Chapter 54: The Rise of the Dark Lord
Harry groaned when Luna suddenly held a vial with a potion out for him which contained a Pepper-Up Potion. He only looked at her strangely, but she nudged him to take it.
"Believe me; you'll need it," she said with a small smile.
"If you say so," he muttered but took the vial and downed the potion.
Once the potion took effect, he sighed in relief and straightened up, not needing the support of his friends anymore, for now at least.
"Thanks," Harry told her with a smile before he turned towards the masses of students that was blocking their way. "Now I hope that you have an excellent reason to keep me from my well-deserved sleep or I'll be extremely pissed and believe me you don't want to know what I'm capable off when pissed."
In response to that threat – and yes it was a threat because you'll never know what a prankster might come up with in retaliation if you pissed him off, especially when said prankster was trained by Loki himself – quite a few that stood close to him shivered and took a few steps away from him. Seeing, that Harry wasn't joking, a passage formed that led through the masses of students towards the other end, where Harry could already see something being written on the wall in blood red letters though he couldn't read what was written over the distance. So, knowing that the students indeed had a good reason standing in this particular hallway and talking to each other – as long as it wasn't an elaborate prank –, Harry set into motion and walked over to the wall. However, any thought that this might just be a prank went out through the window when he read the words.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMY OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
What made him gasp in shock and horror though was the sight of Mrs Norris hanging from a torch bracket beneath the message, stiff as a poker. Slowly he edged towards the cat before carefully taking her down; he just couldn't let her hang there any longer. Cradling her close to his chest he gently patted her head. Mrs Norris usually didn't let people pet her, but Harry had always been the exemption to the rule.
He thought she was dead but he pushed a bit of magic into her to make sure, so it came to quite a surprise that she wasn't dead, but it was like she was…frozen or something like that. Pushing even more magic into the body of the cat he began to try and battle whatever held her in the state she was in. It took him several minutes, and it looked like he either wasn't powerful enough or too exhausted because he couldn't lift whatever curse had befallen her and he felt his magic drain faster and faster even with the Pepper-Up he had drunken.
Harry was about to give up, when suddenly a flash of fire appeared on the torch bracket Mrs Norris had hung from not too long ago and gave way to Fawkes. The Phoenix instantly leant over the cat and let one tear fall on her body. It only took mere seconds and a bit of help from Harry's magic before the cat began to stir and meow lowly. Harry smiled when Mrs Norris turned in his arms and shook his head as to get rid of any lingering dizziness. At first, the cat tensed but relaxed again when she realised that it was Harry who held her, purring in content.
Filch came rushing down the corridor when he heard that something had happened and was about to shout at the students lingering in the hallway when his gaze fell upon Potter who currently took down a cat that hung down from the torch bracket. He blanched and came to an abrupt halt when he realised that said cat was his Mrs Norris. What had Potter done to his beloved cat? But then again, he had never done anything to her. He was the only one in his entire years he had her now, who was able to get near her, not to mention pet her without getting mauled in the process.
So, no…he doubted that it had been Potter. But then who had attacked his cat and what happened to her? Was she dead? Oh, Merlin he hoped not, he loved his cat, and should she be dead…he didn't know what he would do. She was all he had; no one else ever wanted to have anything to do with him.
That was when he saw a bright flash above the two and Fawkes appearing. The bird leaned forward, and a single tear fell upon Mrs Norris. He wondered what would happen when he heard a low meowing and saw her stirring in Potter's arm.
Filch stumbled a step forward before he caught himself and rushed to his cat's side. He heard Potter thanking the bird before he turned towards him.
"Here, she should be alright now, but you should her get checked by Madame Pomfrey anyway to make sure that the entire thing didn't hurt her," the boy told him while he carefully held Mrs Norris out to him.
Stunned, he reached out and took his beloved cat, petting her on the way.
"T-thank you," he stuttered out, too glad that his cat wasn't hurt to keep up his scornfulness.
"No problem," Potter replied with a smile and a last pat on the cat's head.
Harry thanked Fawkes for his help before he carefully handed the cat over to her owner. When he was sure that the cat was safe, he turned around to the masses of students with a scowl on his face. He just wanted to address the students about the writing and the cat, when Fawkes landed on his shoulder and nipped his ear hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to draw blood. Harry had to fight the urge to cover his ear with his hand because that would throw the bird from his shoulder and that he didn't want even if it had bitten him.
"What was that for?" he exclaimed instead.
However, it was Luna who gave him the answer to that. She walked up to him, took his left hand, and held it in front of Fawkes with the back of the hand upwards. As soon as the hand was in place, Fawkes dropped another of his tears right on the middle of his hand.
Luna guided his hand towards his mouth.
