Descend to Darkness

By: Kyuubi04

HARRY POTTER FANFICTION

Chapter 11: Unwanted Confrontations

Summary: Harry defeated Voldemort through some unknown magic and has been in a coma for months. Upon waking up, he had somehow changed, in both attitude and stance, and was confusing everybody. During a visit to the infamous Chamber of Secrets, he discovered the reason behind this change along with the confirmation of one Albus Dumbledore.

Warnings:There will be slash... Harry is Salazar Slytherin and will be calmer and colder than before. It will be a Dark Harry but he's not evil. There will be Ron and Ginny Bashing as I don't like the two of them and they will be the main antagonists along with Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown. Pairings would be HPDM, SSRL, LMSB, NLLL, DTPP, BZHG, and TNPP. This will probably be a short series and updates will probably range from twice to once a month. Also, there will be mention of male pregnancies but only in theory. 'Coz I don't know how to write lemon fictions.

Notes:"Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness" – regular speech

Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness – thoughts

-Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness- parseltongue

+Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness+ gobbledegook

=Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness= temporary mind-speak between Harry and Draco

-x-x-x-o-o-o-x-x-x-

The afternoon become quite troublesome for Harry since many were trying to question about what his godfather did to the potions master that could be considered worthy of such grand apology. He shook his head, trying to relieve himself of the oncoming pain that he was about to experience due to the onslaught of questions regarding his godfather. Really, these people just got over the rumours about him and Ginny, and now, they're already having speculations about imaginary lovers' quarrel between Severus Snape and his godfather, no less. If he had been his usual irrational self, then he would have shouted at these guys to stop barraging him with embarrassing questions about things that no teenager should know about their parents or parental figures. He swore that he would choke to death if another gossip monger asked him whether Severus and Sirius failed to get some action together, thus causing the head of Slytherin to be offended by the Black Lord. He sighed and decided that since he didn't have any more classes, he would take the time to rid himself of all the mental images he procured during his interrogation.

He was hoping to have his much wanted rest when he entered his new domain. However, he was mistaken. As soon as he entered the room, Draco, who was reading a book, looked at him and laughed at his obviously dishevelled self. He would have snapped at the blonde if he were in less control of himself but fortunately for him, he was able to take the mockery of his state with a grain of salt. Deciding to ignore the blonde's laughter, he changed out of his robes and slept the rest of the day.

-x-x-x-

The next day proved to be as problematic for Harry as yesterday afternoon was and it was annoying the hell out of him.

Severus, who was still very much in foul mood, assigned them individual potions to brew. This caused Harry to be torn between showing his true abilities or downgrading his abilities in order to prevent Snape from suspecting him more than he did so now. Unfortunately for him, Severus gave him Veritaserum as his potions assignment in hopes of taking out his anger on him by criticizing his work over and over.

However, since he was used to having students at age fifteen brew complicated potions during his first lifetime, he didn't find it odd that he was assigned a potion that was supposed to be taught in their last year as a final requirement for those attempting to become potions masters. In addition to that, due to his focus on the potion that he was supposed to brew, he failed to hear Severus state, "As soon as you are finished with your assignments, you are to test them yourself. However, if you, like the dunderheads that I think you to be, are not confident about your work, then you are free to back out from the testing at the expense of your own grades." He sneered at the frantic students barely noticing that Harry was as calm as ever.

The teen unconsciously allowed himself to brew the assignment from his prior knowledge of the perfection of the truth potion that he had submitted for his mastery. Because of this, he missed the calculating looks that the scowling man sent his way. As soon as he began his potion, he got too caught up with what he was doing that he didn't notice that he was whispering the procedure in parseltongue, earning him a surprised glance from Draco who was working beside him.

Within the double period, Harry finished his potion first because he brewed it using a less tedious process. Surprised that he got the odourless and colourless aspect of the assigned potion, Severus wondered whether he missed something regarding the discrepancies in the boy's behaviour. He frowned while clearing his head. He asked the teen to hand the vial and prepared to test the potion.

