I do not own anything. I'm just translating. The characters belong to the great J.K. Rowling. The story belongs to the amazing Brigi. Her e-mail: tbwtpbe [et] hotmail com

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THE BOY WITH THE PIERCING BLUE EYES

Chapter 38 – The greatest mischief (part 1)

"Man… you should be in a theatre group or something," Lamerin shook his head laughing while he let Harry into his chambers. "I don't know where you've learnt to lie like that but you're really good…"

"Don't do that!" Harry teased. "I'll feel guilty."

"Tell me everything!" his friend put a lot of sweets on the table with two bottles of butterbeer. "What is all this about?"

"I've been thinking about this ever since Bill and George… since they came here."

He saw Lamerin's face darken but he continued.

"Actually… I'm not really sure what happened to Fred, Fleur and Charlie… I want to believe they're still alive and well but… and don't freak out… we have to accept the possibility that they are already dead…"

He walked to the bookshelf and started scratching its frame.

"I tried look for them… the way Professor Flitwick taught us… But for some reason it was unsuccessful… I might have done something wrong or was too nervous but… Since then, I keep thinking that it could be because… they are no longer alive… And there's only one way to know for sure…"

"Disturbing the world of the dead isn't child's play… And not something to trifle with," Lamerin warned. "Once, long ago, I was a part of such ritual…"

Harry turned to him and furrowed his brow.

"The people who taught me wanted to know who my parents were… they couldn't find anything so they tried a summoning… They led me into a very dark room… I was really small… four or five years old. We sat at a big table and I remember feeling sick… I wanted to go outside because it was so scary… the candles looked like they were blown by a strong wind… it felt like there was someone in the room with us… or something… You know that as I child people are more afraid of these things," he looked up. "Some things still make me shiver… but then… they made me stay. They tied my hands to the chair because I was needed for the ritual… They put a torn and bloody cloth on the middle of the table. It was somewhat familiar… They said I was found wrapped in it years ago…"

Harry's face contorted in shock and his fists clenched.

"They were mumbling something… it must have been some incantation but back then I didn't know these things. I don't remember much; only the… fear. It was terrible to listen to them chanting… their faces were sweaty in the candle light… Then suddenly flames shot up everywhere because they managed to make a connection with someone… But it was very angry; it was screaming and we all got scared. The adults looked at the ceiling as if expecting it to come from that way but it was all around us. That's what scared me the most. When that… thing started knocking over candles, they all panicked and started running around… They kept running into each other… And I was sitting there trying to get out of the ropes until I was finally free. The bruises I got remained for weeks… I hid under the table and covered my ears because it was like the fire that burnt our house down was raging around me. I stayed there until everything was over… I think they tried to summon Mom… It was probably her scarf they put on the table…"

"I didn't know… I didn't mean…" Harry apologized.

"Don't… don't ever tell this to Dad… He can't know… Okay?"

"Y-yes," his friend nodded in shock.

"You don't know what you're about to do… It's terribly frightening… Do you think you would be able to look in their eyes?"

"I don't know," Harry closed his eyes in horror. "The whole idea seemed… so good. I only had good intentions… to stop this uncertainty…"

He didn't notice Lamerin walking up to him.

"You can count on me…" he said with a sad smile. "What should I do?"

He led the other boy to the couch and they sat down. They opened two bottles of butterbeer and toasted sadly.

"Actually… you should become my body double. Go to classes sometimes…"

Lamerin's silence indicated that he was still surprised by the news.

"Look… I can't do everything alone. Classes, homework, Quidditch and these nightly visits to the library… I'm completely exhausted and I can't do my best at anything. I make mistakes; forget to hand in assignments… I need someone who can attend the classes where the change wouldn't be so prominent…"

Thanks to the mischievous smile he wore while saying all that Lamerin couldn't say no.

