I do not own Harry Potter nor World of Darkness

Great Hall, Hogwarts, 31th May 1993 (Monday)

Overall, explaining the situation away was rather simple, thanks in no small part to Lockhart bragging about discovering both the entry of the Chamber of Secrets as well as the nature of the monster within all on his own after a somewhat convoluted set of metal associations starting from a hand mirror he had dropped on the bathroom. He admitted to having revealed the information to Weasley in an attempt to calm him down, right before ordering him and his friend to return to their dormitories and leaving to gather a handful of roosters. After all, as the book very clearly stated, their cry is lethal for a Basilisk.

Ron admitted that, after Lockhart ordered them back to their dormitories, had simply grabbed a broom and rushed to the Chamber. Thinking that the professor had run away and abandoned his sister, he felt like the only choice he had to save her was to go into the chamber by himself to hopefully grab Ginny and escape before the monster could get to either of them. Together, the group gave an exhausting description of what happened in the Chamber. They all had received a thorough scolding for their reckless actions, and letters had been sent to their parents explaining exactly what had happened and how irresponsible they all had been.

Ginny had been sent to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where she would be spending at least two weeks to completely remove the last traces of whatever dark magic Tom Riddle had been using on her.

Harry's group had received a scathing letter from their parents, while Harry's letter had been rather… mild. At least compared to Miss Weasley's tear-filled Howler.

Dear Harry,

What you did was exceedingly stupid, do you have any idea

about the repercussions? Did you stop to think about what

would have happened had you died?

Before you misunderstand: I am not condemning your

actions, Caine's only knows I have done my fair share

during my youth, but I was naught but a shovelhead

recruited to fight in a century-long crusade. You are not as

easily replaceable as I was.

That being said, I am happy to learn about your defeat of

this Basilisk creature. Since you and your friends were

instrumental in its death, I'd very much appreciate the opportunity

to study it, can you ask Headmaster Dumbledore if he'd be willing

to part with the monster's carcass?

I am unsure about the laws regarding ownership of the monster's

corpse and I'd rather avoid involving lawyers.

Make sure to tell your headmaster I said that.

Sir Harold Zettler,

still your legal guardian

Harry put down the letter and picked up the newspaper. Gilderoy Lockhart had offered an exclusive interview for the Daily Prophet about the events and Harry had caught onto a rather interesting extract.

"Mr. Lockhart, what are your comments about the group of

five students that went into the Chamber by themselves?"

"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised: I could see the spark

of greatness in all of them, and young Potter surely had a

certain something that reminded me of my younger self.

My Hogwarts experience has certainly given me a fresh

appreciation for the witches and wizards that make education

their career: it's hard work, it takes a lot of dedication and a

certain spark that I, unfortunately, found lacking in myself."

"Does that mean that you will abandon your travels and take

a permanent role as an educator?" "Heavens, no! Quite the

opposite, in fact. It was my grave mismanagement of the event

that put those students into mortal danger and that experience

showed me that I am not cut out for the job. I have a duty to both

the school and the students to conclude the year and make sure

as many of them as possible are ready for their O.W.L. and N.E.W.T.

but I will be relinquishing my position to a more qualified teacher.

I will leave the castle humbled, but richer than ever before."

Harry still wasn't sure whether the man was the hero he portrayed himself in his books or just a fraud making up stories, and with him leaving Hogwarts at the end of the year, he would most likely never know.

Hermione and the other petrified victims had been released that morning, and the girl had been prompted filled in about what had happened during her absence.

"I knew it was some kind of snake! Only Harry could hear its voice and he's a Parselmouth!"

"That's why you ran to the library?"

"Yes! We finally had a lead on the monster, I had to start narrowing down the list."

The doors of the Great hall swung open, all students turning their eyes towards a smiling Dumbledore walking down the room and onto the podium.

