Chapter 20

In the aftermath of Harry's emergence as the Lord Slytherin, Draco Malfoy could often be found either glaring at Harry, or just being generally rude towards him and the rest of the Slytherin fourth years. Freed from his oath and no longer forced to restrain himself, two months of built-up frustration had come pouring out of Malfoy, though he was smart enough not to go against Harry directly.

Draco had been so obnoxious that the other fourth years were actually starting to get annoyed with Harry. He was forced to defend his releasing of Malfoy as a matter of honour, since giving him Scylla led to his claiming the Slytherin lordship. It wasn't a very popular decision, but they grudgingly accepted his reasoning.

Oath or no, if Draco was holding out hope that he might one day manoeuvre himself back into a leadership position in the house, he was completely delusional. Nothing proved that more than when Pansy got so fed up with his attitude that she punched him in the nose, right in the middle of the common room. It was clear where the future of Slytherin House lie, and it was with Harry Potter.

While the vast majority of Slytherin house rallied around Harry, the other three houses were divided. To those students already predisposed to disliking Harry, this was just another example of why he should not be trusted. Others found the situation exciting and didn't see how being related to a Hogwarts Founder could be a bad thing. Whatever their opinion on Harry may be, the one thing that united them all was their curiosity. The story Harry had read them from Slytherin's diary had been utterly fascinating, and teachers and students alike were clamouring for more.

The story was somehow leaked to the Daily Prophet (Harry knew exactly how), and Hogwarts was promptly assailed by reporters and Ministry officials, including the Minister himself. Harry seized the opportunity for some petty revenge by refusing to give an interview to the Daily Prophet, making sure to remind them of all the badmouthing and character assassination directed at him the last few months. Instead, he offered his exclusive interview to the Quibbler, which was conducted by Luna Lovegood at dinner, two days after Harry's announcement.

~Flashback~

Luna Lovegood was sitting in directly across from Harry at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, with Theo and Blaise on either side of her.

"Thank you for the offer, Lord Potter-Slytherin."

"You're welcome, Ms. Lovegood, and welcome to the snake table. I'm ready for your questions whenever you are."

"Hey, what's Looney doing at our table?" Malfoy demanded, and Daphne groaned at the interruption.

"Mind your own business, Malfoy," she replied dismissively.

"Watch your mouth, Greengrass. I am..."

Daphne lazily waved her wand and silenced Malfoy, but that didn't stop the boy from continuing his silent rant. He took out his wand and attempted to cancel the charm on himself nonverbally, but he failed, and no one else seemed willing to offer their assistance. Frustrated and annoyed, Malfoy got up from the table and stormed out of the hall.

"Should I put these events in the interview as well?" Luna asked, making Harry laugh.

"Please do," he insisted, and everyone snickered.

"Let's begin, then," Luna said, making sure her quill was set to record their conversation. "When did you first become aware you were the Slytherin heir?"

"First of all, I need to clarify something. I was never the Slytherin heir. I was merely one of the potential heirs, though as far as I know, there's only one other at this particular time. His name is Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort...and I just realised we're related. That's disturbing..."

"Focus..." Daphne whispered.

"Just adding a touch of humour, Love," Harry chuckled. "As for your question, I became aware of my possible heritage the day I went to Gringotts to claim my Potter inheritance."

"I see... You claimed the Slytherin line passed through your mother. Did the former Lady Potter know of her origins?"

"She did, and she ordered the information to be sealed as an official secret of House Potter. The goblins believed that not even my father knew about it."

"Interesting. In that case, allow me to offer my congratulations on claiming the lordship of House Slytherin. May I ask what you did in order to claim it?

"You may ask, but regrettably, I will not be able to respond. The method has been a closely guarded secret for generations, and I intend for it to stay that way."

The other Slytherins all wore looks of resigned disappointment. They were all clearly hoping to hear the story in full, especially Daphne.

"I can respect that," Luna acknowledged. "Then, if you'll allow me, I would like to ask you more about the excerpt you read from the diaries of Salazar Slytherin."

"Sure."

"Would it be possible to provide a small transcript to publish? I'm sure the public would like to read it themselves."

"That can be arranged," Harry agreed.

"I recall correctly, the passage you read described how Slytherin opposed Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's plan to reveal themselves to the muggles."

"More specifically, he opposed their idea of revealing the location of Hogwarts to the muggle king," Harry corrected, before diving into an explanation.

"From what I understand, Gryffindor was a half-blood and a knight of the king. Once Hogwarts had been successfully operating for ten years or so, he tried to persuade his peers to reveal their secret to the king. He was insistent that the king had the right to know, and that the kingdom would protect the magical people. Ravenclaw, a noble pureblood, agreed with Gryffindor, mainly because she believed the school could be greatly improved with the financial support of the Crown."

Harry paused to take a sip from his goblet.

"Godric and Rowena believed that with the king's blessing and their promise to use their magic to better the realm, the people would embrace them. They envisioned a future where magicals and muggles could live side by side in peace. Slytherin believed they were both naïve, and that the persecution of magicals would only get worse. Hufflepuff refused to choose a side, which seems to have been due to her conflicting feelings on the matter."

"What do you mean?" asked Luna.

"Hufflepuff was a muggleborn, and one day, the people of her village attempted to kill her because of her magic. She was saved from muggles by two young purebloods, which happened to be none other than Salazar Slytherin and his brother Salaren. They all became close friends after that, and Helga eventually married Salaren. Together, they succeeded in retrieving magical children from across the country and bringing them to Hogwarts."

Luna's quill was flying across the parchment, making sure to capture every word while everyone in earshot listened to Harry's tale with rapt attention.

"I believe that more than anything, Helga wanted the persecution to end. She didn't want anyone else to experience what she went through, or would have, had she not been rescued. Part of her supported Ravenclaw and Gryffindor's plan, because she very much wanted the idealistic future they described to come true. However, another part of her shared Salazar's more cynical view, and she was torn between hope and doubt. That's why she didn't vote," Harry explained.

"Salazar lost the vote, of course. He wrote how Gryffindor repeatedly insulted him after, calling him a sore loser, dark, and disloyal to the Crown, amongst other things. Neither of the others seemed willing to support him, so in his anger and fear of what was to come, he retreated to his private chambers and refused to engage with them ever again."

"You reveal a very different Gryffindor from the one portrayed in history."

"I am only revealing what I read in Salazar's journals," Harry emphasised. "I'm sure the portrayal is tinted with his own personal bias, but we have to also consider the dislike between the two men. Yet, at his core, Salazar was a pragmatist. When he came up with the idea to educate young children in magic..."

"Slytherin came up with it? I thought it was Ravenclaw's idea," Luna interjected.

"Salazar came up with the plan to train young children together, which gave Rowena the idea for Hogwarts," Harry explained. "Pillow talk, I believe," he added with a chuckle.

That was certainly an unexpected revelation, judging by the looks of shock around the table.

"Yes, Ravenclaw and Slytherin were together for some time, but she broke it off and married another man. Don't ask me for details, Salazar isn't very forthcoming about it in his memoirs."

"Fascinating..." Luna said dreamily.

"I hadn't arrived at that part yet..." mumbled Daphne, resolving to increase the pace of her reading.

"As I was saying, Salazar was a pragmatist. Despite not liking the man personally, he believed Gryffindor would be able to help them with their undertaking, and rightly so, since it's a thousand years later and we're still attending the school they built together. Sadly, he was proven right once again when Godric and Rowena's plan backfired on them all."

"What happened?" Luna asked.

"The details are sketchy, but it seems that the muggle king was outraged by the idea he would welcome those who used magic. The king was an extremely religious man, and witchcraft, as they called it, was seen as an instrument of evil. It wasn't long before the secret of Hogwarts became known, and the castle was nearly attacked by a horde of angry muggles. The castle and all of its students would have been lost, had it not been for Slytherin."

"Slytherin prevented the attack?"

"Who do you think created the muggle repelling wards around this castle?" Harry asked, to the general astonishment of those around him.

"Even with the advantages of magic, Hogwarts was under-defended and filled with children. Attempting to fight the muggles would have been a slaughter. So, Salazar did the best next thing and worked around the clock to finish his greatest project to date, a new kind of protective ward that would confuse nearby muggles and make them leave the vicinity. Needless to say, he succeeded, but he was no longer a young man. The magical strain of erecting the wards by himself was too much for him, and he died from the effort. His son found his body in the Chamber of Secrets, along with all his writings, including his notes on creating the muggle-repelling wards. The son went on to complete the trials his father left him and became the next Lord Slytherin. I don't know what happened after that."

