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Aether Continuum Part 1 | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Other Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 53 Summary: Two mysterious beings that claim to be Nephalem send Harry's soul back in time to fix the mistakes of the powerful and save his world from more than just Voldemort. This is a change in the Time Travel trope where Harry originally never went to Hogwarts, where events spiraled out of control and Voldemort had risen with the Philosophers Stone and Diary Riddle forced another side to the conflict. Hitcount: Story Total: 52043; Chapter Total: 1191 Author's Notes: The notes will be at the bottom of the page |
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Year 2 Chapter 8: A Filled in Painting “Lars and I have spoken many times on the effects of Chaos on the human soul. I reacted strongly against it while I was a human, causing headaches, joint pain and even seizures a few times. It always appeared to be a more physical reaction than spiritual. My case was abnormal, as Lars had seen it distort the minds of many humans into committing terrible atrocities against their nature, but not everyone was affected the same way. I do wonder how it works with those on planets where the use of a medium for magical aid is required.” From the journal of Kesh’rak, Chapter 3; Page 50 **************************** **************************************** ******************************** A fter the attack on Mrs. Norris, school had continued through November without anything out of the ordinary. Many students had fallen under the belief that the attack was merely a school prank, albeit a seriously bad one due to the condition Filch’s cat was under, and were continuing on as if nothing had happened. Well, except for the man himself, who had set up a post where the attack had happened, staring down any student who dared to pass. Yet, halfway through the month came with another attack, this time on the ghost Nearly-Headless Nick. The ghost had a look of surprise on his face, and when investigating the area, Harry found scorch marks on the wall behind where the ghost ‘lay’, those much like on the suit of armor at the first attack. There was also a darker, smoke-like substance within the form of the ghost, floating around his midsection when Nick had been found. A chat with Dumbledore after the attack, the two agreed that proactively looking for the Chamber hadn’t worked, and their plan moving forward was to watch. While Harry preferred acting, he was frustrated at his lack of progress and knew he needed to look at the problem with a different perspective. December came, and with it came piles of snow, clamping down on the castle and forcing even those who usually enjoyed it inside. The month, for the most part had been quiet, with student’s now roaming the halls in packs, subdued and speaking in whispers. Ron and Hermione had begun to start whispering conspiratorially like they had last year, something Harry wasn’t about to allow this time. On the second Saturday of the month, after breakfast, Harry followed the two out of the Great Hall and slipped under his cloak. As his two friends started up the stairs, they both looked around, eyes narrowed. Harry shook his head and chuckled under his breath, he couldn’t believe how obvious they were. His joviality was replaced by confusion and he froze when the two slipped into Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. After staring at the closing door for a moment, he then moved to stand next to it, placing his ear to listen. His confusion mounted even more when there was absolute silence, and he took a step back staring at the door once more, mouthing ‘what the’. In his mind, his entirely too adult mind at the moment, he was thinking that something two young teenagers were entirely too young to do filled his mind, but then he also knew that Ron was too ignorant in that regard and therefore this situation couldn’t possibly happen. Making up his mind, he decided to enter under his cloak. Silencing the hinges and door knob, he slipped into the loo. He heard the small crackling of a fire along with the quiet voices of Ron and Hermione having a normal conversation, which caused him to furrow his brow even more. Harry was completely bewildered by this situation, but he had to know what his two friends were up to. He made his way down the stalls, in the direction the other two were, until he stood in front of the last stall. Relief filled him and he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. The two Gryffindors, standing across from each other with a cauldron between, looked in his direction before Hermione moved to the front of the stall and called out. “Who’s there?” In response, Harry removed his cloak, causing Hermione to shriek and Ron to shout in alarm. Smirking, Harry said dryly. “You know, there’s better places to have a normal conversation than a haunted loo.” As he said this, a teary eyed, bespectacled ghost stuck her head through the stall next to them. “‘Lo