Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.

"Regular speech or Spell"

"Parseltongue (includes spells spoken in it)"

Text

'Thought'

The True Heir of Slytherin

Chapter 5:

"So what are your thoughts?" Harry asked the four Hufflepuffs sitting before him. They were in an unused classroom with Harry standing behind the teacher's desk at the front. Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, and Justin Finch-Fletchy stood by the students' desks. Daphne remained in the shadows in a corner behind the Hufflepuffs so as to remain unseen.

"Are you going to take care of Umbridge?" Justin asked.

Harry thought a moment and nodded, taking care to see how his betrothed reacted. She gave him a nod, though.

Ernie looked at Justin who gave him a reassuring look. "We're in."

Harry nodded and turned to Hannah and Susan.

"Were you responsible for the attacks in second year?" Susan asked, testing him.

"No. Another Parselmouth named Tom Marvolo Riddle was responsible for that. He used to be a student here and locked a part of himself in his diary before he left. Ginny Weasley found it in our second year and was possessed into commanding the basilisk that laid in the Chamber of Secrets until he became real enough to take over himself. I was actually the one to stop him." Harry informatively replied, wanting to answer the least amount of questions as he could.

"I'll stand with you." Susan nodded.

"Hannah?" Harry asked.

"I'm with you." Hannah replied.

Harry nodded his acceptance. "Good. Follow me." Harry rose from his seat and beckoned for the four to do so as well while Daphne remained in the shadows. As Harry walked around the desk, he stuck his hand in the shadow of the table but put it back to his side once his hand reached the end of the shadow. Before his eyes refocused to in front of him, Harry noticed Daphne meld into the shadows. He then proceeded over to the second floor and to the secret staircase, surprising the Hufflepuffs considerably. Harry walked down the stairs to come out into the Chamber of Secrets' main floor.

"May I present the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry smirked, using his arm to indicate the entire complex. "In second year, all below you was absent. Nobody excluding Deus, Salazar's familiar commonly called beast, knew about everything was buried under water. In second year, I entered through what Deus used, not thinking of a human entrance and exit for Salazar himself."

"You mean it's alive?" Justin asked, worried. He was one of the basilisk's petrified victims and rightfully did not wish to be paralyzed once more.

"Yes, but as I said before, it only attacked due to Riddle." Harry saw his explanation did not completely pacify Justin's worries. "There's no need to be concerned; it can stop its gaze from affecting a person with a third eyelid that is more of a thin film." That seemed to sooth the Hufflepuff.

"Were you careful on your way here?" Daphne asked, surprising four of the five. She had just ascended the staircase to emerge behind the Hufflepuffs.

"Are you really doubting me?" Harry asked, acting as if he was offended. Before grinning, "We were unobserved."

Daphne nodded. "Good."

Harry turned back to the Hufflepuffs. "This is Daphne Greengrass, the one who opened my eyes and my newly betrothed." Harry introduced.

"You are betrothed?" Ernie asked.

"Yes, through a marriage contract made between Salazar and the Greengrasses before he died." Harry replied. "It was activated when I was told about my heritage."

"Why? If he was about to die, why would the Greengrasses agree?" Justin asked.

"The Greengrasses were good friends with the Slytherin family, especially Salazar. He did have a son, but that son was too much at risk as Salazar's son. Because of that, my ancestors have watched him and his line so as to protect them and wait for when a descendant found their heritage. After Harry was disillusioned from his friends, I saw the opportunity to try and reveal his heritage." Daphne replied.

"Now, would you like to have a tour?" Harry asked. They nodded. "All right. Dobby." Harry quietly called.

"Yes, sir?" The elf eagerly asked as soon as he appeared with a pop.

"Would you be so kind as to show my friends around? I have another meeting I need to attend to." Harry replied.

"Dobby would be happy to help master's friends." Hid ears flapped up and down as he nodded his head eagerly.

The former Malfoy house-elf now wore clothes Harry felt were proper for a house-elf of such a powerful family. He wore an almost black green suit with a white shirt and black shoes. Underneath his pants, he wore two socks that differed between each other and day to day. Harry had given Dobby each sock the house-elf wore.

Harry nodded his acceptance. "Thank you. I will see you when I return. Daphne, do you wish to accompany me?" Harry turned back to Daphne once Dobby began escorting the other four.

"In case the Hufflepuffs leave before you return, I think it would be wise to have someone to ensure they know the password." Daphne replied.

"Okay." Harry said before pulling his betrothed close to him. He then whispered something in her ear.

"I'll get it done by the time you return."

"Good. Until we meet again, and hopefully it won't be with me fleeing here." Harry smiled.

Daphne gave a small smile. "Hopefully."

