January 5th, 1993

Harry's first day back at Hogwarts was coming to a close. In truth, he was exhausted. He had been working nonstop since coming back from Daphne's house and visiting her mother. Daphne and he had two different jobs. Harry was busy starting on crafting the ritual itself and Daphne was working on going through every medical text she could find and learning every function that blood carried out naturally. That would be the most dangerous part of the ritual.

Harry sighed with some exhaustion evident in his voice if anyone had heard it. He decided this would be enough for today. Even Daphne, who spent nearly as much time in this room as he did today, had already gone back to her dorms for the night. Since real classes would resume tomorrow, Hermione had already headed back to the Ravenclaw dorms to make sure she got enough sleep to be well-rested.

Harry began putting his notes away after making sure he got several good looks at them so he would be able to recall them perfectly later in his mindscape. With that done, he organized them and then put them into the drawer of his desk. He then locked the drawer before standing up and lifting his book bag around his shoulder. With that, he left the clubroom.

It was already dark but there were still some candles floating in the hallways for those later years who were permitted to stay and study later at night during the second semester at Hogwarts. As he walked down the hallway, he idly thought about the fact that Dumbledore never bothered trying to stop him from staying out late at night. He wondered if that was more due to trust or a lack of true concern about what could happen in the Hogwarts halls at night. Now that he thought about it, he remembered the invisibility cloak Dumbledore had given him before his first year. It was in the bottom of his trunk but he never used it. Perhaps he should start doing so for nights like this.

"Rip…Kill… Tear… Unworthy…"

Harry froze as he heard the words spoken out loud somewhere around him. He whipped out his wand and spun around as his eyes roamed all over the hall he was in, looking for whatever had just said that. He wasn't quite sure why but he was almost positive that whatever had just said was not human. Something about the way the voice almost seemed to vibrate within his very skull when said had him convinced.

Despite his eyes roaming, he saw nothing around him. Just to be sure, he cast an illusion around him to hide him from sight as he began to look around slowly.

"Kill… Must Kill…"

Harry froze as he heard the words again. They sounded like they were farther away this time and almost like they were getting even further. Despite, his misgivings, and he had many, he decided to follow the voice. If it was something dangerous, he probably should make sure it wasn't a threat to the other members of the castle who may not be able to deal with it easily, arrogant as that sounded.

He made his way down the hallway as he continued to follow the voice. As he did so, he made sure to pay attention as much as possible so he could hopefully examine the details of this night in depth later. The voice continued slowly and Harry was forced to turn a corner where he froze.

It was not the voice that caused this reaction from him though, on the contrary, it was that there was something else in this hallway. He felt his brow furrow in confusion as he saw something small and fuzzy sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway. It was dark it looked like so he couldn't quite make out what it was.

He continued forward, though, now at a much slower pace just in case. It didn't look like whatever was on the floor was a threat but given he was following a weird voice speaking of murder at the moment, he thought it best to exercise at least a little bit of caution. As he got closer to it, he could see that the creature was something furry rather than fuzzy and after coming close enough to it, he could identify the figure as a cat. He blinked at that revelation.

If he recalled correctly, some students had cats, or kneazles, as pets but many tended to leave them at home since they roam about and many couldn't recover them at the end of the year before leaving. As he thought further about it, he noticed that the voice had seemingly disappeared as well, not that it had faded away as it got further, it simply stopped completely.

"Mrs. Norris!"

Harry was startled by the sudden exclamation. He looked up and saw a horror-stricken Filch charging from down the other end of the corridor. The man arrived and fell to his knees. He looked as if he were about to weep.

"No! She's dead! You, you did this to her. You did this to my sweet cat!" Filch yelled now glaring at Harry. Harry scrunched his brow in annoyance.

"I most certainly did not. I only arrived myself…" Harry told him as he trailed off and looked at the cat in the man's arms. He raised his wand and cast two spells on it.

"What are you doing? Stop! Do nothing more to her!" Filch continued yelling while flinching away from Harry. Harry saw magical words appear in the air before him, which he quickly read.

