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Harry and Ron were just about to question Malfoy about the Chamber of Secrets when Professor Snape came billowing into the common room.
“It is story time for those of you who are interested in staying in the common room. If you do not want to indulge in childhood whimsy, leave.”
The tall man gracefully sat in the armchair right next to the large ornate fireplace, waiting for the shuffling of feet to stop. There were not that many Slytherins in the castle for the holiday, but it looked like almost all of the ones there decided to stay for the nightly event.
“I am taking requests tonight. Any specific book you would like to read?”
“Can we read a Magic Treehouse book tonight?” A girl with pigtails asked from across the room.
Ron leaned over to a still polyjuiced Harry. “Magic treehouse?” He murmured.
“We read one at the beginning of the school year, don’t you remember?” Draco asked. “It’s about those kids that go on adventures with a treehouse that is basically like a portkey and timeturner all in one.”
“Wicked.” Ron turned back to Snape and got comfortable on the couch.
“We have to go soon.” Harry whispered to Ron.
“We are fine, we will have at least forty-five minutes until the potion wears off. A storytime won’t take that long if he’s anything like my parents were when I was little.”
Harry stiffened when he realized that he did not have anything to base a story time off of with the Dursleys. Aunt Petunia read Dudley stories, but she would never let Harry stay for them. She would always usher him off to the cupboard. Harry was lost in his own thoughts when the professor started reading. Soon, his voice carried Harry out of his thoughts from his dreary childhood and made him focus on the story.
Snape’s deep voice captivated the audience surrounding him in the common room.
“And everything was still, absolutely still.” The book snapped shut. “That is enough for tonight. I expect that everyone's homework is complete and ready to turn in after break if you were enjoying the story tonight. Don’t make me take away your story privileges.”
With one last look around the common room, Snape stood up and left the way he came.
“And he does that every night?” Harry asked Draco.
The blond boy looked at him like he was daft. “Yes, you are usually there, Goyle.”
“Right, it just still surprises me that he would take the time to do that.”
“I heard that he started doing it during one of his first years teaching. It was after he sarcastically asked a crying firstie if they would stop if he read them a bedtime story and he has done it ever since.” A brown haired upper year broke into their conversation.
“That was almost nice of him.” Harry remarked.
Now the upper year was looking at him like Draco had.
“He is our head of house. He always looks after us. From what I’ve heard, it is more than the other heads of house do.”
“I must have forgotten.” Harry looked away sheepishly.
“Hey, mate,” Ron nudged his shoulder. “We have to go check that thing.”
Harry looked back at him and noticed his hair slowly turning a shade of red.
“You’re right! We have to go. We’ll be back soon!” Harry pushed Ron towards the door of the common room.
“You better be!” The brown haired boy called after them. “Curfew is soon! I won’t hesitate to take points off if you aren’t back in time.”
The pair ran down the dungeon corridor, until they reached the closet the real Crabbe and Goyle were in. They quickly switched back their ties and righted themselves just as the larger boys started moving again.
Ron and Harry once again made a quick escape and were almost back to the girl’s restroom on the second floor when Professor Snape suddenly appeared in front of them. The nice man reading stories was gone and the dungeon bat persona was in full force.
“Just where do you two think you are running off to? It is almost time for curfew.” The man didn’t wait for an answer.
“I am heading to the hospital wing because of a potions accident with Miss Granger. Do you two happen to know anything about that?”
The wide-eyed boys shook their heads.
“If I learn that you had anything to do with it, you will both be serving detention with Filch for a month once term starts back up.”
They actually stayed quiet for once and Snape decided that he had enough of them and shooed them back towards the dorms.
“I can’t believe that all just happened!” Ron exclaimed. “I guess the mean ole slytherins are just a bunch of softies, wanting bedtime stories.”
“Yeah, who would want one of those?” Harry said softly as he looked out the window next to him.
When the two boys made it up to the dorm, Harry immediately made his excuses and went up to his bed. He pulled the curtains around it and burrowed under the blankets. He tried to think of anything other than the story time he was a part of that night. But, he had one last thought as he drifted off to sleep.
I wish someone would read to me every night.
~~~~
Harry woke up with a start after someone knocked into his bed.
“Sorry, mate!” He heard Ron shout from the other side of the curtains.
