Harry stared at the portrait in shock, while the latter stared back curiously. For a moment, neither spoke.
It was the portrait that finally broke the silence.
"You aren't Riddle."
Harry shook his head, "I'm Harry, Harry Potter."
"A Potter . . . I don't suppose you've made any horcruxes, or anything of equal stupidity?"
Harry's expression morphed into one of confusion, giving Slytherin the answer he needed.
The portrait's eyes narrowed slightly as it stared down at Harry's robes.
"Why are you in Gryffindor robes?" the portrait hissed at him.
"It's my house, I have to wear my house colours."
The portrait hissed out a stream of curses in Parseltongue, many of which Harry had never heard before. After a minute or so Slytherin had calmed down enough to continue talking.
"I suppose you can't have it all." sighed Slytherin in distaste, "Let us forget that for now, and move on to the important things. Only an heir of mine can enter the chamber. Only direct descendants, or heirs of mine can speak Parseltongue. You're an heir of mine, aren't you?"
Harry nodded at the portrait, still not having said a word.
"You must be from a different side of the family than Riddle was. You have my wife's eyes, after all."
"They were my mother's eyes." said Harry quietly.
Slytherin nodded slowly, "Yes, she must have been a descendant of mine as well. You're only the second person I've ever seen in here, you know. She must have not known."
"I went to the wizarding bank, Gringotts, to get a heirship test." said Harry, "The goblin I talked to seemed to think that my mother, who was supposedly muggleborn, was a direct descendant of the squib line of Slytherin, making her a descendant of some people named Isolt Sayre and Martha Steward."
"Clever goblin. I was the first Parselmouth in all of known time, the ability is a hereditary one in my family. It is fairly common in the family from what I know; your mother must have been rather unlucky to have not received it."
The portrait paused in thought, rubbing his goatee slightly.
"Isolt Sayre . . . yes, it is possible, if your mother was indeed 'muggleborn', then perhaps that is the case."
"How do you know who Isolt Sayre is?" asked Harry curiously, getting over his slight fear of the situation, "Wasn't she born a long time after you lived?"
"She was." said Slytherin, "However, when Tom found this place in his fourth year, he tried to figure out how he was connected to me. He went looking through all known Parselmouths and descendants of mine, before he eventually discovered he was from the Gaunt line."
Harry nodded slightly, feeling more than slightly uncomfortable about discussing Voldemort as though he were a normal child.
"It's a shame your mother never found this place, although most of my descendants haven't either." said Slytherin quietly, "How is she?"
"Dead."
Slytherin's face fell, before asking "And your father?"
"Also dead. Never met either of them."
Slytherin's portrait nodded defeatedly.
"Riddle was the same, he never knew them, he was raised in an orphanage. Were you?"
Harry shook his head sadly.
"My mothers sister and her family raised me. They were probably as good as an orphanage, though."
"If you're comfortable with me asking, how did your parents pass?"
"Riddle killed them."
The study went eerily silent.
"Tell me everything."
Harry did. He told the portrait about how his parents died when he was a year old, how he was world famous for being the only survivor of the killing curse, and for stopping Voldemort. Of how he was horribly raised, and each of his three end-of-year adventures. He told the portrait about the world cup, the trip to gringotts, and him being a Mage.
In fact, the only thing he kept to himself was the dreams he had been having of Voldemort. He was not fully trusting of the portrait just yet, and these dreams seemed to be quite an advantage. He was fairly certain they could save him someday, and was not prepared to risk that for a painting he had just met.
As he spoke, Salazar would make a few comments here and there. As it turned out, Salazar Slytherin did not hate muggle borns, nor was he a dark wizard (although Harry wasn't certain about the last part just yet). When Harry had finished, Salazar sat in silence, seemingly gathering his thoughts. He eventually looked back at Harry, speaking quietly.
"You have been blessed with a gift many would kill to have, and have managed to find my chamber. As horrible as your life has been, it has forced you to grow up, to get stronger."
Harry nodded in silence, eyes not leaving the portrait.
"I must ask why you came here."
Harry gave the portrait a confused look, not understanding the question.
"When Tom Riddle came here, he was a lonely boy looking for a way to become great, someone whom people would never ignore again, to become powerful. Why are you here?"
Harry thought about it for a moment, not entirely sure. He reached his conclusion a few minutes later, and voiced his thoughts to the portrait.
"I also want to become powerful. But I want it for a different reason, I want to be powerful enough that nobody can manipulate me, so that nobody can control my life. My entire life has been in the hands of other people. I don't want to ever be used as a pawn again."
Salazar smiled, looking somewhere behind Harry. The Potter heir turned around, quickly finding what had caught Salazar's eye.
