Chapter 19: Where are we?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the character's JK Rowling created do no belong to me except for the characters I created.
Chapter 19 – Where are we?
"You wanted to see me headmaster?" said Harry, as he entered Dumbledore's office. He took a look around and noticed that a few more weird instruments had been added to the the office.
"Yes, Harry, please take a seat."
Harry quietly sat in front of the headmaster his eyes still wandering about the office. It was obvious why he had been summoned but he had no intention of telling the headmaster anything.
"How are you Harry?" asked Dumbledore pleasantly.
"I'm fine, sir," he said with a fake smile.
"That's good to hear."
"Have I done anything wrong headmaster? I hardly think I could have broken any rules this term."
"No it's not about anything in the castle. It's rather about something outside the castle."
"I don't mean to be rude Professor, but I don't see how that concerns you?"
"I am concerned about the safety of all my students Harry and I have reason to believe you might have had some trouble during your vacation."
"I am not going to tell you where I spent my summer if that's what you want to know professor."
"I am not concerned about where you spent your vacation Harry," Dumbledore said abruptly.
"What?" asked Harry, sounding surprised.
"That's right, what I am concerned is about your use of magic outside Hogwarts and the condition Petunia and Vernon Dursley were found in," he said.
"I don't know what you mean Professor," he replied. "But are my dear relatives alright?" he asked pretending to be concerned.
"Harry, please do not lie to me. I know you attacked your relatives and then obliviated them."
"Obliviate? What's that professor?" asked Harry.
Dumbledore sighed. Harry realized maybe he was pushing the innocent act to far and decided to tone it down a bit.
"I think I remember reading about it somewhere, it was related to something about the memory…."
"Harry, your magical signature was all over the place, I broke into your room and saw the amazing things which at your level should be well beyond your capabilities and I know that what you did was in self defense and I do not blame you. The reason I called you up here was not to reprimand you but to get you to talk to me," said Dumbledore gently.
"What's a magical signature?" asked Harry and this time he honestly had no clue what a magical signature was.
"It's a sign left behind by a wizard. Every time a wizard does magic, he leaves traces of it behind which is unique to him."
"So how do you know the magical signature in Privet drive is mine?"
"I know," said Dumbledore firmly, not keen on sharing that kind of knowledge with Harry.
Harry just remained quiet.
"Now, as I told you before I am not interested in where you stayed or what you did after leaving the Dursley's. But I am concerned about the way you treated the Dursley's when you left. You smashed Vernon Dursley multiple into the television set causing him to suffer a severe spine injury. Then you attacked Marjorie Dursley who now has amnesia due to the head injuries she suffered and then you proceeded to attack your aunt and pierced various parts of her body with glass pieces! Fortunately you did not do any harm to your cousin and finally you obliviated all of them."
Dumbledore said all that in one breath. "Now what I'd like to know is why you attacked your family so violently and mercilessly!"
All this time Harry listened quietly with a slight smile on his face.
"May I ask why you are smiling?"
"Well since we seem to have established the fact that I was the one who attacked the Dursley's with magic, when I am underage and any magic I use will be detected by the ministry… let me assume what you said was true."
Dumbledore was angry at this.
"First of all I don't have any family. All my family members are dead or have been murdered. The Dursley's, to me are just insane muggles who would like nothing more than to kill a wizard in cold blood. They are like Voldemort and will not hesitate, even for an instant if they had the chance to kill us all… Most muggles are like that… only a few would love to be a part of our world. And as for why the brutal attack? Let's just say the provoked me so much that I had no choice but to retaliate and protect myself for those monsters. And as for oblivating them, It would be stupid if I hadn't! They could have easily told everyone that it was me who attacked and I obviously didn't want that. I wanted every trace of my existence to vanish that house! If I had time I would have cleared out my room too."
Dumbledore didn't know what to say. Outside he was perfectly calm but inside he was a little scared. He was afraid of what Harry was becoming. He was sounding, acting and behaving like Tom Riddle when he was young, except Tom wouldn't have told him anything but just smirk at him like Harry was doing now.
"Did the Dursley's attack you first Harry?"
