I stare bleary-eyed at the breakfast table, slowly munching on a piece of toast I piled with scrambled eggs.

'I think your hatred of mornings is wearing off on me.'

I've long said that it's unnatural to be awake before eight a.m.

'Classes start at eight, Tam. We need to be up by then.'

That doesn't make it right.

'This would be less of an issue if you stopped pulling all-nighters.'

Well, excuse me for not taking away from your valuable free time so I can study the illegal magic I need to get a body back. I'm trying to be polite by doing my research when you're asleep, but if you're going to be rude about it, maybe I should reconsider.

'Yeah, yeah…'

I briefly eye the coffee in the middle of the table. A small part of me is honestly tempted at this point, but I still don't think I could get past the flavour. I opt to ignore it in favour of tea.

You'll have to give in eventually, you know.

'Fuck off.'

Damn it, Potter. I want my coffee.

'Too bad. This is my body and I want tea.'

Tamelyn forces her way into control of my body and makes a lunge for the coffee. I wrench control back from her midway through her movement and nearly fall face-first into a basket of bread rolls as I lose my balance.

"You alright there, Harry?" Ron asks in between chews of food.

"I'm fine." I reply. "I just… had a moment."

Ron's brow furrows for a moment before he goes back to his breakfast.

'We are in public! Don't act up like that when it's not necessary!'

Easy for you to say. You're not the one going through caffeine withdrawal.

I take a sip of my tea, relishing in the invigoration that it spreads throughout my body.

'How are you even able to experience caffeine withdrawal? Withdrawal is a biological process and you don't have a body.'

…Hmph.

'You don't have a justification, do you?'

…Souls are weird like that.

I ignore her obvious attempt to brush off the fact that what she's experiencing is clearly just in her head. In the meantime, I continue to alternate between sips of tea and bites of bacon, savouring the contrasting flavours between the two. That routine is only interrupted when Hedwig swoops down, snatching the next piece of bacon out of my hand before I can take a bite.

"Hey!" I shout at her. "I was eating that!"

Hedwig barks indignantly at me and sticks her leg out, drawing my attention to the letter she has. I pull it off and start reading it.

Harry,

Could you stop by my office this Saturday? I have some things I'd like to discuss with you.

Best Regards,

Remus Lupin

I wonder what that's about.

'He probably wants to do that thing where we just sit there and talk for a bit.'

Yeah, but he's never sent a note before. I swear, no matter how much you interact with him, I can't figure out what his angle is…

'Yeah, me neither.'

It's weird.

'Yeah, it is. It's kind of nice, though.'

…Suit yourself, I suppose.

'You don't trust him.'

Of course not. He's an adult in a position of power over us. I'd be a fool to trust him.

'That's… unfortunately sensible.'

I know.

Hermione takes a seat next to me and begins eating using her left hand while writing an essay with the other. She doesn't seem to be paying much attention to what she's eating, only glancing down at each bite as she opens her mouth.

"I'm surprised to see you doing homework at the last minute, Hermione." I comment.

Hermione glances up at me. "This isn't homework. It's classwork for Arithmancy."

"Extra credit?" I ask, wondering why she'd be doing classwork during breakfast.

She just groans in reply. "No. This is the classwork that I would have done during yesterday's class, if I'd been able to attend it. Unfortunately, Arithmancy is held at the same time as Divination, so I have to alternate which classes I attend."

"I did tell you that taking all five electives was a bad idea." I say, biting back a more sarcastic reply.

She sniffs in reply. "It just means that I'm busier than usual. It's nothing that I can't handle."

"Right, and you won't drop Divination despite hating the subject because…?"

"Because it's nothing I can't handle!" She says forcefully.

Harry, your friend is a maniac.

'You're one to talk.'

Maybe so, but not like she is. The Divination teacher is so crap that she'd be better off reading the textbook outside of class like we do.

'You only do that so you'll have extra time to laugh at Trelawney during class.'

What can I say? I like my entertainment.

'Maybe if you used that "entertainment" time more wisely, you wouldn't have to pull all-nighters.'

Night is always the best time to work. There's no one else around to disrupt me. Besides, the magic needed to recreate my body and bind my soul to it is very much not legal. I really shouldn't be seen working on it.

I open my bag and surreptitiously glance at the top of the sheaf of parchments that Tam has filled with countless equations and calculations.

'You're worried about someone realising that this is describing illegal magic at a glance? It's incomprehensible.'

I wasn't able to get away with murder at the tender age of sixteen without having a healthy sense of paranoia. And with Dumbledore around, I can never be too paranoid.

I take a closer look at the writing on the page.

'This is literally incomprehensible. I don't even know what half of these symbols are. What sorts of calculations are these?'

It's arithmancy, Harry, not maths. Magic can't be described using conventional numerics, so arithmancy was invented instead. It doesn't work on conventional mathematical principles, so you won't be able to get by exclusively using knowledge of conventional maths.

'Huh. I don't think I ever realised it was so complicated.'

With magic involved, everything is complicated. Anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves.

'So what's on this page?'

That was when I was attempting to find a way to arithmantically quantify the fucked-up situation with our soul.

'Ah.'

Yep. It'll be a long road to getting my body back.

'As if that wasn't obvious enough already.'

I lightly knock on the door to Professor Lupin's office at the specified time. Unlike what I've come to expect from such visits, he doesn't open the door for me but instead loudly tells me to come in.

When I enter the office, I immediately notice that the room's been rearranged somewhat. The desk and several of the small tables have been moved off to the sides of the room. Odds and ends of clutter have been picked up and moved onto the shelves. Near the back of the room, a chest has been pulled out and is sitting there with a wide berth around it.

Professor Lupin is giving the chest an examination of sorts before I catch his eye and he waves at me.

"Hello, Harry. Did you make it here alright?"

I give a small nod. "I'm fine, professor."

Lupin gives a small but brief frown when I refer to him as "professor", though it doesn't last long. "Don't mind me. I was just doing some set-up for what I had planned today. Please, take a seat — I'll be with you shortly."

I take a seat at my usual chair in front of Lupin's desk as he continues to look over the chest — sometimes with his wand, and sometimes without.

"Alright, everything seems to be in order here. Filch would be quite peeved with me if I wound up letting a Boggart loose in the school."

"There's a boggart in there? Why? We covered them months ago."

"Well, in this case, I wanted to have one ready because of the unique nature of your boggart assuming the form of a dementor. It would make a very convenient target for practising the Patronus Charm."

"You're teaching me the Patronus Charm?" I ask, unable to keep a tinge of excitement out of my voice. Anything that would let me stave off the horrid influence of dementors is welcome, especially given how strongly they affect both Tam and myself.

"Did I forget to mention that in my note? Yes, I invited you here to start on those Patronus lessons I promised you a long time ago. I meant to get started on them a long time ago, but none of my recent predecessors left me a viable curriculum, so most of my time was devoted to sorting that out. And what with my frequent illnesses…" He pauses for a moment. "But I digress. The boggart will let us do something of a 'live test', if you will, of your ability to cast the charm. To start with, though, we'll just have you cast it without a target. Are you ready to start?"

I nod and push myself up from the chair, wand at the ready. "Where do we begin?"

"To start with, what's the first thing you can tell me about the Patronus charm?" Lupin asks.

"It's esoteric magic." I state.

"Which is?"