Myrtle” He saluted to her in a lazy manner, causing the specter to frown. “Harry, what are you doing here?” Hermione asked warily. Ron was staring bug eyed at Myrtle, his cheeks tinged red. Nonchalantly, Harry answered. “Oh, I saw you two being suspicious, and I decided to investigate. Leading me into a bathroom was surprising though, thought I’d need to have a talk with you two.” Hermione blushed, Ron looked confused, but Myrtle spoke before either could retort. “They were acting like that because they’re doing something they shouldn’t. You should see the potion she’s brewing.” The ghost had an excited look about her. “Are you going to give them detention?” “Let me see what they’re doing exactly, first.” He gave her a small smile before pushing past a flustered Hermione and peered down into the cauldron. Harry looked down into a thick, mud-like concoction, bubbling as it simmered over the blue-bell colored flames. Though he recognized it almost immediately as Polyjuice Potion, he watched it for a moment before rubbing his chin. “Guess this explains why I haven’t seen you in the library all that much lately. When’s it supposed to be ready by?” “Er…” “It also explains the missing Boomslang skin that Snape reported last month. How’d you manage to steal it?” When no answer came he looked up. Ron’s mouth was open in shock, Hermione’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish, and Myrtle looked outraged. Harry couldn’t help but smirk. “I honestly should have you both expelled for not only stealing from a professor, but a controlled and restricted substance.” His friend’s faces both changed to horrified expressions, Myrtles triumphant, when he continued. “However, the mere fact that a second year student made this potion, something I highly doubt most seventh years could even do changes things.” Running his hands through his hair, he sighed and lean back against the stall. “So… back to my first question, when is it supposed to be ready by? Also I suppose I should ask why you two are going to use it since I highly doubt you did all of that just to see if you could. You are smart, Hermione, but you wouldn’t break school rules unless you had a very good reason too” He looked at her pointedly, and unsurprisingly, she wilted as guilt filled her face. “We’re going to get a confession out of Malfoy.” Ron seemed to have gathered himself enough to speak again, and he looked at Harry with a gleam in his eye. Raising an eyebrow, Harry turned to the redhead. “A confession for what?” “Opening the Chamber. When you aren’t around, he acts as if he knows more than the rest of us.” Frowning, Harry tucked that information away for the moment. “Impossible, he can’t have.” The other three, the two alive and one ghost, stared at him. “So, if you know it’s impossible for Malfoy to have opened the Chamber, then that means you know who did.” Hermione’s brows were furrowed. “Of course I know who, the question is how?” It seemed something snapped in Hermione, for she stomped her foot, huffing as she pointed at him. “For Merlin’s sake, Harry! We’re your friends and we want to help you but you won’t let us. You could have let us know this, and instead of us doing this damned thing we could have been helping you catch whoever the real person was, or… or… or something else!” She huffed a final time before stalking out of the stall and into the next one over. He heard her sit down on it, breathing deeply as she attempted to regain control. Harry himself just stood there, a look of shock upon his face as he stared where Hermione had yelled at him. The words that Dumbledore had spoken to him after the attack on Nick echoes in his head, ‘your friends aren’t a burden, Harry. They can help you if only you would let them. Not everything has to be done by you alone.’ He clenched his teeth in frustration, realizing that sometimes he could be stupid, and despite it working out, he could have used help the previous year. He looked over at Ron, who was also staring at where the bushy haired girl had ranted. “Suppose I deserved that.” He said, meaning it to be quiet and to himself but Hermione must have heard. “You bloody well did!” She shouted across the stalls. “Language, Hermione!” Ron said, a small smirk forming on his face. A rush of movement was heard and she was standing back at the entrance of the stall, pointing at Ron this time. “Listen here, Ronald Weasley, if you-” Harry stopped her by stepping between the two, holding up his hands. Myrtle watched the entire exchange with an excited expression. “We’ve gotten sidetracked.” He waited until the two nodded before continuing. “But you’re completely right Hermione, I should have told you, I should have had you help me last year. I’ve just become too... accustomed to doing everything on my own.” Rubbing at the back of his neck he continued. “Only the Heir of Slytherin can open the Chamber of Secrets, and Malfoy can’t be the Heir since he’s not directly related to the person who opened it before. I mean, he is related distantly, as all purebloods are but…” Hermione sighed in a way that