Ether walked up to the three professors he knew would listen to him and explained the full situation. Unfortunately they would need better proof than a simple attack on the caretaker's beloved cat. A student would at least have to be attacked before they called in professionals to safely remove the snake and raid the Chamber.
The fact Ether planned to digitize the books (if there were any) and let all the students read them only did credit to his honor. Then again, he was a Ravenclaw to the core.
A few days after the Quidditch match, they had their smoking gun. Ether had already insured that enough Mandrake potions would be on hand just in case, to the relief of Filch.
(He officially declared Ether free to wander the corridors so long as it was Filch who caught him and not one of the other teachers.)
Colin confirmed what they already knew...a giant snake was in the castle. Dumbledore pretended to act on the information, but since he had no idea where the chamber was (even though all he had to do was ask Myrtle to get a general idea) he was unable to stop what happened next.
Ether lead them to the girl's bathroom and opened up the entrance. Once he activated the stairs (no way was someone like Salazar sliding down that muck, cleaning charms or not!) they walked down. Myrtle was quite happy to keep everyone out by enlisting Peeves to distract the teachers.
"It's confirmed... Basilisk, probably as old as the ruddy castle," said Phil.
It wasn't their first time with a basilisk, though this was their biggest one to date.
"Do we have enough gas?" asked his assistant.
Everyone there was armed and prepared for a basilisk. They worked on a magical creature reserve, and were often called to remove the more dangerous ones from inhabited areas. One time they were nearly called to remove the Acromantula colony Hagrid had in the forest because of concerned locals.
Hagrid managed to keep them because he convinced Aragog to keep his colony inside the forest.
"We'll deal with the snake, you lot keep an eye out for any extra rooms. Salazar Slytherin wasn't foolish enough to leave a secret chamber behind just so his pet could roam freely under the castle," said Regulus. He was a former Slytherin who had lost his memory and had been rescued by a group of, well to be blunt their usual job description was monster exterminators.
They had barely managed to rescue him from a rather nasty group of Inferi.
The only thing he could remember was his first name, and when they found out which family he belonged to they agreed it was better for all involved he didn't remember.
It had been a pain to get his Dark Mark removed to avoid trouble with the authorities later. In exchange he agreed to work off his debt by helping them deal with creatures like the basilisk.
"What do we do with this skin?" asked Ether.
"Well, since you are the resident parselmouth and the one who alerted us to the issue and location...how about you keep it as a down-payment for making our job much easier?" suggested Phil.
"I'm also the kid who got bored one month and made that snake dictionary," said Ether helpfully.
"Kid, you ever get tired of numbers and computers, you come see us about a job. That dictionary has saved our lives more times than we can count," said Phil.
Anyone who would make something like a parselmouth dictionary available to everyone was someone they wanted on their team.
"My dad banned me from the net that month because I nearly got lost on it. So I made it to pass the time. Had to find a more secluded spot because my parents thought it was a leaky pipe," laughed Ether.
That got a good laugh, lifting the spirits of the group.
Ether opened the door for them, and took a wild stab in the dark to guess that the relief on the back had the basilisk.
"First things first, let's raid the place and then we'll deal with the snake," said Phil.
"Agreed!" said the group.
It took them an hour to find the hidden rooms full of books, which Ether had Fukurou take to his private study to 'add' to the Ravenclaw collection once he filtered out the really bad stuff which would be locked in his vault until needed. Several artifacts were placed in a spare dungeon for them to hand over to the Hogwarts Cultural Society later (they kept an eye out for Hogwarts Founder's artifacts, among other things). And a moving portrait of Slytherin was removed from the wall to be placed in the halls later (he was rather happy to be out of that dank room).
Finally they were about to deal with the snake when someone came down. It was a young first year girl holding a book.
Regulus didn't hesitate. She should never have been able to come down there unless she was the one responsible for setting the snake out to begin with. Old memories of a certain locket came to the forefront, but he ignored them so he could stun the girl.
She went out like a light. He took the diary from her hand and held it with distaste.
"Regulus? You okay?" asked Phil.
"I just remembered a similar instance...before you rescued me from those inferi..." said Regulus.
It was no secret that the Ministry only thought they ran things, but in truth it was just a farce. The real power in Europe was the guilds, such as the Creature Removal and Disposal guild, I/E Monster Hunters.