Now, wide awake, Harry thought back to the night before and his pitiful thoughts about wanting someone to read him a story.
I’m not a baby. I don’t need that.
He quickly wiped a stray tear that started to fall from his eye and ripped his curtains open.
Ron, seeing his upset expression, tried to apologize for waking him again but Harry just brushed him off and told him to go on to breakfast without him.
The rest of the break passed in a blur. The trio decided that Malfoy did not know anything about who was petrifying the students and decided to go back to the drawing board. After Hermione was cured from her potion mishap, she went back to researching in the library. Harry was still out of sorts and a bit moody from that night. Ron kept trying to cheer him up as they waited for any new clues. But, Harry’s thoughts still continued to drift back to that night in the slytherin dorm.
He knew that Ron might make fun of him, like he did with the slytherins, but he really wanted someone to read to him before bed again. He started to obsess over the thought of curling up and listening to a nice voice as he would relax into bed.
He was leaving the library late one night when he saw Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass walking just ahead of him.
“I wonder which book he is going to read tonight? I am getting tired of all the mysteries. Why can’t we read a love story every once in a while?” Pansy sighed.
“Maybe tonight is the night.” Daphne replied positively. “I would rather he read out of the history book. It would be nicer than Binn’s lectures.”
“I would fall asleep faster than I did in Binn’s class! Snape’s voice puts me right to sleep sometimes that late at night.”
As the girls drifted further away, Harry came up with a plan. He ducked into one of the alcoves and reached into his book bag. He finally found what he was looking for when he pulled out his invisibility cloak. He threw it over himself quickly and caught back up with the girls.
They were waiting for the common room door to open after mentioning the password. Once it opened and the girls started walking inside. Harry slipped right in after them. He shuffled along the wall toward the fireplace. There was a bookshelf not too far to the side of the room he stopped at. Snape came abruptly into the room, just like he did that night. Harry slid down the side of the bookcase to lean against it as he sat on the floor under his cloak.
“The story tonight begins in approximately two minutes. Anyone not staying, clear out.”
The different groups of students broke up and moved closer to the man. Once everyone was settled he began.
“Tonight, we will be reading Pride & Prejudice. It was left in the request box in my office. This is another reminder to go ahead and write down your requests and slip them into the box by my office door.”
As Snape began reading, Harry was trying to grasp what the purpose of the story was but could not fully comprehend it with the little bit they had read. He looked around at the other students and noticed that the older ones seemed to follow along a little better. One girl who looked to be a fifth year student was especially engrossed.
Why would anyone care how much money some guy had? Oh wait. This story is about getting married, isn’t it? Ew.
As the story continued, Harry put aside his preconceived notions and enjoyed the tale. The sisters from the Bennet family kind of reminded him of the chaos of the Weasley siblings. Is Percy the Mary Bennet of the family?
Before Harry could assign any other Weasley’s roles in the story, the professor snapped the book closed.
“We will continue the tale tomorrow night. Off to bed.”
Snape waited for the last of the students to head to the dorms before he turned to survey the common room. He started swishing his wand around to tidy up the space.
Harry stayed as still as he could next to the book case. When he thought Snape was done, he started to inch his way back towards the doorway. Before he could take another step though, a book came soaring across the room from the side Snape was at. Harry dodged the book but knocked into a chair that was in his path. Luckily for him, his professor had his back turned at the time so he could still spin quickly to turn and flee towards the door. The Professor looked over his shoulder at the chair and then to the bookshelf. When he saw that the book he banished back to the shelf reached its spot, he walked over to the chair. The closer he got to the chair, the closer Harry inched towards the door.
Snape reached for his wand and started his incantation. “Homenum –”
“Professor!” A girl screeched from the stairwell to the girls' dorms. “Elizabeth stole all of my face lotion again. I have a date for Hogsmeade tomorrow!”
Snape pinched the bridge of his nose as he turned to the girl.
Harry used this distraction to exit the common room and run up to the Gryffindor tower.
He burst through the common room and ran directly into Hermione.
“Oof! Harry, watch where you are going!” Hermione tried to catch her balance but fell onto the couch behind her. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you to go over the DADA assignment.”
“Sorry, I got distracted.”
“You’ve been pretty distracted since the holiday break.”
