Dumbledore quickly followed the two. He really didn't understand how Harry had done that, but he suspected that the hat had access to Harry's magic, now. Well, he knew, but he also didn't know how. Did the hat have some large store of innate magic, or was it Hogwarts itself that powered the hat?
They quickly made it to the second floor, and Harry shared his view with the hat, who decided to land on Harry's head, so that he could watch more easily. Flight control and looking in another place was still a little bit much for it.
"Here?" Harry asked, pointing at a space he'd marked as having a hidden space.
"Shortcut to the dungeons from the fourth floor." the hat reported.
"How do I get in?" Harry asked, as he continued on.
"Behind the statue, up near the Ravenclaw common room." the hat said. It watched as Harry made a note, changing the map to show the location. "You did very well making your map. I think you've got most locations mapped out. You should see if you can connect it to the Hogwarts wards. You should be able to get that other function to work, then."
"Other function?" Dumbledore asked. Neither the Hat, nor Harry, responded. "Please don't encourage the boy to mess with Hogwarts' protections?" he asked.
The hat actually snorted. "He's the heir of two of the founders. He's got more right to those wards than you do, Albus." it said.
"Here?" Harry asked, indicating another empty space, and trying to ignore the hat's statement.
"Sealed off classroom." the hat said. "There was an incident with a few badly miscast spells combining, and the room refused to let people leave, so it was deemed necessary to block it off."
"So… it could be used as a prison?" Harry asked. "Do you know what spells?"
"Sorry." the hat said. "I was never told, and like I said, they were miscast, so it's not something that can be replicated."
"How were the people that were locked in, able to leave?" Harry asked, as he continued on, making a note to look into spell-combinations. If multiple spells combined did something like this, a completely unforeseen and unknown effect, then he'd like to see what magics combined and how.
"The headmaster, back then, made a portkey and they used that." the hat said. "I don't know if you knew this, but only the headmaster can apparate and make portkeys in Hogwarts."
"That explains why mine failed." Harry said, nodding, and filing that bit away.
"You can make portkeys?" Dumbledore asked, frowning.
"Well, I tried." Harry allowed. "Didn't work, obviously. I'll have to try, when I'm outside the wards of Hogwarts."
"You are still underage, Harry." the headmaster said. "Please don't play with such magics, even if you are just outside the wards."
Both Harry and the hat snorted, but just continued on.
"I'm not trying to be funny, Harry." the headmaster insisted. "Portkeys are controlled and monitored for a reason. They could hurt you, if not made correctly."
"He did it right, from what I can tell." the hat said. "Have a little faith, Albus. Harry Potter is no mere boy. You didn't think I befriended him because he was commonplace, did you?"
"In here?" Harry asked.
"There's something besides the girls' bathroom, in there?" the hat asked.
"Below the sinks." Harry said, nodding.
"I don't know about that." the hat said. "There should just be standard plumbing."
"There's a large space that goes down." Harry said, as he showed the hat the hollow space, which he'd detected all the way past the dungeons.
"Hmm." the hat said. From the looks of things, they'd likely found the entrance. "Yes, I think this could be it. According to the reports, there was water on the floor, near here, and the cat was found not far from here, with the message."
"It could have been Myrtle." Dumbledore said, reasonably, as he walked into the bathroom, after a spell to confirm that nobody was in there. "Miss Warren?" he asked.
"What!" the spirit of Moaning Myrtle whined, as she came out of a stall. "Boys aren't allowed! You can't be here!"
"I assure you, miss, we are not here for mischief." the headmaster said.
"Good evening, Miss Warren." the hat said. "Is there a chance that you were here, on All Hallows Eve?"
"Oh, hi." the ghost said, as she looked at the hat. "No, I was at Sir Nick's Deathday party. When I came back, the floors were all wet, but I didn't see anything."
"That is a shame." the hat said. "Thank you for your help."
The ghost nodded, seeming to be a little calmer. Then, she suddenly wailed, and flew up, in an arch, and into a toilet, making a splash, and disappearing.
Harry was looking at the floor, by the sinks. "There's definitely something here." he said. "There's magic on this sink and the floor. There's a connection, too. Something I've seen before, but I can't remember where."
"It's a password." the hat said. "You recognize the magic from the entrances to the common rooms."
"Ah, right." Harry said, nodding, as he followed one of the connections, and looked more closely at where it led. "What's this?" he asked pointing at what he found.
Dumbledore had followed, and bent down, to look at what Harry was pointing to. "It's an image of a snake." he said.
"I think that's confirmation enough that it's the entrance to Salazar's hidden chamber." the hat said. "Unfortunately, I think this also leads me to believe that he did something the other founders would not have liked."
"Don't say it." Harry said. "I think I can guess. Salazar was reputedly a parseltongue. He'd be attracted to powerful magical snakes, and probably bred something that he could use to protect the students. Something that can live for thousands of years but would also be able to kill in an instant, considering his prevalent attitude, and personal disposition; A basilisk."
"Well done, Harry." the hat congratulated. "I don't know how you got there, so quickly, but I think you are correct."
"You could not guess something like that. You have more information." the headmaster said. Basilisks killed. They didn't petrify. To jump to that conclusion didn't make sense with the given information.
"A few clues." Harry allowed. "The blood on the wall, was that of a rooster. Hagrid's been complaining about something killing off his roosters, which is a weakness of basilisks. Then there's the spiders that have left their normal webs. I noted that earlier today. It must be instinctual for them. There's obviously a predator nearby.
"Another clue is the fact that my scan shows very large, shed snake skins down there." he finished, as he displayed the scan to the hat.
