Keep Me In Your Memory

Chapter Seventeen- Saved By an Owl

Harry flew through the library with Hermione right behind him and Draco, Myari, and Luna right behind her. "I said no!" Harry hissed trying to get away from Hermione as the other students hurried to get away from Harry. The news of Harry's 'attack' on Ron had spread fast to the students that were not at the club.

"Please!" Hermione beg trying to grab the back of Harry's cloak, but Harry flew around a shelf.

"Back off, Granger, he already told you no!" Draco growled out trying to grab Hermione before she followed Harry around the shelf, but was too late.

"But he can help!" Hermione hissed out at Draco.

"I said I'm not doing it! You can search for it yourself! You're smart you don't need me!" Harry hissed as he began to zigzag through the library much to Madam Pince's annoyance, but they weren't yelling nor were they technically running.

"But it would go so much faster with your help! Why won't you help?" Hermione asked as she continued to follow Harry. Myari and Luna broke off of this weird train to sit at a table to watch and wait.

"He doesn't want to help you, get over it and leave him alone!" Draco hissed. Tired of being chased, Harry suddenly spun around and grabbed Hermione by her shoulders and pressed her against a shelf.

"I'm not helping you find the chamber. You know it must have been built in while they were building the school. You have an arsenal of books at your disposal, start looking for a blueprint of the school when it was first being built." Harry hissed into her ear.

"But it's a Secret Chamber, it won't be on any of the blue prints." Hermione whined trying not to let her fear of Harry's sudden change in attitude show.

"Then use that brain of yours and figure it out, I'm not always going to be around to solve everything for you." Harry told her before pushing away from her and all but ran from library. He heard feet following him and knew it was Draco, Harry suddenly stopped running and spun around to see Draco sliding to a stop. Harry held out his arms and stopped Draco from sliding into him, drawing a lot more attention from the students that were already trying to pretend to not be listening. "I'm happy you're worried for me, but I want to be alone."

"You shouldn't be alone." Draco told him with concern.

"Why, because I'm a danger?" Harry asked trying not to notice how the other students took a step away from them.

"No. Because you're scared and not thinking straight. Not only that, but you've just been accused of trying to kill Weasley." The crowd of students around them made an audible gasp and Draco rolled his eyes before growling out: "Wrongly accused. But sometimes that doesn't matter to people like Weasley. My father has dealt with people like him, once they get a thought in their mind, no matter how wrong it is, they will never change that thought. Weasley has it in his mind that you just tried to kill him, and nothing you do or say will change that. I fear that he may try to retaliate, you shouldn't be alone." Harry smiled sweetly at Draco and pulled him close so that he could whisper in his ear.

"I don't care. I want to be alone. And if Ron does something to me while I'm alone then you can tell me 'I told you so'." Harry kissed his cheek before pushing Draco hard enough to knock him to the ground. Harry took that time to turn and run. He didn't know where he was running to, just that he needed to get away, but from what, he really didn't know.

Harry slid to a stop at a dead end panting hard, he rested his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath back when he felt that there were people behind him. Harry straightened up and quickly spun around to find Ron behind him, but he wasn't alone. Ron had brought two Gryffindor boys that Harry didn't know, Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff, and even Terry Boot, his dormmate.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked still slightly out of breath.

"Where were you going in such a hurry? Trying to get to the Chamber to attack more students?" Ron asked stepping out from the group and into Harry's face. Harry tried to fight off the annoyed face that he knew was on his face.

"I don't know where the Chamber is, nor have I attacked anyone. Hermione is in the Library right now looking for clues to where it might be." Harry told him.

"Speaking about Hermione," Ron said before punching Harry's cheek, "remove the curse you put on her."

"I didn't put a curse on her!" Harry groaned out only to be punched in the gut.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! I KNOW YOU PUT A CURSE ON HER WHY ELSE WOULD SHE WANT TO SPEND ANYTIME WITH YOU!" Ron yelled.