was clearly meant to tell him he needed to stick to the point. “Right, well, the last person to open the Chamber was Voldemort,” He ignored their flinching. “back when he was a student here. Now, we know he doesn’t have a body and Dumbledore and I don’t think he would try to possess a teacher like he did last year. Which is why we need to find out how he’s doing it and stop him.” His two friends nodded, Myrtle, looking ecstatic, nodded as well. “First, we need to do something about the potion. I can probably convince Dumbledore to give you points for actually making it, but you two need to serve a detention for stealing. Second, here’s everything I’ve done so far this year…” So engrossed in their planning, none of them noticed the young, red haired girl enter the bathroom and descend through a hidden passage by one of the sinks near the door. ***************************** **************************************** ******************************* “Harry Potter, your presence is required on the second floor near the Defense office! All students are to return to their dormitories to await instructions from their Head of House.” It was the end of January, and there hadn’t been an attack since the one on Nick, yet the voice of Dumbledore reverberating through the combined Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw first years History of Magic class. Harry looked up from the paper he was trying to read over the droning voice of Binns, eyebrows raised, and noticed that everyone in the classroom was looking at him. With the exception of the incorporeal professor, who had merely paused while the announcement had echoed throughout the classroom. As the professor droned on over one of his usual lessons on goblin rebellions, the students continued to look to him. “You all heard Professor Dumbledore.” And suddenly there was a mad scramble of students gathering their books. Harry had done so as well, and as he followed the others out of the room he hesitated, wondering if he should notify that Binns no longer had any students to teach. Not that they were learning anything from him anyway. Shrugging, he continued his exit, deciding that the ghost probably wouldn’t care and probably just liked the sound of his voice more than the teaching itself. Quickly, Harry made his way down to the second floor. He had to make his way through numerous Gryffindor and Ravenclaws that we’re making their way, yet none were coming from the staircase that led to his destination. He noticed at the entrance of the corridor stood Flitwick with a very grim look on his face. As Harry neared, the diminutive Professor headed him off. “Mr. Potter, I… I felt the need to warn you. You won’t like what you see and... I’m sorry.” He then stepped aside, looking down as if ashamed, and let him through. Straightening his glasses and taking a deep breath, he entered the hallway. Immediately he saw the two petrified bodies on the floor, their hair marking them as female. Dumbledore was prodding the arm of the blonde girl with his wand while McGonagall was attempting to remove whatever was in the other girl’s hand. It wasn’t until he had gotten closer that he recognized who the two victims were. He cursed under his breath, dropping his bag off to the side and joined Dumbledore as he studied the petrified form of Luna Lovegood. He had noticed that she had never shown for Binns’ class that afternoon, but he’d assumed she had been resting due to being sick for most of the week. Her face matched the looks of the others that were attacked, a shocked look, one that looked especially strange on her face, despite her normally looking mildly surprised at everything. Looking up at Dumbledore, Harry’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Attacking Luna, a pure-blood, doesn’t exactly match Voldemort’s profile in regards to the Chamber.” He was pointedly ignoring the other victim, the one Dumbledore was now frowning at, afraid of what he would see. The elder man stood lightly stroking his beard, before nodding to the second victim. “She may have been merely a victim of circumstance.” Closing his eyes, Harry tried to gather his courage to finally look when the sound of tearing parchment echoed down the corridor and McGonagall gave a small gasp. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Miss… Well she must have had a fairly hard grip on what was in her hand.” The two were looking at the Head of Gryffindor house now, noticing she had a small piece of parchment in her hand that she was reading, her face paling as she went before speaking again, voice growing shaky. “Do you think… is it possible this could be the monster?” She proffered the parchment, which Harry grasped, reading quickly out loud for the Headmaster to hear. “Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. It has been said that seeing the mere reflection of the beast’s eye will instead cause petrification, but this is not a recommended course of defense as the Basilisk will still kill with just an ounce of…” The rest was missing beneath where the page had been torn, presumably