One of the white pawns on the marble chess board was glowing, it's material melting and changing shape. It floated a few inches off the surface of the board, before slowly changing its colour to silver. The new blob of molten marble molded itself slightly, eventually taking the forms of a queen. It was made of a silvery material that looked similar to molten silver that had somehow retained a solid shape.
The queen fell back onto the floor, landing on the square the white pawn had once claimed. There were no other silver chess pieces upon the board.
"What was that?" asked Harry, turning back to the portrait.
"Unless I am mistaken," started Salazar, "That was you beginning your journey of nobody being able to control you, nor your life."
Harry's jaw dropped before he turned around, moving closer to the chess board. It was of incredibly fine quality, with each piece sparkling like diamond. The board itself was made of a mixture of black and white marble, no doubt being materials of very high value.
Ron would definitely kill someone for this chess set.
"What is this thing?"
"A creation of mine and Ravenclaw's. Godric and Helga helped a bit, too. I don't think I need to explain what it does."
Harry shook his head in the negative, examining the pieces.
"Why is it a queen? Shouldn't I have the king, if I'm starting off?"
"You have much to learn, dear child." said Salazar gently, "You are the queen, the most powerful and volatile of the pieces on your side. The king is what you stand for, what you believe in. It is what matters most to you."
"But why isn't there a king yet?"
Salazar shrugged.
"Perhaps you have not yet discovered what matters most to you. Just because you yearn for freedom does not mean that is the deepest desire of your heart."
Harry moved away from the chess board and returned to Salazar's portrait.
"How do I know you aren't tricking me? And that you're not helping Riddle. And how do I even know Riddle couldn't come back here?"
Slytherin sighed sadly.
"Riddle found this place in his fourth year, as I initially told you. I taught him until the end of his fifth year, when I learnt that he had been using my basilisk to purge the school of muggleborns. We fought, and after a girl died, he finally stopped. I forgave him."
Harry's eyebrows shot out to his hairline. Salazar, seeing this, made a quick response.
"Regardless of what he did, he was my family. Based on the research Tom did, there were only two potential Slytherin lines left. It was very likely that he was my last remaining descendant. Family is very important, as I am sure you will realize once you start your own, many years from now."
Harry nodded slowly, somewhat understanding what the portrait had said.
"In his sixth year, he did something unthinkable, and began creating horcruxes. I will tell you about them when you are ready, assuming you come back." said the portrait, seeing Harry's questioning glance, "I told him to never come back, and he never did. Even when you said a young version came through this chamber two years ago, he did not enter this study."
"Do you have a guess as to why?" asked Harry.
Salazar shrugged.
"When Riddle decided to call himself Voldemort, I told he was no longer worthy of being a Slytherin. I said that Tom Riddle was a member of the Slytherin family, but that Lord Voldemort was not. From what I know after that, he was no longer considered a full Slytherin anymore. Voldemort can no longer enter the chamber at all, and most likely would have been incapable as an heir to the Slytherin Lordship. The memory in his diary could be in the chamber, but could not enter the study. Perhaps it had something to do with it being a memory of his sixteen year old self, made just before I deemed him unworthy."
"But in my second year, how come Ron and Lockhart were able to enter?"
"You must have given them permission in some way. They could not have entered otherwise."
"I did push Lockhart down the entrance hole, to make sure that it was safe."
"In true Slytherin manner." said Slytherin, chuckling.
"Alright, moving on. If I do choose to come back, what would I be doing?"
"I would teach you, off course." replied the painting, "Mentor you, help you learn how to grow stronger and more connected to your magic. Help you learn rarer, more powerful magics. Help you learn about your abilities."
"You would do that?" questioned Harry, "Even after whatever happened with Riddle?"
"Normally, I do not think I would." replied Salazar honestly, "But you are family, my only remaining heir."
"Thanks?"
"Not exactly a compliment, but you are welcome. I have always wanted to meet another Mage, you know? Besides Morgana, of course. I have a book of notes and files I've compiled, they should be in one of the shelves there."
Harry quickly shuffled over to the shelf Salazar had indicated, before being stopped by the portrait.
"Whether you like it or not, you are not ready yet. You must develop more control, perhaps a bit of Occlumency, before we can begin that. We'll start with some other interesting things, do a few rather useful rituals - "
"Rituals?" asked Harry, "Aren't rituals classified as dark magic by the ministry?"
"You mean the same ministry that you claim placed the school under the patrol of hundreds of dementors to protect against a man who had been locked in prison for twelve years?" said the portrait sarcastically.
"Fine, whatever."
