Chapter 8: Second Year Part Two
Hogwarts cleared out for the most part, save for the select five percent of the school that decided to stay for the holidays. On normal years it was slightly more, although there were numerous reasons for many of the students to not go home. For many of them, the key reason to stay was because their families weren't really all that friendly. In fact for many of them, they had more of a family relationship with near strangers than the people in their own bloodline.
Blaise Zabini was one of the people who stayed over the holidays and he thought about the last few months. He was one of the people who spread the rumors about Harry Potter being the Heir of Salazar Slytherin. Although he made sure to do with a few casual comments that could not be interpreted as slander and let the people of lesser intelligence in his house do the rest. Truthfully, it was nothing personal against Potter, it was just the standard pureblood politics at work.
He only stayed over the holidays because his mother was on a vacation. Likely earmarking her next ex-husband to strip him of his gold, but Blaise knew the game. His father had been her third or maybe fourth husband but that was a long time. He plotted to off his mother before she offed him. It would be a shame if she had a little accident.
He read the Daily Prophet clip of Lockhart's organs shutting down apparently after being in critical condition. Well it served the ponce right for being arrogant enough to get caught. Blaise knew that he was never going to get caught with any misdeeds, not that he ever admitted to committing any. He was better than most of the people in this school, it really went to the dogs as Malfoy was so fond of saying.
"Out alone in the dark, Zabini?"
The voice was cool, calm, and female and Blaise turned towards her with a sneer, his arrogance knowing no bounds.
"So what if I am?"
"You've been spreading rumors, lies, about a certain classmate of yours."
Zabini wondered who in the hell dare spoke to him and what gave them the right to talk to him in such a matter. His eyes narrowed when he watched the person in the shadows and saw her face. He smirked, there was nothing the matter, this particular little girl was not going to hurt him.
"Don't you have better things to do?"
"Lockhart suffered because he inconvenienced Harry and hurt my sister," the voice in the shadows retorted. "I'm bored with you, and the fact you're spreading malicious lies about Harry, well that puts you on the top of my list."
"You know the game…."
"Let's play a new game," the voice responded sweetly and suddenly, Blaise felt himself unable to move, his legs and arms snapped together. The girl continued in a faux sugary sweet voice "Try and stay alive until morning."
Blaise wondered what this little psycho was up to and he breathed heavily.
"I told you before, don't test me, they should not test me," the girl drawled from the shadows and Blaise felt his heart beat slow down to a crawl before it sped up. "Harry is too good for this community and too good to be burdened by the venom spiraling from your tongue. Lemmings and sheep, that's where ninety percent of you people fall into."
The girl offered a slight smile and Blaise felt his blood ran cold.
"But all I see with you, Zabini, is a poor little loss lamb that will be led to the slaughter," she continued before he felt fluid fill up his lungs and his mouth pried open. "Your dear Mummy's reputation precedes her, so I'm sure most will think she finally got around to poisoning you to get her hands on the Zabini family inheritance."
The girl knew what she was doing; she knew how to dispense with trash like this. She uncorked the bottle careful not to touch him and tipped the potion down his throat. Removing the full body bind charms, Zabini fell back over the railings with a clatter, falling to his demise.
He would be dead by morning. If the poison did not get him, the snapped neck would. Of course, the way he fell, he blacked out at the worst possible spot. That would show anyone who dared mess with Harry the flaws of such an endeavor.
Lockhart and Zabini, they were pompous in their own ways, not that either of them would admit that they had anything in common. The girl bit down on her lip, back safely in her dormitory. None would suspect her, being an innocent first year student.
Exams were essentially done, granted Harry thought that they might have been kind of draining under many circumstances but to be fair, he enjoyed somewhat of a challenge. The wizard carefully recovered from the exams, he knew that Hermione was no doubt going to stress over them. Despite the fact that she would get top marks like she always would. Although from what Harry could find out, classes really didn't get to be a challenge until sixth and seventh year and even then, he doubted that they would be too big of a deal.
Perhaps he thought he spoke with confidence, but confidence was something that escalated with Harry Potter. Without another word, he edged towards the edge of the Gringotts Bank. He wanted to do one of his quarterly meetings with Sersi now and since that they had a fair amount of business to discuss, it was something that had to be done in person.
After being lead to the office she was using, Harry patiently waited for the girl to show up. He leaned back carefully, before the footsteps announced her arrival. The goblin girl arrived, a smile crossing her face.
"Mr. Potter," Sersi commented with a bright smile on her face.
"Princess Sersi, I hope that you are well and all of your gold flows freely," Harry stated when he grabbed her hand and planted a chaste kiss on it a charming smile on his face. "So how is your father?"
"Busy,' Sersi admitted to him, but she enjoyed the interplay she had with him and took a moment to sit down across from him. The goblin girl watched Harry, before a smile spread over her face.
"So down to business?" Harry prompted, opening up the door for her to speak.
"Yes, down to business," Sersi agreed, leaning back against the chair, it was surprisingly comfortable. Despite the fact that goblins were warriors and proud ones at that, they enjoyed their comforts. "First, for your reading enjoyment, your quarterly reports, all in order and organized."
Harry reached forward and gripped the quarterly reports in his hand, they always were a potential adventure to read and the wizard wondered if they would have something, anything that would point to how well he was doing. Reading it over, Harry saw that there were a couple of small bumps in the road, at least at first but he resolved not to panic. Sometimes, someone had to ride out the risks to get to a bigger return.
"So do you find my work satisfactory?" Sersi asked, trying to keep the emotional attachment out of her voice.
"It's more than satisfactory, it's excellent, I'm sure your father will learn of all of the great work that you've done," Harry responded to her, giving her a knowing smile. Most of his investments had gotten huge returns and there were a couple of minimal losses, but those companies had been roller coaster rides to begin with. He folded the paper down in front of Sersi and tapped on the edge of it. "I want those investments tweaked a little bit. Put a little more into Firebolt, I have a feeling that it's going to be a big winner. I may endorse it."
Sersi's eyes widened before she realized. "You invest now while is relatively low and then endorse it, using your celebrity status….I see, I see."
Harry smiled before he mentally went over a few more notes in his head. "Yes, I'd figure that you might. Also, I want some more information on the investors in the Daily Prophet if you think that you could get it to me."
Sersi decided to clue Harry in on some confidential information, making sure no other goblins were nearby. "The Ministry of Magic, they own majority shares in the Prophet, or at least the Wizengamot does."
"Oh that's a bit dodgy isn't it?" Harry asked and the goblin princess nodded slowly before she continued.
"Very dodgy," Sersi responded when she smiled. "Almost illegal by their laws but not quite, if other papers exist. And a few do, although they have some suspect looking paper trails heading from them. If you can figure this out…."
"Then I can get the shareholders busted by the ICW for fraud and a monopoly," Harry responded before he remembered. "Not to mention a violation of Accord Four, Subsection Nine, of the Global Mage Pact, where all magical publications are supposed to have a fair and balanced view without biases from government officials."
"The Ministry has also passed a secret law, never announced, but available for anyone that is there to look for it," Sersi added and this got Harry's full and undivided attention for a little bit. The goblin princess laid it down on him, a smile spreading over her face. "That is that it's illegal to print anything that is not been clarified as fact by the Ministry."
That was news to Harry as well.
"That breaks the Accord as well," Harry stated and Sersi confirmed.
"Some Ministry officials tend to be a bit loose with information when alcohol is involved and well…some goblins are good at blending into the shadows," Sersi commented as she watched Harry before drawing a breath and continuing her speech. "The goblins, well we sat on this information for years. And since you gave me a little bonus, I'd figure I'd return the favor and give the heads up. Do what you want with the information."
Harry was going to do what he wanted with the information. Despite the fact that he planned to leave this world in the dust when he was done with Hogwarts because the more he saw, the less he liked, he was going to allow himself to make a certain mark. And that mark was going to make live a living hell for people that he thought were completely stupid.
"Serious question," Harry prompted and Sersi invited him to continue. "Does anyone really care enough to stop the Ministry?"
"People care, just not enough to do it themselves," Sersi responded with a shrug. "They'd rather let someone else do the dirty work and jump on the bandwagon after the dust settles. At least that's what I've figured out as of late."
