Ninja Wizard V 08
By David
Author's Notes and Disclaimer: These marks [] indicate Japanese spoken. These marks () indicate animal speak. Harry Potter and related characters belong to the great JK Rowling. I'm just borrowing them for this fic. Enjoy!
Ninja Wizard V 08
"Resistance Begins"
Things slowly began to spiral out of control. Umbridge continued to inspect the teachers and staff. Nobody was learning anything in DADA. Harry took to wandering the halls as he pursued the current problem in his head. There were quite a few things he needed to work out in his head. One thing he did know for sure, and that was Umbridge was out to upset the balance at Hogwarts. The ministry was upset about something and for them to send someone like Umbridge here made Harry wonder just what it was. Harry sat down on a bench in a secluded alcove and leaned against the large window behind him. He closed his eyes for a few minutes and let the warmth of the sun warm his back as he worked on the problems in his head. He rejected everything that popped up, nothing seemed right to him. He stood up and continued to walk in the direction he was going in. Harry wasn't paying any attention to where he was going until he happened to glance up and saw the door to the girl's bathroom that he knew Myrtle the ghost haunted. He suddenly froze as an idea popped up. What if…? What if he could use the Chamber of Secrets as a base for the school resistance when the time came? That idea prompted him to enter the bathroom. He hadn't been down there in some time and now he needed to get down there and see if he could establish some kind of good will between him and Salazar Slytherin. If Harry could do that it would give him the place he needed to start preparing for what he knew deep in his mind would be a battle to save the Wizarding world.
He entered the bathroom. It was quiet in there at the moment. Harry knew that guys couldn't be constantly coming in here due to the fact that this was the girl's bathroom and that it did get some use despite the fact that Myrtle haunted it and that she was a bit on the emotional side due to the fact that she was a ghost. Harry decided to make an effort to not die in a bathroom. He headed to the sinks and located the tap with the snake on it. Once he established friendly relations with Slytherin, he'd ask for a better path in and out of the cave than the bathroom. Once he established at least two different routes in and out of the bathroom, he'd come back and scrape the snake off the faucet, closing that route down for good. Harry stared at the tiny snake and hissed to it.
(Open), he hissed.
A loud clanking noise started up as Harry stepped back. The top of the sinks floated upward and then two of the sinks split apart to reveal the entrance. Harry looked down into the dark hole and remembered the slimy slide he had gone down on. Harry pulled his school wand and cast the cleaning spell down into the hole and hoped it wouldn't vanish the slide or it would be a very fast trip down. Harry climbed down and sat at the top of the slide.
(Close), he hissed, and the two sinks came back together, the top of the sinks coming down to seal it all up tight.
Harry moved, and the run down the slide began. He lay back and crossed his arms over his chest and relaxed, trusting in his magic to protect him as he traversed down the slide. It wasn't long before the slide gently curved into a flat length and Harry came to a stop. The cleaning spell had worked on the slide, but not the rest of the area. Harry sat up, checked himself over, and then stood up. He pulled his Potter wand and used it to clean the immediate area of all kinds of debris. That done, Harry set out.
As Harry walked towards where he knew was the bridge, he suddenly wondered if he was going to have to fight all those imps and other things again. Without even thinking about it, his ninja suit flickered into existence, Tetsusaiga on his back. Now he felt a bit better. He became aware of what was going on as he stepped through the doorway into the room where the bridge was. He conjured up a bit of rope and a triple pronged hook in the event he needed to save himself from the collapsing bridge. He started across it cautiously. He got to the halfway point and steeled himself for what he knew would be the bridge collapsing, but to his surprise, it didn't.
"I wonder if that's because I defeated the chamber's traps?" Harry asked himself.
Harry stepped across the halfway point and still nothing happened. Harry didn't relax until he got off the bridge completely. Harry moved forward and still nothing happened. His theory of nothing happening because he had defeated the place was holding true.
"Wow, I guess I'm the master of this place now," Harry said out loud.
