|
Harry Potter and the Secrets of the Chamber | ||||||
|
Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Minerva McGonagall, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Sirius Black Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 73 Summary: Raised by his godfather Sirius Black in seclusion, Harry Potter finds new friends after the return of the Dark Lord, and together they seek ways to overcome the rising darkness. Hitcount: Story Total: 21790; Chapter Total: 1095 Awards: View Trophy Room |
Previous Next |
|
||||
|
"You?" exclaimed Ron behind them. "What are you doing here?" "I invited her," Harry explained, gesturing a dishevelled-looking Hermione in. "She's a friend of mine. Kind of. And she needs a sanctuary." "Hi. Welcome," Ginny greeted the girl with a friendly smile, stepping aside to let her in. "Don't let my brother upset you. He'll calm down eventually." Ron gave their visitor another dark look and disappeared, probably to the living room. Hermione eyed Ginny, obviously confused. "There were rumours that you have been kidnapped." "Oh, that... Those aren't rumours. Harry here helped me to escape. But I can tell you about it later," Ginny said. "Come in first. Mum's just made tea." "Let me help," Harry said, reaching for Hermione's trunk. "Thank you. I can carry my things alone," the girl replied. "The trunk isn't that heavy. I charmed it lighter." Giving Harry a brief nod, she followed him, carrying her trunk and cage with her Kneazle up the stairs. Somehow, Hermione seemed a lot more confident than when Harry had met her in the Hogwarts library a few days ago. "This is Hermione Granger, an acquaintance from Hogwarts," Harry introduced their visitor to Ginny's parents. "I invited her over here in case she didn't feel safe at school anymore." Hermione greeted Ginny's parents and gratefully accepted the offered seat. She looked around the kitchen, and a smile crossed her face. "It's pretty comfortable here. I like it." "Why don't you feel safe at Hogwarts?" asked Mrs Weasley, worried. "Have you been attacked?" Hermione gave Harry an uncertain look, grimaced, and asked hesitantly, "You don't seem to know yet?" "About what?" Harry asked. "I don't know exactly what, but something happened to Professor Dumbledore," Hermione replied. "Professor McGonagall called the students into the Great Hall this afternoon and informed us that she is now Headmaster. When we went back to our common rooms, all Muggle-borns were given a message to meet nearby Hagrid's hut when it gets dark. From there, they can choose to go home or be taken to a safe house by Hagrid." Harry followed Hermione's story with a worried look. Looking around, he noticed that the others looked worried, too. Even Ron had returned and was listening from the kitchen door. "What happened to Professor Dumbledore?" asked Mrs Weasley. "Professor McGonagall didn't know, or she didn't tell us," Hermione replied. "When I told her that I was leaving and not going to the safe house, she only confirmed to me that the Hogwarts records now listed her as Headmaster." "Ah," said Harry, suddenly understanding. That's why Dumbledore told me McGonagall would know if anything happened to him. Harry's mood suddenly plummeted. Now he really was the only one who knew about the Horcruxes. Stop, no, he thought. He'd already told Ginny about them. He absolutely had to tell McGonagall about the Horcruxes. Giving his girlfriend a smile, he squeezed her hand. The way she looked into his eyes gave him courage. "Arthur, you should contact Minerva and see if she needs any help," Mrs Weasley said with a worried look, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Yes, I think you're right, luv." Mr Weasley nodded. With a grave expression, he sighed and got up. "Minerva needs all the help she'll get. She won't be able to leave Hogwarts in the current situation." "Err, Mr Weasley?" Harry called after the man as he was just about to leave the kitchen. "Yes, Harry." Ginny's father gave Harry a questioning look as he pulled on his travelling robes. "What can I do for you?" "Can you please tell Professor McGonagall that I need to speak to her urgently?" Harry asked. "Yes, of course," Mr Weasley replied with a warm smile. "I'll make sure to let her know." "Thank you, Mr Weasley," Harry said, hoping Professor McGonagall would find time to see him soon. But suddenly, he had a vague feeling