"What you've been able to tell us has been quite enlightening," Luna replied. "Would you consider publishing Slytherin's journals for everyone to read?"

"I probably will," he responded, smiling at Daphne as he remembered how, in his past life, his wife had insisted on him doing that very thing.

"Thank you for your time, Lord Potter-Slytherin. Before we go, I do have one final question about the heirs of Slytherin."

"Ask away."

"Earlier, you said, 'There's only one other at this particular time'," Luna recalled, reading off her transcript. "Are you implying that Lord Voldemort is still alive?"

"No comment," Harry responded, the ghost of a smirk teasing at his lips.

~End of Flashback~

The evening after Harry gave his interview, the couple were relaxing in the Chamber of Secrets and Daphne finally got to ask the question she'd been holding onto since Harry's announcement.

"So, are you ever going to tell me how you did it?"

"Obviously," Harry replied. "Before I do, would you care to take a guess?"

Daphne furrowed her brow and thought back to the conversation they were having before he ran off that day.

"Hmm…I said to put Scylla in the Chamber and set her guarding something to make her feel important. How did that help?"

"That part didn't; it was the other thing you said that did."

"What else did I say?" she asked, replaying the discussion in her head. "I said to tell her it's an important secret that not even I can know about, and that no one would dare go through her because she's such a fierce snake."

Daphne shrugged and said, "I'm not making the connection."

"Alright, let's try it this way. If you were Slytherin, how would you hide something?"

"Using Parseltongue, so it could only be accessed by people with my traits?"

"And if there was something you wanted to keep hidden from everyone, even the people you love who share your traits? What then?"

Daphne frowned.

"I'd hide it under powerful wards keyed only to me?" Daphne guessed, but Harry shook his head.

"You're being too obvious, Daph. Think Slytherin."

"What, hiding it in plain sight? Somewhere nobody would ever consider?"

"Cunning and guile," Harry nodded. "Hide something in plain sight, yet make it so that people instinctively don't want to go near it."

"I'm sorry, but I'm still not following your logic. It doesn't make any more sense now than it did at breakfast."

"Maybe it would help if I told you what I was thinking. When you suggested having Scylla protect something, I almost snorted. I was laughing to myself at the idea of her guarding anything, knowing all anyone would have to do to get past her is give her food. I remember thinking that nobody would be scared of her anyway; it's not as if she's dangerous like a king cobra, an anaconda, or a basilisk..."

Daphne gasped, finally making the connection.

"No..." she whispered, turning to look at the statue of Salazar's head, its mouth open and displaying the path the basilisk used to leave its nest.

"Hiding something in plain sight, somewhere no one would ever consider searching," Harry laughed. "Who would be mad enough to crawl through a dark tunnel into a basilisk's nest in search of Slytherin's legacy, even if they were a Parselmouth?"

"That's…brilliant," she said bemusedly.

"Would you like to go and see it? Don't worry, I cleaned it up on my way out."

Daphne followed Harry through the tunnel, which was small enough that both of them had to crawl on their hands and knees. As Harry stood and exited the tunnel, the torches on the walls sprang into life, illuminating a large room that seemed to be carved out of solid stone. The room had two separate levels, the upper level set slightly behind the other and accessible from a set of stairs set along the wall.

"I think the basilisk slept here on the lower level," Harry said, leading Daphne towards the stairs.

They made their way to the upper room, and Daphne was stunned at was she saw. There was obviously more to this place than just a hiding spot for the Slytherin ring. Shelves lined the walls, holding hundreds of books and scrolls that seemed remarkably unaffected by the passage of time. She wondered why these would be hidden here, considering there was a library in the living quarters of the already well-protected Chamber of Secrets. Her eyes grew wide when she realised that this knowledge was intended only for the head of House Slytherin...what amazing secrets must this room hold?

In the centre of the room was a small stone pedestal. Harry confirmed that's where he found the ring, resting on top of Salazar Slytherin's final journal. Along the back of the room were lined at least twenty large trunks, stacked on top of one another. With Harry's permission, Daphne opened a few of them and saw that they were all filled with gold, silver, and assorted relics. The entire room was an amazing treasure trove.

"One day, this will all be yours too, if you agree to marry me," Harry said softly, and Daphne gasped and started blushing furiously when she heard it.

They left the vault a short time later and started their training session, but Daphne's mind kept drifting back to what Harry said.

~BREAK~

Several interesting things happened in the days following their evening in the Chamber.

The Quibbler article was a resounding success, and Harry was flooded by letters offering to help him publish Slytherin's journals. Many proposals of another sort were sent his way as well, but Harry completely ignored them. There was only one woman for him; he knew it, and so did Daphne. In fact, she greatly enjoyed showing him the letter her parents had sent her, the contents of which was fairly straightforward. She had been instructed to seduce Harry by any means necessary, and to make sure she kept him on a tight leash, with the intention of securing a marriage between them. They both shared a laugh at how that was the easiest request her parents were likely to ever make of her.

The Weasley children finally returned to Hogwarts. The twins seemed to barely be going through the motions, a stark contrast to their usual boisterous selves, and Ginny was said to spend most of her free time crying in her dorm. The Gryffindor common room had certainly become a fairly depressing place.

Sirius and Remus paid Harry a visit one afternoon after classes to throw a small party for him and his friends, complete with confetti and a cake shaped like a green snake. The Slytherins laughed, knowing it was all in good fun, although Malfoy found it childish and didn't stick around for long. The rest of the fourth years spent the rest of their evening enjoying some quality time with the two adults who had become fixtures in their lives whenever something happened around Harry.

The other big news was that Lucius Malfoy had passed away, having finally succumbed to the damage Harry had done to his magical core. Draco went home for a few days to be with his mother and attend to family business. He seemed somewhat upset when Professor Snape gave him the news, but with Lucius having been in a coma for months, it was hardly unexpected. Since their families were allied with the Malfoys, Greg, Vince, and Pansy left school one afternoon to attend the memorial service, while Theo opted to stay behind. He used his need to revise for an important test as an excuse, though the truth was that he didn't want to interact with his father unless absolutely necessary.

Professor Dumbledore managed to generate some excitement by announcing a duelling club, sponsored by Professor Moody and Professor Flitwick, culminating in a school-wide tournament. The headmaster and Professor Flitwick described it as an opportunity to learn proper duelling protocols and proper technique. Moody, however, insisted it would teach them to be prepared for anything and to practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

The new Black Wands were looking forward to the club, and in the days leading up to the first meeting they spent a significant amount of time practicing. Harry had been working with all of them on their spellcasting, and they had all taken turns holding practice duels with each other. As they had planned, each night they charmed Malfoy to fall asleep in his bed while they practiced. If Draco thought the number of naps he'd been taking lately was unusually high, he hadn't said anything.

"Alright, that's enough for the day," Harry called out, as the new Black Wands finished up their routines.

"Yes, Lord Slytherin," Theo replied grandly, trying not to laugh.

"Stop calling me that, Theo," Harry growled, taking note of the others snickering.

"Of course, Lord Slytherin," Theo said again, before yelping as Harry hit him with a Stinging Hex on his right buttock.

"Damn it, that hurts!" Theo complained, and everyone laughed as he rubbed the spot where the spell connected.

"Keep calling me that and I'll keep cursing you," Harry warned. It seemed that Theo wanted to come back with something witty, but his stinging butt cheek spoke louder.

"Can't take a joke..." Theo grumbled as he moved to stand with the others while Harry addressed them.

"Alright, the first meeting of the duelling club is tomorrow. You're all more than ready, but we're all going to need to exercise a little patience. I'm fairly certain that they'll want to go over the basics first, so be prepared to be bored for the first few meetings, especially since they're not likely to let fourth year students duel the upper years."

"Like you shouldn't be allowed in a tournament for students seventeen and older?" Daphne pointed out, eliciting chuckles from Harry and the others.

"Besides," she added, "Moody is one of the teachers in the club, and you know what he's like."

Daphne gave Harry a meaningful look, as if trying to remind him that Moody was actually a Death Eater in disguise. Harry may not have been concerned about Crouch Jr., but that didn't mean she couldn't be.

"Constant Vigilance," Blaise recited, more softly than Moody would have, but still loud enough to get his point across. "I bet that bastard will be lurking around just so he can randomly throw curses at us to test our reflexes."

"I'll take that bet..." Tracey replied confidently. "Flitwick wouldn't let him do that."

"Since when does Moody listen to anyone but himself?" Millie questioned, making Tracey actually reconsider her bet.

