Okay here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can still offer suggestions for Daphne's bloodline. After the next chapter, I take the ones I like the most and put up a poll for them, to let you guys decide, so look for the info and poll after the next chapter, not this one.
Broken Angel
Chapter 15: The Chamber
"Just explain to us what happened," Dumbledore stated calmly.
"I already told you. I heard something whispering in the distance, I went looking for it, and then I found Mr. Filch's cat," Riley replied irritably.
"What did the whispering say?" Dumbledore asked.
"Rip. Tear. Kill," Riley replied.
"A bit... unnerving," Dumbledore commented.
"Look... I'm tired. Can we please finish with this interrogation and move on?" Riley asked, as she rubbed her eyes.
"You aren't being interrogated, Miss Slytherin. We just want to know what happened," Dumbledore explained.
"Yeah, well. I've explained what happened about ten fucking times. I don't think I can get any clearer," Riley responded with a growl.
The teachers looked a little unnerved at seeing Riley so upset. The girl obviously didn't like being accused of this crime.
"Very well. How about this. Provide a memory of the event for the pensieve. That should clear up any problem," Flitwick offered. Riley simply let out a huff and sighed before drawing her wand and placing it to her head. All of the teachers were a little surprised to see that she already knew how to use a pensieve. A nifty little bit of info that she'd picked up from Voldemort's memories. She hadn't really dived into his actual life, instead choosing to focus her attention on his knowledge about magic and the like.
Considering what he was known for, Riley was hesitant to view some of the memories that were contained within the soul fragment. She didn't want to see anything overly traumatizing.
Dumbledore summoned over his pensieve and Riley placed her memory in it. Dumbledore looked inside and witnessed the events leading up to Riley's discovery of the message. He watched her finish up training, and then head to bed. She laid in bed and tried to sleep and then she heard the whispering. She followed its source and located the message.
"I see. Well, this indeed clears you of any mishap. Miss Slytherin, you are free to go," Dumbledore told her with a kind smile as he gestured towards the door. With a nod Riley tiredly got up and departed with Snape, who escorted her back to the dungeons.
The next day, news had spread from the prefects who had discovered Riley that she was the one who had petrified Mr. Filch's cat. Riley wasn't surprised to see people accuse her of doing this, back in the Leaf, whenever something went wrong, or something strange happened, no matter how improbable it was, someone would try and pin the blame on her as well. It was ridiculous at times, and seeing it carry over to now irked her in a way that clearly showed on her face as she walked through the Main Hall.
Her gang eyed her wearily as she approached them. For the briefest of moments, she remembered how the villagers used to look at her, the way they'd judge her guilty with no proof at all. Whether it be theft, unknown assault, or even something breaking in a dramatic fashion, more often than not, someone would point the finger at her. Seeing her friends all staring at her like that hurt. It hurt her deeply and she had to fight to keep that pain off her face.
She glared at all of them, using her anger to mask the hurt, before stating aloud, "You assholes do know I am in fact 'head' of Slytherin house, not the heir, right?"
All of them cringed at being read so easily.
"Sorry, we kinda forgot that," Tracy apologized, earning nods from the others.
Riley shook her head at that, muttering a curse under her breath. Just a bit of observation was enough to clue most of them into Riley's state of mind at the moment. She was angry, and they all knew what happened when the Slytherin Queen got angry.
"If you're not the heir, then who is?" Hermione inquired.
"Not a fucking clue," Riley responded irritably.
"So, what are you gonna do about this?" Draco asked as Riley sat down.
"Well... what do we know?" Blaise asked in reply when it was clear that Riley wasn't listening anymore and was pointedly ignoring them. Her response earned another cringe from her group of friends, as it dawned on many of them that they may have hurt Riley's feelings by thinking her responsible for this.
"Riley..." Draco began, intent on apologizing, when she cut him off by suddenly answering Blaise's question.
"Whatever it is, it petrifies things, and it sounds like the snakes we found in the pet store," Riley answered, looking at Draco.
"Sounds like a snake, and petrifies things?" Hermione said with a thoughtful look.
"A Basilisk?" Daphne offered up.
"Probably," Riley muttered with another sigh.
"What the bloody hell is a basilisk doing in Hogwarts?" Theo asked with a shake of his head.
"No fucking clue," Riley growled out with annoyance.
"Okay... I'm off to the library to research basilisks, anyone want to join me?" Hermione asked.
Daphne and Luna both nodded in agreement and stood to follow her.
"See if you can't find an easy way for me to kill it," Riley told them, earning nods from the three girls as they departed.
"Hey... did you guys hear, all of the chickens were found dead this morning," Riley heard someone say.
"That's odd," Katie commented upon overhearing that as she joined them.
"Hm... yeah it is," Riley agreed.
As they were all sitting there a loud bang emanated from the head table. Riley and the others glanced over and saw that Lockhart had smoke around him and had been turned bright pink, on top of that his hair was now in the shape of a Mohawk.
There was silence in the great hall for several moments before everyone burst out laughing.
"I think we owe a certain set of twins a couple hundred galleons," Draco commented with a grin.
"Too true," Riley agreed, her mood uplifted a bit. She glanced over at the Weasley twins and saw the two laughing like everyone else, they stopped momentarily and shot a glance over at her, both then offered a wink and continued to laugh.
Lockhart, all the while, had a big smile on his face like nothing was wrong. Riley figured he was playing it cool to avoid looking like a fool. Even the teachers were snickering behind their hands, the only ones who weren't were Dumbledore and Snape, though Dumbledore had a smile, and a look of amusement in his eyes. Snape meanwhile had the barest ghost of a smirk on his face.
Things continued on from there. Riley remained a bit frosty for a day or two but got over it when some of her friends started to apologize to her. Despite finding it upsetting and incredibly annoying, she couldn't blame them for thinking that she could do something like this, considering what she'd done already. With that in mind she simply chose to move past it. In the end it wasn't worth being angry over.
As the days went on, she continued to train her friends, and her training sessions were joined by Blaise, Luna and Katie.