"And why me? Why not ask Ron to…"

"Ron has enough troubles. I don't want to make him bear this burden too… And even if he agreed, Hermione would be against it and he can't keep a secret from her… And we're very different physically; he's much taller with broad shoulders; people would notice the change immediately…. We look a lot more alike…"

"Well, that's true…"

"I've been thinking whether it's alright to ask this of you or not… I don't want you to get in trouble unnecessarily… The school rules strictly prohibit these types of things…"

"The twins did that a lot," Lamerin shrugged. When he saw Harry's astonished face, he added. "You didn't notice? Really? Well… then I hope we'll be just as successful."

"Does that mean you'll help me?"

"Of course! I couldn't go with Dad and I feel so useless sitting here. At least… we can do something."

Harry could barely hide his excitement.

"I planned a lot of things already! We have to do everything right to not get caught!"

Two identical, black-haired young boys stood in front of the large, wood-framed mirror adjusting their clothes. While one of them was adjusting his gray-red-yellow tie, the other watched the cold silky shirt.

"How can you wear these? I'm freezing…" said the one in the silk shirt while shivering.

"Maybe," Lamerin smiled while putting on his friend's robes with the Gryffindor crest on it. "You'll get used to it. It can be really comfortable sometimes."

Harry however, couldn't think of an occasion where he wouldn't get goose bumps from wearing it.

"Wear something under it!" the young Snape continued seeing Harry's indignation. "Just don't look too thick. Remember, I'm thin."

"I'm thin too!" his friend snapped indignantly though his anger soon turned into laughter. "And these chambers… creep me out…"

"You don't like it?" they looked around. "But if you want to play around in the Room of Requirement at night, you'll have to come back here to sleep. Ron and your other roommates can't know."

"It's so cold…"

"That's what happens when you get too used to the comfort of the Gryffindor tower… You act like the world's going to end! Just set a big fire in the fireplace… But first, I'll teach you how to enter the room!" he pulled his friend away from the mirror.

They stood in the middle of the bedroom and took out their wands.

"Nowadays, almost every wizard family has protection on their house. It's an old tradition; originally it defended the sanctity of the family. Only recently did the meaning change because of the Death Eaters and war… People try to protect their home from invaders now. Usually it was the women's job to learn these spell, because they stayed at home. You know, in the past not everyone went to work and all… What?"

"You're pretty good at this history thing," Harry grinned. "Like a teacher."

"I like history. It teaches us a lot of things. Can I continue?"

"Of course."

"Well…" Lamerin coughed. "Parents used these spells when they left the house. The blood relatives of the family could go in and out without a problem, but strangers could only enter when someone from inside let them in or they knew the spell. Our chambers are protected by such a spell. Dad closed it down before he left and it can't be changed until he comes back. Or maybe I could but it's unnecessary, because this keeps me safe. You however," he pointed at his friend. "You are a stranger even if you have my appearance. So every time you want to enter, you'll have to do the right wand movement and say the right word to open the door. And I'm going to teach you now."

"Is it complicated?"

"Knowing you capabilities, you'll learn it in the blink of an eye. Come and practice on this box."

Harry stood next to him holding his wand the same way as the older boy.

"With this spell, the point is to not say the word. Since you can be overheard then it's useless. You have to concentrate on it, that's why the wand movement is so important. Holding it in front of you, you have to make a cross… when it's done, you have to draw a half circle and point lightly… I said lightly…" he chided his student. "Almost like when you use Diffindo only now the circle is not complete… Almost. Try again."

With his increased charms and summoning studies Harry got unused to using a wand for spells. He was trying for about fifteen minutes, keeping his eyes on the clock.

"You should go to History of Magic class soon…"

"Don't look at the clock…" Lamerin muttered. "You still make an… egg-shaped gesture!" he said a little annoyed. "Your cross should be straight!"

"Okay, okay…"

"If I could listen to what you said, then you can learn the spell properly!"

"You didn't tell me what word I have to concentrate on."

