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Harry Potter and the Unexpected Visitor | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Fluff Warnings: Disturbing Imagery Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 223 Summary: Harry James Potter has come back to Privet Drive after his abysmal fifth year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, as Albus Dumbledore asked him to do. There, he mourns around everything that happened the last months, especially his Godfather's death, but all will change when someone he did not expect comes... The author has stated this story will not be continued. SIYE Hitcount: Story Total: 176720; Chapter Total: 7022 Author's Notes: Summary: Snape surprises the hell out of everybody when he docks points from Slytherin for the first time ever. The Weasley brothers (minus Percy) welcome Harry to the family on their humorous style, but subestimate Ginny's genius. |
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How to survive a Weasley Family Prank The next few weeks went by slowly for everybody in the school. Harry’s schedule was really cramped, between normal classes, Quidditch trainings, teaching the Defence Association and, from the third week of September, more training in Elemental Magic with Dumbledore and Legillimency and Mindspeech with Fabian. Fortunately, he didn’t have to go to the Animagus lessons that Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna, were going to, so he usually spent those moments doing any homework he had or practising the Parselmagic in the Room of Requirement. The first Potions class of October, which was on a Tuesday, Snape told them to pair off for their work. “From now, you will be working in pairs. Some of the potions you will be making this term will have to be used as an ingredient in other potion, and you’d better follow all the instructions,” he sneered, looking directly at Harry, “because the tiniest failure in the first potion could provoke a big reaction in the second one. Today, you will make a Clearing Draught, which you will be using as an ingredient for the Dreamless Sleep Potion. I suggest that you copy all the instructions before starting with the process.” Harry and Hermione paired off immediately. The others got in couples, always within the same house, but Draco decided to choose someone else as a couple. “Susan?” he asked, hesitantly, to the brown-haired girl. “Do you mind if I sit with you for making these potions?” Susan looked at him with half-a-smile. “OK. Less chances of being shouted at,” she told him, pointing at the seat next to her. Everything was going smoothly, with people chopping ingredients and stirring cauldrons, when Harry suddenly took his wand out and fired a Containment Charm to something that was flying towards Draco’s cauldron. “Mr. Potter, could you give me one reason why you did that so that I do not expel you from this class?” Snape asked Harry. “Yes, Professor. I saw someone throwing a root from Draco’s right side. I wasn’t able to recognise it before I hit it, but I was sure that it could cause a bad reaction.” Snape went to the table Draco and Susan were working, took the root and stood up. Harry was able to recognise it as a Tentacula Venomosa root. If Harry did remember correctly from the Potions’ book, the venom in that plant did not react with a lot of things, but one of said things was the shrew blood that was part of the potion they were making right now. Said reaction could cause a big poisonous smoke to go out of the cauldron, probably strengthened by the moonstone, which was the main ingredient since it could help to stabilise the emotions for clearing the drinker’s mind. “Who did this?” Snape said, angrily. “This could have killed any of you in a few minutes if it had fallen into Mr. Malfoy’s cauldron. You should be thankful that Potter was able to stop it. I won’t repeat it: who did this?” Nobody said anything, but Harry knew it had been either Parkinson or Nott, who were the only ones that could have thrown the root from the direction Harry saw it coming. He didn’t expect Snape to use Legillimency on them so that he could attest, publicly, for the first time, that it had been a Slytherin the one who had tried that stunt, so it was a surprise when he gazed directly at Parkinson and used the Mind Reading charm on her in its subtle way. “Miss Parkinson, twenty points from Slytherin and one detention with Mr. Filch for endangering your fellow students,” the Potions Master said. “What?” she shrieked, which was the only sound in the room apart from the bubbling of the cauldrons. Snape taking points from Slytherin was something that could go to the history books. “If you don’t want to make it fifty, I suggest you to keep working in silence,” he snarled. Harry looked at the Potions Professor with his eyes wide open, as were all the people in the class, but when Snape looked at them they went back to work. “OK, who the heck is that guy and what did he do with Snape?” Hermione whispered to Harry while she handed him the powdered spearfish spines. “I don’t have any idea, but I know that if he keeps up with that he may have problems with his cover as a spy,” Harry whispered back at his friend, slowly pouring the powder into the potion and stirring anti-clockwise until all the powder was into the potion. Right after stopping to stir the potion turned turquoise, like it had to be according to Advanced Potion-Making. “Good,” Hermione