Chapter 4
Location: Hogwarts: Luna Lovegood
Three Earth Days after Vision
Luna hummed as she skipped throughout the halls of Hogwarts with the typically Lovegood dreamy smile on her face that had everyone around underestimate her. Her bare feet made quiet thud sounds on the stone floors as she did so. It had always amused Luna that her fellow Ravenclaw students always stole her shoes thinking that it would cause some issues for her when in actuality, she had always preferred walking around barefoot. It allowed her to be closer with the ambient magic of the Earth and Hogwarts as well while she was here.
It had been three days since Luna had had the vision while in the Founder’s Tower of Hogwarts with the rest of the Misfits but while she had wanted to start putting things in order immediately, Dumbledore had been watching her too closely to do so. Today, however, the half-Torvak Headmaster had been called into an emergency Wizengamot meeting so he had to leave, and with his pawn Snape preoccupied with lessons and grading papers it was the perfect time to sneak away.
When Luna came to a stop in front of the second floor girls’ lavatory, she glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was looking before whipping out her wand and banishing the water Myrtle had once again flooded on the floors. Heading inside, Luna smiled as the door closed behind her and she warded it against anyone else coming inside. Not that anyone would try considering how every girl in the school avoided Myrtle’s haunted bathroom like the dragon-pox, unless they wanted to bully the ghost.
“Morning Myrtle.” Luna chimed to the ghost of the Fourth Year student who had died here as the ghost peaked out from behind her toilet stall.
“Oh… It’s just you, Looney.” Myrtle huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she floated through the stall door and hovered there. “I thought you might be one of those nasty Seventh Year girls who come to make fun of me again and throw a book through me.” The ghost sneered at the memory of what had happened only thirty minutes earlier.
“No. I’d never make fun of you, Myrtle.” Luna told her honestly. The young Faeling didn’t think it was right to make fun of a girl who died during her school years in a school that was supposed to be the safest place on Earth. Luna thought you’d have to be pretty miserable yourself to make fun of a ghost with a tragic ending to their life. And she certainly didn’t think it was right to make fun of a girl who physically could not move on. Not because she had any unfinished business like the majority of Hogwarts Ghosts, but because the Founder’s had made a deal with Lady Death that if anyone died due to the Chamber of Secrets opening, the person who died would stay as a ghost on Hogwarts grounds to guard the person sleeping inside the chamber until it was time for them to awake. Myrtle had just been the poor unfortunate soul who got caught up in Dumbledore’s plans when he forced puppet Tom Riddle into opening the Chamber. “If all goes according to plan, you should be free soon.” Luna hummed as she moved towards the sink with the snake engraved on the tap.
Myrtle’s expression perked up at Luna’s words as the ghost floated behind her. “Really? Do you think so? I have grown so tired of staying in this bathroom!”
Luna nodded, giving Myrtle a reassuring smile before she turned back to the sink tap and hissed in parseltongue. Luna winced at the loud grinding of gears as the sink moved and opened showing the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, glad that her ward on the door also silenced any sound from leaving the bathroom.
“Why are you opening it again?! Are you insane?!” Myrtle screeched but Luna simply ignored her as she hissed another word in parseltongue. This one caused stairs to pop out of the smooth tunnel.
“It’s the only way to retrieve the person you are here to protect.” She answered before heading down the stairs. With a single cast of Lumos, Luna had light to see as she went deeper with Myrtle unwillingly following after her as her soul demanded due to the deal made with Lady Death.
It didn’t take long until the Faeling and Ghost reached the bottom of the pipe. Luna smiled happily, seeing that the pathway to the Outer Chamber of Secrets had been fixed, just like Salazar Slytherin had told her during the many talks. Apparently it was spelled to always fix any structural damage once there were no living bodies near the damage. Luna had both seen in a vision, and heard about how the tunnel had collapsed when Ronald’s wand had backfired on Gilderoy Lockhart when he had tried to Obliviate him and Harry, and had been worried about how she was meant to reach the sleeping male inside if the tunnel was ruined but Salazar quickly cleared up her worries with that piece of historic knowledge.