"No," answered Harry.
"Did they hurt you with a muggle device at any point when you attacked them?"
Harry was silent. He could practically feel the pain he had felt when the bullet had pierced his shoulder.
He then looked up and answered, "No."
Clearing his throat Dumbledore looked straight into Harry's eyes and said, "Why do you hate me so much Harry?"
Harry was startled by the question. "I do not hate you professor, I just don't appreciate you interfering in my life when you have no right to do so."
"Harry… you are thirteen! You are a not an adult even if you try to act grown up enough to handle your own affairs. You need an adult in your life to guide you along the right path!"
"I don't need an adult to rule my life, I have never needed one and I do not need one ever," he said angrily.
Dumbledore sighed. He had no clue how to deal with Harry at all. "I see…" he said quietly. "But I do hope you think over our talk today and I want you to know that violence is never an answer to your problems. If you do think that way, then you are no better then Tom Riddle and the path you are following now, is the same Tom Riddle followed when he was your age."
Harry stared at Dumbledore absolutely shocked.
"You are a child Harry," said Dumbledore, "And no matter how firmly you believe you don't need an adult to look after you, the truth is that you do. Have a good night Harry."
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.
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Dumbledore watched Harry leave with a pained expression on his face.
"That was a very cruel thing you just did Dumbledore," said the portrait of Dippet.
"I agree," said another. "You shouldn't have said that to the child."
"I know what you all are thinking, but trust me. It might get the boy to dislike me even more but he will begin to see the need of an adult in his life. He will be angry at first, then he will think over what I said and then hopefully he will see my point."
"And then what? Will you the adult in his life? The ideal guardian? The one to tell him what to do?" asked Dippet skeptically.
Dumbledore looked straight at the portrait of the Armando Dippet. "The boy's destiny is far too great and so yes I must be the one to guide him. Not because I wish to control him but because he will need my guidance sooner or later."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry walked slowly back to his common room, a lot on his mind after his little talk with Dumbledore. He was still a little shocked that Dumbledore had compared him to Voldemort, a mad man who killed for no reason, killed his parents, hated muggles and wished to exterminate them and enjoyed torturing people.
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.
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And he was no better than him!... That's absurd, he thought. He wasn't into the dark arts and he didn't enjoy terrorizing people. He just liked his own company and no one else's. Then why on earth would Dumbledore say he's not better than a mad man? What… because he protected himself and took revenge on the Dursley's?
Harry's confusion turned to anger. How dare Dumbledore suggest something like that! What right does the headmaster have to say such things!
Maybe because he saw the dark lord turn into a dark lord and maybe because the way you acted up there reminded him of Tom Riddle, said a nasty voice in his head.
Immediately Harry calmed down and sighed. He decided to recall his behavior in Dumbledore's office.
He was rude, he lied, he spoke about the Dursley's like they were a reincarnation of Voldemort, his tone was filled with anger and hatred, he was smiling when Dumbledore told him what he did to the Dursley's and he didn't feel a bit sorry for what he did. He refused to listen to a man who undoubtedly was wise and knowledgeable.
.
.
.
Harry sighed again. All Dumbledore said was one sentence and it had unsettled him greatly. What did Dumbledore think? That he would become a dark lord! That he would be tempted to use the dark arts!
He felt both angry and helpless. And for the first time since he had entered the wizarding world Harry felt scared. He felt alone and wished he had his parents back. He wished he didn't have to make all his decisions on his own and he wished he didn't have any responsibilities and he didn't have to get rid of the greatest dark lord of all time.
He didn't know where his feet were taking him but he was surprised to find himself standing at the edge of the lake.
He felt the water rippling gently against his feet giving him a pleasant feeling. He looked up and saw the full moon shining down on him. Lupin must have transformed, he thought absently.
Harry then remembered Sirius and the promise he had made him…. to capture Pettigrew. Suddenly Dumbledore seemed a million miles away! He had to hatch a plan to capture that son of a bitch without causing any suspicion! Remembering Sirius also reminded him about the amount of time Sirius had to spend in Azkaban because of one little rat.