said. Now it was Harry’s turn to prepare ingredients while Hermione watched the potion. They had made a deal about doing that when they had to work in pairs, to prevent any ‘accidents’ like the one Parkinson had tried to provoke a few moments ago. In the end, they were able to complete the potion without a problem and present it to Snape, who accepted it. “Potter, a word before you leave, please. Granger, you can leave.” Surprised at that, Harry waited next to the professor’s table while Hermione went out. “Well, Potter, I’m sure you are wondering about why I am asking you to stay here,” he said. Harry nodded, confused. “There are a few things I have to tell you, which I have informed Dumbledore recently but you need to know immediately. For instance, the Dark Lord knows you have reformed the Defence Association, but he doesn’t have the means to spy on your meetings after your trick with the contract. He may try to infiltrate someone, but since he does not know you can see who has not signed it, it’ll be easy to face that. “You also must be careful when you are near some Slytherins, particularly Nott and Parkinson. They may be given instructions to send you to Voldemort or to harm you or your friends in some way, so tell them to be careful, too. That one goes double for Draco, since he has to share a room with Nott. “Finally, I meant to give you something that I hope will help you with your training.” Snape stood up and went to his office, from where he came back with a package the size of a deck of cards. The older wizard said Engorgio and Harry saw that he had brought a set of books. “All these books are copies I managed to make from the Dark Lord’s personal ones during the last two months. They are all written in Parseltongue, I think, so only you and the Dark Lord are able to read this, and I doubt he notices I sneaked these.” “Wow,” Harry gasped. In the cover he could read I am Lord Voldemort and down that My knowledge will be hidden from mere mortals. “Thank you, Professor.” “You may show that to Professor Dumbledore, but either way you must keep these books hidden. If a word of this reached the Dark Lord’s ears…” “Don’t worry, Professor. I know that you have risked your life to find these, and I’ll make sure it hasn’t been in vain.” “You may leave then, Professor Potter,” Snape dismissed him. Harry stood up and left, already peering on the first book of the series. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ The first Saturday of October, Harry woke up rather early. It had been one heck of a good month, the one in Hogwarts. Harry had showed Dumbledore the books and told him a bit about what was written on them, which were various charms and spells that Voldemort had learnt during his life, especially after he left Hogwarts. The Headmaster told him to read the books but not to try anything before asking him, which Harry promised to do. Today, Harry had planned to spend the day with Ginny: after doing all their homework, they were going to fly on the Quidditch pitch for some time, and then they would have a walk on the grounds. When Harry and Ron got dressed, they went to the common room, and saw that Hermione was waiting for them. “Do you know where Ginny is?” Harry asked while Ron greeted his girlfriend with a kiss. “No. Would you like me to go upstairs and have a look?” Hermione said. “Yes, please,” Harry replied, grateful. Hermione ran upstairs and came back soon. “Sorry, Harry, but she is not in her bedroom. Her dorm mates told me she left a note for you saying she had to go to check something to the library, but she would explain later in breakfast.” Harry felt a little hurt that Ginny would do something like that without telling him directly, but he hid it. “Should we go to the library or directly to breakfast?” Ron asked. “I think the second. We can save Ginny a seat that way if she arrives a bit late,” Hermione decided, and the trio went downstairs. In the Great Hall, Harry left a seat free between himself and Hermione for Ginny. During the next fifteen minutes, seven girls - two of them weren’t Gryffindors even - tried to sit there in the hopes of trying to catch Harry, but both Harry and Hermione told them - first politely, then a bit more rudely when it started to grate on Harry’s nerves - to find another seat for themselves. Half an hour after they arrived to the Great Hall, Ginny had not come yet, and Harry was getting worried. Just in that moment, the owl post entered the Great Hall. Immediately, a barn owl landed in front of Harry, with an orange envelope tied to its leg. “It’s Bill’s owl,” Ron told Harry. “Why is he writing to you?” “I have no idea, but let’s see.” Harry opened the envelope and started to read the letter. Our dearest Harry James Potter, Hi! This is Bill, Charlie, Fred and George. We are writing this letter in hopes that you can pass what we - that is, the Weasleys brothers - like to call Weasley Family Prank! When I heard from my dear Mom that you and Ginny were an item, I was really happy. My favourite sister has had all of us around her little finger, and I know that her favourite story when she was a little cute girl was how you beat Voldemort. Stop with that, Charlie! Well, what my brother wants to say is that this prank - which counts, believe it or not, with the blessing of our parents - is our way to welcome you officially into our family, and you won’t be able to avoid it, no matter what you do. For