Thanks to all of the people who reviewed and added this story to their favourites/story alerts. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does. Also, if you see something that you did in one of your stories, it was not intentionally copied.
Thank you to my new Beta, HP Slash Luv.
Twin Trios
Chapter 4
All that anyone could ever talk about was how Percy Potter, always a hero, had single handily tackled the troll, without any help. Apparently his friends had been injured during the fight, heroically jumping in front of Percy when the troll took a swing at him. That's how they got injured.
Yeah, right.
Harry just shook his head at how gullible the population of Hogwarts was. They, like the rest of the wizarding world, would change their opinion about someone or something just because the rumour mill says something or because the Daily Prophet says something. However, Harry had more important things that he wanted to do: Today was the first Quidditch match against Gryffindor.
The Slytherins had spread the news that Percy Potter had been placed on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This was met with mixed reactions. However, much to the delight of Professor Snape, it had not leaked out that Harry Potter was playing for his house. Nobody other then Harry, Ron and Hermione and the rest of the house team knew that.
The entire hall was abuzz about that news. No one knew who the new Slytherin seeker was, not even the Slytherin house. The seventh year Terence Higgs, who had held the position last year, had not been given back the spot. He had been moved to chaser instead. Harry, though, did not hear any of this, since he was giving his potions professor his first payment.
"Here's some of the basilisk venom that our… agreement included, sir." He said as he pulled the vial out of his school bag. "I want 500 galleons by the weekend."
Professor Snape took the vial from his hands carefully, not wanting to break it. He examined it, and then dropped a piece of paper into it. The paper sizzled for less than a second, than burnt up. Satisfied, he put the vial on the desk.
"Well then," he said. Harry even thought that something that looked somewhat like a smile appeared on his face. "Go play Quidditch, Mr. Potter. Win, or else."
Harry seriously doubted that his head of house would do something to him if he lost, but wasn't really willing to risk it. With a curt nod, he left.
Harry continued on towards the kitchen, not wanting to go into the Great Hall. He was mauled by the house elves, and quickly ate his peanut butter sandwich. He heard the noise in the Great Hall get even louder, signaling that the school was starting to move out to the Quidditch pitch. Harry got up quickly, and started to run to the changing room.
However, that day wasn't Harry's lucky day, as he had been spotted by none other than James Potter.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" he yelled. "HOW DARE YOU GET SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN? YOU'RE A DARK WIZARD, JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM SNEAKY SNAKES. YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T DISOWN YOU…" Harry just tuned the rest of it out, and instead looked at his mother.
She had a disappointed look on her face, but her face didn't have a slightly red colour to it. Harry has noticed before that when she's truly disappointed about something; her face will turn slightly red. So Harry knew that the look was for show. Then Harry just calmly walked away.
Despite the stop, Harry was the first one on his team in the changing room. He grabbed his robes and was just finishing putting his robes on when Flint came in. Harry sat down and looked away as he grunted acknowledgement and started to change himself. Soon the rest of the team had arrived and they were ready for the pre-game pep talk.
"All right team. This is against Gryffindor. We don't win and the house will hate us until Christmas. We win and we'll be popular for a week. Now get out there!" 'Wow,' Harry thought. 'That was encouraging.'
Harry could hear the bias commentator, Lee Jordan, introducing the Gryffindor team, being especially enthusiastic when it came to Percy. Then he started to call out the Slytherin team, who were greeted by much booing.
"Captain Flint, Pucey, Higgs, Bletchley, Balkwood, Deville and the mystery seeker that no one knows about!" As the commentator said the last part, Harry flew out to join his teammates. He could see the visible shock on Percy's face.
"You?" He asked in disbelief. "You're no good for anything but slithering! Get back to the ground where you belong." Harry just smiled at him, which just irritated his twin even more.
"It appears that the new Slytherin seeker is a first year… just like the new Gryffindor one. I guess we can't really complain about that rule." He didn't add the 'Since we violated it ourselves.' "It is Harry Potter, none other than the Slytherin twin of our very own Boy-Who-Lived."
Madame Hooch looked around at the fourteen players floating around in a circle. "I want a nice clean game, from all of you." She told them sternly. Harry could almost swear that she winked at him.
