A/N: Welcome to a fic I started writing in 2014 and never posted. I'm currently ironing out anything I'm not happy with, fixing some errors and dividing the whole huge thing into readable chapters of decent length. I'll have approximately 4 chapters total of content that was written up in 2014, the rest of which may or may not happen based on if I feel like writing or not.
So, welcome to the discovery of the Slytherin legacy, and enjoy~
Harry was done. Completely and utterly done! He had watched Cedric get killed last year and saw Voldemort come back, duelled with him and barely escaped with his life. He had to cope with the guilt of causing Cedric's death and the nightmares that followed and had been shunned by his friends mostly throughout the year. If that wasn't enough, any and all letters he had sent to his friends had been completely ignored.
Once the Order had finally deemed everything ready to come release him from the hellhole he had dubbed Durzkaban, things hadn't gone much better. Ron and Hermione had both insisted that ignoring him had been the right thing to do as per Dumbledore's orders and thus saw no reason for Harry to be even remotely angry with them over the fact.
Being reunited with Sirius was only a small solace, as he didn't even get to spend much time with his godfather. Every morning the prophet would have another headline about how insane Dumbledore was and how much of an attention-seeking prat he was, and the Ministry's smear campaign against him didn't look as though it would be stopping anytime soon.
The adults even seemed to think they could order his life about for him, telling him to hurry up and forgive Ron and Hermione for not mailing him as he had 'no right' to give them a hard time over it.
Harry was quickly becoming sick of the whole charade. Cedric's death still weighed heavily on him but by the way everyone was acting, they seemed to already have forgotten about it completely. Neither did anyone seem to remember that both of his supposedly best friends had abandoned him under the face of the Tournament. They above everyone should have realised he wanted nothing to do with the damn thing!
His temper kept getting away from him more easily as the days pressed on, snapping at everyone around him when sensitive topics like last year and Cedric were brought up carelessly, not that anyone seemed to notice what was bothering him. Or if they did notice, they simply didn't care.
Day after day he was reminded of everything that had happened the previous year, and it only cemented the fact that wizards were fickle creatures in his mind. They would follow the most popular opinion like sheep and care little about the end result. That had been proved when not only Ron and Hermione but also nearly the entire school turned against him despite everything he had always done to protect those around him.
It was a week and a half into his stay at Grimmauld Place that Harry had finally had enough of their blabbering and ordering him about. He needed time to properly mourn and come to terms with what had happened the previous year. All he wanted was for everyone to simply stop and leave him alone, so he made sure they would.
It was the next morning that he announced that he wanted to be left alone completely (to cope with the hardships of Cedric's loss and Voldemort's return, as an excuse) and would come out only when he wanted to. Once he had managed to make that clear — and get rid of the racket that ensued — he locked himself in the Black Library, occasionally switching to the Family Tree room. Both were quite intriguing.
Within the Black Library he had discovered a small marble statue of a king cobra, coiled and ready to strike. Not keeping into account that this was a fully magical home with a centuries old legacy, he began ranting at it, expressing and outing the emotions he had been feeling all throughout the summer, explaining what had happened and how he was being treated as a result. It had felt good to vent.
What he hadn't realised was that as he paced he had slipped into parseltongue, as he had been speaking to the snake. Whilst pacing he came near the back wall of the library which, when picking up on the hissed language, swiftly folded open to reveal a doorway to a hidden chamber that had obviously not been there before.
Apparently the Blacks were somehow related to the Slytherin family, which caused a reaction. The sudden grating noise startled Harry and he got his wand out, turning to face the origin of the sound. His eyes widened as he regarded the altered wall, which had been covered by a solid bookcase only moments earlier. Upon closer inspection he noticed the bookcase had several serpents engraved in the wood, hissing and coiling along the sides of the wood contently.
Within the doorway was an elegant but simple door with a dark green varnish and the Slytherin crest engraved on the doorknob. All in all it looked rather plain for a hidden door to untold secrets in the back of the manor of Dark Arts practitioners...
A little hesitantly he opened the door and entered a rather well kept study, which seemed to be an extension of the library for parselmouths. Once he requested it, the lights flickered on and he was left to stare at all the books and journals that were spread over the place, covering every all in sight and more.
Though not unordered, it looked like would be quite difficult to find anything specific in there. Still, his curiosity got the better of him and he approached the desk on the side of the room and sat down, admiring one of the leather-bound journals that lay there. One of the spines read 'Septimus Archonus Slytherin' and seemed to belong to one of Slytherin's descendants; talk about getting more than you bargained for.