Harry was rather taken aback by the absurdity of the request before recalling the events prior to his brewing of the truth potion. He paled when he briefly remembered hearing something about testing potions that they brewed themselves.

Mistaking his reaction for insecurity about his potion's effectiveness, Severus prepared to sneer at him only to be caught off guard when the teen casually told him, "Well, I guess it can't be helped. However, I would like the testing to be a private affair. After all, the others were still brewing their assignments and we still have time."

This time, he replied sarcastically with a hint of mockery that the teen obviously ignored, "Of course, Potter. After all, we wouldn't want the student body to know of your precious secrets." With that, he led the teen in his inner office, just behind the classroom and began to think of questions to ask the boy in case he brewed the potion successfully.

-o-o-o-

As soon as they entered the room, Severus made him take the customary three drops and waited a few moments before asking the initial questions.

"What is your real name?" He asked in an attempt to determine whether this was not the real Potter.

"It's currently Harry James Potter."

"Currently? Do you have a different name prior that?"

"Yes."

"What is your previous name?"

"Salazar Siegfried Slytherin."

"What?" What the hell... Is this brat's potion defective? I'll ask some other safer questions and confirm.

"Who are the marauders?"

"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew." He spat out the last man's name in disgust.

"How did you defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort?" Let's see how you answer this one.

"By forcing all his soul fragments to get together and separate it from his body while destroying both body and soul." Damn! I shouldn't have made the potion so potent. I even blurted out my other identity. I just hope that he disregards it something trivial. And now, this.

"What happened to you afterwards?" Let's see how you answer this one.

Harry tried to clamp his mouth in order to prevent himself from answering but failed, "I fell into a coma for the rest of fifth year and woke up just in time for my birthday in order to recover my old self." Double damn!

"Why do you say that your previous name was Salazar Slytherin?"

"Because I first died as Salazar Siegfried Slytherin before I got reincarnated as Harry James Potter." Shit! I'm a goner now. This old bat will probably throw me out now.

Severus was flabbergasted. Who would have thought that the son of his mortal enemy was the reincarnation of his most revered founder? The fates must be laughing at his predicament now. Dismissing such obtrusive thoughts, he continued, "Who knows of this?" Better find out if what this brat's saying is credible.

"Albus Dumbledore, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin." By the gods! This is the worst interrogation ever and what's more, I'm the one at fault in this case.

Severus was about to continue his interrogation but fortunately for Harry, the effects of the serum were already fading and he was able to prevent himself from giving full answers, making the professor realize that the effectiveness of the potion was already diminishing and stopping the questions altogether. He was about to force another three drops on Harry when the teen suddenly pinned him down magically.

He felt the boy's power shackle him to his seat and became overwhelmed by the sheer force of the magic flowing out in such a controlled manner that he almost quaked in fear and anticipation. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the teen in front of him suddenly said, "You shall speak to no one of what you have gleaned from this test, Severus Snape."

He was about to give a sarcastic retort but stopped midway when he saw Harry's eyes changed from emerald to glowing silver. As soon as he looked into those eyes, a shadowy feeling shrouded his mind. He realized that the teen blocked him from accessing the memory freely, preventing him from speaking it to anyone although he still retained the knowledge that he had gained. He was too stunned by what had happened that he mechanically followed the teen out of the inner room, forgetting to put on his customary scowl. Their reappearance confused the others so much that those who were toeing the line between failure and success, were unable to prevent themselves from ruining their potions by putting too much of one ingredient.

Awakened by the ruckus caused by the distressed students, Severus ordered them to bottle their potions and to not even bother coming for the testing of their potions, disappointing those who were able to brew theirs properly. As soon as the rest of the students left the classroom, Severus stopped Harry and told him in a deadly whisper, "Even if you have managed to block me from accessing my memory, I would not allow you to get out of this without a proper explanation. Rest assured that I would have an audience with you even if I have to have the headmaster act out as witness."