that he should have told Mr Weasley that he had a message from Professor Dumbledore for the Headmistress. Harry didn't know McGonagall that well, and he could only hope she wouldn't forget him. "It's good to know the Muggle-borns are safe now," Ron said thoughtfully. "Some of my best friends at Hogwarts are Muggle-born." When Harry noticed Hermione giving Ron an odd look, he raised his eyebrows. Maybe Ginny was right about her brother and Hermione. "You should take your things up to your rooms while I get dinner ready." Mrs Weasley broke the short silence. "Ron, Ginny, you can use your old rooms where you've slept over the summer. Harry, do you have a room here in the house?" "No," said Harry. "To be honest, I've never lived here. I used to accompany Sirius when he was here, but that didn't happen often," Harry explained while internally debating if he should go home again. Giving Ginny a brief look, he decided to stay. Without Sirius, he would be alone there, and staying here with Ginny sounded a lot better. Luckily, he had brought his things with him. "Don't worry, I'll find a place to sleep," he finally said. "There are plenty of rooms in this house." In the morning, Mr and Mrs Weasley were already gone. Ginny's father had returned late last night and told them that McGonagall had asked him and Mrs Weasley to help with an Order mission. Harry assumed they were helping the Muggle-borns settle down into this safe house. The breakfast was already on the kitchen table together with a note saying that Ginny's parents wanted to be back by dinner. "Are your parents in the Order of the Phoenix I read about in the Daily Prophet?" Hermione asked Ginny. The two girls got along quite well, Harry noted with delight. One reason might be that they shared a room after putting in a second bed. "Yes, they are. But don't believe the nonsense the Daily Prophet writes about the Order," Ginny replied. "I've learned to read the Daily Prophet and not to believe everything they write," Hermione snorted. "Otherwise, I would also have to believe I am a danger to the wizarding world. After all, I'm a Muggle-born." Ginny nodded, rolling her eyes. "That's probably true." Hermione glanced at her watch. "It's already eight o'clock. My morning paper is late." Frowning, she put her hand to her forehead. "Of course. The Fidelius Charm. The owl probably won't find me here." Harry looked up. "I never thought about it. But that's probably why Sirius' owl used to pick up the newspapers for us." Harry thought for a moment. Maybe..."With a bit of luck, Jolanta notices that nobody is at home and brings the newspaper here." "Who is Jolanta?" Ginny asked in astonishment. "Sirius' owl," Harry replied. "I don't know why he called her Jolanta, but...oh damn it. I should make sure to get some owl food." Glancing at Hermione, Harry grinned. "Don't get too excited, though. If Jolanta shows up here, it won't be until 10 o'clock." "I was hoping the Daily Prophet would write something about Dumbledore," Hermione said. "But that gives us time to talk about other things first." "Maybe we could talk over breakfast," Ron interjected. "I'm starving, and the brain doesn't work well on an empty stomach." When Hermione gave Ron a slightly annoyed look, Harry quickly said, "Good idea. I'm also hungry." Harry shared a room with Ron and hence knew Ginny's brother had been in a hurry to get to breakfast after getting up. As they sat down at the kitchen table, Harry quickly took the seat next to Ginny, giving Hermione the choice of either sitting next to Ron or a bit apart. Hermione noticed it immediately, and after a moment's hesitation, sat down next to Ron, across from Harry. After the first bite, Hermione looked around hesitantly, glancing briefly at Ginny, then at Ron, and finally at Harry. "I assume your friends know what you're doing. And I want to help you too." Furrowing his brows, Harry looked at Hermione, slightly confused. "I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about," he said. "I've been spending a lot of time in the library lately," Hermione began. "I noticed that," Harry replied. "I assume you were there because it was the only place you felt safe?" Hermione nodded. "And after you invited me over here and told me who you are..." Hermione hesitated, blushing slightly. "That may seem nosy now, and I must admit it is, but I was looking at the books you were reading