"I see." the hat said. "That would be the correct assumption, based on the information you have. What about the cat, though? She was petrified, not a power basilisks are reputed to have."
"If we consider the angle of the cat's eyes, when she was petrified, it's likely that she saw the basilisk's eye, or eyes, in the reflection of the water, from the floor, which likely diminished the deadly gaze." Harry said. Then he smirked and showed the hat the message he'd received from Hermione, which had come in while they were inspecting the bathroom.
"Oh, you sneaky bugger!" the hat laughed. "Miss Granger put it together, first!"
"Well, she is a brilliant girl." Harry said, smirking. "She's been looking for more than an hour, now. It was only a matter of time."
"There's a lot you're not saying, isn't there?" Dumbledore asked, frowning. He'd followed the logic, but he'd not picked up on most of it. "Are you sure of your findings?" he asked.
"Pretty much." Harry said. "Now you know how to combat this situation. The snake is likely being controlled. Voldemort was a parselmouth, too, so it makes sense. Just put a ward here, and have it activate a recording of a rooster's cry, when any cold-blooded animals come through that entrance."
"Recording?" Dumbledore asked.
"Can't you do that?" Harry asked, innocently, even as he fought a smile.
"Ha!" the hat laughed, as it lifted itself off of Harry's head. "He wishes he was that cool!"
"Can you do that?" Dumbledore asked. What else could the boy do?
"I can." Harry said. "If you set up the ward, I'll do the rest. I just need a bit of time to go speak to Beth. We'll need an item from her, to project the sound."
Dumbledore shook his head but smiled. "You've become close with Professor Babbling, during the holiday." he said.
"She's cool." Harry said, nodding, as he turned. "I'll go speak to her real quick."
"I'll go speak to Poppy, so that she doesn't worry." the hat said as it flew off lazily. It was really enjoying its new freedom, which was why he intended to tell her in person. Maybe he could shock her a bit, too. It was also aware that Harry was technically powering its flight, but the magical cost was very slight, so it knew it wouldn't affect Harry really.
Harry made it to Beth's room, where he'd gone to visit a few times already. He knocked.
"Come in Harry!" Beth called. She always knew it was him, somehow. Harry had checked and found no magic near the room that could account for it, so he assumed she'd done something to see outside.
"How do you always know that it's me?" Harry asked as he walked in.
"That's my secret." Beth said, smirking at him. It would frustrate Harry to realise later that she just knew his knock. "What's up, kiddo?" she asked. "Got any interesting new tricks or do you want help with something to do with that message and the cat?"
"Both." Harry said, smirking. "I just wanted to run a rune script by you quick." he said, as he sent the script he'd been thinking of, over to her interface.
Beth had been working on her own latest project but looked at his first. "You're making a speaker." she said. "This should work. What's it for?" she asked, as she pulled out a standard crystal, which would be a good conductor for sound, but which was hard enough not to break, and started inscribing the script, with a simple look, and applying her rune-scribing-system.
"We're setting a trap for a basilisk." Harry said. "It's the monster from the chamber of secrets."
"Hmm." Beth said, frowning. "You're hoping that the sound of a rooster's cry will just kill it?" she asked.
"Is there something wrong with that theory?" Harry asked.
"Not really, but I should use a different crystal, for better quality." Beth said, aborting the inscribing process, and reverting the change, by way of an erasure function, which worked on transfiguration, to re-absorb what was carved out. Then she rummaged in her desk until she found a large piece of piezoelectric crystal. It was something she'd played with in her life and knew would make for the best quality, at least. "This should give you the best quality. How are you going to tether the sound to the crystal?"
"A simple noise-maker spell with a trigger." Harry said. "When tethered to the system, it will be able to make any sound I choose. I'll just attach a memory of a rooster I once heard and that should be enough."
"Sounds good." Beth said, nodding as the inscription started. "Any other new news?"
"I gave the hat a copy of a simple floating system, and a small tether, so that it can fly around." Harry said, shrugging. "It's one of my first attempts to achieve personal flight. The system works, but it takes more power, depending on speed, elevation and weight, so it's nothing for a hat's weight, but it drains too much for me to use. I'd not be able to use it for extended periods."
"Not ideal at all, then." Beth nodded. She remembered seeing him use that system, and him explaining the limitations, then.
"What are you up to?" Harry asked.
"Still trying to figure out how to tether a partial system to an inanimate object." Beth said.
"Trying to extend your capabilities, or to make a tool that contains a specific program?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Beth said, smirking at him. "My rune-scribing-system would be very valuable to people in my field and could potentially save lives. If I can program a test into a system that's not in my immediate vicinity, I can avoid accidents completely."
"Get a familiar." Harry said. "I set Hedwig up with a tether and an easy-to-use stinging hex program. She's been using it to get the other owls out of her favourite resting spot."
"A bird casting spells." Beth said, shaking her head. "Don't let the ministry find out. They'd stick you in Azkaban for that."
"Screw them." Harry said, shrugging. "It's my magic, my familiar and my spell. She's basically just an extension of me, when she uses that."
"Do you need to hold your wand for her to use that?" Beth asked.
"No." Harry said. "Part of the process activates the targeting system on my side, but in her interface, and sends the spell at whatever she's focussed on, from my orb. She took the instruction very easily, actually. Sometimes I think that she's a person, because she seems to understand things way too easily."
"Well, she's a weird bird, with a weird familiar." Beth said, smirking.
"She's my familiar." Harry said, again. Beth had loved hearing that Hedwig thought it was the other way around. She'd never stopped teasing him about it, since.
