Year Two
Thanks for all the reviews.
I added a few things to the last chapter. So, if you read it when it first came out, then you might want to go and reread it. Your reviews reminded me of a few things that I missed, so I went back and added some scenes.
In my defense it has been years since I’ve read the Harry Potter books and I’m an old woman with a bad memory. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. LOL.
I’m trying to remember everything for the second year. If I forget something, feel free to point it out and I’ll add it if I find it necessary. However, the flying car is left out on purpose. Since Harry didn’t need rescuing. I have plans for Dobby, don’t worry.
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It turned out to not to be a good summer. His friends didn’t write to him, at least he didn’t receive any letters. However, he knew somewhere in his heart that it wasn’t their fault. Something was preventing them from doing it. He just had to figure out what. He knew magic was involved somehow, but he was just a kid, so he didn’t know how.
He did have fun teasing Dudley with nonsense words, making him think he was casting spells on him. He got in trouble, to be sure, but it was hilarious. His Aunt Petunia was not impressed, neither was his uncle. They punished him by banishing him to his room and making him miss meals for days. His uncle was talking about bolting the door and barring the windows. So far, he hadn’t but Harry was laying off teasing Dudley for now.
Tonight, there was a dinner party for some potential business clients of Uncle Vernon’s. It was also Harry’s birthday. Not that anyone in the house recognized it. Harry was to sit in his room and be quiet. He had no problem with that.
He was just sad that he still hadn’t figured out where his friends’ letters had gotten to. He had read all his books, but none of them had touched anything about missing post.
Harry sat and listened to his relatives do their rehearsal and then went upstairs to hide in his room. When he entered his room, there was a house elf standing in the middle of the room. He knew about house elves because the twins showed him where the kitchens were, so he could feed Frank.
“Hello,” Harry said, cautiously and softly. This elf looked very much abused. He was wearing a dirty pillowcase and had scrapes and bruises all over his body. “What are you doing in my room?” he asked, closing the door, and moving carefully towards the elf. He wanted very much to hug the little guy but didn’t want to frighten him. House elves, in his experience, were very excitable and spooked easily.
“Dobby is being sorry, Harry Potter, sir, but he is being needing to talk to you. There is being great danger at Hogwarts. Harry Potter must not bes returning there,” the now named Dobby said, his voice squeaking as he swayed nervously back and forth on his spindly feet. He was wringing his hands in a nervous gesture.
“What kind of danger?” the preteen asked, sitting on the bed, and keeping his voice low. He didn’t want his relatives to hear him talking to the elf. He patted the bed for the elf to join him, which caused the elf’s eyes to go wide.
“Harry Potter is treating Dobby like an equal?” he cried, making a lot of noise.
“Shush,” Harry said, going down and putting his hands gently on the elf’s mouth. “You’ll get me in trouble,” he said, kindly, giving Dobby a gentle smile. “Come on, sit on the bed and tell me what trouble is brewing at Hogwarts,” he said, picking the little guy up and setting him on the bed. He jumped up and sat next to him.
“Harry Potter is too kind. Dobby cannot be saying what is being happening,” the elf said, pulling on his ears in a form of punishment. “Dobby is not supposed to be here, but he must be warning Harry Potter. Yous must not be returning to Hogwarts,” he stated again.
“But my friends are there,” Harry said as gently as he could. He took the elf’s hands away from his overly large ears, and then put his hand on Dobby’s thin and knobby knee to show he was trying to be friendly.
“Friends that don’t be writing sir?” the elf said with shifty eyes.
“Dobby, have you been stealing my letters?” Harry asked in a harsh tone. He removed his hand and narrowed his eyes. Finally, he understood where his post had gotten to.
“Dobby was only trying to protect Harry Potter. I was thinking if you did not get letters, then you would not go back,” the elf said, reaching up and pulling harder on his ears, then suddenly he reached over to the nightstand and took a lamp and started hitting his head with it. The noise was loud, and Harry could hear his uncle stop talking.
Harry quickly grabbed the lamp and stopped the nonsense. “Stop that,” he said severely, yet quietly. “You are not my elf, so you can’t punish yourself for slighting me.” He knew the elves felt they needed to do that, but he hated it.
“Dobby was thinking ill of his masters,” Dobby explained, trying to take the lamp back.
“I’d rather you didn’t punish yourself in front of me, or at all even,” the boy stated, putting the lamp behind him. “What can you tell me about the danger at Hogwarts?” he asked, getting back to the subject.
