Arch Mage, the Path of Magic Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! Returning to Hogwarts for the spring term. With his impossible feat of curing the Blood Malediction of the Greengrass Family being presented to experts for examination, a new Title may be Harry’s before he even realizes it. Meanwhile, things at Hogwarts seem normal enough…but how long will that last?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 18 –Valentines, Unique Magic, and Chamber

Being back at Hogwarts was nice, Harry had to admit. The ride back to the castle from King’s Cross saw a full compartment of Harry, Hermione, Luna, Daphne, and Tracy. The light teasing from Tracy about Daphne insisting on sitting with Harry had nearly gotten the girl hexed, but it was an enjoyable time all around.

“Nothing like this old place.” Harry chuckled to himself as he sat on the roof of one of the highest towers and looked out over the surrounding land. “Peace and quiet up here.” He breathed in and then exhaled slowly. “Now…let’s see…” Harry focused on the ambient Magic that was in the air and practically thrumming within Hogwarts as a whole.

There had been no attacks over the winter break, which meant one of two things. The Heir of Slytherin was either not in the castle, or they’d kept their head down the entire time to not out themselves with so few students remaining in the castle. Neither reason provided much useful information by itself, so Harry had decided to try a different tactic to weed out the Heir.

“Principle of Observation…Aspect is Searching…Principle of Identity…Aspect Animal, refined to Human…Principle of Identity…Aspect Identification, refined to Title, refined to Heir of Slytherin.” Harry constructed the spell to locate anyone that identified themselves as the ‘Heir of Slytherin’ and then filled the ambient Magic around him and into Hogwarts itself.

The feeling of awareness expanding was always odd…but Harry had some experience with it thanks to his many years of experimenting with spell creation of Searching and Locator spells. While he didn’t like to brag too much, he was aware that he possessed a rather vast amount of magic power, especially for his age. But even using it with Magic Manipulation to harness the ambient Magic within the area and Hogwarts, he couldn’t search the entire castle and grounds all at once. The are was simply too large. Not to mention that Hogwarts had many wards and its Magic naturally was resistant to manipulation by design. The Founders hadn’t wanted Hogwarts to only be a school, after all, it was a castle to act as all castles did, as a fortification in case it was needed. The Magic of Hogwarts let his spell flow through it, but only as far as his own power could push it.

“Hmm…nothing on the seventh floor or the sixth floor.” Harry hadn’t gotten any response form the search for the ‘Heir of Slytherin’ this time. “Alright, I’ll move down to the fifth floor and try again.” He stepped off the edge of the roof, activated his Float spell, and slowly drifted down to the balcony below before entering the door and heading out of the, currently empty, Astronomy classroom.

-Lunch-

‘I searched the entire castle, dungeons and all, plus the grounds, and yet there was no response from my spell to find the Heir.’ Harry mused over this conundrum as he ate. Surely the person that called themselves the ‘Heir of Slytherin’ was still in Hogwarts, right? ‘It seems kind of pointless to open the Chamber of Secrets, attack a few times, and then leave without having accomplished much of anything.’ He shook his head at the lack of results.

“Harry, can you pass me the gravy, please?” Luna asked her big brother with a smile.

“Of course, Luna.” Harry levitated the gravy boat over to Luna with barely a thought. “Can’t have a mashed potato castle without a gravy moat, right?”

“Nope!” Luna giggled lightly as she poured the gravy into the ‘moat’ around her potato sculpture.

“You shouldn’t play with your food, Luna.” Hermione sighed at Harry encouraging the behavior.

“But it’s more fun to eat it after playing with it.” Luna explained to Hermione with a smile.

“Uh huh…” Hermione didn’t look convinced, but she relented with a smile and a light shake of her head. “You two really are like brother and sister.”

“Thank you.” Harry and Luna thanked her simultaneously, almost as if they’d practiced it. Both gave bright smiles to Hermione too, making the bushy-haired girl stifle a laugh from the simple response.

-After Classes ~ Ravenclaw Common Room-

“Breathe in…hold it…and then breath out slowly.” Harry instructed Luna as he helped her get started on Occlumency. It would be good for Luna to be able to protect her mind, and she had asked him to teach her after he explained what it was.

There was also the fact that he hadn’t forgotten the Legilimency from his first day at Hogwarts. The fact that Snape had the ability to glance at the minds of his students was a professional boon; what teacher wouldn’t want to be able to get to the truth of any incidents that happened between students? But it was also a potential invasion of privacy…one that Harry was certain that Snape probably didn’t abuse daily, but wouldn’t put it past the Potions Professor to use when it suited the man.

Seeing that Luna was sinking into meditation, Harry decided it would be a good time to see why Hermione had been knocking on his Barrier for the last three or so minutes. He stood up quietly, so as not to disturb Luna, and then slipped through the translucent blue field that separated this one spot of the common room from the rest. “Yes, Hermione?”

“Harry…what’re you doing?” Hermione asked, looking at Luna seemingly sitting with her eyes closed behind the barrier. She’d been curious when Harry had set up the Barrier spell, and her curiosity had only grown further when it appeared that Harry was giving Luna instructions. Many of the Ravenclaws had been whispering amongst each other, wondering what Harry was up to, and Hermione had eventually been unable to hold back her natural curiosity. She hadn’t expected it to take a few minutes to get Harry’s attention though.

“Teaching Luna Occlumency.” Harry answered easily, as if the Branch of Magic was a common thing that they would learn in their classes and not a much more obscure art.