"Not that she agrees." Beth chuckled. "Anyway, if you have a moment, I'd like to try my latest iteration." she requested, as the crystal engraving stopped, and she checked it over. "Yeah, this should work. Want to test it first?"
Harry nodded and picked up the crystal. He quickly created a model and linked it. Then he tethered a bit of power, pulled up the memory of a song he thought was appropriate, and started the process, keeping the throughput very low. There was very little sound, but it was coming from the crystal. Harry slowly upped the volume, internally smirking when he realised that he was actually adjusting the audio volume, by increasing the volume of magic he was putting in it.
"Good Vibrations? Really?" Beth smirked. "Isn't that a bit old?"
"Thought it was appropriate." Harry smirked back. He quickly changed the song. "How's that?" he asked.
"Better." Beth said, nodding and tapping a foot. "Losing my Religion, R.E.M."
"I like it." Harry nodded.
"This would be something we could sell, too." Beth said. "The wizarding wireless is not really inclusive of muggle musicians. Bloody idiots scoff at anything that's not magical."
"Well, I don't see that we'd be causing harm by introducing people to good music." Harry said, shrugging. Deciding to let it continue playing, he left the crystal connected and set his mind to queue a few songs without paying it much attention. "So, what's this latest test?" he asked, as he looked at her interface.
"Just see if you can drop a program in this." Beth said, as she pointed at a perfectly round blue crystal ball. Harry couldn't see rune script, but assumed they were hidden, which made a bit of sense to him. "I've not had luck with it, but you're better at linking things and connecting to them, than I am."
Harry nodded in acceptance, and made a model, which was quite simple. Unfortunately, it wouldn't connect, using his normal method. "Huh. I can't connect to it. Where are the runes?" he asked.
"Oh, right." Beth said, as she reached out and moved her hand over the ball. Suddenly there was a lot of rune-script.
Harry's eyebrows rose. "What does all that do?" he asked, as he started modifying the model.
"Hides the script, allows for storage of magic, a magic-gathering function, a bit of channelling to make it more durable and a bit of work into creating a sort of memory, which would hold the program, hopefully. The other features work. It's that last one I'm working on." she said.
"What program are you planning on putting in there for the test?" Harry asked.
"Lumos, for now." Beth said. "I'm attaching a voice-command, so that I can just say the word, and have it light up. That would be a good test, I think."
"Not volume control?" Harry asked.
"Why?" Beth asked.
"If there's no volume control, how will the program know not to use all the power of the storage, all at once?" Harry asked. The model finished being updated just then, and he successfully connected to it this time.
"Bloody hell." Beth said, sighing. "Good catch. Wouldn't want to have to explain to Poppy that I blinded myself, because I was being silly."
"I always consider volume control first, these days." Harry said. "Especially after my occlumency system nearly killed me via magical exhaustion."
"Noted." Beth said, nodding. "And?" she asked.
"I'm tethered. This one has a lot more space for storing magic, and it's actually gathering on its own." he noted. "Well done."
"I was motivated to get it to work, you know." Beth said, chuckling. "I actually updated my core-orb with those functions, too, but unfortunately it doesn't work while it's in the interface."
"I suppose that does make sense." Harry said, nodding. "It is technically inside an object that has no physical connection to the world. You were careful with it, right? You do realise that if you did it wrong, it could have started using your reserves, to power itself."
"I'm not stupid, Harry." Beth said, rolling her eyes. "First thing I did was ensure it wasn't affecting my power-level. On the bright side, I can take it out, let it charge for a day, and then put it back, charged."
"Got one for me?" Harry asked.
"I'll just update yours." Beth said.
"No upgraded storage for me?" Harry asked.
"Poppy worries what you would get up to with more power at your disposal." Beth sighed. She'd already considered doing just that, but with Harry's recent penchant for practical jokes, there was the possibility of him trying something big, and it going horribly wrong.
"Fair point." Harry said, nodding. He'd just finished placing a lumos, with a volume control, into the crystal. "It seems it took." Harry said.
"Lumos." Beth said. Nothing happened. "Why isn't it working, then?" she asked.
"I thought you'd be adding that voice command?" Harry asked, as he shifted the connection over to her interface. "I don't know how you do that, you know. You'll have to do the rest yourself."
Beth sighed, but nodded. "Thanks for getting it in there at least. I'll get to work connecting to it." she said.
"Thanks for the speaker." Harry said, as he picked up the crystal, which was still playing music, and placed it in his pocket, before walking away, humming along.
"Don't stick around once your trap is set." Beth called after him. "And don't think I'm forgetting the fact that you're apparently hunting basilisks, now. If Poppy finds out I helped, and you died, I'm bringing you back, to kill you. You hear me?!"
"Just after she kills you, yeah." Harry agreed, before he closed her door and walked away, a smirk on his face.
"Cocky bugger." Beth chuckled.
III-III
"I'm back." Harry said, as he walked into the bathroom, still listening to music.
"Thank you for making it a priority." Dumbledore said, as he smiled at the boy, and wondered about the music. "I didn't know you liked Guns n' Roses?" he asked.
"I didn't know you knew about them." Harry returned, as he stopped the music, while removing the crystal. "This is our speaker. Where's the ward routed?"
"Here." Dumbledore said, indicating to the rear of the sinks. "I suspect there will be less chance of discovery, if we made it out of the way." he added.
"Good idea." Harry said, as he transfigured a gap between two bricks and placed the crystal, before tethering the ward to it. He noted that the magic on the sinks were not on that part of the fixture, which meant Dumbledore had taken that into consideration, already. He added the correct memory and applied the spell again. It wasn't loaded on the crystal, per-se, because technically it would remain connected to Harry, but that was also a feature, rather than a drawback. He'd know when the ward and sound was triggered. "And, we're done." he said.