for Professor Dumbledore back then." "Ah," Harry mumbled while he chewed. That's where Hermione was coming from. He raised his hand. "Now I know what you mean." Harry bit his lower lip and pondered his situation. He would have told Ron about the Horcruxes anyway, probably soon. And if Hermione wanted to help, she was welcome. He doubted he could destroy the Horcruxes without help. "I borrowed the books from the library before I left Hogwarts," Hermione said. Harry's eyebrows shot up. That, he wouldn't have expected from Hermione. "Some call it stealing," he said with a cheeky grin. "I'll return them once I'm back at Hogwarts. And they're no longer needed there," Hermione said evasively. "To answer your question," Harry began. "Ginny knows about the Horcruxes; Ron doesn't know yet." When Ginny's brother gave him a confused look, Harry explained, "I wanted to tell you about them soon, though. Especially since we don't know what happened to Dumbledore and Sirius is imprisoned. It's too important. I shouldn't be the only one who knows about them." "Who is Sirius?" asked Hermione. "My godfather and only relative I have," Harry replied. "I remember now," Hermione said. "This is the man who was with you in the Ministry when your picture was in the Daily Prophet." "Don't remind me," Harry sniffled, buttering himself another toast and thanking Ginny, who'd poured him another coffee. "It's probably none of my business, but I was wondering about the real reason you were in the Ministry that day?" asked Hermione. "You didn't really mean to steal a prophecy?" "Erm..." Harry began and sighed, giving Ginny a brief glance. She met his gaze and raised her hand, shaking her head in deliberation. "It's your choice. But you know you need all the help you can get." "Yes, I know," Harry said thoughtfully. "I just don't want to burden others with it and..." Harry hesitated before continuing, "...and probably put them in danger." "I've already told you I'll help you. No matter what," Ginny said matter-of-factly. "And I also told you that I want to help. That's why I'm here and not in the safe house," Hermione pointed out. Harry hesitated. He didn't like the thought of putting other people's lives in danger just because Voldemort was after him. But everyone had the right to make their own decisions, Harry had learned from Sirius. He didn't like it either when others made decisions for him. Though he had to be honest so everyone could make their decisions based on the facts. "I hope I don't have to tell you that I'm in," said Ron, pouring himself more tea. "Alright," Harry finally said. "What I'm going to tell you now can put you in great danger, and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to help me." Harry looked into the faces of his friends, one by one. Eventually, he glanced over at Hermione. "No, I didn't mean to steal a prophecy that day. We had an appointment at the Department of Mysteries to pick up a prophecy there." "Bloody hell," Ron cursed. "Then you don't know what the damn prophecy says." "Yes, I know what it is saying," Harry replied. "Dumbledore told me the wording of the prophecy. Before I was born, Professor Trelawney prophesied in Dumbledore's presence that I am the only one who can defeat Voldemort." "What does the prophecy exactly say?" asked Hermione. In a grave voice, Harry recited the prophecy. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." "The Chosen One," Hermione said, deadpanned. "But Trelawney is, is..." Hermione shook her head. "She has no idea what she's saying," Hermione said disdainfully. "But Voldemort believes in it," said Harry, pointing to his forehead. "It could have been someone else, but he marked me, and he won't rest until I'm dead." Bowing his head, Harry looked down at his hands as Ginny put her hand over his and squeezed his. Gratefully, he gave her a brief smile and then glanced over at Ron and Hermione. While Hermione stared at him wide-eyed, obviously processing what she'd just heard, Ron blurted out, "I'll help you, mate. I can't wait to kick that tosser in the balls." Hermione gave Ron a disapproving look but then grinned and nodded in agreement. "As I said, I want to help. Anyway, I'm good at research, and...and I'd do anything to help. I hate the...the..." she glanced at Ron and grinned. "I hate that tosser." "Unfortunately, the tosser did something that makes it almost impossible to kill