"Spells in which the wand movement is supplanted by an emotional component or visualisation."

"That's correct, but what does that actually mean, on a practical level? Do you know?"

I pause and think it over. "No?"

Lupin smiles. "This is obviously a bit above your current level, but esoteric spells cannot be cast silently. As such, clear enunciation is something of a must, and it's harder to rely on them in a pinch. Much as I hope this never happens, if you're ever seconds away from being kissed by a dementor, you'd need to be able to clearly speak all six syllables of the incantation in the short timeframe you'd have, and that's not even going into the emotional component of casting the spell."

I nod. "That makes sense."

"The Patronus charm requires a memory of pure, undiluted happiness. There are two forms to how the charm manifests, depending on the power and emotion put behind the spell. The basic form is the mist shield, which serves as a direct protection against smaller numbers of dementors. When cast with a sufficiently happy memory or by a sufficiently powerful wizard, the spell takes on a corporeal form, like so."

He raises his wand and casts the spell, forming a glowing, white wolf.

"The corporeal form is capable of defending against a larger number of dementors and can even drive them off. Now, let's have you attempt the charm. To start with, I want you to hold your wand out in front of you, focus on your happiest memory, let the feeling of that memory spread through you, then speak out the words 'Expecto Patronum'. Alright?"

I nod again and close my eyes while I think through my life. My happiest memory? Well, I can basically cross the first eleven years of my life off that list. Just after I turned eleven, though? That might work.

I focus on the memory of Hagrid coming to that desolate rock that the Dursleys retreated to in the hopes of avoiding magic. The sheer joy of finding out that my parents had actually accomplished something and that they weren't something I had to be ashamed of. Most of all, I focus on the overwhelming relief I felt when I realised that I was finally able to leave the Dursleys behind. It didn't matter that it wasn't forever — I finally had the escape that I'd been looking for my whole life.

"Expecto Patronum." I intone, clearly and softly.

I don't feel anything.

I open my eyes to see the same sight that they beheld when I closed them: the office with its clutter cleared to the side.

"Did I mess up the pronunciation, or…?"

"No, your pronunciation was fine from what I could hear." He says. "That means that you either didn't pick the right sort of memory or that you simply don't have the power to back it up."

Given that I have the combined magical strength of myself and Voldemort at my disposal, I don't imagine that I lack the power to perform the charm. "I think my choice of memory was lacking."

"I know this might be personal, but what memory did you use?"

"When I got my first Hogwarts letter." I reply, not wanting to give away too much information about the circumstances behind the event.

Lupin's smile grows wistful. "That's a good choice of memory, but the Patronus charm usually requires something a bit stronger. Try focusing on a different memory and giving it another go."

'Any advice?'

Sorry, no. Remember that my childhood was just as shitty as yours. Maybe try the first time you held your wand? Or the first time you used it to cast a spell? Those are the first things that come to mind when I think of a happy memory.

Neither of those feels like they'd be the right memory for me to use, but her suggestions do give me an idea.

I think about the first time I ever flew on a broom. The sense of exhilaration and freedom that came over me as I left the ground for the first time. I let those emotions fill me as I try again.

"Expecto Patronum." I say, more forcefully this time.

Again, nothing happens.

"Dammit." I swear under my breath.

If Lupin notices my lapse, then he doesn't say anything. "It's a very hard charm to get down. I doubt anyone gets it right on the first try. Perhaps you'd like to take a break?"

"No. I can get this. Just let me give it another go."

He appears hesitant but makes no attempt to stop me.

'Any other ideas?'

The only other memory that makes me feel happy is when I was able to get revenge on those who tormented me.

'Psychopath.'

As if you didn't feel the same satisfaction when I killed your aunt. Hell, why not use that memory? It's not like either of us have a plethora of happy memories to choose from.

'I feel like there's something wrong about using that memory.'

Why?

'Because I don't think I could ever look at myself the same way if I tried it and succeeded.'

Just give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?

'…Fine.'

I go back to the memory of watching Marge's face turn purple as she struggled for air. The same way I struggled every time she sicced her awful dog on me, let it chase me into a tree. I focus on the pure glee I felt as I watched her be as helpless as I felt for all those years and try again.

"Expecto Patronu-"

Consciousness comes slowly to me. My head feels like it's pounding and my skin feels tingly.

'…What happened?'

I have no idea.

I groan as I push myself up. The smell of antiseptic that fills my nostrils tells me that I have somehow landed myself in the hospital wing. Again. I grab my glasses from their usual spot on the bedside table and blink a few times as my eyes adjust themselves.

I'm completely naked under the sheets, and my skin is covered in pink splotches, like certain parts of my skin are irritated or heavily flushed.

"Don't you dare move, young man!" Pomfrey shouts at me. "I had to regrow most of your skin, and I'd rather you not damage it again before it's finished healing!"

I pause to take that in. "Why did I have to have my skin regrown?"

"Because you nearly blew yourself up through some kind of spell backlash!" She shouts. "Professor Lupin brought you here, covered in burns, before he ran off to go speak to the headmaster about something he said was urgent. What in the blazes were you doing!?"

"Practise." I reply tersely.

"Practising what!? Explosive Curses!?"

I don't say anything in response, so she just huffs and proceeds about her usual business while occasionally muttering to herself. Despite the distance, I manage to catch some bits and pieces of what she's saying.

"Unbelievable, really… The number of accidents each year… I know it's a magic school, but still…"

'I suppose this is what I get for following your idea.'

Don't blame this on me!

'I'm sorry, what was it you said before I tried casting the charm? "What's the worst that could happen?" I am totally blaming you for this.'

It was worth a shot…

'That "shot" got us blown up.'

I will readily admit to knowing nothing about the Patronus charm. How was I supposed to know it would react poorly to that memory?

'Because it was a memory of me taking delight in watching someone die?'

…So?

'So that's something that would generally be considered bad?'

Look, all Lupin said was "use a happy memory", not "use a happy memory, but not a sadistic one, or the spell will blow you up". You should really be blaming him for a lack of clarity in his instructions.

'You are such a-'

My thoughts are interrupted as the doors to the hospital wing swing open. Dumbledore and Professor Lupin stride through, taking care not to make too much noise without trying to hide their presence.

"I see some people still have respect for the sanctity of the medical wing." Pomfrey's addresses them. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We're here to speak with Harry." Lupin says in a subdued tone.

"He's over there." She says, gesturing at me. "But he's on strict bed rest for at least another day after what happened. Honestly, I'm amazed that his body was able to heal as quickly as it did. I would have expected it to take at least twice as long, but he's just about fully healed in just under a day."

'I was out for a day? And that was a good recovery time? Just how badly did the spell backfire?'

Pretty badly, apparently. It makes sense that you'd heal faster, though, what with me being here.

'How does that work?'

The body can accelerate its healing process by expending magic. That's why people who are injured in an extensive fight tend to heal more slowly — their bodies have less magic to assist with their healing. So long as you have me in your head, though, you'll have access to an insane amount of power, especially for a thirteen-year-old.

"Harry…" Professor Lupin begins hesitantly. "Could Professor Dumbledore and I speak with you for a moment? I'm concerned about the… incident that occurred earlier."

Oh. Great.

Don't you dare say anything more than you need to. Not with Dumbledore right there.

'No need to state the obvious, Tam.'