That's right, Harry said to himself. Sirius managed to stay sane and escape only because he knew he was innocent and he was more concerned about Harry than himself. "People may say things about you, but only you know yourself best…." That's what Sirius had told him in his few moments of seriousness. Remembering that thought made all Harry's doubts vanish and make his resolve even stronger. Dumbledore might say whatever he has to but in the end it's what you think of yourself that matters, not what others thing of you. With renewed confidence in himself, Harry walked back to the Slytherin common room.
Dumbledore's plan had partially succeeded for Harry, unknowing had accepted Sirius as the adult in his life.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"Hey, Harry! Wake up!"
"Go away," muttered Harry.
"You got 20 minutes until class starts! Time to get up!"
Harry groaned.
"You leave me no choice…," said Blaise and yanked the bed sheet off Harry.
"No, not the bed sheet!" moaned Harry.
"Then you get up you lazy bum!"
.
.
.
"Didn't you find a better way to wake me?" said Harry, irritably, as Blaise and him walked to the great hall.
"Will you stop harping about that already!" said Blaise.
"Well you should have found a better way to wake me…" he grumbled.
"If you remember throwing water doesn't have any effect on you so this is the only way to wake you. You should be grateful that I woke you on the first day back to Hogwarts!"
"Yeah well, I'd rather be sleeping right now."
"Didn't sleep well last night?"
"Nope."
"Why?"
"Just couldn't," replied Harry.
"Hmm that's smells good," said Blaise as they entered the great hall.
"Yeah, whatever," said Harry.
"Not even your mood swings can spoil the smell of good food, Potter," said Blaise cheerfully.
"I do not have mood swings!" said Harry annoyed.
Just as they were about to finish Professor Snape came up to the table and began handing out the time tables. He paused near Harry, gave him a cold glare and went on ahead.
"Great, just what I need," said Harry, "A pissed of Snape ready to bite my head off at the first chance he gets.
What class do we have first?" he asked Blaise.
"Defense, with Gryffindors," said Blaise.
"And we get to see the Dorks first thing in the morning….. Even better," said Harry and began banging his head on the table.
"Banging your head isn't going to help you. Now let's move we got less than five minutes to get to class."
"I'm pretty sure Lupin is a Gryffindor supporter," said Harry.
"Lupin?"
"The new defense professor. Weren't you listening during the feast?"
"Was too hungry to listen."
"You and Weasley should have been brothers," muttered Harry.
"Oye! That was too low!"
"Yeah you're right, that was low. He'd be your favorite dog."
-x-x-x-x-x-
Remus Lupin was a little nervous before entering the class. It was his first time addressing a large group of students and he was even more nervous and eager to see Lily and James son.
He gathered up his courage and entered the class room.
"Good morning class," he said in his best professor voice.
There was a half hearted response which brought a smile to his face.
"Well I'm your new defense against the dark arts teacher and my name is Professor Remus John Lupin."
"Let's start by taking a roll call."
He tried scanning the room for Harry but he couldn't find him. Dumbledore had said he wore glasses and looked a lot like James but he could find no such person among the Gryffindor students. Surely he wouldn't miss the first day of class!
"Austin Mary Lillian," he called.
"Yes sir."
.
.
.
"Granger Jane Hermione"
"Yes sir."
Slowly it went on until he came to the name he was waiting for.
"Potter James Harry."
"Yes sir," came a voice from his left.
He looked up and was surprised and shocked to see a boy in Slytherin answer the call. He wasn't wearing glasses, he had a little long shaggy hair and… and he resembled James!
His shock must have shown on his face because half the class was looking at him with a puzzled expression.
A few thought he was gawking at the famous Harry Potter. But only Harry knew why the professor was shocked. He hadn't even considered that Harry might be in a house other than Gryffindor.
Lupin finished the roll call and took a deep breath.
The class began removing their books but Lupin stopped them.
"Please put your books away and remove your wands," he said. "You will only need your wands today."
The entire class began to talk in excitement. They had never had a practical on the first day of class barring the disastrous last year of course.
"Follow me," said Lupin.
