So, I don't know why the site glitched out on me when I posted on Tuesday, but it did... the chapter went up and all that, but it refused to send out notification emails and whatnot to inform all of you, this is the new chapter however... ~F
Chapter Twenty Four
Clash of the Heirs
Albus was greatly concerned for the first time since he realized that Harry had used Dark Magic in his mysterious past life. throughout the many conversations he had tried to have with the boy regarding it, Harry had refused to open up and admit that there was anything wrong about his power, let alone fully commit to who and where he had learn it from, leaving Albus to make wild guesses and assumptions.
But now, seeing the sickly green fire that reeked of evil arcing up the boys arms as he tried in vain to suppress his anger at something, Albus knew something that he had not wanted to admit for a long time. This was no magic of Merlin, neither was it of the ancients. This was something new, and extremely dark for their world.
Which by extension meant that the Arcane, or even non-evil part of this same magic were not of their world in any fashion. But in calling out the boy about this at last, Albus could visibly see the doors that his trust had slammed shut again, and he knew that the boy was intentionally hiding something that Albus desperately needed to find out, or terrible consequences would follow.
"You really need to control Lockhart and his stupidity Professor…" Harry said by way of deflection, turning his back once again to his Headmaster and coaxing the fire from his arms to dissipate, for which Albus was grateful that the boy could indeed control it quite well, when rational and calm.
"Perhaps I do, but that is not the issue at the moment, but that you used Dark Magic to injure an assailant, which by rights you ought to have defended yourself, however not in that extreme of a manner." Albus replied coolly, "And then there's the question of where in the world you learned to harness such vile magic as I have never seen before…"
"We've been over this a hundred times, Professor," Harry replied, and Albus could sense the restrain in the boy's voice, "You've asked many times, and my answer will not waver. It doesn't matter who taught me or where, there is no way in all the creation of the titans that you'd be able to meet them or go to those places. It is not possible…"
"Yet…" Albus finished, surprising Harry, "Naturally your fascination with portals and creating gateways to locations is in the hope that you can bridge whatever obstacle of distance separates you from this person or persons, but I am concerned Harry as to why you feel such a mad devotion to someone who taught you clear and presently downright evil magic."
"Well, sadly my reasons and desires are not something that needs to be rationalized to you, now are they?" Harry countered, his face growing slightly darker as he spoke.
Albus could see where this line would go, and he wanted to forestall any possible decent into violence between the pair of them, especially as he didn't know the limits of Harry's power, so quickly he changed tactics, "Alright, let's just focus on why this current event happened, instead of the overarching issues between us Harry."
"Well, that would be perfectly reasonable, Headmaster, as I must report a theft of one of my possessions, one that I believe has much to do with the issue of the Heir of Slytherin." Harry said, his entire countenance changing in response to Albus dropping his invasive questioning. That alone bothered Albus, but at the same time the idea of new evidence regarding the Chamber of Secrets was equally enticing.
"I had found, in the same bathroom where we had questioned the ghost, Myrtle, a small black diary with the name T. M. Riddle on the spine, which when one was to write inside of it, would respond and communicate with you." Harry continued, "I can only presume that it was some sort of memory left behind by the first owner, based on what the unknown persona said, and they were quite forceful of wanting to prove that they knew that Hagrid had opened the Chamber fifty years ago, but I did not believe them, nor did I trust them even with my real name…"
"This is… actually quite disturbing Harry," Albus affirmed, "While I am concerned that you didn't bring this book to me sooner, I am grateful that you're telling me now rather than staying silent. It is indeed odd that such an artifact would crop up at such a time, and…" Albus thought hard as to how much he should reveal to Harry, and ultimately decided against involving him too deeply into the background of Tom Riddle, "I will be conducting a search of the school, and all the students for this item, to be announced today at dinner. We need to find that book; it's probably the key to this entire mystery."
Albus turned to leave, and had made it to the door before Harry spoke again, "the book resisted all attempts I made to understand what it was by magic, either yours or mine. That greatly concerned me, as it even ruined potions that I prepared to examine it, but all damage I attempted to do to the book was either undone or impossible. Do you have any ideas as to what it might be?"