Harry turned his head, wasn't that sad, but it was rather true as well. At least he had more information and his investments were turning into gold that could be tangible in the real world and not this propped up farce of a hidden community. Where the people might have devolved but it was hard to pinpoint exactly the reasons for that.
"Thanks Sersi, you've been a help," Harry said and the goblin princess responded with a nod.
"Any time," Sersi stated to him as she watched him gather up the information she covertly slipped him.
"My daughter does worry too much but one cannot fault her for her dedication," Charlotte remarked to Harry over the Christmas holidays after he shared that Hermione did well in the exams. "I'm most certainly glad that you are there to keep her on the straight and narrow and make sure that she doesn't do anything to make herself ill."
"Well, it does take some doing, but I have my ways to persuade her as you know," Harry responded when he sat on the couch with Charlotte. Hermione decided to get a start in studying on the fourth year course materials which was fine with Harry. Although when Christmas arrived, he would put his foot down with her doing anything that was related to school. "So the house is now in your name?"
"Yes nice and clear, although David is trying to fight it but he's getting shut down and burning through what little money he has left," Charlotte answered, with a vindictive sort of pleasure filling her face. She likely should not get as much enjoyment as she did out of her husband's misfortunes but yet she did and it was sweet. "And the dental practice is in my name, so it gives me something to do. Now my husband isn't blocking me on every move it should be smooth sailing from here."
Harry was glad that was the case and he turned to Andromeda who sat on the chair across from them and was quiet the entire time. Her smile did appear to spread across her face. She suspected that something like this was going on for some time, with the Ministry suppressing most of their blunders. Those that were allowed to say anything, like Rita Skeeter, only did so in the event to make things seem like the Ministry was letting people criticize them. Of course when Skeeter did so, she did things so far over the top that it was kind of outlandish and lost most of the effect that she intended it to have.
This information, it opened a few more doors for her.
"Enjoying yourself?" Harry asked when he moved over to Andromeda.
"The Ministry has broken so many laws with their tampering of the Prophet but proof from the goblins, while a foundation, will only give me the opportunity to do some more digging," Andromeda answered when rubbing her hands together in anticipation when she mulled over the situation in her mind. "Still it will give me enough of an opening to file an inquiry to Amelia Bones."
"One of the few honest politicians at your Ministry, I take it," Charlotte commented lightly.
Andromeda nodded. "Amelia's a true diamond within all of the dragon dung."
Harry thought that dragon dung was a pretty accurate assessment of the Wizarding World or at least the idiots that ran it. The young wizard carefully took a moment to reflect on anything.
"How long do you think it will take to bear fruit?" Charlotte asked Andromeda with a questioning expression in her eyes and Andromeda pondered the matter thoughtfully.
"I suspect six months, a year, maybe two," Andromeda answered when she looked at the woman. "The wheels of justice turn slowly in the Ministry, although it might be five to ten years without Amelia prodding on them to do something. Of course if it is sooner, so much the better, but the Ministry refuses to ever admit any wrong doing."
Harry learned enough about the Ministry to grow rather concerned about what it might do but there was going to be plenty of opportunities to choose battles wisely in the future. It was all about determining the right moment.
"But why be here and be worried about business," Andromeda answered as she watched Harry with a hungry expression in her eye, gazing upon him, a tongue trailing off of her lips.
"So Harry, you have two attractive older women who have had a very hard last few months and are need of stress relief," Charlotte remarked before she slipped the blazer off her body. "I don't think I need to tell you what we want."
Harry smiled, before he pulled Charlotte onto his lap and the older woman pressed her lips onto Harry' with a kiss. Andromeda edged around, stroking the flesh on Harry's neck from the other side.
"All of these attacks, they lead to some kind of purpose," Kara remarked thoughtfully when she looked at both Faora and Harry when the group sat in a circle with each other in the dream scape. "But Zabini going down, that was…."
"Out of left field," Harry responded with a shrug, although that caused the Slytherins to get upset. Especially considering Harry was not even at school during that time, so they could not have the scapegoat. Andromeda was with him at all times and none of them were fool enough to contradict the word of a Black daughter and one who was a dedicated legal representative at that.
"Curious, extremely curious," Faora responded which caused Harry to shudder a little bit. "What's the matter, my brother?"
"You sound like Ollivander," Harry told her but Faora rolled her shoulders with a slight shrug.
"That's just the fact of the matter, isn't it?" Faora asked Harry with a slight smile crossing her face.
The cat was the first, then the stalker, then the ghost and the Hufflepuff, but Zabini threw the applecart off and now they were back to square one.
"Well Zabini did say that I was an attacker," Harry responded as he threw his head back. "But that could be the attacker trying to throw everyone off of the trail."
Harry paused before he recalled another important piece of information.
"Or it could be the fact that his mother decided to off him and thought that the best way to attack him was to do it when there was some psychotic attacker on the loose," Harry offered with a shrug when he turned to his two girls. "I'll be perfectly honest, I'm kind of grasping at straws here."
"You could be right," Kara offered but Faora stroked her chin.
"Are they doing anything to suppress the news of what's going out of Hogwarts?"
"The Ministry hasn't heard word of the attacks as far as Andromeda said but that just means that it's being kept from the right people," Harry answered when he paused. "Or they're their time biding for the proper opportunity."
Of course the third option was that they did not care because they were pureblood and the attacks on Muggleborns could not affect them. That actually fit in rather well and Harry frowned a little bit, really nothing outside their little bubble mattered. There could be total war going on with the Muggle nations around the world but if it didn't break into their bubble they didn't care.
"If I were you, I would keep your head down and focus on your fourth year classes," Faora offered him, grabbing his hand and pulling him into a light kiss. Harry returned it.
"I'm so fucking your brains out the second I can touch you," Kara stated after her hand passed through Harry.
She hoped, she dreamed, that in this dream scape the blonde could one day touch Harry and give him the pleasure that he deserved.
"When will you two wake from stasis?" Harry asked when he eyed them.
A grin crossed Faora's face, before she reached forward and placed a hand on Harry's cheek.
"Be patient, my brother, good things come to those who wait," Faora answered in a cryptic voice, when she continued to run her fingers in circular motions around his cheek and she crossed over his legs, straddling his lap. She leaned forward and pushed her lips against his.
The two exchanged a lustful kiss, running their hands down each other. Kara watched them, placing her hand down the front of her pants and playing with herself.
"Soon it will be my turn," Kara breathed in a lustful manner when she saw Harry's eyes widen when he thought of it. She stripped her top off and teased him, cupping her breasts. After all, if she could be teased with the thought of him, then she could tease him as well. "Do you like these, Har-Zod?"
"Yes," Harry breathed after Faora planted a series of kisses on the side of his neck and ran her fingers down his chest, running them around in circles. "I'd like to fuck them all day and all night long."
"I'd figure you might but when we get out, they're all yours, every part of my body," Kara breathed sexily as she ran her hands down her nubile body before she pulled down the bottom half of her outfit, to reveal what she had to offer underneath, arching her hips up to tease him, to taunt him.
Harry closed his eyes, he looked forward to that moment.
"I think today's lesson is patience, for the both of you," Faora breathed when Harry offered her a few more kisses. "And now our time grows short, but keep a strong head, Har-Zod. The attacker will slip up and then you will have what you desire."
Harry nodded, the attacker was being extremely intelligent with their attacks, but he thought that if there was a hint, he would find it. There were whispers in the walls around the attacks but most frustratingly, Harry had not been able to determine much more than that. Of course, one wondered if he cared all that much.
Sure the slanders on his reputation wasn't good but Andromeda tapered most of that off, but still she could not be everywhere at once.
"You have the gift," Faora responded as Harry started to fade away but she grabbed his hand, using every bit of will power to keep him teethered here for a little bit longer. "The gift of the serpent tongue, that is to talk to serpents."
"So keep that hushed up because that might make them think that I'm the heir," Harry stated and Kara smiled.
"It's also a useful tool for other oral activities."
Harry caught the meaning of the naked blonde, who sat there cross legged.
Kara thought that she would attend their future meetings naked, it was more comfortable that way, plus it would build up a certain amount of anticipation in their minds. The blonde smiled and flipped her hair out of her face, blue eyes simmering with passion and lust. Faora at least had not jumped him while she was awake, that would be unbearable to her.