"You can ask me some questions…" I begin slowly, "but I maintain my right to not answer if I don't want to."

Lupin gives a slight frown of disapproval, but Dumbledore doesn't show any reaction to my request. After a moment of staring at me with a blank face, Dumbledore nods and starts his questioning. "If that is what you wish, Harry. To start with, what is the last thing that you can remember?"

"Practising the Patronus charm in Professor Lupin's classroom."

"Do you know what happened to have you end up here?"

"I was caught in some kind of spell backlash."

Dumbledore glances at Madame Pomfrey before turning his gaze back to me. "What were the memories you used when you cast the spell?"

"My first attempt was when I got my Hogwarts letter. My second attempt was when I first flew on a broom. My third attempt…" I clench my fists for a second to help keep my face neutral. "That one's private, and I would rather not share."

The tension in the room grows thick in the following silence until Dumbledore asks his next question. "Do you know what causes the Patronus charm to backfire like that?"

I resist the urge to flinch. "I'm afraid that I don't, professor."

"Albus…" Lupin says, urging caution.

"The Patronus charm backfires," Dumbledore begins, his tone deadly serious, "when a memory of cruelty and violence is used to fuel it. Speaking as an educator, I would like to know what the memory in question is to ensure that you are not a threat to yourself or others."

"It's. private." I reply forcefully.

I glare angrily at Dumbledore as he stares back at me with a stony expression. I begin to wonder which of us will back down first when I feel a slight prodding against my occlumency barriers. I shut my eyes and shake my head to sever the probe. "You can't do that!" I shout indignantly. "You can't just invade my mind to get the answers when I won't give them to you myself!"

"Harry…" Dumbledore says as though he's a parent warning a child.

"Albus, you can't just use legilimency on him." Lupin says as he turns to Dumbledore. "At risk or not, that's illegal."

"Legilimency is allowed without permission or authorisation when the headmaster approves of its use and when a pupil is believed to be an imminent threat to themselves or others." Dumbledore replies without breaking his gaze from me.

"And as the headmaster, you're able to use it whenever you can justify that a student is 'a threat to themselves or others'? No, that's it. We're done talking." I say, shutting my eyes and rolling over on my bed.

"Harry-" Dumbledore begins before Lupin cuts him off.

"I think we've done enough damage already, Albus. I think we should probably leave before Poppy goes off on us. Come on."

I hear them getting up and turn my head to glare at them as I leave. I also catch Pomfrey doing the same, though that may just be because she hates it when people "upset her patients".

'I can't believe that.'

What, the legilimency probe?

'Yeah.'

He probably wasn't expecting you to be able to detect it, let alone block it. Occlumency is a rare skill, especially among children of your age.

'That just makes it an even bigger violation of privacy.'

He used a similar excuse with me the first time I caught him trying to read my mind. Said he was attempting to "make sure I didn't have ulterior motives" when I begged not to go back to the orphanage at the end of my third year. Wanted to make sure I "wasn't going to take advantage of the lower staff presence to break any rules" since having students stay over the break was "such an uncommon occurrence". I mean, getting access to the restricted section during the summer would have been nice, but I would have been glad to just get out of the damn orphanage.

'Why didn't you accept?'

Because I was already attempting to find a way to make myself immortal. That sort of pursuit is considered heavily taboo and if Dumbledore saw all my plans laid bare in my mind, then he probably would have sent me back even after looking in my head. I figured that since I'd be returning either way, I may as well take the route that let me keep my plans under wraps.

I lay in the bed, thinking things over. I haven't really trusted Dumbledore in a while, what with Tam's emotions for the man constantly bleeding over. His actions over the past three and a half years have been negligently passive at best and criminally endangering at worst.

All of that felt distant, though. I can't say that I've honestly trusted an adult at any point. My relatives, my primary school teachers, all the neighbourhood parents… Even the magical world's teachers haven't been great. McGonagall has been dismissive of me, Trelawney is drunk off her arse all the time, and I could fill a book with the issues I've had with Snape. Flitwick is probably the closest I'd say I come to trusting an adult, and even then, I wouldn't go to him with any personal questions — just academic ones.

I'm used to not trusting adults. But having someone attempt to read my mind without permission? That feels more personal. I can't even be sure that this is the first time it happened. After all, if he'd done it before now, I wouldn't have been able to notice, let alone defend myself.

It's not a comforting thought.

Madame Pomfrey keeps me in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend. After getting out of class on Monday evening, I wander up to the seventh floor. I stare at the blank space where the room of requirement resides before opting to go elsewhere. I eventually find a recessed window that looks over the forbidden forest and stare out at the sky. I sit down in the deep windowsill and stare out at the view.

It's overcast today, but darker storm clouds are visible on the horizon. It's so representative of my mood that I'd find it comical if I wasn't so bothered by everything.

The view is pretty nonetheless, but the additional presence out there isn't helping my mood. Hundreds of tiny shadows slowly drift over the treeline just past the edge of the Hogwarts wards. Even though I know that the dementors can't exert their effect at this range, just looking at them from this distance is making me feel depressed.

'It doesn't seem right, does it?'

What, the dementors?

'The fact that the people most vulnerable to their effect have the most difficulty casting the one spell that can stop them.'

…I'd never thought about it that way, but no, I suppose it isn't.

I know that it's not a permanent conundrum, but I'd have liked to learn the charm as soon as possible given that the abominations are right outside the place I spend most of the year. They're staying here until Black is caught, too, and given Tamelyn's plan to send him off to God knows where with a message for Voldemort, they might be here for a long time.

The idea of being happy enough to cast the charm just feels… distant. There's not a lot of happiness to go around in my life, what with me being pursued by killers seemingly nonstop in the magical world, and hated for existing in the muggle one. I like flying. I like magic. That's about it.

Hedwig, maybe? I like her company, but as smart as she is, she's still just an owl.

A part of me is starting to like Tam as well. Not necessarily in a romantic sense — as much as puberty is trying to make me feel otherwise — but just in the sense of… having someone to relate to. Ron and Hermione, while they haven't lived easy lives, haven't dealt with the same level of shittiness that I've had to. It's nice being able to talk to someone that just… gets it, even if that person is an adolescent Voldemort.

Hell, we still don't know why Voldemort went after me that night. For all I know, maybe she was trying to mark me as her equal by giving me a childhood as shitty as her own.

Well, I think I've had enough of this.

'Enough of what?'

You, just… angsting over here. I've had enough of it. I'm taking control.

She nudges me out of control of my body and begins striding down the hall.

'So, what are your plans? Have anything specific you'd like to do?'

We are going to see Professor Lupin.

'…Are you sure that's a good idea after the confrontation we had with Dumbledore in the hospital wing?'

No. No, I'm not sure, but I'm prepared to take a risk for your benefit. You have got to talk to someone better adjusted than me.

'…Right.'

I'm also severely uncomfortable with neither of us being able to cast the Patronus charm. We should try and see if we can convince him to let us have another go at it.

'Well, I'm not sure that will work, and even if we are able to convince him, we might not be strong enough to cast the spell. I suppose it could be worth a try, though.'

Of course it's worth a try. I'm full of good ideas.

'Tam… your last idea literally blew up in my face.'

Yes, well… shut up.

She walks up to Lupin's door and passes control back to me after knocking on it.

