As if from a nightmare, as if from a realm of darkness, it came full force toward Harry. He had no time to hesitate, no time for slow reaction. He spun around, screwing his eyes tightly shut before wielding his wand before him.

"Lumos Maxima!" Harry shouted, blasting light straight into the gigantic, glowing gold eyes of the black scaled creature! The giant serpent recoiled with such a force, smashing his face into three empty portraits as it was caught unaware.

He bolted, the young wizard tentatively opened his eyes before he started running as fast as he could. To his horror, the thing was already regaining its balance and slithering with a rapid, loud hissing.

"Let me taste you!" The high pitched, spitting serpent shrieked as he approached once again.

"Intruder!" Harry heard a voice cry out as a suit of armor was forced into action as he saw the beast! The cry was echoed throughout the chamber and clanging, clinking armor set upon the black serpent. The first one was caught in midair as it looked up and caught it in its massive, jagged jaw. Within moments the armor was melted in two and discarded.

"Stop! Monster! Monster in the corridor!" Another suit of armor cried as it jabbed its halberd into the giant snake's flank! The tail whipped across the hall, smashing the suit of armor, along with another one, into the wall. They were decimated, and their weapons were shattered.

"Raise the alarm!" Another armor cried out as he gave chase with full speed along with three others.

Harry was faster, though, using the full extent of his legs and pumping with all of the magic his heart could muster as he ran, reached over his shoulder, and fired! "Bombarda!"

Not needing to hit his target, only needing a window of it, the explosion rocked against the stone walls of the massive hall as he passed through it. The serpent was knocked across its face! He still came forward, though, and his face smashed into a pillar, as well as rocking against Harry's arm and the side of his back.

As the basilisk was dazed, disoriented from such a massive attack, Harry skidded across the stone floor, rolling as his head hit the surface. His entire world went blurry as he stumbled to his feet and continued to run. For a moment, he forgot what he was running from and it was hard to concentrate, but then he looked back and remembered very clearly not to look into its eyes!

Those glowing, golden orbs rose from the floor as they watched him run once again. He did not stop for anything. He didn't stop for the pounding pain in his forehead, nor the blood that trickled down the side. His arm had twisted and his back clearly was going to bruise, but he did not stop. He couldn't stop!

The fact that there was no longer a creature chasing him did not occur to him until a voice rang out on the ground floor. "Harry!" Said the voice and he looked to see Dumbledore in the Entrance Hall. This made him slow down and his lungs begin to pump so hard, they seemed to mimic his heart, which was going as fast as fairy wings. So fast, in fact, that there came no voice as he attempted to talk, only wheezing as his breath attempted to cope with the massive amount of oxygen and he attempted not to have a cardiac arrest.

"Stop, Harry." Dumbledore raised his hand, and Harry did, seeing that it was quite useless.

Harry turned around and saw that there was no monster, no shadow of any kind, only darkness. Though, it did seem brighter than it was a moment ago.

"What happened? I was preparing my… uuhh… destruction charm!" Gilderoy Lockhart declared as he charged in with his wand, but his eyes were darting around as if preparing to spot something and run as fast as his feet could carry him.

"What's happened, Professor Dumble–" Snape said, but stopped running as he saw Harry standing there, bleeding from the side of his head and holding his wand with white knuckles. "Potter… what are you doing out of bed?"

"Professor Snape, he is clearly in a state of shock." Dumbledore said, wisely. "Harry," he put his hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

"Good gracious! What happened?!" Professor Mcgonagall ran into the entrance hall, seeing the damage that was done with the explosion and the crashing across the corridor. "Potter!"

"Prof–" Harry said as he looked to her and the terror in his eyes gave her pause and shook her with great alarm. "Professor– Need you… Hermione! She… help!"

"Minerva, if you please," Professor Dumbledore put his hand on Harry's shoulder to steady him. "Could you go and check the dormitory of one, Hermione Granger? Make sure she is solid and in good health."

"Of– of course." She nodded, taking one more look at the terror in Harry's eyes, which turned to absolute gratitude as he kept attempting to steady his breath, thankfully having more luck.

"Professor Snape, Professor Lockhart, please go and rouse the Head Boys and Head Girls, along with the staff. Perform a search of the halls, immediately. See if whatever did this can be found." As soon as Professor Dumbledore said this, Snape grabbed a stammering Gilderoy by the shoulder and pulled him into form, marching him out of the hall.

