"Down once more to the dungeons of my black despair, down we plunge to the prison of my mind! Down that path into darkness deep as hell!" –Phantom, "The Phantom of the Opera"
'So,' Harry wrote, amused, 'you're telling me that there was a chamber built by Salazar Slytherin in which there resides a Basalisk that will one day wreak havoc on the school to cleanse it of the muggle-born students. You also are telling me that you opened this chamber fifty years ago.'
'Correct,' Tom Riddle wrote back to him.
'And,' Harry continued, 'you possessed my body in order to open it once more.' Tom didn't write for a moment, then,
'Clever boy, Harry. When did you figure that out?'
'When I saw the blood on my finger. If you wanted to keep it a secret, you should have made sure I washed it off while under your possession,' Harry wrote, bored. 'It wasn't very nice of you to use me without asking, now was it?'
'Well, you don't seem like you mind that much,' Tom wrote.
'I don't really. You can't have me permanently though, so I suggest you find someone else's life force to steal,' Harry wrote, annoyed.
'I underestimated you,' Tom wrote back. 'You know who and what I am, then?'
'I know you are a horcrux of Voldemort's, yes,' Harry wrote. Again, Tom paused.
'And how do you feel about that?' he asked. Harry thought for a moment.
'I don't,' he wrote. Harry could practically see the pleased smile on Tom's face.
'Good.'
Over the next few weeks, Harry increased his magical defenses. Tom asked him about him, asked him why he didn't trust him. Harry answered that he trusted no one, and Tom was pleased again indeed. Over the course of a couple of months, Harry had been able to call upon the basilisk himself and it had managed to petrify a student so far. By now, everyone in school knew about the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry's name was the word that floated on everyone's lips whenever they talked about who might be the heir.
"Too quiet…I don't like him. It's either him, or it's Malfoy," he heard one student saying one day.
Not long into the school year, that idiot Lockhart and the potions teacher, Professor Slughorn (who had, last year, inducted Harry into the "slug club" which Harry didn't care much for but attended anyway) conducted what they called the dueling club. Being a part of the slug club, Harry was obligated to go and, unfortunately for him, he got picked to be a display at fighting with, of all people, Malfoy. Harry looked at his enemy calculatingly. Well, at least he could wipe the floor with Malfoy and not get in trouble for it. Harry waited before casting spells after Lockhart said "three". It was only customary to give the enemy a head start if they were more than likely to lose miserably.
"Serpensortia!" Malfoy shouted right off the bat. A black snake exploded out of his wand and landed heavily on the floor. Harry however, was merely bored.
"Is that all you've got Malfoy?" Harry asked, unconcerned by the advancing snake. When it got near enough he told it to quit advancing on him and advance on Malfoy. The snake obeyed him, everyone's eyes were wide. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that most students were horrified. Dumbledore was there, and he was watching. Harry raised his wand and silently performed a spell that he shouldn't have learned until seventh year. Malfoy went flying back, his wand lay forgotten on the floor. "I've disarmed you," Harry said evenly. "I win the duel." Harry bowed respectfully to his two professors. "Pardon me sirs, but I will be leaving now. I feel that I have far surpassed this level of dueling." With that Harry turned on his heel and left. He could feel Dumbledore's gaze boring into him and shivered. He now understood why Voldemort feared his old Professor.
After the incident at the Dueling club where not only did Harry sufficiently flatten Malfoy and use a spell far beyond his years but also spoke parseltongue, there was no doubt in any student's mind whether or not Harry was the Heir of Slytherin. The only person who perhaps still held faith in him was his little sister Rose. Rose still loved him, Harry knew, and despite how cold and black his heart had become, he still felt it warm and lighten when she came by to talk to him. She couldn't put a smile on his face anymore, but at least he could talk to her without sneering. Perhaps Rose's best friend Ginny also still thought of him as innocent. He noticed that the two girls were pretty much attached to the hip and held the same beliefs in almost every area. Harry felt slightly guilty that Rose and her friend still trusted him when the rest of the school was right, but then the new Harry quickly squashed the guilt. He had no reason to feel guilty for just being who he was, right?