Nodding in affirmation, Harry gracefully walked out of the classroom only to be assaulted by worried questions from Hermione and curious glances from Draco and his gang. He eased their curiosity by saying that what he brewed was an antidote for the effects of amortentia, which was quite simple considering the difficulty in brewing such a powerful love potion. He even added the thought that maybe it was assigned to him as a mockery for the debacle last Halloween. His bookworm friend seemed to accept this while Draco still looked sceptical, after all, he saw the ingredients that he used, and there was none in it that could have been used in brewing an antidote for a love potion. Knowing this, he mentally told the blonde, "It's true, Draco. I mistook some of the ingredients and botched up the potion to the point that when I tested it, I threw up on Snape. He had to find some pain-relieving potion and scourgified as both to his satisfaction. " He, then, projected a mental grin, earning himself a dry chuckle from the blonde, who dropped the subject even though he was still unsatisfied by the explanation.

-x-x-x-

Severus sat silently in his classroom. He wasn't marking the potions that he assigned today. Instead, he was busy contemplating the implication of what he had just learned. He wryly thought about the irony of the situation. While he revered Salazar due to his ideals as a potions master, he had also ridiculed him, albeit unconsciously, as Harry Potter, which was his reincarnated form. Really, couldn't his life get more complicated than it was supposed to be? However, with this knowledge, he had come to the conclusion that Sirius' apology might not be as sincere as the mutt expressed it to be. Especially if he factored in the truthfulness of the teen's claim.

He looked at the vial in front of him and decided to break it down to see if the truth serum was actually properly done in order to reassure himself of the factuality of the knowledge that he had just gained. However, despite his doubts about it, he couldn't deny the power that he had felt when confronted by the teen when the said person managed to block his memories in a way much unlike an obliviation spell. He knew that if a legilimens is powerful enough, he could do something similar to what had been done to him and it made him shiver with the thought that someone so young could hold such power. Coupled with talent and proper training, the brat would be formidable and he wanted to know whether he had to be wary of the teen's disposition as of present time. This was the reason why he would force an audience with Harry, even if he had to assign him several detentions just to have it.

He sighed and entered his quarters to grab a glass of firewhiskey. He just hoped that once he received all the answers that he need, he would be able to ascertain his position and the dilemma on how to treat the boy afterwards.

-o-o-o-

Harry was cursing himself for getting too complacent inside the classroom. He should have thought that if he looked into the curriculum of his first five years as a student, he could have realized that the level of expertise that the students were acquiring had already diminished through the years since the school's foundation. He thought once again that he should really find some time to restructure his mindscape as well as reorganize his memories in order to avoid further carelessness on his part. Later on, he would also think that if he had done this earlier, then he would have prevented a major rift between himself and Ron from happening.

However, as the case may be, this day was his unluckiest so far. For as soon as wandered the halls as part of his current duty, he bumped into Ron who, due to the days of contemplation on what he was supposed to do next, decided that it was best to make the scarred teen apologize for humiliating his sister by putting their so-called friendship on the line. What the redhead didn't count on, however, was for Harry, who was still irate because of the previous incident, to lash at him with such ferocity that he was once again put to shame.

At the same time, their confrontation happened to call the attention three other individuals. Not noticing the crowd that was drawn onto them, Ron demanded, "Harry, apologize to Ginny now."

"And why would I do that, Ron?" The emerald-eyed teen answered rather callously, surprising all within earshot for they never heard the almost mild-mannered boy to speak in such a tone aside to Draco and his gang.

"Why? You just humiliated her in front of the whole school for nothing, and you ask me why you should apologize? Mate, are you that thick?" The redhead responded, believing that as soon as Harry heard it, that the boy hero would beg him for forgiveness.

"No Ron, I am not, are you?" Harry replied sarcastically, his temper on the edge of descending on the hapless redhead.

Bubbling in anger, Ron answered in a yell, "Why you! Apologize to my sister now or we're through. After all, it is your fault why she rarely shows herself now."

Eyeing him critically, Harry just shrugged nonchalantly, as if his words had no effect whatsoever despite the fact that it was the opposite, "Sure, Weasley. After all, it was Ginevra's fault for trying to use underhanded means to gain my affections."