"Alas, not a clue, but I will get to the bottom of this in time," Albus said, hiding the grim dread that settled in his stomach as he absorbed the words that Harry had shared. If the book was what he suspected, then all his beliefs since he left Harry on the doorstep of Private Drive would be correct. Lord Voldemort was not as gone as they had hoped, but had indeed lived on after his defeat by the one year old Harry.
Finding that book therefore was priority number one, and Albus would stop at nothing to do so. It was with a heavy heart that he announced that the school would be searched, and every student therein, to find a dark artifact that seemed to have made its way into the student body, and was suspected of being the cause of the attacks that year.
"I hope that everyone here will comply to this mandatory search of their possessions, and rest assured that we will not damage anything or would invade your privacy without due cause. It is only for the safety of everyone here that we do this, and only the Heads of House will conduct the searches of their students, according to the school's bylaws."
Naturally, there was a great deal of outcry and unhappiness regarding the decision, but Albus had said what needed to be said. He was Headmaster, and if he wished to conduct such a search, he was well within his rights to do so.
Albus' true plan however was that, in the midst of the search for the strange black diary, he would keep Harry busy so that Severus could go up to Ravenclaw tower and search the boy's belongings after Filius was finished with the Ravenclaws. To this end, he planned to go house by house in the search, rather than have the searches all go on at once, starting with Slytherin and Hufflepuff.
True, there was a chance that they found the book in Slytherin before reaching Ravenclaw, but somehow, Albus had a feeling that it would be far too obvious for someone from Slytherin to be attacking muggleborn students. Regardless, the students were dismissed by house, escorted by their Heads of House to monitor them and make sure that none of them tried to conceal anything or run off with vital information.
Meanwhile, Albus went with Severus to the Slytherin common room, where they used intricate spells to efficiently, yet thoroughly, search through the student's possessions. While there were a great many things that one such as Argus Filch would have confiscated immediatly, Albus preferred to turn a blind eye to some of the more mild infractions, thus earning the respect of the students in some small measure.
From there they moved on to Hufflepuff, which went even faster, with far less to actually confiscate, much as Albus had suspected. While there was little if ever anything remarkable about the house of badgers, they were still stout hearted and loyal to the rules of the school, and with an ever present humility to which the entire house submitted to the search.
Next was Ravenclaw, and while Albus allowed Filius to guide the search as he saw fit, Severus and Pomona were present to assist in making things as speedy as possible, and Albus made sure to guide Severus toward the second year boy's dormitory for the searching process.
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Severus entered the Ravenclaw dorm with a haughty look of irritation, mostly for the benefit of the students, to inspire the fear and respect that he as a Potions Master deserved, but also in a small part out of true annoyance for his constant involvement when it came to the Potter boy. While he was more than fine with studying the boy's strange abilities with potions and what constituted as strange and outlandish magic, but rifling through his possessions, for the second time in two years, was starting to cross a line of how involved Severus felt that he wanted to be.
Nevertheless, he did what he was told. The Ravenclaw boys were standing beside their respective beds, militaristically, waiting for judgment and dismissal regarding their belongings. Severus decided to save Potter for last, and started in a clockwise direction on the far side of his bed, sorting through the typical things that curious twelve year old boys would get involved with.
As per Albus' choices before the search even began, Severus glossed over things that would normally be mild to moderate offenses, such as magazines that were of a questionable nature, as well as overdue library books and other items that there otherwise banned from the school. Each boy was understandably nervous as their Potions Master searched through their most private of items, but the looks of relief as they were declared not in possession of the item they were looking for remedied anything that they had already be terrified of their teachers finding.
As the last boy before Potter was dismissed, Severus turned to find that the boy had sat upon his own bed, casually waiting for the search to begin. "I trust this will take somewhat longer than the others, so I hope you don't mind if I take a seat, standing for too long in one position is supposedly bad for you…" he said offhandedly, but Severus ignored the boy, turning his attention to the trunk at the foot of his bed.