Slowly all the students moved out of the class making a lot of sound and chattering excitedly. Each one wondering what they were about to be doing. Were they going to duel? Or just learn some silly spell? Or perhaps an amazing spell!
Harry himself was extremely curious to know whether Lupin was going to be a good teacher or was he going to be like the others before him. From what Sirius had told him, Lupin was a bookworm during his time in school and was always buried in some book or the other. But when it came to pranks, he was the guy who planned them out perfectly!
"All right all of you," said Lupin suddenly, "Get in."
Lupin had taken them to the teachers lounge. Only professor Snape was there in the room, sitting in one corner reading a book.
"Ah, Severus," said Lupin politely "Do you mind if I borrow this room for a bit."
Snape looked up with a sneer on his face. "Not at all Lupin," he said and stood up. On his way out he stopped and turned back. "Just what is it you plan to do here anyway?"
"A practical class," said Lupin "Needed a bigger room."
Snape smirked and looked at the students behind Lupin. His gaze fell on Neville and his smirk broadened.
"Well whatever you do, make sure you keep Longbottom away from his wand. The boy is a walking disaster."
Neville paled but Lupin just smiled. "Well I was planning to use him in my first demonstration and I'm sure he'll perform admirably." Hearing that Neville turned paler.
Snape just sneered disdainfully and walked out of the room banging the door as he went out.
Lupin let out a sigh. "Well now that the air seems a bit cleaner let us begin."
The Gryffindor's began to laugh and even Neville let out a feeble smile. The Slytherin's just scowled at the professor.
"All right, now who knows what a Boggart is?"
Hermione Granger's hand shot up like a rocket.
"Yes Ms. Granger?"
"It is a creature which lives it the dark. Nobody knows what it looks like because it takes the shape of your worst fear when you confront one!"
"Excellent," said Lupin "Take 5 points to Gryffindor."
"Wonder if her arm will shoot out of her body one day," muttered Blaise. Harry and Draco sniggered.
Unfortunately Lupin saw them and frowned.
"Perhaps Mr. Potter can tell us the spell to repel a Boggart."
Harry looked up lazily and said, "Riddikulus."
"Correct, take 5 points to Slytherin," he said.
"Now we know what a Boggart is and how to repel it. When you are confronted by a Boggart you must imagine your worst fear to be something funny and say the spell. This will change the boggart's form to something you're not afraid of and it will retreat. But only laughter can truly defeat a Boggart."
"Can anyone tell me what problem the Boggart will face in this room?" he asked. "Yes, Ms. Austin?"
"Err; because there are so many of us… it won't know what form to take?"
"Excellent! Another five points to Gryffindor!"
"Now repeat after me… Riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus," the class chanted.
"Again!"
"Riddikulus"
"Now how many of you are ready to face the thing you fear!"
There was sudden silence in the class. Suddenly almost everyone was looking fearful.
Harry too didn't know what to say. He had no idea what he feared. He wondered whether it was a good thing to know what you feared or was it better not to know.
"Now come on! Don't be scared! Now Neville, please come up here. I would like you to handle the Boggart."
"10 Galleons say's he pees in his pants," whispered Harry.
"30 Galleons say's he dies of fear," said Draco.
"Are you ready Neville?"
"No," he said fearfully.
"Hmmm…. What do you fear most Neville?" asked Lupin.
Neville muttered something.
"Sorry? Could you say that louder?"
"Professor Snape," whispered Neville.
The entire class burst out laughing. The Slytherin's were laughing so hard that a few of them fell to the floor. But Lupin was looking thoughtful.
"I believe you live with your grandmother Neville?"
"Yes, but I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either!"
"No, no, you misunderstood me. What does your grandmother wear usually?"
"Erm, a vulture kind of hat, with red robes and a big red handbag," he said, looking slightly confused.
"Now could you imagine Professor Snape in those clothes?"
The Gryffindor's roared in delight while the Slytherin's protested loudly.
This is what happens when they put the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's together thought Lupin.
"Alright, all of you quiet!" he yelled.
Slowly the noise levels went down. The Gryffindor's were looking pleased and the Slytherin's mutinous.
