Key:
"Words."
Thoughts / "emphasis" / Title of Books or spells used
~~Parseltongue~~
¬¬Foreign Language¬¬
"Magical language."
The Day the Golden Boy Died
1st June 1993 – Hogwarts, late at night
All hail the conquering hero? Not quite. Not at all.
It had been a little under two days since Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and the fraud of a Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor Gilderoy Lockhart went into the Chamber of Secrets to battle a basilisk. Less than two days since Harry had faced off against the shade of Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort, and almost died to the basilisk's venom. Since he rescued Ginny Weasley. Since Harry and Ron's actions brought about a Gryffindor House Cup victory. And since the revival of those petrified by Slytherin's monster.
The same two days had seen Harry unable to rest as two scenes kept repeating in his thoughts, caught on a loop in his mind like one of his aunt Petunia's vinyls having a scratch.
The two boys sat alone in the Gryffindor common room, each lost in their own thoughts as they tried to come to grips with the fact that Ron's little sister had been taken to the Chamber.
"She knew something, Harry," Ron said, breaking the silence. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't something stupid about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was... I mean, she's a Pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."
"Because only the Pure-bloods matter, right, Ron?" Harry sneered, standing beneath his father's invisibility cloak as he stared at one special sink in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He didn't know that his words had slipped into Parseltongue halfway through.
Only the drip-drip of ink leaking out of the cursed diary broke the oppressive silence. Harry dragged himself up from the floor and gathered his wand and the Sorting Hat, cautiously reaching out to snatch the Sword of Gryffindor from the roof of Basilisk's mouth. He felt weak and was only holding back the shakes through sheer force of will. Yet, Harry still surveyed the partially destroyed Chamber. His gaze turned towards the mouth of Slytherin's statue and he could feel something stirring inside him when he looked into its darkness. A sense of something within calling to him with the promise of helping him become complete. An offer meant only for him. Harry was about to step into the open jaws when a faint moan broke the trance. Ginny Weasley was coming around.
Harry run his fingers over the snake motif that signified the entrance. Whatever had drawn him to stepping into Slytherin's statue had refused to leave him. With everyone asleep, he knew now was the time to find what those shadows held.
~~Open~~ He commanded, stepping back to watch the smooth parting of the sink to reveal the slope the basilisk had used.
The pre-teen didn't know that Dumbledore, straight after hearing Harry's story, had cast a monitoring charm on the sink. The entrance opening triggered an alert in the headmaster's office and activated a powerful Confundus Charm. The headmaster's plan was simple. Wait until Harry got curious, and have the Confundus send the boy away while leaving the opening to the fabled Chamber free for him to explore. He never knew that Harry's mind overthrew compulsions as though they weren't there.
The pre-teen didn't even notice the attempts to confuse him, such was Harry's intense focus on his task. A whispered ~~Stairs~~ proved his guess as the slope shifted into a long staircase. The Gryffindor Golden Boy began his descent into the dark, only stopping long enough to command the sink to close behind him.
When Dumbledore came running through the bathroom's entrance not five minutes later, he would find no entrance and no Boy Who Lived. A quick check through Hogwarts' wards only told him the boy was sound asleep in his dorm and had been all night.
Hogwarts looked after her own.
Somewhere else in the castle slept a woman considered by most to be nothing more than a fraud. More of a prophetess than a seer, Sybil Trelawney had little choice when her legacy activated and, despite her flamboyant teaching style, hated how her gift took away her autonomy. She drank to bury the Sight, but both she and her jailer Dumbledore knew a True Prophecy could break through the alcoholic haze. This was why he kept her close, after all. The great and powerful Dumbledore had covered Sybil and her rooms in monitoring charms in order to catch her when she Spoke, but once again Hogwarts stepped in.
If the manipulator had remained in his quarters or office, he would have heard the alarm when all his monitoring devices ceased. Instead, he stood in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, resetting his spells to the Chamber's entrance and would never know what happened next. The woman everyone saw as a joke of a Divination professor was fast asleep while her lips moved and a raspy voice spoke through her.
"For centuries, the Eldritch Flames of Death have hidden in the shadows... killing their Fathers... Their duplicity shall be revealed, when the Snake Child goes to war. The stone shall release her spear, and life is given to the Destroyer... the wolf shall be freed of unseen chains... but the messenger is lost... the Black Flames' masks shall finally shatter... when the Snake Child goes to war."
The True Prophecy faded into the warm summer air, with only the powerful magics of the many worldwide groups who studied prophecies knowing of its passing.
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Harry's Lumos lit the way down the many stairs and past the basilisk's shed skin. He arrived at the cave in and scrambled through the hole as something he couldn't name drove him on.. The snake covered door opened upon command, and Harry once again faced the dreaded Slytherin Monster.
With no rush of adrenalin or fear of danger, a profound sadness overwhelmed him as he gazed upon the Queen of Serpents. Harry couldn't help but remember another snake only two years previous that he had encountered. That time he had freed the boa constrictor, yet here he had no choice but to kill its mighty brethren. He moved closer, his lit wand held high, and placed his free palm against the cold scales.
"I'm sorry," he offered the majestic creature, reverently stroking the corpse. "I wish there had been another way."
And then he was once more pulled towards the deep shadows. Harry felt no fear as he moved his wand behind his head to keep the light from blinding him as he stepped into the statue's open mouth. The stench of a thousand-year-old basilisk nest washed over him, but he was used to terrible stinks from his years as the Dursleys' slave. He didn't know his eyes were glowing as he moved further down the tunnel. It didn't take long to reach the end, and Harry frowned at the large and empty circular room. He wondered if the urge had led him on a wild goose chase until he turned to his right and caught sight of something that caused his breath to catch in his throat.
Harry moved closer to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him, and his heart beat a heavy staccato in his chest at what he saw. Carved into the stone wall was an intricate image of a large dog. A grim, he remembered from reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. The lifelike image of the beast that towered over him wasn't the cause of Harry's reaction, nor was the animal why his eyes were watering. That was the vine that wrapped up the grim's front leg. The thorns cut into the magnificent beast's fur deep enough to cause bleeding. The animal appeared to pay no mind. Not when the lily at the top of the vine nested beneath the canine's chin.