"And they're off!" Lee Jordan yelled into the microphone. "Gryffindor in possession! Bell, passes to Johnson, Johnson- but no! Flint steals the quaffle, you sure there wasn't any foul play ref? Flint passes to Pucey. Pucey to Flint. Flint to Higgs. Higgs shoots and… a spectacular save by Gryffindor keeper Oliver wood. Wood passes to Bell. Bell to Johnson, who goes to Spinnet. Spinnet shoots and scores! TEN TO NOTHING FOR GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry just rolled his eyes on his broomstick. It was so obvious that Lee Jordan was bias, and they still let him commentate. Professor McGonagall pretends to keep him in line, but all she really does is remind everybody else to hate Slytherin.
"How'd you get on the team, scar-head?" He heard Percy yell out to him as he drifted closer.
"Scar-head?" Harry asked, not impressed. To be honest, Harry was surprised that Percy even knew he had a scar on his forehead. "That's rich coming from you, scar-check." Having enough of his brother already, he decided to try out that new move he had read about: the Wronski Faint.
Harry pretended to focus on a spot close to the ground, than started to drift towards it. Percy thought that he had seen the snitch, and started to chase after him as fast as he could on his Nimbus 2000. Harry started to dive alongside him, making sure they were even. The rest of the game had stopped; nobody noticed that Marcus Flint seized the quaffle and scored eight times. Around five feet above the ground, Harry started to pull up, where Percy continued on, not realizing what happened.
The crowd let out a big "OOHH" as Percy Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived crashed straight into the ground. Oliver Wood was forced to call a time out, and had now noticed that Flint had scored eleven times while his attention had slipped.
As the Slytherin team silently gathered, they watched the Gryffindorks desperately talked. After two full minutes, Madame Hooch was forced to fly over and end their meeting. The game was on again.
"After that really sneaky, dirty move by the Slytherin seeker-" Jordan was quickly cut off by all of the booing Slytherins. It was common knowledge that the Wronski Feint was a completely legal move and would only work if the other seeker was watching you for the snitch. The Slytherins must've felt very strongly about this, considering they booed out the commentator.
Jordan decided to stop bashing the Slytherins (for now) and focus on the game.
"The Score is 110-10, in favour of Slytherin house." This was met by boos all around. At the beginning of the game, Harry had learned to tune out noises, such as Percy's fans, and in the case the other houses, wanting Slytherin to lose.
Then he saw it: the snitch. A flash of gold that was hovering below the Slytherin goal hoop. Harry sped as fast as he could. Percy hesitated for a costly second, thinking that it was another feint, but continued on after he realized that his Slytherin sibling had really seen the snitch.
Red and green raced side by side for the snitch. The only reason that Harry could keep up with his brother's superior broom was because he had made some adjustments to the broom he was riding. Totally illegal adjustments.
Harry felt his brother start to jerk around on his broom, before completely losing control. Harry stopped, keeping one eye on the snitch, to insure that he didn't lose track of it, and one eye on his brother.
Percy's broom was swinging rapidly. It was obvious that someone was tampering with it, because it hadn't been acting up before. Percy lost his grip and was flung off the broom, only staying up because he grabbed it with his left hand at the last second. When his Gryffindor teammates tried to help, it would only go farther away. Towards Harry.
"Please, Harry. Help!" His brother called. Harry could see panic in his eyes. Just as he was about to comply, he caught a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. Then the question hit him: Percy or victory?
'What had Percy ever done to help you?' a rude voice in his mind whispered quietly. 'The great Boy-Who-Lived wouldn't help you, his Slytherin brother in a situation like this. So why should you help him?'
Then Harry heard another train of thought: 'Just because he's never done anything for you, it doesn't mean you shouldn't be nice to him. Help him, Harry. Be the better man.'
Harry was a bit creped out that he had heard voices in his head, but in the end he made his decision.
As Percy Potter started to lose his grip of his broom, the Slytherin seeker Harry Potter reached out and grabbed the snitch.
!#$%^&*
For the rest of the week, the entire school minus his own house gave Harry the evil eye, spreading rumours that he was a dark lord in the making. Even though Percy ended up being caught when he fell, it was well known that he had pleaded help to his twin and his twin had not given it.
In Slytherin, on the other hand, Harry held one of the top positions of power, probably tied with most of the seventh years and Draco Malfoy. Everywhere in the common room, he was constantly given pats on the back or high fives. Even Ron's blood-traitor status and Hermione's mudblood status were forgotten, merely because they associate with Harry.