"Could I hear the sound?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry put up silencing around the bathroom, with no indication that he'd done anything, and opened the volume a little, before activating the sound. There was a powerful rooster's cry, and Harry winced as it finished, leaving his ears ringing. "Ow." he said, lamely.
"I believe that you may just have accidentally killed it already!" Dumbledore shouted, his own hearing being affected.
"Don't shout!" Harry shouted, having not heard what the man was trying to say, as he quickly fixed his hearing, with a simple charm Poppy had taught him, used through his model and the targeting system. Then he did the same for the headmaster. "There. Now, what were you screaming?"
"Thank you." the headmaster said, as he realised his hearing was fixed. He'd not seen Harry pull his wand and was starting to wonder about what Harry's magic really could do. "I was saying, I think you may have killed the monster already. I'd not be surprised if they heard that, all the way in Hogsmeade."
"Let's hope they don't think it was a cockatrice." Harry chuckled, playing along, because Dumbledore would figure that one out later.
"I believe that particular beast went extinct, after one went on a rampage-" Dumbledore started.
"During the last Triwizard Tournament in 1792." Harry recited from memory. "The incident injured the headmasters of all three participating schools and led to the cancellation of the tournament. Subsequently, it was declared cockatrice hunting season, and they were all killed, due to their quintuple X rating, and their unpredictable natures. They were also considered a risk to the secrecy of magic."
"Very well done." Dumbledore said, nodding. "Where did you read that?"
"Most of it is from Hogwarts, a History." Harry said. "Some extra reading into the cockatrice gave me the rest. I was interested in how people countered its deadly gaze, and fire breath."
"I didn't know that you'd covered the cockatrice in class?" Dumbledore asked. Why would Professor Lockhart cover extinct creatures?
"We didn't." Harry said, as he transfigured the stone closed, hiding the speaker, but he knew now that it was unlikely to diminish the sound. "That was just a bit of reading I did. Knowledge is power, after all."
Dumbledore nodded at that. "What did you find? About the gaze, I mean."
"Even a reflection of that particular gaze would kill, as was proven when… well, there were documented studies about mirrors, so avoiding eye-contact would be the obvious choice." Harry said. "A conjunctivitis curse might work, swelling the eyes shut, but you'd need to look at it, to cast it, or you'd have to fire blind, and repeatedly. I think the simplest solution would be to either conjure ropes, to bind the creature's head, transfigure a distraction, or do what Perseus did, and make it look at its' own gaze.
"I'd have liked to figure out if the gaze would be deadly, if the creature couldn't see your eyes, by using a one-way mirror, because using an obvious magical ability, would be quite expensive to one's reserves, if they kept the power active and undirected at all times, but testing a theory like that, would require test subjects, and obviously the beast itself."
"A feat that might prove difficult, with them being extinct." Dumbledore said, nodding. He was impressed, really. Harry was obviously quite inquisitive, and knowledgeable. "What are the chances that that killed the basilisk?"
"I'm almost positive that it would be in a place where it's protected from outside sounds, considering there's been some form of farm on, and around Hogwarts, since its founding." Harry said. "Besides the fact that it's a sewer, and with all the reverberations that would happen down there, likely making distant sounds indistinct, I'm almost certain the basilisk would be held behind closed doors that's also protected from sounds, or you would have seen incidents of it coming out to feed, before."
Dumbledore nodded. "Still, that was quite loud." he said. "There is a likelihood that the culprit heard it."
Harry just smirked, as he finished his part. "Okay, everything seems set here. I'm almost hoping that whoever this is, comes here to release the beast, first. It would be a waste of a perfectly good trap, otherwise."
"Backup plans should only be relied on in desperate situations." Dumbledore said. "I think it would be best to be proactive, if for nothing else than to save whoever it is that is doing this from themselves, if it's not Miss Weasley as we suspect."
Harry shrugged, before he started leaving the bathroom.
"I heard that, you know." Myrtle's voice said, from her stall.
"I'm sorry Miss Warren." Harry said. "I did not mean to disturb you. We're just trying to stop the monster."
"You can disturb me whenever you like." the ghost said, as she stuck her head out of the stall, smiling at Harry.
"I'll keep that in mind." Harry said, politely, smiling back. "I hope you have a good day." he added, as he nodded, and left the bathroom.
Dumbledore soon joined Harry.
"How did she die, by the way?" Harry asked.
"I'm afraid that that is something I'm not at liberty to discuss." Dumbledore said.
Harry stopped, looked at the man, and narrowed his eyes. Then he smirked. "Wait here a moment. I'll just go ask Miss Warren quickly." he said.
"Wait!" Dumbledore said, as Harry turned to go back. Then he sighed. "You can be quite manipulative, you know?" he asked.
"I do." Harry said, still smirking.
"Myrtle Elizabeth Warren was attacked and killed, back when Rubeus Hagrid was still a student." Dumbledore said. "He was found having snuck an Acromantula into Hogwarts, intent on raising it. The death was blamed on him but was fortunately deemed an accident. Hagrid was expelled and was never allowed to study magic again."
Harry considered that. "And there's absolutely no chance that we just discovered the true perpetrator, is there?" he asked. "When did Voldemort go here, again?"
Dumbledore's eyes widened at that. He'd picked up that Harry was quick, but this was lightning fast. It couldn't have been that simple for him to pick up on something he only suspected, himself. "How do you do that?" he asked.