"She's a big girl, she can decide who she wants to hang out with." Harry wheezed out as he clutched his stomach. Harry noticed Ron winding up for another punch and closed his eyes. The punch landed on his temple causing Harry to stumble but he caught himself before he could fall, knowing from experience that if he fell to the ground it would be that much worse.

"You can't trick me with your 'innocent' act. Haiden has told me all about the times you 'accidently' used magic to get him into trouble." Ron said punching Harry in the face again, splitting his lip. "He also told me about that time at the zoo where you set a Boa Constrictor on your cousin." Ron punched him in the gut again causing Harry to fall to the ground where he quickly curled up to protect his vital organs. "I know you're a Dark Wizard, Harry." Ron began to stomp on Harry. "Everyone knows that only Dark Wizards can talk to snakes! I bet you're the reason You-Know-Who attacked your family! I bet he was trying to kill you, not Haiden! Only a really powerful Dark Wizard could have survived a curse like that! You-Know-Who didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. What other powers are you hiding?!"

"If I was a Dark Wizard," Harry wheezed and grunted out even though he knew he should just keep his mouth shut, "then why haven't I retaliated against you yet?"

"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall called out, causing Harry's eyes to snap open as she rushed passed the group of boys to Ron and Harry, Nearly Headless Nick floating after her.

"Nothing." Ron said backing up from Harry as fast as he could while Harry groaned and spat out some blood.

"Ron was just questioning me about a nonexistent curse I put on Hermione, and accusing me of trying to get to the Chamber to attack more students because it came out last night at the Dueling Club that I'm apparently a Parselmouth. He also accused me of being a Dark Wizard and being the reason Voldemort attacked and killed my parents." Harry coughed out as McGonagall gently yet firmly grabbed Harry's arm and helped his stand up while keeping her eyes on the others.

"Let's get you check out at the Hospital Wing, Mr. Potter." She said before she began to lead Harry passed the others. "And you five will follow me, I'm not done with you."

~Keep Me In Your Memory~

By the time Harry was done with getting checked out and retelling what happened in the hall about 20 times, it was passed Dinner and close to the mandatory curfew for his year. Harry was annoyed that Dumbledore only gave Ron a few nights detention with Severus and a warning. Harry stomped up the stairs and turned into another corridor, which was particularly dark; the torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draft that was blowing through a loose windowpane. He was halfway down the passage when he tripped headlong over something lying on the floor.

With a pain filled and slightly annoyed groan, he turned to squint at what he'd fallen over and felt as though his stomach had dissolved. Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. And that wasn't all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight Harry had ever seen.

It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin's.

Harry got to his feet, his breathing fast and shallow, his heart doing a kind of drum roll against his ribs. He looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies. The only sounds were the howling wind from outside and his heart.

Harry was torn. Half of him was whispering to run as far and as fast as he could from the scene and that no one would ever know he had been there. The other half told him to get a teacher and explain how he stumbled upon them. But the only thing both halves agreed on was that if he was caught there at the scene it would not end well for him. If he ran he would feel bad for leaving them lying here. But if he got help… would they believe he hadn't had anything to do with this?

As he stood there, panicking, a door right next to him opened with a bang. Peeves the poltergeist came shooting out. "Why, it's potty wee Potter number two!" Cackled Peeves as he bounced past him. "What's Potter number two up to? Why's Potter number two lurking-" Peeves stopped, halfway through a mid air somersault. Upside down, he spotted Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. He flopped the right way up, filled his lungs, and before Harry could stop him, screamed, "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Filch came running into the corridor, saw the scene and sneered at Harry.

"Caught in the act. I'll have you out this time Potter. Mark my words." He said before leaving to most likely get the closest teacher.

"No! Wait! Mr. Filch!" Harry called but he was gone, and Harry felt that this would be his last night in Hogwart and collapsed onto the ground in tears. He heard what sounded like an owl hooting and wings flapping before he felt something rubbing up against him. He looked over and saw Loki staring at him with a concerned look. "I'm sorry boy, but this may be our last night here." He muttered to Loki as Filch came back with McGonagall.