“I thought you said that you wouldn’t teach anyone Magic unless they asked the right question?” Hermione now had to wonder if Luna had asked that question, or if Harry was just making an exception for his self-decided little sister.

“No, I said that I wouldn’t teach anyone Wandless Magic unless they asked the right question after fulfilling the rest of the criteria.” Harry clarified for his best friend with a grin barely being suppressed. ‘Three…two…one…’

“You mean that I could’ve asked you to teach me spells this whole time and you would’ve agreed?!” Hermione exclaimed in shock at her best friend. “You prat!”

“Prat? Me?” Harry placed his hand on his chest as if he were offended by her words. “How could you say such a thing, Hermione? All you had to do was ask.” He saw Hermione’s cheeks turning pink and couldn’t hold back his grin anymore. “Since you never did, I just thought you weren’t interested.” Harry shrugged at the girl.

“Teach me…please.” Hermione looked at the floor with her face red. Harry wasn’t wrong. She’d been so focused on Wandless Magic, that she’d never stopped to consider that Harry might teach her spells if she asked him.

“Sure, you want to learn Occlumency?” Harry offered as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the barrier that was creating a quiet space for Luna to begin her instruction.

“Yes, please, thank you, Harry.” Hermione looked at him with a gentle, but happy, smile on her face. “There’s so much I want to learn.”

“Ah, that’s what makes you so much fun, Hermione.” Harry threw his arm around her shoulders with a smile. “That curiosity and desire to explore Magic…never lose that!”

“I won’t.” Hermione giggled as she was led through the barrier by Harry when before she hadn’t been able to pass through it.

The Ravenclaw common room burst into renewed chatter at Hermione being taken into the barrier with the promise of being taught by Harry directly. This new information was quickly picked up by the Hogwarts rumor mill, as a few of the chattier Ravenclaws spread it around to their friends in other Houses.

-Library ~ Next Afternoon-

“What’s this about you teaching Hermione and Luna Magic, Harry?” Daphne questioned him, her face as stoic as she could manage.

“Yeah, I’m teaching them both Occlumency.” Harry replied without a care.

“And you didn’t offer to teach Tracy and I, because…?” Daphne asked, drawing out the end of her sentence.

“You didn’t ask.” Harry snickered as he saw the stoicism break and Daphne actually pouted for a second.

Tracy joined him in snickering at Daphne, playfully nudging her best friend at not thinking of simply asking. “Yeah, Daphne, you should’ve just asked politely.”

“You didn’t ask either!” Daphne snipped at Tracy, her cheeks turning pink from the teasing.

“Eh…I’m not that worried about it.” Tracy shrugged it off. “I’m not trying to be a Sorcerer or anything crazy.”

Harry didn’t react or say anything, but Tracy’s attitude did remind him of how the vast majority of the Magical World acted when it came to Magic. They treated it as something mundane and just there. It was a convenience for their lives and nothing more. The sheer uninterest and disregard for it boggled Harry’s mind.

“Hah…” Daphne exhaled and then looked at Harry. “So, will you teach me some Magic, Harry?”

“Sure, we’re on Occlumency right now.” Harry agreed without issue. “We’ll have to find a quiet place somewhere to practice after classes since you’re from a different House.”

“I’m sure there’s a classroom or two that could work.” Daphne mentioned with a little smirk. Hogwarts was indeed full of unused rooms, any one of which a Wizard of Harry’s caliber could easily take over for himself and their lessons.

“So it is.” Harry grinned back at her.

“Hmm, study sessions alone after classes…what ever will the other girls think?” Tracy giggled and began to speedwalk away from the table.

“Don’t you dare, Tracy!” Daphne called out, louder than Madam Pince would like, as she took off after her best friend. Both girls did keep their speed below a run…barely…but Harry was sure that Tracy was going to get a hex or two for attempting to spread rumors.

“Guy friends are easier to deal with.” Harry chuckled to himself as he watched Tracy and Daphne leave the library. “Speak of the devil.” He smiled as Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstein approached his table, the Second Year Ravenclaw boys having agreed to study together today for an upcoming test in Transfiguration.

-Saturday-

“This should do.” Harry nodded to himself, looking over the unused classroom that he’d taken for himself. He’d cleaned it out with a few waves of his hand, transfigured some of the unused desks into comfy, cushioned chairs, and lit the room up with floating Lumos Charms, as it didn’t have any windows. All in all, it was a comfortable, quiet place to focus on Occlumency and clearing the mind as there were no outside distractions.

Knock Knock Knock

The three knocks were followed by the door to the classroom opening. Luna skipped in, moving to hug her big brother with a smile, while Hermione and Daphne followed behind her and closed the door.

“Hello, Harry.” Luna smiled up at him.

“Hello, Luna.” Harry gently squeezed his little sister back. “Ready to keep working on your Occlumency?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded, eager to learn from Harry, as it was just more time with her big brother.

“What’s stopping someone from interrupting us in this room?” Daphne questioned, having noticed a few of the Slytherins looking at her for associating with Harry to begin with, and even more so now that she was learning from him.

Her answer was a Barrier covering the door while Harry turned to smile at her. “That should do it.”

“I so want to learn that.” Daphne looked at the Barrier spell for a long moment.

“We should get started soon.” Hermione mentioned, always wanting to use her time efficiently when it came to learning. “We do still have some homework to do tonight.”

“We’ll get to it tonight then.” Harry waved it off, making Hermione agree, even if she playfully rolled her eyes at him. She had come quite a way from the lonely, bossy, bookworm with no friends that she’d been when she’d arrived at Hogwarts.