Blaise had high chakra levels and average control, along with lightning style chakra. Luna had low levels of chakra but high control, she also seemed to possess two natural elemental affinities, which was uncommon; she had both water and lightning. Katie had medium chakra levels and chakra control, though she did possess a natural bloodline ability, which allowed her body to convert her magic into physical energy for her to use, making her more geared towards taijutsu and kenjutsu. Her element was earth and she seemed really happy to learn that she had a bloodline. They still hadn't unlocked Daphne's, but they were working on it.
Ginny was asked to join but claimed she was too busy with school stuff. Riley started her three new recruits on the leaf manipulation exercise, which they took to quite quickly. The others had already finished the Transformation Jutsu and were working on the Clone Jutsu.
Her friends were advancing at a steady pace, but none of them really had a deeper goal in mind. They just wanted to learn ninja techniques because they were cool. This did slightly irk Riley as -under Madara's guidance- she had come to believe that only with some kind of motivation could one become a splendid ninja. Those that did it for fun were in for a rude awakening down the line. She had to remind herself though that her friends were just school kids, they weren't shinobi. They'd never have to face the things that Shinobi would, so they didn't need to be afraid, or be forced into a position to self-motivate. If they wanted to learn it because it was cool, then that was good enough.
They got to enjoy a couple more pranks on Lockhart, who always seemed to take everything in stride, which might have been annoying if he didn't look like such a fool after each one.
Riley had also started her gang on physical exercise, and to say that they were all out of shape would have been a hilarious understatement. When they had to run a mile only Theo, Blaise, Katie, and Luna could do it. The others were in heaps on the ground at varying distances. Seeing that, Riley quickly developed a sadistic streak as she became determined to get them all in shape.
It wasn't all fun and games though. A student was petrified, along with a ghost, and the two would remain in the infirmary for several weeks while they waited for a cure to be made.
Hermione and the others had learned a lot about Basilisks. They learned that they were big, tough, could kill you with their eyes, and could be killed by a rooster crowing.
Sadly, all the roosters were dead, so they needed an alternative.
Riley had been hunting the halls at night, trying to find the creature, but she never had any luck. It only struck on the nights when she wasn't out, which made her suspicious that whoever was doing this was a member of Slytherin house.
More pranks on Lockheart, more training and a few weeks later another kid was petrified, a first year.
Now all the Slytherins knew that Riley hadn't done it, but the rest of the school was sure she was the culprit. To the point where the Gryffindors actually glared at her openly in the great hall.
Though Riley appeared to take it all in stride, on the inside she found herself more and more often being reminded of her time in Konoha. Her place of birth was not something she liked to be reminded of, and having similarities start to sprout up between Hogwarts and Konoha really made getting out of bed in the morning a harder and harder task.
She was coming back to the dungeons one day when she sensed someone behind her. Glancing back, she focused magic to amplify her hearing; it took only a moment for her to pick up the sound of two someone's hiding behind a statue. She walked over and pulled the two out, revealing it to be Ron Weasley and another Gryffindor, Dean Thomas.
"What the hell are you two doing down here?" Riley asked.
"Catching you in the act, you filthy snake," Ron fired back, though his body betrayed the air of boldness he was trying to put on because his legs were shaking.
"Ye-Yeah. Then the whole school will know that you really are nothing but an evil monster," the dark-skinned boy stuttered out.
"You two are too cute. Here let me show you to Professor Snape's office so you can file your complaint with him," Riley said with a smile as she started to drag the two Gryffindors along. Both boys yelped in fear and tried to pull their wands but found them to be missing. Riley dragged them all the way to Snape's office, as neither had the strength to stop her.
She knocked on the door, and a few moments passed before the door opened, revealing Professor Snape.
"What seems to be the issue?" Snape asked as he glanced down at the two Gryffindors with a scowl.
"These two were skulking around the dungeons spying on our house. I think they were trying to sneak in," Riley told him. The two boys shook their heads in the negative, but the damage was done.
"I see. I do believe that will be a week's detention, and ten points from Gryffindor," Snape stated as he reached down and grabbed both boys.
"Please head back to your room. I'll deal with these two dunderheads," Snape stated as he dragged the two boys off to find McGonagall.
Riley simply smiled at the two boys who were glaring at her as they were dragged away. She then pulled out both their wands and smiled again. Both boys simply adopted looks of befuddlement as they wondered how she had obtained them.
Riley left the wands and a note for Snape in his office before departing. She then made it back to her room and decided to crash for the night.
By now it was almost Christmas, the Malfoys were going to have a big ball at their estate and had invited a great number of people. Draco had in turn invited the whole gang, including Neville, Katie, Luna, and Hermione, all of whom agreed to attend. Ginny was invited also but said that she was feeling terribly ill and just wanted to spend the break relaxing. Not worrying about it, Riley asked if she could invite Fleur and her family, which they said she could. The Delacours were more than happy to attend, as they enjoyed travel and hadn't been to Britain since before the last war.
Riley had left a shadow clone in the school to hunt the Basilisk over the break while the others were celebrating. The train ride back was uneventful, and everyone said their goodbyes and departed to find their families.
Riley was happy to see Remus, as it seemed that Dobby had been driving him bonkers at their house. The little elf was more than happy to see Riley again, and the three enjoyed some hot chocolate next to a warm fire in their home.
When it came to the Malfoys' ball, everything was quite fun. There were plenty of people there, all dressed in their fancy robes or dresses. Riley was dressed very plainly as she didn't like to dress up for much. She wore a simple long dark green dress with black pants underneath it. By now her hair had finally reached down to her mid back and in the bright lights of the Malfoys' ballroom the red in her hair really stood out. She also didn't have her chest wrapped as the dress she wore was lower cut in the back. This earned her a few stares from her friends, who never really noticed how developed she was. Though one person in particular did take a keen interest in Riley's developing figure, and she soon found herself in the loving embrace of her girlfriend.
Riley was happy to see the Delacours again. Gabby had grown quite a lot since she had last seen her and talked animatedly about any new adventures Riley had been on.
Fleur was dressed beautifully for the event; she wore a light blue gown and had her hair tied back into a bun. All of Riley's friends stared, with their jaws on the floor, at the young goddess that Riley always spoke so fondly of.