“Yeah, well I still have people saying that I’m the Heir of Slytherin. It’s pretty distracting.”
Hermione wrung her hands together. “I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean to add to your burdens.”
“No. Snapping at you was wrong of me. I’m just going through some stuff. I’ll work on the assignment tomorrow. Goodnight, Hermione.”
The small girl threw her arms around Harry and gave him a big hug. Once she deemed that she had squeezed him enough, she let him go.
“Goodnight, Harry. I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast.”
As Harry laid in bed, he thought about how much he enjoyed listening to snape read again and how much he loved Hermione’s hugs.
I wonder if my parent’s ever read to me and gave me a hug before bed.
~~~~
Over the course of the next few weeks Harry managed to sneak into the dungeons for story time almost every other night. After he missed entering the room after a group of students, he learned that if he spoke parseltongue for the word Open then the common room door would open for him. A wide range of works were being read each night. One time Snape even reluctantly read a book of poetry. He stated that he was only doing it since it had been requested everyday in the box since the start of the school year and that he hoped whoever it was, would leave him alone. An older boy’s cheeks went red at that announcement.
Each time Harry went, he would pretend that it was like having a guardian that actually cared about him and tucked him into bed. He started to become less moody after each night and was able to focus better in school since he was sleeping so well. Hermione was even impressed when he received points in class.
Everything was looking up for Harry. The attacks had stopped, they even got more clues after he had found the journal for Tom Riddle, and he had a quidditch match the next day. That was of course when everything had to go wrong. He was pulled aside and told about Hermione’s petrification and immediately went to the hospital wing.
He was able to see her but not up close as Madam Pomfrey tended to her. He was able to stay for a few minutes before she ushered him out. He started pacing in front of the closed door trying to think of anything he could do. Steady footsteps suddenly sounded from down the corridor. Harry looked up and saw Snape. A sudden rush of relief flowed over him. Harry’s brain momentarily short circuited.
Why am I relieved that Snape is here?
“Potter, I know you are worried about your friend, but carving a path in the stone by the door does Miss Granger no good.”
“I just feel like there is something I should be doing, sir.”
“There is nothing at the moment that you can do. Let the adults do what they can to help.”
Harry nodded while he toed the ground.
“Go ahead and head back to your common room. Finish your school work, read a book or anything to try and get your mind off your friend.” The professor reached a hand over to the boy and gave his shoulder a squeeze and then nudged him in the direction of the tower.
Harry started to trudge up the stairs when he got the idea to go flying instead of sulking in his room.
He grabbed his broom from the locker room and shot off into the sky. He flew lap after lap adding different different tricks into each circle. His mind finally started to clear from all the worry he had about Hermione.
She will be alright. I’ll, no, Snape will figure it out. I will let the adults handle it.
Harry kept flying to the point of near exhaustion. Sweat dripped from his temple and his muscles ached. When he got off the broom, his legs wobbled from them being in the same position for so long. When Harry emerged from the quidditch showers, there was a tall figure waiting for him.
“I do believe I said to go back to your tower, Mr. Potter." Snape drawled.
“Sorry, sir. I just knew I could clear my mind if I went flying.”
“Perhaps you should work on other ways to do that so you do not have to carry a broom with you always. There will be no flying breaks during your O.W.L.s.”
Harry’s mouth quirked up. “If only.”
“Indeed. Off you go. To your tower this time.” Harry was sure he saw an eyeroll.
“I’ll see you later, sir.” He replied, thinking about the story time later that night.
Snape merely raised an eyebrow.
Harry blushed at almost revealing his secret pastime and scurried away.
~~~~
When Harry went down to the dungeons that night, there was a new obstacle in his way to entering the common room. Professor Snape stood just outside the entrance talking with Professor Mcgonagall.
“I am worried about the boy, Severus. He keeps going missing before bed each night, but the Fat Lady says someone keeps entering the tower with the password after curfew almost every night. I don’t know why Albus gave him that cloak last Christmas.”
“If he turns up each night, I’m sure whatever he is doing isn’t overly harmful. Maybe he is finding a way to cope after all the stress of this year.” Snape looked around the hallway and paused where Harry was hidden behind a suit of armor.
