Year two is nearly completed, yay! and Even better, I've finally commenced on the edits for year three, which has slowed down considerably, mainly because of how much I wanted to add to this book and the nuances that have come with experience in writing. many thanks to those who've reviewed, your words are always welcome and appreciated. ~F
Chapter Eleven
Slytherin Speaks
Harry and Faykan found themselves at the far end of a long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose up to support a ceiling lost in the darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, green gloom that reflected off the lit wand and sword.
His heart thundering in his chest, Harry stood still a moment and listened to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, just out of sight behind a pillar? And where were Draco and Ginny?
Faykan put a hand on his shoulder, calming him slightly with the reassurance, and together they made their way forward into the darkness between the serpentine columns, their footsteps echoing loudly.
Every few feet Harry wanted to freeze and listen, but Faykan kept prodding him onward, facing straight ahead and barely even inclining his head to look at him when Harry tried to protest the forward momentum. As they drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue as high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.
Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth, slick floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay two small, black robed figures, one with flaming red hair, and other silvery blond.
"No…" Faykan muttered. Both he and Harry sprinted to the fallen forms, Faykan slipping for a moment as they ran. It was a point handful of seconds, seeming to stretch for much longer before they actually arrived, and Harry kneeled next to Ginny while Faykan went to Draco.
"Don't be dead… please don't be dead…" Harry whispered, more to himself than anyone as he rolled Ginny over. Her face was white as marble, and just as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she couldn't be Petrified.
"Draco, please wake up," Faykan said desperately, shaking Draco fervently. His head lolled hopelessly from side to side and Faykan pulled his hand away. It was covered in blood.
"They won't wake," said a soft voice behind the pair. Both boys jumped and spun around, Faykan brandishing his sword high, prepared to defend them all.
A tall, black haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching them. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him.
"Tom… Tom Riddle?" Harry asked, confused. Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry's face.
"What d'you mean, they won't wake?" Harry said desperately. "They're not, not…?"
"They're still alive," Riddle replied, "but only just…"
Harry stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen. "Are you a ghost?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years.
He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it had got there; but there were more pressing matters to deal with.
"Harry," Faykan said softly, "We need to get the out of here… the basilisk…"
Harry nodded, hoisted Ginny half off the floor, and went to pick his wand off the floor…
But his wand was gone.
"Where…"
Harry looked up to find Riddle twirling Harry's wand between his long fingers.
Faykan narrowed his eyes back to Riddle, "Give Harry back his wand, Tom."
A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He glanced at Faykan for a moment, and paused for a long while, studying the other boy with a look that seemed a cross between confusion and irritation.
"Listen," said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. "We've got to go! If the basilisk comes…"
Riddle snapped out of his thoughts, turning back to Harry and grinning slightly. "It won't come until it's called…" he said calmly.
Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer. "What d'you mean?" he said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it…"
Riddle's smile broadened. "You won't be needing it," he countered.
"How did they get like this, Tom?" Faykan asked slowly, stepping forward a bit, placing himself between Riddle and the others. Harry saw him move to the side slightly, and his left hand reached for his wand inside his robes.
"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly, his eyes not leaving Harry as he spoke, "and quite a long story. I suppose the real reason these two students are like this is because Ginny Weasley opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Harry, growing angry.
"The diary," Riddle said, seeming to grow excited as he talked. "My 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 secondhand robes and books, how…" his eyes glinted, "how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter or his friends would ever like her…"
"You've been manipulating her from the beginning, haven't you Tom?" Faykan said coldly.
"You know, you remind me of someone I knew fifty years ago…" Riddle said abrasively, instantly losing his charming exterior as he shot a dirty glance at Faykan, "he was particularly nosy about my business then as well." Riddle eyed Faykan up and down for a moment once again, before adding, "You even resemble him remarkably."
"Your grandfather…" Harry breathed, his eyes meeting Faykan's momentarily before they returned to watching Riddle.
Riddle laughed; a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him and continued with his story. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck. "Not that it will matter in the long run, he's long dead by now I suspect, and if you even are related to him, it's not possible that you inherited his skill or his knowledge, so you are unlikely to be much of a threat to me, even with that overlarge knife you have… rather muggle of a weapon isn't it?" Riddle spat, casting scorn over Faykan before returning his attention to Harry, the eagerness in his eyes growing every moment.
"If I say it myself, I've always been able to charm the people I needed." He said, continuing his story, "so Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted... I grew stronger and 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 my soul back into her..."
Riddle continued to recount how he had made Ginny open the Chamber of Secrets, and set the monster upon all the students, Nick and Mrs. Norris. Riddle mentioned that he grew very curious about Harry when he had the diary in his possession. Harry and Faykan just stared at him. The other boy seemed to think he was the most ingenious person alive to be able to trick everyone.