Albus Dumbledore then led Harry Potter into his office, getting a rag, and dampening it with water. As he sat Harry down onto a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk, he began to look around the most fascinating office he had ever seen in his life.

The office was very large, possessed an assortment of books that would have made Hermione get lost for days on end, and also had a collection of some of the strangest items he had ever seen. There was a what looked like a large fish bowl, with a glowing, floating gem in the middle of it. There was a quill with a very dark red feather and a point that looked like a small dagger. At the end of the table, was a frog that transformed into an owl, then back into a frog, then a mouse, back into a frog, a crow, then a frog. Beside the frog, was a book.

Across the office walls was the largest portrait collection Harry had ever seen in one room. They were, by and large, labeled with the names of Headmasters and Headmistresses and each of them viewed Harry Potter with the greatest of interest. None of them spoke to him, but they did make sure to keep their staring to a minimum, apparently on Dumbledore's orders.

"Well, Harry, it seems you've gotten yourself into a great deal of a little situation. Is that quite right?" He asked, as he dabbed the cloth against his head and got the blood off of what was thankfully a shallow blemish. "I will have Madam Pomfrey look at you before I send you off to bed, but I think there is no immediate danger. How do you feel?"

"Hermione?"

"Is fine. I have already received word. She is sleeping in her bed, safe." Dumbledore assured him, but that brought about more questions. Those questions, however, could wait for later. For now, he let out a sigh of relief. "That's better, breathe, Harry. You've had quite the fright."

Albus Dumbledore walked over to his desk and opened one of its drawers on the other side. From it, he pulled two very frosty bottles of a dark egg-shell colored liquid, which turned out to be Gourmet Butterbeer, according to the label. He gave the bottle to Harry and then clicked the bottles together as they both opened.

"Cheers, Harry, take a nice long drink." He said after taking a good long swig of his own.

Immediately, Harry could feel every single part of his body begin to tingle and settle. He could feel it all warm at the ends of his fingers and toes. The cobwebs began to clear in his brain and he could think, finally. What was that shadow?

"Could you tell me what happened now, Harry? You look like you're in much better spirits." Dumbledore inquired as he took another long drink of his Butterbeer. Harry nodded, though, it was still a moment before he found his voice again.

"I found a note from Hermione…" He began after clearing his throat. Dumbledore listened to the tale as he began and seemed to pay very close attention to the fact that Harry could clearly understand what it was saying.

"Harry, your skills as a wizard have grown so fast. You are a second year, but you fight like an Auror." Dumbledore's pride seemed to swell.

Just then, a gigantic fireball erupted behind Dumbeldore's desk. Upon a perch, larger than an eagle, stood the most magnificent red bird Harry had ever seen in his life. Plumage of blue and gold bordered the gorgeous scarlet of the fiery bird and it looked toward the two of them, giving a small call.

"Blast." Dumbledore said, clearly disappointed. "Well, it seems as though, wounded or not, the creature is nowhere to be found now." Dumbledore took Harry's empty bottle and took them both to a rubbish bin.

"Is… is that a phoenix?" Harry asked, and Dumbledore hummed his affirmation.

"Indeed, Fawkes is among the rarest birds in the world. I dare say, we have been friends for going on fifty years now." He said as he returned and sat upon his desk chair.

"Around the time you defeated Grindelwald?" Harry asked, making Dumbledore laugh.

"Very good, Harry. Your homework has not been for nothing." He said, though Harry actually read it off of Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card, First Edition he'd gotten off of Dean.

There was a long moment of silence after that, though, and Dumbledore noticed that Harry seemed to gaze off into nothing for a moment. "A knut for your thoughts? Is that how the saying goes?"

"I've just been thinking, sir."

"A very good habit to have." Dumbledore interjected but allowed him to continue.

"On the first day, I was in the sorting ceremony and when the sorting hat spoke to me, he said I would be best in Slytherin." Harry said, though, there was a clearing throat off to his left.

There upon one of the bookshelves, was the sorting hat himself. His eyes were open and his mouth began to flap. "What I actually said was, 'You would have done well in Slytherin.'"