While Harry enjoyed it, he was having a hard time sneaking off with his friends to explore the Chamber of Secrets now that he knew how to lower the barrier. This and also finishing his homework was trying to drive Harry crazy. It wasn't that the work was hard, it was just time consuming.
A full week past after the Quidditch match, and it was Saturday again, much to everyone's pleasure. As people walked to the Great Hall for breakfast, they could hear the birds singing, though it was not as loud as it was during the spring. They could also hear all the chatter that was happening in the Great Hall.
"Good morning," Hermione said to Ron and Harry brightly, clearly excited about something. When given a quizzical look by Harry, she just said. "It's a Saturday; we have nothing to do since we're done all our homework." Harry got the meaning of the message: She wanted to explore the Chamber of Secrets today.
The three of them walked to the Great Hall in silence. As soon as they entered, a great booing erupted from the Gryffindor table and was quickly countered by the cheering Slytherins. 'Honestly,' thought Harry. 'It's been a week since the match, and they still can't give it a rest? Besides, it's only Quidditch.'
As the Slytherin trio walked to the table, they were given spots right at the top. It was where they had been sitting for the last week. They sat down for breakfast and started to eat.
Just as Harry was finishing, he heard movement behind him. He looked up, and saw Professor Snape.
"Mr. Potter." He said quietly. "Please come to my office. We have some things to… discuss, do we not?"
Nodding his agreement, Harry finished his Pumpkin Juice. Then he turned to Ron and Hermione. "Meet me there." He said, knowing that they would understand. Much to the confusion of the people around them, Hermione tilted her head in acknowledgement. Then Harry turned and followed his head of house of the Great Hall doors.
Professor Snape led him all the way to his office, and then turned around with a bag that Harry assumed was money in his hand. Without a word, he handed it to Harry, who opened it to make sure he wasn't being ripped off.
POOF!
The bag exploded in Harry's face. It took Harry a moment to figure out that he had been tricked-his Professor had slipped something into the bag that he had been given. A minor explosion potion and probably something else, but he wasn't sure.
"So, Mr. Potter." Came a silky voice that he recognized. "How about we have a little practice duel... just to see where your dueling skills are." Harry thought that was a weird idea. The Professor was asking his first year student that shouldn't know any magic at all to duel him. That was pretty suspicious.
However, once Harry thought that, it was immediately overrode by another part of his brain. That part said that that was an excellent idea, and he should try his hardest.
"Okay." He agreed, not really knowing why he had said yes. Without another word, he bowed to his teacher, and his teacher did the same.
"Expelliarmus." He decided that he shouldn't try his hardest, and just stick to the simpler spells. As expected, he potions teacher blocked the spell with ease, and responded with a red stunning spell, which Harry calmly side stepped.
"Experlliarmus," said Harry again. This time he had expected his teacher to dodge, as he had put a bit more power into the spell. True to his prediction, his potions professor moved out of the way. However, unfortunately for him, he had forgotten that he had been standing in front of the cabinet that stored a bunch of his potions.
As Harry's spell came into contact with the potions, a big cloud of pink dust exploded Professor Snape's face, causing him to let his guard down, leaving him vulnerable to the first year student. While he coughed, trying to clear his lungs, Harry disarmed him.
"You really shouldn't have done that, Professor," Harry hissed, reminding Snape of another person that he had heard so long ago. "Especially when you under estimate the opponent, no matter the age or how much experience you think they have. That's something that a lowly death eater would do." Snape flinched like he had been slapped. 'Being called a Death Eater must've hurt', thought Harry, than filed that information away for later usage.
Without another word, Harry turned and ran from the room. He ran up the stairs, past the Great Hall, and all the way to the floor where his friends were waiting. His thoughts were racing a thousand miles per hour.
His potions professor had just slipped a persuasion potion into that bag, than purposely made it explode. Was it on Dumbledore's orders, to see how skilled he was in the dark arts, since the old coot would think that just because he was sorted into Slytherin, he was going dark?
Or perhaps Snape had just wanted to beat up a student to vent his own anger and frustration that was going on in his life. He had just so happened to pick the son of someone that Harry knew he hates. That's pretty convenient.
To make matters even worse, Professor Snape hadn't even given him all of the money that was due. He had given him 250 galleons, but had been owed 500.
Taking a deep breath, though he wasn't sure what that would do when it looked like he had just been in a fight, he opened the bathroom door.
