Most of the remaining classes pass by quickly. Professor Grubbly-Plank showed us firecrabs in our first Care of Magical Creatures class, though she didn't let us handle them at this early stage of the class. Tamelyn pouted at not being able to get up close with the weird turtle-crustacean hybrids, though I was content to stay away from something with that many spikes on it.

When I arrive in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, I can already see that we are in for a treat. All of the desks have been pushed to the sides of the room, and a large, somewhat dusty wardrobe has been positioned in the room's centre.

As the last few students trickle into the classroom, Lupin starts to address the class.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Professor Lupin, and I will be responsible for teaching your Defence Against the Dark Arts class this year. As you are all entering your third year, most of the material we'll be covering will be related to countering Dark Creatures. As such, I thought we'd start our first class off with a practical lesson. Who here can tell me what a Boggart is?"

Hermione's hand instantly shoots into the air, as is usual for her. The moment Lupin gestures at her, she speaks up.

"A boggart is a type of phantasm. It's shapeless and doesn't have a set form until someone gets near it, at which point it assumes a form representative of the nearest person's greatest fear."

Lupin nods. "Very good, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor. Now then, normally when facing a boggart, you'll want to have more than one person there, so that the boggart will either not know which form to take, or it will take the form of one person's fear, but not the other's, making it easy to dispatch. That said, there is a specific Counter-Boggart Charm that we will be learning, and it also serves as a good introduction to Esoteric Magic. Who can define Esoteric Magic for me?"

Hermione's hand shoots into the air, and she answers once more.

"Esoteric spells are spells which require an emotional component or visualisation rather than a wand movement."

"Again, very good, Miss Granger. Take another five points. Most forms of Esoteric Magic are nasty varieties of Dark Magic, although several defensive spells, such as the Patronus Charm, are also esoteric. As Miss Granger said, the use of these emotions supplants the use of a wand movement, so they're easy to cast given the right mindset. The Boggart Banishing Charm, or Riddikulus Charm, requires the caster to imagine something humourous in the face of their greatest fear. Now them, before we begin, I want each of you to imagine your greatest fear, so you'll be prepared for whatever form the boggart may take. Then, I want you to imagine a way to make it funny, so that you can power the Riddikulus charm. I'll give you a few minutes."

The faces of the other students shift between fear and amusement as they visualise the contradicting ideas. Meanwhile, my passenger accosts me over my own thoughts.

So, Harry, what's your biggest fear? What leaves you quaking in the knees, hm?

'Oh my God, why are you like this?'

Oh, quit your whining and answer my question.

'Well, I'm… not sure, actually.'

Really? You don't know what your biggest fear is?

'Well, at first I thought it might be your core self, but that doesn't feel like the right kind of fear. I also considered the dementor, but I think most of the fear I felt from that was vicariously through you.'

You're not afraid of soul eating demons? Seriously?

'Well, sure it sounds irrational when you put it that way.'

What part of "invincible monsters that can kill anything with a soul" isn't scary? For that matter, I'm kind of indignant that you don't consider my core self terrifying.

'Look, they're both scary, sure, but I would still be hesitant to label either one "my worst fear".'

Well, think of something, before-

"All right, that should be enough time for now." Lupin says. "Everyone, form a line, and you'll each get a chance to face the boggart."

Oh bollocks.

I move to the back of the line to give myself additional time to think. As the line slowly inches forward, Tamelyn continues to pester me.

Well, what are you afraid of?

'I don't know! Look, I'll figure it out once I get there.'

Harry, you cannot keep running into situations with no plan. You've already done it far too many times, and you can't keep relying on luck to get you out of sticky situations.

'That's what you're here for, isn't?'

Harry James Potter, I refuse to be taken advantage of in this way! The moment I get my body back, I swear I'm goi-

'Whoops, looks like it's time to face the boggart! You'll have to finish that threat later!'

Gods damn you, Potter!

Professor Lupin looks extremely hesitant as I step up to face the boggart. I really don't know what I'm about to face, so I decide to face it head on and figure out a plan once I know what I'm up against.