"Either way, you'll all get your chance at the tournament. In the meantime, remember to have fun with it, and if you duel, win," Harry directed. "Now, let's go before curfew starts."

The group left the Room of Requirement and leisurely made their way down to the dungeons. Once they were outside the common room, Harry hissed a Parseltongue command at the door and the wall slid open.

"One of these days I'm going to forget the password, and when I'm locked outside, I'm blaming you," Tracey informed Harry, though her grin made it obvious she was joking. They all went inside, only to find a group of sixth years standing around Scylla's tank in deep discussion.

"Potter, glad you're here," one of them called.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

"Scylla is...how to put this..."

"Getting bigger and fatter than she was supposed to," one of the other sixth years finished.

Harry raised an eyebrow and realised one of them had a small parchment with him.

"We've been monitoring her growth as a small project for Care of Magical Creatures. We thought she was some sort of green python, but she's gotten too big, and we're not even sure what kind of snake she is anymore. We just thought you should know."

"Yeah, I know..." Harry sighed. "With the amount of food she eats, I'm surprised she hasn't burst already."

"~~Stop making so much noise!~~"

Scylla chose that moment to enter the conversation, raising her head up and spotting Harry.

"~~My pet! I missed you today. Where have you been?~~"

"~~Training with my friends, Scylla,~~" Harry replied, looking at the snake curiously.

"~~Scylla, are you alright? You seem to be drooling~~."

"~~I know, I finally started producing venom,~~" the snake hissed proudly. "~~It's all thanks to you and your care, my pet, so I want to offer you a gift. I want you to have my first venom.~~"

"~~Your first venom?~~" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow. "~~You've been threatening to bite people for weeks, and you're telling me you didn't even have venom?~~"

Scylla lowered her head slightly, almost as if she was ashamed.

"~~I had to be threatening to be fed, didn't I?~~"

Harry laughed.

"~~Well, congratulations, then, Scylla, you smart girl,~~" Harry said with a smile, reaching into the tank to rub Scylla's head. "~~It seems like you're growing up.~~"

"~~About time...~~" Scylla groused. "~~Now bring me a vial, my pet, and all the venom I can spare will be yours.~~"

Harry waved his wand and a small, unbreakable crystal vial appeared in his left hand. Scylla coiled herself around Harry's other arm and brought her head closer to the container.

"~~You're getting stronger, Scylla...~~" Harry complained, wincing slightly as Scylla squeezed his arm.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Daphne asked curiously.

"Scylla decided that since I took such good care of her, I should have her first venom," Harry responded. "Just making her happy."

"Her first venom?" Millie questioned. "She's already huge; how can it be her first venom?"

"I have no idea," Harry answered. "She tells me that the people at the store didn't feed her enough, so she didn't grow properly."

"Maybe..." Daphne mused, observing Scylla's yellowish venom slowly fill the vial.

"~~There, that's all I can spare, my pet,~~" Scylla announced, seemingly pleased with herself. She slid off of Harry's arm and coiled up the table next to her tank.

"~~Thank you, Scylla,~~" Harry replied, unsure of what he should do with the venom. He'd probably just stick it on a shelf somewhere, unless Millie wanted to use it for potion experiments.

"~~Be careful, my pet,~~" Scylla warned him. "~~If I was bigger and older, my venom would kill you instantly. As I'm still barely more than a hatchling, it's not as dangerous, but it may still be deadly. Maybe you can still use it on the useless blonde monkey that didn't feed me. Or better yet, maybe I'll just bite him now that I have venom.~~"

"~~Scylla, if you bite him, people will know what happened, and they will try to kill you.~~"

"~~As if they could,~~" she scoffed. "~~I have you to protect me, and...~~"

"~~No, Scylla,~~" Harry scolded. "~~You cannot bite anyone in this castle, do you understand me? It would put you in immediate danger, and not even I would be able to help you.~~"

To his surprise, the snake lowered her head coiled around herself in what seemed to be a contrite manner.

"~~If you don't want me to, then I won't.~~"

"~~Thank you, Scylla,~~" Harry sighed, offering her his arm again. "~~We all like you, and we don't want to see you get hurt~~."

Scylla coiled herself around his arm again and Harry hissed in pain, just as before.

"~~Scylla, you're hurting me...~~"

"Harry, are you alright?" Daphne asked.

"I'm fine, Scylla's just squeezing a little too hard."

"~~I'm sorry, my pet. It seems I'm getting really strong,~~" Scylla replied gleefully. "~~My pet, I want a new nest. This one is getting too small to accommodate my greatness. A cool, dark place where I have room to grow larger and more powerful would be more suitable.~~"

"~~There isn't a place like that around here, Scylla,~~" Harry replied, frowning slightly as he placed Scylla back in her tank. "~~Besides, if I find you a place like that, people won't be able to see you as often.~~"

"~~Ah, we wouldn't want to prevent others from witnessing my growth into greatness, would we?~~"

"~~No, that wouldn't be fair at all, would it?~~" Harry joked. "~~Besides, if you keep growing the way you have been lately, you'll be as big as a basilisk before we know it.~~"

Scylla perked up at that.

"~~Good night, Scylla,~~" he said, walking away from the tank to go sit with Daphne.

"~~You're so silly, my pet,~~" she answered, shaking her head. "~~Of course, I'll grow as big as a basilisk. I may be a hatchling, but I am a basilisk.~~"

Harry paled considerably and tripped over his own feet, his stumble drawing the attention of most of the room's occupants.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Daphne, already standing up from her seat. The shocked look on Harry's face was enough to worry her.

"~~What did you just say, Scylla?~~" Harry asked insistently.

"~~I said I am a basilisk, my pet,~~" Scylla responded. "~~I may be little more than a hatchling, but I'm still a basilisk.~~"

Harry felt the strength in his legs vanish, and he fell down on his knees right in the middle of the common room.

"Harry?!"

Seeing the normally unshakable Harry Potter collapse to his knees was enough to alarm everyone, but none more than Daphne. She dropped down beside him as he laid back on the floor, covering his face with his hands and laughing hysterically at the absurdity of the situation.

"Harry!" Daphne barked, starting to get really concerned. "Please, tell me what happened."

"Malfoy..." Harry started, starting to get his laughter under control.

"What about him?" Theo asked, not understanding.

"I'm going to kill him," Harry announced in deadly voice, his eyes still closed with a cruel smile playing at his lips.

"Why?" Daphne asked.

"Because no matter how much I may love Scylla, he should've never brought her here."

Harry slowly stood up from the floor.

"That pathetic excuse for a wizard brought a basilisk hatchling into our midst, and none of us was the wiser."

~BREAK~

Dobby popped into the Chamber of Secrets with Scylla and left her on the floor, still inside in her tank. The sudden travel had taken Scylla by surprise, but her pet had told her stay in her tank, and she intended to do as he'd asked. She liked her pet. She wanted him to continue taking care of her, so she made sure to listen to him and try not to upset him.

Scylla took in her surroundings and was fascinated by the large snake statues lining the room. Whoever designed it obviously had exquisite taste. More surprising was the assembled skeleton of what was once a giant snake. The sheer size of it had Scylla convinced it must have been a basilisk too.

"~~Hello, Scylla.~~"

The serpent turned to see that her pet had joined her in the mysterious room.

"~~My pet, where are we? Are those basilisk bones?~~"

"~~You are in the Chamber of Secrets, Scylla. This is where I come to train and sleep,~~" Harry responded, but he was looking down at the ground instead of at her. "~~Scylla, when will you gain the ability to kill with a look?~~"

"~~Once my eyes are completely yellow,~~" Scylla said proudly.

"~~Will you be able to control it?~~" he asked carefully.

The snake's demeanour shifted slightly, as she picked up on how serious Harry was acting.

"~~Yes, I think I will... Sehron said I would...~~"

"~~Who's Sehron, Scylla?~~"

"~~He's the one who taught me, my pet. He's not a basilisk, but he was a wise, old snake I met at the store. He's the one who told me I was a basilisk and everything he knew about my kind. He died a few days before the blonde monkey took me away.~~"

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"~~And how will you control your gaze?~~"

"~~Basilisks have two sets of eyelids. Sehron told me that if I close the inside set, I will still be able see, but my stare won't kill.~~"

"~~And you have it closed now?~~" Harry asked, surprised at having learned something new.