"Well, either way, you were wrong. If I had to put up with Malfoy's face for two full days, I think I would likely vomit on a daily basis." Harry said, making Dumbledore grunt with a surprised expression. "I don't know where you think I would co-mingle with that crowd, but you made the right decision in the end. Either way, I have been having… other signs."

"The fact that you are a parselmouth does not put you in the same category as Lord Voldemort, nor does it mean you are Slytherin's heir." Dumbledore declared before Harry could even utter a word. "It means you share certain similarities with a certain two very noteworthy members of Slytherin's house. One of them just so happens to be him."

"But sir, how do I know–"

"Know if you were ever meant to be in Slytherin house? Well, I believe your bravery is equivalent to that of Godric Gryffindor himself. I dare say, you may one day wield his most renowned item yourself." Dumbledore motioned toward a very long, very beautiful sword within a case on his wall near the Headmasters Phineas Black and Diys Derwent, both of whom regarded the sword along with Harry. It shined with an uncanny luster, and the rubies that encrusted the hilt were of the highest caliber. At the bottom there was a small plack that read "The Sword of Gryffindor".

"But that still doesn't explain how I can do all of this. What if I am the heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked and Dumbledore tilted his head to the side.

"Do you wish to kill muggle-born children?" He asked with an off-handed shrug.

"No, sir." Harry answered, simply.

"Am I to assume that your story of attacking the creature in the darkness is true?" He asked with yet another off-handed gesture.

"Well… I mean… yes." Harry admitted with a bit of a blush.

"Then, if you are the heir of Slytherin, then someone else is impersonating you, and releasing this creature in order to kill you. I believe it is time for you to be off for a quick visit to Madam Pomfrey's, but I will be assigning you a detail to keep you safe for the time being." Dumbledore said simply, giving no segway, nor giving Harry any time to rebut.

"Harry," a familiar voice said, causing Harry to jump from his seat and turn to see Hermione standing in her nightgown. He immediately crossed the room and they embraced in an amorous hug. As they did this, Professor Mcgonagall cleared her through, though she seemed to be trying her very best not to let the corners of her mouth twitch. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Miss Granger, Professor Mcgonagall, could you see to it that he gets the proper medical care before bed? See that no more shadows are creeping in the night," Dumbledore said as he turned and began to walk toward his desk chair, "and if there is, be sure to turn on a light." He winked.

"Of course, Professor." Minerva nodded, then it was off to the hospital wing.

Without fail, the tales of Harry Potter fighting a hydra, a dragon, an anaconda and a basilisk began to spread faster than the slithering serpent itself. Soon, there came a brainchild from one of the first years who took a leaf from her father's book.

"Harry," a dreamy, wondered voice said, drawing his attention from his fish and chips. He looked to see Luna Lovegood with a very long piece of parchment and a quill. She sat up onto the Gryffindor table and looked at him with a little smile. "I heard that you fought something that sounds like an Umgubular Slashkilter, and I wanted to write about it."

"You wanted the who with the what now?" Harry asked, suddenly having ten questions at once.

"Are you writing an article?" Ron asked and Luna smiled at him.

"Oh, hello, thank you again for introducing me to my dear friend. We had tea." Luna gave him the warmest reception and Ron's seemed to turn pink and he suddenly turned back to his steak.

"Oh, you know, happy to help." Ron eyed her as he drank his pumpkin juice.

"But yes, I am writing a new paper, and I need articles to write. I already have one on the Crumple-horned Snorkacks I know are hiding among this school…" As if on cue, she pulled a mirror from her pocket and directed it all around her peripherals. Once she was satisfied, she put it away. "That search is ongoing. I also wrote an article on you as the Minister of the Duel, you'll need to check that for accuracy."

"You're serious?" Harry asked and she held her quill toward her parchment.

"Should I write that down?" Luna asked and Harry waved his hands. Then he launched into the tale. Since he was quite obviously spoke parseltongue, he was able to use the excuse that he heard the voice of the serpent creature. Then he embellished it a little bit, knowing that Luna's big break could come from this and he honestly wanted her to succeed.

"That's so brave of you." Luna said as he finished and she was on her second very long parchment.

"Merlin's beard, Harry! Next time you hear that serpent's voice, you'd better remember the mate who had your back from the start." Ron said, then looked over at Hermione. "Not to mention your other best mate."