You are such a fucking Gryffindor!

The boggart hesitates for a moment, almost as though it doesn't know how to approach a person with two consciousnesses. Eventually, though, it shifts it form, and I find myself facing… well, the last thing I expected.

Tamelyn Riddle.

Not Lady Voldemort, but the adolescent Riddle I see in my dreams when she decides to pester me.

Seriously, your worst fear is me? Not even my adult self, but my teenage self?

'Shut up.'

So, are you going to do something about it?

'I'm trying to think of the best way to approach this.'

Why?

'Because you'll be pissed if I do something to publicly embarrass you, even if it's only something that shares your likeness.'

Oh, yeah, I would. You're on your own, then, Harry.

The boggart gives me the same half-charming, half-menacing grin that Tamelyn loves to use before she starts hissing at me.

"§You and I are exactly the same, you know. Both parselmouths, both parentless, both unloved, and both filled with an inner darkness.§"

"Shut up." I say, practically spitting the words.

"§You are even better than me in some ways, you know. I had yet to kill someone when I was your age, but you have already done that, have you not? How did it feel, watching Quirrell's body burn to ash beneath your touch? Did it feel like watching your aunt die? Getting some long overdue justice for the atrocities they committed against you?§"

"Shut up!" I keep my voice below a scream, but only barely.

"§You liked watching her suffer, as much as you try and deny it. You remembered every time that awful dog of hers tormented you, every awful comment she addressed to you. But you got the last laugh in the end, didn't you? How many others do you want to squash under your boot? How many other of your tormentors are unworthy of the life they were given?§"

"§Shut up!§" I hiss, barely cognizant of my lapse into Parseltongue.

Oh, this is just sad, really. Give me a moment and I'll take care of her.

Tamelyn shifts into control and is about to cast the spell, when the boggart changes its form again, the imposing form of Tamelyn being replaced by the cloaked form of a dementor. I feel a flash of panic flow from her mind before it's quashed down and replaced with smugness.

"You're not a real dementor." She says. "The real deal is much scarier. Riddikulus!"

The dementor bursts into vibrant blue flames, emitting an ear-splitting screech as it burns. I feel Tamelyn struggling to hold in maniacal laughter at the sight.

This is an incredibly satisfying result. I wish I could do this to a real version of one of those parasites.

'I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.'

Professor Lupin steps in front of the boggart, ending its otherworldly screams as it shifts into the form of the full moon. Lupin casts the Riddikulus charm, causing it to cloud over. Before the boggart has time to recover, Lupin casts a banishing charm, knocking it back into the cupboard.

"All right," he addresses the class, "That ends our practical lesson for the day. I expect seven inches on boggarts this time next week. Class dismissed!"

As the students file out of the room, I linger behind. Once most of the class has left, I approach Professor Lupin.

"So… Are you willing to teach me the Patronus Charm?" I ask. "You did say that you would teach me if I could handle the boggart."

A flash of hesitance crosses Lupin's face. "It is a very advanced charm, Harry…"

"Please, professor? I'd really like to avoid passing out near dementors again if I can help it."

Lupin looks like he has quite a few questions he'd like to ask, though he refrains from doing so with the remaining students around.

"I… suppose you've done well enough to warrant me giving you some private lessons on it. Could you stop by my office this Sunday? I'd appreciate the chance to talk to iron out a few details."

"Sure. I'll see you then, Professor?"

Lupin nods affirmatively, so I take my leave.

I hope we have more practical lessons like that. It was quite fun.

'Yes, yes.'

"I'm fine, Hermione." I assure her. I am most definitely not fine, but given that talking to her about my issues would kill me (stupid oath), it's easier just to assure her that I am fine.

Hermione clearly doesn't believe me. "Harry, your greatest fear was a girl talking to you in Parseltongue-"

"A really attractive girl." Ron interjects.

Hermione shoots him a nasty glare before continuing. "-and then your boggart spontaneously shifted forms into a dementor, a dementor which you proceeded to kill with fire!"

"My ears are still ringing from those screams…" Ron complains.