He seems surprised to see me once he opens the door. "Harry… I'm surprised to see you here. What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to speak with you for a moment. Can I come inside?"

Lupin opens the door further and moves back towards his desk. "I have some essays I need to grade, but I'm always willing to make time if you need it. So what can I do for you?"

I pause before answering. I know Tam said that I really should talk to someone, but I'm not sure how I would even begin doing so. With nowhere else to start, I jump to the second topic.

"I'd like another chance to learn the Patronus charm."

Whatever hesitance crossed his face on the previous occasions I asked is nothing compared to the look on his face now. He almost looks on the verge of panic. Then again, given that I blew myself up the last time I tried, I suppose it's at least somewhat warranted.

"I… hope you can understand my hesitance to do so." He begins slowly. "I mean, when I saw your burned body after the explosion happened, I panicked. I took you to Madame Pomfrey as soon as I was sure that you were stable enough to be moved."

I nod. "I understand. But I want to try regardless. I mean, now that I know what I did wrong last time, I can avoid it in the future."

Lupin lets out a deep sigh. "Albus will have my head if you end up in the hospital wing again under the same circumstances, but if you really want to, then I'll supervise. If you're anything like your parents, you'll do it no matter what I say, so I may as well keep you supervised."

As much as Tam and I want to learn the charm, I doubt either of us would be reckless enough to do so unsupervised if it's that dangerous. I don't correct Lupin's misconception, though, since it got me what I wanted.

"I'm also sorry about what happened in the hospital wing yesterday." He continues. "When I told Albus about what happened, I didn't expect him to interrogate you the moment you woke up. While I owe him a great deal, I've known him to be a bit, well, excessively righteous isn't the exact term I would use to describe him…"

I would use it.

'I know. You have. Frequently.'

"…but he definitely has his biases." Lupin finishes. "If… if you don't mind my asking, what was the memory you used when the spell backfired?"

"I want you to swear that you won't tell anyone." I demand.

"I won't tell anyone if you're not comfortable with-"

I interrupt him. "I want an oath."

Lupin's brow furrows. "Where in the world did you hear about oaths? Those fell out of common usage around half a century ago."

'I suppose that makes sense, given that my source of information is half a century out of date.'

While I won't deny your point, I object to your phrasing.

'At least I didn't call you old this time.'

I'll grant you that.

"I read about them in a book." I reply.

Lupin lets out a deep sigh. "Harry, oaths fell out of use for a reason. You can't just have people swear oaths willy-nilly every time you want to tell them something you don't want getting out. Oaths bind people's will under threat of death."

'They bind wills?'

Yeah, you can't break an oath accidentally. You have to actively fight the magic of the vow before it will kill you. As I've said before, they even occlude thoughts from legilimency probes if the information in them would fall under the oath's purview. I had you swear one for a reason, as it was the best way to ensure that you didn't go blabbing to anyone or have someone pluck the information from your mind.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Harry?" Lupin continues. "Sometimes, you just have to trust people."

"Trust is a weakness." I reply reflexively.

Lupin doesn't say anything in response to that. He just looks at me sadly, like his whole world is crumbling around him and he knows there's nothing he can do to stop it.

We sit in the resulting silence for a while, neither of us knowing how to break it or even willing to try. Eventually, he looks up from his desk and faintly murmurs "I'm sorry", quietly enough that I don't think I was the intended target of the message.

With the silence broken, I speak up. "I would like to talk about it, professor, but I need some assurance that you won't go blabbing to Dumbledore or anyone else about what I tell you."

"And you don't trust me to do that without an oath." It's phrased like a question but spoken like a resigned acceptance of an uncomfortable truth.

I nod.

"…Do you trust anyone, Harry?"

I don't reply. It feels like a trick question, and even if it wasn't, I'm not sure how I would answer.

Do I trust anyone?

To an extent, I trust Ron and Hermione. I trust them to have my back and to stick with me when things get bad. I trust the Gryffindor Quidditch team in much the same way but to a lesser extent, with the possible exception of Katie, whom I'd probably place closer to Ron and Hermione in terms of how much I trust her.

So yes, I suppose I do have limited trust in some people. But do I trust them with information? With intimate knowledge of my life? No, no I don't.

Tam is the only one who has that sort of trust out of me, and it's a trust born of necessity rather than one that formed naturally. I'm quite certain that there is no way we would trust each other as much as we do if we didn't require the other's help.

But none of the other people I trust know more about me than they need to, and none of them are adults.

"I want an oath, professor." I restate.

Lupin sighs again. "Harry, oaths haven't been commonly used in years. I wouldn't know how to swear one even if I was willing to do so."

'Tam?'

On it.

She shifts into control of my body, grabs a blank piece of parchment and quill from his desk, and begins writing out the wording for the oath. When she's done, she pushes the parchment over to him.

"I don't know your middle name, but it would go where that blank space is. The usage of your full name is necessary for the oath to form." She explains.

"Harry, I'm… is this really necessary?"

I shift back into control of my body and stare at him for a moment. "I'm not going to repeat myself, professor."

He lets out a resigned sigh and begins repeating the oath. "I, Remus John Lupin, do vow upon my life to not willingly share or allude to the memory that caused Harry James Potter's Patronus charm to backfire. As magic is my witness."

Binding the magic of the oath feels different than it did when Tamelyn made her oath, though that may just be because of our body-sharing situation. I have to almost reach out to touch the magic to accept the conditions of the oath.

I try to figure out where to start now that I know he won't go blabbing. I decide that I may as well start at the beginning.

"My aunt died this summer."

Lupin looks up at me. "I'd heard about that. Petunia's sister-in-law, right? It came up when I was being interviewed for the position here."

"Well, she suffered a heart attack this summer when she was staying over with us. It was just a case of cardiac arrest, but muggles aren't able to treat it as easily as we can, so it killed her."

"Harry-" Lupin begins, but I cut him off before he can continue.

"I just sat there and did nothing. I watched her die. I could have done magic to save her, but I didn't." It's true. I could have fought back when Tamelyn seized control, but I didn't, because deep down, I wanted Marge to die and was glad it happened.

"Harry, you can't blame yourself for failing to do something." Lupin explains, obviously missing the point that I'm trying to make. "Sometimes you just panic in the heat of the moment and-"

"No, you don't get it." I say, cutting him off again. "I hated her. She had done nothing but torment me on every occasion since we first had the misfortune to meet. I didn't help her because I wanted her to die. I watched her face turn blue as she slowly suffocated and deep down, I was glad, because it meant she wouldn't be able to torment me anymore. I was happy that she was dead."

Horror dawns on Lupin's face as he begins to realise what I'm telling him.

"I wanted to throw up a little bit once I realised what I was thinking, but I'm over that now, I think."

Lupin covers his face with his hands. "Harry, I… that sort of memory is so fundamentally opposed to the Patronus charm's purpose… I don't even know where to start."

"This is why I wanted a vow." I say.

"I'm sorry, this is just… much more than I was expecting." Lupin lifts his face from his hands and looks at me, seeming much more lost than he did before. "The Patronus charm, despite it being the rare example of defensive esoteric magic, is more volatile. A killing curse cast with a memory of love won't do anything, while a Patronus charm cast with a memory of hate, well…"

"It explodes." I finish. "It would have been nice to know that before I tried attempting the charm."

