Monday January 6th, 1992

At 7 o'clock sharp Stephanie Egalitaire nodded to all of those sitting in the unused classroom. "First off, everyone, welcome back. I hope you all had a pleasant holiday." The group gave nods, half-cheers or half-hearted grunts in answer. "We have less than 40 days until Valentine's Day, and we have had some good ideas, but there is a lot of work to do. So, if everyone could gather around, Eloise borrowed one of her family's charm books and she has some ideas to share."

Nodding to the group, Eloise Hyslop stood in the middle of the circle of 11 students. "So, last time we met up we all decided that the songbird idea lacks a 'uniqueness' to them as gifts. I think I have a solution to that." At the prompt, she produced an opened spellbook with notes and sketches of a rainbow-coloured shirt. "My dad and his siblings came up with a variation of the colour-changing charm that they called the Tie-Dye Charm. It's based on a muggle method of-"

"Sold!" Melissa saluted in approval.

Eloise looked mildly annoyed at being interrupted. "I haven't even explained what it is yet."

"I'm muggleborn." She smirked. "This is brilliant! I only wish we had this in our first year."

"What are you going on about?" Alicia Spinnet asked.

"Well if you all would stop interrupting I'll get right to that." Eloise chastised. The rest promptly brought their attention back to the spellcrafter. "So, as I was saying, it's based on a muggle method of giving their clothing a multitude of colours. Usually it involves damp, white clothes that are crumpled or twisted, tied together by bands of rubber, and splashed with dyes.

"Now, I know that this sounds difficult for our birds, but my dad's spell is far less messy." That comment caused some of the others to chuckle. "He also made variations on that variation. There's one called the Kaleidoscope Tie-Dye and another called the Rorschach Tie-Dye."

"Rorschach? Like the ink blots that therapists use?" Corin asked.

Eloise blinked, pondering the question as she flipped to another page. "They do talk about 'ink blots' as a design. Are they significant for something?"

Corin struggled a moment to think of an explanation that magicals could understand. "It's like a test. The ink blots are technically just blotches folded in half, but you're asked if you see anything in them."

"Oh! Like tea leaves!" Sierra chimed in.

"Right." Corin nodded. "Except it's up to interpretation. Like, if most people see a flower or smiling face, but one or two people see something dark or dangerous, the test shows that there's something wrong with them mentally."

The other students nodded and made benign comments about the use of the ink blots and tea leaves for divination. Eloise, though, considered that explanation with dismay. "It sounds like a great idea, but these variations might be too advanced for us. We should stick with the simple tie-dye charm for now and keep these other two in reserve for next year."

"About that…" Rachel raised her hand sheepishly. "I was thinking, we have ten -some of you nine- classes to worry about. I'm glad that we put most of this off for the first term, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this next year. Certainly not the year after when we have our OWLs."

"She's right." Amy nodded. "This has been fun, but we also have a lot of work to worry about."

The reaction to the news was mixed. A few students were sad that Amy and Rachel don't plan on staying in VATIC, but then Cedric and Corin added in their own concerns and things became more awkward.

"Well…" Stephanie looked to Melissa for help. This whole endeavour had been their brain child, after all. "I suppose we could work with a smaller group."

"Or we open up the group to new students next year?" Melissa suggested. "We've had three years worth of interest building up. Maybe we can hold auditions or something?"

"Not a bad idea." Cedric commented. "I'm sure you can find some great people to join in."

"So long as we keep to the numbers and make everything as spread out among the houses as possible." Stephanie added.

Once that decision was settled on, Eloise took back control of the group, showing them the wand work and incantation needed for the tie-dye charm. Once the basics were achieved, the group split into groups of four to work on the spell with conjured birds. Melissa worked at the spell, dabbing the caged dove in front of her with small splashes of colour. While she worked on that, Corin, Lee, and Merton began whispering between each other.

"It's not a bad idea…"

"...we'll be found out!"

"How can we hide something like…"

"You know," Melissa muttered, eyes still on the bird, "if you want to not get caught with something, it's easier when you don't whisper obviously about it."

The boys all hushed at once, bashful at the obvious point.

Merton shuffled awkwardly in his seat. "We were just thinking, Giggles… how would you go about doing secret auditions?"

"Do you mean for this group or something else?"

"...Something else."

At that point, Melissa bothered to give the boys eye contact. "Care to elaborate, then?"