Harry then went back to the stairs so he could attend another meeting inside the classroom he had just visited. When Harry arrived inside, he quickly ensured the privacy charms he had cast were still in place. Once his caution was appeased, Harry hid himself in the shadowed back corner where Daphne had resided earlier. Harry spent the next few minutes working on his Occlumency mindscape as Astoria had instructed last week.

It had been a week and a day since he met the girl, and the day after he met her, Umbridge officially became the High Inquisitor. She had not yet made too many drastic changes such as adding new tyrannical rules, but everyone suspected that it would not be long now for that to happen. Besides, she already was critiquing even the smallest detail in every teacher.

After ten minutes, however, Harry heard the door open.

"Hello?" A male voice asked as the three Ravenclaws entered.

"He isn't here yet." A female responded as another male closed the door.

"I hate to disprove your theory, Padma, but…" Harry said, coming out of the shadows. Harry used his wand and cast a locking charm at the door. It only locked others out.

"Why did you call us here?" Anthony Goldstein asked curiously.

"I have come to offer an olive branch." Harry said before detailing everything that had happened to him excluding the Order of the Phoenix, Daphne and Astoria's names, the location of the Chamber of Secrets, and the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff allies he had gained. He did, though, say that a family with two children at Hogwarts had been teaching him with one being betrothed to him.

"Now, each of you are true testaments to your house, and I know that you have little if any prejudice. You are too smart for that, and I am one who will become the victim of it." Harry finished.

"What do you need from us?" Anthony asked.

"I need you to stand by me, and in return we will learn magic most never dare to explore. I have come to realize that dark is as necessary as light is, which means that both need to be learned. We'll show everyone a new form of magic where almost all magic is fair game: gray." Harry revealed. "Will you join me on this journey of revelations?"

Anthony automatically walked up to Harry. He had followed every word the teen had spoken. "Lead the way."

Harry nodded and presented his right hand. Anthony shook it firmly.

The Ravenclaw turned towards his housemates. "Everything is going wrong. A new view is just what the world needs."

"I will join you." Padma said before she walked up to Harry, shook his hand, and stood to Harry's right, facing Terry Boot.

The last one to decide had been scrutinizing every detail and thinking over the entire proposition overall.

"Where do we begin?"

Harry grinned and shook Terry's hand. "Follow me."

Harry began leading the three through the corridors, observing everything he could. He thought they were not seen, but in one hallway, he was.

'I wonder what I could get for telling Umbridge about this turn of events.' A student thought before waiting for the four to continue around a corner out of sight and proceeding the other way over to the High Inquisitor's office.

A few minutes later, Harry and the three turned Ravenclaws met up with Daphne inside the Chamber of Secrets.

"Daphne Greengrass, you, I presume, are the one who told Harry about him being a Slytherin?" Padma asked.

She nodded. "I was."

"Did you give him the idea of gray?" Terry asked.

"Gray?" Daphne looked at Harry.

While his old self would have quickly crumbled and nervously explained what he had told the Ravenclaws, Harry Slytherin remained calm. "We use dark magic often, but we aren't evil. I think gray describes us the best."

Daphne thought over Harry's words before nodding. She appeared slightly angry. "Thank you for telling three students you barely know while recruiting them before your betrothed, the one who has given you your new look on life."

Now, Harry was nervous. "I'm sorry, Daphne, but it kind of hit me as I was talking. It isn't like I was keeping a secret from you. It just… happened."

Daphne seemed to cool down slightly. "Fine. Keep your revelations, though, to your self until you can speak to me, though."

"What are you, my master? I apologize for not telling you before anyone else, but do not give me extra shite and act like a pompous princess." Harry matched Daphne's level of anger.

"Okay! Calm down now!"

Anthony drew everyone's attention. Two, though, turned their glares toward him. "Both of you are acting like children. I thought both of you were supposed to be leaders? I also thought that you two were supposed to be partners from what Harry said. I guess we were fooled."

Harry and Daphne's anger turned more to shame as Anthony spoke.

"You are correct, Anthony, but believe me when I say you were not fooled." Harry replied.

"I think partners argue from time to time, huh?" Daphne asked, turning to her betrothed.

Harry looked at Daphne and nodded. "All that matters is that we realize our mistake or the other's point and come to an agreement." Harry went out on a line and decided to kiss the Ice Queen.

It was a short and simple one on the lips, lasting only a couple of seconds, but it was much more than that as far as feelings went.

At first, Harry was as surprised as Daphne, but both quickly realized they enjoyed the quick joining that left behind a stronger connection.

"I'm sorry." Harry said.

"Me too, so let's move on." Daphne replied genuinely.

"Well I guess we know who is the voice of reason in our group, huh?" Harry smiled, turning to Anthony.

The other teen shrugged. "Just giving what is needed."

"Still. Thank you."

Anthony nodded. "You're welcome."

"So would you like a tour of the compound?" Harry asked before turning to Daphne. "Are the Hufflepuffs still here?"

