'I need the place where everything is hidden.'
Harry begged of it inside his head, and the door materialized on his third run past. He heard Ron and Hermione gasp behind him.
It was currently close to midnight, when the trio had left their common room for their adventure to find the Horcrux that was hidden in the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor. Even though Dumbledore had been informed of their nightly excursion, it was still wise to carry the Invisibility Cloak. Since, Ron and Hermione were prefects, they were perfectly within their rights to patrol the corridors. Also, because they could hardly fit under the cloak anymore. Ron had shot up among the three of them, while Harry too had filled out.
Harry turned the door and they entered.
They were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students.
"And he never realized anyone could get in?" said Ron, his voice echoing in the silence.
"He thought he was the only one," said Harry. "Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time . . . this way," he added. "I think it's down here. . . ."
He passed the stuffed troll and the Vanish Cabinet Draco Malfoy had mended in his sixth year with such disastrous consequences, though looking back it was all an elaborate plan of Dumbledore's, then hesitated, looking up and down aisles of junk; he could not remember where to go next. . .
"Accio Ravenclaw's Diadem," cried Hermione.
When nothing happened, she only shrugged saying it was worth a try.
"Let's split up." Harry told the other two. "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig an a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere around here. . . ."
They sped off up adjacent aisles; Harry could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats. . . .
"Somewhere near here," Harry muttered to himself. "Somewhere . . . somewhere . . . "
Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went, looking for objects he recognized from his one previous trip into the room. His breath was loud in his ears, and then his very soul seemed to shiver. There it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard in which he had hidden his old Potions book, and on top of it, the pockmarked stone warlock wearing a dusty old wig and what looked like an ancient discoloured tiara.
He cast a Sonorus Charm on his throat to call Ron and Hermione and inform them of his position.
He then stretched out his hand and gently picked up the historical artefact. He heard footsteps, which announced his friends' arrival.
"Oh, it's so beautiful!" remarked Hermione.
"You sure it's the one?" asked Ron. Harry nodded.
"Harry, are you sure there is no other way to destroy it?" said Hermione, slowly caressing the object. "It's such a shame that Voldemort is defiling such precious objects."
"Hermione!" exclaimed Ron suddenly.
Harry quickly snapped his gaze to Hermione, to find her looking confused. Ron put his hands around her shoulders and shook her. Her eyes glazed over and she shuddered a bit, "What-"
Harry quietly berated himself in his head. Of course, being Ravenclaw's source of wisdom, it would hold a significant amount of interest to people such as Hermione. He stealthily pocketed the diadem in his robe.
"Let's go," said Harry, and they exited the room.
The three of them continued walking along the silent, nightly corridors of Hogwarts; being careful under the Invisibility Cloak, ignoring that their feet were likely still visible. They had one more task to complete.
"Where did you put them?" Harry asked.
"In a broom cupboard just off the entrance hall," Ron replied. "I didn't think it would be a good idea trying to sneak back out for them."
"What if Filch came upon them?" Hermione inquired.
"In a broom cupboard containing brooms?" Ron answered sarcastically, which shut her up.
They arrived at the broom cupboard on the ground floor; Harry removed his cloak from over them and Ron showed them where he'd hidden the brooms under all the other stuff - Harry's Firebolt and his own Cleansweep Eleven.
"See?" Ron pointed out. "You worried for nothing."
"I never said I didn't think you could do it," Hermione said defensively. "When have you ever known me not to worry about anything?"
Ron gave a big laugh, "You worry like an old spinster since the day I met you." Harry couldn't suppress his snort, causing Hermione to cross her arms in indignation.
"Well, someone has to, what with you two always jumping headfirst without thinking -" she trailed off, as a pearly white figure drifted out of the wall next to them.
A tall figure with long hair came to a pause, floating a few inches from the ground. It was the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower, the Gray Lady. Harry winced at this coincidental meeting - did she know that he had her mother's diadem?
"What are you three doing out so late in the night?"
"Just patrolling, you know, doing our job," said Ron nonchalantly.
The Gray Lady glanced at their prefect badges pinned to their robes and then at Harry. "You are not a prefect. Also, it is quite past the time allotted to prefects for patrolling."
"Yes. But we have permission from Professor Dumbledore -," began Harry, when another voice spoke up from the end of the dimly-lit corridor.
"Do you?" said Snape, stepping out of the shadows.