"As I was saying, we will be doing a few rituals, as well as learning how you can improve and learn new magics. Maybe even get you a magical familiar. You're in your fourth year, correct?"
Harry nodded.
"It's the first day of term after the summer break."
"And what electives are you taking?"
"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures."
Change them."
"What - I can't just - but how am I - " stuttered Harry in a manner similar to that of the late Professor Quirrell.
"I don't care about your Care of Magical Creatures course; take it or leave it, really doesn't matter to me. Divination, on the other hand, can only be learnt by true seers. A seer is not one of your abilities, and it is therefore worth nothing to you."
"What would you have me take?" asked Harry.
"Join Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, if your corrupted ministry still allows those to be taught."
"They do, but those are the two hardest electives. They might not let me in, I would be a year behind."
Slytherin's portrait rubbed it's goatee once more.
"What time is it?"
Harry shrugged, pulling out his wand from his pocket.
"Tempus!" he muttered. The time read to be ten past one in the morning.
"If you stayed till around six, I could probably teach you most of the course." said the portrait in a causal tone.
"That fast?" asked Harry in shock, watching as Slytherin nodded once more, "If it can be taught that quickly, why are the courses a year long?"
"From what Riddle told me, the third year Arithmancy class is the same as basic muggle mathematics, I believe he called it Algebra. Would I be right in assuming you know that already?"
Harry confirmed the portrait's assumption. Although he had not actually attended secondary school, he had read most of Dudley's textbooks due to the constant confiscation of his own.
"Then you already know what you need to for the third year, as well as most of the fourth. You are ahead of most of your peers. As for runes, it seems that most of magical art has been long forgotten, and that what they teach is only a memory of what it once was. I can teach you runes in the purest form. It might seem as though you use strange methods to your classmates and professors, but I assure you your methods will be far superior. I can teach you what your classmates have most likely learnt, as well as quite a bit more, before you have to go for breakfast."
Harry stood in silence, both shocked and impressed.
"Will it be like that for all subjects you teach me?" he asked the portrait, who shook his head gently.
"The other forms of magic are more commonly deployed, and are therefore not nearly as forgotten. You will have to learn them just as any other might, although I would like to think that my teaching is slightly superior to that of others."
"And the obscure subjects you'll be teaching me, what were they again?"
"Rituals, which can be used to give yourself more abilities."
"I thought it wasn't possible to give yourself abilities." said Harry.
"It is very possible, although many of the rarer or more powerful abilities can not be gained in any way other than chance at birth."
"Anything else?"
"Offensive magic, which I believe your group of ministry fools call Dark Magic now." said Salazar in a disgusted tone.
"It's called dark magic because it can be used to kill someone, according to my textbook." Harry mentioned helpfully.
"You could kill someone with a tickling charm if you wanted to." Salazar replied, "Offensive magic is magic used to attack someone during a fight so that one might stay alive. Unless you were planning on hitting your opponents with tripping jinxes, of course."
"My friends are going to think I've gone evil or something." muttered Harry.
"Then do not tell them about it. This is the Chamber of Secrets, the chamber of our family. Anything that occurs within here should be kept within the family, which now only consists of the two of us, certainly more so you then myself. But that is of no importance at the moment. Right now, we have only a few hours to get you up to date on your knowledge of Ancient Runes. Go to the section on runes in my library, and pull out all of the books on the first shelf. Back out to the chamber, I will see you there."
Salazar walked out of his frame, no doubt appearing wherever the other room's portrait frame was. Harry quickly grabbed the books he was instructed to take, and stumbled out of the study and back into the chamber.
He had not seen it before, but there was a giant portrait hanging above the entrance he had used to get into the chamber hours ago. Salazar was now sitting within it, staring at the corpse of his basilisk.
"My dear friend . . . if only you had not been forced to do Riddle's bidding." the portrait whispered sadly.
Salazar turned back to Harry, cracking his neck a few times as he did so.
"Think of runes as a language of sorts, similar to the way you might think of Parseltongue . . . "
It was a rather tired Harry that made his way towards breakfast on the second morning of September. Today was a Friday, and the students therefore were to be attending trial classes today. They would be allowed the weekend to decide whether or not they wished to attend, and a month to potentially switch subjects.
Contrary to what Salazar had told Harry, they had not finished the study of Ancient Runes by six in the morning. It had taken an additional hour and a half to learn everything Salazar had wanted to teach him. His dorm mates had even noticed he was not in bed, although Harry had simply told them he had woken up early to go for a walk.