"Open it if you will, Mr. Potter…" Severus requested, knowing that it was highly likely that the boy had some sort of protective measure placed upon the item to keep out the curious or malignant.
"Certainly Professor…" Potter replied, as though he had nothing to hide, and flipped the latch on the trunk, lifting the lid to reveal an assortment of rather benign and typical young male items. Sighing inwardly, Severus started to sort through the contents, setting aside clothing and other large items that could potentially be secreting smaller items beneath or within them.
There was nothing new that the boy had, aside from items that one would typically find in Hogsmeade or Diagon Ally, that would indicate any untoward behavior, strange though it would seem given his age and gender, but Severus dismissed that as a small blessing within the madness of this search. He had already seen far too much of what young men were into these days than he had wanted in his lifetime.
There were a handful of small scrolls that were questionable, but Severus could not read them, much as when he had found them before over a year ago, and he passed these to the side, going carefully through each and every new item that the boy had collected in two years of schooling.
One thing that did strike Severus as odd was the low amount of clothing items that Potter possessed, even compared to other boys his age, but that was more assuredly not his problem nor his reason for searching the boy's things.
Unfortunately, he did reach the end of Potter's items without any discoveries of note, aside from those that he had found once before, however he was now in a position to actually ask questions regarding them… "What fur is this made from?" he asked, holding the ancient robe made from some sort of wolf skin, the one that Potter had come to the school wearing.
"If you do not know, then it is likely that it is no longer on this world, extinct or otherwise…" Potter replied flippantly.
"That is not what I asked, Potter, I want you to tell me the specific breed of animal that grew this material… I am actually quite interested in its makeup…" Severus said, with a small amount of sincerity in his voice.
"Well, I suppose that you may know that it was made from the hide of a frost wolf, quite unlike any animal that you've probably seen before…" Harry said, shrugging. And he was quite right, Severus couldn't detect that the boy was lying regarding the origin of the fur, but he had never heard of such a creature before, but in the end he couldn't stay and get all the answers he wanted. He had already held up Potter for a bit longer than the others, and he wouldn't be surprised if Professor Flitwick was ready to come and check on his student.
Using magic to repack everything back in the trunk, Severus turned and dismissed Potter, watching the smug smirk as the boy departed for the common room. At least they were a step closer in narrowing down where the little black book they were seeking was hidden.
Returning to the common room it took one glance at Albus to know that it was not found in Ravenclaw, which left only one house left.
Gryffindor…
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Nobu'tan smirked to himself as he rejoined his housemates in the common room. The fool of a Potions Master didn't even pause to think that he had more than one compartment on his trunk, let alone asked the important questions, that of the scrolls written in orcish script. Granted, neither was of terrible importance, basic inscription instructions and a handwritten note from Gul'dan himself, but they were of sentimental value to Nobu'tan and great links to the mystery that they were supposedly questioning into amid their search for the diary of Tom Riddle.
Once the search in Ravenclaw was finished, Professor Dumbledore beckoned for the other professors to come with him to Gryffindor tower, but paused as they reached the door. "Coming, Harry? Your expertise might be needed in this situation…"
Much to the shock of the professors, barring Snape, and the rest of the student's looks of awe and amazement, Nobu'tan rose from his seat next to the fireplace and followed, starting down the corridor that he knew separated Ravenclaw and Gryffindor towers.
What he, and the rest of the professors, didn't expect was to find Minerva McGonagall meeting them halfway, looking very much flustered and concerned. "One of my students is missing…" she declared immediately to the Headmaster, which led to a flurry of questions. They quickly discovered that it was Giverna Weasley, younger sister of Ronald, that had disappeared, and none of the other Gryffindors could account for her whereabouts since the end of dinner and the announcement of the searches.