“Dobby cannot be telling much, only that there is great danger, and that Harry Potter cannot be going back,” the elf stated, his tennis ball sized eyes were wide with concern.
“Does that mean the whole school is in danger?” Harry asked, tilting his head a bit.
“Well, yes,” Dobby confessed, his eyes were downcast.
“I’m not so special that only I should be singled out. If I can help the school, I should be there,” Harry said, not sure how he could help. He was just a kid. “If I am the hero, you think I am, then I have to be there,” he added, like it was supposed to matter.
“Dobby has heard of Harry Potter’s greatness. That he would think of others before his own safety,” Dobby said, sniffling into his filthy pillowcase. He blew his long skinny nose on the thing and looked at Harry with hero worship in his eyes. “Dobby is sorry he took yours letters,” he added, pulling out the bundle of letters from his pillowcase and handing them over.
“Dobby, if you ever need someone to talk to…” Harry said, leaving it hanging. He wanted the little guy to know he understood what it was like to be abused and that he would listen.
“Dobby will come and talk to friend Harry,” Dobby said, snapping his thin fingers and popping away.
“What a sad elf,” Harry said to no one, and then spent the rest of the night reading his letters. He was excited to read them and know what everyone had been up to. He wrote to each of them the next day and explained what had happened.
They all wrote back. Hermione and Neville were understanding, though Hermione went on a rant about the rights of house elves for about three pages. She had been on that crusade since she found out about them.
The twins and Lee had been about to rescue him, but he said that he was fine. He did ask if there was any other way to get to King’s Cross, and Lee told him about the Knight Bus. So, when it came time to go and get his supplies that’s how he got to Diagon Alley.
He met the Weasleys there, and they had a great time shopping. Well, he and the twins did. They gave the rest of the family the slip. Much to the displeasure of their mum. She was quite vocal about it. Her yelling could be heard all up and down the Alley.
Harry didn’t much like Gilderoy Lockhart and steered clear of the man. There was something about him that screamed pervert. That and all of his books were on the list, which also said the man was an opportunist. The Weasleys didn’t have the money for five kids to get all those books, so the twins had to share. Harry wanted to buy them for them, but they refused to take charity.
It was at the bookstore that they reunited with the Weasley family. Arthur, the twins’ father, got into fisticuffs with Draco’s father, Lucius. It was great. Hagrid came and broke it up, much to everyone’s disappointment. Molly, the mother, was the only one who was happy about it.
Harry said goodbye to the Weasleys and went back to the Dursleys, who were not happy to see him, but oh well. When September 1st came, the Knight Bus was how he got to the station as well.
Everyone was excited to see each other again. They spent the trip talking about their summer and what they thought they could expect for the coming year. Harry reminded everyone about Dobby and his dire warning, and they spent a good amount of time talking about that. They didn’t come to any conclusion, but there were some wild theories thrown out about it.
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Harry was correct, Lockhart was a fraud and a pervert. He kept putting his hands on Harry, which creeped him out. He made sure to never be alone with the man. He just weirded him out. He warned his friends to steer clear of him too. The twins took to pranking the man anytime he came near anyone under the age of thirteen. They enlisted the ghosts to keep an eye on him too.
So far, all he did was get too close to Harry. Maybe it was because Harry was a celebrity. They didn’t know, but they weren’t taking any chances. The man didn’t like that he was so closely monitored, but it seemed to be a relief to the other teachers.
Harry started his extra classes with Professor Kettleburn again. This year they were learning about thestrals, hippogriffs and other flying animals. He was excited. The skeletal horse-like creatures would be difficult because he couldn’t see them, but he was going to do his best.
He had met a younger girl feeding them the other day. She was there without shoes on.
“Hello,” he said, coming up to her with his own bucket of meat. “Why are you standing in the forest without shoes?” he asked, coming to stand next to her. It was a crisp cold morning. There was dew on the ground, and one should not be standing around without their shoes. Let alone without a robe, or coat.
“The nargles took my shoes. I think they don’t like me,” the wisp of a girl said. She was a slight thing with blonde hair and wearing a sundress in the chilly weather. She threw the thestrals another hunk of meat, which disappeared in midair. “I’m a bit strange, you see,” she added as if that was the most common thing in the world.
“I don’t think you’re strange,” Harry said, standing close to her. He opened his robe, removed his arm from the armhole and put her inside. “My name is Harry Potter,” he introduced himself.