A few weeks passed since any attacks, which made the vast majority of the school think that the attacker might have skipped town. At the very least, when someone was out of sight and out of mind, that meant that there was nothing to talk about. The death of Zabini got a few rumors spread regarding how it was connected to the attacks but many had their own conspiracy theories regarding his infamous mother.
"So did you get that?"
"Yes, I got that just fine," Astoria responded with a smile across her face.
Astoria sat in an unused classroom with Harry on a Friday afternoon after classes were over. It was the day before the Quidditch match with Ravenclaw and now Astoria sat with Harry. While her Defense Against the Dark Arts marks weren't the worst, she felt she could use a bit of extra tutoring as they were under par.
Plus Daphne's were higher than hers were last year and Astoria could not allow Daphne to defeat her in anything. That just would not do at all.
"So, your essay appears to be in order, although I'd clarify more about why defensive jinxes need a circular wand motion that is clockwise as opposed to counterclockwise," Harry told her as he looked at the essay.
"Seems kind of absurd, doesn't it?" Astoria asked as she sighed.
"Personally, I agree with you, and Andromeda might as well, but these things need to be done by the book," Harry responded as he drummed his fingers off the edge of the table and threw his head back with a long sigh. "The Ministry wants these things taught a certain way."
"And by that you mean the Ministry wants to control how we do certain bits of magic," Astoria commented lightly and Harry turned towards the blonde, offering her a smile.
"If the shoe fits," Harry responded with a shrug of his shoulders. He paused before he added. "It's what you do in the eyes of the public that matters to people. If you want to march by your own drum outside of these walls, who am I to stop you?"
"You can't," Astoria retorted and Harry smiled back at her.
"Exactly," Harry said in a crisp and calm voice.
Astoria thought that Harry shouldn't allow anyone to tell him about the laws of magic, he had been breaking those laws since he was one years old. The Killing Curse was not supposed to be something that anyone could survive but yet Harry did. So she was not concerned about him worrying about breaking the laws of everything.
"Thanks, that's rather helpful," Astoria responded as she looked at Harry with something that might be akin to worship.
The worship was not because of being a Boy-Who-Lived fangirl either unlike some; there was something else special with Harry than that moniker. The young witch watched Harry with a bright smile on her face.
"So who do you think is the heir?" Astoria asked but she smiled amused by something.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked Astoria and the blonde decided to fill him in on the secret.
"I overheard some Gryffindors saying that they thought it was Draco Malfoy," Astoria told him as Harry watched her, eyes widened. "Yeah, I know, only in his delusional dreams."
"Well people think that I'm the heir."
Astoria snorted. "You're capable of doing it but you also wouldn't attack people in such a sloppy manner."
Harry thought that she hit the nail right on the head and then some. Of course, the heir went underground since the holidays and had not popped up. One could come to the conclusion that the Zabini incident was an entirely different kettle of fish entirely.
"He'll slip up eventually," Astoria mused to herself as she threw her head back.
"Yes, pretty much," Harry remarked but he only had mild interest in this entire heir business. Sure the accusations were bothersome but they died down in the last few weeks. The heir was an out of sight out of mind thing for the most part.
Perhaps they had proven whatever point they wanted to prove and they were done.
Harry had this sort of calm before the storm feeling before the Quidditch Match with Ravenclaw, the second one of the year. Although given how the first one went, he hoped that there would be no more killer Bludgers after him. The wizard inched ahead, with the rest of his team, all of them intense and focused, ready for the battle.
Wood turned his head and looked pleased about the conditions. Then again, Wood was the type of fanatic that would be excited about Quidditch even if it was pissing rain down horizontal, with the wind blowing at forty miles per hour, in subzero temperature. . Harry doubted there was ever a time where Wood would admit against there being perfect conditions for Quidditch practice. That was how obsessive the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was, he lived, breathed, and shit his chosen sport.
Harry would have to admit that things did look rather good and the teams looked ready for an epic game of Quidditch but it never truly started. His sharp hearing picked up the footsteps and frantic breathing, before he edged around over his shoulder.
"Everyone halt immediately, Quidditch is off for today, there has been a situation."
Wood, predictably, blew a gasket and started to breath heavily. If the situation was not serious, Harry suspected that it would be almost comical in its own way. The green eyed wizard shifted ahead, with the rest of the team and the people in the stands filing out. There was one silver lining to this cloud; at least there was no way that he could be accused of this attack.
'Well no way anyone sane will accuse me of performing the attack,' Harry thought to himself, edging back a slight step and then stood on the balls of the feet as she got a proper look at the Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress. 'And she looks frantic.'
"Harry you better come with me, this is an attack of a personal nature," McGonagall stated as Harry followed her.
First there was Mrs. Norris, then there was the stalker, then there was Finch-Fletchley and then there was Nick along with him. Nearly Headless Nick caused everyone to get in a dither because something that could petrify a ghost meant serious business. Harry followed McGonagall, dragging his feet but he looked rather proud.
"It was prudent for you to know."
Harry saw Hermione on the bed, her face carved out of stone and he moved closer. He did not yell, he did not scream, he did not gasp. Calmly, eerily so, he reached forward, and placed his hand on the edge of Hermione's forehead. On the bed off to the side laid a Ravenclaw prefect but Harry's mind and eyes were firmly on Hermione.
'Whoever did this, they wanted my attention,' Harry thought, there was no way that this was a random act of violence. There was no way that this was a random act purging the school of the Muggleborn. His hands clutched over Hermione's forehead and he cupped her face, as if she could somehow see what he was doing. His green eyes flashed with murderous fury. 'Well they got my attention.'
Harry paused, parting Hermione's hair carefully. Minerva did not say anything, she feared a Lily like outburst coming so she was treating this situation with the utmost of caution.
'They will find out how dangerous grabbing my attention is,' Harry thought, feeling his eyes burn but he reigned in the temptation to light something on fire.
He would save that for the person behind these attacks. Harry went from being apathetic at best to these attacks to making it his obsession with his every waking moment, something that he would focus on no matter what.
"Mr. Potter?" Minerva prompted as she eyed her student and on and off again lover. She had never seen him in such a state. There was no question about it, Minerva McGonagall was unnerved by few things but this spooked her. She tried again, in a tentative tone of voice. "Harry?"
The pause was long and Minerva almost felt the temperature in the room drop before Harry responded. She mused that the Dementors would be proud and the wizard slowly spun around. Time stopped and the temperature continued to feel like it dropped degree by degree.
"I'll be fine," Harry responded after he turned around coolly and stepped away.
Business just picked up a little bit and things got more personal. The Heir of Slytherin made it that way and now they were about to find out how dangerous Harry could be.
Minerva suddenly felt a twinge of sympathy for the person behind this but it was only a twinge. Given all the stress they caused the teachers and now the Board of Governors exerting their will, it wasn't going to be a pleasant time for anyone.
Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.
That message flickered in the eyes of Harry but there was one clue, the blood on the wall, left a trail and one that the person who forged the message did not bother to cover.
The Boy-Who-Lived walked with a purpose, towards the girl's bathroom. The last attack left behind a very vital clue.
"The hissing came from the walls, in the pipes," Harry mused underneath his breath. "And I understand it somehow…Parseltongue, of course when Voldemort lost, I absorbed some of his abilities, that explains much."
Harry eyed everything around him before he saw a squat girl in glasses, sitting in midair. Her face was covered in pimples and she sniffled a little bit.
"What do you want?" she wailed in a voice that was akin to nails on a chalkboard. "Can't you see this is a girl's bathroom?"
Harry decided that this was not going to be a fun conversation anyway he cut it; so he cut to the chase. "Your name is Myrtle, correct?"
"Yes, what's it to you?" Myrtle asked in a sniffling tone.
Given all of the theories and rumors about the fact that a student died, Harry had a theory of his own. What if they died and never left? Such a death by the monster of Slytherin, that would cause anyone to be restless enough to be a ghost.
"How did you die?"
Myrtle appeared flattered and she cheered up immediately. "Oh it was awful. Olive Hornby was being so mean to me, teasing me about my glasses. I went in this very bathroom at that very toilet to cry."
Harry inclined his head slightly, acting like he was sympathetic to her plight but he wanted and needed information. He tried to get it out of her, one little bit at a time. The wizard carefully pushed her for all of the information that he could.