He walked passed Ron, who was shocked to be dismissed like that, believing that their confrontation was over. However, he was mistaken. Ron decided to become aggressive and began to accuse Harry, "I knew it! That slimy ferret-face has corrupted you and now you're turning into a slimy snake as well. Maybe, you'll be the next Dark Lord following in You-Know-Who's footsteps."

This statement drew in gasps from their audience, which remained unnoticed by the ranting Weasley and the now frozen Harry. This was the final straw for Harry's temper and he didn't care if he's going to cause a scene. He turned around to face Ron, his expression completely blank and eyes hardened. His voice was poised in a deadly whisper, sending chills on everyone's spines. "Really now, Ronald. And here I am thinking that you have grown a brain after the fiasco last year. To think that you've finally resorted to childish and unfounded accusations, you must really be that thirsty for any sort of recognition. But I guess, I wouldn't know about it. After all, I never had siblings to compete with. What with my parents getting killed and all the rot. And as for me turning into a snake, it seems to have escaped your addled-brain's notice but as far as I can recall, I am a full-blooded human and not an animal of any sort. After all, I would have to be an animagus to be able to turn into an animal. And just in case it escaped your notice once again, Draco won't be able to corrupt me into being the next Dark Lord, when he himself is against the existence of one. Now I wonder how I became friends with an addle-brained ninny of a bigot like you. And now that we're into the part about our non-existent friendship, I'll tell you this once: Don't you ever think that I didn't know why you latched onto me in the first place five years ago because I know and I thank you for it. After all, it opened my eyes to your dualistic nature and made me wary of anything that comes from your mouth. Now, if you don't have any more to say to me, I am going to take my leave. I still have duties to perform."

As soon as he said this, he turned back sharply and was about to leave when Ron decided to act foolishly and cast a stunning spell on him. Harry, who fortunately still had the presence of mind to use his holly wand and incanted the protection spell while subsequently casting a 'petrificus totalus' on the inexperienced redhead. This earned Harry gasps of appreciation from their audience. Realizing that he had been seen, he turned his head just in time to lock eyes with Hermione who gave him a relieved sigh. Upon scanning her mind, he realized that the girl had been worried that he would be harmed by Ron. He inclined his head and scanned the area to find Neville and Luna. Upon locking eyes with Neville, the pureblood gave him a grin and a thumbs-up while at the same time looking relieved as well. Luna, her eyes still a bit glassy, smiled at him and walked up to him.

"It seems that the wrackspurts had finally affected Ronald beyond redemption, Harry." She stated like it was mere simple facts.

Harry merely nodded wryly, slightly uncomfortable with the awe that the crowd was exuding. Sensing his distress, Draco mentally asked him, =Are you alright?=

Used to having mental conversations while still being aware of his immediate surroundings, he answered wearily, =I'll be fine, I guess.=

=What happened?= The blonde asked curiously.

=Just got into a squabble with Ron, that's all.= Harry answered a bit hastily.

=The weasel? So he decided to act upon his idiocy, didn't he?= Draco responded sarcastically.

=You could say that. Man, I tired.= The scarred teen gave a mental nod while trying to cover a tired sigh from erupting both mentally and physically.

=Why not got to our room earlier? I'll cover for you just this once.= The Malfoy heir suggested understanding the strain that the other boy was feeling now.

=I'll do that. Thanks, Draco. I owe you one.= Harry smiled mentally.

=Oh, just answering my questions would be enough for me.= Draco replied slyly in an attempt to wriggle information from his tight-lipped partner.

=Hmm, if the time's right, I will. Later, then.= Harry conceded with some sort of amusement about Draco's unsatisfied curiosity.

=Fine, but you better rest now. After all, I don't want my partner lolling his head during classes.= The blonde teased.

=Okay, okay, I'll go now. Just have to do some major damage control here.= Harry answered, cutting off their mental connection.

As soon as he ended his conversation with his partner, Harry concentrated on silently modifying the students' memories about the incident. Oh, they still know the gist of what had happened. Harry just happened to decide to blur the part where he was attacked by Ron and he countered like the experience fighter that he was. Unfortunately for him, his conscience prevented him from doing the same to his three friends, who he felt passed some sort of loyalty test just now after his confrontation with his former best friend.