"Yes, I suppose so." Lupin leans back in his chair and looks out the window. "You just look so similar to your parents that sometimes I forget you're not exactly like them."

"No, I'm not." My parents weren't orphans, nor did they have Voldemort's horcrux in their head. "So now that I know what not to do, I'd like to try the Patronus a second time."

Lupin sighs. He looks resigned, but also just… tired. "Come by my office next weekend and I'll see what I can do."

I nod and, after thanking him for his help, leave the room.

"So, Potter," Malfoy's unwelcome voice interrupts me, "Word around the school is that you ended up in the hospital wing all weekend. Got too worried about Black killing you and tried to take the easy way out, did you?"

And to think that Malfoy had been so (comparatively) well-behaved this year. I gesture for Ron and Hermione to stop before turning around to face Malfoy, keeping a disinterested glare on my face as I do so. "You think I'm worried about Black? I beat Voldemort twice, including when she was at the height of her power, and you think I'm worried about a madman who spent more than a decade wasting away in prison with his only company being soul-eating demons? No, Black isn't a concern to me."

Malfoy's expression quickly turns from smugness to anger, as it does every time he's rebuked. "Think you're so smart, do you? Think that because you bested the Dark Lady as an infant that we should all bow down to you?"

I hate him.

'Me too.'

He reminds me of his grandfather. Far too entitled and far too used to getting his own way.

'Any tips for dealing with him based on your experiences with his grandfather?'

Hmm… Scare the living daylights out of him.

"And where do you get off saying you bested her twice?" Parkinson pipes up from behind Draco. "Everyone knows the Dark Lady vanished after your parents died. How could you possibly have faced her a second time?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh, is that what you think? Dumbledore told me that everyone knew what happened, but then again, he's rarely upfront with people, is he? Do you guys remember Quirrell?"

"What about that incompetent stuttering fool?" Draco scoffs. "He died at the end of first year from some horrible illness. That's what he gets for going abroad to all those uncivilised lands. He probably caught something from one of those barbaric natives."

I shake my head. "Quirrell was dying because he was being possessed by Voldemort's wraith. He was trying to resurrect her, but I stopped him, and then I killed him." I smirk. "It was all self-defence, of course, which is why I won the house cup for it instead of being expelled. But what really matters is that I faced your 'Dark Lady' for a second time, and for a second time, she lost."

"You're lying." He declares.

I shrug. "I might be, but the evidence adds up a bit doesn't it? Quirrell's fake stutter, his greying skin, the visible veins, the smell of decay that he always tried to cover up with garlic… Sure, I have no proof that Voldemort was involved, but you can't deny that he was possessed. You remember that thing we found drinking unicorn blood in the forest when we had detention? That was Quirrell, trying to extend his life long enough to get to resurrect her. So even if I might be lying, do you want to take a chance?"

I grab Draco's robe and lean in so I can whisper in his ear. "Your daddy had a diary that he slipped into Ginny's belongings last year. How do you think your Dark Lady will react §when she finds out he lost it?§"

Malfoy can't understand parseltongue, of course, but I think slipping into it sent a better message than leaving it in English would have. I leave the dumbstruck Slytherins behind and catch up with Ron and Hermione, who are still waiting nearby. The moment we turn the corner, Ron and I exchange a look and start laughing hysterically.

"Did you see the look on their faces!?" Ron asks. "Malfoy was scared shitless when you were done with him!"

"Language!" Hermione chides. "And I don't see what's so funny. You were basically threatening him, Harry!"

"Technically, I was threatening him." I reply once my laughing calms down. "And don't pretend it wasn't karmic. That little shit has been threatening people since the day he walked into this school, and probably even before that. The least he deserves is getting the tables turned on him."

"Language!" She repeats. "And you shouldn't be sinking down to his level."

I roll my eyes. "Well, I'd rather not 'righteousness' him into submission, if you don't mind."

"If sinking down to his level gets him to shut up once in a while, then I'm all for it!" Ron adds.

Hermione huffs and starts walking ahead of us. I gesture at Ron and we start making our way to the next class.

"Seriously, mate, that was great." Ron says as he slaps me on the back.

I grin back at him. "Well, I guess next time I'll just have to do even better."

You really did handle that well. A bit recklessly, perhaps, but nicely done nonetheless.

'Thanks. I was doing my best impression of you for most of that.'

…I'm not sure whether I should feel insulted or flattered.

'Go with flattered. It shut Malfoy up better than anything else I've done has.'

I'm not sure that telling them about my core self's escapade in the castle two years ago was a good idea, but you definitely shut him up. It reminds me of the time I threatened to castrate Abraxas if he ever thought about touching me. Maybe I should have done so regardless — his offspring don't seem much better, especially not since Lucius let me fall into Ginny's hands, and gods only know why.

'Wait, your diary falling into Ginny's hands wasn't part of some sort of plan?'

Of course it wasn't, at least not any plan that I was aware of. No, the first time I was truly aware of anything after being separated from my main soul was when Ginny started writing in me. I was wholly disoriented and, if I'm being honest, a little irrational. Using the basilisk at all was, frankly, stupid, and put her at a lot of unnecessary risk.

'…Right, of course you'd care more about the basilisk that all the people whose lives you risked.'

Tessie is special to me.

'You have issues.'

What can I say? Basilisks are cute.

'Sure they are.'

I'll make you understand someday — just you wait.

"Dammit!" I swear as I once again fail to get a single spark from the Patronus charm. I've worked my way through almost every happy memory I have, and I still haven't gotten the charm to form. The closest I got was my memory of naming Hedwig and petting her for the first time, but that only slightly roused my magic, not even enough to even get the basic mist shield down.

"Remember to keep yourself calm, Harry." Lupin advises from the side. "If you get too angry, the charm might backfire again."

"I know, you keep reminding me." I bite back at him.

Lupin actually winces at my tone — I suspect he's still trying to come to terms with, well, me. He's right, though — getting angry won't solve anything. I take a deep breath and begin using my occlumency to settle my emotional state.

'I think I need a break from this.'

Want me to try?

'Sure, just don't blow us up.'

I'm not an idiot, Harry.

'Well, your idea got us blown up last time!'

And I have learned my lesson. If something else gets us blown up this time, then I'm blaming Lupin for continuing to give poor instructions.

I'm annoyed at her nonchalance about the ordeal, but I can feel a faint trickle of amusement coming from her as she shifts into control of my body.

Alright, so, happy memories… Happy memories that aren't based on cruelty or violence… Hmmm…

'It's pretty hard, isn't it?'

Yes, it is. Oh, what about the first time I spoke to a snake?

'Seems as good an idea as any.'

I feel her call up the memory and attempt the charm for herself. Much like my attempts, nothing happens. She runs through several other memories without success, including her becoming prefect, her becoming Head Girl, and her obtaining O's on all of her N.E.W.T.s. None of her attempts so much as stir her magic.

Dammit.

'I know.'

Your best attempt was with your owl, right? Maybe I should try something similar.

'You don't have a- Oh Goddammit you're going to use the basilisk, aren't you?'

I love that basilisk.

'I know you do, and I think your taste in what qualifies as adorable rivals Hagrid's'

Well, that's rude of you. I may enjoy some unconventional things, but I would never call an acromantula "adorable".

'Okay, I guess that's fair.'

If you're going to call any of the giant arachnids cute, you'd want to pick one that isn't hairy, like the Chilean Drowder.