"Now Neville, when I let the Boggart out of that compartment, I want you concentrate hard on the image of Professor Snape in your grandmother's clothes and say Riddikulus pointing your wand at the Boggart."
Neville nodded nervously.
"Alright, ready? One two three!" he said and unlocked a trunk kept in one corner and backed away.
The trunk shook violently and the lid opened. A particularly menacing looking Snape came out and began walking towards Neville whose knees were shaking violently.
"Riddikulus!" he squeaked and Boggart Snape was redressed into a Snape wearing red lipstick, with a large red handbag, a vulture top hat and a womanly looking dress!
The class dissolved into laughter once again. Even few of the Slytherins could not keep the smiles of their faces.
"Excellent," roared Lupin, "Parvati forward!"
The Boggart changed into a rat. "Riddikulus," she yelled and the rat began barking and chasing its own tail.
"Greengrass!"
The Boggart turned into a bald Daphne. Daphne screamed but some how managed to say Riddikulus changing the Boggart into a Dumbledore without hair.
"Thomas!"
The hairless Dumbledore became a hand crawling on the floor. Then there was a banshee screaming, then there was an eyeball floating in the air, it turned into medusa next and then into a terminator when Seamus was made into confront it.
"We're getting there!" yelled Lupin, "Zabini!"
Blaise went forward and there was a jet of fire rushing towards him. His eyes widened in fear as he yelled Riddikulus. The fire turned into water and splashed harmlessly on the floor.
"Brown!" called Lupin and the Boggart changed into a frog like lavender.
Harry was impatiently waiting for his turn when he heard Ron say take of its legs continuously and couldn't help but wonder what was he afraid of? He was about to find out when Lupin called out Ron's name.
The Boggart changed into a gigantic spider. Half the girls screamed and backed away.
"Riddikulus," yelled Ron and the spider suddenly lost its legs and rolled towards Harry. The legless spider stopped near Harry and was about to change bur Professor Lupin intervened.
"Allow me!" he said and the Boggart changed into an orb floating in the air surrounded by a mist.
"Riddikulus," he said almost lazily and the orb began loosing air and kept whizzing around the room. "Finish it Neville," he yelled.
This time Neville walked ahead confidently. The Boggart changed back into Snape but Neville yelled the spell and the class got a view of the womanly Snape before Neville let out a great ha and the Boggart vanished.
"Excellent everybody! 5 points to whoever had a round with the Boggart and an extra 10 for Neville for doing an amazing job finishing the Boggart. Next class I want an 11 inch essay on Boggart's. That's all for today!"
As soon as everyone was out they began discussing about the gross things the Boggart had turned into.
Did you see that severed hand! Did you see that huge spider! And so on.
All in all, it was quite a successful first class for Professor Remus Lupin.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry came out of the class looking a bit peeved.
"What's up with you?" asked Blaise. "It was pretty damn good class wasn't it?"
"He didn't let me have a go with the Boggart," said Harry.
"So?"
"I wanted to see what I was afraid of."
"You don't know what you're scared of?"
"Well… as of now, I really don't know what would scare me," admitted Harry. "I sure there must be something I'm scared of but I don't know what it is."
"So in 13 years, you haven't found anything that truly scares you!"
"There used to be things I was afraid of but they amuse me now."
"Hmmm…. Harry Potter, the boy who lived who doesn't fear anything! Tomorrows headlines," said Blaise laughing.
"Ha, ha, very funny," said Harry sarcastically.
Harry was about to say something when he was Austin, Granger and Weasley. "I'll meet you in the common room," he told Blaise "I've got something to do," he said and turned back.
"What? Wait! Harry!"
"I'll meet you in the common room," Harry yelled and vanished around the next bend.
He quickly caught up with the Gryffindor trio and was mentally berating himself for not being able to think of another way to get the rat.
"Hey, Austin," he called out.
All three turned and were shocked and surprised to see Harry to be the one calling Lillian.
"What do you want Potter," spat Ron.
"A word Freckles? Without your two buddies," he said.