Harry had the three girls sit down on the cushy chairs and slowly, softly, and calmly talked them through the beginning of meditation. While he could induce a calm and meditative state with Magic, that wouldn’t help the three learn to do it on their own. Once all three girls had slipped into a meditative state, Harry floated over to the teacher’s desk and sat atop. He picked up the journal that held his personal Potions notes and went over them while referencing a large text of catalyst and ingredient reactions.

‘The combination of Honeywater, Moondew, and Moly might work…I just need to balance out the amounts first. Getting the best effect from each of them requires enough being used in the mixture, but if they’re not in balance then the effects won’t synergize and I’ll be left with a half as effective result. I’ll probably have to extract the liquid of the Moondew first and add it in after setting the cauldron to simmer. Honeywater will have to be added last so that it doesn’t lose its potency by boiling it.’ Harry’s thoughts delved deeply into his research, trying to slowly piece together a workable formula based on what he knew of Magic and its various interactions through the ingredients used. “I can buy Bitter root, Snowdrop, and Granian hair…but Re’em blood is a restricted substance. You usually have to put your name on a waiting list with a downpayment and just wait until some becomes available.” He mumbled quietly to himself so that he didn’t disturb the three girls.

Spellcrafter extraordinaire that Harry was, Potions were something he desired to excel in as well. His mother had been quite the Potioneer, according to Sirius, and he did like seeing how Magic worked through the various ingredients as well; so he’d studied on the subject rather extensively. Spells could be used to lift curses, hexes, and jinxes. He could heal injuries with spells too. Even protection could be offered through spells. But Potions all had their own benefits, and they were some of the only things that could deal with poisons and venoms, both Magical and mundane. Spells tended to have adverse effects on certain forms of poisons and venoms if you tried to extract them from a living body. Extracting a substance from the body that was mixed into the blood already usually didn’t work out so well when you used a spell. The result was often severe blood loss or in the worst case, exsanguination.

“Bottling spells indeed.” Harry quietly chuckled, recalling a line he’d read in a Potions Compendium before. He was sure it was also the source of Snape’s little speech at the beginning of his first Potions class. With how some Potions did give the drinker certain spell-like effects, it wasn’t that far off either. “I’m going to take that way beyond what anyone else has done before.” He promised himself as he refocused on his formula ideas.

He’d give the girls about a half-hour or so before testing their ability to clear their minds. It was a chance to work on his Legilimency as well, which he rarely had a reason to use, so that he didn’t get rusty.

-Valentine’s Day-

“AH! THIS HURTS MY EYES!!!” Harry cried out overdramatically at all of the decorations strung up over the Great Hall. “It’s all so…tacky.”

“Harry, must you?” Hermione didn’t like it much either, but still…she wasn’t making a spectacle of herself over it.

“It’s different.” Luna remarked as they made their way over to the Ravenclaw table for breakfast. “Is it always like this?”

“It wasn’t last year.” Harry looked around with distaste at all of the gaudy decorations. Valentine’s Day was much more reserved last year, mostly left to the students to hand each other cards or candy to show their affection for their significant others.

Lockhart was clearly the reason for the decorations all over the Great Hall. The peacock of a man was wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations. Harry nearly groaned when the man stood up and called attention to himself as he waved for silence. All of the other Professors, barring Dumbledore, sat at the Head Table with stony expressions. Harry thought he saw McGonagall’s eye twitching at state of the Great Hall. Snape looked sullen and angry at the same time, even as his face remained almost blank.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Lockhart shouted, making sure that all eyes were on him. “And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all; and it doesn’t end here!” He clapped his hands and through the doors leading to the Entrance Hall marched a dozen surly-looking Dwarves. The reason for the looks was obvious, as Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps. “My friendly, card-carrying cupids!” Lockhart beamed at everyone, clearly not reading the room. “They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn’t stop there! I’m sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape how to whip up a Love Potion? And while you’re at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Charms than anyone I’ve ever met, the sly old dog!”

Everyone could see the confused look on the Charms Professor’s face. Harry quickly surmised that Flitwick had never spoken to Lockhart about such things. Not to mention that most Entrancing Charms were little more than glorified Beauty Charms that Witches often used in place of traditional makeup.

Meanwhile, Snape looked as if he’d personally force-feed poison to anyone that dared ask him about a Love Potion. Not that a single student would ever go to the dour Potions Professor for anything that related to love, or joy, or happiness, or any positive emotional experience at all.

What followed for the rest of the day was the dwarves bursting into classroom to deliver valentines. This, unsurprisingly, annoyed all of the Professors, a few of which used spells to remove them forcefully. The dwarves would then wait outside the classroom to deliver their valentines or songs to their intended recipients as soon as the class ended.

Harry had just finished his last class and was walking with Hermione through the corridors when one of the Dwarves approached him. This also happened to be the time that the corridors were full of students and therefore the most embarrassing time to receive a valentine for a twelve-year-old boy.

“I’ve got a musical message to deliver to ‘Arry Potter, in person!” The rather grim-looking Dwarf spoke to Harry. He even twanged the harp in his hands in an almost threatening manner.

“Shh.” Harry shushed the Dwarf. Everyone saw the Dwarf’s mouth moving but no sound emerged. The Dwarf blinked, rubbed his throat a bit, and then looked at Harry crossly.

“Well tha’ wasn’t very nice.” The Dwarf grumbled, much to Harry’s surprise.