"No, as soon as the tour was over they left so as to not be seen missing for too long." She replied.

Harry nodded. "Good. Dobby!"

"Yes, master Harry?"

"Could you also give these three a tour of the premises?" Harry asked.

"Yes, sir." Dobby nodded before beckoning for Anthony, Padma, and Terry to follow him.

"We need to talk to the Slytherins." Daphne said.

"Now?" Harry asked. Daphne shook her head.

"Later. We still need to ensure these three know how to say 'open' in Parseltongue."

Harry nodded and proceeded over to the training room for Harry to get some more practice in. Less than an hour later, Dobby and the other three entered the training room.

"Whoa!" Terry said softly, examining the flaming damage. "When do we learn how to do that?"

"Unless we can figure out how to give you the ability of Parseltongue, you won't." Daphne replied.

Harry turned away from the shards of flaming dummies and walked up to the four.

"What did this?" Anthony asked.

"I'll show you one day." Harry smiled. "So what do you think of the compound?"

"Impressive, but as we don't know or understand Parseltongue, we will not be able to access it." Padma replied.

"Ah, yes. I have a solution for you there. Repeat after me: Open!" Harry said.

Each of the three tried, managing to come close but not saying it exactly right.

"Again. Open!" Harry repeated.

Anthony managed to speak the word clearly with Padma close behind and Terry doing worse than Padma.

"Open!" Harry tried once more.

This time everyone managed to speak the word clearly enough to satisfy Harry and Daphne.

"Good. I suggest you go back to your common room or somewhere in plain view so as not to arouse suspicion. It is bad enough for me to be missing. We wouldn't want people noticing you three were missing too." Harry said.

The three nodded. "When will we see you next?" Padma asked.

"Tomorrow at one you will meet the others, but be warned, we are recruiting from all of the houses. You may meet former enemies, but we are asking you to put that behind you, for now we are our own side and need to stand together." Daphne replied.

"There is one last thing, though, before you go." Harry said, stopping the three. "I hope you realize that you cannot tell anyone about this, nobody at all. If you do, we will prove to you why we are gray and not light."

Anthony, Padma, and Terry all nodded.

"Don't worry. Your secrets are safe with us." Padma replied.

"Good. I find that friends like you are not common, so you three are treasures." Harry said.

The five then exchanged their good byes before the Ravenclaws left the compound, and Daphne continued to teach Harry.

They didn't stop training until dinner, where Harry sat with his Gryffindor friends and talked quietly, before going up with them to their common room. After the common room was void of any people excluding Harry. He left under his invisibility cloak bound for the dungeons.

After a few minutes of walking, Harry found himself back at the entrance to the Slytherin common room without knowing the password.

Outside, he met Daphne.

"They ready inside?" Harry asked, putting away his cloak.

"Ready as they'll ever be. I told them that Professor Snape wished to meet with them, and every one of them listened." Daphne replied.

"You didn't prepare them?" Harry asked, slightly shocked.

"Why ruin the fun of seeing their appalled faces?" Daphne smirked.

Harry chuckled. "Then let's indulge you." Harry said.

Daphne whispered the password to the wall before leading Harry inside. Harry stayed close behind her so as to see the Slytherins before they saw him.

Every Slytherin in the entire school was sitting in a chair or on a couch or standing around the common room, and Harry knew he would not like their reaction.

"Greengrass, who is that behind you?" Malfoy asked snidely.

"Your house's heir." Harry replied, stepping beside Daphne.

"Greengrass! Why have you brought him here? He's a Gryffindor and a Half-Blood at that!" Malfoy's words managed to stand apart from the chaotic uproar of his housemates.

"He has already told you. He is the heir of Salazar Slytherin." Daphne replied calmly.

"What are you talking about? He can't be!" A fourth year shouted. Harry had seen the boy around but never caught his name.

"Do you know of any people in this entire school excluding that lousy git of a boy named Ronald who have entered the Chamber of Secrets? Do you know of any Parselmouths in this school? Well, there are two who perfectly fit both questions. Daphne," Harry motioned his right hand towards his betrothed before pointing his index finger at his chest, "and me."

Everyone turned to look at Daphne with wide eyes.

"I have been visiting the Chamber since First Year and knew its location long before that." Daphne revealed.

"You see… Daphne's family has been guarding my line since before Salazar's death thanks to a request made by my ancestor. The deal was for the Greengrasses to watch Salazar's son and his children until one was opportune to come out as the heir. If or when this happened they were supposed to help the heir to the best of their ability. In exchange, Salazar gifted the Greengrasses with Parseltongue, one of his ancient books of magic, and the betrothal of their eldest unmarried daughter to the descendant who became the heir." Harry explained.

"But… what about the Dark Lord?" Another asked.

