Here's the newest chapter for the "Harry Potter: the Serpent Lord", enjoy!

* Review response:
Kine X, deadkid23, jafr86, Emeraldfireblade, ElementalMaster16, The Sinful, obsessivegirl73, fragglemaster, Karou WindStalker, Shoveler, JPElles, Penny is wise, bowsie22, sterata, The MIB's, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Orchamus, hehehe, that is just a beginning.
loginanout, answered you via pm.
twilightnemo, Awsomeness7, wait and see.
Still Not Dead Yet, that will be not just a storm, but a sh*t-storm! =)
xfighter4, there will be more of those, once they are back to Hogwarts.
Goldrune09, there are more (about 70) members of Wizangamot. It's just not many want to attend meetings during the summer (or any other time of the year for that matter.)
jozs001, yes. It will be used 'successfully' at least once.

AN: custom spells:
flammaro induco - fire dome. three guesses what it does =)
ignis iaculumo - flame lance: sends a stream of fire that burns everything in a straight line withing like 90 feet of range.
ignis falciso - flame sickle: creates an arc of fire. Has range of about 20 feet.

* Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" and its characters in any shape or form.

"human speech"
"wraith speech"
'human thoughts'
"spells / parseltongue"

This chapter is not beta-read yet.

chapter 31: Treasure hunt, part II

Creating anti-portkey wards in the Chamber of Secrets wasn't nearly as hard as Harry expected it to be, even if it still taxes his magic a lot. It wasn't all that hard mostly because Voldemort's memories contained a full set of instructions for various types of anti-transportation wards – anti-portkey wards with exceptions being the ward he chose: after all it wouldn't do if he himself couldn't get to the Chamber via the portkey, right?

Even though he finished raising the wards early in the afternoon, the young lord Potter-Slytherin did not go up into the castle to retrieve the diadem: Dumbledore was here, at Hogwarts, and being caught by him now was not something that Harry needed. Oh well, it was not like a wraith that the Britain's last dark lord was now would come and take the diadem horcrux away from its current place...

So, once the wards in the Chamber of Secrets were up, Harry used one of his portkeys – already keyed into the new ward – to return to the Salazar's cottage. He still needed to prepare to retrieve and destroy the locket horcrux... As far as Harry knew from Voldemort's memories, it still was in the cave not far from the orphanage where Tom grew up.

Harry was also thinking about how he will deal with Voldemort himself when the dark lord will get himself a new body – the young wizard was sure that it was only a matter of time before Tom will rise again. Without all of the horcruxes being destroyed, simply killing Voldemort would not work, as he will just revert back to his wraith form... Sure, by how Harry had thought up an idea about how to remove the dark lord regardless of his soul anchors, but more research was needed before the green-eyed wizard could tell that this will work – dealing with the Dark lords after your life was not something where you could afford to make a mistake.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his head for the time being – they would only be distracting him now – Harry entered the potions lab in the basement of the Salazar's cottage with the intent to start brewing a new batch of magic booster potions for his horcrux hunt...

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It was late afternoon of the July the 2nd when Harry finally decided that he was finally ready to go after the locket. But since this 'operation' would require several hours of his time, the young wizard decided that it would be better is he did it the next morning... The next day he woke up early and prepared the ritual for the horcrux destruction. Once that was done, he put on his 'hunting' attire and did a double check of his equipment...

Once he was sure he was prepared for everything that may happen in the cave where the horcrux was hidden, the young wizard apparated to a high outcrop of dark rock, that was next to the towering cliff in which the cave was. Harry walked to the very edge of the rock where a series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to boulders that lay half-submerged in water and closer to the cliff. It was a treacherous descent, but using both the memories of the 'correct path' from Voldemort's memories and his own climbing skills that he had acquired while in Dursleys' care, he successfully reached the (much smaller) boulder that was closest to a fissure in the cliff.

Harry cast a warming charm and a charm to keep his clothes water-repellent, before sliding from the boulder into the rather cold water of the sea. Swimming towards the slit in the rock face of the cliff was not easy. Because no one ever bothered to teach Harry how to swim, but in the end he reached the entrance of the cave: a dark tunnel with slimy walls were barely three feet apart and glimmered like wet tar in the passing light of his wand – it was clear that this tunnel would be filled with water at high tide, so he had to hurry if he didn't want to spend extra six hours in that cave...

The tunnel curved to the left, before expanding into a large cave. Since he knew where the entrance to the 'inner' cave was, he headed straight to the flat rock in the wall which was marked with a barely-noticeable rune. Knowing from Tom's memories that he had to make a sacrifice of a blood to enter, Harry cast a small charm to make a small cut on the index finger of his left hand. Then he pressed the finger to the rune and watched as in a flash of silver and crimson an arched 'doors' into the 'inner' cave appeared next to the rune stone. Once the doors opened, he walked through them and found himself standing on the edge of a great black lake, so vast that Harry could not make out the distant banks. The ceiling of the cavern was not seen in the darkness that was somehow denser than the normal one. A misty greenish light shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake; this light was reflected in the water below, showing that it was completely still. But in only made it clearer that a danger was hiding there...