“You broke my spell?” Harry’s eyes lit up with interest at the realization. “How’d you do that?”

“Dwarf Magic, don’ worry ‘bout it.” The Dwarf waved it off and twanged the harp again. The whispers and snickers of the various students started up again, all of them clearly eager to hear the valentine that had been sent to Harry.

“Shh.” Harry shushed the Dwarf again before turning to look at Hermione. “Hermione, you wouldn’t have happened to send me a valentine, would you?”

“No, Harry.” Hermione shook her head, a smile on her face. He didn’t need to know that she might have a small, tiny, inconsequential, little crush developing for him.

“You think it was Daphne?” Harry asked, louder than necessary.

“You wish, Harry.” Daphne spoke up as a large group of Slytherins made their way down the corridor, or tried to, given that more and more students were hanging around hoping to hear the potentially embarrassing valentine. The raven-haired girl gave him such an unamused look that Harry couldn’t help by chuckle.

“Let’s hear it then.” Draco drawled, looking far too smug about potential material to use in getting under Harry’s skin.

“Ehem!” The Dwarf coughed, having undone Harry’s spell again, and twanged the harp once more.

“Shh.” Harry was honestly just having fun at this point. Seeing the gathered students’ faces rise in expectation only to drop in annoyance as he kept preventing the Dwarf from delivering the message.

“Stop that!” The Dwarf grumbled at Harry after removing the spell again.

“I’ll pay you five Galleons not to deliver the valentine.” Harry offered the Dwarf some compensation.

“Let’s see the money.” The Dwarf looked interested. Harry fished into his pocket and pulled out a small Mokeskin pouch. He opened it and picked out five Galleons. The Dwarf held out his hand and Harry placed the coins onto his palm. “Deals a deal.” The Dwarf nodded and turned away after stashing the coins in his pocket.

“A moment of your time, if I may, Mr. Dwarf.” Harry spoke up and the Dwarf turned to look back at him. “I’m rather interested in that Magic of yours, any chance I could ask a few questions about it, or even learn it?” The green eyes of the Spellcrafter were alight with curiosity.

“It’s Dwarf Magic, boy, you ain’t a Dwarf, so how could you learn it?” The Dwarf looked at Harry like he was dim.

“So, you’re saying it’s Unique Magic?” Harry understood quickly. “I’d still like to know whatever I can about it.”

“Hmm…” The Dwarf rubbed his beard for a moment. “Perhaps for a fee…”

The crowd of students was clearing out with groans and complaints at not getting to hear the valentine at all. This was hastened as Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater came to see what the hold up in the corridor was about. With two Prefects ushering the students along, the corridor was quickly clearing out.

“Why would you even take this job?” Hermione questioned the Dwarf man curiously. She definitely wasn’t a Lockhart fan anymore. How could she be after meticulously recording every inconsistency and outright lie that was in his books? That long, long list had been copied and sent to relevant people and groups; including Lockhart’s publisher and the DMLE. Mostly on the off-chance that Lockhart had claimed credit for an event through threats or coercion.

“It’s beer money.” The Dwarf shrugged at the question. “We’re all porters back home, but this seemed like an easy gig to make a little extra cash for drinks.” He scoffed harshly. “That Lockhart fella didn’t mention that we’d have to sing though…we’re all gonna give him a good smack for that at the end of the day.”

“That would be amusing to see.” Harry chuckled at the mental image. “But about that Dwarf Magic.” He quickly refocused on what he wanted right now. “You said something about a fee?”

“Aye,” The Dwarf nodded to the boy. “I could send you a book on Dwarf Magic and its history if you want. You just have to buy it.”

“How much?” Harry asked, eager to get his hands on such a thing. He’d certainly never found anything like it in Flourish and Blott’s, nor from the books that Sirius brought from the Black properties on occasion.

“How’s about ten Galleons?” The Dwarf man requested. That was a lot of ‘beer money’ for him and his pals to enjoy a day off with.

“Half now,” Harry held out five more Galleons. “Half after I get the book.”

“Deal.” The Dwarf agreed, taking the coins and shaking Harry’s hand to seal the deal. “You should get an owl in a few days with the book.” He turned and walked away with the deal done. If the boy wanted to waste good gold on a book that he couldn’t even make use of, then it was no hair off his beard. Besides, it was merely an old schoolbook of his that he hadn’t looked at in decades.

“Did you really just spend fifteen Galleons to get out of having a valentine read?” Hermione shook her head in disbelief.

“No, I spent five Galleons to get out of the valentine; the other ten Galleons were for the book on Dwarf Magic.” Harry explained with a wide smirk. “Try to keep up, Hermione.”

“Hey!” Hermione lightly swatted his arm for his dig at her perception. “You know what I meant.”

“I admit nothing.” Harry’s grin only grew wider.

“Hah…” Hermione sighed at his antics. “Let’s just go get Luna.” She walked ahead of him, leaving him behind if he didn’t catch up.

-Unknown Classroom-

“Why didn’t he want to hear my valentine?” A girl’s voice asked the empty room. “He’s always hanging out with that Granger girl…and that Slytherin girl is trying to get her claws in him…I just know it!”

A silence followed, only the scratching of a quill heard.

“I don’t want to hurt them…just…I don’t want them taking up all of Harry’s time.” The girl spoke again. “But…I said I was sorry…I even brought you back and started writing to you again.”

The scratching of quill on paper was heard again.