"Professor… I swear I didn't…" Was all that Harry was able to get out as he held Loki to him.

"This is out of my hands, Harry." McGonagall told him sadly as she held him up. "Filch, can you get the other Professors to take Mr. Finch-Fletchley and Nick to the Hospital Wing. Harry, please follow me." They marched in silence around a corner and she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle. Loki hissed and Harry gently pet him. "Lemon Drop!" She said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Harry couldn't fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As he and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upwards in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.

He knew now where he was being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived. They stepped off the staircase at the top, and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered. Professor McGonagall told Harry to wait and left him there, alone with Loki.

Harry looked around petting Loki who had began to hiss again the second he saw the knocker. One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices Harry had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting. If he hadn't been scared out of his wits that he was about to be thrown out of school, he would have been very pleased to have a chance to look around it.

It was 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, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat - the Sorting Hat.

A strange, gagging noise caught his attention, and caused him wheel around. He wasn't alone with Loki after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird that resembled a half-plucked turkey. Looking closer, Harry saw that it was a Phoenix that was close to a Burning Day. Harry stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making it's gagging noise again. It's eyes were dull and, even as Harry watched, a couple more feathers fell out of it's tail. And then the bird caught fire scaring Loki who tried to climb up Harry's shoulder to get away.

"Shh, it's alright. Nothing to be frightened of." Harry whispered soothingly to Loki who calmed slightly but was obviously still skittish. Meanwhile, the bird had become a fireball; it gave one loud shriek and the next second there was nothing but a smoldering pile of ash on the floor. Harry held Loki and knelt down to show him that everything was fine as the now baby Phoenix poked it's head out of the ash. "See, nothing to be frightened of. It's just a Phoenix." It was then that Harry felt someone watching him, he gathered his magic into his eyes and spun around expecting to see a partially see through Dumbledore, but he saw the real Dumbledore watching him closely.

"You're Phoenix just revived." Harry told Dumbledore as he tightened his hold on Loki who was struggling to attack Dumbledore.

"About time, too, he's been looking dreadful for days; I've been telling him to get a move on." Dumbledore walked over to Harry who fought the urge to back up. "I'm surprised you know what a Phoenix is, Harry. Most students that were raised by Muggles have no idea what on is."

"I've read about them." Harry informed Dumbledore who nodded and moved over to his desk.

"It's a shame you had to see him on a Burning Day. He's really very handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets." Harry had almost forgotten why he was there, but it all came back to him as Dumbledore settled himself in the high chair behind the desk and fixed Harry with his penetrating, light-blue stare.

Before anyone could speak another word, however, the fireplace went off and Lucius Malfoy stepped through with Heimdallur sitting proudly on his shoulder. "Don't say anything, Harry." Was the first thing Lucius said the second he stepped into Dumbledore's office.

"Mr. Malfoy, this is an unexpected visit. What may I do for you tonight?" Dumbledore asked as Lucius walked over to Harry and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder

"I have received many letters from not only my son, but also multiple students and teachers about what has been happening to Harry this year." Lucius said.

"I do not see why this concerns you?" Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Seeing as I have been granted Loco Parentis, it concerns me a lot." Lucius explained and had Lucius not been gently holding onto Harry, he would have collapsed in relief as he felt the weight of the world lift off him. He knew that Lucius would not let anything happen to him.

"What? Since when were you granted this?" Dumbledore asked jumping from his chair in shocked anger.

"Since this morning when you failed to show to court where they would decide who would be given temporary guardianship of Harry during the case between you and Severus." Lucius informed with a slight smirk in his voice.

"I did not receive any notification for the court." Dumbledore growled out.

"That is not my problem. You did not show, I did, and the judge gave me temporary guardianship. Now onto more important business right now. We have a students getting attacked and petrified, one student accusing another of trying to kill him, and that same student attacking the one he accused and only being given detention? And said student that was being accused and attacked in your office in tears? Please explain to me what is going on, Harry." Lucius said turning to look at Harry who took a deep breath.

