And here's the thirty fifth chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Clavyus, DieNikki21, BMS, DarkRavie, LordGhostStriker, Lord Mortensen, KnowPein, Jostanos, mwinter1, lonewolf 83, geekymom, The Shadows Mistress, Yaw6113, Guest, Ep (guest), Yoto (guest), Angsty Naruto, thank you for your reviews, folks!
setokayba2n, not quite like that - more like because in its madness it chose to obey the wrong person to the exclusion of all others, including the one who raised it.
TheGreatBubbaJ, things have to go according to the plan once in a while - or people will stop making plans altogether. And if that happens, how can a plan fail dramatically? :P
hotkillerz, Dzerx, sykartracer, he won't be getting money directly, but, yes, he will get something out of the basilisk's death.
mizzrazz72, yes, that's exactly what has happened here.
magitech, and even without the killing curse, there are other 'Magical' ways to kill something that don't involve casting spells directly at the target. And, yeah, the early books do become rather plot-holey once you start including stuff from the latter ones.
P. M. Alderhill, like I answered above, Harry will receive ...stuff for helping deal with the basilisk, though not directly as money. As for the Chamber of Secrets,.. well, it has been scoured clean of whatever Salazar might have left in there by whoever had rebuilt it into what it is now - and Lord Slytherin didn't leave much there to begin with since it was less of a personal hideout for him and more of a safe house for the students and the staff in case the castle is taken by enemies.
Majerus, I'm pretty sure that if they held it in the Forbidden Forest, it would delay the rumors only by a few hours.
* AN: As always, great thanks to my friend Skelekitty for his help in polishing this chapter.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
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A Year Too Soon
Chapter XXXV: Announcements
Harry was pretty sure that it must have really hurt Salazar to see his basilisk being put down even if the man didn't let it show. Indeed, the thousand years old serpent was Lord Slytherin's chosen guardian for the school and one of the few beings still around from the Founders' times. And he had to order its death because it had gone insane and homicidal…
At least the question why this happened was answered pretty quickly. It took Professor Dumbledore only a few minutes to determine that several of the enchantments within the basilisk's lair - the very ones that were supposed to keep it hibernating while the Chamber was not in use - had failed a few centuries ago, likely because whoever rebuilt the Chamber didn't take care to preserve them. And while the beast was somehow able to survive through these centuries by subsisting on rats and whatever else it could find down there, it wasn't able to cope with the loneliness and went loco. Something that Voldemort, or, perhaps, another 'heir' that came before him, had quickly capitalized upon, turning the once-protector of Hogwarts into their tool.
This discovery certainly shed a different light on the whole Chamber of Secrets business and quite a few people on the team now felt bad about having to kill the basilisk. It was a victim of circumstances here. Yet, no one was going to deny that putting the King of Serpents down had become a necessity since it was a danger to the school.
Anyhow, they now needed to decide what to do with the beast's carcass.
Harry, of course, immediately asked Salazar's portrait about it. The Founder's only request was that they bury the basilisk's skull somewhere on Hogwarts' grounds. They could do whatever they wished with the rest of the giant snake since they've slain it.
This proclamation resulted in quite lengthy negotiations, by the end of which Harry came into possession of several of the beast's bones, a few hundred pounds of its meat and more basilisk hide than he knew what to do with at the moment. After consulting with his Professors, the young Potter decided to sell his share of the meat to the Goblins - it was of no use to him but the crafty bastards would know what to do with it. They'll throw a feast out of it if nothing else. As for the bones and the hide, he'll keep them. According to Professor Dumbledore, useful Magical items could be made out of beast's bones, with the hide remaining impressively spell-resistant even after its removal. Harry was looking forward to figuring what amazing things he could create with those once he learned a bit more about Runic languages and Magical craftsmanship.
By the time the team had finished their business in the Chamber for the day and returned to the castle proper, it was already late afternoon. The Ministry people flooed away almost immediately after Mr. Grimblehawk promised to return tomorrow with another team - this time to rend the basilisk apart. And since Dumbledore was summoning an unscheduled staff meeting he had no business participating in, Harry too left the Headmaster's office. He however didn't feel like going back to the Slytherin common room at the moment. So after asking a Hogwarts' house elf to remove the two-way mirror from Salazar's portrait and bring it to Dumbledore, the green-eyed wizard set off to wander the castle's endless corridors.
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"Dammit, I still can't believe it, the Slytherin's monster was a freakin' basilisk!" Seamus Finnigan said as he plopped down onto his bed within the Gryffindor dormitory tower. "I've heard that those things, supposedly, never stop growing. The one in the Chamber had to be like a thousand years old, right? - it must have been absolutely gigantic."
