Chapter 6: Dealing with Snakes.

The first week continued normally, with some taunts from the people that believed that Harry was going dark for living with Sirius Black. The only major highlight of the week was the first quidditch practice, where the Slytherin quidditch team went to do the same thing as the other timeline, but this time the Gryffindor quidditch team just moved their training to the Room of Requirement.

Harry asked the twins for a favour, he wanted to know which Slytherins were still clean to recruit them into the renegades and move them into the tower. He asked for the twins to spike everyone's food with a special potion Harry brewed, a potion that was invented by George after the war in the other timeline. The potion was a potion that acted after twenty hours it was taken, that potion would transform the drinker into a snake after twenty hours if they said the words mudblood or blood traitor during that time.

One day Harry and Ron entered the great hall for breakfast when they saw that the Slytherin table was almost empty, among the few people they saw were Tracey Davis from their year and some first years. Harry and Ron decided to approach Tracey.

"Hi, Davis." Harry greeted.

"Potter, what do you want." Tracey replied cautiously.

"We saw that Malfoy and his lackeys weren't here, and we want friends in every house."

Tracey replied, "I can't. Draco told us that if we were civil with people of other houses, we would suffer dire consequences. The last time someone tried to do that, they were tied in the middle of the common room and cursed by the rest of the house, they were sent to the hospital wing and then were pulled out from Hogwarts. Snape wouldn't do anything about that because he thinks Slytherin should be united because the rest of the houses hate us."

Ron commented, "That's fucking stupid, the reason we hate Slytherins is because they don't keep their own in line when they are bullies."

Harry proposed, "We have an offer for you, we found a dorm for the people that aren't associated with Malfoy, take this coin, I'll send you a message with a meeting point you can come with all the Slytherins that are outside Malfoy's influence." Then Ron and Harry started to walk away.

"Hey! That the hell happened to almost every Slytherin? I won't tell." Asked Tracey.

"I asked the Weasley twins to spike the food of everyone with a special potion. A potion I found in my mum's diary. That potion transformed everyone that said either the words 'mudblood' or 'blood traitor' into snakes."

Tracey burst out laughing, "So, those snakes in my dorm were my roommates?"

"Yes."

"How long does the effect last?"

"About forty-eight hours."

"This is going to be golden."

Harry and Ron then went to classes as normal. Hermione was more focused on befriending Neville and reading for Percy's debate club and she was slowly distancing from Harry and Ron. After the last class of the day, Harry sent a message to Tracey to meet in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the barmy.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Demelza, Natalie and Luna, were hanging out outside.

Ginny commented, "We had potions today, and Snape didn't arrive to classes, it looks like the potion affected him as well."

Harry laughed, "He deserves it. But I'll probably get detention until I graduate."

Natalie asked, "Why?"

Ron was the one that replied, "He hates Harry with all his being it becomes absurd. He may have some antagonism the rest of us, but with Harry, he sabotages his potions, he baits him with N.E.W.T level questions. Outside the classroom he'll always accuse Harry of doing something."

Demelza then asked, "Why is that?"

Harry replied, "He was enemies with my father, their friend groups were in open war. But there was another very important thing, Snape was friends with my mum and had a crush on her, the friendship broke up when Snape called my mum a 'mudblood'."

"So, Snape decided to take the hatred he has for your father on you?"

"Yes."

The group kept chatting about Snape and their week until Tracey arrived with some Slytherin first years and an older Girl that looked around Percy's age.

The older girl presented herself, "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter, I'm Gemma Farley the sixth-year female prefect for Slytherin, Tracey Davis here told us that you know about a refuge for the Slytherins that aren't in Malfoy influence and don't want to follow the stupid rules dictated by Professor Snape, I want to see that place to check if it's safe."

Harry then did the typical process for the room of requirement until the door appeared, "Come here."

As the group entered the room, they found a hallway that led to renegade tower. Gemma checked both the boys and the girls dorms.