Harry was pleased, however, to note that Salazar had indeed been right about one thing. Harry had found a copy of the third year Ancient Runes textbook in the library on his way to breakfast. Salazar's teachings had made the book look like utter garbage; he had come up with at least four different, more efficient ways of doing every sample rune work in the book.
He was also pleased to note that Salazar had not properly remembered how long the Ancient Runes third year course spanned. The portrait had ended up teaching him almost the entire fourth year course. Though it was true Harry would have liked to sleep, it was more than worth it if it meant no studying for one of his classes. Harry really hoped Salazar was as good a teacher in his other subjects as he had been runes.
Unfortunately, Harry had now arrived at the harder part of his plan to switch classes; getting the approval of his head of house, one Minerva McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall was walking back and forth besides the Gryffindor tables, passing out schedules to students. Many of the students had been attempting to receive schedule changes, although none succeeded; McGonagall was a rather strict professor.
Harry truly hoped that McGonagall would give him the benefit of the doubt. Although it was true that he had never really shown an interest in his studying, he knew McGonagall at the very least didn't hate him. If she could simply get him into the fourth year classes, he could prove he deserved it.
Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, gently combing his fingers through Hedwig's feathers. Hermione had already received her schedule about ten minutes prior, and had quickly rushed off after that, entirely uninterested in waiting. As for Ron, he had greatly surprised Harry by waking up early, although Harry quickly realized it was simply so he could eat more. Hermione has specifically asked McGonagall for Ron's schedule beforehand, simply to get the redhead away from the table (something which Harry suspected she had done for the sake of the Hogwarts house elves). Harry therefore sat with the Gryffindor Quidditch team, seated between Angelina and Alicia.
The both of them, as well as Katie, were all attempting to sneak some food onto his plate when he wasn't looking. It had been quite a while since Harry had been the skinny little boy he had been on his first day, although nearly everyone seemed to overlook that. The three chasers had eventually stopped after Fred made a joke about their actions, although they still begged Harry to add more to his plate every few minutes.
"Mr. Potter." said a voice behind Harry just as he had finished talking to Alicia about her O.W.L's. He, as well as the five older students around him, all turned to face Professor McGonagall.
"I have your current schedule for the coming school year." She handed Harry a slip of parchment, which was nearly identical to the schedule he used the previous year.
"As per usual, if you have any adjustments you would like to make, you must inform me now." she said in a crisp voice.
"Er - Professor, I was actually wondering if I could change one of my subjects, and take another one as well." said Harry slowly. The eyebrow's of those beside him on the table (as well as McGonagall, all though much less noticeably) rose in shock.
"And which subjects were you interested in changing?" asked the deputy headmistress.
"I was hoping to switch Divination with Ancient Runes, and take Arithmancy as well."
McGonagall's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You do realize, Mr. Potter, that these are two of the most difficult subjects Hogwarts has to offer. Nearly everyone who has taken Ancient Runes in the past dropped out before N.E.W.T's, and Arithmancy is a subject that many have a hard time learning as well. You must forgive me if I deem you incapable of adapting to such tasks."
"But Professor!" said Harry before McGonagall could walk away, "Pre O.W.L Arithmancy is exactly the same as muggle math, which I'm very proficient at. And I've been studying the Ancient Runes course during my free time for quite a while now." Harry lied smoothly.
"If you could just give me a chance, I can prove that I can maintain good grades in the subjects. If not, you can just switch me back at the end of the month, right?"
McGonagall's lips thinned, before they formed a very small smile.
"Very well, Mr. Potter, I will change your schedule, and hand it back to you in ten minutes time. You are expected to do well in both of your new subjects, and to not drop your performance in any of your other classes. You schedule be reverted if you fail to do so."
Harry nodded quickly, turning back to his teammates as the Transfiguration Professor walked away. They all wore identically dumbfounded expressions.
"I don't know how you managed to convince McGonagall," started George.
"But why in Merlin's name would you waste it on something like that!" finished Fred, nearly yelling.
Harry just smiled at the twins, before turning back to his breakfast. After both he and Hedwig had finished their breakfast, McGonagall returned with his new schedule. It was the same as the one shown previously, although Divination and Ancient Runes were switched, and Arithmancy had been added.
Harry groaned as he did another scan through the piece of parchment. He had Potions in ten minutes, which was somehow made worse by the fact that it was with the Slytherins. Harry would have to ask Salazar what he knew on potion making; he would be more than willing to learn the subject properly from the portrait if it meant Snape would leave him be, perhaps even moving onto another target. Harry was willing to bet his firebolt that the new target would be Neville.