Harry stood down and the rope with the triple hook vanished. He didn't relax completely, anything could still happen. Harry started walking, now taking the time to look around as he went. He wondered just how Slytherin managed to carve out this place with his magic. Must have taken him some time and effort. Harry knew that doing things through magic was easy, but it depended on what the task was and where you were doing it at. Something this big had to have taken Slytherin time to do as it had to have been a drain on him and he was teaching magic to kids at the time he created it. Something he wanted to ask if he met Slytherin at the end of the trail. Harry paused for a moment to get a drink of water from his bottle and to study the snake heads that had spit fire when he arrived in the gate room. The detail on the snake heads were quite sharp and well done, right down to the colors. Harry rubbed one of the snake heads, feeling the cold stone underneath his hand. He wondered how long it took Slytherin to create them and marveled at the cunning way he used them to protect the massive stone gate in front of Harry. Harry suddenly realized the snake heads weren't spitting fire and that cemented his theory of becoming the master of the chamber when he defeated the traps three years ago. Harry grinned as he walked up to the gateway. Getting in here was going to be easy. Convincing Slytherin into letting him use the chamber as a base for Hogwarts defense would be something else.
Harry gazed at the huge circular stone in front of him and noted the snakes and how they used their bodies to be the locks that secured the door. The only way in is to find somebody that speaks snake, and he seriously doubted that Fudge would find somebody that did because the talent was so very rare. As far as he knew, only two people could do that and they were The-Idiot-That-Must-Be-Named and himself. Harry knew that nobody in their right mind who had the talent would step forward and tell the Ministry that they spoke snake. They'd be locked up in a heartbeat. Gazing at the door, Harry relaxed and then hissed the command that would open the door. He watched in fascination as the stone snakes came to life one by one and moved out of their place, unlocking the door. The door slowly creaked open once the last snake had moved. Harry stepped through the door and walked into the huge room, pausing at the top of the steps. He looked around the room and noted it was big enough to fly brooms around in. He smiled at that and then went down the steps entering the room. Harry stood in the middle of the room and slowly turned around, getting an idea of how big the room was. It could easily handle nearly all of the students and staff in the school. Harry guessed at the size of the room. It had to be lots bigger than the great hall, and that room was pretty big to begin with. One side of the room could be set up as a guys dorm, the other as the girl's space. Bathrooms with showers would be a necessity, along with a kitchen. Harry wondered if he could set up something with the Hogwarts house elves to keep people down here supplied with food. Harry turned once more. There was more than enough space to set up a couple of training areas.
"Welcome back, young warrior," the smooth mellow voice said.
Harry turned in time to see Salazar Slytherin slowly appear in front of him. Harry pulled his Potter wand back into the holster as he relaxed.
"Very good reaction, always ready for anything. A good warrior is always alert and ready," Slytherin said as he smiled.
"My name is Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself.
Salazar bowed. "I am honored to meet you, Mr. Potter. What brings you down here?"
Harry told him about everything that was going on. Salazar frowned.
"This is not good," he said. "A government attempting to force a school to teach what it is they think should be taught and not what the teachers think they should teach is one to be feared. One of the things the four of us did when we set up this school was to ensure the ruling body of the day left us alone by enacting an agreement between us. We would assist them from time to time if they would leave us be and allow us to teach what we believed to be very important to our students. So what is it that Hogwarts teaches now?"
Harry told him of all the classes that were taught and Salazar nodded.
"I am glad to see that the core classes are still being taught, good for your teachers. I do disagree about divination, there really is no need for that one unless there is a student who has the gift. Not having an exercise class is doing all of you young people a disservice, a strong body means a strong magical core," Salazar said.
Harry nodded. "Something you and I agree on. I make it a point to work out in my trunk every morning before starting my day."
Harry then described his physical training routine and Salazar nodded as he smiled.
"Oh very good, Harry. Well done. Learning other fighting skills is important as there might be a time when you might lose your magic temporarily and then how do you continue the battle? You have given yourself an advantage over the enemy by learning those skills. Keep working on them," Salazar said.
"The reason I'm down here is to establish some kind of base in the event Hogwarts gets attacked by a dark lord who calls himself Voldemort," Harry said, and then told Salazar the events of the last twenty years up to now.
Salazar nodded as he pulled at his beard. Harry had an idea.