Harry, Ron and Hermione (surprisingly) groaned simultaneously at this particular intrusion of their least favourite professor.
"The standards are slipping, I see, for this is the first time I have caught you three out of bounds. Although, I am quite sure that this is not your first rodeo," said Snape, in his usual drawling manner. "Now what's this here - broomsticks. Fancy a bit of night flying. Though your partner isn't here, must resort to being the third wheel, isn't that right Potter?"
"Professor, it quite late -"
"I know Potter," snapped Snape. "Forgive me, if I don't believe your excuses. Where were you going?"
"Just nipping down quick to the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry.
Snape stared at him blankly, "Finding this amusing?"
"What exactly is your problem? We just told you the truth," Ron fired up. "If you really are on our side and not Voldemort's, as you lead us to believe, you will step aside." Harry had no idea for which bit he was proud of Ron - using Voldemort's name or giving it back to Snape. Hermione looked positively sick at this confrontation.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention with me tomorrow, Weasley," said Snape simply, before turning back and marching into the darkness, his cloak billowing behind.
Ron looked shocked that he had gotten away with just detention rather than getting drowned in some ghastly potion Snape had brewed, as he had imagined to himself.
The Gray Lady had already lost interest and had floated away just after Snape left, though not before casting a strange look at Harry.
"Come on then. Let's make it quick and get back to our beds," said Ron finally.
They quickly made their way to the second floor, where Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was, or better yet - the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.
"This is it," Harry said when they arrived. "No turning back now. Hermione, you sure about Myrtle."
She nodded, "Night time is the only time she comes out of her bathroom and roams the castle. Ron and I saw her quite a few times."
"Barmy, she is," commented Ron.
They slipped into the bathroom and quietly shut the door behind them. They crept toward the sink that concealed the secret entrance to Salazar Slytherin's hidden chamber.
"Here it is." Harry had found the right tap. The little carving of the snake was there, just as he remembered it. His heart pounding and his skin covered in gooseflesh, he visualized it moving and spoke the word for 'open' in Parseltongue.
Harry heard Hermione gasp for the second time. She slowly inched forwards and looked down the pipe which had opened up in disgusted curiosity.
Before they stepped into the abyss, Harry cast a charm on all three of them to repel dirt and water. Ron looked very grateful, no doubt remembering their last adventure.
The slide down into the Chamber of Secrets was just as slimy and disgusting as he remembered. Not being able to see anything added an extra tinge of terror that he could certainly have done without, and the putrid smells, squelching sounds, or slick muck was not lost to him.
At least he was hyper-aware of the pipe leveling out, so he wasn't thrown unexpectedly off the end. He hopped off with little trouble and landed with a sickening crunch on what he knew from memory to be a floor full of small animal bones. He heard Ron and Hermione land beside him moments later.
The dank and rot of the underground cavern was nearly overpowering. They all fought against them.
"I can see why," Hermione said. "This is disgusting." There was another crunch. "I don't even want to know what I'm stepping on."
"Bones of the snake's prey," said Ron helpfully and Hermione gave a tiny shriek.
They began creeping through the tunnel, their footsteps slapping almost unbearably loudly on the wet floor. This had an interesting effect, however. As the sound of their footsteps reverberated off the walls of the stone tunnel, his magically enhanced senses registered the sounds and he was able to picture everything in his environment clearly without seeing it. Even though Harry had only spent a very short time here before, he still had a very clear memory of it. As he recalled, there wasn't much to see even when he could, so he was not surprised to discover that the tunnel was bland and featureless, and dreadfully long.
Ron also pointed out the place where Lockhart had attempted to attack them and the giant snakeskin they had found the last time to Hermione.
"This is not an educational tour Ron!" she said.
Eventually, they found the second door. The snakes parted and the door slid open, the grinding stone almost deafening to their ears. They crept into the chamber and then were able to set their sight on the dead decaying corpse of the king of serpents, the Basilisk.
"Blimey, it's huge!"
Both Ron and Hermione's eyes widened, to see a mythical creature in flesh (albeit dead) was nothing short of a discovery. Hermione, no doubt, found it informative. She was raking in every bit of their surroundings.
"If he wasn't a bigot, I would have respected Slytherin more," she said. Both Harry and Ron smiled.
"I wish I had a camera with me -," she broke off. "I am sorry, that was insensitive of me." When Harry gave her a questioning look, she continued, "You almost died here, and Ginny..."