"Calm down. She is not dead, she appears to simply be frozen. We should probably take her to go see Madame Pomfrey and see if she can reverse this. In the meantime, perhaps I shall go and get Professor Dumbledore." Harry suggested softly in hopes of not starting the man up again.

"Alive? Oh, my sweet precious is alive! Come right away Mrs. Norris, we will fix you right up." Filch exclaimed before quickly running off and saying nothing more to Harry. Harry watched the man go before shaking his head and heading up to Albus's office.

An Hour Later

"This is most troubling to see…" Albus said from the corner of the hospital wing that he and Harry were inhabiting as they looked over to a table where Filch was bemoaning Mrs. Norris's condition. Madame Pomfrey was nearby but simply watching solemnly.

"Hmm…" Harry agreed.

"I imagine you insisted on my presence because you were able to distinguish that the magic binding Mrs. Norris is both powerful and Dark in nature?" Albus asked him. Harry nodded. The spells he had cast on her hadn't revealed much in actuality but his own senses had told him another story.

"Yes."

"Along with this explanation of yours on the strange nonhuman voice you heard right before you found her… This does not look good."

"This has to be connected to the message that was found last semester. A nonhuman creature in the school that appears to have some violent tendencies is heard the same night Mrs. Norris has been paralyzed by powerful Dark magic… This has to be his doing." Harry insisted quietly.

"Perhaps… Let us adjourn to my office, I would like to see the memory of tonight if you wouldn't mind?" Albus asked. Harry nodded and made to follow his guardian. They left the Hospital Wing and headed towards the man's office both quickly and silently. It took close to five minutes to reach and Albus wasted no time going to a wall and removing the Pensieve from it. The man then looked at Harry.

"Do you know how to do this?" He asked. Harry nodded.

"Theoretically. I've never done it but it doesn't sound complicated." He answered back. Albus nodded and then gestured to the stone artifact.

"Then if you would…"

"Of course, one moment." Harry said as he held his wand to his temple before concentrating on the memory from earlier in the night. He felt it draw out naturally from his mind and to the tip of his wand. He then gently pointed his wand at the liquid in the Pensieve before releasing it. The magic sprung from his want tip and entered the liquid before seemingly becoming a mist. Harry nodded in satisfaction at seeing that. Albus seemed pleased as well.

"Will you be joining me?" Albus asked. Harry shook his head.

"No, you should see it distraction-free." Harry told him. Albus nodded before diving his head in. Harry watched for a moment before looking around the room. His eyes came to rest on a familiar red form standing on a perch near the headmaster's desk. It was his headmaster's familiar, Fawkes, a fire-red phoenix that was looking right back at him. He approached it.

"Hello, Fawkes. You're looking well." He spoke to the beautiful creature. Fawkes trilled back happily at his words making Harry feel a strange warmness inside. He smiled softly at the creature.

"I hope we didn't wake you with this whole little incident. You know I wouldn't have if I didn't think it was important." Harry continued softly to the phoenix. In response, the bird burst into flame before reappearing almost immediately over his shoulder and landing on it. Harry had initially flinched at seeing it before giving a small glare at the bird.

"Don't do that so suddenly. You scared me you know." Harry admonished causing the bird to trill again, though Harry got the impression it was more amused than sorry. He glared for a moment at the bird before letting it go.

"I don't suppose you've noticed anything strange around Hogwarts, a creature that doesn't belong perhaps?" He asked. He was sure most animal's magic and otherwise were smarter than most gave them credit for, familiars especially. Fawkes almost seemed to shake his head in response as if to confirm Harry's thoughts on the matter. He sighed.

"Thought not but I figured I would ask just in case." Harry murmured as he reached up and ran his fingers gently through the feathers on its chest. Fawkes made a quiet noise in what he figured was a pleasing affirmation of his menstruations. He continued silently as he waited patiently for Albus to finish in his memories

He didn't have to wait more than a couple more minutes until Albus finally withdrew himself looking pensive from the memory.

"Well? Did you hear what I was speaking of?" Harry questioned. Dumbledore looked over at him and didn't respond for a moment as he continued to appear to be lost in thought. He frowned but decided to wait patiently for the man to finish his thoughts.