"From everything Ginny had told me about you," he added, "I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery, particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue…"
Riddle paused, his eyes alight as though it was Christmas as he stared at Harry. "So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. Then the boy came in behind her, and I made her take him too. She didn't want to of course; she was rather smitten with him, you see. But there isn't much life left in her... She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last... I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."
"Like what?" Harry spat, fists clenched and leaving marks in his palms from his nails.
"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you, a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent, managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" he asked, demanding the knowledge with a red gleam in his hungry eyes.
"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was long after your time..."
Faykan's spoke next to Harry. "Because he is Voldemort, Harry…"
Harry turned to see the coldness in his friend's eyes as he gazed at Tom Riddle, shock and trace amounts of fear welling up inside him.
Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles were laughing at once. "Indeed I am, boy…" he said with a sidelong look at Faykan, before he turned back to Harry and grinned malevolently.
"To business then, Harry." He said, as though growing bored already talking to them, "Twice; in your past, in my future, we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you and your friend stay alive."
Harry was thinking fast, weighing his chances. Riddle had his wand and the Basilisk. Harry and Faykan had one wand and a sword between them. It looked bad, all right... but the longer Riddle stood there, the more life was dwindling out of Ginny and Draco... and in the meantime, Harry noticed suddenly, Riddle's outline was becoming clearer, more solid... If it had to be a fight between them and Riddle, better sooner than later.
"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," Harry said abruptly. "I don't know myself but I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me; my common Muggleborn mother," he added, suddenly shaking with his suppressed rage. "She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you… we both saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul…"
Riddle's face contorted. Then he forced it back into that awful smile. "So… Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now... there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both halfbloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike... but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."
Harry stood, tense, waiting for Riddle to raise his wand. But Riddle's twisted smile was widening again.
"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and his faithful bodyguard."
He cast an amused eye at Faykan again, and then simply walked away. Harry stepped slowly towards Faykan as Riddle stopped between the stone feet and looked up into the face of Slytherin. Harry felt something cold and metallic press into his hand, and he closed his fist around it desperately.
"When I yell, run for the exit, don't look back, no matter what, just get yourself out. I will hold him off." Faykan whispered in his ear.
But Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed just then, but Harry was too distract by being able to understand what he was saying to listen to Faykan: "Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four."
Harry spun to look at the statue, lifting Faykan's sword in his hands. It was surprisingly light for such a large weapon. Faykan had also raised his wand in a defensive position, ready to cast at the first sign of movement from Riddle or the statue.
Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horrorstruck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole. And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths.
"Go Harry!" Faykan shouted as he darted forward. Harry turned and ran, just as something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. But what chance could Faykan have against a Basilisk, the king of serpents? Then he heard Riddle's hissing voice: "Kill them."
Immediately, Harry heard the commanding voice of Faykan shout a spell, "elea naara wanwa." There was a roar of pain, and Harry couldn't help himself. He turned to look. The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. Where the snake's eyes should have been were two cauterized holes, as if the sockets had been burned away.
"NO!" Harry heard Riddle screaming. "You may have blinded the Basilisk, boy, but it can still smell you!"
The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Faykan was firing jets of multicolored light at it, trying to distract it long enough for Harry to escape, but Riddle began to attack Faykan. The smaller boy was forced onto the defensive, which allowed the Basilisk to recover from being blinded.
"Forget that one, your prey is behind you. Smell him out. Kill him!" Riddle hissed as he dueled with Faykan.
Harry was ready as the Basilisk turned. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him. He could see the scarred, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword, thin, glittering, venomous…
It lunged blindly; Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall. It lunged again, and its forked tongue lashed against Harry's side. He raised the sword in both his hands.
The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true. Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth.
But as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.
Harry slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color.
"HARRY!" Faykan screamed. Harry could hear the sounds of running footsteps coming towards him, and someone hefted him into their arms, but it was too difficult to focus. Another shadow moved in front of him.
"He's as good as dead, boy. But Lord Voldemort is merciful… I will let you live, just long enough to see your precious hero fall before me." Riddle laughed. "And only then will I kill you as well…"
But Faykan was murmuring in Harry's ear, completely ignoring Riddle's taunts, a spell weaving through the words that Harry could only half make out in his delirium, "coia auta n'alaquel, harwa poika"
Riddle apparently took no notice of what Faykan was doing, because he continued gloating, "I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time.
I'm in no hurry."
Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning.
"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Down in the Chamber of Secrets, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry... She bought you twelve years of borrowed time ... but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must . . . ."
'If this is dying,' thought Harry, 'it's not so bad.'
Even the pain was leaving him...
But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Faykan, holding his wand over Harry's wound; except that there was no wound anymore.