Soon, another boy was attacked as was a ghost. Harry cursed the dumb basilisk—it hadn't managed to kill anything yet, as was its job. Frustrated though Harry was, he made no attempt to help the basilisk in its job. He sighed and sat down in the library, reading his book, "Deep and Dark: Complicated Black Magic for the Ambitious Dark Wizard". Of course, it had it's cover over it, but Harry had been lazy and just put it in front of the book rather than in the inside front and back cover. Suddenly, for some unexplained reason, that Granger girl sat at his table right across from him. It was well-known that Granger was the smartest witch in their year. Why she wasn't in Ravenclaw, Harry wasn't sure. Harry looked over his ill-disguised book and raised an eyebrow at her.
"What do you want, Granger?" he asked. Granger smiled.
"Just to talk to you. You must be pretty lonely, I mean what with everyone thinking you're the Heir of Slytherin, and all," Granger was saying. Harry glared at her.
"I like solitude, and I certainly don't need your pity," Harry sneered.
"Well, you don't have to be so hostile about it," Hermione huffed indignantly. Harry raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She was trying to find out something about him, not befriend him. She, too, thought he was the Heir. She was just looking for proof. 'Brave girl,' Harry thought, amused. 'Perhaps that's why she's in the lion house.'
"You won't find what you're looking for," Harry told her bluntly, going back to reading his book. Hermione frowned at him.
"What?" Harry read her mind with legilimency easily. Lately he'd become quite the master of the art.
"Ah, I see. I have no friends like Malfoy, so you couldn't use polyjuice to get close to me like you did to him," Harry said. "Clever girl you are, really, to be attempting so advanced a potion. Almost as clever as myself, I daresay. So, you've come around here under the pretense of befriending me to find out if I am the heir. I must say, that's quite sneaky and underhanded, to play someone like that. You would have done well in my house." Hermione was gaping at him. She whispered, astounded,
"You know legilimency?" Harry smirked.
"Dear Granger, you have no idea what you're up against," he said, and went back to reading. Apparently the crack about her not knowing something made her mad.
"What are you reading, anyway?" She snapped, grabbing the book. The disguise fell away and the book was revealed for what it really was. Her eyes widened, and harry snatched his book away from her.
"Filthy little mudblood!" he snarled angrily. "I hope that thing gets you next!" he hissed, and stormed off. Hermione, horrified, ran to the Headmaster's office.
"Come in," Albus Dumbledore called when he heard a frightened knock at the door. That type of knock could only mean that it was one of the few students who knew the location and password to the Headmaster's office come to confess to something, complain, or accuse someone. Dumbledore wasn't all that surprised to see Hermione Granger standing in the doorway. "Ah, Miss Granger. Come sit down. May I offer you a lemon drop?" Hermione shook her head and sat down. She looked at her feet nervously.
"P-professor," she started, but seemed unable to continue.
"Yes?" Dumbledore prompted gently. She looked up at him, and Dumbledore knew that it was a look of genuine fear.
"I…I think that I'm going to be attacked next," Hermione said. Dumbledore looked at her quizzically.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Well, I…Professor, Ron, Dean and I were all trying to figure out who did all of this, so we decided that I'd go talk to Harry Potter, sir, and I found him in the library. He was reading a book, and I was just talking to him when he read my mind! Then I got mad at something he said and I grabbed his book, and the cover fell off and, sir, he was reading a book about dark magic! Really dark magic! Then he called me a mudblood and said he hoped that the monster would get me next," Hermione said blurted out. She was in tears by now. Dumbledore stepped around his desk and patted her on the back, giving her a piece of chocolate.
"There, there, my child. Nothing will harm you under my watch," Dumbledore said softly, but the words appeared to have little effect. This news deeply disturbed Dumbledore. He'd had his suspicions of who was opening the Chamber, but he didn't want to admit it to himself. Little Harry Potter, son of Lily and James, an aspiring dark wizard? Surely not. Yet, here seemed to be hard core evidence that he was. He had acted far too late, and now, with the whole school dead set against him, even transferring him to Gryffindor would have little effect. Dumbledore sighed in frustration. He couldn't expel the boy, not with such an important prophecy riding on him, but he couldn't not expel him either. Someone could end up dead just like fifty years ago. He supposed it was time to have a little talk with Harry. He'd do it just after dinner, and he'd keep a close watch on Hermione.