"She's gorgeous," Pansy whispered.
"No kidding. I feel like a troll in comparison," Katie replied. If one looked closely, they could see Katie eying Fleur up with amazement and approval.
"She's... a Veela," Daphne commented.
"How do you know?" Pansy asked.
"Um... well... just look at the guys," Daphne stuttered in reply, having difficulties keeping the blush off her face. No one seemed to notice Daphne's stutter as most of the girls glanced at the boys.
Pansy looked over at all of their guy friends and found half of them drooling, and the other half had their mouths hanging open.
Hermione elbowed Draco hard in the ribs to break his trance.
"What? What happened?" he asked as he looked around.
"Weak-minded buffoon," Hermione commented.
"Hm... you work fast, Riley. You already hold one of the keys to your heart," Luna commented with a smile.
"Stop staring, you sluts!" Riley hissed over at them. All of them turned their heads to stare off at the wall as Fleur started to giggle.
"It would seem that our collective fear of Riley can even overpower one of nature's physical manifestations of lust itself," Luna stated as she actually seemed to take interest in the wall, they were all staring at.
The party went off without a hitch. The only thing that Riley worried about was how the other purebloods would react around Hermione. None seemed to care, or at least those that did realized this was Lucius's house and it would not do to cause problems. Lucius himself actually spoke with Hermione for a few moments, getting her opinions of the wizarding world. Like Riley and the dark lord, Lucius's distaste for muggleborns stemmed from them trying to destroy wizarding culture. Though those like Hermione, who were willing to learn and understand how wizards did things, along with the why, were alright in his book.
He asked a few questions, and she asked a few in turn, it seemed like the two would slip into a debate sooner or later, but before it happened, Narcissa arrived to drive their conversation away from political or cultural debate. She instead took the time to meet the girl that her son seemed to like so much. It wasn't long before Draco swooped in and rescued poor Hermione from Narcissa's questioning.
Riley spent a lot of time with Fleur, but she did also travel amongst the groups to chat with all of her friends. She was walking with Luna back over to Fleur when they passed through a doorway. Riley spotted Fleur staring at her with strange amusement in her eyes, Fleur then smiled and pointed above the two, where they saw a mistletoe hanging above them.
"Be careful, the Nargles like to hide in mistletoe," Luna commented.
"Ha. Luna... you're one of a kind," Riley commented as she kissed the younger girl's cheek.
Luna smiled at that and gently brushed her fingers over where Riley's lips had touched her cheek. After a moment she locked eyes with Riley and in that dreamy way she often did, she replied, "True."
The two then locked arms and skipped merrily over to Fleur, earning a laugh from the Veela on the way.
Luna gave Fleur a curious look for a moment after they arrived, before turning to Riley and smiling.
"What?" Riley asked.
"You hold one of the keys to your heart, the others aren't that far, I think. Maybe you'll find more soon," Luna stated with a smile.
Riley stared back for a moment, a look of confusion on her face. She glanced over at Fleur and quickly pieced together what Luna was talking about.
Riley smiled and replied, "I hope so."
From there the night went on, Riley spent a couple of minutes making out with Fleur in a closet, but other than that the night went as one would think it would.
Nothing happened for the next month or so either. The potion for the petrified children would be finished in a little while and there hadn't been any attacks since then.
Though that all changed when Riley entered into the Great Hall one morning.
She found Theo, Blaise and Katie waiting for her, while the rest of the group was missing.
"There you are. We've been looking for you all morning," Theo stated as he and the others walked over to her.
"Why? What happened?" Riley asked.
"Hermione was petrified last night. And Ginny's gone missing. Another note was left, it says she's been taken to the Chamber of Secrets," Blaise stated.
"Fuck!" Riley hissed.
"They're going to close the school," Theo told her.
"Where are the others?" Riley asked.
"With Hermione. Draco hasn't left her side since we found out this morning," Katie answered.
Riley and the others made it to the infirmary and found Draco and the others gathered around Hermione, each one of them looked upset. Though there was a particular aura of anger hanging over the Malfoy heir as he sat next to a petrified Hermione.
Some of the teachers were also there and they looked to be arguing with the students.
"Oh, thank goodness Ms. Slytherin. Please come over here," McGonagall stated. She was currently standing next to Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, and they were arguing with Tracy, Pansy, Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"What's going on here?" Riley asked, her voice laced with concern.
"Please help us convince your friends here that they will do no good running off and facing this creature," McGonagall stated.
Riley stared at her for a second, then turned and looked at her friends.
"Hermione found it. She had a note in her hand, that said '2nd floor, girls' bathroom'. She told me a few days ago that she thought the basilisk might have killed Moaning Myrtle a few years back," Luna informed her.
"Yeah... now we're off to the bathroom to get some answers and find this thing that hurt Hermione and took Ginny," Crabbe added.
"Yeah... Hermione may not be a Slytherin but she's one of us. And Ginny may be a bit off, but she's still Slytherin, we take care of our own," Goyle also added, both boys sounding much braver than they had ever been. Even Neville had a fire burning in his eyes.
"Please... Professors Snape, Lockhart, and Flitwick are investigating the bathroom right now. You just need to be patient," McGonagall assured them.
"We can't just sit here," Pansy shot back in reply, earning nods from the rest of their group. Even Daphne seemed ready to go find the chamber and hunt down the beast responsible for this.
"Your care and desire to help miss Weasley and avenge your friend is admirable. It does my heart proud to see so many young children standing up for what's right... but this is beyond you. If you try to fight this creature and the one who set it free... you may find yourself in a worse state than miss Granger," Dumbledore told them, sounding stern but also having a glimmer of pride in his eyes.
"He's right," Riley stated, causing all of her friends to shoot her looks of surprise.
"What are you saying? We can't just let that monster kill Ginny!" Pansy said with a bit of hurt in her voice.
"Yeah... we need to do something!" Katie added, sounding like a true Gryffindor.
Riley simply shook her head and let out a sigh as she rubbed her face; it took a moment before she began to talk.
