16 March 1993, Hogwarts
As Harry pointed his wand at the disarmed Neville Longbottom, he couldn't help but think that what he was going to do would have consequences, ones that he maybe wouldn't have foreseen. He was going to reveal himself, in a way that he hadn't expected before. But every time he remembered the still form of his friend in the infirmary, he just didn't regret his actions.
Tom Riddle had gone too far, and that was something that Harry wasn't going to take lying down.
The attack had changed things for the House of Snakes. Subconsciously, even after McLaggen showed that the Heir of Slytherin was more than willing to attack Purebloods, Harry's housemates all thought that they were safe, that the heir wouldn't attack them. Daphne's petrification proved them wrong, and they finally started to panic.
Tracy and Blaise were inconsolable as well, but Harry refused to lose himself in his mourning, choosing to take his anger out on Riddle instead. His distance during this dark time was putting some strain on his relationship with his friends, but they were surprisingly understanding at Harry's need to keep busy.
Being busy was good. It occupied his mind from thinking about Daphne. Harry was doing his best to suppress all emotions pertaining to her. It probably wasn't healthy, and everything would end up crashing down, but he was going to be productive at the very least.
Daphne's attack had revealed a lot about Riddle's plan, but there was an inevitable conclusion to all of his research. Harry needed a Parselmouth to open the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets and there was only a single public Parselmouth in the castle.
Thankfully, Harry ended up finding Longbottom before the fool tried to sneak inside an Acromantula nest on his own. Rescuing him from the forest would have ended up being messy. He disarmed the Longbottom scion before he could think about hexing him by reflex.
The Longbottom scion had turned towards him with a betrayed look, "You?"
Harry had just shrugged and answered, "Me. Now, I would let you get yourself killed by Hagrid's pet Acromantula colony and get no results whatsoever, but I'm kind of pressed for time, and I need a Parselmouth. So, I guess you're coming with me, Longbottom."
Which brought them to their current position, "You're the heir of Slytherin?"
"Of course, I'm not," Harry answered with a snort, "Are you an idiot or something? I have better things to do than petrifying students."
"Then why are you doing this?" the boy who lived asked.
"This has gone on long enough. I'm hunting down the heir of Slytherin and unfortunately, I need your help. More specifically, I need a Parselmouth, and since you're the only one around, I have to settle for you."
Yeah, saying that had hit Harry's pride slightly. Yes, Parseltongue was a spell, some kind of soul projection of intent that worked as a pulse of intent. The noise was technically the incantation, which was somehow saved in some kind of magical crest, one that Slytherin had to have made sure couldn't be seen. Harry could technically replicate the process but only if he had a couple of years or maybe even a few months if he had a live sample of something using Parseltongue, so he was stuck with Longbottom.
"If you think I'm going to help you with anything…"
Harry snorted, "Hey Longbottom, look at me," the boy looked at his blank face, "Do I look like I give a damn what you think?"
The Longbottom scion gulped in fear and Harry nodded to himself in satisfaction. His point was made.
Finally, Longbottom spoke up, "You want to stop the heir too, don't you? I want the same, we could team up. Dumbledore was just removed from the castle; the heir will have free reign soon…"
Harry froze, "Dumbledore is gone?"
"Yeah, I just heard Lucius Malfoy say that he was voted out by the board. They even took Hagrid away since he was the one expelled for opening the chamber the last time."
Shit! Dumbledore was out of the castle and that was bad. That was very bad. Riddle had been aiming to specifically remove the headmaster because he would be able to stop his ritual. At least, that was Harry's guess. Without him being there, the Heir of Slytherin could activate his ritual without being stopped. That accelerated the timeline immensely.
"Yes, I know, he was set up fifty years ago," Harry mumbled.
Of course, this was when his unwilling companion started to gain a measure of intelligence, "Why are you so afraid? I thought you would have been over the moon if Dumbledore was removed from his position."
Harry stifled a snort, "Dumbledore wasn't removed from his position, not really. Hogwarts is his seat of power; nothing will ever remove him unless he doesn't want to be there. Do you honestly think the board could actually make him do anything? No, he's playing the long game. I'm guessing that Lucius Malfoy is going to have a very uncomfortable few months after this. But the problem is that he's out of the castle, and that's bad, that's very bad. He's going to start soon."
"Who is?"
"The Queen of England," the Potter scion answered sarcastically, "Who do you think? The heir of Slytherin, dumbass."
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