"To be fair, it was funny to see a supposedly invincible demon screaming in pain. And it didn't die. It would take far more than a creative Riddikulus charm to kill a boggart." I say, parroting the information Tamelyn feeds me.

"That's not the point!" She shrieks. "Why did your boggart change form, anyways! I've never read anything to suggest that they could do that!"

I shrug. "The first form wasn't as scary as I expected it would be. The boggart probably picked up on that and changed forms."

"Is that even possible?"

No, it isn't.

"It seems quite possible to me." I lie.

You should be thankful that your bookworm friend doesn't know a thing about the mind arts, or she might catch on to your lie.

'Then it's a good thing that she doesn't.'

Hermione huff and goes on to her next class. The moment she's out of earshot, Ron moves closer to me.

"So, who was that bird your boggart turned into, anyway? She was pretty hot, you know?"

I barely stop myself from sputtering at Ron's admission.

To be fair, I am very attractive.

'And with modesty to match.'

"Just a random girl." I say. "I'm not fond of how my Parselmouth ability made me into a pariah last year." Which is true, if not the entirety of the reasoning behind my boggart's form.

I'm half tempted to say you should have answered his question honestly, but that would test the limits of your oath. As it is, I think we're at enough risk should Dumbledore find out that your boggart is a perfect duplicate of what I looked like as a teenager. There is no logical way you should have that information.

'Bugger. I didn't even think about that.'

If word of this gets back to him, he's likely going to take this as definitive proof that I was involved in last years chamber incident. If he does, then he'll probably assume that I found a way to block off your memories that doesn't involve obliviation. Something that would leave an intact memory of my teenage appearance repressed somewhere in your mind.

'Well, you were involved in the chamber, and you did find a way to block my memories without using obliviation.'

Yes, but if he finds out, then he'll start looking into my possible whereabouts. I have no idea where my core self is, but I can assure you that she was nowhere near here last year. If he even suspects that I made horcruxes, then I'm in big trouble, and thus, you are also in big trouble. If, gods forbid, he suspects that you yourself are a horcrux, then your life is forfeit.

'Great. So what's our next step?'

More occlumency meditation. We need you to the point where you have solid mental defences as soon as possible. The less information Dumbledore can glean from your mind without me protecting you, the better.

'Room of Requirement, then?'

The Room of Requirement.

This next step builds on the border tracing you've been doing. You need to find the edge of your mind, but rather than focusing on following it, you need to focus on reinforcing it. You need to start reinforcing the idea of the "border" with the idea of a "barrier". Doing so will grant a pseudo-tangibility to the edge of your mind, making it harder for a legilimens to get into your mind without putting in additional effort. Of course, the more effort is put into a legilimency probe, the easier it is to detect, so you'll be in a better position to cut off any probes that get through your defences. Think you've got it?

'Um, yeah, I think so.'

Good. I'm shutting myself off now. Be back in a few hours.

I feel a shift in my mind as Tamelyn closes her mind off from me. The meditation exercises she's been having me do have gradually increased my awareness of what goes on in our more or less shared mind.

I focus on finding the border of my mind, then reaching out and "touching" it. I try to create barriers like walls several times, but each one just collapses back into nonexistence shortly after making it. After my fifth attempt disintegrates back into the void of thought, I begin to wonder if I've been approaching this wrong.

Fundamentally, I don't grasp concrete ideas well (a trait that has led me to have seemingly endless conflicts with Hermione), and I've been trying to make barriers out of very concrete ideas (literal concrete, in this case). Maybe, I should stop focusing on the finer details and simply focus on the idea? Or at least use a less conceptually complicated idea than something as intricate as concrete?

Feeling emboldened, I reach out to the edge of my mind, and try and place the idea of barriers at the edge of my mind. I feel satisfaction as the idea sticks and doesn't dissolve like the others did. Unfortunately, The moment, I touch it, it collapses.

Okay, so that's also a dud idea.

So, I can't maintain solid ideas, and raw concepts seem to be the equivalent of a cardboard cutout. I pull back to the centre of my mind and wait for a new idea to strike me.

