“Open,” Harry hissed and the door to the inner sanctum opened. It was an odd feeling speaking a different language and having his soul vibrate in a different way than he is used to. Harry could speak Ascendant if he wanted to, but his brain seemed to have some kind of new switch whenever he looked at something telling him which language he should speak to make it or them understand. And it apparently worked on doors as well.
Harry hoped Dumbledore had a good explanation for why Fawkes couldn’t have teleported here earlier in the year. The bird had been very confused when Harry told it that Nidhogg wasn’t trying to hurt the students. Apparently the phoenix had been told something else before it teleported in, presumably by Dumbledore in the past. There was no other way Harry could see Fawkes giving Ron that sword, which Nidhogg had told him was very powerful and dangerous after the battle. At least the headmaster was arrested at the moment, so he couldn’t order the Phoenix to attack Nidhogg again now that Harry had established a temporary truce between the two creatures.
Harry rushed over to Salazar’s portrait. The man looked up and frowned, “Back again so soon? It has only been a few hours, I didn’t realize you were so eager… what happened?”
“Nidhogg has been injured, the headmaster’s phoenix teleported in and clawed out one of his eyes,” Harry said, “I managed to convince it to leave, but is there any way I can heal him?”
Salazar’s eyes widened and then narrowed in rage.
“The headmaster of this school dares attack Nidhogg!!! Oh, the curses I’ll lay on him. Tell me, is it still Dumbledore? He’ll soon see how much influence I still have over Hogwarts defenses when they start tanning his hide…”
Harry nodded, “Yes, it’s him. But he’s already been arrested for using a memory charm on me last year. He won’t be back in the castle for a while. Can you focus on revenge later? Nidhogg is injured right now.”
Salazar sighed and seemed to take a deep breath. Harry wondered why a painting would need to breathe.
“Of course, of course,” Salazar said, “You’re right, I’m being hasty. All of the best revenge plots are slowly cooked. Here, another slip.” A piece of paper appeared on the desk in front of Salazar’s painting, “The five items in there should do it. I’ve already given you permission to take them. Now, go. Heal Nidhogg.”
“Thank you, Salazar,” Harry said before reading the slip, sliding it into the pockets of his robes, and running off to get the items from the store room.
— — —
Ron stood there silently with his sword as the Basilisk lay there with its remaining eye closed. The wounded side of its face was gouged and blood was dribbling from its wounds and its breathing was a little unsteady as it lay there.
He looked up as there was movement from the dark passage. Harry was floating a large stack of white cloth and several glass bottles wrapped up in the center of it.
Harry floated it and cast a more complicated hovering charm to anchor the pile of cloth in space without him directly controlling it.
He glanced over to Ron. “Hey, can you guys help me with the bandages? Nidhogg is pretty big and I’ve never done this before. We can use that sword to cut them to the proper length.”
Harry unstoppered one of the potion bottles and poured them onto the wounds other than the eye. They started slowly closing as Ron and Neville warily approached the Basilisk head.
When they got close enough Harry handed them an ancient parchment with instructions.
“Near the bottom,” Harry said, “Read that so you can help after I finish with the potions.”
Harry poured another potion around the Basilisk's injured eye and a whitish foam started coming out of the socket. The Basilisk hissed in obvious pain and shifted slightly, but calmed down once Harry hissed something at it.
“Alright, the third one is last for the potions that are directly applied,” Harry said as he took the final potion and sprinkled it all over the injuries. The wounds from before had healed into what could be considered old scars began to slowly lower and shift into smooth flesh. However, that whole side of the Basilisk's face was bare of its green scales revealing the darker brown flesh beneath.
Harry turned to Neville and Ron and gestured to the sword in Ron’s hand.
“Cut four meter strips with that, Ron” Harry said, “Neville, you soak the bandages in the final potion to finish things off before I put them on Nidhogg. We have to keep things covered if the eye is going to heal properly with such a severe wound.”
Ron and Neville glanced at each other, before both shrugging and getting to work under Harry’s guidance. It was just like potions. Even if Harry had never done it before, he still was able to follow the directions on the paper exactly which brought them most of the way there in doing it correctly.
After thirty minutes or so, they had finished with the gleaming blade in Ron’s hand cutting through the white bandages like they weren’t there. They, well mostly Harry, constructed a sort of sling that covered the injured half of the Basilisk’s, Nidhogg’s, head. The bandages were especially thick and bulging over the eye which would take much longer to heal than the other wounds. Phoenix wounds were usually nearly impossible to heal, but the potions Harry had used were specially designed to heal them according to the slip of paper Harry had handed to Ron.