Lillian crossed her arms. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"I'll tell you when you get rid of carrot top and the beaver.
Ron turned red but Hermione just ignored him.
"Whatever you can say, you can say in front of them," she said coolly.
"Well I'm afraid I can't say what I have to say in front of them. And if you can't get rid of them, then I'm afraid you're loosing an opportunity improve something we have in common," he said.
"Improve what!" asked Hermione sharply.
"Our snogging skills," answered Harry smoothly.
Lillian gasped in outrage. Hermione's mouth dropped open and Ron began spluttering…. "Snogging! You both…"
"Of course not!" said Lillian indignantly "Are you crazy!"
"I'm giving you 10 seconds to consider and then I'm out of here," said Harry.
"No wait," said Lillian hurriedly "Could you please go Hermione, Ron, I'll meet you in the common room."
"You want to snog him!" yelled Ron.
Lillian sighed irritably, "I'll explain everything latter. Now could you please take Ron and go Hermione…. Please?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Alright, but you better tell us what he says latter," she said.
"Sure, sure, now go, she said, relived.
Once they had gone she turned back to Harry. "What the hell is wrong with you!"
"Got rid of them, didn't I?"
She just growled. "What the hell do you want!"
"If I ask you will you do it?"
"Depends on what it is," she said, huffing.
"I want Weasley's rat," he said.
"Sorry? I didn't hear you right."
"You heard me just fine. I said I want Weasley's rat."
Lillian was confused. "I thought you wanted to talk to me about our elemental skills?"
"That's what you get in return for bringing me carrot tops rat," he said simply.
"I am so confused right now," she muttered.
"That's because you're dumb."
"Never asked your opinion," she snapped.
"So what's your answer?"
"Why the hell do you want Ron's rat?" she asked.
"To perform experiments on it," he said seriously.
Lillian just stared at him.
"Let me get this straight," she said, "You want me to get you Ron's rat, Scabbers and in exchange you're willing to help me improve my elemental skills? …. …. Did I miss something?"
"You didn't miss anything. You heard everything just fine," said Harry "I told you I'd be willing to help you develop your abilities in exchange for Weasley's rat! How hard is that to understand?"
"Do you know how ridiculous that sound! It's like giving a fortune away in exchange for a Knut!"
"That's my offer," said Harry, shrugging "Take it or leave it."
Lillian sighed "Every time I talk to you, I always seem to get a headache."
"That's good to know," he said, amused. "Maybe if you'd give me an answer soon, I'd be on way before I get a headache listening to your voice."
Lillian shot him a scathing look which had absolutely no effect on Harry. "I know you never do anything without reason and I want to know why you want that rat so bad, that you'd be willing to help me."
"My reasons are my own. Maybe I'll tell you if you bring me the rat. Now please stop asking me questions and give me an answer… yes or no."
"How do I know you'll keep your word?"
"You just have to trust me," said Harry with a smirk.
Lillian scoffed, "Trust you! That'll be the day and as for your offer, my answer is no. I don't betray my friends just to get a dumb Slytherin have some fun with a rat."
Harry groaned inward. "Listen… Weasley doesn't even care about that rat and I'll give it back to you if I end up not needing it."
"You listen too, Potter. I don't steal from my friends behind their backs. If you want that rat so bad, you're going to have to find another way," she said firmly. "So don't think you can bribe me into hurting one of my own friends."
Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. Why couldn't she just agree? He thought.
"Listen, I don't want that rat to dissect it or crap like that. I'll tell you the real reason if you get that god damn rat!"
"Real reason?"
"Yes, real reason. Did you really think I'd want that idiot's rat just to piss him off? Well if you did you really don't know me. I am offering to help you improve your ability if you get me that rat and believe me if you don't give me an answer now, I'm going to walk away and look for other means to get to that rat. In the end I won't be loosing anything it'll be you who will be at a loss in the end…! So tell me do accept my proposition or not?"
Lillian frowned and bit her lower lip. To be honest she knew he was right and she knew Harry was much better at controlling his element than she was and she would certainly learn a lot from him.
"Fine," she snapped.
Harry shouted victory in his head!