"Drink," she ordered him.
Harry looked at her incredulously but did as he was asked. Instantly when the tear touched his tongue, he felt a thousand times better than before. He was invigorated and also his exhaustion quickly left him.
"You are a strange girl. I hope you know this," he told her with a smile before he turned towards Fawkes. "Thank you!"
With a soothing thrill, having done his part, Fawkes took off and sailed in the direction where the rest of the students stood and observed everything. When Harry looked after the bird, he saw that the masses had parted again to make space for Michael, who quickly walked towards them followed by the other teachers. Fawkes though swiftly landed on Michael's shoulder and got patted by the angel.
"I have to say, you are remarkable," Michael praised him once he came to a stop in front of him and his friends. "Healing Mrs Norris even with the aid of Fawkes is not an easy feat."
"Remarkable or not, I'd love to get to know who thought that this was a good Halloween joke!" Harry exclaimed. "Petrifying and hanging a poor cat from a torch bracket is certainly NOT funny!"
"Are you sure that it wasn't you in a bid to train to become the next Dark Lord?" Draco who only just arrived taunted him playfully.
However, Draco took a step back when the cold hard glare from Harry fell upon him. Oops, Harry was furious. Draco just wanted to apologise and take back what he just said so carelessly even if he didn't mean it, but that was when Harry's glare softened before it morphed into a smirk. To be honest, Draco found the smirk far worse than the glare before, it spoke of nothing good, for any of them.
"The next Dark Lord you say?" Harry asked, his smirk broadening before he turned towards his friends – well, technically Draco was also his friend, family even, but no one else knew that except his friends.
"Did you hear that? I'm the next Dark Lord!" he exclaimed as if Christmas had come early and fallen on the same day as Eastern and his birthday. Suddenly he frowned though. "But if I'm to be the next Dark Lord I have to look the part. I mean what Dark Lord runs around in school uniforms…school uniforms," he mused.
Harry began to pace while everyone else just stared at him in surprise, shock and disbelieve as well as if they questioned his sanity – well, it was questionable whether he had any, to begin with.
"No, I need new clothes…and maybe a new style?" Harry muttered and waved his hand over himself.
Instantly his clothes changed into a stylish suite like Crowley used to wear. However, it seemed that the two girls had completely different images in their mind.
"Harry…Harry…Harry…you have no sense of what looks good on you," Luna spoke up while shaking her head and quickly dragging Harry away from the masses of students, closely followed by Hermione, before she drew her wand.
The twins, anticipating what the girls were up to, conjured a few partitions to give them some privacy. Everyone else stared with bated breath at the partitions, eager to get to see what the two girls were up to – even the teachers waited patiently. They could all hear muttering as well as a few complains, that was quickly shot down but besides that nothing could be seen.
It took the girls about fifteen minutes, but finally, they vanished the partitions and gave way for the first glances on Harry. Luna looked happy while Hermione had a smug smile on her face.
The biggest surprise though was Harry himself. He now wore a floor-length open robe in a deep darker shade of pink – not that ghastly overly bright shade a certain professor preferred though one had to wonder where the man currently was since he wasn't with the other professors – that looked surprisingly good on him. Along the seams and edges went black frills that if you looked close enough were made of many little skulls.
Under the robe, he wore a black button-down shirt with small silver skulls as buttons and a tie the same shade as the robe.
On top of that came a top hat in the same deep dark pink with a black hatband. At the front, a bit to the left was two real-looking, though shrunken human skulls together with three black velvet roses.
In his hand, Harry carried a sleek black cane with a silver skull as a handle, which had two emeralds in its eye sockets.
The twins whistled when they saw him.
"You look great," they said together.
"Yeah? A word to the wise though…do not let them give you a make-over," he whispered to them.
"I heard that," Hermione growled.
When Harry saw her glare, he ducked his head and spun out of her way before she could hit him, which she tried. Michael, who watched everything, chuckled lowly.
"So," Harry said while thumping his cane on the floor. "Back to business. Who is the culprit?"
One of the students, a Hufflepuff Harry quickly identified as Justin Finch-Fletchley snorted.
"And what are you going to do if we don't reveal it to you, oh great Dark Lord?" the boy mocked.
Harry snickered lowly. "Terrorize the student body, punish those who annoy me," he told him while taping with his cane once resulting in the boy suddenly wearing girl's clothes much to his embarrassment. "Oh, and punishing those who deserve it. Maybe I should give you Crowley's phone number then he can tell you about the horrors…the nightmares I gave him. Just ask him about the threat of Frilly Pink with Unicorns!"
Now Finch-Fletchley outright laughed menacingly. "What? Is that your name now? Dark Lord Frilly Pink while riding on a unicorn? How…threatening."