starters, you may have noticed that Gin-Gin (don’t tell her I called her that) is not down there in the Hall with you. Harry was surprised. How did they know that? That’s because we managed to enter her room and ‘kidnap’ her. She is still in Hogwarts, though I won’t tell you where she is, so that you don’t try to ‘rescue’ her and foil our prank. Next thing is that your backside is currently stuck to the seat in which you are. Said Sticking Charm, which was applied on you right after opening this letter, will wear out in a few minutes, when the next part of the prank starts. Don’t look at little Ronniekins in hopes of help, because although he knew we were going to do something, he doesn’t know what we are going to do. “Ron! You could have told me about your brothers’ prank!” Harry said, desperate. Ron smiled. “Sorry, mate. I was forbidden to talk about it under threats of an embarrassing prank.” Harry huffed exasperated and kept reading. In a few minutes, a new letter will arrive. I can say it’s not for you, but rather for the whole school, because nearly everybody will be involved in this most fabulous prank we have devised. Please, don’t disappoint us by failing to pass this test. Of course, we love the fact you are with Ginny, so don’t you dare leave her or the four of us plus Ron will kill you - that is, if Ginny has not killed you yet. Have fun! Bill, Charlie, Fred and George. P.D: Don’t worry; we have made sure that you are not harmed. Harry smashed his head against the wooden table. Why did everything happen to him? “Harry, stop! You will injure yourself!” Hermione admonished. “Well, if you just tell me how to stop a Weasley Prank to hit me full, I’d be most grateful.” Hermione was about to say something, but was interrupted when a lonely owl entered the Great Hall, carrying a red envelope on her beak. “Bloody Hell! Who is going to receive a Howler?” Ron said. “A Howler?” Harry said. This was getting worse each minute. After a few seconds, the owl dropped the Howler between Gryffindor’s and Hufflepuff’s tables, and it exploded in the air. “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, HOGWARTS! I AM BILL WEASLEY, AND I AM GOING TO PRESENT YOU WITH ONE OF THE BEST PRANKS ANY WEASLEY HAS EVER PLANNED AND STARTED IN THE WHOLE STORY OF HOGWARTS!” Damn, damn, damn, damn! Harry thought, hitting his head with the table each time. “YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHO IS GOING TO BE THE UNFORTUNATE PERSON WHO WILL BE ON THE RECEIVING END OF THIS PRANK! WHY, IT’S NONE OTHER THAN THE SAME HARRY POTTER!” At this point, nearly everybody looked at Harry, who instantly blushed at the unwarranted attention he was receiving. “BEFORE THE PRANK STARTS, I AM GOING TO TELL YOU A FEW THINGS ABOUT MAGICAL CREATURES THAT PROFESSOR HAGRID MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE TOLD YOU. “AS A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN ATTEST, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ATTENDED THE WORLD CUP FINALS TWO YEARS AGO, VEELAS HAVE A RATHER INTERESTING EFFECT ON MEN THAT ARE AROUND THEM. FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, THE VEELA CHARM IMPULSES MEN TO DO OR SAY THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT THINGS TO SEDUCE THE VEELAS. “A HARDLY KNOWN THING IS THE FACT THAT VEELA MEN ALSO EXIST, BUT THEY ARE HIDDEN AWAY BECAUSE OF THE EFFECT THEY HAVE ON NORMAL WOMEN: A WOMAN AFFECTED BY A VEELA MAN WILL TRY TO SEDUCE HIM, TOO, BUT INSTEAD OF BRAG AND DO STUPID THINGS, LIKE MEN, THEY WILL RESORT TO MORE DRASTIC MEASURES TO ENSURE THEIR OBJECTIVE. “IF EVERY GIRL IN THIS SCHOOL WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A LOOK AT MR. POTTER NOW, THEY WILL NOTICE THAT THEIR PROBABLY BIGGEST DREAM NOWADAYS HAS BEEN PULLED INTO REALITY, SINCE YOU ARE GOING TO HELP US WITH THE PRANK: RIGHT NOW, NEARLY ALL HARRY’S CLOTHES ARE COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT, SO YOU ARE ABLE TO LOOK AT HIM IN ALL HIS GLORY!” Harry looked at himself and saw that, as Bill was saying, his robes were completely transparent, as well as his trainers and socks. At least they didn’t touch my boxers, Harry thought, miserably, not noticing the lustful looks he was receiving from nearly a half of Hogwarts’ population. “WELL, HERE ENDS THE MAGICAL CREATURES CLASS, AND STARTS THE FUN! FOR THE NEXT TWELVE HOURS, STARTING WHEN I SHOUT ‘GO!’, HARRY WILL BE, UNDER ALL EFFECTS, A VEELA MAN, WHICH MEANS HE WILL ATTRACT ALL GIRLS LIKE A FIRE ATTRACTS MOTHS! GUYS, DON’T BE ANGRY WITH HARRY, HE DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS! “FOR YOUR INFORMATION, HARRY, EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY THE SAME STICKING CHARM YOU ARE FREE FROM NOW, AND THEY WON’T BE FREE UNTIL THE VEELA CHARM IS ACTIVATED. YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A TEN SECOND HEAD START WHICH STARTS… NOW! 10!” Harry looked at Hermione with a very serious face and told her: “Please, Hermione, take the Map from my trunk and find Ginny!” “9!” “OK, Harry,” Hermione said. “8!” “What are you going to do, mate?” Ron asked, half-worried, half-laughing. “7!” “What do you think I am going to do?” Harry replied, scared. “6!” “I am going to run for the next twelve hours to avoid getting mobbed by more than two hundred witches!” “5!” “Will you do that, Hermione?” “4!” “Yes, Harry.” “Thanks, bye!” Harry said, standing up. “3!” Harry ran towards the door, and reached it as