"I'm just glad it won't be hurting anyone ever again." Neville Longbottom replied from the other side of the room. "I think I'm going to have nightmares just from knowing there was a basilisk living under the castle for Merlin-knows how long. Imagine having to actually face that monster?"
"Isn't basilisk gaze lethal? How do you even fight something you can't look at?" Dean Thomas, the only muggleborn in the room, asked.
"Well… They say a basilisk will die if it hears a rooster's crow." The Longbottom heir stated.
"Didn't all of Hagrid's chicken suddenly die a bit before Filch's cat got petrified?" Seamus asked thoughtfully. Now that they knew that the Slytherin's monster was a basilisk, some of the strange happenings - such as the aforementioned sudden death of all chicken on Hogwarts' grounds - from the previous semester started to actually make sense. "Do you think the Heir of Slytherin did that?"
"Likely." Dean replied. There was a pause, before the continued: "Do you think they've killed the basilisk with a rooster's crow today?"
"Possibly." Neville said. "That's definitely the easiest way and if it didn't work, then why would the Heir kill all those chickens? But they could have slayed the beast some other way too - Hufflepuffs said the Ministry send a good dozen of people, including some Hit Wizards, to clear the Chamber. And Professor Dumbledore was there as well. That's enough wands to deal even with the toughest of Magical beasts." His roommates hummed in agreement with his reasoning.
"So, with the basilisk dealt with, how long do you think it will be before this Heir of Slytherin is brought to justice?" Ron asked, swallowing the last of honey-cakes he had smuggled to the dormitory from today's feast. He, of course, had no idea that the 'heir' has already been captured over a month ago and was currently enjoying 'hospitality' of the Unspeakables - none of the students knew that.
"They are going to lay low - I know I would in their place - but there is nothing that can escape Professor Dumbledore when he gets serious. After all, he located the legendary Chamber of Secrets that had remained hidden since the founding of Hogwarts." Seamus replied. "I'm sure that the Heir will be on his way to Azkaban before Easter."
"I hope you're right, mate." Dean said.
Unknown to the boys, a certain man disguised as a rat was listening in on their conversation, and they continued to talk about the announcement Dumbledore had made during the dinner tonight, the stronger the icy grip of fear grew on Peter Pettigrew's heart. Slytherin's monster, a tool his Master was using to purge Hogwarts of the unworthy had been slain by Dumbledore and his blood-traitor cohorts right within the fabled Chamber of Secrets.
At least there had been no mention of his Master getting caught… That certainly was good news as it meant that the Dark Lord was still around and merely delayed on his second rise to power. And Peter couldn't be more happy for that. Still, the blow his Master had been dealt today meant he will be fleeing from the castle soon, if he hasn't done so already, and the rat animagus certainly wasn't looking forward to all the work he'll have to do to find his Master again. Especially since he wasn't sure he could trust any of his fellow Death Eaters - the ones that managed to keep their freedom that is: none of them had made any real effort to look for their fallen Lord.
Shifting around on his pillow, Peter considered his next move. For now, he was going to assume that the Dark Lord hadn't left the castle yet. Mostly because he really didn't want to leave his current rather-comfortable life as Weasleys' pet behind without at least being by his true Master's side. Surviving all alone as a man on the run with nothing but his wand and his wits didn't appeal to him at all.
Thus, Peter wanted to make contact with the Dark Lord as soon as possible. Alas, he had no idea how to actually do that. Yes, he had seen the apparently-immortal Heir of Slytherin possessing the Weasley girl, but that happened only once and he thus didn't really help the rat animagus find a way to contact his Master. It wasn't like he could transform back into a human in front of the girl and demand he speaks to the supposedly-dead Dark Lord from her.
Well, maybe he needn't do anything that dramatic: his Master was hiding within that old diary the Weaslette sometimes carried around. He could just knock her out and take it from her. Yeah, that could work, assuming she had it on her person and didn't leave it in the girls' dormitories. If the diary was there instead, it was completely out of his reach…
Dammit, what had it all be so hard?!
Maybe he could just pretend that he never saw anything leading him to believe that his Master wasn't truly dead and continue his life as a pet rat? No, that was not an option, Peter though. No one can keep secrets from the Dark Lord and no one can hide from him forever. He'd be Crucio'd to death the moment Voldemort returns to power if he tried to pretend he didn't know the man wasn't dead.
It looked like he'd need to take the diary from the girl and then somehow use it to awaken his Master within.