Corin winced guiltily. "Promise you won't tell?"

Melissa sighed. It's not like Corin or Merton are known for causing trouble. Lee, sure, but them? "I promise."

"We went to the third floor corridor over the holiday."

I take it back. They're trouble-makers. Crazy, stupid trouble-makers. Melissa paused a moment in that thought. Then again, you have a horcrux in your dorm room and are planning on delivering it to a deadly snake. So who's really the crazy one here?

"Well clearly you survived the 'horribly painful death' Dumbledore promised. So how did that go?"

"It wasn't so bad at first." Merton added. "I stayed with the cerberus to keep it asleep."

"But we went through the trapdoor and got caught by Devil's Snare." Lee added.

"But burned it away without much trouble." Corin filled in.

"Then there was a room full of flying keys." Lee continued. "It took a while, but Hawkworth was able to get the right one and get us through."

"Splendid." Melissa commented blandly. "So then what happened?"

That's when the boys turned downtrodden. "That's where things got complicated." Corin answered. "The last room we went in was a giant chessboard. A Wizard chessboard."

"And you four played a round and survived?"

Corin looked embarrassed as he answered. "Well, no. It wouldn't play unless we all took a spot, and none of us were confident in playing without everyone making it out safely, so we left."

"Good." Melissa nodded. "It would have been stupidly dangerous to do if you had."

"I know." Corin admitted.

That was when Lee interrupted. "Which is why we're thinking of holding auditions. Finding the best wizard chess players in school and getting one of them to join us."

Melissa blinked at the conclusion. "So, what, like a chess tournament?"

Lee and Merton went starry eyed at that. "Yes! Exactly like that!" Lee said. "I already do commentary for quidditch, no one will think it's strange if we host a school tournament!"

"Oh, for goodness sake, I wasn't being serious!" Melissa muttered. "Why even go through all of this trouble? Won't you all get caught if you try this again?"

"We'll be alright!" Lee assured. Then the boy lowered his body down to hint at a whisper. Melissa mimicked the gesture to hear what he had to say. "Remember when Professor Quirrell gave me detention last month? He told me then that he'll give us extra credit in class if we finish all of the challenges on the third floor. He's how we got inside in the first place."

It took all of Melissa's willpower to not clonk their heads together upon hearing that explanation. Of course the sneaky bastard would stoop to using children to get the stone for him! ...but Melissa simply took in a breath, holding it in a moment before releasing a frustrated exhale.

"I see… Well, sorry chaps, but I'm sitting this one out." She pushed back in her chair for emphasis of her disapproval.

"Come on, Giggles. It's extra credit! You already had a good idea in having the auditions as a tournament, and you know how to be sneaky. We just want a way to pull this off without the professors finding out."

"No, sorry. Not doing it. In fact, I hope it doesn't stay secret. I hope the whole school finds out what you're up to. It will save you from getting yourselves killed before the term is out." With that stated, she pushed off of her chair and went over to ask Eloise for tips on the new charm.

Friday January 10th, 1992

COME ONE, COME ALL!

HOGWARTS' 1ST ANNUAL WIZARD CHESS TOURNAMENT!

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF WIT AND DARING!

TOP PRIZE: 20 GALLEONS, SPECIALTY ROUND PRIZES, 10 GALLEONS EACH!

TOURNAMENT RUNNING FEBRUARY 29TH AND MARCH 1ST

"Those stupid geniuses." Melissa breathily exclaimed. "They're actually doing it." The loud proclamation was tacked onto the Slytherin announcement board for all to see. Several people were looking at the announcement with varying levels of interest.

"20 galleons isn't a bad prize."

"I bet the Ravenclaws will be all over this."

"I wonder what the specialty rounds will be?"

"Think we should compete?"

Melissa listened to the growing interest with a disappointed sigh. There wasn't much she could do at this point. Knowing them, this notice is already on every board at school. Maybe she will be lucky and McGonagall or Dumbledore will catch on to their real intent. Two months is plenty of time, after all. Half-satisfied with that notion, Melissa headed out to breakfast, already prepared to ignore the day's gossip about the tournament.