"The creature doing this is probably a Basilisk. It fits the evidence we've found. A Basilisk is a wizard killer. Full grown wizards. It can kill you just by looking at you and has magically resilient scales to boot. It would take a team of highly trained and skilled wizards, who have also spent a great deal of time on planning and preparation, to kill this thing. You all asked me to train you in the ways of a ninja. Well ninja don't charge in like morons. They pick their fights. They understand their enemy. And they never go into a battle that they know they will lose. Right now, you all need to be smart, you need to understand your limits. Ginny and Hermione are both going to love you guys for how you're standing up for them right now... you've proven to be true friends. And you've proven something to me too..." Riley spoke to her friends.
McGonagall, Pomfrey, and Dumbledore were all amazed at how well Riley drew in her friends. They all listened when she spoke. They all took time to actually hear what she was saying. To understand it. You could see bitter acceptance on all of their faces. All three of the teachers could see the immense respect and admiration these children had for Riley.
"What did we prove?" Luna asked, with a knowing look.
"That I can trust you. That I can count on all of you. We've only known each other for over a year, some of us less than that, but we've stuck together. We've helped each other, and now... in the middle of adversity... we're banded together. To see you all with a fire burning in your eyes and your hearts. To see the desire for vengeance and justice. It makes me realize that we are more than just friends... we're comrades," Riley told them. Causing most of her friends to share looks with one another, some of them blushed at the praise, some smiled, but they all had the same determination in their eyes.
"A man, who is like a brother to me, once told me... that those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their friends are lower than trash. The mission is to save the school, but I need you guys to do something even more important for me," Riley stated.
"What?" Katie asked.
"I need you all to protect Hermione. She's, our friend. And she can't protect herself. In the field, if a ninja can't defend themselves, then they usually get left behind. I don't wanna do that. I don't want all of us to run off to fight this thing and leave Hermione behind. So, I'm asking you guys to protect her. Protect the school," Riley ordered.
Her friends shared looks amongst each other, before nodding.
"What are you gonna do?" Blaise asked.
"I'm gonna do what I do best... I'm gonna kill that thing, and get Ginny back," Riley replied with cold determination.
"Riley." Riley heard Draco call out to her. Her friends parted and Riley could see Draco sitting next to a petrified Hermione.
"Yeah?" Riley asked.
"Two things..." Draco began, a cold fury present in his voice, "One... the first thing you do is find Ginny. She's our friend... she's what matters. And second... after you bring her back, after Hermione wakes up... I want you to teach me to be strong like you."
Riley stared at him for a second, a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Why do you wanna be strong?" Riley asked.
"To protect the people I care about. So, I never have to see someone I care about like this ever again. So, no one else has to fight my battles for me," Draco replied as he looked down at Hermione.
"Good answer," Riley said with a smirk, happy to hear that her friend was finding a true motivation for growing stronger.
"I want more training too," Theo stated with conviction.
"Me too. I don't wanna be left behind again. I won't be a burden to anyone. I want to stand by your side, Riley, not behind you," Neville told her.
"Yeah same," Pansy agreed.
"We'll keep Hermione safe until you get back... but don't think we'll stay behind forever," Blaise said with smile.
"I thought I was the Gryffindor. Bring her back okay, and kick some ass while you're at it," Katie said with a chuckle.
"You hurry back, so we can get back to training. You can't be the coolest in the group forever," Tracy added.
"Bring Ginny back. So we can all get back to training," Crabbe said with a nod.
"Make the guy who did this pay," Goyle added.
"Don't think I'll let you stay ahead of me forever. You best make it back, I want you to see when I finally surpass you," Daphne stated boldly with fire in her eyes.
"You're making a trend out of saving the school each year, Riley. I do wonder, does trouble just follow you? Or are you always in the right place at the right time? Either way, good luck," Luna told her with a warm smile.
"Thanks, you guys..." Riley responded with a warm smile.
"Seems they found their reason to grow," Kurama mused.
'Indeed. Her ability to move people with words... it's so much like Hashirama. Now her friends have reasons to focus on their training. Now they will dedicate themselves to becoming greater. She has earned herself some powerful allies,' Madara commented, smirking as he did.
"What do you mean?" Kurama inquired curiously.
'She gave them a reason to grow... to fight. Believe me, you can do a lot for a person to earn their loyalty... but there is little you can do that surpasses giving them a goal, or a dream,' Madara replied with a warm smile on his ghostly face. He couldn't help but think of his own friend, who had done the same for him. He often wondered if Hashirama ever realized how much Madara looked up to him.
"Ms. Slytherin, it's far too dangerous to go running off. Thank you for stopping your friends, but you cannot just take their place," McGonagall tried to stop Riley from leaving.
"A Basilisk's vision cannot kill me with the Sharingan. And I possess the necessary techniques to break a troll's neck. I can handle this thing. Besides... you don't want me in the school right now," Riley replied darkly.
"And why is that?" Dumbledore asked.
"Last time I was this pissed, I left behind a crater you could fit the Quidditch pitch in. I think I'd rather focus my energy on a less destructive task," Riley replied, causing the adults to share a look, which Riley capitalized on and immediately Shunshined away.
McGonagall muttered a curse under her breath at Riley's sudden disappearance, while Dumbledore let out a sigh, a ghost of a smile touching at his lips. "Doing what's right, even if it puts your life in danger. You're truly growing into a wonderful young woman Ms. Slytherin," he thought to himself.
Riley quickly made her way to the girls' bathroom where she found Snape, Lockhart, and Flitwick searching around the sinks.
"Are you sure it was over here?" Flitwick asked a ghost girl, who was hovering in the center of the room.
"Yes. I saw those horrible eyes, right there," she replied, pointing at the sink.
Riley walked into the room, ignoring all of the adults. She scanned the sink and found one that was different than the others, it had snake decorations on it.
"Ms. Slytherin, what are you doing here?" Flitwick asked upon seeing her.
'Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. Slytherin was clever, he was also a parselmouth. Well here goes nothing,' Riley thought to herself.
"Open," Riley hissed, and to her surprise the sink began to move, revealing what looked like a slide down into the ground.
"Wow... all she needed was ten seconds," Flitwick commented.
"Ms. Slytherin, what do you think you are doing here?" Snape asked.