Harry eyed Hermione, who looked off to the side, but then looked back at him. There was something, but he didn't know what. She had assured him that she did not write the letter, though she did admit that it was a very good forgery of her handwriting. This, Harry thought, explained why it looked so very strange when he first saw it. There was something there, but what was it?

The pumpkins floated around in the air as Hagrid lit yet another one and Professor Flitwick sent it off with a wave of his wand. Halloween was always a wonderful time, although the last one involved five trolls that attacked the upstairs corridor and demolished it.

The Bi-Weekly Lightning Bolt, or what was immediately known as the B-Bolt, became an instant success. Thanks to a hefty sum of parchment from the house elves and permission from Dumbledore himself, the first issue was released at one Knut an issue. Luna made a galleon and two sickles. She was hard at work on the second issue the very next day.

Soon, the school began to calm down and security went back to only being doubled. For a time, much to Gilderoy Lockhart's bemoaning, the entire staff was put on patrols of four at a time and with far more time watching the children between classes. As time went to some of the colder months of the year, the Quidditch season began!

Harry was more than happy to use Quidditch as a distraction, no matter how much their studies had become priority. Hermione was growing more and more irritated with her overall performance in class, only getting 95% on a test and nearly forgetting one question in her Arithmancy exam. It was all too much! Then, seeing him skimp on his studies as Quidditch practice with Oliver Wood began to reach four days out of the week, including his precious weekends, made her start biting her nails.

That was when he began to notice. He saw a beauty care product nearly roll out of her school bag and noticed that it was, indeed, Mimzy's Flesh Color Face Care. That tore it for him, something was wrong. The only question was, when was the proper time?

Quidditch practice was interrupted as Oliver Wood came onto the pitch and called them all down. "Harry! I've just found out! The Slytherin Team!"

"Yes, we know, Oliver." Fred said as he came down, followed by George.

"Slytherin's our first match. What's going on?" Oliver waved them both off.

"Shut it! I've just heard of the Slytherin team's new Seeker. He bought the entire team brand new Nimbus 2001's!" All three of the chasers gasped with Fred and George's faces screwing up in absolute mortification. Wood looked at Harry, "it's–"

"Malfoy…" Harry said, drawing looks from every team member.

"But how…" Oliver looked spellbound.

"Because it's always Malfoy!" Harry growled as he walked off the pitch with his broom on his shoulder. "Getting some water!" He called back toward them before they asked.

"We have to escort you Har–"

"Piss off!"

Harry was in a foul mood for the rest of the week. This did not help matters with Hermione either. Their first real row was not a pleasant one.

"Well, I don't see why you need to skip the entire day of studying just for the silly game!" Hermione said as she huffed and held her quill to the parchment which was completely filled with multiples having to do with the number seven. "Our term ends very soon and we need to make sure our homework is all done by the time winter break begins!"

"Why? Hermione? Why can we not devote a couple of days to finishing the homework after we've had a bit of rest?" Harry asked and she huffed once again.

"Fine, Mr. Potter, we can devote our study time to the holidays but know that the rest we lose to that game of yours is rest we lose together." She pointed toward him and his face screwed up with a puzzled expression.

"Hermione, that makes no sense. What is wrong? Why is it so important to you? Why is this schedule so damned…" He read the name "T.M. Riddle" in his head as she closed the book.

"If we cannot stick to a schedule then we'll never make it out of the second year!" Hermione said, and the bags under her eyes became somewhat more pronounced. Even through the makeup, the outline in the sunken skin was very visible.

"Hermione…" His voice was suddenly full of worry.

"Oh, just go to your stupid game, Mr. Potter! Make sure you catch that bloody sneech!" Hermione spat as she cracked open the book against the table and suddenly her hand went to her head. Her brow furrowed as she felt pain grow within.

"Hermione…" His voice was barely a whisper.

"GO!"

With that, his heart sank, and he left. All of Gryffindor was in the common room, preparing for the game. They put on their war paint, their jersey colors, their large red and gold firecrackers that emitted colored sparks and a banner with the lion proudly painted all across, compliments of Dean Thomas. Both he and Seamus painted their faces identically and posed for a photo from Colin. Before he could ask Harry to join in, he left without a word.