"Then there was this boy," Myrtle responded and Harry nodded to give her the opening to continue. "He was in here, speaking in a funny language, hissing. I told him to sod off and find his own toilet. And then I saw a pair of yellow eyes and that was the last thing that I knew before I died."
"Basilisk, of course, of course," Harry muttered underneath his breath, before he made his way over and spotted the tap.
His X-Ray vision told the story, there was something behind this tap. There was a marking and Harry focused on it. He wondered, he wondered if he could consciously activate this power easily. There was only one way to find out. The wizard narrowed his eyes, putting himself in the role of a Parseltongue.
"Open."
It opened and down the rabbit hole that Harry went. He could slow his descent so he landed more gracefully they he could otherwise. With a graceful thump, the mage landed firmly on his feet on the muck around him. Walking around, the wizard took his journey into mystery.
There were stones, there was fire, and Harry stepped forward to study his surroundings to make sure there were no nasty surprises. He saw the stone statues of the snakes staring back at him. They were unlikely to be sentient, although with magic that could be the case. The wizard carefully moved another few inches to one side and then to the other. A heart beat sped up before the wizard made his final movement towards the edge of the tunnel.
Grabbing onto the wall, Harry scanned it, both with detection spells and his X-Ray vision. Once he found nothing, he mouthed the word "open."
It was the most obvious password in the world, he thought but it actually worked. The wizard edged himself into the tunnel, where the rocks crunched and cracked around him. One of the greatest ways to defeat an enemy was prompt them into panicking. That wasn't what Harry did as he carefully stepped forwards into the Chamber of Secrets, mentally preparing himself for the battle at hand.
Sure enough, Harry spotted her, like the message that he read earlier indicated. Ginny Weasley rested on the floor, down and barely move. He could hear a heartbeat, although it was extremely faint. The wizard carefully stepped forward when a determined expression burned through his eyes.
"You left me a trail," Harry called out into the distance and he heard a rustling. "Or was that to intentionally lead me here?"
"Harry Potter, it is an honor to meet you," a young and tall man stated who sauntered forward to get a good look at the young man who had faced him. Harry stared him down. "Yes, this meeting has been a long time coming."
"I'm sure," Harry remarked dryly before he inclined a thumb to the diary. "That's your diary."
"That's my diary," the young man confirmed and Harry saw the name "Tom Marvolo Riddle" etched on the diary.
"So you were behind this the entire time?" Harry asked carefully, there was something familiar about this man that he could not place. "Tom."
"Yes, I used little Ginny Weasley as a puppet, when she poured her thoughts, her desires, her frustrations into my little black book," Riddle responded with a leering expression to the girl who offered a faint breath and an even fainter heartbeat. "All she needed to do is open her heart and mind and I had someone to continue my noble work."
Riddle paused for dramatic effect. The fact that he was talking gave Harry all of the time in the world to come up with a plan to defeat him.
"The free will is a frustrating thing but I managed to suppress that enough over time where the attacks got easier and easier," Riddle answered as he kept his soulless eyes locked onto Harry's. "She adored you enough or rather your legend. A legend that has left you with an inflated sense of self-worth for sure."
"Who are you anyway?" Harry asked crisply, deciding to get down to the nuts and bolts of the situation.
Riddle did not answer that line of inquiry, at least for the moment. "It does not matter who I am, but rather what I am capable of doing to you."
"Nice line, could use a lot of work to get yourself out of the cliché department," Harry dead panned.
Riddle's face crossed with a hint of annoyance and Harry began to study the diary in earnest. Dark magic coursed through it, and he recognized the signature for it, it came from beneath Quirrell's turban as well. The wizard began to put the pieces together.
"How did you do it?" Riddle asked in a quiet voice, a tone that dripped equal parts curiosity and malice. "How is it, a mere whelp of a wizard, defeated the greatest dark lord of his time?"
"You're him aren't you?" Harry asked when it clicked together after he mentally rearranged the letters Tom Marvolo Riddle, into I Am Lord Voldemort. "You want to talk about someone with an overinflated sense of self-worth, you should take a long hard look in the mirror, which I suspect you've neglected to do recently."
"Enough, while I draw energy from her, soon I will be free and will succeed where my future self has failed," Riddle answered and Harry smiled. "You will kneel before me Harry Potter, you will kneel before your superior."
"I kneel before no one," Harry answered as his eyes began to heat up. "Say goodnight, Tom."
"Protect me!" Riddle hissed and a large snake shot from the statue. It was fifty feet long and hideous.
It dove towards Harry, fangs bared. He dodged at super speed but not quite fast enough as the Basilisk fang impaled him in the shoulder. He only barely felt it; he had to take out the Basilisk now. He could tell that the snake was completely obedient to Tom because he was the one that woke it, therefore it would be a fool's error to try and befriend it. It would likely get him killed.
Harry aimed the heat vision into the eyes of the Basilisk. The gaze of the Basilisk met Kryptonian heat vision, which allowed for protection against the gaze of the snake. The next sight was sickening.
The Basilisk's head was exploded in a shower of blood and venom, splattering the diary. The venom caused Riddle a visible amount of pain when he flinched and twitched around a little bit.
It clicked in Harry's head, the venom of the basilisk was corrosive to the journal, and he pulled the fang from his shoulder, still dripping with Basilisk venom. If this worked, it would kill Riddle and potentially save Ginny. Although at this moment, Harry was more concerned about killing Riddle.
The basilisk fang hoisted over Harry's head and plunged with a searing impact into the heart of the diary. Ink spurted out of the diary like it was blood and Tom screamed out in agony, the magical backlash causing the Chamber to rock and some rocks to fall.
Harry put up a shield and stopped them from collapsing on top of him and Ginny. He looked down and saw Ginny stirring. He picked up the journal, not sure if it was completely wrecked and not wanting to leave it down here. He would come back for the Basilisk skin later, he had a feeling that it might be worth something.
"Harry," Ginny slurred, surprised to see him there. "It's….it's my fault…."
"He told me all about it, but everyone thinks you're dead," Harry offered, trying not to have her go to pieces after everything. He felt light headed but ignored the sensations, having to focus. It was hard to draw air into his lungs but through stubborn force of will he managed to do so.
"I did a t-terrible thing," Ginny breathed and Harry held her up despite barely holding himself up "How did you slay that thing?"
"Flame spell," Harry responded in a pained voice before he allowed Ginny to bury her face into his chest to cry. Granted that would stain his best robes but it would also allow this next bit to move on a lot smoother.
"Are you hurt?" Ginny asked in a small voice.
"No, Ginny, I'm fine," Harry stated as the rip on his robe was obvious and his shoulder stung a little bit. Every step was like he was walking with concrete blocks on his feet which would an amazing heat. "Please hang on; I'll get us back there."
Harry leapt taller than a high building in a single bound before he landed with a crash in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. No sooner had he stood from the crouch in which he was positioned upon landing, did he notice that Daphne, Tracey, Minerva, and Andromeda were there, watching him and Daphne asked the question that was on all of their minds.
"What's going on here?" Daphne demanded, her eyes swimming with wonder. She got the note that Harry was going to take care of the heir and now this was the state she found him in.
"She needs the hospital wing," Harry answered, side stepping the question for the moment and seeing Ginny seem shaky. He rubbed the side of his shoulder, seeing about three of everyone but stubbornness prevailed once again. Every sound felt like he was at the end of a really long tunnel hearing it. "I'm sure Dumbledore has his questions but he can ask me. I want to know what that diary was."
Andromeda would no doubt have her own questions to ask later but right now she assisted Minerva with getting Ginny to the hospital wing. Daphne and Tracey offered Harry a questioning gaze and his eyes remained steady as possible, even though there was a frustrating lack of ability to focus his vision.
"So what was the deal with…."
"Tell you later, I have a feeling that Dumbledore's going to want to know what happened," Harry answered gritting his teeth as he said so, but he was keeping the Basilisk skin to himself. He knew that there was some kind of right of conquest that gave him the spoils of war and he was determined to act upon that.
"Maybe you need the hospital wing," Daphne stated in a hushed voice but Harry shook his head.