After Hedwig flew off to the Owlery, Harry got up, said farewell to his teammates, and began the journey to the dungeons. For the time being, Harry would have to stick to the subpar knowledge he had on Potions. After learning Ancient Runes from Salazar, Harry was already beginning to doubt he would learn anything from his professors after a few lessons with the portrait.
Although Salazar had stated firmly that he would not have as easy of a time in other subjects as he would with runes, Harry still thought the portrait was a rather superior educator. Especially when compared to the likes of Professor Snape.
Harry had been rather upset to hear that he would not be learning how to use his wandless magic anytime soon. Salazar had apparently taught the earliest Mage, Morgana, as she had attended Hogwarts in its founding days. She had struggled greatly, and he had realized that until one's control on their magic was near perfect (something which required Occlumency), any attempts to utilize the wandless magic would end dismally.
The portrait had assured Harry that they would instead be working on rituals, something just as interesting. Harry was still rather skeptical about the whole practice, but Salazar assured him that all the Hogwarts founders had used at least one or two, although none bar himself had truly delved too deeply into the arts, even though they understood it. It hadn't fully convinced him, but he was willing to listen to his ancestor's wisdom.
Harry's trail of thought broke as he arrived in the dungeons, just outside the Potions room. As per usual, most of the Slytherins stood quietly, waiting in a single file line. They all watched him as he made his way into the hall, as most did when he entered a room, to his annoyance. He raised an eyebrow, somehow managing to get a reaction from one of them. A brunette girl by the surname Davis had blushed, although she was quickly shoved in the back by her pretty blonde friend.
Draco and his goons were taunting Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville, who had been talking about the Triwizard Tournament.
"Going to enter, Longbottom?" asked the blonde snidely, "If you have to fight something in one of the tasks, you can just ask for your potion samples! I suppose you might take yourself out too, they might take points off for that . . ."
"Shove off, Malfoy!" said Ron, pulling out his wand and walking towards Malfoy, before he was quickly held back by Harry and Hermione, the latter having been waiting by the door with the other female Gryffindors.
"What about you, Scarhead?" asked Draco, turning to Harry, "I reckon you'd enter, wouldn't want to miss a chance at signing more autographs, would you?"
The door to the Potion's Classroom swiftly swung open to reveal none other than Professor Snape.
"That will be ten points for raising a wand at your classmates, Mr. Weasley." said Snape, his voice silky. He turned around and re-entered the classroom, his cloak billowing behind him. The students quickly followed the professor, Ron muttering angrily as he did so.
The redhead, as well as Harry and Hermione soon found themselves seated in the back of the classroom. Snape went over attendance without pausing, before turning to the board. With a complex flick of his wand, the vanishing spell was removed, the instructions for the day's potion written in fine writing. They would be working on a Calming Draught today; Harry had never seen most of the ingredients on the board, and he could tell that many of the other Gryffindors felt the same.
"Slytherins will go to collect their supplies first, while the Gryffindors are to prep their stations. You will then switch, and begin work. You have till the end of the hour."
I was wondering how he was planning to fail me today.
"He's trying to flunk us!" Ron complained quietly to Hermione. Harry nodded quickly, fully agreeing with the redhead.
"And how is he doing that, Ronald?" asked Hermione, not taking her eyes off her cauldron, which had gentle flames growing underneath it.
"He knows most of us don't know those ingredients." answered Harry, "And he's giving first pick to the Slytherins."
"So he's failing you by rendering you incapable of copying someone else when they choose ingredients?" questioned Hermione, her eyes narrowed.
"Exactly!" said Ron, not having registered what his bushy-haired friend had said. Harry put his head in his hands; they had now lost any potential chance of convincing Hermione to help them.
Thankfully, the loss of Hermione's help did not extend to the selection of ingredients, although that was only because she had to choose them while the rest of the Gryffindors watched. Sure enough, the ingredients that were left over were subpar at best.
The rest of the potions class went by better than it usually did, which was truthfully not saying much. Harry was fortunate that Neville's performance was mediocre today. While it was not egregious enough to have the shy boy sent to the Hospital Wing on a stretcher, it was certainly poor enough to place Neville as the sole focus of Snape's ire.
Harry did have to admit that he felt very bad for the boy, although not enough to be interested in switching places; he knew first hand how it felt to be treated like scum. He had been treated only in that way for a decade, and spent quite a while treated that way in the years that followed.
Harry was pleased to note that his results were better than usual. Although they were easily surpassed by the creations of Hermione and the attractive blonde Slytherin by the name Daphne Greengrass, he still felt they were satisfactory enough to grant him an 'Acceptable', regardless of Snape's bias.
