Quirrell during the feast yesterday. Those eyes, suspicions and everywhere, they were here too, hovering over the class and resting on everyone, though Harry noticed that they wandered in his direction more often than anyone else's. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You-you're first lesson will be on C-Cornish p-p-pixies. They are v-very dangerous if n-not properly handled."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He indicated towards his desk, upon which there was a large cage suspended, hovering in mid-air. There was a sheet covering the cage and when Quirrell removes it with a flick of his wand, Harry saw several electric blue creatures immobilised and drifting about in the cage, occasionally bumping into one another. Despite this, none of the creatures seemed to be able to move at all, instead, all Harry could see was their beady, black eyes moving around, observing their style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The-the M-ministry of Magic c-classification f-for them is 3 or c-competent wizards should cope."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco snorted loudly. Everyone looked around at him. Seeing the looks on all their faces he explained, "Well they're hardly dangerous are they? Surely a classification of 3 is too generous. I mean you find them in curtains for pities sake, it doesn't take much to get rid of them."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""N-now Draco," Quirrell responded, a little intimidated by Draco's moorish response, "the m-ministry has trained experts who d-decide on these c-classifications, and t-they have decided a r-rating of three is sufficient. R-Remember, the tale o-of Dymphna Furmage, who was ab-abducted by p-p-pixies whilst on holiday."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah well." Draco whispered to Harry, "She was a filthy mudblood wasn't she?"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry chortled in response to this statement./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A-anyway," Quirrell continued as if there had been no interruption, (though some of the other classmates were still looking at Draco with curiosity), "there are several sp-spells that can be used t-t-to stop a p-pixie. The kn-knockback jinx, t-tickling charm and s-s-slowing charm are all known w-ways of stopping p-p-pixies, however I will be t-teaching you the ebub-ub-ublio jinx, which would surround the p-pixie in an imp-penetrable magical b-bubble./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The incantation is... is..." Harry recognised that Quirrell was steeling himself to say the word without stuttering. It was actually quite annoying really. "...is Ebublio." Quirrell took a deep breath and continued, "the wand movement is this:" and he traced a lowercase e symbol in front of him, his wand leaving a special blue fire trail burning in the air to clearly demonstrate to the class./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All of y-you get out y-your wands and practice on these," He waved his wand a second time and a cute stuffed pixie, as big as the real thing, appeared on the desks in front of the students. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"This is a joke, right?" Draco drawled as he prodded the stuffed animal. Since the class had erupted into the bustle of practicing a new spell, no-one But Harry had heard Draco say this, but he could tell by looking at the faces of the other Slytherins around him that Draco wasn't the only one thinking this. Theodore was looking at the stuffed animal in front of him with contempt and disgust, a look which was mirrored by Blaise, Pansy, Daphne and Ophelia. Crabbe and Goyle looked as gormless as ever, though Harry thought that even they thought this was dehumanising./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Still, all the Slytherins began practicing the ebublio charm as they had been told. At least until they realised how simple the charm actually was. Draco managed it on his first go, and that was with an incredibly half hearted attempt. Harry and the rest of the Slytherins managed it after only a couple tries, and after that they were simply waiting around for the rest of the car to catch up to themspan style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"./span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"But then, eyeing the cage where the pixies were still immobile, Harry suddenly thought of a very fun idea. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Draco," He asked slowly, "What do you think of letting the class practice on something real?"/span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);" Draco looked confused for a second, but then after seeing where Harry gaze was directed suddenly cottoned on to what Harry was thinking./span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);""I think it's exactly what this dim-witted class needs to liven things up a little."/span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"Harry raised his wand. Under his breath, whilst Quirrell was distracted at the back of the class, he cast alohomora on the cage. The door squeaked open a little. The pixies in the cage stared at Harry, then the door, then back at Harry, almost pleading for him to let the go free. Harry pointed his wand again and cast finite, the charm-cancelling spell./span/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a brief moment when the pixies, not having used their wings in who knows how long, plummeted to the bottom of the cage but then: it was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them grabbed a spindly looking Ravenclaw and hoisted him by his ankles up on the rafters. Several shot through the windows, showering the students, Harry and Draco included, in bits of broken glass. Harry felt hundreds of tiny cuts on his arms as he moved them up to cover his face, though some bits of glass managed to get through and cut his cheeks and eyebrow. The same had happened to Draco though Harry noticed that it suited him and gave him a sort of rugged, handsome look. Meanwhile, the pixies had destroyed the class more effectively than if the Bullingdon club had thrown their most raucous party inside the classroom. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, upended the waste bin, grabbed bags and books and threw them out the open window; within minutes the class was crouching underneath desks, trying to shield themselves from the carnage./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Quirrell was trying to make sure his turban was staying on, as two pixies had grabbed it and were trying to unwrap it and strangle him with it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The bell rang and there was a mad dash for the door. Being the furthest away, Harry and Draco were the last to leave, but as Harry glanced back into the classroom he saw Quirrell staring back at him. For the briefest of seconds their eyes met and Harry's scar burned white hot before Harry rounded the doorframe and lost sight of Quirrell. They were still laughing about it as they approached the greenhouses on the other side of school./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did you see the face of that Ravenclaw, Turpin, or whatever his name is."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, I especially loved the bit where he wet himself from fear."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bit disgusting though, if you ask me. I'm glad I took the long way around him dripping from the rafters."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, undoubtedly."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Slytherins were busy discussing the events of the previous lesson. They had stopped by the hospital wing on their way to Herbology to get all their cuts mended. Madame Pomfrey has not been pleased. "Absolutely ridiculous, letting pixie loose in a classroom, what was Quirinus thinking? And here I thought he was more sensible than that." She continued in this vein for some time, until all the Slytherins had been patched up and sent on their way. She had done a good job, though the particular spell she had chosen to use had left them all with faintly glowing marks where their cuts had been. She had assured them that they would fade within the hour, but presently they all looked like slightly demented Christmas trees./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As they arrived in front of Professor Sprout, she scored at them and said "I suppose you're all late because of a pixie attack too are you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They all nodded. Professor Sprout sighed and said, "Do you know if anyone else is coming?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think that there was someone more badly injured that Madame Pomfrey insisted stay in the hospital wing." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Go into greenhouse three then, and mind the venomous tentacular, it's teething."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They made their way to the greenhouse, opened the door and slid inside. It was a strange sight that met them. About twenty pairs of different coloured earmuffs were lying on the bench. Harry noticed a spindly vine of the venomous tentacular slither it's way around a pair and make its way towards Pansy, who recoiled and moved to the other side of Draco, away from the strange plant. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Professor Sprout made her way inside at this point, apparently having convinced herself that any further waiting would be futile./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We'll be re-potting mandrakes today." She said as she took her place behind a trestle bench in the centre of the greenhouse. "Now, who can tell me the properties of a mandrake?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"A boy whom Harry knew by sight as Terry Boot put up his hand, and so did Draco. Professor sprout chose Terry to answer, however. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Can't mandrakes be used to reverse curses and the like?" He said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Correct, five points to Ravenclaw." Said Professor Sprout. "It is a powerful restorative that can be used to return someone who has been transfigured or cursed back to their original state, and therefore form an essential part of many antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco put up his hand first this time. "The cry of a mandrake can kill you if you hear it." He answered bluntly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Exactly right, ten points to Slytherin. Now, as our mandrakes aren't adults yet, their cries wont kill you, but they will knock you out for several hours. Now everyone grab a pair of earmuffs and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure those earmuffs are nice and tight." There was a scramble as everyone tried to grab a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. "Now, after you place them on your head, you must only remove them when I give the thumbs up, understand?" They all nodded. "Right then, earmuffs on." Professor Sprout Said as she placed her own earmuffs on her head. Harry snapped his earmuffs on his own head. They completely shut out all sound. Professor Sprout rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly, and pulled hard. Harry let out a gasp of surprise that no-one heard. Instead of roots, a small, muddy and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of its head. He had pale green, mottled skin and was clearly bawling at the top of his lungs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Professor sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and plunged the mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor sprout dusted off her hands, have them all the thumbs up and removed her earmuffs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Four to a tray - there is a large supply of pots over there - I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and Draco were joined by Crabbe and Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What a day this is." Drawled Draco as they began filling their plant pots with dragon dung, "first fake fluffy pixies, and then screaming mud babies. I wouldn't be surprised if McGonagall announced she married Snape in transfiguration this afternoon."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't put that image in my head." Harry laughed. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /after that they didn't have much chance to talk. Their earmuffs were back on and they needed to concentrate on the mandrakes. Professor sprout had made it look incredibly easy, but it wasn't. The mandrakes didn't like coming out of the Earth, but they didn't seem to want to go back in it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists and fans he's their teeth. Harry saw Draco attempt to tickle one and get bit on the finger. Harry spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a particularly fat one into a pot. By the end of the class, Harry, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching and covered in earth. They traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash before heading off to transfiguration./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, though Harry was relived to hear no announcement about her and Professor Snape's impeding marriage. He was supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but didn't seem to be doing a very good job as all he seemed to do was give his beetle a lot of exercise as it raced around the table avoiding his style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The only good thing about transfiguration was that it was the last lesson of the day. The slytherins decided to go to the courtyard, where, sitting down on the stone steps, they got into an argument about cobbing. It was only after they had been talking for a few minutes that Harry became aware that someone was watching him. Looking up he saw a very small, mousy haired boy staring at Harry as though transfixed. He was clutching what looked like an ordinary muggle camera and the moment when Harry saw him he went bright red./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All right, Harry? - I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking a tentative step forward. "I know i'm in Gryffindor, but - d'you think - would it be alright if - can i have a picture?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A what?" Said Harry, offended. The other Slytherins were looking round at Colin too. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"A picture, so I can prove I've met you." Colin said eagerly, edging further forwards. "I know all about you of course. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when you-know-who tried to kill you and how you've still got the lighting scar on your forehead." (His eyes raked Harry's hairline), "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the pictures in the right potion they'll move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's brilliant here isn't it? I never knew all the odd things I could do were magic until I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad couldn't believe it either, he a milkman. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send back to him. And it would be really good if I could have one of you -" he looked imploringly at Harry- "Maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It took Harry a few seconds to process what Creevey had just said. Fortunately, it was Draco that replied first. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"'Your friend?'" He said, standing up and moving closer to Creevey. Crabbe and Goyle also got up and flanked Draco as they usually did. "I'm sorry, but who exactly gave you permission to breathe here? You are in the company of people so far above you, people who have family trees older than Hogwarts itself, and you think it's okay to just ask one of them for a photograph?" Creevey took several steps back at this point as Draco, Crabbe and Goyle marched forwards. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"There is a word for people like you, did you know that?" Creevey shook his head, backing up even further now. "For people with no magical heritage, no knowledge of the wizarding world, no abilities, who get accepted to Hogwarts out of pity, do you know what that word is?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Creevey shook his head again, now backed up against the fountain with nowhere else to go. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Mudblood," Draco whispered into Creevey's ear. Creevey had turned pale white and sunk to the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Remember that name, Mudblood," said Draco, still whispering, "Remember that, next time you're in class, or the next time you're reading a book, remember. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"You were never meant to carry a wand/em."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"and with that, Draco grabbed Creevey's camera and tossed it into the water of the fountain./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Creevey spent a lot of time over the next few days ducking out of sight whenever he saw Harry and Draco coming down a corridor. This wouldn't have bothered Harry normally, yet he felt that Creevey was following him around and simply trying to duck out of sight whenever he thought Harry or Draco could see him. He just wasn't especially good at doing so. Several times now Harry and Draco had caught Creevey waiting behind a suit of armour or a stone pillar, hoping they would pass him by without noticing. And every time they caught Creevey, Draco or Harry sent him on his way with the "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae!/em" Jinx. Yet every time they would find him, the next day, doing the exact same thing. It was infuriating, and Harry had half a mind to report him to Professor Snape. But that was kind of an empty threat, for whatever reason, Snape regarded Harry with suspicion, dislike and general contempt. For Harry to ask Snape for anything would mean that the situation was incredibly dire./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That weekend, Harry was jostled awake at half past nine by Draco, already dressed in his emerald green quidditch robes. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Wazzup?" He said groggily as the green light of the dormitory hit his eyes. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Quidditch, remember?" replied Draco who was clutching his new, jet black, Nimbus 2001. "Marcus says we'll have breakfast first, then go to the pitch." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sat bolt upright. He had been saying that he was interested in going to the Slytherin practice sessions, for he had spent most of the summer learning quidditch moves from Draco, and now that he was back at Hogwarts he had found a new appreciation for the sport. Harry dressed in record time, pulling on his robes and grabbing a hat and scarf, for it was cold, and, Harry assumed, still frosty and mildewy on the ground, though he could only assume this, as he couldn't tell from the light that was making it's way through the windows of the dormitory. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They made their way out of the common room, and met up with all the other Slytherin players. Marcus Flint, the captain and chaser, led the way out of the common room flanked by the two other chasers, Adrian Pucey and Graham Montague. The two beaters, Perrigrine Derrick and Lucian Bole, were holding a conversation with the keeper, Miles Bletchley, about the prospects for this year's quidditch cup. Draco and Harry led the rear end of the procession, with Draco immediately starting a conversation with Harry about Granger, which was one of the two subjects that he most commonly talked about these days. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How can they let her continue?" He said, fire raging in his eyes. Though that could have been a reflection from one of the braziers lining the corridors. "I don't get it. She has no inherent magical ability, no magical family, nothing! How can she be allowed to stay here?" Harry had learned from previous experience that to try and communicate with Draco when he was in this state was complete futility. If he tried to respond in any way or even to defend Granger's existence at this school, (Not that he was in any mind to however), then he would be met with sharp rebuttal and pointed glares. So for now he simply listened, occasionally saying "Yeah, " and "uh-huh, " whenever Draco paused for breath./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Soon, they reached the dining hall, which despite it still being relatively early, was quite packed with students. They all sat down at the Slytherin table and started to dig into breakfast. Derrick and Bole each took a toast skewer each and started eating the lot. Harry stole himself a few bits of bacon, eggs, and toast, and Draco had the same as him. About five minutes after they had all started eating they were visited by Professor Snape. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Flint." He said in his usual Oily manner, "I want a word." With a quick glance at the rest of the team he got up from the table and followed Snape a short distance away, but out of earshot of the rest of the team. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you think they're talking about?" Asked Miles as he bit into a part of a chicken leg./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who knows. Something about quidditch if you ask me." Replied Lucian, as he too, bit into a chicken leg./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Thanks for stating the obvious, mate. " They saw Snape hand Marcus a small slip of paper, and then Marcus returned to the Slytherin team with an oddly somber, yet delighted face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What was all that about?" asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well it appears that the Gryffindors have booked the quidditch pitch for today." There was cry of outrage at this/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They were disqualified last year, how can they be given preferential treatment this year?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They're not even any good, why are they training?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's the first week back, they don't have a full team yet!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I know, i know, " Marcus said over they numerous cries from the slytherin players, "it is completely unfair, however Professor Snape has given me this, " he held up the piece of parchment that they had just seen Snape hand to him, "it says that we are allowed to train as well today, owing to the need to train our new seeker. " He looked pointedly at Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So we'll have to practice with the Gryffindors?" Lucian said with a look of pure disgust on his face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We'll be able to see what their tactics are, that's useful." replied Miles/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What would be the point of that? The Gryffindors are as slow as their brooms, they won't have any tactics."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""When i joined the school, " Marcus said, interrupting Miles' and Lucian's debate, "Gryffindor were the fastest team in the school. And though they're obviously not that anymore," he said smirking, "Every good team needs good training dummies."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The whole of the Slytherin team plus Harry broke into identical smirks at this, and finished their breakfast with laughs and smiles on their faces, before making their way out of the great hall. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As they were walking across the bridge that connected the grounds with the castle, Harry heard an odd clicking noise coming from his left. He paused and looked around, but there was no-one there. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's up Harry?" Draco asked. He had stopped too and was looking at the spot Harry was, however he clearly couldn't see anything strange either. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought i heard... Something, i'm sure it's nothing though." he lied as he continued to walk across the bridge. But Harry couldn't get that sound out of his head. It reminded him of something, but what was it? He felt like it might have been something from the Dursleys, but that couldn't be right. What would something so blatantly muggle as for Harry it to associate with the Dursleys be doing at Hogwarts? /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They crossed the bridge and quickly found themselves at the quidditch pitch, though strangely, there wasn't any Gryffindors flying around./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco had noticed this too, and quickly remarked, "What, are they late, or something?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But Marcus was looking skeptical. "I've never known Wood to be late for anything to do with quidditch."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's going on then?" asked Lucian, who was swinging his beaters bat around experimentally. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm not sure. Oh, no wait, there they are." Several gold and scarlet blurs had just flow out of the changing rooms, and started to lap the pitch. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Excellent." Marcus said. Though his face looked like he had just been sprayed by a gobstone. The Slytherin team started walking onto the pitch and very soon they were noticed by Wood, who flew at them in such a rage that he landed rather harder than he meant to, and staggered a bit on landing. Harry laughed inwardly to himself. Although Wood had been one of the first people in the wizarding world Harry had ever met, or at least had a conversation with, looking at him now, Harry found himself slightly put off by Wood's moorish nature. And he wouldn't soon forget the incident last year in which the Gryffindor seeker, Adrian Fergus-Fuller, had barrelled into him during the Gryffindor vs Slytherin game. It hadn't helped, of course, that it turned out Adrian had been using an illegal vision-enhancing charm to increase his chances of catching the snitch. Something which Harry privately thought that Wood had known about, if not sanctioned himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Flint!" Wood bellowed, flecks of spit flying everywhere. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Wood cowered under Marcus as he said, with a look of trollish cunning on his face, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The three Gryffindor chasers, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, all landed at that time as well as the two Weasley twins, Fred a George, and, to Harry utter surprise, so did their sister, Ginny Weasley, clad in the scarlet and gold robes of a Gryffindor seeker. When she caught sight of Harry she blushed furiously and hid behind George. Harry was suddenly very aware that there were no girls on the Slytherin team./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""But i booked the pitch!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah," said Marcus, "But i've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practise today on the quidditch pitch, owning to the need to train their new seeker./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You've got a new seeker?" said Wood, distracted, "Where?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At this point, Draco, who previously had been hidden behind the other, larger, Slytherin players, stepped out from behind, smirking all over his face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" Said one of the Weasley twins, who was looking at Draco with disgust./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Marcus, as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly, "Let me show you the generous contribution he's made to the Slytherin quidditch team."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words "Nimbus Two Thousand and One," gleamed under the Gryffindor's noses in the early-morning sun. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Very latest model. Only came out last month. " Marcus said carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outsrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old cleansweeps, " He smiled nastily at the Weasley twins who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives, "Sweeps the floor with them."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Gryffindors all looked dumbstruck and completely lost for words as Draco and the rest of the Slytherins smirked so broadly their eyes were reduced to slits. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But what about you? I hear you have a new seeker too. I hope it's not that little Weasley girl. She looks like one good blusher hit would finish her off."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Slytherins all laughed at this and the twins, now having gotten over their shock at the revelation of the new Slytherin broomsticks, loudly came to their senses and started bellowing at Marcus. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oi, don't about our sister that way you half-bred troll!" Shouted Fred, moving closer to stand in front of Ginny. George, on the other hand, had pulled out his wand from under his robes and was pointing it at Marcus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Marcus simply laughed. "And what are you going to do with that, Weasley?" He asked, smirking and pulling out his own wand. Lucian and Peregrine pulled out their own wands, and Fred pulled out his wand as well. They were locking eyes with each other when, "All right, fine." Wood had spoken. He was looking warily at the wands in the hands of the Slytherins and had clearly decided that both teams training at the same time was not with one of his players getting injured. "You stay on your side of the pitch, we'll stay on ours. No one crosses over for anything. Deal?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose. If it's the best you can offer." Marcus put away his wand, and both he and Wood shook on it. Though each looked like they were trying to crush each other's fingers./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" After that, nothing really interesting happened for a while. Marcus made the Slytherins do various warm-up exercises, flying around the pitch, weaving in and out of the goal hoops and stands, things like that. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pitch, Wood was doing very similar exercises. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"He's copying us." Remarked Draco as he came to a stop in mid-air in front of Harry, who had taken a seat in the stands. "Well, it's not going to do him any good, we fly well because of our brooms, and we don't have museum pieces like that lot."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco!" Shouted Flint from across the pitch, "I'm letting the snitch out. Give it five minutes between each capture, got it?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes." Draco Shouted back. Harry saw Marcus open an old wooden chest, which contained several quidditch balls in it, then, very briefly before it disappeared, he saw a flash of gold that belonged to the snitch. Draco had seen it too. Without a word to Harry he was off, soaring through the skies to the location of the snitch. Suddenly, Harry heard it again. A strange clicking noise, but when he tried to look around for the source, he couldn't find it. Unnerved, Harry contented himself with looking at just how poorly the Gryffindor team were style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Compared to the Slytherin team, the Gryffindors were slow, sluggish, and seemed entirely uncoordinated. The new seeker, Ginny, was doing well though. That was, when she forgot Harry was in the stands. Whenever she looked over at Harry the best that could be said about her flying ability was that she knew how to hold on. This was similar to how the Weasley twins were acting, except whenever they saw Marcus, they gripped their brooms so hard Day thought he saw the handles cracking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Then suddenly, whoosh! A bludger had soared right past Harry and smashed into the handle of Ginny's broomstick, shattering it and sending Ginny hurtling to the ground. Bell dived to catch her and just managed to before she hit the ground./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The twins dived to the Slytherin end of the pitch where Marcus and Lucian were laughing, Lucian having apparently hit the bludger at Ginny. Harry raced down to the pitch as the rest of the Slytherins landed next to them, bracing themselves for the tidal wave of Gryffindors. He briefly registered the odd clicking sound in the air again, but didn't worry about it as he made his way to the pitch./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""...well they're uncontrollable, Wood, it was an accident-" Marcus was saying slyly as Harry moved within earshot. "Don't give me that." Wood replied. "I know you hit that bludger right at her, on purpose." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well in any case it's not like she was harmed or anything." He said indicating towards Ginny who was white as a sheet. "I mean, really, things like this happen in matches all the time, you can't just pretend they won't."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's not the point!" Snapped Wood, "you hit a bludger at one of our teammates-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what are you going to do about it?" Asked Marcus, smirking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll teach you some manners!" Shouted Fred. As he pulled out his wand. Instantly ever member on the Slytherin team, and Harry, pulled theirs out and pointed them straight at Fred. In response, the Gryffindor team all pointed their wands at the Slytherins, expect for Wood, who, it seemed, wanted to try to defuse the situation. He was standing in between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, arms out, trying to lower the wands on each side. "Fine, Flint, you can have it your way, we'll leave, just put your wands down."