Harry's face, on the other hand, lit up upon that question.
"That is a brilliant idea. You know I thought about some lame name like Voldemort…well, not exactly that name no, thank you very much, I mean do I look like I'm fleeing from Death? Zachariah yes but Death? Nope! But you know what I mean. However, your idea is so much better! Henceforth I shall be known as the Dark Lord Frilly Pink! Fitting don't you think?"
However, many were staring at him as if he finally lost it which in return threw the twins into a fit of laughter.
"Their faces…," they exclaimed. "Priceless!"
"As amusing this is," Michael spoke up with a chuckle. "But I think we have more pressing matters at hand than giving a certain demon a heart-attack. I'll ask only once, who did this?"
Michael let his gaze wander over the masses of students, but no one spoke up or stepped forward as the culprit. For a few minutes, silence reigned only interrupted by the still giggling twins when Michael sighed.
"Very well, you all should return to your dorms and get to sleep since it is already late. Harry, I'd ask you to stay behind for a moment," Michael instructed them.
Harry nodded and stood to the side so that the others could get past him. Hermione, Luna, and Neville quickly excused themselves, as much as they wanted to stay with Harry, they were tired and wanted to sleep, the excitement had left them. Sam and the twins though, who were all used to staying up overnight, stayed with Harry.
Once the teachers and the four students were alone in the corridor, Michael turned towards Harry with a concerned face.
"How do you feel, Harry?" he asked him.
"Thanks to Fawkes I feel much better but thanks for the concern. If I might ask, what is the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked in return.
Surprisingly it was Sam who answered. "It is a hidden chamber that is said to be made by Salazar Slytherin guarded by a monster only he was able to control," he explained. "No one knows where it is or how to get there."
"This is correct Mr Winchester though the Chamber was opened ones about seventy years ago. When that happened students turned up petrified and one girl even…," McGonagall added but wasn't able to end the sentence. "Albus, what if the same is happening again? I cannot bear to think what might happen this time."
Michael stroke his beard in thought but couldn't answer the woman's question.
"So, let me get things straight. We have a chamber no one knows the location of with a monster that no one has ever seen, which can get through the school unseen and even kill people if we don't stop it and fast?" Harry asked in shock and disbelief. "Not to mention that the only person likely being able to give us any answers is a man who's dead for a millennium now?"
"It seems to be that way," Flitwick replied thoughtfully.
"This day certainly doesn't want to end," Harry groaned before he vanished into thin air.
"Why do I have the foreboding feeling that the foolish boy just left to find Salazar Slytherin?" McGonagall questioned no one in particular.
"Because you know that he thinks this is the fastest way to get this particular problem solved," Michael answered with a shake of his head.
When Harry reappeared, he stood in a long hallway with white walls and digital displays in regular intervals showing all the same number. In the hall stood people as far as he could see, it must be hundreds if not thousands of people standing in one line. Next to him stood a desk behind which a woman sat, polishing her nails. Her aura told him plainly that she was a demon.
"Where the hell am I?" Harry asked the woman confused; this was not where he wanted to end up.
"Very observant, now draw a number and get in line," the demon retorted without even looking up.
"Oh, thank you, Ms Obvious, I would never have thought that I'm in hell. The question is where exactly in hell am I?" Harry drawled not in the mood of playing the demon's game; this day was getting too long already for his taste.
"Crowley's office, now…draw a number and get in line," she snapped at the end of her patience.
"What…Crowley's office? Why did I end up here?" Harry muttered before he addressed the demon again, who was now glaring holes into him. "I need to talk to him."
"Draw. A. Number!" she merely stated.
"Do you have any idea who I am?" Harry asked her with a smirk that spoke of nothing good for the receiving end of his annoyance.
"I don't care. Only because you were some big number in life, it doesn't mean that it is the same in death. Here in hell, you are nothing, a worm not worthy of my presence let alone Crowley's!"
Harry couldn't help himself but snicker while he placed his hands on the desk and leaned closer to the demon. "Oh sweetheart, I'm not even dead. Now, do the intelligent thing and let me through to Crowley or you'll be the reason for what might or might not happen in the future."
"Persuade yourself about that, but you're not getting to Crowley unless you draw a number, get in line and wait for your turn. That is my last word."
"If you now tell me that I have to get Permit A 38 before I can speak with Crowley, you will suffer," Harry threatened her, but she only looked at him blankly obviously not getting the hint. "Very well, on your head may it be."
With that Harry pulled out his mobile phone and after a quick scroll through the saved numbers he found Crowley's and dialled it while smirking at the woman behind the desk. It only ringed two times before a grumpy Crowley answered.