"~~Of course, my pet. I wouldn't want to hurt you, your mate, or any of the other monkeys that you keep around you. If I did, you wouldn't like me or take care of me anymore.~~"

"~~Scylla...~~" Harry said, after several moments of silence. "~~I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay hidden now. If people find you, they will kill you.~~"

"~~But why?~~"

"~~Because they are afraid of what you'll become when you're fully grown,~~" Harry replied gently. "~~If you want to go somewhere away from the castle, I can ask Dobby to take you somewhere safe. All you'll have to do is find your cool, dark place, and hunt for food.~~"

"~~But... but...~~"

"~~Or...~~" he continued, a small smile appearing on his face. "~~You can stay and help me. I'll make sure you are well fed and have a dark and cool place for yourself, but you'll have to stay away from everyone in the castle.~~"

"~~YES!~~" Scylla hissed loudly, causing Harry to chuckle at her enthusiasm. He pointed at the bones of the Chamber's original occupant.

"~~That was the former guardian of the Chamber,~~" Harry told Scylla. "~~A bad man was controlling him and forced him to try and kill students, including me.~~"

Scylla hissed angrily.

"~~You are even stronger than I thought, my pet.~~"

"~~I thought I killed the bad man too, but he used special magics to make sure he didn't actually die. My mission is to kill him once and for all.~~"

"~~And of course, you need my help,~~" Scylla replied excitedly.

"~~Perhaps...~~" Harry conceded. "~~Do you promise not to attack anyone unless I ask you to?~~"

"~~Yes, my pet. I promise,~~" Scylla replied, bobbing her head up and down.

"~~Then you can stay here, if you want,~~" Harry said, gesturing at the wide chamber they were standing in.

"~~The old one's nest was inside the large statue's mouth. That might be the best place for you, but my mate and I will go there from time to time, and we may disturb you. We also stay in that room there,~~" Harry explained, pointing out each place in turn.

"~~Dobby will bring you some food every morning, and all you have to do is stay here. You will often be by yourself, but I'll be here at least once per day.~~"

"~~I understand, my pet,~~" Scylla replied. "~~Can I go see the nest of the old one? And can I stay there too?~~"

Harry agreed, and Scylla slithered off towards the statue.

"~~Thank you, my pet.~~"

Harry's expression grew serious as his watched his serpentine friend retreat. Steeling his resolve, he drew his wand and marched after her. He loathed himself for doing so, but a basilisk was far too dangerous to be kept in a school, even if it was Scylla...

~BREAK~

Dobby popped Harry back into the common room, which was now completely full. Malfoy was standing off to one side, while the others glared at him from across the room. The word about Scylla had clearly gotten around, though it wasn't clear what had been said up to that point. Already backed into a corner, Malfoy seemed primed to lash out at Harry as soon as he appeared, but he wasn't fast enough.

Harry hit Draco with a silent Disarming Charm and deftly caught the other boy's wand in his left hand. Without a word, he handed both of their wands to a surprised looking first year girl.

"What the hell, Potter?" Malfoy shouted.

Harry said nothing in response. He slowly shrugged off his robe and laid it neatly over the back of a nearby chair.

"Potter?" Alistair asked questioningly, observing Harry as he rolled the sleeves of his shirt up to the elbow.

"Malfoy..."

Harry spoke in a low tone as he stalked towards the increasingly nervous blonde.

"You brought a basilisk into this house."

Everyone paled at the reminder, not even wanting to consider how bad things could have been if they hadn't found out when they did.

"Scylla could have killed us all."

Before Malfoy could respond, Harry decked him in jaw, making the boy crumple to the floor.

"You stupid, arrogant shit..."

"I didn't know!" Malfoy pleaded, holding his hand up to his bruised jaw and frantically scooting backwards.

"I'd like nothing better than to take you apart right here and now," Harry hissed, "but that's not how we do things in Slytherin. You endangered the entire house, and everyone here has a right to decide what to do with you."

Harry turned away from Malfoy and moved to reclaim his wand and his robes.

"Potter, what about... Scylla?" Eliza asked hesitantly.

"I took care of her," Harry replied without emotion, eliciting a few gasps from the gathered Slytherins.

"You... You killed it?" a sixth year asked in disbelief.

"I SAID I TOOK CARE OF HER!" he shouted, the sudden outburst startling several of the onlookers.

Harry slipped his robe back on and left the common room through the main door, his wand still in his hand.

"Stay here and deal with this, I'll take care of him," Daphne said, following Harry out of the room.

"So, what do we do about Malfoy, then?" Astoria Greengrass asked the silent room, as the door closed behind her sister.

Daphne quickly caught up to Harry and entangled her arm with his. She didn't bother speaking, she just matched his pace and hoped her presence would help comfort him. Harry flashed her a grateful look, but he remained silent and didn't break stride. After a few minutes of walking, Daphne realised they were moving in the direction of the seventh floor.

"I'm angry," Harry whispered.

"I can tell."

No more words were said until they reached the wall concealing the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Harry paced back and forth three times until the door appeared, and then opened it to reveal an expansive garden with a small creek flowing through it. Daphne followed him in and looked around in wonder at the serene landscape.

"What is this place?" Daphne asked softly.

"It's on the Potter Estate," Harry explained, letting out a long sigh as he sat down on the ground and dropped onto his back to look up at the clear blue sky. "It used to be our favourite spot."

"It's beautiful," she declared, kneeling down next to Harry and stroking his hair.

"Lay down beside me," he requested, and Daphne did just that. There was no kissing, no snogging, or anything like that. They just laid there in the grass, silently taking comfort in each other's presence.

~BREAK~

Harry and Daphne wound up spending the night together again, mostly because they were so comfortable that neither could bring themselves to separate for the night. This time, Daphne felt like she was the one taking care of Harry. The whole Scylla situation had weighed heavily on him, and she did her best to make sure he didn't obsess too much over whether he'd done the right thing.

Early the next morning, Dobby popped them both back to the common room, where they both showered and dressed for the day. Harry was done first, so he went back down and sat in front of the fireplace to await Daphne and the others.

"Good morning," Alistair greeted Harry as he sat down next to him. "I thought you might like to know what happened after you left last night."

"I'll admit I'm slightly curious."

"Malfoy was banished from the house. We brought him to Professor Snape and explained everything, and we haven't seen him since."

Harry looked mildly surprised.

"We don't know what will become of him, but whatever happens, he won't be a Slytherin."

"Well, at least we know his father won't hear about it," came a voice from behind Harry. The other boys laughed at Brian's joke as he sat down on Harry's other side. "Good morning, by the way."

"Good morning," Harry replied. "Wait, is it a problem that Daph and I weren't here for the house meeting?"

"Don't worry, the extenuating circumstances were taken into consideration," Brian assured him.

"Potter... Harry...how are you?" Alistair asked.

Harry sighed and gave him a brief chuckle.

"I'll be fine, thank you though. Yesterday was difficult, but I think I acted for the best."

The two older boys nodded grimly, but then Brian start to grin.

"So, are you fourthies ready for the duelling club later today?" he asked, and they both saw a slight smirk form on Harry's face.

"I suppose that depends on what exactly the club will entail," he replied.

Theo came down shortly after and joined the others by the fireplace. Brian and Alistair took that as their cue and got up to leave, Brian giving Harry an encouraging pat on the shoulder on his way.

"Morning, Harry."

"Good morning, Theo," Harry replied.

"Malfoy's gone," Theo said, not knowing what else to say.

"Alistair and Brian told me."

"It was also unanimous," Theo added with a chuckle. "You should've seen his face, it was priceless."

"I can only imagine," Harry grinned.

"I'll admit I was a little surprised, though," he added, his expression turning contemplative. "Until recently, it always seemed like Malfoy had the full support of the Slytherins. It's hard to imagine the Draco Malfoy of the last three years being banished by the entire house, regardless of what he did."

"I can see why you'd think that," Theo acknowledged. "The truth of the matter is that Draco was never that popular to begin with. His father held a lot of influence, so the kids whose parents either wanted to curry favour or were outright afraid of Lucius Malfoy had no choice but to support Draco. Lucius is dead now, so Draco doesn't have his father's power to leverage, and he doesn't have any friends who would care enough to support him."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Of course, you repeatedly putting him in his place this year didn't help his image," laughed Theo.

"No, I suppose not," Harry chuckled.

Theo's face became serious again, and he made sure to look Harry directly in the eyes.

"Face it, Harry. Between the things you've shown us this year and being Lord Slytherin, you're the one the house will look to from now on. Last night just proved it."

"What do you mean?"

"You may not see it that way, but for a lot of Slytherins, last night's vote was as much about showing support for you as it was punishing Malfoy."

