The contemplation of things as they are, without substitution or imposture, without error or confusion, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention.

- Francis Bacon

The Queen of Serpents

Chapter Eighteen

Of Headmasters and Heads of Houses

"speech"

thoughts

"parseltongue"

/mind speech/

=visions=

Writing

Tom was just glad there was a curfew. No one was wandering the halls, no students appearing unexpectedly, no one to panic over the eighty foot serpent traveling the corridors... The serpent Tom happened to be riding on, seeing as he had apparently broken his leg.

"Never, in all my yea- Good Heavens!" Minerva dropped her books, papers flying everywhere. The transfiguration professor stared at her students, who stared right back. No one seemed to know what to say.

"Minerva," Severus snapped as he turned the corner, when he froze, for once, completely discombobulated. Only for a moment, however, before his training kicked in. "May I assume that the so-called Chamber of Secrets has been found?"

Percy swallowed, extremely conscious of the prefect badge on his chest. "That would be a good assumption, sir."

Minerva shut her eyes briefly, trying to regain her composure. "And that..snake.. is wearing a blindfold because...?"

"She's a basilisk," Dudley supplied helpfully. "So until we find a way to shield her eyes..." He shrugged.

"I'm positive that there's a spell for it in my father's files," Cedric hastened to reassure a faint looking McGonagal.

"And the reason we would bother with that, instead of utilising simpler means would be?" Severus raised a brow, relatively certain that he already had the answer. Of course, confirmation was always nice.

Said confirmation being quick to arrive. "She somehow bonded to Sa'zar," Susan explained. "I was looking up the laws of familiars earlier, and it is very clear on this point. If Sa'zar can control her then she's his. Of course, he has to keep her away from muggles, but that shouldn't be too hard."

"I see. I suppose your aunt had you reading those laws?"

Susan shook her head. "No, actually I did it for Tom."

"How... foresighted of you Mr. Riddle." Severus watched the youth coolly, his ebony eyes seeming to see right through him.

Tom ignored the look, forcing himself to look confused. "I'm not quite certain I understand sir. I only wanted to be certain of Norberta's status."

"Of course," Severus agreed, his voice low and dangerous. "How fortunate that her research aids your brother as well."

Tom nodded, relief painting his features. "It is, isn't it? I don't know what we would have done otherwise." Guileless innocence was a new act for Tom, one he had been perfecting since entering the House of Badgers. It was nice to finally have a chance to try it out.

Minerva shook her head, finally breaking out of her daze. "Enough. This is a matter for the Headmaster. Follow me. Yes, Mr. Gaunt, the snake too."

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Albus raised a hand, silencing the cacophony of explanation. "Have mercy on my poor ears, please. They are not quite as young as they once were." He smiled gently at the students, removing any possible sting. "Now, I understand you entered the Chamber to rescue Mr. Riddle?" Nods all around. "Well Tom? Would please enlighten us as to how you came to find yourself in such a predicament?"

Tom did not have to feign the embarrassment staining his cheeks red. "I began hearing Emerald's voice shortly after the school year began. I was completely confused, of course, but I did recognise the voice as a snake's. I," he looked down sheepishly, conveniently avoiding both Albus and Snape's eyes, "I was curious. I had never heard a snake speaking quite the way she was. There is something archaic about it. I suppose parseltongue has changed some over time, though not as much as English."

"Yes, well, however interesting such a study would be Mr. Riddle," Minerva interrupted, "we do need to know exactly what happened this year."

"Of course," Tom acquiesced smoothly. "Forgive me. I am still feeling quite woozy."

"Perfectly understandable." Albus said agreeably. "Why I remember when I fell down the stairs once -" Minerva cleared her throat pointedly "-but that can wait for another time. Please continue Tom."

The youth nodded. "Well, as I said, I was curious. I followed her voice through the castle to Myrtle's bathroom. I realize that it is a girl's room, but my curiosity outweighed my good sense."

Albus gazed over his steepled fingers, blue eyes twinkling. "Curiosity is not a sin Tom. But we should exercise caution with our curiosity."

Tom nodded. "Yes sir," he agreed looking suitably chastised as he glanced down, once more neatly avoiding the headmaster's gaze. "I found a snake on the sink and ordered it to open. To be quite honest I did not actually expect it to do so." Feigned confusion crossed his face. "Why would Slytherin not even bother with a password?"

"That is odd," Harry agreed. "Unless the Chamber wasn't meant to be hard to enter."