“I am Luna Lovegood,” she said, smiling a megawatt smile at him.
“Can you see them?” he asked, throwing his own meat, only to see it disappear. He was guessing where they were. He knew if he threw the meat one of them would catch it.
“Yes,” she said, sadly. “My mother died when I was nine. I was there,” she whispered, petting one of the dark horses.
“I am sorry to hear that,” the boy said, still feeding the thestrals the meat from his bucket.
“It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault,” she said, her voice airy.
“About your shoes,” Harry said, changing the subject. “We should find them. Do you know any of the house elves?” he asked, coming up with a semblance of a plan.
“No, I’ve not gone to the kitchens yet,” she replied, putting her empty bucket down and reaching into his for more food for the creatures.
“I’ll introduce you,” he said, holding the bucket to her. They stood quietly, snuggling in Harry’s robe, and fed the thestrals until the food was gone. “Come on, let’s go and get your shoes.” And they did. He introduced her to the kitchen elves, who were excited to find her things.
With that his trio of friends became a tetrad. Sure, Luna couldn’t spend all her time with them, but she did eat with them and spend as much time as she could.
Harry had the house elves also keep an eye on her. They couldn’t stop the bullies from picking on her, but they could prevent them from stealing her stuff. The Grey Lady also vowed to peek in on her House every now and then. With all this observation, her things stayed in her trunk. Much to everyone’s relief.
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Halloween was here and Harry somehow was invited to Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington’s, or Nearly Headless Nick’s, Death Day Party. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he was shanghaied into it. He invited his friends, and they all came.
The twins and Lee thought it was great to be there, but Neville, Hermione and Luna were not as excited. It was cold and boring. None of the ghosts wanted the living there. There was nothing for them to eat either. Not even Nick was having a good time since he couldn’t join the Headless Hunt.
It was after the party that things happened. They were coming from the party when they came across Mrs. Norris frozen and hanging from a sconce. It was outside Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom and there was a puddle of water on the floor.
“Mrs. Norris!” Harry cried, distressed that she was hurt. She looked dead and he feared that she might be. He ran to her and tried to take her down from the bracket. She was frozen stiff, and it was hard to remove her. He was crying at what happened to his furry friend.
Suddenly the hallway was filled with students, and they were reading the words on the wall. ‘The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.' Hermione, Neville, and Luna had read it already. Harry had ignored it. Harry was more worried about Mrs. Norris that he had not noticed them.
Mr. Filch came up to him. “What’s wrong with her?” he said, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder. He too was crying. She was his faithful companion. He had had her since she was a kitten.
Harry turned to him with tears on his face. “I don’t know. She’s frozen solid though,” he said, placing the cat in her owner’s arms.
“Do you know who did this?” the older man asked, holding his cat as tightly as he could with her being stiff. He was scanning the crowd as if to find the culprit.
“No, sir,” Harry said as he looked around and then noticed the words on the wall. It was then that he saw the students watching them. His friends were looking at him with sympathy. They knew how he felt about the animals.
Draco Malfoy was sneering at them, but keeping his mouth shut. He wasn’t the arsehole that Harry thought he was going to be. At least not to Harry’s face.
Dumbledore and the other teachers came around the corner and started trying to solve what happened. Lockhart wasn’t helping at all. He was making promises that everyone knew he couldn’t keep. Somehow Harry was implicated in the crime, and he didn’t even know how. Dumbledore singled him out, and he wasn’t impressed with that at all.
Harry did notice that many of his spider friends were fleeing the castle, and he was wondering why. He couldn’t talk to them, but he could feel their fear. It was going to be something he would have to investigate.
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Colin Creevey, Harry’s personal stalker, was petrified next. It was about a month later. He was out and about during the middle of the night, for some reason. Harry was safe in his bed, being visited by Dobby the house elf, who had taken to visiting him weekly. Always during the night.
Colin was a first year, who was a photographer, who liked to take pictures of Harry every chance he got. He was quite insistent about it. He would follow him everywhere except the bathroom, and that was only because the other boys shooed him out.
The other students started whispering that Harry might have something to do with Colin’s petrification. How, they couldn’t say, but they all knew that the boy bugged Harry more than anyone else in the castle.
The only thing good that came out of Colin’s petrification was Lockhart’s dueling club. Well, seeing Lockhart get dumped on his arse by Snape that is. Harry booked it out of there after seeing that. He didn’t stick around to see anything else. He knew it was a waste of time. From what Hermione and Neville told him, he had been right.