'Tom! Tom, I've been discovered,' Harry scrawled quickly.
'You've been "discovered" for quite some time now,' Tom wrote back.
'No, I mean I was reading in the library--,' Harry began.
'I already don't like the sound of this,' Tom interrupted.
'—and that Granger girl came up to me. I read her mind, she was trying to get information out of me, trying to get proof that I was the Heir. Then she grabbed my book and she saw the title Tom! She knows I'm practicing dark magic! Then to make matters worse, I lost my temper and told her that I hoped that the basilisk got her next.'
'You said that the BASILISK should get her next? You gave her the name of the creature?' Tom wrote, furious.
'Well, no, I said "that thing".' Harry wrote quickly.
'Oh. Well, you're still in a spot of trouble.'
'I know, Tom! I know! What should I do?' Harry asked. There was a long pause. For a moment, Harry thought that Tom wouldn't reply, then,
'Go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I know you dislike him, but Lucious Malfoy will meet you there. He will take you to me. Bring this diary with you. Go!' Tom wrote. Harry quickly shut the book, grabbed his wand and left the Slytherin dormitory.
Once he was out of Hogwarts, he made a mad dash across the grounds, casting a stealth charm on himself so that he wouldn't be seen. He made it to the Forbidden Forest and took off the stealth charm. Not long afterwards, a cloaked figure appeared.
"Harry Potter?" Lucious Malfoy questioned. "My, my, this is certainly a surprise. My Master said that I was to pick up a new member, but I never guessed that it would be you." Harry glared at him coldly.
"Let's go, Malfoy," he said. Lucious smiled.
"As you wish."
Dumbledore was greatly disturbed when his little Slytherin student didn't show up for dinner. He walked down to Fred and George Weasley, who he knew were in possession of a certain map.
"Evening, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley," he said amiably.
"Evening Professor," they said in unison. He could tell that they were trying to figure out what prank they had pulled lately. Dumbledore couldn't help but smile at that.
"I am aware that you are in possession of a certain map…I would like to have a look at it for a moment, if you please. You'll get it back," he said. Fred and George looked incredulous, but George fished out an old piece of parchment and handed it over.
"The password is--," Fred started, but Dumbledore interrupted him.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Albus said with a twinkle in his eye. "I am well aware. You forget that you were not the first to possess this map, Mr. Weasley." With that, Dumbledore went back to his office to search for Harry James Potter.
'December 17, 1992
The Daily Prophet
Slytherin Student Harry Potter Gone Missing!
On December 16, young Harry Potter of Hogwarts went missing just before dinner. There has been no word on what has happened.
"We are doing all that we can to find him," Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stated at a Press Conference this morning. "In the mean time, we ask the public not to panic. Your students are safe here. We highly doubt that this was a kidnapping."
In fact, many professionals believe that Mr. Potter went A-wall…'
'April 16, 1993
The Daily Prophet
A-Wall Hogwarts Student Still Missing
Officials, who stated months ago that the missing Hogwarts student, Harry James Potter, did indeed run away from school. Reasons to his escape are as of yet unclear…'
'July 31, 1993
The Daily Prophet
Potter Case Closed
Officials on the case of Harry James Potter who some seven months ago disappeared from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have now stated that on this, what would have been his thirteenth birthday, his case has been closed. No further investigations will be made. Either Potter has successfully escaped or, they reason, he has died…'
'August 10, 1994
The Daily Prophet
YOU-KNOW-WHO BACK IN FULL FORCE —ATTACK AT WORLD CUP
There has been no official confirmation as of yet, but there was a death eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup mere hours ago. The Dark Mark was launched into the sky and the Death Eaters were storming around setting things on fire as they once would have when You-Know-Who was strong, witnesses say. Some have even gone so far as to say that they saw You-Know-Who himself. After his lying low for these past few years, officials had thought that perhaps, if we were lucky, he were dead.
In a strange turn of events, multiple witnesses say that they saw Harry Potter, an a-wall Hogwarts student from two years before, unmasked and traveling with the death eaters. He bore a shining pin on his robe that resembled a live snake. They say that he was not causing any harm, but rather seemed to be directing the death eaters…'
'June 10, 1996
The Daily Prophet
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and The Snake Strike Again!