"Get away, boy," said Riddle's voice suddenly. "Get away from him… NO! What have you done?"
Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry's wand at Faykan, and suddenly there was the sound of gagging. Faykan was clutching his throat, unable to breathe.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Riddle roared raising the wand higher, lifting Faykan off the ground; suspending him in midair as the life was slowly strangled out of him.
Rage consumed Harry's mind. His friends were dying and there was nothing he could do. He glared at Riddle, contempt and anger boiling within him, and suddenly his scar burned white hot. His vision clouded in blinding whiteness, and there was some sort of music that he couldn't make out past the pain in his skull.
Riddle started to scream. There was an explosion of sound, and sight returned to Harry's eyes as he spotted the last remnants of Riddle fluttering to the ground.
Faykan collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard with blood trickling from his nose. Harry's wand had also clattered to the ground. Shaking all over, Harry pulled himself up. His head was spinning as though he'd just traveled miles by Floo powder, but the sensation was fading quickly as he pulled Faykan to his feet, and finally retrieved the sword from the roof of the Basilisk's mouth.
Then there came a faint moan from the end of the Chamber. Ginny was stirring. As Harry hurried toward her, she sat up. Her bemused eyes traveled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over Harry, in his blood-soaked robes, then to the diary in his hand. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.
Harry tried to comfort her, and he saw Faykan kneel by Draco, who still hadn't awoken. Faykan lifted to boy's head and examined the wounds to the back of Draco's head. Finally Faykan set him down and lifted his wand over him. "Draco lasto beth nîn, tolo dan nangalad." Slowly, Draco retuned to consciousness, groaning in the sudden pain in his head.
"What happened?" Draco said after a moment, "Last thing I remember was following Ginny into Myrtle's bathroom and something hitting me on the head."
"You were taken into the Chamber of Secrets, Draco. You and Ginny; she was being possessed by Tom Riddle, the heir of Slytherin." Faykan turned to Harry, "We really should get them out of here and up to the hospital wing."
"Riddle!" Ginny cried out suddenly, looking around, "Where is he? The last thing I remember is him coming out of the diary."
"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the diary as proof. It was blackened and still lightly smoldering. "Riddle's finished. Look, both him and the basilisk." He added, offering a hand to the Gryffindor girl up, "C'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here…"
"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and… w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"
Faykan led the way out of the Chamber, supporting Draco while Harry helped Ginny, as well as listening to her sob quietly in distress, but otherwise unable to help too much with the emotion turmoil that the girl was facing.
Harry did the only thing he knew he could help with, and urged Ginny forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. Harry heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss.
After a few minutes' progress back up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Harry's ears.
"Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!"
He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through a surprisingly sizable gap the red head had managed to make through the rock fall.
"Ginny!" Ron said in excitement at the sight of his sister, thrusting an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened?"
"We'll explain when we get out of here," Faykan said as he eased Draco through the gap.
"But…" Ron started to protest, but Harry cut him off. "Later," he said shortly.
After crossing though the pile of stones, they reached the pipe where they had entered mere minutes later, Draco now walking under his own power while Harry and Ron supported Ginny.
"Um, how are we going to get back up?" Ron asked.
"Stairs…" Harry hissed, purely on a hunch, and indeed, stairs emerged out of the tunnel walls at his command, spiraling back up to Myrtle's bathroom. The ghost goggled at them as they emerged from the tunnel.
"You're alive," she said, looking blankly at Harry.
"There's no need to sound so disappointed," he replied grimly, wiping flecks of blood and slime off his glasses. Faykan snorted loudly in agreement to the sarcastic responce.
"Where to now?" Draco said, and Faykan took the lead, guiding them directly to Professor McGonagall's office, and barging right in without knocking.
There was a moment of total silence that followed Harry, Faykan, Ron, Draco and Ginny walking through the doorway, each covered in some mixture of muck, slime and blood, which was finally broken only by the scream of Mrs. Weasley as she launched herself from her seat at her daughter, followed closely by her husband.
Harry, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming at them all with pride clearly written in his face, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps of shock at the sight of the students, clutching her chest.
Harry felt himself, Faykan and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasleys tight embrace seconds after she released Ginny.
"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?" the woman implored.
"I think we'd all like to know that," added Professor McGonagall weakly, still looking like she might have a heart attack right there in front of them.
Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, who hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the desk and laid upon it what remained of Riddle's diary.
Only then did he start telling them everything. For nearly a quarter of an hour he spoke into the rapt silence: He told them about hearing the disembodied voice throughout the year; how Hermione had finally realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he, Faykan, Draco and Ron had followed the spiders into the forest; that Aragog had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how they had guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom.
"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompted him as he paused for breath, "so you found out where the entrance was, breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add, but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter?"