With the girl out and the diary placed in magical suspension, Ether opened the chamber.
Everyone put on gas masks and the moment the snake came out, the entire chamber was filled with the knock out gas.
The Ministry hacks might do things the hard way and only use magic, but the Monster Hunters usually went the muggle way. Less deaths and it was safer for the creature they were trying to help.
The snake breathed deeply of the gas...and promptly crashed.
"Alright boys, start levitating. That gas should keep it out for at least an hour, but we need to work fast," said Phil, his voice muffled because of the mask.
It took them fifteen minutes to get that snake out of the chamber and up the stairs, and that was with everyone helping with the lifting.
By the time Dumbledore caught on to what was happening, they were just leaving the bathroom.
Students, teachers and ghosts watched in shock as they came out.
Ether had already removed his mask.
"Headmaster, your methods were just too inefficient for me to stand, so I called the professionals. The chamber has already been sealed away and with the removal of the snake it should be safe to walk the halls again," he said promptly.
"Why are you carrying it in the halls?!" shrieked McGonagall.
"We need to get it outside so we can move it to a nature preserve where it can live with it's own kind. Relocation is usually the first thing the Creature Removal and Disposal Guild attempt when dealing with dangerous animals in human inhabited areas. If not...well, then the market would get an increase in rare goods for a time," said Ether.
He then turned to Hagrid.
"Hagrid, Phil would like a word with you about...Fluffy...later."
They managed to keep the snake sedated long enough for transport to the reserve.
Ether stood before the great hall the next morning, having already prepared a speech to calm the other students down so they could actually enjoy this year. Plus it would keep Dumbledore from trying anything.
(He had already promised some of the skin to Snape in exchange for a few get out of detention cards for Ravenclaw.)
"Everyone, as I am sure you are all aware, yesterday the Creature Removal and Disposal guild took a basilisk from this castle. That snake is the infamous monster from the Chamber of Secrets, which has been cleared and sealed to prevent a repeat," said Ether.
Not technically true, as he had found a spare passageway that lead to the library. He wasn't going to share that though.
"Now, as the monster has been remove and the chamber sealed, I am sure many of you are wondering why it had been opened. I have in my hand here, a duplicate copy of a book. This book is what is known as a horcrux, a rather foul application of magic that rips your soul into pieces for a chance at immortality. What most Europeans don't know is that these items do not always work, and that the Egyptians used to make them frequently. Goblins come across these pieces occasionally and destroy them on principle. This is because creating a Horcrux can fracture your magical core, rendering the one who creates it a squib," said Ether. It was a little creative spin, but it would help keep the darker students from making them.
As Ether put a little creative spin and completely bypassed what else had been down in the chamber aside from an actual portrait of Slytherin (most of the students were delighted to talk to the portrait of an actual founder, particularly his snakes) and the books (which were currently being filtered by Fukurou in his room) and the snake.
With that taken care of, Ether went to eat his breakfast.
Regulus walked into Gringotts to ask about his brother Sirius. He only vaguely remembered his older brother, mostly that the man had been an ass. He was naturally angry Sirius never had a trial and went to Azkaban to get his side of the story.
Naturally Sirius was very surprised to see his dead brother alive and well...and no longer a Death Eater. Even more so when the same brother starts doing his best to get his older brother a trial despite their differences during the war.
Fortunately one of Regulus' new coworkers took pity on him and explained the amnesia.
Ether took one look at the owl bearing the Gringotts seal, read the letter and swore.
"Dammit all to hell... Why did Freezman chose this month to attack the bank servers?!"
Ether immediately informed Flitwick of the issue, grabbed a few willing and able net battlers who knew what they were doing, and floo'd to Gringotts within the hour.
It took them five hours and several special chips courtesy of Ether, but eventually they chased the rogue navi off. Ether spent another hour re-fortifying the firewalls, double checking all the programs and then being paid a very reasonable fee for the removal along with the others.
Naturally they all went to sleep the moment their heads hit their pillows.
Ether was halfway to the library when Lockhart appeared. Ether and nearly everyone in the school had been ditching his class for more lessons from the teachers he had brought in.