"Maybe it was a defense mechanism," Dudley said eagerly.

"Maybe you've been watching to much telly," Harry countered.

"We could just ask Emy," Sa'zar suggested. "I bet she'd be glad to tell us."

"Fascinating as this speculation is, I fail to see how it pertains to Mr. Riddle's testimony." Severus Snape's glower immediately quelled the conversation. "Unless one of you would care to enlighten me?" Unsurprisingly, no one took him up on the offer.

Tom was actually surprised that his brothers had remained quiet as long as they had. Would wonders never cease? Now that the room was silent again, he continued. "I found Emerald resting in the Chamber proper. Fortunately, she was looking the other way else I would not be talking to you now." Several people looked stricken, and Susan put a hand comfortingly on Tom's shoulder. It was all he could do not to throw her off. Hufflepuff. Remember, Hufflepuff.

"We talked. She told me she was looking for her 'master.' I suppose she meant Sa'zar, but at the time I was not certain of what she intended. She seemed nice though, and it never really occurred to me how dangerous she was until Halloween."

Tom swallowed. Now came the tricky part. This was the weakest link in his story. Ironically, it was also the most true. "During the memorial service I heard her. She seemed excited, most likely due to the magic of Samhain."

Severus frowned, black eyes focused distrustfully on Tom. "Soul magic is stronger on Samhain. She may have sensed Mr. Gaunt more strongly because of it." The Slytherin head did not seem pleased with that admission.

Tom nodded. "I was worried. I thought something might have happened. I found Mrs. Norris and, well, panicked. I transfigured some hankies into paint and wrote the message." He looked down again. Admittedly, he had arranged the attack, but the rest was almost entirely accurate. "I meant it as a warning, not a threat." He shook his head ruefully. "That worked very well, didn't it?" There were several laughs from the gathered students and Albus chuckled.

"Indeed."

Tom forced a flush to his cheeks. "Yes, well, the rest is fairly straight forward. I kept trying to get Emerald to stay in the Chamber with little success. Finally I decided to get some help and asked Hagrid for his advice."

Severus raised a brow. "Because the oaf is the perfect person to ask for advice."

Tom's eyes flashed angrily. "On this particular occasion he was."

Minerva frowned. "Hagrid, Tom, really?"

Tom forced down his temper. It would not do him any good to start hexing the professors, even if Albus would give him points for defending a friend. "Anyone else would have wanted her put down for the danger she posed. Well, not Professor Kettleburn, I suppose, but I do not really know him all that well. And Hagrid really does know his magical creatures. But then the Minister came and-" Tom paused, a worried expression crossing his face. "He is alright, isn't he? The Minister did not really send him to Azkaban?" It was time to let the naive, optimistic Hufflepuff to be seen again. No reason to make anyone suspicious.

Albus smiled kindly at him. "I sent a letter requesting his return just before you arrived."

Tom nodded, faking a grateful smile as a worrisome realization occurred. How had the old man known?

"Emerald is not exactly small Tom. Headmaster Scamander was most eager to inform me of her arrival. He has been wanting to see her since his tenure here."

"Yeah, Grandfather always did love magical creatures. He'd have loved to meet her." Rolf smiled sadly at his grandfather's portrait.

Tom tried not to frown. It seemed he would have to work harder on his occlumency. Of course, he may have just looked surprised, but better safe than sorry.

"That's good to hear sir. About Hagrid, that is. Thank you."

"Well, Hagrid said I should find a way to seal the Chamber. But when I went down I ended up arguing with Emy, lost my temper, and trapped myself as well as her. Fortunately I was able to get a message to Norberta and she told my brothers where I was."

Albus nodded, his twinkling blue eyes fixing upon each student in turn. "If you will allow me Tom, I believe I can assume the rest. Having heard Norberta's message your brothers and their friends decided to pool the information they had previously gathered."

"Yeah, we told them about Myrtle." Ron grinned, ignoring Percy's frantic attempts to shush him.

"Daphne had already figured out where the Chamber was," Draco reminded him pompously, before wilting under the glare his Head of House sent him.

"Mione figured out about the basilisk." Val lifted the book fragment as evidence. "She also got the pipes."

"And Cedric and Susan knew what was wrong with Norberta," Luna said dreamily. "I think that was quite smart of them, don't you?"

Susan smiled at the odd girl. "Thank you Luna."