“Is it even safe to be down here? Harry might have killed one of the Basilisks that killed me but there is still another one slithering a muck around here.” Myrtle asked, her voice still shrill as her eyes glanced over everything with uncertainty.
“The female Basilisk was the only one who was cursed. The male was left in stasis in a separate chamber, only to be woken up if the female was killed somehow.” Luna answered as she headed towards the sealed door at the end of the tunnel. “Male Basilisks gaze isn’t deadly like a females is. They can only petrify their prey for up to three hours, depending on how long they stare them down. But I’d still keep your eyes away from his.” She added as an afterthought with a hum. Luna knew it would be okay though. She would be able to speak with the Basilisk and explain to him what was going on, and he would back down from trying to hurt the Faeling. As for Myrtle, she was a ghost who physically couldn’t be harmed. And as the ghost who was only here to protect the Chamber of Secrets, she couldn’t even be petrified by the male Basilisk, unlike how Nearly Headless Nick was in her First Year.
Luna hissed in parseltongue again when they reached the snake door and smiled as it hissed back as the complicated mechanism opened revealing the Chamber of Secret in its full capacity. That smile fell off her face when she saw the female Basilisk that Harry had been forced to slay. Its body had not decayed in its preserved state which let Luna know that Albus Dumbledore had been down here messing with the Chamber of Secrets. That thought made her shiver in fear but seeing that Salazar Slytherin’s statue mouth was close, she knew he hadn’t managed to get to the person inside. He may have known how to say open in parseltongue and how to call out the female Basilisk, but to get into Salazar Slytherin’s personal rooms one had to know a very specific phrase in the snake language.
Luna gently patted the air above the dead Basilisk as she moved towards the partially submerged statue of the Founder. “Speak to me, Slytherin, Alpha of the Hogarth Circle.” She spoke in parseltongue. It was different from the phrase that Salazar had told her Tom Riddle used when he set the Basilisk on the muggleborns at Hogwarts. A dummy line that wouldn’t give anyone who had ill intentions access to Salazar’s true rooms, and where the female Basilisk had laid in wait to judge any who came through. At least until she was cursed by Dumbledore through puppet Tom Riddle.
Once the statue mouth opened to show a set of stairs leading up into the darkness and Luna headed off. It was a long entrance tunnel to reach an entrance chamber where the forty foot male Basilisk laid waiting, hissing angrily as Luna stared at the floor not meeting his eyes.
Luna closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, focusing on the ambient magic reaching out to her. She let it flow through her, calming her nerves and making her feel more at ease. “Great Basilisk King, I come to you not as an enemy but as a friend.” Luna spoke in parseltongue, opening her eyes to stare at the beautiful dark green scales that rippled on the giant snake’s body in anger.
The male Basilisk hissed in response. “Why should I believe you, uninherited Faeling, when my mate lies dead outside these chambers?” He asked, his voice deep and menacing as it echoed around the cave chamber they were in.
“Salazar Slytherin, Gheyric Alpha of the Hogarth Circle, Gheyric Alpha to Ferros Submissive Blythe Hogarth, Beta Godric Gryffindor, ACE Helga Hufflepuff, and Mage Rowena Ravenclaw, familiar bonded to you and your mate requested me to come here. It is time for their youngling to awaken, and almost time for their youngling to find home within the soul bonded circle our Ferros Submissive is forming.” Luna explained, making sure to use all their proper titles just like the Founders had taught her. If she said any other words than the Basilisk would attack and make sure she couldn’t harm the male he was protecting.
The person that the Basilisks were meant to protect was the Founder’s only full circle child. The child who’s sire was Salazar, bearer was Blythe, and Third was Godric, blood adopted by Helga and Rowena. Not that Vesper was an actual child now. From what she had been told Vesper was twenty when they were cursed and despite how powerful their parents were they couldn’t undo the curse. Only someone from Nevarah in the future with the ability to soul cast would be able to save him which was why they had put Vesper in a magical coma until it was time.