Harry looked at Theo sceptically, but he didn't argue.

"Trust me, just ask Daphne to explain it to you later. Anyway, enough about Malfoy. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Harry replied. "We spent the night in the Room of Requirement, and Daphne helped calm me down."

"I'll bet," Theo grinned, before again turning serious. "We all owe you, you know?"

"Owe me for what?" Harry asked inquisitively.

"Are you serious? For finding out about Scylla, before…you know…anything happened."

Harry nodded regretfully.

"Was it hard?"

"I did the right thing," Harry replied vaguely. Theo accepted the answer, and both boys fell into a comfortable silence as they awaited their friends. Nearly thirty minutes later, all nine remaining fourth years had gathered in the common room.

"Shall we go, then?" asked Harry, his hand tightly entwined with Daphne's. When no one protested, the couple led the group out of the common room and towards the Great Hall, the group engaging in their usual banter as they made their journey. They were just settling into their seats at the Slytherin table when Professor Snape approached.

"Mr. Potter."

"Professor, if this is about beating up Malfoy, just tell me the time and I'll be there," Harry offered.

"Nine o'clock tomorrow night," Snape said, nodding curtly. "One hundred points to Slytherin for identifying a dangerous creature and potentially saving many lives. I believe the headmaster will want to speak to you soon, as well."

Harry nodded his acknowledgement, and Snape turned to leave.

"Wait, Professor," Harry called, rising from his seat and pulling a crystal vial from his pocket.

Snape looked at the vial with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sure you can find a suitable use for this basilisk venom."

Snape's eyes widened as he examined the vial's contents. He gave Harry another curt nod and stalked out of the room, but not before giving him ten additional points.

"So, what's our first class today?" Harry asked, dropping into the seat next to Daphne and offering her a kiss on the cheek, which she accepted gladly.

~BREAK~

People were naturally curious about why Malfoy was looking sullen and wearing plain black school robes without the usual green and silver accents. All anyone would say was that Malfoy had jeopardised the lives of everyone in the house and had been permanently banished. The morning and afternoon passed without incident, and before long six o'clock had arrived, and it was time for the inaugural meeting of the duelling club.

"Here we go," Blaise muttered as the nine Slytherins marched into the hall, joining what appeared to be almost the entire student body. They didn't have to wait long before Professors Flitwick and Moody entered through the side door and called the meeting to order. Each professor began by offering a small introduction to duelling from their own unique perspective, and then it was finally time to get started.

"Now, let's begin by pairing up and practicing the Disarming and Shield Charms," Flitwick said. "Professor Moody and I will be roaming around and offering instruction as needed."

"I told you we'd be going through the basics," Harry whispered to Daphne, as they paired up for spell practice.

"I expected as much," she replied with a smirk. "Most people probably need the help. We're a special case."

Harry laughed and cast the Disarming Charm at Daphne, who defended it with a perfectly raised shield.

The nine Slytherins went through the exercises sharing the same bored expressions with the sixth and seventh years, mainly using the opportunity to observe the other students. Daphne was watching Astoria as she cast a passable Disarming Charm towards one of her friends, only to fail at successfully shielding the rebuttal.

"Maybe I should go help my sister," she whispered, mostly to herself. "If nothing else, it might help her grades."

"Do you want to invite her to our study group?" Harry asked, having overheard her.

"Sure," Daphne decided, after a moment's deliberation. "She could learn a lot, and I think she'd enjoy it."

Harry happily agreed, and then started scanning the crowd for other candidates. He had decided that the most plausible excuse for inviting friends from his past life would be to say that he'd seen their potential in the duelling club, and that he thought their skills would benefit the group. He was pleased to see that both Hannah Callen and Justin Smith had easily managed both spells. They would almost certainly accept the invitation. The biggest surprise was little Jason Hallys, who was one of the few first years Harry had seen successfully cast both spells.

"That brat will go far..." he muttered.

"Who?" asked Daphne.

"Hallys. He's only a first year, but I just saw him cast both spells."

Intrigued, Daphne followed Harry's gaze and observed the boy for a few moments. He stood out among his fellow Gryffindors by not outwardly celebrating every time he succeeded.

"Fine, he's impressive..." Daphne admitted. She turned to look at Harry.

"Are you thinking about inviting him to the group?"

"Can I?" Harry asked, sounding surprised by the question.

"I…I don't know," she responded. "You're the leader, it's your decision. But if you want my opinion..."

"Which I always do."

"The boy may have potential, but don't forget he's a Gryffindor. He may not easily be accepted by the others, and that's if he'd even agree on joining in the first place."

"It might be easier if we invited more people from other houses."

"True. Let's talk about that later though, it looks like they're wrapping up."

"Yes..." Harry replied, and sure enough, Moody and Flitwick had finished helping those needing assistance and were readying to address the crowd.

"Well done, everyone!" Flitwick declared. "Now, let's try some actual duelling."

The Charms professor waived his wand and raised a duelling platform in the centre of the room.

"You will now get the chance to test what you've learned against a random opponent from your year. Let us start with the first years..."

After three exceedingly boring duels, Harry's ears perked up at hearing Jason's name being called to go up against one of the Slytherin first years. Both boys followed the protocol they'd learned and bowed to each other before taking up their positions. The Slytherin boy looked overly confident while Jason looked focused, and Harry had a feeling he knew how this was going to go.

"And…begin!"

The Slytherin raised his wand to start casting, but he was far too slow. As soon as Flitwick gave the signal, Jason took a step to the left and quickly cast the Disarming Charm, striking the other boy in the chest before he even finished his own incantation.

"And the winner is Mr. Hallys! Five points for Gryffindor," Flitwick excitedly announced. The other Gryffindors were cheering and congratulating Jason, who still had a business-like expression on his face.

The duels went on for another hour or so before closing for the evening. Not everyone had their turn on the platform, but the professors promised to pick up where they'd left off the following week.

"Well, that was a complete waste of time," Theo grumbled, as they returned to the dungeons.

"I don't know, I thought some of the younger kids were pretty entertaining," Blaise countered.

"Did you guys see anyone who might make a good addition to our little group?" Daphne asked, giving Harry the opening he needed.

"I did," Harry replied, as she knew he would.

"I saw a Ravenclaw who seemed decent, but I don't know his name," Tracey replied.

"Why?" asked Millie. "Are you thinking about inviting people to join us?"

"If we find anyone who would make a good addition, then I don't see why not," Harry responded.

"Even if they're from another house?" Theo questioned.

"Sure, as long as they aren't imbeciles."

"What's the point?" Mille wondered. "Do you intend to use the group to influence the other houses?"

"Well, I wasn't, but now that you mention it..." Harry remarked, tilting his head to the side. "It would be nice to have some peace and quiet around the school for a change."

"Says the boy responsible for most of the disruptions," Pansy cracked, and they all laughed.

~BREAK~

"That's... Are you sure?" Daphne asked apprehensively.

Harry had just finished laying out his plan to retrieve the cup from Gringotts, and Daphne was having doubts. February had just begun, and the couple had secluded themselves in the Room of Requirement for some light training before the rest of the Black Wands arrived.

"I know it sounds ambitious, but trust me, it's very doable. Plus, this way we'd solve the problem of the Death Eaters once and for all, while directing suspicion as far away from us as possible."

"Can you actually do everything you just said?"

"Preparing the necessary equipment should take me about three days, give or take," Harry replied.

"I'm not against eliminating his supporters, but..."

Daphne sighed self-consciously.

"It's just that much of your plan relies on me."

"And that's a problem how?" Harry questioned.

"Are you sure that's okay?" she asked, and Harry nodded confidently.

"Absolutely. Between your skills and your pureblood upbringing, you won't have any trouble convincing them," he reassured her.

"And you were a Dark Lord who led this entire country for years," she pointed out.

"Which meant everyone did as I said without question. I didn't have to play nice with the Pureblood Faction, I had my sister-in-law for that. Believe me, you're far better suited to the role than I am," he insisted.

"Or would you rather deal with the dementors?

Daphne scoffed.

"Fine, I'll do it..." she sighed. "What else do we need?"

"Glamours, proper code names. It wouldn't do to spill our identities to anyone."

"Obviously..." Daphne drawled, in a reasonable impression of their head of house.

"Maybe I should teach you a painful curse to…encourage…anyone who doubts us," Harry mused. "We should assume that some of them will be suspicious."

"A Bone Breaker can be almost as convincing as a Cruciatus," Daphne replied, and he had to agree with her on that.