True to his prediction, Harry found himself in Dumbledore's office, with the Weasleys having departed. The twinkling eyes of Dumbledore fixed upon him. His phoenix, Fawkes from what Harry heard, rested on Harry's shoulder and dripped three tears into his shoulder. Suddenly, Harry felt all notions of pain gone, in fact he felt much better than ever.
"It does appear that Fawkes thinks a lot of you, Phoenixes do not cry for just any wizard," Dumbledore stated as he kept his eyes on Harry who relaxed. "Although I do wonder how long you were going to neglect to mention that you had Basilisk Venom flowing through your veins."
It seems like Harry Potter broke another law of magic, as Basilisk Venom killed everyone within thirty seconds or less of injection. The wizard turned his head around.
Fawkes was interesting as Harry did wonder why the bird trusted him. Then again, there was a lot about the nature of a Phoenix that was unknown and much that was simply assumed.
There was silence in Dumbledore's office before the wizard spoke.
"Well, it appears that this year was no different than the last, Harry," Dumbledore remarked, breaking the point of silence. "Despite everything, you find yourself in the center of danger, and all of the perks that goes along with it."
Harry offered a tiny smile, before he watched Dumbledore. "Danger is something that I've grown accustomed to being in the center of it seems."
"Well the best of us often are drawn to danger, but it is a mistress that tends to burden us a little bit more," Dumbledore answered in a calm voice, to be honest, he was not certain how he thought this year would turn out. He had his suspicions about the Chamber of Secrets but he was not quite sure how he expected them to play out.
"An enchanted journal?" Harry inquired before he held the diary in his hand and turned it over. "I'm guessing its magic far beyond anything that ever will be taught at Hogwarts."
"You would be correct in that assessment," Dumbledore answered, choosing his next few words carefully. "This journal was created with Lord Voldemort when he was only but a few years older than you. It was to keep his legacy alive."
"He may be a wizard but he is as mortal as the rest of us," Harry mused as he looked suddenly thoughtful. "And mortality was something that terrified him."
"Quite," Dumbledore responded, to be honest there were times where Dumbledore feared leaving the mortal coil in the past but over the last few years, he became more enlightened. Death was nothing but the next great adventure after all. The wizard kept his eyes on his young protégé before him. Dumbledore banked a lot on Harry becoming the next standard bearer which the Wizarding world rallied behind.
Grooming such a child took a lot of careful effort but so far he made concessions for Harry to gain his trust. Putting him with the Dursleys could have blown up in Dumbledore's face, although the protections did work. They worked even better than he could have estimated; Lily was unbelievably talented to make something like that work. Of course, it twisted the Dursleys looks wise although the few glimpses of what Dumbledore caught of them in the past, they were not visually appealing on the eyes in the first place.
"I must say, earlier today, they called for my resignation, but I think that there is a change of plans," Dumbledore answered with a wide eyed expression. "It has been alleged that Lucius Malfoy has blackmailed the Board of Governors, made some threats and in some cases where he could find no incriminating information, bribes."
Somehow, Harry was unsurprised. Lucius Malfoy was a snake and slime to the highest degree, so there was not a shadow of a doubt in his mind that Lucius was going to play that particular game rather well.
Speaking of which, Lucius Malfoy showed up directly on cue, followed by an ugly creature with bat ears, a huge snout, and wide eyes, wrapped in a filthy pillow case. From Lucretia's report, Harry recognized him as the house elf known as Dobby and he watched the creature step forward into the light, trying to wipe Lucius's shoes. Lucius practically kicked the elf in the face as he stepped forward.
"So are edicts from the board of governors beneath the great and powerful Albus Dumbledore?" Lucius asked as he stared down Dumbledore, barely brushing past Harry but Andromeda showed up behind Lucius.
"They may be when they involve blackmail and bribery."
Lucius turned around and saw his blood traitor of a sister-in-law standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a smile on her face when she watched him. Despite the fact she married a Mudblood, Andromeda had some very powerful contacts in the Ministry that could made many of his plans inconvenient, so Lucius knew enough to tread lightly.
Much like he wrote his son a letter of warning to mind his tongue around her charge, once he found out Andromeda took the temporary post of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He knew that Draco and anyone else would be smacked down to the full extent of pureblood law if they tried anything against Potter. Andromeda had a nasty habit of turning their traditions against them and making them nearly regret they were in place.
"Andromeda," Lucius stated in a crisp voice.
"Lucius," Andromeda fired back, a predatory smile crossing her face. "You've been a very busy man this year, haven't you?"
Lucius did not say anything, even though he took a moment to watch Andromeda carefully.
"Blackmail is a stressful endeavor," Andromeda continued with a calculating expression dancing in her eyes.
Dobby pointed to the journal that Harry held, then to Lucius, and the back to the journal, and Lucius, and smacked himself in the side of the face. At first, Harry thought that there was something wrong with this elf but then he got it immediately. The wizard thought it was an almost clever plan and it might not have worked, had Lucius had bothered to cover her tracks.
Lucius was not about to play Andromeda's game, not now. His eyes carefully watched Dumbledore. "So I take it you caught the culprit?"
"Yes, I did," Dumbledore offered in a calm voice, putting his hands together, before his twinkling eyes fixed upon Lucius's face.
The Malfoy felt that he could make a scapegoat out of a Weasley yet and Andromeda appeared to think the same thing.
"It is quite curious that a dark magical artifact found its way into the possession of a first year girl, the same first year girl that was in proximity with you on the day of August 25th of last summer," Andromeda responded, while she already left to get clear of Lockhart, the report of the fight of Arthur and Lucius was in the paper. She began to put all of the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Andromeda had him but it was the matter of proving it.
"How should I know how the stupid little girl got the book?" Lucius asked but he felt his neck sweat. He tried not to show that he was rattled, the mask was part of being a pureblood.
Andromeda knew that Lucius was trying hard not to fall into her trap, the man was rather intelligent all things considered. Of course arrogance often outstripped intelligence and the woman stepped forward.
"You had a run in with Arthur Weasley, and then less than a year later, his daughter was possessed by the sixteen year old form of Lord Voldemort," Andromeda answered crisply. "Some people might believe in coincidences, but that's too fanciful for me to even swallow."
"Believe what you wish to believe, but there's nothing you can prove," Lucius answered as he watched Andromeda, but hexing her was not a good idea at this time.
"Perhaps, perhaps not, but your activities are being watched, the Imperius defense didn't fool many," Andromeda answered, carefully watching Lucius and making him a bit nervous, making the man nervous was something that was key to making him slip up.
"Come Dobby, we're leaving," Lucius answered but Andromeda held up her hand to stall him.
"Word to the wise Lucius, do not think that you are untouchable," Andromeda stated, eying him carefully, a hand on her wand.
There was a careful moment where the two stared down each other, there was no idea which set of eyes showed more fierce determination. Narcissa gave Andromeda a few tidbits of some of the things Lucius had been up to but naturally, Andromeda did not have enough to get Lucius in the corner where she wanted him.
Not yet anyway but someday it would come. And that day of reckoning would be glorious.
"And regardless of what you admit, this belongs to you," Harry answered, deciding to really screw with Lucius when he handed him a journal stuffed with a sock.
Lucius ripped the sock out and tossed it to the side. The diary was useless, completely destroyed.
"One day, Potter," Lucius whispered to him.
"Not today and not by you," Harry answered, not bothering to lower his voice and Andromeda stood beside him, giving Lucius a warning look.
Lucius decided now was not the time or place to try his luck, which was not turning out for the best. Especially with Andromeda and Dumbledore watching, although Dumbledore being there didn't matter all that much to Lucius. He was a bleeding pacifist and tried to preach understanding and second chance, something that he was roundly mocked for behind his back.
Andromeda on the other hand, she was very different, she was a woman that would utterly destroy Lucius if he tried anything with her. Both done magically and also on the legal spectrum, something that Lucius knew better about, but the blonde kept his eyes on the woman before him, backing away before he looked over his shoulder.
"We're leaving, come now Dobby."
Dobby held the sock in his hands, transfixed, to the point where it was almost scary, something akin to glee flashing through his eyes. There was a moment of time where everything skidded to a stop and the house elf remarked his statement in a crisp voice.
"Master has given a sock."
"I beg your pardon?" Lucius asked, disgusted to be in the same room with this stupid and vile creature.