The Headmaster glanced back at Nobu'tan, and the pair of arcane wielders shared a nod of understanding, before the old man drew Snape into their confidence. "We shall locate her, if she is somewhere still in or near the school…" the Headmaster said, "Harry, Severus, if you will assist me…"
Nobu'tan was actually impressed at the speed which the Headmaster had progressed in the Arcane Arts, even as the old man started a ritual of scrying, tapping deeply into the magic of the school. A font of arcane power pulsated right there in front of them, and while the Potions Master hesitated, Nobu'tan understood its purpose, and leapt right in to joining his power to it, expanding the circle of sight throughout the corridors and rooms of the castle, searching for a signature known to the Headmaster, and shared via the magic to the others.
Once Snape joined in as well, their sight expanded to cover even the grounds of the school. For moments that seemed to drag on they continued to channel the spell, searching feverishly for any sign of the girl, but her signature itself was not in or nearby the school, even if there were faint traces here and there of it, from time she had spent casting spells or other activities in the school.
"I've found the largest concentration of her signature, other than her room…" Dumbledore said suddenly, letting the spell slip and their vision return to normal, after several moments of blinking away the blinding arcane power as it fizzled away. "The second floor landing, hurry!" the Headmaster said, before starting off at a run that left many of the other Professors in a daze. Nobu'tan was prepared, and could match the speed of the old man quite easily, and they arrived at the landing in question rapidly.
Not much had changed in the corridor from that first night that the blood-written words had appeared, except that now there was an entirely new line underneath the first. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'
Dumbledore wasted no time in quickly advancing on the writing, examining it with both wand and the Arcane, before turning to Nobu'tan with an imploring look. "Time is of the essence, Harry. Do it; find her with your powers…"
Nobu'tan bowed his head in acceptance, understanding immediately what the old man wanted. aside from the showing that it would be as he worked the powers of fel magic into the air, there would be little for him to glean of what exactly Nobu'tan could do, and the thought of demons hadn't even entered the man's mind yet, so for the most part he was in the clear.
Just as he began, the other Professors arrived, only to be held back by Dumbledore as the wafting green mists of fel magic seeped from Nobu'tan, tasting, sensing and pinpointing the origin of the magic keeping the blood on the walls. Whoever had written this line had been sloppy, rushed even, and that led to great mistakes. It would have been easiest to simply summon a felhunter to seek the scent of the magic for him, but that was not to be an option with so many witnesses, so Nobu'tan had to do the deed himself.
Pulling traces of the magic to him, he reached out and felt the composition of the magic, the familiar and yet unfamiliarity of it, and enhanced his senses to find where it led. Turning slowly on the spot, he could see the traces of magic aura leading toward the bathroom of Myrtle… "There…" he said softly, stepping toward the room with trepidation, unsure what he would even find at the end of this new lead.
None made any attempts to stop him, but followed in his wake as the fel magic led Nobu'tan into the bathroom, bypassing the ghost as she spoke in her haughty obnoxiousness, and straight to a particular sink tap, that once turned gushed forth nothing, no water, not even a drip…
"That tap's never worked…" Myrtle said casually, which was a detail that Nobu'tan latched onto immediately…
Examining the metal fixture closely, the warlock found a strange set of scratches dug into the metal pipe, in the crude form of a serpent. It was rather odd, but when looked at in the right direction, Nobu'tan could almost think that the scratches would move, due to the flickering light… "But how to make you open…' he said, and the Professors around him gasped.
Nobu'tan looked back in confusion, but the sink before him started to shift, making the orc-raised human leap back in surprise. The sink itself sank into the stone floor, revealing a dark tunnel that lead into blackness, probably miles under the school.
"Merlin…" Professor McGonagall said, holding her hand to her mouth in shock. The other professors were similarly surprised at what they had discovered, and although Nobu'tan had a suspicion as to what it meant, he was still rather unsure.
"Harry, have you had any clue that you were a Parselmouth up until this moment?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"A what?" the warlock replied, not understanding the term. This seemed to only confirm something to the old man, and he nodded in that infuriating way that told Nobu'tan that he was not getting an answer out of the old man regarding it at this time.
"Either way," Snape said, changing the subject, "it would seem that we've found the entrance to the rumored Chamber of Secrets…"
"Indeed so Severus, and not a moment too late as well, You four go and secure the castle, while Harry and myself will go down and encountered whatever dwells within the Chamber, and hopefully rescue young Miss Weasley."