"Here to find the scumbag who stole one of my friends and housemates," Riley replied.
"You're very skilled Ms. Slytherin, but we don't really know what we're dealing with," Flitwick told her.
"We're dealing with a basilisk and a dead man, once I get my hands on him," Riley stated as she activated her Sharingan.
'Hey, the Sharingan will protect me from the Basilisk's gaze right? Or do I need to go higher?' Riley asked Kurama.
"Actually, you don't need it. You're a half demon, greater than a Basilisk. Its stare will cause you some irritation but otherwise you'll be fine. Watch out for its venom though, that's still likely to kill you," Kurama replied.
'Really?'
"Yep. Go kick its ass," Kurama answered with a chuckle.
'Well actually, I was thinking, depending how big it is I could let you kick its ass,' Riley thought back in reply.
"Hm... I think I can manage that. Just make sure you summon me with enough energy," the Fox replied with a vicious grin.
"Alright, who's coming with me?" Riley asked.
"Riley..." Flitwick tried to say, but the look she shot him caused him to stop.
"Filius, go inform the others and call the Aurors. Gilderoy and I will accompany her," Snape stated.
"Are you sure?" Flitwick asked, giving Gilderoy a look.
"Of course. After all, Gilderoy has dealt with these sorts of situations many times before. And young Riley did kill a troll quite easily last year," Snape replied, sounding very sarcastic when talking about Lockhart.
Flitwick nodded and looked at Riley. "Don't do anything reckless."
"Don't worry. I'm after Ginny. Once she's safe I'll do something reckless, but not until then," Riley replied with a smile.
Flitwick could only sigh and turn to run off.
"Alright... let's go," Riley stated as she hopped into the hole.
She was followed by Snape and Lockhart; the former was able to stick the landing, along with Riley, while the latter hit hard and flopped around on the ground.
"Come on," Riley ordered them as she advanced.
"Wait," Lockhart told them. Snape and Riley glanced back at him with confusion.
"What if someone follows us down? Or what if the one who did this sneaks past us? Someone should stay and guard the entrance," Lockhart told them.
The two shared a look, before Riley smiled.
"Okay Professor, guard the exit, and make sure our target doesn't make a run for it," Riley stated, earning a nod from Lockhart. Snape and Riley continued on, both muttering coward under their breath.
"So... not going to try and talk me out of this?" Riley asked as they walked.
"There wouldn't be a point. You do what you wish and are smart enough to know your limits. You wouldn't be here if you couldn't face whatever we find," Snape replied succinctly.
"True," Riley agreed.
They kept walking until they came upon a large door with snakes decorating it.
Riley hissed 'open' again and the door complied.
A few moments passed as the door opened, then they entered into a large open chamber. Both took a moment to examine the room. There was a large walkway in the center that led up to a giant statue. On either side of the walkway was water, and lining the path were giant snake-headed statues. The statue at the end of the walkway was that of Salazar Slytherin.
The two spotted Ginny laying on the ground, close to the end of the path.
Both ran over to her.
Riley immediately started to use medical Ninjutsu on the girl, trying to check for injuries.
"What's wrong with her?" Snape asked, recognizing the technique Riley was using.
"She isn't hurt... but her life force is very weak. I can supplement it, but we need to find where it's being drawn out from," Riley replied. Both of them immediately noticed the book she had clutched in her arms.
Snape reached out to it but withdrew as he felt dark magic emanating from it.
Seeing his reaction Riley pulled her wand and pointed it at the book, with a swift motion she sent it flying across the chamber.
"We need to get her out of here. I think that damn book is the cause. Her life force isn't dwindling as fast anymore, but she won't survive if we leave her here for much longer," Riley told Snape. Earning a nod, they moved to pick her up when Riley pushed Snape out of the way to avoid a red bolt of magic.
"Sorry... but I can't let you do that," came a boy's voice. Both Riley and Snape shot to their feet and pointed their wands at the boy.
"Who the fuck are you?" Riley asked as she eyed the boy. He had dark hair and eyes and was quite tall, handsome as well.
"Tom, Tom Marvolo Riddle," the boy replied with a bow. In his hands he held Ginny's wand.
"That's impossible. Tom Riddle is dead," Snape replied.
"Is he? Well, you would know quite well. It isn't much of a secret that you once served the man he became," Tom replied.
"What is he talking about professor?" Riley asked.
"You don't know? How curious, with how highly you're spoken of around this castle, I would have assumed you would be smart enough to figure it out," Tom replied as he wrote his name in the air. He then rearranged the letters to form the words 'I am Lord Voldemort'.
Riley was silent for a moment as she took that in. It didn't take more than a moment for her to recall something that Voldemort had told her during their meeting the previous year. She glanced at the book she had tossed away, and quickly made the connection. "So... that book is a soul anchor. Why are you such an asshole?"
"Probably because that's only a piece of Voldemort's soul. Probably mostly his teenage hatred and angst. He hasn't had time to 'grow up', as it were. So of course, he's just a moody douchebag at the moment," Kurama muttered in reply.
'Makes sense,' Riley thought in reply.
'Just be careful, that damn snake is around here somewhere,' Madara told her.
Riley nodded as she kept her wand trained on Tom.
"I'm surprised you know what that book is. Though to answer your question, I don't know. I guess it's just the way I am," Tom replied with a cold smile.
"The Tom Riddle I knew would never attack children like this. Not even to bring himself back from the dead. You are just a pale imitation of a once great man," Snape snapped out with obvious disdain. Riley could tell that Snape had had a lot of admiration and respect for the Dark lord, back when he was alive.
"Aww... that wounds me professor. I only wish to live up to my legacy. After all, this isn't the first time I've opened the chamber, though I did need a little help this time around. Little Weasley here needed a small 'push' to get there, but she was the perfect puppet. Enough of that, however. I do believe I have to kill you both now," Tom replied with mock sorrow as he turned to look at the statue.
Just as he turned, a loud screech could be heard as Fawkes dove into the chamber.
"Fawkes?" Riley exclaimed with a bit of a smirk.
The bird flew by and dropped the sorting hat into Riley's arms.