The Great King of the Snakes stared hard at Luna for several long minutes before he hissed. “Very well then. I believe you. You and your ghost friend can continue.” The basilisk moved out of the way showing a door behind him that led to Salazar Slytherin’s personal rooms.
“Thank you.” Luna smiled at the giant snake as she headed into the next room, still avoiding looking in his eyes. The next room was a living room dressed in beautiful greens and silvers, it looked much like Luna suspected the Slytherin Common Room to look like. The House Elves must come down here and keep the place clean because there wasn’t a single speck of dust anywhere to be seen. Luna didn’t really pay attention to the decorations or anything else as she headed directly down the hallway until she came up to the room Vesper had rested in for so long.
Luna paused only briefly before she walked inside. The room was very showy but all the furniture was outdated by centuries. The bed was large, handcrafted with designs of magical creatures painstakingly carved into the head and foot boards. Thick purple and silver fabric was made into the canopy, drooping down to the floor.
Luna could feel the magic pulsating in the air as she approached the bed where Vesper lay in their magical coma. The Founders hadn’t told her that much about their child. They wanted her to learn about their personality through Vesper, not them. And with Vesper being in a magical come, Luna had never had any real vision of Vesper. The only one that she had was Vesper being a part of their circle, which was why Luna had asked the Founders about them to begin with. What they did tell her about Vesper was the fact that they were a Changeling. Vesper could change from male to female depending on their mood, though the Founder’s said that Vesper preferred his male form more.
Luna didn’t think her vision had done Vesper any justice. He was undeniably handsome, even with how his skin was deadly pale and translucent-looking. His hair was long, pure black and curly, falling like a dark halo around his face. Although his wings and claws were not out, dark purple, blue and black scales dotted his skin, highlighting the high cheekbones on his gaunt face. He was so still and looked so serene in his magicked sleep, that Luna almost didn’t want to wake him. Especially since she knew the situation he would be waking up into wasn’t the best, and certainly wasn’t ideal. But their little circle needed Vesper. They wouldn’t be complete without the Changeling Beta, and the only chance they had for him to be in their circle was if she woke him up now and took him with her.
Luna reached out to gently touch Vesper’s forehead and froze for only a moment when she felt and saw the golden soul magic surrounding them before it faded. A small, serene smile formed on her face but before she could start the chant to wake him up, Myrtle spoke up.
“This is the person I am supposed to be protecting?” Myrtle asked, a huff of annoyance in her voice. Luna barely stopped herself from Fae hissing at the anger in the ghost’s voice. She couldn’t truly blame Myrtle for being angry, the Fourth Year girl had died forty years ago and had not been allowed to pass on like she should have, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t angry at her for acting like Vesper, her Beta, wasn’t worthy of protection.
“Only so long as he is within Hogwarts, which shouldn’t be for much longer.” Luna stated, shaking her head slightly to clear it of the barely there Fae instincts that she had until her full ones came in with her inheritance.
Myrtle let out a huff but didn’t say anything else as Luna began her chant to wake Vesper up. She spoke in a soft, melodic voice, her words filling with her magic. As she chanted, the room began to fill with a gentle, light blue silver light. The air around them seemed to shift and shimmer with the power of the ritual. Luna could feel her own magic mingling with the ambient magic of the Chamber of Secrets, and of Vesper’s own sleeping magic. Pain started to form at the base of her neck as Vesper’s magic began to wake up and place his claim on her but Luna just continued on with her chanting as if nothing was happening. A smile on her face at the claim.
After what felt like an eternity, but was only thirty minutes in reality, Vesper’s eyes slowly fluttered open. They were a bright, deep purple as they stared into Luna’s own silvery-blue-grey eyes. His eyes pierced deeply into Luna’s soul and she felt seen and loved on a soul level as he smiled at her.