Walking around the lake, careful not to disturb the water – he did not want to be killed by the inferi that were placed in the lake by Voldemort – Harry reached the spot where, according the Tom's memories, the boat that would carry him to the island in the center of the lake was supposed to be. Running his hand through the air, the young Potter soon found a chain made of pure magic. Once he pulled the chain, there was a clinking sound from the chain (now visible) coiling on the ground that echoed noisily off the rocky walls. Then something was pulled from the depths of the black water: a ghostly prow of a tiny boat broke the surface, glowing as green as the chain as it floated, with barely a ripple, toward the place on the bank where Harry stood.

Once he took a seat in the boat, it started slowly riding towards the island in the center of the lake. The ride lasted for about a minute – a very uncomfortable minute of being separated from the inferi-filled lake by just a fragile boat... Finally though, Harry was once again standing on the solid ground. The island was not very big, barely larger that McGonnagal's office back at Hogwarts. It was an expanse of flat dark stone on which stood nothing but the source of that greenish light, which looked much brighter when viewed close to. This source of the light was a stone basin rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a pedestal. Looking down into it, Harry saw that the basin was full of an emerald liquid emitting that phosphorescent greenish glow.

According to the Voldemort's memories, the locket was in the basin, and to reach it, one needed to drink the potion. The potion that would cause the drinker to fall into dementia, and, thus become an easy target for the army of inferi to kill... Of course, the dark lord had also put a way around it that was supposed to be known only to him. Now Harry knew it as well... Touching the secret runes on the basin, the green-eyed wizard made the potion to disappear from the basin.

Reaching into the basin, Harry picked the locket up. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had made some kind of a mistake, as the army of inferi woke up and was now slowly advancing onto the island from all sides.

"Damn." The young wizard swore. "Incendio!" A moderately-large fireball hit the nearest undead, doing some heavy damage to it. But taking into the account how many inferi were there, it was clear to Harry that he needed some more powerful magic... Quickly drinking a magic booster potion, he raised his wand up towards the ceiling. "Flammaro induco!" A dome of fire surrounded Harry, destroying the inferi that get too close to it. But a couple of seconds later the green-eyed wizard came to a conclusion that waiting for the inferi to kill themselves against his 'shield' was not a good idea – his protection would fail before the last undead would be offed. Canceling he dome of fire, Harry cast a powerful stream of fire at the closest inferi: "Ignis iaculumo!" The spell burned the animated corpse to ashes, along with those that were behind it. "Ignis falcisco!" A sickle made of fire flew from the tip of Harry's wand, incinerating the group of the undead that tried to attack him from behind.

...The 'battle' lasted for about seven minutes, but in the end Harry managed to destroy all of the undead that came from the lake to rip him apart. Too bad that he had to take the second magic booster potion during the fight – the aftereffects were already kicking in, and they weren't pretty. And he still needed to get out of the cave and return to the Salazar's cottage...

Taking the boat back to the 'mainland', Harry then walked to the spot where the exit from the 'inner' cave was. Sacrificing some more of his blood, he opened the gateway to the 'outer' cave. The tunnel he first entered this place from wasn't completely filled with water, so even with almost non-existent at the moment magic he would be to reach the other end. Though it would NOT be easy, as his entire body was aching from the aftereffects of the magic booster potions, and the warming charms he cast on himself had already weathered and he was shivering uncontrollably...

Somehow he managed to make it to the outside. Still, right now he was on a boulder that stood in front of the cliff wall one could not climb without magic or a muggle professional mountaineer equipment – Harry had neither at the moment... Or did he? Sure, he was going to regret this decision soon, but he drank the third magic booster potion: it would temporarily return his magic to the 'normal' levels.

Once he could feel his magical powers returning to him, Harry apparated back to the Salazar's cottage (well, as close as the wards around it would allow), and ran to the house, hoping to get there before the effects of the potion wear off... He managed to get only to the bottom of the stairs, though, before the aftereffects of the potions hit him with their full power, leaving him lying on the floor, barely able to move at all. Oh well, at least he was at home...

It was several hours since he had returned to the cottage, and only now Harry was able to move normally again, even though he still felt extremely tired and drained. Still, being curious about the locket he had retrieved, the young Potter decided to see what his locket was: after all it belonged to Salazar once upon a time...

When he managed to open the locket without parseltongue – something that according to Tom's memories should be impossible – Harry started suspecting something was not right. But when, instead of an elaborate construction with two glass 'windows', there was nothing but a folded piece of a parchment, Harry knew that someone had gotten the real horcrux before him. What a disappointment that wasted so much time on the fake... But being curious who else had uncovered Voldemort's immortality secret, the young double lord pulled the parchment out of the fake locket and unfolded it.