"This is what Dumbledore sends his two champions. A hat? I'll be sure to pass along your displeasure to the old man when I kill him," Tom stated as he started to hiss to the statue.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts four." As he spoke Riley shot a spell at his back, but it just passed through him.
Riley cursed at seeing the spell fail and then spotted the statue begin to open.
"It's coming, eyes on the ground professor," Riley murmured at Snape.
Riley looked at the opening that had appeared in the Statue's mouth, just as a giant sixty-foot-long snake fell out of it.
"Big, but I've seen bigger," Riley muttered.
"What?" Tom asked, a little befuddled by that statement.
"I come from the Elemental Nations, where snakes can get up to three hundred feet long. This is nothing really," Riley replied smiling in a rueful manner as she did.
"Kill her!" Tom hissed in anger.
"Any plans?" Snape asked.
"Yep." Riley replied as she made a handsign, releasing all the seals on her chakra. Snape felt the pressure in the room triple and almost fell to his knees as a sudden weight seemed to descend on him.
Riley then bit her finger and flashed through handsigns, before slamming her palm onto the ground and shouting:
"Summoning Jutsu: Kurama!"
A large poof of smoke filled the room. It quickly cleared, revealing a fifteen-foot-tall red fox with nine tails. Snape had his jaw on the floor as he looked at the beast which was a carbon copy of the legendary demon that lived in the Elemental Nations. In his studies he had seen pictures of it and, though smaller, this was an exact copy.
"What the hell is that?" Tom asked, more than a little startled.
"Nothin' you need to concern yourself with Tom, you'll be dead soon," Riley replied with a smirk as the Basilisk shot towards her.
Kurama dove over her and caught the Basilisk with its tails, it then slammed the mighty serpent into one of the walls before letting it fall into the water.
Kurama watched the water closely, looking for any sign of movement.
While that happened, Riley took the opportunity to look down at the sorting hat, trying to figure out its purpose, when she spotted a glint inside of the hat. She reached in and pulled out a small sword, which quickly expanded into a long sword.
"The Sword of Gryffindor," Snape stated in amazement, recognizing the fabled blade from replicas.
"Cool," Riley stated as she dashed towards Tom.
Tom fired a cutting curse at her, but it was blocked by a shield courtesy of Snape. She rolled past Tom and right towards the diary; she was about to stab the sword into the book when the basilisk exploded out of the water and lunged at her.
Riley spun around and landed on her back, driving the sword upwards into the snake's mouth. The blade pierced the roof of its mouth, causing blood and venom to pour out of the wound and onto Riley and the sword.
The Basilisk reared back to strike again when a tail wrapped around its neck and sent it flying across the room. The great serpent slammed into a wall, hard, but before it could retreat into the water Kurama was on it. The fox jumped on top of the snake and grabbed onto its head. Using both hands Kurama pried the Basilisk's jaws apart and then kept pulling until it tore the serpent's lower jaw off.
The Snake hissed in pain as it thrashed around, blood was pouring out of its wound. The beast let out one final cry of pain as Kurama wrapped a tail around its neck, holding its head up, and then drove his razor-sharp claws into the Basilisk's skull. The fox held the snake there for a moment before unceremoniously dropping its body and tearing its claws free, leaving a spray of blood and brain matter all over the walkway.
"No... what have you done? You will pay for this!" Tom shouted in anger at seeing his pet destroyed; he turned and aimed his wand at Riley only for an Expelliarmus charm to hit Ginny's wand, causing it to go flying into Snape's hand.
"Go fuck yourself Tom," Riley muttered as she shot back to her feet, dashed over to the diary, and drove the sword into in. Being soaked in Basilisk venom allowed the blade to effectively destroy the diary, causing Tom to scream out in futile resistance before turning into a black shade and fading away.
"That was amusing," Kurama muttered as he walked over to Riley.
"Yeah... thanks for your help, Kurama... now, am I gonna die with all this Basilisk venom on me?" Riley asked as she stood up.
"Hm...? Nope. You can either use your chakra to expel it, or if you're smart, you'll fuse the venom with your Youki and make it more virulent," Kurama told her.
"What, like I can make myself poisonous?" Riley asked.
"Yep. While not an immediate effect, you can use your Youki to absorb magical traits from other creatures that you encounter. It's what allows demons to generate whatever abilities they want; their only limitations are what they know how to do. You can use your Youki to absorb the venom and your magic will adapt to it. Simply absorb the venom with your Youki, and you'll be just like Hanzo of the Salamander," the Fox explained to her.
Riley liked the sound of that, being able to kill people with just a touch, but a thought struck her, and she had to ask. "This isn't gonna stop me from being able to, like, make out with my girlfriend, is it?"
"No... you'll have full control over it eventually, as it'll be connected to your Youki," Kurama told her with a chuckle.
"Cool!" Riley stated happily as she let her Youki envelop her body. Her Youki took the form of a reddish black wispy energy, and within a few moments all of the poison had evaporated off of her body.
"Well, I had fun. Time to go," Kurama stated as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Riley stood there for a second, getting a feel for her new power. Her Youki definitely felt different, more corrosive and toxic. She liked how deadly it made her feel. A few moments passed before she looked over at Professor Snape and chuckled sheepishly.
"So, I'm guessing you now know my secret?" Riley said.
"I can guess. You aren't the first demon I've had to deal with. Just the oddest. I'm surprised that the headmaster would allow you into the school though," Snape replied, eying her curiously.
"He probably isn't aware that I'm a demon. I wasn't always. And I'm not all demon yet, but I will be in a couple years," Riley answered with a shrug.
"Why?" Snape asked.
"I was a Jinchuriki. Of the Nine Tails to be exact. I started to absorb its soul, so it and I made a deal to save itself. It would make me into a demon, and I would make it into a summon," Riley offered the barest of explanations.
"But... if you're one of the Nine Tails Jinchuriki... then that would mean..." Snape began as his eyes widened. It finally clicked with him. He finally understood why Riley's glare always reminder him so much of Minato. She was his daughter. But that begged the question... why was she here?