the Howler counted: “2!” He was outside the grounds. “1!” “GO!” ~~~~*** ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~* **~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Ginny woke up slowly, not daring to open her eyes because she had just had the sweetest dream about Harry lifting her in his strong arms after their wedding, taking her to their bedroom and making love to her in a very passionate way. When she moved her hand over her bed, she realised she wasn’t sleeping in a bed, because the texture was somewhat… grassy. She opened her eyes and stood up, and she saw she was in the countryside. There were a few hills around her, flowers and grass everywhere and some trees a few meters from where she had been sleeping. “Where am I?” Ginny asked herself. As in cue, a piece of parchment floated from over her head, slowly falling to the floor. Ginny caught it in the air and saw it was a letter from his favourite brother, Bill. Dear little Ginny, Hi! As you may have seen as soon as you woke up, you aren’t now in your bedroom in the Gryffindor tower. This is due to the fact that I managed to take you to where you are while you were sleeping. Currently, you are in Hogwarts, exactly in the Room of Requirement, which is the one Fred and George told me you were doing the DA sessions. You will be able to ask for anything you want or need, save for a way to get out of the room. You are in this predicament because we - that is, Charlie, Fred, George and I - decided that the best - and funniest! - way to welcome your loving boyfriend Harry is to put him under a Weasley Family Prank. While you are reading these lines, every teenage girl in this school will be running behind Mr. Potter to catch a taste of those lips you have tasted so many times, because he has been charmed to have the same influence on girls that a vela man has on every female human. Ginny was furious right now. How did her brothers dare to do that to her Harry! And now all those girls would be touching him, something he only let her do! Unfortunately, your presence near Harry would be really bad for the prank, so you had to be apart from him. So, I expect you have enough imagination to find something to do for the next 12 hours, because the door won’t open until eight thirty in the afternoon. Have fun! Bill Ginny fumed at her brothers’ stupidity. It was clear that they had not learnt their lesson from when she used the Bat-Bogey Hex on them last time for teasing her about her infatuation with Harry, five years ago. Well, it was obvious she would have to teach them again not to mess with her! But first thing was to find Harry soon. And for that, she needed to get out of the room. Think, Ginny, think… ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~ ~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~ Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, Transfiguration Professor and Head of Gryffindor House of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft had never been so surprised. First, it had been one of her favourite students, Harry Potter, who had been strangely without his girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, hitting his head against the table, apparently for something in the letter he had been reading. Then, a Howler had arrived and had announced that Harry was under a charm that would make all the female students run behind him to kiss him and that it would last half-a-day. Harry had then run away - with nearly all his clothes transparent - and finally the girls had stood up and ran behind him, creating a little earthquake and leaving the Hall in a matter of seconds. Well, it seems that a few girls have had enough self-restraint to not to run for Harry, Minerva told herself. She could see Hermione Granger sitting next to Ronald Weasley, talking for a few moments before running towards the stairs, probably to try to find the latter’s sister. Luna Lovegood had also remained behind, but was now leaving with Neville Longbottom, as well as all the first years. When she turned to look at her staff companions, she could see that Pomona and Flitwick were laughing uproariously, Hagrid was chuckling, Severus’ sneer was being ruined by the corners of his mouth twitching up, and Albus’ twinkle in his eyes was back with a vengeance. His expression told Minerva that… “Albus, do you know something about this idiotic, stupid shenanigan?” Minerva asked, her shrill voice rising over the laughs of the other members of the staff. “Alas, Minerva, I am guilty as charged. Mr. William Weasley approached me in the last Order meeting and told me the idea he and his brothers had. He assured me that they didn’t want to harm or scare Harry, only to welcome him into the family. I am also told that Mr. Frederick and George Weasley started a pooling on how many girls would be able to kiss Mr. Potter in these twelve hours.” “Albus! You permitted those boys to do something like that?” Minerva was now scandalized. “And how did they manage so that Molly didn’t hear about it?” “At first, she was acting like you are, too, but somehow her children managed to string a cord about her own past. You may remember how her and her brothers once put this table upside down in the middle of dinner, or not?” “Yes, but that’s not the point!” Minerva said. “Albus,” Pomona said. “Do the Weasley twins have a way to know who has kissed Potter?” “From what they told me, Harry has a charm on his lips that reads