Ch. 12
The next morning Harry rolled over and slammed his fist down on top of his alarm clock. He had had a late night and hated getting up in the morning. He rolled over to lie on his back and stare at the top of his canopy bed. He wondered what surprises this morning would bring. He was about to fall back to sleep when four pillows suddenly were flung onto his face. He sat upright and glared at his dorm mates. He then threw the pillows back at their owners. Dean's pillow hit him on top of his head and he kicked it onto his bed. (Think Soccer aka Football depending on where you live) Seamus ducked under his and Neville banished his back at Harry with a simple spell. Ron caught his and threw it on his bed.
Ron smirked "It looked like you were about to fall back to sleep. Couldn't have the heir of Slytherin ruining his reputation by sleeping in."
Harry glared at him and after fetching his hygiene bag he headed off to the bathroom. But not before he chucked Neville's pillow at him.
"Yeah but Lord Gryffindor I could always say I wasn't hungry. No one would believe you if you said that."
After Harry had taken a shower, shaved and brushed his teeth. He walked out of the bathroom to get dressed for the day. He noticed that Dean and Seamus had already left and Ron and Neville were waiting for him. What caused him to pause was the fact that Ron and Neville weren't wearing the school uniform but instead their heir-ship robes. Harry shrugged and pulled out his Slytherin robes. He was going to have fun wearing these today.
The three boys walked down to the common room and met up with Hermione and Ginny who were also wearing their heir-ship robes. The five of them walked down to breakfast where they met up with Hannah and Luna outside the Great Hall. The seven of them stood there and smiled. Harry shrugged his shoulders and walked into the great hall. The others followed him in and all seven froze. The great hall was packed and was dead silent. Dumbledore stood up from the staff table.
"Lords Gryffindor and Slytherin, The Ladies Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw I have set up chairs for you at your house tables. Heirs of Merlin and Lady Morgana I have set up places for you here at the staff table."
Suddenly two throne like chairs appeared next to Dumbledore and four others appeared at the head of each house table. Harry looked at the others and shrugged. He then walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. The others followed Harry's example and went to sit down. Hermione and Ginny were easily accepted at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables since they had already had a meal there before. Ron was receiving slaps on his back and congrats from his fellow Gryffindor's.
Harry on the other had sat down nervously. Everyone in Slytherin house was staring at him. He looked down to see Daphne Greengrass smirking at him.
"I have to admit Lady Greengrass; their stares are a little unnerving. Perhaps if we could start breakfast it will be easier to ignore them."
Daphne chuckled slightly and began to fill her plate. Harry did the same and just as he was slathering syrup over his pancakes the other students pulled out of their shocked silence and began to fill their plates as well. Breakfast that morning was spent quietly and Harry had to deal with all of the glances that others kept shooting him.
After Harry had finished his breakfast he was approached by professor Snape.
"My Lord Slytherin, I wish to speak with you as soon as you have finished your breakfast."
Snape walked away quickly and Harry smirked. He knew exactly why Snape wanted to see him. He stood up and followed Snape out of the great hall. He made his way to the dungeons and knocked on Snape's office door. When he heard the quiet 'Enter' he made his way into the well-known office. Snape was sitting behind his desk grading second year essays. Harry stood there waiting to be acknowledged. When Snape looked up he motioned for Harry to sit.
"My Lord I have given a lot of thought on your proposal from last night. I have decided that I wish to be free."
Harry smiled "I thought that you would say that. Now I will need a few things to prepare for the ritual. Most of those items I already have. I am waiting on one last item. I will go over the basics of the ritual at this time. First it will need to be completed on the eve of the anniversary of you receiving the Dark Mark. All of the spells to activate the runes will need to be spoken in Parsletounge. Now as most rituals go, you will have to willing give up something. If this works you will gain far more than what you are giving up."
Harry leaned forward and stared right into Snape's eyes. Green eyes met Black "Do you still want to do this"
Snape stared at Harry not breaking eye contact.
"Yes My Lord. I will do whatever it takes."
"Well in that case I will need to know when you took the mark so that we can have everything prepared."
"December tenth."
"Perfect that gives us three and a half weeks to get everything ready. I will let you know when we get closer to the date of just what time to be ready. I will come get you and lead you to the room that we will have set up for the ritual."
Harry stood up "Now if you will excuse me professor I need to go to Charms." Harry walked to the door before he turned back to Snape. "Just think professor, This Christmas you will be finally free."