Harry marked the phial as his, before placing it on Snape's desk gently. After he was done, Harry scooped up his belongings and left the room, not wanting to stay any longer than he had to. He and Hermione stood outside, waiting for Ron to finish. When the redhead emerged from the classroom door, the three of them set off with the other Gryffindors towards their next classes.
"Bloody hell, we've got Divination next." groaned Ron, as well as most of the other Gryffindors. Both Pavarti and Lavender looked rather offended, though neither of them said anything.
"You mean, you've got Divination." said Harry, "I switched courses, I'm taking Ancient Runes instead. And I'm taking Arithmancy too."
"What?" yelped Ron, snatching the schedule that Harry held in his hands, "You've gone mental, mate."
"Relax, Ronald." reprimanded Hermione, "Divination is rubbish, as is Trelawney. Though I don't know how good of a decision this was, Harry. Arithmancy is perfectly fine, it's just mathematics to magic." Harry nodded, though all the other fourth year Gryffindors (with the exception of Dean) had confused looks on their faces, "Runes, however, is very difficult Harry. It's a very complicated branch of magic Harry, and it's incredibly hard to understand."
"Maybe people are just looking at it the wrong way." said Harry. Hermione nodded slowly, although Harry was certain she didn't think so.
"It's rather unlike McGonagall to allow a change in classes, especially two." Hermione thought allowed.
Perhaps Malfoy's right about me getting special treatment from professors. Although with Snape, I don't think that's a good thing.
The students soon said their farewells as all the Gryffindors bar Harry and Hermione went towards the North Tower for Divination. The two remainders made their way towards the Ancient Runes classroom, which was located on the sixth floor.
Professor Bathsheda Babbling, the Professor of Ancient Runes, was standing outside, chatting amicably to a few Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fourth years about their summers. Due to the fact that this period was an elective, the class was taken by all four houses at the same time. It was a shame that most of Slytherin seemed to be present, although Draco and his two bodyguards were nowhere to be found.
After a few minutes outside the classroom, Professor Babbling brought them all inside. The classroom walls were engulfed in pieces of parchment, many of them in turn covered by inky symbols. Harry recognized each and every one of the symbols drawn upon the parchment.
Salazar had been right; the current studies on Runes was absolutely pathetic. Whoever had written on the walls (Harry expected it had been Professor Babbling) had skill, but their knowledge on how to use runes, as well as construct them was subpar.
To be fair, she didn't have access to a painting with knowledge on Ancient Magics.
Perhaps this level of knowledge was impressive in today's times. Harry had suddenly lost any lingering hope that he might learn something in this class. He was mostly fine with that; Harry would just sit in the back of the class after the first few classes, and perhaps practice some of the magic Salazar taught him.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts!" said Professor Babbling, smiling at all of them as they found their seats. Harry sat to the left of Hermione, who had taken a seat in the center of the first row.
"We are going to be getting straight into work today, regardless of it being the first day. However, we had a new student in our midst. Mr. Potter, please introduce yourself."
Harry froze, not having expected being told to introduce himself. No professor had ever asked that of him, and the reason as to why was obvious. The class seemed to agree with him, although many of the Slytherins seemed amused at his predicament.
"Er - my name is Harry Potter." said Harry somewhat lamely.
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Professor Babbling in a bubbly voice, "I was told by Professor McGonagall of your transfer. As standard, if you show yourself incapable of maintaining a good grade, you will either be moved to the third year class, or asked to leave. Professor McGonagall has told me that you believe yourself to be capable of the fourth year assignments so we shall see if this is true."
Harry nodded, having figured out that much on his own. Professor Babbling soon passed out assignment sheets, a copy of 'Advanced Rune Translation', as well as a small wooden box. According to the assignment, their goal was to make the box bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. In fact, it was rather similar to the tent the Weasley's had used at the Quidditch World Cup.
The difference was that one was with spellwork, while the other was runes. The charm placed upon the tent would break within a few years, while the runes would last for eternity, as long as the runes were not messed up. Due to the nature of runes, messing them up would be near impossible, as long one added a simple rune series to prevent such an occurrence.
All that learned in a single night, thanks to an old portrait.
Their solution to the assignment was to be inspected in an hour. Harry was sure he could do it within a third of the given time. He quickly began marking the box with runes created from his wand.
"Harry, what are you doing?" sighed Hermione fifteen minutes later.
"Finishing the assignment." Harry responded, not taking his eyes off the box. He carved a few more runes into the box, before dropping his wand and standing up proudly.
It had been fifteen minutes.
Never again will I doubt Salazar's teaching methods.