"The woman who gave birth to me was Lily Namikaze nee Evans. My sperm donor was Minato Namikaze. And I am the sister to the Girl-Who-Got-Lucky, Naruko Namikaze," Riley spat out with displeasure.
"You don't seem to like them," Snape noted.
"My mother and father abandoned me, to only love my bitch of a sister. They never cared for me. Never loved me. Any time I did anything to outshine my sister I was punished for being a spoiled brat. They ignored me and forgot I existed. They would forget to feed me and lock me out of the house sometimes. There's more but I don't feel like getting into it," Riley stated with cold fury.
Snape was stunned to hear this. He had known that Lily had become a different person after leaving Britain, but to change so much that she would intentionally abandon a child. And hearing about Minato's part in this just made his hatred of the man skyrocket.
"They never cared for you. Never loved you. That can't be right? I knew them both when they were younger, and while your father was a dunderhead, he didn't strike me as the kind of man to abandon a child, especially his own. He always struck me as the holier-than-thou sort, one who would intentionally try to outshine everyone at everything, all to satiate his pride," Snape stated, earning a chuckle from Riley.
"My family only ever wanted me when they found out I was special. When I proved I was powerful. That was the only time they noticed me. I left the Leaf, and I'm never going back. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what you learned down here. Especially the headmaster... he's friends with my father, and the last thing I need is for him to start spying on me for him," Riley asked.
Snape stared at her for a moment. Now that he knew, he could see the resemblance to Minato and Lily. But for some reason, knowing the truth did nothing to change his opinion of the girl. She was wise, cunning, a natural leader, and far more powerful than maybe anyone in the castle. She was also one of his best students, and nothing at all like her father. Snape had to wonder if he could look past his hatred of Minato and still see Riley as he always had. It didn't take him long to come up with the answer.
Riley wasn't him, and she never would be. She hated the man, as much as he did. As far as he was concerned, she was Riley Slytherin Uchiwa, top student of her year, and one of his godson's closest friends.
"Very well. We should retrieve miss Weasley and leave this place. I do believe you'll be coming into quite a bit of prestige as well as having a new area to practice your techniques," Snape replied.
"What do you mean?" Riley inquired in confusion.
"You are the head of Slytherin house. You own one fourth of the school, and this chamber was made by Slytherin himself. Making it, and anything in it, yours. I'm sure the headmaster will want it searched for anything dangerous, and if he finds anything he'll probably ask that it be removed from school grounds, but otherwise this chamber is yours, Ms. Slytherin," Snape replied as the two walked over to Ginny, who was looking much better now that her soul wasn't getting sucked out.
Snape levitated her body and the two proceeded to leave the chamber.
"Hey... you wouldn't be interested in harvesting some Basilisk parts, would you?" Riley asked.
"I would indeed," Snape replied.
"Well, cool. I say we split it fifty-fifty. There's probably a lot to be made from its body. Plus the ingredients for potions wouldn't hurt," Riley stated with a content smile and cast a stasis charm on the Basilisk's corpse as they left.
"I'd say that's more than fair. We'll have to hire some assistants and wait until summertime, but it should be doable," Snape mused.
"Cool," Riley chirped as they made it back to the entrance. Lockhart was surprisingly gone when they arrived.
"Whe..." Snape began to say, when he suddenly fell to the floor, dropping Ginny as well. Riley still had her Sharingan active, so she was able to dodge the stunner that came from the shadows. Reflexively she fired back a stunner of her own, and Lockhart fell out of the shadows.
"What the fuck?" Riley stated in surprise.
'Bastard must have been trying to steal all the glory. Stun you guys and take Ginny up himself... make a good book. He's obviously always been a liar, this must be how he's gotten the credit for the stuff he writes about,' Madara commented.
"Motherfucker!" Riley hissed as she kicked Lockhart in the ribs.
She then Enervated Snape, who awoke with a curse.
"What hit me?" he asked viciously.
"Lockheart, stunner," Riley muttered as she shot the unconscious bastard a dirty look.
"Handle Ms. Weasley. I'll deal with him," Snape ordered darkly. Riley nodded and walked over to Ginny. She found Fawkes sitting next to her, staring at the girl curiously.
"You think she'll be alright Fawkes?" Riley asked the phoenix.
The Phoenix stared at her for a second, before nodding and trilling happily.
"Good to hear." Riley replied as she levitated Ginny and proceeded to leave. Snape did the same to Lockhart but made sure that the man hit more than a 'few' walls on his way out.
They made it out of the chamber just as Dumbledore and a handful of Aurors entered the bathroom.
"Mission accomplished Headmaster," Riley stated as she set Ginny down off to the side. Madam Pomfrey quickly went over to check on her, and then levitated her out of the room.
"Once again you put your life in danger to save your friends, and once again emerge victorious. I sense we don't need to discuss the dangers of running off into the unknown?" the headmaster stated, giving her a knowing look.
Riley simply smiled and nodded in reply.
"Now... what happened to Gilderoy, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
"The fool stunned me and tried to stun Ms. Slytherin as well. Had it not been for her keen reflexes, who knows what the man would have done," Snape replied as he unceremoniously dropped Gilderoy on the ground.
"Aurors, please take Mr. Lockhart into custody and secure the chamber. We'll need to gather a team to inspect if further. Are either of you two injured?" Dumbledore ordered/asked.
Both shook their heads in the negative as Fawkes flew over and landed on Dumbledore's shoulder.
"Ah there you are my friend. Where did you fly off to?" Dumbledore asked as he stroked Fawkes's neck.
"He came to help us headmaster. He brought me the Sorting Hat, and it had this in it," Riley responded as she offered up the hat and sword.
Dumbledore took both and stared at them curiously for a few moments before placing the sword back in the hat and giving it to Fawkes, who took it and flew off with it.
"I must say... I am quite impressed. It would seem you've earned yourself a new title this day, Ms. Slytherin," Dumbledore replied with a smile.
"Oh... and what would that be?" Riley asked.
"It would seem that Hogwarts has chosen you as Gryffindor's champion... maybe even his heir. You should go see what the goblins have to say about this," Dumbledore told her.
"How did that happen?" Riley asked.