As the minutes tick by, an idea begins to build in my head.

What if, instead of building barriers at the border, I turn the border itself into a barrier?

It's not really so much creating an idea as it is turning an existing idea into a different form. After all, the border would still exist, it would just have an inherent metaphysical tangibility to it.

(A small part of me wonders just what my life has turned into that I used the phrase "metaphysical tangibility" unironically. Probably her influence.)

I move back to the edge of my mind, and push my awareness into the border. I focus on expanding my awareness to encompass the whole border rather than the one subsection I "touched". As I hold the idea of the border in my awareness, I start turning the idea of a "border" into the idea of a "barrier". I have no true sense of the passage of time while doing this, but I can tell that the process takes a while. Once I'm satisfied with the "solidity" of my efforts, I pull back and relax, pushing on the border a few times to see how "solid" it is. It resists most of the efforts I make to break it, though I also don't try very hard. I'd hate to undo all of my effort.

I withdraw from the mental representation of my mind and instead focus on using the remaining time for relaxation. When Tamelyn finally reawakens, she's a lot less pleased than I would have expected.

Well, I would have hoped you'd make some progress.

'Hey! I thought I did a pretty decent job, given my difficulties!'

Harry, whatever difficulties you had made all of your efforts worth nothing. There was nothing stopping me from entering your mind once I opened my barriers up to you. Literally nothing.

'They worked fine when I tried to break them!'

I feel Tamelyn moving around in my mind, a wholly uncomfortable sensation that I've (unfortunately) grown used to.

I don't see any barriers.

I explain to her that I didn't make barriers from any solid concepts, but from changing the properties of the edge of my mind.

…You always have to find the weirdest way to go about doing things, don't you?

'Hey!'

Don't you "hey" me! I have never heard of anyone doing something like this. Hold on for a sec, I'm going to check the edges of your mind.

After a second, I feel a prodding at the edge of my mind, though it's coming from the inside, a wholly bizarre twist to an already bizarre feeling.

Huh. There actually are barriers here. Highly unusual barriers, but barriers nonetheless. If there are barriers, though, then why wasn't I kept out…

'I'm as in the dark about this as you are. You're the Mind Arts specialist, after all.'

…Oh. Oh dear. I have an idea, though I'm not sure I like the implications of it.

Tamelyn's presence retreats from my mind, and a minute later, she speaks up.

Okay, it's not really bad, but it's also not really good, either? In any case, I know why I wasn't kept out. When you solidified the border at the edge of your mind, you didn't create borders between us because there was no border between us. I dropped part of my barriers, and just outside them I found your solidified border.

'So, why is that bad?'

Harry, that means that, as far as magic is concerned, there is no border between us. My occlumency shields are the only thing clearly defining what is you from what is me.

'Oh. Yeah, that's… I don't really know how to feel about that.'

Yeah. I really need to start my research into soul magic, soon, both for the sake of finding out what's going on between us as well as finding a way to get me out of your head. I'm really glad I got that book before coming to Hogwarts. It would have been a pain to track down otherwise.

Yes, Harry, this is absolutely necessary! I have been stressing out over this since I first heard what Dumbledore told you in the infirmary! I'm already annoyed we had to wait until the second weekend of the school year, lest we draw Dumbledore's attention to our actions! Now we are going to sneak out of your room and go down to the Chamber of Secrets and check on my "pet killer snake", as you insist on calling her. Now put on your invisibility cloak. We can use the Room of Requirement to get in easily.

'Hang on, the Room of Requirement can get us into the Chamber?'

Well, probably. Like I said, I didn't have a lot of time to test how the room works, but I was able to use it to create passages to go anywhere in the school. It should… probably work to get us into the Chamber. I'm not sure if the Chamber is technically part of the school, though since it's within the Hogwarts wards, it should still work.

'Alright, fine, let's go.'

I slip on the cloak and silence my footsteps. As I approach the entrance to the common room, Tamelyn stops me.

Right, I forgot your common room is guarded by a portrait. I'd rather not have anyone witnessing us leave the common room, so let me just…

Tamelyn pulls out my wand and points is at the exit.