For as of yet unexplained reasons, You-Know-Who and The Snake strike again by attacking the Ministry. No one is quite sure why, but it is most people's guess that it was an attempt to kill the minister…'
'June 16, 1997
The Daily Prophet
Hogwarts is Attacked; Dumbledore Dead
Yesterday we are sorry to say that The Snake and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named struck again, this time at Hogwarts. Luckily, there are no reports of serious injuries or death to the students, but Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was found dead outside the Astronomy Tower…'
'August 12, 1997
The Daily Prophet
Hogwarts Students Don't Feel Safe
This year, for the first time in centuries, only one hundred total students are returning to Hogwarts. Many students simply don't feel safe there anymore, and their parents certainly don't feel comfortable sending them back. Among those not returning are even age-old wizarding lines such as the Weasley family…'
Rose Lily Potter put down the Prophet angrily. Ever since her brother had supposedly betrayed them all, it seemed to be all the Prophet could talk about. She'd never believe it of course. He had to be under the Imperius curse, or something of the sort. Rose sighed. Yet, the evidence seemed fairly hard-core. If he'd been under the Imperius, wouldn't he likely be doing the terrible deeds rather than ordering the others around? She supposed she'd never know.
Rose sat on her bed and picked up a book. "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six". Since they were no longer going to Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley had started a sort of home-study course. Mr. Weasley would teach Ron and Hermione the course that their seventh year would require while Mrs. Weasley would teach Rose and Ginny what their sixth year needed.
She flipped over to lay on her back. Maybe one day Harry would come back to them. Maybe one day he'd stop being evil, or fight the imperius or something. Maybe…Rose's thoughts were interrupted when suddenly she was grabbed from behind. A sock or something round and cloth-like was thrust into her mouth and a gag was tied around her. There was a sickening feeling, then Rose remembered nothing more.
"You have done spectacularly, my Snake," Voldemort hissed. Harry nodded in acknowledgment.
"I know I have. I thank you for your praise," he responded. Voldemort grinned sinisterly.
"Ah, your bowing to no one characteristic is quite enjoyable. You aren't nearly like any other regular Death Eater," he said. Voldemort got up and beckoned Harry to follow him. "You told me that you would not be marked by the dark mark come your seventeenth birthday because you were no normal death eater. You would bow to no one, not even me. You wished to be seen as my equal. I agree with you on some levels, my young heir. Yet, on others I do not. For you see, while my death eaters have killed and killed several times, tortured to earn their ranks, your hands remain bloodless. Sure, you're a brilliant mastermind when it comes to planning attacks. You are nearly invaluable to me. Yet, I cannot overlook the fact that you have not killed. If I were to publicly announce you as my heir, it would be ridiculous for you to have never tortured, never killed. You must strike fear into hearts more than your name already does," Voldemort said. Harry inclined his head in acknowledgment at this. He realized that he could not have Voldemort's followers do all of his dirty work. One day more blood would be spilt by his hands.
"Ah, you're thinking about the servant of mine that you killed. No, I did not use legilimens, young one. You know that I cannot match you any longer. It's obvious. It's written on your face. Yes, I'm well aware that you have killed before and wouldn't necessarily mind killing again, but it's the actual action while you are in service to me—pardon, partnering with me—that you must carry out. For this purpose I have gotten a very special person for you to perform these acts on, and a very special witness as well. This will seal that you are obviously completely loyal to me as well as your own darkness," Voldemort said, an evil grin slowly coming across his face. Harry raised an eyebrow in mild interest.
"Oh? Who have you for me?" He asked. Voldemort walked to the prisoner hall where a few Death Eaters were around a prison cell. Inside the prison cell were two little redheads, probably around the age of sixteen. They were both unconscious. Harry almost didn't recognize them, but slowly the color drained from his face. There was his little sister, Rose Potter, who he hadn't seen in almost five years. Her every feature was so clear, so sharp that it brought pain to his heart; the heart that he could have sworn didn't exist anymore. He looked over at the other redhead, and his heart gave another lurch. It was little Ginny Weasley, Rose's best friend. Here was the last remaining bit of his family. Here it was, and now he was going to be asked to destroy it.