It might have been a single image, yet the bond of love and protection between the grim and flower was unmistakable. Harry didn't realise he was reaching out to the carving. He didn't understand what the grim was about, but he could think of only one reason for this specific flower to be used. Somehow, some way, his mother, Lily Evans, had been down to the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry's fingers traced the vines, and he felt a pinch the moment skin touched the carved thorns. He hissed, pulling back the bleeding tips to suck the wound, only to blink at what happened next. The wall absorbed the blood, and the carving melted away in a fashion not dissimilar to the Leaky Cauldron's entrance to Diagon Alley.
The revealed room was larger than the Dursleys' living room and appeared to be an office cum lounge. Facing Harry was a pure white plain table covered in a wide selection of cauldrons of various materials that he was sure would cause Snape to faint from envy. He didn't even know they could make cauldrons from gemstones!
The right side of the room had a large, old style, and heavy looking dark and ornate wooden desk that was almost buried in parchment. A similarly ornate chair constructed from the same dark wood was positioned to give the idea that the owner had just stepped away from their work. Almost every part of the furniture had a carving or some type of colouring Harry suspected had an important cultural meaning at the time of their creation. Nestled in the wall's corner was a closed wooden door.
Bookcases filled with tome and scrolls of various colours and thicknesses took up almost the entire rest of the room's walls. A fireplace burned along the left-hand wall with a loose semi-circle group of comfortable chairs and a sofa facing the flames. Above the fire hung a large portrait with its occupier staring back at Harry with the same eyes he saw in the mirror.
The man was dressed in what Harry would guess to be high society clothing for his era. A sleeveless silver acromantula tunic was over an emerald under tunic that had sleeves almost as baggy as those of Harry's robes. Said sleeves were decorated in embroidery of snakes in the opposite tunic's colour. A leather belt tied the outer tunic shut, and the man's black pants were tucked into knee-high boots made of the same type of dark-green scaled leather. Harry had just stroked similar patterned scales just moments ago, making it easy for him to know that the leather was basilisk hide. A House signet ring sat on the man's slender left pinky.
The painting was that of the very room it hung in, with the man sitting on a copy of the chair facing his portrait. It gave the painting a unique mirror effect Harry hadn't experienced with any of the other magical portraits he had seen.
"You must be Lily's boy," the man spoke in a voice similar yet completely different to Snape's. Where the hated Potions professor drawled as though everyone was beneath him, this man sounded as though he knew something you didn't. His hair long black hair hung loose in an inky mane almost as uncontrollable as Harry's, and a perpetual sly half-smirk twisting the corner of his lips.
"Harry, sir."
The simple act of hearing his mother's name had pulled him into the room to stand opposite the obvious portrait of Salazar Slytherin, desperation flooding him to hear about his mother.
"Yes, named after Harold Godwinson. Edward the Confessor's named heir and the man whose death brought an end to the rule of the House of Wessex over the lands," Salazar stated, causing Harry to blink at the seemingly random fact. The Founder shook his head as though to clear it of troubled thoughts. "Forgive me, young heir. As you can no doubt deduce, I am Lord Salazar Ignotus Slytherin-Peverell, Lord of Magic, the first of my House, and your direct ancestor. And you do not know what any of that means, do you?"
Slytherin sighed the last part as he read Harry's non-verbal reaction to his words. Harry would have instantly rejected his ties to the Dark Founder were it not for knowing he was following in his mother's footsteps meeting the man. He couldn't help but ask the first question that popped into his mind.
"Why don't you look anything like those statues outside?"
Salazar's eyes narrowed. Harry was sure he had angered the Founder, especially as the silence dragged on, only for the man to throw his head back and laugh. "That was the first thing your mother asked!"
The young snake in a lion's colours sat on the centre most chair facing his ancestor. That it was the same chair the infamous man sat on only increased the sense of past and present meeting through some enchanted mirror. Any nerves over the man's legend turned to dust at the feeling of finally having someone to call family. It's not like my life hasn't been butchered by lies, he reminded himself. The sheer number of fake stories - or at least fake interpretations - about his life that the public lapped up had made him jaded in believing the stories of magical legends.
The understanding that replaced the laughter in those Killing Curse eyes made Harry feel uneasy. And that was before his ancestor spoke.
"I desire to hear the truth of my heir's life," Salazar declared. The Founder's portrait was like no other and channelled some magic into his words that were then amplified by the wards of the room. The magic would not force Harry to speak but make it easier for him to do so should he be willing to open up. "Tell me of your life before Hogwarts, and then what you believe you know and don't know of the magical world."
No one had ever sat Harry and shown a genuine interest in him before. The Dursleys had done a marvellous job of driving everyone away from him, or turning them off him before he even got to know them. No teacher had bothered questioning why such a small and skinny child wore baggy old clothes and broken glasses while the Dursleys always decked his cousin out in the latest fashion that fit his growing bulk. And for all Harry was the proclaimed Boy Who Lived, not one person connected to the magical world had ever tried to learn about Harry as his own person. While Hagrid was always friendly to him, and he had got over Ron's immediate wish to see his scar and Hermione's quoting of what books mentioned him, it didn't change the fact the person they thought he was and the person he really was, weren't the same. And despite the painful topic, Harry had the feeling that the Founder wanted to learn of the real Harry Potter.
Perhaps it was because Salazar had given him a choice, or because the Founder was family, or maybe Harry was too tired of carrying his past around. Whatever the inner reason, the result was the same. The pre-teen spoke of his life before Hogwarts and things he had only shared with Hedwig.
Salazar listened, only interrupting to ask probing questions that had Harry expanding and thinking over the events of his life. The man kept his feelings hidden, showing neither pity nor disgust at the details pouring forth from his descendant's mouth. He didn't stop the boy when Harry moved past the nightmare of a childhood, through Hagrid's rescue, and into his two Hogwarts years, listening to everything others had said and done to or around Lily's son. Only once Harry wound down after describing the deadly fight with his basilisk and the draw to the hidden room did he interrupt.
"I thank you for putting Slinky out of her misery," Salazar sighed, showing the pain he felt to the reptile's situation. "Tom Riddle had put a geas on her so that she had to obey his commands."
"SLINKY?" Harry half-coughed, half-screeched, flashing back to a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy. "You named your basilisk Slinky?"
"Of course I did! It made Rowena's month when I came up with that name."
"You and Rowena Ravenclaw..."
"Magic, no!" Harry laughed at the shocked and paling look Slytherin gained at the thought of being with his fellow Founder. "They were my siblings in all but blood. None of our early lives were pleasant, but my quiet sister suffered in ways the rest of us didn't. I was always doing my best to make her laugh."