"Very well, then. That really only leaves one question. When do we act?"

"How many days do you think we need to prepare?" Daphne asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"We should have everything we need in no more than a week, but do you feel like you're ready?"

Daphne gulped. She had been disappointed by how easy it was to retrieve the ring, but Harry's latest plan sounded insane by comparison. She was starting to regret hoping their next mission would be more of a challenge. Was she really ready for this?

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Daphne admitted. "So, let's do it as soon possible, while I still have the nerve. Besides, the second task is at the end of the month, and it would be best to resolve the cup situation first."

Harry looked like he wanted to say something, but Dobby popped into the room before he could respond.

"Master, Mistress, your friends are waiting outside along with some guests."

"Already?" asked Daphne.

"We'll finish this conversation later," Harry told her. "Dobby, in the meantime, you can start gathering the equipment and materials we need."

"Very well, Master," Dobby replied, popping away.

Daphne unlocked the door with a wave of her wand and moved to stand by Harry's side. Their friends entered the room first, the new recruits following close behind them. Astoria was one of six Slytherins to join them, split evenly between upper and lower years. There were also two Ravenclaws, and Harry was glad to see that Justin Smith was one of them. They were all looking around the room in wonder, having never known that such a place existed in the castle.

"Welcome to the Room of Requirement," Harry started, addressing the new additions. "I'm glad you decided to accept the invitation to join us here today."

"What is this, and why are we here?" the older Ravenclaw asked. Harry wasn't familiar with the boy, and he wondered who had invited him.

"And you are?" Harry inquired.

"Rodrick Bulstrode," the boy replied.

"This, Rodrick Bulstrode, is a club for duelling and general study. We were impressed by your performance at the duelling club, so we decided to invite you to join our group."

"Mmh...not interested," the boy replied.

"As you wish," Harry said, gesturing towards the door. The older boy turned and walked to the door, almost knocking over a latecomer on his way out.

"Sorry I'm late," came a voice from just inside the room. "I had trouble getting away unnoticed. Am I too late?"

"Don't ask me, ask them," the older boy replied shortly, sidestepping the late arrival and leaving the room.

Had anyone been watching, they would've noticed Rodrick Bulstrode's eyes glaze over as he passed through the door. Within a few steps, the charms Harry had placed on the doorway would wipe all knowledge of the room and the meeting from his memory.

"Come in, and make sure you close the door," Daphne instructed, curiously observing the boy.

"Sorry I'm late. Like I said, I..."

The words died in Jason Hallys's throat at the sight of over a dozen Slytherins looking back at him. None of them exhibited any signs of hostility, but they were clearly surprised by the appearance of the young Gryffindor.

"Ah, Mr. Hallys, glad you could join us," Harry said in a neutral tone, though he was secretly happy the boy had made it. "Do come in. You didn't miss much."

Embracing his Gryffindor courage, he took a deep breath and strode forward to join the rest of the group. He had no idea what was happening, but he'd received an invitation from the Lord Potter himself, assuring his safety, and that was good enough for him.

"What's a dork doing here?" asked a surprised Astoria Greengrass.

"He was invited, just as you were," Daphne replied, before nodding to Harry.

"As I was saying to Mr. Bulstrode, who regrettably left us, we are a study group in search of new members. You have all been invited thanks to your performances at the duelling club," Harry explained.

"Our primary focus will be on duelling, but we will certainly not limit ourselves to that. Those of you from the lower years were selected because you have shown real potential. We believe that with the right support, your skills will flourish well beyond what they would if you limited yourself to school lessons. For those of you older than the founding members, those being us fourth year Slytherins, I envision a more reciprocal exchange where we can help each other grow. Furthermore, if we manage to recruit members from all four houses, we can form an influential alliance here in Hogwarts."

"And control the school?" an older Slytherin asked.

"I prefer to think of it as helping to maintain order and keep the peace," Harry replied. "There have been too many conflicts in these halls over trivial things. Perhaps one day the petty house rivalries will be a thing of the past, but for now, our focus is on practice and study."

Harry's answer seemed to satisfy the invitees, so he had only one final question.

"Now, who wants in?"

They all stayed.

They split up into two groups, with Daphne leading the four younger students to one side of the room while Harry stayed with the others. The newcomers were a little startled when the training dummies suddenly appeared, but they listened attentively as Harry gave them some instruction on how to use them. Harry suggested a few starting exercises for the older group and then went over to join Daphne.

They all looked so small compared to the older group. Jason was the youngest student invited, while Astoria was right behind him as the only second year. Rounding out the younger group were Charles Armstrong and Denise Brownhills, both third years.

Jason felt like a fish out of water. Being the youngest was one thing, but being the only Gryffindor in a room full of Slytherins would have been enough to intimidate most anybody. Daphne could sense his uneasiness and tried to help him acclimate.

"No one will hurt you in this room, Mr. Hallys," she assured him. "Just try to relax."

"I did tell you that when I invited you, didn't I?" Harry asked as he joined them.

"Yes, but about that…why me?" Jason asked Harry. "I know you said I have potential, but there are other Gryffindors much better than I am. I'm just a first year and a muggleborn, so why me?"

"Fine," Harry said. "If it puts you at ease, I'll answer your questions. I invited you for two reasons. The first, you already know. You were rather decent in your match at the duelling club, and with help, I think you have the potential to grow quite powerful."

"Even more than you were the first time around," he added to himself.

"And the second reason?" the boy asked, feeling a little prouder of himself after hearing Harry's praise.

"You apologised to me before the break. You were the first to do it, and the only one, as well," Harry replied bluntly. "Is that enough for you?"

Jason looked at Harry and nodded before giving him a small bow.

"Then I thank you for the opportunity, and for your faith in me."

Harry nodded and went right into a lecture on the Stunning Spell. After ten minutes of explanation, the four were already attempting to cast the spell at the dummies, leaving Daphne and Harry to stand off to the side.

"I'm sorry," Daphne mumbled to him.

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry for what I did before...how I treated you before you joined us. I never did apologise for it, did I?"

"Oh... Don't worry about it. I never held that against you or any of our friends," Harry replied with a small smile, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "But it's nice to know you feel that way."

"Stupefy!" Jason chanted, but nothing happened. Daphne turned to watch the young wizard and didn't miss his perturbed look, nor the smirk on her sister's face.

"You're not doing any better, Astoria," Daphne admonished, and her sister actually blushed before going back to her casting.

"Ma'am?" Jason asked, surprising Daphne with his method of address.

"What am I doing wrong?"

"Personally, I think you and my sister are two young to cast the Stunning Spell. However, Harry seems to think that if you can successfully cast the Shield and Disarming Charms, then you should also be able to cast a Stunner," Daphne told him. "I can only tell you what Harry told me, and the same goes for you, Astoria. Try to feel your magic and channel it through your wand. You're either doing something incorrectly or you're simply not channelling enough power."

"Yes, ma'am," Jason replied, and went back to work.

After an encouraging nod from her sister, Astoria also resumed trying the spell. Harry was busy speaking with the third years, who had managed the spell, and he was now giving them new instructions.

Now that Daphne was tasked with supervising her sister and Jason Hallys, she decided to take a closer look at the boy who had been her brother-in-law in Harry's past life. Outwardly, he didn't appear to be anything special - just another boy. She couldn't help but wonder how this seemingly unremarkable child could have become the man Harry told her about. She remembered the story about his grandfather's death, and she knew he had participated in the Battle of Hogwarts, but was there more to it?

As she watched both him and her sister trying to cast the spell, she wondered if future Astoria was as truly happy with him as Harry believed.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Harry asked as he embraced her from behind.

Just to be safe, she threw up a quick privacy ward and quietly answered him.

"I was watching Hallys and my sister, and I was wondering about them in your past."

"Ah, have they started ranting at each other already?"

"No, they haven't, and what do you mean by that?" Daphne asked critically.

"She's a Slytherin, he's a Gryffindor. Sparks flew every time the two of them disagreed on something, which was fairly often. I readily admit that I found their squabbles wildly entertaining."

"Oh?" Daphne asked, crossing her arms. "If they argued that much, then how did they even get together?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. I remember hearing them arguing about something one night, but I ignored them because it was late, and I had to put our daughter to bed. The next day, Daphy told me she saw them kissing."

"Huh... and did they argue a lot?"

"Before they got together? All the time. After that, not so much, unless it was about something really important."

"They had a son, didn't they?"

"Adam Greengrass-Hallys," Harry replied, smiling fondly. "Bold as his father, cunning as his mother, and the bane of both the Greengrass and the Malfoy families."