"It all started earlier this year around halloween when I stumbled upon a girl who looked like Ginny Weasley writing on the wall-" Harry started.

"There is no proof that Ginny-" Dumbledore interrupted only to get cut off by Lucius.

"Headmaster, I believe I asked for Harry's side of the story first, you will get your chance after him. And while we are at it, we should hear the side of the student who not only accused Harry of trying to kill him, but also attacked Harry. It would also be best to call their parents here as well.." Lucius said and Dumbledore walked over to a portrait, woke it and asked for it to have a teacher bring Ron before he moved over to his fireplace and called Molly and asked her to join them.

"What's going on?" Molly asked as she spotted Lucius next to Harry.

"That is what we are trying to figure out." Lucius said in cold politeness. The air became tense as they waited for Ron to show. Minutes later Ron was brought in by Severus. The second Ron saw Harry his face turned as red as his hair in anger.

"Trying to kill me wasn't enough, huh Potter, had to get my mother involved in this? What lie have you been twisting in her head?" Ron asked causing Molly.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you watch your mouth young man. Accusing someone of trying to kill you is not something to joke about!" Molly reprimanded, she went to continue but Lucius stopped her.

"As much as I would like to see young Ronald Weasley get punished, we must first make sure the punishment fits the crime, and if we are punishing the right person." Lucius explained as he conjured up four chairs before turning to Severus. "As much as I wish for you to stay, this does not concern you until you win custody of Harry."

"I was witness to the first accusation." Severus said and Lucius conjured up another chair. Molly made sure Ron sat in the chair at one end with her next to him and next to Lucius who was sitting next to Harry with Severus on the other side at the other end.

"Let us first hear Harry's side, then we will hear young Ronald's side, followed by Albus's punishment for the wrongdoer." Lucius said and everyone turned to look at Harry who, once again, took a deep breath.

"It started earlier this year around halloween. I stumbled upon a girl who looked like Ginny writing on the wall in-"

"Bullshit! You're lying! Stop trying to blame Ginny!" Ron spat out only to get whack on the back of the head by Molly.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, you let Harry finish his side and then you can have your chance!" She ordered. "I'm sorry, Harry, please continue."

"She was writing on the wall in blood. Once she was done she ran off. The message she wrote was 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware'. That was when Hermione, Haiden, and Ron found me. We then saw Mrs. Norris hanging on a torch, petrified. Ron pulled Hermione and Haiden away just in time to slip into the crowd of students that had just came from the dinning hall. Mr. Filch accused me of killing his cat and threatened to kill me. I don't know what he would have done if Dumbledore and the other teachers had not showed up then. We went to Professor Lockhart's office where Dumbledore informed everyone that Mrs. Norris was not dead only petrified.

"The next incident happened last night at the Dueling Club that was just started. After Professor Snape and Professor Lockhart gave us a little demonstration of how a proper duel was to be, we were split into pairs and I was paired up with Ron. Professor Lockhart told us to send spells to disarm each other only and to go on the count of three. As Lockhart counted down, Ron attacked me before Lockhart had finished and I blocked the attack, knocking it into a wall where it began to sizzled as it acid had been dumped on it. In anger at the fact that I believed Ron was trying to seriously harm me, I let my anger control me and I did use my magic to hurt him. I admit I should not have done that, I should have gotten one of the Professors. I will accept any punishment for attacking Ron there." Harry admitted.

"Thank you for admitting that, Harry." Dumbledore said. "Is that all?"

"No. After realizing that he should have taught us how to block, Professor Lockhart had Haiden and Draco demonstrate how to block a friendly, non harmful spells. It didn't go as planned. Draco sent a conjured a serpent to attack Haiden and I-" Harry paused to close his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You what, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Harry looked at Severus with tears in his eyes, scared to admit he was a Parselmouth.

"I can't help you here, Harry, you're going to have to tell them yourself." Severus told him as a tear fell. Harry swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath.