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There were other incidents, where the spiders came to Harry and tried to get him to come with them out of the castle. They would crawl all over him and then crawl away out the window, like they wanted him to go with them.
Other pests were leaving as well and could be seen trying to get Harry to leave too. It was not uncommon to see them tugging on him in the hallways, or even in class. He would have to chase them away as gently as he could.
The cats of the castle wanted Harry to come with them as well. They didn’t leave the castle, but they took to hiding in the secret passageways. Much to the displeasure of their owners. They only came out to eat and use the litterboxes.
The other students started talking about this and were convinced that he had something to do with the chamber, insomuch as Harry was being targeted by the heir. They stayed as far away from him as they could. Only the twins, Lee, Hermione, Neville, and Luna were seen near him at any given time. He was getting the reputation as the bug boy again.
There were voices in the walls too. They kept speaking of killing, and no one else could hear them except for Harry. Only his friends believed him that he could hear them and told him he should keep that fact to himself. Normal people didn’t hear voices.
Then there was Lockhart, that man would not leave Harry alone. He constantly called on him in class and made him reenact scenes from his books. The other kids didn’t like him for that either. They kept calling him ‘teacher’s pet’ and other such nonsense. Coupled with the fact that he was taking special classes with Kettleburn, it was not turning out to be a good year for Harry.
“Don’t worry about what they are saying, Harry,” Fred said, one day as they were all sitting in the Gryffindor common room. The only person not there was Luna. “They can’t even make up their minds whether you’re the victim or the bad guy.”
“If we let rumor bother us, we’d have been drummed out of Hogwarts by our first year,” George said, sitting on Harry’s other side. “You should hear the things they still call us,” he added, thinking of the random names he and his brother get named. Demon twins being one of the kindest.
“Yeah,” Lee said, knowing hurtful words more so than the twins, having faced prejudice more than they had. Mostly because of his blood status and the color of his skin. “If you let these words hurt you, you’re just letting them win. You know you’re a good bloke, so don’t let it get you down,” he said, patting the preteen on the knee.
“I’ve been called teacher’s pet all my life,” Hermione chimed in. “I just ignore it,” she said, her nose in the air. Though Harry could see those words did affect her. He was sure they said more hurtful words to her as well.
“I can’t help you there, Harry. I don’t stand up to bullies myself,” Neville said, sinking a bit in his chair. “But I do have your back if you need me there,” he added, looking around the room and glaring at those looking at them with trepidation.
“I know, it’s just…” Harry said, not sure how to explain that it reminded him of the Dursleys. He came to school to get away from shite like this. Now he had to face it here too. It was a bummer.
“How about we go and visit Herbert,” Lee said, getting up and heading to the fourth-year dorm.
“Alright,” Harry said, perking up. He was always up to visiting that spider.
“We’ll stay here,” Hermione said, pointing to her and Neville, breaking out their Charms books. “We need to get caught up with our homework,” she stated, scooting over to the chubby boy, and bending over the book, getting started right away.
“You do that,” Fred said, looking at her fondly.
“I’m surprised that you haven’t got caught with Herbert yet,” Harry said, looking at Percy as they ascended the stairs.
“I got special permission from McGonagall,” Lee stated, puffing out his chest. “I told her if Percy then Ron can have a rat, then I get to have my tarantula. She agreed,” he said, moving to the door and opening it.
“I’m glad. Now I don’t have to worry about Percy killing him,” Harry said, going to the cage that had the spider proudly displayed in it. He opened the door and let the spider crawl over his hand. It was a relief to feel. Herbert felt nervous though. “I think whatever is in the Chamber is making the spiders anxious,” he said, putting the tarantula back in the cage. He didn’t want Herbert to try and run off.
“We need to research that,” Fred said, going to his trunk and pulling out Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them.
“Yeah, if we know what it is, maybe we can capture it,” Harry said, sitting next to him and reading along with him.
The other three exchanged looks. They were more along the lines of killing it, but whatever. This was Harry they were talking about.
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Another couple of months went by and nothing happened. Accept the continued voices. They were still talking about killing, but no one had died yet. Harry was hopeful that that would not happen.
It was getting cold, and Neville’s toad was looking peaked, so they took it to Professor Kettleburn. He told them that it was too dry and that it needed to stay in some mud and heat for a while. So, they went to the lake and pulled up some mud and put it in a container that the professor had given them. They put Trevor in it and hoped he would feel better. There was a warming spell on the container as well. Hopefully, that would restore the toad to his full health.