Confundo!

A slight blur of magic espaces my wand, colliding with the back of the portrait frame.

Alright, move quickly before she recovers!

I slip out of the common room and begin making my way through the seventh floor towards the tapestry with the dancing trolls on it. Tamelyn shifts into control as I turn into the corridor with the tapestry, and paces in front of the tapestry once she reaches it.

I need to get into the Chamber of Secrets.

Just like the last two times, the door fades into existence, though this time, the room is a small antechamber with a spiral staircase leading downwards.

'No slide this time?'

Slide? No, of course not.

'The entrance in Myrtle's bathroom was a slide.'

…I can't believe you. You used the basilisk's entrance. You know, there was a staircase hidden behind a wall next to the sinks, so you didn't have to go down the filthy pipes.

'Oh. Well, the slide was faster.'

It's also filthy!

'The whole Chamber is filthy!'

…Yeah. I need to clean it up. I meant to do that when I was still at Hogwarts, but it became increasingly hard to get into the Chamber unnoticed, so cleaning the place ultimately became a low priority. If we could just get Dumbledore killed, then we could have unfettered access to the Chamber.

'…I don't like Dumbledore, but I refuse to help you murder him.'

Well of course we're not going to murder him. We'd simply have to kill him by proxy. Leave a curse on an artefact he's going to handle, or poison a bottle of wine that someone plans on gifting him.

'…Tamelyn, those are both terrible ideas.'

…Yeah. I need to spend more time coming up with some better ideas for how to kill someone. I've been too heavily reliant on Tessie, and I'd hate to risk her by sending her up against someone as powerful as Dumbledore. I could actually imagine him beating her, and I refuse to endanger her in such a way.

'Do you care about anyone besides your snake?'

Hm… Well, I don't want you to die, but I consider that self-preservation. Does that count?

'…No. No, that doesn't count.'

In that case, no, I don't care about anyone besides my snake.

We withdraw from our conversations and settle into one of our odd silences as I continue to walk down the staircase.

'How far down does this thing go?'

Quite a while, probably. We started on the seventh floor, and the Chamber is well below the dungeons, so we're probably going to have to go down at least twenty floors or so.

'Twenty floors!?'

The normal passages back to the castle aren't nearly as long since they operate on the same non-euclidean principles that the rest of Hogwarts uses. I should have been more specific when making the room, and requested a short path to the chamber of secrets. Oh well, that's a lesson for next time.

'Why don't we just go back up and do that?'

Because we're already more than halfway there. Going back to recreate the passage would make it a longer trip.

'The trip back up would be shorter, though.'

Actually, any passages made by the room of requirement are one-way and disappear the moment they're unoccupied. We're going to have to use one of the standard entrances to get out of here.

I move down another two spirals on the staircase before I finally reach the bottom. A short hallway connects the bottom of the stairs to what I quickly recognise as the main hallway leading to the central chamber.

Hmm, looks like it put us near the third floor corridor entrance. That's interesting.

'How so?'

I had no idea where it would bring us. I was just curious where we'd end up. Now, let's go to the main chamber so I can show you how to get into the inner sanctum.

I start trudging through the thin layer of water covering the floor as I make my way down the hallway.

As soon as I have a body back, I'm moving "cleaning this place" to the top of my list of priorities. It's a disgrace to the legacy of Salazar that his chamber has fallen to such a state.

'I can't say I care much for the legacy of Salazar.'

Well that's a pity. He's your ancestor, too, you know. You shouldn't be ashamed of your legacy. I'll make some copies of his journals so you can read about him when you have a chance.

'Whatever suits you.'

As I turn the next corner, I recognise the entrance to the main chamber. I hiss at the two intertwined snakes, and once again, the stone wall parts as they slither to the sides.

The main chamber is just as grand, and I have more time to appreciate the intricate carvings making up the room's decoration now that I'm not worried about someone's life. The large and imposing sculpture of Salazar Slytherin's face stares across the room from the far side of the Chamber.

It's in there. Do you remember the password?

