I seem to be spending a lot of time apologizing for my tardiness in updating…this time, it was because my computer died, completely.  Luckily, I backup all my files…

Chapter 11

On Christmas Eve, Harry woke full of excitement about actually seeing Tom in person. He started out the morning trying to study, but he was too excited to really concentrate, so he worked off some energy by going out on his Firebolt until lunch time. He came back to the castle to eat lunch, and after lunch practiced more Dark spells in the Room of Requirement. He ate a light dinner, and then decided to spend the rest of the evening in the Chamber waiting for Tom. When he entered the Chamber, Salazar was once again waiting for him. Harry informed the spirit that Tom would be arriving at midnight, and then entered the library and sat down on one of the armchairs. The library's fireplace roared to life as soon as Harry sat down. Unfortunately, his plan to spend the day working off excess energy had worked a little too well, and Harry quickly fell asleep.

He was awoken several hours later by a wet nose nudging against his face. He opened his eyes to see a gigantic ebony panther with its front paws resting on his shoulders and its back paws resting on the ground. Harry screamed in shock, but didn't try to move. The panther transformed into a smirking Tom, who was in the same position the panther had been in seconds before. Tom had decided to return Harry's favour from the other night, and he leaned in and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Happy Christmas," he said, and then levered himself gracefully up and moved to sit in the chair opposite Harry's.

"Happy Christmas, Tom" Harry responded. "Was there any reason for coming in your animagus form, other than startling me, that is?"

"I decided to take a page out of your godfather's book. Though I cannot be kept out of Hogwarts, nor can you, the wards Dumbledore has placed on the Hogwarts grounds would alert him to the presence of Lord Voldemort in the castle. An innocent panther, however, is just one more creature in the forest. Then here in the Chamber, it was safe to resume my usual form, as Salazar built this place to be slightly separate from the main castle, and he still controls the wards."

"Oh. That makes sense." Harry paused. "I wouldn't have expected you to be a panther."

"No?" Tom said, raising an eyebrow in an invitation for Harry to elaborate.

"No," Harry affirmed. "I would have expected you to be a snake, although I guess that is a bit narrow-minded of me. It suits you, though. Being a panther, I mean."

"You think so?" Tom was amused. "Why is that?"

Harry blushed. "Well, there's the obvious, that you have dark hair like a panther's fur. You're graceful, just like a panther, and you can hide in the shadows until you attack. And of course, you're very powerful and dangerous."

Tom smiled. Though he would never admit it, he absolutely loved hearing sincere compliments, and he while he had certainly heard more eloquent praise than Harry's, he had never heard it given with such absolute sincerity. Spending time with Potter was certainly good for his ego. "I assume that you've read the book about becoming an animagus by now?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "But I've been focusing more on the Dark spells, so I haven't made a lot of progress."

"There is another book on the subject that you might find useful. It describes the process of finding your inner animal in much richer detail. It was, in fact, written by Hogwarts' own Minerva McGonagall."

"Really? Professor McGonagall wrote a book? I guess it makes sense; she is an animagus and the Transfiguration professor. But I assume it's not in the Chamber library, since it's much too new for that, and it's probably in the Restricted Section of the regular school library. I could probably get permission to take it out, but I don't want anyone to know I'm studying this. I suppose I could order it, but owl post doesn't always stay confidential."

"And the Ministry requires book stores to report any sales of that book, due to the legal restrictions on becoming an animagus. I doubt you want the Ministry aware of what you are attempting."

"Not in the least," Harry agreed. "I guess it's something to think over, and in the meantime I'll keep trying with the book you suggested. I probably just need to focus a little more." Then Harry smiled, having just remembered the beribboned parchment he had left on the otherwise empty shelf. "Be right back," he said, and got up and went to the shelf where he had left the scroll, ignoring Tom's question of where Harry was going. He retrieved the parchment and came back to the armchairs in front of the fireplace. Now, looking into Tom's puzzled eyes, he was a little bit nervous. "Um…I hope you don't mind, but I…erm…got you something for Christmas. Well, not got you, exactly, I didn't think you'd want anything I could buy, so it's something I made, sort of, or I guess something I did for you. So um…Happy Christmas, Tom." Harry thrust the rolled up parchment into Tom's hands.

Tom was taken by surprise. It hadn't occurred to him at all that Harry would give him a Christmas gift. It took him a moment to accept the parchment from Harry, and as he untied the ribbon and unrolled the scroll, he was still rather bemused. When he finished opening the scroll and realized what it was, surprise turned to complete shock. Whatever he had been expecting to see written on the scroll, this wasn't it. Harry had made a list of everything he knew about the Order, which turned out to be quite a bit. The information was also neatly written and well organized, and he had already spotted several things Severus had not been able to tell him in his quick scan of the list.

"Do you like it?" Harry asked nervously.