him," said Harry, sharing what he knew about the Horcruxes. After Harry had finished, only interrupted by a few questions from Hermione, it was Ron who gasped in disgust, "That's just gross. I hope Dumbledore destroyed those things." "Are you sure you found all the Horcruxes?" asked Hermione. "That's the problem," Harry said slowly. "We don't know how many Horcruxes Voldemort made and..." "Tom was always talking about the magic number seven," Ginny said thoughtfully. "Who is Tom?" asked Hermione. "Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle," Harry answered for Ginny. "Voldemort is just an artificial name created by rearranging the letters of his real name." "Oh," Hermione replied, obviously mentally checking Harry's statement. "And how do you know his real name?" "Dumbledore told me. Riddle was head boy at Hogwarts in the forties," said Harry. "That's where Dumbledore knows him from. He was Riddle's Transfiguration teacher." "I hope Dumbledore burned them, or what did he do with those horrible things?" Ron repeated his earlier question. "You can't burn Horcruxes," Hermione interjected. "Sadly, Hermione is right," said Harry. "Except with Fiendfyre. But Dumbledore only wanted to use Fiendfyre if we couldn't find another way to destroy the Horcruxes. It's too dangerous." "Did he tell you what other ways there are?" asked Ginny. "To destroy a Horcrux, you must destroy it beyond magical repair," said Harry. "The only other way Dumbledore knew was Basilisk venom. Unfortunately, there are no Basilisks here in the UK, and he didn't get any venom yet." "There must be a basilisk at Hogwarts," Hermione interjected. "Perhaps in this mysterious Chamber of Secrets." "I'm afraid there is no chamber," said Harry. "It's just a rumour. Dumbledore has been searching all over Hogwarts for it." "The fact that Professor Dumbledore didn't find it doesn't prove that the chamber doesn't exist," Hermione replied. "I know you weren't there at that time, but there was this message on the wall, 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.' It was written with the blood of Hagrid's roosters." Hermione paused, looking at the others. "Do you know that a Basilisk dies from the cry of a rooster? Back then, all of Hagrid's roosters had been killed. Why would someone do such a thing if not to protect a Basilisk?" Glancing at Ginny, Harry noticed her almost green face as she was listening to Hermione's words. He held her hand and squeezed it, which Ginny answered with a grateful smile. "And remember all the petrified students," Hermione continued. "Colin Creevey, Sr Nicolas, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Filch's cat... only a Basilisk could have done that. I read several books about basilisks at that time, and they all confirmed that if you look into a Basilisk's eyes, you become petrified." Harry gave Ginny a worried look, but she shook her head. "I don't remember a Basilisk or any other large snake." "Can you remember anything else?" Harry asked, noticing Hermione giving Ginny an irritated look. "The blood…" Ginny said flatly. "What have you got to do with it?" asked Hermione. Harry turned to Ginny and put his arm around her shoulders when he saw her distraught look. "It's okay," Harry said. "No one blames you. It wasn't your fault, and Professor Dumbledore confirmed that. Do you want to tell her, or should I?" Ginny bit her lip and looked at Harry uncertainly. Eventually, she nodded and said, "I'll tell her. I have to deal with this myself." Harry gave her a reassuring nod, and Ginny hesitantly began to talk about the diary and the boy named Tom Riddle who had wormed his way into her heart to become her friend, and then about all the other strange things she could barely remember. "And that diary was a Horcrux?" Hermione asked with a look that was a mix between horror and sympathy. "Yes," Harry nodded. "When Dumbledore examined the diary, it turned out to be a Horcrux." "And you don't remember anything else?" asked Hermione. "Maybe something that seemed to be not important to you." Ginny took a deep breath and shook her head when she suddenly looked up and frowned. "I remember waking up in that girls' toilet several times, and I couldn't remember how I got there." "Which girls' toilet?" Hermione asked. "The one on the second floor that was always broken. That's where Moaning Myrtle always is," Ginny replied. "That's