"Harry, I do not wish you to panic, but I am going to cast a summoning spell. I wish to test something, is that fine with you?" Dumbledore asked. Harry rose an eyebrow at that but nodded curtly. He was confident the man wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt him.

With Harry's confirmation, Albus pulled out his wand and pointed it at the ground between himself and Harry. He did a quick motion and Harry watched as something came flying from the wand other than a spell and watched it land on the ground. He blinked as he registered what the object was.

~ Sssstupid Two-leg! I was napping. How dare you ssssummon me! ~

Harry watched the snake continue to hiss angrily as it looked around the room. He blinked for a moment before looking at Albus.

"Magic snakes can talk?" He asked a little shocked. That wasn't something he had heard of before. Albus looked at him looking somewhat anxious.

"You can hear and understand the snake then? Can you please tell me what it is saying then?" Albus requested politely. Harry gave the man a queer look at that.

"Are you not hearing…"

"Please just tell me." Albus interrupted looking serious. Harry eyed the man for a moment before looking back at the snake.

~ I bet you stupid Two-legssss would stop ignoring me if bit one of you in your fat legssss. ~ The snake continued to rant.

~ Er… Sorry about bringing you here. We didn't know you would be sleeping. ~ Harry tried to apologize to the long animal. The snake immediately stopped its rant and looked at him. He didn't know snakes could show expressions but this one certainly gave the impression that it was surprised.

~ You are a speaker? ~

~ Um… I mean, I can speak yes. Have you never heard a human speak before? Also, do all magical snakes know how to speak English or…~

~ No! You are a speaker of the snake tongue! Snakes cannot speak any of the languages you Two-legs speak. You are speaking our language! A rare ability among your people. ~ The snake informed. Harry blinked at that and then looked over at Albus. The man was just sitting back observing the interaction with a troubled look.

"Albus?"

"Hmmm?"

"Can you not hear what this snake is saying?" Harry asked nervously.

"I cannot. Would you enlighten me?" Albus pushed softly.

"Um… He was saying that I am a speaker and that I was speaking the snake tongue. He said that was a rare ability." Harry informed.

"That is correct. The ability is known as Parseltongue. As the snake said, it is an extremely rare ability that some wizards manifest, usually, it is restricted to those of Salazar Slytherin's line." Albus explained. Harry frowned at that reveal as he looked back at the snake who was still talking but was back to complaining. Albus waved his wand and the snake disappeared once more.

"So… I'm related to Slytherin?" Harry asked curiously. He didn't know much about the man and his line beside the stereotypes that circulated. Albus paused before answering the question as if he wasn't quite sure how he should answer. It caused Harry to raise his eyebrow at the man.

"It's possible I suppose…"

"But you don't think so." Harry observed eyeing the man suspiciously. Albus looked somewhat uncomfortable at Harry's push. The man sighed before continuing.

"No, I believe you have the ability for another reason."

"And you do not wish to tell me… This is not the first time you have held something back from me, and once again, it has something to do with our current Dark Lord problem. I wish to continue to trust you, Albus, you have so far been very good to me but if you continue to withhold things from me that are likely important simply because you don't want it to either weigh on me or otherwise…"

"I understand." Albus finished seeming somewhat resigned now, "You are right, of course. You are not, after all, a normal child. You are extremely wise, intelligent, and mature for your age. These things do often involve you and I suppose it wouldn't quite be fair of me to continue to keep you in the dark… Still, at this time I only have suspicions. I ask you to at least let me confirm things before I start presenting you with information." The old man requested. Harry paused as he looked at the man and evaluated him for a moment.

"As long as you promise not to unnecessarily delay to avoid the issue then I have no issue with that." Harry answered quietly. Albus gave him a soft smile and bowed his head slightly at Harry's words.

"Thank you, Harry. I know it's not easy to place your trust in others, especially when you believe they are keeping things from you." Albus told him. Harry nodded knowing how else to respond to the words. They were true after all.

"Well, back to our topic… You are a parseltongue, as we have just established."

"Right… I assume then you believe the voice I heard in the hallway was the voice of a snake?"