'Yeah, I do, actually.'

As I walk across the room, my attention is drawn to a large series of scorch marks on the ground.

Oh my, I feel traces of Fiendfyre here. Looks like whatever team came down here to fight the basilisk didn't hold back. I'm more glad than ever that I left a construct for them to kill rather than instruct Tessie to flee. It's probably a good thing that they used something as destructive as Fiendfyre. Without a corpse to examine, they may not have been able to realise they fought a construct rather than the real thing.

'Would it have been that obvious?'

Yes. There was no sacrifice to power the creation of the basilisk construct, and without that, the construct lacked any inherent magic. It still would have been a very tough, spell resistant snake, but it would have lacked the lethal gaze or magically destructive venom of an authentic basilisk. Anyways, we've wasted enough time as it is. Let's go.

I stare up at Slytherin's face as I approach, before I hiss the entrance phrase.

"§Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.§"

The statue's mouth grinds open, and I walk through the opening into a large, round room made from highly smooth stone. On the back wall is a bizarre, squiggly script that I can somehow read.

'"Speak your tongue and show your blood to show your worth as Salazar's heir"?'

Yep, this is the inner sanctum entrance. Do you want to do the honours of opening it, or should I?

'I think I'd rather you do it.'

Suit yourself.

I feel her shift into control of my body. She casts a low power cutting charm on the palm of my hand and smears a streak of blood down the wall.

"§May the blood of Slytherin grant me entrance§."

As soon as the last hiss is spoken, the wall absorbs the blood and opens up to reveal a large and ornate antechamber with a very, very large serpent coiled in the room's centre.

'I still think she's scary.'

She's adorable. You're just biased. The real question is if she's alive…

I feel waves of trepidation and anxiety emanating from Tamelyn as she walks up the serpent's huge coils. She rests a single hand on the snake's hide and holds it there for a minute.

Yes! She's still alive! That's a huge burden off my shoulders.

'She's not moving.'

Of course she's not moving. She's hibernating. A basilisk doesn't grow to her size without being able to conserve energy.

'Oh. When will she wake up, then?'

I do my best to hide my feelings of skepticism towards the snake's supposedly friendly demeanor. As far as I'm concerned, the longer the snake stays asleep, the better.

She'll awake when I call for her. Much as I'd love to spend some time enjoying her company, waking her up is an unpleasant process for her, and she needs all the energy she can get after being so active last year.

'Ah.'

So long as we're down here, I said I'd get some copies of Salazar's journals. Let me make some copies. I'd rather not bring the originals, given their historic value. I think I left some blank journals in one of these cabinets when I was still a student…

Tamelyn starts rummaging through the various cabinets until she finds a blank journal that she's certain doesn't contain any invisible or concealed messages.

All right, now you get to learn an incredibly obscure spell. Watch this.

Tamelyn places the blank journal atop one of Salazar's journals, presses her wand to the front cover of the blank journal, and silently mutters "Rescripto". As soon as the incantation is muttered, the blank journal flies open and the first page begins filling with words.

The spell is generally impractical, since almost every book worth copying has anti-copying spells on it. I learned it since certain ancient books lack that protection.

'What sort of ancient books were you reading that required copying?'

Books on Soul Magic. They're far too rare nowadays to warrant using originals, and I wasn't about to split my soul without doing research first. I'm not the sort to do something that dramatic without making sure I understand what I'm doing and having contingencies in place.

'Alright, then. How long will the journal copying take?'

The Rescription Charm generally takes around an hour, though long books with lots of diagrams can take much longer. Since we'll be here for a bit, I'm going to spend some time with Tessie.

Tamelyn conjures a chair next to the basilisk's sleeping form and idly rubbing the snake's scales. I lose track of time, not having anything to do, since I'm not in control of my body, and I don't feel like wresting control back from her over something as silly as boredom.

Once the journal flips closed, Tamelyn grabs it and walks over to the basilisk for a final parting message.

"Sleep for now, darling. I'll give you all the time you need."