in the other victim’s hand. Harry looked at Dumbledore, who appeared to be reeling from this information just as much as he was. “We need to evacuate the school if this is the monster, which the evidence we have right here is well enough. Not to mention that Hagrid has said the acromantulas in the forest have grown restless since Halloween. It fits, Albus and the student’s so far have been lucky to not have been killed!” Harry watched as his mentor mulled this over. “But if it is a Basilisk, the creature would have to be an incredible size by now. How could such a thing move around the school unnoticed?” McGonagall asked, her face still pale. “The plumbing.” A whisper came from Dumbledore, “The pipes would lead to each of the corridors in the school, and a wizard enough magical strength could create an opening for the creature to exit into the corridors for a short amount of time.” The two times he’d heard the disembodied voice came to Harry’s mind here. “But I’ve heard something speak twice this year, once late at night before the first attack and again on Halloween. If it was in the pipes at the time how could have heard anything?” Dumbledore sighed, looking as if his age had caught up to him for a moment. “I have long suspected that, perhaps, Voldemort gave you some of his powers with that scar, Harry. I believe you may be able to speak Parseltongue.” He pointed his wand at the floor, followed by a bang as a grass snake rolled across the stone floor of the corridor. “Try speaking to it.” Harry watched the snake for a moment before speaking. “What should I say?” The snake reared up, watching him warily, as McGonagall gasped and Dumbledore hummed as if in acceptance. Harry looked up at the calculating gaze of Headmaster. “What?” With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore banished the snake, “You spoke in Parseltongue, Harry. It is interesting that you seem to speak it instinctively when a snake is near.” A look of despair flickered within the Headmasters eyes so quickly that Harry wasn’t sure if he’d actually seen it. “Minerva, could you call the rest of the staff to meet in my office? We’ll have to come up with a way to ensure that no student is left unsupervised outside of the Common Rooms.” “What!?” Harry exploded. “Didn’t you hear what this creature most likely is? We need to evacuate!” “In any other circumstance I would agree with you, Harry. The safety of my students is paramount, but as of now we do not know how Voldemort is even in the castle nor how would he react if we did so. Evacuating would tip him off that we have made headway against him. Please, for now follow this old fools plan, for Miss Weasley’s sake.” Harry reeled back as if he’d been struck across the face. “While we gather the other staff, could I ask that you notify the friends of the two victims of what happened here? And I also ask that, until we have this sorted, that you stick with the first years in the classes.” Harry glared at Dumbledore for a moment, “That was low, Albus.” In his anger, he was finally able to look at the second victim, her bushy brown hair laying too stiffly on the stone ground. Hermione Granger lay on the ground, her face scared, yet also filled with wonderment. Damn, the Weasley boys were going to hate hearing this, Harry thought as he made his way to the seventh floor corridor. Back in the corridor where the attack happened, a tear streaked down Dumbledore’s cheek and into his beard. “I am truly sorry, Harry. I spoke carelessly.” Nearly an hour later found Harry sitting in one of the couches in the Gryffindor Common Room, with the three youngest Weasley boys sitting across from him, each pale faced and hands covering their faces, and Ginny was clinging tightly to him, her face buried into his chest as she sobbed. He gently rubbed her back, his head leaning against the back of the couch. McGonagall had just left, notifying her house of that they’d have a professor supervising them at all times between classes for their protection. Harry had stopped by the Ravenclaw Common Room first, notifying them first of Luna. Besides the initial surprise that one of their own had been attacked, there didn’t seem to be many who were upset by the fact the blonde first year was now petrified. Ginny was finally able to control herself after another ten minutes, she still looked ready to burst into tears again at any moment, but she grabbed the twins and pulled them away to play a game of gobstones. Harry watched her closely, and while her lip trembled a few times, each was making attempts at getting the other two to laugh. It pained him when each one sounded forced, but he did note with a frown that Fred was laughing the least. A curse from Ron pulled his attention away from the three. “Bloody hell, I totally forgot about this.” The youngest male Weasley was now sitting next to Harry. “So… remember what you told me and Hermione about… er, You-Know-Who?” The raven haired boy stared for a moment with a raised eyebrow before nodding. “I mean, the part about his past and what he went by when he