“I guess…but I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” The girl worried, her voice distressed. She went silent abruptly, as if her voice had been stolen from her. When she spoke again, it was in an odd tone, as if another voice was layered over her own. “Foolish girl, just pour your heart into my diary and do as I say. I’ll take care of your little problems; permanently.” The girl collected the black diary that she’d been writing in and stalked out of the room. The boy had been getting rather close to the Chamber on occasion, so it was best deal with this now anyway.

With how much the girl had been writing, he’d sped up his drain on her Magic and influenced her body faster. The annoyance, frustration, jealously, and sadness of a young girl had made it almost too easy for the Magic to influence her. The fact that she practically felt betrayed by her friend from childhood had opened the floodgates as well.

“Just you wait Harry Potter.” The name slipping out of the girl’s mouth in a strange hissing sound that was not a Human Tongue.

-Monday, February 15th ~ After Classes-

“Ah, Daphne, on your way to the library?” Hermione smiled at her friend, jogging a little to catch up to the girl.

“Hello, Hermione.” Daphne nodded to the Ravenclaw. “Tracy will be a bit late today…she’s slacking a bit because we don’t have any tests coming up.” She waved it off as one of Tracy’s antics, of which she was rather familiar.

“Do you smell that?” Hermione asked, sniffing the air a little.

Daphne inhaled deeply, only shake her head and exhale through her nose strongly. “Ugh, it smells like standing water; dirty standing water at that.”

“I wonder why?” Hermione’s question was quickly answered as both girls stopped as the corridor was filled with water ahead of them.

“Did Myrtle flood the bathroom again?” Daphne grimaced, seeing that they were outside the infamous girl’s lavatory that housed the ghost known as ‘Moaning Myrtle’.

“Should we go around?” Hermione looked down at the large puddle on the floor, seeing her reflection in it.

“It’s not that deep, we could probably dry it with a spell.” Daphne suggested, standing beside Hermione and inspecting the puddle as well.

The sound of something large sliding across stone was heard. In the reflection of the puddle that the two girls were looking into, a massive serpent appeared. Before either of them could scream, the glowing yellow eyes of the snake opened and they both were petrified. Just seeing the reflection of the serpent’s eyes was enough. With two splashes, their bodies landed in the puddle flooding the corridor as the immense snake slithered back inside the flooded girl’s bathroom and disappeared.

“A little message for all of the mudbloods and blood traitors.” Ginny Weasley, or the one controlling her at any rate, spoke while writing another message on the wall in what appeared to be blood. Once the message was complete, Ginny headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

It would be almost a dozen minutes later that Moaning Myrtle would return to her normal haunt, having been flushed down the drain again and out into the lake. She wished some of the girls at Hogwarts wouldn’t be so mean to her…she’d dealt with enough of that when she’d been a student herself. “Stupid Hornby…” She tsked at the memory of her old bully. “Why is my bathroom flooded?” Myrtle blinked at the state of the room. Everything looked normal, but when this room flooded, it was because of her tantrums. “So, why now?” Myrtle wondered as she went and checked every toilet, then the sinks, and finding nothing wrong with any of them, she poked her incorporeal head through the door. “AAAAHHHH!!!” She wailed upon seeing what she thought were two dead students face down in the flooded corridor.

-Hospital Wing ~ One Hour Later-

“What happened?” Harry asked, having never felt such a tumultuous amount of emotions before in his life. Daphne and Hermione had been found petrified and facedown in a puddle outside of Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, the latest victims of the ‘Heir of Slytherin’.

Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever

The message, much like the first one, had been scrawled on the wall at the scene.

Naturally, this had prompted a full headcount of all students by the Professors. Only one had come up missing, Ginny Weasley, the youngest Weasley attending Hogwarts, in her First Year, no less.

Harry had rushed to the Hospital Wing and found Daphne and Hermione being treated by Madam Pomfrey. The Mandrake Draught had done its work, slowly returning the girls to normal, and Harry dared not mess with the process with his own de-petrification technique at the same time. His emotions were roiling though, seeing his friends laid up in the beds, unmoving, unresponsive, like they were dead. He’d quickly rushed back to Ravenclaw Tower to find Luna and make sure that she was okay.

-Ravenclaw Common Room-

“Harry!” Luna nearly tackled her big brother as she bawled her eyes out. “The Heir took Ginny!” The Hogwarts rumor mill had quickly spread the information of the only missing student. “Why?”

“I don’t know, Luna.” Harry shook his head, hugging her tightly to try and calm her down.

“C-Can you find her?” Luna’s muffled voice asked, her face not leaving his robes.

“I can try.” Harry rubbed her back, hating to see his little sister like this. It wasn’t doing any favors to the roiling emotions inside of him though. “Stay here, okay?” He pulled her back to look into her eyes.

“Okay.” Luna nodded, her eyes red and puffy from her tears. She hugged him again, getting a squeeze from Harry, before letting go and watching him walk back towards the door to the castle.

“Harry! Stop!” Penelope Clearwater called out to him. “Professor Flitwick has said that all students are to remain in their common rooms until the Professors come to get us.” The Prefect stood between Harry and the door as she explained.

“Please move, Penny.” Harry’s request wasn’t much of a request, as Penelope found herself moved aside by an unseen force.

“Harry! Harry, stop!” Penelope called out, not able to move past the force as Harry walked out the door and let it close behind him.

“Myrtle’s bathroom.” Harry mumbled to himself as his feet left the ground and he flew down the corridor quickly. He should’ve inspected it earlier. It was the site of the first attack, the entire corridor, along with every room nearby should’ve been inspected! “Why didn’t I think of that?” Harry criticized himself, not giving himself any slack for being completely inexperienced in anything like an investigation.