Albus smiled. "I will assume I was correct. So, once you had put the information together, you went to rescue Tom."

"Yep. Idiot managed to -"

"Trap himself there quite-"

"Nicely. Really good thing-"

"We showed up."

"Too true Gred."

"He might have been trapped there forever,Forge."

Tom glowered at the twins, who did not seem to care in the least. He wondered what they would do if they ever met the other him. Probably make some ridiculous joke about the name, he admitted glumly. Would nothing shake those two?

Albus chuckled. "True, true. Now, under normal circumstances I would have to punish you." Ron opened his mouth and Ginny stepped on his foot. "However," the headmaster's eyes twinkled even more brightly, if that was possible, "such a display of inter-house cooperation deserves a reward. So instead of a detention each house will receive two hundred points."

Severus sneered at the head master, and Minerva pursed her lips. "Albus, really."

"Now, now Minerva. Such unity is all to rare these days. And it was all for a friend." He smiled gently at the students. "Now I know you must all be quite tired. Minerva, Severus, if you would escort these students to their common rooms? And Tom, if you can spare an old man a few moments, I have something to discuss with you before you head off to the hospital wing."

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As soon as Cedric and Susan were safely ensconced in their common room Severus turned on his Snakes. "What," he said, voice barely a whisper, "where you thinking?"

Harry bit his lip, stepping forward. As per Slytherin by-laws he was spokesman for his year, a job he had never hated as much as he did now. "We.. We weren't certain where the Chamber was. We intended to find proof before coming to you."

"And you felt the need for this because...?" Severus scowled at the messy haired boy, awaiting the response.

"Because we had already had our concerns ignored. Madame Pomfrey refused to believe Tom was hurt, so we decided to wait until we had some hard evidence before approaching another professor."

"And once you had proof?" Severus' voice remained cool, and Harry winced. Inwardly, the dour Potions master was pleased with his student's response. Some fine tuning was needed, but overall it was quite neat.

"The advantages of continuing on out weighed the risks." Harry stifled a smirk. It would not do to anger his Head of House further.

"Explain."

"By joining the other houses in rescuing a Hufflepuff we showed that Slytherin is not truly the 'evil' house. Further more Tom is a halfblood, so we mitigate some of the 'all Slytherin's are pureblood supremacists' nonsense. We showed courage which the Gryffindors respect. We exhibited our intelligence by finding the Chamber, thereby strengthening our alliance with Ravenclaw. Finally we proved our loyalty, something the Hufflepuffs prize above all else. In addition, we gained the headmaster's favor. Had we left at the Chamber entrance we would have lost an excellent chance at strengthening several beneficial alliances."

"And the slight matter of the basilisk?"

"Mitigated by the presence of two -three if you count Tom - parselmouths. Add Luna's SpAPs for accidental exposure and the threat is essentially eliminated."

Severus nodded, smirking inwardly. Well done, but best not to let his snakes gets to cocky. "And with twenty people in the Chamber not a single one could be sent to find a teacher? I must question your ability to calculate Mr. Potter."

Harry gulped. Snape was right; he had no answer for that. Time for Slytherin rule #2268. "If you cannot explain then apologize, promise to remedy the matter, and remember to leave a loophole.""You are right, sir. We should have sent some one. Should we ever find ourselves in a similar situation, I assure you, we will endeavor to inform you of it as soon as is possible." And if we won't be trying very hard I'm certainly not going to be admitting it.

Severus' lips thinned as his dark eyes swept over his students, causing several to shift uncomfortably. "Well spoken Mr. Potter. For your attempts at restoring school unity you will each receive ten points. You will also have detention until your exams. Do not forget to summon me in the future." The Slytherin's stifled their groans, following their head of house to the dungeons.

Really, with all the time in the office, they should have thought of a better reason for not calling their professor.

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Pomona was sitting in the common room when Cedric and Susan entered. She frowned, giving them a quick once over. "Where is Tom?" The plump herbology teacher glanced about worriedly.

"He's with the headmaster," Cedric reassured her. "He's probably going to the hospital wing once they are done."

"That man." Pomona shook her head. Then her eyes sharpened, and her frown fell on her students.

"Now, loyalty is the major Hufflepuff trait and your loyalty to Tom is to be commended. But," her frown deepened as she emphasized the word, "but common sense is also a Hufflepuff trait, one just as important as loyalty. Loyalty without sense is easily manipulated. True loyalty is found in giving good advice, in helping a friend to stand on their own, but not in allowing your friends to run headlong into danger."