"Sir, is it possible to leave an empty painting down here so other paintings can come down here and visit you? I have a very trustworthy friend who can act as a go between us, pass relevant information and such," and then told him about Miyamoto and his current situation with Ravenclaw House.
"Yes of course," Salazar said. "I would love to have someone to talk to again. It does get lonely down here."
Harry smiled. "Thank you. I think the both of you will get along with each other just fine."
"Very good. Now there are some things I would like to show you," Salazar smiled.
Harry followed Salazar towards the large statue.
Harry sat in his flat, his mind processing all of the information that Salazar had given him during his visit down there. Miyamoto watched Harry for a moment and then shifted his position, getting Harry's attention. Harry leaned back on the couch and looked up at his friend.
[The others are coming], he informed Harry.
Harry nodded. [Good. Please let them in when it's safe to].
Dobby appeared a moment later, loaded down with refreshments. He set them down on the small coffee table in front of Harry. Harry smiled at the elf.
"Thank you Dobby, you're a good friend. Is there anything you need to report?" Harry asked.
"Evil Umbridge planning something bad," Dobby said. "Master Harry must beware of her."
Harry leaned forward. "Thank you for that, Dobby. Please keep me informed if you can."
Dobby nodded eagerly and vanished just as the front door opened, letting in Harry's friends. Hermione walked up to Harry and kissed him as she hugged him. Harry could see the twins grinning as they took their seats. Harry sat down on the couch and Hermione sat down with him. Harry sighed, gathering up his thoughts. Then he informed everybody of his trip back down into Salazar Slytherin's underground chamber and what he'd had seen down there and discussed with Salazar.
"So Miyamoto has agreed to be a go between us once I set up a painting down there for him to go into," Harry concluded.
Ron scratched his face and then spoke up. "I'd like to go down there and have a look around myself. I'd like to see what kind of space is there and do some planning."
"Very possible, once another route in and out of there has been established. Can't use the third floor girl's bathroom, as people would get suspicious if us guys were seen going in and out of there," Harry said."
"I'd like to see his library," Hermione said.
"You can, once he's got the safer books set up for you to look at and read," Harry said.
Luna spoke up. "I find it interesting that he can't come up out of there."
"There must be some kind of spell that's keeping him down there," Ginny stated.
"Either that or he doesn't want to come up," Hermione said.
Ron put down his soda. "Or it was his personal choice not to."
"His being there gives us an advantage as we can draw on his knowledge to help us when we need advice," Harry said, "and that's a good thing."
"It is," Hermione said. "But we need to solve our immediate problem of Umbridge."
Harry sighed and leaned back. "So how do we do that?"
"By forming our own defense class with you teaching it," Hermione said in a rush.
Harry turned to look at her. "And how do we do that? Who's going to lead it?"
"You will, and we set up a meet with interested students at the Hog's Head during a Hogsmeade Weekend. I've taken the liberty of chatting up a few people who are very interested," Hermione said.
Harry closed his eyes and let his head go back as he exhaled sharply. Harry knew that Hermione could be impulsive at times but he didn't think she'd go this far.
"Should have talked to me first, love. When is the Hogsmeade Weekend?" Harry asked.
According to the school schedule the first Hogsmeade Weekend was scheduled for the middle of October. Harry realized it was this weekend coming up. Had that much time gone by already? Amazing where the time goes when you're not paying attention to it.
"Sorry, Harry, but that… woman finally pissed me off badly yesterday when she talked down to me," Hermione said.
Umbridge had when Hermione had challenged her once more and then threatened to kick her out of the class for good and then told the class she would do the same to any student that dared to challenge her.
"Okay. Just how many people are we talking?" Harry asked.
"About… twenty?" Hermione said softly.
Harry rolled his neck, crunching his neck muscles. "Okay. Have you even thought this out at all?"
"I have, Harry," Hermione said, getting braver now. "I thought we could use the R&R room as it's magical capabilities can give us what we need. Leave Salazar's room to us until the time comes for us to need it. Ron can set up an office and use it to plan his defense, I can use the library to research the Horcrux thingies… Oh! Salazar can help me with that!"
Harry sighed. "Something I forgot to mention to him. Next time."