“Perhaps you are correct, I asked the ghosts to keep an eye out for him.” She swished her wand and the time popped up in front of her. “I should head back on patrol. Enjoy your time with your Slytherins tonight. Have there been any interesting requests recently?”
“One of the little cretins, I believe it was the elder Nott, requested American Psycho. I will not be reading it to that particular person. I don’t want him getting any ideas that his relatives in Azkaban might approve of. I also have a very sensitive group of first years.” Severus rolled his eyes.
“A wise decision.” Minerva chuckled, patted his arm, and walked away.
Harry waited until she walked past and Snape was facing the entryway before he walked towards the older man.
Snape spoke the password and once the doorway opened, he paused and looked down at his shoes. One was untied. He slowly crouched down to tie it and Harry took this opportunity to go for the opening. His cloak was snug around him and he made a dash for the door. Just when he was about to pass his professor, the man turned his head and looked to where Harry’s feet should be.
Harry looked down as well. The very tip of his shoe was sticking out of his cloak. They both froze for a second before Harry took a hurried step to cover his foot and move past his professor. Snape reached where his foot just was and his hand passed through the air. He abruptly stood up and walked through the entryway, just behind Harry.
The professor surveyed the common room and off to the side, he thought he saw a piece of parchment flutter on an end table near the bookshelf. His earlier conversation with Minerva popped up in his head.
The invisibility cloak.
Potter was spending each night in his snake’s common room.
“What will we be reading tonight, sir?” One of the first years piped up from in front of the fireplace.
“We will be cracking open The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Someone requested that we read The Fountain of Fair Fortune.”
While Snape was distracted by the common room, Harry settled in his usual spot by the bookcase. He was further entertained by the story that night and drew parallels to what Professor Snape talked to him about earlier. He needed to trust others if he wanted the problems he was facing figured out. But one thing Snape kept pushing earlier was that the adults should be the ones doing the fixing. The story tonight focused on a group of people working together. He could work together with the adults if they let him. If they didn’t then he would have to force their hand.
He finished his musings as students went up to their head of house before he ushed them all to bed. As they were all distracted, he once again snuck out of the common room.
Harry made it all the way up to Gryffindor tower before he was reminded about Hermione’s troubles again. As he was starting to go back down the rabbit hole of his emotions, he remembered the story from tonight and felt a bit better. He then started thinking of everything that was read since he started his nightly quest. He still had not heard the one story he wished he could hear again. That was when he made up his mind to drop a request in the box in Snape’s office.
~~~~
The request sat in Severus’ hands after he emptied the box. This was Potter's handwriting.
Is this his request? I’ll have to buy a copy to see what it is all about.
During the next day, Severus used the floo to get to Flourish & Blotts. He looked for the requested book. With no luck finding it, he decided to venture into muggle London. He knew of a book store not too far away that he used to go to with Lily after shopping for their school supplies.
He entered and asked the nearest sales person where he could find the book. The woman pointed him over to the children’s section. He browsed while he looked for the book and found a couple other titles that he thought would be good lessons to learn.
He finally found the illustrated book and started to read through it. Severus decided that it was a good enough suggestion and would read it that night.
I wonder if Lily read this to him.
He returned to the castle with a few minutes to spare before his usual time for the nightly story. The lighthearted loud atmosphere in the common room came to a stop as soon as he walked in. He took his usual spot by the fireplace.
“Tonight will be another request.” Severus looked over to where he knew Potter would be, next to the bookshelf. “It is going to be a short one tonight since this story is usually for younger audiences. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. It is a story with some great illustrations. Those who would like to see them, come closer.”
Harry was once again captivated by the story. He rested his head on the side of the bookcase and closed his eyes for a second as he listened to his professor read. The story was just as Harry remembered from when he heard it being read to a little girl at the park near Privet drive a few years back.
The next thing he knew, multiple footsteps were moving around him. As he looked around, the other students were heading over to their dorm rooms.
“We always give to the less fortunate.” Malfoy pointed his nose up. “Mother says that is why we opened the new wing at St. Mungo’s.”
“I’m glad you caught on to one of the main themes of the book, Mr. Malfoy. But, I think you are missing a couple others having to do with humility and pride.”
Malfoy avoided Professor Snape’s pointed gaze and nodded his head.
“Run along now and go get ready for bed.”
The young boy nodded and hurried after his classmates.
