Heirs of the Founders 9
Infiltrating Slytherin
I do not own Sailor Moon or Harry Potter. I just finished book 7. Starting now, there may be some book 7 spoilers. But not too many, and there may things that don't even apply to book 7. I'm imagining the majority of you have read book 7 by now. It was awesome! Now after learning how it all ends, you may learn how I think how things would happen if it never started!
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With all the muggleborns away for the holidays, Tom did not have a target. It did not matter. He was going to use the scarcity of students to his advantage. After all, there was one Muggleborn still at the school—Minerva McGonagall. Even though she was muggleborn she was not afraid of the Heir of Slytherin and she decided to take her being Head Girl seriously. The school went a week without conflict. Then on the fifth night, as Minerva was doing guard duty, it happened. Tom figured it was easy. She wa already out of the dormitories, standing in the hall and close where the basilisk could get her. She saw a trail of spiders crawling along the wall. She followed them and found them coming to a window. Because it was closed, the spiders could not get out. She watched them curiously and then opened the window with her wand. Then a moment later, she saw a gleaming yellow large eye in the reflection of the window. Before she could turn around to see what it was, she fell down stiff as a board.
It was in the middle of the night and the sleepy prefects walked around, looking for clues and turning around at the slightest noise.
"I'm so sleepy," yawned Serena.
"We can't go to bed yet," grunted Raye, nudging her in the ribs as they walked down the corridor. "Let's keep going."
"Aaugh!" Serena groaned, rubbing her face. "Look at me…look at these circles! They're real! It's not from metamorphosing!" She pointed at the dark circles under her eyes.
"Well, I doubt the heir is asleep," said Raye.
"He hasn't done anything since the Christmas Holidays started," Serena said arily, waving her hand. "Everyone's gone…I don't see why he would….oh no!"
She spotted Minerva McGonagall on the floor next to the window. She and Raye rushed to her body.
"Minerva!" said Raye. "Looks like she's petrified too."
"She's the head girl," said Serena, shaking her head in disbelief. "She's so…how could the Heir of Slytherin to do this to her?"
"Stay with her," said Raye and she went to alert the teachers. With the news of the Head Girl being petrified, the school was very nervous. It was all anyone could talk about and Tom was very excited, knowing the fear he inflicted on the students and the staff. The Gryffindors spent most of the day in the common room after hearing the news about Minerva. Most of them were prefects. Hagrid was among them. Since of his father's recent passing, Hagrid remained at Hogwarts for the Christmas Holidays. Though he was a big boy, he acted quite emotional about what happened to her.
As Raye sat in her chair, pondering the recent events, Rufus Scrimgeour spoke loud enough for the common room to hear.
"The Heir of Slytherin means business," he said. "We shouldn't underestimate him."
Raye raised her eyes to him. The room nodded and agreed with his statement.
"He must have a lot of daring to attack the Head Girl," said a seventh year.
"Or stupid," added Raye. "No one in their right mind would duel Minerva."
"But he hasn't got a right mind," said Rufus. "He's got a twisted mind. I know he's planning each of his attacks and I wouldn't' be surprised if he's got someone helping him."
"How do you mean?" inquired Dorcas Meadows.
"With all these attacks," explained Rufus, "how they happen so conveniently. I bet he's got someone acting as a lookout for him. This school is huge and I'm not just talking about how many floors we got. There are over a hundred students here and he has to know who everyone's blood status so he knows who to target."
"Who do you think is doing it?" inquired Marlene McKinnon.
"Some obsessed pureblood muggle hater, no doubt," muttered Raye. "Which just about all of the Slytherins anyhow."
"My guess is that the Heir of Slytherin is a fifth year or higher," said Rufus. "And he's probably a prefect to…if he was able to attack Minerva in the middle of guard duty."
"So," said Raye, leaning forward. "He could be pretending to be a model student, when in fact, he's a killer!"
Hagrid and several others gasped.
"Well, no one has died yet," said Rufus, "and let's hope that the Heir is found soon, or else Professor Dippet may have to close the school."