"I've set up an enchanted scroll that everybody has to sign to protect the defense class and keep it secret, a very nasty curse will happen if we are to be betrayed by anyone, and there are a few of us that can help teach once Harry introduces the spell that needs to be learned," Hermione kept going.
Ron looked at Hermione and nodded. "Yeah, you got the bases well covered there."
"Okay, let's do the meet at the Hog's Head and see where that goes. We definitely have our work cut out for us to keep this club under wraps, and that means keeping the staff and teachers completely in the dark, even McGonagall. I do have a lot of respect for her, but what she doesn't know will protect her in the long run," Harry said.
George grinned. "And the rebellion begins."
Harry had to smile at that. "Yes it does."
The meeting broke up on that note.
Harry took an empty canvas down to Salazar's place the next morning, early. Salazar smiled as Harry returned the empty canvas back to original size and hung it on the wall in the library. A moment later Miyamoto appeared in it. Salazar smiled.
"A Samurai Wizard. How very interesting," Salazar said after the introductions were made. "A lesson here, Harry. Magic does not discriminate against people, it simply is a gift bestowed upon people and must be used wisely as this Voldemort fellow has chosen to use it for his own ends. I look forward to having many discussions with you, sir."
Miyamoto bowed. "As do I. You are very right about Magic being a gift and one that should be used to help those in need."
Salazar turned to Harry. "A new path in and out of this chamber has been established as the one in the girl's bathroom is simply too dangerous to be used. You need to remove the snake from the faucet so that entry is closed for good."
"I'll see to it first chance I get," Harry said. "Hermione is over the moon about getting the chance to look at your library."
Salazar smiled. "I look forward to meeting her."
"We'll come down first chance we get," Harry promised him. "For now I need to get to breakfast."
Harry followed Salazar to a corner of the library where a normal looking door was.
"The door appeared here this morning," he said. "I believe with all of my being that Hogwarts is very much alive and works to provide the Wizarding world a safe place to be."
Harry nodded. "I agree with you on that. It's gonna take a lot to overcome her."
Harry looked at the door and then turned back to Salazar. "I am curious about something. How is it you can't leave here?"
"I died in here, Harry. I'm not like other normal ghosts. Myrtle is one that can't go anywhere as she died in that bathroom, especially in that toilet stall. She could break away here and there, but she has to stay there as she is firmly tied there. I am firmly tied here, I cannot go anywhere. I am used to it by now, but after a few centuries one can go nuts if they don't have someone to talk to. Bringing Miyamoto's painting down here was a great kindness on your part, thank you Harry. Now off you go," Salazar motioned to the door.
Harry turned back to the door and opened it. He stepped through into a room filled with interesting things. The door closed behind him and vanished when he stepped away from it. Harry walked right back up to it and it appeared again. Harry grinned as he watched it disappear again after backing off.
"I love magic!" he declared.
He turned to look round the room and realized it was the one he had stepped into a time or two with Hermione for a bit of privacy. Harry looked back at the blank wall.
'Gonna have to introduce everybody to that door and set up a password on it' he thought to himself before leaving the room.
Harry casually blended in with people as they headed into the great hall for breakfast. He took a spot at the far end of Gryffindor House table. His breakfast appeared along with today's copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry glanced up at the head table to see the normal complement of staff and teachers there. Nothing unusual there. Hermione sat down next to him and reached for the paper.
"Morning love," Harry smiled at her.
Hermione beamed at Harry. "Morning Harry. I'm so glad you're taking this so well."
"Well, somebody does have to teach the practicals, and it isn't her," Harry nodded towards the head table, where Umbridge sat proudly with her nose in the air.
"Pride goeth before a fall," Hermione said.
Ron sat down on the other side of the table and nodded. "Fortune, fame, mirror, vain, gone insane. Isn't that what you said to us once before Harry?"
"It is, and I'm glad you remember that. Mission accomplished, we have a new way in and I'll show everybody later," Harry said. "I need to remove the snake from that place later."
Ginny sat down next to Ron. "I was in the third floor girl's bathroom this morning, and something must have happened because I had a very strange feeling. When I went to the sinks, I checked each faucet very carefully and I didn't see any snakes on them."