Harry's two-year image of the evil Salazar Slytherin forever shattered at the intensity of love the Founder's radiated at the thought of Rowena Ravenclaw. The intelligent young man caught when the mood shifted in his ancestor's gaze.
"And speaking of harsh lives, there is something that you, my descendant, have a right to know. Especially after what you shared with me," Harry looked away, nervous that the man would pick at his raw emotional wounds, only to snap back and gap at what he heard. "I daresay our bodies have shared many of the same scars. As I introduced myself, I am originally from House Peverell. The history of this country is filled with blood and death, and the time of my birth was no exception. Wars were being waged by both Magicals and Vernaculi over who would rule the lands."
"Vernaculi, sir?" Harry almost didn't ask his question as he was so caught up with what Slytherin had hinted at.
"Ah, yes, Lily said they were called 'Muggles' now. I assume that is still the case?" Harry nodded. "That word comes from 'Mug' – yes, the drinking container – and relates to a person's facial appearance. It also became another way to call someone a fool. Every time a Magical calls someone a Muggle, they are declaring the person to be a gullible and ugly fool."
The information disgusted Harry. The only people he would say who fitted that description were the Dursleys. He promised himself to never use the word 'Muggle' again and make sure those from non-magical parents knew the truth of the label.
"Vernaculi comes from the Latin vernaculus, meaning 'native,' and that is what non-Magicals are. The natives of the land," the Founder stopped until Harry nodded his understanding. It was easy for the boy to see the other man as a successful teacher from how he spoke and kept his audience engaged. "We Magicals originate from other magical races and species that bred into the human population. There is a reason the Ancient Egyptian gods, along with other mythologies, contained stories of half-man, half-animal beings. But that is a topic for another day. House Peverell was a power and influence above all, bar a handful of others. We had allies and enemies stretching to all four corners of the globe. One such ally was an ancient royal Naga family. The then heir was Prince Kaliya. He came to visit Lord Peverell, and that is where he met my mother, Melantha."
Salazar sighed, eyes fading as the portrait looked back into the past, and Harry leant forward, resting elbows on knees while waiting for the man to continue.
"My mother was the fourth child of Lord Peverell," Salazar eventually continued. "She had three older brothers, all of whom had their own families, and so there were no inheritance issues when Prince Kaliya asked for her hand in marriage. The two were married on Peverell lands and she quickly fell pregnant with me. This delayed their journey back to my father's homeland. As I said, our enemies were as widespread as our allies, and they planned everything perfectly. While the wedding was too secure to attack, my birth was not. Aided by a spy in Lord Peverell's household, the family had engagements that cropped up to pull everyone away from Peverell Manor and far from each other. The week of my birth saw the main branch of our family burnt away until only my mother and her brothers remained."
Harry was pale, the horror of his ancestor's tale causing ice-cold fingers to wrap around his heart and squeeze.
"New Magical Houses can come from one of two methods. A first-generation mage can marry and produce magical children, with their bloodline and name continuing down until the family organically develops its own unique magics, philosophy, and sometimes physical traits. This is the way most Houses are formed, even those at the highest levels of our society. But, every so often, someone is born with a unique piece of magic. Many times it is a physical trait that is not shared with either birth parents that shows this."
"Your eyes," Harry guessed, getting a nod in reply.
"Our eyes, descendant. And were mine not, but Lily still born with them, then society would – should – have welcomed her as being a House Founder in her own right. These eyes are too noticeable to not be part of a magical bloodline.
"And therein became a problem. I was obviously the first of a new House, and it would have disgraced House Peverell to allow myself and my new magic to be taken from our lands. Just as it would have been a disgrace to my father's people were he to abandon them and die in a foreign land without an heir that could follow him. My parents knew their duties, despite how much it pained them. My father had to return without us, even as our family was under attack. A surviving cousin looked after mother and me while my uncles went hunting."
Salazar leaned back, tenting his fingers in front of his mouth as he observed Harry. The pre-teen thought about what he had heard. He hated the idea of parents abandoning their children, but he could see why Salazar's had made their choices. He didn't understand the social and political parts of the decision, but he understood Melantha not wanting to leave her brothers to their enemies. Just like he understood the prince not wanting his people to suffer should he die. The Founder nodded when Harry explained his thoughts.
"Good, you see and accept what you don't understand, yet still did your best not to judge. I'm proud of you."
Harry blinked, not remembering a time when someone had said that to him. Even in his Hogwarts classes, there had been a weight of expectation or comparison to his parents.
"House Peverell had branches all across Europe," Salazar continued, his voice weaving a powerful image. "But my uncles agreed that calling them home before they took the threat out was foolhardy. Better they die and the family continued elsewhere. One thing you must understand, Harry, is that House Peverell is the master of Necromancy and all magic to do with the soul and death. Our House has the essence of Death in its veins, and our forefathers have lived up to their patron's creed for as long as the House has existed. Everyone is equal in death. Including us. But our enemies wanted our power and cared nothing for our neutrality, nor our hidden oaths. The Greeks had a river around the underworld named Acheron, which was known as the River of Pain and Woe. Our enemies had adopted the name, intending to inflict pain and woe upon our House. My uncles called upon Death to aid them in destroying their enemies, and though it left my youngest uncle Ignotus as the lone survivor of the following battles, they succeeded, and our House continued.
"But all of that is a different ale," Salazar declared, waving away the topic that they were apparently tied to Death itself. "I will tell you more of this another time if you so wish, but it is what happened during my uncles' war that you must listen to. The cousin who was protecting us hadn't miraculously survived Acheron's purge. He was their inside man. He was a betrayer to our House. A vile and twisted creature who believed that he should inherit the Peverell Lordship, despite how far removed he was from it. That animal trapped my mother and I for years, perfecting mundane and magical means of causing pain upon us, and it was only my uncle's foresight in creating life stones to monitor our mortal status that kept us alive. We were in constant pain and anguish, but we survived until Lord Ignotus discovered the betrayal and rescued us."
The silence was heavy. Harry had no problem imagining the terrible things a young Salazar and his mother would have gone through. Not when he grew up with a jealous aunt and her twisted husband. "What happened to the man?"
"He found out that death was not an escape from a Peverell's wrath. My uncle paid his soul back a hundredfold for everything he did to us and the family."
