Playing Dress-up ~Tomarry~

Chapter 11 ✅

(Skip to fourth year)

Harry winced as he sat down at the Gryffindor table, it was the welcoming feast and he was starting his fourth year at Hogwarts. Ron brushed his arm roughly against Harry's shoulder causing him to hiss beneath his breath. Which earned him a nuzzle of comfort from Hydrath who was hiding under his robes. Of course, Vernon had made sure that he got a beating to remember before he left the Dursley's residence. Hydrath was currently resting underneath his robes, since Harry didn't trust anyone with his snake's safety except himself. As the sorting continued on, Harry let his mind drift off... He wondered when he was going to see Tom again, it had been so long, He had gotten the old man's blood like he had been asked to, but he didn't know what to do with it. Harry's mind came back to reality when food appeared on the table, Harry waited for Ron to take his ginormous helping and for Hermione to take what she wanted before he took two quarter sandwich triangles from another platter.

No one commented on how much food he ate at the welcoming feast, while Hermione did comment on it in their first and second years, she didn't chastise him about it anymore, seeing as she just thought it normal and Ron was about as observant as an obtuse person, AKA not at all.

Once all the students were dismissed, Harry stood up and walked off without his friends noticing that he had gone. The raven haired boy walked towards the Chamber of Secrets were he left Hydrath at at the start of the year. Harry knew if the Gryffindors seen him with a snake that they would think that he had gone dark, so he preferred to leave Hydrath somewhere that he could be free to wander where no one else could see him. It was safer for both of them, anyways.

As Harry reached the second floor bathroom where the Chamber is located there was someone standing outside it. Harry looked at the man recognising his deformed and heavily scarred face, "Professor Moody, can I help you?"

The new defence teacher smirked cruelly, making a suppressed shiver run down Harry's spine. "Have you completed the dark lord's task yet, Potter?"

Harry's eyes narrowed as he stared at the man, not sure how to answer the question, "The dark lord didn't give me a task." Of course he was lying but he didn't know if the new teacher could be trusted considering he looked to be quite close to the headmaster considering his entrance.

The man just kept the smirk on his face as he reached into his pocket and dragged out an sealed envelope, "He knew you wouldn't trust me, so he wrote you a letter."

Harry warily took the envelope from the older man's hand and lifted his wand to it, the tip glowed golden; showing that it was clear of all spells except a very harmless one that made sure the letter could only be opened by the intended recipient. He kept his eyes on the man as he slowly opened the letter before looking down to read it,

——

My dear Harry,

The person that has given you this letter, Barty Crouch Jr is disguised as Professor Moody. He will be teaching you defence this year and expect you to be fully co-operaterative with him.

I myself, believed that you would not take his word that he said if he were to just approach you, hence the letter. I hope you have completed the task that I had set you a little under a year prior, however, if you haven't you still have until the afternoon of the 24th of June this coming year.

I hope you have taken care of my robes.

I will see you on this date,
Tom Marvolo Riddle.

——

Harry looked up at disguised teacher and smirked at him before motioning for fake Moody to follow him through the door to the bathroom that led to the Chamber of Secrets. As they walked to the entrance hatch of the Chamber, Barty began talking, "So Potter, have you completed the task our lord has set you?"

Harry looked over at the man, whose face was badly scarred and was missing half a nose, "Yes, I completed the task he set me last year, it was quite a chore to do."

The scarred man laughed hoarsely, "I'm sure, Dumbledore can be quite hard to catch off guard."

Harry smiled slightly as he remembered that night,

Flashback:
Harry looked down at the map as he watched as Dumbledore's dot stayed unmoving for several minutes in his private quarters. It must have been at least one in the morning, Harry had snuck into the man's office earlier that day and had stayed hidden in the corner that he was in now. The man had made his way up to his quarters about 15 minutes ago and Harry was sure he had gone to sleep now. He had everything that he knew he could possibly need, the invisibility cloak, his wand and the marauders map.

Harry very carefully, crept up to the headmaster's private quarters and the man was asleep with a candle sitting on his bedside, Harry wanted to laugh the man mustn't like the dark and that just made his job a lot easier. Carefully Harry leaned over the old man who shifted as the shadows changed, Harry smiled slyly as he whispered the stunning charm, stunning the headmaster as he took the sharp knife to the bearded man's arm. He made a cut deep enough to draw blood but not deep enough that it would scar, Harry smiled as the blood dripped into the vial he held. As he closed the vial he could feel the headmaster starting to struggle under the spell, quickly throwing the cloak back over himself he let go of the charm and left the room just as the headmaster looked at the door.

-Flashback ends

"Yes, he certainly is." Harry mused as he made his way deeper into the Chamber. "Close your eyes." Harry said to his partner. Barty, sure enough closed his eyes while Harry told Dabria to close her second eyelids and Harry allowed Barty to open his eyes again. The older man stared at the large sixty food basilisk in awe. Harry talked to Dabria for a bit while he allowed Hydrath to come out from under his robes. Soon after fake Moody and Harry left the chamber together departing at the staircase that led to the defence classroom.

Harry could go to bed knowing that he had done all that he needed to ensure his best friend and fellow parcelmouth could return safely.

~1161

A/N - I know it's a bit shorter than usual but it is building up to the next chapters where all the action will start.