Severus had discreetly set up a ward by the door out of the common room while the other children went to go on to their dorm rooms. It let him know that no one had passed through yet, so it was just him and Potter in the common room.
Severus pulled out his wand and cast a spell that Harry couldn’t hear. Bubbles erupted from the tip of the wand and started to spread out all over the room. To Harry’s horror, they stuck to the invisibility cloak and moved with him as a bubble blob through the edge of the room.
“So It is you, Mr. Potter. You submitted a good request for the story tonight.”
The blob stopped moving. Harry sat there for a second before he removed the cloak.
“Good evening, Professor.”
Severus scoffed at his fake nonchalance. “You seem to be a long way from your tower.”
“Must have gotten lost.” He looked at the floor.
Snape took pity on the boy.
“You may keep coming to the story time each night if you do so in secret. I know that it helps a lot of my students to have that time to relax.”
Harry’s head snapped, his mouth was slightly agape.
“I can come back? You aren’t going to immediately give me detention or something?”
“Do you want detention?”
“No!”
“Well in that case, five points from gryffindoor for sneaking into another house’s common room uninvited.”
“That’s it?”
Snape raised an eyebrow at him.
“I mean, thank you sir! I should get back to my side of the castle.”
Severus vanished the bubbles from the room and nodded toward the door.
“That boy will be the death of me.” Severus murmured to himself as Harry left.
~~~~
“We figured out where the chamber is, we have to save my sister!” Ron shouted and started to make his way towards the sink that Moaning Myrtle told them about. The whole day had been a whirlwind, first they learned about Ginny being taken into the chamber, then they found the note that Hermione left and now they just found the entrance to the chamber.
“Wait!” Harry yelled as he ran after his best friend. “We have to get someone to help us. I know we usually figure things out on our own, but I don’t know how to fight a basilisk!”
“Let’s get a teacher. Professor Lockhart isn’t too far away.”
“You want to get the guy that removed the bones in my arm?”
“Good point. If not him, then who else? McGonagall didn’t believe us last year.”
“I know someone we can go to, but you are going to have to trust me.”
Ron started following Harry back to the lower levels of the castle.
~~~~
“Snape! You want the one professor that hates us to help?”
Harry huffed.
“I told you to trust me. He isn’t all bad.”
Harry reached forward and knocked on the professor’s office door.
It swung open to reveal Severus sneering from his desk. Books surrounded every surface.
“What are you two doing out of your common room?”
“We need your help, sir. We know how to get to Ginny.”
“Go on.”
“She was taken into the chamber through the opening in the girl’s bathroom on the second floor. There is a sink with a snake that leads down to the chamber after you open it. She’s with the basilisk.”
“Go back to your common room. I will go retrieve her.”
“You can’t go without me.” Harry replied.
“I’m sure I can.” Severus rolled his eyes.
“You can’t open the passage without a parselmouth. That’s me. I am going to help.”
“Why must you always end up in the middle of everything?” Snape gave an exasperated sigh.
“I think it has to do with the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing.”
“Brat.” Snape replied with borderline affection. “Fine, if you must accompany me then come on. Weasley, you will go to Madam Pomfrey. Tell her that I said to prepare for the worst and have her inform Professor Mcgonagall about what is going on and for her to call for Madam Bones of the DMLE.”
“Yes, sir.” Ron ran off to find the mediwitch.
“Let’s go find this secret passage.” Snape summoned multiple potion vials to his pockets and reached for a long sword that he pulled from a hidden compartment in the wall behind his desk.
Severus noticed Harry looking at him like he was crazy for having a sword in the school.
“I have to source the expensive potion ingredients on my own most of the time. Sometimes the only thing that can kill a creature is goblin steel dipped in my most potent poisons.” Snape proceeded to strap the sheathed blade to his hip. He summoned one last small potion to his hand. The golden liquid swished around.
“Felix Felicis.”
“Liquid luck?”
“Very good, Mr. Potter. I believe we both could use a bit of this tonight.” He downed half of it before handing the rest to the boy.
“Let’s go!” Harry practically ran out the door. He reached the end of the corridor when he saw another small carving of a snake next to a portrait of an old man in a classroom. It practically blended into the stone it was etched into.
“Hello, do you know how to get to the chamber?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“Because I can speak.” Harry hissed back at the man.