Harry eyebrows rose. "Interesting. Talk later."
Breakfast got started as the plates began to appear. Harry decided on tea this time as he had coffee up in his flat before leaving. Hermione turned to the paper and began pursuing it as she always did. The twins huddled together with a bit of parchment obviously plotting something. Ron was reading the sports section, checking the Quidditch League scores and statistics. Hermione put the paper down and started in on her breakfast as Harry picked it up and started his reading. He didn't see anything significant other than a few changes of personnel in the Ministry. Harry put the paper on the table and turned to his cup of tea and finished it. Then he stretched, feeling things pop in his body. They sat there just killing time before they could go to the front doors for departure at nine o' clock. Harry noted a few people drifting out of the great hall and knew they were lining up to leave. The clock in the great hall struck nine and Harry nodded.
"Time we were off," he said.
He held out his hand to help Hermione and she closed up his heavy winter cloak with a smile.
"Don't forget the warming spells," Ron advised everybody as he passed by. "Supposed to be real cold out there today."
They joined the crowd going out the doors to the main doors. Filch was standing there ticking names off a list as he usually did. Harry nodded to him as he passed him. Filch just looked at him with a scowl.
"He's a happy chappie this morning," Ron quipped as they left the castle.
The twins laughed at that one. A moment later they cleared the castle.
Hermione and Harry paused for a moment to look out over the grounds. Everything was covered in white except for the paths that went to various places on the grounds.
"Wow," Harry breathed, "it's beautiful out today!"
It was. The snow lay on everything like a massive blanket, the icicles hanging off the trees and the castle eaves. They turned to watch a group of first and second year go racing past out onto the open field and start playing in the snow. Before long there was a row of snow people while another group had gone further out and had created space for snowball fights. Harry noted in the distance several large snow banks that was perfect for snowboarding and he grinned.
"I know what Harry's doing later!" Ron laughed.
Harry grinned at Ron. "Oh but of course!"
The others laughed and they continued their journey down to Hogsmeade. Harry began to think about what he was planning on saying once the meeting started. He decided on some general comments and then going from there, depending on what would be asked, and he knew somebody would ask about the return of Voldemort. He nodded to himself as the group passed through the gates. Harry turned his attention to Hermione and noted that Fred and George had gone alert.
"Okay. Just say a few things as it was you that approached people to get this thing started and then I'll step in and take it from there. If it seems like things are starting to get out of hand, step in and use your best argument to get things back under control. Just how many people did you invite to this meet?" Harry asked.
"At least twenty I thought could be approached, most of them from our class," Hermione said. "I even talked to some of the Slytherins, or tried to. Wanted to be fair. Didn't get much of a chance."
Harry sighed. "You tried, love. Better than nothing."
They came up to the top of the rise and there was Hogsmeade spread out in front of them. They could see a bunch of the students from Hogwarts walking round the main street. They started down the hill into Hogsmeade as a few of the much younger Hogsmeade kids took off on their sleds going down the hill. Harry smiled at a memory.
"Did a lot of that back home," he grinned. "There would be a contest among us younger boys as to who got a lot of air, how we rode the sled, how far we went, and what kind of stunts we did."
They paused for a moment to watch one kid fly up into the air off a snow jump and then land inside a piled up snow bank. They continued on into Hogsmeade.
"Meeting first, or walk around until then?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded resolutely. "Meeting first."
With that, they headed to the Hog's Head Inn.
Harry looked it over as they approached it. It definitely had seen better days. The Three Broomsticks looked a lot better than this place. The fact that it was located down a small side street away from the main avenue told him something. He hoped this wasn't a mistake as he approached it. Feeling misgivings, he entered the place with his friends behind him. The inside was even worse. It was dark, smelly, dirty, and all of the furniture looked shabby and secondhand. There were three or four people in there and they glared at the group of teenagers standing there. Hermione went up to the bar.
"Can we use your meeting room for an hour please?" she asked rather timidly as the bartender looked rather imposing.
He glared at her for a moment and then pointed in the direction of where it was. Harry and the others followed her in that direction. The room they went in had long table and benches. At least they had a place to sit. Harry sighed and hoped this would go well.
