Chapter 10

Slither In

"What are you doing?"

"It's weird how often I get asked that." Harrison commented to the two girls that were seated on the boat with him and Riddle. He ignored the confused looks that got him as well as the very person who actually voiced the question. He should know better than to ask by now anyways. He shot the brunette a brief disappointing look which earned him a blank stare. Harrison pulled up his hand out of the cool water and held both of them up to show nothing was amiss. What hadn't been seen was the spell he had sent off into the depths of the lake to gain the attention of a certain giant sea creature. The raven felt a little bad about damaging part of the squid's lair but it had been the only plausible option he could come up with that wouldn't seem too out of place. After all disturbances to lake dwellers by first year students did tend to happen from time to time. Thank you, Nevil Longbottom. If it hadn't been for that guy as a boy falling into the lake during Harrison's original first year ride in his timeline he would have never come to know where the squid's lair was located. "See? Nothing to see here."

"Harrison."

"Or does it make more sense for me to say, do you rather not see?"

"Harrison." Tom called again with a twinge of annoyance now leaking in.

"No wait, that just sounds weird." Harrison scratched his chin thought for a moment before wiggling his fingers toward the brunette. "Either way, I wasn't doing anything. My hands are clean as you can see-"

"HARRISON!"

This time it was a trio of voices calling the raven's name. However it wasn't to get the boy back onto track with their rambling words but rather in shouted warning. Well two warnings and sharp tone quite close to a deterrent. Harrison this time actually looked at them with genuine attention and saw the quick shifts in their expressions. Humor to shock on the young female faces and twitch of annoyance brewing in Tom's eyes. All expressions exchanged for another type. Ones less easygoing and more tense. There was growing fear on both faces of the girls and the widening of Tom's eyes along with the tension of the boy's jaw hinted toward the boy's hidden own. All three were slowly lifting their gazes upward away from where Harrison sat at the end of the boat as if following something.

Harrison looked up after feeling an odd amount of rain drops falling only on him. There were none to be seen on any of the three nor did they make any move to clear their faces so he knew it was just him. Weird… His mumbled thought trailing off as his gray eyes instantly locked onto the tentacle still emerging from the lake; its tip almost swaying in the air above his head as if searching. "Oh." Well that was more prompt than I thought it'd be.

Suddenly the tentacle sunk back into the water at a rushing speed until only the last few feet remained above water. The quick movement startled everyone, even those on other boats, since its breaching had been slow and nearly silent. Of course none of the three sharing the boat with Harrison knew of the raven's plan so the moment of shocked silence abruptly broke into shrieks of crying terror from the girls and a forward grabbing motion of Riddle's hand as the tentacle twisted around Harrison's middle and yanked the raven off in the next second to go beyond the surface of the water.

SPLASH!

Tom lurched over to where Harrison had been while the two girls cried and pressed themselves against the complete other side of the dingy boat tightly. None of them realized the boat had stopped moving along with everyone else's upon all the commotion. Other nearby students were shouting in fear, some asking what was going on, and others tried to get the attention of the guiding Groundskeeper. Of course the situation had already been noted since in a few seconds a teacher, who wasn't the Groundskeeper, suddenly showed up beside Tom hovering on a broomstick above the very spot Harrison was taken down. There was a look of confusion on the man's face but it was marred by a concerned frown and a swift question of what happened.

"S-Something pulled that boy into the water!" One of the girls replied; voice breaking with soft sobs.

"It had huge tentacles!" The other girl whispered in fear.

"The giant squid is friendly, so don't worry." the teacher explained in an attempt to soothe the bawling girls while pulling out their wand and casting a spell not yet to be taught to first years. A glowing form of condensed misty white appeared and quickly took on the shape of an animal. "Keep going, one of the students fell into the lake. I'm taking them to the hospital wing as they haven't resurfaced yet."

Tom watched on with fascination. The animal looked like something he pictured a ghost would look like. He watched as it darted off in the direction of where all the boats were going. His attention was brought back to the teacher even when the boat lurched gently in a sign of continued course. The brunette was going to ask if Harrison was going to drown when one of the girls stuttered out the question before him. He could see their fear of the situation be swayed with a heavy worry toward a boy the girl just met. Tom cast a narrowed glance in her direction but didn't bother to linger his gaze as the teacher replied.

"No no, your friend will be fine if just uncomfortably cold from the water." The older wizard pointed their wand at themselves and soon a bubble was forming around the man's head. "Don't worry, okay? You will all see him at the feast if a tad late."

The boat had drifted along a few feet by then but all three kids could see it when the man stuck his head into the water. Soon enough there was movement by another source beside the teacher before it was gone; only to seemingly return with even more disrupting surface waves despite remaining below. They watched as the teacher lifted something from the water and shifted it to lean against their chest once upright. The bubblehead was gone however since it seems the man's attention was all on the lump that they now could see was a soaking wet and unconscious Harrison. Tom remained silent even as the two girls seemed to make noises of relief. The girl who asked after Harrison had thanked the teacher but her words went unheard in the teacher's sudden haste. The man flew off in the same direction all the boats were headed however at a much faster speed causing the trio of new students along with others who had been close enough to see to lose sight of the broom within seconds.