"Master has taken the sock, handed it to Dobby, that means Dobby is free," Dobby stated, practically jumping out and down like a kid on Christmas.
Lucius paused and turned towards Harry but he held his tongue, remembering that Andromeda was in the room. The boy in question waved at him, a knowing smile on his face.
"One day Potter," Lucius mouthed to him.
"That day won't be today and not by you," Harry responded before he paused and felt that creepy deja-vu feeling coming to him.
Lucius had a threatening expression in his eyes but Dobby sent Lucius flying through the office door.
'Well talk about adding insult to injury,' Harry thought when he looked at the Lucius sized hole in the wall, carefully keeping an eye on everything. 'Well that's a bit of a problem, all things considered. But hey….at least things could be worse. Although I don't know how they would be much worse for him. Got humiliated by a creature that he thinks is beneath him is pretty low down on the totem pole of bad things that could happen.'
Harry eyed the downed form of Lucius Malfoy and stepped back before Dobby watched him.
"Dobby, I know you were the one behind the bludger and having my mail stopped," Harry told the elf sharply and Dobby hung his head in shame.
"Dobby was meaning no harm to the great Harry Potter but he figured that if he stopped your mail, you might be thinking that you were being unwanted and then…"
"I understand what you were trying to do Dobby, Lucretia knew what you were doing," Harry interrupted as he waved his hands.
"What is Harry Potter, sir, going to do to Dobby?" the house elf asked.
"How would you like a job?" Harry asked which caught the creature off guard.
"Sir is being serious?"
Harry offered a smile to the creature, before he eyed him. "Sir is being very serious. Of course, you may have plenty of time to think this offer over. I feel that someone of your talents will be extremely useful."
"Dobby understands what sir is saying," the house elf responded, he would need to change his pillow case at the thought of serving the great Harry Potter.
Dobby stepped off into the distance and Harry waited for Dumbledore to say anything. However the Hogwarts Headmaster rose to his feet and began to make careful strides to the doorway. He walked with a purpose, only stopping to watch Andromeda and Harry.
"I don't think I can speak for all three of us but I can only speak for myself," Dumbledore commented as he watched the three of them and they waited for the word. "And that is that a feast beckons."
Harry would have to agree with that, but right now he made arrangements to claim the spoils of war on two accounts. The Basilisk skin and the venom from the fangs would likely fetch a price that he could line even more gold in his vault. No doubt Snape would try and make a play for the items.
"We better arrange for you to claim your spoils of war before Snape or anyone else decides to cut in," Andromeda whispered to him and Harry nodded.
Legally Harry had every right to it, it was ancient pureblood law, older than Hogwarts itself in fact, or so Andromeda recalled from her studies. Andi's face spread into a smile when she realized how often that law could be twisted and contorted to screw those very purebloods over.
"Of course, and there is that other matter," Harry answered.
"Miss Weasley?" Andromeda asked sharply and Harry answered with a crisp nod.
"Never squander a resource," Harry remarked simply. "Her mother can't do much of anything but shout and rant."
"Believe me, Molly Weasley could do that with the best of them," Andromeda answered dryly.
Ginny took a few moments to reflect upon everything that had happened over the past year. She got a bit of a chewing out from her parents. Well her mother yelled and screamed at her, while her father registered his disappointment. That was true what he said in many ways, it was one of Arthur Weasley's rules, never trust anything that can think for itself, especially when you could not see its brain.
Of course, Ginny thought that it was completely unfair after one looked at the situation objectively, because she felt a strong pull, a compulsion to write in the diary. Tom wanted her or anyone else who happened to come across the diary to write in it. The redhead girl sat in the Hospital Wing on the bed, she was given a complete checkup and thankfully no residual traces of dark magic were on her.
Ginny still felt sore physically and also kind of mentally drained after everything that happened. Not to mention she felt cheap and kind of used. Really used come to think about it and she wondered if she could ever forgive herself. Tom was charismatic or at least as charismatic as someone on the pages of a diary could be. That allowed her to shift a little bit and wait.
"Hello, Ginny."
Harry stood there, a calm expression on his face and one that Ginny could not even believe that he had. Then again, after what happened, the youngest Weasley mistrusted reading others. She could not bare looking into his green eyes, gorgeous as they might be, carefully watching his reaction.
"Harry," Ginny answered in a small voice, a twinge of guilt spread into her, she feared what he might say. The redhead girl never knew what Harry was going to say, he was always going to be a wild card. Ron thought that he was Harry's friend, his best mate.
Ron never knew Harry at all, although there was a hope by her mother that Ron might actually attend Hogwarts next year. Although after everything that happened, Ginny wondered how many brain cells her brother had left. It was not like that he was particularly blessed in that department when he started, and now he was completely out of luck with the two head injuries he suffered.
Ginny did kind of feel sorry for Ron on the account that he was her brother. Although that was only the token amount of sympathy, she did not feel sympathy for Ron's stupidity.
"So are they going to discharge you from the hospital wing?" Harry asked and Ginny nodded her head slowly.
"Yeah….I'm not really….well I'm not quite ready to leave,'" Ginny offered in a small voice. "I don't….well I don't want to…."
"Face the people knowing what you did."
"Yes, that," Ginny offered as she peered down on the floor.
"Well mostly everyone is bed after what happened, so if you sneak out now, no one will really be the wiser," Harry remarked to Ginny in a crisp and calm voice and Ginny's eyes brightened, with a smile crossing her face.
"I owe you big time," Ginny responded but then she realized what she said.
If her mother heard her, Ginny would be flogged, but she was not thinking clearly.
"If you'd like, you can stay in my room tonight, it's private, and Hermione's the only one who comes in there and Daphne and Tracey every now and again," Harry told her, knowing that she played into his hand.
This statement allowed Ginny's imagination to run wild with scenarios of what happened in that room. Of course, why wouldn't these scenarios happen? Harry was a powerful wizard and thus he would need to be sated by a number of powerful women. In fact he was far more powerful than ever before and more powerful than that fanciful legend indicates. He was a god wrapped in mortal flesh.
Harry offered a hand and Ginny took it, carefully edging with him. The eleven, almost twelve, year old girl stepped forward. She was coming into her maturity over the past year, so she resembled what a fourteen or fifteen year old Muggle would look like. Of course with the nature of magic, that meant that certain urges were coming to her faster than ever.
As anyone knew, it was unwise to left these urges left unchecked for long.
"Life debts, I know that you're familiar with them, are you not?" Harry asked Ginny and Ginny watched him with a slight smile, before the redhead nodded her head. Most pureblood witches were brought up, and her mother gave her constant lectures never to find herself in a life debt.
"And I now have one to you," Ginny whispered when they entered Harry's room. There was no one else here tonight.
"Hermione has one with me and Daphne does, and now you do as well," Harry confirmed before he invited Ginny to sit down on his bed. Ginny did, with trepidation and nervousness.
Magical law stated that Harry could pretty much do anything that he wanted to with her and it would be in the bounds of legality. While she thought logically that there was nothing to fear with being in the same room with Harry Potter, after the ordeal Ginny was through, her entire world was shaken. His green eyes were fixed upon her.
She wore nothing but a red t-shirt and black shorts, that tightened around her legs but for some reason, the temperature rose up a few degrees. Perhaps it was just her, but that really felt like the temperature kicked things up a few degrees. The redhead witch carefully flinched a little bit when Harry placed a hand on her thigh.
"And you know what a magical debt entails don't you?" Harry asked as he watched her, green eyes meeting brown.
Ginny nodded before she put her hand up. "I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, do solemnly swear her eternal and never fading loyalty to Harry James Potter, beyond her friends, family, and anything else, until the moment she passes from this world, under penalty of a slow and agonizing death should she break this oath."
Harry kept a close eye on her, with a smile watching her. "Well that was pretty…final."
"Well, I have to be perfectly honest with you, my mother had my eye on your for a long time," Ginny answered with a half smile, half grimace.
Harry remembered Mrs. Weasley in his mind and he shuddered. "Your mother is not my type."
Ginny let out a laugh before she calmed herself down. "No not like that, not at all, but it's just that….well she has this idea that you and I are going to be married, a nice traditional marriage, where we have a few kids, you have a Ministry job, and I'm a housewife."
Ginny's expression soured slightly when she heard that.