"But under one condition," she added.
The shouts of victory stopped. "What?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I'll try to get you the rat only after you show me what you can do with your element and whether you helping me is really worth it or not."
Harry gave it a few minutes thought and then said, "Fine."
Lillian gave a victorious smile but suddenly she looked worried.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Where will we practice? I don't want anybody catching me hanging out with you!"
"Leave that to me freckles. It's not like I want to be seen around with you. I'm only doing this for that rat."
"What's so important about Scabbers anyway?"
"Get him to me and I'll show," he said and walked away.
"What a grouch," muttered Lillian and headed back to the common room. She had a story to make up and a plan to get Scabbers without Ron realizing it.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
It was after dinner when Harry decided to scout the castle for a place big enough for Lillian and him to meet in secret. He wondered why he had asked for her help when he could have got that rat by many other efficient ways. He didn't ponder much over it as he reached the second floor corridor.
He had decided to check the chamber of secrets. He hadn't gone down the tunnel so far and it might have enough space to practice with Freckles too.
He headed into Moaning Myrtles bathroom and hissed open in Parseltongue. Like before the sink began to spin and sunk out of sight revealing a hollow pipe.
Taking a deep breath Harry sat down and slid into the pipe. He gasped as he began to fall. He kept going faster and faster until he was suddenly thrown out of the pipe and slammed into a hard surface.
He groaned and slowly stood up. His head was spinning and hurting like he was just run over by the knight bus.
"Didn't Slytherin have a better way of getting down here?" he muttered and began to look around.
"Lumos," he said, igniting his wand to light up the area. It looked like he was in some kind of an underground cave, probably under the lake too.
Taking a deep breath he began to walk ahead. The place stank and was littered with tiny bones which were probably once rats. Every now and then he spotted bones too big to belong to a rat.
After walking for 10 minutes, he finally came across a huge wall with two huge statues beside it. One was of a man, probably Slytherin and the other was of a women.
"Wonder if that's his wife," he said staring at the statue. He hissed open in Parseltongue again and the slowly shimmered out of existence. Harry's eyes shot up in awe at the display of magic.
Once the wall had vanished, Harry stepped into the chamber of secrets with a shiver of excitement running down his back.
As soon as he stepped inside, the wall reappeared and Harry found himself standing in a large room with a very high ceiling. There were a number of pillars all around and another statue of Slytherin in the corner. There was a snake like mouth protruding out of the wall to the left of Slytherin's statue and Harry assumed that's where the basilisk came out from.
Harry wondered if there was any way of lighting up the chamber but found none. He slowly began to scan the whole chamber, looking for any way further or any hidden rooms. He was convinced that Slytherin would have had a secret room full of his personal books or diaries or things like that… or he rather hoped it was true. He didn't want to have come down to the chamber for nothing!
An hour later Harry was frustrated, he had found nothing and he was dirty and smelly. He raised his arm and sent a blast of ice at the statue of Slytherin. The ice slammed into the statue breaking it into a number of pieces.
But then, to Harry's shock and surprise, the broken pieces of the statue began to move towards each other and the statue began to reform itself.
In a few seconds the entire statue was back to its original shape and didn't look as it were damaged at all!
Harry quickly moved to the statue and began examining it from all angles. He couldn't reach up so he took a deep breath and began to conjure large amounts of water and then quickly froze it forming a crude staircase and began to check the statue further. Suddenly while running his hands over the right hand of the statue he found a depression in the middle finger of the right hand.
It was the size of a ring. The size of the ring Harry had in his pocket. It was the size of Slytherin's ring.
Trembling with excitement Harry removed the ring from his robes and slipped it on the finger. It slid in perfectly and fit in the depression.
A red glow began to emit from the ring and the statue began to sink into the ground revealing a door behind it.
Harry slid down his make shift staircase and stood it front of the door. It had a handprint in place of the handle and the instant Harry saw that, he knew that only a person belonging to the Slytherin bloodline could enter that room.
All his excitement and hopes were crushed. He was 99 percent sure he didn't have an ounce of Slytherin's blood in him. But there was always a 1 percent chance he did.