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry heard it again, the clicking noise, louder this time./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Very well, if you're too scared to take us on."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was getting louder now, or getting closer./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Whatever, we're going now, okay?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /And then it suddenly dawned on Harry where he had heard that funny clicking sound before. It reminded Harry of Dudley's old cine-camera, which had been broken after Dudley sat on it. But then he saw it. Creevey. Hiding in the trench at the side of the pitch, taking photo after photo. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You!" He nearly bellowed and Creevey knew he had been found out as he scarpered, but Harry had other ideas. "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Obscuro/em!" He shouted and a thick, black, cloth wrapped itself around Creevey eyes, blinding him. He dropped the camera, which shattered and Harry started to move forward but then came a shout of "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Slugulus Erecto/em!" And Harry instantly felt like he'd been punched in the stomach by Dudley. He collapsed on the ground and suddenly felt very sick. He felt it move up his stomach, through his throat and then he vomited. He vomited disgusting, slimy slugs. He tried to move but he retched again, and another wave of slugs came spewing from his mouth. There came another cry and a yell as one of the Gryffindors got blasted back through the air and onto the ground. There was a tense, almost audible atmosphere for a second before both teams erupted and started hurling spells at each other. Harry barely registered through all the flashing lights and shouts of "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"tarantallegra! /emand "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"expelliarmus!". /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He got hit by another spell, which made him grow painful antlers out the top of his head. It also gave the slugs antlers, which made it feel like knives were being dragged across his throat and the inside if his stomach. Barely aware of what he was doing, he tried to get up and move away from all the chaos, but as he got up he was hit by a third and final spell which knocked him to the ground. Unconscious. Surprisingly, Harry's last thoughts before he lost consciousness were of Aunt Petunia, dying Dudley's old clothes grey as a surrogate school uniform./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry opened his eyes to the blinding lights of the Hospital wing. At first he wasn't entirely sure why he was there. He had a vague memory of something grey flashing before his eyes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He blinked. The Hospital wing came into sharper focus, and Harry tried to sit up. He instantly regretted it. As soon as Harry had sat up, his stomach had given a massive lurch and he felt like there was a large whirlpool inside of his stomach. Not wanting to see what it was that was inside of his stomach making him feel worse than all the times Dudley had hit him combined, he lay back down and instead just tried to look around by moving his head. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah good. You're up." Madame Pomfrey said as she walked over to where Harry was lying. "I don't want you moving. Goodness knows how many spells you got hit with back there and I don't know what kind of damage it did. I reversed most of it with em style="box-sizing: inherit;"finite incantatum/em, but I'm not sure what kind of lingering effect the spells might have produced."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What happened anyway?" Asked Harry as he took a sip of water from a glass that was lying next to his bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Duelling. I expect." Replied Madame Pomfrey sternly. Harry was suddenly very grateful that Madame Pomfrey never asked questions. Apart from not wanting the teachers to know that a battle had taken place on the quidditch pitch, Harry didn't think it would look good if it emerged that that had all happened because he had attacked a first year./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm going to perform an examination on you, because I don't think I got all the spell effects reversed. How do you feel?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"My stomach doesn't feel very good." Harry replied as his stomach, almost as though it had heard him, gave another lurch. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Queasy stomach," Madame Pomfrey muttered as she wrote something on a clipboard. "Anything else?" Harry shook his head. "No headaches?, no itchy feet?, no desire to sprout feathers and fly south for the winter?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No." Harry said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." Madame Pomfrey said as she made some more notes on her clipboard. She then walked back to her office. Harry wondered what had happened at the quidditch pitch after he had been knocked unconscious. Certainly, he had been the most injured, for he was the only person in the hospital wing, but what had happened to Draco? Or Marcus? Who had broken up the fight? And what kind of repercussions could he expect from this?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Before he had the chance to imagine what horrible punishments might be in store for him, Madame Pomfrey's office door swing open and she returned, holding a frothing, electric blue potion. "Drink this." She said as she shoved the potion into his hand. Harry did so. It tasted like tadpole ice cream, or, at least what Harry thought tadpole ice cream would taste like. Instantly he felt a warmth in his stomach. Sitting up, he found his nausea and queasiness had completely vanished. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Head back to your common room quickly, it's almost time for lights out." And sure enough when Harry looked out the window it was already dark./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He pulled on his robes and moved quickly through the corridors to the Slytherin common room. He pondered briefly about visiting Kryillos in his secret little room, but decided that if he had waited all summer, then he could wait a bit longer. And besides, if he got held up and got caught by a teacher, then he would probably be in even more trouble than he already was. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Ah, Harry. You're all better then?" Said Draco as Harry climbed through the portrait style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Pretty much." Harry replied. "What happened after I got knocked unconscious?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco's face soured. "It was one of those blood-traitor Weasleys that got you." He said as Harry sat down in an armchair next to him. "Spells kept hitting you after you were down. We tried to wake you, but we had half a job trying to keep ourselves from being hit by those lunatics ourselves." "So what stopped it?" Asked Harry. "The little Weasley girl went and got a teacher, I think, because Professor sprout came hurrying over and put a stop to all of it. She dragged us to the hospital wing -after putting you on a stretcher- and left Madame Pomfrey to sort us all out whilst she went and got Professor McGonagall and Snape. They were livid. Well, you know what they're like, McGonagall went and got Dumbledore, then proceeded to tell us how much trouble we were in, you know. She was on the verge of expelling us, but I think Dumbledore must have changed her mind or something because then she made us all 'assistants' to Filch, instead of expelling us." "What about the team?" Harry knew that the last time someone had gotten into big trouble and had also been on the quidditch team, they had been given a two-year ban from playing quidditch. "McGonagall did want to ban all of us from playing quidditch at Hogwarts ever again, but Snape stepped and pointed out how ridiculous that idea was, so instead the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin has been cancelled and declared a draw. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have also been given one-hundred points each, which is stupid really, they didn't do anything."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what's this assistant to filch thing about?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I've no idea. We're just to go to his office tomorrow morning."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sighed. He had been expecting that, given he was unconscious, he wouldn't be given detention. But now it appeared that he would have to face an unjust punishment alongside Draco and the rest of the Slytherins. "I think I'll go to bed then. Get an early night." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Goodnight then." Said Draco as Harry wandered into the dormitory./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hello Jaculus." He said as he saw the snake lying on his bed. Jaculus gave a hiss of acknowledgement. Harry lay down on his bed and stared into the ceiling. He wanted to get revenge, badly. On Creevey, on the Weasley brothers, on Wood. On the entire Gryffindor team to be honest./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As though Jaculus had read Harry's mind, the snake hissed, "There are many waysss to get revenge, Harry Directly, or indirectly. You may even find that something ssssorts your problemsss out for you. Right now there'sss sssomething ssstiring in the bowelssss of the cassstle. Ssssomething ancient and deadly. A power you would be wissse to sssseek asss your own." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you mean?" Asked Harry, who was confused yet intrigued by the words of Jaculus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Jaculus paused for a moment, then said. "I cannot sssay, but beware, for you are not the only persssson in this cassstle which can control this power, and the other one with thissss ability will ssseek to dessstroy you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You enjoy being cryptic don't you?" Harry joking said to Jaculus. The snake said nothing in response. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry suddenly smelt a strange smell. Confused at first, he realised it was the smell of smoke, and it was coming from Jaculus. "Why do you smell of smoke?" He asked. Jaculus stuck it's tongue out and tasted the air around it's body. "I don't ssssmell of ssssmoke. Perhapssss your ssssenssse of sssmell is damaged from the sssspellsss."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Resolving himself to go back to Madame Pomfrey in the morning, Harry was fast asleep by the time Draco came to bed almost an hour later./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's strange." Said Madame Pomfrey after Harry had been to see her in the morning after he had had breakfast and had described his problem to her. "I wouldn't have thought you would have nasal damage with the spells you were hit with." However she gave Harry a potion to help with his sudden smoke-smelling problem. It was a strange potion. Instead of drinking it, he was instructed to heat it, and let the vapour waft into his nose. He felt quite stupid, sitting in a small cupboard with his only source of light being the fire under the flask the potion was sitting in. As the smoke and vapours didn't want to seem to want to go into his nose, Harry had resigned himself to cupping his hands around the top of the flask and taking deep sniffs. Mercifully, it only took about five minutes for the whole potion to be vaporised and Harry thanked Madame Pomfrey before making his way back to the Slytherin common room, where Draco, Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle were waiting for him to return. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What are we doing then, Harry?" Asked Theodore as Harry returned. "Well, I was going to visit Kryillos today. He said he was going to teach us the freezing charm when we got back from the summer holidays." "Sounds good to me." He replied and with the immediate future within sight, they made their way to the secret dungeon where Kryillos lived. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry knew immediately that something was wrong the moment they stepped into the room. The entire place was a wreck. The walls were blackened and scarred, the various training mats had been burnt to ashes and the bronze braziers which lit the room were melted into puddles on the floor. But worst of all, the portrait which had contained Kryillos had been stripped of its occupants, the frame had half melted into slag, and the little canvas that remained was burnt black. When Harry pushed back the tattered canvas he saw that most of it had been cut away, like with a knife. The missing shape formed a rough square, and it seemed obvious to Harry that whomever had done the damage to this room had also stolen Kryillos. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What happened here?" Asked Draco as he touched the scorched brick and it crumbled away under his fingers. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think it's pretty clear what happened." Said Theodore, who was inspecting one of the melted braziers, "The question is, who? And why? Because the only person who could have gotten into this room is a parslemouth, and as far as we know, Harry is the only parslemouth in school."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well clearly there's someone else who knows parsletongue in this school isn't there?" Said Draco. "My father says Dumbledore knows parsletongue. Perhaps he did this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I can't see Dumbledore doing something like this." Replied Harry. But even so, the thought lingered in his mind. Dumbledore was well known for his dislike of the dark arts, and Kryillos was a dark wizard in every sense of the word, despite his nice demeanour. Maybe Dumbledore had gotten so angry at this secret dark sanctum in the castle that he had caused this, for Dumbledore was certainly powerful enough to do all this damage. Or maybe, it was this unknown person who sought the ancient power in Hogwarts that Jaculus had warned him about. Was this their first move against Harry?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not having much to do in the destroyed room, they left and went back to the common room. No-one spoke much when they returned they were still in shock by what had happened. They just sat in the common room thinking. Blaise half-heartedly suggested going to the library to do some revision, but failing to get any kind of support for his idea, he just went by style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was nearly lunch before Harry realised he and Draco had detention with Filch. They rushed to Filch's office on the ground floor and arrived there minutes before they would have been late. "Stragglers, eh?" Sneered Filch, "You had better not be late or else I'll make sure you're punished good and proper, oh yes. What with the amount of trouble you're in, I doubt Dumbledore will stop me from hanging you by your ankles in the dungeons." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry looked around. As expected the entire Slytherin and Gryffindor quidditch teams were there, and the blood-traitor twins in particular were looking at Harry with malice in their eyes, though it could easily be mistaken for abject curiosity. Strangely though, their sister wasn't in the lineup at Filch's office. Harry wondered what had happened to her. He doubted that she was let off the hook, for Filch seemed to be expecting someone else and she was the only person missing. The clock struck twelve and Filch immediately stuck a name off a list he had in his hand, cackling as he did so. Filch obviously was enjoying the little power he had over the students./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Right you nasty lot, today, from now until curfew, you'll be cleaning the school with me." He gave a wide grin and added, "Without magic."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Cackling again, he instructed them to pick up an assortment of cleaning tools and marched them off to the trophy room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was dreadfully boring work. First the trophy room, with it golden cups and silver plaques. Harry's head was so full with names after five minutes that he thought he might soon forget his own. He did have a good laugh at Wood, however, who was simultaneously over-cautious and over-zealous in his cleaning of the quidditch cup and past records of Gryffindor quidditch captains. Contrastingly, Marcus was so lazy in his cleaning of Slytherin trophies that Harry was sure they were somehow more dirtier than before he had left them. It was half past two when they left the trophy room, all worn out and tired, and none of them liked it when Filch gleefully told them of all the other bits of cleaning they had to do. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Their second task was to clean some bewitched graffiti off of the walls in the transfiguration classroom. This was confounded by the fact that the graffiti was magically enchanted so that whenever someone tried to remove it, it moved out of reach or twisted into different shapes. It was tantalising, trying to get the graffiti off, but they managed it in the end, though not before the clock had struck four. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Deary me, it seems like they're not going to be done in time are they my sweet?" Filch cooed to Mrs. Norris. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Their next task was just as dreadful as the last. And the task after that was even worse. Harry was exhausted, annoyed and hungry as he picked up a puppy crup that a Hufflepuff prefect had let escape from the Hufflepuff dormitory. Harry had had to chase it through dozens of corridors before it trapped itself in a corner and Harry had scooped it up. On his way back to Filch's office he met with Draco, who was clutching a pup of his own. "This is intolerable." He said as he walked down the stairs. Though Harry had to admit he looked a little cute clutching a pup that was trying to lick his ears. "My father will hear about this, students shouldn't be made to do things like this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry nodded along. "I mean, this is way to big of a punishment for what happened, honestly I-" but Harry didn't hear what he said next because he had just heard something. It was quite apart from the ranting of Draco or the distant mutterings of the portraits on the walls. It was a voice, but unlike any voice Harry had heard. It was a voice to chill the bone-marrow, a voice of breath-taking, ice-cold venom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Come ... come to me ... let me rip you ... let me tear you ... let me kill you./em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sshh." Harry said to Draco. "What?" Draco spluttered. But Harry just shushed him again. He kept listening for the voice. The crup pups that they were holding had gone quiet too. Perhaps they could also hear the voice, Harry thought. He strained his ears again, but the chilling voice had vanished. "What are you doing?" Asked Draco, disturbing Harry's concentration. Harry quickly explained what he had just heard. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Are you sure you heard something? Maybe you're just tired." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No, I definitely heard something." Harry said a little angrily. But then he sighed. It was late, and he was tired. Perhaps in all his musings about ancient evils and the theft of Kryillos, he had just misheard some of the mutterings of the portraits. Still though, the chill it had sent down his back had been real enough./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"What with all the things Harry now had to do, he found it shocking how quickly October had arrived. It signalled its arrival with a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madame Pomfrey was kept busy with a spout of colds. Draco had gotten one, and Madame Pomfrey had given him a pepperup potion, which worked instantly but left the drinker smoking at the ears afterwards. Raindrops the size of bullets thundered against the castle for days on end. The lake rose, the flowerbeds turned into muddy streams and Hagrid's pumpkins grew to the size of garden sheds./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite all the things worrying him, Harry was still excited for the Halloween feast. No amount of cleaning slug brains off the walls could dampen his spirits. Harry had been a little worried that Professor McGonagall would say that they couldn't go to Halloween feast as an extra part of their detention, but she said no such thing. There were rumours that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons to perform at the feast, and since he had never seen a dancing skeleton before in his life, Harry was very excited. Finally, the day arrived. Harry walked alongside his classmates through the corridors, which had been lined with live bats on strings and giant pumpkins. Then, they reached the great hall. It was spectacular. The ceiling showed a cloudless night dotted with hundreds of sparkling stars. Hagrid's pumpkins were floating at the ceiling, each one holding a candle which glowed as the pumpkins jeered at them. The food was suitably spectacular, with the largest lamb Harry had ever seen sitting on the table in front of him. In the dishes around him were beef and firewhiskey pie, Colcannon, pumpkin bread, and eggs pickled in various liquids, along with loys of others. There were many bottomless punch bowls containing delicious drinks. Harry's favourite were the warm apple and pumpkin spice, which they drank through cinnamon straws, the pomegranate and ginger drink, which had real floating eyeballs in them that stared at them as they drank, and a green drink which Draco called acromantula venom and tasted like lemons, cranberries and spiced tea, though he assured Harry it wasn't actual acromantula venom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After they had all eaten, Dumbledore brought in the troupe of dancing skeletons which dazzled them all with their wacky shenanigans. Harry found it particularly funny when they started swapping heads. After the skeletons had finished their routine and bowed the entire hall burst into applause and the skeleton's jaws hit the floor from excitement. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The ghosts aren't doing anything this year are they?" Harry shouted to Draco over all the applause. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, they're doing something else from what I gather." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What are they doing?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Strangely, I think one of them died."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry didn't know what to say to this, so kept quiet. After they had all finished clapping, which took quite a long time, Dumbledore stood up to give his speech. Which Harry ignored completely. He was too full to listen to Dumbledore talk about anything and only started paying attention when everyone was leaving. Everyone left through the doors and into the corridors. Since Harry and Draco wanted to get back to the common room as soon as possible, they had Crabbe and Goyle muscle their way to the start of the line. However, once they turned a bend, the whole procession stopped. Harry and Draco pushed their way to the front to see what was going on. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /On the wall hung Mrs. Norris, frozen solid with fear and above her, daubed in blood, were the words /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Shouted Draco. Harry stared at him. His cold eyes were alive. His usually bloodless face was flushed as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile, cat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's going on here, what's going on?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Attracted, no doubt, by Draco's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in Horror./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He shrieked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"His popping eyes scanned the corridors, as if he thought he could see the person who attacked him. There was a dead silence in the hallway. None of the students dared say anything to the irate caretaker./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Argus,/em" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept down to where Mrs. Norris was hanging, and unhooked her from the torch bracket./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Come with me, Argus," He said to Filch. "We need a private room. Quirrinus, i believe your office is closest."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""O-o-oh, y-y-yes. Of c-c-course. R-right this way, Head-Headmaster." Quirrell stuttered as he lead the procession of teachers away from the rest of the students. Professor Flitwick was left to control the students, who had now started to break out into fits of mutterings and hisses as they tried to silently discuss what had just happened. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ladies and Gentlemen, please, if you be so kind as to make your way to your dormitories quickly." Came the squeak of Professor Flitwick. "Prefects, i'm leaving you in charge. And students, remember, the mind creates many wild stories when given a lack of information. Do not let your imagination get the better of you. An early night is what you need right now. Quickly now, back to your dormitories!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Jaculus!" Harry whispered in parseltongue to the serpent coiled around his arm, "follow professor Dumbledore, tell us what they're discussing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""At oncccce." Jaculus replied, as Harry leaned down to the cold floor so Jaculus could slither off to spy for him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco looked ecstatic throughout the journey back to the slytherin common room. Harry wasn't entirely sure what to make of this. He hadn't seen Draco with a look like this in his eyes before, an almost primal hunger. It was scary, yet at the same time, Harry found himself intoxicated by the same feeling. He was getting a chill running down his spine as he thought about what had just happened to Mrs. Norris. Certainly, the killing of a cat was nothing special, but for Harry, what had happened to Mrs. Norris served as a warning, a message, that mudbloods didn't belong at Hogwarts. And if they couldn't understand the warning Mrs. Norris posed, thought Harry, then the literal message written above it in what Harry assumed had to be blood, should make things clear. Although he wasn't too clear on what the chamber of secrets was. It sounded impressive though. In Harry's eye, the chamber of secrets was a place of regal stature, filled with dark knowledge, much like the collection at Mr. Malfoy's Manor, except in Harry's fantasy the dark artefacts and books were not locked behind glass cases, where they could only be observed, but they were sitting on tables, where ghosts made of smoke instructed people on how to use them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They soon arrived at the Slytherin common room, where the some of the Slytherin prefects ineffectually tried to get everyone to go to their dormitories. But people wouldn't, there was just too much to discuss. And since a lot of Slytherin house had lived with a revulsion, however slight, of mudbloods, then the idea that they might soon be leaving the school, voluntarily or otherwise, excited them. At least it gave them something to talk about other than homework or quidditch. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Draco," said Theodore when they had managed to find some comfortable seats, "didn't your father attend Hogwarts the last time the chamber of secrets was opened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes," continued Harry, "And what did it mean by, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"enemies of the heir, beware/em?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco, who was now clearly revelling in his newfound power, took a moment to comfort himself on his sofa before telling them all he knew about the chamber of secrets./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Legend has it, that when Hogwarts was being built, Slytherin wanted to admit only pure-blood wizards, or those from wizarding families. He had seen, first-hand, the damage muggles could do when they feared something, and in those days, most muggles feared magic. Muggles would form large groups and capture people, forcing them to pretend they were wizards only to then kill them. Of course, because they're really stupid, they hardly ever killed any witches or wizards, but the damage they caused to communities was great, and Slytherin recognised that if the muggles every smartened up, they could rise up against Hogwarts in numbers that threatened to destroy the fledgling magical community. However, when he tried to explain his fears to the other founders, they rejected them, saying that muggles were not a threat, and to admit muggle-born witches and wizards was a boon on the castle, not a curse. So Slytherin, recognising that the other founders would not listen to him devised a new plan. He built a secret chamber in the castle, filled with powerful magic,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"and then left the school, saying that one of his descendants would return to the school and use the power stored within the chamber of secrets to cleanse the school of all the muggle-born."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And this chamber had been opened before?" Asked Harry, who was revealing in this newfound knowledge of Hogwarts. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, almost 50 years ago now. To tell you the truth though, I don't know much about it." Replied Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And this power in the chamber, do we know what it is?" Harry Asked again./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nope."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What about the location of the chamber?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Draco shook his head. "People have searched, but nothing was ever found. Not even a hint as to the location of it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Can I assume that the heir of Slytherin is also lost to time as well then?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Pretty much." began Theodore. "My father did a lot of research on noble blood lines for his book, and he tried tracing the Slytherin line. It ended up with a family by the name of Gaunt, but the last descended family members of the Gaunt name, well, one died in Azkaban and one vanished when they were eighteen, their father died impoverished and all their property was seized by the ministry. There was another branch, Sayre, but they migrated to America and founded, Silvermorny, I think? The American school of wizardry. There aren't any descendants of the Sayre line left. Well, reportedly there's a squib line somewhere but that doesn't really count."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Just out of curiosity, are there any other of the founders descendants left?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore paused for a moment then said, "Well, Ravenclaw doesn't have any descendants left. The gray lady was the only daughter of Ravenclaw, and she died before she could have kids. Although there was a family in Sweden, around 1650 or so, that claimed descendance from her. They're still around, I believe. Gryffindor never had children, although he did adopt a small girl he found alone in the woods. She took the name Gryffindor and her descendants are now the McKinnons. Although they're mostly all dead now. Gryffindor had a cousin, Cenric, and his descendants are now the McClaggans./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"And with Hufflepuff there's just too many to count. She's got so many descendants all of us here probably have a small drop of her blood in us, whether we like it or not." He finished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So basically, we have no idea who's doing it, how they're doing it, or what their motive is?" Summarised Blaise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh come now Blaise, we know why they want to do it." Said Draco, smiling./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Then why go after Mrs. Norris? She's not even human, and Filch is a wizard, not a muggle-born."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Whilst thinking of a suitable rebuttal to this point, something suddenly dawned on Harry. "Well, to be fair, has anyone actually seen Filch do a spell? Do we even know if he owns a wand?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Draco opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say and closed it again. Try as he might, Harry just couldn't think of any time he had seen Filch cast a spell. Everyone else seemed to be having this thought as well, as they were all gazing into the ceiling, not quite focusing on it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He's certainly not a muggle born." Said Theodore. "But that can only mean..." He finished, staring at Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco, who suddenly caught on to what Theodore was saying exclaimed, "It can't be!" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"it's the only thing that makes sense, if he really isn't a wizard." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What are you talking about?" Asked Harry who was thoroughly confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They bother looked at each each other then looked straight at Harry and said, simultaneously, "He's a squib."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You mentioned that before, what is it?" Harry replied, puzzled/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It means he was born to wizard parents but has no magical powers. Kind of the opposite of mudbloods." replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that must be why he was attacked then." Said Draco. "I doubt the heir of Slytherin wants Squibs in the castle any more than they do mudbloods."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Even if he is a squib," said Blaise, who raised his hands to get everyone's attention. "That doesn't mean he was targeted because of it. If you ask me, this is all just one big practical joke someone's playing because it's Halloween."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Someone did something to that cat though. And the fact that Dumbledore couldn't fix it seems pretty suspect." Replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Mrs. Norris is probably already fixed. It just looked like someone stunned her to me." Said Blaise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They continued arguing like this for nearly half-an hour before Jaculus finally arrived back with news./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ssshee hasss been petrified." Jaculus reported. "Sssshee isss not deaad, Jussst frozen, immobile and unthinking. Dumbledore and the otther teacherssss Don't know how to fixxx heeer. Buuut, it wasss daaark magic thaaat diid thiisss, of that, theeey are sssure."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For a few days, they school could talk of nothing else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Harry had seen him scrubbing the message with 'Mrs. Skower's all purpose magical mess remover', but to no avail. The words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking, red-eyed, through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students an trying to put them in detention for things like 'breathing loudly', and 'looking happy'./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Blaise had abandoned his previous theory, and was now thoroughly toting the line that Harry and the rest of the second-year slytherins were following. And the rest of the Slytherins were all wondering who could use such magic. Draco, especially, was invested in finding out who the heir of slytherin was. quite often he could be found, in the library, amidst dozens of books with titles like, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Secrets of Salazar Slytherin: The lost rooms of early Hogwarts/em, or em style="box-sizing: inherit;"The Old magic of Arthurian britain, Spells, Enchantments, and common practices./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The following wednesday, Harry was silently laughing at lunch after having finished potions. Longbottom had been made to stay behind and scrape tubeworms off the desk. An immensely disgusting process, as tubeworms popped if people tried to move them quickly, resulting in a smelly, pus-like liquid going everywhere and giving you a purple rash if it landed on your skin. Longbottom had just walked into the great hall looking like a beetroot, and Harry could smell him from across the large room. Taking this as his cue to leave, Harry decided to make his way to the library, to see Draco. On his way there he walked into the path of Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was moving towards him. Harry would have completely ignored him, however, Fletchley did something rather odd. When he caught sight of Harry, Fletchley turned and sped off in the other direction. Confused and a little shocked at this reaction, Harry shouted "OI!" at Fletchley, who immediately froze, as if he had been hit with the full body-bind. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What exactly are you running from, Fletchley?" Harry asked as he moved closer to him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""W-w-w-wha-what am i-i-i r-r-run-running f-f-from?" Fletchley stuttered, sounding exactly like Quirrell had last year. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes. What is it about me that gets you so scared, Fletchley?" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Y-y-y-w-w-we-we-well p-p-p-people ar-ar-are s-s-s-sa-" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh just spit it out would you!" Harry said, annoyed at Fletchley's incessant stammering. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Fletchley gulped and said, very quickly, "people think you're the heir of Slytherin." Harry was a little taken aback by this, but didn't let it show on his face. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And do you think i'm the heir of slytherin?" Harry asked, knowing full well that the only way he could have gotten this reaction from Fletchley, was that if Fletchley thought he was the heir of Slytherin. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, no-no-no, of-of course not." Fletchley said, quickly. Harry just smiled and walked off, leaving Fletchley utterly confused and terrified. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found Draco in the library, just as he had expected. This time he was immersed in a book called, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Cryptids; How medieval sorcerers his their secrets./em" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Have you found anything?" Harry asked of Draco. Draco closed his book and sighed. "Nothing. Or at least, nothing interesting. Some of them reference the fact that dark wizards had different methods of hiding their secrets, but they never elaborate. Cowards. Dark magic is only feared because people don't understand it, but how can they expect people to understand it if they lock all the information about it behind a gate." He stole a glance at the iron doors which stood, barring people from the forbidden section. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well what's stopping you from getting into the restricted section?" said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco looked at him like he was stupid. "Have you been hanging around Crabbe and Goyle too much? It's forbidden, Potter."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, " replied Harry, "But we have an invisibility cloak. There's nothing stopping us from coming back here after lights out and finding the book you want."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco took a breath, clearly planning on replying, but then paused, unable to come up with a counter argument. "You're right. Okay then, we'll do that. Yeah."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""By the way, where's the history of magic section? I want to get started on the essay for Binns."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, over there. " Draco said, pointing at a shelf about three down from where they were standing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Thanks." Harry walked over to the shelf that draco pointed at. On his way though, something caught his eye. He paused and found himself looking at the spine of a book which was titled, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A Beginner's guide to Alchemy./em Harry was curious. He had read the book Theodore had gotten him, that copy of, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"a history and study of the philosopher's stone and it's creator, Nicholas Flamel, /emand it had given Harry a passing interest in Alchemy. He picked up the book. It was old, and clearly hadn't be handle in years. There was a thick layer of dust settled on the top of the book. Harry opened the book to the first page. It started with an introduction, like many books did:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"If you are reading this then you have a passing interest in alchemy which has brought you to these pages. Alchemy is the composition of waters, movement, growth, embodying and disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies and bonding the spirits within bodies./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Inside this book you will find a simple guide to many things Alchemical, though this book also comes with a warning. Alchemy touches upon elements of dark magic, and often, Alchemy is used for the most vile of dark practices, and is also concerned with many span style="box-sizing: inherit;"matters/span of life and death. More advanced Alchemists will often create life, just to destroy it. Should you still wish to continue after reading this, you do so at risk of your soul. If you wish to stay away from Alchemy forever after this, i don't blame you./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was not deterred by the warnings presented by the book, but intrigued. He checked the name of the Author. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Ion/em. This was a strange name, Harry thought, but otherwise he disregarded it. Strange names weren't anything strange to Harry, not after living in the magical world for a year now. He closed the book, then went to the history of magic section and found the book he needed, a very large, very boring book on the Medieval Assembly of Wizards called, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Importance of the oldest Wizarding Assembly in England and it's most famous cases/em. He took both books to Madame Pince to check out of the library, who looked at him questioningly when she saw the em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Beginner's Guide to Alchemy/em, but said nothing, for which Harry was glad. He didn't want to explain to anyone why he had an interest that book./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Back in the common room, Harry completely ignored the history of magic essay he was supposed to be writing, instead taking his time to peruse the Beginner's guide to Alchemy some more. It was truly a fascinating book. It started by giving examples of some elements of Alchemy that the reader might have been familiar with. And Harry was shocked at just how many varied examples were given. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Wand-makers often describe wand cores as living, able to choose their owner. If wand cores are alive and all living things have a soul, we can say that the act of building a wand is like giving a spirit a body, which is something done quite often in Alchemy. Death is the act of losing one body whilst the spirit remains intact. Normally Death would claim lost spirits, but body-less spirits can be found in the world as ghosts, and similarly, spirit-less bodies can be seen as victims of the Dementor's Kiss. Separating body and spirit is also common in Alchemy. /em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It continued like this for some pages, listing basilisks, elements of transfiguration, and certain potions as Alchemic in nature. Indeed, Harry was so engrossed in his book, he didn't even realise what time it was until Draco tapped his shoulder, saying "Are you ready to go?" It took Harry a second to realise what he meant, but then said, "Yes, let's go." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and he and Draco quickly made their way to the Library, only encountering a tired Professor Flitwick on their way there. Draco was a little nervous, but Harry wasn't. The book was still buzzing on his mind, he was itching to go back and read it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Eeeeuuuhhh, yuck." Draco had just stepped on a spider that was scuttling across the hallway. But it didn't seem to be alone, for another one had just scuttled into it's place. And another one. And another one. In fact, now that Harry looked properly, the entire floor seemed to be a highway for spiders, as dozens of them were crawling across the floor. Draco had noticed it too. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's not natural." he said, observing one scuttle over his shoe. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah," said Harry, "Let's just get the book and get out of here." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They made their way to library even quicker after that, not wanting to run into any spiders any more than they wanted to run into any teachers. But they were lucky, there was nothing between them and the Library except for empty corridors. But still, Harry breathed a sigh of relief when they made their way into the the forbidden section./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They didn't waste any time hanging around. Draco quickly found what he was looking for and they made their way out of the Library and back to the common room. After dodging around Filch, McGonagall and several ghosts, they finally arrived back at the common room. Unaware he had been holding his breath, Harry said, "Let's not do that again for a while." whilst panting heavily./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah." Replied Draco, who was similarly out of breath. "But still." He held up the book. "We got what we wanted."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Have you ever seen spiders act like that though?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No." Said Draco, who looked just as confused as Harry did./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For their next project in Defence against the Dark Arts, Quirrell started to teach them the Disarming Charm. And whilst he himself admitted that this was a fairly advanced charm, Quirrell admitted he wanted to get the defensive spells taught before they started on any more creatures. Upon announcing this, he distinctly glared at Harry and Draco for a second before moving on./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Strangely, Harry noticed that whenever Quirrell looked at him, a flash of sharp, hot pain would sear through his scar. And although he was expecting it this time, that didn't stop it from hurting./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In order to make sure time was not wasted by students having to go get their wands after they had been disarmed, Quirrel had given each student a basket of sticks. They were to hold a stick in place of their wand whilst their partner practiced disarming them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found this quite an easy charm to get the hang of. It only took him two tries before he managed to disarm Crabbe. And this was quite an achievement as Crabbe was infamously known for having a strong grip on his wand, something that was often criticised by the likes of Mcgonagall and Flitwick. Additionally, despite being generally contempt towards Harry, Quirrell awarded Slytherin House 10 points for being the first one to successfully perform the charm./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco didn't have as much luck as Harry, though to be fair to him, whenever Draco attempted to disarm Goyle, Goyle instead dropped the stick he was holding so that Draco's spell didn't affect him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You idiot Goyle!" Said Draco after this happened for the fifth time. "Hold it!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay." replied Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco readied his wand and cast "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Expelliarmus!"/em again. And to his credit, Goyle did not drop his stick, but Draco's spell only caused his stick to wiggle in his hand, not fly out of it. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Dammit!" Said Draco, as Goyle dropped the stick a few seconds later. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"it's really more of flick." Said Harry, who had come over to watch Draco try the spell. "Here. Goyle, pick up the stick again, and don't drop it." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Goyle did so as Harry moved into a position in front of him. "Expelliarmus!" Cried Harry, and with a flick of his wand, Goyle's stick flew into the air and hit a Ravenclaw on the other side of the classroom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I didn't drop it." Said Goyle immediately, and rather stupidly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, all right." Said Draco, with his voice betraying just a hint of impatience./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Goyle picked up another stick from the basket and Draco cried, "Expelliarmus!", flicking his wand before Goyle was ready. Whether or not the stick flew as far as it did because of Draco's competency with the spell, or because Goyle had thrown it from his hand when he had fallen, Harry could not tell, but either way Draco looked pleased. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So have you found out anything about the chamber of secrets?" Harry asked Draco after class as they made their way down to the hall for lunch. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"No." Sighed Draco as they made their way through the large doors to the great hall and sat down at the Slytherin table. "I don't know what I could be missing though. Well, aside from every book about the subject being removed from the library."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How do you mean?" Asked Harry as he bit into a large kipper./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I don't know." Replied Draco. "It's like every book gets to a point where they say, for more information, look here in this particular book. But when I go to look for it, it's gone from the library."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who could have been taking them out though?" Asked Harry, again./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that's the thing, there's no waiting list or anything, it's more like they were never in the library to begin with."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""But I thought that every book ever published was in the Hogwarts library," said Harry, shocked. Every time he had wanted to check out a book, a copy of it had been in the Hogwarts library. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, there are some things that aren't in Libraries." Replied Draco. "One of a kind manuscripts for instance, or cursed books."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What are cursed books?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Books with some kind of spell or enchantment placed on them that make them dangerous to the reader." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"There are books like that?" Said Harry, bewildered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh yes. Father knew someone who collects them. She has hundreds in her collection, like sonnets of a sorcerer, which causes you to speak in limericks for the rest of your life, and The Red King's Play, which causes you to start bleeding from your eyes when you finish reading it. But the books I want aren't any of those. They're stuff that should be in a library."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think you should put it from your mind for now. I mean, you've got that quidditch match against Gryffindor tomorrow. You'll be no good if your mind is focused on why some books are there and some aren't."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco sighed. "You're right. What have we got next?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Herbology, I think."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco paused for a second, then said "We're still doing the mandrakes aren't we?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry nodded. Draco groaned./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The next Saturday arrived with an excited atmosphere in the common room. Everyone was expecting the Slytherins to thrash the Gryffindors, given that they had the fastest brooms, and were looking for payback after word of the quidditch pitch duel had gotten out./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and Draco went to breakfast early, and were amused to see the Gryffindor players all looking uptight and not talking much. At eleven o'clock the Slytherin team started to make their way to the Qudditch pitch. It was a muggy sort of day, with a hint of thunder in the air. Harry parted ways with Draco at this point to go and find a seat in the stands with Crabbe and Goyle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"About five minutes later the Gryffindors walked onto the pitch to a roar of noise. Annoying, this was mostly cheers for them, as large amounts of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were supporting Gryffindor in this match, but Harry made his boos and hisses heard along with the rest of the Slytherins./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After the Slytherin team had made their entrance, Madame hooch made Marcus and Wood shake hands, and then told both teams to mount their brooms./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was silence as Madame Hooch counted down from three... two... one... Madame Hooch gave a sharp blast on her whistle and Harry roared and the fourteen players shot up into the sky. The difference between the two teams was immediately obvious. The Slytherins started to manoeuvre around the Gryffindors before the latter had even managed to locate the quaffle. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Marcus shot up to the goalposts, passing the quaffle to Adrien Pucey, who promptly steered right around Wood and threw the quaffle into the goal hoop. Harry cheered with the rest of the Slytherins. The match continued like this for quite a while, with Slytherin scoring five more goals in as many minutes. It was during this time that the youngest Weasley, Ginny, got hit by a bludger from Lucian. One of the Weasley twins, (Harry thought it might have been Fred, though he didn't particularly care,) had not been fast enough and had narrowly missed deflecting the bludger away from his sister. Harry groaned with the rest of the crowd as Ginny got hit in the shoulder so hard she got knocked off her broom and fell towards the pitch. Fred dove down to catch her whilst Lucian laughed. Then suddenly, WHAM! It could be heard across the stadium as the other Weasley broke his bat against Lucian's head, flying in at breakneck speed from behind him. Lucian flew forward from his broom, unmoving, and Madame Hooch's whistle almost couldn't be heard over the roar of outrage from the Slytherin supporters. Luckily, the ground was soft due to it raining, but that still didn't stop Lucian from making a loud crunching sound as he hit the earth. Madame Hooch looked furious, and awarded a penalty to Slytherin, but Wood blocked it. Harry couldn't blame the Slytherins for playing angrier after this. There was no way the Gryffindors could win now, what with the score being 210-10 half an hour later, but that didn't seem to matter to the Slytherins. Play got increasingly more violent as time went on. Peregrine Derrick seemed especially eager to avenge his comrade, relentlessly pursuing the Weasley twins and grasping their brooms to try and unseat them. Ginny seemed even more nervous after this, and her shoulder looked to be broken as she couldn't move it without flinching from the pain. It didn't help that after he had finished with the Weasley twins, Peregrine concentrated bludger attacks on her, with the result that by the end of the match she was bloodied, bruised and had several bones broken. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"After the match had ended, Harry went to the Slytherin changing rooms to meet up with Draco. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Those filthy blood-traitor Wesleys!" He said as Harry walked in. He had changed back into his school robes, though the snitch he had caught was still hovering around his head like a large annoying fly. "Stop it!" He said, catching the snitch and stuffing it into his pocket. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I saw what they did to Lucian." Harry said. "Do you think he's going to be okay?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix him." Assured Draco, though there was some doubt in his voice. "I'm going up to the hospital wing now to check on him. The rest of the team is already there."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" So Harry and Draco marched up to the hospital wing. When they arrived they saw Lucian lying in the bed, completely unconscious. "What's it like?" Draco Asked of Marcus when they got close to his bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Marcus looked around at who had spoken before saying, "It's not good. That was a serious blow to the head, and Madame Pomfrey thinks it's best to let him heal naturally than to try to heal him up by magic." He was so unexpectedly somber when he said this, that Harry was slightly taken aback. He had been used to the loud, jokey Marcus, so to see him like this, so quiet, so defeated; it scared Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry glanced around the hospital wing. Ginny was in a bed as far away from Lucian's as possible, and Madame Pomfrey was performing various incantations to heal her numerous injuries. She hadn't allowed the other Gryffindors into the hospital wing, for fear of what might happen if Gryffindors and Slytherins were face to face with one-another again. She stole a glance at Lucian's bed and said, "no more than six visitors at a time." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Since Harry was not actually a part of the team, it was he that left, leaving Lucian in the company of his teammates./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Waiting outside the doors to the hospital wing were the Gryffindor quidditch team, along with all the Weasleys attending Hogwarts. They looked up when Harry opened the door, evidently hoping for news about Ginny, but glared when they saw it was Harry. Harry glared back. He thought that the Weasleys should get much more than a few lost house points and detentions for what they did. Lost house points were worth nothing. They weren't a real punishment. In order for a punishment to be real, it needs to be felt. It needs to hurt as much as the crime committed. Then he suddenly remembered something one of the guests at Malfoy Manor had said to him when he had stayed there. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Cursed scars never heal/em. Harry smiled. He had suddenly realised what needed to be done./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next day Harry could be found in the library, his head inside books a second-year probably shouldn't be reading. "What are you looking for?" Draco asked. Harry explained to him his plan. Draco smirked when Harry finished explaining it. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, you won't find what you're looking for in any of these books." And he indicated at the shelves around them. "The kind of spell you're looking for is in there." And he pointed towards the restricted section./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The problem is though, that in there I can't exactly browse, and I don't know what book it'll be in." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well you're in luck then. I know exactly what you're looking for, I saw of copy of it when we went to take the other book. So how about tonight, we go to the library again, and put back the book I have whilst taking the book you want." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Okay." Agreed Harry, seeing this as good an opportunity as any./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were making their way back from the library, when Harry heard his name being whispered very loudly. Thinking it might be Creevey again, he spun around, anger in his face and already drawing his wand to hex Creevey. But there was no-one there. Confused Harry placed his wand back in his pocket and continued walking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What was that about?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought I heard-" started Harry, but he never finished that sentence because he heard the voice again, louder this time. He spun back around and saw who was making the noise. It was Aslaug, the red-robed wife of Kryillos, and she was calling to him from a painting of three fat wizards who were all plying cards, and all cheating./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aslaug!" Said Harry, rushing over to the painting. "What happened to you? What happened to Kryillos? We went to the room to find it all destroyed and the painting missing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We were attacked." She said quickly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""By who," Harry interrupted. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"A woman in a dark robes, I couldn't see her face, she used magic in a way I have never seen and stole the painting of my beloved. I barely managed to escape. I've been looking for you ever since."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why?" Asked Harry quickly. Draco was very interested too, and Crabbe and Goyle were making sure no-one would interrupt them. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Because something about her seemed familiar. I don't know what it was. But Harry, be careful, don't trust anyone, especially anyone you haven't seen before, or anyone who is acting differently. She acted like a person with many threads in many different places, and someone who can manipulate people on that scale make for the darkest of wizards." Aslaug said very quickly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay, what will you do now?" Harry said, matching Aslaug's speed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I will hide, and try to gather information. If I find anything I will contact you again."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay. Bye."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She nodded and ran out past the cheating wizards into the other portraits and out of sight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They dared not discuss anything until they got back into the Slytherin common room. Harry gave Jaculus a small cut of meat from the dining room table and sat down on his bed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what should we do now?" He asked of Draco. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, I don't think we can do anything other than keep our eyes open and go about things as normal." He said as Theodore walked into the dormitory. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What's up?" He asked, and Harry explained to him their encounter with Aslaug./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's concerning." He replied after Harry had finished relaying the whole story. "... A magic like nothing she had ever seen before?... That's very concerning." Then it suddenly looked like he had been hit by a revelation, because he then said, "You don't think this person could be the heir of Slytherin could you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What?" Said Harry, a little surprised. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Think about it," said Theodore, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"A magic like nothing she had ever seen before/em, and what did Dumbledore say? He had no idea how Mrs. Norris was petrified. That it required powerful dark magic to pull off. This mystery witch could easily be the heir of Slytherin."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""But that begs the question, why now?" Said Draco. "If they're a student, why wait until now to open the chamber? Doubly so if they're a teacher, and what reason would they have to steal the painting of Kryillos, and destroy the room?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They all thought but couldn't come up with anything. Still though, they all agreed that currently, she was the most likely candidate./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /That night, the Library raid went off without a hitch, much like it had the previous time they tried it. Draco had picked out for Harry a book called em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Darkeste magicks of the Fouleste kinds/em. The cover was made of a strange, waxy, type of leather and the pages seemed to be stained with blood. It was on their way back that they saw something. A long, black cloak. Harry and paused under the invisibility cloak. If this was the woman, had she noticed them? She didn't seem to have, and the cloak was slowly moving up the corridor, examining the paintings./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But then Harry heard something. Something that made his blood curdle and the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Hungry... Sooo Hungrry... to hunt... tear... I smell flesh!/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry wasn't the only person to have heard it, the cloaked woman had heard it too. She quickly looked around and bolted down the corridor, moving out of sight in a flash. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Come on!" Harry whispered to Draco, who was looking utterly confused, but moved along quickly in the cloak beside Harry. They rounded the same corner as the cloaked woman, but couldn't see her. It was a long corridor, and they should have been able to see her, but she had vanished into thin air./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They made their way back to the common room and when they were back in the dormitory Harry explained what had happened to Draco and Theodore. But that just left them with more questions than answers./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The next day it was Monday, so Harry didn't have much of a chance to examine the book he had taken from the library. This, combined with the fact that Harry wasn't really excited to look into the blood-soaked pages meant he only started reading it the next Saturday. About halfway into the book was the spell Draco had said Harry was looking for, and Harry now knew Draco had been right. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Acribignis/em em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Secucer/em was the incantation, and although the diagram wasn't very clear on what it did exactly - owing to the fact that the diagram had been covered by a blood stain - from the description using words like em style="box-sizing: inherit;"extremely painful/em and em style="box-sizing: inherit;"irreversible/em, Harry knew it was what he style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was Sunday when he decided to enact his plan. Under his cloak, Harry made his way to the quidditch pitch, where he knew Gerorge Weasley was doing detention, cleaning the quidditch supplies and the stands. It was almost dark, so Harry knew he had to do it quick. It didn't take him long to find George, who was enchanting a brush to sweep the floor whilst he made a tower out of exploding cards. Harry silently moved behind him. "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Acribignis Secucer!/em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" George turned around at the wrong time. The spell hit him dead in the face and he collapsed on the ground, screaming in agony. Harry ran away as fast as he could. He was a little shocked by how much damage had been done, but at the same time, felt powerful. This wasn't like at the Dursleys, where, whenever Dudley had hit him he had been able to get away with it relatively unscathed. Now, Harry had the power to seek revenge on those that wronged him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he was moving up the grounds to the castle he could see Madame Hooch making her way to the pitch to investigate the screaming. Harry smiled. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry woke the next morning feeling happy. Indeed, he felt happier than he had felt for a while. But initially, he wasn't sure why he felt the way he did. Obviously, his sleeping brain had been running through the events of yesterday, for Harry could still see an after-image of the light from the curse he had used floating around his vision. Why would this make him happy though? Or at least, happier than he had been for a long time. Then his scar twinged and brought Harry back down to Earth./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He got up, dressed, and made his way to the great hall with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore, and the rest of the Slytherins. At breakfast, Harry did not initially notice that something was wrong, and it was only when Pansy pointed out that several of the teachers and all of the Weasleys were missing from the great hall, did Harry realise what must currently be happening. He smiled to himself. Draco had been right. Dark magic was not something to be feared, especially not when it gave you this much power. Power, it appeared, that even the teachers couldn't manage./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Let's go visit Lucian." Harry said when they had all just about finished eating. "He might have woken up, we should bring him something to eat." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Since it was a Sunday, and none of then had much to do, they decided to go visit Lucian. Crabbe and Goyle were given the task of bringing the food from the table, but Harry wasn't sure that was such a good idea. He felt they might eat half of it before they arrived./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" But when they arrived, they found Madame Pomfrey had locked the hospital wing doors. They knocked, and she appeared in front of them, closing the dues behind her. In the brief period in which the doors were opened, Harry saw a crowd of teachers all huddled around one bed. He had no doubts as to who that bed belonged to./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We would like to visit Lucian." Draco drawled at her. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'm sorry, but the hospital wing is off limits right now. You'll have to come back later."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How much later?" Draco asked, a sneer playing about his lips./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Later/em." Replied Madame Pomfrey, rather brusquely, and she closed the door./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did you see those teachers?" Asked Theodore. "What do you think they're doing? There hasn't been another attack had there?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Draco gave Harry a knowing look, but said nothing. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I know a way we can find out." Said Harry. He reached into his sleeve and out slithered Jaculus. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Can you sneak in there whilst we distract Madame Pomfrey?" He said to the snake. Jaculus nodded in reply and Harry placed the serpent down on the floor, right next to where the door would open. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He knocked on the large wooden door./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I thought I told you, " said Madame Pomfrey as she opened the door, "to come back later." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes, sorry Madame Pomfrey, but you see I think I left a book in here the last time I came to visit, so..." said Harry, quickly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Madame Pomfrey looked at him suspiciously for a second before glancing back into the hospital wing. "There are no books on his bedside Mr. Potter, I suggest you look where you saw it last." And she shut the wooden doors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry glanced down to the floor and noted That Jaculus had made it inside. Now all they had to do was wait./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did this mean," Said Goyle, suddenly and slowly, "That we can eat these?" He indicated to the armfuls of food he had Crabbe were carrying. Harry observed that a lot of the food they had brought had already been eaten, with the crumbs sticking to each of their jumpers. Draco had evidently noticed this too for He said, rather dryly, "Yes, yes it does."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" As the Slytherin posse roamed the hallways, looking for something to do, Harry found that the general state of gossip had changed. Whispers circulated around the halls, all of them discussing the recent attack on one of the Weasley brothers. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Saw him as they brought him to the hospital wing, it was awful, his whole face was burnt off, smelling of something rotten..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Nah, mate, I heard he got his eye blasted out. That they found it halfway across the grounds..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ooh, do you think he got attacked by the heir of Slytherin?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""'course not Matilda, he's a pure-blood."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Still though, the Wesleys aren't exactly the purest of pure-bloods are they?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was intoxicating. Harry found himself smiling more and more as he heard each juicy bit of gossip. In fact, he was so carefree, he didn't even notice when a scraggle of first year Gryffindors walked into him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Watch it! You filthy first-years." Harry pulled his wand out and trained it on the nearest first year, a black-haired boy with funny looking eyebrows./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Calvorio/em!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Instantly, the boy's hair started to fall out. At first he looked like he had aged about fifty years, with a bald crown gleaming from his head, but soon he was completely bald, his hair fallen onto the floor around him. The Slytherins all laughed. He started to tear up and tried to cover his newly bald head with his hands before dashing off in the opposite direction to where they were headed. It was then that Harry noticed that the group of Gryffindor first-years also happened to include Ginny and she was looking at him with a very strange look in her eyes. It was fear, certainly, but there was something else there. Awe, perhaps? Harry couldn't tell. He pointed his wand at her and said "Now run along, unless you want the next one to be more painful."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Ginny went red and immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction, tripping over her robes in her haste to get back./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ha!" Draco exclaimed whilst the others laughed. "Did you see his stupid little head? You should've done something else, Harry. Give him antlers or some such."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, but he was ugly enough already, don't you think?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They laughed their way back to the common room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Jaculus returned after dinner, with news of what was going on in the hospital wing. Madame Hooch had found him, like Harry had known, and had brought him to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had immediately recognised it as dark magic, and sent for Dumbledore, who had in turn called upon Professors Quirrell, Snape, Flitwick, and McGonagall to aid him. But so far, they hadn't been able to do much other than ease the pain. The other Weasleys, Granger and the brother's friend Lee Jordan had been let in to see him whilst Dumbledore contacted Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as well as Saint Mungo's hospital for magical maladies and injuries. A team of healers had arrived moments later and they took him to the hospital, where he was now being treated by specialists./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Filthy blood-traitor. They should let him live with the pain in my opinion." Remarked Draco after this account. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"But still though," started Theodore, "who could have done this?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The heir of Slytherin." Said Pansy. "Or that mysterious woman."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco glanced at Harry, then motioned for him to follow him whilst the others continued their conversation about who could have been the perpetrator./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They made their way out of the common room and round a few of the dungeon passages before Draco cornered Harry in an alcove. He quickly checked to make sure no-one was around then said, "You haven't told them yet, have you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry shook his head. "No, only you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good. I don't think you should tell anyone, not even them. Currently everyone thinks you're the heir of Slytherin, and if you get expelled..." he replied, leaving the sentence hanging in the air. Neither of them wanted Harry to get expelled. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I know. I'll try sticking to the shadows a bit more, but if you can draw the attention away from me, that would help."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Be loud. Obnoxious. Jinx random people." Harry replied. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Don't worry Harry," Draco said assuringly, "You can count on me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We should get back. The others will be wondering where we are."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Weasley did not return the next day, or the day after that. It wasn't until almost a week later that he returned back at the school. Annoyingly, he made rather a big deal out of it. The spell Harry had hit him with had left it's mark alright. The scar that it had left him with looked utterly revolting; it looked to Harry like Weasley had been slashed with a large and rusty knife, struck by a bolt of lightning, and been scolded by boiling water, all in the same place. It certainly looked painful and Harry noticed that whenever he thought no-one was looking, Weasley would prod it slightly and wince in pain. It had also had an effect on his eye. His left eye no longer moved in it's socket, and the white of his eye was now blood-red, with black burn marks around the edges. Despite this though, Weasley paraded around the castle, showing it off to people, none of whom seemed at all put off by it's disgusting nature./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He acted, in Harry's opinion, as though he had just fought Voldemort, and survived. Harry longed to sneak up to him and cast the spell again, this time on somewhere more sensitive, but the arrangement he had made with Draco prevented him from doing that, and he didn't think the teachers would like it much. As they had agreed, Harry hung to the back of the group whenever the Slytherins travelled around the castle, and Draco almost always found a reason to jinx other students. It it had gotten him into a slight bit of trouble with Filch, but it had done what it was supposed to do, and take the heat off of Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry had even heard whispers that it was Draco that was Slytherin's heir, not Harry. An idea which amused the both of them as neither of them knew who the identity of the mysterious lady was yet. Harry, Theodore, and Blaise had spent the afternoon when Draco was in a detention looking through documents for information about the students in sixth and seventh year, for Harry thought that it must have been one of them that held the identity of the mysterious woman. This was, however, difficult, as Harry couldn't place any recognisable features to the woman, other than height, and since all the girls in sixth and seventh year didn't have much noticeable variation in height, they have this up as a fruitless endeavour. She must have stuck again however, because when Harry and Draco when to see Lucian Bole, who was still unconscious in the coma, they noticed one of the beds had been cordoned off with large medical screens that obscured the occupant from view. He motioned to Draco, who nodded and started to keep a look out for Madame Pomfrey, who was currently sitting in her office. Harry snuck over and glanced through the screens to see who was in the bed. It was an older boy, a Gryffindor, and his expression looked like he had just seen something terrifying in front of him, yet his body was slightly twisted as if he had been caught in the middle of the act of turning around. Draco gave a cough and Harry quickly retreated away from the boy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So someone else has been attacked!" Draco whispered as they made their way back to the common room. "Do you know who it was?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No idea." Replied Harry, "Some Gryffindor fourth year I think, I've never seen them before."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"A group of Hufflepuff girls gave them nasty looks as they walked by, and Draco sneered back at them. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I wonder if they were a mudblood?" Said Draco, completely unperturbed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, if you all that business about the chamber of secrets and Salazar Slytherin, then they must be, mustn't they?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I suppose. But Mrs. Norris wasn't a mudblood, was she?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, well she also wasn't human, was she?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They continued this back and fourth when until they made their way to the common room entrance. (Unsurprisingly, Granger's name came up often when Draco discussed who should be targeted next.)/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When inside the common room they informed the others about who they had seen in the hospital wing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes, I heard about that." Said Pansy. "Dallon Moore, I think his name was. He's been there for a while now. Apparently he was up in the corridors in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Snape found him. Thought he was faking it at first." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Who told you this?" Asked Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"one of the portraits by the second floor." Pansy replied, pointing at the ceiling. "Some Tudor witch I think."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"So it wasn't Aslaug, Harry thought./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The winter term approached sooner than expected, and with it - and the news about Dallon Moore - a roaring trade in talismans, amulets and other protective devices swept the school. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This is a load of garbage." Draco said one morning as they saw Longbottom purchasing a rotting newt tail from a Ravenclaw first year. "I've barely seen even one item which could genuinely protect you from an attack for sale." Draco, it transpired, had picked up quite an eye for what artificers were selling legitimately protective artefacts, and which weren't. About the only thing he had purchased which he said was legitimately protective, was a baby dragon's horn on a cord. However, he didn't wear it. In fact, he had sent it off to his father almost immediately for, in his own words, "What would I need protection from? Father will find this interesting though."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had told Draco that they were going to the south of France for Christmas, and since Draco said he preferred a cold, snowy Christmas, he and Harry has put their names down to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays. (So Did Crabbe an Goyle, obviously.)/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry was excited for Christmas at Hogwarts. Last year he had stayed at Malfoy Manor, so he was interested to see how Christmas at Hogwarts would compare. Of course, Christmas at Hogwarts also meant that they would have to deal with the other people staying behind as well, which included the likes of Granger, and the whole Weasley family./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But before they could enjoy Hogwarts at winter, they still had classes to attend before the end of term./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Potions, one Thursday afternoon, proceeded in the usual way. Twenty/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled the classroom, quickly criticising the Gryffindor students, who couldn't seem to make a swelling solution right. Of course, it probably didn't help that Draco kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Weasley and Granger. Draco was just showing Harry a small, silver, statuette of Merlin that he had taken from a Gryffindor first-year, when Crabbe's cauldron suddenly and violently, exploded. It showered the whole class, and a face full of it got on Harry. It was agony like he had never experienced. His face grew to the size of a pumpkin, and any slight movement caused Harry immense pain, which was annoying because people were shrieking and bumping into him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft. When I found out who did this..." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry immediately hurried over, despite the pain it caused him. He took a large swig of the antidote and almost immediately, the pain was gone, and the swellings subsided. Once everyone had taken the antidote, Snape swept over to Goyke's cauldron and scooped out the twisted, blackened remains of a Dr. Filibuster's no-heat, wet start firework. A silence fell over the class. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"If I ever find out who through this," Snape whispered, "I will make sure they are expelled."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I bet it was Granger." Draco said, an hour later after class had ended. "Did you see her face? She looked all pleased with herself, and with that Weasley. Aren't his brothers known for their practical jokes?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I think they should both be expelled." Said Harry, who was still fuming./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"However, they couldn't do much against the pair, so had to merely contend themselves with practicing the jinxes the wished to use on them. They had decided to use Kryillos' old room, because no-one but them knew where it was, and it wasn't too bad once you got past the smell of burnt stone. Harry and the rest of the Slytherins started to teach each other the stinging jinx em style="box-sizing: inherit;"stimus vesparus. /emThey made such good progress with it that each one of them had the jinx down within a day or two./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well that works well." Theodore commented after casting the spell at a numb Goyle for a second time. "What other spells can we learn?" He said to Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"We'd have to find some in the library." Replied Harry. "The stinging jinx is all well and good, but we can't really defend ourselves at the moment, so I think we should find a spell to do that."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry kept thinking about it during class, and resolved to ask Professor Flitwick about it when class had ended. He had to be careful how he phrased it though. He didn't want Professor Flitwick to think that he was teaching himself and others how to be expert duellers. He ran through it in his head one more time./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Hello Professor Flitwick. I was wondering, with all this business about Slytherin's heir on the loose, if you could teach me a spell to defend myself with?/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Yes, thought Harry. That didn't seem too sinister. And it didn't reveal his true motives either. It seemed perfectly natural that a student would feel scared in these dark times, and Flitwick would feel obliged to assist him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The bell rang to signal the end of class and Harry stayed behind, intent on asking his question./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Professor?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes Potter. What can I help you with?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well sir, I was wondering-" but that was as far as Harry got before a loud cry filled the corridors outside./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry rushed to the classroom door and pulled it open, just in time to hear Peeves, screeching at the top of his lungs: "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTACK!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was so loud that it drowned out the sound of the mob of students making their way down the corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oi," said Harry, grabbing the robes of a Hufflepuff he recognised as Finch-Fletchly, "what happened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Haven't you heard?" Replied Finch-Fletchly, who was white in the face and looked terrified, "Nearly-Headless Nick, he's been petrified!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
div class="storytext-container" style="box-sizing: inherit; transition: font-size 0.3s ease 0s; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px; max-width: 100%; overflow: auto;"
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry let go of Finch-Fletchley and followed the crowd towards where nearly-headless nick was floating. There were so many people crowded around Nick that Harry had to push his way past a group of first years before he actually saw what had happened. Nearly-headless nick was no longer the the pearly-white and transparent most ghosts looked, but was black and smoky, floating horizontally about six inches off the ground. His face showed an expression of utmost terror./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"McGonagall was trying to shepherd students away from the site, with not much success. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Quickly students, back to your classrooms, this matter doesn't concern you. Please, return to your classrooms."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"After Harry had gotten a good look at Nearly-headless nick's lifeless body, he made his way to the great hall where Draco and the other Slytherins would be. He saw them at the other end of the table and rushed over, saying, "Have you heard?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Someone's been attacked?" Supplied Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yeah, Nick, the Gryffindor ghost." Harry finished at he sat down opposite him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""How could something attack Nick?" Asked Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I've no idea, but it's like it killed nick or something. He was all inky and dark, it was... it was terrifying."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The Slytherins all stared at Harry. They had never known him to be scared of anything before. This in turn caused them to get worried and scared themselves./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""We need to find this thing, or whoever's controlling it." resolved Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""We don't have any leads on either though." said Theodore, "Draco's research has turned up nothing on the location of the chamber, and our best lead as to who the heir is has vanished." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry thought for a moment, but couldn't think of their next step. However, Theodore supplied an idea./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""It's a bit of a stretch," he said, "But this monster, it can't be moving about without consequence, can it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well it can." Said Draco, "That's why no one has caught it yet."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""No, you misunderstand it's like-" He looked around the hall for a suitable example, "It's like this right - if an animal kills another animal, its not just the predator that benefits. Although the predator will take it's share of the food, scavengers will eat from the carcass, insects will lay their eggs in the dead flesh, and eventually the carcass will rot away and the plants will use that to grow. I think that this creature in Hogwarts, it's must have consequences of being here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I think i see what you're saying," said Draco, "It's like a chain reaction, everything the creature does affects something else-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""-So even if we haven't seen the creature itself, we've seen the effects of it-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""And a creature that powerful, it must have some pretty obvious reactions."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly!" Finished Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What?" said Harry, utterly confused by the whole conversation that had just gone on before him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What are some odd things that have happened this year?" Draco asked, "Things that wouldn't have normally happened."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I dunno, people being petrified?" Replied Harry, still as confused as ever./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly, we're looking for a creature that can petrify people." Said Draco triumphantly/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry looked at Draco like he was stupid, "Really? I would never have guessed that." He said, in the most sarcastic tone he could mange./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco glared at him, but continued, "There are other strange things too. Remember when we snuck off to the library that night? Remember the spiders?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yeah," replied Harry, still not sure what Draco was getting at./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""They were acting like they were scared right? So if we assume that they were scared of this creature, then we know the creature can petrify people, and spiders are scared of it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh!" said Harry, suddenly realising what they were getting at. "I've been hearing voices in the walls. If that is the creature, then it must mean that the creature is intelligent, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly." replied Theodore, "and the school roosters-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""We have school roosters?" Asked Draco, surprised./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Not anymore, they're all dead. So that means it probably eats roosters." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So in total, we're looking for an ancient monster, that can paralyse people, scare spiders, is semi-intelligent, and eats roosters." Harry concluded. "That can't be a massive list, can it?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""One would certainly hope not." Answered Theodore, sardonically./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They made their way to the library, and started looking through books for any mention of the creature they were looking for. However this turned out to be much easier that they initially thought. They had scarcely been looking for more than five minutes when Blaise, who was looking in a copy of Faem style="box-sizing: inherit;"ntastic beasts and where to find them/em, said, "I think I've found it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You're joking!" Exclaimed Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I don't think so. Listen to this: the most striking feature are its yellow eyes, anyone looking into these eyes will suffer instant death. It will eat all manner of mammals, birds and reptiles, can live for thousands of years, and basilisks are uncontrollable except by parselmouths. I mean, it doesn't fit all the elements, but it certainly seems likely." Finished Blaise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You're right." Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""There's got to be more books on basilisks here somewhere." Asked Harry. To his surprise, it was Jaculus that answered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What about, mosssst macabre monssterss?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry quickly found the book and searched the glossary. There was indeed an entry about basilisks. Upon flicking to that page and reading the entry, Harry got a chill. This was certainly the monster they were talking about./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Blaise was right." Harry said to the others. "Listen to this;em style="box-sizing: inherit;" Of the many fearsome a style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; color: #483a3a;" title="Beast" href=" wiki/Beast"beasts/a and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it./em That fits pretty much everything, I can hear it because I'm a parselmouth, that was what those strange voices in the walls are, and that's why all the roosters were killed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes, but the question is now, how are they moving about the school? Surely people would have seen a giant snake moving about the castle." Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""are you certain you heard it em style="box-sizing: inherit;"in/em the walls, Harry?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Absolutely, why?" Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco paused for a moment to think, then said, "you don't think there's a passageway built specifically for the basilisk in the walls do you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well at this point, nothing would surprise me." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Unable to think of anything more to research, and feeling they had found enough all ready, they made their way back to the common room, where they relayed their discovery to the rest of the Slytherin second years./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Despite not having any new leads, Harry felt comfortable as the term ended. Perhaps it was the Christmas atmosphere, or the new silence that now deafened the school, that made him this way, or maybe it was simply the fact that Harry knew he could control the basilisk if it ever showed it's face again./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Virtually the entire castle had left for Christmas. Harry, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were the only ones left of the Slytherins, (aside from Lucian Bole, who was still in the hospital wing.) To their annoyance they found out that the Weasleys and Granger were going to be staying in Hogwarts over Christmas too. This didn't end up bothering them much, because despite the general lack of people in the corridors, they never seemed to be around./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Which is a shame." Draco exclaimed one morning, "because I was really looking forward to jinxing them until they were blue."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry had gone to Professor Flitwick before term had ended and asked about defensive charms, to which he had been directed to the protego charm. They had spent a hard few weeks learning the spell, but had recently gotten good enough to the point where they were able to consistently cast it, with only a few minor failings./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"When they woke on Christmas Day, they knew immediately that Hogwarts had changed. Everything seemed to be that perfect level of cold where it was chilly, but you could easily warm yourself by the fire. The air smelled of cinnamon and gingerbread cookies, and the glass that was separating the lake from the dormitory had frozen over, revealing a lovely snowflake pattern on the windows. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry looked down by his bed and saw a boatload of presents. He got out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown, inadvertently waking Draco in the process. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Merry Christmas." Harry said as Draco rose, groggily. this snapped him out of his slumber almost immediately, and he greeted the pile of presents by his bed with enthusiasm. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The presents Harry received for Christmas were wonderful. Amongst other things, he got a luxury dragon feather quill, from the now extinct Catalonian Fireball, as a present from Draco. A book about alchemy from Theodore, and most strangely of all, beautifully decorated, silver, knife from Pansy, alongside a small pendant. There was a note attached to the handle, which Harry read. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dear Harry, Merry Christmas. You might be thinking this present it a bit strange, and I don't blame you, because it is. This is a specially enchanted knife from the sorcerers of Ireland. It's been enchanted so that only the person with the pendant can draw it. If anyone else tries to draw it, it will cut them, and the next time you unsheathe the blade it will tell you who has unsheathed it, should you let the blood trickle off the blade and onto some parchment. Although the one you have is new, they are highly praised by historians as they can trace the ownership of the blade through the ages, as the blade never forgets. Morgan Le Fay herself owned one, as well as several other notable ancient wizards./em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Huh." Was all Harry had to say about this. He showed it to Draco, and Draco found it equally as strange. Still though, Harry wore the pendant that had come with the knife./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The Hogwarts feast was incredible, and the great hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry from the ceiling. Dumbledore led him in a few of their favourite carols./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" After this, when some of the teachers had gotten tipsy on eggnog, Draco started to loudly proclaim about the new sweater he had received that morning from his mother. It was a deep emerald green, emblazoned with the Slytherin crest on the top corner, and hemmed in silver threads. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry and Draco are as much as they could stomach, taking third helping of almost everything before they left Crabbe and Goyle at the table, eating fourth and fifth helpings as fast as they aired in the plates. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They made their way back to the common room, for Jaculus had just given Harry an idea. Jaculus had suggested that, in order to find out more about the basilisk and how's it was moving about, they might check the places where the basilisk had been previously. The first of which, was the girl's toilet where Mrs. Norris had been attacked. They had decided to do this today, as if there was any day in which they were almost guaranteed that no-one would be inside a scarcely used girl's toilet, it was the day when most people weren't in Hogwarts, and had better things to be doing. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They had also decided to wait for Crabbe and Goyle, because lookouts were better than no lookouts, and they didn't lose anything by keying them tag along./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco had received an issue of the daily prophet from his father, but merely skimmed it, not finding anything interesting in its pages. Harry and Draco decided to pass the time playing wizard chess with the new wizard chess set Draco had received from his grandfather/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They had played three games -in which Draco had won all three- before Draco said, "alright, I'm not waiting any longer. I'll drag them to the room if I have to."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak as an added precaution and they went off in search of them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" They found Crabbe and Goyle, not in the great hall, but in the dungeon corridor, arguing with Percy Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""There you two are. Have you been pigging out in the great hall all this time? And what are you doing here?" Draco said to Percy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You want to show a bit more respect to a school Prefect!" Replied Percy, outraged. "I don't like your attitude!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco sneered and Harry said, "I was sorry to hear about your brother, Weasley, but at least you'll be able to tell them apart now, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"He and Draco burst out laughing, joined a slightly bit later by Goyle, then Crabbe./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Percy flushed bright red and marched out the dungeon corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"That Peter Weasley," Draco began, before he was interrupted by Crabbe, who corrected him. "Percy."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Whatever. I've seen him snooping around here before. I bet I know why he's really down here. He's hoping to catch Slytherin's heir single handed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""That'll be a challenge." Replied Harry, "given that we haven't even found a trace of her since that day."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""True. Anyway, you two," he addressed Crabbe and Goyle, "we're off to the girls bathroom where the cat got it. You stand guard at the entrance, tell us if anyone's coming."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Crabbe and Goyle looked at Draco a little stupidly for a second before Goyle said, "Yeah."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They made their way to the girl's toilet, not encountering anyone on their way there./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Once inside, Harry didn't notice anything unusual. Or at least, he didn't notice anything that might indicate the location of the entrance to the chamber of secrets. It was, however, incredibly dingy. In fact, it was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror, was a were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was slightly damp and there were a few candles lighting the room, burning low in their holders. The wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched, and one of them was dangling off it's hinges./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What are we looking for?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I dunno, anything." Replied Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They started to move about the bathroom, but stopped when they noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were inside, watching them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oi, you two! You're supposed to be watching outside, not in here. What, do you think that Snape might materialise out of the mould?" He reprimanded. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Crabbe and Goyle looked shocked, but did as Draco said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Come here," said Harry, who had just opened one of the stalls. Inside, resting on the toilet seat, was a cauldron, with a potion still inside it. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Looks like someone didn't want Snape to know what potion they were making. Best not to touch it, you've no idea what it might be." Said Draco. Harry closed the stall door and continued looking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"They had been searching for well over fifteen minutes before Crabbe and Goyle arrived back in the bathroom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Didn't I tell you-" began Draco, but Goyle cut him off. "-Sorry, but someone's coming."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Quickly, under here!" Hissed Harry, pulling out his invisibility cloak. They all crouched down behind the sink and Harry had just enough time to pull it around them all before the door to the bathroom opened. Harry snuck a quick peek through the folds of the cloak at who was there. He almost let out a gasp of surprise. Standing before them, completely the opposite of his normal self, was Quirrell, pacing around the room, muttering to himself. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry couldn't hear what it was that he was saying, because he talked so fast and so softly, but from the looks of him he could tell that Quirrell was concerned about something. Eventually he stopped pacing and stared directly at the mirror. Harry pulled back a bit to make absolutely sure he couldn't see him. Then he heard something, an unnatural hissing, coming from Quirrell which Harry heard as, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"open/em. Suddenly the sinks started vibrating, a loud grinding sound could be heard. It lasted for about two minutes before It happened again, at which point Harry dared himself to take another look. But he didn't see anything. Quirrell had vanished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry was in shock. He and Draco rushed out of the second floor bathroom, and back to the common room, Crabbe and Goyle having made their way to the hospital wing, citing stomach issues. They were panting and out of breath when they finally arrived back at the common room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Half blood! Half blood!" Harry said as they made their way inside. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /They sat, silent, in the chairs for several minutes whilst they processed what had just happened. It was a while begged they said anything, but it was Harry that spoke first./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Quirrell is the heir of Slytherin."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""But what reason would Quirrell have to attack muggle-borns?" Asked Harry. "He was the muggle studies teacher, surely he should love muggles."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Maybe that's just it." Replied Draco. "Maybe he got so sick of muggles because he had to teach about them, that he snapped. Found out he was their heir of Slytherin, or to be honest, he probably just learnt parseltongue, I doubt a half blood would be able to open the chamber naturally, but - what is it Harry?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Remember those rumours at the start of term?" Harry said, not looking at Draco, "People all thought that Quirrell was Voldemort, or something, right?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yeah," replied Draco, tentatively./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well, what if he was Voldemort? I mean, it would make more sense that Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin and was just disguised as Quirrell, rather than Quirrell being the heir himself."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" There was silence as Draco contemplated this. They were lying on their backs in the dormitory, staring at the snake pattern that was carved into the ceiling. Looking at the snake up there, Harry wondered, was this what the basilisk looked like? Were the stone fangs on the snake as big here, as in real life? And what about those yellow eyes?, for the descriptions of basilisks had all mentioned what yellow eyes they style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Should we try to do something then?" Asked Draco, snapping Harry out of his musings. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What?" He said, distracted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well is just that. It's Vol- You-know-who we're talking about here. Even Dumbledore didn't want to face him, and we're nowhere near as powerful as Dumbledore. So, should we try to do something, because if we do anything, he'll probably kill us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" There was a pause and then Harry said "He hasn't killed us yet." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Despite this, they decided to go and check out the bathroom the next day, reasoning that there was virtually no chance that Quirrell would go to the same place two days in a row. When they got there, however, they found someone there, but it wasn't Quirrell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You!" Draco hissed, pulling out his wand and pointing it at the bushy brown hair of Hermione Granger./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Clearly taken by surprise, Granger scrambled, and nearly tripped over her own robes. Weasley was there as well, and although he too had been been started by Draco and Harry's appearance, he had immediately pulled out his wand to counter Draco's. Harry pulled out his wand too, and pointed it at Weasley. Weasley snarled at him. Harry sneered back. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wait! Ron, put down your wand." Granger said, running over to Weasley and pulling his arm down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Listen, Potter, Malfoy, I -" she took a deep breath, "-I know who the heir of Slytherin is, and I know you do too."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry was completely taken aback by this. It was not what he had expected her to say, and it was perhaps the sheer shock of it that caused him to lower his wand. Draco though, still kept his wand trained on her face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Although obviously scared by Draco's wand being inches away from her face, Granger continued, "As much as I loathe you two, I know that you at least want the attacks to stop,"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh yeah?" Sneered Draco, but let her continue./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""The four of us will be much better at stopping them together, than apart, and it is for that reason that I, that is to say, Ron and myself, want to help you stop him." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry glanced at Weasley. He didn't seem remotely interested in helping them, but also seemed unlikely to disobey Granger./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Draco, can I have a word?" Harry asked, indicating they move out of earshot from Weasley and Granger. Draco followed him, though kept a suspicious eye on the pair the whole way through. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What do you think?" Harry asked, quietly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I think they're up to something." He replied. "And how do they know that we know who the heir is?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry thought for a second. "We should ask them something. Try and trap them in a lie."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Then what?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, if they answer truthfully then we agree to an alliance."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""And of not?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Then we jinx them into oblivion."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco look at Harry for a second, then nodded, and he and Harry went back to the pair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So tell me, " he said, directing his question to granger, "What do you know about the woman?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"She looked confused for a second, before realising what they were up to and shaking her head, saying, "The heir isn't some woman, it's Professor Quirrell."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"So she did know. And somehow, she had managed to find out, not only Quirrell's identity, but it stood to reason that she also knew that they knew, like she had said. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry and Draco looked at each other. How had she gotten this information?, when it had taken Harry and the Slytherins until Christmas to figure it out. And also, why was she only telling them now? br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /These questions fluttered around Harry's head, but he had made an agreement with Draco. They would form the alliance with Granger and Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""All right." Said Draco, "What do you know about Quirrell?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I- well- nothing, really, aside from that he is the heir of Slytherin." Granger admitted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry gave her an inquisitive look, before saying, "All right. You have your alliance."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Granger smiled, which Harry found to be a strange sight, and said "Thank you. Now, I think we should lay some ground rules. Firstly, I don't think any of us should be duelling each other whilst we're working together."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Draco sneered, but before he could say anything, Harry cut in, "We control the group." He said. "You tell us what you know, we decide what we're doing and when. You don't do anything without us knowing, and all meetings are organised by us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"These terms were slightly outrageous, and Harry expected Granger to balk, and try to talk him down, but to his surprise she agreed to all of them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Where are we meeting?" She asked, "because I don't think we should do it here. I mean, if this-. I don't think we should be doing it here, because most of you aren't even allowed in here. We could try a classroom I suppose, but then there's the chance of Quirrell walking in on us-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry held up his hand to stop her. He looked at Draco, who seemed to know what he was thinking about. He nodded, and Harry said, "Follow us, we know a place where we can talk undisturbed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"He Led the way out of the bathroom and Granger and Weasley followed, slightly nervously. Harry walked them to the dungeons, where he and Draco blindfolded them, and directed them towards Kryillos' old room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Once inside, he removed the blindfolds and grabbed a chair whilst they stared around at the place. It must have been some sight, Harry thought, with almost all the stone blackened from fire. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"So what do you think we should do first?" Asked Harry, once Granger, Weasley, and Draco had all sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well, I think we should try and search Quirrell's office." Said Granger immediately. "We need to find out how he's controlling the monster in the chamber of secrets if we're to stop him."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""He's a parselmouth." Supplied Harry immediately. "The monster in the chamber is a basilisk, he's controlling it through parseltongue."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Granger looked surprised at Harry's immediate and complete knowledge of how Quirrell was controlling the monster. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"However, I do think searching his office is a good idea." Harry said, when it was clear Granger or Weasley wasn't going to say anything. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes, Quirrell must have some sort of plan." Said Draco. "The legend goes that the heir of Slytherin will rid Hogwarts of all of the muggle borns. Given it's now Christmas, and he's only attacked three people, then he's clearly either incompetent, or working towards a bigger goal."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So?" Said Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So, " Replied Harry, "it means that two days from now, you two are going to distract Quirrell whilst we sneak into his office."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Why you two?" Said Weasley again, "Why not me and Hermione?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry gave Weasley a loathing look. "Because he already suspects us, and we want to stay as far away from him as possible."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""But Why?" Said Weasley for a third time./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry was getting rather angry now, but it was Draco who replied first. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Because Harry is the best chance we have of stopping the basilisk, and he certainly can't do that if he's expelled, but he can do it if either of you two are expelled, which makes you much more disposable, don't you think, Weasley?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Weasley stood up at this, drawing his wand. Draco did the exact same, and had his wand pointed at Weasley's face faster than blinking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Do it, I dare you." He whispered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Ron, No!" Said Granger, tugging on his wand arm again. "We'll do it." She said to Harry, still trying to restrain Weasley. "After lunch in three days time."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry agreed, and led them back to the great hall, feeling it wise to leave Draco to go back to the common room himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Next Tuesday, Harry, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle were all sitting at lunch, but neither Harry, nor Draco were eating much. What might they find in Quirrell's office? Talismans of great, Dark magic, perhaps. Or books on how to perform the most vicious of cursed, such that you wouldn't even find in the restricted section. Over on the other side of the hall he saw Granger nod at him and get up to distract Quirrell, followed doggedly by Weasley. Harry took a last swig of pumpkin juice and got up from the table, quickly making his way to the defence against the dark arts room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" When close, he pulled the invisibility cloak over all good of them, and they made their way inside the classroom. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"There was something eerily quiet about entering an empty classroom when it wasn't term time. They rapidly made their way too the back of the classroom, where the office was located. The door was locked, but Harry manned to get it open with a quick "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"alohomora/em."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The inside of Quirrell's office was strange, though it was the first time Harry had ever been inside a teacher's office, and therefore he had no idea what to expect./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" On one of the walls, Harry saw a row of tribal African masks, each with exaggerated faces of fear, and horror. In one corner of the room there was a pile of yellow cushions sitting next to a telescope, which was cracked. The skulls of several animals Harry didn't have names for lined the shelves, and dangling next to Quirrell's chair was a string of teeth, from various style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Get looking!" Harry whispered. For some reason he didn't want the room to hear him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"But Goyle had scarcely stepped onto a faded carpet lying on the floor when it attacked him, trying to wrap him up and strangle him like a boa constrictor. Harry, Draco and Crabbe immediately started to shoot spells and jinxes at the carpet. Something seemed to be happening, and very soon, Quirrell's carpet dropped Goyle, and lay limp and seared on the floor. Harry prodded it with his foot, but the carpet didn't move./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Okay, look, but be careful, and don't touch anything unless it's absolutely necessary." Harry instructed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"But it appeared that the carpet was the only defence Quirrell had against intruders, or at least it was the only defence they could see, as nothing else attacked them. It didn't appear that there was anything interesting to find though, or at least there was nothing related to the chamber of secrets, anyhow. Thinking it was time to cut their losses, Harry directed the group back to the common room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Waiting outside the entrance to the dungeons were Weasley and Granger./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""How did it go?" She Asked, when they got close enough./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Nothing." Said Harry, leading her further into the dungeon and out of plain view. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Are you sure you looked hard enough?" Criticised Weasley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes I'm sure, but if you want to go and double check, be my guest, just watch out for the carpet that tries to strangle you, Okay?" Replied Harry, sarcastically. Right now he wanted nothing more than for Weasley to be strangled by a moth-eaten carpet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Perhaps Granger realised that things were getting tense as she took Weasley back to their common room, telling Harry they would look over things in the morning. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Later that evening, Harry and Draco were sitting in the common room discussing ways that Granger and Weasley could know what they knew, when Harry excused himself to go to the bathroom. It was on his way there, that he heard it again. The voice, the blood-curdling voice of the basilisk. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Hungry, so hungry, must, feed, must KILL!/em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"It was close to him, Harry knew that. He listened closer and could hear the serpent muttering to itself as it travelled. Harry decided to follow the noise, despite knowing how risky it could be it run into a live basilisk. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He followed the sound up a stairway and round a corridor, before taking a left and realising he had gotten there too late./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"There was a boy lying on the floor. He looked to be from Ravenclaw, and Harry felt sure he wasn't dead. The body was facing the window, which, in the current light, would allow it to become the perfect mirror. Harry kneeled down to look more closely at the body. It was then that he heard the quick pitter-patter of running feet. He got up sharply, this was not a situation he thought it a good idea to be seen in. However, He had barely stood up when Quirrell rounded the corridor. He seemed out of breath, and was playing his cowardly self./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""P-p-potter!" He sounded genuinely surprised to see him here./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Who-Who's t-t-that b-b-behind you?" He stammered. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry listened carefully. There didn't seem to be anyone else coming towards them, and there were no portraits lining the walls of this corridor. If there was any place that would be perfect to see who Quirrell really was, it was here./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh, drop the act, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Professor/em." Harry said, stressing the last word./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I-I-I -d-d-don't know w-what you me-mean, " stammered Quirrell,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"very convincingly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I mean," said Harry, drawing his wand very slowly, "that you're not the cowardly, scared, defence against the dark arts teacher that you pretend to be, are you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Quirrell continued to look confused for a second, before seeing that Harry wasn't going to budge, and dropping the act entirely./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well done, I must say." He said, slowly clapping as Harry gripped his wand. "I mean, I'm impressed. Not even Dumbledore has figured it out, yet you, a lowly second year, managed it. What tipped it off?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry didn't answer. He felt he might have overestimated his chances against Quirrell. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Not going to tell me? Fine!" Quirrell said, pointing his wand straight at Harry. He didn't say anything, just launched a green ball of light out of his wand. Harry scrambled backwards, and cast the shield charm, but when the green ball hit, it failed to hold, and sent him flying into the wall. He looked up, and his head was spinning. There were two of Quirrell slowly walking towards him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Impressive." Commented Quirrell. "Not many second-years can cast a shield charm at all, let alone one that could stop a dark charm." He waved his wand again, this time directed towards the nearby suits of armour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"With a clanking of metal, they sprung to life, and made their way to Harry, their arms outstretched. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry tried to scramble backwards again, but he was still dizzy from the blow to his head, and instead fell over, dropping his wand on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"One of the knights picked up his wand whilst the other restrained him. Harry struggled, but the grip of the suit of armour was too strong. Harry looked up and saw Quirrell pointing his wand, point blank at his face, then a blue flash of light and nothing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry stirred. His mind was groggy, he felt like he had just been hit by Dudley, only a hundred times worse. He heard voices. One was Dumbledore's, but one was from someone he didn't recognise./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""-but I won't, Albus, I promise you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""The boy is harmless, I don't see why you need to take him at all!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""He was found at the scene of the crime, and attacked Quirrinus. All the evidence points to him."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""So in light of circumstantial evidence, you decided to lock him up with no solid proof?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""As I said, it won't be Azkaban, you have my word, I'll just take him to the Auror office. They'll be able to keep an eye on him and-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry let out a groan as he tried to move his head and the voices stopped abruptly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Harry, can you hear me?" Asked Dumbledore, moving closer to him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What?" Asked Harry, looking up at the people around him. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /There was Dumbledore, obviously, In his pale-blue robes and with his long, silvery beard. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /A short, portly man stood next to Dumbledore and was looking at Harry with equal concern. He was wearing a pin-striped suit, a scarlet tie, a black cloak, and was nervously clutching a lime green bowler hat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Snape was there as well, though Harry didn't think he had been speaking. He stood somewhere next to the door, trying to be out of sight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Can you hear me?" Dumbledore repeated./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Yes." Replied Harry. "What's going on, where am I?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He looked around. He had never seen a room like this at Hogwarts before. It was large, and circular. A number of funny little silver instruments stood on spindle-legged chairs, whirring and occasionally emitting puffs of smoke. On the walls there were portraits of old witches and wizards, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, upon which sat the sorting hat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""You're in my office, Harry." Said Dumbledore. "Are you alright? What happened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" Harry recounted the story of what had happened to him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I see." Said Dumbledore, clearly thinking hard./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"The short, portly man, however, said, "Preposterous. Quirrinus is a respected member of the magical community. I don't believe he would do something like this."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I'm sorry, who are you?" Harry Asked the portly man./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Oh, right. I'm sorry Harry, I haven't introduced you. This is Cornelius Fudge, he's the minister for magic." Said Dumbledore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What does the ministry want with me?" Harry Asked, flabbergasted./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""They believe that you are the one responsible for the recent attacks, and have come to take you away." Said Dumbledore, sternly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""But that's ridiculous," said Harry, "it's Quirrell attacking the students, not me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Professor/em Quirrell, Harry, and I don't believe you're the one attacking the students. The ministry on the other hand-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Now now, Albus," said Fudge, jutting in, "it's not like I believe the boy has the power to do all these horrible things, but the governors are pressuring me to do something, and the boy is better off in the care of the aurors than lynched and hauled off to Azkaban."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Might I add, Dumbledore," said Snape, appearing, bat-like, from the shadows, "that if Quirrell is who you think he is, then Potter would undoubtedly be safer with the aurors, than here, at Hogwarts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Exactly." Said Fudge, enthusiastically, though looking a bit confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Dumbledore contemplated Snape's words for a moment before saying./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Very well, fudge, I will allow your aurors to keep an eye over Harry until the true culprit is found. However, I want you to let him have contact with his peers at all times, and if you intend to keep him past the time term starts up again, he must also continue his education." said Dumbledore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Of course, of course," said Fudge, "I shall see to it personally. Shall we be going then. Sooner is better than later, don't you think?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""What about all my stuff?"asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I shall have a house elf transport it. Here." Dumbledore said to Fudge, offering him a pot of what Harry recognised as Floo powder./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Are you sure floo powder will be best for him in his condition?" Asked Fudge, nervously./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""I'm sure Harry will be able to stand it, won't you Harry?" Dumbledore asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry nodded, though stopped quickly as it made his head spin./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Very well, Come on Harry. Hold on tight." Fudge said as he threw a pinch of the powder into the flames, which instantly turned an emerald green./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""One moment Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry quickly turned around and saw Dumbledore holding out his wand. Harry took it, thanking Him before clutching Fudge's arm as fudge cried /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Auror office, ministry of magic!"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Harry felt the familiar twist of using floo powder, and in a second he found himself stepping onto the ashen carpet of the Auror office. Despite it being so late, there were a number of people still working at the cubicles, which were decorated with maps, and charts, and clippings from the daily prophet./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""This way, Harry." Said fudge, directing him away from the cubicles and towards a large door marked: /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Head of the Auror office/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Rufus Scrimgeour/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You'll like Rufus." Said Fudge, smiling at Harry. "You're very similar, in a lot of ways. Here we are." He said, as he opened the doors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Rufus Scrimgeour looked rather like an old lion, in Harry's opinion. He had a mane of tawny hair and bushy eyebrows, and though he was sitting at a desk writing a note, he seemed to exhume an air of toughness and power, as well as wit and strategic thinking./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Ah Fudge, I have that report on those highland warlocks you wanted." He said, without looking up./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Excellent, excellent. Rufus, I'd like you to meet someone." Said fudge, his hand still on Harry's shoulder./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;"Rufus looked up, his eyes fell on Harry, then immediately went to Harry's scar./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Harry Potter." He said, with some amusement and curiosity. "What's this about, fudge?" He Asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well," Fudged sighed, "There's been another attack, not dead, and Harry was found at the scene, and taken to Dumbledore. He's asked the Auror office to look after him for the time being." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Scrimgeour looked like he wanted to ask Fudge some questions, but refrained from it for the time being./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;""Well then Harry, I'm sure you're rather tired. Why don't I fix you up a bed hmm?" He waved his wand, and the chair in front of his desk turned into a lovely, warm, bed. Harry didn't realise how tired he actually was. The floo powder had shook him awake, but he almost immediately collapsed on the bed, and fell asleep as Scrimgeour and Fudge left the room./p