"When I immersed myself in the memory, I did not hear the voice you spoke, though I did hear some sort of noise coming from the wall. It was too low for me to be able to make out, though. However, given what else we know, the leap that the creature is a snake is not a big one." Albus explained. Harry thought about his guardian's words.

"The incident from last semester spoke of the Chamber of Secrets being opened. Salazar's house's symbol is a snake and he can speak Parseltongue, a rare ability in the magical world… I can see it, I suppose. Is there a snake that can paralyze as we saw?" Harry asked.

"Not to my immediate knowledge though I will admit that I do not know all magical snakes off the top of my head." Albus answered lightly.

"The ability is quite powerful from what I could feel from the magic on Mrs. Norris. It also felt…"

"What?"

"I don't know, aggressive maybe? It felt like the magic was trying to physically lash out at its victim. That's all I can say." Harry revealed. Albus nodded thoughtfully at that.

"This is not the first time that the supposed Chamber has been opened." Albus spoke quietly. Harry's eyes immediately snapped to his in surprise.

"It isn't? When was it last opened?"

"Hmm, nearly fifty years ago. I was not yet the Headmaster and simply the Transfiguration teacher here."

"What happened?"

"A girl died and our current groundskeeper Hagrid was believed to be at fault. He was found by the Head boy with an Acromantula. He had apparently been raising it in secret."

Harry blinked at that revelation. He had only met Hagrid a handful of times briefly but he could believe the man would keep a dangerous animal and try to raise it. If he remembered correctly, Albus told him that last year, he had to help the man get a baby dragon to a dragon reserve because he had attempted to raise it in his small hut.

"I was not aware Acromantula's had the ability to also paralyze." Harry admitted. Granted, he didn't know much about the creatures beyond the basics but considering there were some in the Forbidden Forest right next to the school, he had made sure to at least make himself aware of the general facts about them.

"They do not. Though, there is a smaller variant in South China that I have heard is tinted blue and has a venom that can freeze its prey and slowly kill them. They are a rare sub-species, though, and don't often try to hunt humans. So, not much is done about them unless parts are needed." Albus disclosed. Harry gave the man a dubious look at that revelation.

"You just happen to know that random piece of information?"

"Actually, Hagrid told me about them some years ago, funnily enough. I can't seem to remember how we even got on the topic though." Albus said with some amusement clearly in his eyes.

"Alright, and what are the odds one of these spiders was the monster in the Chamber and that I can also understand it."

"Almost non-existent. The spider did not even exist during Salazar's time. I am quite sure we were on the right path with the snake thought."

"Which means that either the Chamber wasn't opened fifty years ago, or Hagrid was used as a scapegoat." Harry deduced.

"I believe it to be the latter rather than the former."

"Why?"

"Because the boy who caught Hagrid was a half-blood by the name of Tom Riddle. He would later come to be known as the dark wizard Lord Voldemort." Albus casually unmasked. Harry felt his breath get caught in his throat at those words. His mind immediately started going a mile a minute as it started to put pieces together.

"Voldemort opened the chamber fifty years ago, almost got caught, then used Hagrid as a scapegoat?"

"That is my belief. I did my research into the Chamber after the incident in the hopes of finding it but never did have any success. Thus, Hagrid took the blame and his wand was snapped." Albus added sadly. Harry grimaced at that. Hagrid was strange but he certainly didn't deserve to be framed for the death of a fellow student.

"That would mean Voldemort was a descendent of Slytherin."

"Correct. It was something he admitted to and took pride in. He was also a Parseltongue, which supported his claims."

"…I take it that I should not advertise the fact that I am one as well then?"

"That is unfortunately the case. Parseltongues, unfortunately, have a tainted reputation due to the large number of them being darker in nature. Lord Voldemort has cemented this image, at least, in Europe he has."

"Great… Fine. A snake then. We also have the closest proof we're going to get that Voldemort IS involved in all of this. It only makes the whole thing even more dangerous… But he couldn't be possessing a student or staff member like he was last year; it would be extremely noticeable." Harry commented. Albus nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. Though I would normally say that for him to come back to the school and cause such a noticeable incident as well as claim the Heir of Slytherin was behind it… It does not seem to be his style in truth."