the magical signature of anyone who kisses Harry, and the main bets they are pooling are how many people from each house does the deed,” Dumbledore said, amused. Pomona didn’t doubt about it and said, “I put 10 Galleons on three Hufflepuffs.” “Pomona! You shouldn’t bet on the life of one of your own students!” Minerva said. “5 on one Slytherin,” Severus said. “Severus!” “Minnie, why don’t you let your hair out? Anyway, I think 7 Galleons on two Ravenclaws should do the trick,” Flitwick said, almost hopping. Minerva thought it carefully and then said: “Albus: 20 Galleons say that Ginny Weasley is the only one who kisses Mr. Potter.” “Are you sure, Minerva?” Albus said, raising his eyebrow. “I’m sure that they have made sure that she won’t be around today.” Minerva puffed then. “Knowing Miss Weasley as well as I do, I doubt anything her brothers have set will stop her.” ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ As soon as Harry - with all the girls behind him - left the Great Hall, Ron turned to his left and saw that Hermione had stayed with him. “How come you didn’t go behind Harry as the others did?” he asked, surprised. “I felt something strange pulling me to do it,” she recognised, “but I managed to fight it with ease.” “O-K,” Ron replied, with amazement. “Should we go and find the map?” “Yeah!” When Ron rose up, he didn’t see the lustful look and the predatory smile that suddenly assaulted Hermione’s face when looking at him. She followed Ron, but now she had a very different goal on her mind… ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ There was something else Bill had not commented about the Veela man effect: in reality, what they did was to activate certain hormones into the women to increase their lust and state of arousal, which the women confused as being deeply, hopelessly and crazily in love with the Veela. If a woman was truly in love with another person, said woman would be able to resist the pull of the Veela charm, but that didn’t stop the hormone activation; instead, she would turn to the man she loved and would require of him to satiate her… ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~ ~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ A few meters away from the main stairs in the fourth floor, inside a broom closet, a boy and a girl were very busy with some serious snogging and some touching over the waist. The blonde girl was known for being a rather crazy person who believed in all sorts of strange creatures; and the brown-haired boy was believed in the past to be the nearest thing to a squib Hogwarts had ever received, but they did not care about that. They only cared about whether the broom should be placed on one corner or just blasted to make more space for them. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ I expect this works, Ginny thought, contemplating the really hard work she had done. After ten minutes of doing nothing but thinking, she had remembered something she had learnt at her Muggle Studies class: ‘… in the end of 19th century, a Muggle called Alfred Nobel invented something called dynamite. It is similar to the powder most fireworks have, but this was used to open mines because it was really potent.’ She had asked Hermione about it, and she told her about Muggle explosives so that she had better marks on the assignment about how explosives worked. Her brother Bill was too much intelligent for his own good. While he had stopped the Room from freeing his sister, it didn’t stop her from finding the door. And right now, Ginny had rigged the door with enough trinitrotoluene or TNT to blow it of its hinges. Ginny lit the fuse with her wand and, after leaving a safe space between the door and her - 200 metres far, just to be sure - she asked the Room to provide her with a protection wall. In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~* **~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~ ~ “I know it must be here…” Ron mused, having just arrived to their room. Harry had keyed his friends to the compartment of the trunk where he held the things like the Marauders’ Map and the Invisibility Cloak in case an emergency arose and Harry couldn’t collect those objects. KABOOOM! The explosion made the whole castle shudder from its foundations to the top of the Astronomy Tower. There was nobody that didn’t hear it, but most people were busy with other matters. “What the bloody hell was that?” Ron asked in the exact moment Hermione entered the room. “Ronald Weasley,” Hermione said with a musical eerie voice. Only then did Ron notice that something was off with his girlfriend: instead of correcting his choice of language, as she usually did, she had only pronounced his name with a really strange tone. Then he turned around and saw that her eyes were shining and figuratively burning like mad, something he had never seen in all the time he had met her; and that smile she was wearing right now reminded him of the one lots of the girls at school when they looked at Harry, only that this one was more pronounced and made him feel like a piece of meat. “’Mione?” Ron asked, cautiously, approaching her with slowness. “Ronald Weasley,” she repeated, in the same tone as before, “do you know how many times I’ve dreamt of picking you in this room, completely alone? How many times I’ve wanted to rip those clothes from your body just to see what’s under them? How many times I’ve had to control myself so that