After Raye discussed the attacks with her fellow Gryffindors, when went upstairs for a nap. She was so tired after being on her feet all night every night. She was surprised considering all the attacks she was able to fall asleep. She dreamed she was talking to Amy and Serena about the Heir of Slytherin. The more they discussed this, the more Raye felt that hey were the ones that had to find the Heir of Slytherin and stop him. She saw a tall and faceless boy in Slytherin robes being pulled out of Hogwarts, screaming and yelling and kicking. Serena, Raye and Amy stood by the doors, watching the boy being dragged away. Each girl had a different expression. Raye looked bold, Amy looked relieved, and Serena looked sorrowful. Raye knew that it was over for the Heir of Slytherin.
Raye woke up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. The sun shining through her window told her that it was still daytime. She knew that her dream was right: she had to find the Heir of Slytherin and she had to do it with Serena and Amy. She didn't know why it had to be them. Raye wondered how three girls could stop the Heir of Slytherin but she knew what she had to do.
Raye walked down the dormitory steps and left Gryffindor Tower in search of her two friends. Finding Amy was a piece of cake. She was in the library as usual.
"Hi Raye," said Amy as she approached her table. "Just preparing for O.W.L's. I want to make sure I'm a head."
"Great," said Raye. "Hey, have you seen Serena?"
"No," Amy replied, shaking her head. "Not since this morning when we left guard duty."
Raye groaned. "Sleepy head, I bet she's sleeping."
"We'll see her at guard duty tonight though," said Amy.
"No, this can't wait," Raye insisted. "We've got to do something to find the Heir of Slytherin."
"But we're already doing what we can," said Amy.
"No, we're doing what Professor Dippet is telling us," Raye told her, shaking her head. "Standing guard all night in the hall—it's not working—and Professor Dippet doesn't know what to do. But us three, you me and Serena, we can do something."
Amy raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"I—I don't know," Raye said quickly. "But I feel that we just got to put our heads together and see what we can to do find the Heir of Slytherin and stop him until he kills someone." Out of the corner of her eye, Raye said Josie Palmer of Hufflepuff and walked to her. "Hey, Josie, is Serena sleeping in the dormitories?"
Josie nodded. "last time I saw her."
"We need to talk to her," said Raye. "I know she may be pretty cranky but you mind go getting her for me? It's urgent."
Josie shrugged. "Sure, I was just on my way back to the common room."
"Thanks, we'll wait here for her," said Raye with a nod.
"Of course," replied Josie and she left the library. About a half an hour later, a sloppy dressed Serena entered. One of her socks was down at her ankle and one was up to her knee. Her shirt was wrinkled and untucked, the top two buttons were not buttoned. Her tie was loose around her neck and she was not wearing her sweater or black robes. Her hair was out of her buns, long, blond, and straggly.
"Couldn't bother to clean up?" Raye demanded. "Why didn't you just come in your pajamas?"
Serena rolled her eyes as she plopped down in a chair next to Amy. "I didn't sleep in my pajamas. I was too tired to get out of my robes."
"You look like a mess," muttered Raye.
"Sorry," groaned Serena, "but you don't look like much yourself."
Indeed, Raye and Amy both had deep dark circles under their eyes. Serena yawned. "Now, tell me what it is you want so I can go back to sleep."
"I had a dream," said Raye, "about us and the Heir of Slytherin."
"You know who he is?" inquired Serena.
"If I did, I would've told Professor Dipped already," Raye retorted. "I saw the Heir of Slytherin but I couldn't see his face. We've found him and he was hauled out of Hogwarts. We witnessed it happening. Professor Dippet and the teachers has done all they can. It's up to us to find the Heir of Slytherin."
"Why us?" Amy inquired. "The teachers know more about Hogwarts than we do; they know the students more."
"I—I don't know," Raye stammered. "I just feel as if it is our destiny, you know? I feel as if we're the only ones that can stop him."
"You think the Slytherins know who their Heir is?" Serena inquired, sounding a little more awake.