They all stepped back as Harry pronounced their work finished. Nidhogg raised his head and went to submerge itself in the lake before Harry hissed at it. It paused and sent an annoyed hiss back at Harry before shifting its motion so it began slithering back through the mouth of the statue and through the tunnel.
“Wha-what did you tell it, Harry?” Neville asked nervously,
“I just told him not to get the bandages wet, it would stop the potions from working,” Harry replied casually, “He was just annoyed because he wanted to lounge in that pool. He seems very intelligent, so I’m sure he’ll resist the urge until he’s fully healed.”
“So, um…” Neville continued.
The sword in Ron’s hand began glowing and in a flash of light it suddenly disappeared again. Ron looked down at his empty hands dumbly and grabbed at the air for a few seconds.
“At least it stuck around to help cut the bandages,” Harry said, “It’s probably too much of a coincidence it disappeared right after we finished up.”
Ron blinked again, still readjusting to Harry’s dry tone in response to even the most incredible events, “I guess so, Harry,” Ron replied.
Ron looked up and met Harry’s eyes, “I’m glad you’re back, Harry. A lot has happened while you’ve been gone. Hermione was devastated, you should have seen her… She’ll be overjoyed once they heal her petrification. How are you here? Why are you friends with that snake? And most importantly…”
Ron pointed at Harry’s green robes, “Why are you wearing Slytherin Robes?!” He shouted incredulously.
— — —
Harry went to one of the abandoned classrooms using his locket and dragged a few chairs down into the chamber for them to sit in. Then he began to explain everything that had happened to him since he had woken from his coma. Ron and Neville were shocked that Dumbledore would cast a memory charm on Harry.
Ron was most surprised that Dumbedore hadn’t escaped if he had tried to run. He was the most powerful wizard in Britain, it was ridiculous to think that any amount of average Aurors would be able to take him down before he could apparate away…
Ron clenched his fist as Harry told them about how the black diary had been possessing his sister, controlling her to force her to order Nidhogg to perform all the attacks over the course of the year. Ron had seen her with that book clutched in her hand before, he had just never thought to question it.
He hadn’t talked to his sister much if at all this year. If he had, then maybe he would have known.
Finally, Harry was the Heir of Slytherin apparently. Now, that was a shock to Neville and Ron both. The Potters were descendants of Slytherin! The idea was ridiculous, the Potters were one of the strongest supporters of the light faction historically. Slytherins descendants' families had always been part of the dark faction…
But what Harry said was proof. If the Chamber recognized Harry as having Salazar Slytherin’s blood then it had to be true. Otherwise the defenses probably would have cursed Harry so violently that he wouldn’t even have been able to move without being in pain. If he had even survived the curses at all. Not that Ron told Harry that part. Places bound with family magic were brutal when someone attempted to access them without being of the correct bloodline.
Ron didn’t think Harry realized just how significant it was that he was descended from Slytherin. That meant that more in the light faction might be secret descendants of Slytherin and be able to claim the Chamber.
In the modern day the descendants of Slytherin in the dark faction seemed to have died out over time. Ron had heard this from his curious classmates from when the whole school was researching the history of the Chamber of Secrets after the first petrifications. Other magical places in Britain were bound to certain bloodlines that were extinct in the modern day, hidden and scattered all over.
Each of those places that someone managed access to over the years was a treasure trove of lost knowledge and magical items. Not that they were often explored given the price of guessing wrong on the proper bloodline to get access generally led to the curses of those places being fatal. But the bloodline of Slytherin was powerful and could theoretically give access to many of them.
Ron urged to keep those details of his bloodline secret, and Harry easily agreed. He said that he wanted to try to keep his access to the chamber secret anyways since heirs of Slytherin had such a bad reputation. Ron snorted at that. Now that was an understatement. Growing up his mom had told him bedtime stories about them. The Heir of Slytherin had been one of the monsters that would come and eat him if he didn’t behave properly.
After Harry finished, it was Ron and Neville’s turn to explain everything that had happened with them over the last year to Harry. Ron let Neville start off with what he had done over last summer…
— — —
Harry felt a little bad for omitting some of the truth in his story. He had left out James Kensit of course, but also about his transformation. He was still coming to terms with it himself, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about his friends knowing that he wasn’t fully human. Especially since they had screamed and ran as soon as they saw his undead form, without even a second's thought to consider if he was actually hostile.
Not only was Harry not human, he was not sure what he was. The way James Kensit had talked about him… Harry thought the man was saying that Harry was some kind of construct that James Kensit had built from the body of the original baby Harry. A robot or golem.
