Chapter Three
The Mansion and a Letter
by azrael-abbadon-delphinus
Standing in a crib. Staring over the edge. A woman in front of him. A flash of emerald light.
Harry Salazar Riddle woke up at12:00 A.M. He had dreamed about his father, Voldemort, murdering his mother again. Nothing to do about that. That had been years ago. He slipped on his shoes, and slipped out of his room. Walking around theRiddleMansionat night was dangerous. You never knew what you might find. But Harry learned as he went. His dad had lent him a wand, until he went to Diagon Alley and got his own. He already knew way more than every first year already attending Hogwarts. He knew so many spells in theory, and a lot of spells in practice. You HAD to know certain spells if you wanted to not live in fear here. Riddikulus, for one. It was well known that Voldemort kept a boggart in the mansion to keep the death eaters on their toes. It was very easy to defeat, seeing as not only was the spell easy, but he ran across the boggart once a month. Another reason the mansion was dangerous was because it was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Much bigger. On the outside, it was as big as a typical mansion. On the inside, it was bigger than Hogwarts. You could get lost in it, or be killed by death eaters, or even by some vicious monster. The mansion even had its own room of requirement. TheRiddleMansionwas even OLDER than Hogwarts. Harry remembered his father telling him the mansion had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin herself. It was protected in every conceivable spell-related way. No one who wasn't taken to it could find it, and even if they could, which they couldn't, nasty things would happen to them if they tried crossing the magical boundary lines.
He had been thinking while walking, and in about five minutes, he had traversed quite a ways, and was surprised to find himself at the entrance to the Riddle Room of Requirement. He walked up to the seemingly bare wall. He pressed the tip of his wand against the wall, as high as he could reach, said, "Aparecium," and waited as the word 'Password' appeared on the wall. Harry cleared his throat, said "Colloportus," and dragged his wand down across the stones.
Slowly, a door appeared in the wall. Once it became solid, he opened it and entered his own personal safe haven. He closed the door, and sat down. He loved the Riddle Room of Requirement. It could change to suit the visitors' needs. Just think about what you need, and, using the correct methods, gain entry. It had a room for pretty much every need. It was amazing. Once inside, you could transfer between rooms.
Harry looked around, and noticed an unusual door on the far side of the room. He got up, walked over, and examined it. This wasn't too strange, as unusual doors tended to appear constantly in the Riddle Room of Requirement. But this one… felt different. Like the door barely kept a massive amount of energy locked up. He didn't know how to open it, either. There was no handle, knob, or keyhole. In fact, it could easily have been mistaken for something painted right onto the stone wall. But Harry knew. He just KNEW it was a door.
He tried pushing against it. It wouldn't budge. He tried running into it at full speed. It didn't budge. He tried alohamora. It didn't budge. He said open in English. In every language he knew. And still nothing happened. He got so mad he yelled at the top of his lungs, "OPEN!" …But it came out in a hiss-like sound. He knew what he had said, but it had sounded different.
"What the…"
As he was about to finish that sentence, he noticed something about the door. It was changing. The door, which was key-shaped, was dissolving. It was going, going, gone. Before him stood an empty doorway with a corridor past it. Curious as he always was, he quickly walked down the corridor…
And entered an enormous room filled with wands. They were everywhere. On the walls, in alcoves, in drawers in the walls. But Harry's attention was fixed on the giant snake in the center of the room.
It was emerald green and huge. It was easily sixty feet long. Maybe even seventy feet long. His eyes slowly trailed up its long body. Just as he was about to see and examine its head, something spoke to him.
"Stop. Do not look into my eyes, for if you do, it will mean certain death."
It took Harry a few seconds to realize it was the snake that was talking. "Your eyes… Certain death… That means you're a basilisk!"
"Very good, little one. Yes, I am a basilisk, and my name is Aconia. I am female. What is your name, little one? Your FULL name."
"Harry Salazar Riddle."
"You have a lot of Slytherin blood in you, little one. And so that is what I will call you. Lord Slytherin." Aconia the basilisk dipped her head and neck in what Harry identified as a bow. He blushed a little.
"Tell me about this room please."
