The Not so Dark Hours (Tomarry)

CHAPTER 2

I'm sitting on the couch in the common room, reading a book called "The Big Book of Runes and Rune Magic", which I disguised as a book on Quidditch. I owl-ordered it last week and it arrived this morning, so I'm very excited. It explains the history of runes and the meaning of the word rune, which derives from the Celtic and Germanic languages and means secret or mystery in most or even all dialects. The book also lightly touches on what three things runes may be analysed on in the beginning: Form; Idea; and Number. Runes played a role in many ancient cultures and are a simply fascinating subject and they are complex even in their simplicity.

It is only when I reach the chapter on talismanic objects, that I am disturbed by Hermione, telling me that it is bedtime now. I was so concentrated on the book, but now I realise how tired I am, but there is no room for sleep. Tonight, I plan on sneaking into the forbidden section of the library and looking more into dark magic, specifically soul magic. I saw an interesting book there when going there by day, but as it is dark magic, I can't risk anybody seeing me.

As soon as everybody is sleeping, I slip out of my bed and put on my shoes, not wanting to sneak around bare- and cold-footed. Just as a precaution in addition to my cloak I use a cushioning spell to make my steps on the stone floor silent.

In the forbidden section I roam around and scan the many bookshelves in search of that book. Ah, there it is! "An introduction to Soul Magic and the ABC of immortality" is sitting right in front of me, looking rather innocent for such a dark book. Also, whoever invented that title must have been on crack. As I scam through the pages, I find myself thinking that Voldemort would quite enjoy this book. It looks very old, and a bit worn, so maybe Tommy boy already did read it.

--

I make my way to the girl's lavatory. To Myrtle's bathroom. I hear her snoring in her cubicle and smile fondly. She may be a bit weird and eccentric, but she's mostly just misunderstood. I actually enjoy visiting her from time to time and hearing stories about her time in school.

Now standing before the sink I first discovered in my second year I hiss for the entrance to open and make my way down to the chamber I so feared for many years. I've been here so many times since the beginning of the year, that it has started feeling like a safe space, especially with Harriet guarding it.

"Hello Harriet, how are you? I'm sorry I haven't been coming down much lately, but Dumbles is starting to become suspicious of me." I hiss in the familiar tongue. The little basilisk tilts her head cutely and then nods understandingly.

"No trouble master, I understand the difficulty, although I'm beginning to despise that old fool." She hisses aggressively.

"Now, now, Dumbledore isn't that bad, he's simply gotten a bit stuck in his ways." I calm her and simultaneously defend my headmaster, stroking her beautiful scales.

She is the daughter of the basilisk I killed in my second year, and I found her, half as big as me at the time in one of the chambers behind the statue of Salazar Slytherin. I discovered them when accidentally speaking parsletongue when I snuck down here the first time. I thought there was a very specific way to create a basilisk, but apparently Tommy found a way to breed the snake. Not my concern, I am just happy that Harriet is here now.

I was a bit cheesy when matching her name to mine, but nobody is ever going to know anyway, and she surely appreciated that as a sign of belonging.

She starts slithering next to me as I walk into the chambers of Salazar Slytherin and relaxes in front of the magical chimney that I immediately turned on when entering the bedroom. All of the walls are decked in with bookshelves apart from the one encompassing the door. There hangs a portrait of Salazar Slytherin. I've spoken to him a few times, but not a lot because he has to rest much due to old age. Or so he says. He's actually a nice bloke and knows really much about all kinds of magic, not only dark. Whenever he could, he would explain complicated theories, spells and rituals to me as well as his general view on the world.

Poor guy was misunderstood by the three other houses, and they bullied him for not wanting to risk the loss of old traditions. He said he was a bit stiff when it came to that back then, but he was ready for evolution, he just didn't want some of the beautiful traditions to get lost due to the acceptation of the muggle ways. He told me of the meaning of Yule and Samhain, and I am now sad that we celebrate Christmas and Halloween instead. Sure, I've come to love Christmas and Halloween, but when in a magic school why not make traditions co-exist or just celebrate the wizarding way and leave the rest up to the kids who graduate. After all they can do what they want when they're not in school any more.

I snuggle myself into a comfy armchair that is covered in green velvet and pull the fluffy blanket I got from Mrs. Weasley over my legs. I grab the book I just snuck out of the forbidden section and start reading. Minutes and then hours pass when I suddenly gasp at a piece of soul magic combined with the concept of immortality at the back of the book. The spell is called Horcrux and something about the definition seems awfully familiar.

No... There is no way. Has Voldemort created those vile things and that is the reason he could survive? Why would he rip his soul apart? That's bloody brutal and not to mention dangerous if one does it more than two times. Humans and also their souls change over time and their moral compasses change with them, but they always have the safety there that they at least keep a bit of their past self at all times. But if that past self is separate from the present self that would mean that the person cannot evolve properly like they are meant to and start from square one time after another only becoming more crazed.

If Voldemort really did create Horcruxes then I can only pity him.

--

After having read the whole book and kissing Harriet good night I go up to my common room and check the time before falling asleep: 4 o'clock. Bloody hell, I'll be a living corpse tomorrow, but it is worth the shocking discovery.