Lone Child
Chapter 19: The Chamber and blood
"Ready to get the ball rolling?" Fred asked his twin.
"Absolutely dear brother of mine," said George.
"On the count of three then," said Fred.
"1-2-3…" they said in unison while tapping their wands on the Slytherin table. Nothing happened.
"Well?" asked Triss.
"Wait for it," said Fred.
"Now," said George as the hall doors banged open.
Like earlier that morning two rows of midgets marched into the hall. Behind them floated the bound and gagged forms of Potter and Lockhart. The two rows of midgets stopped in the center of the hall. With evil little grins the midgets drew their wands on the two men. Together they muttered a spell and both men were picked up by their ankles by an invisible source.
The hall burst out laughing as Lockhart and Potter's robes fell over their heads showing their underwear. Unfortunately for everyone in the hall Lockhart had decided to wear a pink jockstrap with red hearts. Thankfully Potter's underwear were a little better. Instead of a jockstrap he had on a pair on boxers but they were covered in small dancing teddy bears.
Up at the head table it looked like Snape was loosing his battle to not laugh. Finally he let loose a long hard chuckle. Several people stared at their normally dark, unhappy potions master but few took notice of him.
"Can I add my own little touch?" James asked the twins.
"Feel free," said Fred.
James waved his hand in a small pattern and a large cloud appeared over the struggling Lockhart and Potter. 'Crack!' A large flash of lightning appeared and the cloud opened to rain on the two.
"ENOUGH!" a voice screeched. Evans was standing from her seat at the head table glaring daggers. "I suggest that you let both of them down," Evans said to the midgets. The midgets sulked a little bit but followed Evans orders.
As to not attract any attention James made his cloud disappear at the same time the midgets released their spell. Lockhart and Potter dropped to the floor hard. "Get out!" Evans yelled pointing at the door. The midgets happily skipped out of the door.
Walking over to the two fallen men Evans pulled her husband up and helped him pull down his robes, walk up to the head table and sit down. Lockhart ran out of the hall at full speed the moment he could walk.
"Well that was a view I could have gone with out seeing, but that is why I wear muggle clothes under open robes," said James shoving his plate of food away.
"I second that," said Triss also pushing her plate away. "Nice addition with the rain though, James. Never thought that would come in useful," she grumbled a minute later.
James chuckled. Triss smacked him in the arm. "You know your going to has problems if you keep doing that," said James.
"Like?" asked Triss raising her eyebrows.
"This," said James. A rain cloud, similar to the one that had been floating over Lockhart and Potter, was raining on Triss.
"Of course you know, this means war," said Triss menacingly.
"Anytime, anywhere," said James.
"Right now, RoR," said Triss walking sulkily out of the hall.
Several minutes later James arrived in the Room of Requirement, where Triss was wrestling with a small, life like, dummy. She must have heard James come in as she finished the dummy off with a hard kick to the head.
"Okay Shadow dear, if you dispel the cloud I won't hurt you, much," said Triss walking over to him.
"Why would I want to do that?" James asked.
"Because, you might be better than me in magic but I still know some very painful spells," said Triss making a small indication to his neither regions.
James didn't waist a second in dispelling the cloud. "You know, it's not right to threaten them. They're sensitive," said James holding his hand protectively over his family jewels.
Triss burst out laughing. "Please, they can't be that bad," said Triss trying to control her laughter.
"Oh yes they can," said James flinching a bit at the thought. "Think about how bad it hurts when you bite your tongue, amplify that by a thousand, and put it in your lower regions," said James.
"Ouch!" said Triss flinching in sympathy.
"Yeah," said James nodding.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Dray where is Triss?" asked James putting his Quidditch robe on over his head.
"I don't know. Last time I checked she was with the girls," said Dray.
"Well, if she doesn't get here soon she is going to be late for the match," said James. Ten minutes later Triss still hadn't arrived and James was getting agitated. 'Something's not right,' he thought to him self.
"I'm rather displeased to report this match has been cancelled," said a silk like voice.
"Professor, what's going on?" asked James walking up to Snape. Anyone who knew him could tell he was highly agitated.
"Come with me Mr. Cage," said Snape. He wasn't happy about something.
The two walked up to the school and James became slightly more agitated as they walked towards the hospital wing. "Will all students please return to their common rooms immediately!" Evans voice echoed threw the hall.
"What the hell is going on?" James demanded.
"Last night Mr. Black had Dumbledore removed as Headmaster. Professor Evans assumed his roll. Hagrid, the grounds keeper, was taken into custody on allegations of releasing the monster from the Chamber of Secrets. He was framed for it 50 years ago so he was a good scapegoat for Minister Fudge, as is right now the school will be closed with in the week," said Snape.
"But what-" he didn't get to finish his question as they entered the hospital wing. Laid out on the beds, petrified were Triss, Mel and Kat. Triss's face was alarmed and looked as if she had been sheltering someone with her own body. Kat look scared, she was probably the one Triss was protecting. Mel was in dueling position and looked totally pissed.