The boys went back to the castle, and they ran into a frozen student. He was standing there, still as a statue, next to a strange looking ghost. It was one of the boys that was constantly accusing Harry of being a teacher’s pet and having something to do with the Chamber. Harry thought his name was Zacharias Smith or something. The ghost was the Fat Friar. They were both Hufflepuffs, and Harry wondered what they were doing in the Entrance Hall.
“What do we do?” Neville asked, ready to run and get help. He was worried about being the ones to find them though. Knowing that Harry was constantly being accused of being the Heir of Slytherin.
“Go find a teacher,” Harry said, looking around to see if there were any portraits or ghosts. There were some portraits, but they were too far away. “I’ll stay here in case someone comes,” he said, making ‘get going’ motions with his hands.
“Alright,” the other boy said, running towards the teachers’ lounge. “Help!” he called down the hall. “There’s been an accident!” he screamed, hoping that Zacharias wasn’t dead.
Harry just stood there with his wand out, ready to protect the two victims with what little magic he knew. He didn’t know if they were dead or not, but he thought they were like Mrs. Norris and Colin and were just petrified. Well, the ghost was already dead, so he didn’t know what was wrong with him.
Just then there was the sound of running feet and the professors came down the hall from where Neville had run off to. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Snape came around the corner with Neville following behind them.
“Mr. Potter, what happened?” McGonagall asked, going to Smith, and checking him for signs of life.
“I don’t know, we found them like this,” Harry said, pointing to himself and the out of breath Neville.
“What were you doing out this late at night?” she asked, lifting Zacharias off the floor with a levitation spell.
“We were with Professor Kettleburn,” Potter said, looking to Neville who nodded, still trying to catch his breath. “Neville’s toad wasn’t feeling well,” he added, so the other boy pulled out the container and showed it to them.
“Very well, go to your dorm and stay there,” she said, briskly walking away floating Smith besides her, while Flitwick was blowing the Fat Friar along in front of him. Snape just sneered and stormed away, his cloak billowing like normal.
“Come on, let’s go,” Harry said, knowing this was going to come back and bite him in the arse somehow.
He was correct, it was all over the school the next morning that he found Zacharias, and now he was the bad guy again. He knew Neville hadn’t said anything, so he wondered which teacher started the rumor. He’d put his money on Snape. That dungeon bat would do anything to make him look bad.
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Hermione got the notion to brew Polyjuice Potion. Harry didn’t agree with her, so she did it on her own. Well, Neville, who was pants at potions, tried to help her. They were doing it in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Harry would sometimes talk to Myrtle, but he never had anything to do with the potion.
One day he was visiting with the ghost, when she was complaining about a book that had been thrown in her toilet. He examined it and decided to take it with him. It was a simple diary that had Tom Riddle embossed on the front. He wrote in it, and it wrote back. That was freaky.
From the diary he learned how Hagrid introduced the Acromantula into the forest. How he was accused of killing Myrtle and opening the Chamber of Secrets. Harry knew the last two were lies. He went to confront Hagrid, and he had to hide while there. Just in time to see his friend get arrested for the current happenings at the school.
It was then that he learned that the ministry was completely corrupt. That Malfoy was lining the minister’s pockets and that Dumbledore was useless unless he wanted to be useful. He knew he couldn’t trust adults in power.
It was time to go and talk to the Acromantula, like Hagrid suggested. They seemed to know what was in the Chamber. So, Harry went and got the twins and Lee. He wasn’t going alone. While he wanted to meet the Acromantula, he didn’t know what else might be in the forest. That and he was only twelve years old.
“Why are we doing this?” Lee asked, his wand at the ready. The forest was scary. There were creatures here that he didn’t know about yet.
“Hagrid said that they’d know what’s terrorizing the school,” Harry answered, he too had his wand out. He didn’t want to hurt any of the spiders, but he didn’t know how they were going to react.
“This is stupid,” Fred said, creeping along, George by his side.
“Yeah,” his twin agreed.
They made their way to the giant spiders’ nest and soon spotted the biggest spider they had ever seen. It was the size of a house and had legs the size of tree trunks. Its eyes were as huge as bowling balls and there were many of them. It was hairy and looked like it could and would swallow them whole without effort. Its pincers were the size of a grown man.