Apparently Lockhart wasn't as big a fool as they believed, because he had already figured out the leader of this quiet revolt. He drew Ether out into an abandoned classroom, unaware the boy had sent a quick text to the other teachers (namely the outside ones).
Five minutes later Professor Summer and a few others burst in to find Lockhart crying on the floor with his hand broke, his wand snapped and Ether looked very pissed off.
"He tried to modify my memory so I could convince the other students to return to Defense!" he snarled. He gave Gilderoy a boot to the groin for good measure.
Lockhart was arrested and thrown in prison when it came to light he had been erasing the memory of anyone who looked vulnerable and claiming their fame.
Meanwhile Ether started a petition among the more serious students that would make Dumbledore take notice.
"What is this Mr. Hikari?" asked Dumbledore kindly. The boy had been a thorn in his side from day one!
"Read first," said Ether with a growl.
"A petition to remove me if I continue to hire sub-par teachers?" he said in shock.
"As headmaster, you should have looked everywhere for a teacher, even a temporary one. Gilderoy Lockhart is a known fraud and criminal. Quirrel had that Dark Lord you lot are so terrified of in the back of his head. Dumbledore, you need to do better background checks on your teachers or I will be making this a matter for the School Governors," said Ether coldly.
Dumbledore winced. This would never end well.
The year ended quietly, and Hermione made plans to join Ether at his house so she could intern at Sci-Lab this summer.
At least she would be more bearable thanks to Lockhart. She wouldn't hang off Chaud while she was there either.
Ether ran up to his parents, who heard about the difficulty he had this year and hugged them. Lan was next.
"You have no idea how glad I am to go home," he said bluntly.
"Considering the letter we got from Professor Summers, yes I do," said Dr. Hikari dryly. His adopted son was such a trouble magnet.
"Dad, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. Ms. Hermione Granger," said Ether, dragging Hermione to the front.
"I am such a fan of your work!" she said.
"It's rare to meet a young lady such as yourself who understands what I do," said Dr. Hikari smiling.
Lan sidled up to his brother.
"She staying in the guest bedroom?"
"Her parents already agreed to let her come stay with us over the summer. According to them, she rarely makes any real friends. Just be a techno geek or talk magic to her and you'll get along fine. As a warning, she does tend to take the written words as gospel a little too often," said Ether. Lan nodded.
His friends had been wanting to meet someone from England since Lan told them where his brother was going. Now they could meet Hermione.
Then Ether grinned evilly.
"She's a Chaud fan girl," he whispered.
"Really?" said Lan, grinning now. Chaud hated fan girls.
"Can't wait to see his reaction to a fan girl actually interning at Sci-Lab," snickered Ether. Lan joined him.
Sirius was in shock. Not only had his brother returned, alive and no longer a complete jerk of a Death Eater, but he was freeing him from prison when he learned Sirius never had a trial!
So here he was, nearly three months after Regulus appeared, in a goblin courtroom. At least Fudge wouldn't be able to have him Kissed once his innocence was proven.
Which was why his first request when he was cleared of all charges and freed was that he could see his godson.
"Godson? I haven't the faintest clue where he is. I suppose we could always ask the goblins," said Regulus.
"Oh, we know where he is. But while he claimed the vault he has yet to claim the name for security reasons," said Ripfang.
"Security reasons?" said Sirius.
"Long story short, the kid is trying to bring the Magical communities out of the dark ages. Dumbledore wouldn't like that and he would absolutely hate it if he found out it was his missing pawn. Plus there is the fact that it's well known the old man would attempt to leave the kid with his muggle aunt, and the kid was legally adopted in another country," said Ripfang.
The goblins had done extensive research in Ether Hikari after he successfully managed to connect them to the muggle banks. It wouldn't do to have a business relationship without getting to know their partners after all.
They were surprised that Ether was in fact the missing Harry Potter. It was pure luck Griphook happened to catch the infamous scar under Ether's bangs and put two and two together.
"Can I at least know what house he's in?" asked Sirius hopefully.
"Ravenclaw, and he's considered their spokesman," said Ripfang.
"Come on Sirius, let's get you back to my apartment and we'll start you on a strict regiment to recover your strength. If you can get into acceptable condition you can apply to Hogwarts and see him as his Defense Professor," suggested Regulus.
Sirius nodded and went with his brother. It was nice to be able to get along with Regulus for a change.