Slowly he raised his arm towards the door knowing he was taking a huge risk which could probably get him killed but his curiosity to open the door and see the secrets of Slytherin won over his usual cautiousness.
He placed his hand on the handprint on the door and held his breath. . . . . . Nothing happened. Disappointed he tried to remove his hand but it wouldn't budge!
Suddenly his hand began to hurt and he was flung back at full force away from the door. He slammed into the wall at other end and slid down to the floor.
"That was a big mistake," he muttered to himself. Groaning he slowly stood up and straightened his back and cried out, as waves of pain shot through his back.
"Got to visit Madam Pomfrey," he gasped in pain.
He slowly walked back to the statue which had risen out of the ground and removed the ring.
He decided to go back to his dorm and crash into bed. There was no use staying in the chamber any longer with a hurt back and no means to open the door he wanted to.
He reached the pipe and closed his eyes for a moment. Slowly water began to pool under his feet and began to rise taking him along with it. It kept rising faster and faster taking him through the pipe and back into the girl's bathroom.
Somehow Harry made it to the Slytherin common room without his invisibility cloak, cast a quick scroufigy charm over him and soon fell asleep.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The next few days passed by quite normally and Harry hadn't had a chance to speak to Lillian about their deal considering the amount of homework they were being given, which Harry thought was a complete waste of his time. Professor Snape seemed to have developed an intense hatred towards Professor Lupin which was evident every time the two professors passed by each other. Lupin would greet him with a polite hello and Snape would just sneer at him.
Malfoy and his cronies had told Snape about their first defense class and poor Neville seemed to be having an increased number of accidents in the potions lab which lead to more loss of points for the Gryffindor's and more number of detentions for Neville.
It was on a Friday when the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's were leaving a charms class together when Harry decided to get a hold of Lillian for their first meet up.
"Hey Austin," he called out as she left the class "A word?"
"Sure," she replied, shooing her friends away.
"You're talking to him again?" hissed Ron angrily.
"Go away Ron, its nothing important. I'll tell you all about it later… … Hermione, please knock some sense into this idiot," she said exasperatedly.
But Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd she go?" asked Ron, "She was right here!"
"Maybe she heard me and took off instead of making a scene!" she said and walked towards Harry.
"Meet me at Moaning Myrtles bathroom at 9.00 tonight. Don't be late," he said.
"Why Myrtles bathroom!"
"Have you thought of anyway to get Weasley's rat?" he asked her, ignoring her question.
"I've thought of a few," she said evasively.
"Really?" asked Harry skeptically.
"Yeah!"
"Well, I'm going to listen to your plan tonight and I pray it's a good one."
"It's a brilliant one."
"Yeah right," muttered Harry under his breath.
Lillian looked over Harry's shoulder and saw Hermione running towards her.
"What's Hermione doing there?" she wondered. "I thought she was on her way to the common room."
Harry saw Hermione trying to tuck something into her robes while she was hurrying towards them. He saw Draco stick his leg out and send the bushy haired girl sprawling on the floor and whatever she was trying to put back inside flew out of her hand and smashed next to Harry and Lillian covering them with dust.
"What the hell?" said Harry and began to brush the dust off him looking irritated.
He took out his wand and was about to cast a cleaning spell when Hermione screamed "NO DON'T!"
But it was too late, Harry cast the spell and there was loud bang and the entire corridor was covered in smoke.
When the smoke cleared everyone seemed to be fine but Harry and Lillian were nowhere to be seen!
Hermione shakily got to her feet and stared at the spot Harry and Lillian vanished.
She then looked up and said, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
As soon as Harry said the spell, the dust immediately exploded. Harry and Lillian felt like they were suddenly thrown into the air if the feeling of weightlessness of any indication and just as that feeling came, it had gone. The smoke cleared and they found they were standing in the same place except for one minor problem.
There was nobody else around.
"Where'd everybody go?" asked Lillian shakily.
"I think you should be asking where'd we vanish to," said Harry with a troubled look on his face.
Both the students looked at each other with the same question running through their heads.
"Where were they?"