Part 4

The following day was very different from the one prior.

After their conversation with Luna, Ron and Cho returned to their dormitories to avoid being caught by Filch. Despite everything they had learned, they still had classes to attend. They would also have to practice and learn more about the Soul Arts. Thankfully, they now knew about the Room of Requirement; they had a place to do just that. Of course, this also meant they needed plenty of sleep.

Unfortunately for Cho, she wouldn't get a good night's sleep. Oh, she managed to get a few hours, only to suddenly awake when a dark shiver crawled up her spine. It was so potent that her adrenaline spiked before she regained consciousness. And it didn't take long for her to figure out why that was the case.

Something had happened. Something that wasn't supposed to happen.

In half a daze, the young Ravenclaw stumbled from her bed, grabbing her robe from the top of her chest before heading down to the Common Room. Whenever she had a problem falling asleep, she usually sat on the couch and stared at the fire. Something about the flickering of the flames allowed her to relax enough to go back to sleep.

Tonight though, she discovered she wouldn't be alone this time around. Because there, sleeping in a chair with a blanket covering her, was Luna. She looked so serene, more like the kid she was. A single barefoot was poking out from under.

Sighing, Cho gently tucked her foot under the blanket before sitting on the couch. She was curious about why the younger girl was here and not in her bed, but that was something she could ask about later. How strange that, not two days ago, she probably wouldn't have bothered doing that. Funny how much can change in such a short period.

Instead, she went over to the couch and sat down, starting at the fire. Soon, she fell asleep. And for a few more hours, peace reigned.

Even as evil rose beneath them.

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His awareness was crystal clear. His clarity was restored. His body was complete. And all it took was the destruction of his Diary to do it.

He recalled everything that had happened up to that last moment. He remembered finally getting a body. He remembered Dumbledore's phoenix blinding the basilisk that damned Harry Potter killing the creature with a sword. He also remembered both the phoenix healing the damn boy's battle injuries. And last, he recalled that damn boy taking the basilisk fang and driving it deep into the Diary. Quite impressive, considering that he had no real remarkable magical talent.

And then… nothing. Until this moment. Luckily, his true self had decided not to rely on just Horcruxes. He had made other arrangements.

Flexing his hands, Tom Riddle relished having actual flesh and bone. He turned to look at the rotting corpse of Salazar Slytherin's greatest treasure. It had been such a magnificent creature. Such a pity.

He would have to see how the school was before deciding whether or not to take revenge. He would also have to deal with Potter as soon as possible. So he made his way out of the Chamber of Secrets.

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"Something's wrong," Cho stated upon meeting with Ron.

Ron blinked at the rather abruptness of the statement. "Good morning to you," he replied. "And what's wrong?"

"In the middle of the night, I woke up to a serious chill. No visions, only a severe sense of foreboding. What's more, I feel like someone is watching us, like an evil spirit. And I'm not being paranoid."

"I don't think you are." Ron frowned. "I've had the same feeling since I woke up this morning. And it can't be a coincidence that this is happening on the same week that the Chamber of Secrets debacle began."

"Wow. You used debacle correctly in a sentence."

"Hey, Hermione rubbed off on me a little bit." He frowned. "Let's check on the Chamber of Secrets' entrance. If it's closed, then we have nothing to worry about."

"And if it's open?" Cho asked.

"Then we have a problem," he replied.

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"You have a problem," Myrtle stated as soon as they entered her bathroom. "I had just returned when I found it like this. Whoever it was who opened it had to be using parseltongue."

Ron groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Bloody hell… this is something we don't need right now."

Cho nodded in agreement at that. "There are only two people I know who can speak snake. Harry and You-Know-Who. And neither of them are here, as far as anyone knows."

He agreed with that. No one else would try it, as it was still considered a Dark Art. And he had the distinct feeling that Dumbledore wasn't the type to come down here to stroll within the Chamber and leave the door open. (Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if anyone had gone there after the fact. He'd have to ask at some point.) "We're going to have to be careful," he stated. "Whoever's here either came to find the Chamber of Secrets… or they were coming out of it. Neither strikes me as a good thing."

Myrtle sighed. "I think I'm going to go patrol now. Maybe I'll get lucky and see something."

"And we're going to go get breakfast," Cho stated. "We'll meet in the Room after dinner. At the very least, we can start on our practice."

Ron nodded before looking at Myrtle. "You should probably come with Luna," he suggested. "That way, you'll know where the Room of Requirement is."

Myrtle nodded.

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His observations were, sadly, as he predicted. Hogwarts was still under the control of that Muggle-loving fool. He had hoped for better, but that was the break.

The students were frolicking about, gossiping, and laughing much as they had done during his time. He had hoped that the school would have done something to quell that… but then again, he was expecting far too much from weaker beings.

Tom watched from the shadows, taking it all in. His discussions with the Weasley girl had proven fruitful, giving him an idea as to what had changed and what hadn't. Dumbledore and McGonagall being here were very much the same, though the old goat was now Headmaster. McGonagall had taken his old job as a result. Hagrid being here also wasn't surprising. The half-giant would be here until his dying day.