I wake up late the next day, having spent several hours in the Chamber of Secrets instead of sleeping like most people do. When I wake up, I am surprised to find that my body is not under the covers, but sitting upright in my bed, staring at countless sheets of parchment filled with indecipherable equations.

'Um, Tamelyn?'

Oh, hey, you're awake. Don't mind me.

'What the hell are all these equations?'

Arithmancy. I'm trying to check the math on some of the rituals I can use to get myself out of your body. So far, my main plan seems like it will work, which is good, since it's the least complicated. At least, the soul magic part of it will work. I'm not sure about the blood alchemy part.

'Oh, great, so how long will it take?'

Well, there are a few… factors that are currently unaccounted for. I could probably have the ritual ready to go in… a year or so? Give or take. I'll have to play several of these things by ear. Shouldn't take more than two years, tops.

'…Great.'

Anyways, I'll need to double check these equations and start looking into blood alchemy to make sure the whole plan is viable. There's a lot of prep work to do. Also, you should probably get lunch since your body's been awake nonstop for more than twenty four hours at this point. Also, Lupin wanted you to stop by this afternoon, so you better get moving.

'What about you?'

Me? I've been awake for over twenty four hours, just like your body. I am going to get some sleep. If I stay awake for any longer, I'll risk compromising my judgement, which is the last thing either of us want. I'll probably be awake again in a few hours. Needing less sleep is one of the advantages of not having a body.

Tamelyn's presence fades into the inactive state she takes when she's no longer "awake". Shaking my head once again at the oddities of what magic enables the mind to do, I throw on some clothes and head down to the Great Hall. The moment I start running, the exhaustion hits me. I may feel mentally awake, but my body is very clearly unrested, and I climbed a lot of stairs last night (stupid subterranean Chamber).

When I get down to the Great Hall, it's nearly empty, one of the advantages of going there in between mealtimes. I devour as much food as I can manage to fit in my stomach, trying desperately to give my body the energy it's demanding for being kept awake for so long.

I'm going to have to request that Tamelyn keep any future nighttime activities to a minimum.

A second later, I realise the double entendre that I inadvertently made.

I am quickly growing to hate the distractions puberty is bringing me. I try to push all my conflicting emotions aside so that I can keep my focus limited to breakfast.

I wonder if that's where Ron got his eating habits from?

I shake my head, trying to clear my mind. It comes to me much less easily than it has in the past. I'm so used to having another presence in my mind that my mind just starts wandering without her there.

…Oh God, the emotions are back.

I rest my forehead on the table in exasperation. I think puberty is my new least-favourite thing.

After a few hours of trying to distract myself from my thoughts by playing several games of chess with Ron, I head towards Lupin's office so I can meet with him. I hope he'll be able to distract me better than Ron could. I'm beginning to really hate being alone with my thoughts.

Lupin tells me to come in shortly after I knock on the door to his office, and as soon as I enter, I see him hunched over his desk, grading a stack of papers. After he works his way through the one he's currently grading, he looks up and smiles at me.

"Hello, Harry. How have you been settling into the new school year?" He asks genially.

I'm a bit taken aback by the idea of an adult actually checking up on me, though I think I manage to hide my surprise pretty well.

"I'm… doing fine, I guess, sir."

"Since it's just the two of us in here, Harry, you can call me Remus."

I pause again at the odd behaviour coming from the professor. Calling a teacher by their first name, even in private, is the exact opposite of the behaviour I've been led to believe is appropriate. Still, it seems like it would be rude to refuse.

"Alright then… Remus." It feels weird to say.

A silence draws out between us before Lupin speaks up again.

"I was… surprised by your performance in class the other day. I would have expected your worst fear to be Lady Voldemort, yet neither of the two forms your boggart took were her."

Well, that's not actually true, though I can hardly blame him for not recognising my boggart as "Lady Voldemort" in her adolescence. I certainly wouldn't have guessed it if she hadn't told me herself.

"Well, at first, I think it was picking up on one of my issues from last year. I'm a parselmouth, and I got a lot of flak for that once knowledge of it came out."