Tom quickly recovered from his shock, and smiled his most brilliant beaming smile at Harry. He had shown that smile to a few others before, but it had always been done intentionally. This time, the smile had just come over his face, before he could even begin to control it. "It's perfect, Harry," he said. "I am truly impressed by the depth of the information. It will be exceedingly useful."

Harry beamed back at Tom, as Tom re-rolled the parchment and re-tied the ribbon. Tom continued, "I shall look at this in detail when I return home. But I find myself now feeling a bit embarrassed. I am unprepared to reciprocate your gesture."

"Huh? Oh, I didn't expect you to at all," Harry said honestly. "I mean, you've given me so much already, talking to me and teaching me, and I just wanted to show you how much I appreciate it."

"I understand, Harry. Still, it is Christmas, and it would be inappropriate not to give a gift in return." He pondered for a moment, and then his face lit up as he thought of an answer. "Here is what I shall give you in return—I know you are concerned for the safety of your friends and allies. Write a list of five people, the five people that you hold most dear, and when you have written the list, inform me of your choices. Those five people will be given an amnesty, and I promise that neither I nor my servants will ever intentionally harm them, not physically, mentally, or magically." Tom was in such a good mood that he thought he might even keep that promise. The only two people who absolutely had to die were Dumbledore and Potter himself. Dumbledore was no longer in Potter's good graces, and Potter, noble Gryffindor that he was, would never even consider putting himself on that list.

"Thank you Tom!" Harry exclaimed, and threw his arms around Tom in a forceful hug. Tom returned the hug a bit gingerly, and then extricated himself while saying "Choose carefully, Harry. I'm sure you know that your decision is final, and I will not allow you to change your mind."

Just then, the spirit of Salazar entered the room. "Happy Christmas, Tom, Harry," he said.

"Happy Christmas, Salazar," Harry responded automatically.

"Good evening, sir," was Tom's more formal response.

Harry yawned, and Salazar decided that was the perfect opening. "I think you must be tired, lion cub. Why don't you go on up to bed? I need to speak with Tom privately."

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I am pretty sleepy. Goodnight, Tom, and thank you again for the gift. I'll let you know soon. Goodnight, Salazar." With those words, Harry whispered "§exit,§" and vanished from the Chamber.

"So, Tom," Salazar began again after Harry left. "Friends with the Boy-Who-Lived? The one who defeated you fifteen years ago, and the only one with the power to do it again? I admit that it has been some years since we last saw each other, but that doesn't really seem like you. Nor would I expect Harry to be so magnanimous as to simply forget about your past deeds against him. I do believe there is more to this situation than Harry is currently aware of. What are you plotting, my heir?"

Tom's lips dipped into a brief smirk. "It seems it is true that one can never fool a Slytherin. But before I answer you, why do you wish to know? Do you not have confidence in my abilities?"

"You have proven yourself quite a capable and competent wizard. Partly, I am simply curious as to how this came about. Partly, I wish to know if I might be of use to you in your plans."

"I daresay you're bored, my ancestor," Tom commented wryly.

"Perhaps I am, at that. Are you planning on explaining sometime tonight?"

Tom smiled. "It's a bit of a long story."

"My pressing social engagements will just have to wait, I suppose," Salazar shot back.

Tom sighed, and began. "You are aware, I think, of the mental link between myself and Harry created by the rebounded Avada Kedavra?"

Salazar nodded.

"Forgive me if I repeat anything you already know. I would prefer to be thorough. That link between myself and Harry used to make Harry feel extreme pain whenever I was near him. It also caused him to feel my emotions whenever they were particularly strong. At times, he would enter my mind and see through my eyes. None of this could be controlled by either of us, not even through Occlumency."

"Harry has told me as much. He said, and you implied, that something changed. He did not understand what had changed, or the reasons behind it. Do you?"

"As you may or may not know, Harry and I had another confrontation last June, at the Ministry of Magic. I used the link between us to send Harry a false vision of his godfather being tortured, so that the boy would come running to save the day. Harry arrived at the Ministry with five of his friends in tow. He and his friends fought against my Death Eaters, and they were on the brink of defeat when several members of the Order of the Phoenix appeared on the scene. The battle continued. Eventually, I went there myself, and shortly after my arrival, Dumbledore came. I dueled with my old Transfiguration professor, and at one point during the duel, I possessed Potter. I am still uncertain as to exactly what happened, and indeed I may never know, but during my possession of the boy, something about our link changed. Its colour in my mind, which used to be a sickly dull red, has become a vibrant green, and the change in colour happened at the exact moment that I possessed Potter. After that day, my presence no longer caused Potter any pain, nor do we ever share feelings involuntarily, unless we are in close proximity to each other and the emotion is particularly strong. Nor did Potter ever again enter my mind and see through my eyes. For over two months, I thought the link between us was no longer important, or even functional."

