Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
Chapter 33
Wormtail
"Weasley, I need to speak with you in private for a moment," Harry told Ron after their very disappointing defense class.
Ron seems a bit surprised since Harry never speaks to him. "Em.. sure."
After going a bit far away from their classmates, Ron spoke.
"So, what do you need, mate?"
"I would like to purchase your pet rat," Harry revealed.
Ron's eyes opened wide. "W-what?, you want to buy Scabbers?. Why? is it just an old rat."
"I have heard from other students that Scabbers used to belong to your brother Percy, who had it since his first year. Rats never live that long, so I'm curious about how magic has affected him." Harry just told some nonsense he thought about.
"Oh…right, you like to…. study," Ron said the last word with a lot of difficulties.
"But, I don't know mate, Scabbers has been with me for a long time a-"
"I'll give you one hundred galleons." Harry interrupted him.
"I'll go get the cage!" Ron started running as fast as he could.
—-----------------------------------------
Harry was walking alone through the corridors holding a cage. Inside the rat was nervously looking around, unsure about his current situation.
Once making sure there was no one around, Harry made his way into one of the girl's bathrooms on the second floor.
A ghost appeared suddenly and got in front of Harry.
"What are you doing here? This is a girl's bathroom!." The ghost said.
Harry looked at the girl.
'Strange. She seems familiar.'
"Who are you?." Harry asked the ghost.
The ghost was taken aback by the question. Usually, students avoid talking to her or even looking at her.
"I am Myrtle Warren, but most students just call me Moaning Myrtle. Did you come here to mock me too?."
'Ah, I remember now, this is the girl that was killed by the basilisk. How should I handle this? I don't want my visit here to be known.'
"Can you keep my visit here a secret Myrtle?." He decided to just directly ask the ghost, after all, ghosts can hide things, but they cannot lie.
"mmmm. Maybe…" The ghost appeared pensive. Then she approached Harry.
"You are quite fetching. If you promise to visit me once in a while, I will keep your secrets. " Myrtle decided.
Harry sighed, not having much of a choice he agreed. Although there is a ritual to get rid of a ghost, it is a very complicated one. Not to mention, an action like that will definitely gain the attention of Dumbledore.
As long as the ghost remains compliant, He has no reason to take drastic measures.
Harry approached the sink at the end of the bathroom and said.
$Open$
When the rat heard Harry speak in a snake tongue, he opened his eyes wide and went very quiet. He was terrified now.
The sink moved aside revealing the entrance to the chamber.
"Wow, there is a secret entrance in my bathroom?." Myrtle exclaimed.
"Yes, and you promise to keep this a secret, remember?." Harry gave her a serious look and she just nodded.
After sliding all the way down into the chamber, Harry landed on the top of some bones.
"Ugg. I hate this entrance. But the other one is in the dungeons."
Harry walked past another door before reaching the actual chamber containing the statue of Salazar Slytherin.
He placed down the cage with the hysterical rat and approached the statue.
For a moment he thought about calling the basilisk, but he had no task to give her and brought no food. He does need to collect some of her blood and venom, but that can wait until the end of the year. It was better to leave her alone for now.
The reason he came here was to have a private talk with the rat, and this would also serve as proof of his identity.
He got in front of the cage and said.
"Alright Wormtail. I am going to turn you back and we are going to have a nice chat. You better not try to run away, for your own sake."
The rat looked at Harry in fear but did not move an inch.
"Homorphus"
A blue light hit the rat. The effect was immediate. As the rat started to grow, his body compressed against the cage until this one broke into pieces.
Wormtail screamed in pain, as many pieces of the cage were stabbed into his flesh.
'Ops, I should have taken him out of the cage before using that spell.' Harry realized.
Wormtail was now laying on the ground of the chamber groaning in pain. Once he recovered enough, he looked toward Harry.
"Hello, Wormtail. How have you been doing lately?. " Harry gave him a small smile.
"Harry, emm… it's good to see you." Wormtail said, still unsure of what was going on.
Harry suddenly started laughing, in a way that seemed to frighten Wormtail even more.
"I understand your confusion, Wormtail. After all, Harry Potter should have no knowledge about You, and even less about your ability to transform. However, I am still disappointed that you cannot recognize your own master."
Wormtail opened his eyes wide.
"Master? W-what are you talking about?. You are James and Lily's son, Harry Potter, are you not?."
"I am THAT, and something MORE. Let me give you a reminder."
Harry pointed his wand at Wormtail who in turn got scared and tries to escape.
"CRUCIO"
Wormtail fell to the floor, shaking in pain and screaming loudly.
"Do you recognize me now, Wormtail?"
He looked at Harry like he was seeing a ghost.
"It c-cant be!. M-master?. B you died!!" Wormtail said.
"Yes, I am aware of the stories. But you really think that something like death will stop ME?" Harry said while getting closer to Wormtail.
"Then…You…You took over the child's body?" Wormtail said with an expression of disgust. Then he looked down and softly whispered. "What have I done…"
"Are you regretting your allegiance now, Wormtail?." Harry said with a steel glaze.
Wormtail looked horrified.
"NO, My Lord, of course not. I am loyal to you forever. Have I not proven that already?." He kneeled on the ground, as best as he could in his condition.
Harry seemed satisfied.
"Stand up. I believe your fear of me is what makes you loyal. But it doesn't matter. I have a mission for you."
Wormtail stood up with difficulty, he still had several pieces of the cage, embedded into his flesh.
"A mission My Lord?."
"Indeed. A while ago I gave Lucius an important item. A black diary, inside, on the first page, it said T.M.Riddle. I tried to contact Lucius and retrieve the book, but he seems to have disappeared after being fired from the Ministry. I need you to find Lucius and retrieve this book for me. "
"I understand My Lord, I'll get to it immediately." Wormtail turned around and was going to leave when chains appeared from nowhere and tied tightly around him, causing intense pain and making him fall down.
"Argggg!" Wormtail hit the floor with a thud.
"I did not give you permission to leave. And I am not stupid enough to let you leave just like that, after revealing my secret to you. I will need some guarantee." Harry knelt down in front of the fallen Wormtail in order to look at his face.
"G-guarantee?. M-my Lord, I would never betray you!." Wormtail tried to defend.
"I am afraid that is not enough. I will need an unbreakable vow."
Wormtail's face paled.