"As you sure that's wise Albus, to risk Harry on such a venture, none of us know what could be lurking down there?" McGonagall said, leading the protests from the other Heads of House. Dumbledore held up a hand, "While I know that it seems strange, but I trust that Harry is more than capable of protecting himself, perhaps in ways that none of us can possible imagine," he added, with a pointed look at the warlock.
Nobu'tan narrowed his eyes, seeing the double play for what it was. The old man was still hoping for more information of what Nobu'tan was capable of doing, and whether he was to be deemed a threat or a 'dark wizard' for his fel magic. Well, the orc-raised human couldn't completely fault the old man when he was right on the gold, not that he was in any fashion going to allow the old man to know quite how powerful his little prisoner truly was, at least not until Nobu'tan was ready to be free from this cage forever.
Gilded as it was, Hogwarts was still useful, so long as one did not allow themselves to be controlled by their cage…
He made toward the opening, ready to jump down into the blackness, when a torch somewhere further down the passage flared to life, and a stone slab slid out to where his foot would fall, becoming a perfect stair for him to step to. "I believe that answers how we will proceed into the depths…" Dumbledore said congenially, urging Nobu'tan to take the lead into the blackness…
As soon as he stepped to the first slab, it started to slide around and downward into the gloom, following the torch as it lit the way. Another slab opened behind him, allowing Dumbledore to follow him into the bowels of the castle.
More tunnels, looking like metal pipes, branched off in many directions, but their one way trip took them straight down the primary shaft, until it ended in a bed of small bones and other refuse that curved into an arching stone passageway before them. "Fascinating…" Dumbledore said, igniting his wand tip with a magical light, taking the lead into the gloom of the slick and rocky passage.
Shadows were cast in all directions, magnified by the wandlight, and Nobu'tan yearned to conjure fel fire to put himself at ease with the gloom, but he refused to even show the man that much of his true magical power. So instead, he summoned several small arcane orbs to float about them, and shine with the purple radiance of the school's internal magic, which was far stronger here, so close to the very foundation of the school itself.
Whoever or whatever was waiting for them here had no idea the trap that they had set for themselves by letting them follow it here. Animal bones littered the ground, and while Dumbledore tried to shuffle through them, Nobu'tan had no qualms about the sickening crunch as they shattered under his booted feet.
"Harry, look at this," Dumbledore said, gesturing ahead of them. Looking up, Nobu'tan's eyes widened at the massive form that loomed ahead of them, lying right across the tunnel unmoving. Their lights floated ahead, illuminating the poisonous green scales of some sort of serpentine form, but the skin was empty, shed long ago by some monstrously sized creature.
"Now it all makes sense, even down to the curious predicaments that the victims were found in," Dumbledore said as he stopped mid step. "We are in very grave danger Harry, as that skin is from no ordinary giant snake, but indeed the King of Serpents itself, a Basilisk… No doubt we will encounter it in due time, and if you value your life I encourage you to keep your eyes shut when it arrives, as looking it in the eye is undoubtedly a surefire cause of instant and painless death."
Dumbledore whistled then, and from far above a crooning sound came in response. A bright flaming red bird swooped down from somewhere high above, and alighted itself on the man's shoulder. "Fawkes, you must help protect us against the Basilisk…" the Headmaster told the creature, and while Nobu'tan felt gritty and on edge at the bird's presence, there was some surge of confidence that welled up in him regardless.
Dumbledore clearly noticed Nobu'tan's discomfort with his familiar, and like the educator that he was, launch into an explanation, "Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry, and with its particular set of magical skills, he will be able to withstand some of the Basilisk's more deadly traits that we would."
Carefully, the pair of mages made their way around the massive snake skin, moving toward the tunnel on the far side. Nobu'tan made note that the ceiling here was very unstable, and quite possible able to cave in sometime soon, but they moved past the weakened portion in due time, spiraling downward into another smooth and wet tunnel, before it ended at a solid wall, ornately decorated by two entwined serpents carved dramatically into the stone, eyes set with gleaming emeralds.