To the Dark Lord

I now I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real thing and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I going to face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B.

That was the message written on the parchment. And it looked like the author of these words was in a hurry when he had wrote them down in an uneven cursive. But who was this 'R.A.B.'? Since the man knew about the horcruxes and referred to Tom as the 'Dark Lord', Harry made an educated guess and assumed that 'R.A.B.' was a Death eater, who at some point decided that he didn't want to serve Voldemort anymore.

Scanning Tom's memories for the names of his Death eaters, Harry found only one that fit the abbreviation: Regulus Arcturus Black. And indeed, the man had defected from the Dark lord shortly before that fateful Halloween night of the year 1981, and Voldemort went to off him personally to show to his minions what happens to the traitors.

Harry sighed: Regulus Black was a hero in the end, but, unfortunately, the young wizard didn't know whether the man succeeded in destroying the horcrux before his untimely death, or, if not, where the real locket was. Oh well, with the Hufflepuff's cup inaccessible anyway, he didn't a chance to make the Voldemort mortal before their inevitable confrontation. So right now he needed to concentrate on finding an alternative solution to the 'Voldemort' problem, Harry decided...

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It was almost a week since he had discovered that the locket he had retrieved was a fake, and only now Harry felt that he had sufficiently recovered from the aftereffects of the magic booster potions to leave the Salazar's cottage. And, of course, the first thing he did then was contacting Violet and scheduling a meeting with her...

So, on Monday, July 12th the young lord Potter could be seen entering the building where the offices of the 'Carter, Bridged & Ashford' law firm were located. Since this time he had scheduled the meeting properly and not per diem, he didn't have to wait any before he was called for his meeting with ms. Bridget. And once they had exchanged their greetings, Harry went straight to business (almost):

"First of all, I'd like to thank you for the job you've already done. I've read the report you've sent to me, and I'm impressed with how much you managed to accomplish in such a short time. House Potter will most definitely be working with your firm in the future." The green-eyed wizard said. "And, additionally, I'd like to thank you for making an alliance with the Ancient and noble house Longbottom for our little undertaking of doing Dumbledore justice." Violet nodded.

"Thank you for your kind words, lord Potter." The blond witch replied.

"Now, let me tell you the reason I've requested this meeting." Harry said. "I have another task for you. It is not as imperative as the other tasks I've given you so far, but I still would like to see it done as soon as possible."

"What would it be?" Violet asked as she prepared a piece of parchment and self-inking quill for taking notes.

"I want you to clear the name of Regulus Arcturus Black, and get him the order of Merlin second or maybe even first class post mortem." The blond witch raised her eyebrow at this request.

"As far as I know, late Mr. Black was a Death eater. I do not know yet, how I can accomplish this request of yours, nor can I see the reason why you would want something like this." She said, while still dutifully writing his request down. In response, Harry just handed her the parchment.

"If we remember the history of Blacks, Regulus was murdered by lord Voldemort himself. This parchment uncovers the reason why the dark lord would kill his minion like that: Regulus had uncovered some of the Voldemort's dirty secrets, namely his attempt at gaining immortality, and, seeing what it was – knowing Voldemort, it is something ...not pretty – decided that he should no longer serve that monster. So he defected to the 'light' side, while destroying the item." The young lord Potter explained. "Thus I believe that he had more to ensure that lord Voldemort lost the war than most."

"I see..." The blond witch said. Then she cast several charms on the parchment Harry gave her and, once she found it to be authentic, she continued: "I'll see what I can do about this. But as I said, Mr. Black is widely known as a Death eater, so changing people's opinion would not be easy." The young Potter nodded.

"Just do what you can. I just want to see the things being brought to justice." He said, and Violet nodded in response: just world was something that her family and their trade partners were wishing for and worked towards.

"Of course." She said. "I'll do what I can. Is there anything else you wished to talk to me about?" The blond witch asked, as she adding her parchment with today's notes and Regulus's message to Harry's folder.

"Well,.. Can you collect some general information about Tiberius Ogden and his political preferences? I think that he might be like someone I want as my proxy; he certainly made that impression on me when I met him." Violet nodded.

"Of course. I will owl you the results when I have them" She said as she added some notes to Harry's files. The young Potter thanked her then and the two told good bye to each other, before the green-eyed wizard left the 'Carter, Bridget & Ashford' offices.

Since it was still just after midday, The young double lord had some lunch at the 'Leaky cauldron', before apparating back to the Salazar's cottage: his little experiment, which he had started a couple of days before his first Wizengamot meeting was about to hatch and, thus, required his attention... Hopefully, this little experiment of his would be a success, and the house Slytherin will once again have its familiar as the unseen guardian of Hogwarts...

Well, of course Harry's experiment was quite unique – he was using the technique muggles had developed just barely two years ago; wizards had never even heard about them – so there was not a small chance that it would end as a failure. But in that case Harry still had an option of 'creating' the guarding the 'traditional' way...

That's all, folks!
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