Chapter 12: Aftermath
AN: I think it's finally time for Harry to get some social interaction and if not a friend, then at least a sidekick. Who would you guys prefer to see?
Terry from Ravenclaw
Susan from Hufflepuff
Daphne from Slytherin
Blaise from Slytherin
These will not be romantic pairings. Relationship will be purely platonic and for Harry to learn from the for example Wizengamot culture from Daphne.
Chapter 12
"Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!"
The mouth of Salazar Slytherin's statue opened, and something was moving inside it, hissing as it drew closer to the Chamber. Harry and Dumbledore took cover behind one of the pillars as a heavy body connected with the Chamber's floor.
"Kill them all!"
Riddle hissed, firing his first spell at a retreating Dumbledore, who flicked it aside.
"Wait!"
Harry shouted from behind the pillar without looking.
"Two ssspeakers… but only one may command me"!
The serpent hissed, obviously confused with the situation.
"I do not recognize you, young ssspeaker, but you do not carry my Master's magic! My gaze might not be able to kill you, but my venom will!"
The snake hissed enraged.
Well, it was worth a try…
"The snake won't listen to me, Professor!" Harry yelled just as the serpent drew closer and closer to their hideout.
"However, apparently I am indeed immune to its gaze, the snake just told me!"
"Then you will have to distract the snake as long as possible while I try to subdue Tom!" Dumbledore spoke calmly even while spells from Weasley's wand were impacting his shield over and over again.
Distract it, Harry thought… Okay, I can do that. He run away from his current position behind the cover and hissed:
"Come here, tiny garden snake… It's time to play!
The snake hissed angrily at him and that's when Harry got his first good look at it. It must have been about 50 feet long and at least three feet wide. It was covered in a dark grey-greenish scale that stood in contrast to its bright yellow eyes.
Harry held its gaze, glad that he was actually immune to the deathly stare, and continued running away from it. He just needed to buy the Headmaster some time and distract the beast. He turned around and after taking a strong offensive stance and channeling his magic.
Harry levitated some stone piles and rocks that fell from the roof of the Chamber and sent them flying towards the head of the Basilisk.
He managed to connect two of his projectiles with the serpents' sensitive nostrils and the snake hissed in pain as it haltered its attack. Thick dark blood leaked from the snake's nostrils. Basilisk skin might be almost impenetrable, but the outer organs, like its mouth, nostrils and eyes were huge weak points, and Harry could take advantage of that.
Since the serpent was momentarily distracted, Harry quickly put some distance between himself and the Basilisk. He could hear the spell work of his Headmaster and Tom Riddle at the opposite side of the Chamber and risked a quick look over his shoulder.
Harry watched just in time to see a bright red curse from Dumbledore flying right through Riddle without leaving any visible damage.
He heard Riddle's high cold laugh.
"You cannot defeat me Dumbledore! None of your pathetic spells will do any harm to me. This is magic you have always been too scared to face and learn!" He snarled while sending a bright green curse back at the professor.
Dumbledore conjured a stone slab in front of him and the physical object stopped what no shield could hope for. Riddle's Unforgivable blasted the stone slab into hundreds of tiny pieces. The knockback pushed Dumbledore over.
"This is the end of the great Albus Dumbledore, defeated by the memory of his 16-year-old student"
Harry watched in shock as Riddle laughed and sent another killing curse at his Headmaster. Dumbledore barely managed to dodge it and desperately shouted:
"Fawkes! We need your help!"
The golden-red Phoenix appeared in a flash of fire and started piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle. A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet and made its way back to Dumbledore to assist the Headmaster in his fight.
Harry could hear the basilisk closing in behind him. He was only about 10 meters away from Dumbledore and Riddle dueling. It had just passed the lifeless body of the Weasley girl. Harry was literally running out of ideas now. The Basilisk's tail narrowly missed him as Harry dodged it by throwing himself on the floor.
Harry seized the ragged thing Fawkes had dropped in front of him. It was the old sorting hat… What the hell am I supposed to do with that?
As the hat suddenly grew heavier he noticed a gleaming silver sword had appeared inside, its handle glittering with rubies the shape of small eggs.
"Finally, kill the boy!"
Riddle screamed enraged, still unable to defeat the old Headmaster.
Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody nostrils, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword, thin, glittering, venomous. It lunged blindly as Harry dodged, and hit the Chamber wall.
It lunged again, and its forked-tongue lashed Harry's side. He raised the sword in both his hands. The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true. Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth.
But as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor.
"NO!"
Riddle screamed, incensed at the fall of his monster and Dumbledore had to conjure his strongest shield at the powerful magical burst directed at him.
"Harry! Stay awake! Do not close your eyes!" Dumbledore shouted while shielding against Riddle's continuous attacks.
Harry slid down against the pillar he was leaning onto. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy.
The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull color. A patch of scarlet swam past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him.
"Fawkes," said Harry thickly: "I need you, buddy. I need your tears. Please."
Phoenix's tears were the only thing that could save him at this point.
Fawkes' head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers right into his wound.