"I believe it is obvious what is needed here, don't you think Harry?" Dumbledore said, looking to Nobu'tan, and he quite agreed. It was not hard to imagine these serpents to be real, and apparently he was one of the few people, if not the only one, able to speak to snakes in the castle, according to the reaction the first time around. "Is it really that rare a gift?" he asked Dumbledore casually as he walked closer to the wall.
"In Britain, most assuredly, as only the family of Salazar Slytherin possessed it, although I'm not aware that you are a relative of his, but that's a discussion for a safer location and time…"
Nobu'tan nodded, quite agreeing with the statement, and turned his attention to the glittering eyes of the carved snakes. "Open," he commanded, hearing the hissing coming from his own mouth, and still marveling at the strangeness of it, how could he speak a language unconsciously?
The carved serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves sliding smoothly out of sight on either side, revealing a massive chamber beyond, with towering pillars supporting a ceiling lost into darkness, casting their shadows long across the floor as a greening glow seemed to partially illuminate the entirety of the Chamber of Secrets. The snake motif was ever-present here, from carved beasts spiraling up the pillars, to ornate statues along the walls.
What was worst about the chamber, however, was the deathly silence that permeated the room, only broken by Nobu'tan and Dumbledore as they walked across the stone floor. Even amid all these signs, the warlock knew that they were being watched here, and that concerned him most of all.
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Albus was not at ease in the slightest within the Chamber of Secrets. There were far too many places that Tom could, in fact would likely, be hiding, waiting to unleash his Basilisk and attack them. Even though he had Fawkes with him, and the phoenix understood that it needed to attack the eyes of the King of Serpents once it appeared, there were just too many potential problems with their hastily wrought plan. If not for the urgency of rescuing Miss Weasley, Albus would never have allowed such a hasty venture, but such as it was, they were as prepared as they could be.
Staying close to their sources of light, the pair of wizards and arcane magic users strode cautiously down the center of the Chamber, and as they neared the very last of the gargantuan pillars, Albus could make out a colossal statue of Salazar Slytherin, looking almost ape-like in appearance, looming over and completely dominating the far wall of the Chamber. It seemed that either the man himself, or one of his descendants, were extremely pompous and proud, and Albus was willing to bet that it was the latter option, as he doubted that the ambitious Salazar would have chosen such an old and unflattering appearance of himself for the statue.
But more importantly, lying between the statues enormous feet was a black robed figure, flaming red hair just barely visible in the green glow of the Chamber. Quickly, the pair crossed the last bit of floor that separated them from Miss Weasley's lifeless form, and with a single wave if the Elder Wand Albus was told all he needed to know. The girl had been possessed, multiple times, and was currently having the life drained out of her by a means that was unknown to him.
The little black book was there as well, clutched in the girls arms, almost cradled there like an infant. Arcane magic sprung to life around Albus, and he could tell that the book was indeed some form of evil artifact, tainted with the signature of a teenage Lord Voldemort, and was the thing stealing away Ginerva's life energies, but Albus had no idea how to eliminate it quickly or safely. There was still so much that they didn't know.
"You ought not to be here, Professor…" said a high cold voice from the shadows, and both Albus and Harry whirled to face what the Headmaster recognized immediately as the sixth year prefect, Tom Riddle.
"Surely you knew if one of my students was in danger I would find them, Tom," Albus said, his eyes and voice changing in a flash to steel. The Basilisk would be near as well, and the pair of them had to be prepared. It would be a difficult challenge, to battle the King of Serpents with only Harry to aid him, but Albus knew that Tom would focus on the boy, hoping to end him and separate the pair of them immediately.
Idly he wondered what effect the arcane powers he had learned would have on a Basilisk, and concluded to give it the attempt regardless, as there was not much else to lose.
"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," Tom said, dropping all his attention from Albus and focusing in on the boy, just as the Headmaster had suspected. So this was a trap to try and lure Harry to him, feeble though it was. Tom clearly had wanted the diary to fall into the hands of someone closer to Harry to tempt him to find out how to get precisely here, but the search of the castle had forced his hand early.