Dear Harry,

Thank you for writing to me. I understand your dissatisfaction with how our time ended on Christmas Day. I further acknowledge that it was my own choice to leave. For that, I apologize. What was intended to be a family occasion was detracted. You must know that I do not hold you at fault for that decision. Your loyalty to your father, as by extension his friends, is admirable. That said, you must understand from your own research that Mr. Lupin's lycanthropy is both dangerous and contagious to all in his proximity, even to those he cares for. I speak only in terms of your health and safety to consider keeping your distance from the man. At the very least to do so at times of the full moon. I will also forward my apologies to Sirius, though I doubt he will be receptive to them.

I hope to hear from you soon on more pleasant matters.

Yours,

Lord Arcturus Black III, O.M First Class

Harry finished reading the letter for a second time, equally as happy and troubled by its contents as he had felt the first time around. It was nice to see Arcturus willing to apologize to him and even Sirius, to a degree. That said, Harry hadn't been able to change his mind about Remus' lycanthropy. Remus himself had been in tears when Harry insisted that he was fine with the knowledge. It was a shame that Remus has to deal with so much distrust and fear because of something that happened to him as a child. Honestly, by the end of their first day together, Harry couldn't help but chastise himself over being afraid of the quiet and warm-mannered man. No matter what some people try to claim, there is no way that Remus is a danger in his human form.

If only Arcturus could see things the same way.

"So, Potter, are you going to compete in the tournament?" Malfoy asked eagerly.

Harry folded his letter down and slowed his pace towards potions class, thinking up an answer to the other boy's query. "I don't think so. I've only played a few times so I lack experience." He admitted, failing to mention to Malfoy that most of his games involved losing to Ron. "Besides, it will be more fun to watch the best compete. What about you?"

Malfoy lifted his head proudly. "I'm going to compete. Father says that wizard chess shows the prowess of the mind. That those who are masters in wizard chess become masters in their own lives."

Harry considered those words and the wisdom behind it. He wondered, briefly, what that says about his own losses. Then again, Hermione once played with Ron and even she lost to Ron. So perhaps he's not as far behind as Malfoy's father would suggest? "Do you think you'll win?"

The blond boy opened his mouth to answer, yet paused. The boy frowned for a moment, thinking of his answer. "Likely not. Though, if I lose, I'm sure I'll learn from that loss and be better off next time."

That answer had Harry nodding. "Wise words, Malfoy."

"Thank you." He preened. "You know, I could teach you, if you'd like?"

Harry briefly pondered over the offer. He's supposed to avoid favours from Malfoy, in case they get turned around for a malicious return favour. That said, he's grown kinder the longer Harry's known him, and a chess lesson wouldn't hurt, either. He made his decision with a nod. "Sure. We can meet tomorrow morning before the flying club."

"Perfect!" Malfoy grinned amicably. "Bring your best, Potter. I have much to teach you."

Potions went by at its usual uncomfortable pace. Professor Snape lashed out at students and halfway through tried to surprise Harry with a quiz on the value of his ingredients. Fortunately Harry had the holidays to study and improve his answers, so he only had one wrong of the questions Professor Snape asked. Best yet, he got an EE for today's potion!

Once class was over, he broke away from his friends to the second floor. Fortunately, the broom he hid in one of the stalls was still there. Grabbing it, he opened up the hidden entrance and flew down to Caireen's nest.

The blindfold secured, he opened the second passage and walked it. "Greetings! Are you here, Caireen? It's Harry."

In a short time a slither came his way. "Greetings, Harry. Why do you return to my nest?"

"I wished to visit." He answered. "I found something you will enjoy. A book written by your master in the tongue of speakers."

He pulled the book from his satchel to present it to the basilisk. Hot breath coated his hands as the great serpent flicked her tongue over the contents. "The scent of my Master. Yes. I recognize the book. We learned the potential of magic together with the tongue of speakers."

"Yes. I've been reading about it." Harry explained. "I was hoping I could practice it here. Would you like to see it?"

The basilisk's body edged closer, curling behind him. "It would be nostalgic to see. I will be pleased to watch your practice."

Harry nodded and slowly removed his blindfold. To his left was the tail end of Caireen, the rest of her at his back. Safe from her gaze, as well as the gaze of other wizards, he pulled out Salazar's ring and opened the book. Hissing at the pain, he then removed the ring and wrapped the bloodied finger with a cloth. Once settled in, with the instructions ready, he got up and turned to a random rock in the chamber. He aimed at the rock and slashed his wand then twisted it clockwise as he said the final word. "Ssikah shitznyeh!"