In only a short time, Harry stood outside of the infamous bathroom. Pushing open the door, Harry activated his in-progress Mage Sight spell. The only thing that caught his eye was the sinks. The fact that to his eyes they glowed like a beacon was all the proof Harry needed to inspect them.

“A password?” Harry parsed through the enchantment on the sinks. “Is this a door?” The idea that Slytherin’s descendants had purposefully been hiding the entrance to the Chamber all this time now seemed a lot more likely.

“What are you doing here?” Myrtle questioned, the ghost girl peeking out over the top of the nearest stall.

“Getting answers.” Harry replied as he finished examining the spell. “I can’t speak Parseltongue…” He didn’t have that Magical Gift; so the door wouldn’t open for him. “Direct then.” Harry brought his Magic to bear and swiped his left hand to the side sharply.

“EEP!” Myrtle shrieked as she watched the sinks be rendered to sand and grit, before being blown against the far wall.

“Myrtle, can you go get the Professors, please?” Harry looked at the ghost, giving her the best smile that he could as emotions he couldn’t fully process roiled within him. A Lumos Charm blinked into existence and floated down the massive opening in the middle of the bathroom. Harry’s feet left the ground as he floated after it, flying down the dark pipe to fulfill his little sister’s wish…and maybe get some answers from the Heir at the same time.

Harry flew down the pipe, his Lumos Charm lighting the way. What he emerged into at the bottom was a cavern that was filled with piles of small animal bones. Not giving the macabre scene any thought at the moment, Harry floated over the bones and down the only pathway he could see. His progress was halted by a large, round, metal door with snake motifs. He let his feet touch the ground and used Magic Manipulation on the door.

“More Parseltongue…figures.” Harry extended his search and found that only the door was enchanted. “Sloppy work.” He formed the Gouging Spell, Defodio, multiple times over with his magic. Empowering them to a vast degree, Harry launched them all around the circumference of the round door. The stone was perforated, just as the spell was designed to do, and chunks of stone and small clouds of grit flew through the air. Grabbing the now free-falling door with his magic, Harry shoved it forward, letting it slam loudly on the floor and echo throughout the cavernous room beyond.

Harry was standing at the very end of a long, dimly lit chamber. Towering pillars entwined with carved serpents rose to support the ceiling that couldn’t be seen because of the darkness. His Mage Sight spell let him see all of the Magic within the chamber. Nothing but the typical dim glow that all of Hogwarts was covered in normally. He walked forward, eyeing some of the tunnels that branched off the chamber, wondering if they led to areas like the secret one that he’d found early in the year.

‘It would certainly explain how the monster moves around the school without anyone noticing it.’ Harry thought to himself. Even the walls of paintings didn’t seem to notice it, and that brought up a laundry list of questions that Harry would’ve considered more thoroughly if his head wasn’t filled with rampant emotions.

As Harry drew even with the last pair of towering pillars, he saw a large statue as high as the Chamber itself standing against the back wall. Harry had to crane his neck to look up at the giant face above. It was ancient and kind of monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the Wizard’s sweeping stone robes. At the foot of the statute was a small figure in a black Hogwarts robe, their most distinctive feature was the flaming red hair.

“Ginny.” Harry moved forward but was stopped by a soft voice.

“She won’t wake.” The speaker was revealed to be an older teen, tall with black hair, wearing Hogwarts robes as well. But there was something odd about him; he was strangely blurry around the edges, sort of like a ghost.

“Who’re you?” Harry questioned the teen suspiciously. Already he was bringing his magic to bear. His Mage Sight spell saw the teen as almost entirely Magic, and it was almost disorientating to see when compared to a ghost or a person. Almost like this guy was something in between.

“Tom Marvolo Riddle.” The now named Tom answered.

“Never heard of you.” Harry replied, not taking his eyes off the strange person.

“Yes, I suppose you’d know me by a different name.” Tom let out a mirthless chuckle.

“What did you do to Ginny?” Harry questioned, seeing a line of magic connecting the two together with his bespelled eyes.

“No need to worry about that, Harry.” Tom waved it off. “She initiated that all by herself.” His eyes sharpened as he looked at Harry. “I’ve waited a long time for this, Harry Potter. For a chance to meet you, to speak to you.”

“You and a lot of other strangers that I’ve never met.” Harry replied snappishly, his emotions still running high. “What are you?”

The question seemed to surprise Tom for a second, but he let an answer pass his lips regardless. “A memory…preserved in a diary for fifty years.”

“What?” Harry didn’t know what to make of that.

“The diary,” Tom pointed at a book clutched in Ginny’s hand. “My diary. Little Ginny spilled her heart into it, telling me all about her inane problems.” He scoffed in derision. “It’s very boring, you know? Listening to the problems of a little girl. How her brothers tease her. How she was sad that she had to come to Hogwarts in second-hand robes and with used books. But the more she wrote to me, the more she trusted me, and the more she opened up to me, the more I took control.” A cold laugh escaped the teen. “She wrote to me more and more; worried that she was going mad. She couldn’t remember where she’d been, what she’d done, just blank spots in her memory and things happening that she couldn’t explain.”

“So, you’re a parasite…” Harry spoke up, making Tom growl at him. “But you claim to be a memory stored in that diary...” His emerald eyes locked onto Tom’s. “How interesting…” The teen pulled out Ginny’s wand as if on instinct, leveling it at Harry.