Pomona softened at the downcast expressions decorating her students faces. "Now, don't be too upset. No one was hurt, and Tom is safe. But remember - each Founder gave something to this school. A gift, if you will, to keep it strong through the ages.

"Gryffindor gave courage to stand against all odds and bravery to fight for what must be fought. Ravenclaw gave us the wit to question and the knowledge to answer. Slytherin's gift was the ambition to forge our path and cunning to reach the end. And our Helga's gift was loyalty to tie us all together and sense so the gifts might never be misused. Remember this and you will do just fine." She patted the two badgers gently. "Now off to bed you two."

Cedric and Susan nodded, heading off to their dorms.

"Dear." Pomona turned her head at the gentle, accented voice emanating from the frame above the mantle. "I gave mercy and sense. Galen gave loyalty."

"I know Lady Helga," Pomona reassured the Founder, "but I felt it would be easier if I did not bring in Lord Hogwarts. The controversy surrounding his exact status is... perplexing at best."

Helga sighed, nodding. "That my dear is - sadly enough - sense. Incidentally, might I suggest you rescue young Tom? The poor dear has a broken leg and Albus will keep talking."

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Minerva stalked tight lipped through the halls, fury radiating off of her. The Ravenclaws - with the exception of Sa'zar - practically fled into their common room.

"Professor, what about Emerald?"

Minerva grew even sterner, something Dudley had not thought possible. "In order for the bond to settle it is best if she remains near you for the next seventy-two hours. I would suggest you warn your housemates of her presence before heading to bed."

Sa'zar nodded, ordering - or Dudley assumed he was ordering - the basilisk into the Ravenclaw common room. The dark haired boy followed, leaving the dry mouthed Gryffindors to face their angry lioness.

Dudley gulped. "Professor, I... We..."

Minerva glowered at him. "I am well aware of what you were doing Mr. Dursley. I also understand why you did it. I too am a Gryffindor." Dudley though he saw the hint of a smile. It vanished a moment later. "That being the case, it was still wrong and very foolish. Had the basilisk not been friendly she could easily have killed you. She has killed before by accident; did it not occur to you that she could do the same on purpose?" Minerva shook her head, frowning at her students.

"Percy, I made you prefect for your good sense, a commodity all too rare in our house, not because you are prone to such reckless acts." Percy looked down, unsure of what to say. Professor McGonagal was right after all.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his hands going to the pin on his robes. "Do you want me to turn in my badge?"

Minerva shook her head. "I am disappointed Mr. Weasley, but a single lapse is no reason to relieve you of your position. Goodness, if I was to do that Gryffindor would have a new prefect every week! Should there be a repeat however..." Percy shook his head rapidly, looking relieved. "And you will be sitting detention with me for the remainder of the year." Percy nodded. "All of you will be having detention."

"But Dumble-" Ginny elbowed her Ron, cutting him off.

"Professor Dumbledore," McGonagal corrected. "And I believe you will find, Mr. Weasley, that I am the head of Gryffindor, not the headmaster. You will receive your detentions tomorrow and should I hear any more complaints they will carry on into the coming year."

The remainder of the walk was made in silence, the young lions completely cowed.

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Filius Flitwick had intended to chastise his young charges. He really had. But that decision had been overthrown when a massive basilisk entered his common room, followed by her diminutive master.

"Oh, sweet Hecate!" he heard Lady Ravenclaw exclaim, "not again." Filius filed this away to look up later. For now however...

"So this is Slytherin's famed monster," he squeaked. "What a marvelous specimen of her species."

Sa'zar nodded, grinning broadly at his head of house. "Yes, sir. Her name is Emerald, but I call her Emy."

Fillius chuckled delightedly. "Fascinating. She's quite beautiful. Of course, we'll need to find a better solution than a blindfold."

"And we'll have to send an owl to the record hall," Rolf told him eagerly. "She's been here since Hogwarts' founding which means she's -"

"Broken the record." Filius smiled happily at the young zoologist. "Indeed, indeed. And I daresay we will have to register the bond. Such a fascinating study..." He shook his head self deprecatingly. "And here I intended to tell you how foolish you all were. Ah, well." The half goblin chuckled. "Well, I cannot say I am disappointed at how things turned out. On the other hand, I am not too happy either. What you did was quite risky. I will want an essay on what you did wrong and what would have been a better response."