"Ennervate," Voldemort said, and the two girls began to stir. Rose's eyes widened as she saw the Death Eaters, and her eyes showed visible relief when she saw her brother. Harry's heart was given another stab. She still trusted him. She still counted on him, despite his label as The Snake, despite that he was a 'follower' of Voldemort.
"Harry?" she rasped. A death eater nearby kicked her in the side, and she gasped in pain.
"You will address him with proper respect. You're talking to The Snake," the death eater said.
"Silence," Voldemort said quietly. "Let her speak what she wishes." He smirked at her. "Call it a last wish, if you will." By this time ginny was fully awake and she stood up, outraged.
"What's going on? Why have you taken us here?" she demanded. Voldemort laughed his icy laugh.
"Oh, you'll be fine, or as fine as torture permits. You are to be a witness for us. My Snake here needs a little more publicity in the kill and torture department," Voldemort turned to Harry. "You may have your way with that one after you've killed your sister." Harry felt the bile rising in his throat. The darkness that had controlled his life for so long was quickly slipping away, leaving his mind raw and helpless, defenseless and unprepared for the guilt and self-disgust. He could never just "have his way" with Ginny! That was disgusting, monster-like, terrible. Harry felt weak in the knees. He could never do something like that to his friend. Ginny's eyes were widening like a frightened rabbit. She realized she had no wand and could not fight them. It was dawning on her that she was to watch her best friend be tortured and killed by her own brother, and then was to suffer her own fate.
Harry saw her fear and suddenly an unexpected side of him was strengthened. He could defy them. Voldemort would be hard to distract, but he could take the death eaters out quickly. He'd just have to pretend, have to act. He realized that it was natural to him. Harry nodded at Voldemort's request.
"I'm certain I'll enjoy the event," Harry said sinisterly. Ginny and Rose were gripping one another's hands tightly. If one was to die, the other was willing to risk their own life to save the other's. "Oh, but, My Lord, I have one thing to say before I do this."
"Oh, Snake? And what would that be?" Voldemort asked, amused by his request. Harry gave him a twisted smile and raised his wand.
"Stupefy," Harry said. Surprised, the Dark Lord had no time to react or mutter a counter-curse. In less than a minute Harry had the three other death eaters down. He wrenched open the bars and grabbed the shocked girls. He muttered something, and they were gone in an instant.
They reappeared somewhere on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole. He let go of his sister and the Weasley girl. The three were silent for a moment. Rose had tears in her eyes. Suddenly, she'd seized Harry in a hug.
"Oh, Harry, oh Harry, I knew you weren't like what all the newspapers said!" she cried Harry, stunned, did not hug her back. He didn't really remember how to, anyway, or what the purpose of a hug was for. It seemed to be a frivolous activity with no point, and therefore Harry refrained from taking part in it.
"One good deed," Harry said slowly, steadily, "is no compensation for a life of sin." Rose blinked up at him and backed away a little.
"So you really…you really did do all of those awful things?" Rose asked, her eyes shining with disgust, fury, sadness and fear.
"I did nothing. I planned everything. My name is the Snake for a reason," Harry said. "Get back to your home," he said. "If my memory serves my correctly, it's not far from here. You should make it on your own just fine." He turned away, Rose and Ginny staring after him.
"Wait!" Ginny shouted. Harry turned. "What will happen to you? You can't go back. They won't accept you after that display." Her words hit Harry with an icy coldness. She was right. He couldn't go back to Voldemort, nor could he return to the Light side. He was wanted for being a traitor to both sides, wanted to a point where it did not matter if he was brought in dead or alive. Harry gave her a twisted smile.
"I suppose I'll go on to what Dumbledore used to call the next greatest adventure," Harry said, Ginny frowned at him, trying to make sense of what he just said.
"Death?" Rose exclaimed, astonished. "You'll die?"
"Quick decisions hold hefty prices," Harry answered her. "Someone's always got to die, I suppose." Ginny held her head high.
"Not always. Come back with us to the Burrow. Mum and Dad will freak out, but they'll get over it. You can talk to Professor McGonagall. She can protect you!" Ginny said, determined. Harry considered this for a moment. He supposed that if he was going to die anyway, it really didn't matter by which hands he was killed. If the Order were to kill him, perhaps it would even be less painful than if Voldemort got a hold of him. Harry nodded.