"My mother….raising seven children may have caused her sanity slip just a tiny bit," Ginny stated, holding her forefinger and her thumb apart to show her thoughts on her mother's sanity. "Bill and Charlie got out of the country, Percy has the issues you've seen, the twins…well they're rebelling against her in their own way, and Ron….need I say more."
"No you really don't," Harry confirmed as he tightened his grip on Ginny's hand.
"And if you weren't with me by your sixth year, she wanted me to slip you a love potion," Ginny admitted, but she looked a bit distasteful about this prospect. For one thing, it took all of the fun out of the conquest of love and for another thing, her growing loyalty towards Harry, made her angry at the prospect that her mother wanted to do such a thing. Angry enough to do something drastic to her mother.
Harry stood back and reflected, there were many flaws with Molly Weasley's plan and he wrapped his arm around the redhead, before pulling her onto his lap and spinning her around to face him, with the wizard watching her.
Ginny's heart beat against her chest.
"Many flaws with that plan, but that doesn't matter," Harry commented, grabbing her breast and squeezing it tightly. The redhead closed her eyes and allowed a whimper to escape her lips, when he played with them.
"Please Harry," Ginny begged him, when he placed his arms around her slender waist and pulled her into a kiss.
Ginny's mind shut down, this was far more amazing than anything that she ever felt. The redhead closed her eyes and allowed herself to be entombed into the sheer ecstasy, when he dipped her down onto the bed.
Harry saw her on the bed, completely passed out, the "Z" mark on the side of her neck. The truth be told, it was not exactly how he planned it to happen but it worked out well and he was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He thought about the arrangements that he made about the Basilisk parts to get them out of the Chamber. A team of goblins would be popping in about a week to take a look at it. No doubt, Harry would be the big winner with this.
Although he did wonder about the fact that Dumbledore missed something like possession. The more he thought about it, all of the portraits of the school would be useful spies for Dumbledore but he wondered if the old man was really as resourceful as people thought he was. It did seem like he was slower up the uptake then many would think after previous years.
Then again, one could chalk that up to the fact that old age was catching up to him a little bit and dulling his reflections. He spent more time in a capacity where he did not have to do anything very physical to the point where those days passed him.
Harry watched the unconscious girl on the bed, she pledged her eternal loyalty to him, a full blown slave oath in fact, and that was something that Harry could get behind very much. The wizard saw much potential and there would be a few uses for her. Of course, they would have to keep their relationship rather secret but perhaps she be used to give him incriminating information on her family and perhaps Dumbledore. From what he heard, the Weasleys were rather tight with the Headmaster.
He planned those thoughts in his head.
"So she's been subverted to our cause?"
Daphne popped up, getting in to visit Harry. Harry smiled at the blonde Slytherin.
"Yes, she's all ours," Harry answered as he ran his hand through Ginny's red hair when the girl peacefully slept away with a grin on her face.
"She'll be a useful pet," Daphne added with a grin when she eyed her body, but in a few years, it would grow a little bit more. Her mother, despite her reputation, was rather powerful but having that many children would wreak havoc on anyone. Ginny's potential was much greater though she was the seventh born child, and was first girl in seven generations.
And all that power would be underneath Harry's thumb, which made it even more glorious.
"That she will," Harry answered as Daphne decided to impart the other bit of information she came to visit Harry for.
"The Mandrakes will be ready in a few weeks, so Hermione and the others will be awake."
Harry nodded, that proved to be good news although he did not relish what Hermione would say when she realized that she lost a little over a month of her life.
Harry knew by now that the petrified were woken up by the Mandrake Restorative draught. Hermione in particular had a mild panic attack when she realized that she lost over a month of her life, not to mention three months of studying after everything that happened. Of course, the fact that Hermione technically was a bit ahead on her studies and would be on course to pass her fourth year examinations with flying colors, that never crossed the mind of the brunette bookworm, not even once.
Hermione was an obsessive overachiever, that much Harry realized several times over and the wizard recalled her thoughts that was just as well. He loved Hermione but she tended to push herself past the boundaries of sanity or perhaps reason and logic. Harry kept a cool head and a cooler mind when he recalled the year that was.
His name had been cleared and Draco's ego was deflated, although Harry doubted that would last that long. Malfoy had this nasty habit of remaining not so very humble and it kind of annoyed Harry but it was something that he would go with. The wizard carefully walked forward, when he saw a girl with chocolate brown hair and eyes staring at him.
"Harry, I want to talk to you," the girl stated, she kept a calm expression on her face although it faltered slightly. Harry saw how the robes clung to her assets, wrapped tightly around her. She was a sixth year, a Ravenclaw, a prefect, and Harry was extremely curious about what she had to say. "Penelope Clearwater, sixth year Ravenclaw, prefect."
Harry nodded in recognition.
"Of course," Harry answered as he lead the way forward.
Penelope walked next to Harry, a tentative smile crossing her face when she bit down on her lip. This was a situation where her nerves racked her a little bit. The brunette girl took a few moments to walk beside Harry. After what happened, after her attack, she was fortunate to be alive. What happened was awful, being in a constant state of awareness that she could not move. It was like every single inch of her body was paralyzed.
She could not respond to anyone, not anything.
"You wished to speak with me," Harry stated as they prepared to enter his quarters. The door swung open, allowing Harry to be admitted and Penelope followed behind him.
"I….I heard that you fought the monster and saved Ginny Weasley from that diary," Penelope remarked as she threw her head back, focusing, carefully keeping an eye on him and it was Harry who inclined his head with a slight nod. "That means that the entire school owes you a debt of gratitude."
"Yes," Harry answered with a bit of a smile.
Harry knew that if it was not for him, there would be more attacks and this place could have shut down. Granted, that was something that would only be a minor annoyance to Harry. Although it meant that he would be at the Dursleys far longer than he would be otherwise which was something that was more than a minor annoyance, it was a huge annoyance and one that Harry did not want to deal with. At least until the moment where he found alternate magical education but until the he would be in flux.
"And since you defeated the monster, you avenged my attack, and that means I owe you a debt," she added with a smile across her face.
Harry saw her, her robes tightening around her sexy seventeen year old body, chocolate eyes watching him.
"I want to thank you for everything that happened," Penelope answered as she stepped forward to face Harry with a sultry expression in her eyes. "And before I went down, I had a boyfriend, but he wasn't very attentive. He was more in love with his position of power and wouldn't do anything that was fun, exciting, or anything else."
Penelope closed the gap and slid her robes down her body and Harry caught a glimpse of the attractive body that was hidden underneath. He always thought that the Hogwarts dress code was rather restrictive but this blew all of those thoughts out of the water. A smile crossed his face when he watched her body revealed to him. Dark hair hung down past her shoulders, surrounding her beautiful angel face and piercing brown eyes. A set of rose red lips puckered and Harry only imagined them on his cock, sucking him until he did not stop spewing.
He saw her slender arms, with a black bra that stretched over her decent sized bust. He placed his hands on her, pulling Penny down onto his leg. She spread her legs, straddling him hungrily, running his hands down her slender body, around her curves. The hands of the wizard traveled down her smooth stomach, with the tanned flesh. A pair of black panties rested on her, wrapped around her hips, and long legs that arched down for miles. He ran his legs underneath her legs and her lips found his in a kiss.
He cupped her ass, when she continued to kiss him tenderly. The older girl straddled him, unbuttoning his shirt lustfully and running her hands down his muscular chest. The two explored each other, with Penny looping her hands through his hair.
Harry was stricken by one thought, Percy Weasley did not deserve to even make eye contact with a babe like this, much less be in any kind of relationship with her. That much was certain to Harry when his hands roamed over her body, teasing her sensual curves underneath his grip and she squirmed on his lap heavily.
"I want to sample the treats you have, Miss Clearwater," Harry breathed, tilting her back on the bed and pulling her panties back to see what the good she had to offer.
"Harry….that was a great reward," Daphne answered when she eyed it.
"The real reward is what I got coming out of the Chamber," Harry responded, eying the special awards for services of the school trophy, with only a slight amount of interest. The wizard would be lying if he was not more than a tad bit impressed. The truth was that it was a piece of tin and when one realized that there were a few more dozen of these awards in the Trophy Room elsewhere, it did not seem so special.