"Great, it looks like everything is clear and safe. I'm also moving here; I don't think people would be happy that I wasn't turned into a snake." Said Gemma.

"The elves are going to move your things here; you just need to express your intent loud." Said Luna.

"I also extend you an invitation to the Hogwarts renegades. We want to break the Hogwarts houses and destroy Malfoy's influence." Harry told Gemma.

"I accept, I'm pretty sure that Tracey does as well." Gemma replied.

"Hey! We also want to join." Complained one of the Slytherin first year boys.

"All of you are invited." Harry replied, then he gave all of them renegade coins.

The rest of the day the Slytherins settled down in their new dorm and got to know the rest of the renegades. Harry and Ron then found out that there were some people from the other three houses that were turned into snakes, mostly seventh years. Harry and Ron vowed to have one of them always pair with Tracey in the classes they got together.

Ginny in the other hand, was with Colin and Luna printing the first issues of the newspaper 'The Hogwarts Times', that was going to be sent in two days to every student at Hogwarts. Ginny assured Harry that the newspaper will help take heat from him.

Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Ted Tonks were in one of the more popular duelling arenas in Puddlemere, the three of them registered in the duelling event as a celebration of Sirius being medically cleared for duelling. The duelling season hadn't started yet, that event was a sort of warm up to the real tournament, and an opportunity for Sirius to assess the feasibility of using duelling to improve his brand.

As they were expectant, the announcer's voice was heard, "For the first duel of the night, Sirius Black vs Andrew Greengrass."

Sirius and Andrew both walked into the platform and to the starting positions. After the initial bow Sirius immediately ran to increase his distance, Andrew sent a barrage of stunners but Sirius dodged them all, Sirius then cast some smokeball charms and then sent a barrage of supercharged stunners. When the smoke dissipated Andrew was stunned.

"The winner is Sirius Black." The announcement was received with both cheers and boos.

The trio then kept watching the tournament until the announced said, "For the next duel, Remus Lupin vs Henry Smith."

After the bow, Henry immediately sent three stunners and a disarming charm, that was stopped by Remus' shield. Remus then sent two disarming charms, one that broke Henry's shield and the other that disarmed Henry.

"The winner is Remus Lupin." The announcement didn't have as strong of a reaction from the crowd this time.

The duels kept coming until the last duel of the night came, "For the final duel of the night, Edward Tonks vs Caoimhe O'Donnell."

Edward and Caoimhe's duel was the longest, it was mostly an interchange of stunners and shields, until Caoimhe got tired and couldn't support another shield and was hit by Ted's stunner. After the duel Ted extended his had to Caoimhe.

"The winner is Edward Tonks." The crowd was already tired.

Edward returned with Caoimhe to the group, "Sirius, Remus, this is Caoimhe O'Donnell, an old classmate from my time at Hogwarts. Caoimhe, this is Sirius, my cousin in law and Remus, Sirius' best friend."

Caoimhe waved to the two marauders, "Nice to meet you." Then she looked at Remus specifically, "How were you so good at duelling" and winked. Remus blushed a little. Caoimhe then asked Ted, "What takes you here?"

"Sirius wants to open some businesses, but because of his time on Azkaban and his family name, he doesn't have the best reputation right now. Remus and I decided to join him, and also for us is difficult to hold a job."

"I know that this is why I'm in this duelling circuit, trying to earn some money. But I suck."

"I also suck, not like Sirius or Remus that wiped the floor with their opponents, only using the most basic techniques."

Caoimhe said to Sirius and Remus, "You should train us. I know of a big empty site we can use for training."

Ted added, "It would be great, this way we can improve Sirius' brand better."

Sirius replied, "If we have a great performance later, I think we should open a duelling dojo as our second business."

Remus commented, "Great idea!"

The group kept chatting until they were approached by Andrew Greengrass.

"Black, you are pathetic." Said a snarky Greengrass.

"You were the one that lost the duel Greengrass."