The half-goblin Filius Flitwick, now that was a pleasant surprise. He had known of him, of course; who didn't? He was the Champion duelist of Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, holding the record for being undefeated for ten years. It was rumored that he could give Dumbledore a run for his money. He was also a top-tier Charms expert, and even as a teacher, he still found time to hone his craft.

Pomonous Sprout was also a new one. The Herbology Professor was an oddball. She had no distinct accomplishments to her name, but she always was loyal and supportive. The textbook example of what a Hufflepuff was. There was Hooch, who he remembered from school, now serving as the flight instructor and Quidditch referee. She was also a solid choice.

There were only two unknowns to him; Severus Snape and Remus Lupin.

Snape, he knew a little about due to Weasley. He was the Potions Professor as well as the Head of Slytherin House. He was considered a general prat to anyone not of that House, having had numerous complaints made against him. And yet, Dumbledore kept him around.

That told him that there was more going on than anyone realized. The question is, what, though.

The one he did not know was this Professor Lupin. He was the DADA teacher (and pretty good at it, too), which was the extent of his information. He would need to rectify that.

All in all, it was a mismatched group of personalities Dumbledore had managed to assemble for himself. Mismatched but potent. Tom approved. Unlike his ancestor, he didn't mind who they were. He was a half-blood, after all.

But now, he needed more information. A trip to the library was required to bring him up to current events.

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Myrtle was entirely surprised by how much freedom she had as she flew around Hogwarts. She had always assumed she was contained in the Girl's bathroom, only able to move around using the pipes. She couldn't leave the School grounds (she tried twice in the sixties) but quickly learned she wasn't as restricted as initially assumed. Or maybe it was just because she had no reason to float around like the other ghosts.

The Chamber being opened was what convinced her to try. It was why she was flying overhead, looking at the crowd of students in what could only be described as reconnaissance. She had never done that before but had never had a reason to.

She caught sight of young Luna Lovegood as she skipped into the Great Hall and smiled sadly. Decades might separate them, but she could recognize a mistreated student when she saw one. She had seen so many over the years and remembered what it felt like.

She was about to head back to her bathroom when she caught sight of something in the corner. Or rather, someone. Someone she had never expected to see again. Someone she thought was impossible to see again.

But there he was. Tom Riddle, standing in a corner, looking as he had in his final year. He was watching the crowds, clearly analyzing them as he searched for weaknesses before revealing himself. But how was he here? Didn't Harry Potter destroy him last year? There was no way for him to come back from that.

As she hovered out of sight, trying to come to grips with the impossible, she watched him slip into the crowd with little difficulty. She decided to follow him and see where he was going.

Once she got enough information, she would tell Ron and Cho about this.

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Unknown to Myrtle, Dumbledore had caught sight of her.

He had just exited the Great Hall when he spotted her floating around. He was pretty surprised by this. Myrtle had never been known for socializing simply because of how she had been treated. After she died, she had sequestered herself in her bathroom. In fact, she had always run away from him whenever he tried to strike up a conversation with her. After the fourth attempt, he stopped trying.

So it looked like history had been made if she had decided to leave the bathroom.

He was about to call out to her when she suddenly floated away, her gaze on something. Curious about what she had seen that caught her attention, his gaze shifted in that direction. Sadly, he saw nothing there. Frowning, he made his way to his office.

He suddenly had this urge to check on the wards.

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Trelawney was now convinced that her analysis of Ronald Weasley was correct. He was utilizing the Soul Arts.

She had been given the joy of a free period in the morning, which she used to study everyone's work from yesterday's classes. No one else had given that much detail. No one else had come even close.

So now she knew that he was using Soul Arts. The only remaining questions were how long he had been doing so and how he even learned of their existence. There was no way he would have learned about them from the library. She knew that Dumbledore would have never allowed such to be made available to the student body. There wouldn't even be a mention of it anywhere. As such, she had no proof.

There was only one thing she could do; observe the young man, see what he did and who he was friendly with, and then confront them. That way, she could find out what she needed.

Looking up as the trap door to her classroom opened up, admitting her first class of the day. She passed her usual expression on, waiting for the students to finish arriving.

Best to make sure no one cottoned on to her investigation quite yet.

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The librarian didn't even bat an eye as Tom strolled into her domain, nor did she do anything when he began leafing through some of the more recent Daily Prophet. He quickly looked them over, shaking his head.

Sirius Black, an apparent mass murderer, had managed to escape from Azkaban Prison. His most recent sighting placed him near Hogwarts. As a result, whichever bumbling buffoon was in office had sent the dementors of Azkaban prison to try and apprehend him. He snorted a little at that. Dumbledore had to have loved that.

But why send dementors? If you wanted to try and catch him, you would send a combination of Hit-Wizards and Unspeakable. All the dementors did was form a barrier around the school, making entering far more challenging. So why do that?