"I used an ability I just learned I had. I used Parselmouth to talk to the snake." He heard Molly take a sharp intake of breath. "I told him to leave Haiden a lone and the snake turned towards Ron. I told the snake 'Don't even think about it' and he told me that I was not his master and that he was created to attack, that if he was not allowed to attack Haiden then he would attack Ron. I then told him to bite me. He did not listen and continued toward Ron. I ordered him to listen to me, that I was now his master and that he was to listen to me. I told him that he was to not bite Ron, that he was to bite me. The snake finally listened to me and started to come towards me, I bent down to allow the snake to bite me when Professor Snape disintegrated it.

"Ron then blew up accusing me of trying to kill him. I denied the accusation and learned that I was speaking Parselmouth. He then accused me of attacking Colin Creevey, who had been taken to the Hospital Wing because he, too, had been petrified. Ron also accused me of opening the Chamber of Secrets. And when I tried to deny it, he used me attacking him in anger as proof. And when Hermione tried to defend me, he accused me of putting a curse on her, and using the fact that she had once been so sure that I was the one attacking people, and then suddenly began defending me after being alone with me in the Restricted Section. Draco, Myari, Luna, and Hermione helped me get away from him after Professor Snape stepped in.

"And then today after I ran away from Hermione and Draco, I found myself at a dead end. And as I was trying to get by breath, Ron, Justin, Terry, and two other Gryffindor boys that I don't know came up behind me. After asking if I could help them, Ron stepped out of the group of boys, asked me where I was going in a hurry then accused me of trying to get to the Chamber of Secrets to attack more students. I informed him that I didn't know where the Chamber Secrets was and that Hermione was in the library looking for clues as to where it might be. Ron then punched me and demanded that I remove the curse from Hermione. I informed him that I hadn't put a curse on Hermione and he accused me of lying after punching me in the gut. I told him that Hermione was a big girl who could decide who she wanted to hang out with.

"Ron accused me to using an act to appear innocent and that he was not fooled by my 'act' that Haiden had informed him of all the times I used magic to get Haiden in trouble with our relatives. Ron also informed me that Haiden had told him about the time I set a boa constrictor on my cousin at a zoo. By this time Ron had continued punching me until I was curled up in a ball on the ground where he began to stomp on me. Ron then began to accuse me of being a Dark Wizard because I am a Parselmouth. That I was the real reason Voldemort killed my parents and tried to kill me and Haiden. That the only reason me and Haiden survived was because I was a powerful Dark Wizard. He also informed me that Voldemort wasn't trying to kill Haiden, but me because Voldemort didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. He accused me of hiding other powers. That was when Professor McGonagall showed up and took me to the Hospital Wing." Harry finished still crying.

"Thank you Harry for telling us your side, I just have a few questions. You said you took Miss Granger to the Restricted Section, why?" Dumbledore asked.

"She needed my help to get a book to 'help her understand something in one of Lockhart's books' is the reason she told me. After calling her lie, we had a small argument about her using me. Since I had already agreed to help her get the book, I lead her into the Restricted Section, got the book she needed and let her copy whatever she needed from the book." Harry said.

"Why did you let her copy it instead of checking the book out for her?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because she did not want me to know what she was actually doing. And if I had checked the book out I would have had to be with her whenever she used the book. So to respect her wishes, I let her copy the page she needed so I did not have to be there with her." Harry explained.

"What book did you let her copy from, and what was it she copied?" Dumbledore asked.

"Moste Potente Potions. And I do not know what she copied, I turned away as she found the page and copied it. And as she copied the book, I said some nasty stuff to her in anger that I should not have said. But after she was done copying, we talked and I admitted that I should not have said what I said and apologized and we hugged it out." Harry explained.

"I see. You said you were running from both Hermione and Draco. Why were you running from them?" Dumbledore asked.

"I was running from Hermione because she wanted my help in searching for the Chamber of Secrets and I did not wish to help. I was running from Draco because he was adamant in staying with me today. So I pushed him down and ran. I pushed him to give me enough time to get away." Harry said.