"Yes, we could have asked the wind spren to send a message and the rock spren to help us get Tom out." Luna blinked her large blue eyes. "They're everywhere you know, and so helpful."

"Err... Yes." Flitwick had long since decided to let Luna be. She was quite the odd bird - which was not necessarily a bad thing. Quite the opposite really. "Have your essays on my desk a week from today."

"Don't worry Professor! We'll have them ready!" Val grinned, her wild hair flying about her.

"I've no doubt of that." Filius clapped his hands, regaining his students attention. "Now it is quite late. Sa'zar, I will come and explain things to your roommates. The rest of you, to bed."

"C'mon Liz! Leave Emy alone. You can talk to her tomorrow." The green lizard threw her mistress an irritated look and promptly ignored her. Val sighed, scooping up her recalcitrant familiar before heading to the dorms.

Luna patted Emy gently. "I'm glad you're here. Basilisks are very good at removing wrackspurts." Ignoring the odd looks, the young seeress headed off.

Emy reared back to hiss at Rowena's portrait, causing the painted woman to sniff and turn haughtily away. The basilisk almost seemed to smirk as she followed her master. Silly bird lady. Trying to make master lock me up.

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Tom sat calmly, if stiffly. He was not too surprised to find that the headmaster wanted to talk with him. After all, Albus did know who he was.

"Why did you make it so difficult to remove the paint?" Albus finally asked.

Tom flushed faintly. "I did not intend to," he admitted, feeling vaguely sheepish. "I must have mispronounced something. Transfiguration was never my favorite subject."

"Ah." Albus' blue eyes twinkled merrily. "You should have paid more attention to my class. I certainly hope I was not too boring."

"Not at all." Tom smirked. "The problem was not the subject matter; it was merely that I hated the teacher."

"I doubt I did much to change that," Albus said sadly, the twinkle fading from his eyes. "Setting fire to your things; jumping to conclusions before getting to know you." He shook his head sadly.

"You were not entirely wrong," Tom admitted. "I have read several psychology texts and am certain I had a childhood conduct disorder."

"Perhaps," Albus said quietly, looking down at his hands. "But that does not excuse me. I was a proud fool, thinking I knew best. I never even thought to see beyond the surface. Do you still hate me Tom?" he asked quietly, looking everyone of his hundred and ten years.

"No, Tom replied, surprising himself. "I do not. I am not saying I like you," he hastened to add, "but I no longer hate you."

Albus' eyes filled with tears. "Thank you Tom."

Tom shifted slightly, his old professor's emotional display making him uncomfortable. "Was there anything else sir?"

Albus nodded. "The basilisk... Might I assume the circumstances last time were similar to this?"

Tom nodded. "Nearly. She woke up on her own this time though. Last time I gave her a sleeping drought and removed the heat sources putting her into hibernation. I would have tried it again, but Sa'zar's presence had already woken her once and would likely have done so again."

Albus thoughtfully popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "Indeed. And now Tom, I must ask you two things. You are free to answer as you choose, but I feel it is very important." Tom stiffened, forcing himself not to reach for his diary. If he was right...

"Tom, how are you here?"

Tom considered his options. Had this been the old Dumbledore, the haughty fool who thought he owned the world, Tom would not even have considered answering. Then again had he been the old Tom he would not have given the slightest thought to the truth. As things stood however... Well, Tom was relatively certain that the old man had guessed the answer, only lacking confirmation, all of which pointed to this being a test.

Tom inwardly smirked. Did the old man really think he could be fooled so easily? His brow furrowed as worrisome thought struck him. No, Tom decided, he knows me too well for that. But what was Albus' game?

"Tom?" The headmaster waited expectantly.

Tom came to a decision. This was not the old Dumbledore and he was not the old Tom. Besides, Albus would need the information before they could get rid of his other self, something Tom was determined to do. The world did not need two of him.

The youth looked down shamefully, the acting second nature. "A horcrux," he said quietly, surreptitiously shooting a glance at the headmaster. As expected Albus showed no surprise, only sorrow.

"Ah," the elderly man said. "I thought it might be, but I had hoped.."

Tom frowned. "You said you had a second question sir?"

Albus nodded. "How old are you?"

Tom blinked, actually surprised by the question. "Thirteen," he answered automatically, then flushed again. "If you mean since I was born, then sixty-six. I made the horcrux when I was sixteen though, and Gringotts has me down as being born then. So I suppose I am actually forty-nine, fifty this summer."