"Logic, and simple deduction." Harry said, shrugging. "I'm right, aren't I?"
Dumbledore sighed, again. "Personally, I do think you are." he admitted. "Unfortunately, without proof, there will be no way to act on our suspicions."
"Myrtle didn't have a mark on her body." Harry said. "According to fantastic beasts, Acromantula secrete venom and eat their prey live, so if it had been the cause of her death her ghost would show many marks, like the other ghosts. That's already proof right there and also supports our current theory of a basilisk."
"Unfortunately, the way a ghost presents itself is not considered proof of how they died." Dumbledore said. "While I personally agree with you, it would not be able to be used as evidence."
"Hmm." Harry said. "Well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."
Dumbledore nodded.
"Anyway, I've got to get back to Aunt Poppy." Harry said. "I still want to inspect that cat some more. Maybe try a thing or two. If I can figure out a way to fix Mrs Norris, I might just make a friend out of our grumpy caretaker." With that, Harry walked away.
"That boy is going to do great things, one day." Dumbledore said to himself, as he looked after the boy, who seemed to be quite excited at the prospect of research.
"You have absolutely no idea." the hat said, as it floated down to the headmaster. It had been back for a while but had hung itself from a crack in a cornice so that it could wait, while the bathroom door was closed. "That boy is going to do things that will amaze everyone. He still shocks me regularly, and I actually know his secrets."
Dumbledore looked at the hat, as he floated there. "You seem to have adjusted to your new mobility rather quickly." he said.
"Like I said, I know his secrets, so I know how he thinks." the hat said. "Adjusting to this was rather simple."
"Did anyone see you?" he asked.
"I don't have to hide this." the hat said. "It's just another Hogwarts mystery, now. Nobody would suspect that Harry allowed me this."
Dumbledore nodded, in understanding.
"Besides, you refuse to take me anywhere, like previous headmasters, so I would hardly complain about a bit of relief from the boredom, which is your office." it said. "Oh, and don't forget you've got that meeting scheduled for ten minutes from now."
Dumbledore made a quick retreat. He'd almost forgotten. He was expecting a floo-call about the status of Sirius Black. He'd arranged for a healer to go inspect him, and to start him on any potions he'd need to recover, after spending so long in Azkaban. He was still not a free man, but he was at least no longer in that hellhole.
Harry walked back into the hospital wing, with the hat soon following.
"Oh good, you're back." Harry said. "I was hoping we could brain-storm."
The hat placed itself on Harry's head, without a word, and they started contemplating the frozen cat.
III-III
Unfortunately, nothing would come of that, that evening, but Harry had some other things to do, starting with dinner. He intended to be there when the headmaster inspected the girl's memories, slyly. It turned out he was even helpful. Harry decided to pull a prank, to get everyone to look at Dumbledore, which would give him the opportunity to inspect the girl's mind.
While the old man was eating his meal, the sausages on the head-table decided they wanted to be worn, and they stealthily made their way off the table, slid along the floor, and around Dumbledore's chair, and gently placed themselves around his neck. Harry had been so stealthy and gentle about it, the old man hadn't even noticed. He did notice, however, when Harry used a model, to connect the sausage to the old man's arms, which moved as he did. It was as Dumbledore indicated at something, that he noticed, and so did the professors. And then, so did the students.
As they started laughing and looking at the spectacle, Dumbledore decided to play it up, by moving his hands and arms, and watching as the sausage imitated him. Everyone was looking at him, including a smiling and laughing Ginny.
Harry spotted the moment the old man was in her head, because his movements slowed down, while he focussed on something else. That's when the sausages lifted up and started wiggling and imitating a mouth, which was laughing, which, in turn, just added to the merriment and laughter.
'You are getting way to good at causing distractions.' the hat said, in his head.
'I've been trying.' Harry said. 'They say, distraction is a magician's best friend.'
'I'd heard a drunk audience is a magician's best friend.' the hat countered.
'Comes down to the same thing, I suspect.' Harry said.
'I think he's done.' the hat said. 'He's good at hiding his emotions, but if you look carefully, you'll notice a certain lack of twinkling in his eyes, which is, in and of itself, a good indicator that he's found something.'
Harry allowed his sausage show to end, by ripping the sausage apart, and having them throw themselves at the Weasley twins. Those two had yet to figure out that Harry was the other prankster in school, and by doing this, he was basically challenging them to find him.
"Oi!" one of them exclaimed.
"Don't start something you can't finish, novice!" the other added, as they both looked around for a culprit. They both skipped over Harry, because he always kept a low profile, when he could.
"Who are you?" the first asked.
Nobody said anything, and the twins, after cleaning themselves, sat back down and started whispering with each-other, while the students continued to laugh.
"What was that?" Neville asked. Not even he knew that it was Harry.
Hermione had her suspicions, though, and looked at Harry, as if trying to read his mind. He winked at her, very subtly, and she hid her smile, at having confirmation that she'd figured it out. She'd talk to him about it later, though.
At the head table, Poppy was looking at Dumbledore, and he soon saw her look. He nodded, very minutely, confirming that he'd gotten what they needed.
'The headmaster has indicated to Poppy that your suspicions were correct.' the hat reported, after speaking to the matron. 'She's going to insist on inspecting the girl.'
'Good.' Harry said. 'I'll be there, too. If there's a connection to her, it would be a good idea to remove it. Hopefully we don't have another Quirrell situation.'
'God forbid.' the hat agreed. 'I'll speak to Dumbledore, as soon as I can.'
'Just fly in and land on his head.' Harry suggested.