“Are you from my line?”
“Who are you?”
“Salazar Slytherin. The only ones on the isle that can speak, come from my line. Who do you hail from?”
“The Potters on my fathers side and my mum was an Evans.”
“One of my daughters married into the Evans family. Sylvia. She was my favorite child.”
“Oh Great grandfather, will you show me the way?”
With a sigh, the portrait opened to show a new passageway.
“I guess my daughter’s cheek never left the line.”
“Thank you!” Harry yelled out as he skipped down the passage with a Lumos lit on the tip of his wand.
Professor Snape followed after him.
“What were you two talking about?”
“Apparently, one of Slytherin's daughters married into the Evans family. That might be why I can speak parseltongue and actually has nothing to do with Voldemort. Isn’t that a relief? I guess we are just cousins or something…maybe that’s not a relief.”
“Could be why he couldn’t kill you. The Slytherin line might have some sort of backlash for kin slayers. We should brew an inheritance potion to see your family tree.”
“There’s a potion for that?”
“There is a potion for everything.”
“I can’t wait to tell Hermione.”
“Let’s get through this first. It looks like there is a door up ahead.”
The door looked to be as old as Hogwarts with a thick layer of dust on the handle.
Severus flicked his wand for a detection spell.
“No wards. I guess Slytherin believed himself to be the best defence.” He reached out to turn the handle.
“Wait!” Harry grabbed his elbow. “Let me.”
He hissed ‘open’ at the door. They heard a click of a lock and the door swung open. It revealed a dusty living quarter that looked like it was from the medieval era. The grime covered windows showed the murky waters of the black lake. A wooden table and chairs sat not too far from the hearth full of dusty ashes where a fire was lit long ago. An open doorway led to a bedroom where the blanket was disintegrating. The only thing that did not look untidy was a book shelf across from the windows.
“Preservation charms.” Severus said as he walked over to it. “These all look to be in Parseltongue.”
“I’ll come back later to read them. Maybe I can make this my hideout.”
“You share way too much information, do you realize that?”
“Yep!” Harry chirped. “But, you won’t use it against me!” Harry walked over to the only other door in the room and pushed it open. It led to another dark passageway. This one was shorter and when they came to another doorway that blended into the stones, they could hear murmuring on the other side. It sounded as if the person was in a large cavern with how their voice slightly echoed.
Harry leaned against the stone next to the entrance and it opened with a small whoosh.
“Oops.” Harry shrugged and slipped into the room. Right next to them was a large statue of what looked to be Salazar Slytherin in this large open room. A little ways in front of it laying on the floor was Ginny Weasley. Next to her was a teenage boy who was pacing back and forth in front of her.
“They will come. Gryffindors always come to save the day.”
Harry looked over to his Professor.
“Who is that?” He whispered. “He has your house colors on his tie.”
“He looks like the Dark Lord did. Well, a younger version of him.”
Just then Harry noticed a familiar looking diary laying on the ground next to Ginny.
“Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort?”
“Who?”
“He was a student here with Hagrid. His diary told me about the last time the chamber was opened.”
“We really need to come up with a safety action plan for you, Potter.”
Harry gave him another cheeky grin.
“I am going to attempt to get Ginny away from the Dark Lord. You should stay right here.”
Severus stepped out into the main area where the other two were. He took slow and measured steps. The teenager's back was to him as he summoned the girl closer to him. Unfortunately the water puddle near her sloshed as she was dragged away.
The young dark lord turned quickly.
“You aren’t Potter.”
“Luckily.”
“You’re too late anyway. Her life force is mine.”
“Nope.”
Severus cast a containment spell he knew for the darkest of magics. It encircled the diary and the teen essentially cutting off whatever connection he had to the girl.
Before Severus could do anything else, Tom started hissing and the chamber opened even further. The basilisk slithered out of the mouth of the statue.
All of a sudden a rock was flying through the air at the large snake.
“Over here!” Harry hissed. It swung its head towards the small boy. “Don’t listen to that liar over there, I am actually the Heir of Slytherin. My many great grandmother was Sylvia.”
“Sssylvia? She was my favorite. I will not harm you little speaker.”
“Nice! She says she won't harm us, Snape.” Harry called over to his professor,
“Can you tell her to lower the protective sheath on her eyes so I can look over there?”
