Harry potter and the descent into darkness

Chapter 6

Harry spent some time in the library the next day looking for anything that could be useful in dealing with the task. It was difficult to ask Hermione for help since he'd given her the impression that he already had the task sort of worked out, and the potions he'd been brewing were for it.

If he admitted that he'd fibbed a bit, she would want to know what those potions had actually been for, and he wasn't willing to tell her that.

He was getting frustrated with the library rather quickly – especially with all the people who were there. It was still the Christmas hols for Merlin's sake! Why were there so ruddy many students hanging around the library? Stupid ball. Harry actually missed the quiet that would have been granted him during the holiday under normal circumstances. Thanks to the ball, almost every student forth year and up had stayed behind.

It was at that point that he recalled all of the books down in Slytherin's study in the chamber. Well, if nothing else, at least he wouldn't have to deal with any other students while searching those books.

Harry went up to Gryffindor Tower, grabbed his cloak, map, and his bag and headed back down the stairs. Ron reminded him about that offer for a game of exploding snap, but Harry declined, saying he needed to do some work for the task and quickly left.

Ten minutes later, Harry was slipping into Slytherin's study and setting down his bag.

Harry sat down on the chaise lounge and looked out over the room of books. Most of them were... well, old. Obviously. He was afraid to actually touch some of them just because they looked like the slightest bit of manhandling and they would crumble apart. They were a thousand years old, after all.

Some, however, were in much better condition than others. He could feel fragmented bits of magic floating through the room and realized that it felt sort of reminiscent of a preservation charm. It was weakened though, and had failed in certain sections of the room.

He had also noted that there was a neatly stacked pile of books along one side of the room, that were all in much better condition than any of the others. They also reeked of much more recent magic than the rest did.

Harry theorized that these were books that Riddle had restored or repaired during his time as a student at Hogwarts. He could see why, upon closer examination, since most of those books looked incredibly interesting.

Harry sighed heavily and wondered if he could find anything to help him with the task here. Surely, in this treasure trove of knowledge, he would find something useful.

He stood up and walked over to the stack of books that Riddle had restored. He crouched down and began to read through the titles.

Search spell...

His companion's voice whispered through his head and Harry paused.

"What?"

There is a spell... to search for... subject matter in books. Much... faster.

"Seriously? Why didn't you mention this earlier in the library?"

...

Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, what is it?"

Invenio... wand movement isss... an S shape. Incant... Invenio... and then the word... or phrasse... you are searching for.

Harry nodded his head and grinned widely. He decided to test it out on something first so he picked up the first book in front of him, looked at the title, Tip-Toeing Through the Mind of the Unaware by Clair Videre. His brows rose as his interest was peaked.