But what could he do if the youngest Weasley kept the diary in the girls' dormitory? Even in his rat form he couldn't fool the ancient wards, and if he was stuck outside, there was no way for him to go through her belongings… Suddenly Peter had an idea. He might indeed not be able to get into the girls' dormitories, but he certainly could place the little blood-traitor under the Imperius Curse and order her to bring him the diary.
Yes, that sounded like a good idea, Peter decided. He'll have to wait till tomorrow morning to implement this plan, though: it was rather late, so Weaslette was likely already in bed, if not asleep. And even if she wasn't, his chances of placing her under the curse without getting caught were far too low.
Nodding to himself, the rat animagus got comfortable on his pillow and went to his dreams.
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It took Peter Pettigrew a lot of patience, but early on Monday afternoon he managed to catch a moment when Ginny was alone in the Gryffindor common room. Sneaking behind the armchair she was sitting in, he quickly assumed his human form. His transformation, however, didn't go completely unnoticed and the youngest Weasley got alerted to his presence.
"Imperio!" Peter called, hitting the girl with the Curse before she could do anything. Letting out a small sigh of relief, the rat animagus issued his first order: "You will not tell anyone that you've seen me, ever. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Ginny replied flatly, her mind completely overwhelmed by the power of the Curse. Satisfied that he hadn't notched the spell, Peter continued:
"Bring me your diary, the black one." He commanded. Much to his surprise, Ginny didn't even move. Raising an eyebrow, the officially-dead wizard tried again: "Bring me the black diary you've been using this year." The girl still didn't move, though now it looked more like she didn't know where to go. "Do you understand what diary I'm talking about? Answer me." Peter demanded.
"Yes." The young redhead replied in that same flat tone.
"Do you still have it?" He 'asked' next.
"No." Peter frowned upon hearing this. If the diary wasn't with the Weaslette, where was it?
"Do you know where it is?" He continued with his impromptu interrogation.
"No." This time Ginny's answer made the rat animagus swear under his breath a little: it looked like he was too slow and his Master had already fled from the castle. At least, Peter was pretty sure that was the case. It wasn't like Weasleys to just lose something, and had the Dark Lord been captured, he would've definitely heard that.
Damn it! Looks like he has been denied an easy reunion with his Master and will have to follow a long and hardship-filled route of leaving the comforts of his life as a pet behind and searching for him all on his own. This definitely wasn't the way Peter would've preferred, but for the Dark Lord!..
Releasing the Weasley girl from under his Imperius Curse, he quickly transformed back into a rat and disappeared into the shadows. Hopefully he'll have time to raid the kitchens before he finally left the castle.
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Since Professor Kettleburn was still recovering from whatever beast managed to get him - the rumors still couldn't agree exactly what it had been - there had been no Care for Magical Creatures class this week. And the next week, when Harry and his fellow third year students descended onto the castle's ground for the class, they saw Hagrid standing by Professor Kettleburn's side.
Of course, the gamekeeper sometimes assisted with the class, bringing various critters for the Professor, but this time around the half-giant was holding a roll of fresh parchment and an over-sized quill instead of one beastie or another. And this certainly was quite unusual.
"Good morning, class." Professor Kettleburn greeted his students. "Before we begin today, I have an announcement to make." Once the teens quieted down a little, he continued: "As you might have heard, there has been an incident during my class the week before last. And while I'm happy to report that none of my students had been hurt, the same couldn't be said about it. It was nothing serious, of course, but while I was under Madam Pomfrey care, I came to a realization that I'm getting too old to teach such a dangerous class and would like to spend the time I still have with what is left of my limbs."
His proclamation was greeted with audible disappointment: Professor Kettleburn, despite his occasional oddities, was well-liked by his students and none wanted to see him go.
"But, don't worry." The jovial wizard continued. "I've talked with Professor Dumbledore and he agreed that Hagrid would be the best person to take over the course next year. Indeed, our esteemed gamekeeper is already very knowledgeable about the Magical creatures, both domesticated and wild; he only needs to learn how to share this knowledge with you."
"I'm 'appy that Professor Dumbledore is willin' to trust me with such an important job." The half-giant said bashfully, apparently having no idea how to react to the praise Professor Kettleburn was giving him. Paying him little mind, the Care for Magical Creatures Professor continued:
"For now, he'll be observing my classes to see how I teach and what would be expected from him once he takes the position. Closer to the end of the year, I'll be having him teach a few classes to see how he fares as a Professor, with myself observing." There was a brief pause, before Professor Kettleburn spoke again. "Alright, I think we've wasted enough time from our class, so let's get started. Today we're going to talk about Nifflers. Can anyone tell me what they are?" And so the Care for Magical Creatures began.
That's all, folks!
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