“Sure!” Harry switched to parseltongue. “Can you lower your eye thing so you won’t hurt my professor?”
“Yesss, hatchling.”
The spectral form of Tom Riddle banged on the protective shield surrounding him.
“No! I am the Heir! You have to listen to me.”
“I don’t have to do anything.” The snake hissed back. “I like this hatchling better.”
“Thank you so much. You are a very majestic snake so of course you know best.” Harry bowed to the beast.
“Young hatchling is so smart.” She curled the end of her tail around Harry in a protective cocoon. Her tongue flicked out to taste the air. “What are we going to do with the bad heir? His magic tastes wrong.”
“We need to destroy him and take my friend Ginny to the hospital wing.”
Severus was pouring several vials down Ginny’s throat to try and stabilize her before transport.
“Just call for a hogwarts house elf. They will take the girl. Their magic is more stable anyway.”
“Professor, she says that we should just call for a house elf to come and get Ginny.”
“That is a good idea. Pipsy!”
A small elf popped into view.
“Hello, Pipsy. Please take Miss Weasley to the infirmary and tell the gathered adults that we will be up shortly.”
Pipsy nodded and snapped his fingers. Glowing blue light surrounded Ginny in a warm embrace. Pipsy looked over his work and then popped them away.
“Now we just need to stop whatever is going on with him.” Harry motioned towards Tom, who was still trying to find a way out of his bubble.
“You said that the diary told you about him? Just in writing or some other way?”
“It started in writing and then it was like it pulled me into a vision of the past. It was kinda weird also because it would write back to me like it was an alive human being.”
“And you, again, did not tell an adult about the weird object that could talk to you?”
“When you put it that way…” Harry ruffled his own hair and Severus a sheepish grin.
“If I had to guess, the diary is the lifeforce for this spectral version of the Dark Lord. So, I should destroy it.”
Tom stopped his tantrum to look at them victoriously. “You will never destroy it. It's indestructible!”
“Usually that just means people haven’t tried the right poison yet.” His eyes drifted to the giant snake that was now nuzzling its face into the second year boy it was still trying to cradle like a baby.
“Potter, can you ask your snake if we can borrow some of its venom?”
Harry relayed the question and answer between the two.
“She says that there is a giant bowl that Salazar would have her bite down on to collect it all.” Harry hopped down and went over to another stretch of wall and hissed. “It should be right about here.”
A door opened and there was, in fact, a giant bowl in it. Severus levitated it to the snake and she bit down. The neon liquid collected and Severus started to search through his pockets.
“Aha!” He pulled out a small orb that reminded Harry of a Remebrall. “Now I have something to collect his leftover essence as it tries to flee.”
Severus waved his wand around a few times and the orb expanded and lightly glowed.
“That should contain it.” He handed it to Harry.
“Alright, I need you to stand right here.”
Harry was positioned between the form of Tom Riddle and the diary. Severus then pulled out the sword from his side. He dipped the top half into the venom for a good minute. When he turned, there was a determined look on his face. He vanished the protective sphere around the diary and brought the sword above his head. He then abruptly stabbed the diary.
There was a shriek as something black and mist-like sprung from the diary, it tried to get to the teenage form near it but was stopped as it started to get sucked into the orb Harry held. As the last of the mist started to dissipate, Snape released the protections around Tom Riddle and what was left of his fading form went into the orb as well.
There was a pause to see if there would be any adverse reactions with the orb.
“Well, that was pretty anticlimactic compared to last year.” He then turned to the snake and hissed at her once more. She hissed back and slithered back to the opening she came out of.
“I told her that we have to take care of some things but that we would be back.”
Severus sheathed his sword.
“I need to get this to Amelia Bones.” He threw a preservation charm over the venom that was still in the bowl. And they started to head back the way they came.
“It looks like we make a pretty good team, sir. “
Snape pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Let’s not make this a habit. Maybe come to me earlier in the year if something is happening, you trouble magnet.”
“I’ll make sure to come get you the next time a mass murderer is after me.” Harry gave him a cheeky grin. “Oh! Now that your sword has basilisk venom and it will be easier to kill anything you would need to make into potion ingredients, can I come with you?”
Severus sighed one last time and the pair walked out of the chamber.