An eye opened.

Darting this way then that way before the other lid slid open once the area was deemed empty of all other inhabitants. Harrison sat up on the hospital bed and checked the bedside promptly for his wand knowing it was a protocol to set aside anything found on the patient's person that wasn't harmful or intrusive to the healing process. Holly, eleven inches, supple and infused with a paired Phoenix feather only found in Tom Riddle's very own wand. The raven pouted a bit upon noticing the lack of sweets he had stashed into his pockets from the train's trolly. Then again it would have been more surprising if they had remained consumable after the full submersion. Ahh well. Harrison continued on with the essentially planless plan his mind had come up with during the last half hour before arrival.

Of course not all mental facilities were present during the conjuring of said plan.

"Step one, get some solo time." Harrison pocketed the wand while double checking the expansion of the hospital wing. No other bed was occupied beside his own and the door he had seen the assisting nurse go through was still closed. "Now for step two- er..." He glanced down to the hospital issued pajamas with mild distaste. "Step one point five." There was no way he was going to go around in this. He conjured some fresh simple clothes to promptly change into before getting to the actual next step. Closing his eyes the young raven recalled what Death had taught him and focused on the budding amount of magic that Death itself used and granted upon him as its master.

Soon a hand broke the surface layer of Harrison's flesh and shirt without a single smear of blood or torn fabric. It was soon followed by another, both clawing at the sheet covered mattress between the spread legs of the 11 year old as the limbs worked to remove the rest of their body from the boy's chest cavity. Soon enough a carbon copy of Harrison Black was perched upon the space directly before them on the sickbed; expression blank despite the faint head tilt. Harrison hadn't expected the copy version of him to be completely naked however. So with some awkward feelings of having to dress what was essentially himself he was able to get the copy into the PJs the nurse had changed him into. He stared at it for a moment trying to remember how to give it complex orders to follow. Death had taught him during one of the visits to the Godric house however Harrison figured keeping it simple was for the best right now given the fact time was limited.

Once the copy had taken his place upon the bed Harrison gave it the orders to follow Riddle and keep any responses to 'yes' or 'no' or simple shrugs. He had made sure to impart some of his memories and traits into the copy. Not much just enough to get him through without drawing attention from anyone and properly sorted. He wasn't concerned too much on the latter matter since Death would make sure the hat put him in Slytherin. It was vital to the plan of coming back in time after all.

The raven cast a disillusionment charm upon himself and slipped out of the hospital wing after double checking if the coast was clear. It wouldn't do to be caught because he walked smackdab into someone else. Thankfully it didn't take the time traveler much time to reach the girl's bathroom on the second floor thanks to previously obtained knowledge of secret passageways and portrait shortcuts. What did cause Harrison some pause was the possibility of someone being drawn to the noise of the marble sinks shifting position when revealing the hidden entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. He didn't linger on that worry for long however as he recalled no one else had rushed after him and Ronald Weasley when it was first opened. Completely forgetting how the entire school had been in a tight lock down at the time.

Harrison cast a "Lumos" spell and proceeded to enjoy the thrilling ride into the bowels of Hogwarts's castle.

Audible snaps and crunches of brittle dry bones sounded from under foot. Each step caused the noise to repeat in a mellow echo along the dark curved walls. There was barely a pause between the broken cracks as Harrison made his way across the makeshift boneyard of skeletons to the adjoining tunnel he knew led him closer to his destination. The place was just as damp, chilly, and dark as he remembered. There was no light beyond the luminous glow set upon the tip of his wand. Rats darted out of the way of the hue as if to be touched by the ray would burn their matted fur. He paid the little creatures no mind as he focused more on his foot falls since drops of condensed moisture from above dripped down onto the path making it slick in a shallow attempt of some minor obstacle. It wasn't easy to move quickly through these tunnels the first time around as Harry Potter.

However Harrison paid no mind to the state of the unexpected walkway structure he was following along. Its aged state mattered little to him as long as he was able to register and recognize his current placement to correlate to where he needed to get to. Getting lost right now was not an option given the timeframe he had to work with even with the facade of a copy version of himself. With a few more turns, and crunches of broken bones, Harrison came upon the second true barrier between him and his final destination. The giant vault type lock looked just as impressive with its size and carved details. This time around Harrison was able to actually take in the structure of the intricate lock. It really was beautifully done. Slytherin was not just a wizard profound at magic but also craftsmanship. Hopefully it can avoid being crushed into debris. Toward the end of his life he had made the chamber his hideout. It dawned on him just not how ironic it was that his own final battle would take place at Hogwarts as it did for Voldemort. Harrison shook off the past memories as he watched each serpent head slide backward upon the slithering snake's passing when the spoken command of "Open" was given in parseltongue. The giant vault door slowly swung open after a final deep unlocking groan.

Soon gray eyes were staring up at the sealed stone maw of Salazar Slytherin.