"Good," Harry snarled, only for the anger to shatter into relief at someone understanding what his life had been like. The full realisation caused him to bend over as he struggled to breathe as years' worth of tears fell to the stone floor. That someone knew and wouldn't judge him for what he had been through was a gift beyond description.
"I will not ask you to tell me everything," the portrait's voice was low, an almost whisper into Harry's ear despite their distance. "Rowena was my confidante, and not even the other two knew the things I shared with her. Just as we never knew the horrors of their lives they shared with each other. If you ever find yourself in a position to trust another with your pain, then do not be afraid to speak of it. I tell you from experience that it helps."
"Yes, sir," he promised.
The pair were silent until the youngest of the two could pull his tattered control back together, nodding in both thanks for allowing him the tears, and that he was ready to continue.
"And now there is something else we must speak of. Your mother," Harry froze, fingers clenching in desperation and anticipation. "I must warn you, young Harry, that the Lily Evans I knew is not the one you would hear from those in the school above should they speak of her. Right now, you have a limited and incomplete image of your parents, but it is still a good image of them. All I can give you is the unvarnished and harsh truth."
Harry could sense Slytherin's sincerity and the gravity of the man's warning. There would be things that would be painful for him to learn should he push. Yet, the second-year Gryffindor had no choice, not really. The truth was far too tempting for a child who had been in the dark about even his own name. Salazar saw the decision before he even verbalised it, and showed no surprise when Harry gave his answer.
"Look in the top right drawer of my desk and you'll find some aid," Harry quickly did so, finding a nondescript notebook with a glittering silver chain laying beside it. The jewellery was the first thing he brought out. "Both the necklace and its sapphire are enchanted to protect your secrets. Wearing it makes it impossible for anyone to force you to reveal them, and you should wear it from now on."
Harry could only stare at the necklace and then back at Salazar. It didn't surprise him to hear that magic could make him reveal things, and the Founder seemed to hint he would learn things others wouldn't want him to know. Salazar only continued once the chain was around his neck and concealed by his shirt.
"Good. Young Lily wore it until she could defend herself. Now, the slightly discoloured wall to your right is an opening, much like how you entered this room. Hogwarts has many such secret passages. While the exits are locked in place, the passageways themselves are not. If you place your hand on the wall and speak in Parsel where you wish to end up, the castle will link the two areas for you. You'll be able to enter this room the same way."
Harry's eyes lit up at the information. By using his cloak to reach the entrances, he could sneak around Hogwarts undetected.
"The book is Lily's journal. She began it after her first shopping trip to Diagon and continued it until she died. She charmed it to return to the desk upon her death."
"Why, sir?"
"Because she wanted to make sure you had the chance to read it. The two of you just aren't of my blood, young Harry, you are direct descendants from my firstborn. You are unquestionably my heir.
Slytherin laughed at Harry's gobsmacked look, but the humour vanished just as quick when Harry pulled out the book.
"It is also her grimoire, but the diary portion is what you need right now. There are lies and deceits surrounding your life, and her words will do more to explain them than I ever could. I warn you now that some of what you learn will not be easy to read. But I will be here when you're finished."
Harry looked down at the journal. It had become the most precious thing in the world to him, beating out even his father's cloak and the photo album Hagrid had put together for him the year previous. But it had also become one of the most dangerous. What if it held secrets that would hurt him? The fear over what Salazar was hinting at threatened to consume him, yet it ended up being washed away by a single thought. This was his mother's journal.
Salazar watched as the young man moved to the wall and asked for Gryffindor Tower. The Lord of Serpents knew that the next conversation he had with his heir would have the potential to reshape the world.
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Selected entries from the Diary of Lily Evans
1971-72
I couldn't believe some of the stories being thrown around to scare us first years. Wrestling a troll? A magical duel with some long-dead mythical sorcerer? All we had to do was wear a bloody hat!
But what a hat! The Sorting Hat is amazing. I wonder if it just reads minds or if there's something deeper going on. It wanted to put me in Slytherin. That the "House of my eyes" would allow me to achieve greatness, but it couldn't. In all the things Sev told me about Hogwarts and magic, he didn't once mention they would see me as a second-class citizen because of my parents!
The Hat also apologised for not being able to put me in Ravenclaw. Apparently, that House is falling to the bigots too, and I would live the longest as a Gryffindor. I asked if it could put Sev in Gryffindor as well, and it promised to give him a chance.
Apparently, my friendship isn't worth enough to face the Lions. Sev ended up in Slytherin.
Now if only I can find out what the Hat meant about the House of my eyes!
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Magic is amazing! There's so much that can be done with it, and my classes have only started. Potions make so much sense to me, and Professor Slughorn seems impressed when I go to one of his open sessions and start tweaking a recipe. Most of the time it comes out like cement, but I think he's happy that I'm trying.
It's Charms I've fallen in love with. Professor Flitwick is such a lovely man, and the subject is so fascinating. That boy Potter looks to be a natural at Transfiguration, but that's not a surprise considering how many rules he loves to break. Professor Flitwick explained to me how Charms is about making reality fluid, to make the impossible possible, through skill, rather than the power and will Transfiguration needs.
A scalpel versus a sledgehammer.
I'm glad I never told anyone I could talk to snakes. Dad would be horrified at the level of bigotry in Gryffindor, and I worry what would happen if anyone found out I was a Parselmouth.
Gah. I can't stand Potter! The idiot turned my hair pink. Pink! That's Tuni's colour!
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That quiet boy Lupin looks like how Sev does after his father drinks. Those two have a lot in common if they could only see past the Gryffindor/Slytherin war. I just don't understand Potter. How can he attack Sev over his clothes when he's befriended Lupin?
I wonder what the ponce would think if I told him his new friend was a werewolf...
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The exams are coming up soon, and I need to focus. Had a strange talk with Sirius Black earlier that's completely thrown me off...
He "says" that the only reason he's involved with Potter's pranks is to try curbing Potter's ruthlessness. Sirius said how his grandfather and Potter's father are best friends, and that Lord Potter is nothing like his son. Potter's mother is apparently even Sirius' great-aunt, so he knows how the prat would have been brought up.
He brought along one of the older Slytherin girls. How did he get away with this without Potter's "everything Slytherin is evil" attitude getting in the way, I don't know.
Narcissa Black is so beautiful! She backed up everything Sirius was telling me. Apparently, the Blacks and Potters want to know what's wrong with Potter. They think it has something to do with how often he's talking to the headmaster in private.