'I rescind my previous statement.'

I feel her pull up the memory as she prepares to cast the spell. Curiosity overcomes me as I feel it flowing so close to the surface of her mind.

'May I?'

Go ahead.

With her permission granted, I dip my awareness into her memory and let it engulf me.

O.W.L. year is unbearable.

I expected it to be challenging. I was prepared for it to be challenging.

What I wasn't prepared for was the sheer quantity of work required.

Even now, only a month into the semester, I've barely had any time to myself. Between my prefect duties, the constant review work the teachers are assigning, and attending Slughorn's Slug Club meetings — because I refuse to lapse in maintaining my social connections, no matter how busy I get — I've had to let most of my side projects drop to the wayside, including, much to my chagrin, my pursuits of immortality. I try and avoid thinking about the uncomfortable subject of my own mortality when my mind wanders.

I cast another Homenum Revelio charm, confirming that no one else is nearby. I know I'm supposed to actually look for people staying out after curfew, but I have enough things to do that I really don't feel like wasting time doing things by hand.

With the third floor done, I head down to the second floor and start doing my rounds there. I cast another revealing charm which pings a presence further down the hall. Alas, if the black hair and Gryffindor robe are anything to go by, then it's not someone I care to run into.

She seems to be walking towards me, so I'm sure as hell not going to be seen backing down by taking a detour. I grit my teeth and prepare for an unwanted confrontation.

"Ye know ye're supposed to be lookin' for people, dontcha? Not castin' charms?" The girl's Scottish lilt says as I try to walk past.

I stop and roll my eyes. "Really, Minerva? It must have escaped my notice sometime during the last month. Besides, my charm work is more than adequate. I'm sorry if yours are incapable of doing the job thoroughly."

She bristles under my insult. "Oh, ye just think ye're too good for us, don't ye? Fancy Miss Riddle over here, doing the bare minimum required to keep her shiny prefect badge."

"Some of us have other responsibilities. Not everyone has the time to waste pulling pranks on the other students, you know." I bite back.

"Better to be pulling pranks than kissing the arses of the purebloods in yer house!" She counters. "Besides, who's to say I don't have other plans? Ye know, I was thinkin' of becomin' an animagus for me N.E.W.T. project. It'd make me the youngest in over a century? I don't suppose ye've got anything planned, eh?"

I raise an eyebrow and smirk. "Oh, it must be sad that the only thing you could come up with for a N.E.W.T. project is something that you can only do because Dumbledore favours you so heavily. My N.E.W.T. project? I had something special in mind."

I reach into my pocket and pull out a black leather-bound journal with "T. M. Riddle" embossed on it in gold. It was a splurge I made over the summer. It's the one nice thing I own that's both truly mine and that I can use freely in the muggle world. It feels right to make it into something special for my project.

"I was thinking of doing some runework in this." I explain, showing off the journal. "I have some astounding plans for it."

Minerva stares incredulously at the diary. "It's a ruddy book, Riddle! Ye can't just fill it with some runes and turn it in for a grade!" She shouts.

I shake my head. "Minerva, if you think that's all I'll be attempting with this journal, then you're thinking too small. No, I have much grander plans for this thing than as a container for some explanation of runes."

She scoffs. "Bah, spare me yer shite. If ye keep up the same attitude towards the project that ye do to yer duties, then would'n put it past ye to just pass the work off to one of yer toadies."

I stiffen at her jab. "I may take shortcuts when feasible, but all of my academic achievements are my own."

Minerva laughs. "'Academic achievements'? Is that what ye call suckin' up to Slughorn?" She stops laughing and eyes me critically. "Then again, with how much he favours ye, maybe that's not all the suckin'-"

Anger flashes through me and my wand is in her face in an instant. "Watch your tongue Minerva, or I may decide you don't deserve it anymore."

She scowls and pushes past me. I take a few deep breaths before stepping into the nearby bathroom to wash off my face.

Dammit, I hate how she always manages to get under my skin like that. Occlumency has helped with emotional control, but I've never been exceptionally good at controlling my anger. Probably just another way that being raised in that crappy orphanage has messed with my head.

I turn the handle on the tap in front of me, but no water comes out. Doesn't that just figure. I move to the sink next to it and splash some water on my face until I've calmed down enough.

I glare at the broken tap. How the hell does the plumbing in a magic school break? One would think that between impervius charms and runic enchantments, then something as simple as a sink would be impervious to breaking.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I look under the sink. Nothing seems to be visibly broken. I twist one of the pressure valves a few times, not noticing any difference in the sink above as I do so. I move to try the other valve, but double-take when I notice the valve has "open" inscribed on it.

I'm amazed I can read it, what with the fact that the writing doesn't actually resemble anything. It just looks like a bunch of weird, wiggly lines.

Is… is that parselscript?

I'd read about parselscript, of course. It was offhandedly mentioned in a few books I could find when I was looking up parseltongue, but there were never any examples of what it looked like, since everything I'd found that mentioned it was busy chiding parseltongue as a "dark" language, as if languages could even be dark.

That doesn't answer my question of what the hell it's doing written on a pressure valve in a girl's bathroom, though.

It couldn't be… I'd heard of the Chamber of Secrets, of course, but assumed it was just a myth. The story of Salazar hiding some sort of great beast in a hidden chamber beneath the school was just too fantastic to be believable. But then again, one could say the same about all of his descendants being parselmouths, and I know that's true from experience…

"Open." No, that's English. I still need to get better about using parseltongue when I'm not talking to a snake. I add that to the end of my very long mental to-do list.

I stand up and stare at myself in the mirror. I close my eyes and try again.

"Open." Dammit.

I look down at the sink and notice a relief of a snake on the side of the tap. I focus on it and try again.

"§Open§"

A grinding sound fills the room as the sink… sinks into the floor and the wall behind it opens up into a circular portal. What I wouldn't give to study those enchantments.

That thought is pushed from my brain as stale air washes up from the newly opened entrance. This place has clearly not been opened in a long, long time. I shine my wand down the hole, but I don't see any sign of a bottom.

Well, much as I want to see if this really is the Chamber, there's no way I'm about to go sliding down some old and grimy stone tunnel. Let me think… if I was Salazar, what would I do? I sure as hell wouldn't have my heirs sliding down some slimy chute. If I was to guess, that tube would be used to, I don't know, transport materials. Which means there must be an actual entrance nearby.

I walk down the length of the room, feeling at the tiling on the wall as I do so. I don't see anything at first glance, but my hand eventually feels an uneven surface. I light my wand and shine it at the irregularity, revealing a lemniscate formed from two interwoven snakes with the word "open" written in parselsript below them.

"§Open§"

The wall parts, revealing a simple spiral staircase downwards. I hold my wand up in front of me and start moving down.

Well, when I set out to do my rounds this evening, I sure wasn't expecting this.

The staircase evens out far more quickly than I would expect, presumably due to some sort of space manipulation enchantment. The staircase opens up into a spacious hallway of some sort. To the left is what I can only assume to be the circular tunnel I found in the bathroom above. To the right, the hall continues for a bit before turning out of sight. Lots of small alcoves and side passages dot the corridor, making it a wholly unique sight, even by Hogwarts standards

Well, even if this isn't the Chamber of Secrets, it's still an impressive find in its own right.