was a student here.” “Get to the point, Ron.” “Er… right. Well I found a book with his name on it yesterday. Hermione reckoned it was a diary but… it would be easier to show you.” Flabbergasted, Harry followed his friend up to the second year boy’s dormitory. When Ron opened the door, however he gave out a strangled cry before rushing into the room. “What the bloody hell!” A moment later, when Harry stepped into the doorway, he saw Ron’s trunk had been tipped over onto its side, the contents scattered throughout the room. “I take it you’re room doesn’t normally look like this?” he joked weakly, before waving his wand to gather all of Ron’s things into an organized pile next to his trunk. “Let’s make sure all your stuff’s here.” As the two placed the last item in, Ron swore yet again. “It’s not here!” A chill ran down Harry’s spine. “I don’t believe it. Who could have stolen it?” Harry grabbed his friend, stopped him from pacing. “Ron, calm down. I need you to tell me about this diary. What was strange about it?” Taking a few deep breaths, the redhead spoke. “It was blank, and at first, Hermione thought that the words in it might be hidden magically. Except nothing she tried would reveal them. Once we ran out of ideas, we thought of showing it to you but it was already after curfew.” Harry scrubbed at his face in frustration. Right when they thought they had made some progress in regards to the Chamber and stopping Riddle, something else came along and showed them just how little they knew. This diary was important, Harry had a gut feeling that it held the knowledge on opening the Chamber, but where had it come from. How had it stayed hidden for fifty years? It couldn’t be a coincidence that it reappeared at the same time that the Chamber was opened again. “Bollocks, this complicates things. Where did you find it?” “Er… well I was coming back from detention with Snape and was passing by Myrtle’s bathroom when I noticed she’d flooded her bathroom again.” He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. “I thought I’d see what got her upset and she’d said she had a book thrown threw her head.” He grinned sheepishly, “I may have made her worse, but there was the diary, all blank and it just seemed suspicious.” Silently cursing his luck, Harry nodded. “Well damn. I better go report this to Dumbledore. Thanks for letting me know Ron, and don’t blame yourself about the theft, you couldn’t have known that someone would steal it from you.” He moved to leave but his friend spoke quietly from behind. “But Harry, only a professor or another Gryffindor could have done this.” “I know Ron, and that’s the most troubling part.” With that, Harry left his friend standing next to his four poster bed. ****************************** **************************************** ****************************** Did you tell my brother anything Tom? Your brother and his mudblood friend never even tried writing anything. They believed they could get me to reveal words that I’ve hidden in ways their tiny imaginations could never imagine. Don’t call Hermione that, Tom. She’s really nice. Then you shouldn’t have tried discarding me. You forced my hand, Ginevra, and I had to punish you for it. Do not disobey me, or you’ll be the one to suffer next time, girl. Please… why are you doing this? From what you’ve told me, Harry has done me a disservice. I must kill him so I can fulfill my destiny, and you’ll help me do so. *********************** **************************************** ************************************* It had been a month since Hermione and Luna’s attack, and during this time Harry had kept a very close eye on his friends. Besides the expected down turn in their mood, they each continued with their schoolwork, even the twins hadn’t tried to pull a prank during this time. There hadn’t been another attack, but the entire school was abuzz with speculation on when, and who, would be involved. Harry himself felt grow anxious, ready to explode at a moment’s notice during this time. Currently, Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, wearing Ravenclaw colors as they were set to play against the Slytherins, watching the twins discuss something with Ginny, who looked quite pale. He was beginning to enjoy Quidditch, though he still preferred Quadpot, as that had been the major sport played at Ilvermorny. Noticing the George was now motioning him over, Harry stood and joined the three. “What’s going on?” He asked. Fred pointed at his sister, “She’s not feeling well enough to go to the match, but not bad enough to go and see Pomfrey. We don’t want to leave her here alone, but we don’t want to miss the match. Oliver wants us scouting Ravenclaw for our next match.” “I’ll stay behind with Ginny. You guys go enjoy yourselves. Better hurry, looks like McGonagall will leave without you.” The twins exchanged a quick glance, then thanking him by each shaking one of Harry’s hands and patting him on the back, they left. The two stood awkwardly in the empty Common Room for a few moments before Harry smirked at Ginny, summoning