I asked Sirius about the horrible howler his mum sent him after he was sorted into Gryffindor. Apparently, his immediate family is falling for the Society for Blood Purity's message and wants to follow their leader. Some Lord Voldemort (such terrible French!). Lord Black and the other Blacks are trying to stop them from getting in too deep.
It all sounds so convoluted and silly, but dad told me about the war. He told me how easily Germany fell to Hitler's rhetoric, and now I'm watching it happen to the Magicals.
I'm scared. Miss Narcissa said she'd be there if I needed someone to talk to, Houses be damned.
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1972-73
The summer was fun, and I missed my family, but I'm glad to be back at Hogwarts. I spent a lot of time talking to Sev and trying to get him to be the better man to Potter, but the prat's actions remind Sev too much of his father.
Cissy is a lovely girl. She's really helped me understand more about Sirius, the politics, and why the Hat was right in keeping me out of Slytherin. She thinks I wouldn't have survived to graduate if I'd have gone into that House. She's also promised to look after Sev this year. Apparently, her betrothed (really? Marriage contracts?) Lucius Malfoy isn't as twisted as some of the other Blood Purity followers are. He'll take Sev under his wing even though Malfoy and Cissy are in their last NEWT year.
Professor Flitwick has invited me to start doing extra classes with him like I do with Professor Slughorn. I'm going to be taught one-on-one by a Charms Master!
Speaking of Potions... I found out how to check what the Hat meant by my eyes. There's a potion I can make that will reveal my entire magical family tree. I'll brew it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom since no one goes there.
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Myrtle isn't that bad once you get past the tears. She's a girl stuck in that horrible place where hormones are running wild (I can't talk. Some of the other girls in my year are way ahead of me in that area), but I did learn something interesting.
Her name is Myrtle Warren, and she died in 1943 when someone opened the Chamber of Secrets. Myrtle cried for ages when she told me that everyone thinks Mister Hagrid was the one who killed her. I think she fancied (fancies!) him.
All she saw were large yellow eyes. Slytherin was a Parselmouth. Could it be that it was a basilisk? I really hope that it's dead by now!
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Oh. My. God.
The potion worked! It worked and now I don't know what to think.
It makes sense.
I can talk to snakes. The Hat must have meant I have Slytherin's eyes.
I'm a direct heir of SALAZAR SLYTHERIN!
I don't know what to do.
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I had to talk to someone. I cried all over Cissy when she found me. She agrees I can't tell anyone else. She says people will try to recruit me or hurt me or worse. I think she's planning on making sure Sirius looks after me now.
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I found the Chamber.
Not like it's really hidden, not when the basilisk's last victim haunts its entrance.
I also found the basilisk.
Thankfully, Parselmouths are immune to its gaze. Something about the way Parsel Magic connects Magicals and the animals together also provides protection against the snakes themselves. I still wouldn't want to be bitten by the thing!
How do I know this? I found the portrait of Salazar Slytherin! He's a lovely man, and he explained how it was he who told the Sorting Hat (Sebastian!) to put me in Gryffindor so that I wouldn't be hurt.
Salazar promised to help me with my classes. He also told me how Voldemort is really called Tom Riddle, a descendant of Professor Slytherin from a distant branch, who looked to take over his basilisk. As long as Riddle doesn't come back, then Slinky (I know, right!) won't hurt anyone.
I can't look at Potter without laughing. The Potters are apparently even closer to Slytherin's bloodline that even this Riddle is.
I wonder what the Purists would say if they found out a "Mudblood" was the true heir compared to the man they follow.
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Sirius knows! He went to find out how Sev is doing from Cissy (apparently Sev's mum is from a really prodigious family and the other Houses should be stepping in to help Sev but they aren't), and she told him abut my heritage. She got him to take a Magical Vow not to reveal it to anyone, but doesn't regret telling on me.
Apparently, I need someone to watch over me in Gryffindor. Now, if only I could find a snake to sweet talk into biting Potter!
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1973-74
It's so strange to be in Hogwarts without Cissy sitting at the Slytherin table. She's keeping in touch to make sure I'm okay since the Blood Purity issues are getting worse. There's a lot of attacks happening now and everyone is becoming more extreme. Both the "Light" and the "Dark" are making it a "with us or against us" situation, and people not of "pure" stock are caught in the middle.
I'm going to spend more time with Professors Slytherin and Flitwick to keep away from all the chaos. I only hope Alice does the same since she's started following Frank Longbottom around like a puppy.
Sev's father went too far in the summer, but he apparently died of a heart attack the day we arrived. Cissy hasn't told me outright, but I think her fiancee did something after I told her how badly Sev was hurt. I don't feel bad that I might have caused his death, and I'm okay with that.
Potter is now taking special classes with Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster. Salazar says that the castle is telling him that Dumbledore is doing something, but the secrecy wards are keeping him from knowing what. I've warned Sirius that things might be getting a lot worse. I tried warning Sev too, but he's not listening to me as much. I think the other Snakes are whispering in his ear.
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I'm having to wear a necklace Professor Slytherin gave me. It keeps people from forcing me to reveal secrets. "Cassie" warned him that the Headmaster seems to be taking notice of me and the way Potter is following me around like a fool.
I've taken Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. They're amazing subjects and should keep me going for the next few years.
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Something strange is going on. I'm doing exercises to awaken my magic and now I'm seeing flashes of things that haven't happened yet. Granddad Sal thinks it might be a bit of the Sight and has given me some work to develop it. If I don't, then it could drive me crazy, but doing it should give me the ability to control it.
It's a Hogsmeade weekend and Potter asked me out in front of almost all the other Gryffindors. Sirius didn't look too happy, but he laughed the loudest when I explained to the prat how it would be a cold day in hell before I went out on a date with him.
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Professor Flitwick is taking me as a secret apprentice. That's now four subjects I'm doing extra work in, as well as Sal's lessons. I've just got to make sure to not outperform the other students too much in class or else people will get suspicions.
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Headmaster Dumbledore had me in his office today. He wanted me to calm down about Potter. Something is wrong. I've got to be careful.
Maybe I should let Cissy know?
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Sal is teaching me as much of his magic as he can. He's shown me a secret room where his portrait can have a physical body to let us do practical sessions.
Not like that!
