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Tom’s fury threatened to explode out of control as he thought about it. Something had to be done, and he was utterly certain that he was the only person who both cared enough and grasped the present political reality enough to do it. Potter’s group—or their parents, in any case—were probably more interested in their ow... |
He thought about the books that Mother had finally permitted him to read at the time of her wedding, the genealogy and family history books that he had brought back to Hogwarts. They had been very interesting reads indeed. A Comprehensive History of House Gaunt and The Lords of the Fens had filled in the gaps between t... |
And finally, there was the last book, Serpent-Tongue: The Life and Mysteries of Salazar Slytherin. A dark idea nagged at the back of his mind as he contemplated that one. The book had not described the exact location of the Chamber of Slytherin, but if this biography of the man was accurate, then the Chamber unquestion... |
It was unfortunate that Slytherin had not shared more information with his pupil, but most likely the great wizard had meant to save that for his family. The book also did not confirm Tom’s theory that Slytherin had been a Seer who had foreseen the Norman invasion and had left the basilisk behind for his heir to use to... |
But whatever glorious possibilities there might be in the future for seizing a Malfoy-occupied property, the possibility that existed now was to find the Chamber in Hogwarts and open it, to release the basilisk and claim it as his own rightful weapon in the coming war. He needed the advantage that the fearsome creature... |
If the creature would wake from its slumber at the call of a Parselmouth, then perhaps it would make a response in the same language that only Tom could hear, and he could track down the location to the chamber that way. At least he knew that an entrance was most likely on the ground floor; any chamber large enough to ... |
Should I do it? Tom wondered, his courage momentarily failing him at the thought of such an undertaking. What if he accidentally looked in its eyes? Parselmouths were subject to the fatal gaze of the basilisk just as anyone else was. If he did this, he was trusting that the creature actually would regard him as its new... |
The biography of Slytherin says that it will, he reassured himself. He told one of his students that it would obey Parselmouths who were his own descendants. He would have had no reason to lie about that to his pupil. |
Tom considered the calendar. In three days, the school would close for Christmas. He might not find the Chamber entrance in that short a period of time, but if he did, he could wait until the final day that the school hosted students before opening it. That would minimize the risk. |
And then I will free it and take it home, to protect the castle where Slytherin’s blood now dwells, until I need to use it in war, he thought. There were dungeons in Parselhall, just like any other castle. There the basilisk could stay until needed. |
Castle Parselhall. |
Merope genuinely had not thought it possible that she could conceive again. She had been certain that the injuries she had sustained during Tom’s birth had rendered her womb too delicate, too scarred, for any pregnancy to last long enough for her to detect. She was still unsure if this one would quicken, let alone conc... |
She was worried for a number of reasons. First, there was the constant dread that she would miscarry, of course. At least I am married to a master of potions, she comforted herself—and indeed, Severus already had devised a potions regimen for her to follow that would help to protect her health. Such things were not inf... |
Beyond her fear for the pregnancy itself were more worldly concerns. Belatedly she realized that perhaps she should have told Tom explicitly not to tell anyone except Hermione. She hoped he would have—not the sense; he did have that—but the self-discipline not to explode in fury in front of people like the Malfoy boy o... |
Then, too, there was the matter of Tom’s inheritance. She could keep her promise to him only if Malfoy’s law were repealed—which, she realized, meant that Malfoy and Lestrange themselves would have to be removed. It was a pity that the house-elf who acted as a spy for Regulus Black could not murder his masters, but any... |
But even if we achieve everything that we need to, what does this mean for Hermione? Merope thought with some disquiet. In that scenario, Tom could inherit—but the twins would still be his heirs if he did not have any children of his own. If all went well, he no longer needed to continue the line himself, which meant t... |
Merope sighed. This should be a happy moment. The worries about the pregnancy itself were inevitable, but the political worries and her concerns about Tom and Hermione were casting a pall. Guilt and sadness spread over her at that realization. |
"Merope," said Severus. |
She glanced around and met his gaze with hers. A smile formed on her face. He was obviously worried too, but this had softened his features and removed some of the bitterness and cynicism that had defined him for the past three years. As she walked across the parlor and linked her arm with his affectionately, she resol... |
The evening of the day that he received his mother’s letter, Tom finally decided to tell Hermione about it. He was not going to tell her about his plans to look for the Chamber. If he found it, he would let her know then. |
She was seated in the Slytherin common room, reading a book. Potter sat next to her, engrossed in his own thoughts. Tom remembered suddenly that he had received several letters of his own that morning. He had not been included in the discussion that Potter had with Hermione and Luna Lovegood, and he had completely forg... |
Hermione closed her book and turned to Potter, which prompted a spark of jealousy from Tom even though he knew that there was nothing between them except friendship now. "I think you should still go home," she said in a low voice. "Your mother, at least, would like to see you, as would Sirius. And you should congratula... |