“That’s Aragog,” Harry said, bravely marching up to the house sized spider. “Hagrid told me that you knew what was in the Chamber of Secrets,” he said, in his firmest tone of voice, which seeing as he was going through puberty, wasn’t much. “Would you please tell me so I can find it and talk to it?” he asked as politely as he could.
“We do not speak of the King of Serpents,” the giant spider said, his voice reverberating off the trees. “He is an enemy to our kind,” he stated, as his children chittered around the group of humans, making them nervous. They were moving around them and circling the four of them preventing them from any escape routes.
“I’d protect you,” Harry said, his tone brave and clear. Inside he really wanted to climb up this spider and give it a hug. However, he knew that this was an adult and would not be receptive to such an act.
“What would one such as you, small human, do to protect us?” Aragog asked, moving his massive body in such a way to look down upon Harry with his many eyes. Harry could see his reflection in those eyes.
“I can speak to serpents,” Harry said, lifting his chin. “I’ll make it leave you alone. I want to be kind to all animals. Including yourself and your family,” he added, looking around at all the spiders with admiration. He was in heaven, a dream come true for him.
“You are much like Hagrid,” Aragog stated, as if he just knew that Harry was one with nature. He could sense no fear from the boy. “Your friends, however, are very scared,” he stated, peering at the twins and Lee, who were shaking in their shoes. They were sticking very close to Harry and had their wands out with spells on their lips.
“They don’t know better,” Harry said with a fond smile. “I will take them from your nest,” he said, moving to do just that. “Thank you for giving me the information I needed,” he said, with a small bow.
“My children are hungry,” the Acromantula said, his tone was one of malevolence. “You may leave. They may not,” he added, scaring the trio of fourth years.
“I don’t want trouble,” Harry said, putting the twins and Lee behind him. They were back-to-back with their wands out and ready to fight. “I will not speak to the serpent if you do not let them go,” he warned. He truly didn’t want to fight, but even he understood survival of the fittest. “It will break free of the Chamber and come here,” he predicted, like it was a foregone conclusion. “Only I am able to talk to it,” he stated, still not showing fear.
“Harry,” Fred said, putting his fist in Harry’s robe and pulling him within the circle. “Let’s not piss him off further,” he suggested as they started walking out of the nest.
“Very well. However, I will remember this,” Aragog said, warning his children to let them go. “You keep that snake away from our nest, and we will not eat the students of the castle,” he agreed, chittering at the other Acromantula.
The group hurried away with the spiders clearing a path, and rushed along the forest until they were well away from the nest. The older boys finally breathed a sigh of relief to be free of huge arachnids. They didn’t let their guard down until they were within sight of the castle.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life,” Lee said, bending over to catch his breath.
“I’m going to have nightmares for sure,” Fred agreed, leaning against George.
“You’re one crazy kid,” George told Harry.
“I wasn’t scared,” Harry said, moving towards the school. He was tired and wanted to go to bed. “Thanks for coming with me though.”
“Like we’d let you go alone,” Lee said, falling into step with him.
“At least we know it’s a basilisk, but we don’t know where it is,” Harry said, thoughtfully.
“How did you figure that?” George asked.
“King of Serpents. That’s a basilisk,” the boy said with a shrug.
“Oh,” came the collective response.
And with that they went to bed, each thinking of different things. The older boys were correct, they had nightmares that night and many nights after. Harry, on the other hand, dreamed of keeping a charmed suitcase with a few of the Acromantula in it, with a basilisk next to them, and they all live peacefully side by side.
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Christmas passed with Hermione trying to get into the Slytherin dorms. Only she messed up and got cat hair in her Polyjuice potion, turning herself into a cat person. So only Neville went. He got so scared that he made it as far as the door and chickened out. They didn’t learn anything.
The voices continued but they were getting weaker, like they were ill. Harry was actually feeling sorry for whatever was speaking. Was it sick? Could he help it? Should he? Was it the basilisk? Perhaps he should bring it food. What could he bring a basilisk? There were no cows nearby. Maybe he should talk to the house elves.
The diary disappeared from Harry’s trunk, and he had no clue as to who stole it. That was too bad, he was hoping to get more information from it. Oh well, he hoped it didn’t cause too much trouble with whomever had it. He told the twins and Lee about it, and they told him he should tell an adult. The only adult that he trusted was Professor Kettleburn.
“You say it wrote back?” Silvanus asked, rubbing his chin with his good hand.
“Yes, sir,” Harry said, knowing that wasn’t normal.
“Strange indeed,” the man said, hefting himself up and going to the floo. He threw some powder in and called the DMLE. “Bones!” he yelled.