"Perhaps a copycat then? Maybe someone else has the ability we do not know of and is trying to follow in the man's footsteps?"

"We cannot dismiss such a theory in such a situation… Well, I think this is the limit of our efforts tonight. I shall begin to look into beasts that fit the description we have discussed. In the meantime, keep your eyes open and search for anything suspicious in the castle."

"I don't know how helpful I shall be in that regard given my normal daily activities…" Harry muttered referencing the fact that he only ever went to class and then went straight to the club room without interacting with any of his classmates for the most part.

"True enough, but still…"

"Of course, I shall do my best to keep an eye out while simultaneously doing my best to stay out of trouble." Harry answered with an amused half-smile. Albus returned it with a full one of his own.

"Very well… Why don't I walk you to your dormitories for the night? Given the circumstances, I think that would be the safest option."

"I shall gladly accept."

An Hour Later

"You look funny. Is something up?" Ciri asked almost as soon as she appeared in the room. Harry looked up at her from his desk before thinking about how to phrase what he was about to say.

"They're… may be some sort of ancient snake that has the power to paralyze people hidden somewhere in the castle I am staying at." He decided on.

"…What?" Ciri froze and gave him a perplexed look. Hmmm, perhaps that was not the best way to phrase it after all.

"We don't have a lot of details yet so I'm not really sure how much more I can elaborate." Harry admitted.

"Does it bite you to paralyze you?"

"I don't believe so. It was magical in nature and considering the lack of physical damage on its one victim, the magic is likely cast like a human cast a spell, maybe…"

"You just have magic snakes that can cast magic like sorcerers hidden in your school… Is that normal?"

"No, it is not, and again, I'm not sure about most of the details. A lot of what I am saying is just conjecture. Heck, it may not even be a snake. We just THINK it is."

"Why?"

"It's… complicated. Do you want me to give you a history lesson to help explain?" He asked. Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the mere suggestion.

"No. I think I'll just believe you when you say it's probably a snake." She said trying to smoothly step away from his suggestion. He smiled in amusement at her attempt and decided to let it go.

"Thank you. Anyway, it looks like there is more danger at this school… Oh, and I can speak snake." Harry added almost forgetting that little point.

"… Of course, you do. Any other things you'd like to reveal to me right now?" She asked. Harry thought for a moment about it before shaking his head.

"No, I think that's it."

"Wonderful. Now, that you're done, would you like to hear about my day?" she asked rhetorically. Despite that, he walked over and sat on the conjured couch next to her. She immediately put her back against the opposite armrest and spread her legs so her feet were lying on top of his lap. He gave her a deadpan look.

"Comfortable?"

"Am now."

"Tsk… Very well, tell me about your day. Did anything happen?" He asked lightly. He knew nothing major could have happened otherwise he would have felt it to some extent over their bond.

"I rode a horse." Ciri answered very matter-of-factly. Harry waited for a moment to see if she would continue, which she did not.

"Oh, you're done? I was expecting more." He said with a roll of his eyes. Of course, she rode a horse, she was still trying to get to that temple.

"I'm sorry I wasn't attacked by a magic-talking snake that cast spells at me." She shot back sarcastically. He did smile and chuckle softly at her words. They did sound rather ridiculous even if she took some… creative liberties with what he had said.

"Give it time. Knowing your luck, it may just happen."

"Hmph, perhaps you're right." She smiled at that.

Harry was quite glad she was back to her old self. She had finally gotten around to telling him what had happened a couple of months ago and why it had gotten her to go so quiet. Harry had been distraught to hear that his friend had once more been forced to bare witness to such a dark side of reality. He knew the Medieval period, even in his world, was full of such incidents, but it did seem like Ciri happened to be a magnet of trouble. If only he could perform his Artificial Magic ritual, then she could at least learn magic from him. Of course, without ridding her of her Blood Curse problem it would likely put her in EVEN more danger. Urgh, so annoying.

"At least my ass has finally gotten used to it." Ciri muttered.

"Ciri." Harry admonished at her words. Her response was to raise one of her feet and then drive it back down into his leg causing him to flinch. It didn't necessarily but he could still somewhat feel the impact. He glared at her as she simply smirked back.