Albus chuckled, though the twinkle had yet to return to his eyes. "Indeed. I assume you know why I asked."

It was Tom's turn to nod. "You needed to know from what time in my life I came from; whether I was already Voldemort or not." There was really no point in lying about that.

Albus inclined his head. "Indeed. I hope I have not insulted you Tom."

The youth shook his head. "Not at all professor. Considering the years events some suspicion was warranted." Actually he was surprised that this conversation had not taken place several months earlier.

"Still, I do apologise." Albus watched the boy calmly, considering. "Tom, have you considered talking to your friends?"

Tom raised a disbelieving brow. "Tell them what professor? That I'm the younger version of Voldemort?"

"You are not," Albus said sharply. "Do not believe for one moment that you are nothing more than a shadow of him. You are your own person and your choices are your own."

Well, Tom thought, that was certainly unexpected. The old man must really want me to change. The fact that he had not so much as stirred at the the word 'friends' had slipped right by Tom's awareness, as had the significance of it.

Albus shook his head now. "No Tom, you are not him. Nor do I believe that the time is right for the full truth to be known. I was speaking about our little - how shall I put it - origin story?"

Tom smirked. "Now you sound like a bad author."

Albus chuckled, his eyes once again twinkling brightly. "So I do. But consider it Tom."

The youth sighed. "Very well. I will not promise, but I will think on it."

Albus nodded, knowing that was all he would get from Tom. "Now, I wanted to ask -"

"I think you've asked quite enough Albus." Pomona glowered at the headmaster as she hurried into the room. "Tom should be in the Hospital Wing. I'm sorry headmaster, but you will have to finish this another time. My duty as Tom's head of house is to see to his welfare. Further questions can wait."

She turned to Tom, smiling kindly. "I see they've at least had the sense to bind your leg. How much does it hurt?"

"Sa'zar gave me a potion," Tom explained. "I scarcely even feel it." The last thing he wanted was more fussing.

Pomona nodded approvingly. "Your brother is quite the intelligent one. Can you stand?"

Tom ignored her hand as he forced himself to his feet, gritting his teeth against the renewed pain. "I can manage," he said, limping to the door.

Pomona frowned as she hurried after him. Really, would he ever realize that it was perfectly alright to be weak once in a while? Pausing only to send a final glare at the headmaster, she followed swiftly after her student.

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The headmaster turned his gaze upwards as Pomona followed Tom out of the room. "Thoughts, Godric?"

The red headed founder yawned widely. "I thought you didn't trust me Albus." The faintest trace of an accent clung to his words, an accent Albus knew was as false as the yawn. "Why wake me up if you won't even listen to what I have to say?"

"I always listen Godric," Albus steepled his fingers as he watched the founder. "I don't have to trust you to recognise the merit of your advice."

The red head released a long suffering sigh. "Weeelll... If you're going to be so insistent Albus, then here is what I suggest you do..."

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AUthor's note: And I'm back! Finally. At least this was a long chapter. And since Albus is giving out points - ten to anyone who reviews. Remember to leave me your house.

Well, my finals are finally over, much to my relief. Hopefully this story will be finished soon now that I FINALLY have time to work on it again.

Okay, questions!

Chapter 18:

1: Why does Tom keep avoiding Albus' eyes?

2: Where does the caution with curiosity line come from?

3: For all of us Americans, what is a hanky?

4: Why does Rolf get so sad when someone brings up his grandfather?

5: What is Slytherin House rule number one?

6: Each Founder gave two gifts. What was Galen's second gift?

7:What record has Emerald broken?

8: What are spren?

9: Who is Liz and what is her real name?

10: Why was Tom not paying attention in Transfiguration?

11: What is a conduct disorder?

12: What is Tom's 'origin story?'

13: What do you think Godric suggested?

Chapter 17:

1-What are Fred and George's sources?

2-What is a Wizzle?

That's all the questions for chapter 17. I just can't think of any others...

Chapter16:

1-Where does the chapter title come from?

2-Why does Draco mean "if you wait a millenia"?

3-What is a 'charmelis'?

4-Why is Norberta attacking the lake?

5-What is different about Daphne?

6-What is an Assessor? (Read 'A Necessary Gift' by cosette-aimee it's really good.)

Points:

Gryffindor:227

Hufflepuff:206

Ravenclaw:268

Slytherin:228