Ron’s chess board and set it up on the table nearest them. They were quiet, except for the callouts to move their pieces, for most of the first game. He spoke up when she shivered, pulling the blanket she had draped around her shoulders closer as he took her second bishop. “You’ve not felt well quite a bit this year. Ron said you hardly ever got sick growing up.” He watched her closely, gauging her. She avoided his eyes, and opened her mouth a few times before she was finally able to respond. “I think I’m just not used to the Scottish weather.” Harry narrowed his eyes, her voice carried very little emotion, and sounded even weaker than when they had started the chess match almost a half hour ago. Her pale skin didn’t help in his assessment of her health, and he discreetly cast a diagnosis charm. What he saw caused him to frown and lean back in his chair as she moved one of her chess pieces. The charm showed that Ginny Weasley was one hundred percent, physically healthy. He cast it a few more times, but each one showed the same result. Yet, here she was, shivering under a blanket, sniffling every now and then, her skin looking a sickly pale. “It’s your turn.” She spoke in that same emotionless quiet voice. Harry watched her for a few seconds longer before looking down at the board. They were nearing the end of the game, and by Harry’s estimates, the sides were about even. He glanced at Ginny one more time before making a move. He’d decided to change where he wanted the conversation to go. “You know, I’ve told both your brothers and Hermione who Voldemort was growing up, but not you. I think, no, I know it was a massive oversight since… well, telling you is quite possibly the most important thing I should have done.” He watched as her body stiffened, her mouth hanging just slightly open. She appeared as if she were struggling to say something, and then she said something that sent many warning signals. “I don’t know why me, a first year, would be important, Harry.” Slowly, Harry stood looking around the room. With his back to Ginny, he cast a revealing spell, but they were the only two glowing objects showing. Frustration welled up in Harry, something was wrong with Ginny, they’d barely made any progress in regards to the Chamber of Secrets and somehow Tom Riddle’s diary had shown up after 50 years, the same year the Chamber had been opened again and everything was somehow connected, yet Harry just could not find the connection between them all. “Dammit Tom Riddle, where the hell are you.” Behind him, he heard Ginny gasp. “Who’s T-Tom Riddle?” She sounded scared, the first real emotion he’d heard during the short time they’d been together today. He ran a hand through his hair. “I should have told you during the summer after we found that house elf. Dammit why didn’t I?” He slowly turned back towards Ginny. “Riddle is who Volde-” He broke off when he caught his friends eyes. They were in the midst of swirling from her natural brown to a dull reddish brown, and the memory of the worst day of his life nearly consumed him. “GINNY! Fight him, don’t let Riddle take control!” He rushed over to Ginny, holding to each side of her face and he stared into her eyes. “Look at me and focus, Gin.” For a brief moment, her eyes focused onto his, the swirling colors stopped for just a moment. “Giant… snake...” She whispered, and her mouth worked as if it were trying to say more. “Chamber… Myrtle’s…” again, she couldn’t continue until her face contorted into pain and she groaned with one hand to her head. She pulled away from his hands, and her wand appeared into her other hand as she flicked it. With a bang, Harry was sent flying back into the wall where his head made a sickening smack against the wall. He fell to the floor afterwards, where he lay unmoving. “Stupid, insufferable brat.” Ginny spoke, her voice sounded deeper than usual. She pointed her wand once more at Harry, but each time she swished, her arm would veer of the side and the spell that had been cast cracked against the wall. “Arrgh, stop fighting!” She stood, breathing heavily for a moment before trying to cast a spell one more time at Harry. Again the spell struck the wall. “Blasted girl. Very well, we’ll do this elsewhere. I need time to fully gain control it seems.” She flicked her wand, fiery words forming in the air, and with another flick sent them to imbed themselves against the wall over the motionless form. She walked out of the Common room after that, struggling the whole way as if someone was holding her back. ***************************** **************************************** ******************************* Fr ed, George and Ron sat with the rest of the Gryffindors at the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While the youngest brother watched the game avidly, the twins were drawing the ire of their captain. Neither had paid much attention to the game, which had only been going on for the better part of an hour. Oliver Wood had just finished scolding the two, once again asking that they watch for tendencies from the Ravenclaw