I hope it wasn't too late, Harry thought. He had no idea how soon the snake's venom would be too far spread out in his blood. However, instead of everything going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears were shining all around the wound, except that there was no wound.
He looked up and saw Dumbledore still dueling with Riddle.
Then his eye was caught by the small black Diary he had dropped next to the Weasley girl. Whatever Tom truly was, a memory or perhaps something more… It was somehow connected to this Diary.
With a determined look on his young face, Harry grabbed the Diary, sat it on the floor in front of him and shot his most powerful Incendio at it.
The flames couldn't even touch the pages… Neither could his Reducto or any other spell in his repertoire. Desperate to support Dumbledore who seemed to be tiring quickly, since he could not physically damage his opponent, Harry grabbed the deadliest weapon the Chamber had provided for him.
He took the fang of the Basilisk that had almost pierced his arm only a minute ago and stabbed the Diary with as much force as he could foster.
There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the Diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then, suddenly, he was gone.
Dumbledore looked in shock at where his opponent stood mere seconds ago.
Weasley's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady drip of ink still oozing from the Diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it.
Dumbledore took a look at Harry holding the book in one hand and the fang in another. His expression was one of complete shock. He summoned Weasley's wand and slowly made his way over to him.
With shaking hands, he took the book from Harry and carefully opened the pages.
"Professor, what kind of magic was that?" Harry asked, perplexed.
"I am not 100% certain, Harry. But Tom was correct in his assessment of me. This is magic I would never dare to perform."
Then came a faint moan from Weasley as she was stirring and sat up. Her clouded eyes traveled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over to Dumbledore, then to Harry, in his blood-soaked robes, and finally to the book in his hand. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face.
"Professor… Oh, Professor… I tried to tell you, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy. It was me, P-Professor but I— I s-swear I d-didn't mean to. R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and — how did you kill that — that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I remember is him coming out of the Diary —"
"Do not worry, Ms. Weasley. Many wiser and older witches and wizards have been fooled by Tom Riddle. Let us all get back up to my office. I need to explain my absence to the governors and I am sure your parents will be glad that you are well."
"Harry, if you could take the Diary and that marvelous sword, please. I will support young Ginevra."
Harry nodded and grabbed both items, following Dumbledore out of the Chamber. He turned around for one last look at the giant serpent. It was a shame he had to end its life. However, maybe it was still useful. The Chamber itself might be a great place to practice dangerous spells without anyone finding him.
Maybe there was even more to it than just the antechamber and this even larger room. Certainly, Salazar Slytherin built it for more than just to house his pet snake. He would return soon and inspect every corner of it.
As he followed Dumbledore and Weasley, who was still sobbing, he thought about the actions of the girl. Could he blame her for the events that took place?
Sure, he himself instantly felt that something was wrong with the book, but he was very sensitive to magical items after having been brought up in the muggle world.
His senses were also fine-tuned by the teachings of Nick and Penny. Could he blame an 11-year-old girl, who had grown up with magic around her entire life, for not identifying an item that was full of dark magic? Where did she even get it from?
"Ms. Weasley, where did you find this Diary?" Harry asked the still sobbing girl.
"It was with all my other school books in my cauldron after mum and dad took me shopping in Diagon Alley. I thought they had bought it as a present." The girl cried.
Harry remembered the girl standing in the bookstore when he himself finished his Shopping. But he also remembered what else happened in that very shop.
"Malfoy" He spat with as much hate as he could.
"What did you say, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, confused.
"Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley had a confrontation, or should I say fistfight, before the beginning of the school year in Flourish and Blott's. As they were separated Malfoy threw a couple of books back into Weasley's cauldron. I bet this Diary was mixed under those books and no one noticed it after the excitement of the fight."
"A very interesting theory, Harry. Indeed, Hagrid told me about the confrontation, but I am afraid we won't be able to prove it was truly Lucius Malfoy that gave young Ginevra the Diary."
"I will not let him get away with this. He will pay for what he has done."
"I would advise caution when dealing with the Malfoys, Harry. They are an old family with excellent connections in the ministry."
Harry snorted: "I don't care… He will pay for this. I'm not scared of his former master and I'm certainly not scared of some blonde ponce."
They arrived at the entrance to Myrtle's bathroom and together made their way to the Headmaster's office.
Inside were already a bunch of people. Harry recognized the other professors and the minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge. There was also Lucius Malfoy, who stood with a group of well-dressed individuals that must be the school's governors.
Two women were flanking the Minister himself. One looked like a toad in bright pink robes. The other reminded him of McGonagall with a stern look, as she regarded Harry through her monocle. Last but not least Mrs. and Mr. Weasley were leaning against the wall in the corner of the room, the former sobbing uncontrollably.
"Mom!" the Weasley girl shouted as she ran to her parents to the other side of the room.
The parents greeted the daughter they thought dead and turned their attention to Dumbledore and Harry.
"Where have you been, Headmaster?" Lucius spat. "You were supposed to meet the entire board about one hour ago and now you show up filthy and dirty?"
"Now, now Lucius. I am sure we will all figure out what happened together." The Minister intervened.