"Sacrosanctus."

"So that's why there's a cross…" Harry grimaced.

"Now try it on the box…"

Harry watched the little thing for a while then waved his wand.

'Sacrosanctus!' he concentrated on the word. His eyes were closed while he preformed the magic and didn't dare open them for a while in fear of not being successful.

"Impressive," Lamerin grinned, standing by the opened box.

"The spell was already on the box? I thought I had to put it on…"

"At least I know how well you mastered it. Now close it with the same spell," he whispered excitedly.

When the boy successfully closed the box, Lamerin stepped closed and congratulated him.

"You're better than I thought. Come on, let's go!" he ushered the younger out.

"Wait, do you think it will work?"

"Don't worry too much…"

As he door closed behind them, they turned to it.

"Try it again."

Harry waved his wand and muttered the spell quietly before hearing the door lock.

"I did it! Cool!" he jumped into his friends arms.

"Your hair," Lamerin pointed at his head. "Make it grow!"

He checked his appearance then looked through Harry's bag to know where he put his books.

Harry lengthened his hair.

"Hey, that's more than enough," Lamerin stopped him. "Scar… good."

They looked at each other.

"Today will decide everything…"

"If we can fool them today, then it'll work later too. Just don't be nervous!"

"Where have you been?" Hermione asked Lamerin who appeared before them looking like Harry. He was almost late. She glared at Honeybourne and Stainthorp who followed the boy like shadows. "You know they are watching your every move… They're just waiting for the opportunity to accuse you with something…"

"You'd be expelled," Ron nodded. "We thought you weren't coming," he continued and his voice sounded a bit worried. "Though, I'm not surprised. I didn't feel like waking up for this…" he pointed towards the History of Magic classroom where sleepy students stood waiting.

"I just went to visit your brothers one more time," Lamerin shrugged. "Poor George still looks pretty bad…"

He saw how the topic depressed Ron so he continued.

"Sorry, mate," he patted the red-head's shoulder the way Harry often did. "Let's just go…"

They sat at their usual seat; Lamerin tried to behave naturally. He had no idea where Harry usually sat. He might have said it but with all the information he had to remember this seemed to not register. Ask Hermione for her notes… go with Ron to McGonagall before lunch to talk about some prefect things… Neville and Seamus are arguing because Seamus was snoring all night… or was it Neville…?

There was a mess in his head already. He shook his head and incidentally made a splotch on the parchment. He hissed while trying to get rid of it. With a sigh, he continued making notes. Professor Binns was talking about something rather interesting; Lamerin wondered why it seemed to bore the students. He agreed that the teacher's style wasn't really motivating, but the social changes in the 19th century were interesting… Just a little effort is all they needed…

He thoughtfully listened to the teacher. It was completely different form his private lessons with the pureblood instructors in his childhood. There were no students around him, no loud classes, nothing. It lacked the atmosphere that this Hogwarts lesson had. Even if it seemed so boring to some that they spent the time with their head on the table sleeping. Lamerin however, wasn't bored. He listened to everything eagerly, even though some facts weren't new to him. When the teacher lingered on a topic longer, he drew on his parchment. The splotch soon turned into a pretty little spider web. He also drew a small spider which made Ron shudder.

"I see you finally came to your senses and decided to take notes," Hermione whispered with a grin.

Lamerin stopped doodling and slapped his forehead when his friends weren't paying attention. After all, he was supposed to ask for Hermione's notes at the end of the lesson!

Quickly, he gathered his notes before Hermione realized that his handwriting was nothing like Harry's. Thankfully the girl didn't look at them more closely.

While his classmates walked very slowly towards the Divination classroom, he became a little nervous. He had butterflies flying around in his stomach. Harry offered to change back for this lesson, but Lamerin wanted to experience every class at least once. This, of course, put their whole plan to jeopardy but Harry didn't want to deny his friend this opportunity.