“Who are you?” Vesper asked in a soft, melodious voice that seemed to echo through the room. Luna’s smile widened as she sat on the edge of the bed panting quietly as exhaustion ran through her veins. It wasn’t easy to wake someone up from such a deep magical coma, that also served to preserve them in the state they went into the coma in, and Luna was still just a child, a Faeling who had yet to come into her full inheritance and adult magic which made it all the more stressful and exhausting for her.
“My name is Luna. Luna Lovegood.” She replied in just as soft of a voice.
“A pleasure to meet you, Luna Lovegood, my faeling. My name is Vesper Hogarth. Why have you awoken me?” He questioned next as he slowly sat up and then moved to settle behind Luna to brace her as she sloped from magical exhaustion.
“It is too dangerous at Hogwarts. I’m sure Blythe warned you about your future. It is time to wake up. Soon we and the others of our future circle will be leaving to meet with our Ferros Submissive and then we will all go to Nevarah. To safety.” Luna answered as she leaned heavily into the Beta, loving knowing that he would keep her safe.
Vesper hummed as he hugged the little Faeling to his chest. “Xera did explain some things to me before I was put into my coma, things that they were allowed to tell me. Not much, but enough.”
The two stayed quiet for another fifteen minutes as Luna rested to regain her energy. She knew that she needed to leave the Chamber of Secrets soon, before Dumbledore came back. She needed to meet with Neville soon to give him a letter to send to his grandma, and to talk to him, but Luna knew better than to move while magically exhausted. Fae were just as magical as dragels were, and if she used up all her magic she would die, just like dragels.
“I thought you had a time limit.” Myrtle broke the silence with a sneer, glaring down at the cuddling couple.
“I do. Vesper, you need to pack quickly so we can leave.” Luna stated, moving out of his grasp even as her soul begged her to stay pressed against him as their soul bonded settled.
“I already have everything I need on me, Little One.” He answered as the two of them stood up. Vesper tapped a necklace he was wearing that hung over his head. “Void stone. It was my Xera’s.”
Luna smiled at that. “You’ll need to go into your smaller dragon form so I can keep you hidden easier. The Headmaster of today is a half-Torvak. He is the one we are all in danger from and if he sees you there would be a lot of questions.” Luna informed him, almost regrettably. She wished he could stay in this form so they could better get to know one another. Vesper growled but nodded as he sat back on the bed before letting his smaller dragon form which looked like a two foot Basilisk with small feathered wings. The only difference between Salazar’s male basilisk familiar and Vesper’s dragon form besides the wings was the fact that Vesper’s scales were the same dark purple, blue, and black of his halfling form.
“Can you understand me in this form?” Vesper hissed to Luna speaking in parseltongue as she reached her hand down allowing him to sliver up her arm and wrap loosely around her neck hiding amongst her Hogwarts robes.
“Yes, I can.” Luna answered, opting not to fall back into parseltongue. It hurt her head to keep speaking in the snake language as long as she had. She wasn’t a natural parselmouth like Harry was, after all.
“Good. It would get boring while I wait for us to leave Hogwarts if I couldn’t talk to you. I know that I look similar to a Basilisk as my dragon is the ancestor of them as they were turning into the great snakes they are now but unlike basilisks I can keep from petrifying people or killing them if I want.” The dark amusement in his voice told Luna that Vesper had no issues using his ability if anyone dared try to harm her and the others in front of him. It made Luna beam knowing Vesper was already protective of her and planning to protect her if it came down to that.
“Well let’s go then. I have another person I need to talk to before I can continue my preparations. And we need to introduce you to the others. I’ll call a meeting at dinner and we’ll meet up at the Founder’s Tower after curfew.” Luna hummed practically skipping out of the room, a hand reaching up to keep Vesper secure in her movements.
Before they had left Salazar’s personal rooms they were stopped by his remaining Basilisk familiar who asked them to take the two eggs that his mate had laid before her untimely death. Luna did as she was asked with a smile on her face, not feeling the need to point out that only two of the three eggs in the nest the familiar had made was a Basilisk egg. She thought they would make great courting gifts that Vesper could give to Harry and Draco once they were all safely in Nevarah.