"Perhaps," said Raye, "but it's not like I can ask them during potions. There's got to be a way we can get the information from them."
The three girls sat in silence. Amy stood up abruptly.
"Amy?" said Serena.
"Just a second," she said, waving at them to stay in their seats. She disappeared behind a bookshelf and came back with a book called Moiste Pontent Potions. She put the book on the table and began flipping through it.
"There's a N.E.W.T level potion in here I remember studying back in second year," said Amy.
"Our second year?" Serena and Raye said in unison.
"Here it is, the Polyjuice Potion," said Amy, running her finger down a page. "We can use this potion to turn into someone from Slytherin. There will be a few difficulties though. It takes a month to brew, we only have an hour until it loses its an effect and we have to get a piece of the person we want to change into."
"Yeah, that sounds hard," Serena said, rubbing her head.
"We don't have that much time," said Raye, "and how can I just yank hair from Olive Hornby's head without her noticing?"
"We may have to steal some of these ingredients from Professor Slughorn's private stores," said Amy. "I haven't seen lacewing flies in the classroom."
Raye turned to Serena. "You're close to Professor Slughorn…maybe you can get them!"
Serena gasped. "No way! I'm not going to do that…I don't even know what lacewing flies look like!"
"Yes, you're probably right," said Amy, "there is a better way. We can find out what is going on in the Slytherin House without us having to use this potion."
"Yeah, you're right," said Raye, grinning. "Metamorhamagi can change what they look like without a potion and they can be whoever they want, for as long as they want. Too bad we can't do that."
"I know,' said Amy and she and Raye both looked at Serena, who was yawning in her hand. By the grins on their faces, she knew what they were thinking.
"What—me?" Serena questioned. "No, oh no! I can't!"
"Oh sure you can!" Raye said. "You're a metamorphamagus, Serena. You can change to anyone in the Slytherin House you want without having to break into Professor Slughorn's office!"
"It's not always that easy, you know!" said Serena. "Sometimes it depends on their hair, and their height—and whether it's a boy or a girl—I am NOT changing into a boy!"
"It doesn't have to be a boy," said Raye, rolling her eyes. "It can be a girl."
"I can't just walk into the Slytherin common room and ask everyone who the Heir is," said Serena, "and how would I get in there anyway?"
"Just join the Slytherins before dinner and when they leave, follow them," said Amy. "We can plan it."
Serena sighed. "I-I don't know."
"It's either this, or we have to make Polyjuice potion," Raye told her.
Serena thought about it for a while. She was a metamorphamagus. She played with her appearance ever since sh discovered her abilities. She could pull it off quite well without the use of the potion and she wouldn't have to steal ingredients from Slughorn, one of her favorite teachers.
"A—all right,' she mumbled. "I'll do it. But since I'm the one who's playing detective here, I get to pick who I'm doubling, okay?"
"Fair enough," said Raye.
"Can we talk about this later so I can get back to my nap?" Serena asked.
"Sure," said Amy. "We'll need to get our plan down so there aren't any problems."
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Serena took her time choosing the Slytherin she wanted to trouble. She thought her friends it depended on the size and weight of the person and if they had a birthmark, sometimes it made it difficult. The main reason for her taking her time was because she really didn't want to do it. She wasn't very friendly with the Slytherins, except for maybe perhaps Tom Riddle. He was one of the few polite ones. Finally, with some egging by Raye, Serena finally made up her mind who she was going to double.
"I'll pretend to be Eileen Prince," said Serena as they patrolled the halls a few days after Raye's decision that they should find the Heir of Slytherin.
"She's just a second year," said Raye. "Shouldn't you choose someone else? Someone I our year?"
"No, I've got an idea," said Serena, "second years need to choose extra classes when they become third yeas, right? I'll ask an upper classman for advice and then I'll try and get the Heir o Slytherin information out of them!"
"Well, I guess if it doesn't work," said Raye, "you can always pretend to be someone else later."
"We'll just need to keep her indisposed as you interrogate Slytherin," said Amy.