The Divination lesson went horribly. Professor Trelawney made them write a test when she realized that more than half of the class didn't do their homework. Lamerin found it unfair to be punished because he was one of the first people to hand in Harry's written essay.

On the test parchment he wrote HARRY POTTER with big letters so the woman wouldn't notice the difference in the handwritings.

In the rest of the class, they learnt a quite interesting thing that Ron started calling splotch-reading. Lamerin liked the name. The point was to drip some black ink on the parchment and wait for it to spread and dry. Then from its shape they had to read the future. They often made stupid things up; mostly because the predictions were unrealistic or the splotches looked exactly the same.

While the others didn't care about the lesson and could hardly wait for it to end, Lamerin felt sorry for making a spider web from his previous one.

Thinking back about what he was wondering then… it was probably not a good omen…

"Are you coming with me then?" Ron asked later when they were leaving the tower. "You know, to McGonagall…"

"Sure."

"Great! Then… just a minute…" he waved and started towards the boys' room. "Are you coming?"

Lamerin shuddered. Since he had been living in Hogwarts, he kept away from the public restrooms. It wasn't that he found collective urination disgusting. No. He was worried about the state of the toilets.

He entered after Ron feeling horrified. Since there were no more free urinals, they walked towards the empty booths. While Ron practically burst into his, Lamerin only pushed the door with the tip of his finger to open and close it. But the inside of the door was so dirty he could barely stand it. Above the lock there was an unidentifiable liquid with which he didn't want to be closely acquainted. He turned around careful not to touch anything with his clothes. When he saw the toilet he covered his mouth and closed his eyes in horror. The light brown toilet seat was covered with water and other liquids he didn't want to think about while the water in it looked more like a potion than clear water. The toilet brush was knocked over and there was toilet paper everywhere…

Lamerin shivered and felt sick.

"Yuck, disgusting!" he exclaimed.

Even the funny messages on the wall like 'The fishbone is the revenge of the fish…' couldn't lift his mood. When he noticed the 'Be careful! It splashes!' he gagged.

Lamerin didn't think it was below him to come to a place like a public toilet. He was just used to the clear bathroom in the Snape-chamber so this was a really shocking change for him.

"I have to get out of here!" he choked with tears in his eyes.

With shaking hands he opened the door and marched out of the booth. He immediately rushed to wash his hands with a lot of soap.

"What's up?" Ron stepped next to him. He held his books between his knees to be able to wash his hands. "You missed?" he joked as he watched the other boy scrubbing his hands.

"Let's just get out of here, okay?" Lamerin whined imploringly. "I hate this place!"

In fact, Harry didn't idle either. He spent most of his day in the Room of Requirement He read on the comfortable cushions and found the stolen book to be an interesting reading. He didn't dare experiment alone and resisted the temptation to try something after reading about it. He didn't feel competent in this type of magic until finishing the book. Maybe not even after it…

He was in the process of lighting some candles when Lamerin stepped in, eating a large slice of bread.

"Hi," he said stretching the word. "So, how was your first day at school?"

"Tiring," his friend groaned. "I understand why you couldn't handle everything alone… I think you'll get a very bad grade in Divination… I'm sorry…"

"It's okay," Harry grinned at him through a mirror then continued his work. "I'm not interested in what happened in class, but how you felt," he continued then turned around. "Was it good? Worth changing with me?"

Lamerin didn't know what to say at first but nodded in embarrassment.

"Though I would have preferred if Dad was teaching Potions. He's nicer than this Honeybourne…"

Harry smiled but didn't say anything.

"Lavender however, might be suspecting something…" the young Snape continued. "When I told her to tie her hair up during Potions before it gets burnt she looked at me strangely… But I didn't say anything offensive…"

Harry laughed as he finally finished lighting all the candles.

"Earlier this year, we kinda set her on fire… Neville and me… Your father almost skinned us for it."

"Poor girl, she's so nice!"

