Harry woke up early that morning; eager to spend as much time as possible as his actual self. Harry, Remus and Sirius were meeting the Malfoy's at their manor before all heading to King's Cross together. Just before they would leave, Harry would have a glamour paced on him so that he looks like his old self again. So Harry got out of bed and had a quick shower. Once he was dried and dressed he began to comb his hair. A sudden sadness washed over him as he thought about how he wouldn't look like this again for quite a while. He stopped combing and let his hair hang down. His eyes stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was taking in every detail. He noticed how apart from his eyes, he really did look exactly like his father. A small smile appeared on his face as he thought about it. His father. His very healthy and very much alive father. Even though he wasn't happy about having to have a glamour placed on him again, he was looking forward to spending time with his father.
"Are you nearly ready to head off?" Sirius shouted through the door.
Harry walked over to the door and opened it.
"I am definitely ready. Are we going to go now?"
Sirius nodded and put his hand in his pocket, pulling out Harry's trunk that was now tiny.
"Here you go. You might want to grab Odessa before you forget!"
"Have I ever forgotten anything?"
"I guess not. But that doesn't mean you won't forget something someday."
Harry waltzed into his room and lifted Odessa up off the bed, draping her across his shoulders. She lifted her head faced Harry.
"Is it already time to leave?" She hissed.
"Yes it is. I'll make sure I pay more attention to you this year. I got carried away with other things last year." He hissed back.
"You promise?"
"Promise."
"Still so weird." Sirius commented from where he was standing in the doorway.
Odessa places her head down onto Harry's shoulder, making herself comfortable. Harry walks out of his room, trunk in hand and Sirius places charms on it so that Harry can shove it into his pocket.
"Let's go." Harry says. He links arms with Sirius and just after Sirius yells out to Remus to tell him to hurry up, they apparate away. They land in the grand entrance hall of the Malfoy Manor. Harry unlinked his arm and strides up the stairs. As he makes his way to Draco's room, he hears the low whisper of his name. He follows the whisper into the library only to come face to face with the back of his ex-professor's head.
"Hello, Tom!" Harry greets.
"Wow Harry. What happened to you?"
"Found out that I had a glamour placed on me since birth so I got it removed. Turns out Severus is actually my father, rather than James Potter."
"Affair I assume?"
"You guessed it!"
"Any luck finding a ritual yet?"
Harry just shook his head.
"Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm the girls bathroom on the second floor, if you go up to the sinks, one of them will have a little snake on it. Hiss the word 'open' and it will. There is going to be a creature down there that you may want to introduce yourself to before you go too far in. But in there, you will come across Salazar Slytherin's secret chamber. There are plenty of books in there, so I'm hoping that you might find the right ritual in one of them."
Harry's eyes lit up in excitement at the thought of getting to read Salazar's private collection of books. Tom smiled softly at the boy, knowing that that was the same look he had on his face when he first discovered the chambers.
"Have a good year. Let me know if you find anything!" Tom says.
Harry nods before waving and hurrying off to Draco's room. He opens the door without knocking and walks into find Draco looking frantically. The room around him was an absolute mess and his hair was sticking up in all directions.
"What are you looking for?" Harry asks.
"My ring. Father will kill me if I don't have my heir ring on!" He states while he throws more stuff around.
"Odessa? Can you find his ring please?" Harry hisses to the snake.
Odessa slowly nods before making her way to the floor and slithering off into the mess. Harry begins picking things up and placing them where they belong. As he goes to place a book back on a shelf, he drops it when Draco lets out a scream.
"What?!" Harry asks.
"Oh! It's you Odessa. You frightened me. Oh Merlin! You found my ring! Thank you so much! I could kiss you right now!"
Odessa just stares at him until he takes his ring off her tail. She then slithers back to Harry, hissing at him to pick her up. He picks her up and places her back on his shoulders.
"Boys! Hurry up please!" Narcissa yells from downstairs.
The two boys stride out of the messy room and down the stairs. They stop as they reach their parents.
"Okay Harry. I know you don't want this, but we must do it. It's not as strong a glamour as your last one because we want you to be able to take it off when you are with your father or alone. That way, it might make the thought of it a bit more bearable for you." Remus states as he flicks his wand and places the glamour on Harry.
"You know how to remove it don't you?" Sirius asks.
"Of course." Harry replies.
"Let's head off then!" Narcissa states.
The two boys link arms with their parents and the six of them apparate away to Platform nine and three quarters. As they arrive, the boys both say a quick goodbye to their parents before boarding the train.
***
The sorting finishes and the feast begins. Harry ate at a slightly faster speed than usual as the excitement of exploring the chambers was too much for him to handle. He was beyond excited when they all walked to their common room and Harry went straight to bed.
"It's been a long day. I didn't get much sleep last night." He explained as he entered his dormitory. He removed his robes but stayed in his uniform as he slipped into his bed, making sure the canopy surrounding him was completely closed. Once he heard the sound of snoring, he quickly got up and placed his shoes and robes back on. He grabbed Odessa and the two of them snuck out of the dormitory and through the castle. He made it to the second floor bathroom and snuck in.
"Open" he hissed.
The sink gave way to an opening.
"Lumos" He cast.
Looking down the opening, he couldn't see the bottom. He had an idea and decided to try it out.
"Stairs." He hissed.
Stairs began forming and he began to descend them. As he reaches the bottom, he looks around in awe. He could not believe that such a place existed in the castle he has been in for a year. He began to head down the passageway, ready to explore.