also where McGonagall found the diary I threw in one of the toilets to get rid of. She saw how I ran away, and when she checked the toilet, she found the diary and asked me why I threw it away. She then took me to see Professor Dumbledore." "Do you remember anything else?" Harry gave Ginny a worried look. He really didn't like to question her on the subject. Ginny shrugged as her face lit up as if something had come to her mind. "Once, there was such a strange, dark passage. But I don't know where it was. I never saw that passage again after that." "We should go to Hogwarts and search for the chamber as long as McGonagall is still Headmaster," Harry said. "Dumbledore already searched the whole place but couldn't find anything," Ron said. "Did you tell him about the passage?" asked Harry. "No, I didn't remember the passage until much later," Ginny replied. "But since I didn't know where the passage was and nobody asked about it anymore, I forgot about it again. Until just now." "I'm sure that mysterious chamber does exist," Hermione said. "But how are we supposed to find it? It sure is a bad idea to go back to Hogwarts and search the castle now. I'm glad I'm away from that place." Suddenly a thought occurred to Harry. If Ginny had been in the chamber, then... "Go away!" exclaimed Ron suddenly. Leaping up, he rushed towards Hermione's Kneazle to shoo him away. "Leave Crookshanks alone, Weasley. He hasn't done anything to you," Hermione cried angrily. "He killed my rat. You call that nothing," Ron retorted furiously. "He didn't. Crookshanks never left the Ravenclaw common room alone. And why would he kill your stupid rat?" Hermione asked angrily. "He snapped at Scabbers once and wanted to eat him," said Ron stubbornly. "That's when you took your rat to dinner and didn't look after it. It was wandering around our Ravenclaw table when Crookshanks noticed it. Kneazle, after all, hunt rats," Hermione returned, enraged. "Wait, Ron," Harry called. "I have to tell you something about Scabbers." Ron frowned. "What is it, mate. Don't tell me you killed Scabbers. I won't believe it." "Of course not," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I just wanted to tell you that Scabbers most likely wasn't an innocent rat." "What do you mean by that?" Ron asked, confused, while Ginny raised her eyebrow, astonished. "Do you know how old Scabbers was?" Harry asked, giving Ron a scrutinising look. "Pretty old," replied Ron. "Percy had Scabbers before I got him, and Percy found him in our garden. That must have been..." Ron paused for a moment, obviously thinking. "...about 15 years ago." "How old was Scabbers then when he died? 12? Harry asked. "Probably even older, dependent on how old he was when Percy found him." "Yeah. Something like that," Ron confirmed, nodding. "We don't know how old Scabbers was when Percy found him." "Rats live 2-3 years," Hermione interjected. "That's correct," Harry confirmed. "Sirius recognized Scabbers from the family photo you took on your holidays in Egypt. He's pretty sure Scabbers was an Animagus, and his real name is Peter Pettigrew. This is the man who betrayed my parents to Voldemort." Harry turned to Ginny, "By the way, his name is on your Marauders map. He's Wormtail." Ginny stared at Harry, wide-eyed, while Ron looked incredulous and stammered, "Are you sure?" "Sirius was very sure," Harry replied. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, I've always told you Crookshanks is innocent," Hermione exclaimed stubbornly. Ron looked at her in astonishment. "How do you know my full name?" "What else would Ron stand for," Hermione replied. "And besides, that's what the Sorting Hat called you." Ron's eyes widened, and he asked in a doubtful tone, "You remember what the Sorting Hat called me?" Looking like a caught thief, Hermione froze, a faint blush spreading across her face. But she regained her senses quickly and retorted, "Some people just listen while others don't know what listening even means," she blurted out. "Besides, your name is also in the class register." Harry found it remarkable that Hermione looked up Ron's name in the class register but was glad Ron didn't question her further about it. Instead, he remembered something that had crossed his mind a moment before. "I know how to find the Chamber of Secrets," Harry said, immediately silencing the squabbling. |
| Reviews 73 |
Previous Next
|