"It was an accident," Harry apologized. "But it went well?" he asked more seriously.

"The potion-making? Of course. If there's a recipe, you can do it if you pay attention…"

"Hermione keeps saying the same thing…" Harry muttered to himself.

"But I'm fed up with Honeybourne already," Lamerin added. "He kept terrorizing me… He kept watching me to find fault in what I do… He really keeps an eye on you…"

"Yes, I heard him talking about this with Stainthorp on the corridor. I heard a few words while going to the library…"

"You've been to the library again?" the fake-Harry raised an eyebrow. "But you didn't steel anything this time, right?"

"Of course not. I borrowed an interesting History of Magic book for you, since you seem to like the subject," his friend replied sweetly, making Lamerin feel a little touched. "And I asked a few questions from Madame Pince while I was there…"

"Eat," Lamerin said softly to not disturb him too much. He pushed the basket filled with steaming goodies from the kitchen closer to him. "What did you ask from her?"

"I tried not to be inconspicuous… At first, I asked about myself; I mean the stealing. Then…"

"Then?" his friend asked grinning.

"I tried to get it out of her if it ever happened before."

"I'm sure it had," the young Snape said while slicing some beef. "This sort of thing happens in every library…"

"That's what she said too," Harry agreed while picking out some sweet potatoes. "She said that at the year-end inventory they always find a few books to be missing. But those usually get back to the library at the beginning of the new school year… You know, someone forgets to take them back… However…"

"Why do I have to ask for every little detail?"

"It happened some years ago that multiple books about dark magic disappeared so they had to buy new ones."

"How long ago?"

"About fifty or fifty-five years ago."

Lamerin didn't look convinced.

"How would Madame Pince know about what happened fifty years ago? She didn't work here back then."

"No. It came to light accidentally."

"Accidentally?" His friend asked back seeing the slyness in Harry's expression.

"Yes. The book," he pointed at the table with the black book on it. "…I borrowed for you. They had to order a new copy then because the previous one disappeared…"

Lamerin glanced at the book.

"You said it's about the history of magic and not…"

"It's the copy of a medieval chronicle. It's about the founders."

"You mean Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin?

"Exactly."

Lamerin examined the book again.

"But who would want to steal a book like this? And why?"

"Voldemort… though I don't know why," Harry admitted somewhat theatrically.

However, the older boy didn't seem to fully understand the connection. It was funny to see his own face with that kind of expression. He wondered about how many times he made the same face while thinking about something. "Voldemort is the heir of Salazar Slytherin."

"How do you know that?"

"He told me."

"Did you talk about something else too?" Lamerin asked with wide eyes.

"That talk wasn't a tea party either. He wanted to kill me and Ginny."

Harry saw his friend's face harden. He stood up and told his story while pacing in the room.

"It happened four years ago in the Chamber of Secrets… You obviously know about that; I saw you reading the History of Hogwarts…"

"Yes, Dad has the book. Go on!"

"Ron, me and our former DADA teacher found the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets. I opened it and we went down to bring back Ginny. Voldemort lured her down there and almost killed her. He said some interesting things about himself and the chamber…"

"Salazar Slytherin built it and supposedly there is some terrible secret there," Lamerin babbled nervously because he felt bad thinking about three kids going down to that horrible place. "It's all written in the book."

"Yes. But Salazar Slytherin closed the chamber before leaving… according to the book," he pointed at the book. "He closed so only the worthy hair can open it."

The young Snape gasped as the pieces fell together.

"And you're the worthy heir of Slytherin?" he paled.

"Fortunately no," Harry answered with relief in his voice. "It's Voldemort. That's why he could get in. I could only open it because when he tried to kill me as a baby I inherited some of his capabilities. Among other things, I inherited his ability to talk to snakes."

"You're Parselmouth?" Lamerin jumped up.

"Yes, but you said that like I have rabies or something…"

"I-I'm sorry… it's just a little too much at once… How could you go down there without protection? You were only children! And the monster?"

