The Ranger

Dumbledore was pacing in his office. The Slytherin's monster was rampaging in the castle and the Potter brat didn't speak Parseltongue.

Last year went perfectly, Charles had went after the stone with his friends and encountered Lord Voldemort, just like he planned, but this year nothing was right. Lockhart was suspended for molestation of students and was arrested, the new DADA teacher is a former auror, who is just looking after the kids while they self study. Of course, before Lockhart was suspended he made a Dueling club and the Malfoy boy summoned a snake, but Charles didn't spoke Parseltongue, he was as scared as everyone else. The snake had managed to bite a Hufflepuff student before Snape vanquished it. It left Dumbledore wondering if the brat had Voldemort's soul or not.

He had already lost the Locker and Potter's Invisibility cloak had lost its ability. Then when he went to check on the ring this morning it was gone as well. Someone was pulling the strings and was sabotaging his plans, it's infuriating.

However, he can't think about it right now. He needs to find a Parselmouth who's able to kill the Slytherin's monster.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. Maybe if the other Potter brat was still alive he could use her, he saw her hissing at a snake once. Back then he thought it was an effect from the twin bond as Charles was Voldemort's horcrux some abilities could have partly transferred to his sister, but, it seems like this ability has completely transferred to her and then she dared to die and destroy his plan.

Dumbledore sat down and draw a mental list of people he could call on. Many were able to kill the monster but none was a Parselmouth. He sighed again. He'll have to call on the Rangers, he heard there was a Parselmouth between the apprentices. If the kid is young enough he could get him on his side, Parselmouth could be useful.

The next day, he contacted the Rangers' Headquarters and requested for their assistance. They responded immediately and allowed him to meet the most fitted Ranger for the job. They warned him that this is task is classified as unknown, which makes it highly dangerous, and Rangers can always refuse those tasks, therefore it's up to him to convince the Ranger to take the task hence the meeting. They sent information on where to find the Ranger and that they know he will visit them in near future. He looked at the information.

"H. L. Peverell, isn't the last Peverell named Edward?" he mused. "Maybe it's the wife, she is known Parselmouth."

He continued reading. "Why is she in Bulgaria?"

Later that week, he and Minerva were standing before an abandoned property in the suburbs of Sofia, Bulgaria.

"Albus, are you certain we are in the right place?" asked Minerva as she looked at the abandoned mansion. Its windows were either broken or filled with wooden planks, the roof was falling apart, the door were leaning next to the doorway. There was a pile of rumble, so someone was here and was cleaning the manor.

"Yes, I am. This is the address."

Dumbledore knock on the rusty iron gate that looked like it would fall apart any moment. When he touched it he felt strong wards, both old and new. This property practically equals to magical impregnable fortress. His eyes widened in surprised before a calculating gleam entered.

A movement in a window caught their attention. Soon a girl in her early teenage years appeared in the doorway. She was wearing blue overalls, white undershirt and working gloves, it's all Muggle clothing but she is definitely a witch. She had black hair, pulled in messy brain, few strands of hair were framing her face, and had killing-curse green eyes. As she came closer both Dumbledore and McGonagall noticed smaller things like that she's covered in dust from the house, but Dumbledore is drawn to another detail. A symbol of the Deathly Hallows with the Resurrection stone embedded in it hung on silver chain around her neck.

The girl stopped at the gate and smiled at them. She said something in Bulgaria and frowned when she received only confused faces.

"Do you speak English?" asked Minerva.

"Yes. How may I help you?" asked the girl. She had an accent, a beautiful mix of French and German accents.

"Yes, we are looking for your mother," answered Minerva.

"I'm sorry, but you are in wrong country. My mother is in Germany right now," the girl said politely.

It was Minerva's time to frowned. "And your father?"

The girl shrugged. "On a business trip. May I know a name of who are you looking for?"

Minerva didn't like the fact that this girl was here alone and wanted to speak more on that subject but patiently answer her question. "We are looking for someone named H. L. Peverell."

"Oh, that's me. I'm the only Peverell with those initials. My name is Harley Lilith Peverell," she introduced.

"But that can't be right," said Dumbledore. "We are looking for a Ranger."

Wordlessly Harley pulled out another pendant from behind her neckline that looked like an silver arrow head, which had drawn bow with dagger instead of the arrow engraved into it.

"You are a Ranger," Minerva whispered. "But you are just a child."

"People say I'm a prodigy," she stated and looked at Dumbledore. "Are you perhaps Albus Dumbledore?"

"Yes, I am, my dear girl," Dumbledore smiled his eyes twinkling.

Harry cringed. "Please refrain from calling me 'dear girl,' Mr. Dumbledore; it's unpleasant for me."

Dumbledore faltered, but got hold of himself quickly. "But, of course, miss Peverell."

"Thank you." She turned to Minerva. "And you are?"

"Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts," she introduced herself.

"Pleasure to meet you. Please come in," Harley opened the gate and shut it when they came through. "I'm sorry for the state of the mansion, it was abandoned for a long time and it just came to my possession," she guided them inside and into a room that probably used to be drawing-room. It was as clean as it could get, but there was a hole in the ceiling.