player were using. The two nodded to each other, and while Fred watched the game, George pulled out the Marauder’s Map, tapping his wand against it and saying the words that caused the lines to streak across the parchment. He glanced up at the game while he waited for it to fill out, then back down and his eyes went straight to the Gryffindor Common Room. The twins had been worried about Ginny a lot lately, she’d hardly ever been sick growing up but had begged off from class or a meal numerous times just in the past month alone. When his eyes reached their destination, he froze. Ginny’s dot was missing, and Harry’s was against the wall near the fireplace. Frantically, he scoured the each floor of the school downwards, his anxiety growing with each floor and no sign of his sister. Fred noticed, asking his brother what the matter was. “Ginny, her dots gone and Harry’s still up in the Common Room… no wait, she’s down in that bathroom again on the first-” But as he spoke, her dot vanished. The twins looked at each other, shock etching each of their faces. “Let’s get to Harry, something doesn’t feel right.” Fred said, standing up. Oliver glanced over at him with an annoyed look on his face but once he’d caught sight of the redheads face it turned to concern. “Sorry Oliver, we er… Something is wrong with our sister and we really shouldn’t have left her behind.” With a nod from their captain, the two grabbed Ron, who initially protested, filling him in on what had happened as they made their way out of the stands. Just as they left the stadium, a boisterous voice called out to them. “And where would you three student’s be heading off to without a professor to escort them?” The three Weasley’s froze, turning around slowly. Professor Lockhart was grinning at them as he walked up to join them. “Well, I’ll overlook this transgression this time, boys. Now, where were we heading too?” The three exchanged glances, and then Ron did something that would make the twins proud to call him their brother for years. “We left the fireworks in our Common Room that we were going to set off after the game to celebrate when Ravenclaw wins!” Fred and George nodded quickly, trying to put forward their most innocent face that they usually held for their mother. Lockhart looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping his perfect chin. “I should be neutral in regards to extra-curricular activities as a professor, but as an alumni of Ravenclaw, I can’t help but cheer for my former house. Follow closely, boys!” As they group arrived in the Entrance Hall, a thought occurred to Ron that caused him to pale, and he tugged on George’s sleeve to get his attention. “What do we do if nothing’s wrong?” He whispered into his brother’s ear. “Lockhart’s too full of himself to care, dear brother. We’ll just grab some of the fireworks in mine or Fred’s trunk. Bloody idiot won’t know the difference.” Ron was thoughtful for a moment, “Ok but what if something’s wrong?” “Then we’ve got a professor and most likely Harry with us. We’ll be fine, sometimes you just have to lay the cards with the hand you’ve been given.” George patted his younger, yet almost as tall brother on the shoulder. Fred was the one who gave the Fat Lady the password when they arrived, and the three boys scrambled in with Lockhart following. They all stopped when the words on the wall and Harry’s unconscious form that lay underneath them came into sight. ************************** **************************************** ********************************** H arry woke from being shaken rigorously. He groggily rolled to his back, cracking his eyes open but the sunlight from the window was shining directly on him causing him to close them again in pain. He tried to sit up, but another sharp pain came from the back of his head that caused him to wince. He moved a hand to where the pain was coming from, feeling something warm and slick coating his hair. There were noises coming from all around him, but they sounded fuzzy, as if he were underwater. Groaning and pushing through the pain, he sat up. A hand was placed onto his back to help steady him. Suddenly, as if it were someone had snapped and his world righted, the sound and the memories of what had happened before the darkness took returned. “Ginny…” He said weakly moving to stand but another pair of hands held him down followed by the voice of one of the Weasley twins. “Hold on Harry, the back of your heads cracked open. Give me a sec and I’ll heal you up.” He felt a tap on his head, the twin, he couldn’t think straight enough to distinguish which one, whispered a spell under his breath and the pain dissipated almost instantly. “What happened mate, there’s words on the wall here that are targeted at you but…” The boy trailed off, and with the pain gone, Harry was able to open his eyes without the light hurting and he stood up with the boys help. He looked around the room real quick, grateful to notice that it wasn’t filled with people, but he was surprised to see Lockhart pacing as he glanced every few seconds at the wall