"And what does that mean?"

"I'll show you later," he chuckled.

"Fine," Daphne huffed. "Just one more thing, didn't you tell me that Hallys died?"

"Yes. He died in the third war, the one against the muggles," Harry said sadly, as he looked over at the boy still attempting the spell.

"How did that one even start?"

"How else, it started with Titania's policies," Harry replied, his expression darkening. "Do you remember how I told you they wanted to reveal ourselves to the muggles and integrate our world with theirs?"

Daphne scowled at the reminder.

"Well, we learned that she actually made contact with the muggles and introduced them to our potions and certain magics. They formed a company together, ostensibly to mass-produce magical potions and develop ways to help the muggles using magic. I'm not sure how successful they were, but I do know that much of their research involved kidnapping and experimenting on magicals."

Daphne breathed in sharply.

"Wasn't she doing the same thing with werewolves?

"Among others, yes," Harry confirmed. "She seemed to be obsessed with the idea of using muggle science to study magic."

"Anyhow, by the time Titania fell, the company was already fully autonomous and had grown exponentially. They had their own security force, which was essentially a small, private army, and their agents were well trained to capture magicals for their research. It was the kidnappings that first alerted us to the fact that there was a problem."

"Wait, so does this mean the third war was actually an extension of the second one?" Daphne asked heatedly.

"More or less," Harry nodded.

"We started by hitting their facilities and rescuing the people they kidnapped. They responded by hiring mercenaries to bolster their security force and begging the Crown to help protect them from the 'terrorists' targeting their company. They also approached the Prime Minister for his direct support. They claimed they were working on recreating magical potions using muggle methods, so they wouldn't have to rely on magicals for them. They convinced him that it was in the country's best interest to help fight against us, even though we were the legal magical government at the time."

"No..."

"That was when we realised that losing would mean the end of Magical Britain. We knew we didn't have much time; we had to win before the muggle army could get involved. Fortunately, we were able to locate the company's headquarters in London, which ironically was fortified with every kind of magical protection imaginable. They even warded the place against house-elves, and I hadn't quite figured out how to fade yet, so our only option was a frontal assault."

"We lost a lot of good people doing it, but we put an end to that damned company. We killed their leaders and destroyed all their research, but my personal favourite was when I put both the Prime Minister and the Queen under the Imperius Curse."

Daphne's eyebrows shot up.

"I ordered them to make sure the last vestiges of the company were wiped out entirely. I also used them to ensure we would be protected from any further attacks from the muggles. We may have won, but our losses were devastating, especially considering that we hadn't fully recovered from the last war. Theo took a hit in the spine that couldn't be magically repaired. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, and Jason..."

Daphne wrapped her arms around Harry, trying to let him know that he didn't need to say anything else. He buried his face in her hair and sighed deeply.

"It didn't help that Astoria figured out she was pregnant right around the time it happened."

"Oh gods..." Daphne whispered, turning her head to watch the two continue to work on their Stunners. Astoria managed the spell first and started to gloat, but her celebration was short lived, as Jason succeeded only seconds later.

~BREAK~

———————————-

Harry cursed the last of his opponents and took a short breather while he surveyed the room. Littered across the floor were the bodies of several men and women, all of them wearing business suits and carrying guns. He was slightly bothered by the wounds he'd sustained, but he didn't have time to worry about that now.

"That's all of them, my lord," called one of Harry's black-robed soldiers.

At that moment, a cat Patronus came up through the floor and approached Harry.

"Lord Potter, we located the research labs and have destroyed every sample and freed every prisoner. We are unable to send them to St. Mungo's while the wards are still up, but we will be standing by with portkeys."

"Badenhill, send a message to the curse breakers to find the ward stones and take them down," Harry ordered one of his soldiers, who nodded and cast a Patronus of his own, a bird of some sort.

"Regis, what can you tell me?"

"These computers have access to the mainframe, so I should be able to use them to make a remote connection," said a man in muggle clothes, typing away on a computer.

"In English!" Harry demanded, and the Imperiused man blinked.

"I can use these computers to get the locations of all bases and safehouses, if there are any others left, and destroy all the information."

"Then do it," Harry ordered, running his hand through his greying hair in annoyance.

"My lord, I just received a Patronus from Captain Hallys's team. The captain was injured in one of the labs, and it looks bad. He needs an immediate extraction."

"WHAT!?" demanded Harry, paling considerably. "Where is he?"

"Tenth floor, my lord. We are on the fifteenth," the man called Badenhill replied, and Harry swiftly left the room, followed by three others. Harry practically flew down the five flights of stairs and burst into what was left of a destroyed lab on the tenth floor. He found the team with little effort, with four of the unit having taken up a defensive position while the other two were gathered around their fallen captain.

"What the hell happened here?" Harry demanded as soon as he reached them.

"One of the muggles had a new weapon, my lord. I saw it, and it seems to be one of the mashkine-guns?" the woman replied uncertainly.

Harry glared and waved at her to continue.

"We examined some the bullets. They were larger than usual and were engraved with runic patters, and they seemed to be coated in some sort of poison, but we couldn't determine what kind."

"Hey...Harry..."

Harry heard the strained whispers and immediately turned to the fallen body of his brother-in-law.

"Did... we... win?"

"Yes, Jason, we won, but don't worry about that now. You need to hold on,"

As Harry spoke, he noticed the blackened blood oozing from the wounds in Jason's belly, which was definitely not a good sign.

"Being...shot...fucking...hurts..." Jason replied with cough, spitting up blood. "Could...use...healer...Tori... angry..."

"We're working on it," Harry chuckled nervously, and turned to address the others.

"Take him to the first floor, that's where we're gathering all the injured and the dead. Keep him alive."

"It's too late, my lord," the woman replied mournfully. Harry turned around, and much to his horror, Jason had gone limp and was no longer breathing.

"The captain...he's dead, my lord."

~BREAK~

Tears were pouring down Astoria's face as she held Jason's hand to her own face.

"You fool… Why couldn't you be more careful, you moronic Gryffindor?" she cried. Harry was standing behind her, far enough to give her some space while still being present.

"Why? Why did you have to die?" she sobbed, and Harry chose that moment to step up and place his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Tori," Harry said.

"He shouldn't have died," Astoria replied tearfully. "I loved him so much. He shouldn't have...I need him."

"It wasn't his choice, Tori. He was taken from us by the muggles."

"At least you killed them," Astoria growled, anger rising up behind her bloodshot eyes. "Tell me you killed them all."

"I killed them all," Harry confirmed, and Astoria broke down again.

"He shouldn't have died..." she sobbed again. "I need him."

"No, he shouldn't have died," Harry said, as Astoria collapsed on top of her husband's body.

"Why did you have to die, you fool?" she cried. "I'm pregnant. You were going to be a father."

Memory Harry took a step backwards as he felt his own heart squeezing in his chest.

~BREAK~

Harry Potter-Black, the Dark Lord of Britain, massaged his temples to try and alleviate the stress of dealing with his in-laws.

"Care to say that again?" he requested of the two in front of him, choosing to ignore the outraged ranting of his adopted sister, Astoria Hallys-Potter, who also happened to be his undersecretary.

"Certainly, my lord," an aged Jonathan Greengrass replied. "Since young Adam defeated his half-brother Scorpius in the honour duel, resulting in the regrettable death of our heir..."

"Malfoy challenged my son!" Astoria bellowed.

"Scorpius was also your son, Astoria," Persephone Greengrass replied distastefully.

"That boy..."

"ENOUGH!"

Harry slammed his fist down on the table, silencing everyone in the room.

"You want to make Adam Hallys the heir of the Greengrass estate, correct?"

"Indeed, my lord," Jonathan replied.

"Why?" Astoria raged. "You never cared about him before! Is it because Malfoy is dead and he's the next in line? Or is it because Harry made him his heir too, and you want the prestige of having such a powerful heir?"

"Tori, that's enough! Summon Adam here," Harry demanded, and Astoria gasped and gave him a betrayed look.

"You can't be serious! You can't allow this," she spluttered.

"It's out of my hands, Tori, and you know it," Harry replied angrily. "It's not within my power to interfere with the naming of an heir. Only Adam can decide whether he wants to accept the role or not."

Astoria huffed and drew her wand, casting a Patronus that took the shape of a mongoose. As the Patronus left the room, both she and Harry stared daggers at the two elder Greengrasses.

"I don't know what you're planning, you cowards, but it won't work," Astoria spat.

"Astoria, how dare you..." her mother started, but Harry cut her off before she could continue her rant.