"Dear students, it is with great pleasure that, starting from today, I will start my duty as Hogwarts' new, or some may say old, headmaster. I know that there have been some minor changes brought forward during my absence, and I will discuss with the rest of the staff whether any of them are worth keeping around or not. Now, as I'm sure most of you are aware, the monster within the Chamber of Secrets has been slain by our beloved Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, who, am I sad to announce, will not continue his tenure for the next year. Regarding the petrified victims…"

Harry zoned out the headmaster's announcements, returning to his copy of the Daily Prophet. Once the headmaster finished his speech, he started his breakfast. Halfway through his pudding, he felt a hand over his shoulder. He looked up, noticing Gemma Farley in her Prefect robe.

"Potter, Dumbledore expects you in his office before classes start. Second floor, Gargoyle's corridor. - She then turned to her left - Nott, you'll be going after Potions. Greengrass, before lunch. Perks, after lunch."

The group nodded, resuming their breakfast, while Harry kept an eye on the headmaster. As the old wizard finished his meal and stood up, Harry followed suit, reaching the man right in front of his office.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Harry. I'm afraid my many tasks have never granted me the chance to have a chat with you."

Dumbledore smiled. With a simple wave of his hand, the gargoyle turned around, revealing a small staircase that led the two into a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, the Sorting Hat.

"First of all, Harry, I want to thank you. - said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. - You have shown great courage and real loyalty to agree to follow Mr. Weasley down in the Chamber. It was your action that saved young Ginevra's life, and possibly many others as well. I know there isn't much I can do at this point in time to properly show you my gratitude for saving the school, but if there is anything you wish for, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, headmaster. if it isn't too much to ask… Sir Harold was curious about the Basilisk. He wanted to know if you would be willing to let him have it."

"Ah, yes. The famed Sir Harold Zettler. I have heard a lot of things about this man, and I was considering setting up a meeting with him. We are both busy men but, assuming the Wizengamont doesn't implode and there is no emergency meeting for the International Wizarding Coalition, I would be happy to schedule an appointment with your guardian and discuss the handling of the Basilisk. If the parents of the other students are in agreement, I see no problem in letting Sir Zettler have it. Professor Snape will probably request some parts to turn them into ingredients, but I'm sure the Basilisk is big enough for everyone."

Harry nodded in understanding.

"Tell me, Harry. Are you…happy with your current living arrangements? It is clear to me that you respect Sir Zettler and the employees he assigned to watch over you, but he is a very busy man and I know from personal experience that busy men aren't always the most… present of guardians. If you wished for some alternative arrangements, I'm sure we could figure something out for you."

Harry smiled.

"Thank you, sir, but I'm more than happy where I am. It's true that I only see Sir Zettler a few times a year, but he's taking good care of me. Barnaby and Zafrina are only busy when the shop is open, but I'm in Diagon Alley and just one floo stop away from visiting my friends."

"That, my dear boy, is precisely the answer I was hoping to receive from you." Said Dumbledore with a smile.

"Unfortunately, we have other subjects to discuss as well. Darker subjects. I was led to believe that within the Chamber you met Tom Riddle. I imagine he was most interested in you…"

Harry nodded. All things considered, he should have probably seen this coming.

"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry, - said Dumbledore calmly - because Lord Voldemort, who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin, can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure …"

"He gave me powers?" Harry said, thunderstruck.

"It certainly seems so. You see, Harry… there was a prophecy about you. A prophecy about you defeating Lord Voldemort. Considering what happened on that fateful night, I had always assumed the prophecy had already been fulfilled. You did, after all, vanquished the Dark Lord. After this incident, however, I am starting to have doubts about it. The prophecy might not have been fulfilled yet."

Dumbledore pulled a small, black book from his robes. It was ruined, almost ripped apart by the Basilisk's fangs and only a few strings of paper and cotton fiber were keeping it together.