He had never expected to find something of such value in the Black library. It would have made much more sense had these been stored in the Slytherin vault where they belonged, but perhaps these were all Slytherin-blooded Blacks? It would make more sense to keep hose books here for the next heir to find than in the Slytherin vault, which was most likely very difficult to get at.
What was even more curious to him was that this journal belonged to someone that had lived only about three hundred years ago. In wizarding values that wasn't much at all, especially considering the Slytherin line had all but died out according to history, ending with the current lord: Voldemort.
Opening the journal he was surprised to find no charms or curses attached to it, before berating himself on not checking before he touched the books in the first place. With a start he realised that these books had been placed here for the next heir to read and learn from. But why was that the case?
Harry wasn't of Slytherin blood as far as he knew, so— By all accounts, Voldemort should have gotten a hold of these, though he did not like the prospect of Voldemort in possession of the mountain of knowledge presented here. It was a little surprising that none of the Blacks in his service had handed the library to their lord, but then perhaps they had not known of this room either?
As he began to read and he learned of Septimus' youth through the boy's eyes his remaining irritation faded, the rest having been mostly absorbed by the innocent marble cobra. The distraction was quite welcome and soon he found himself spending hours on end reading from the diary.
In the process, he learned a remarkable amount of titbits about pureblood customs and mannerisms. After all, young Septimus had recorded his lessons and what he found interesting about them, what he thought could be improved and so on. He really was quite studious as a child, unlike Harry.
Although now that he thought about it, he was having a lot of fun learning from these experiences now that he had no one lording over him or pressuring him into working. He found he very much liked this method. He might even follow in Septimus' footsteps and hire tutors for his own classes. Maybe he would even finally not be rubbish at potions, who knew?
Pureblood society really was very intricate though. He found that the ways one addressed an Heir or a Lord differed and that different bows and curtsies represented different greetings, keeping count of the status of the other, their social standing and their power, be it political or financial. Septimus' journal was really useful as it wasn't as out-dated as some others would be, though he would learn a lot about the foundation of the current society if he would read the rest. Which he certainly was planning on doing if his current vigour was any indication.
His reading into Septimus' past had been a very eye-opening experience. He watched as the boy became a man and recounted what he could of the process of becoming Lord Black, which was the only of his titles he could use publicly. Other families were mentioned as well and he was surprised to find mention of the Potters and the almost friendly rivalry the lords Potter and Black were entertaining at the time.
Doing the math easily enough, Harry realised the Potter seat on the Wizengamot would still be active, albeit possibly under proxy, and that in only two years, he would be expected to take up his lordship and take his oaths to join their governing body. It was a daunting prospect that had him wishing otherwise, but looking around to the books surrounding him, he felt a sense of peace settle over him. He had all the guidance he would need and more at his disposal in this very room, not to mention the portraits in the halls that he could ask for advice from.
Knowing this now and intent to make a good impression once he returned to Hogwarts in a scant few weeks he began pouring over the journals of Septimus Slytherin-Black's life again, focussing with a sharper eye on the lessons the other had lived through by his tutors as a child. It made him wonder how many of his peers had to deal with that very same situation...
Neville was undoubtedly being prepared by his grandmother to fulfil his role as Heir and future Lord of the house Longbottom, and loath a he was to admit it, Malfoy had undoubtedly been trained to fit perfectly with the pureblood ways. Parkinson, Nott, Greengrass and several other classmates would have dealt with this as well and should be wearing their heir rings currently.
With all of his newly attained knowledge he knew he was due for a visit to Gringotts to retrieve his own, which came with it's own set of problems. Dumbledore hadn't allowed him to leave Privet Drive, so he likely wouldn't let him leave Grimmauld Place either and getting in contact with his account manager was, while important, not going to be an easy task...
Finally, after a lot of inner debating and a healthy meal that Dobby had brought him he decided to finally come out of seclusion, mingle with those treacherous bastards for a while and then take Sirius apart to talk about it and swear him to secrecy either way. His godfather, raised as a pureblood, would know what he should do.
He sighed, already knowing Mrs Weasley was going to rant and demand he get a proper meal as soon as he got downstairs, even though they all knew that Dobby brought him his food daily, as well as provided snacks whenever he requested them.
He had refused contact with the rest of them and had Dobby arrange everything, including a check for potions on anything Molly Weasley made for him, in which several compulsion potions were detected on a fairly regular basis. That sole fact had gotten him to force a decision onto himself and never trust her again, or the man he knew was giving her orders: Albus Dumbledore.
If he had been allowed to use magic he would have cast a disillusionment charm or something to hide his presence but he had no such luck so he would have to deal with being uncovered as soon as he set foot outside of the library. Though if he intended on going to deal with them, it would be in a pureblood way; that would shut them up.