"Well, this is it," Hermione said.
Harry sighed once more. "I hope this goes well."
Two kids walked in Harry didn't recognize. He knew now it was far too late to back out now. Before long the room was filled up with at least twenty five people. Hermione nodded and then stood up.
"Hi," she began, "I want to thank you for showing up and giving up a bit of your time to be here. We'll try to be brief so all of you can get back out there. One question to get this started. Do any of you think you're learning anything in DADA?"
There was a lot of head shaking no.
"If we wanted to learn from a book, we'd read them on our own time," a voice spoke up. "It's how to be doing it I'm interested in."
There was a lot of agreement to that.
"That and being able to pass the DADA OWL'S, right?" Michael Corner challenged.
Hermione nodded. "That's part of it."
People nodded to that.
"I want to be able to defend myself because Lord Voldemort's back," Hermione said, and people reacted in the way he knew they would, getting all worked up.
"Che [damn]," Harry swore. "Why are you people so afraid of a name?"
Nobody could give him an answer.
"Yes he's a right proper bastard and he needs his butt kicked badly, but there's no need to be afraid of a name and he's got people so worked up that they are afraid of him. Strip away his followers, the stories about him and all that's left is a little bully who wants attention so badly and to be able to rule the world he does what he can to make people afraid of him," Harry continued.
"Just because Dumbledore says he's back doesn't make it so," a blond teenager said. "What makes you and Dumbledore so damn sure the bloody wanker's back?
"Because Harry told us," Hermione defended herself.
Ron immediately got into the boy's face. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
The blond boy got back into Ron's face with clenched fists. "Name's Zachary Smith, bub. You got a problem with me? Where the proof that he's back? All you have is Potter's word on that, and it's gonna take a bit more than his word to prove it. I ain't gonna follow some crazy bloke without proof."
Cho Chang appeared out of nowhere. "You stupid blockhead. You forget Cedric was there too."
Zach turned on Cho quickly. "Oh? So why is your golden boy in hiding? Why did he run off like a scared little girl?"
"I can answer that one," a calm confident voice said.
People turned to see Cedric leaning against a table, a drink in hand. Cho immediately brightened up and ran over to him. Cedric smiled and set his drink down on the table and took Cho in his arms.
"Hang on a tic, got something to do first," Cedric said and then kissed Cho.
Harry smiled as he felt the love coming off the both of them. Hermione snuggled up to Harry and sighed. Cedric and Cho broke apart a moment later. Cedric then turned his attention to Zach.
"First off, what you said to my friends Weasley, Potter, and Granger was fighting words. I got no problem knocking you down on your worthless ass little boy. We're not here to fight over that particular issue which is what that bloody wanker wants. As my girl just said, I was there too," Cedric said, glaring at Zach.
Zach backed down. "Okay, let's hear it."
Cedric sighed and picked up his beer. He drank a bit and then turned to the crowd. "The trophy in the middle of the maze was a portkey. Harry and I reached it at the same time. Harry and I actually stood there and argued over who was to take the trophy. Either one touched it, it was a Hogwarts win."
Harry nodded to that. "So on the count of three, both of us grabbed it at the same time."
Cedric picked up the story. "We landed in a graveyard Merlin knows where. I landed on my arse knocking my head against a tombstone and I lost my wand. Harry moved in front of me as the ugliest baby I've ever seen in Peter Pettigrew's arms told him to make sure the spare – me, was dead."
"Pettigrew's dead," Zach crossed his arms in front of himself.
Cedric smiled and shook his head. "What the ministry wants you to believe. Too bad you didn't bring a pensive Harry, we could have played our memories for this retard."
Zach snarled and stepped forward. Cho whipped her wand out and aimed it between his eyes. Zach immediately backed down.
Cedric continued on. "Harry fired off the first shot and Peter managed to protect himself. The baby jumped out of Peter's arms and managed to crawl to the other side of the cauldron while Harry and Peter were fighting it out. Harry was doing great, so I started looking for my wand and found it just a bit beyond the trophy. I crawled to it very slowly while the fight was going on. My head hurt badly and I was seeing double. Anyone's who gotten a good knock on the head can relate to that."