"Gryffindor's magic still lingers here, and because he has no living descendants it must have chosen you, by right of honor passing, to take up the title of Gryffindor. Now whether it's as an heir or as a champion I do not know. Either way, only one connected to Godric Gryffindor or honored as his champion may wield his sword," Dumbledore explained with a kind, proud twinkle in his eye.
"Full of surprises aren't you miss Slytherin," Snape mused.
"I guess. I'm gonna head off to the infirmary. I want to see how the others are doing, and check on Ginny," Riley told them. Earning a nod from Dumbledore she started walking, but stopped after a few feet.
"Oh... and I would like to have that bastard Lockhart charged with attacking the head of two ancient and noble houses. Not to mention attacking professor Snape," Riley told the Aurors, who nodded.
Riley made it to the infirmary and found her friends waiting for her. They were all overjoyed to see her, and immediately the barrage of questions began. She gave them a cliff notes version of the story, along with telling them that Ginny was being possessed by a dark artifact and that's why she was acting so weird all school year.
Riley then spent the next few days with the others by Hermione's side. Ginny woke up not too long after being rescued with little memory of what occurred while she was possessed. Aurors questioned her, but found that she wasn't in control of her actions.
She spent every day since then by Hermione's side, apologizing profusely for her actions. Most of the Slytherins forgave her quickly, a few gave her a hard time for being so easily possessed by a dark artifact, though you could tell they were only doing it because they cared and wanted her to learn from her mistake.
Riley also informed the group that Theo's dad had been the one responsible, and to say that Theo was pissed was an understatement. He went on a rant about how if he didn't kill his father, his mother sure would when she learned about this. In the end Theo did the right thing and told the Aurors, who ended up arresting his father.
It didn't take long before the restoration potion was ready and all of the petrified people were awoken.
It made Riley and her gang smile when they saw Hermione skip happily into the great hall. They all greeted her warmly and there were plenty of hugs to go around. Riley made sure to take a mental picture of Draco's face when Hermione wrapped him in the biggest bear hug she could manage. You could see the boy was trying really hard not to burst into a happy dance at having his friend back.
"Thank you all for standing by me while I was out. I could hear everything that was being said. And I heard how much you all cared... so... thanks," Hermione told all of them with a warm smile, earning hugs from Tracy, Pansy, and Katie.
"And thank you... for the things you said," Hermione said to Draco as she kissed his cheek, causing the boy to blush brightly.
"What 'things' did he say?" Riley asked Neville as the gang all burst into laughter at Draco's face.
"No clue..." Neville replied with a laugh.
Riley could only chuckle as she picked up the paper, the headline read "Lockhart Fraud. Gilderoy Lockhart being investigated for memory charming actual adventurers."
"Yeah... that's what you get you bastard," Riley said with a chuckle.
"Hey, anyone know how much we paid the Weasleys this year?" Daphne asked.
"Hm... something like twelve hundred galleons," Theo replied.
"Wow... my brothers do good work. Maybe I should ask for some lessons?" Ginny mused.
"Hey Riley... how are we gonna train over the summer? Are we gonna meet somewhere, or what?" Blaise asked her.
"Nah... most of you have the academy three down, and I'll work with the rest of you to finish them. I was thinking it's time for personal training, so I want you guys to write me and let me know when you're free, and I'll send a shadow clone to you so you can train. The best part is that since you aren't using a wand, you can train as much as you want without getting bothered by the Ministry," Riley replied.
All of her friends were excited to hear that and eager to begin training.
The rest of the year went by without a hitch. Slytherin won the house cup again thanks to Riley and Dumbledore once again took over as DADA instructor for the end of the year.
The trip back was uneventful as everyone mostly spoke of their plans for the summer, and training. They all said their goodbyes and Riley and Remus departed for home.
The next day Riley headed to the island to spend some time with Fleur.
The two spent a while talking about their time at school, then spent some time making out on the beech.
"So any plans for fun this summer?" Fleur asked.
"Hm... not really. Why? Any ideas?" Riley asked.
"Well... you could come to the beach with me and my family," Fleur offered with only the faintest blush on her cheeks.
"What beach?" Riley asked, noticing the blush. Fleur shot her a look before whispering the name of the beach under her breath. Riley's keen senses picked it up though.
"Oh... I've heard of that place. Great beach... I hear they let you go topless... and bottomless," Riley noted, giving Fleur a knowing grin as she picked up on what the Veela was planning.
"You don't have to go if you don't want to. My family and I like the freedom... I just figured I'd ask," Fleur replied, trying to play it cool and hide her embarrassment.
"Oh... and were you planning on telling me about the clothing optional part? Or were we just going to go, and once we got there you could 'surprise me', by losing your swimwear?" Riley inquired as she leaned closer to Fleur.
"You are too damn smart," Fleur pouted.
"I'd love to go... but... I am going to dress exactly like you," Riley told her as she inched closer.
Fleur smiled and blushed, before noticing Riley's face only a few inches from hers.
The two started to lean closer when they heard someone clear their throat. They both glanced over and spotted Kurama staring at the two of them.
Fleur let out a yelp of fear as she spotted the fifteen-foot-tall fox, while Riley simply sighed.
"Oh, don't stop on my account. I'm just a spectator, and I don't even have genitalia," Kurama said with a chuckle as he walked past the two of them and started to run along into the ocean.
"Fuckin' cockblocking fox!" Riley muttered darkly.
Though she exploded in rage when she heard the Fox start to laugh at her. She raced off, eager to teach the giant furry asshole a lesson.
All Fleur could do was watch as her girlfriend did battle with the giant red talking fox. She only hoped that the next surprise didn't give her such a heart attack.
-To Be Continued-
Okay... long ass chapter DONE! hope you all liked it. Sorry if some stuff seemed rushed. I hope you all enjoyed how Riley's gang is kinda becoming more and more like their own little hidden village. I like to try and show that they are willing to stand up for each other, and fight for one another because they're friends... and not just 'friends'. I hope no one was too, OOC. and if it seems I'm kind of skimming, i am. I'm trying to get to year 4 as quickly as i can hopefully two or three more chapters until then. And I hope you all enjoyed. JA NE!
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