Harry waved her off. Sure it was life-threatening, but what part of his first seventeen years of life wasn't.
"You two were very brave."
Ron scoffed, "This wasn't me."
"Yes, Ron. But you still helped Harry. You came to rescue your sister. I am sure, if you hadn't been blocked by the cave-in, you would have been right beside Harry," praised Hermione, causing Ron to go red.
While those two went on surveying the place, Harry quickly whipped out his wand and cut three of the Basilisk fangs with snap of a motion, and they clattered to the floor.
Harry put the diadem on the floor and invited one of them to do the deed. They both hesitated, until Ron stepped forward and carefully picked up one of the Basilisk's fangs. He took a big gulp of air and brought down on the diadem with a mighty force.
A blood-like substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the diadem. Suddenly the Horcrux infested thing vibrated violently, then broke apart, and as it did so, they heard the faintest, most distant scream of pain, echoing from the thing that had just fragmented on the floor.
Harry then placed the three Basilisk fangs in the dragon-hide bag Dumbledore had given them. He also picked up the diadem, Dumbledore might have an idea if it was still valuable. The trio quietly made their way back to the slide. Harry mounted his Firebolt, while Ron his new Cleansweep. Hermione, obviously, picked to sit behind Ron and hesitantly put her hands around his waist.
"Let's hope we don't run into Filch and his bloody cat on the way back," said Ron.
"Don't jinx it mate."
"Come on boys. I am looking forward to a nice shower."
Ron nearly crashed the broomstick.
It was very late, when Harry finally woke up next morning. He and Ron had gone straight to bed without bothering to freshen themselves up, which was the opposite of what Hermione did. Because of their trip, Harry had missed calling Ginny on their nightly talks. Though he had informed her in advance of their plans, he was more looking forward to the fact that she had had her second prenatal appointment with Madam Pomfrey. He loved hearing about that, and the way his wife's face lit up at the mention of their baby. He himself was counting down the days when he would meet the new Potter.
Since it was a Sunday, people were more relaxed and at ease. After quickly finishing his breakfast, he made his way to Dumbledore's office, where he gave a report of their tasks. Dumbledore was delighted that everything had gone without a hitch. Harry also handed over the bag containing the Basilisk fangs to him.
The leader of the Order of the Phoenix promised to supply the respective guards with the fangs on their shifts near the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. It was theorised that Voldemort might perhaps send his snake Nagini on duty, as had happened in the last time, when Arthur Weasley was attacked. Therefore, it was easier to carry the little fangs than the sword of Gryffindor. Additionally, it was considered a waste of time to research spells (other than the Fiendfyre) which could destroy Horcruxes effectively.
The killing of the snake only needed a quick slash and stabbing with the Basilisk's fang.
Harry considered asking Dumbledore about the Hufflepuff's cup, when he was interrupted.
"I am afraid Harry, that we still haven't made any progress regarding the Gringotts vault. Bill Weasley is discreetly looking into it, hoping to find a way. When he or anyone else does, I will let you know. Currently, I have been fielding quite the amount of inspection from the Ministry. The press has naturally got the wind of it. So, if you have been reading the Daily Prophet, they are presently pitching an old headmaster rebelling against the peaceful Wizarding community of ours."
Harry scowled, "Can't say I do sir. I only read the sports page."
Dumbledore chuckled. "A wise decision.
"Now, I assume everything is ready for the little club meeting you, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger had talked to Minerva about. A splendid idea, if I may say so. Combining the magical and the muggle world to educate our fellow witches and wizards."
After the three of them (Hermione mostly) had discussed about forming a club slash study group with McGonagall, who looked very excited about the prospect. She had given her permission and had gotten Dumbledore's as well.
The notices had been put up in every common rooms, which had caused a furor among the student population of Hogwarts. The club was open to third years and above and the first meeting was scheduled today evening in the Great Hall. Ron was particularly displeased that it wasn't happening in the Room of Requirement; but then quickly adjusted to the fact when he realised that Slytherins might show up.
The Club was the big topic amongst students for the following week. The main reason being that this was the second time such a initiative was taken, the first one in their second year under the guidance of Lockhart proved disastrous. It was also a big focus in some classes. Although, the club was being presented as a sort of study group, Harry was surprised that so many people were enthusiastic about the idea.
There was also a mystery regarding it, since the notice had failed to mention who was going to be the instructor. Professor Flitwick being the strong contender for the position, with rumours of Dumbledore also taking the position.