'Not just now.' the hat said. 'I'm here, but I'm hiding in the rafters. Hedwig says hi, by the way. She's up here, too. She still thinks I'm your familiar.'
'Why would she change her mind?' Harry asked.
III-III
Poppy had asked a prefect to bring Ginny to the infirmary, so that she wasn't singled out in front of all the students, and the prefect had gone to fetch her. When she didn't show up, half an hour later, she started to worry, and since Harry was there with her, she asked Harry if he had a way of tracking her. Dumbledore was there too, and he was worried as well. He'd informed them that Ginny had blank spots in her memory, which pointed to possession, but it seemed that the girl was not aware. She'd also been writing in an old diary, one that used to belong to Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr, AKA Lord Voldemort.
"I don't." Harry said, "But… I do have a way of seeing where people are in the castle." he admitted. He pulled up the map and activated the latest feature. The hat had allowed Harry to add the map to the wards, and suddenly, the map was populated with glowing outlines of ethereal people. The hat still needed to allow the map to do this, but this was obviously the occasion to allow it. There were no names, at present, but it could allow Harry to do that, too.
"This is an invasion of privacy." Poppy said, as she looked at the image.
"Shit!" Harry swore, as he spotted something. Someone had just appeared in the second-floor girls' bathroom.
"Language!" Poppy reprimanded. She knew that that was Beth's influence, and she'd be having a talk with her.
"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.
"Someone just appeared in the second-floor girls' bathroom." Harry said. "From outside the bounds of the map. I'm thinking we're about to hear a rooster."
Dumbledore instantly understood, and he turned and started running from the room, with Harry in hot pursuit, and Poppy brought up the rear.
"Why are we running?" Poppy asked. She'd seen the urgency.
"If someone is there, and just appeared, then they are likely aware of the possibility that we know." Harry said. "They might decide to get rid of the evidence, if the trap kills the monster. Thus, Ginny."
The hospital wing was on the fourth floor, and when they got to the moving staircase, Dumbledore started skipping steps, as he moved quickly.
Harry, surprising both Dumbledore and Poppy, simply jumped over the railing.
"Harry!" Poppy yelled, as she went white in the face. That's when she noticed that Harry wasn't so much falling, as flying down in a controlled descent. She sighed in relief, but still followed as quickly as she could.
"Don't go ahead of us!" Dumbledore demanded, as he quickly caught up.
"You're faster than me." Harry said. "I'm just trying to keep up."
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" the trap sounded, loud enough to still rattle Harry's teeth, as he winced at how loud that had been. He may have upped the volume a bit more, because he'd had another idea. If it was loud enough to puncture someone's eardrums, they'd be unable to keep their balance, until they could heal themselves. If they were lucky, it may have knocked Ginny out, too.
It turned out, they were lucky. When they reached the bathroom, Dumbledore led them in, wand at the ready. Poppy held Harry behind her, too. If the basilisk was in there, she'd see it first, and still protect Harry. She wasn't stupid either, though, so she kept her eyes down, and a water-conjuring spell on her lips. She'd do what the cat had done and look at reflections.
"Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore asked, as he walked to a prone form, on the ground, wand still pointed at the girl.
"Wait." Harry said, as he looked past Poppy. "There's something in her pocket. My scar is reacting."
Dumbledore looked at him, and then the girl again. He ensured she was breathing, first, and then he searched her pockets. He found the diary.
"That's it." Harry said, nodding.
"What's wrong with her?" Poppy asked, as she went to look at the girl.
"I made the sound really loud, in hopes that it might knock her out." Harry said. "According to research, a noise above 150 decibels can affect eardrums, and potentially rattle the brain enough to knock someone unconscious, along with possibly damaging internal organs."
"You could have killed her?!" Poppy demanded.
"Only if the sound was strong enough to blow the roof off the place." Harry said. "And you can heal anything, so I knew it would not prove fatal."
Poppy would be talking to Harry about that, later, but she started healing the girl. For the moment, she'd already placed her in a magical coma, just in case. It had worked with Quirrell, after all.
Harry, in the meanwhile, had walked to the sinks, which had moved. Casting a lumos, he looked down the pipe that was revealed. He saw nothing, because the pipe wasn't straight. A detection charm, however, revealed a large snakelike corpse. He knew it was a corpse, because it didn't have a heartbeat. "Snake's dead." Harry reported.
"Harry!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "You can't just go looking! What if it was still alive!"
"Detection magic." Harry said. He'd not have made eye-contact, and he'd not told the headmaster that he was a parseltongue. Poppy knew and had advised that he keep that to himself. A lot of dark wizards in the past had had that skill, and it had a very negative connotation for the wizarding world.
Dumbledore sighed. Thank Merlin the boy had suggested a backup plan. For now, he put the book in an inner pocket, but only after he tried a spell that would have kept the book from being opened. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Best not to look too closely. He'd inspect it later. "How is she doing, Poppy?" he asked.
"Ruptured eardrums and a minor concussion from hitting the wall, are the worst of it." Poppy said. "Besides that, it doesn't seem like she was being possessed physically. I'm assuming the… item, was still the host, but it was controlling her."
"I agree." Harry said. He was already scanning the girl, and a quick model, and a deeper scan, indicated no connections that he could detect. There was something though, like a magical residue. "There's still something on her, but it's like a remnant of a spell. I'm thinking that will fade, if we separate her from the book for a while. The question I have, is where she got that book."
"A question I would like the answer to, as well." Dumbledore said.
"In the morning, maybe." Poppy said. "For now, I'd suggest we keep her in a coma, and wait for this… remnant, to reduce. I'm thinking distance from the item and time will be our friends, here."