Dumbledore sat in his chair visibly exhausted:
"You of course all deserve an explanation for where I have been and how we, that is young Harry and I, managed to retrieve Ms. Weasley…
Harry, if you would do me the honor of starting this fabulous adventure by telling the people present about your discoveries, I would be very thankful for that."
The toad woman snorted: "You want us to believe that this little boy here played a part in this?"
Harry shot a murderous glare at the woman but ignored her evil grin as he started his tale.
He told everyone about the first attack and how he was able to hear the voice. How he put together the clues as to what happened the last time the Chamber was opened and finally figured out that the entrance must be in the bathroom of the Moaning Myrtle.
"Brilliant deduction, young man! You would make a fine Auror one day!"
Harry thanked the woman with the monocle that introduced herself as Madam Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Fudge interrupted him:
"What are you talking about Amelia? Arrest Mr. Potter for performing dark magic! We cannot have a Parselmouth running around freely! Surely you all remember the last one!"
The toad woman nodded approvingly while pretty much every other person in the room looked as if the minister had lost his mind.
Harry's eyes flashed a bright green and it got noticeably colder in the room:
"You want to arrest me for an ability I was born with that just saved the life of another student and stopped the school from closing down. Are you that fucking incompetent, Minister?"
"How dare you!" The toad woman spat. "Dumbledore, I demand that you expel this brat for insulting our esteemed Minister!"
"I will do no such thing," Dumbledore replied calmly, but the grandfatherly demeanor was all but gone: "If you could all control your temper now, we might be able to continue our story. Perhaps it is best if I take over at this point, Harry."
Harry nodded in agreement and Dumbledore continued their adventure, telling everyone how together they found the entrance to the Chamber in the bathroom and made their way downstairs.
He explained how Lord Voldemort himself possessed young Ms. Weasley via a dark artifact and how he had battled his former student while Harry distracted the basilisk.
The audience visibly flinched at the mention of the Dark Lord's name and stared disbelievingly at Harry when being told that a young child faced such a monster.
Dumbledore explained how Harry could survive the stare since he was a Parselmouth before he showed everyone the famous Sword of Godric Gryffindor, which as he explained, Harry used to kill the giant serpent.
He finished his tale by telling the audience about destroying the dark magical artifact and before he brought young Ms. Weasley back up into the school.
"You want us to believe that You-Know-Who possessed this small girl and made her open the Chamber of Secrets on his behalf, Dumbledore? The Dark Lord is dead and has been dead for almost 12 years thanks to you star pupil here." Fudge spat.
"If he was truly dead, then why wasn't his body found? Where is his wand?" Harry asked curiously.
"That is not information you should be concerned with!" Fudge replied nervously. "I don't for a second believe the fancy fairy tale of giant serpents and Dark Lords possessing students. The boy should get checked in St. Mungo for some lasting spell dam…" The minister started choking and stopped mid-sentence.
The room grew cold once again as Harry's eyes now shone an emerald bright green. Magic was swirling around him and his aura was almost visible.
"Harry, please calm yourself!" Dumbledore pledged. "Minister and governors, I think it's best if you leave now. You do not want to anger young Harry any further!"
Fudge choked before retreating from the Headmaster's office: "This isn't over Dumbledore; the boy will stop telling his lies and pay for attacking me!"
Harry was left in the office with teachers and the Weasleys.
"Mr. Potter, I think it is best if the three of us, including Ms. Weasley, take a trip to the hospital wing. I am not looking forward to Madam Pomfrey's lecture on risking my students, but I am sure she will be very interested in finding out what happened to you."
Harry nodded and left the office with Dumbledore and the Weasleys. They all arrived at the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was fuming as she saw the state Harry was in. He couldn't blame her to be honest. In his damaged robes, with blood and dirt smeared all over him he did make quite the impressive figure even for a twelve-year-old.
She pushed Harry into a bed and began running her diagnostic charms on him:
"Whatever happened tonight has left a mark on you, Mr. Potter. Your blood absorbed the venom, which was neutralized thanks to the phoenix tears. Having the most toxic venom flowing through your veins basically renders you immune to all sorts of other venoms in the magical world, as none of them compare to a Basilisk."
"Awesome! That's quite a nice upgrade, don't you think?"
The Healer frowned: "This is not something to joke about, Mr. Potter. I can't even fathom what other changes this might provoke. However, it might be interesting to see how your affinity to snakes is influenced by this change. Especially since you are a Parseltongue already."
That got Harry thinking. Could his Parselmagic improve from nearly being killed by the King of the Serpents? He desperately needed a mentor in this field. It was a shame that Nick and Penny had very little knowledge about Parselmagic. Dumbledore might know a thing or two, but Harry would rather keep as many of his abilities hidden from the old man as possible.
Dumbledore was currently with the Weasleys at their daughter's bed and gave some more detail on what might have happened with the girl over the school year. Mrs. Weasley was sobbing:
"I just can't believe it… Our poor Ginny! Possessed by You-Know-Who you say, Albus. How is that even possible?"
Dumbledore explained how the Diary slowly took control over her since she had started writing in it at the beginning of the school year. The girl's father frowned and narrowed his eyes in anger:
"Ginny, haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you