"And what if I don't care how long you've waited, you can continue to wait until your dead, again…" Harry replied, his voice turning to flint, coarse and grating as some strange accent appeared in his anger. Albus couldn't place the origin of it, and had to assume that it was from the race of people that had reared him.
Tom clearly wasn't pleased by the flippant attitude, "We will talk now, or you all will die all the sooner…" he said, smirking as he withdrew Ginerva's wand from his robes. How the specter could hold a physical object was beyond Albus, but there was little time to contemplate that. He reached for the Diary in the girl's arms, hoping that separation might weaken the pull on the girl's magic and life force, and keep her alive that much longer.
Only to have to dodge as a spell zipped through the air where his hand had been, "I think not Professor…" Tom said harshly, "I see that you're meddling has only begun, and while I cannot take all the time I would like to get the answers out of Potter as I'd like, I will still relish killing you both."
Turning on the spot to face the statue, Tom started to hiss, reaching a hand upward to the statue, almost in reverence. One glance at Harry told Albus all he needed to know. The Basilisk was coming. Before even Albus could react, Fawkes took flight, trilling a song of courage and battle as he swooped upward. "Run Harry!" Albus commanded, even as the sound of stone grinding against stone filled their ears.
One quick glance upward showed Albus that the stone mouth of Salazar's statue was opening, cunningly revealing the hidden nest of the Basilisk. Momentarily, as he turned and put as much distance from him and the statue as he could, Albus deducted that it was highly likely that it was one of Slytherin's immediate decedents that created this place, rather than the famed wizard himself. It was unlikely that one would monopolize on such a nickname as 'serpent tongue,' for such a convoluted hiding place within a secret chamber.
But those thoughts were dashed as a massive body collided with the ground with a dull thud, and Tom hissed again, obviously ordering the beast to attack. Keeping his face turned away, Albus fired a pair of spells over his shoulder, hoping to at least distract the Basilisk and keep its attention away from either Harry or Fawkes as he maneuvered swiftly between a set of pillars.
If he stayed out of a straight line from the creature, it couldn't lunge at him, and that would buy them all more time. But the beast never made it that far before Fawkes made his move. Albus saw the bird diving straight at the massive snake behind him, and heard the roaring, hissing noise that meant that the phoenix had made direct contact.
Giving a safe window of time for Fawkes to do what was needed, Albus turned, smiling coldly at the empty and bloodied eye sockets of the King of Serpents. Its killing gaze rendered inoperable, Albus now had a fighting chance against Tom and his pet. Although there was still a slim margin for error, as the creature could still smell him in the air, and the fangs carried the most lethal poison on the planet.
Granted, Fawkes was still present, and carried the only known antidote, just in case.
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Tom Riddle was seething. Leave it to Albus bloody Dumbledore to not only arrive and ruin his plans, but to bring the one creature that could survive the gaze of the Basilisk long enough to blind it forever. "NO!" he roared at the monster, "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! YOU'RE PREY IS BEHIND YOU. YOU CAN STILL SMELL THEM. KILL THEM!"
The basilisk swayed dangerously for a moment, flicking its tongue to orient itself, before whirling at Dumbledore when the wizard conjured a barrage of missiles made of some bright purple magic. That confused Tom, there was no spell that he had heard of that could produce so many attacking projectiles at once, outside of transfiguration, but the old man had not so much as raised his wand when he had cast his spell.
Something odd was going on, and Tom was not pleased to be left out of the loop. Then Potter returned, and Tom smiled again. He had Dumbledore dealing with the Basilisk, and he had Ginny's wand. Potter was a twelve-year-old second year; he stood no chance against him.
"Well, Harry Potter. This is not how I wished for things to go, but the game ends here regardless. Know that you're precious mother bought you only eleven years of borrowed time, but Lord Voldemort got you in the end…" he gloated, before snapping a shield into place on instinct when fire roared from the boy's outstretched hands at him.