She had transfigured an old, decaying sofa into a new one for them to sit on. There was already a repaired coffee table, on which lay newspaper from wizarding Bulgaria, opened on sports page, and a thermos. Quickly, she conjured three teacups and poured a steaming cups of ginger tea with lemon and honey. "I know you Brits like a strong black tea with milk, but I didn't expect you so early; otherwise, I would have prepared it."

"It's quite alright, we should have sent a notification of our arrival," reassured Dumbledore.

"Thank you for understanding."

"May I ask you a question?" asked Minerva.

"Of course," Harley nodded after she sat down on a wooden chair on the opposite side of the table with cup in hands.

"How come you are a Ranger?"

"Like everyone, I had applied for an apprenticeship after finishing my OWLs. After that, I apprenticed under a Ranger and passed all my exams with flying colors. I must admit there were some concerns about my age, but soon I proved myself. No one gave me any special treatment; quite the opposite, if I had done even one exam less than perfectly, I would have been kicked out until I turned fifteen."

"Isn't that quite harsh on a child? What did your parents said about it?"

Harry smirked. "I honestly enjoyed the challenge, and my father was the Ranger I apprenticed under, since I was too young to leave my parents for such a long time. And my mother? Well, she gave me rules I had to follow, like hanging out with children close to my age, doing my homework, and finishing my NEWTs before my final exams. All in all, they were supportive."

"Were you going to school while apprenticing?" Minerva asked incredulously.

"I was homeschooled since I can remember and my mother was a demanding teacher," Harley smiled fondly.

"Hm, Miss Peverell," interrupted Dumbledore. "I couldn't help but notice the pendant you are wearing. Is that the Resurrection Stone? It looks just like how I have imagined it from its description."

"You mean this trinket?" Harley hold up the symbol. "No, it's not. It's just a pendant my parents gave me when I was younger. You can try call dead with it if you want. I have never succeeded," she laughed.

"No that's alright, I was just curious," he took a sip of his tea. "Now let's get to the reason for our visit."

Harley straightened in her seat her friendly demeanour replaced by cold mask of professionalism.

"There is a monster rampaging in our school, Hogwarts. It can petrify any living being. We believe that it's a rumoured Slytherin's monster from the Chamber of the Secrets," informed Dumbledore.

"How long is it in school and who fell victim to it?" Harley leaned closer and put her cup on the table.

"Since the Halloween-" he was cut off.

"What?!" Harley jumped up. "You have a monster in your school for more than half a year and you are looking for help only now?! Do you care for your students safety at all?!" she shouted, then turned to Minerva. "Deputy headmistress McGonagall, was there any other accidents like this?"

Minerva squirmed under the her gaze. She felt like the Killing curse was aimed at her and would hit her if she won't answer.

Reluctantly she spoke. "Last year, Albus hid the Philosopher's Stone in our school."

"Are you kidding me?" Harley asked incredulously. "Those things aren't meant to be hid in a fucking school! I believe Mr Flamel is more than capable of taking care of his property," she glared at Albus. "How are you headmaster when you clearly do not care about your students safety?"

"Now, now, let's not jump into conclusions just because of small mistake-"

"A 'small mistake?' A small mistake?! Make a mistake in a letter is a small mistake, what you have done is a serious issue. You shouldn't have hidden a priceless artefact that doesn't belong to the school in the school. Have you even had any appropriate precautions?"

"We have set up a series of traps around it and the corridor was off limits for students?"

Harley laughed and fell back on the chair. "It looks like you know nothing about kids and teenagers. When you say that something is forbidden or off limits it's like a big sign 'come here and explore it' and if it's dangerous it's even more alluring. Let me guess, few of your students broke inside."

Both Minerva and Dumbledore were uncomfortable.

'How dare she question me and my decision? She's nothing more than a child herself. She knows nothing about the real world,' Dumbledore range in his mind.

'She's right. We shouldn't have hid that thing in our school. Because of this my lions got hurt,' Minerva admitted to herself.

Harley sighed. "Let's return to the problem at hand. Who and how many fell victim?"

Minerva frowned. "One cat, she was the first victim, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the Gryffindor Ghost, a first-year Colin Creevey, a second-year Justin Finch-Fletchley and sixth-year Penelope Clearwater, all of which were petrified. All students were muggle-born."

"Was there anything else in places where you found them?"

"When we found Mrs Norris, the cat, there was a message on the wall."

"What did it said?"

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened enemies of the heir beware," Minerva whispered.

"I see. When are you returning back to Scotland?"

Albus blinked. "Are you planning on helping us?"

"Yes. If you let me pack and clean up, I can leave right after," Harley agreed.

"Perfect. Our Portkey will activate by password, so take your time."

"Alright."

Half an hour later the three of them stood before the now locked and secured gate. Harley was dressed in traditional Ranger gear composed of white undershirt; long-sleeved, green shirt; sleeveless brown tunic; leather gauntlet on right hand and forearm protector on the left; brown pants; leather boots, that reached her knees; cloak, which appeared to be of greyish colour, but was enchanted to mimic its surrounding when needed; leather belt with pouches; twin daggers secured in their scabbards on the belt, and hidden wand holster under the gauntlet. She was securing her bow and quiver. When done she covered her lower half of face with green cloth and pulled up her hood, the enchantments will ensure it won't come down in a fight.

At her nod Dumbledore held out the Portkey and both women grabbed on. They all said Hogwarts at the same time and were off.