I don’t snog your brains out in the middle of the Great Hall, just because you are so damn sexy the whole day? Tell me, Ronald Weasley, do you know that?” “O-O-K, ‘Mione, stop with that, now, you-you are scaring me,” he replied, backing away. Hermione giggled in a very un-Hermione-ish way. “Are you, Ronald Weasley, great captain and Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, best Chess master Hogwarts has ever seen in years, best friend and main Strategist for the mighty Harry Potter, afraid of a little know-it-all Muggleborn witch like me?” she replied, making Ron go towards his bed. “Eh-eh-eh-eh,” Ron tried to articulate, but was way too scared to say something. He touched the edge of his bed and found he could not back away anymore. “Well, you should,” Hermione said, the fire in her eyes intensifying. Then she pushed him over his bed, jumped on him and, with a swish of her wand, the curtains were tightly closed. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ KABOOM! Harry nearly jumped from his position. What the bloody hell was that? he mused. Currently, the Boy-Who-Lived was sitting on the Astronomy Tower, far away from non-welcomed people. After he had arrived to the grounds, he had transformed into a phoenix and then had transported himself to the tower, in which he was sitting and waiting for any of his friends to appear. The explosion surprised him a lot: not even Fred and George’s fireworks were able to make so much noise! It had to be Death Eaters or Ginny, and since he couldn’t see any masked man from his position, he surmised it had to be his girlfriend, but only Merlin knew where she got whatever she had use to provoke that explosion. His train of thoughts was stopped when he saw that some girls had located him and were right now heading towards him mounting broom. One of them had a long curtain of black hair: Cho. “Damn,” Harry said. Not even the school’s highest tower was safe from the Veela-effect-affected stalkers. “Where do I go now?” he asked himself, going towards the door and running downstairs while thinking of a new hiding place. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~*** ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Albus Dumbledore ran towards the seventh floor with a look of worry on his face followed by half the staff. The explosion had been originated in front of the tapestry that showed Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach ballet to some trolls. Dumbledore remembered that two years ago he had been in a rather bad situation with his bladder when he found that room with all the wonderful chamber pots, and he knew, thanks to Harry, that that room, which was called the Room of Requirement, showed what you needed the most in the moment you passed near it. When he turned the corner that lead to said room, he saw it was a really big mess. There were bricks as far as ten metres from the original position of the door, dust was everywhere in the corridor and had covered completely the tapestry. In the middle of the mess, a piece of parchment was lying. Dumbledore took it. Sorry for the mess, but I needed to get out of this room. Ginny Weasley Dumbledore chuckled, and turned around to look at his Deputy with a twinkle on his eye. “Minerva, I think you are going to win the betting pool.” ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~*** ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Well, that’s phase one I’ve overcame, Ginny told herself while climbing the stairs that led to the sixth years’ bedroom. She planned to take the Marauder’s Map and find Harry with its help. When she arrived to the room, she was greeted by the most horrifying sound she could have ever imagined: her best friend and her brother making out. Thank god the curtains were closed, or she might have had mental scars for her whole life. Only for that, she would have to do everything as fast as she was able to do while trying to ignore the noises Hermione and Ron were doing in the bed right next to her. In the end she found the Map and ran away from the room before she would be in dire need of a psychologist. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~*** ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~* **~~~~ Harry ran to the only place where he could be one hundred percent isolated, the one place in which he could be completely isolated. Only one person could reach the place, and he wasn’t even sure if she would be able to enter the same place as he could. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~*** ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Ginny looked carefully at the Map, and saw that Harry was currently running towards Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. She knew where he was heading, and she also saw and a lot of girls were following him. Breathing deeply, she told herself that she had to face her fears, so she went there through a secret passage she had seen in the Map that connected the seventh and the second floor. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~*** ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ ‘Open!’ Harry said in Parseltongue. He had practised the snakes’ language a lot this summer, and now he could talk in it like if he was talking in English. The passage that led to the Chamber of Secrets was closed with an order of ‘Close and open only to the red-head talker!’ ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~ Ginny arrived to the bathroom with half a minute of advantage over the other girls. She got into and closed the door with the Colloportus charm to give herself a few extra seconds. She then went to the sink and said ‘Open!’ like Harry had done. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ The troupe of girls that were following Harry suddenly stopped when they saw that their beloved man had disappeared into a bathroom that had no way out. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~ ~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ “Hi, Ginny,” Harry said when Ginny entered the Chamber of Secrets. “Hi,” Ginny said, her voice trembling slightly. “I knew that you would be the only one who would be able to reach me here. Where did Bill keep you?” “In the Room of Requirement, or more likely what is left of it,” Ginny said, slightly exasperated at her brother but trying to calm herself. Harry hugged his girlfriend and asked her what she meant when saying what was left of the Room of Requirement. “Well, Bill used some Egyptian charms of those he has seen while working with Gringotts at those pyramids. Unfortunately, he didn’t think of protecting the door from Muggle explosives, and of course he forgot one could get everything into the room.” “Wait! That was the explosion I heard before? How much explosive did you put?” Harry said, looking at her. Ginny blushed slightly. “100 pounds of TNT.” “Ginny!” Harry said, surprised. “You could have been harmed badly!” “I know; that’s why I asked the Room to give me a protective wall so that I wasn’t hit by the rubble. Of course, once the door exploded, the wall only stood up for a few seconds, but it was enough to protect me.” Harry raised an eyebrow. “At least you are uninjured. What would you like to do? I have to note that we won’t be able to get out without me being trampled.” Ginny’s eyes flared. “Wait ‘till I get my brothers!” Then she started to giggle without control. “What’s the matter, Gin?” Harry asked. “Well, I may have caught a certain brother of mine and a certain best friend of ours involved in a rather… intense fight. And said fight may be being held in a certain someone’s bed, and from what I could gather, it was a fight without any words, due to the fact that their mouths were busier with other… business.” “No way! Please don’t tell me they were making out in my bed!” Harry said, scared. “No, silly, they were on Ron’s, and thank Merlin that they had the curtains closed.” “Phew! I would have had nightmares if they had done that in my bed.” Ginny laughed. “What do you think we should do now? We won’t be able to get out of this place for…” Harry consulted his watch, “the next eleven hours.” “You could get out, you know? With your Phoenix form, you could get out of here.” “Maybe, but somehow all the girls know where I am the whole time, so if I got out they would know it.” “Call Dobby then. He’ll be glad to help you!” “Yeah, good idea. What do you want to do while we are here?” Ginny hesitated at this point. “Could you show me around? I’d like to see the place without Tom.” Harry smiled at his girlfriend. “Sure! Now that I think of it, I’m going to reduce the Basilisk to potion ingredients. I’ve read that they are very useful. Do you want to join me?” Ginny gently negated with her head and took Harry’s hand. Harry guided her towards the main door that led to the Chamber of Secrets and opened it. “Blaarrgh!” Harry said when the stench reached his nostrils. Then he conjured two Bubblehead Charms around his head and Ginny’s to filter the horrendous odour that was filling the Chamber. “I’ll have to use some charms to clean the air around here,” Harry said. “May I help you?” Ginny asked. “Yeah, could you Transfigure some rocks into boxes?” he asked. Ginny obliged and then Harry summoned his Air Elemental powers into the Chamber. He compressed all the gases coming from the rotting body of the snake the best he could, separating it from the breathable air, and then put it into one of the boxes, which he managed to completely isolate so that the stale air didn’t get out. “Now I should cast a Stasis Charm on the Basilisk, to stop it from rotting,” Harry said, waving his wand in a strange pattern and whispering something under his breath. “You know how to use a Stasis Charm?” Ginny said, surprised. “Yeah. I learnt it in one of my books this summer,” Harry said. “I have not tried yet to do it wandlessly, but I plan to learn that soon. Well, what do you want to do first? Have a look around or wait till I cut the Basilisk into pieces?” “Cut the Basilisk. I’ll look around here, I’d rather not see the Basilisk being cut,” Ginny said, feeling nauseated. “OK. See you later, Gin.” Harry rolled up his sleeves and, with his wand, traced a very complicated pattern in the air and then directed it towards the Basilisk. The spell skinned the giant snake and put it in one of the boxes. Then the flesh was powdered and put into other box with a new move of the wand, followed by the organs. Soon, the only thing that rested of the basilisk was the skeleton, complete with fangs and all, minus the one Harry had used to stab the diary, which was on the floor. Harry cut then all the fangs from the jaws of the beast, which he then placed into a box, and then shrunk the bones. “Gin! I’m finished here!” Harry called his girlfriend, and had a look at his watch: he had been working for more than an hour. Ginny appeared in the main