“Don’t bother, Tom.” Harry’s Barrier stopped the first spell cold. “I’m going to test a few things.” He formed his ‘spell scalpel’ around his hand and sliced the thread of Magic connecting Ginny and Tom.

“AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!” Tom howled in agony as his entire form flickered. The fading stopped as the thread reformed a second later.

“I see…” Harry hummed, his emotions finally cooling as his mind focused on this new Magic. “Maybe if I…?” He pulled the diary out of Ginny’s hands, with some struggle as the girl had a death grip on it. Harry heard a few more spells hit his barrier, but that wasn’t cause for concern. “Huh, now there’s two lines.” He noticed a thread of Magic now connecting Ginny to the diary, and another that connected the diary to Tom. “How about?” He sliced the thread connecting the diary to Ginny and watched Tom become incorporeal, Ginny’s wand falling out of his hands to clatter on the floor. The thread reconnected again though, making Harry frown at it.

“STOP IT!!!” Tom thundered at Harry, finally getting the Spellcrafter’s attention. “She will not be separated from the diary until her life fades and I am restored!” He promised with utter surety. “She tried, over and over again, to throw my diary away. But she always came back for it, even if it took a day or two.”

“Really?” Harry raised an eyebrow at this new information. “That explains why it wasn’t found during the sweep of all the student’s belongings.” He placed the tip of his index finger on the diary. “But I still have a few theories. What happens if I damage the book?”

“You can’t…” Tom sneered only to be cut off as Harry’s ‘spell scalpel’ passed through the book entirely and a glowing line appeared across his body. “AAAUUUAAAGGGHHH!!!” The strangled, tortured wail that came from Tom’s mouth as his form wavered dangerously proved that Harry could indeed damage him.

“Do you think you’re leeching will stop if I continue to attack the diary?” Harry questioned Tom, as if he hadn’t just made the teen let out a tortured cry of agony. “What do you think, Tom Riddle?”

“D-Don’t call me…by my…filthy Muggle father’s name!” Tom yelled at Harry after solidifying again. He snatched up Ginny’s wand and began to write in the air with the Flagrate Charm leaving floating letters of flame behind. “Thomas Marvolo Riddle…” He wrote out his full name before waving the stolen wand and having the letters rearrange themselves.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

“Oh, of course…” Harry glared at the words and the one that had written them.

“Ssshhhaaassshhraassshh.” A bizarre hissing sound came from the young Voldemort’s mouth, Harry able to identify it as Parseltongue thanks to the Runespoor portrait.

The mouth of the statue slowly opened and from within the massive form of a serpent emerged. It slithered down the stone robes adorning the statue Wizard until it was on the stone floor of the Chamber. Harry got a good look at it, both physically and magically, thanks to his Mage Sight spell. It glowed with a deep green Magic…it was old, Harry could tell from the way its Magic seemed to be almost condensed within its body.

“A Basilisk, right?” Harry had read up on a good number of Magical Creatures, and this thing looked similar to the hand drawn snake he’d seen in one of the books.

“Yes, Harry, frightened?” Tom mocked with a gleeful sneer on his face. “A single glance and you’ll die.”

“I doubt it.” Harry still had his Barrier up after all.

“Shhhaaarrraaa!” Tom hissed out and the Basilisk whipped its head around to look at Harry with its glowing yellow eyes.

But nothing happened to Harry.

“IMPOSSIBLE!!!” Tome raged, the sneer falling form his face, only to be replaced by furious shock. “Why aren’t you dead?!”

“My Barrier spell blocks all Magic, except for Soul Magic, I think?” Harry recalled how Peeves was able to escape through it, and the thread of Magic that still connected Ginny, the diary, and Tom together was able to pass through it too. “That includes the death gaze of the Basilisk, because it’s Magic.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Tom sneered, becoming noticeably more corporeal. “Her life is about to become mine. You have no way to stop me.”

“Really?” Harry looked between the Basilisk and Tom. “Because you can’t kill me, your snake can’t kill me, but I can hurt both of you!” The boy proved his point by launching a spell at the Basilisk, a powerful Confringo, that exploded against the King of Serpents’ head. Then he stabbed another ‘spell scalpel’ into the Diary.

“AAAUUUAAAGGGHHH!!!” Tom wailed in torturous agony again, once more becoming intangible as Ginny’s wand fell from his fingers.

“Ssshhhaaa…” The Basilisk, however, was unharmed by the spell, its green-black scales not showing a hint of damage.

“Hah…agh…” Tom stabilized again, though the specter was clearly terrified of letting Harry keep hold of his diary. “Use whatever spell you like, Harry Potter. The Basilisk is immune!”

Harry lifted off the ground, floating into the air even as the Basilisk lunged at him and its lethal fangs bounced off the spherical barrier around Harry. “Do you really think your snake is immune to Magic?” He stuffed the diary into his robe pocket and then clapped his hands together. “You have a lot to learn about Magic!” Lightning danced around his hands as he pulled them apart, bolts of lightning leaping between his palms. “A Basilisk’s scales may have greater magical resistance than most any Witch or Wizard could hope to overcome…but nothing is truly immune to Magic! I’ll have you pay for this lesson with the life of your snake!” The air rumbled like thunder and the shade of Voldemort could barely look at the bright blue-white light. Even the Basilisk had closed its deadly yellow eyes from the harshness of the light.

“How?! How are you doing this?!” Tom yelled loudly, but was still barely heard over the thunderous noise. “How did you survive while the greatest Dark Lord to ever live perished?!”