"Obviously something happened to prove you wrong," Salazar said, returning Tom's dry tone.

"Indeed, though it turned out to be most fortuitous. One night in September, Potter's mind was once again pulled to me. This time, however, he did not see through my eyes. He appeared in front of me, in an illusory body created by his mind. He did not immediately attack me, not even verbally. Instead, he looked at me in awe. Of course, I knew something had to be wrong. I used Legilimency and determined that the boy was under the influence of a rather powerful love potion, Erodition, I believe. A girl at school had gifted him with some contaminated snack cakes, and while the boy was not foolish enough to eat them immediately, he threw them into his trunk and forgot about them. Later that night, craving a midnight snack, he had consumed them, exhaustion having caused him to forget the danger. After eating them, he fell asleep. His mind was pulled to mine, and thus I was the first person he saw after consuming the potion."

Salazar nodded thoughtfully. "Erodition, you say? Yes, that would make sense. Still, that explains Potter's lack of animosity toward you. It does not explain yours toward him."

"My animosity toward Potter continues. I have simply decided to take advantage of this opportunity to use him for my own ends. I will make Potter believe I care for him in return, thereby cementing his loyalty. The boy is powerful, as I am sure you have noticed, and more intelligent than he chooses to show. I have already begun to teach him to use his true power, the way Dumbledore will not. Potter has, under my direction, been studying Parselmagic and Dark spells, right under Dumbledore's nose. He has already been most useful to me as a spy, and soon he will be my soldier as well. His power, joined with mine, will easily defeat Dumbledore and the rest of the Light. And when the battle is finished, when the world is mine, I will dispose of him."

"I see," Salazar replied, though with a slight quirk to his mouth.

Tom, of course, noticed the quirk. "There's something you're not saying. Do you see a fault in my plan?" he asked, though confident that his plan did not have any faults.

"I do not see a fault in your plan. I am sure that you are aware that you are a truly gifted actor. Had you been born a muggle, I'm certain you could have pursued a career in the West End."

Tom gave a frustrated sigh. "What is your point?"

Salazar paused for a moment, considering how best to phrase his response. Finally, he said, "Simply this. We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."(1)

Tom couldn't believe what his ancestor had just said. "Are—are you saying I might actually be falling for the boy?" he said, his voice dripping with incredulity.

"Are you?" Salazar replied. The spirit then vanished from the room.

"Wait a minute!" Tom screamed, leaping to his feet. "Get back here you demented old revenant! How could you possibly even suggest something so—so—imbecilic! Lord Voldemort, falling for Harry Potter? Love is a weakness, an obstacle on the path to power, and even if I were prone to such a weakness, why on earth would it be for that dim-witted, empty-headed, self righteous, scruffy looking(2), tempestuous Gryffindor?"

But the only reply was the echoing of Tom's words across the Chamber. Tom sat back down in his chair, still grumbling. Was it possible? Could Salazar be even slightly right? He considered his tirade against the boy. Was Potter dim-witted? Empty-headed? Not in the slightest. He had to admit there were times when Harry's acumen truly impressed him. Self righteous? He had been in the past, but that seemed to be changing. Scruffy looking? He used to think so, but now Harry's unruly hair seemed to have a charm of its own. And the emerald eyes, so unlike any other eyes he had ever seen before, flashed with every emotion. Harry was not tall, but neither was he particularly short, and he had a youthful, athletic bod—Tom decided to cut off that thought before it could be finished. Tempestuous? That was one adjective that indisputably described Harry. That wasn't necessarily bad, though. Anger fed power, and Tom himself had a temper that could move mountains.

So the boy wasn't all that bad. But that still didn't mean that Tom was actually attracted to him. He considered it very carefully. If he was becoming attracted to Potter, that meant he would have to abort the plan and simply kill the boy the next time he had the chance. (His mind did not register the small twinge in his chest at that thought.) He would not allow himself any weaknesses, and emotional attachment was one of the worst weaknesses possible.

No, he finally decided. Salazar was wrong. He was not becoming attached to Potter. He appreciated what the boy did for him, and would do for him in the future. He valued the boy as a useful tool, and nothing more. Potter was just another tool, and he would be used and then discarded when he was no longer needed. He relaxed and smiled. His plan was still going well. He shifted back into the shape of a panther, and then headed back toward Slytherin manor.

Back in the Chamber, Salazar chuckled slightly. He had watched Tom interact with Harry, and unless he was very much mistaken, there was genuine attraction between them, and not just the effects of a love potion. And now the seed had been planted in Tom's mind. He would continue to encourage the idea, very subtly. Eventually, Tom would no longer desire to kill Harry. Salazar could protect the last scion of the Gryffindor line without sacrificing the plans of his own heir. And together, the two would be the greatest wizards the world had ever seen.

1. Quote from Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night.

2. It was really difficult not to insert 'nerf-herder.' Tee hee.