"The basilisk? That's not a problem anymore…" Harry waved. "It died."

Lamerin seemed a little relieved.

"My point is," the younger continued. "…I've been thinking today about why they say secrets instead of secret. The main secret was the snake. The question is… what else is hidden there," he said in a mysterious voice.

"Why do I have the feeling that you said this to make me go down with you to the chamber?"

Harry's eyes flashed mischievously.

"You got to know me so well in just one day?! You're good… But yes, I want to go down. You don't have to come with me."

"No. You can't go down alone. What would it prove anyway?"

"I have a theory… If the last book stealing happened about fifty years ago, it could be that Voldemort was the culprit. He might have taken a few books to the chamber for future use.

Lamerin inadvertently looked at the black book for the third time.

"Do you think he wanted to research his past… his ancestor, Slytherin?"

"Could be," Harry nodded. "Slytherin might have left things for his worthy heir…"

"I doubt we would find those things," Lamerin said doubtfully. "Salazar Slytherin lived a thousand years ago. Any records would have been destroyed by now. Even Muggles have a tough time preserving historical documents…"

"I know, but Muggles can't use magic! Don't be such a pessimist!"

"I'd rather call it cautious… Even if there was anything there, which I highly doubt, don't you think the teachers already took everything from there after the chamber was opened four years ago? It must be totally empty now."

"I don't think so. Unless one of them is a Parselmouth, they can't go down there."

From Lamerin's silence he knew that was the last of his argument.

"When do you want to go down?"

"Tonight! Are you coming with me?"

"I read the book and it made me a little hesitant by the time I finished," Harry said under the invisibility cloak. Now both of them walked looking like themselves.

"So you don't want to do it?"

"I do! But…"

He stopped because he saw two people on the Marauder's Map he didn't want to run into.

"Stainthorp and Honeybourne!" he whispered in horror.

Quickly, he pulled Lamerin under the cloak. They huddled together so their feet weren't showing. The two men slowly walked by them. On Honeybourne's grass green clothes the silver buckles shined.

"Now that Severus is out of the way, I can easily make Rowena mine. It's all just a matter of time…"

Honeybourne didn't respond.

"Are you against it?"

"Do what you think is right," Willoughby said finally. "In any case, it's a little hypocritical of you to preach about moral to Potter while you're trying to win over a woman when her lover is away."

Daniel didn't answer, only hummed until they turned on the corner.

They boys were surprised by Honeybourne's almost honest sounding answer.

Lamerin looked at the end of the corridor where they disappeared for a long while, then silently bowed his head.

"Let's go."

"This way," Harry guided him towards the well-known sink.

"But this is the girls' room!" Lamerin burst out in protest.

"You're reacting just like how Percy did when he saw us…"

"There are more disgusting things in a girls' room than you think," his friend stated firmly like there was nothing that could make him go in there.

"I'm really curious about how you know that…" Harry put his father's cloak away and pulled out a long rope.

"One public restroom is enough for one day…"

"Don't panic. No one uses this one. It has a strange inhabitant… And this is the only way to the chamber."

"Man…" muttered Lamerin. "Now I'm really disappointed in good old Slytherin. If his great chamber's door is in a toilet then where could his study be? The sewer?"

"Who dares to disturb my dream?" screamed a woman's voice from one of the booths.

"Just me, Myrtle. Harry. And look what a pretty boy I brought to you," he pointed at Lamerin.

"To her?" he gasped.

A white and shining figure floated through the door.

"You're that new boy," she said after a few seconds of intense glaring. "Professor Snake's son…"

"Snape," Lamerin coughed.

"Doesn't matter. What are you doing here?" she turned to Harry.

"We're going down to the chamber again, Myrtle. But you can't tell anyone!"

"Why?" she shrugged while complaining. "No one ever listens to me…"

She said then plunged into one of the toilets.