"Where is Gin?" asked James calmly, but his hands were shaking.
"The creature took her," said Snape placing a hand on James shoulder. James shrugged it off.
"Where were they?" James asked with the same forced calm.
"Near moaning Myrtle's bathroom. There is another message under the first. It says 'Her body will lie in the Chamber forever'." Said Snape. He knew better than to try and comfort James, the only thing he would get out of it was another broken nose.
'Triss?' James called out in his mind.
'Shadow! It's a basilisk! You don't have a lot of time. The entrance to the Chamber is in the bathroom, the sink that doesn't work!' Then her voice was gone.
"What is he doing here?" a voice by the door shrieked.
Evans stood by the door with Lockhart, Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "Professor, look in the first compartment of my trunk. There is a blank piece of parchment, hold your hand over it and state your name, a map of the school will appear. Do not let any of them get hold of it; it will only work for you. Keep your eyes closed," said James before walking out of the hospital wing.
The adults stared at him in shock before Snape stalked out of the wing to go get the map.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
James changed into his real form and dropped into the form of a Black Panther. He ran to the bathroom and to the sink. Open, he hissed changing back. The sink sunk down and a good-sized tunnel opened up.
James didn't waist anytime in dropping into the tunnel. With all of the fungus making the sides slippery it only took a few minutes to reach the bottom, a chamber full of rat bones. "Lovely," said James shaking the bones off of the hem of his robe and continuing.
He reached another door and commanded it to open in Parseltongue. It did and he continued. The next and final chamber was exactly what you would expect to find in Nicolas Slytherin's layer. At the far end of the chamber was a large statue of Nicolas Slytherin before he died. The thing lying below the statue is what made his heart stop.
In a puddle of water lay Gin, as pale as death. In a second James had picked her up out of the water and was cradling her. "Gin? Talk to me Gin," said James shaking her.
"Well, well Mr. Cage, it seems you have been keeping a lot from us. No matter. I'll just kill you and the girl and seal the chamber, then I can take credit for killing the monster," came a familiar and very annoying voice.
"That has got to be the lamest thing I've ever heard Lockhart," said James.
"Avada Kedavra!" Lockhart yelled.
James raised his shields and nearly laughed at the expression on Lockhart's face when the curse missed, curved by his shield. A small amount of movement behind Lockhart caught James's eye. Right behind Lockhart was Jewel coiled up to strike. Lockhart screamed as Jewel inserted her venom. He's not dead. I cleared all of his memories, Jewel hissed.
"James Cage then," said a voice from the shadows. James recognized it instantly.
"Tom Riddle, nice to hear from you again. Last time I saw you, you were a parasite," said James.
"You will not address me by the name of that filthy muggle. I am Lord Voldemort," he said stepping out of the shadows. Unlike Tom Riddle's current form this Tom Riddle was still school age, 16 or so. He looked kind of like James in his normal form, except he had dark blue eyes where as James's were green.
"I will call you by your name, not some anagram," said James. Tom glared. He turned to the statue of Slytherin and started muttering off in Parseltongue so fast even James couldn't make out what he said.
There was a small rumbling as the mouth of the statue opened and a big ass snake slithered out. James donned his sunglasses again and put a shield in front of his eyes so the basilisk couldn't affect him.
"Prepare to die Mr. Cage," said Riddle before going off in Parseltongue again.
'Is this guy for real? He can't even speak Parseltongue right. Future Dark Lord my ass,' James thought. His thoughts were interrupted by the basilisk slithering towards him at an alarming rate. "Reducto!" said James pointing his wand at the creature. It bounced off. "Oh shit!" said James before he was knocked off of his feet by its tail.
He hit one of the snake pillars with a grunt. "You want to fight you son of a bitch, then lets fight," said James ejecting his claws. Tom looked surprised but unworried. The basilisk made another swipe at him with its tail but screamed at it came in contact with James's claws.
"This is the reason why people don't fuck with me," James grunted as he continued to punch and stab the giant snake. With his concentration on the tail James didn't notice the head until the basilisk's teeth were embedded deep in his shoulder. James swung his arm around and buried his claws deep in the basilisk's head. It screamed and let go of James' shoulder but leaving a few teeth embedded in his flesh. Screaming in an un-snake like way it hit the ground with an audible thump, stone dead.
"That's what you get when you piss me off," said James completely ignoring the fact that there were three basilisk fangs buried in his shoulder in his rage.
"Impressive Cage. Too bad your going to die of your efforts," said Tom.
"Do you want to try and kick my ass or not," asked James rolling his eyes.
"No wand. Plus I doubt you'll be alive in 5 minutes anyway," said Tom.
James shook his head and threw Tom his wand; he already knew Gin didn't have hers. "Are you going to come play now or are you afraid of a second year with out a wand?" James asked mockingly.
"Fervidus Ictus!" yelled Tom pointing James's wand at James.