“Lightning Bolt.” Harry spoke, focusing the spell solely upon the Basilisk. The instant before he unleashed the spell, he canceled his Barrier.

KRAKABOOM

The sound was deafening as the lightning struck the Basilisk head-on. The serpent didn’t even have time to react, one second it was alive, the next its entire body was being fried with electricity at such high amperage that its very blood boiled within itself and every single organ failed and shut down simultaneously. With the sound stopped resounding through the chamber and echoing over and over again, Tom could finally see the Basilisk…or what was left of it.

“N-no…that’s…not possible…” Tom saw nothing but a blackened, smoking corpse of a snake. Several places along the Basilisk’s body had burst open as well, revealing smoking, cooked insides that had exploded out like a sausage that was overstuffed.

“Now…do you get it?” Harry touched down on the ground again, once more surrounded by his spherical barrier. “Stop draining Ginny, and tell me how this diary of yours works.” He held up the black book again.

“Never.” Tom hissed, his eyes turning a reddish color. “I’ll take her life, just so that you fail!” He revealed a pettiness that most never knew he had.

“I see, that’s a shame then.” Harry remarked, having truly wanted to study the strange diary and how it hosted a memory of Voldemort from fifty years ago. “I guess I’ll have to do my own research. Goodbye, Tom Riddle.” Harry made sure to emphasize the last name since Tom had shown such distain for it. The twisted, black and orange flames of Fiendfyre burst into life from Harry’s hand. He threw the now burning diary onto the stone floor, firmly keeping the cursed flames from spreading any further.

“NOOOAAUUUAAGGHH!!!” Tom wailed before his form wavered away like a mirage. The wailing continued however, as a smoke-like wraith, with a horrified screaming face, burst from the diary as more and more of it turned to ash. The black fog dispersed into nothingness and Harry crushed the Fiendfyre form existence with a combination of his will and Magic Manipulation to extract all of the Magic it had consumed to fuel itself.

“This better not keep happening.” Harry sighed, picking up the charred remnants of the diary. Looking it over, nothing would ever give away what it had been, at least not upon first inspection. But Harry’s attention was focused more on Ginny as he shoved the diary charred half a book into his pocket.

“Uh…” Ginny was breathing, her pale face gaining back some color. Her eyes slowly opened and she saw Harry Potter looking down at her. “H-Harry?”

“Glad to have you back, Ginny.” Harry greeted the First Year.

“Harry! It was Tom! He kept doing something to me!” Ginny looked around, as if expecting Tom to appear suddenly. “I’d black out and wake up later…I think I might’ve killed some roosters? There was the red stuff on my hands that one time at Halloween too. I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen!” The young girl was quickly working herself up into a frenzy.

Until a brilliant song filled the Chamber of Secrets as a flame burst alight above them and a red and golden bird flew through the air, trilling a song that seemingly brought about hope, joy, and relief to those that heard it.

“Is that a Phoenix?” Harry had never seen one outside of a picture before. The immortal firebird landed gently on the ground next to Harry and Ginny. It trilled at the two students with a soothing tone, seeing that they didn’t appear injured.

“It’s so pretty.” Ginny gently ran her fingers over the Phoenix’s plumage.

The compliment seemed to please the bird as it trilled happily.

“Hello, you’re Dumbledore’s Phoenix, right?” Harry greeted the Magical Bird. “I hope this isn’t too forward, but would it be possible to get a feather from you? Maybe a couple of tears too?” His curiosity about the legendary properties of Phoenixes made him ask without considering how it sounded.

The low trill he received from the Phoenix, along with a look that just screamed ‘unamused’ to anyone that saw it, gave him his answer.

“I’ll just take that as a ‘No’ for now…” Harry wasn’t pouting…he wasn’t.

Ginny looked at Harry with a shy smile after petting the Phoenix for a bit. “Thank you for coming to save me, Harry.”

“No big deal.” Harry waved it off with a smile, still eyeing the Phoenix and its feathers.

“It’s like those stories Mum used to read to me, a dashing Wizard saving the Witch he loved.” Ginny’s cheeks were turning red.

“Luna asked me to come find you.” Harry’s response was like an invisible spike piercing straight through Ginny. “She was crying, worried sick about you, I couldn’t leave my little sister like that.” He explained his reason for staging this impromptu rescue.

“Oh…” Ginny’s response lacked the energy that had entered her words before.

The trilling of the Phoenix caught Harry’s attention as the bird flew a short distance away and then landed, turning back to look at the two students.

“I think he wants us to follow him.” Harry quickly figured out what the immortal bird was getting at.

“Okay.” Ginny picked up her wand from the floor dully. She followed after Harry, and they both followed the Phoenix back the way that Harry had come.

Harry would be both surprised and not at seeing the Professors all gathered in Myrtle’s bathroom when he and Ginny flew out of the pipe. Ginny was being carried by holding onto the Phoenix, while Harry flew under his own power. From the brief bits of conversation that he managed to listen to, the Professors had been about to jump down the pipe to come after their students, but all such talk ended as the concerned faculty nearly swarmed the two returned students.

-End Chapter-

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One electric roasted Basilisk, order up!

Harry ends the threat of the ‘Heir of Slytherin’ early! You don’t see that in every fic, huh?

Ginny is saved from Voldemort’s first Horcrux.

Harry REALLY wanted to experiment and ask more questions…but Tom was being very uncooperative. Perhaps in the future, Harry will have another chance to do both?

What will be the outcome of this early event?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!