"This is the room where your father keeps all the wands from the people he has killed. He can animate wands to do whatever he is capable of. It is very powerful magic, he can only animate three wands at a time, and he can't do it for very long. Mostly he keeps these wands as a record of how many people he has killed. And this is only the first room."
Harry looked at the wands displayed around the room again. "That's a lot of people."
"Tell me, Harry. Do you wish to be powerful? More so even than your father?"
Harry didn't have to think very long OR hard on that. "Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt."
"Are you SURE? It will be very painful. And it will change you biologically. Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes, I am."
Aconia the basilisk slithered up to him, her head level with Harry's. "Don't move." Aconia the basilisk slowly opened her jaws. A row of white, sharp, slightly curved fangs lined her upper and lower jaws. She darted in, bit him on the upper, inner part of his left thigh and drew back, leaving a gaping hole in Harry's thigh.
Immediately a hot pain began to spread away from the wound. Blood poured rapidly from the hole in his thigh. The room started to go black.
But then it all started to reverse. His vision returned to normal. The bleeding stopped. The pain stopped. He felt… normal. "I'm ok. I don't feel any different, though."
Aconia the basilisk laughed. At least Harry thought she was laughing. "The changes will occur gradually, in time. Rather soon, I think."
"And I almost died!"
"Yes. You almost did. But if you recall, I never guaranteed your survival. In fact, I tried to discourage you. But you chose to risk it. And you will be stronger because of this. Let that wound heal naturally. Otherwise you will stay normal. Now leave. Come see me when the first change occurs."
Harry looked at the hole in his cloak, the blood on the floor, and the blood on his cloak. He pointed his wand at the blood on his cloak and said, "Scourgify." The blood disappeared from his cloak. He pointed his wand at the hole in his cloak and said, "Reparo." His cloak mended itself. He then pointed his wand at the blood on the floor and said "Scourgify." The blood on the floor also disappeared. He began limping towards the corridor that would take him back to his safe haven in the Riddle Room of Requirement.
Aconia the basilisk called to Harry as he was leaving, "Goodbye, Lord Slytherin."
Harry called back, "Goodbye, Aconia. It has been… interesting." Harry limped out of the room, down the corridor, and into his safe haven. He limped over to a seat, and sat down. After about five minutes of rest, he got up and slowly made his way back to his room.
He reached for the door handle.
But the door opened before he reached the handle. The door opened, and standing before him was Voldemort. His father.
"…Father. What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you. Your Hogwarts letter arrived just a little while ago. And congratulations, you've finally learned parseltongue."
"Parseltongue! That's why it seemed so familiar. I'd forgotten that I'd read about it." He paused for a little while, realization dawning in his mind. "You speak it!" It had taken Harry a few seconds to make that connection.
"Yes, I do speak it when I wish. And you can't seem to STOP speaking it. You need to focus. Bring your emotions into check. Calm yourself."
Harry tried to do exactly that, and tried to speak. "English. English."
"Try again. Never do anything half-way!"
Harry tried again. "Come on, come on, English! Yes! I did it."
Pride flashed across Voldemorts face and left so quickly that Harry was certain that if he had blinked, he would have missed it. It was so strange to see an emotion other than anger or boredom on Voldemorts face.
Voldemort pulled out an envelope and handed it to Harry. It was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment paper. The address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. The address read:
Mr. H. S. Riddle
Personal bedroom in the Riddle Mansion
Middle of nowhere
The Amazon Rainforest
South America
Turning the envelope over, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake, which Harry immediately identified as a basilisk, surrounding a large letter H.
He opened it, careful not to tear anything. He pulled out a letter and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chief Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Riddle,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Voldemort spoke. "I've already sent word you will be attending. There's more in there." He pointed to the envelope.
Harry unfolded a second piece of paper and read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)One plain pointed hat (black) for daywearOne pair of protective gloves (dragonhide or similar)One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
After listening to the letter, Voldemort said, "We'll go and get your stuff later today." He glanced out the window. "Once it gets light out. Oh and… Happy birthday….. son."
With that, Voldemort left, and Harry went into his room. He laid down on his bed, and fell right asleep, still clutching the envelope and letters in his hand.