Lupin seems genuinely surprised at the revelation that I'm a parselmouth. Wouldn't Dumbledore have told him about the events of last year once Lupin took the job?

…What am I saying? It's Dumbledore. Of course he didn't.

Lupin speaks up after another pause. "I'm very surprised to hear that. Any idea where you got the ability?"

I shrug. "Mum may have been descended from a squib line. I've heard that most muggleborns have wizarding ancestry somewhere, so it's conceivable that she was a Parselmouth and never realised it."

Lupin seems struck by what I just told him. "I… I can't believe she never… I would have thought we'd have noticed."

"Did you know my mum, sir, err, Remus?"

He smiles. "A bit. I knew your father as well. If you'd like, I can tell you about them sometime. I'll let you know when I'm free. Anyways, going back to the boggart, why did you have trouble dispatching it at first?"

"Well, I was trying to think of something that wouldn't have been embarrassing. I may not care for the ability, but it felt wrong to do something to a random girl just because of an ability she was born with." Which would have been true if it was in fact a random girl, and not the sociopath I share a body with.

"Did it change because you weren't as afraid of Parseltongue as much as you thought?"

I was terrified, though not of the Parseltongue. Really, the number of similarities between Tamelyn and myself is disturbing. If I was pushed just a little, could I become the type of maniac that Voldemort became? Could I cut down entire families if I just stopped caring about what happened to people?

"That sounds about right, si- …Remus."

Lupin smiles at my slip-up before he speaks. "Still, though, I'm surprised your boggart took the form of a dementor. That's very mature, in my opinion. It shows that what you fear most is fear itself."

Oh, well that's just rubbish.

"Professor, I'm not afraid of dementors for that reason."

Lupin stares at me quizzically, so I elaborate further.

"The fear they create is bad, don't get me wrong, but it's bearable, even if it does make me pass out. I'm more afraid of their ability to suck out souls, though."

Another pause fills the room, this one much more awkward.

"I'd rather not lose my soul, sir." I say.

Lupin sighs. "Yes, right, I suppose I was rather presumptuous, there. Well, if you'd like to learn the Patronus Charm, then having a dementor for a boggart should make for a good practice target. I should be able to get it set up in a few weeks. Does that sound good to you?"

I nod earnestly. "It does. Thank you, professor."

Lupin dismisses me after that, and it's only when I'm halfway to Gryffindor tower that I realise that, since my boggart isn't a dementor, Tamelyn will have to be the one to learn the Patronus Charm.

That complicates matters.

A/N: Ah, lots of stuff in this chapter.

Hagrid is not the CoMC teacher. Without a clear culprit for the Chamber incident, he was never fully exonerated. He is no longer held in Azkaban, but he didn't have the mark removed from his record. The wizarding justice system operates on Ace Attorney principles. Someone has to go to jail.

The boggart scene was one of the earliest scenes I had planned, though it came out differently than I expected. The original concept had the boggart nearly spill several important secrets in plain English, rather than parseltongue, and Tamelyn took over to take it out before it said something really sensitive. Tamelyn's boggart was originally a personification of death and she froze up in fear at the sight of it. In the end, I decided to make Harry freeze at the boggart, not knowing how to take it down without embarrassing Tamelyn, and Tamelyn got canon Harry's dementor boggart. An earlier draft did have Tamelyn laugh maniacally at the boggart as it burned, but it flew too heavily in the face of her love of subtlety, as amusing as the scene was.

The occlumency bit is the first hint I have towards a concept I've had planned for this story since I first started writing it. It won't be elaborated on, until later, but I'm glad to have introduced it.

I decided not to kill the basilisk. The decision was partly a whim, and partly and opportunity to show Tamelyn's softer side.

Lots of fics are mean to Remus, and not without reason. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, here (and I'll probably do something similar with him in Scrambled Sorting, though don't expect a rehash)

Special thanks to Foadar for helping with editing.

E/N (Xgenje): At the rate harry is learning these big words he is going to have a more profound vocabulary then I…. Then again, all the wording is coming from Tendra…

On a more important note. Indeed is probably one of my favorite "snobby" words.