"Why did you not want to help Hermione search for the Chamber of Secrets?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because he obviously already knows where it is and doesn't want anyone to find it!" Ron cried only to be shushed by his mother.

"I didn't want to help Hermione search for the Chamber of Secrets because I was scared. And I was scared because it brought back memories of a nightmare that I had been having since very early on this school year. I just stopped having it in October. The nightmare was of me dying by the Slytherin's monster: A Basilisk." Harry explained.

"How do you know the monster is a Basilisk?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because he's seen it when opening the Chamber of Secrets! And he can control it because he is a parselmouth!" Ron yelled and Lucius turned to Molly.

"If you cannot keep your son quiet during Harry's turn to talk, I may be forced to use a Silencing Charm on him." Lucius warned.

"I know because I deduced it with Hermione after the Dueling Club." Harry glanced at Severus before looking back at Dumbledore. "I had been hearing what I thought was a disembodied voice, I informed Professor Snape and he told me not to tell you for fear you would turn that into proof that I was crazy and use it against him during your fight in custody of me. After I had learned that I was a parselmouth I deduced that because Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth as well that he would need a monster that only he could control, the monster would also need to be very powerful and deadly to cause so much fear. From those clues I was able to deduce that the monster had to be a Basilisk. And the reason that no one has died yet was because they had not looked at it directly. Mrs. Norris saw it via the puddle of water that was on the floor, Colin Creevey saw it through his camera, and Justin saw it through Nearly Headless Nick who took the full blast of it, but since he is already dead he could not die again." Harry explained.

"That… is very thought out. I admit that even I would not have been able to put those pieces together as you have. You must be very smart and perceptive." Dumbledore complemented. "Just one more question before we let Mr. Weasley tell his side. Have you been able to deduce how the Basilisk is moving through the school?"

"No." Harry said.

"I see, nothing from your nightmare stands out?" Dumbledore asked.

"Why are you asking about his stupid nightmare, it's just a nightmare! You should be demanding he take you to the Chamber! Or even expelling him before he hurts more people!" Ron cried.

"I have found over the years, Mr. Weasley, that sometimes dreams and nightmares maybe more then the appear, especially if they are recurring." Dumbledore explained. Harry thought back on his nightmare to see if anything stood out, and something did but something told him not to say anything.

"No." Harry said and Dumbledore gave him a probing look as Harry felt as if something was trying to climb into his head, and mentally pushed whatever it was away. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes in thought before smiling.

"I see, thank you for telling us your side. Mr. Weasley, it is your time to tell us your side." Dumbledore said looking at Ron.

"He's a liar! Ginny was nowhere around when we found him alone in front of the message and Mrs. Norris! He's lying about Hermione! He but a curse on her to make her defend him! She would never have done so otherwise! It was Hermione that pointed out that Harry was smart enough and powerful enough to not only locate the Chamber but also open it! The fact that he knows what is in the Chamber is proof! He's also a Parselmouth and only Dark Wizards are Parselmouths! No decent wizard ever talks to snakes! It's said that You-Know-Who can talk to snakes! Haiden told me about how he sent a Boa Constrictor, a snake, to attack his cousin! Also, he calls You-Know-Who by his name! Only Dark Wizards do that! And how does he know the Justin and Nick were attacked? No one else knows about that!" Ron said before looking proud of himself that he had proven everything Harry said was a lie.

"In your argument about Harry saying Voldemort's name, I say it too. Do you know why Mr. Weasley? It's because fear of a name increases fear of the thing." Dumbledore said and Ron became red in embarrassment. Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Do you wish to defend yourself of anything Mr. Weasley had accused you of?"

"Yes." Harry said before leaning forward enough to look at Ron. "About that Boa Constrictor incident. It was an accident. It happened the summer me and Haiden got our letters. Our relatives are not nice people, they beat us, starve us, and locked us in a small cupboard for the first 11 years of our lives. And they encouraged our cousin to hit and beat us whenever he felt like it. They also never took us any place they did not have to. The only reason me and my brother were at the zoo was because they could not find anyone to watch us after Mrs. Figg had broken her leg and could not watch us as they took my cousin and one of his friends to the zoo for his birthday. And at that time I did not know I was a wizard and that the tingling in my nasal was magic, I just knew when I felt that tingle something strange would happen.