Ron and Hermione were talking quietly for once. They weren't arguing, and they weren't yelling. At the noise of the door opening, Hermione looked up and quickly became alarmed.
"Harry, what happened?" she asked once she saw how beat up he looked. "You didn't beat up Percy, did you?" She added in an accusing tone. Harry just raised an eyebrow, and snorted amusingly.
"No, though that's not a bad idea now that you mention it." He responded teasingly, although Hermione couldn't tell that he was kidding, so she looked like she was about to go and start to lecture him-and Hermione had dreadfully boring lectures.
"I was just kidding!" Harry said before she started, and she visibly relaxed. "No it was something else. To get the information to get you guys into the chamber, I had to strike a deal with someone. I would play for the Slytherin Quidditch team, I said I would bring him to a secret place, and he would get basilisk venom at a discounted price, even though he still doesn't know how I get it, though he may start to get his suspicions. In return, he gave me the knowledge about how to modify blood wards."
"Are you crazy, mate!" Ron exclaimed. "You're bargaining with Severus Snape. He was a known member of the Order of the Phoenix, and a known Death Eater. Nobody really knows what side he was on. It's really risky if the war starts up again. You would never know where his true allegiance lay." Hermione was confused at what Ron had said and Harry was surprised at that information. Hermione was confused about what a Death Eater was, though she didn't ask, sensing that the moment was not appropriate, and Harry was surprised that Ron knew that information.
"It doesn't matter." Harry said. "I made him swear a magical oath. But anyways, enough of this stalling. We have a thousand year old chamber to explore."
$ Open, Stairs $ Harry hissed. The two orders were quickly answered and obeyed. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran down the stairs.
"That's a really long run." Said Ron as the trio reached the bottom. All three of them were huffing and puffing, with red faces.
"Not really," Harry said in between breathes. "We're just very out of shape. Maybe we should start to run around the Quidditch pitch in the morning."
Hermione paused, and after a deep breath she spoke. "That would be a really good idea. Did you know that physical exercise increases your life span?" Harry said yes, he did know that at the same time that Ron said no, he didn't know that. The three friends looked at each other and burst out laughing.
When they had calmed down, Harry brought out two knifes that he had scooped from the kitchens, and gave them to Ron and Hermione. They cut their hands, and blood came flowing into the container that Harry had been holding underneath. Then Harry walked past the ward and turned.
He pulled out his wand (which he still didn't know what core it had) and touched the tip to the vial with Ron's blood in it. Then he waved it in the air, looking for where the actual ward was. When he finally found it, he attempted to wipe his wand on it. Surprisingly, it worked. Then he spoke.
"I, Harry Potter, give permission to Ronald Weasley to enter the Chamber of Secrets." There was a flash of light, and Ron gave out a grunt of pain. Then it stopped, and Harry assumed that it worked. Ron approached the ward, but just before he crossed, a hand reached out to stop him.
"Can we go together the first time?" Hermione asked him pleadingly. Ron stopped walking, than looked expectantly at Harry, giving him a look that plainly said to hurry up.
Harry did the same procedure with his wand and Hermione's blood as he had done with Ron's, then spoke the magic words.
"I, Harry Potter, give permission to Hermione Granger to enter the Chamber of Secrets." Again, there was a flash and Hermione let out a cry of pain, and then was fine. Ron offered his hand to her, which to Harry's surprise, she took and together, they walked into the Chamber of Secrets for the first time.
!#$%^&*
Ron and Hermione could just stare in wonder as their friend gave them a guided tour of the Chamber of Secrets, or as much of a tour as he could when he had only been down there once.
"We are about to enter the Tree Room." Harry announced to his tour group in a narration voice. "This is the place where a complete set of data about Slytherin and people that were descendant from him is available. Please do not touch, as I am still not sure of the protections on it."
With that Harry hissed open, and led his two companions across the thrush hold. He heard Hermione gasp behind him, from what he presumed to be the beauty of the room. He felt his friends gaze in wonder, then following Harry, approached the table that had the family tree on it. He pointed to where his mom's name was, than looked at them expectantly, just to be treated by blank looks.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"I don't see anything mate." Ron told him. "All I see is random lines."
"Oh." Harry thought for a moment, than it dawned on him. "It must be how parseltongue is written. Slytherin wouldn't want just anyone that was able to get into the chamber, even bi-pass the blood wards, to be able to read his tree-it's private. I'll try to look up a translation spell that will help. I have a feeling that a lot, if not all of the chamber will be in parseltongue."