He's worried that people are taking notice of me. All the Founders sacrificed the magic of their first-born to embed their own magic and power into their bloodlines. It's why just being a blood descendent of them won't allow for someone taking up the Lordships, or gaining access to the Family Magic. I was born with the Slytherin eyes as Magic felt it was the right time for his bloodline to return, but I need to do a ritual to fully awaken my connection. Granddad says it will keep me safe. The problem is that I can't do it.
I keep seeing a boy. He has my eyes. Slytherin eyes. And he's in terrible danger. His life is horrible, but I can't See how and I know that this is my son. I See myself doing the ritual and then finding my son's dead body. Or I don't, and my son lives to do the ritual himself. That future is hazy in how I've come to know means an undecided future. But better a chance that my son will gain this protection himself than knowing he will die if I am selfish and do it myself.
Gah. I'm almost fourteen and I'm already having to think about my future child. Weirdness!
The end-of-year exams are coming up and then I go home. I hope Petunia won't be in a mood when I get there.
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1974-75
Hogwarts and the magical world are becoming more of a home than home is. I couldn't wait to get away from Petunia's arrogance. I wonder if I can get her to meet up with a Death Eater and see whose superiority wins out? One can only dream.
Sev is convinced that there's some deep, dark secret about Lupin. I love the boy, but he can be an idiot at times.
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The other "Marauders" have finally found out Remus Lupin's little secret. Bloody took them long enough! Now the idiots are looking to make themselves animagi to join him during the full moon.
Have I mentioned yet how idiotic they are?
Sirius promises to help me achieve my own form once they've worked out the kinks in their process. I spoke to granddad Sal, who then gave me the most used method that isn't some convoluted scheme. If Sirius is nice enough, then I'll give him some hints when he tells me how badly they're screwing up.
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Those idiots are trying to use personality quizzes to find their animagus forms!
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Dumbledore keeps pushing me to be friends with Potter. Apparently, a pure-blood of his standing could protect me from the horrors facing "Muggle-borns" out in the real world.
I wanted to shove his Muggle-born comment so far up that crooked nose it came out the top of his ego-filled head. The only way I kept silent was running through all the curses Sal and I have worked on.
My projects and extra classes are keeping me busy. I'm also a leading member of Professor Slughorn's Slug Club. Honestly, the man has no creativity for names! At least it gives me a chance to talk to Sev without Potter hanging around.
I have to admit that some of his Purity friends have good arguments. Certainly not about Blood Status, but the degrading of traditions? That is something I've seen for myself. Hell, Hogwarts celebrates Christmas and not Yule, Halloween and not Samhain. No wonder the Dark and the Purists have fallen into bed with each other.
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I had to give Sirius the answer to becoming an animagus so he could protect anyone coming across "Moony." Sal said that the method he gave me would take anything up to a year to become our inner animal. He knows of a quicker way, but it would have needed to use magic that's heavily frowned on in this country.
Sirius the toe-rag only went and kissed me! Okay, okay, I might have kissed him back, but still.
It did make my toes curl.
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Sirius is a dog (duh!). A beautiful black grim, to be precise. He let me inside his mind to see it, as we won't get to manage the change until at least after the summer break. I've hidden what I am from him until I can do the transformation.
Peter Pettigrew is a rat. Poor boy.
Potter is a stag which suits him. He struts around like a fool. Siri says that Lord Potter is sure that he's fallen completely under the control of Dumbledore. The Potters are thinking of moving against him, but that the problems with the Death Eaters, Purity movement, and Riddle are becoming too much of a priority.
The safety of your child compared to that of your very world? Sal and I agree. Family First and Always. After all, it's the reason I refused the ritual. Siri tells me there's a long-term plan, but I worry things won't turn out how everyone hopes.
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1975-76
Lupin is a prefect. HOW? He does nothing to calm Potter down. Siri has to keep playing the wild and out-of-control rebel Black, and he tells me Pettigrew has been egging Potter on more as time goes past. I don't know what Professor McGonagall was thinking. Unless it was Dumbledore's choice?
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The Marauders are close to finishing their animagus transformations, so I decided to reveal my own to Siri. I'm a puma! Or, as Siri said, a Cougar that's dating someone mentally younger than herself. My boyfriend is a pig, but he sure knows how to kiss!
Granddad Sal has started to really ramp up his lessons. I'm putting it all into the latter part of this diary as my grimoire for my son to learn.
I don't dare tell Siri, but my visions are getting darker. More deaths, more pain, and I keep seeing myself die. Sal almost cried when I told him. Apparently, Rowena was a true Seer and the only time anyone with the Sight Sees their death is when it is completely unavoidable. She Saw hers, and now I've seen mine.
I've warned Cissy. I want her to help protect my son when I can't. If I didn't consider Riddle a murdering psychopath, I'd be running off with Siri to join him. But I know we can't. Siri's younger brother Regulus is quickly falling for the party line, and he's worried he'll lose Regulus to this insanity.
As someone who lost her sister to insane beliefs, I can fully understand that fear.
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Siri says there's nothing like running during the full moon with a werewolf. I'll leave him to it and keep using Rowena's special room to enjoy my form. But I have to be even more careful now. The Marauders (with my whispers in Siri's ears because they were going to get it done anyway) have created a map that shows everyone in the castle. I used Sal's knowledge of the wards to guide Siri into tying the map to the wardstone. The same wards Sal can monitor to manipulate to give false readings of my location.
I can't use this too often. The damn stalker keeps watching me on the map. It makes me feel dirty, and Siri has to keep himself from punching the arrogant prat in the mouth.
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Sev always knew how to piss people off. He somehow got Siri to reveal how to get into the Shrieking Shack. On a full moon! I know my Sev. He isn't an idiot. He knew Remus is a werewolf. I can only guess that his hatred of Potter made him blind to the stupidity of whatever it was he was planning.
Sev now owes Potter a life debt. Moony almost killed Sev and Padfoot... my Siri... had to get between an enraged werewolf and my best friend. Potter pulled him away as Padfoot was fighting Moony.
Siri was in the Hospital Wing for two days for saving Sev's life. I barely held it together and I'm sure Dumbledore now knows there's something going on between us. Siri told me everything, and he realised he should have used Regulus' friendship with Sev to explain what's going on with Potter before it got this bad.
I called him an idiot.
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I was right. He is an idiot! My Siri only went and ambushed Sev so that he could explain it all. Sev isn't the most logical and clear-headed when it comes to the Marauders. My two boys had a massive fist fight, but are at least now on speaking terms.