/div
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When Harry woke, it took him a moment to realise where he was. Harry looked around the room. He hadn't noticed it before, but the room was very Spartan. There was hardly a picture on the walls that wasn't directly related to Scrimgeour's work as an Auror. The desk upon which Scrimgeour worked was about the most decorated thing there, and Harry had a feeling that that was because it was handed down from one head of the Auror office to style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The window outside suggested to Harry that it was nearly the middle of the day, though he was surprised to find that the view was one overlooking the cliffs next to the sea./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Since he was still in his school robes, he made his way out of the office, hoping he might find Fudge. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /As it happens, Fudge was outside the door and talking to Scrimgeour, but both of them stopped abruptly when they saw Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Harry, there you are. Did you have a good rest?" He asked jovially. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry just nodded./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we've arranged a place for you to stay Harry. If you'll just follow me." He said, leading the way down the hall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry followed him, not saying a word. He felt incredibly awkward, having just slept until midday in the office of one of the most important people in the ministry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now then Harry," said Fudge, jerking Harry from his contemplations, "The Auror office has a number of safe-rooms that they use for various things, you know; Protecting people, keeping an eye on them, that sort of stuff. Rufus has kindly lent us one of these such rooms as a place for you to stay until you're back at Hogwarts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry snorted inwardly. He doubted that it was out of the kindness of his heart that Scrimgeour let Harry stay there. Harry suspected it was more likely that Scrimgeour wouldn't dare turn down an offer from his boss./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Here we are Harry." Said Fudge when they arrived at a nondescript door at the other end of the corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry walked inside. It was somehow more Spartan than Scrimgeour's office, and it reminded Harry of a hotel room he had once stayed in with the Dursleys. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The walls were made from the polished black marble that was everywhere in the ministry, and so were the floors, the only thing that provided any hint of release from the drab aesthetic was a window, which was somehow displaying a view from inside a cottage. The whole thing was split into three sections: a bedroom, a bathroom and a main room. The bedroom looked like the rest of the building, except it had a double bed in it, upon which lay a duvet and cushion which both had an image of a lit wand inside of an 'M'. A logo which Harry recognised as the Auror office logo. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The bathroom was exactly how you would expect it, with all the furnishings matching the black marble of the ministry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In The main room sat a couch, a coffee table, a small bookshelf and a table, upon which sat a number of leaflets, a plate of biscuits, a bowl of fruit, and a flagon of pumpkin juice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All of Harry's stuff was there, including,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Jaculus!" Said Harry, as he noticed the curled form of the serpent sleeping on top of his luggage. Jaculus looked up at this and slithered into Harry arms, nestling where it usually slept, around Harry's arm./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry noticed that Fudge was looking apprehensively at Jaculus./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you not like snakes, minister?" Harry Asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well... I mean... it's just that, well, they're certainly not my favourite animal, but if you like them Harry, then... Anyway, this is where you'll be staying, as I said. The food and pumpkin juice is self-refilling, and three times a day, a meal will be sent to here. A Prophet will be delivered to your door every morning, free of charge of course, and someone will be by later to show you around the place." And with that, he left./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry sat down on the couch, not sure what to do next. There was a copy of the daily prophet on the coffee table, but given the headline was "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Mrs. Carnegie's Christmas Cookbook reaches all time sales high./em" Harry didn't think the contents would interest him much./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It was coming up to four before anyone came to see Harry. They made a slight bow as Harry opened the door, and said/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So you're the famous Harry Potter."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah." Replied Harry, nonchalantly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well i am Mordecai Berrycloth. Rufus has kindly asked me to show you around our humble little office."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry noticed that Mordecai, unlike other wizards, didn't look at his scar, instead, he kept looking into Harry'S eyes. He found it quite unnerving./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Okay." Said Harry. He let Jaculus slither onto his arm and pulled on a cloak, having changed out of his school robes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mordecai brought Harry to Scrimgeour's office, where he said, "This here is the head office, as you might have guessed. Don't go in there unless you have something important to tell him."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He didn't seem incredibly intelligent, Thought Harry as he followed behind him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mordecai next brought Harry to the Cubicles where he had seen the other Aurors the day before. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Everyone!" Mordecai said, loudly to the Aurors assembled there, "This is Harry Potter, as I'm sure you all know. Due to strange circumstances at Hogwarts, we have been asked to watch over him until he can go back to school. You should have gotten a memo about it. That's all."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was fiercely reminded of that time last year when he had gone to the Leakey Cauldron and had been rushed by a mob of people. Except, no-one seemed to care. A few people nodded at Harry and Mordecai, some checked their intrays and read the piece of paper there, and still others ignored them entirely./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"In a strange sort of way, Harry found it refreshing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Say, " said Mordecai, turning to Harry, "Y'don't reckon' that ol' Rufus will mind me showing you around the rest of the department do you?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I- er- don't, no." Replied Harry, eager to see more of the ministry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Mordecai smiled and led Harry down one of the many corridors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, first up is the improper use of magic office. They deal with stuff wot violates the statutes of secrets. Which also means they control the trace, so don't annoy them until you're seventeen. Or jus' learn wandless magic. Then you can just say 'I didn't mean to turn him into a frog, I was just flippin' him off."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"A witch in deep purple robes that was writing something looked up at him in shock, but Mordecai just grinned a toothy grin at her./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's wandless magic?" Harry asked as he and Mordecai made their way to the next sub-department./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, it's exactly what it sounds like, really. Magic without a wand. Difficult to do, but dead useful. Funny too, you never forget a look on a dark wizard's face when they've disarmed you and think you're cornered, when suddenly, 'BAM', you wave your hand and they're hog-tied."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Can you do it then?" Harry asked, enthralled by Mordecai's words./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye. Tracked a man selling ancient dark wizard skulls to Africa once. Was taught it by some of the local wizards there, 'cause it's commonplace there y'know. Africa don't have much wand-wood, so they make do with what they got. And they all got hands. A beautiful people, they really are."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was intrigued by this description of wizards outside of England, something which he hadn't thought much about before. He was also excited to hear more stories from Mordecai, but they had reached the next area. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"The Wizengamot administrative services. They deal with the courts and such. " Mordecai said. "And it's about as boring as a book on Merlin's curliest pair of shoes. You want my advice? Don't look for a job here. And if you do find yourself here somehow, leave. Of course, technically I'm supposed to be on the Wizengamot, given I'm an Auror an' all, but i don't think I've attended a trial since I got here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what happened to the wizard who was selling skulls?" Asked Harry, eager to hear more of the story./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hmm? Oh, well, i had to be careful tracking him, because those skulls contain some nasty magic in them. We have special vault in the ministry where we keep dark wizards remains, 'cause they're almost poisonous, y'see. Do some dead nasty stuff to you if you're not prepared. So anyway, I had be careful. And I'd tracked him to Egypt, where he was looking for the skull of some Egyptian wizard, Hotep-someone, I don't know, but I knew that if he got his hands on it, he could do some massive damage. And he found this pyramid, and had to get up to the top to open it, see, so I chased him up and reached the top of it just as he opened the capstone. I try to arrest him there, but he jumps inside. Once inside, I shout 'surrender!' To him. Give him a chance, you know. But he shouts back, 'You won't stop me, Mordecai! It is inevitable, you just haven't seen it yet!' Now, I've no idea what he's talking about, but I see him open the casket of this Hotep-fellow and pull out his skull. Instantly, he seems different. I try to stun him, but the spell just bends away from him. He shouts again, 'it is inevitable!" And raises his hand, pointing it at me, and I think, well, this is it, I'm gonna die. But then his eyes flash green and he explodes into a powdery substance, leaving the skull on the floor. Now, there's no way I'm picking that thing up, so I try to shoot it with em style="box-sizing: inherit;"reducto/em, but nothing happens. So I do the only sane thing. I light some Gabrathian fire, and some fiendfyre, and get out of there as fast as possible. It's probably still burning to this day." He finished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry mind was reeling from this story. Being an Auror sounded incredibly cool. Harry started to daydream about being an Auror, with the result that he didn't really pay attention as Mordecai said, "This is the Administrative registration department. Basically just a bunch of registries of people. You got the Werewolf registry, the Animagus registry, the death eater list. All that good stuff."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The death eater list?" Harry asked, surprised. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oh, yeah. Anyone convicted of being a death eater gets their name put on this register. It's not incredibly useful, since they're all in Azkaban, but still. Moving on."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They walked down to the next door where the sign, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"department of intoxicating substances/em, hung on some oak doors./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Massive buzzkills." Mordecai commented. "Any drink that comes out, they say if it can be sold to underage wizards. Still though, they have examples of every drink ever made stored there, so they can't be all bad."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Next up, was a very lively office, in Harry's opinion. The centre of it held a massive duelling ring, and Harry noted that there wasn't desks in the office. Instead the walls were lined with shelves filled with protective gear that resembled the ones he and Draco had had to wear the last summer./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My second favourite place in the whole ministry." Declared Mordecai. "The Hit wizard office." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"What's a hit wizard?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They're sometimes called failed Aurors, but they're really specialists." Replied Mordecai. "Basically, if an Auror is trained to hunt down and arrest dark wizards, then hit wizards focus on the arresting part, with extreme prejudice. Most everyone here would give any decent dark wizard a run for their money on their own, and hit wizards are trained to work in squads. Plus, there's no enchantment they can't break, if given enough time."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah, Mordecai!" Came a voice from further in the room. A wizard, with shoulder-length black hair and mutton chops came over. "Care for a challenge?" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oh, not today thank you, I'm just showing Harry here, around the ministry."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry Potter?" The wizard Asked, laying eyes on Harry's scar. "My word. What brings you to our humble office?" He said, shaking Harry's hand./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Me, Parsifal." Said Mordecai./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah. Are you interested in a career as a hit-wizard, then Harry?" Said Parsifal. "I can assure you, a highly trained hit-wizard can beat any one of those Aurors, no-problem. We're the best duellists in the wizarding world."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Is that why each member has specially reserved beds in St. Mungo's?" Jested Mordecai./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, what's a bit of fun without danger eh?" Said Parsifal, jovially./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Besides, Harry wants to be an Auror." Replied Mordecai./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A pity, that. Well Harry, if, when you're busy being the greatest Auror of history, you have time to visit, I will happily teach you the ways of us lowly hit wizards." He bowed, just like Mordecai had done, and went off to talk to one of the other hit wizards./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""As I said, fun people. Bounties are also posted here, so they get a lot of foot traffic." Mordecai said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who would need bounties?" Harry asked, as they made their way to the next office. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Aurors-for-hire mostly. Aurors that aren't employed by the ministry." He added, seeing the look on Harry's face. "But you get hit-wizards going after them too, if they need a bit of cash."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They went through the last few offices rather quickly. The investigation department assisted the aurors in investigations. The medical law enforcement patrol handled petty crimes like thievery. The magical witch watchers looked for fugitives at strategic places. And the misuse of muggle artefacts office was so small and boring, Harry didn't remember anything about it at all./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" It was very quickly that Harry went to sleep that night, exhausted as he was by the day's activities./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /in the morning, Harry woke and dressed, and after he had finished a fine English breakfast, he was visited by Mr. Malfoy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry, I heard about what had happened, are you alright?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm fine, how's Draco?" Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Worried." Said Mr Malfoy, and he began to tell Harry about what had happened in the aftermath of his fight with Quirrell. In summary, the whole school thought Quirrell a hero for riding them of Harry, whom everyone thought was the heir of Slytherin. The only people who thought otherwise were Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall , as well as the Slytherins./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" In turn Harry told Mr Malfoy about everything he knew about Quirrell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I see." Said Mr Malfoy after he had finished. "This is a serious issue. I'll have to work carefully on this. It would be best if you didn't get involved Harry, I dont want this to be more complicated than it has to be."br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well I can't really go anywhere mr. Malfoy." Replied Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yes. Very well Harry. I'll see you later." And he left with a swish of his cloak./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Over the next few weeks, Harry grew to make good friends with many of the people in the Auror office, as well as the wider department./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He saw many Aurors come and go, sometimes going away for weeks at a time before returning, either triumphant, or with more information. Presently, the Auror office was concerned with a group of highland warlocks. An Auror called Dorian Fungerbury explained the problem to him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You see, there are several groups around the isles which have practices which we would call dark magic. The problem is, that they wouldn't call it dark magic, and sometimes use those dark powers, almost daily, but to no harm. So instead of arresting them, we decided to keep tabs on them, and to only interfere if things go wrong. Now this group we're looking at, they believe in a giant dragon that lives under the sea. Strange, I know, but it takes all types. They recently started to believe that their great sea dragon is awakening, and have started to do rituals which are seriously affecting magic in the region. Muggles are starting to see the Aurora borealis in the Outer Hebrides for Merlin's sake. Anyway, the big problem for us, is that they all live in a giant clam shell which floats along under the water, which makes it nearly impossible to find. But we'll stop them in the end. We always do."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry also got a lot of messages from his friends at Hogwarts, telling him what was going on at their end. Draco and Theodore had yet to do anything, but were planning on certain things, alongside Granger and Weasley, surprisingly. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" / /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"it was January when Harry got any real news about the situation at Hogwarts. The ministry got a message that Quirrell had absconded in the middle of the night, and that he had injured Professor Sprout in doing so. There was now a full hunt for Quirrell, but to Harry, it only meant he would be spending more time at the ministry. Of course, Harry was perfectly fine with this. People like Mordecai and Parsifal had begun to teach him tricks, which Harry though would be very useful. For instance, Parsifal taught him that if you fired a spell, then by slightly twisting your wand and poking it forward as you cast the spell, then the power of it's effects would increase. Harry had quickly mastered this, and when practicing it in his room, he had managed to launch an old potions bottles so hard, it shattered into pieces so fine it looked like sand. He had also used it against one of the younger hit wizard's shield charms , which had had the effect of breaking it, violently. However, being January, it also meant that the start of term was upon him, and, as per Dumbledore's request, Harry was educated at the ministry. The day's work, alongside notes from class, were sent to Harry, and he had to send stuff back. This effectively cut down the amount of time Harry had with the aurors to Very little./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was nearly Easter before Harry was able to leave to go back to the ministry. And despite how much fun he had had at the ministry, and how many interesting things he had learnt, he was sorely missing his friends./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He got one final visit from Mordecai and Parsifal, perhaps the two people He had made friends with the most at the ministry, before He was scheduled to leave. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'm gonna miss you Harry." Mordecai said, shaking Harry's hand. "You were the one lively thing at this place. Feel free to pop by any time. And if you do decide to go for a career as an Auror, I'll pop in a good word."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He gave a roguish smile, and Harry smiled back./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Aye, well, my offer still stands, Harry." Said Parsifal. "Anytime. And here, I want you to have this." He handed Harry something. It was a small golden badge. The badge of a hit-wizard. "Since you might not become one yourself, this is at least the one thing hit-wizards have above Aurors."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""thank you." Said Harry, at a loss of what to say./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, you'd best be gong now then." Parsifal replied. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry nodded, and stepped into the emerald fire, saying "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts."/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry stood up, out of the fire and found himself in Dumbledore's office, like he had expected. There was Dumbledore, looking grim. It was exactly as Harry remembered it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry." Said Dumbledore. "I have something I want to tell you. Please sit down." He indicated to a large comfy armchair, before him. Harry obliged./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you know about the circumstances surrounding Quirrell's death?" Asked Dumbledore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry was shocked. "I didn't know he had died, sir." He replied, truthfully./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""He did. And he was killed, by lord Voldemort."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was certainly not expecting this. He was also a little confused as well, as far as he knew, Voldemort at the very most had been possessing Quirrell, and he didn't see any reason why Voldemort would turn on Quirrell./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As if he had just read Harry's mind, Dumbledore said. "Quirrell was being possessed Harry. He was being possessed by Voldemort, and it was Voldemort that killed him when he decided to leave Quirrell's body."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why are you telling me this sir?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""To put you on your guard." Dumbledore replied. "Voldemort... He is angry, Harry. Angry that you are the one that defied him, that your mother's love stopped him from killing your whole family. He sees you as someone he must kill before he is able to fully restore his power. You have no idea how close you were to being killed this year, and I want to put you on your guard for the rest of it. But take that off your mind for now. Go, and spend time with your friends again. The danger is gone, at least for now, so you deserve time to celebrate."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry found his way to the Slytherin common room. There was an uproar when he got back, and it was the good kind. There were whoops and cheers coming from people Harry had never met before, but the only ones Harry cared about were those from Draco, Theodore, Blaise, and Pansy. And incidentally, they were the ones who cheered the loudest./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Welcome back Harry!" Several people said, as he passed by them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We knew Quirrell couldn't beat you!" Said a red-headed first year, loudly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Tell us what happened!" Said a gruff-voiced sixth-year./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah, go on Harry, what happened?" Cried several other Slytherins in tandem./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All, right, you want to hear the tale do you?" Harry said, climbing onto a table so he could address the whole common room. Everyone cheered and whooped at this, and Harry took a deep breath to begin his story./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, I suspected Quirrell from the start you understand? I couldn't quite prove it, but there was something about him that didn't sit right, if you know what I mean. So when the first attack happened, I knew instantly who did it."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry smiled as he paused for breath and saw the entire common room in captivated silence. Mordecai had at least taught him how to tell a good story./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he told the story, Harry paraded across the table, acting out the more exciting scenes, sometimes using Crabbe or Goyle to play the part of Quirrell so he could have an easy target. In the end, though it was filled with embellishments and half-truths, even people like Draco, who had been with Harry for most of his journey, were enthralled. Harry was sure that most of the people in the common room could disprove almost everything he said, but none of them seemed to want to. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry became, if it was possible, an even bigger celebrity that night. People were so impressed with him and his story that they stayed up late into the night, loudly recounting Harry's tales with even less levels of accuracy, so that Harry was sure that pretty soon, it would become the stuff of Hogwarts legend. Which of course meant it would be sensationalised and blown out of proportion for decades to come./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Summer was creeping on the grounds around the castle, though it hadn't yet lost it's misty mornings, which were a hallmark of springtime weather. Sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers as large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. Inside the castle things were much better, but in a strange way. Most Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs all either glowered at Harry with inordinate amounts of contempt, or veered away from him in corridors. One particularly spindly Hufflepuff first-year actually veered so hard, she ran head-first into a column, nearly knocking herself out. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Needless to say, Harry was loving it. Why should he care if the rest of the school thought him a deranged lunatic? The only house that actually commanded any respect in this place was the Slytherins, and they all loved him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Strangely, there were exceptions to this. Granger and Weasley, though they stayed as far away from him as possible, didn't think that Harry was a villain for getting rid of Quirrell. They still loathed him, and he them, but there was a sort of mutual understanding between them now, much to the annoyance of Draco. Although he never said anything, Harry could tell that he was annoyed at the white peace between them, and that he longed to have another duel with her. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite this, Harry had been given another thing to think about. Subjects for the next year. Everyone else had been given the forms to fill out during whilst Harry was still at the ministry, so this meant that everyone was advising him on what to put down. Looking at the subjects, Harry didn't know what to put down. He had to keep doing all his old subjects, naturally, and since most of them were ones that you were required to have as an auror, Harry was unsure what to pick. There were, of course, ones that Harry wouldn't have picked in a blue moon. Muggles studies was about as useful to him as an owl that couldn't fly, and since Harry's eyes had started to glaze over when he had been reading the description of Arithmancy, he assumed that to be an indication of the subject as a whole. Marcus Flint had described Divination as "a very dumb subject. Half the time I don't even known what I'm doing, and the other half, I feel like an idiot." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This left Care of magical creatures, which Draco, Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Ophelia were doing, and the study of ancient runes, which Theodore, Blaise, and Daphne were doing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry signed up for these, and handed his form to Professor Snape at his office later that day, who glowered at him with his usual malice whenever Harry crossed his path. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He scanned the page for a few seconds before saying in his soft, quiet, voice;/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you sure you want to do these subjects? You cannot give them up until fifth year, you know. Your entire future could be determined by what you put down on this bit of paper. Think carefully now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry thought it a bit out of character for Snape to be concerned for his future, but then realised that the heads of houses where probably instructed to say this, so as to quell any doubts students may have. Since Harry thought it incredibly likely that he was going to drop these subjects at NEWT level anyway, he didn't much care if they were going to decide his life or not. The way Harry saw it, it was He that was going to determine where his life was headed, not some ink on a bit of parchment./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Clearly something of this must have shown in his face as Snape said, "Very will Potter, if that is all then be off with you. There is enough filth in this dungeon without you staying here any longer."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry didn't know what to say to this, so left. it was true that the dungeon was a very horrible place. What looked like the remains of a failed potion could be seen staining the floor, and every so often Harry was sure that he could see wisps of bright green smoke peel off from the floor. As Harry passed the door he noticed a jar of what looked like live, black, hairy, spiders. There were about a dozen or so and they were all manically scrambling over each other, trying to either kill each other or climb out of the jar, Harry couldn't tell. As he left the dungeon, this reminded Harry of something. It took him a while to realise what it was, and when he did realise it, he wondered how he hadn't noticed it before. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There were still no spiders in Hogwarts. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Admittedly, it wasn't like he had been looking for them, but since he got back he would have expected to see one at least, maybe an abandoned cobweb here or there, its silvery strands marking the territory of each particular spider, but there was nothing. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This made Harry feel uneasy like there was something unfinished he had to do. He usually always got this feeling when he had to do an essay for McGonagall or Binns. That there was a conclusion that he was missing or that he had forgotten to make a particular point. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He tried to shake the feeling as he travelled back down the corridors to the Slytherin common room, but just couldn't get rid of it, though, the atmosphere of the common room certainly did a lot to help distract him from it. The Slytherins had kept a state of low-level, constant partying going on ever since Harry got back, with the result that anyone trying to do work in the common room would have found it nearly impossible given the noise of fun and games. Additionally, since Slytherin were supposed to play Hufflepuff in the quidditch match tomorrow, then they were being even louder than usual, with the idea that it was best to loosen up before a match, not get more tense by worrying about things like strategy or pitch conditions./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hey, Harry!" called Theodore, beckoning him over to their table, where about a dozen butterbeers were lying. Harry went to grab one, but was stopped by Theodore who said, "Hold on, these aren't for drinking yet." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you mean?" Asked Harry, confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's a game." Theodore replied, "I've just invented it, here-" and he directed Harry to stand at one end of the table. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Draco, do you want to play?" he asked, looking at Draco who was sitting on one of the couches nearby./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Sure." Replied Draco, who got up and stood at the opposite end of the table to Harry. "So how do we play this?" Draco asked of Theodore, who had sat down in Draco's recently vacated seat./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh it's simple. I've modified these butterbeers so that they're like Bertie Bott's beans. You shoot a spark into one of the glasses, and it glows a colour, you can then decide whether to drink it yourself, or make your opponent drink it. "/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And who wins?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, well, " replied Theodore, "Whoever gets the least bad tasting drinks, I suppose." he finished, with an evil smile on his face./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""All right then." Replied Harry, and pulled out his wand. "I'll go first shall I?" Draco nodded and did the same opposite him. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""One more thing, " Said Theodore. "The more powerful the spell, the more intense the flavour." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry gave him a dirty look, but Theodore just returned one of feigned innocence./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At random, Harry chose a glass closest to him, and cast em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae, /emusing the trick he had been taught by Parsifal. It glowed an acid green which instantly made Harry think that he wasn't going to drink that particular butterbeer. Harry picked up the glass and sniffed it. It was so strong it made his eyes water./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You drink." He said to Draco, who glowered at him, and Harry was sure he could see him retching on the inside. But he took the glass from Harry and took a sip. And then smiled. "Peppermint." He announced to the Slytherins, who cheered. "Okay Potter. Try this." He cast his spell into the centermost glass, which glowed a dull, coppery orange colour. Harry picked it up and tried it. He immediately retched, completely overwhelmed by the taste of uncooked, mouldy, chicken. The crowd around them laughed merrily. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Drink it up Potter, come on!" Draco said nastily, clearly enjoying the reaction Harry was having. Harry lifted the glass again and quickly gulped it down, without trying to think about the flavours in his mouth. People cheered when Harry finished it. Egged on now, and determined to get Draco back, Harry fired a spell into a glass close to Draco. The liquid inside glowed a pleasant pale gold colour, and Harry changed his mind, deciding to try that one for himself. However, when he brought it up to his lips and took a swig, he coughed and spluttered, because the flavour was not what he thought it was. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Mashed Potatoes." He said, disappointedly to the ecstatic crowd around him, who all cheered and drank normal, non foul-tasting butterbeers. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm beginning to think this game is rigged against me." Harry said as he tried two more butterbeers, and got flavours of dog food and tomato, at the same time Draco was getting flavours of Toffee and Honeycomb./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh not at all." Replied Theodore, grinning from ear to ear. "You just need to have an eye for this sort of thing. Observe." And he picked up a glass that was close to him. After casting em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Scintillae! /emHe made a big deal of taking in the aromas and commenting on how much he loved chocolate, before taking a sip. Upon which his face immediately soured and he let the brown liquid dribble back into the butterbeer./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What flavour was that then?" Asked Harry, who was distinctly cheered up now. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Dirt." Theodore mumbled. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that?" Harry said, mockingly. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Dirt." said Theodore, a little louder and more dejectedly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They all had a fun time with Theodore's game, and all too soon they were getting sleepy and decided to call it a night./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Next morning was the dawn of the quidditch match. Slytherin Vs Hufflepuff. The game was really more of a formality at this point, as no-one was close to beating Slytherin in the points, but everyone agreed that they weren't going to miss a chance to see Hufflepuff get humiliated, though, as Draco pointed out, one didn't necessarily have to look far to find examples of that. The entire house was a humiliation to the entire school, and had the highest numbers of mudbloods out of any house./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"People did one of two things as Harry made his way up to the quidditch pitch, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle as Draco had gone on ahead to prepare. They either stayed well away from him, with most keeping a respectable three meters away, or tried to antagonise him by doing things like push into him on their way past, or stand on his feet. With the former, Harry didn't care much, and with the latter, it only took one glare from him to get them to back off./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The stands were pretty crowded when Harry arrived to take his seat next to Theodore and the others. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Quite a turnout for a dead ringer of a match isn't it?" Said Theodore as Harry sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well maybe they think they'll win." Said Harry. "I mean, people love to cheer for an underdog."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's some underdog they're going to have to be though. Don't they have to get three hundred points to even be in second place?" Replied Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yeah." Said Harry, chuckling. "Still though, you'd think there'd be less enthusiasm given that they have no chance of winning."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Apparently someone's thinking along those lines. Look." And Theodore pointed at a red-haired girl who was striding away from the match./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Isn't that the Weasley girl?" Asked Harry, squinting at the barely visible red and black blur./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Must be. I doubt there's anyone with as red hair in the entire wizarding world, let alone in Hogwarts. I must say, if I had hair that colour I'd want to go bald. I wonder if it's a family curse?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who would deserve a fate so rotten do you reckon?" Asked Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Maybe he annoyed Cyprian. He had a thing for family curses."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""True." Replied Harry. He had come across stories about Cyprian whilst reading. It was said that he was a particularly vindictive sorcerer, causing great punishment at very small or perceived slights. Cursing an entire family line to have flaming red hair seemed like the type of thing he would do, if he was feeling generous. Some on his more outlandish punishments include chaining a man to a rock in the middle of the ocean, and refusing to let him die. Transfiguring a woman into a jackrabbit then having a pack of bloodthirsty crups tear her to peices, and, perhaps most famously, cursing several lines of kings with great misfortunes, with perhaps the most creative being that time he cursed a french queen to give birth to a mound of frogs instead of children./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The match was underway shortly, and Harry could not help noticing the difference between the two teams. The Hufflepuffs were all tense and nervous, whereas the Slytherins were laughing around and joking with each other. Madame Hooch blew her silver whistle and ordered the teams in formation. After the two captains shook hands, Madame Hooch blew her whilst again, and the players kicked off./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And there they go! Flint going immediately for the quaffle and dodging Macavoy, Preece, and heading straight for goal." Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor, was commenting as usual. "It looks to be an early goal for Slytherin and- yes- he's done it- Flint has scored what was quite possibly the fastest goal in Hogwarts history." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The people around Harry went wild, and Harry went wild with them. Marcus Flint was an incredible chaser, and The Slytherins were lucky to have him. Flint did a quick victory lap of the stadium before Madame Hooch blew her whistle to resume play. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /This time it was the Hufflepuff chaser, Tamsin Applebee, that got the quaffle. Yet she didn't have it for long as Lucian, having recovered spectacularly from his hospital visit, aimed a bludger at her broomstick, which hit the handle of it and caused the top to snap off and Applebee herself to go careening off in the other direction, dropping the quaffle into the arms of Adrian Pucey, who flew off to the goal posts and feinted left, before putting the quaffle into the rightmost hoop./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All in all, it was a pretty one-sided match. The Slytherins had scored three goals apiece before anyone from hufflepuff managed to score one. (Malcom Preece, with the help of a very long and very lucky throw by Herbert Fleece, the Hufflepuff goalkeeper.) Still though, after the 27th Slytherin goal, it got rather boring to celebrate each one, and much more interesting to boo and heckle the Hufflepuff players when they came near the Slytherin end of the pitch. In fact, Harry felt Personally responsible for an insult which had caused Maxine O'Flaherty to hit a bludger into the stands, which was a foul and gave Slytherin a free shot on the goal, which Hufflepuff conceded, obviously./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The game had gone on for nearly two hours at this point, and Draco wasn't even bothering to look for the snitch anymore, which was probably the reason that Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker and team captain, caught the snitch whilst it was hovering at the other end if the pitch, meanwhile Draco was having a conversation with Derrick about the finer points of mulled mead./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When the match was over, the school made their way back to the common rooms, chatting and discussing the match as they went along. It was a pretty sour look, all things considered, as three-quarters of the school were upset that Hufflepuff had lost, grumbling about it, as if that would do anything to change the score, and the remaining quarter, Slytherin, were being so loud and ecstatic that they more than made up for the rest of the school's miserable attitudes./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For some funny reason, however, Harry had a strange feeling when he walked back into the school. He dismissed it though, as end of match jitters./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"That evening, in the great hall, and before dinner, Dumbledore called for silence as he stood up to talk to the school. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well done Slytherin! What a fantastic quidditch match to end the year on."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Both Harry and Draco snorted in unison, though no-one paid them any attention./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, as it happens, i do have some more good news to tell you all."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was an outbreak of muttering at this, of people wondering what Dumbledore could be about to tell them, though Harry distinctly heard Macmillian saying "Slytherin winning is good news?" Harry kept it in his mind to jinx him later./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Dumbledore waved for silence again, and continued, "Madame Pompfrey has just informed me that the madrake restorative draughts will be ready in a couple of weeks time, so we will soon be able to cure all those afflicted by this terrible curse." There was an outcry of cheer and applause at this, which lasted for well over half a minute before Dumbledore could wave for silence again, "And lastly, due to Professor Quirrell's unexpected absence, " Several eyes shot towards Harry before looking back at Dumbledore, "The Defence against the dark arts exam has been cancelled." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was, perhaps, an even greater cheer for this than the news that the petrified students would soon be fixed. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What a bunch of hypocrites." Said Draco at Harry's right./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Absolutely." replied Harry, clapping along with the rest./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The feast was fantastic, and as well suited to a victory feast as any could have been, and although Harry's evening was slightly marred by the fact that the muggle-borns would all be alright, as Theodore said, "It wouldn't have lasted anyway."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Even Draco, who had spent much of the year praising the works of the unknown heir, had admitted this to be true./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was on a full belly that Harry and the rest of the Slytherins made their way back to the common room, however they were held up by the crowd, which was pushing them the other way./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oi! Watch it!" Harry remarked as a Hufflepuff boy pushed past him. When the boy turned to see who he had knocked against, he looked downright terrified, briefly lost his footing on the stone floor, and topple over, right into a Ravenclaw girl. Then, apparently hysterical, the boy cried "He's going to kill us all, just you wait! Was petrifying people not enough Potter! Now you have to kidnap someone too!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Completely nonplussed as to what the boy was talking about, Harry grabbed him from the clutches of the Ravenclaw, and, holding him by his collar, he told him, "Listen hear you little Mudblood," Harry registered the cries of shock and outrage with some satisfaction, "If I had wanted to hurt you, we wouldn't be talking right now, understand?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boy nodded, looking into Harry's eyes as though terrified they might turn him to stone. "So tell me, what has happened?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boy's lip was quivering so much, Harry thought it might fall off when he said, "T-t-th-th-there's a-a n-n-new m-message on the wall out side the girl's bathroom." He said it very quickly, and Harry was half surprised that he didn't faint from fear./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What does it say?" Harry hissed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"For a second, Harry thought he had slipped into parseltongue by accident, as the boy looked even more terrified and completely lost for words. But he then said, "T-the, I-it said th-that, y-you'd, I-I-I-I mean the h-heir of S-Slytherin, h-had k-k-kidnapped someone, a-a-and l-left th-them to d-d-die there!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a shocked gasp at this, and Harry dropped the boy, who fell to the floor and scrambled towards the Ravenclaw girl, who helped him get up. The whole corridor was looking at Harry, and Harry knew why. He glanced at Draco, who knew instantly what Harry needed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What are you all staring at? Get out of here, go on." And with several muttered conversations breaking out amongst the crowd, they started to disperse, slowly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry and the Slytherins started to move too, but away from the direction the crowd was going./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry knew what he had to do. He had made his mind up previously that if the monster or the heir attacked again, he would go to the chamber of secrets to investigate. And if the boy was to be believed, then there was someone else down their now, someone who wasn't the heir, or the monster./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The Slytherins arrived at Kryillos' room, where they all waited for Harry to say something./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'm going alone."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was outcry at this. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What about the trapdoor last year?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You'll be hurt!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We work better as a team!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We all helped with the trapdoor, we can help this time!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It'll be dangerous!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What if you find the basilisk, or the Heir?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry held up his hand for silence, and they all obeyed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It'll be dangerous, yes, and we did work well together last time, but we know the dangers facing me this time. A wider range of people means more people to get hurt, and I'm a parselmouth, which means I can control the basilisk, unlike you lot./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"I'm also a half-blood, so the basilisk or the heir shouldn't attack me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There looked to be protest again, but Harry cut them off. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That's my decision, and it's final. There's no use arguing."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The only person who hadn't protested against Harry's decision was Draco, who stood up to Harry's defence./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry's right. He's the best duellist in our year and probably even better than those doing their OWLs right now. He can handle anything that he meets, and remember, this chamber was designed to be accessed by the right people , which means that Harry'll get through just fine, we'd only slow him down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"We can help in other ways. The teachers will be scrambling right now, so it's our job to make sure that they don't realise Harry is down there until he comes back, so that they don't interfere with what he's doing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Understood?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The other Slytherins all seemed to be pacified by Draco's argument, and Harry silently thanked Draco with a smile as he sat down./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""We can't go straight away though. That area's going to bustling with teachers, so we'll have to be careful./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Theodore, Pansy, you come with me, Draco, I want you and the others to wait here until Pansy returns, then follow her. She'll tell you more later."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Draco nodded, and assumed de facto leadership of the Slytherins whilst Harry, Theodore, and Pansy made their way to the common room to pick up the invisibility cloak./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"On the way, Harry filled them in on what he wanted each of them to do./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Theodore, I want you wait outside the bathroom. Try and scare off any student that goes poking around, but don't engage with the teachers unless absolutely necessary. They're smarter, and less likely to be frightened by tricks. Wait for Pansy to return then set up a perimeter. If you can't scare things off, get a message to Draco, who'll be waiting in the bathroom for me. He must mustn't be found out, because he'll be my connection to Hogwarts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" They had reached the common room now, and quickly collected the cloak before throwing it over themselves and leaving./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""If I need anything, help or assistance, or something like that, then I'll let him know. Probably a good idea to get Crabbe or Goyle, or one of them to wait with him, in case I need some brawn instead of brain./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Pansy, when we arrived at the bathroom, Theodore and I will hide whilst you take the cloak and make your way back to Kryillos' room. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /say 'em style="box-sizing: inherit;"open/em' to open it." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Pansy nodded, and he heard her quietly practicing the word under her breath as they walked. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough that Harry thought the door would open for her./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bring them back to the bathroom, use the same method we used when leaving the trapdoor room last year, then help Theodore in setting up the perimeter, do you both understand?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They nodded, as they turned a corridor and found themselves staring at the wall where the new message had been written./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was directly underneath the first one, and was written in the same scarlet blood. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever/em./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They stared at this for a second before Pansy asked "Who'd you think's been taken?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Some muggle-born, no doubt." Harry replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Do you really want to save them?" Theodore asked. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Perhaps. I know I want to get to the bottom of this though, and I doubt we'll have a better chance to do so than now." And with that, Harry pushed open the door into the bathroom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The place was flooded with water, but Harry ignored that and marched directly over to the faucets where he had seen Quirrell returning from./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"But he was finally stumped. For all his planning and assurances, he had no idea how to actually open the chamber. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He turned around and handed the cloak to Pansy, who left and said to Theodore, "Get in position." who promptly nodded, and left the room, leaving Harry all style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He turned back to the faucets and considered them for a second./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"If Slytherin had wanted his heir to access the chamber, then he would have made some assurances that only the heir would be able to access it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"If it had been a secret passed down through the family, then he was truly stumped. He had no idea if he was related to Slytherin, and if he was, then he certainly hadn't been told any great secret./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he was wondering this, something caught his eye. It was a small carving of a snake on the side of a tap next to the one Harry was currently facing. Harry stared at it. It almost seemed to be alive, to be dancing in the candlelight playing off it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was Slytherin's mark./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Yet That didn't help Harry. He knew that this was the entrance to the chamber, and some crudely drawn snake wasn't going to help him find that. But then he remembered something that had been said to him on his very first day in Hogwarts./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Slytherin could talk to snakes. That's why his house crest is a serpent./em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Might he simply have to speak in parseltongue to get the chamber to open, like with Kryillos' room?/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He tried it. He said "Open." In parseltongue to the carved serpent, just like he had taught Pansy to do. Immediately, the tap began to glow with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move. The sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He carefully lowered himself into the pipe, then let go./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark, slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as his, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downwards, and he knew he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Deeper, perhaps, than he had gone last year, when they had gone searching for the Philosopher'a stone./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe levelled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel, large enough to stand in./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;""Lumos", /emHarry muttered, lighting the end of his wand tip and staring into the darkness beyond./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He steeled himself and made his way through the tunnel./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It was so dark inside the tunnel that Harry could only see a little ahead of him, even with the light from his wand. The shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The tunnel was as quiet as the grave and Harry was listening for any sound, because, despite what he told the other Slytherin's, he was scared that he wouldn't be able to control the basilisk, and that it would petrify him, and leave him here to die, or eat him. And then no-one would ever find his body./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He jumped as he stood on something and it cracked, but under closer inspection, it appeared to only be a rat's skull. In fact, now he looked around at the floor, the whole area was filled with small animal bones. He shivered and made his way forward, round a dark bend in the tunnel./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry froze. He had seen something up ahead. Something large and curved. Harry could just make out the outline of it in his wandlight. It wasn't moving./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry moved closer to it, his heart beating so fast it was amazing the sound wasn't reverberating around the tunnel./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Very slowly, with his eyes as narrow as he could make them, Harry edged forward, his wand held high./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous, green; lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry exhaled. He was a little shocked at the size of it, but gladdened it wasn't the real thing./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He stopped for a second to catch his breath, before moving on past the giant snake skin. At the very least, thought Harry, if he didn't find anything here, then he would take some of the skin back as a trophy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Despite this cheery thought, every nerve in Harry's body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he would find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved,/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry approached, his throat very dry. If the serpent scratched onto the copper faucet had seems real in the candlelight, then these stone carving were practically living, breathing beings./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He could guess what he had to do much easier here than at the faucets. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Open." Said Harry in a low, faint, hiss. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking inside shadowy corner, behind a pillar? br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He pulled out his wand and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement. The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of his stomach, he thought he saw one stir. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry had to crane his neck to look up at the giant face above: it was ancient and monkey-like, with a long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth chamber floor. And between the feet, face down, lay a small, black-robes figure with flaming red hair./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Ginny/em. Thought Harry as he cautiously made his way towards the body./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He dropped to his knees next to her body and looked to see if she was still breathing. Keeping a tight grip on his wand, he turned her over. Her face was as white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't petrified, but somehow, he wasn't entirely convinced that she was dead either./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Not wanting to carry Ginny all the way back to the bathroom he tried to shake her, but her head just lolled helplessly from side to side./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""She won't wake." Said a soft voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry jumped and spun around on his knees, expecting to come face to face with the woman, but instead, a tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry was looking at him through a misted window./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who are you?" Harry asked, gripping his wand tightly by his side./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The boy stared at Harry for a moment before replying, "I have many names."