Harry walked to the entrance to the next door, and turned around before opening it. "This is the end of the guided tour. Now I'm exploring too." He said with a lopsided grin. Then he turned around and opened the door that led into the library.
He should've told Hermione that the library was next, because her squeal of delight was something that a person could only hear so many times before going deaf. Harry was pretty sure that he was half way there already.
In the library of Salazar Slytherin, there were a lot of books. They were all neatly labeled in Parseltongue: Charms, Defense, Dark Arts, Transfiguration and a few others. One of the ones that caught Harry's eye was the section that had around ten books in it, and was labeled my life. Deciding that he could come back later and read, he turned around.
"What does all this say, Harry?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"There are pretty much just normal subjects." He said, not really wanting to share that a personal journal if a Hogwarts founders lay two feet to her right. "If I have some time, I could probably try to translate them for you." He offered. The shining look in Hermione's eyes was all the answer that he needed.
The trio continued deeper into the Chamber of Secrets. The next door led to a passage that split into two different tunnels.
"Okay." Harry said, turning to his friends. "We can go to the basilisk chamber, or the dueling room. Any choices?" They both shook their head, just wanting to explore. "Okay then. We'll go to the basilisk room first then."
As they entered the room, Harry noticed that it was darker than the other rooms.
$ Lights $ He hissed. As the room lit up, he let Callidus off his arm, where he had been waiting patiently for a moment where he was needed. $ I need you to scout for us. Find where the basilisk is, and if it's awake. If it's asleep, then come back and tell me. $
$ No need for that, Harry. $ Callidus hissed as he flickered his tongue, tasting the air. How does he talk and taste at the same time, Harry wondered. $ I can tell you right now that the snake is asleep, though it has been woken since Salazar Slytherin left it. Probably around 45 to 60 years ago. $ The news shocked Harry, and he didn't like it one bit.
Who else had discovered the chamber? It must've been a Slytherin descendant, since no one else could control the basilisk. He would have to check in the Tree room later to see if any descendants lived in the early-mid nineteen hundreds.
"Shut your eyes, just in case." Harry instructed his friends. "Callidus says that the basilisk is asleep, but someone has awakened it in the last 45 forty-five to sixty years. I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to control it, but we can't be too cautious."
Then for the first time, Harry got a real good look at the basilisk room. The room was massive, with the same eerie glow that the rest of the chamber had. Heads of snakes surrounded the room. Some of them were rearing, ready to strike, while others were just watching. The walls had moss growing over it. At the far side of the room, Harry could see a statue of an old man with a long flowing white beard.
It was his ancestor, one of the most known Dark Lords of all time: Salazar Slytherin.
"Well," Ron said in an awed voice. "He's really old!" Harry and Hermione sniggered at that comment. However, Ron wasn't wrong. Their founder looked ancient in the statue. Then sense caught up with Harry.
"I doubt that's him. He probably did that so people thought it was him, while it is probably some random person."
Ron and Hermione couldn't answer, still stunned by the beauty of the chamber.
"I'm going to leave Callidus in this room so he can explore. We don't want to run into anything dangerous, do we?" The other two nodded.
"Let's backtrack and see the dueling room. Maybe we'll be able to practice our fighting in there." With the thought of practicing his dueling, Harry thought back to earlier, when he had been tricked by Professor Snape. Just the thought of it made Harry clench his fists in anger.
"Harry," Hermione asked. "Why do we need to practice fighting?" She said those words with naivety that only a muggleborn could have. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know, but it was still painfully obvious that if she were pureblood she would know the answer to that question.
"Hermione, you don't really believe that Lord Voldemort was killed on Halloween, do you? His power was broken, yes, but only the ministry and the very optimistic wizards believe that he's really gone. Before he fell, there had been rumours of him being immortal. A lot of people thought they were true. Besides, I figure that he has some sort of connection to the Death Eaters through their dark marks. If something happens to him, I bet you something also happens to the loyal followers." He could tell by her inquisitive expression that she didn't understand some of the things that he had said.
"What are Death Eaters and Dark Marks? You keep mentioning those. Also, how do you know all this?"
"Death Eaters are wizards with a few witches that serve him. Think of it as selling their soul to him. They must come when they are summoned, and must do what he asks without question. His Death Eaters are branded with the Dark Mark, sort of like how a farmer would brand cattle. It's a sick combination of a skull and a snake." Harry replied.