James growled threateningly as the bite in his shoulder started to burn. "Reducto! Stupefy!" yelled James.
"Protego! Impediment! Reducto!"
James duct the two returning spells but didn't manage to get the last two. The venom was starting to get to him no matter how much he denied it. He grunted as the reducto curse slammed into his chest. "You know for the smartest student in your year you sure are a horrible dueler. Isn't it strange how much damage a little book can do," said Tom summoning a book that had been in Gin's robes.
It was a small leather book with yellowing pages; the words 'TOM RIDDLE' were in small gold print at the bottom. 'Gin's diary, but the name wasn't there before,' James thought to himself. Everything clicked.
Regulus Black must have slipped the book into Gin's books when the fight broke out between he and Randle. The name had been hidden and Tom had broken into her mind and started controlling her when she started writing in it. Tom had made her open the Chamber of Secrets and set the basilisk on everyone. She must have written about him and told Tom about what he could do. Regulus had had Dumbledore removed because the old man would have figured it out eventually and because Dumbledore was the only person Tom was afraid of.
It all made sense. "Sorry to cut this short but you have a date with the devil," said James breaking out of the impediment curse.
Tom stared at him in shock. "Commoveo! Fervidus Ictus! Pruefoco! Crucio!" he yelled desperately.
James was able to shield himself from the first 3 but the Cruciatus curse broke right threw his weakening shields. The curse made him drop to his knees but it would take more than that to make him scream. The thing that he was worried about was how bad he was bleeding. Cruciatus on an open wound caused heavy bleeding and often killed the victim. As low as his energy was he wouldn't be able to heal anything or stop the poison.
Several minutes later Tom lifted the curse. "So much for the great James Cage," he said.
"Fuck this," said James. Standing up he summoned both his wand and the diary from Tom. "Favillesco!" said James pointing his wand at the diary. It was reduced to ash in seconds. Tom looked panicked and had reason for it. Slowly he was turning to ash. Tom screamed as he caught fire and burned from the feet up.
"Asshole, he broke my sunglasses too," said James going over to Gin and dispelling the spell he had on his eyes to protect him from the basilisk. He had enough energy to set his disguise back in place but not much else. The basilisk poison was really getting to him now.
"James? What's going on?" Gin asked sitting bolt upright before he could even get to her.
"Don't worry about it. We have to get out of here right now," said James.
"You're hurt," said Gin spotting the blood on his shirt.
"I don't care. We have to leave," said James. He was starting to sweat and he vision was swimming and showing things that he knew weren't really there.
Gin didn't need to be told again and followed James out. Jewel had obviously already left with Lockhart so James didn't have to worry about him as well. A few minutes later they arrived at the entrance. "Hold on to me," said James grabbing Gin.
Using the last bit of unused energy he had he levitated both he and Gin to the top of the tunnel. Standing there was Snape looking very anxious. James landed softly and let go of Gin. "Hi Dad, I think I'm bleeding," James said to Snape before collapsing.
(A/N: The spells are property of J.K. Rowling or Saerry Snape. I know it's a short chapter but I will make up for it. The Chamber wasn't as involved as I wanted it to be but I misjudged some things, I'll make up for that too, I promise.)
Jordan: You know when you sometimes get a bad feeling off of people or places and try not to go near them or get them away from you. Molly had such a feeling and was protecting her family.
Athenakitty: Yes, yes and yes. You shall see.
Kata Malfoy: Thank you. I am feeling better but I might get sick again, all of my friends have the flu AGAIN. Chapters should come up rather fast now. Christmas vacation has started so I have more time to right. Why are you feeling so self-pitying?
ER: Thanks.
Shdurrani: Thank you.
Howling wolf1: Thanks. Since I had already used Barney, Moulin Rouge was the next best thing.
Black-Rose1212: I decided not to kill Lockhart, it would raise too many problems. Mrs. Weasley was so mean to Gin because she could sense the bad aura around her; it's a mother thing. As of right now only Snape, Dragon, and some of the Hunters know about Lily being James's mom. At birth Lily requested baby James have a blood test done before she named him. When she found out he wasn't James Potter's son she put him up for adoption, Alex and Emma named him James.
ZeonReborn: As much as in agree with you about the human plague thing I must tell you that according to prophecy they won't be killed off until 3023 A.D., if not in the A.E. (After Earth) period, sucks don't it. As far as Gin and Mrs. Weasley go, I'm not sure. Either they will try to make up or Gin won't remember any of it because Tom was controlling her. You'll know when everyone else does, sorry.
Wytil: Snape is James's father but James hasn't accepted that yet. As far as he is concerned Alex and Emma, the people who adopted him, are still his parents. It's kind of like a bondage thing. Alex and Emma protected and cared for him to the death, Snape hasn't done anything of that magnitude yet.
Lunawolf: I couldn't resist the whole smashed teenagers thing. It's not illegal in my version of the wizarding world so why not?