The rock changed in appearance. What was once smooth stone was now lined with bumps. Harry walked over to the stone and touched the surface. The stone's texture had turned scale-like, but his goal had been to turn it into iron. "It didn't work."

"Your words were not said properly. Iron must be said with force. You must desire your enemy to turn into iron, or it will not work."

Harry frowned at the stone in lieu of meeting her gaze. His charms and transfiguration professors also instill the need of intent in order for spells to work. That said, how can he want to turn someone into metal? Sure, maybe one day he might need it to defend himself, but how is he supposed to feel that against a rock?

He was about to say as much to Caireen when a sound of scraping stone echoed across the walls. The sound was coming from the entrance shifting itself open. Confused, Harry turned at once to the entrance. He watched the doorway quietly. Caireen hovering her head just above his, poised in her own curiosity. The glow of wandlight from the intruder reflected over the form of Melly, blindfolded and stepping carefully into the chamber. On instinct, Harry nearly called out to her, yet a thought stopped him.

Melly is afraid of Caireen, so what is she doing here?

Melly stopped her cautious pace. Head pivoting around, listening to the surroundings.

"Greetings! Caireen? Are you in nest?"

Harry's eyes widened in shock. That was parseltongue! She's speaking parseltongue! …Well, a butchered form of it, but still! His mind reflected quickly on their winter holiday, where the two of them spent some time perusing Salazar's journal and testing the dictionary within it. For Harry it was easy to sound out the words, yet for Melly it had been a dud. Parseltongue magic just… didn't work on the human tongue like it does for a parselmouth. That's what they surmised, anyways. So then how-?

"Should I greet your friend?" Caireen hissed quietly at his ear.

"Not yet." Something about the whole scenario made him feel uncomfortable. Too many questions that Harry wanted the answers to. Perhaps by waiting, his friend would reveal something?

So he stayed silent and watched as Melly shuffled her feet. A shiver of breath coursed through her. "GreeTINGS?" She called out loudly. Meeting only silence Melly huffed slightly in annoyance. "Guess I'll wait, then." The young witch walked slowly in one direction, feeling her way to a wall and leaning against it. With a sigh, she lifted a hand upward, allowing it to graze against her neck. A small smile lifted her expression, humming to an upbeat tune. Then her head nodded to a rhythm as she sang aloud.

"I'm gonna kill some souls

Only got a horcrux in a locket

Six then no other

Do it for my brother

This is fucking awesome!"

The girl snickered as she reached the end. The song is clearly another one of her odd jokes from the future. Though, strangely, her head turned down toward her chest with an annoyed frown. "Oh, shut up, you. I wasn't asking for your opinion."

Harry raised a brow at the sudden dismissal. Who is she talking to?

The hand tucked into her robes. Gently, she pulled a necklace off of her neck. Holding it aloft, Melly smiled mockingly as its round metal locket hovered at eye level. "See, the advantage of being blindfolded is that you don't make a very convincing argument." Silence followed, yet her teasing smile grew predatory. "Uh-huh, right. Keep telling yourself that. You'll be dead in an hour before you can try anything." Again, the locket spoke in words only she could hear. "Ha! Right, as if you would help. Your other piece is the one trying to get to the philosopher's stone. I'm not doing jack shit to get you anywhere near all that."

The what? Harry narrowed his eyes in confusion. He had no idea what Melly was going on about, but perhaps he'll wait until later to ask about it. Instead, he motioned for Caireen to move forward with hissed instructions for her approach, then guarded his line of sight to be only on his human friend.

"Greetings, Lissa."

Melly froze in fear. The predatory smile vanished like an extinguished candle. "Um, hello? I mean, greetings."

"You have learned the tongue of speakers?" Caireen queried.

"Tongue of speakers? ... Oh! Yes. Um, yes, small tongue of speakers."

"Interesting. How is it that you have learned the Tongue of Speakers?"

"How? That was 'how'... um, I should have practiced more." She muttered. "Slytherin book magic, plants and blood make Tongue of Speakers gift for human?"

Caireen hissed loudly with an emotion he couldn't quite place. "Ah! My Master's ritual! You are a clever little hatchling to use his magic." Melly gave a muttered, confused response. Clearly whatever ritual Caireen was referring to didn't seem to have any effect on Melly's vocabulary. Strange. Well, whatever that ritual is, Harry's going to have to look into that before he leaves today.