To be fair, he had met the portrait a day ago, regardless of having spent hours by Salazar's side learning. Plus, Salazar wasn't exactly represented kindly in the history books. Harry felt Slytherin had been horribly represented; as far as Harry knew, he didn't even hate muggleborns. The portrait had, however, made several comments on him being in Gryffindor House, though that was to be expected.
Harry spent the next forty-five minutes sitting in his chair, pondering on what else he might be interested in learning from Salazar, as well as how and when he would be visiting the chamber. Thankfully for Harry, Hermione had not noticed, as she was too busy working on her own assignment. Every few minutes she would mutter nasty things under her breath, before removing a few runes she had drawn with her wand. She did not seem remotely pleased at Harry's potential accomplishment, that much was certain.
The only person who had noticed Harry sitting still and doing nothing was Daphne Greengrass, the pretty blonde girl from earlier. She had merely scoffed, before turning back to her own box.
"Please write your name somewhere on the box with ink, and place it upon my desk for inspection." called Professor Babbling.
The students did as they were told. Professor Babbling opened each box before quickly closing them, pausing on only five of them. She eventually jotted down a few notes onto a spare piece of parchment.
"Brilliant work, class. Five of you were capable of accomplishing the feat within an hour's time, which I assure you is very impressive. Congratulations to Ms. Greengrass, Ms. Granger, Mr. Boot, Ms. Turpin, and Mr. Potter."
Harry noticed Daphne eyeing him critically from the corner of his eyes, and Hermione's eyes narrowing in distaste, though nobody else reacted strangely. They were all soon dismissed, with Harry being asked to stay behind.
"Mr. Potter," started Professor Babbling, picking up his box, "I noticed that the runework and patterns on your box are rather bizarre, although they clearly do work. Do you know why that is?"
Harry shrugged.
"I suppose that's just how I understand runes, Professor."
Professor Babbling nodded slowly, gently placing the box back onto the desk.
"It is very impressive for someone to create something like this at your age, let alone someone attending their first class. As long as you are capable of completing the assignments properly, I have no issue with your methods. Now off you go, you have your next class." Harry waved farewell to his new professor, before turning around and heading off towards the Transfiguration Classroom.
Hermione was waiting outside for him, her back hunched over due to the number of books in her bag. She was looking strangely at Harry, eyes narrowed in suspension.
"How did you manage to complete the assignment?" she asked, her voice bland.
"By writing runes onto the box, how else?"
"I saw your rune clusters earlier; they were all wrong, nothing like what was shown in the books." noted Hermione.
"Like I said earlier, maybe people are just looking at it the wrong way." said Harry, the two friends hopping off a staircase that had suddenly begun to move.
"You mean the authors of a ministry-approved text?" asked Hermione, disbelievingly.
"I guess. Either way, I did it differently and it worked, right? So no harm done."
Hermione shook her head disapprovingly, but said nothing. The two of them soon arrived outside Professor McGonagall's class, where the rest of the Gryffindors were already waiting for them. Ron, who had been talking to Dean, Seamus, and Neville, turned to Harry.
"Harry!" exclaimed the youngest Weasley, "Regret your change yet?"
"Actually, I was one of the only five students who was able to complete their assignments." said Harry. Ron paused in shock, clearly not expecting the given answer.
"Although I am impressed with your supposed achievement," came a stern voice from behind, "I must ask you to refrain from speaking of other subjects when in my class."
Harry turned around, nodding quickly at what Professor McGonagall had said. He could have sworn she had sent him a quick smile as he entered the classroom. It had been small, yes, but it was better than any of the smiles he had ever seen her send another student, even Hermione.
Unfortunately, Harry was not capable of replicating the perfect success he had achieved earlier. Unlike runes, he had not yet received any special teaching from a certain portrait. He did, however, do much better than he normally did, though Harry suspected that might have been because he actually tried for once. He was beaten only by Hermione and Ernie Macmillan.
Harry was more than fine with the results. He had realized that actually concentrating was especially important in the magical art of transfiguration. Visualizing what he was attempting to do also helped. It was slightly comforting to know that when he tried, he was actually quite talented. Harry would work especially hard at Transfiguration, if only to wipe the smug smile of Ernie's face. Ernie Macmillan had been one of the Hufflepuffs that had made Harry's second year so horrible by spreading false rumours throughout the school.
After an hour had passed in the Transfiguration classroom, the students were sent off to lunch. The fourth year Gryffindors were led by an eager Ron, arriving much sooner than anyone else. The redhead hurriedly sat down on the table, stuffing his mouth with chicken.
As the rest of the students joined the table, Harry pulled a book that Salazar had told him to read earlier. It was a very old book entitled 'Rituals: An Obscure Art', although if anyone else took a look at it, the title would appear to be 'Advanced Defensive Magic'. That was thanks to a spell Salazar had shown him before leaving the chamber, which created an illusion for everyone other than the caster.