chamber with a small smile. “It was time! I’ve had to go ‘round this place more than two times, and I think I have seen everything.” “Are you sure?” Harry asked. “Have you tried to find any secret passage? They may only open to a Parseltongue.” “Nope,” Ginny recognised. “Do you remember the place from where the Basilisk came out? Maybe there is something interesting that way.” “Yeah,” Harry said, going towards the statue of the Founder. Harry then tried to remember what Tom Riddle had said three years ago to open the mouth of Salazar Slytherin, letting the Basilisk run free: ‘Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four,’ he hissed, prompting the mouth to open. “I’ll have to freeze the water if we want to enter there. Ladies first,” Harry told Ginny. “Thank you, kind sir,” Ginny replied with a smile, and stepped carefully on the ice Harry had Conjured by freezing the water. Walking slowly, so as not to slip and fall, she reached the statue’s mouth and entered through it. Harry followed her and both of them could stay on their feet, since the hole was really big. “What do you think we will find here, Harry?” Ginny asked to her boyfriend. “No idea, Gin. Maybe the Basilisk nest or some personal object Slytherin may have left here…” After a few minutes of walking, they found two different ways: one was the same size of the rest of the tunnel, but the other one was smaller, approximately seven feet tall, the rough size for them. “Let’s go through that one,” Harry said, pointing to the latter tunnel. “Since the snake couldn’t go that way, I’m sure we will be able to find something interesting.” Ginny nodded, and made her way towards it, following Harry as he carefully set detection charms in the possibility that there were some wards on it. After a few minutes, they reached a black door with some strange writing on it. Harry read it carefully and smiled widely. “What’s the matter, Harry?” Ginny asked. “I do believe we have just found the secret quarters of one wizard called Salazar Slytherin,” he said, chuckling. “No way!” Ginny shouted. “Yeah! And if you give me a minute I may be able to open this without making it explode in little tiny bits of wood,” Harry joked. Ginny looked at him as if he was crazy. “Just joking,” he said. Harry just waved his hand and whispered “Open.” Inside they found a big, darkened room. The torches that were hanging around the walls lit when Harry set a foot in the place, and the vision rendered them speechless. The walls on their left and in the front were covered with shelves, which were filled with very old-looking books, so old that they had been hand-written, but apparently they had been preserved by a Stasis Charm like the one Harry had used on the Basilisk a few hours before. The right wall had also a shelf, but this one had various weapons, amulets and talismans that, almost in their entirety, had snakes engraved in them or looked like real snakes from their point of view. The wall next to the door was covered with portraits of very old people sleeping in them. Harry even could hear two or three of them snoring. Finally, there was a big ebony table in the middle of the room, very elegant looking, complete with a cushioned ebony chair, two candelabras with some ready-to-burn candles and a set of perfectly sharpened black and white quills. “Oh,” Harry said. “My,” Ginny said. “GOD!” both teens shouted at the same time. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ OK, that’s all for now, folks. I expect you liked this chapter like you did the first fifteen ones. I’m going to make an explanation about Harry’s and Ginny’s skills of Parseltongue (because you may be asking why Harry didn’t lend his Parselmagic books to her): Harry’s knowledge of Parseltongue comes from two fountains: Voldemort’s attack on him when he was fifteen months old, and his inheritance from Salazar Slytherin. Harry had the innate ability of hearing what snakes say, but it was Voldemort’s attack the thing that transmitted Harry all his knowledge of the Parseltongue (imagine it as if Harry was a baby and, instead of learning how to talk in English like normal babies do, he somehow was infused with all the knowledge of English); meanwhile, Ginny’s ability comes from the possession she suffered in her first year. Now, the catch for her is that she is not able to read Parseltongue (she would need to learn how to read and write said language), because the diary’s Tom Riddle only gave her the knowledge of how to say a few things in Parseltongue, like “Open” and “Attack” (maybe leaving accidentally the rest of the vocabulary) and she isn’t going to be able to use Parselmagic since she does not have the ability of controlling magic through this way. Also, those who have read the excellent story “Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir” by Musings of Apathy may have recognised the Weasley Family Prank as Bill’s prank in said story. If the author is reading this story, please do not say that this work is plagiarism, because in first place there is only plagiarism if the person who copies the work wins money over it (which I am not doing, obviously); second place, it has many different details if compared with the original work; and last place, I am already saying that the original idea is not mine, so there are no grounds for any accusation. P.S: Vote for the Alhambra at www.new7wonders.com!!! |
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