I step forward into the hallway and my foot immediately sinks up to my ankle in the water. I shiver at the unpleasant sensation, cast an overpowered drying charm at my foot, then cast an impervious charm on both of them to keep them dry. I doubt it will hold for more than an hour in these conditions, but I don't plan to be down here for that long.

I admire the stonework as I walk down the hallway. It looks as though the masonry was built into an existing cave system, which would explain how Salazar would have been able to build such a place without the other founders discovering it. I assume this cave is under the lake, if the amount of water on the floor is anything to go by.

I reach what I can only assume is the end of the hallway. Two stone snakes cross over each other in the centre of the wall. Time to see if this really is the Chamber of Secrets.

"§Open§"

The snakes come to life and slither aside, parting the wall behind them. Another wash of stale air comes over me, prompting me to cast bubble-head and air freshening charms on myself, lest I succumb to a coughing fit. I step through the opening, and any doubt that this is the Chamber of Secrets evaporates from my mind.

It's beautiful. The room is an enormous dome, easily hundreds of metres across. Carvings of all sorts of snakes of all sorts of sizes adorn the ceiling, and statues surround the perimeter of the room. Unlike the previous passages, the central chamber is lit by sourceless light, allowing the whole place to be viewed easily.

I move towards the large statue that rests in front of a large relief of a man's face. Salazar himself, possibly? It seems a bit egotistical, but the man did seem to have a flair for the dramatic.

The statue has a few details which catch my eye. The man has a wand on his person, but it's sheathed in favour of a dagger.

No, not a dagger. An athame? I'd heard offhand references to types of magical foci besides wands, though they were never really elaborated upon.

The other interesting detail is the small, round shield that he wields with it. I imagine such an item must have been enchanted with some level of protection, as it would likely be far too impractical against spells otherwise.

My attention turns to the relief of the man's face on the wall behind it. The mouth of the statue looks to be hewn from a separate piece of stone, so it must open somehow. The usual "Open" password doesn't have any effect, so it must open through other means. After searching along the details in the stonework, I manage to find another parselscript carving. I'm about to open the mouth, but then I freeze as the absurdity of what I'm doing catches up to me.

I have no idea what lies behind this statue. Hell, I had no idea what was in this room before I opened it! I take a deep breath and think over what little I know about the chamber.

It was created by Salazar Slytherin almost a millennium ago. That much is probably indisputable. It was said to house a terrifying monster. Well, given that he and his descendants are parselmouths, the beast in question is likely some sort of snake, so I should at least be able to speak with it. The beast was supposedly created to "cleanse the muggleborn taint from the school". If I'm going to run into any issues, it will probably be there. The only evidence I have that I'm not a muggleborn is my parselmouth ability. Even then, it could just be a fluke, since Riddle isn't a magical surname. If it's able to sense my blood status somehow, then it might kill me without thinking.

I suppose my best bet would be to rely on Fiendfyre. I've only tried casting it a few times, but it should hopefully be enough experience that I can pull it off properly in a pinch. Even if it's not able to kill the creature, it should hopefully wound it long enough for me to escape.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself. "Here we go… §Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!§"

As the mouth slowly grinds open, a deep thrum vibrates through the chamber. The thrum slowly turns into a serpentine hiss — nothing that directly translates from parseltongue; it's more of the equivalent to a groan. I hear the sound of slithering and see movement in the shadows of the mouth and decide to test if I really can communicate with it.

"§Stop!§" I hiss. "§Identify yourself!§"

The slithering sound stops, and a much deeper hiss echoes through the chamber. "§A speaker, then? It has been so long… Who are you, child? I do not believe we have met before.§"

My mouth feels dry. What the hell am I doing? "§My name is Tamelyn Merope Riddle. What are you? What is your nature? The legends of the Chamber of Secrets spoke of a beast held within, but gave no clues to its identity.§"

The serpent lets out a deep hissing laugh. "§The Chamber is a legend now? How sad to be so forgotten by time's passing that the world doubts one's reality. To answer your question, child, I am the Queen of Serpents, but Salazar himself gave me the name 'Tessie'.§"

Queen of… dear gods, the Chamber's monster is a basilisk!? Now I'm not even sure Fiendfyre would work, especially not against one of its… her age. "§I would like to speak with you, but…§" How should I phrase this? "§I would like some assurance that I will not be harmed. Creatures of your kind are known for their lethality to the point that you are able to kill with a look.§"

The sound of her slithering once again fills the chamber. I shut my eyes once I see her start to emerge from the wall. I tense and grip my wand tighter as I hear her body moving all around me.

"§Open your eyes, child. My gaze will not harm you. Salazar infused the essence of the serpent into his bloodline, rendering him and his heirs immune to all aspects of the snake.§"

"§I am not sure if I truly am descended from him.§" I hiss, my voice uneven. "§And I do not want to die.§"

She laughs again. "§I can feel the faint echo of the snake within your blood, child. Open your eyes. No harm shall come to you here.§"

I take a deep breath and open my eyes. The fear and anxiety that was filling me until just now is washed away by the sight that greets me.

The beauty of the Chamber is nothing compared to the beauty of the Basilisk. Her scales are a deep midnight black, so deep that they almost look absent, but when the light reflects off of them at the right angle, they glimmer with a brilliant emerald sheen.

Is that why my eyes are green? Some faint representation of the snake essence infused into my blood?

Tessie's eyes are also gorgeous, and as I gaze into them, I pity everyone who lacks the ability to see them without being harmed. The slitted pupils and amber irises are impossibly vivid, the sort of colour that only magic can create. I can feel the intense power emanating from them, washing over me without harming me.

"You're beautiful…" I say, dumbstruck, before realising that I spoke in English. "Er, sorry, §you're beautiful. I was so shocked that I forgot to hiss.§"

"§I can understand a bit of English, though it's a very different language now than it was when I was first hatched. Come, let me guide you through the Chamber.§"

Tessie explains the history of the Chamber's creation, Salazar's conflicts with the other founders, and the purpose of several of the side chambers. There's a ritual room, a potions laboratory, and even a kitchen. None of them are stocked at the moment, but they're otherwise ready for use.

I ponder sharing my discovery of the Chamber. After all, it's the sort of relic that was so lost to the ages that it was thought to be a myth. It wouldn't be a miracle solution to any of my issues, but it might at least get me some money to help with my plans and some fame I can use to make connections.

After guiding me through the rest of the Chamber, she goes back through the statue's mouth and tells me to follow. The stone in the antechamber is worn smooth, presumably from centuries of slithering over its surface. A parselscript carving covers the far wall.

"§This leads to the Chamber's Inner Sanctum. It is warded against everything Salazar could think of and can only be opened with an offering of his blood.§"

"§Blood wards? Those are illegal these days.§"

She shakes her head in dismay. "§That's a pity. The magical workings of blood were Salazar's specialty. Now come, open the seal so you claim your birthright.§"

Birthright… I've become so used to having nothing and being given nothing, fighting for everything I need. The idea of owning something just because I was born is so wholly foreign to me.

A quick cutting charm at my hand lets the blood flow, and the stone on the back wall slides away to reveal a gorgeously furnished chamber. There are chairs, tables, a desk, and even a bed. What really catches my eye are the books, though. There are old leather-bound journals, ancient tomes in dead languages, and copies of books that have been out of print for ages.