"Then when the ministry was capturing Death Eaters, why didn't they just check the suspects for having a Dark Mark?" She asked. This time it was Ron who spoke up.
"Do you really think that Voldemort was that stupid? The man was a Dark Lord that terrorized the wizarding world for a decade. He was no idiot. The mark could only be seen by other Death Eaters. The only time that non-death eater could see it is when he was summoning them."
Hermione looked like she was deep in thought. Finally, she was satisfied with the answers that her friends had given her. But she still wasn't done. "How do you know all this?"
Harry and Ron exchanged looks, thinking it was probably for the same reason.
"When you're young and nobody in your family thinks your good for anything, they force you to do chores and stuff around the house. Sometimes, if you do them quietly and consistently, they'll forget that you're even in the room and let some information slip." Harry told her, Ron nodding his head. He had obviously been treated the same as Harry as a child, or close. It was probably worse for Ron though, because he didn't have anyone taking care of him, while Harry had his mother.
Hermione was quiet, than understood what Harry was implying. "You were both abused when you were younger?" She shrieked, her voice going so high that the two boys had to cover their ears.
"Not quite!" Ron denied. "Not physically anyway. My brothers would just never include me in whatever they were doing. It could be Quidditch, or some other fun thing. If I asked my parents to make them let me play, I would be sent to the shed in the backyard for three days with no food." Hermione looked horrified, than looked at Harry, wanting to know his reasons.
While Ron had been explaining what his childhood had been like to Hermione, Harry had been thinking of what his had been like. Shouted at when Percy broke his toys, starved if he showed his face while there were guests in the mansion, and given less than half a plate of food when he was lucky. But that all changed when his mother had broken the spell that Professor Dumbledore had placed on her.
Just before she had broken it, Harry had found some Dark Arts books. He had read them, and was planning on finding more so he could practice the Dark Arts when he got older, but the love that his mother had for him had caused him to stop. Harry wasn't going to kid himself: He knew he was powerful, and if he had continued to study the Dark Arts, there was a very real possibility that the wizarding world have had another Dark Lord to deal with.
But his mother had saved him from that. She had showed that she cared about him, despite the fact that his father, brother and even his godfather didn't care about him. She would always secretly slip him her old Hogwarts books when his father wasn't looking, knowing that he loved learning about new things. She would spend time with him, when she wasn't playing the perfect Gryffindor wife.
He started to pay attention to his friends again, and saw they were looking expectantly at him.
"What?" He asked. Then he realized that Hermione wanted to know how he was abused, or mistreated, as he preferred to call it. "Let's go explore the dueling room." He said curtly.
"But-" Hermione started to protest before Ron put his hand on her arm, silencing her. He knew that a lot of people that had a difficult home life didn't like to talk about it, and Harry was obviously one of those people.
In silence, the Slytherin trio walked back to where the tunnels split, and entered the dueling room.
In the middle of the room there was a blue platform that looked around the size of a Quidditch pitch. It was obviously the dueling platform. On the other side, there were a bunch of switches that were written it parseltongue. Harry couldn't make it out because of the distance. The stone walls had a faint glow to them, different from the glow in the other rooms. This glow looked more magical.
"Well," said Harry, not really wanting to continue to explore the chamber with his friends. He would do it alone later. Alone, like he had been for almost his entire life. He still didn't know how to deal with having friends his age. "That's the Chamber of Secrets. Let's go back to the common room."
!#$%^&*
Back in the Slytherin common room, Harry realized that they had been down in the chamber for almost the whole day, just arriving to the common room ten minutes before dinner time. The trio parted ways, Ron and Harry going to the boy's dorm while Hermione went off to the girls. They silently had a shower and got changed, going to the Great Hall.
For the first time in weeks, Harry managed to sneak into the Great Hall without three quarters of the hall breaking out in a chorus of boos. He calmly sat down with Ron at an isolated part of the table, where they were joined by Hermione within a minute.
"So what do we want to do tonight?" asked Hermione, but before Harry or Ron could answer, a shadow appeared behind them.
"Here is the rest of your… payment, Mr. Potter." Professor Snape said lowly. Harry accepted the money without acknowledging his professor. After waiting for a response for a minute, Professor Snape left.
"That reminds me," Ron said. "You never did say what had made you so upset when you came into the bathroom earlier." Harry looked at him startled. He had not expected Ron to remember that. He wouldn't have been surprised if Hermione had recalled it, but not Ron.