"What?!" he roared, confused, even as Potter's eye shimmered from the normal acid green, betraying the deep crimson hidden behind them. "You!" he yelled, confused all the more. Where had Potter learned Dark Magic? Not from Dumbledore, that much was clear, but Tom was immediately forced onto the defensive when bolts of darkness and jets of violently green flames leapt to life from the boy, causing powerful concussions against his shield and shattering the stone floor all around him.
The boy was chanting, but the language was something that Tom had never heard of before, and doubted that even his adult form, wherever he was hiding, had either. It simply could not be possible. The boy couldn't be this strong, not in a lifetime of learning. And yet, as if to defy even the notion, there stood Potter, confident, unafraid, and even slightly intimidating.
And them the boy grinned, dark purple energy dancing on his hands, "I know your secret…" he muttered, his eyes flashing in the dim light of the chamber. Energy started leaping from the diary, to an outstretched hand of the boy, even as more magic poured forth from him, keeping Tom from coming to the defense of his greatest secret.
"No!" he bellowed, watching helplessly as the Diary was leeched of himself, forming a perfect purple shard of energy in the boy's hand.
And with no supply of magic to sustain him, nor a vessel to inhabit, Tom Riddle felt himself, agonizingly, rent piece by piece and start to dissolve. But the torment did not end, as Potter turned the soul sucking ability upon the remains of Tom, drawing him into the tiny shard of conjured magic. Tom tried to scream in agony, but there was no ability for him to speak anymore, and before he could even think of a way out, it was over, and darkness took him.
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Nobu'tan looked down at the tiny piece of a soul shard in his hand. Odd that it was so much smaller than normal ones that he had claimed from the animals of the forest, but there was time for full questions later, once the Basilisk was dead. Now without a master to control it, it was going on a rampage faster than an ogre with a stubbed toe.
Rushing to be in range, Nobu'tan took a quick assessment of the situation. Dumbledore was slowly being backed into a corner, the blind creature still managing to sense where he was and lunging accordingly. Arcane and fire magic was blasting off of the scaly hide, to little effect. It seemed that an ancient magical beast might have had some resistances in it.
He truly hadn't wanted to do thing, but there was little option to bring down the monster, as he doubted that it would listen to him if he tried to speak the language he had only learned about that day, and actually spoken a few words twice. Calling upon the powers of the Twisted Nether, Nobu'tan flung a bolt of pure chaotic energy at the Basilisk, a weapon that no defense could protect from, but took much in the way of energy to control.
Completely blind from the Phoenix's attack, there was no way for the beast to try and avoid it, and the chaos bolt slammed into the back of the serpent's head, blasting through and out of the creature's mouth with terrible force.
Gore flew in all directions and the delightful smell of sulfuric burning enveloped the chamber as the open wound where the head one was starting to be burned closed by the fel energy that had killed it. Dumbledore looked down from the beast to Nobu'tan, a look of true terror on his face at what had just happened, and Nobu'tan knew that the old man was just not realizing what he was truly capable of.
But the sounds of the girl stirring distracted the Headmaster for the time being, and he rushed to her side, assisting her to stand and reassuring her that everything was over, and she was now safe. Personally, Nobu'tan couldn't have cared less, but picked up the now empty diary that had contained a portion of Tom Riddle's, or rather Lord Voldemort's, soul.
Looking between the fractured soul shard and the now empty book, understanding was starting to take place. The madman must have found a method of safety breaking his soul in pieces, secreting them away to prevent himself from dying when his time came. Not the way that Nobu'tan, or any true warlock would want, but still an impressive piece of necromantic magic nevertheless.
"We should leave this dreadful place now, Harry." Dumbledore said authoritatively, and Nobu'tan had no reason to object, so he followed as the old man led the way out of the grisly and now quite warm chamber. Still, in the back on his mind, the warlock was preparing. Now that the Chamber had been dealt with, the true struggle was only about to begin, especially with how the old Headmaster would deal with the true information of just how 'dark' and powerful his prized pupil truly was, and just what lengths he would go to in the attempt to constrain him…