But Harry felt real, not like one of those mechanical robots on the television. It was all very confusing, and he needed more time to think about it. In telling his story, Harry had made it sound like he defeated Tom Riddle and destroyed the Horcrux with some clever spells rather than the instincts of his undead form.
Harry’s eyes widened slightly as Ron and Neville narrated the story of the year he had been gone. Even second hand, Hermione’s story had been almost as crazy as his. And her actions were planned by her rather than all the events that seemed to happen around Harry regardless of his best efforts to keep his head down.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
She had attacked Lucius Malfoy in broad daylight to free his slave, then had her magic altered in order to help this ‘Dobby’ to survive. Harry hadn’t known about house elves at all before Ron and Neville explained that to them. It was a rather horrible situation for them. But Harry didn’t think he would sacrifice so much of his magic to save one of them. Especially if they were a stranger.
Was that selfish? Harry didn’t think so. Luckily it seemed the amount of magic Hermione had lost hadn’t impacted her daily life too much other than her getting tired after casting her magic much quicker. That was good, she shouldn’t be punished for doing something so selfless.
Hermione had also received personal lessons from Dumbledore, Harry wasn’t sure how to feel about that one. He would have to ask her directly, hopefully Dumbledore hadn’t performed any memory charms on her while they were alone. Maybe he could get the Aurors to check her mind after she recovered? But then they might find Dobby while they were in there, so she probably wouldn’t want to do that…
Ron and Neville kept talking about how much Hermione had missed Harry and how much she still talked about him after a year. The way they talked about her made Harry slightly uncomfortable. Hadn’t they missed him too? Had they written him off as dead?
Why did they keep saying it like that, that Hermione had been the crazy one for believing that Harry would return? Harry remembered how his emotions had overwhelmed when he had realized that Hermione had been hurt. How the cold had washed over him as soon as he saw her stiff body. As Neville and Ron kept speaking Harry wondered if he felt the same way about these two. He wanted to say so, but he honestly… he wasn’t sure.
Finally, Neville and Ron finished with Lockhart's betrayal. Harry felt faint anger as he thought about it as the three of them walked through one of the tunnels out of the chamber Harry had created with his locket. The three of them walked over to the Defense against the Dark arts classroom as Harry wondered if he would be killing another one of his teachers today.
Ron and Neville took the lead and knocked on the door. The man behind it opened the door slightly and peered out, but Ron hit the door with a levitation spell and jerked it open, sending the man inside stumbling back and falling to the floor. The three of them entered the room and Harry looked around. The room was much brighter than it had been last year under Quirrell. There were golden and blue streamers and banners lining the walls of the space and two giant portraits of the man that was on the floor hung on the far wall, smiling with a smug grin into the mid distance while only shifting slightly to change the position they were looking at.
“Happy to see us, Lockhart?” Ron said after kicking the man’s wand out of his hand and under one of the nearby desks.
The man’s golden cape was strewn on the floor behind him as he looked between the three of them with what appeared to be dawning horror. He focused on Harry after a few seconds of sputtering.
“I… I don’t know what they’re talking about!” Lockhart said to Harry who easily met his gaze, “Help, you don’t want to be part of attacking a teacher! You, wait, you’re not in any of my classes, who are you…”
“I’m Harry Potter,” he said, “So you didn’t stun my friends and push them into the Chamber of Secrets hoping the monster would eat them?”
“No-n-no! Of course not, that’s- that’s ridiculous. These two are clearly insane!” Lockhart replied.
A heavy bead of sweat ran down Lockhart's brow as his eyes darted wildly about the classroom, seemingly looking for escape.
Harry noticed Lockhart’s hand inching behind his back even as he kept looking at Harry and babbling to plead his innocence.
“What’s behind your back, Lockhart?” Harry asked, interrupting the man’s rambling. Lockhart froze for a moment before narrowing his eyes and rolling to the side. In the same motion he pulled a wand from behind his back.
“Hell, he has a second wand!” Ron shouted and cast a curse at the man who managed to roll out of the way in time.
Time slowed down as Harry charged forward, his wand forgotten in his robes once again. Harry had no time to cast a spell or take his wand out of his robes. Lockhart raised his wand in slow motion towards Neville and Harry could tell from the glittering malice in the man’s eyes that the spell he was about to cast would be unpleasant.
“Obli-” The man shouted from the ground as Harry leapt forward and slapped downwards on the wand with his hand that had grown ice cold even as he moved. Harry’s hand impacted the center of the wand and a sharp crack echoed throughout the room as Harry’s hand suddenly grew warm again.
“-liviate! GAAAAHHHHHH”
Harry twisted in mid-air away from Lockhart as he sensed an explosion of magic rioting in the cracked wand. After a half second of sparking, Lockhart's wand cracked in half and a wave of something shot backwards into the man.