"How do you know about the prophecy?" asked Harry, skeptical

"I was there when it was uttered. Professor Trelawney is one of the very rare seers to have uttered a true prophecy, and the only living one in England to have done so more than once. If you wish to hear the Prophecy, Harry, all you have to do is go to the Ministry of Magic and ask for it. But before you do that, allow an old man to utter some words of warning: Fate is a fickle mistress and does not appreciate when people interfere in her design. Many men who heard their prophecy have, in an attempt to subvert it, put in motion the very same chain of events that allowed the prophecy to be realized. Lord Voldemort is but one of many examples of that. Should you wish to hear the Prophecy, I must advise you not to try to subvert it."

Dumbledore's eyes stared at Harry, their stern gaze burning into Harry's mind how serious this discussion was.

"I won't, sir."

Dumbledore's eyes softened, his smile reappearing on his face.

"I'm glad you understood."

Suddenly, the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall. Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering under his arm, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby.

"Good morning, Lucius." said Dumbledore pleasantly.

Mr Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face.

"So! - said Lucius Malfoy, his cold eyes fixed on Dumbledore. - You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see, Lucius, - said Dumbledore, smiling serenely - the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too. Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."

Mr Malfoy went even pale, but his eyes were still slits of fury.

"So, have you caught the culprit?"

"We have. I was just thanking Mr. Potter for his invaluable assistance." said Dumbledore, pointing at a smiling Harry.

"Well? - said Mr Malfoy sharply, not even glancing at Harry. - Who is it?"

"The same person as last time, Lucius. But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."

Harry looked at Dobby, as the elf was pointing at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist.

"I… see…"

"A clever plan. Because if Harry and his friends hadn't discovered this book, Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will… Speaking of which, I should remember to write to Mr. Nott. I do owe young Theodore a debt, after all."

Mr Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly mask-like.

Behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head.

Harry nodded at Dobby, gesturing at the elf to back into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment.

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Harry.

Lucius Malfoy rounded on him.

"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?"

Harry shrugged.

"I thought you might be curious. It seems rather… unusual that something like that just happened to appear in her hands. Your lack of curiosity on the subject is, like I said… unusual. Some may even say… suspicious."

"Now, now, Harry… I'm sure Mr. Malfoy is just shocked about the news. After all, the monster could have just as easily taken his son Draco. The man must still be processing the information we just gave him." pointed out the headmaster.

Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, his right hand twitching as though he was longing to reach for his wand.

"We're going, Dobby!"

He wrenched open the door, but Harry had anticipated his action. With a swift kick to the door, the handle slid off Lucius Malfoy's hand and the door closed itself shut

"That won't be possible, Mr. Malfoy. - said Harry, doing his best not to smile under Lucius's glare. - You see, that house elf you brought with you to school is currently wanted by the ministry for a slew of crimes. Mail theft being probably the most serious one. He did it for months, after all."

Lucius Malfoy became crimson in rage. He turned around, planting a kick into Dobby's side that made the house elf fly across the room. He pulled out a wand, pointing at the creature when he felt Harry's wand poking his side.

"Lucius, I am disappointed. - stated Dumbledore - surely you have been informed of the discovery made by our Fae research club about House elves, haven't you?"

Lucius blinked in confusion.

"House elves aren't alive. - explained Dumbledore - Not entirely, at least. They are a magnificent runic construct which merely resembles a living creature. You should read more 'Challenges in Charming' and leave 'Witch Weekly' to Miss Malfoy."

"Which also means that Dobby is only a tool used for the crime. A smoking gun that we just discovered belongs to you. Headmaster, can you call the Aurors?"

"I most certainly will, dear Harry. I'm sure they will arrive here shortly. However, you should probably get going if you don't want to miss your potion exam. I'm sure Mr. Malfoy here will be eager to cooperate and solve the case with haste."

With a smile, Harry left the room and headed towards Professor Snape's class.

Great Hall, Hogwarts, 3rd June 1993 (Friday)

The rest of the spring term passed in a haze of blazing sunshine.