The carved structure looked exactly the same as it did when Harrison had been 12 years old as Harry Potter. Not a single thing was out of place if his memory served him correctly. Well, minus a nearly dead body anyways. The young repeat first year plopped himself on the very spot he had found Ginny Weasley laid out beside Tom's diary. And flopped backward onto his back. For some reason he suddenly felt as if he could breathe easier. There was no one here apart from him and a slumbering basilisk. No one knew of this place beyond a rumor barely anyone thought to be true. Not even Albus Dumbledore of this time was aware of how real the Chamber of Secrets really was. Which made it the perfect place for Harrison to convert as his personal space until the time Tom Riddle 'discovered' the chamber himself. The room of requirement had crossed the raven's mind however he recalled Dumbledore mentioning having stumbled upon the room sometime in the old wizard's own school days. So it was out.

One arm came up to bend behind Harrison's head to act as a makeshift pillow while his mind rolled over what to do. Currently the famous sorting was most likely taking place right now yards above his head. First years being ushered into the space just outside the Great Hall. Some feeling tired from the extended trek from the boats' docking location to the antechamber and yet still filled with excited energy of finally being at Hogwarts just like a future Harry Potter would be.

He closed his eyes as he recalled the memory of walking down a spacious pathway between two house tables set with expensive looking silverware ready to be magically filled with an overly abundant feast for those students already seated. The enchanted ceiling high above mirroring the very same weather seen directly outside; young Hermione Granger's voice explaining it's possible marvel a few steps in front of him. Floating candles, roaring fireplaces on each end of the hall, decorative banners of the previous year's winning house, and the giant glass point system with its red, green, blue and yellow emblems to represent each house theme color.

"It's good to be back…"

Harrison was brought out of his memories by a cool poke to the cheek.

"If your limbs are still sluggish from the cold, you can prolong this until tomorrow."

"No, it has to be tonight." Harrison's eyes opened to meet the upside down image of Death who seemed to have taken up the features of the previously used fleshy projection of when they both had gone into Gringotts Banks during the school shopping trip. "Everyone will be in the great hall at this time. Even the nurses. Is my copy still in the hospital wing?"

"No, the teacher who brought you in is guiding it to the aforementioned."

"Then the sorting really is about to start soon."

"You can switch places with it if provided with a distraction for the accompanying human."

"No need yet. I'd rather hash out the basics of the plan for this year before I get back into role playing. Were you able to locate the rune stones of the castle?"

Whereas Harrison Black was enjoying the peace and quiet of the infamous Chamber of Secrets while going over the plan with Death Tom Riddle was encased in the lively atmosphere of Hogwarts castle and saturated magic. The walk from the boats to the castle had been littered with talk about the giant squid and 'that one kid'. The two girls who had shared their boat were more than willing to answer any and all questions that were directed at Riddle. It was almost a breather when everyone's attention was back onto the fact they were now at Hogwarts and about to be sorted into their houses if the leading speech given by the old man was anything to go by. Tom had easily recognized the aged wizard dressed in electric blue robes as the one who had visited him at the orphanage. The man's voice carried over the crowd of first years as if speaking through a small megaphone despite holding no such device or anything else for that matter.

"In a moment's time you all shall be guided into the Great Hall to be sorted into your future house." Dumbledore announced once everyone had their focus tuned into him. "There is Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

Riddle was about to look to the side when he recalled Harrison's lack of presence. The man on the broom had said he would be there if slightly delayed. Tom shook off the needless thought. Not even sure why he bothered to think about the other boy when he was finally at Hogwarts. One of the top magical schools in Britain; also ranked among the highest around the world. There was no other place Riddle ever wanted to be. He listened as the professor went on to explain the basic rules, the workings of the house point system, and a reminding warning about a place called the forbidden forest. Shortly after the group of new students were guided up the small stairs they had all come to a stop before and through a set of double doors that opened without any physical assistance.

Tom couldn't help looking all over the grand hall, eyes gleaming in unable to repress wonder, taking in all the clear shows of magical splendor. He could feel the heat of the blazing fires just as much as he could the many pairs of eyes watching the group walk down the aisle. Having so many gazes set upon would normally raise a caution within him but this time it was muffled by all the new sights, smells, and coiled excitement. Riddle was barely aware of when the group had reached a raised platform where the teachers' dining table was set along with a center podium topped with a golden owl with spread wings. He could see many of the teachers at their seats watching the crowd in return. The muggle studies teacher was easily spotted chatting with another teacher who looked to be already done with the conversation. Their eyes glancing to the empty seat between themselves and the woman. Tom realized the seat belonged to the man who had taken Harrison as all others were fill at the teachers' table. He was brought from his thoughts by the aged wizard's voice who had taken a stance behind the owl stand and was currently motioning to a stool the brunette had skimmed over in the wake of far more interesting things to look at.

"When I call your name, you are to take a seat here and be sorted into your house. Once you have been sorted, take a seat at your house table."

Now these were the words all new students had been waiting to hear ever since the old man's entrance speech. Dumbledore adjusted the golden glasses upon his nose while raising a bound scroll to be level with his gaze. The scroll unfurled itself, hovered in the air, and the first name was read out. "Evert Avery."

The sorting has finally begun.

A/N:

Uploadin' Chapter 11 in a few days.

Mass appreciation for the left reviews, follows, and em' favs.

Thanks for your patience, doc.

; ]