So Harry, and soon also Faykan once Harry's voice started to grow weak from exhaustion, told them about Riddle, the diary, and about Harry using Faykan's sword to kill the Basilisk while Faykan fending off Riddle's memory.
"Might I examine this sword, Mr. Undol," Dumbledore requested softly, and Faykan unsheathed and presented the weapon to the Headmaster. Dumbledore looked at the blade with great interest, and studied the rune covered hilt. "Mr. Undol, by any chance do you know what these runes on the hilt read?" he asked.
"Certainly," Faykan replied quickly, "they read: Turgon aran Gondolin tortha, Gar a matha I vegil Glamdring Gud Daedheloth, Dam an Glamhoth. And it means: Turgon king of Gondolin wields, has and holds the sword Glamdring, Foe of Morgoth's realm, and hammer to the Orcs."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in amazement, even while Professor McGonagall looked more shocked than she had since they walked in, "You know how to read and speak the ancient language of the elves, Mr. Undol?" she asked.
"Yes, Professor, I do." Faykan replied humbly. Dumbledore returned Faykan his sword and picked up the blackened diary from Harry, peering keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages. Finally, Dumbledore looked up at the Weasleys, then over to Draco, who was sitting in the background trying to stay awake.
"Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy should go up to the hospital wing right away," he said in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for them both." He strode over to the door and opened it, "They need bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he added, his eyes twinkling kindly at Ginny specifically. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice; I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."
Mrs. Weasley led a somewhat more optimistic Ginny out, and Mr. Weasley followed, still looking deeply shaken. Draco turned and left with Ron supporting him. Only as he left did Harry notice how very tired he appeared. Only once he accepted that, did his own body start to feel overwhelmingly sluggish and unresponsive, and slowly he sank onto one of the chairs in the office, feeling like lead weights were holding him down.
"You know, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you to go and alert the kitchens?"
"Right," said Professor McGonagall crisply, also moving to the door. "I'll leave you to deal with Potter and Undol, shall I?"
"Certainly," Dumbledore replied.
She left, and Harry and Faykan gazed uncertainly at Dumbledore. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant, deal with them? Surely… surely, they weren't about to be punished?
"I seem to remember telling you both as well as Mr. Weasley that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules, said Dumbledore.
Harry opened his mouth in horror.
"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling. "The three of you will receive Special Awards for Services to the School and, let me see, yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."
For a minute, none of them spoke. Then Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in Professor McGonagall's desk and took out a quill and a bottle of ink.
"What you need, boys, is some food and a great deal of sleep. I suggest you go down to the feast, while I write to Azkaban; we need our gamekeeper back. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too," he added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher... Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"
Harry rose, only with Faykan's assistance, and started toward the door. They had only just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.
Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.
"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly, looking completely unsurprised that the other man was present at this time.
Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry and Faykan over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after the man, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on the elf's face.
"So!" Mr. Malfoy said "You've come back. The Governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."
"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, "the other eleven Governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that both Arthur Weasley's daughter and your son had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too... Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."
Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury.
"My son…" he started, sounding worried, before his voice hardened once more, "so, have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"
"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile.
"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"
"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."
He held up the small black book with the large hole through the center, watching Mr. Malfoy closely.
"I see..." said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore.
"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Harry here," Mr. Malfoy shot Harry a swift, sharp look, "and his friends Faykan and Ron hadn't discovered this book, why… Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will…"
Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly masklike.
"And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "what might have happened then... The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pureblood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggleborns... Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise..."
Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak.
"Very fortunate," he said stiffly. Mr. Malfoy turned to Harry again, "I suppose I must thank you for saving the life of my son." He looked through his robes, and then turned to look down at Dobby with a small, nasty grin. "Ah…" he breathed, "I present you with this gift and my thanks…" he said pointing at Dobby. "Dobby, I formally give ownership of you to Harry Potter." He nodded and left quickly afterward, slamming the door behind him, and leaving a very excited and somewhat confused House Elf staring up at Harry.
elea naara wanwa : sight burn away
coia auta n'alaquel, harwa poika : life return, wound be clean
lasto beth nîn, tolo dan nangalad : hear my voice, come back to the light.
Potential Spoiler's Ahead, you have been warned!
Minor tweaks here and there, mainly in the conversation between Faykan, Harry and Tom Riddle, emphasizing the similarities with Faykan and... well himself many years prior, but if anyone hasn't guessed that I don't know what to say. This is also likely the last chapter for a little while that will not be heavily looked over and edited for additional content, as the beginning of year three is heavy with things that I wanted to embellish and sculpt far cleaner than before. even the epilogue, which will come in two weeks for year two underwent a nice addition just to set up year three, so there is lots of new content to come. Many thanks once more, and have a wonderful pair of weeks before the next update.