"You're not my mother." She scolded.

"One day I shall confront Geralt on all the bad words he helped you pick up." Harry whispered to himself though it was still loud enough for his roommate to hear which caused her to kick him again.

"There's nothing wrong with the way I speak."

"I beg to differ… So, your journey should be in its final chapter at this point. Do you know how much longer until you reach to temple?"

"We still have a way to go, I think. Maybe another month and a half? We're not moving that fast or anything and Geralt has been trying to avoid possible areas of conflict which is causing us to go slightly slower than we normally would." Ciri revealed. Harry nodded in approval at her words. Anything that kept Ciri out of and away from danger was a good plan to him.

"You should enjoy the time while you can. It may be some time before you can see your guardian again." Harry advised as he looked over at her seriously. Ciri didn't meet his gaze, rather she seemed to be looking down lost in thought.

"Yeah… You're right. I will miss Geralt… But it's not like I won't see him again or anything." She said almost as if she was trying to convince herself of her own words. Harry looked at her for a moment before nodding.

"If you truly wish to see him again after he leaves, I am sure you will find a way. If there's one thing I know about you is that if you want something, you'll go after it with everything you have." Harry added his own two cents. She looked up at him and a hint of a smile appeared on her face. She didn't say anything but the tension that had been in the air with his question seemed to ease up.

"Do you have anything you want to do tonight? Practice maybe?" He offered. She shook her head.

"Nah, that's okay. I got some practice in with Geralt before I went to bed. He said I needed to make sure to keep going over the forms or I will forget how to do them properly."

"I imagine he's right… Very well, then perhaps I should get back to my project…" He hinted as he looked to begin to get up. Unfortunately, Ciri locked her legs in place and did not let him get up. He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. She eyed him for a moment with a frown.

"No. Stay with me today and relax." She commanded. He blinked at her words before sighing.

"Ciri, this is…"

"No!" She said with more force this time, now openly glaring at him. He faltered at that not realizing how serious she was. He weighed his options and next words carefully before relaxing under her gaze.

"Very well… Today we can just relax with each other, but what I am working on is extremely important so just for today. Tomorrow, I need to get back to it." He told her seriously. Although her face still looked rather stern, her eyes showed her happiness which was enough for him to know he had made the right choice. Ciri moved swiftly and bear tackled him from across the couch causing him to get the wind knocked out of him and land with her on top of him.

"Ciri…?"

"Ahhh…. This is nice. We haven't done this in a while…" She muttered happily as she wrapped around him. She was referring to this method of cuddling which they had done when they were young… Or at least younger.

"Yes, there was a reason for that…" Harry snipped as he felt his cheeks flush at the girl's actions. He was quite used to Ciri at this point but he was still a boy and Ciri was still a girl, a fact which he had grown more and more aware of as the months passed. He knew Ciri was aware of it as well but it seemed to matter less to her. He wasn't sure why but that somewhat irked him. Almost like she saw him as less than a man, which he technically was but still…

"I trust you'll be able to keep any urges you have under control for today." She dismissed easily as she finished adjusting herself and sighed in contentment. Harry rolled his eyes and didn't for a moment before sighing and eventually giving in and wrapping his arms around Ciri and conjuring a blanket over them.

"Was that so hard?" She whispered.

Harry grimaced at the question. No, it wasn't hard. In fact, it was almost too easy. As someone who had combed through medical texts of both mundane and magical nature, especially recently, he knew that he and Ciri weren't exactly normal mentally speaking. It was entirely likely that they relied on each's others presence to the point of it being dangerous if they were ever separated. Harry shuddered at the mere thought of it and knew that such was an incredibly REAL threat to him, to the point that he may even reach a point of non-functionality if Ciri ever disappeared. He had no doubt, given her own life, that Ciri probably also used him as something of a safety blanket. He wasn't sure how that would affect them as they both continued to grow but there wasn't much he could do about it save for trying to separate them and that was… Needless to say, that was not an option.

"I suppose not…" Harry finally answered quietly not giving anything away about his current thoughts.