"Shut up, you harpy, Astoria is right," he challenged. "Where were you when we fought two wars for the survival of our kind? Where were you when we discovered that Astoria had spent years under a love potion? You were quick enough to disown her. Where were you when Daphne was murdered?"

"Regrettably, we..."

"SILENCE!" Harry shouted, wanting nothing more than to curse them both into oblivion. "I despise the both of you, and... Adam, come in."

A young, clean-shaven man with dark brown hair entered the room, wearing deep blue robes and a look of surprise at the presence of his so-called grandparents.

"Mother, Uncle," the young man greeted warily. "Why did you summon me?"

"These two decided they want you as their heir," Astoria announced angrily.

"Because I killed Malfoy?" he asked with a small scowl.

"Yes, by killing your brother in the honour duel, you became the heir yourself," Jonathan replied calmly. "You are of Greengrass blood and have grown powerful, much more so than your brother ever was. His loss is regrettable, of course, but you proved to be the superior wizard."

Jonathan Greengrass flashed a smile, which looked far from genuine.

"We wish to make you heir to the Greengrass family, but of course, that would require you to move in with us so you can learn about the business and attend official events."

"And if I were to agree, what would I gain from all this?" Adam asked, his response apparently shocking both his mother and his uncle.

"What?" Astoria shouted. "You can't tell me you're considering accepting!"

"And why not, mother?" Adam inquired. "It's my birthright, isn't it? Disowned or not, we are still of Greengrass blood. Besides, this could be a way for us to get out of Uncle Harry's house and stop living at his expense."

"Are you out of your mind?" Harry blurted out, stunned by what he was hearing. His hand involuntarily twitched towards his wand at the smug looks coming from the two Greengrass elders.

"You taught me that family is important," Adam continued, addressing Harry and Astoria. "It's my duty to make sure my family doesn't die out."

He turned to his grandparents and said, "I accept the heir position, grandfather."

"No!" Astoria snarled, seething at her own son's attitude.

"Have you no pride, Adam? Is this what I taught you? Is this what your father fought and died for? For you to sell yourself to them? What would your father say?"

"We'll never know, will we, mother?" Adam replied coldly. "Father has been dead for a long, long time."

The slap came in a blur, leaving Adam with a red handprint on his cheek.

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT WAY ABOUT YOUR FATHER? JASON WAS A GREAT MAN, LOYAL AND BRAVE. HE WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU!"

Astoria was breathing heavily, glaring at her son as if he had suddenly become a complete stranger.

"Fine, be their precious heir, but don't come near me while you carry that forsaken title. They betrayed my sister, betrayed your uncle, betrayed me, and now you want to take their side?"

"Get out," Harry ordered, rising from his seat. "All three of you, get out of my office before I make you."

His magic flared around him, and the other three needed no further encouragement. Astoria sagged to the floor and broke down crying over what just happened, while Harry debated the merits of simply ending the Greengrass bloodline.

~BREAK~

The Dark Lord's laughter echoed throughout the chambers of the new Wizengamot. At his side, Astoria's expression was a unique combination of baffled and amused. All the others in attendance had been rendered speechless by the proceedings.

"Something must be done! We demand the restitution of the Greengrass estate and the immediate imprisonment of the boy."

"Now I'm the boy," Adam replied dryly, standing a few feet from his grandparents with satisfied grin on his face. "Two days ago, I was his dearest grandson, and now I'm worse than the filth under his boots. There's so much love in this family."

"Silence, whelp!" Jonathan Greengrass shouted.

"You shut up, old man," Adam retorted. "You had your chance and now it's mine."

Adam turned to address the Wizengamot.

"If it pleases this body, I can provide evidence that not only were my actions legal, but they were also approved by none other than the former Lord Greengrass himself."

Adam snapped his fingers, and a house-elf popped to his side and handed him a folder. He pulled a sheet of parchment from the folder and held it up for everyone to see.

"As you can see here, that's the signature of my grandfather, the former Lord Greengrass, selling all properties and businesses owned by the Greengrass estate to Adam Hallys - that's me - for thirty sickles."

He held up a second sheet of parchment.

"This one gives the heir full control of the Greengrass vaults. I don't dispute that I moved the contents to the Hallys family vault, but as you can see, it was all completely legal. Each of these documents are affixed with the official Gringotts seal, which cannot be forged."

He picked up a third document.

"Finally, I have here the official document signed by the former Lord Greengrass, naming me the new Lord Greengrass and disowning himself and his wife from the family."

Adam passed around copies of the documents, and many laughed while others looked at the young man in admiration for his display of cunning.

"It's not my fault that the former lord didn't pay enough attention to what he was signing. He has no evidence for his claims, and since I can provide all the legal documents to my defence, I ask this body to dismiss these outrageous accusations against my character."

The representative of Gringotts, a goblin wearing a pinstriped business suit, took the documents and read them in silence for several moments.

"The documents are legal," he announced.

"Then I declare Adam Hallys innocent of committing the crimes for which he's been accused," Harry announced formally.

"I won't take this!" Jonathan Greengrass roared, drawing his wand against his grandson.

"Avada..."

Before he could even finish the incantation, he was struck in the chest by two spells, one coming from each of Astoria's and Harry's wands. Persephone Greengrass cried out in shock as her husband fell to the floor, dead.

"How could you?" Persephone shrieked at her daughter, having seen who cast the first spell. "He was your father!"

"My father abandoned me a long time ago," Astoria replied flatly, only having eyes for her son. "He will never take someone I love from me ever again. Never again, no matter what."

The Aurors took the dead body and the widow away from the chamber, and the Dark Lord closed the session.

"If I may have a moment of the Dark Lord and the Undersecretary's time?" Adam asked, once the rest of the Wizengamot had filed out.

"Your words cut me deeper than any blade or spell, Mum," he said to Astoria. "Did you really think I would abandon you for them? I wanted to avenge you, and avenge Dad, Aunt Daph, and Uncle Harry. They gave me the chance, so I took it and used it to my benefit. That's what you taught me..."

Astoria threw her arms around her son and cried on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry for what I said to you that day."

"I just acted as you taught me, mum," Adam whispered. "You taught me, damn it. You should have known better."

"I'm so sorry..."

"I forgive you, Mum," he replied, hugging her back and looking over her shoulder at Harry.

"Am I forgiven, Uncle Harry?"

"Kid, you just made my year," Harry grinned. "Very well done."

"Your father would be rolling around on the ground, laughing his ass off," Astoria whispered with a sob, and Adam hugged her tighter.

"He would be so proud of you...even more than I am."

———————————-

~BREAK~

Daphne emerged from the Pensieve strangely unfazed. Despite having seen her father's death, she was more concerned with her sister. After viewing several memories of her and the Hallys boy, his death, and their son, Daphne recognised that her sister undoubtedly loved and respected the boy.

"I don't have any problems with Hallys and my sister, should it happen," she said, sitting down in her usual chair.

"I'm not going to force anything," Harry agreed. "We already introduced them to each other, so now we just let time do its thing. From here on, it's up to them."

"Alright, but after that last memory I do need to ask another question," she added, her expression darkening.

"Did… Did my father have anything to do with Astoria being potioned by Malfoy?"

Harry sighed.

"We never knew for certain, but we suspected. If nothing else, he took advantage of the opportunity to get Scorpius away from her and turn him into what he became. I often wondered how the kid would've turned out if Tori actually got to raise him herself."

Daphne sank into her chair. She knew her parents weren't good people, but the idea of using their own daughter that way just to tie themselves to an influential family, only to cast her out and steal her child? That was beyond abominable, even for them.

"What became of my mother?"

"I think she moved in with her maiden family," Harry replied, and Daphne nodded thoughtfully.

"That's enough time wasting," she said after a minute, rising to her feet. "I have spells to learn, if we want everything to go right with this crazy plan of yours."

"You can still back out."

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry," she replied, crossing her arms. "We're in this together."

"Have you thought of any good aliases?" Harry asked.

Daphne shook her head.

"It looks like we'll have to go with mine, then. I came up with Jormungandr and Medusa."

"Oh sure, because naming ourselves after mythological legends is neither narcissistic nor conspicuous," she snorted. "But on the other hand, the names do have a good ring to them."

"Come on then, we only have an hour left to practice," Daphne insisted, walking towards the doorway that led to the main Chamber of Secrets.

"As you wish, Lady Medusa," Harry teased as he followed her out, making her laugh.

บท 23: Chapter 20

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บท 23: Chapter 20

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