Lucius Malfoy was dragged in front of the Wizengamot and tried for the crimes committed by his house elf. Experts 'House elf breeders' had been called to analyze Dobby. Despite being resentful of the true nature of their craft being once again out in the open, the news of one of their House elves being used to commit a crime had ensured their swift cooperation. After a long analysis of the elf in question, it was discovered that Dobby's runic array was, in the expert's own words, 'a fucking mess.' None of them knew exactly how, but Dobby's runes were nowhere near what they should have been. Someone, probably Dobby's previous owner, had discovered the House elf's runic array and decided to place it under both a protection and a non-detection spell before returning it to the shop. The crafter, not noticing the still-intact runes, had stacked a second set of runic instructions on top of the first. The beating Dobby received at Malfoy manor had damaged the new runes, exposing some of the old ones and causing a short-circuit. For every order given to him, Dobby was, effectively, receiving about a few dozens of similar yet distinctly different sets of instructions, which gave the House elf, through a long explanation about runic loopholes that completely flew over both Harry and most of the listener's heads, the ability to disobey all but the most perfectly worded of commands.

To be perfectly honest, Harry was pretty certain that Lucius Malfoy had simply offered the young 25-year old wizard expert enough money to retire in order to make up something to take the blame off of him, but that didn't matter too much. Lucius Malfoy might have managed to avoid jail, but he had been sacked as a school governor and had to pay an exorbitantly high amount of money to try and salvage both his job at the ministry and his public image. Not to mention the fact that the Malfoy family had been barred from ever entering a House elf shop, and thus from owning House elves, by the extremely pissed representative of the guild of House elves breeders.

As a direct consequence of the scandal, Draco was no longer strutting around the school as if he owned the place, much to the joy of Ron and his family. Dobby had been given to Sir Harold as part of the compensation, who in turn decided to rent the house elf for an astronomically high rate to whatever runesmith that wished to analyze the elf's unique rune matrix. Whenever the elf wasn't passed around from runesmith to runesmith, he was hard at work to keep Power Potter's spotless.

Harry had written to his Domitor about the prophecy, asking whether it was a good idea for Harry to go to the ministry to hear it. The vampire's response had been short, but very clear.

Dear Harry,

You asked me if hearing your prophecy is a good idea.

Please pardon my french, but this is the only way I know

to show you exactly what I think of your idea:

FUCK NO.

Stay away from it.

Sir Harold Zettler

your guardian

"He's… not particularly fond of prophecies, uh?" asked Theo, passing the note to Sally.

"He's being paranoid." muttered Sally.

"He's not wrong. You're never too careful when it comes to prophecies." pointed out Daphne.

Harry shrugged. It didn't really change a lot. If prophecies were doomed to come true regardless of what he did, then anything he could do to stop it was just time wasted.

"Would you hear a prophecy about yourself?" asked Harry.

"Of course! If I know what's going to happen how can I prepare for it?"

"Trying to meddle with a prophecy, Theo? - teased Daphne - I thought you were smarter than that."

"I'm not preventing it! I'm just… mitigating the damage."

"That is still meddling with it. - said Daphne in a sing-song voice - It's going to backfire."

As Theo and Daphne started to argue as to what exactly counted as 'meddling', Harry felt something moving inside his pocket.

He reached for it, pulled out his silver and green box and opened it.

Inside, the yellow egg was moving on its own and now had a noticeable crack going down the middle.

"It's hatching!" he shouted, interrupting the argument and dragging everyone's attention to the egg.

Soon, a group of curious Slytherins were gathered around the egg as more and more cracks started to appear on its surface, with many students from other houses getting up from their table to come and see.

Pieces of the shell started to fall off, as the snake of a tiny yellow serpent covered in green stripes started to make its way out of the egg. It stopped halfway through, more cracks forming on the shell until it finally gave way, revealing a set of bright yellow, almost golden-colored wings attached to the snake.

"T'is an Amphiptere! - said Hagrid, towering over the students - Mighty rare critters. Never seen one m'self"

"Which one wants to be my master?" hissed the snake, slithering its way across the table.

"I am." hissed back Harry in Parseltongue, extending his hand towards it.

The Amphiptere wrapped itself around Harry's fingers, squeezing and smelling it, as if to check for something.