"All right. I'll go with you," Harry said. Ginny smiled triumphantly while Rose just looked utterly relieved. Harry was surprised at Ginny's strength in such a terrifying situation. Where even his own sister fell to pieces, Ginny was a rock. He considered her for a moment. She was very beautiful, with her fiery hair and personality to match. She had curves, unlike the last time he had met her. Yes, Harry decided, she was very beautiful indeed.
They didn't walk long before they came upon the towering house that Harry remembered fairly well. Harry closed his eyes as the details all came back to him. His heart warmed again as he recalled coming down this very path after a good swim in the pond. Mrs. Weasley's voice would call them all inside for supper, and she always had a delicious pie cooling on the window sill. The chickens were squawking, the other Weasley boys were coming back from a day of playing Quidditch up in the Orchard. 'Ah, God,' Harry mourned. 'Why ever did I condemn this place?'
His memories merged with this image, but this day was much different than the last time he was there. There was a sense of panic going around that Harry could pick up on. He heard worried voices shouting.
"Ginny? Rose, where are you?" he could hear Mr. Weasley shouting. He could hear Mrs. Weasley sobbing from inside.
"They've been taken, they've been taken. Can't you see? The clock hs been stuck on Mortal Peril for the past four hours…" Mrs. Weasley was crying.
"Um, Mrs. Weasley," Harry recognized the voice of Hermione. "It's not on Mortal Peril anymore. It says 'Home'." The sobbing stopped abruptly, and Rose and Ginny ran to the door, smiling widely. They would get to cheer up Mrs. Weasley. Harry felt himself using muscles that he hadn't used in years—he was smiling too.
"Oh, my babies!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked as she flung open the door and crushed them in a hug. All of the Weasleys were running towards the two of them while Harry stood a safe distance away, where they wouldn't notice him. He saw Mrs. Wealsey, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Charlie, but where were Fred and George? Just as Harry finished his thought, he felt two wands pressing against the sides of his neck. Harry sighed in irritation.
"What did you do to our sisters?" Fred hissed with malice. Harry vaguely realized that his hood was up—they had no idea who he was.
"I brought them back from a Death Eater's prison cell. Pardon me for rescuing them. Should I have just left them there for Rose to be killed and you sister to be raped? If you want me to, I really have no problems bringing them back," Harry said coolly. The Weasley twins paled. Harry's little 'threat' was empty, of course. He would never dream of taking them back there, but the Weasley twins didn't know that. They took away their wands.
"Why did you bring them back?" Fred asked warily. Harry drew back his hood, and they gasped.
"Because I wouldn't dream of harming either of them like that," he said. Fred and George stood there, gaping. He could feel some of the Weasley clan from further down start looking at him. Their eyes widened as they realized who it was.
"Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted, aimed at Harry. Harry was faster though and silently, wandlessly, did the counter curse. He raised an eyebrow at Ron.
"What was that for?" Harry inquired. Ron just gasped, half in awe and fear of his power, and half in bewilderment that Harry didn't understand why he had just thrown that curse.
"He saved us," Rose said quietly. "He was ordered to kill us, but he saved us instead." Ginny nodded to confirm her story. Mr. Weasley looked astonished, and Mrs. Weasley looked frightened. Mr. Weasley, his wand still at the ready, had courage enough to ask,
"Is this true?" Harry nodded.
"Sure is, but why trust my word? I was, after all, a servant of darkness. I was The Snake. You have no reason to trust me, just as I've never felt I've had a reason to trust you," he said steadily. The Weasleys all looked at him for a moment, Ron especially. Mr. Weasley turned to Rose.
"What do you want us to do with him?" Mr. Weasley asked.
" I want you to get McGonagall to help him. Please, Mr. Weasley. If you don't, he'll be killed," Rose pleaded. Mr. Weasley turned to Ginny.
"What do you think?" he asked. Ginny nodded.
"I agree with Rose. A life for a life, right Dad?" she said. Mr. Weasley frowned, but nodded.
"All right. Stay out here if you would Harry, until McGonagall gets here. She'll…make sure you're safe," Mr. Weasley said as the Weasley family looked at him warily and went inside. Harry smiled in remorsefully.
"For me, or for you?" Harry asked quietly before sitting down on the grass to await McGonagall.