As long as I live, I will never understand boys.
According to Sev, it was when Siri explained about our suspicions of Dumbledore that convinced him Siri was genuine. Apparently, everyone got off easy with only a handful of detentions while Sev got threatened for manipulating Siri into almost getting Lupin killed.
It took both boys to hold me back from cursing the bearded bastard when they told me that.
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Siri and I have developed our own code so we can talk in letters. It's needed since Siri doesn't think he'll cope at his home for much longer. His mum is slipping into some kind of Blood Purity madness that Lord Black suspects is an Obsession Curse, and that something similar was put on Cissy's older sister.
According to Cissy, Bellatrix was a typical Dark Witch, but she's slipping into something worse now. They're currently hunting through the Black Library while I'm looking from Sal's books for anything that might help. The problem is that these mental curses are very specific and so need specific answers.
Apparently, my two boys are now somewhat friends?
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I've fallen in love with Sirius Black!
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I've decided to follow my own path. No one is my immediate superior. Blood heritage, social standings, positions of power, these all mean nothing. Blood is blood, and magic is magic, and I will only answer to myself on both.
I shall turn no one away who could be a friend, but will rain down hell upon my enemies, be they Light, Grey, or Dark.
Sal agrees with me. It's time to make the name Slytherin mean something rather than narrow-minded bigotry.
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Siri is with me. Whether we form our own side in this infernal conflict or do something else will be decided later.
I do this for me, I do this for Siri, and I do it for the son whose life I see in my dreams.
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Yesterday was the end of the OWLs. Yesterday was both the most painful and beautiful day of my life.
Potter attacked Sev again. This time, it was outside and in front of too many people for Sev's pride to let him be the better man. I demanded Potter stop this insanity, and the big had the cheek to agree only if I would go out with him!
Siri told me later that it was only my obvious anger at the request that kept him from hexing the bastard. But that wasn't the worst part. Sev just couldn't stop himself. I tried to see how he was doing and he ended up calling me a Mudblood.
Me. His best friend.
Siri found me crying my eyes out and took me to the special room. One thing led to another, and he made me a woman. It wasn't the way I would have wanted, but the night was as magical as I imagined.
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So it seems like a "good brawl" is all my boys need to clear the air. Siri hunted down Sev after the last Slug Club meeting of the year and laid into him over what he called me. The three of us agreed that I'll eventually forgive Sev, but that our friendship has to remain a secret now. Things are getting far too dangerous.
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Siri had to move in with the Potters. Walburga Black hexed my boyfriend within an inch of his life. It was a close thing, but I almost used Fiendfyre on the cow and everyone living in Grimmauld Place for what they've put my Siri through.
No one hurts Sirius. No one.
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1976-77
NEWTs are hard but fun. We have more time to ourselves, yet Siri and I are struggling to find personal time together. It's even worse in trying to catch Sev without others around.
I'm still doing most of my external projects and spending time with Sal. Salazar says that the castle feels something coming, and my dreams are saying the same. I'm scared.
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Dumbledore keeps pushing about Potter. He's also around whenever Siri and I are trying to be alone. He must know. Siri is convinced that we're in trouble and we need to run. I've convinced Sev to come with, and the three of us can get out of this madhouse before we're lost to what's consuming the world.
We just have to survive our last year. I fear our luck is running out.
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1977-78
My worst fears have come true.
Siri doesn't remember anything! I spoke to him quickly on the Hogwarts Express, and he tried to convince me to get with Potter. He also threatened Sev if I went anywhere near him.
I tricked him into telling me that Dumbledore went to Potter Manor a few days before they left for the Express. Damn that man to the deepest, darkest depths of hell.
He's made me Head Girl and Potter Head Boy. There's no question now that he will do anything to join me and the arrogant git together. Sal is horrified, but we both know there's no actual proof unless I get Siri to a Mind Healer, and I can't do that unless I talk to the Potters...
Wait. I can pretend to fall for Potter's "charms" and get myself invited to the Manor for Christmas. A quick word with Lord Potter and I just might be able to save Siri.
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I hate this. I absolutely hate this. Sev thinks the entire thing with me and Siri being together, and the three of us running away was some type of prank. I know he's got that horrible Dark Mark now. It's all Dumbledore's fault.
Pretending to fall for Potter makes me feel sick. I miss Siri. I've sent a letter to Cissy and hopefully there's something her Black mind can come up with.
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I can't take it anymore. I foolishly stormed into Dumbledore's office and told him I knew what he did to Siri. The bastard Obliviated me and put some compulsions on me to be a dutiful Gryffindor girlfriend for Potter. It was only my Slytherin necklace that kept me from telling him things I didn't want him to know.
It took me days to break what he did to me. According to Sal, our bloodline has a strength against Mind Magics. Our minds will break any changes someone tries making, but at the result of a flare of magic.
In my case, it was a True Dream. I now know exactly what's coming and that my end is near. The only thing that I can do is focus on protecting my son.
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Christmas is off. Somehow Lord and Lady Potter have come down with a very lethal strain of Dragon Pox. That this has happened only weeks after I went after Dumbledore makes me believe the bastard has killed them.
I must continue to play the role of a puppet. Sal is horrified at what has happened to me and agreed to do everything he can for my son. I only hope Siri can forgive me.
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I've passed all my NEWTs and don't care. In only a few weeks, I marry Potter. My fate is sealed.
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1979
I looked beautiful in my dress and my Siri was the most handsome man there. Words cannot express the pain of saying those words to Potter, while in my mind they were meant for the best man.
Lady Lily Jasmine Black. That's who I am in my heart.
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I've planned this to the very last detail. Tonight is Samhain and will mark the first time I lay with a man since I last felt my Siri's arms around me. The potions are ready, and I will fall pregnant tonight.
The ritual I have prepared will pass some of my magic into my child so that he has a chance at life that I and Siri never did.
Harold Godwinson was the man charged by Edward the Confessor to continue the Wessex Dynasty. It was his defeat to William the Conqueror that heralded in the new world order across Britain. My son Harry's birth will bring down the established order of Wizarding Britain, and I shall laugh from the other side as he does so.
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1980
I've made Siri Harry's godfather. Who else would I choose but the man who should have been my son's father? I got in touch with Cissy and named her the unofficial godmother no matter what Potter and Dumbledore prattle off about with the Longbottoms.