As soon as he finished his modifications, he felt that someone else must have done the same thing because he felt a relatively unrecognizable power flow into the student body in the same design that his magic did. He gave a sigh of relief, believing that whoever did that was probably his ally at the present time. After all, he didn't want to expose himself to anybody due to his carelessness. With that in mind, he gracefully excused himself and headed to his room skipping his last class with the intent to rest for the rest of the day.

-x-x-x-

Meanwhile, Harry's three friends congregated inside the Room of Requirements. Hermione and Neville were still coming onto terms with the fact that Harry and Ron just broke their friendship. Also, they were trying to fit in the image that Harry projected earlier to their memories of a mild-mannered boy with a hero-complex. They were confused with the minor discrepancies in Harry's current behaviour and they were at a lost as to what to do. On one hand, Harry was their friend and they were worried about his mentality. On the other hand, they were slightly happy that their friend finally could stand his ground without fear of the unimportant ramifications that might ensue from his actions. After all, they saw how Harry allowed himself to be led and swayed by the public's opinion of him and it was quite detrimental on the teen's obvious health.

Luna, on the other hand, watched them in satisfaction with a bit of amusement. She thought that these two were really worthy of standing beside Chosen One although they were still unaware of their part in the greater scheme of things. However, this wasn't the right time to inform them, and she would ensure that once it's time, she'd be the one to tell them. After all, she wanted to keep them safe, especially Neville.

Luna smiled. She was anticipating the next weekend for she had seen a very interesting interaction between two very interesting people. In her mind, being a true seer really had its perks.

After they were done with their discussion, the three headed to their dormitories to rest.

-o-o-o-

As for Ron, his petrified body was carried to the infirmary by Harry's express request that he be taken care of lest he might get entangled with the other students and fall into more harm. Dean Thomas, who was merely passing by, volunteered to carry the redhead's prone form in an attempt to try and meet up with Seamus. Unfortunately for him, he wasted his time waiting for the Irish lad to visit Ron and he left the infirmary slightly dejected.

At the same time, Madam Pomfrey was having a hard time releasing the petrified boy from his current state. Not because the spell was complicated, but because the power behind the spell was stronger than normal. It was as if the caster was so powerful that he was unable to hold himself back. When she asked who the caster was, Dean could only shrug saying that he merely volunteered to take Ron to the infirmary. And as he wasn't a witness to the confrontation, he didn't think that Harry would dare cast such a powerful spell on his ex-best friend that it was almost unbreakable.

Thankfully, at some time in the night, the mediwitch managed to drag Dumbledore into the infirmary and had him perform the counter-spell. The aged headmaster recognized the signature when he incanted the counter and realized that he had to put more effort into releasing the prone boy. And as soon as Ron awoke, Albus delved into the redhead's mind and acquired the memories of the earlier debacle. However, he couldn't do anything about it since it would be highly suspicious to punish two students about an incident that no authority figure had witnessed. Besides, he didn't really want to punish Harry for retaliating to Ron. After all, he himself was disappointed by the boy's narrow-mindedness and it saddened him to realize that out of seven children, the last two Weasleys turned out badly. He just hoped that the rest of their family wouldn't feel the full effects of these two's actions in the near future.

-x-x-x-o-o-o-x-x-x-

That's it for today folks... Well, this chapter was getting long for my taste so I decided to cut it here. Besides the title of this chapter was Unwanted Confrontations so I got the impression that it wouldn't be fitting to add the scene with Harry acting as Gerald in the picture.

As for Snape's discovery... I guess, I would say that even though he accepted the knowledge as fast as he did, he was still sceptic about it. That's why he's going to test the credibility of the potion through and through until he was satisfied that it was perfectly made. After all, he wouldn't want to accept that the student that he bullied for so long was the reincarnation of his most revered founder.

Probably, later in the story, he would accept it and treat Harry levelly without any malice. This would soon lead to more complexities as Harry gains more allies and foes in his attempt to do what he thinks is best for the Magical World.

I hope that you'll like this part...

Read and Review....

Until Later,

Kyuubii04