There's no way I'm letting anyone know about this now. The thought of people getting their hands on this is making my skin crawl. Too many people would want to use the knowledge for their own ends, and too many people would want to destroy them for the knowledge that they hold. The Chamber of Secrets will remain just that — secret. Besides which… it's mine. I own a library of ancient forgotten magic, and I will take full advantage of it to become the strongest witch I can possibly be.

I pull out several of the notebooks. Most of them are in Old English, which I have no clue how to read, but a few of them are written in parselscript. Silently thanking Salazar for imbuing the gift of magical language comprehension on his descendants, I flip the book open to a random page and read it.

It seems to be instructions on how to perform a "soul transference ritual", which moves a soul possessing one target to another target. It also only works on unbound and partially bound souls, which gives it such an extremely specific range of uses that even I can't figure out one in which it would actually be useful.

Well, even if I'm never likely to perform the ritual in question, soul magic is still extremely hard to find information on. I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time dissecting the information in these books when I have the time.

Speaking of time… I turn to face the basilisk. "§Tessie, I would love to stay, but I need to get back. Thank you so much for showing me all of this. I'm going to be very busy this year, but I'll make sure to sneak down as often as I can to study here and to keep you company§."

She shakes her head. "§Child, showing the heirs around here is my duty. Now, if you need to be going then you should be doing so.§"

I reach out hesitantly and begin rubbing the scales on her face. The feel is similar to that of previous snakes that I've touched, but the scales are far harder, owing to their thickness, and far sleeker than any I've touched before. She begins emitting a low purr, so I keep it up for a while. Feeling more fulfilled than I have in possibly my entire life, I reach out and hug her. Her head is comically large compared to my body, but I don't care. I reach my arms around her as far as I can and hold her for a moment.

Finishing up my first hug ever, I start jogging to get back to the castle. "§Bye, Tessie! Thanks for everything!§"

I seal the Chamber door behind me and begin walking down the access corridor. For quite possibly the first time in my life, I feel truly happy. Yes, I'm still a poor orphan in a war-ravaged country, but for the first time, I have a true connection to the magical world. I have access to a secret library of my own. Most importantly, I have the company of the most beautiful snake I have ever set eyes on. It doesn't matter what life throws at me — I'll do what I've always done: persist and make the best of it.

Coming back to my own identity is less of a shock this time that it's been in the past. I feel subtly pushed out of the memory rather than unceremoniously dumped back into my own awareness.

You alright?

'Yeah, I'm fine. That was your first time opening the Chamber?'

Yes.

'You only found it by accident? It wasn't part of some grand plan?'

Harry, the best things in life rarely come from grand plans. No, they usually come from pure coincidences that happen to work out in one's favour.

'…You really do like your basilisk, don't you?'

Of course. She was the first one to ever show me affection. I make every attempt to return the favour to her.

I feel the memory fill her once again as she moves to cast the spell.

"Expecto Patronum." The words spoken softly rather than yelled, and unlike all of our previous attempts, it works. White mist shoots forth from my wand, forming a shield before coalescing into a faintly glowing snake.

"Oh, well done!" Lupin applauds from the side of the room. "And a corporeal Patronus, too!" He moves closer and examines her Patronus more closely. "Not fully corporeal, I see. The edges are a bit blurry, but still, that was a very good first cast. I'm a bit surprised by the form, though… Why a snake?"

"It's a basilisk." Tam says in a state of utter admiration. "It's a small, adorable, glowing basilisk." She hisses at it, and it slithers up my arm and over my shoulders, leaving faint traces of warmth everywhere it touches. "As for the why? Well, I am the Heir of Slytherin."

"Harry… is that really something to take pride in? Slytherin was in favour of the complete exile of muggleborns from magical society."

"He was also an experienced soul mage and an unrivalled blood alchemist." Tam counters. "He performed a feat which had never been achieved before and has never been achieved since — he imbued an instinctive knowledge of an entire language into his blood, and did so with such strength that it still persists now, a millennium afterwards. I'm not going to pretend that the man was a saint, but I won't let his flaws outshine his amazing accomplishments."

"Well…" Lupin's eyes glance downward to the Patronus snake that continues to lay drooped over my shoulders. As his eyes rest on it, the hesitance in his face melts away. "Alright then. Whatever makes you happy, I suppose."

I do feel happy.

'So do I. I think it's just because I can feel your Patronus resting on me, though.'

It does feel euphoric, doesn't it?

'Yeah…'

Lupin turns towards the chest he has which contains the boggart. "Well, I'd like to get to the live test at some point, but I think we had best end our lesson here. If you'd like to try it against a fake dementor at some point, then we can schedule another meeting."

Tam's attention is still completely on her Patronus. "That's fine, professor. And thank you for teaching me this. It's amazing."

Tam leaves the room, Patronus still resting on her shoulders.

I know these next few years are likely to be busy for us, but you know what? I think it'll be worth it. I said that the best things in life usually come from coincidences that happen to work out in one's favour. I think that this is one of those coincidences.

I know it's probably just the Patronus warmth making us feel giddy, but…

'I agree.'

A/N (Tendra): Sorry about the delay on this chapter. IRL shit happened. Anyways, there's a lot of stuff that happened in this chapter

First off, yes, I decanonized time turners in this fic. I was on the fence about this for a while, but in the end, I deemed them to be an unnecessarily overpowered addition to the world, especially since they don't serve any purpose to the alternative year three narrative I'm working with.

Some of you may think that Dumbledore was being unnecessarily harsh in invading Harry's mind. Dumbledore is working with a very different set of information, though. As far as Dumbledore knows, Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin. He knows that the Chamber of Secrets was opened last year, and he knows that two of his students were abducted into the Chamber, where a ritual of unknown nature was performed. Afterwards, he knows that Ginny was obliviated, and Harry was not obliviated, but claims to have no memory of the incident. Harry returns to school the next year, acting much more reclusive and cynical than was normal for him, then he causes severe spell backlash when casting a "light" charm. Dumbledore has his doubts about what's going on in Harry's mind right now.

I was torn about whether Harry or Tam should learn the Patronus, if they learn it at all. Having Tam perform the Patronus while Harry can't is a drastic inversion of what one would expect, but at the same time, it's another point that shifts the balance of power in Tam's favour, something that this fic already has a lot of. Tam is older and smarter than Harry, and the balance of power in this fic has reflected that. Harry has only started to even the scales between them in the past few chapters. Ultimately, I liked the idea of Riddle being able to cast a Patronus quite a bit, so I kept it in the story. Harry will master the charm eventually, just not now.

This chapter was a lot of fun to write, even if I found it challenging at times. I had a lot of fun writing Lupin feel heartbroken as he sees what a cynical and unhappy person the child of his two best friends has become. I also had a lot of fun with Harry's morality becoming more skewed. He was totally being a hypocrite about Dumbledore looking into his mind once when Tam was doing it to him constantly for months.

E/N (Foadar): I was pleasantly surprised by some of the things done in this chapter upon a first reading. The Patronus backlash reminded me of scenes in Star Wars fics where Darth Vader tries to heal his mangled body with the Dark Side of the Force, and that goes about as well as you expect. I am not sold on the idea of parselscript myself, but the use has been adequate so far and has yet to truly annoy me.

Lastly, I wish everyone a belated Happy New Year and a good 2020. May the year be productive and fruitful for you.