He paused for a moment for another drink. "Then fate, the kindly old bitch she is, did Harry a dirty deed by making him slip on a tiny pebble and Peter tied him up to the tombstone, making it even more important to me to get to my wand. Pettigrew drops the baby into the cauldron and starts the fire, starts chanting some weird poetry about renewing somebody, takes powdered bone from the guy in the grave underneath Harry, chops off his own hand making me get sick, and then takes Harry's blood and pours it in. Big bright colored light and smoke, and suddenly there he is. Voldemort."
People in the room jumped once more making Cedric sigh. "Good Merlin, get a hold of yourself, gee!"
Harry rolled his eyes upward and sighed. Yeah, the Wizarding world had a long way to go.
"How did he look" someone challenged.
Cedric sighed. "I've seen pictures of him once before. Definitely a face of a snake, bald, green colored skin, and red eyes. Yeah he looks like a scary snake and even more reason why he needs to be sent back to hell where he belongs. He used Peter's tattoo to call up his crew and treats them to a big rant and then challenged Harry to a duel. He unties Harry and gives him his wand back and off they go. Best fight I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few fights. I'd like to see Flitwick go up against Snape. Bet good money Flitwick wins. During the fight Harry sees me next to the trophy and my wand in hand. He nods to me and turns back to the bastard. I see a big bright light that blinds me and then I feel Harry's hand on my ankle squeezing tight. I grab the trophy and off we go. While I was talking to the Ministry officials, they showed me pictures of Peter and the… thing and I tell them yeah, that's who I saw. Next thing I know this ugly looking lady is threatening to have me killed if I repeated my story to people. My Dad got scared and dragged me off someplace outside England. The reason I'm here is that Cho wrote to me and told me of this little meet and I decided to show up. Good thing I did."
The room was now very quiet. People were looking at each other. Zach had gone quiet and he appeared to have lost his aggression.
"So are you guys gonna join Harry's order or not? Learn how to fight or get on your knees to this loser you're so afraid of and he kills you anyway just for laughs?" Cedric jabbed them again.
Even more silence. George was the first to step forward.
"I'm in, can't speak for my brothers and little sister," he said.
Ginny punched him on the arm and he cringed. "Ow. You hit like a girl."
Ginny glared at him as Cedric and Cho smiled at that.
"Got news for you, brother mine. I am a girl, and I can kick butt better than you," she snapped.
People laughed at that, breaking the tension in the room.
Zach finally nodded. "Okay. I'm in. Got a personal score to settle with them mask wearing freaks. That person in black that's been running around slicing and dicing them up? He's got the right idea. Time we took the fight to them and win."
With that, the rest of the group fell in. Every one of them signed Hermione's parchment and the date for the first meet was set. Harry's order was born.
The group returned to the castle in the mid afternoon after spending time wandering around Hogsmeade. Fred and George spent time in Zonko's, a joke shop while Harry took Hermione over to the local book store. He made himself comfortable in the reading area with a steaming cup of tea and started a conversation with a local boy and learned a bit about Hogsmeade. Hermione eventually showed up at the front with a few books and Harry sighed. Harry excused himself and headed to the counter where Hermione was. He carried the bag of books back to the castle and Filch demanded to know what was inside the bag. Harry told him but the man wasn't satisfied with the answer and Harry ended up showing him the books. Winky popped up to take the bag of books up to Hermione's room. The group then followed Harry to the room where the magical door was. It appeared as Harry approached it and Hermione smiled at that.
"Trust Hogwarts to come up with something like that," she said. "Great idea."
A soft melodious voice sounded in Harry's head. "Have then touch the doorknob one by one."
Harry blinked as he looked around.
"Something wrong Harry?" Ron asked.
Harry frowned as he turned back. "I just heard a voice telling me to have all of you touch the doorknob. I think it's to make sure that only the right people get in."
Hermione reached for it and the door opened. She stepped through and it closed. Then Ron took his turn, and one by one each person got inside. Harry was the last to enter. He found Hermione looking at the book titles in the library and he smiled.
"There she goes again," Ron quipped, getting a laugh.