"He is a farce. He became obsessed with this house's namesake and eventually became so delusional that he thought he was the true heir. My father has even discovered that he managed to alter his family tree so as to say that he is the heir, though he did do it subtly. The closest he is to the Slytherin line is his ability to speak Parseltongue. That is all. Godric Gryffindor hid the true heir inside a close friend's family, the Potters. My family has been tracking the Slytherin line inside the Potters ever since." Daphne replied.

An odd thought struck Harry. "How did your family know that the Slytherin line was hidden in the Potter family?"

"Each of my family, including my parents, sister, and me, have written or write memoirs for our descendants. In my eight times great-grandfather's, he describes that the Potter family suddenly had a supposed blood relative that was eleventh months old. It is easy to see that the missing child had been placed into their care." Daphne replied.

Harry nodded.

"I still want proof." Draco demanded.

Harry glowered at the supposed prince of Slytherin house and raised his hand at the teen.

"Saevio regulos!" Harry hissed.

Three small, translucent basilisks that were glowing black flew out of Harry's right palm and landed on the floor, automatically slithering towards Draco. Draco stood till in shock, his eyes wide in fear. The three pieces of magic jumped at the teen as soon as they got within range but disappeared before hitting Draco.

"There's your proof." Harry turned away from his long-time rival and looked at the rest of his house. "Anyone else wish to challenge me? If so, present yourself and step forward for a duel!"

Harry moved his fierce gaze to each person in the room excluding Daphne, daring them to come forward. After Harry looked away from the last student, Harry visibly calmed down, dispensing the fierce glare.

"Now that that is settled, I expect all of you to stand with me because I am not the Golden Boy anymore. He is now merely a disguise I use to conceal myself from the Ministry and Dumbledore." Harry spat the headmaster's name to gain more favor amongst the students before him. "So what say you?"

A cheer erupted from all of the Slytherins in the room excluding Draco, who like everyone else, raised his right fist into the air.

"Good… because our time will come when we can show this school and more importantly, the world, that we are a force to be reckoned with!" Harry grew louder until he was yelling out his last words.

All of the Slytherins were uncharacteristically cheering and whooping out for their new leader.

Harry slowly silenced their cheers by lowering his open palms from chest height. "While all of you as a part of this house will prove useful, I will need a specific few to lead you as our forces will not just contain Slytherins."

"What do you mean 'not just contain Slytherins?' We can barely trust ourselves let alone outsiders thanks to their viewpoint on us." Pansy Parkinson spoke out.

Harry glared viciously at the teenaged girl and sent a strong stinging hex at her. "As a part of my house, I expect better of you than to ask questions so much like a Gryffindor would! Honor your title as a member of Slytherin house!"

Pansy nodded, refusing to look down in shame but unable to hide the shame in her eyes.

Harry was satisfied with her response and turned back to his newest followers. "For those who are curious, I have recruited quite capable students from each house at this school. All of you will respect each and every one of them, understand?" Harry received a very quick nod from everyone in the room. Harry would have smiled at the effect of using one as a demonstration on a group could have if not for the pretenses he had to obtain. "Good. If you wish to volunteer yourself for a commanding role amongst your ranks, write it down on this list Daphne has so kindly provided for you. I will come back in two nights time to collect the list and will call each person on it for a meeting at different times." Daphne floated the said list, a quill and ink onto a nearby table.

"Is there anything I am forgetting, Daphne?" Harry asked.

"No, Harry. You covered all of the points we discussed earlier."

"Very well then. I will then see you in the morning, my betrothed." Harry said before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Harry could barely distinguish an ever so slight blush on Daphne's cheeks. He was the only one.

"Good night, Harry. Sleep well."

"Hopefully, you will do the same." Harry smiled before turning and walking out of the Slytherin Common Room. He then donned his invisibility cloak and proceeded back up to his dormitory and bed.

He was interrupted, however, by Peeves.

"Ah, a student out of bed. Wait until Dumbledore hears about this!"

"Silence, poltergeist!" Harry commanded. "Your pranks are ill contrived and could be performed by a child. I, however, could be quite… inventive if I so wished to punish you. You will leave me to my own devices and never speak of this, understood, Peeves?"

"Uh, yes, sir! It's already gone from my mind! Have a good night!" Peeves hurried off down a corridor to escape Harry, never even questioning who he was.

Harry chuckled quietly to himself. 'I guess he isn't so bad if you know how to handle him. I mean, honestly, how could I hurt him? He's a bloody ghost!' After the teen had his laugh, Harry proceeded back up to Gryffindor tower uninterrupted.

AN: Sorry for the long wait, but my muse could not find me easily for this chapter. I struggled to put down a hundred words at a time, which can be a small fraction when compared to when I get into my writing zone. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, despite its more factual nature, and that you will, like always, leave a review as it really does improve the story. Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.