The pitch was in a rousing state of life that afternoon. The sun was perfect with the cold air around them and all of the crowd wore scarves and earmuffs. As their breath hung in the air, they met with the Slytherins. Harry put on a pair of large goggles that were made with his prescription lenses. They were not especially fashionable, but they were enchanted with the Impervious Charm, compliments of… Harry sighed. This was going to be a problem.

Malfoy, of course, with his smug grin on his face that Harry was very keen on wiping off. In fact, in that moment, he entertained the notion of blasting his mouth off with a specifically violent curse. This was enhanced every time he thought of how he called Hermione a mudblood. That one thought gave him the concentration to continue.

The captains shook hard squeezing hands before everyone mounted their brooms.

"Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting game of Quidditch with Gryffindor and Slytherin in the first game of the season. I'm joined by none other than Luna Lovegood of the Bi-Weekly Lightning Bolt!"

"Yes, I do write that paper. How kind of you to have noticed." Luna said in her own enchanted microphone, drawing looks from Lee and Professor Mcgonagall.

"Of course! Now then, the teams have mounted their brooms, Madam Hooch has cast the quaffle and they're off!" Lee shouted as fifteen brooms blasted into the air with whirling progression as all of the players went every which way. "Angelina Johnson with the quaffle in hand and a good lead into the Slytherin goal zone!"

"Angelina Johnson is very fast, men are often staring at her because she's also very pretty." Luna said, once again giving Lee some pause. Professor Mcgonagall shrugged, as she was not exactly wrong or overly inappropriate.

"Yes, well she scores! Miles Bletchley misses the center goal save! That's ten points for Gryffindor right off the bat!" Lee shouted with glee and pumped his fist in the air. "With an early lead, the quaffle goes to Marcus Flint!"

"He always gets the quaffle, then he does something nasty and cheats a lot." Luna said, and sure enough, Lee's eyes went wide, while Mcgonagall's went wider. Marcus Flint was hit with a penalty to Gryffindor for kicking at Alicia Spinnet.

"Th-that's a penalty to Gryffindor with Alicia Spinnet for the goal." Lee said with exasperation. He looked at Professor Mcgonagall, who waved him off, no longer knowing how to handle this.

Alicia made the goal, giving Gryffindor yet another ten points. "That's twenty to zero in the first three minutes of the game! Gryffindor are really soaring today!"

"Yes, I see that they are flying too! Aren't they lovely?" Luna waved to them as they went on defense and Katie Bell went after Pucey, who had possession.

Harry had a very hard time keeping up with the whole match. Either it was Luna's otherworldly entertainment with Lee Jordan as host, or the throbbing in the back of his head where there was the word "GO!" He winced.

"Hey, Potter!" Harry immediately bristled at the sound of a loud, droning voice. "I don't suppose–"

"If you want to keep all of your teeth, pretty boy, I'd shut your pretty mouth before you find my fist lodged into it! I don't need magic, either!" Harry was very quick to shout over Malfoy's voice, who appeared affronted. Then he saw the Gryffindor Seeker's beet red face and began to hesitate.

Then, there came the Snitch. However, there was something different this time. What was this? Why was there a trace that it left behind? The Golden Snitch began to zip past him, and the whole time, he saw trails of a shadow that it left behind.

All the sudden, his scar began to burn as if it were suddenly lit ablaze. He kept following the Snitch, but the faster he went, the more he felt the searing pain in his forehead. Tears welled up behind his goggles as he chased the snitch at full speed and Malfoy was right on his tails.

"Give it up, Potter! You can't out pace me! Not on my new–AH!" He narrowly rolled out of the way as Harry suddenly slowed straight down.

At first, he was going to shout at him, but then he saw what had taken Harry by surprise. The Snitch had become a multitude of dark, shadowy Snitches. Each one of them whirled around them at such a pace that Malfoy was struck in the shoulder and then Harry was struck in the forearm. Both of them began to dodge the strange little balls as they were pelted toward them.

"Expulso!" Malfoy shouted as he reared his wand straight up and shot a bolt of magic into the bulk of the strange Snitches. The shockwave that it created caused many of the Snitches to pop all around them. For once, Harry saw Malfoy as something of a competent spellcaster and strategist. He pulled his wand from his side and shot forth a bolt of his own.