It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but when he did, he almost slapped himself. It was because of Harry Potter. There had to be a connection of some sort between Black and Potter. But how to find out what that was? And where was Potter? He hadn't seen any hint of the boy anywhere. 'My pursuit of knowledge is not yet done,' he mused. 'Let's see if any students can give me the answers I desire.'

He always did enjoy 'talking' to the students. And he knew how to get such a conversation started…

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The wards were fine… and yet, off.

Hogwarts' warding system was among the most unique in the world. Aside from the more conventional ones involving apparition and portkey inhibitors, it also had many ancient charms that had nearly been forgotten over the last millennia. Even Dumbledore knew next to nothing about them other than that they were why muggle technology didn't work here. They had worked just fine for his entire time at Hogwarts. And they should still be doing that.

However, as he stared at the complex pattern of the Warding field, painstakingly checking every layer of protection added over the decades, the Headmaster couldn't help but worry. There were small instabilities within the newer wards, disruptions that hadn't been there two days ago. And as for the older wards, they were vibrating. It was minute, almost imperceptible. It was almost as if the castle itself was shivering in fear.

Dumbledore let the ward results disappear, frowning. He quickly fired off a Patronus to Tonks, asking her to come to his office as soon as possible. He wanted to run something by her. Something both minor and significant. Something that might help them protect the school.

Because the last time he had seen such a response from the wards… was the day that Voldemort had returned to Hogwarts for some strange reason.

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"Hey, Ron!" Claire greeted as she caught up with him outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "How's your day been so far?"

Ron blinked, looking at her momentarily as if he hadn't seen her before today. "It's been okay," he finally replied. "Could be better."

"Yeah, I've had those days, too." She looked at the door. "So, what's this class like here?"

"It's usually pretty great… at least this year, anyway. Be thankful you weren't here for DADA last year."

"That bad, huh?"

"Well, let's just say Lockhart was a prat and useless at the job."

Claire nodded, knowing all about that. How that buffoon survived for as long as he did without consequence was beyond her. "So, who is the teacher here?"

"Remus Lupin."

Ah, that explained a bit. She had read up on the new Professor during her trip and had been anxious to meet him. Today might be that very day.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. For no sooner had they all sat down when the door slammed open. Severus Snape strolled in, cloak billowing all around him. He flicked his wand, closing the shutters to the windows. Another flick and a screen was pulled down.

"Turn to Page 394."

Confused, Claire looked over Ron's shoulder at the page in question. 'Werewolves,' she thought. 'I know that I'm new here, but this is something that you usually teach at the end of the year.' It took a little bit of time to figure out why. 'Professor Snape is a grumpy man,' she thought pityingly.

Parvati looked up. "Excuse me, Professor," she called out quietly. "But we haven't reached this topic yet. We've only just finished grindylows and will be looking at Hinkypunks…"

"Silence! I was under the impression that I was the one teaching this lesson, not you, Miss Patil." He nodded once the young girl had shrunk back. "Now, which of you can tell me how we distinguish between a werewolf and a true wolf?"

Claire noted that no one had raised their hands. That is not surprising, considering that no one knew anything about them. She decided to answer and see what Professor Snape would do. She raised her hand.

"Anyone? Are you telling me Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between… yes, Miss Damont?"

Claire felt the gaze of everyone around her, the disbelief in the air, but she didn't back down. "There are several ways to differentiate between a lycan and an actual wolf," she began. "For starters, the snout of a werewolf is shorter and less formed. Second, due to the nature of the body shifting, a werewolf is significantly more gangly and miss proportioned, with longer forelegs. Lastly, a lycan will have no tail to speak of. All of this is due to the one inflicted being in conflict with the wolf's spirit."

To say that silence reigned throughout the classroom would be spot on. Claire could understand why. She had answered his question perfectly and had done so in a way that remained respectful to the Professor who, by all accounts, didn't deserve it.

Snape, after a moment, nodded. "Three points to Gryffindor for coming somewhat prepared," he said before turning his attention to the rest of the class. "Why are you not writing this all down?" Instantly, the sound of quills on parchment could be heard as everyone scrambled to write down what they had just learned. Nodding to her once, he went to the front of the classroom and started speaking.

Ron leaned in, smiling. "Not bad," he whispered, smiling. "You just made history."

Claire smiled before beginning her note-taking. Hopefully, Snape will talk to her after today.

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Myrtle frowned as Tom walked around the school, eventually entering one of the deserted corridors. This was a strange move for him, not keeping with who he was. He was not one to skulk about, instead using manipulation and deception. Then again, learning how much the school had changed since his days was quite a shock.

She watched as he entered an abandoned classroom. She flew up a floor, hovering over it briefly before slowly sinking. She was planning to remain out of sight and observe him. She wanted to see what he would do.

However, the second she emerged in the classroom, she found herself staring into his eyes. She most likely would have felt a shiver of fear if she had been alive.

"Hello, Myrtle," Tom said, smirking. "How lovely to see you again."

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And here is Part 4. I've actually had a sudden idea where Myrtle is concerned. I just hope that I can make it work.