"Muffliato," Harry said. When he saw Hermione looking at him, bursting with a question he said, "It's a spell that mother sometimes uses when she just wants it to be her and I talking, without any interference, or anyone interrupting. All it does is cause the people nearby to have a buzzing noise in their ears."
"So?" Ron repeated. "What made you so upset?"
"When I went to Professor Snape's office, it was so he could pay me for the basilisk venom that I had sold him. Knowing him to be a Slytherin and rip me off, I checked to make sure that he had given me the proper amount. I think he had expected me to do so, because he had drugged it with a persuasion potion, and then persuaded me to have a duel with him." Understanding slowly came onto Hermione's face.
"Were you upset about losing?" she asked sympathetically. Harry looked at her and said five words.
"I didn't lose. I won." Both Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped in shock. Neither of them had expected their friend to be able to beat a teacher in a duel.
"How?" Ron asked.
"It wasn't hard." Harry admitted. "He really underestimated me, and I used the environment to my advantage. He kept trying to make me do my best, though my mind was strong enough not to comply. All I did was send a disarming charm, which he dodged. Because he dodged it, it collided with a potions cabinet, which exploded, allowing me to disarm him. Now, I don't want to talk about it. I already have some revenge planned out…" Harry said the last part with an evil smile.
"Harry?" Hermione said with a bit of fear in her voice. "What are you planning to do?"
"Have you ever done a prank?"
!#$%^&*
The next morning, saw Professor Snape storm into the Great Hall, his hair dripping wet. The Gryffindor house burst out laughing at the sight of their least favourite professor being pranked, and immediately went to congratulate Fred and George. Fred and George just looked on in confusion, and told their housemates that they didn't do that.
"DUMBLEDORE!" shouted Snape angrily. "Who did this?"
The headmaster just looked on, amused. "Why, Professor Snape, I have no clue who could've done that to you. May I ask what has happened?"
The students could see the two exchange some words, then have Snape storm even more angrily to his chair and sit down. The rest of breakfast passed quietly, although most of the school was happy that someone had pranked the most hated teacher. Nobody noticed three Slytherins exchanging high fives, and looking on with even more anticipation.
"MR. AND MR. WEASLEY!" Roared an angry voice, who the students quickly identified as Snape. "DENTENTION FOR A WEEK AND FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR."
"But Professor, we didn't do it!" They protested in unison. Then the Great Hall burst out laughing. Even a lot of the Slytherins had to try hard not to laugh, and some of them failed.
Professor Snape was stuck to his chair. He could be seen waving his wand at it, but nothing was happening, not even when he casted Finite Incantatem. "IF I EVER FIND OUT WHO DID THIS, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE EXPELLED!" He shouted angrily.
!#$%^&*
Nobody could get the chair off Professor Snape. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched with satisfaction as Madame Pomfrey, Professor Dumbledore and all of the teachers tried to take it off, but nobody could. Harry suspected Dumbledore knew who did it, and how, but was just letting Snape hang in there. It turned out he was correct, as Snape showed up to the Great Hall Monday chair free.
That evening in the common room, Ron and Hermione worked on their potions essay, while Harry worked on his letters.
"You really should be working on potions Harry." Hermione said.
"I'm done with it. In fact, I've done all of the homework. Hogwarts is supposed to be the best school in Europe, but it's just so easy for me." Hermione didn't even answer, so Harry went back to writing his letters to his mother and Ginny.
Dear Ginny,
How are you? I'm glad that you wrote back. By the way, Ron says you're his favourite sister.
Just in case you haven't heard, I'm playing on the Slytherin Quidditch team! We beat Gryffindor 300-10! I caught the snitch before Percy did.
I'm glad to know that you didn't adjust your opinion of me just because I was sorted into Slytherin. Who knows what house you'll be sorted into? Maybe you'll be a Slytherin with me next year? I know that I would like that for sure. In Slytherin, there isn't such a thing as delicate girls. Well, actually there is, but those are just the purebloods who think that women have to grow up and be a good housewife.
Professor Snape is an interesting teacher. He really knows his subject, but he is horrible at explaining things in potions, like what ingredients mix well with other ingredients. Of course, my mother was excellent at potions, and I've inherited her skills, so I don't struggle. However, I do help Ron two or three times a week.