He was going to have a ball if they were going to freak out and proclaim him Dark simply because of his change in attitude though. It would only fuel his choice to remove himself from the war and become neither. He would simply be grey and damned be those who demanded otherwise! He had no obligation to any of them.
With that he gathered both of his instincts, Gryffindor courage and Slytherin cunning and finally unlocked the library door to head downstairs— though not before ordering Dobby to keep anyone from entering the library. No one was to discover his secret study after all. It seemed the walls had ears as Molly Weasley rushed out of the kitchen as soon as he set foot on the stairs of the first floor. Bloody overbearing woman!
"Harry! Oh dear, you're finally back. I do hope you're alright? You look a bit pale perhaps, nothing a good meal can't fix! Come on dearie, I'm sure you've had nothing to eat yet!" The familiarity she proclaimed annoyed him to no ends now, especially after having read about purebloods and she and Mr Weasley were both purebloods, so what the hell? They acted nothing like a proper Lord and Lady would, respected house or otherwise.
"Mrs Weasley, please calm down. I have had a meal, I assure you, and I am not ready to come talk with everyone yet. However I do find myself with the need to speak with my godfather; so if you'll excuse me." He had been impeccably polite, which was exactly what had stunned the Weasley matriarch into silence long enough for him to brush past her and find Sirius in the kitchen with the others.
Before they could send a barrage of questions at him that he knew would come, he held up his hand, halting them. "Sirius, do you have a moment? I'd like to speak with you, in private." He knew that Sirius would realise what his straightened posture and the seriousness on his face and in his gaze meant, having been brought up in what Harry had learned over the past few weeks. A curt nod from Sirius was followed with him getting up and excusing himself from the conversation he had been partaking in.
The two of them excluded themselves in what Harry found to be the Black study. It was quite magnificent really but now was not the time to think on the subtle beauty of the room or it's furniture. Once the two of them were alone, Sirius instantly broke formality.
"Harry, are you okay? We haven't seen you for weeks, everyone was worried sick about you..." Harry simply smiled in return and shook his head. "I'm doing much better Sirius. But what I'm going to tell you and ask of you cannot leave these walls, so if you could?" He trailed off, knowing no explanation was necessary, though he had no way of knowing if Sirius would agree.
"Don't worry Harry, these walls are completely warded, including secrecy wards that cause the matters inside to be kept secret. I couldn't tell anyone even if I wanted to." He grinned his usual wolfish grin, looking a little smug, even though he had obviously not done the warding himself. Trust a Black to be paranoid about information, though quite justly, of course.
"Good. I'm sorry about the formality just now Sirius but I've come across some very interesting books in the library and I've learned a lot about pureblood society and politics while I was locked away. I need to get to Gringotts soon and arrange for a bunch of things to be fixed, along with my emancipation."
The new information cause Sirius pause, registering what Harry had said as quickly as possible. "Wait, emancipation?" Harry grinned and nodded. "By granting me a full trial in front of the Wizengamot for underage magic they declared me an adult by default of treating me like one. I've got a feeling the TriWizard Tournament might have played up on that as well. If I get the right papers signed I can use magic outside of school. I reckon I'll need it either way, with Voldemort on the loose."
Sirius nodded, his expression grave though his eyes betrayed glee at Harry's sly plan. "I don't think ditching the Order will be too much of a problem. Just set them up and say we'll be studying some stuff together and they'll leave us alone as long as we want." Sirius grinned, mischief obvious as he celebrated the thought of getting out of the house.
"Well then, is it possible for us to go right now? It's still pretty early and I need new robes. We both know I can't do any form of business in these rags. Not to mention be seen in them in public." He knew now how much public opinion and appearance mattered now and he scrunched his nose at the thought of his presentation during previous years. It only served to showcase how nervous he was though, making Sirius laugh.
"Don't worry cub, the Goblins don't care for appearances it much and you'll probably want to do Gringotts business before showing yourself in public as the Potter Heir. Not to mention I've got a few surprises going and this is the perfect chance for me to finish them, right under Dumbledore's nose." Harry grinned at that statement. "You don't like Dumbledore much either, huh?"
Harry was immensely glad for the acceptance that Sirius was giving him and the help he offered and though it was a slight bit unexpected, he did feel he could trust his godfather— he had learned early on always to trust his instincts. They planned for a little while about how they intended to go about the matter before deciding on a plan and having Sirius announce to the rest they were going to be busy studying for a while and that Dobby would tend to them for food and the like.
Everything was coming along marvellously and Sirius used a glamour spell to make Harry look a bit more like a Black, the difference would be enough to hide his identity for the trip's duration. Hiding under his father's invisibility cloak they made their way out of the house and apparated to Diagon Alley.