Dumbledore nodded. Then he turned to Harry. "Well done, my boy. You are that girl's hero." he said, smiling.
"No, I'm not." Harry declined. "You and Aunty Poppy stopped this. I was never here." he added.
Dumbledore frowned.
Poppy had already conjured a floating stretcher and was floating the girl up. "He's saying that he doesn't want this sort of attention. I agree. Harry doesn't need that."
"Modesty is very admirable." Dumbledore said, still smiling.
"It's not modesty." Harry said. "People are sheep. Any attention is bad attention, because public opinion can change as quickly as the wind. I'd rather not be associated with this whole thing, and have to handle the fallout, when that inevitably happens."
Poppy spared him a small smile. She was still proud of him. Well, she was also upset with him for multiple reasons, but the overwhelming feeling was pride.
"How did you fly, like that?" Dumbledore asked, as he seemed to be going over the events of the evening himself.
"Same way as the hat." Harry said. "It takes a lot of power, for me, because I'm heavier than the hat, but down is not so bad. I could fly up the side of the entire castle, but it would likely drain half my reserves, if I go slowly, to save power."
Dumbledore nodded. There would be a downside to something like that, he knew. Still, it was definitely an exciting new development. Dumbledore was quite powerful, he knew, and if he had that ability, he'd likely show off, because he could afford to. If he had access to this magic, that is. "Is there a possibility of you ever allowing me a grant to your magic, as well?" he asked, hopefully.
"That would be a no." Harry said, instantly. "No offense Headmaster, but I know you are the head of the ICW and the Wizengamot. You could very easily decide you don't like my magic, and outlaw it, or something." Actually, Harry very much wanted to share it with the old man, but only because it would be a smart move, from him. If the old man was benefitting from it, he'd be the most powerful person in the room, if his magic was ever revealed, and he'd fight to protect it, but he needed to be clever about it. Poppy knew, and while she didn't want to give the headmaster access, she saw the logic. The hat just laughed at the idea. Harry was planning on manipulating the old man. Turn-about was fair play, after all.
Dumbledore frowned at that. He knew he had no right to ask, really, but perhaps he could win the boy over, still. "You know, if I was allowed to practice your claimed magic, I might be able to help you develop it, as I know Madam Pomphrey has been, as well as Professor Babbling."
"And me." the hat said, as it floated above them, while Dumbledore sealed off the bathroom. The opening was still open, after all. Best not to tempt fate. It had obviously gone with them but had had to go slowly. "I've been helping Harry from the time he was sorted. Only Hedwig had access before me, and Harry didn't even know he'd shared with her."
"Harry's owl familiar?" Dumbledore asked, frowning.
"She apparently thinks I'm her familiar." Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"She does?" Dumbledore asked.
"Harry's magic allows them to talk." Poppy said. "In a manner of speaking. Hedwig is extremely intelligent for an owl, and she actually understands English."
"What a marvel!" Dumbledore said, excitedly. "I must confess, I would not mind access to something like that, and I suspect, I could greatly benefit from whatever it is, if it's so all-encompassing."
"You know the rules, Headmaster." Poppy said. "If Harry allows you to use his magic, he gets to set the rules. I'm only allowed to use it in development of medical magic, and self-defence. Bathsheda is only allowed to use it for development of her mastery, and self-defence."
"And helping me." Harry put in there. "I only share when I get a benefit from it, as is only fair, considering it is my magic."
"And Miss Granger and Mister Longbottom?" Dumbledore asked.
"Hermione is a borderline genius." Harry said. "She's already helped with a few things, and her investigative prowess has only grown, since giving her access. I will freely admit that she helped identify the basilisk for us. Neville… well, he's not the smartest, but he's starting to develop his own unique applications. It's just that this is a new idea, to him, and he's only benefitted from what I can do, at this point, and shared with him."
"Any field can benefit from this?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yup." Harry said, proudly.
Dumbledore considered that, as they walked.
"Did you ever figure out a form of stasis, Auntie Poppy?" Harry asked.
"Well, potentially." Poppy admitted. It had been on her books for a while, and she'd spent some time on it. She'd given up on it, until the situation with the cat. She actually thought that she might get an idea from studying Mrs Norris. "Why?" she asked.
"Well, there is a basilisk corpse down in that chamber." Harry said. "If we could keep it from decomposing, then I could study it, someday."
"Unfortunately, my idea is to keep people alive." Poppy said. "It would not work to stop a basilisk from decomposing. Fortunately, there are medical charms for that sort of thing. If we can get the corpse, and put it somewhere safe, I could potentially keep it from spoiling indefinitely, as long as I regularly add the charms."
"Why do you wish to study the snake?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry sighed, before he pulled up a book he'd found and highlighted the passage, before making that visible for the headmaster.
Dumbledore had not expected that, but quickly read through the information. "Basilisk venom is known to destroy even indestructible things." he said, eyes wide. "This could be used on the dark lord's items!" he exclaimed.
"Well, that's one of the things." Harry said. "I was also thinking of working on understanding the basilisk's gaze. If I can, it would be a very effective tool against bad guys, diluted, of course. Use a reflection, or something, or reduce volume on the magical power, and you've got the perfect way to literally stop an enemy force dead in their tracks. A single use to petrify your enemies. Put that in the hands of a healer, for example, and they could defend themselves, and others, with no loss of life, nor threat to their magical medical oaths."
"Merlin." Dumbledore said, as he realised what the boy was saying. "And you think you could do that?" he asked.