"Depulso!" He shot several of the little Snitches back in a scattershot that caused a huge ripple effect.

Two golden eyes glared upon the match as it occurred. Her hand was over the Snitch she had stolen from his trunk and there came the dark magic. It was his dark magic, but now it was beginning to scatter. It started to lose its momentum and she started to see the dark power start to thrash!

The Snitches began to crowd into them and all of them started to go straight at them as they turned and began to go the other way. "Come on!" He shouted at Malfoy, who did not need telling twice. Even though he was supposedly faster than Harry, they were neck and neck as they flew away from the enormous wave of darkness!

"What is that?!" Lee shouted as the entire crowd looked upon it with great worry as the wave of darkness seemed to only grow and stretch toward the two of them.

"Hermione!" Ginny's voice shouted as she turned away from the Snitch and stood.

All of the Snitches were gone in an instant. Soon, it was just the Golden Snitch chasing the two of them. It was also Harry who noticed it first and reached out, catching the single Snitch.

He stopped on his broom and looked back toward the Quidditch field. Malfoy was quick to stop as well and give a sound between a bark and a scoff. "What?! When did… How?! Potter! You bastard!"

"Don't look at me!" Harry shouted back, indignant. "Did it look like I was having a laugh and a cheat when those damn things pelted me in my goggles?" He pulled them off, where there was, indeed, a bruise already forming. "But, oh well!" Harry grinned at him as he flipped the Snitch in the air and caught it. Then he bolted off, faster than lightning.

Malfoy went crimson!

Within Hermione's dormitory, Ginny gazed upon her, shocked. She glared back at the Weasley girl, absolutely livid. She looked down behind Hermione to see the ritualistic way she had the hex upon the Snitch. It was so obviously a hex against the Quidditch match that it was almost like something of a joke at first. At any moment, Hermione was going to say "Joking! It's a game Harry and I play."

That did not come, though. In fact, the way she looked at Ginny was not at all like the calculating, but flustered Hermione. It was cold. Something about her mannerism and the way her face turned into a grin.

"Oh, Ginny, I'm sorry. You interrupted me." That was not Hermione's tone. The way it melded with her voice was absolutely unsettling.

"Hermione? What's going on? What are you doing?" What she really wanted to ask was who she really was, but for now, she had to think of something else. Right now, letting on that she was not Hermione may have been a bad idea.

"I'm preparing a gift for Harry, of course. I do so care for him." The entity said, but that sparked something that Ginny couldn't explain.

"But, you love him!" Ginny shrieked suddenly, and Hermione's face suddenly twisted into something else. It was something akin to absolute hatred and loathing and she locked up as the gaze even turned slightly gold in the irises.

Both of them drew their wands, but Hermione merely waved her wand and Ginny felt as if her entire body had been hit very hard! She flew straight back and slid across the carpet painfully. She whimpered pitifully, clenching her eyes shut.

As Hermione approached her, wand in hand, Ginny flung herself around. "Expelliarmus!" Such a sudden move and a strange spellcasting style took her completely by surprise as her wand shot from her hand. Hermione was launched straight back into the wall and hit it with no small force. Her head was knocked against it, as well as her back, which expelled all of the air from her lungs.

The two of them panted hard as they, gazed at one another. Ginny, glaring toward Hermione as if she were a very powerful weapon that was very liable to go off. Even without her wand, she was not taking any chances. Then she realized, Hermione was looking back at her. Her face was sympathetic, but obviously hurt very much.

"Ginny…"

"Hermione!"

"NO!" Hermione shrieked! She lashed out, throwing Ginny into the floor once again. She hit it hard, but rebounded as fast as she could, running toward the corridor after Hermione.

"Hermione!" Ginny shouted into the portrait hall as she finally made it with such horrible aching legs. The pain she felt was bad, but something told her that Hermione had been holding back.

"Ginny?!" Harry shouted in shock and obvious worry as the entirety of Gryffindor held him upon their shoulders as their reigning victor. Fred and George immediately put Harry down onto his feet and ran to her, seeing her lip was bleeding and there were bruises forming on her face.

"She–" Ginny began to tear up as she looked at Harry with pursed lips and through a broken voice, "she's not Hermione!"