I'm sorry to hear that you're bored at home without your family. I've sent you a book with this letter, so make sure you study it hard. Remember, always try to form your own opinions, not just the opinions of books. That's what Hermione used to do, and still does often, though Ron and I are trying to make her break that habit.
Hope you enjoy your time at home, and try not to get dragged into your mother's schemes,
Harry James Potter
P.S. I hope you like your Christmas present.
Satisfied with the letter, Harry turned to his other sheet of parchment and started on his letter to his mother.
$ Dear Mother $ He wrote in parseltounge.
$ How are you? Is the house much more quiet and peaceful now that Percy isn't there twenty four/seven?
I found the Chamber of Secrets. I would have never guessed that you are a descendant from Salazar Slytherin himself! Does that mean that I'm the heir of Slytherin? Did you ever find the chamber, or did you find out our ancestry in another way?
Percy is being difficult ever since the Quidditch match. I know for a fact that if I was being attacked, and I was the rival seeker, Percy wouldn't have helped me. Nobody seems to want to accept that fact.
Love,
Harry
P.S. I won't be coming home for Christmas, but I will send you a present. $
"I'm going to go send these letters," he told Ron and Hermione, who just absentmindedly nodded their consent. He walked out of the common room and to the Owlery, where he used two school owls and sent them their separate ways.
!#$%^&*
When Christmas break arrived for Harry, he was the only Slytherin that was staying at Hogwarts, a fact that Malfoy enjoyed taunting him about. That is, until Harry glared at him and smiled evilly, reminding Malfoy of his secret. A first year named Nott swore that he wet his pants one day.
Ron had been forced to go home for the holidays. In public, it looked like he didn't care, and when it was just Harry and Ron, he would tell Harry that he would be lucky to get any food for the holiday. Harry just shook his head and told Ron that he would send him food, plus his gift.
Hermione, on the other hand, had been slightly hesitant to go home, where Gabriel was, but in the end realized that she missed her parents and wanted to see them.
Harry woke up on Christmas morning at ten. He was sure that if Ron had stayed, he would've been up at least three hours earlier, opening up presents. Speaking of presents…
At the bottom of Harry's bed was a pile of presents. He quickly got out of bed and started to open them.
When Harry was done, he had received a book on rare potions called Unthinkable Potions from Hermione, a box a chocolate frogs from Ron and a wand holster from his mother. Then there was only one present left. Harry looked at the tag and found out that it was from Ginny.
Dear Harry,
I hope you like your present. You better, because I had to fight hard just to be able to knit this.
Harry opened the package, and learned that Ginny had knit him a hat. It looked very warm, and had the Slytherin colours of green and silver. That must've been why she had had to fight just to be able to make it.
Happy with this year's gifts, Harry got out of bed and took a shower. He then went to breakfast, where he got to eat in peace, as he was the only remaining Slytherin at Hogwarts. In fact, there were only 20 other people at Hogwarts, and a lot of them were seventh and sixth years that were studying for their NEWTs.
The rest of the holidays went by fast for Harry. Percy had gone home, so there was no one to make fun of him. He practiced things that didn't matter, like Quidditch and seeing how accurately he could throw a snow ball. He also practiced more serious things, like the summoning charm and stunning wandlessly and non-verbally. Both of those spells were fourth year material, and doing them non-verbally was incredibly advanced, let alone doing it wandlessly.
!#$%^&*
A mysterious stranger crept around the corner of the corridor. The person took out their wand and cast a spell of the door, which then clicked open. Inside, he was met by a three headed dog, and it wasn't happy about being kept inside all day.
The stranger then retreated, but not before it cast an alarm charm on the door. The charm would allow the stranger to know if someone ever entered the door, and it would last until the end of the year. He would be long gone before the end of the year.
Also, before the end of the year, the boy would be dead. It was a tough decision, which boy to kill. Should he kill the one that everybody thought was the defeater of the greatest wizard of all time to get down their moral, or should he kill the real one that had broken his master's power, the one that everybody hated, and that's only if they even know he existed.
'Choices, choices' the stranger thought, before he opened the door that would lead him back to his mansion, which is where everyone thought he was. 'Tough choices.'
In the Slytherin dungeons, Harry Potter woke with a start, wondering why he had dreamt about a stranger looking at a three headed dog.
So that's the new chapter! I hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review if you do, but if you absolutely hate it, then don't bother reviewing, unless to give me some constructive criticism.