When Sunday evening arrived, at least a considerable number of the students, including almost all of the fifth and seventh years, had crowded into the Great Hall. The four house tables were all placed against the walls, and the room was vacated with small groups of students formed. McGonagall and Flitwick kept to themselves in the corner, observing everyone.
Harry recognised Neville with Dean, Seamus and Lavender, who were closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with Cho and one of her usually-giggling girlfriends, then (on her own and looking so dreamy she might have walked in by accident) Luna Lovegood; then Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis Creevey (who technically wasn't supposed to be here, but Harry kept mum), Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait down her back whose name Harry did not know; three Ravenclaw boys he was pretty sure were called Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner and Terry Boot, closely followed by a tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose whom Harry recognised vaguely as being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and, bringing up the rear, Fred and George Weasley with their friend Lee Jordan, all three of whom were carrying large paper bags crammed with, Harry was pretty sure, prototypes of WWW merchandise - they had anticipated the business opportunity. More ten to fifteen people were seen.
A bit more than the number that Harry had predicted.
"Well, the idea seems quite popular," said Hermione happily.
"Yeah," said Ron, who was eyeing Malfoy, with his usual clique of Crabbe, Goyle. Standing a bit behind them, Harry could see Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass (who, Harry remembered reading about becoming the new Mrs. Draco Malfoy in the future).
The chatter dropped down to zero, when Hermione stepped on the dais, where usually the Professor's tables were.
"Er," said Hermione, her voice slightly higher than usual out of nerves. "Well - er - hi."
The students focused their attention on her, though eyes continued to dart back regularly to, who they noticed for the first time, Harry.
"Well… erm… well, you know why you're here. Erm… well, Harry here had the idea - I mean' (Harry had thrown her a sharp look) "I had the idea - that it might be good if people came together to study."
There were ripples of laughter among the audience. Harry distinctly heard the phrases 'teachers' pet' and 'swotty'.
"The principle idea behind this," continued Hermione, ignoring the jabs at her, "was to learn some defence. Though it might branch out to other subjects later on. Because, frankly, we have had quite the ups and downs in the particular area of DADA. Only Professor Lupin was the competent one. And seeing that we have our OWLS and NEWTS coming up, I felt it was necessary to take it upon ourselves to take the initiative. Also, this could help further inter-house unity."
Murmurs of agreement could be heard.
"Who's teaching us?" someone asked.
"Is it Snape?"
"Well, no. Not any professor. But -," began Hermione.
Harry stepped beside her. "Me."
"Think you are better Potter!"
"You must be joking."
Only the Gryffindors and a few of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs remained unperturbed.
"I think it's a great idea. Harry clearly has the most experience among us," piped up Neville. When everyone went silent and glanced at him, he retreated back into his shell.
"It's true," said Cho. "All the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year - getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things…."
Ron elbowed him in his gut, when Cho complimented him sweetly. Harry scowled at him.
"He also saved the Philosopher's Stone and killed a Basilisk with a sword," said Hermione. Noise erupted, as this was the first time any of Harry's exploits were confirmed directly from the source.
"If this was going to be Worship Potter Club, it should have been indicated on the notice. We are wasting our time," said Malfoy loudly.
"Here's an idea," said Ron loudly, before Harry could speak, "why don't you shut your mouth? Or better yet, leave if this going to be a problem." He pointed at the door.
Malfoy gave a look of derision and left, with his two sidekicks in his wake. Harry noticed that the rest of Slytherins stayed put.
"Is it true," asked Susan Bones, looking at Harry, "that you can produce a corporeal Patronus?"
When Harry nodded, there was a murmur of interest around the group at this.
"Right," said Hermione, looking relieved that something had at last been settled. "Well, then, it is agreed that Harry's going to be the instructor. The next step is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week. We start from next week. Same place, same time."
She then passed a parchment and quill to write the names down. The objects were passed around, until they made their way back to Hermione, who slipped it into her bag.
"Thank you Miss Granger, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. That was very well organized," said McGonagall, stepping onto the dais. She turned to the audience at large. "I am very pleased that many of you have taken this opportunity to develop yourselves and your magic. I am sure, Mr. Potter will have many things to teach.
"Now, I believe that there is something else that Miss Granger has planned."
Hermione cleared her throat again.
"We have an hour before dinner is served. So, have any of you heard of roller skates?"