next to where Harry stood. The boys words from earlier seemed to have caught up with him and he turned to the wall, backing up to get a better look. He felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest at what he read. Potter, I’ll be waiting for you in the Chamber of Secrets, we have much to discuss. Come alone, or Ginny Weasley will suffer the consequences. -Riddle “Son of a bitch. Do you have any idea how long I was out? How’d you know something was wrong and why the hell is Lockhart here?” He spoke very fast, shaking whether in fear or anger not even Harry knew. “Er… couldn’t have been more than a half hour, we were trying keeping an eye on you guys with the Map, but Oliver distracted us for a bit and when we looked you were alone here and Ginny had just disappeared in that bathroom we found her in back on Halloween. The map didn’t show anyone else, so how could this Riddle person have taken her?” “Harry…” Ron’s spoke from Harry’s other side. “Does this have to do with that diary I told you about?” Harry’s mind was a whirl, and he vaguely heard Lockhart say something but he wasn’t listening. Ginny had broken through enough before he’d been blasted back to try and tell him where the Chamber was. She’d even confirmed that the monster was a Basilisk, even if she didn’t know exactly what the creature was, but not very many snakes could come even close to the size of the creature. A plan began to blossom in Harry’s mind, and before he knew it, he was barking orders. “Fred, George, go with Lockhart and get Dumbledore and fill him in, then take him to Myrtle’s bathroom.” The twins began to leave with Lockhart, who miraculously did as he was told. “Ron, you stay with me. We’ll be going into the Chamber itself. I need you to promise me that once we enter the Chamber, you’ll do everything I say. Even if it’s something you don’t agree with.” “I…” His friend began. “But the message…” “I know what it says, Ron. But you know exactly who that is. There’s a Basilisk in that Chamber, and between that and Riddle, I can’t have you distracting me by being unpredictable. I need you to promise me, Ron.” Harry put a hand on his friends shoulder, looking him in the eye, willing him to understand the severity of the situation. He could not afford any mistakes, not this time. His friend continued to look unsure of himself, but there had to have been something in Harry’s eyes that made him understand. Ron’s eyes filled with a determination, his jaw clenched before he nodded, his voice was quiet but sounded more sure of himself then he ever had. “I promise.” “Come on, there’s no telling what Riddle will do if we keep him waiting.” He glanced once more at the words on the wall, nodding to himself before following the twins out into the corridor. Harry was walking fast enough that Ron was becoming winded just from trying to keep up. Yet, Harry himself was still breathing evenly. This was something he’d noticed before, in the previous timeline where his stamina was better than anyone else. Even when he’d been around those who took their health and cardio very seriously hadn’t been able to match him. He’s been able to do a full sprint for much longer than what many considered to be natural, and what they’d learned last year from Pomfrey about his blood might be the answer. It seemed the Nephalem blood that was in him enhanced his body somehow, but for now he would take it as a blessing, for he was sure it would be needed with what he would be facing shortly. Opening the door to the girl’s bathroom on the first floor, there was something different than any other time he’d been in here. Right now, there was a massive hole in the floor where the sinks had once been, they had been moved the side, and there was no doubt in Harry’s mind that this was the Chamber, and that Riddle had left it open for him to follow. Ron entered a few seconds later, breathing deeply, and was just barely able to choke out “Bloody hell, Harry.” Taking a deep breath, Harry said. “Remember, Ron. Do everything I say, when I say it. One wrong move and you, me, or even Ginny are dead.” That same look from before came across the redheads face, and the boy nodded. “Then what are we waiting for?” Harry lowered himself, sitting on the edge of the hole before scooting off and plunging into the darkness. A/N: I am so sorry everyone, it’s been 3 months since I updated. Life has been getting in the way as well as me not being happy with my first, idk, like 15 drafts of this chapter. I got so upset by it that I basically just redid the entire outline for the ending of year 2 and also all of years 3 and 4. I wanted this story to be more focused on just Harry, Ginny and their world but I’m finding I really hate just writing Harry lol. Also, holy cow this is my biggest chapter so far at just under 7k words. Anyways I hope everyone likes how the climax for this year is coming along, and that you’ll enjoy the main event with the next chapter. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll leave a review! |
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