My boy is beautiful. My boy is innocent, and I love him regardless of the hatred I feel for the man who forced me into this situation.
Dumbledore speaks of a prophecy pitting my boy against Riddle. Bollocks, I say. It's far too convenient, especially as I received a letter from Sev telling me it was he who heard part of the prophecy and took it back to his Lord.
Except that's not how True Prophecies work. Dumbledore has set us up. I was able to sneak back to speak with Sal and he said that there was one given during an interview, but there was no one else around to hear except Dumbledore. And Sal would know. It was done within Cassie, not the Hog's Head!
Did he not like what he heard? How did it then get to be repeated in the Hog's Head for Sev to overhear?
The depths of my hatred towards the twinkling-eyed bastard know no bounds. I would make Bellatrix Lestrange look like a puppy if I were to lose myself in revenge over what he has done to me and mine.
My only peace of mind comes in knowing that my son will get revenge for us both.
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1981
Samhain. Two years ago I used it to gain a beautiful boy whom I love with all my heart. This Samhain is the end of me and this nightmare that I am living. All my dreams tell me that this is when I will die. Pettigrew has betrayed us.
I completed the second part of the ritual this morning. With Potter out speaking to the great and powerful Oz, I covered my beautiful boy in blood runes. I wonder if he knew. He was so good for me and barely moved. They faded into his skin the moment the last one was complete, just as I knew they would. That should give my little Harry protection against Riddle's attack once I power them with my life.
This book and my necklace will return to granddad Sal. My visions of Harry's early life tell me that Dumbledore has a plan to keep Siri out of Harry's life. It will be down to Sal to prepare Harry for the truth.
I love you, Harry. I go now to defend your life. You were the only light in the darkness of these past few years.
Kill every last one of the bastards who did this to us.
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5th June, 1993 – Hogwarts
It took Harry three days to read his mother's journal. Three days of sneaking a read here and there during the day while staying up for hours at night to go through every word, including most of her grimoire.
Some entries were simple notes, one or two lines of thoughts that would remind her of whatever had caught her attention. These tended to be how she would write about the Christmas and summer holidays spent with her family. It didn't surprise Harry to find out his aunt was as spiteful and disgusting as a child as he had found her as an adult.
Other entries were so detailed it made his head spin. Notes and diagrams of her extra schoolwork and independent research, breaking down the subjects until Harry felt like he could follow what she was saying as long as he didn't look back on the initial premise of her ideas.
He took the same three days to explore the network of passageways that Salazar had introduced him to. The system was a marvel of magic and engineering that was straight out of a fantasy story. Gryffindor Tower's entrance was discreetly positioned off to the side, hiding his comings and goings. Harry used that door to request access to the other three Common Rooms. The Slytherin tunnel brought him out in a shadowed alcove between the actual entrance and Snape's Potion classroom, the Ravenclaw passage brought him halfway up the Raven's Tower, and the Hufflepuff route opened up two portraits down from the entrance to the kitchen. Harry suspected he would use it for that more than hunting any Puffs.
The exploring gave him a chance to think over everything that he had read, and the events of his life after that Samhain. Lily Evans had been best friends with the spiteful Potions Master Severus Snape to where she almost never called the man anything but 'Sev.' She had also precisely described the type of man James Potter had been, and the utter sadistic joy the stuck up Gryffindor had in targeting a solitary Slytherin. All because Snape was friends with the girl who wouldn't glance at him, let alone go out with him.
Harry had suffered almost twelve long years at the hands of the Dursleys, and in that time had lost many potential friendships to the bully that was Dudley. It didn't take too much imagination for Harry to imagine just how bad Dudley would be if he enjoyed the power that the 'Freakishness' could give him. He spent only long enough on thinking about Dudley appearing to have the perfect marriage with his one genuine friend to know it was a terrible mental road to go down.
There is no Good and Evil, only Power and those too weak to seek it. Riddle's words echoed inside Harry's mind the more he read. All the times the Wizarding led him to believe his mother was a Light Witch were nothing but lies. She may not have been Dark in the way Voldemort and his followers were, but she understood that there were more than two types of philosophy with Magic. In her own words; she was a Grey Witch. The darkest shade of Grey imaginable, but still Grey.
And therein lay the core of Harry's emotional state beyond the horror of Dumbledore's actions. As much as he had enjoyed the past two years in Hogwarts, he also felt constricted. Areas of magic, more now after reading Lily's journal and grimoire, attracted him. And he knew that him learning almost any of it would disgust the mindless people. Harry had been attempting to deny this shadowy side, only to find out it was a genuine legacy from his mother. He realised that most of the people who had told him about his parents had glossed over Lily's achievements, ignoring her prodigious talents. Harry knew that his mother would have walked all over Hermione in sheer talent and knowledge as his bushy-haired friend could not think outside the box the way Lily Evans did.
Yet everyone always said Hermione this or Hermione that. Just they always said James this and James that when people spoke of the Potters. Harry snarled at that thought. While James Potter might have been an arrogant pure-blood pig whose simple way of looking at the world made Ronald Weasley seem enlightened, it was the man's master that brought out Harry's rage.
Albus Dumbledore. Just the thought of the headmaster had Harry seeing red and the urge to kill tingling in his fingertips. The lemon drop sucking bastard had destroyed Lily's relationship with her true love, Sirius Black. That her Slytherin blood broke the old man's mental manipulations was a blessing and curse as it forced her to look at the man she loved and have him see a virtual stranger looking back.
For all James Potter's crimes, he was at least innocent in this. One of Lily's last entries had explained how she'd put him under an Imperio to find out if he knew about her and Sirius being together. The man had almost had a mental breakdown at the idea of essentially raping the woman he loved because Dumbledore compelled her to be with him. She'd Obliviated him the moment the spell broke.
No, the horror of Lily Evans' last years of life was from one man's actions, and Harry would do everything in his power to bring him down, broken, and pleading for the mercy that would never come.
His darkening thoughts brought him to stand in front of his ancestor. Salazar Slytherin looked down at his descendant with knowing eyes, clearly seeing what now burned within the Boy Who Lived.
"She gave her life and magic so that I could be here," he said between clenched teeth. "I want you to teach me everything."
"Heir Slytherin, it will be a pleasure," Salazar crowed, and two sets of Avada-green eyes glowed with thoughts of revenge to those who had wronged their family.
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Last Edited - 2nd December 2023
Word Count – 11,428
Previous Word Count - 11,416