"Why are you here?"

The girl shuffled uncomfortably at the basilisk's question. Taking a deep breath, she answered in what sounded like a practiced line. "I have darkness to eat with gift." She lifted the necklace further upwards.

Harry closed his eyes as Caireen slithered closer and tasted the necklace. She hissed angrily. "This has the scent of my Master!"

Melly flinched, a slight whine in her voice. "It is darkness. Bad gift made into darkness. Taste again."

Though annoyed at the accusation, the great serpent tasted it again. "This is the same as the last darkness I killed."

Melly muttered words under her breath, trying to translate the sentence into meaning. "Can you kill darkness without eating it? Metal stone belongs another nest."

Harry frowned at the rough speech with more confusion. Clearly it was another dark artifact of Voldemort's, but why would she care to bring it back to its original owner? What's the philosopher's stone? Also, why learn a ritual to go here herself and not tell him about it? These questions and more went unanswered.

Instead it was Caireen who gave an answer. "I will kill this darkness. Out of respect to my Master I will not eat it."

"Geez I hope that means you're okay with this." She muttered in English. "Thank you. " Slowly, fearfully, she laid the necklace onto the ground and knelt her face close to the locket. "Open."

Harry opened his eyes as a blast of black energy exploded out of the locket. Swirling images of people Harry didn't know grinned and laughed menacingly in a circle. From the locket, itself, a cold and sibilant voice hissed in anger.

"You will not destroy me, Melissa Bennett! I have seen your desires. I have seen your fears. Surrounded by enemies. Plagued with terrible futures of war and death. I can be your salvation. I can make all of your desires a reality, but only if you-"

The terrible voice was cut from its taunting as Caireen launched forward, fang striking the locket with a sound of shattered glass. The voice screamed. Torturous and full of rage. Then, in a blast of power, the swirl was no more, and the locket silent. The blast echoed away into nothingness. Precious seconds followed it in a moment of peace.

"Phew!" Melly exclaimed, shattering the sense of peace. "I thought that thing would never shut up! Thanks! I mean… thank you, Caireen!"

"You are welcome, hatchling Lissa." Harry watched as Caireen's body moved closer to the locket. "It is a shame that an object of my Master's was destroyed by darkness."

Melly didn't match any sentiment to the basilisk. Likely she simply didn't have the vocabulary to understand. "May I take metal stone? Return metal stone to nest?"

"You may." Caireen assured. "Goodbye, Lissa. Next time I hope to hear your progress in speaking the Tongue of Speakers."

"Um… right." She replied with uncertainty. "Thank you, Caireen. Goodbye." Awkwardly the girl picked up the locket and began to walk backwards towards the entrance. The room remained silent until she felt her way out and closed the door.

Caireen looped behind her body, keeping her eyes hidden as she returned to Harry's side. "Your unnatural friend is most strange."

"Yes." He replied, though he struggled to convey his true feelings in parseltongue. "I don't like that she's keeping secrets from me."

"Secrets are a trick of humans. It's in their nature. Even in unnatural ones." The great serpent assured. "My Master himself held many secrets. Even this place he called The Chamber of Secrets, binding me to this place as another one of his secrets."

"You're bound here?" That notion surprised Harry. He thought that Caireen simply chose to live here.

"Yes. Master ordered me to protect the hatchlings, and protect them I shall." Her tongue flicked in the air. "You taste with unease."

Harry struggled once more to find a choice of words. "It is sad. One thousand cold times have passed, and you have been here alone this whole time."

"Not always." She assured him. "Speakers come from time to time. Hatchlings many times over from my Master. I feel no loneliness."

"I am glad, then." Harry nodded. "I will try to visit often, to give you company until my own hatchlings are born."

A pleasant hiss crooned from the basilisk's mouth. "I look forward to such visits, Harry. At this time, do you wish to continue your magic?"

"Yes. Later I'd like to look at that ritual you mentioned. Does it really give people the ability to speak to snakes?"

"Yes, but the ritual does not bring the true gift." She answered. "It only gives one the capacity to learn, and is bound to the person who performs the ritual. Their children have no instincts towards it as you or my master's distant hatchlings do."

"Hmm, that's interesting. I will look into it later. I have some friends who also showed interest in learning. It will be good for them."

The decision settled, Harry turned back to the collection of stones and lifted his wand once more. "Now, SSIKAH shitznyeh!"