“Kettleburn?” was the response a few seconds later.
“Can you come through?” he asked, knowing that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was always allowed through the floos. They couldn’t apparate, but they could floo.
“Step back,” she said, and a few seconds later she walked through. “What do you need?” she asked, looking around for trouble.
“Harry, tell her what you told me,” Silvanus said, settling down on his stool once more and waving Amelia to sit on one of the chairs.
So, Harry told her about the diary and the petrifications. To say she was pissed was an understatement. He didn’t tell them that he thought it was a basilisk. He didn’t want them killing the snake. He was going to try and talk to it.
“You mean to tell me that people are being petrified and no one told me?” she demanded, tapping her wand against her leg in agitation.
“Yes, ma’am,” Harry said, fear evident in his voice. He never liked being around upset adults, they tended to blame him for everything.
“Hagrid was arrested without my knowledge, let alone my clearance?” she fumed, her wand tapping faster and faster as she got more and more angry.
“Yes, ma’am,” Harry said meekly, sinking down in his chair at her ire.
“There’s a diary that talks back to people, running around accusing others of crimes they didn’t commit?” she stated, this time thoughtfully.
“Yes, ma’am,” Harry said, by now he was almost invisible in his chair.
“I’m not mad at you,” she said, giving him a weak smile. She was too upset to boost his feelings. “However, I’m going to string your headmaster up by his beard,” she proclaimed, in a heated tone. “Fudge will also feel my wrath,” she promised under her breath.
“Yes, ma’am,” the preteen said again, not sure what else to say.
“Harry, why don’t you go back to your dorm,” Kettleburn said, trying to get the boy out of the blast radius.
“Yes, sir,” Harry said, hurrying to comply. It was time to go and talk to the house elves about the basilisk’s food.
There were Aurors present in the castle after that. Dumbledore was not happy, but there was little he could do about it. The castle was searched but they didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, the book seemed to have disappeared, and the school went on as normal.
Hagrid was also freed from Azkaban and sent home. He was cleared of all charges since there wasn’t a shred of evidence against him then or now. He was now able to study magic and carry a wand. He would be studying under Kettleburn for his Care of Magical Creatures OWLs and NEWTs to be the man’s assistant in the coming years.
Amelia ran both Dumbledore and Fudge through the ringer and told them in no uncertain terms that if they stepped on her toes again, they’d be spending time in her cells.
Hphphp
'Her Skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever,' were the words that greeted them the day after Neville got petrified a month later. He was late getting back to the dorm. He was carrying a mirror because Harry had warned all his friends that it was a basilisk and Hermione suggested the mirrors. Just in case.
“Harry, our sister is missing,” Fred said, getting his wand out, along with George and Lee. They were gearing up to go and find their sister. Hermione had gone with the rest of the students to the Great Hall, where they were told to gather. Luna was probably already there. Percy was trying to get these four to go, but they brushed him off, so he left in a huff cursing up a storm.
“I think I know where the opening is,” Harry said, having sussed out that Myrtle was the one who died from the basilisk the last time. He had never stopped his talks with her. She had finally told him how she died a week ago.
“Let’s go,” the trio said, knowing they’d need Harry to open the doors. They never let anyone know that Harry was a parselmouth. Harry kept that secret as well.
They met Lockhart running away and were tempted to bring him but decided to let the man run like a coward. They’d decided what to do about him later.
They made their way to the out of order loo and went to the indicated sink.
“Open,” Harry hissed, and the sink, which was a round thing that had many basins and faucets, split apart with much grinding and noise. There in the center was a tunnel with a slide going down into the darkness.
“I don’t reckon that Slytherin or his descendants would slide down that muck,” Fred said, peering down the dark slimy tunnel.
“Stairs,” the boy hissed, and stairs started forming from the sides of the tunnel.
They lit their wands and started down the hole. It was still slippery, and they had to be careful. Harry made sure to keep the opening open. He didn’t want them to be trapped down here in case something happened to him.
The bottom was filled with the bones of many small animals that crunched under their feet. They made their way to another set of doors that Harry hissed at, and the snakes slid around the door, and it opened.
Inside the large chamber was Ginny Weasley, lying on the floor unconscious, who the twins ran to, and a boy, who Lee and Harry trained their wands on. It was a cavernous room that was lit by torch light and was dank and damp. There was some water dripping from somewhere and statues of snakes and people holding snakes scattered all along the walls. There were pillars everywhere, like they were holding the room up.