Lockhart fell back for a moment and lay there stunned for a moment. Lockhart blinked dumbly for a few seconds before sitting up abruptly with a blank look on his face. Harry made his way to the feet and the three boys watched the man sitting on the floor warily as he sat there passively and inspected the room with wide eyes. “Where am I?” The man asked out of the blue, “Is this a classroom? I thought I had already gone through school. Have I? I’m not sure.”
They all glanced at each other, “What are you playing at, Lockhart?” Ron demanded angrily, jabbing his wand towards the man for emphasis. Lockhart blinked in surprise and inspected himself and pinched the fabric of his robes. “Lockhart? Is that me? I can’t seem to remember what is happening, I don’t suppose you could tell me?”
Lockhart looked hopefully at Ron, who glanced uncertainly at Harry and Neville. The three of them retreated to the far corner of the room and began discussing in low tones.
“What should we do with him?” Ron whispered. “His spell backfired, he must have just tried to erase Neville’s memory with that spell. How do we tell the Aurors about this?”
“I don’t know Ron,” Neville glanced at Harry, “I don’t see how we can tell them without explaining about the Chamber.”
Harry shook his head, “We have to tell them about the Chamber,” Harry whispered, “I already told the Aurors about it and how I got in when I brought Ginny up here. I just told them that the entrance was open when I got there, and an exit was already ready when I was inside. An exit that sealed shut behind me. Tell them you found the same exit, and that I found you after you came out. I just don’t want them to know how to get in. If the government couldn’t find the Chamber in a thousand years then I doubt that they will be able to break in very easily either. Especially the Sanctum, which is really the only part I care about. Nidhogg has to rest to heal his wounds anyways, it will be good for him if he can’t be tempted to go lounge in the pool and ruin his bandages.”
“Seriously, Harry?” Ron asked, “That’s what you’re worried about right now?”
“I get it, Harry,” Neville interrupted, “That’s good. Simple story and pretty much true, I’m terrible at lying. It’s more a lie by omission than anything else.”
Ron nodded slowly, “Brilliant,” Ron said, “Sounds good. So we’ll go to the Aurors and stick to that story?”
Neville and Harry nodded and they quickly broke their huddle.
“What were you talking about over there?” Lockhart said curiously before speaking much softer, “Can I talk quieter too, like you three?”
“Just wait here, Lockhart,” Ron said roughly, “We’ll be back in a few minutes with some… help. See you.”
With that Harry, Ron, and Neville walked outside and went to find one of the patrolling Aurors to explain the situation.
— — —
Needless to say, the Aurors were less than pleased when they heard what had happened. Harry was getting interviewed by Madame Bones again, and he noticed James Kensit in his Auror disguise standing next to her, grinning at Harry when he thought no one else was looking. Ron and Neville would be interviewed separately after Harry was done.
“I told you to go to your room, young man!” Amelia Bones said sternly after Harry had finished giving an overview of the story they had decided on, “What were you even doing wandering the hallways alone?”
“I realized that Ron and Neville were still missing from last night,” Harry said, “I went to find them, and I did. It was lucky that I did or Lockhart might have obliviated them without me being there to stop him.”
“Irresponsible! You three should not have confronted him at all, this is what Aurors are for…” Madame Bones said while rubbing her temples.
“I’ll take young Harry back to his dorm, Madame,” James Kensit said, “I’m sure he’ll stay there now that his friends are all safe and sound.”
Madame Bones glanced at the man in surprise, “Thank you for that, Doudna,” She turned back to Harry and grumbled a bit, “Kids these days, thinking they can handle everything by themselves...”
She looked up and met Harry’s eyes, “Now, there will be no more rule breaking, no leaving your room, and absolutely no going anywhere alone until I or another responsible adult says otherwise. Do you understand, Harry Potter?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Harry replied.
“Good,” She said before waving Harry off, “Go with Doudna. He’ll take you back, your friends will be after you soon.”
— — —
The walk to the Gryffindor was silent for a minute or so. It was James Kensit who broke the silence, still wearing his disguise.
“You just can’t rest, can you?” Kensit said good naturedly, “It’s only been a few hours and you’ve already done something else. So, tell me. I’ll give you a question in the future for this. I think I’ve already overloaded your little mind enough for one year. Just think of it. Next time you see me you’ll get two questions to ask me.”
Harry told him the full story as they walked together to the common room.