"How?" questioned Serena.
"We'll Stun her and hide her in classroom thirteen. It hasn't been used in ages."
"All right," said Serena. "Let's do it right before dinner."
The next day before dinner, they followed their plan. Serena waited next to classroom thirteen, waiting for Eileen Prince to come up for dinner. Eileen usually came to meals by herself and because of the emptiness of the school, Raye was able to Stun her without anyone noticing. The three girls caught her and dragged her into classroom thirteen. It had once been used as magical development, until an accident several decades back. It hadn't been used for instruction since and the class was withdrawn from the school.
Serena pulled off her Hufflepuff robes as Ay and Raye undressed Eileen. Raye was going over the plan.
"We'll stay here with her," she said, "you try to be as Slytherinish as possible."
"Okay, I got it," Serena groaned, putting on Eileen's robes. She bent down and examined Eileen's face. "Hmm, seems easy enough…" Serena straightened up, closed her eyes and within a few seconds, she had the pallid face of Eileen Prince. When she opened her eyes they were still bright blue.
"Eileen's eyes are darker than that," muttered Raye.
"Oh, right," said Serena sheepishly and she corrected it. She put on Eileen's clothes and then turned around. "How do I look?"
"Nasty, cross and callous," said Raye, "just like Slytherins look anyway."
"Thanks," muttered Serena. "I'll be back as soon as I have something on the Heir of Slytherin. I feel weird in these clothes."
Looking just like Eileen Prince, Serena walked out of the room and onto the Great Hall. She almost walked to the Hufflepuff table she realized she was actually a Slytherin. She casually walked to the Slytherin table and sat down by some young Slytherins.
"Eileen, want to play Gobstones after dinner?" asked a second year boy to her left.
"Ugh, I hate Gobstones," groaned Serena.
The boy raised his eyebrows, looking confused. "But you're in the Gobstones club. You just got a sack of new marbles for Christmas."
"Huh?" said Serena and she felt a sack of gobstones in her pocket. Serena felt her insides squirm, wishing she hadn't picked to pose as Eileen Prince. Just her luck for choosing a Gobstones player. Serena cleared her throat and shook her head. "Er, not today. Maybe tomorrow?"
"Sure, okay," he said, still confused.
"Hey, you have any idea who the Heir of Slytherin is?" she asked him as he had a huge bite in his mouth.
The boy choked and Serena suddenly realized that infiltrating Slytherin was going to be a lot harder than she thought. After dinner she followed her housemates to the dungeon where the Slytherin Common Room was. They stopped at a stonewall and Serena looked around.
"Frostbite," said Patrick Wilcox, a third year and the wall moved out of the way. Serena stepped inside, ducking her head to avoid the low hanging ceiling. The common room was much more different than the Hufflepuff common room. Not only was it draped in green and silver, but it was damp, cold and it looked green. She was glad that she was in Hufflepuff. Serena looked around, wondering who she could talk to. The younger students were of no help but the older kids were still at dinner. Serena rubbed her head. Perhaps she should have pretended to be Olive Hronby instead. Serena sighed and shook her head. No, she knew how mean the girl was and she couldn't pull her off now matter how hard she tried.
"What's your problem, Prince?" asked a fourth boy.
"What?" said Serena, not used to the name. "Oh, nothing. I just, ate too much at dinner."
Serena went to the fireplace and sat down. She sat there for a few moments, staring into the flames.
A while later, the wall opened and Tom Riddle entered he common room followed by Olive Hornby. Serena swallowed. Though Tom Riddle was a Slytherin, he was rather polite. He was by far, the easiest of the Slytherins to speak with. She rose from the floor and approached Tom.
"Hi Tom, I was wondering if I can talk to you?" she asked him while Olive Hornby was speaking with him.
"Can't you see we were talking?" Olive Hornby demanded, glaring at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Serena mumbled. "But I had questions about the new classes open to third years."
"You can wait until--," she muttered but was cut off by Tom.