"Yeah, but you are the one that hangs out with mudbloods and a rumoured half-breed."

"The only one that is pathetic is you, thinking that purebloods are better than muggleborns."

"This is not the last time you'll see me. I'll make your life hell. Malfoy told me that there are going to be big changes at Hogwarts, your stupid godson is going to be expelled." Finished Greengrass before strutting to the closest floo connection.

Harry Potter woke up with high expectations, because the first edition of his girlfriend's newspaper was being released and sent to every student at Hogwarts. He was also worried because he didn't know how the snake Slytherins would react to their snake imprisonment, if they suspect him, or if they'd retaliate. He went to Renegade tower to meet with Ginny and then they walked holding hands to the great hall to have breakfast. As they sat down, a horde of school owls were delivering the newspapers.

After the owl delivered Harry's and Ginny's copies, Harry began to read the headlines.

Talentless Malfoy buys his place in the Slytherin quidditch team.

James Potter and Sirius Black: a story of found family.

Moaning Myrtle reveals her past.

Is Professor Lockhart a fraud?

Harry asked, "Wouldn't the Myrtle article ruin Sirius' plan for Remus?"

Ginny replied, "I don't think so. Remember that professors here are very stubborn and dismissive."

Harry remembered all the occasions a teacher dismissed him for something he was worried about, "Sadly. At least this would get a pretext for Remus to investigate when he becomes a teacher here."

Harry started to read the article about Myrtle.

One of the most misunderstood ghosts here at Hogwarts is the ghost of Myrtle Warren, better known as moaning Myrtle. She is a ghost that inhabits the second floor girls bathroom since the last incident where the fabled chamber of secrets was opened.

HT: We are here to ask you how you died.

MW: I was here crying in this stall, until I heard someone entering the bathroom and speaking in another language, then I opened the door to shoo the stranger and I died.

HT: Did you see anything else?

MW: I remember seeing a pair of yellow eyes.

HT: Does the sink in front of your stall work?

MW: That sink never worked, even when I was alive it was already non-functional.

In the photo you can see the sink, and you can see that there is a snake pattern. We all know that Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth, and that there are rumours that he left a monster in his chamber. Is pretty possible that the entrance to the chamber can only be opened with the language of snakes and is here in Myrtle's bathroom. There is only one snake that lives hundreds of years and has yellow eyes, that snake is a basilisk.

What we have to question here is why no one else asked Myrtle Warren about her death and why no one in the faculty is doing anything about the basilisk?

"Gin, that's a good one." Said Harry.

As they were eating, they were joined by the exiled Slytherins, Ron, and Ginny's friends.

"Look at Snape." Ginny told Harry.

Harry looked at the direction head table and a furious Snape was briskly walking towards his location.

"POTTER!" Snarled Snape.

"What happened sir?"

"You know what you did, I'm going to dose you with veritaserum until you confess."

Gemma Farley interrupted, "Professor, dosing a someone with veritaserum is illegal without a ministry warrant."

"Miss Farley, what are you doing here? Go back to your table!" Questioned Snape.

Gemma replied, "There are no rules against sitting in the tables of other houses aside from the great feasts."

"I'll not let the Potter brat corrupt my Slytherins."

"You already did that yourself by bending over backwards to the whims of the death eater princes Malfoy and Nott. We are just escaping from that. We want to make Slytherin's reputation better, and defending people that use racial slurs won't do that. I still remember when Alina Runcorn had to be pulled out from Hogwarts for *gasp* befriending a Gryffindor. Or when every muggleborn student that has been sorted in the house of green and silver when I was here were bullied into leaving and being obliviated and their magic bound."

"For your insolence, you are not a prefect of this noble house."

Gemma quickly took her prefect badge and handed it to Snape, "Here, take it. I don't condone bullies."

Snape didn't receive it and walked off in a huff.

The group was then approached by Lavender and Parvati, "Harry, what's with those snakes?"

Harry replied, "They are here because they don't follow the Malfoy ferret."