"We were in the reptile room at the zoo and I began speaking with a bored Boa Constrictor, not knowing at the time I was speaking another language." Harry added quickly when he saw Ron start to open his mouth to argue. " My brother caught me talking to the snake just before my cousin could. My cousin pushed me and Haiden to the ground and before I knew what was happening the glass separating my cousin and the Boa suddenly disappeared and the snake slithered out. It didn't attack anyone it just left the zoo." Harry explained.

"I believe you have everything you need to decide who is in the wrong and what to do with them." Lucius said.

"Yes, Harry I'm sorry to say this, but you are expelled." Dumbledore said and Molly jumped up in shocked anger as Ron smirked at Harry who just sat there in disbelief.

"What!" Molly cried out.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but I think I misheard you. I thought I heard you say Harry was expelled instead of Mr. Weasley." Lucius said.

"You heard me right, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said.

"May I asks why you decided to expel Harry instead of Mr. Weasley?" Lucius demanded.

"From everything I heard, Harry is a danger to other students. He physically attacked Mr. Weasley in anger and verbally attacked Miss Granger in anger. We also have no proof if Harry did tell the snake to attack Mr. Weasley or not." Dumbledore said.

"True there is no proof whether Harry told the snake to attack or not, but there is also no proof he did. So your argument about that is invalid. And about Harry's anger, put him in anger management, expulsion because he got angry at some students that may or may not have tried to attack him. And I don't know what you heard from both sides, but from what I heard Harry gave you multiple reasons for everything and even took responsibility for everything he did while angry, and even admitted he was wrong for what it. All Mr. Weasley did was spout bigot hatred towards anyone different. He also never took responsibility for anything he did." Lucius said. "So from that it should stem that Harry be given anger management and Mr. Weasley be expelled or suspended for his unwarranted attack on Harry today."

"As much as I don't like it, I agree with Mr. Malfoy." Molly said.

"And what of the accusation he cursed Mrs Granger?" Dumbledore asked.

"Test her. Have someone test her for any curses. If it is proven she is under a curse than you can punish Harry, if she is not cursed then someone owes Harry multiple apologies." Lucius said.

"I see. Then I must apologize to you, Harry, you are not expelled. Mr. Weasley, you will be suspended until after the Christmas Holidays, starting today. You will be escorted to your dorm where you will pack your things you will not be allowed back on the premises until after the Holidays." Dumbledore said. Ron's face was redder than it had ever been as he shot up from his chair and followed his mother out of the office as she berated him.

"I'm glad you were able to see things our way. Now, if you will excuse us, I am going to walk Harry to his dorm to make sure he gets there safely. Afterwards I will be back up here to have a discussion with you." Lucius warned and began to lead Harry out, but Harry stopped and turned to look at Dumbledore.

"May I ask a question before I go, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Dumbledore said.

"Has the Chamber of Secrets ever been open before? When the teachers heard that it might be open, they became terrified as if they knew what would happen if it had opened." Harry said.

"You're very perceptive. Why the interest in if it has been open before?" Dumbledore asked.

"Just curious." Harry said and the two of them stared at eachother for a minute as if trying to stared the other down before Dumbledore smiled a sad smile.

"It was open once before, before I was headmaster. A young fourth year ravenclaw was killed." Dumbledore said somberly.

"Do you happen to know where she was killed?" Harry asked and Dumbledore narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"If you have any clue as to where the Chamber is, tell me!" Dumbledore demanded.

"I'm just curious. You can't fault me for that, can you?" Harry asked and Dumbledore let out an annoyed breath.

"She was found in the bathroom." Dumbledore told him and Harry smiled.

"Thank you." Harry said before leaving.