"It's all right, Olive," said Tom. "I don't mind giving advice. We're prefects—it's one of our jobs."
"Fine," said Olive. "Happy Birthday, Tom."
"Oh, it's your birthday?" Serena asked as Olive asked. Serena was surprised. She knew Tom for a long time, spoke with him during Slughorn's parties and he had never mentioned his birthday.
"Yes," said Tom, smiling as if he was forcing it.
"Birthday on New Year's Eve," said Serena, "that's nice."
Tom nodded. He never liked his birthdays. He id like getting older, but it was on the day of his birth when his mother died. It made him sick knowing she left this world while bringing him into it. It was something he did not want to think about.
"So, the new classes," said Tom, "are Divination, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and Care of Magical Creatures. If you don't mind getting your eyes out by bowtruckles, then you may take Care of Magical Creatures."
Serena gasped and put her hand on her eye. She was in care of Magical Creatures and she had never had her eye poked out, or witnessed it happen to anyone in her class.
"Muggle Studies is pointless," said Tom. "You should only take it if you plan on becoming a Kwikspell teacher or being in the Muggle Artifacts department at the Ministry."
"Oh, all right," said Serena. She was in that class too!
"If you are interested in divination," said Tom, "you can ask Olive Hornby. I assume she likes it. She says they do nothing but read palms and analyze dreams. Sometimes it is helpful to get insight on your future, but I say you are in charge of your own destiny."
Serena nodded. "Yes, I agree."
"Runes is good if you plan on becoming a Curse Breaker for Gringotts," said Tom, "it is rather usual. Another good one is Arithmancy. It can really help you in Potions class."
"Hmm, all right," said Serena with a nod.
"Any questions then?" asked Tom.
"Er, yeah, but it's not really about the courses," Serena said, "it's about what's been happening at school lately. All these attacks…"
Tom smirked. "Oh, I don't' think Slytherin indented for anyone of his own house to fall prey to his beast. I think you'll be just fine, Eileen."
"Actually," said Serena, lowering her voice. "Who is the Heir of Slytherin?"
Tom was quiet for a while and he hid his gasp well. "I—I'm afraid I have no idea. I'm sure he keeps his secret from us."
"But, don't you think he'd tell us?" Serena asked. "I mean…shouldn't we be on the glory too?"
Tom laughed. "The Heir of Slytherin is probably just content with it being all a mystery to everyone, even Slytherin House."
"Maybe he'll reveal himself to us later then," hypothesized Serena.
"Yes, that's possible," Tom shrugged, "once he thinks his job is done."
"You think the Heir of Slytherin is a pureblood?" Eileen questioned.
"Yes," said Tom without hesitation. "So I certainly can't be him. I am a halfblood you see. Muggle father, witch mother." He said it as if he had to force the words out, as if it pained him.
"Right, you can't be him," said Serena. "Well, I—I forgot something in the library so I should get it before it's too late."
"if you get caught after hours," said Tom, "you can say I gave you permission."
"Thanks, Tom," said Serena and she left the common room. She hurried up to classroom thirteen where her friends were waiting for her.
"How'di t go?" Amy asked as Serena changed her appearance back to her true self.
"I spoke to Tom Riddle and asked him if he knew who the Heir was," said Serena, placing Eileen's robes back on her. "He hasn't got a clue. But he's a halfblood so there's no way it can be him. He's convinced the Heir would be pure."
"Maybe you should try again, asking someone else," said Raye.
"I asked a couple Slytherins at dinner," said Serena, "and everyone looked at me as if I was crazy. Besides, even if someone knew who ti was, they'd keep it a secret."
"So what do we do no?" inquired Raye.
"We'll think of something," said Amy. "But we've got to get Eileen back to her house before they realize she's missing." Amy pointed her wand at Eileen. "Rennervate."
The three fifth years left the classroom before Eileen woke up. She rubbed her head and left the room, went to dinner but was confused to see the tables empty. She turned around and went back to the Slytherin Common Room, without a clue that Serena Moon acted as her just a few moments ago.
TO BE CONTINUED