"Well, I would likely need help." Harry admitted. "I may know a lot, but I don't know everything. That's why I got Auntie Poppy and Beth involved. I was thinking of getting Professor Vector involved as well. I'm advancing with my arithmancy, but it's slow going, just now."
"I never was the best at it." Poppy said, sighing. She knew she wasn't the best person to teach Harry that particular principle. On the bright side, she'd actually finished her aura-vision spell. She'd be completely unable to cast it without the system, but it wasn't even a heavy-powered spell. The wand motions and incantation, however, would be impossible for a human hand to copy and the words did not work for a person to actually say, but the spell-system didn't mind for things like that.
"You're learning Arithmancy?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm up to fifth-year with the basics, but I'll need a lot more, than what's taught at school." Harry said. "I need a master in the art."
Dumbledore really wanted access to this magic, now. It seemed like it was helping Harry advance in things that no child should be able to accomplish, and quickly too. "What could I help you with?" he asked.
Harry didn't need to hide the smirk. "Legilimency." he said. He waited for Dumbledore's frown, and then he continued. "And Alchemy, and enchantment, and blood magic." he finished.
This made Dumbledore's frown deeper. "I can't condone teaching a child the art of Legilimency, and Blood magic may not be illegal, perse, but it is not something to play with. It's too volatile, and much can go wrong with it. I wouldn't mind helping you with what Alchemy I know, however, and I have made a few enchanted items in my time. I'd even be willing to help you advance your Transfiguration. You know, that was my subject, when I was still teaching."
"I've basically got transfiguration in the bag, already." Harry said. "How about… you find a place to store the basilisk, and allow us to keep it here, for research, and then you can help me with that, alchemy and enchanting?"
"That, I can do." Dumbledore nodded.
"Then, I, Harry James Potter, heir and head of House Potter, Gryffindor, Peverell and Hufflepuff, hereby grant Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore access to my claimed systemised form of magic, until such a time as our association ends, or he becomes a threat to the claimed magic, under penalty of losing access, and all knowledge thereof." Harry said. The hat had helped, again, but it was prudent for extra protection, in this case.
Dumbledore felt the magic in the air and stopped. He knew what accepting this meant. It wasn't a simple grant. This one would have an effect on his mind, should they ever come to a situation where he did not agree with Harry. Still, he didn't doubt the boy's intent. He didn't sense the darkness he once had, in Tom Riddle. "I accept your conditions, and swear to protect your claimed magic, as if it were my own." he finally said.
"I, Gryff the sorting hat, stand as witness to the bargain, and give my blessings. May magic bind the compact and enforce its will." the hat said, much as it once had.
All three glowed, again, and that was that.
"Systemized magic?" Dumbledore asked, as they continued on.
"That's the secret, headmaster." Harry said. He realised the man didn't have enough information to call up the interface, and for the moment, that was probably a good thing. The default, now, was not to appear instantly, as had happened with Poppy and Beth. "I'll need to show you the basics, before you can start playing with it." he added.
"It's not a spell you can just show me?" Dumbledore asked.
"It's a whole new form of magic, Headmaster." Poppy said, proudly.
Dumbledore frowned again. "Could… you not show me? After you've situated Miss Weasley, of course."
"Harry invented the system, headmaster." Poppy said. "He's spent more time learning how to use it, and the dangers, so he's probably the only one I would trust to do it correctly. I also have limitations on what I can do with it, due to the specific grant I was given."
Dumbledore actually looked impressed at that. He'd suspected that Poppy had been given a grant but had helped Harry develop it. From the sounds of it, Harry really was a prodigy. "Very well." he said. "I shall await your tutelage patiently then, Professor Potter." he said, trying for a bit of a joke.
"And you'd better listen to his every instruction, young man." the hat said to the headmaster, seriously. He was quite a bit older than the old man, after all. "Trying too much, too quickly, has the same risks as any new magic, that you are unfamiliar with. In this case, it would be the action of a wise man, to treat Harry like a master at his chosen art, and a professor with years of experience."
"I don't think I'm at mastery level, just yet." Harry countered.
Poppy actually snorted at that comment, as she remembered his model-replacement healing-system. She had attempted it, and failed, due to her simply not having enough experience with, and faith in, the system. "I'd argue that you could outperform most any dueller, due to your system, and that your advances, perspective and adaptability could make you an expert at any art, magical or otherwise, within a year. The only limiting factor you have, at the moment, are your reserves."
She turned to the headmaster. "He basically finished runes all the way to seventh-year, in just three months." Dumbledore's eyes widened, almost comically. He started to deny that it could even be possible, but Poppy interrupted him. "Ask Bathsheda. She gave him a bloody seventh-year finals task, and he scored better than most of last years' seventh years!"
"Really?" Dumbledore asked, shocked. He looked at Harry. "What did you make?"
"A magical fridge-freezer." Harry said, shrugging.
"That he built into his bloody trunk, in a large hidden pocket dimension that he also made using runes!" Poppy exclaimed.
"Is that how my toilet paper is always frozen?" Dumbledore asked, frowning.
"A freezer would have damaged the toilet paper." Harry said, as he chuckled. "Condensation, you understand. No, I just snuck into your bathroom and added the freezing runes to the dispenser."
Poppy couldn't help her chuckle, at that one. She didn't complain, though, because it was harmless and pretty funny, for a prank.
Dumbledore grumbled at that, but Harry spotted a smile on the man's face, before he smothered it. "Well done." he finally said. "You got me. Now, the only question is, how do you know where my chambers are, and how did you get in?"
"That's a secret I don't have to share." Harry said, stubbornly. The hat had actually helped on that one, but Harry wouldn't betray the hat.