After a few interminable seconds, the snake nodded in approval.

"I like your magic, master. I accept."

"Is it dangerous?" asked one of the students

"Naa, they be friendly. Get real big tho. Harry, ye might fly on him in a' year or two." replied Hagrid with a smile on his face.

"So, what are you going to name him?" asked Theo.

"I'm not sure… any suggestions?"

Students started to shout their suggestions.

"Apophis!"

"Amphi!"

"Jormungandr!"

"Buttercup!"

"Nidhogg!"

"Anakin!"

"Kaa!"

"Manasa!"

"Coatl!"

"Asklepio!"

"Noodle!"

"Salazar!"

As the wave of suggestions overwhelmed Harry, he looked at his new familiar.

"You like any of the suggestions?"

The creature nodded.

"I like Kaa"

"Kaa does suit him." whispered Ginny in Sally's ear, having shoved her way through the students.

"You can understand him?" whispered back Sally, in surprise.

The Amphiptere opened its wings as Harry lifted up the now named Kaa and introduced him to Hogwarts under the applause of the present.

"You couldn't?" asked Ginny, joining in the applause.

"Ginny… they were speaking in Parseltongue."

"I… I'm a Parselmouth? But… but I'm a Gryffindor! I can't be a Parselmouth!"

"Miss Weasley. - said Professor McGonagall, putting her hand on her shoulder. - I believe this is neither the time nor the place for this discussion. I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, but the headmaster still wants to ask a few questions about what happened in the Chamber once breakfast is over."

Ginny nodded. Professor McGonagall was right. This was a time for celebration. Her worries could wait.


Again, bit of a longer chapter, but some scenes shouldn't be split up to satisfy some self-imposed chapter length rules.

Lockhart got away with it... or was he actually competent the whole time? Guess we'll never know... (naa, he was a fraud)

Small chat with Dumbledore... and my own interpretation regarding the Prophecy. After all, what's the fun in having prophecies if people don't misinterprete them and come to the wrong conclusion?

Dobby and Lucius... boy, that was a hard scene to write. I'm like... 65% satisfied with it, but despite numerous attempts, I just couldn't find the inspiration to write it. It wasn't exactly writer block, but I had to really fight word for word to finish the scene. And I HAD to finish the scene because otherwise Dobby would always be a Damocle's sword ready to fuck shit up for Harry. I'm sure there was a more elegant way to solve this (killing Dobby?), but this is the best I could come up with. I hope it's up to your standard or, at the very least, you can power through it and pretend it's on the same level as the rest of the story

The egg hatches! Kaa the Amphiptere comes onto the scene! In case you're wondering, Amphipteres are Spirits that, once fully grown, have the following statblock:

Strength 5, Dexterity 7, Stamina 4, Charisma 3, Manipulation 4, Appearance 3, Perception 5, Intelligence 3, Wits 2; Alertness 2, Athletics (Dodge) 5, Awareness 3, Brawl 2, Flying 5, Intimidation 3, Survival 2; Willpower: 5; Health Levels: OK x 4, -1 x 3, -3 x 2, -5, Incapacitated; Armor Rating: 3; Bite for Str. + 2 dice; Compulsion (in this case: protect Harry), Feast of Nettles (can tank 3 Paradox backlash/week for a mage), Human Speech, No Dexterous Limbs, Soul-Sense, Wings

I'm pretty sure they are from the book Axis Mundi, but I might be remembering it wrong

Ginny's a Parselmouth! Great change? No, Ginny isn't really a particularly important character so far (currently re-writing Order of the Phoenix), but things might change, so better set it up here in case it's needed

So, here we wrap up book 2. So far, I've stuck pretty close to canon, but expect some major revelations for book 3... Gloves are coming off. Expect some revelations, changes and more importantly... new plotlines that will DRASTICALLY alter the status quo of Wizarding Britain. Boy, I can't wait to show you the Werewolf plotline... despite me being kind of nervous. Hope you'll like it