Lavender then scolded, "Don't insult ferrets by comparing them to Malfoy. It was you the one that wrote that newspaper that everyone received?"

"That was Ginny."

Parvati then asked, "Ginny, can we join the newspaper? We have some gossip for you."

"Yes. But also, you must join the Hogwarts renegades. We are rebelling against the house system," replied Ginny.

"Of course! We won't tell any teacher as well. Lav and I accept your offer."

Ginny then hands the gossip girls their respective coins.

Lavender then noted, "Harry, Ron, I've seen that Granger has been distancing from you. Why was that?"

Ginny was the one that answered, "It looks that Granger doesn't like my friends, and Harry and Ron started hanging out more with me."

"Ginny, is it weird to date the best friend of your brother?"

Ginny smirked and replied, "Not that much, my brothers are more weirded out because they consider Harry a brother as well. Except Percy, he only notices when we are breaking the rules, so he doesn't know Harry is close to me."

Ron chimed in, "Well, as long they don't snog in front of me, I'm ok."

Lavender and Parvati burst out laughing.

Parvati then asked, "Harry, Ron, are you replacing Granger with Davis?"

Harry replied, "Is not a replacement, is an expansion."

Parvati then added, "Granger has been ranting in our dorm that you have been ditching her."

"You have been ditching me." Said a Hermione that was passing by.

Harry explained, "Hermione, we weren't ditching you. We just wanted to expand our circle of friends."

Hermione ranted, "With Ron's sister? I don't understand what happened in the summer, but some rumours are that you are dating her. Why? Why does Ron allow that? I thought he would be jealous that she would be stealing his best mate. I thought our group would just be the three of us, Ginny isn't needed, but it looks like both of you want her there."

Lavender told Hermione, "Granger, just admit you hate hanging out with girly girls. Ginny may be a tomboy, a tomboy with a very girly side, but her friends are both girly."

Hermione tried to defend herself, "No, it's not that. Is that they are ditching studying for fun. Harry, Ron, when you two fail and repeat your year, I'm going to laugh. Ron's stupid sister and her stupid friends aren't the problem. Also, I'm going to find the creator of this stupid newspaper and hand them over to Professor McGonagall."

No one in the table looked convinced of her argument. Then everyone started to laugh when she mentioned the newspaper.

Ron replied, "Challenge accepted, Hermione. We are smart on our own as well."

Hermione stormed off.

"Potter, Weasley. I'm willing to help you. Bushy pissed me off. In the prefect meetings there is a lot of gossip, no one understood why you were friends with Bushy. Even Percy questioned this." Said Gemma Farley.

"Maybe we need help in history." Harry replied.

"Something I have to tell you about Binns is that his exams are always the same ones, is something that is very well known in the dungeons."

"Why I didn't know that, I have five older brothers." Ron questioned.

"Gryffindors tend to have certain stupid sense of fairness. But in that thing, fairness is useless, and the history taught by Binns is all from times before Dumbledore was even born."

The day of classes continued as normal, with some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs apologizing to Harry for thinking he is the next dark lord.

Harry remembered his learning style that suited him better from the other timeline. Harry and Ginny during their last year of Hogwarts didn't interact with Hermione that much. Harry realized that Hermione's method of bruteforcing the knowledge by reading was inefficient, with the help of Luna he found a better study method. Harry decided that the method would suit Ron as well and decided that he would hold back a little to give Ron confidence. Harry wanted Ron to be confident, so nothing like what happened during fourth year in the last timeline happened again. In one of the mirror calls with Ginny during the summer, they both decided that they didn't want to be prefects, they weren't prefects in the first timeline as well, the prefect post would bring scrutiny to them and they didn't want that.

In the regular renegade meeting in renegade tower. Leanne informed Harry that Hufflepuff voted to end the war against Harry. That the story about James and Sirius, that included an interview with Sirius as well, convinced the majority. There were some stubborn people but that was expected. Harry now is looking forward for a more peaceful year.