Harry then walked out of the office. Severus let a smile grace his face. 'FREE' he thought. That has a nice ring to it.
Harry had made it half way to Charms before he lost it. He leaned his back on the wall and started laughing. The ritual circle was necessary, but the rest of what Harry was going to have Snape do was not. He would wait a few years before telling Snape that of course. He didn't want to die by Snape's wand any time soon.
After he had calmed down he walked into Charms and sat down next to Hermione. He leaned over and whispered into her ear.
"Snape is ready to be rid of the mark. We have until the tenth of December to get the final 'ingredient'."
Hermione choked on her laughter as she fought it back. "I will have the girls and I find the last 'ingredient' before the tenth."
The rest of the day went smoothly. At lunch Hermione gathered Hannah, Luna and Ginny and told them what Harry had mentioned this morning. There was laughter from all of them. They then split up to eat. After lunch they all had a job to do. One that if everything went right, Snape would be a very happy man.
That night the Gryffindor students got a surprise. Professor McGonagall appeared in the common room.
"Can I please have the entire house down here? We are having a house meeting."
She waited until every student was assembled down stairs.
"It was brought to my attention that every house at Hogwarts minus ours has house meetings on a regular schedule. For this reason I have been asked by the heir of Gryffindor to start holding these meetings. So I shall start by asking if there are any questions that you wish to ask."
The rest of the evening was an eye opener for McGonagall. She had never realized that her little lions were holding so much back. She had opened the floor for questions and she was instantly balled over by questions. After she had finally answered all the questions she asked if there were complaints. Again she had to spend an a hour and a half listening and trying to help as best she could. When the meeting was finally over she was finally able to retire to her rooms. She summoned a bottle of brandy and a snifter from her liquor cabinet. She poured two fingers of brandy and leaned back in her chair. She would have to ask Pomera how she did this on a regular basis.
Harry had been avoided by the Slytherins as if he was the plague. Hermione, Hannah, Ginny, Luna, Ron and Neville had it fairly easy. The Ravenclaws had started out giving Hermione a bad time until Luna and the D.A Ravenclaw members had a talk with them.
It was a two weeks after the heir's identities had been announced that Harry received a letter at breakfast. It was black as night with fluorescent green writing. It was addressed to Harry Potter the supposed heir of Slytherin.
So Potter it seems that you think that you are the heir of Slytherin. I will have you know that you are DEAD wrong. I will prove this fact to you the next time we meet. Which I can guarantee is going to be soon. I hope you are prepared to DIE Potter because that is what is going to happen to you!
Lord Voldemort: RIGHTFUL Heir of Slytherin!
Harry read through the letter twice before he burst out in to laughter. He threw the letter onto the table so that others could see it. When Draco Malfoy picked it up and read it, he looked at Harry.
"Potter aren't you at least a little bit scared"
"Not really, no. Old Tommy has been trying to kill me every year since I set foot back into the wizarding world. If he didn't try then I would think he was sick or something."
The Slytherins all shook their heads before tucking back into their meals. The next thing that Harry heard was a squeal of joy coming from Hermione. He glanced over at her just in time to see her collide with him. She held out her letter.
"Harry the final ingredient is coming. They will be here the afternoon of the tenth so we can finish the ritual that evening."
Harry nodded his head and gave a wink to professor Snape. Snape nodded his head in understanding. He rubbed his left forearm absent mindedly.
Harry handed Hermione Tom's letter. As she read it her face got darker and darker.
"Harry we will have to do something about this. Voldemort still thinks that he is the heir. That makes him dangerous as he will think you are just trying to catch some of his power. This needs to be dealt with."
"Yes Hermione I agree that he will have to be dealt with. However how do you suggest I do that? It's not like I know where he is holed up at the moment. Do you want me to walk around town asking random wizards and witches if they know where Voldemort Lives?"
Hermione glared at him and slapped his shoulder.
"Harry this is not a laughing matter."
"Hermione he will make his move and I will be ready for him. I do not like waiting around for him to make his move first, but there is nothing I can do about it at the moment."
Hermione walked away in a huff and Harry just shrugged. He could feel it in his gut that old Tom would not wait for long. He had been claiming to be the heir of Slytherin for far too long. The Death Eaters would start to lose faith in their leader. Whenever Voldemort attacks it would be brutal and it was right around the corner. Harry could feel it in his bones and that is what scared him the most.