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Would I know any of them?" Harry asked, not trusting the boy before him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, most definitely." The boy replied in the same, soft voice./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""so what do I call I you?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Tom." Tom replied. Harry stared at Tom. There was something strange about him. Barring the fact that he stood in a strange, Misty light, Harry felt a connection to Tom, like they had been old friends but had fallen out of touch. But that was impossible. Harry had had no friends before Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure of that. Perhaps it was because he wore a Slytherin uniform that Harry felt a connection to him, though he had never seen Tom in the Slytherin common room before./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You're the heir of Slytherin." Harry said. "Funny, I thought it was a woman."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Tom smiled and said "Well, l have been acting through the Weasley girl here, so in way you are right."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Acting through/em. That was an odd choice of words, Harry thought./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you a ghost?" He asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Tom kept smiling that seductive smile and said quietly. "A memory. Preserved in a Diary for fifty years."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He pointed towards the floor next to the giant statue's toes. Lying open there was a little black diary. Harry wondered how it had got there./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why are you here?" Asked Harry. "You're the Heir of Slytherin, above you is a whole school filled with mudbloods, so why abduct this one?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well," said Tom, "You might say I'm here because of you. And as for that girl, well, it's rather a long story. I suppose the real reason she's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do you mean?" Replied Harry. There was something Very fishy going on here./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The diary. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"My/em diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes: how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes, how-" Tom's eyes glinted, "-she didn't think the incredible Harry Potter would ever respect her after the quidditch match. I must say, I admire your handiwork. When you cast that curse on Ginny's brother, I knew at once who had done it. Curses like that require a certain em style="box-sizing: inherit;"calibre/em that most people lack, unlike the two of us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"All the time he spoke, Tom's eye never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's very em style="box-sizing: inherit;"boring/em, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on, "But I was patient. I wrote back, I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. em style="box-sizing: inherit;"No one's ever understood me like this Tom ... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in. It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket /em..."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Tom laughed a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand up./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""If I say it myself Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured her soul out to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I needed. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of em style="box-sizing: inherit;"my/em soul back into em style="box-sizing: inherit;"her. /emEventually I poured enough of my soul into her that I started to become her. That I started to exist outside of her. And all that culminated in what you see before you." He finished, spreading his arms wide. "I am nearly whole once more."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This chilled Harry to the bone, but he didn't let it show on his face as he said, "Well that's all very well and good, but it doesn't explain why you haven't attacked anyone for a while now. The petrified students will be getting cured soon, and to be perfectly honest, the attacks seem more like accidents than actual attacks."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry thought he saw Tom's mouth twitch when he said this, and smiled to himself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Killing mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. I wanted to meet you Harry." Tom style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Me?" Harry replied, taken aback./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""oh yes. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time. Ginny told me all about you Harry. Your whole fascinating history. It's left me with so many questions."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Like what?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Like how it is exactly that a young boy with no extraordinary magical talent whatsoever was able to deafest the greatest sorcerer of all time when he was a baby. How did you escape with nothing but a scar, whilst Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed and his essence, scattered."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why do you care? Voldemort was after your time." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Voldemort," said Tom softly, "is my past, present and future, Harry Potter./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, and I am Lord Voldemort."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This sent Harry's mind reeling. He stared at the ghostly image of Tom, of the sixteen year old boy who had grown up to murder Harry's parents and so many others./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You see?" He whispered. "It was a name I was already using at school, to my most intimate friends only of course. You think I was going to keep the name of my filthy muggle father forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, though my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No Harry, I fashioned myself a new name. A name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry's mind had gone blank, yet somehow, he forced himself to say something./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You know, in a way, I have to thank you."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was completely unsure of what he was saying, but he couldn't think of anything right now, much less a way out of the chamber. Tom clearly hadn't expected this reaction, as he seemed curious as to what Harry was going to say next./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I mean, if you hadn't gone and killed my parents, I would never have gone to live with the Dursleys, and I never would have realised just how stupid and incompetent muggles are." The words just kept rolling out of his mouth, yet Harry didn't see any reason to stop them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Bloody hell, I might even admire you for what you did. Your campaign against muggles and mudbloods. The efficiency that you dealt with all who opposed you, and of course, the depths of magic you delved into that other people were too scared to."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There was a pause as Tom contemplated Harry's words./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You are certainly unlike what Ginny thought of you, Harry." He said, finally. "You know, I've wondered. There's a strange sort of likeness between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, and we were both raised by muggles, as I was raised in a muggle orphanage. Probably the only two parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even em style="box-sizing: inherit;"look/em something alike, and now it appears we have the same mindset. You are very interesting, Harry Potter. Very interesting indeed."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry gave a sly kind of smile. He was still rattled by the revelation of Tom's real identity, but he was quickly coming to his senses. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, preferably with Ginny in tow, though he would happily leave her here if need be./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""How about a test, Harry Potter." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sorry?" Said Harry, not having paid attention to what Tom was saying./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""A test. Or, an exchange, if you prefer. I was, or at least, this book," he indicated towards where the diary lay open on the floor, "was created with the intention of passing on the knowledge of Slytherin's heir to a new generation. To allow a new wave of terror to purge the muggle borns from this school after I was gone. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /I can pass that onto you, if you impress me."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what would do have to do to impress you?" Asked Harry, who was starting to get excited./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, it's just the matter of a simple test." Said Tom, "look." And he pointed towards the face of the giant statue./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four, but close your eyes as you gaze upon me./em"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry stared in awe as Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Star-struck, Harry saw the mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from it's depths./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Too late, Harry felt a movement behind him, and Tom grabbed Harry's wand from behind him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hey, give it back!" Said Harry, turning to face Tom, but he had scarpered back to the wall, and Harry had no time to face him as a loud thud hit the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"He heard Tom's voice hiss, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Kill him/em." Then he shouted to Harry, "You must control him Harry Potter, or else you will never leave here alive!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Immediately, Harry tried to say something back, whether to the serpent or to Tom, Harry did not know, but a large lump in his throat prevented him from doing either. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He managed to hoarsely croak out, "em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Stip/em." but he didn't think anyone other than himself heard that./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Instead, he ran. However, he was not paying attention to where he was going and ended up running head-first into the wall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""My my Harry, if I didn't know any better, I would say you were confounded." Came Tom's gloating cry from across the room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You-!" Harry's anger boiled as he tried to insult Tom back, but he couldn't, as he had to dive out of the way of an incoming bite from the serpent./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Stop it!" He tried to hiss to the serpent, and although he got the words out, the basilisk paid no attention to them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was dripping wet now, and furious. It was alright for Tom. He was a ghost, or memory, or whatever, and couldn't be harmed by the serpent, but Harry could be harmed, and didn't much appreciate Tom's little jabs./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As if on cue, Tom cried, "Don't be a em style="box-sizing: inherit;"wet/em blanket Harry, you'll get the hang of it!" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /He was sitting on some rubble that had clearly fallen from the ceiling ages ago, and was looking like he was having the time of his life./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""look at it this way, your clothes can't get any more soggy!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This infuriated Harry more than it should have, and he marched forward, intending to give Tom a price of his mind, but the basilisk had other ideas and as Harry started to March towards Tom, it struck again, tearing some of Harry's robes as he dived and landed face first onto the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I guess I was wrong, you can get more soggy!" Came Tom's gleeful cries as Harry picked himself up again, fuming./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Land on your back next time, I think that's the only part of you not completely soaked through!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"This cycle of abuse continued with Harry having to endure such comments as, "You should've brought your swimming trunks Harry! br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /It's a good thing the basilisk has his eyes closed, else he might be too embarrassed to attack you!/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" You know, it's very disgraceful to Slytherin to turn his secret chamber into a water park, Harry!"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Eventually, Harry had enough. "Oi!" He said to the basilisk, turning around and staying at his face, which, in hindsight was a bad idea, but Harry was too fuelled by rage to think straight. "Stop it!" He shouted in parseltongue, before turning around to face Tom, who was waiting patiently for him, and currently relaxing on the rubble./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry marched over, (thankfully not tripping over his own feet on the way there,) and gave Tom an absolute tirade of insults. It lasted for at least five minutes, and when he was done, Tom simply pointed behind Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What!" Said Harry, turning around. But then he saw exactly 'what'. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The basilisk was lying on the floor, immobile, and seating instructions. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Congratulations, Harry Potter, you have tamed the basilisk." Tom whispered in his ear, slipping the wand back into his pocket./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So, I control the basilisk?" Harry asked, not daring to believe it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, what now?" Asked Harry. Staring at Tom, who was looking sharper and clearer than before. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"You do what you want." Tom shrugged, "Though I warn you against using the basilisk too much."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I know it's dangerous." Harry said, confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh no, not at all. Well, not to you, at least. It's more the fact that people get suspicious when you use him too much. The one and only time I managed to kill a muggle born with him, I promptly had to pin the murder on someone else, and stop all my attacks. That's why I created the diary you see."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Who was the person you pinned the murder on?" Asked Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Oh, some Gryffindor idiot called Rubeus Hagrid. He had a strange love of dangerous creatures, so it wasn't hard to pin it on him and his pet acromantula." Replied Tom. "He was expelled and i was given an award for services to the school for my efforts."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I got Hagrid kicked out last year." Said Harry. "He'd managed to acquire a dragon egg illegally and hatched it in his hut. It would have burned the school down eventually so we managed to get the ministry involved, and after a whole bunch of shenanigans, he was eventually sacked."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good riddance." Said Tom./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" There was another pause then Harry asked. "What are you going to do now?"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I shall return to simply being words on a page, for I have done what I was created to do." He said./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""And what do you want me to do with your book?" Harry Asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Hide it, where it may be found again by the right person. My time will come again, and the wrath of Slytherin will rage through this school once more."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, goodbye then, Voldemort." Harry said, holding out his hand. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Tom looked apprehensive, then shook it, "Goodbye, Harry Potter." He said, before poofing out of existence./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry turned towards the diary, but found his way blocked by the basilisk. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Uhh..." said Harry, unsure of what to say. "Go back to your slumber, until I call you again."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" He wasn't sure if this would work, but the basilisk seemed to understand, as it slithered back into the mouth of Slytherin./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Harry picked up the book, and placed it in his robes before going to check on Ginny. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Wha- Harry!" She squeaked, tripping on her robes as she tried to get up. "Wha- Where are we? Where's Riddle? Quick, we need to get out of here before-"/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Calm down. Tom is dealt with, you're okay. Follow me." And Harry marched off, making his way towards the tunnel he had come in through. /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"however he stopped when he realised that Ginny wasn't following him./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What?" He Asked, exasperatedly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, it's just that, my brothers, they don't want me going near you." She said, shyly./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry was incensed. "Well You're welcome to stay down here. It'll be a nice life, in the dark, with only the rats and the giant snake for comfort."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"She didn't need telling twice. In a second she had rushed forward and grabbed onto Harry's arm, and he couldn't be bothered to shake her off./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" When they finally reached the chute Harry had come in through, he was initially confused as to how they were going to get back up, but he spotted a small, carved, snake and, guessing what he had to do, asked if politely to go up. Instantly, a tall spiral staircase revealed itself, and Harry and Ginny spent the next ten minutes climbing through the staircase, and through corridors, and up some more staircases, until they reached a wooden door. Harry opened it and walked through, finding himself in the girls toilet where the entrance to the chamber of secrets was. He had apparently just walked out of a cubicle./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry!" Said Draco, surprised at his entry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Are you? -what happened?" He said, almost lost for words./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I'll explain later. For now though, we need to get this one back to her dormitory." He pointed at Ginny who had finally let go of his arm./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Well, that won't be hard." Commented Draco. "Guess who else remembered where the entrance to the chamber was."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Ah." Said Harry, realising that granger and possibly Weasley were here also./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Did they hinder you in any way?" Harry asked./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""No, they've been surprisingly helpful." Draco sounded a bit confused./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Good." Said Harry. "They can speed things along. If we do this quickly then no one will ever now we were here."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The act of getting everyone back to their respective common rooms was almost as big a challenge as finding the chamber of secrets itself./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"When he opened the door to the girl's toilet, Harry was initially surprised, as there didn't seem to be anyone there, but then suddenly Theodore appeared from out of the shadow of one of the braziers./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Harry!" He exclaimed, "you're alright!" br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sssshhh!" Said Harry, Hushing Theodore, for he was wary of any teachers that might be patrolling around. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Sorry." Said Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's fine," said Harry, "listen, where are granger and Weasley? It was this one, " he pulled Ginny in front of Theodore, "That was kidnapped, and we need to get her back to her dormitory quickly."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Follow me." He said, leading the group round a corridor. "By the way, they found out you have an invisibility cloak." br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Hmm." Grunted Harry. He would have preferred that no one outside the second year Slytherins, especially not Granger and Weasley, knew that he had an invisibility style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"I'm sorry," said Theodore, interpreting Harry's grunt correctly, "but they caught Pansy taking off the cloak and demanded to know where you were. Pansy brought them to me, and they threatened to tell Dumbledore and McGonagall if I didn't tell them what was going on, so I told them and they agreed to help. Here we are."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"At once, the group was Dogged by Granger, Weasley, and Pansy. Granger immediately snatched Ginny away from Harry, which Harry thought was rather rude. He had just rescued her, after all./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What- Who was the heir of Slytherin?" Asked Granger, eyeing Harry suspiciously./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry wondered what exactly he sounds tell her, but then decided on, "It's none of your business, Granger. Now, take Ginny back to the Gryffindor common room and it'd probably be a good idea to burn her robes. They stink rather badly."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Granger looked incredibly confused for a moment, but that quickly changed to outrage a need disgust as she said "You don't get to order me around, Potter."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Fine." Said Harry. "Ignore me. I'd like to see you try to explain to the teachers why you're standing here, when everyone is supposed to be in their common rooms. And why Ginny is soaking wet and stinks of sewers."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" Granger glared at him and Harry sneered back, before turning to Pansy and indicating for her to follow him as they marched down the corridor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" After a bit of discussion, they gave Pansy the invisibility cloak, and sent her to round up the rest of the Slytherins, whilst Harry, Theodore, and Draco made their way to Kryillos' room./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""So what happened Harry?" Asked Draco, sitting down on one of the blackened stools./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Yes. Who Kidnapped the Weasley girl?" Asked Theodore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry thought for a second and wondered how exactly he should phrase this. "There was, em style="box-sizing: inherit;"something/em, waiting for me in the chamber of secrets. It called itself a memory, and had been living in a diary owned by Ginny. Throughout the year, it had been steadily leeching life force from Ginny, and using her as a- well, I don't know quite what- but he was performing Slytherin's will through her. But there is one thing I want you two, and no one else to know."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What's that?" Draco and Theodore said in unison./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""The person who owned this diary, who created it, he was a student here, who went by the name Tom Riddle." Continued Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why does that name sound familiar?" Asked Draco, staring at the ceiling as he tried to remember where he had heard the name before./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry glanced at him for a moment before saying "Tom Riddle is the real name of Lord Voldemort." And holding up the diary, which was surprisingly not damp./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" The impact of this revelation shook both Draco and Theodore, who visibly recoiled in their seats as they saw the diary. Harry didn't blame them, there was a lot of power in this diary, he could feel it./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Now, I don't want the others knowing this, do you understand?" Repeated Harry. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Yeah, of course."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Absolutely." They said. Harry could tell they were still a little shaken by his reveal, but pressed on with his account anyway./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""This diary was apparently made as a weapon by Voldemort when he was still in school. He had problems with completing Slytherin's work when he was there, so left this diary so that others might continue his work later. He asked me to hide it, so that a future student might complete his work later."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Why not use it now?" Asked Theodore. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry smiled. "I think it might be incredibly risky for us to use it's power right now."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Once the rest of the Slytherins had arrived, Harry spun them the tale of how he had made his way through the underbelly of the castle, and how he had arrived at the chamber of secrets, only to find it abandoned, with no sign of Slytherin's monster, or the heir. Only Ginny, lying unconscious on the floor./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They were all suitably impressed, and quickly made their way back to the common room once he had finished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The next morning, was a tense one. There were rumours floating about the school that they were going to close Hogwarts down and send everyone back to their families. As Harry hated the Dursleys more than he disliked the way Hogwarts was run, he was rather annoyed with this. Doubly so, since he had actually dealt with the problem, but couldn't tell anyone, lest he be questioned and potentially kicked out for breaking so many rules./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"One thing Harry did want to look at though, was the award Tom said he had been given, and since the trophy room was merely a door away from the great hall, he popped in there after breakfast with Draco and Theodore./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"It took a bit of searching, but Harry finally found the award that had been given to Tom. It was very small, and very plain. Simply a silver shield, upon which was engraved the words:/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /em style="box-sizing: inherit;"Awarded to Tom Riddle/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"em style="box-sizing: inherit;"For special services to the school/em/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""It's weird, really. Seeing something like this." Commented Theodore as they stared at the little plaque. "I mean, the Dark Lord, as a teenager, not much older than us. It almost seems like it shouldn't exist and yet, here it is, In front of us."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Harry knew what he was talking about. It was almost otherworldly, yet also oddly humbling./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You know, he told me he grew up in an orphanage." Said Harry./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""You mean Saint. Cyprian's?" Asked Draco./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""dunno. He told me it was a muggle orphanage though."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh. Well, no then. Saint Cyprian's is a wizarding orphanage." Draco replied./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""What do mean, a wizarding orphanage?" Asked Harry, turning to face Draco. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"Well, if a wizard dies, and no will can be found which states who the child should go to, then the ministry takes them in and ships the off to Saint Cyprian's."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""I would have preferred going there than living with the Dursleys." Harry muttered./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh no you wouldn't. You hear all sorts of horrible stories about the place. They say the matron there, Mrs. White, was actually a hag who had tried to perform a beautifying charm on herself, only it didn't work and she got stuck halfway."/p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""That doesn't seem too bad." Said Harry, thinking of the Dursleys and how an ugly had would seem like a breath of fresh air next to Aunt Petunia or Dudley./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""oh it gets worse." Said Draco, and he launched into a conversation about all the horrible things Saint. Cyprian's was known for as they made their way out of the great hall./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"The rest of the school year passed without much really happening. The season turned from Spring to Summer, and the blazing sunshine glared at them through the windows. Not much had changed in school. People were still worried about the heir of Slytherin, but got increasingly more lax about it as time went on without any attacks, which was a bit sad, because, as Draco said, a bit of healthy fear never hurt style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Jaculus was not giving Harry any more warnings about 'ancient evil' so Harry assumed that the snake had merely been sensing the presence of the Basilisk, which was now slumbering, awaiting Harry's command./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"There were no more Defense against the dark arts classes, and there was a rumour going around that Dumbledore was planning on on scrapping the subject entirely, "Which just goes to show his incompetence." Said Draco, one morning after they had heard this particular rumour./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Several weeks after Harry's escapade into the chamber of secrets, the restorative potions were finally ready to be delivered to the victims./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Clearly, the staff were hoping to see if any of the cities knew what had attacks them, but all they remembered seeing was a pair of yellow eyes reflected at them./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Well, apart from Mrs. Norris. When she woke she just meowed and scampered off into the arms of Filch. Harry very briefly felt pity for Filch, as he saw him hug Mrs. Norris tightly, but then remembered he had given him detention on several occasions for what Harry considered to be very minor things like jinxing students, so that pity very quickly vanished./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Additionally, Ginny was seeming sociable again. She wouldn't go near Harry, but Harry suspected that was probably because Granger and Weasley had forbidden her to go near him. Indeed, he never found her outside the company of them. It seemed like they didn't trust Harry in the slightest, which Harry was completely fine with./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"During all the free time Harry had with Defence against the dark arts cancelled, Harry had found a nice spot to hide Riddle's diary. He had placed the book inside a hidden compartment in the Slytherin common room, and had written a small note about where to find the book, and hidden that in another book, which he put on the bookshelf in a completely unvisited part of the school library. It wasn't foolproof, but Harry thought he would find a better spot for it, once he had learnt more magic./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Eventually, it was time for the students to leave for the Summer holidays./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"They had a wild time on their way from Hogsmede station to King's cross. Making the most of the little time they had left in which they could do magic, They practiced Duelling, and played exploding snap until all their eyebrows were singed./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"Soon, too soon, they were approaching the station, where Harry would have to leave for the Muggle world./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;"As he looked back on the year, Harry was only concerned by one thing. He hadn't discovered the identity of the woman who had fled from him that night in the corridor. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry sighed. That would just have to be something to figure out next year. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /The Hogwarts express slowed and finally stopped. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /Harry turned to his fellow Slytherins when they got onto the platform. br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /"listen, one of you will have to come get me from the Dursleys soon. I won't be able to stand two months with only Dudley to talk to." /p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""They can't be all that bad, can they?" Asked Pansy./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;""Oh, you have no idea." Said Harry, and he marched into the Muggle world./p
p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: #483a3a; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 14.4px;" /p