“She won’t wake,” the boy said, though he was wary. Like he had only expected one person to come.
“Who are you?” Harry said, knowing it was Tom from the diary. He recognized him from the memory.
“I am Tom Riddle, but you already know that, Harry Potter,” Tom said, then turned to the huge ugly statue and started hissing, “Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.”
“Shite,” Harry said. “Close your eyes!” he yelled to the twins and Lee.
The trio did as they were told and hurried out of the way as well as they could. George grabbing Ginny. They kept low and huddled against the wall, putting Ginny in the middle.
Harry called Tilly the house elf. “Can you get what we talked about?” he asked her in an urgent voice.
“Yes, sir,” she said, popping away.
An ugly statue of the face of a man along the wall opened and a giant snake sixty feet long came slithering out. It was hungry and mad. “Why have you called me?” it hissed, slashing about like it was angry at being summoned like a dog.
“Kill him!” Tom hiss shouted at the snake, pointing at Harry. His tone brooked no argument.
“Wait!” Harry hissed back, holding up his hands, making the snake pause. “I have food for you! I will feed you every week, if you promise not to eat the students or the Acromantula.” He was desperate for this to work. The beast was very hungry after all.
“You would feed me?” it asked, stopping all action towards him. It was so starving. This other boy had been promising to feed it for months now but had yet to do so.
“Yes. I have a house elf bringing you food now,” he said, wondering why he wasn’t dead. He was staring straight at her.
“Harry,” Fred said, not looking at the boy or the snake. “Can you have her bite this book?” he asked, seeing that the snake wasn’t attacking his friend. “I think it’s draining Ginny,” he added, holding out the offending item.
“Hold on, we’re still negotiating. Will you comply?” he asked her, looking at the fuming Tom.
“Listen to me, you foolish snake. I am your master. Kill the boy,” he demanded, stomping his foot which was becoming more and more solid by the moment.
“I have no master,” the snake said, slithering to Tom and trying to bite him and failing. He wasn’t corporeal enough.
“Here,” Harry said, going over and grabbing the diary. “Bite this,” he stated, holding the book to her mouth.
She bit the book, injecting it with venom, and Tom screamed and was no more. The book leaked fountains of ink and venom, and it spilled all over Harry’s hand. He dropped the book, and it plopped on the ground with a squelching sound. He quickly wiped it on his robes, but when they started to smoke, he removed them.
“Where is my food?” the snake asked, just as Tilly popped in with five cows. “Thank you,” it said, falling on the cows like, well as starving snake.
“Come on,” Harry said to the group of friends and family. “I’ll come back later when she is sated. Let’s get Ginny out of here before she wakes up.” He stood between his friends and the snake, making sure they were pointed away from the serpent.
“I was wrong, I was more scared now than I was in the forest,” Fred said as they made their way out of the Chamber, making sure to keep their back to the basilisk.
“Too right,” agreed George, who was carrying Ginny, who was starting to stir, but wasn’t awake just yet. They hoped she stayed asleep until they got out.
“I concur,” Lee said, his legs still shaking.
“I’ll admit, I was a bit worried,” Harry confessed, still not understanding why he wasn’t dead.
As they talked, they left the Chamber, closing the doors behind them. Harry would come back and talk to the basilisk when she was in a better mood. She’d sleep after she ate anyway. Until then they had to get Ginny to the Hospital Wing.
Hphphp
On the train home, the group, now including Ginny, was discussing the events of the Chamber. The Weasley parents were ecstatic to have their little girl back alive and well. Harry got an award for saving her, which he didn’t want. He was reprimanded for not killing the snake. But he refused to open the chamber so they could go and kill it themselves.
Amelia Bones was not a happy person, however there was little she could do about it. Harry Potter was the only one who could get in the chamber. Only she and Dumbledore knew he was a parselmouth. Everyone else thought he knew a spell that opened it. Now, he wanted to become a Magizoologist and proclaimed the basilisk an endangered species since she was the last of her kind. He was getting in touch with Newt Scamander to help his claim.
Harry kept his word and fed the snake a cow every week. That was all it required. She kept her word and didn’t go after the people in the castle or Acromantula in the forest.
The students stopped talking about him in a negative sense and started seeing him as a hero again. They didn’t know about the basilisk, just that he saved Ginny Weasley.
All in all, the end of the school year turned out better than the rest of the year had been. He just hoped that next year would be peaceful.