Harry thought that it was nothing but a glorified piece of tin.
"So how much did you get out of the Basilisk venom?" Tracey asked, curiosity overwhelming her.
Astoria tagged along with them for this little trip, wondering if Harry caught on to what she did for him. There was a slight knowing smile that passed Harry's face whenever he passed the younger Greengrass sister. He knew but it was an unspoken agreement for the knowledge to never pass his lips.
Astoria would just have to wait and see if he said anything but she smiled. "So that's the gratitude they give you?"
A smile crossed her face, looking like she thought that Harry was greatly short changed in the grand scheme of things. The first year Slytherin watched him, gauging his reaction.
"You would have preferred gold than some kind of useless trophy," Astoria remarked and a smile crossed Harry's face when he regarded the girl beside him.
"Most of us would have thought that gold would be the preferred of the two prizes," Harry answered, feeling that tomorrow would be an interesting day. Fourth year exams were coming. "I think Filch actually might want to jump on that bandwagon of me getting more gold instead of a trophy."
"Seriously?" Tracey asked, she did not believe that the crusty caretaker would ever think that a student should be rewarded.
"Well my gold will be in a vault and not in a trophy room that he has to dust," Harry offered and Tracey smiled.
"Makes perfect sense to me," the Slytherin remarked, running her hands through her brown locks before swallowing the lump in her throat. She steered the conversation back towards its intended waters. "And you didn't answer the question regarding…."
Harry put up a hand and made her pause completely, before he responded.
"Let's just put it this way, it was enough gold to make the Malfoys look like the Weasleys," Harry answered which caused Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria to all whistle.
"Wow, I'm sure that's quite a windfall," Astoria answered as she locked her eyes onto his. "What do you want to do with it?"
Harry pondered it before he came up with the most logical explanation, eying the three Slytherins in question. "Well I've got some daring investments that I want to make but since this is excess gold, I feel now the time is right. If I lose the gold, well it's not like I'm blowing my inheritance on anything. And if I win big…..well that's just as well."
It was foolish to expect a reward without expecting some risk, although Harry was never one to play the odds unless there was a chance of him cashing out rather big, with a huge chance presenting itself now. He was going to throw some rather risky cards on the table but he felt confident that there was a chance for him to succeed. He was not even putting all of his Basilisk part earnings into the investment, only a fifth of them maybe; in some ways, it was like sticking a big toe into the water to test them.
At least he wouldn't have all of his toes bitten off by a piranha. That would be a nasty end the more that he thought about it, but a rather probable outcome.
"I'm sure whatever you're going to do, you'd succeed," Astoria answered as she swayed with a smile crossing her face.
"That's confidence that I can get behind," Harry responded whilst he placed his hand on her face and looked into her bright blue eyes.
Astoria watched at the door crack one night when Harry and Daphne were going at it in bed. Harry could go for a long time, given that Tracey, Hermione, and Daphne all had to take turns so they could not be burned out by his cock. Astoria was determined to stay a little bit longer in the ring with those two but it was a matter of making the right move.
"Well another year can be put behind us, I think," Tracey offered as she leaned against the wall and Neville and Hermione pulled up.
"Found her Harry," Neville commented with an amused expression as he looked at his year mate. "Three guesses where she was and the first two don't count."
"Could it be the place where I told her to avoid?" Harry asked and Hermione sighed.
"I lost…."
Harry pushed a finger on Hermione's lip to shut her up. Her eyes watched him, annoyance and frustration in them. Astoria exchanged a smile with her sister, eyes widening before she whispered to Daphne.
"I think someone's going to get it," Astoria whispered to Daphne, watching Hermione, with a hungry expression in her eyes.
"Hermione, what did you get on your first year exams?" Harry asked.
Hermione offered a shifty smile and Harry watched her, clearing his throat. She had no choice but to answer. "Top marks."
"Very good, Miss Granger," Harry offered in an appraising voice that would put McGonagall to shame. "And what did you get on your second year exams?"
"Top marks," Hermione repeated, as Tracey, Daphne, and Astoria offered smiles towards her, and waited for this little interplay to wrap to a close.
"And your third year exams?" Harry asked and as result of this question she narrowed her eyes in annoyance and Daphne and Astoria found themselves highly amused, with Tracey offering a smile as well.
"Yes, Harry, I passed them," Hermione responded in an exasperated voice but Harry corked an eyebrow towards her before she added in a tense voice. "With perfect marks."
"Thank you Hermione, and we were a bit ahead of the game, so even if you lost a month…."
"Five weeks, and four days," Hermione corrected him and Harry nodded, before he cracked a smile.
"Of course," Harry responded before he adjusted himself. "You've lost five weeks and four days of time but you're about three months ahead, maybe more. Now, even someone who can't do math should realize that all balances out in the end."
Hermione gave a frown but Harry grabbed her hands and pinned her against the wall.
"Now say it Hermione," Harry breathed in her ear.
"You're right," Hermione stated, when her heart beat against him and he nodded.
"That's right, I'll leave you alone for the night but if I catch you taking one foot into the library…"
Harry said nothing but he implied that there was going to be consequences. The wizard carefully edged away from her and moved down to his room.
There was no one around him but of course the invisibility cloak allowed him to move stealthily through the hallway. The wizard carefully edged a little bit more and he opened his mail. Account statement from Gringotts, quarterly statements about his investments, three marriage proposals, although none of them nearly attractive enough to allow him to consider for more than a few seconds.
"Ah yes, Pam, don't think I've forgotten about you," Harry responded after he opened up the letter.
Dear Harry,
So, you're actually thinking about taking the trip across the pond (yeah that phrase seems a bit hokey on paper but it's accurate) and dive down the rabbit hole into Gotham City? I must say, I admire your fortitude. And also I question your sanity, but the fact is that I think we passed the moment where anyone would consider you to be sane a long time ago. Given that you juggle relationships with many girls at once, I don't think anyone would consider you sane.
You are either what we might call a poor bastard or a lucky bastard. But never the less, I'm actually glad to seeing you again.
Of course, I wouldn't blame you if you decided against stepping one foot in Gotham City. The most beloved tourist attraction of the city might be an exit sign. You know in most towns where traffic is a common background noise that you get used to. Well in Gotham, it's gunshots.
But I should really try and sell you on coming to the city, not try and drive you away should I? Well…the food's nice, I guess. Not the worst in the world at the very least. Of course its mob controlled.
That was a very valiant effort against the snake, although I only followed some of it. But I followed enough of it where it could be kind of amazing, so thumbs up for that one. You never do skimp out on the adventures, do you?
As for the offer, well I'm thinking about it. I'm sure we can discuss that even more when we're in Gotham City.
My tutoring job is going good. She'll be around in the summer, so if you come around, you can meet her.
Talk to you soon, hopefully in person,
Pamela.
Harry smiled and slid Hedwig a treat before he took out a piece of paper to write.
Pamela,
First of all, I think that this trip should work out, although I have to stay with my relatives for three weeks. The deal I made with the Headmaster to pacify him. Better to keep him thinking that I'm a dutiful little boy scout than make him think I'm a hellion at the very least. His time will come and it ends the summer after my third year. I'll be a NEWT student and thus have no obligation to return there.
Now I'm morbidly curious about Gotham but don't worry, I can defend myself. Magic is a wonderful thing and with the statute of secrecy not really existing in the States, I don't have to worry about much of anything. At least that's my assumption. Then again, Andromeda made sure that I read all of the laws backwards, forwards, and upside down before committing to anything.
Never the less, I'm looking forward to the trip and looking forward to seeing you, for better or for worse. This should be a delightful little encounter.
Hermione's back up, although she's going to run herself into the ground from all the stress again. Par for the course for her really, but she is stressed out.
Thinking about that offer, well I'm sure that I'll give you one that you can't refuse.
I'm sure your grades are good, I'm getting ready to take my fourth year exams but I'll pass them with honors. And then, Hermione and I have the chance to do something unprecedented, testing out of OWLs. Most people who take this quick route take the first four years in years one and two, but then slow down for five, six, or seven.
Granted, that's a year and a half more than I would be here, but that's a year and a half too many.
See you soon,
Harry.
Harry checked the letter and prepared to post it, when Hedwig had a moment to stretch her wings. Then it would be time for exams.
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