Harry turned around to see Salazar standing behind them.
"Guys, I'd like all of you to meet one of the Founders Four, Salazar Slytherin," Harry said once everyone had turned around to look.
Salazar smiled as he bowed. "I am honored to meet all of you. Harry, this lovely lady holding the book must be the Lady Hermione."
Hermione blushed as Harry smiled. "She is."
"It is obvious to me that the both of you complement each other well," he said with a nod.
Harry bowed. "Thank you sir."
Salazar turned to Fred. "You must be Ron?"
Fred grinned as he pulled Ron up in front of him. "This is ickle Ronniekins."
Ron glared at Fred as Salazar laughed out loud. "Very good. Then you must be George while the other is Fred."
Harry grinned at that one.
"Actually I'm Fred and that's Georgie over there," Fred said.
"And what do you two specialize in?" Salazar asked.
"Pranks!" George declared.
Fred grinned at his brother. "The bigger the better!"
Salazar smiled. "Somehow I believe that. We did have a student back in our day who loved practical jokes, and yes, the bigger the better. I believe I have a record of them around here somewhere, and judging by those silly smiles you want to see it. It will take me some time to find it."
He turned to Ron. "I have a room set aside for you to work in. Creating a defense of Hogwarts is a good idea. Hogwarts really never needed one as the four of us were able to overcome whatever was thrown at us. As I had died down here, I have no idea what Hogwarts has endured up to now, but this Voldemort fellow sounds like a major problem according to Harry. If he is able to raise a large enough army to make an attempt to harm this place, then yes, by all means, create a defense. The bigger the better. As I am not physically able to help, I can and will advise you all the best I can."
"I do have a question sir," Hermione stepped forward.
Salazar turned to her. "What is it?"
"What do you know about something called a Horcrux?" she asked.
The warm expression on the man's face disappeared to be replaced by a grim look. "It is a piece of the most darkest and blackest magic ever. It is a device in which a person deposits a piece of their soul after committing murder most foul. If for any reason that person's body dies, his soul would continue to live until it is deposited into another body."
"We know of one," Hermione began.
Harry shook his head. "Two of them dear. When he killed my mother he turned me into one. The soul fragment that was lodged in my scar was removed a week later by a group of magicals in Japan where I went to live afterwards."
Salazar's eyebrows shot up. "He turned you into one? Most interesting. What was the other one?"
"A diary," Ginny spoke up. "Voldemort was able to take possession of me and that's how Bessie got loose and used to petrify people."
Salazar shook his head at Ginny. "I am so sorry, my dear. That must have been a traumatic experience for you. Have you recovered?"
"Yes. Still dream about it every now and then. If it hadn't been for Harry, who knows? I owe him a life debt," Ginny said.
George spoke up. "The Weasley Clan does, and it's one of the reasons why we stand behind Harry."
Salazar nodded. "Good man. Now then, would you like to see the rest of the place?"
They did, and Salazar took them round. Hermione pulled her wand and began casting spells as Ginny wrote something down on a bit of paper.
"Taking measurements, Harry. That way we will know just how much space we can use safely without crowding things. For example, how much space we can use for a girl's area, how much space we can use for a guy's area, and so on. We will need quite a bit of space in the main area for training and other things," Hermione said.
"Bright girl," Salazar said.
Harry grinned. "She's a genius in a lot of things."
Ron joined them. "Should see the room I've got, Harry. I do have a question for you. Is it possible to make a copy of the Marauder's Map? Would help me a lot."
"Marauder's Map?" Salazar asked.
Harry smiled. "It was a map that my Dad and two close friends created of Hogwarts. They charmed it so they would know who was where at any given moment in time. I'll have to ask Remus and Sirius."
"Okay," Ron said.
"I'll send them a letter tonight," Harry said.
The others walked up to where Harry was standing talking to Salazar and Ron. "Getting late, we need to go. Dinner will be starting soon."
"Then off with you all. I will see you the next time," Salazar said.
The group headed back to the library and went through the door back into the small side room. From there it was easy to get back out into Hogwarts and join the other students going to dinner.
Next Episode: The Pink Toad Strikes