Salazar had told Harry that reading the introduction of the book might be able to persuade him that rituals weren't evil or dark. Harry was beginning to agree with the portrait. While the branch of magic was given a bad reputation, it seemed fairly interesting, and very useful, as shown by the first few paragraphs of the book's foreword.
'Normal Rituals are a combination of Ancient Runes and magical absorption. Essentially, the user of the ritual is to absorb the magic from a given object, using runes to smoothen the process. The magic absorbed combined with certain rune clusters will give the user permanent abilities.
As an example, if a witch or wizard was to absorb Dragon Scales, Gryphon Claws, and/or a few other body parts belonging to especially tough creatures, they may themselves gain tougher skin (this is if the rune cluster used matches the aforementioned ability). If someone was to use magical components that are flexible, they might find themselves to be flexible as well.
There are near infinite rituals that can be created, though only 1 in 1000 Normal Rituals typically succeed (due to a lack of knowledge). As of the creation to date, there are only 42 published rituals (specifically normal rituals), all of which are very complex. It should be noted that a ritual can vary in strength, depending on the amount or potency of the magical components sacrificed.
Besides magical components (body parts or objects), rituals also require time and pain. Many rituals take a certain amount of time to take effect, and are typically very painful. Many see it to be a fair trade, as many rituals last for life, unless another ritual is used to remove the given attribute.
There are two other variants of ritualistic magic, hence why the ritual type previously mentioned have been referred to as Normal Rituals. The remaining two ritual forms are known as Blood Rituals and Soul Rituals. This is because they center around the concept mentioned within their names, and work differently than Normal Rituals.
Blood Rituals are based on sacrifice, and are linked via blood (rather than with typical runic magic). One must sacrifice something of near equal value of what they wish to gain, and create a series of runes with their blood.
Soul Rituals are the least understood of the trio. They require no sacrifice, runes, or absorption of any kind. Merely a potent level of intent. They center around the soul, affecting it in some way (perhaps to damage or mend a soul, or to connect two souls as they do during Phoenix Soul Bonds and Ancient Marriage Rituals).'
Harry could definitely see the appeal in such an art. It might be fairly interesting to develop more rituals, potentially giving him more benefits. He would have to make sure he paid attention to anything and everything Salazar said on the subject; he wasn't interested in permanently transforming himself into some unsightly human hybrid, or something equally peculiar.
Besides, from what Harry could tell there were some fairly decent rituals in existence. While he did not truly understand what Soul Rituals were (as the book said they required nothing but direct desire or intent), he could not see how something that brought two people together could be a bad thing.
Salazar had told Harry not to worry about either of the latter two ritual types at the moment. Soul Rituals were mainly used to form bonds with others, something Harry had no need for at the moment. As for Blood Rituals, Salazar said that while they would likely be capable of accomplishing certain things normal ritual could not, they were still not something for Harry to concern himself with just yet. Regardless of how impressive the few Blood Rituals that apparently existed were, they were very few in number, and were typically only used for immensely important occasions.
Salazar had also mentioned a hypothesis he had formed as to how Harry survived being struck with the killing curse all those years ago, one that revolved around rituals. The portrait had initially believed Harry's survival had been due to a Soul Ritual (which would only require potent intent), but eventually decided against it, stating that Soul Rituals could only be used to break, mend, or form bond between souls.
He had therefore changed his hypothesis into a Blood Ritual, and had now firmly stuck to it. Blood Rituals would require a sacrifice, something which could likely have been provided by the deaths of Harry's mother and father. Salazar was unsure of what that meant for Harry, as he claimed it was unlikely such a powerful protection would linger for much longer. Considering that the protection was seemingly against the killing curse, Salazar had advised Harry against putting it to the test.
And when I said I wasn't that stupid, he says you can never tell with a Gryffindor. He's really milking this for what it's worth.
The hypothesis did, however, rely on Lily Potter having knowledge on Blood Magic. There was simply no other way she could have hoped to accomplish what she had, according to Salazar. Harry had known his mother was a prodigy of sorts, but not to that extent; he had always thought the professors had been playing it up, lost in nostalgia. Hearing that Blood Magic was likely the only possible way Harry could have survived, however, did make Harry much more willing to delve into the study of rituals. If his mother deemed it safe enough to learn, he would as well.
Harry closed his book gently twenty minutes later; the Gryffindors' next class, Charms, would be starting shortly. Hermione was reprimanding the other Gryffindor boys again; he would have to remind Ron to refrain from talking about Veela around her.