“Ah, Phoenix versus Basilisk,” Kensit said wistfully, “The classic battle of the ages. You should be grateful to see such a battle. Both species are too rare these days for such battles to occur anymore with any real frequency. And good deflection of the Aurors. I think Salazar will like you even more if you tell him about it. He was always one to appreciate some cleverness.”
“Why did you scare Ron and Neville away from the Aurors?” Harry said after Kensit lapsed into silence for a few seconds after that, “I would like to use my question right now.”
“Are you sure?” Kensit asked incredulously, “That is an awful big waste of an important resource. You’ve been lucky these last two years but you won’t always be so embroiled in events that are interesting to me.”
Harry hesitated for a moment before firming his resolve, “I’m sure. You acted to harm my friends, if I wasn’t the Heir of Slytherin then Nidhogg might have eaten them. How can I trust you if I think you might randomly hurt the people I care for because you might find it funny?”
Kensit stopped walking and Harry stopped and turned to see he had reverted to his true appearance. His expression was serious, and he was frowning thoughtfully.
Harry watched him, then the man looked up and smiled brightly. He brought his hand up and wiped at his eye. Was that… was that a tear? Kensit’s eyes were sparkling with pride as he looked at Harry.
“You know,” the man said slowly, “that really is a good question. Possibly the best question you could have asked. Much better than I thought it would be. A question showing you a slice of my psyche. The psyche of your creator. But for your answer, I do things because they interest me, because they are exciting. I enjoy chaos and the progress that comes after the waters settle. Progress only comes after a time of chaos, I have seen it so many times throughout my long life. I’ve seen so many whims of mine, experiments that I released into the world, that led others to pioneer ingenious innovations. Things that I alone could never have hoped to develop from scratch. True Progress! Now, you Harry, you are interesting. The majority of the rest of these people are not. They need a push to go beyond their limits and innovate. To improve this world even the smallest bit.”
Kensit continued speaking intently, “In this case, I simply thought those two reporting to the Aurors with whatever had them so worried was too simple a solution. I wanted to make them think creatively, to progress beyond their bland existence, in an attempt to counter me and the obstacle I put in front of them. If they had thought of something clever then I would have let it work. And they did, using that buffoon as an ally was an excellent and well reasoned choice despite it ending up backfiring on them. If you think about it, I even did them a favor. Now they will know to never let a potential enemy walk behind them when they go to battle. That could save their lives some day!”
Kensit watched Harry for a moment expectantly.
“So?” The man asked, “What do you think? What do you think of your creator’s mind?”
Harry’s mind kicked into overdrive as he tried to think of what he should say. He shouldn’t lie, but he had mixed feelings about the man’s words. They felt true, but also subtly wrong in a way that Harry couldn’t pinpoint. Everything individually made sense to him, but taken all together it just didn’t feel right.
“I don’t know what I think,” Harry eventually said honestly, “But please don’t push my friends anymore. I think having to deal with me all the time is enough for them. They don’t need more than that.”
Kensit's smile dropped into a frown for a moment before he recovered and his smile returned although a little subdued than before.
“I understand,” Kensit said, “I truly do. If I had known they were your friends then I wouldn’t have pushed them like that. You are right they likely don’t need any extra motivation. I apologize for my mistake. I should have checked first before acting impulsively. I simply got lost in the moment with all the fun I’ve been having over the last few days… but still. I promise I won’t harm or push any of your friends in the future. I swear. Would you forgive me?”
Harry looked at Kensit and while the man was still smiling he was staring at Harry with intensity at the same time.
“Okay,” Harry said, “As long as you don’t do it again. None of my friends were hurt this time at least.”
Kensit nodded. “Thank you,” he said with a little emotion tinged his voice before he cleared his throat and started walking forward again, his Auror disguise flickering back into place with a quick flick of his wand.
“Well, best get you to bed,” Kensit said, “You’ve had an eventful day. I’m sure you would like to rest.”
Harry followed behind as he thought about the conversation. At least he had gotten the man’s promise to not interfere with Harry’s friends again. Despite everything Harry felt that the man would stick to his promise. And he thought he understood the man a little more than before.
They reached the painting leading to the common room and it swung open after Kensit said the password.
Kensit turned to Harry, “Good night, Harry,” He said
“Good night, Kensit,” Harry replied and stepped inside and the painting closed behind him.
After he got to bed, it was surprisingly hard to sleep that night. The bed in the Chamber of Secrets had been too comfortable, it had spoiled him in the ten seconds he lay on it. Oh, and his racing thoughts didn’t help either. But it was mostly him pining after the bed in the chamber that was stopping him from sleeping, he was sure of it. Harry finally drifted off to sleep thinking of its soft surface which he imagined was exactly what sitting on a cloud would feel like.