Defence and Mayhem

Busy on Vacation

Sorry for the delay, had a four day trip without my computer so I couldn't load the file to my phone and publish it... Next chapter's gonna have a new character's point of view in it, any guess?

Tom was searching. Searching for a clue, for anything at all that could help him find the Chamber of Secrets. So far, strolling across the halls looking for signs or hidden pathways has led to nothing. The library was slightly more informative.

Slightly.

He found one book. The book was old, it had no title, nothing. But it had a certain feel to it, the same he got whenever he spoke Parseltongue. It was difficult to put a name to it, but whenever he spoke Parseltongue he felt as if a string of magic was connecting him to the serpent he conversed with, and when there wasn't one, the same string connected to his source of intent while speaking the language.

Experiencing that feeling for no reason? Not a chance. After that he quickly found the source; the same book he was now holding.

But its information was lacking.

All it gave him was basic information about Slytherin's part in founding Hogwarts. However, one paragraph was, in fact, useful.

'Like the other three founders, Slytherin did not leave his life's work unguarded. He stationed his familiar to guard the castle, unseen and unheard, yet capable of traveling throughout the castle with no restrictions whatsoever.'

The book was only related to Slytherin's part in founding Hogwarts as a whole, and there was no mention of any personal chambers or rooms of any sort. Tom's guess was that it was written by a Parselmouth a few generations back due to the magic residue it had on it, but the Parselmouth didn't want to leave important information in a book that anyone could read.

However, a familiar of Slytherin, which was said to be a great serpent- a basilisk, unseen and unheard as it moves around inside the castle? That could not be. However, from what he has heard of the Chamber of Secrets, Slytherin put a great beast in the chamber. That had to be the basilisk, and if so, there had to be passages from the chamber towards the rest of the castle, and the only thing big enough to fit a full-grown basilisk in it was the pipes! That way the basilisk could pass through the castle while remaining invisible to the students!

Now, where would be the most probable entrance?

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Harrison had just arrived at Peverell Cottage in Ipswich. It actually wasn't in Ipswich, but it could be considered to be located there if it was about a kilometre closer to the outskirts of the city.

The place didn't look like anyone had been in there for years, which was true, but he did need to clean it and make it feel like a home before the end of the year when Tom and himself would move in.

He did have his doubts about living together with the would-be dark lord, but he truly felt like Tom was different from the one he saw in the diary during his second year at Hogwarts. The current timeline's Tom had a light in his eyes that the diary Tom had lost. It might be hope, it might be a different goal he wished to achieve, but it somewhat assured him that it will be different this time.

He was done with the large cottage a few hours later. The shelves of a cozy study were full of the books he brought with him, the furniture of the estate was polished clean and repaired to look relatively new, light woods and grey and beige fabrics, the walls were painted in light welcoming creams and the floors were now adorned with fluffy grey and brown carpets above repaired wooden flooring.

The cottage had a nice library which was now dusted clean and color schemed in navy blue, and the kitchen was filled with nice sets of cooking tools that he bought in the city. A small garden at the front of the house was now cleaned of weeds and ready to be filled with greenery, but that was for another time. All in all, the place looked comfortable and welcoming.

The next day he prepared for both combined inter-house lessons and dark arts study sessions. Both were decided to begin after the winter holidays. The inter-house sessions would occur twice a month, while the dark arts studies would be weekly sessions.

He was surprised with the number of students who submitted an entry to the dark arts sessions. All of Slytherin, half of Ravenclaw, a nice amount of neutral Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, and a few pro- light Gryffindors such as Harry's own grandfather and his friend group along with the Longbottom twins from Hufflepuff.

He assumed that this last group wanted to 'keep the slimy snakes in check' as Ron and himself once put it… but he hoped that when they'd come to the inevitable conclusion that dark magic was not evil they would come around. He originally only planned for Dark And Neutral core bearers to participate, but after receiving a letter from an interested light core bearer he decided to allow that as well, as long as the student is aware of the potential side effects of being exposed to dark magic for extended periods of time, and the allowance of the student's parents.

He now has to plan so many different lessons, it was exhausting. Not to mention that this was OWL and NEWT tests term, and he decided to make acceptance to his DADA NEWT course and make his NEWT course itself harder, he'll require a bit more from the students.

The Patronus.

Fifth years will be required to produce silver mist, Sixth years- a shield, Seventh years- Corporeal Patronus.

All of them could do it. As light as it was, while he taught the charm, he will make the dark art sessions longer and, well, darker. That way there's no need to fear the weakening of any student's core.

One thing that he figured out about the Patronus Charm, with it being one of his favourite spells, was that you couldn't always use happy memories for a Patronus. It wasn't enough when facing the dread the Dementors brought upon one's being. A strong enough ambition, filled with confidence of success was more than enough.

Another thing was that dark wizards had no problem producing a Patronus. Draco, who had a dark core, being both a Black and a Malfoy, managed to learn the spell a few months after the war, since he didn't want to rely on others when visiting his father in Azkaban, and it took him less time than it took Harrison. Hermione and he had a little chat about it when the subject came up. Harrison had a grey core, which had no lean to either side at all, the last bit being courtesy of Death, but his fear being the things he would hear while being near dementors made facing them much harder. After the war, before he isolated himself in his library, he had to face quite a few dementors who didn't enjoy the stay in Azkaban, and oh, it was so much worse.

He could face them, his Patronus didn't fail him, however, the sounds of his forever lost loved ones… It was horrible.

He couldn't afford to use happy memories to use the Patronus since then. That's how he found out about the alternatives for happy memories…

But putting that aside, it was a popular belief that only those of pure heart could perform the spell to its fullest, but dark wizards could be pure of heart, and even if not, you had to be extremely vile for the spell to backfire.

Because, if the wretched pink toad called Umbridge could perform that spell without it backfiring, almost anyone can.

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"Open", Tom hissed towards the snake carving on the marble sink, watching in fascination as it moved to create a dark abyss below him. Descending the stairs he called upon, he relished in his victory.

On the last day of the winter holidays, he found the Chamber of Secrets.

Published on Friday, the 25th of March, 2022.