"Potter, what do you want? I have work to do," he grumbled.
"Hey Crow, the longer your little pet desk jockey-demon is keeping me from talking to you in person, and private the more severe my retaliation will be," Harry explained in a sweet voice.
He watched how the demon's eyes in front of him widened when she realised that yes, Harry had a phone that worked and Crowley obviously on quick dial.
Crowley, on the other hand, swallowed hard and even audible over the phone before Harry heard some shuffling on the other end of the line. Not soon later a pale looking Crowley appeared in a door behind the desk going even paler when he saw, that yes, Harry stood there waiting to talk to him.
Hanging up the call, Crowley rounded on the demon that had desk duty.
"Why didn't you instantly inform me that he is here?"
"What is so special about this boy?" the woman petulantly replied.
"Wha…this is Harry Potter," Crowley deadpanned.
That seemed to ring a bell with the other demon because she now looked shocked and a bit fearful at Harry.
"P-please forgive me, I didn't know," she stuttered.
"Oh, Ms., one day…maybe not today, or tomorrow, or next week but one day, when you think…pray that I forgot about this day, that day my reply will come, and you will know that everything was your fault and yours alone," Harry told her with a smirk that bordered on evil. "Because I don't forgive, and I certainly do not forget."
Crowley looked at Harry with a feeling of utter dread.
"We will talk later," he said to the demon. "Come, Harry, I don't think that you came here only to threaten my lackeys."
With a last smirk, Harry walked past the female demon and followed Crowley into his office. It was a quite large room with one wall covered in dark wooden bookshelves that were filled to the brim. In front of a large window that looked out over a lake of fire, stood a massive desk made of the same dark wood as the shelves. On it stood a laptop as well as a stack of papers, writing utensils and several other knickknacks.
Crowley rounded the desk and sat down while Harry flopped down on one of the chairs that stood in front of it.
"So why did you come here?" Crowley finally asked. "And what is with this getup? Halloween costume?"
"Nope, I recently became the newest British Dark Lord, and my friends thought this a good Dark Lord-ish attire. However, I was looking for someone though I have to wonder what the queue outside is all about," Harry wondered.
"Since Alastair went on holidays with Dean, we had to find some other way of torturing the souls of the damned, so we have them draw a number and wait in line only to repeat the process once they reached the desk," Crowley explained with a shrug.
"Ah, the torture of having to wait in a line only to be declined, though I think there is a better way," Harry said with a grin. "Why not having them to obtain Permit A 38?"
Crowley looked a bit confused, that was ringing some bells, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember where he heard about that particular thing.
"Permit A 38?" he therefore asked.
"The Twelve Tasks of Asterix where they have to go into The Place That Sends You Mad? Ringing any bells?"
The demon had to think about it for a minute or two, but in the end, he remembered.
"Oh, oh…OH," he exclaimed. "That is devious and all around brilliant. I knew there was a reason I liked you."
"Glad to be of help," Harry said with a smile. "Anyway, I was on the…," he continued when he had to yawn. "Sorry, been a long day and it still isn't over. Damn those idiots. I hope Loki is giving them hell before sending them…well to Hell."
"What happened?" Crowley asked while typing away on his laptop.
Half a minute later, the door opened, and the woman from the desk walked in with a vial in hand, which she placed on the table before she left without saying anything. Crowley picked the bottle up and held it out to Harry.
"Here drink that it will wake you up," he told the boy.
Harry carefully took the vial, opened it, and sniffed at it. It was a potion he didn't recognise, but he trusted Crowley not to want to kill him since it would hinder his plans, and so he downed it without a second thought. He instantly felt how he became more alert and his fatigue vanishing. Sure, Fawkes' tear had helped to invigorate him, but even that didn't last forever.
"Thank you. I had to heal about fifteen people because of the backlash of the ritual meant to revive Samhain," Harry growled.
"You're welcome. So, you want to tell me that the ritual affected Hogwarts?"
"Yep, during the feast in the evening suddenly dangerous stuff appeared in the sweets that were served…things like razors, needles, and such," Harry told the demon while trying to keep his anger in check, only the knowledge that Loki took care of those idiots kept him from going after them himself.
Crowley winced. "Why do I have the feeling that I should call Alastair back for their arrival?"
"Don't worry she'll be here, she and Dean were the ones to tell Loki where exactly to find the ones responsible," Harry said with a low chuckle. "However, I didn't come because of that but because I am searching for someone though I have no idea for why I landed here when trying to teleport to him."
"Whom are you looking for?" Crowley asked curiously.
"Salazar Slytherin, I need to know where the entrance to his blasted Chamber is," Harry huffed.
A/N: 'til next chapter!