Harry considered that and nodded. "That’s true. I didn’t think of that, but you’re right. It means that I will have to see my father, though...." |
"You should see him," Hermione urged. "He might even relent and see how unreasonable he has acted once he sees you again." |
Harry seemed skeptical at that, but he was convinced to go to his hometown for his mother and godfather’s sake. He managed a weak smile before rising from his chair and heading to the door leading to the boys’ corridor. |
Tom seized the opportunity. As he sat down next to Hermione in the spot where Potter had just been, she stiffened. "Tom," she acknowledged. "What is the matter?" |
He scowled at the news he was about to relate. Scanning the room with his piercing gaze to make sure that none of their enemies were there, he lowered his voice almost to a whisper anyway. "I received a letter from my mother today," he growled under his breath. "She is with child." |
Hermione gasped. "She is?" |
"Don’t be loud. I don’t want anyone else to know. Yes, she is, and apparently it’s twins." His handsome face was twisted unattractively in irritation. |
Something else occurred to her. "Malfoy’s inheritance law—" |
"She claims that she won’t let that happen," he said sullenly. |
His voice was clipped and cold, and it surprised Hermione. "If she agrees that... well... they must go," she said almost inaudibly, "then what is the problem?" |
"The problem is that she doesn’t have a feasible plan to make that happen, as far as I’m aware," he spat. He rose from his seat. "I just wanted you to know, because she said I was to tell you, and after all, we are going to Parselhall in a couple of days. That was all. Have a good night, Hermione." |
Hermione was affronted at this rudeness and the clear implication that he had told her only because his mother had said to and because he might get scolded in a couple of days if he disobeyed. Her eyebrows narrowed, and she scowled back at him as he stalked toward the boys’ bedchambers. The news was upsetting to him; s... |
The next morning, Tom had felt a bit bad about his interaction with Hermione. He realized he had taken out his frustration about Mother’s pregnancy on her. But what was to be done? Hermione remained stubborn, obsessed with her studies, and once again had chosen her friendship with Potter over him. By the following summ... |
The day was free for him to conduct his searches. The professors were not teaching anything, and the pupils who were planning to visit their families were gathering their belongings and beginning to leave, a slow but steady trickle. The bustle on the ground floor of Hogwarts made it flatly impossible for Tom to conside... |
Tom had considered how best to keep any stragglers—or Hogwarts masters—away from the site of the Chamber entrance if he did find it. Any spell to discourage them would likely be detectable, and it would just provoke investigation of the place. It would raise the risk. After considering it, he settled on a very simple b... |
Tom slipped unnoticed into the schoolroom in the midst of the confusion and activity of students who were leaving for their homes. His magical senses were much more sensitive now than they had been four years ago, he thought idly. It was true that a witch or wizard’s magic developed as the person did. As he examined th... |
There was something very peculiar at the front of the classroom. For some reason, Tom thought of Crookshanks, Hermione’s feline familiar. Of course, he remembered, Professor McGonagall can transform into a cat. And obviously Crookshanks has some magical abilities too; he’s not a common cat. It seems that I can identify... |
He continued examining the large stone room, focusing on the walls for any sign of unusual magic that could not be the residue of Transfiguration. As he reached the fourth wall, his face was growing sour. Nothing had turned up. He then considered the floor and stalked toward the center of the schoolroom. His walk aroun... |
Disappointed, Tom slumped against the floor in the back of the room, trying to determine a logical next step in his search. No other room seemed obvious to him based on his reading about Slytherin. Then a door caught his eye. |
He knew it was the door to the supply closet, and he had been doubtful that Slytherin would conceal an entrance to his grand chamber in such a grubby, ordinary place as a storage room. But... it was a room, and perhaps it was not storage in Slytherin’s day. Tom opened the door and continued his search of the premises. |
Quickly he realized that there was magic in this room—and he detected the magic of a serpent. His pulse quickened with anticipation. How could Dumbledore and McGonagall not have detected this? Tom thought. He listened carefully through his magic-detecting sense and thought he heard a voice casting a spell in his ancest... |
Tom instantly focused on this spot. He cast the spell repeatedly until it was outlining the grain of the wood used in the trapdoor. He closed his eyes—just in case—and spoke sibilant, mysterious words in Parseltongue. The magical mask of stone veneer melted away, revealing the wooden trapdoor to Tom’s reopened eyes. He... |
I need to make my preparations, he thought. I need to get something to blindfold the basilisk. This is not directly off the hall, though, so I don’t think I want to create a mess in the hall—magical water, or whatnot—after all. It would just draw attention here. I could create a blindfold by magic... but the basilisk i... |
The idea of opening and visiting the Chamber that night quickly took hold in his mind. |
That evening, Tom crept quietly up the stairs to the ground floor with a long strip of silky white fabric under one arm. For a castle, Hogwarts was surprisingly short on basic supplies other than food. Magical supplies it had in plenty, but not quite as many ordinary materials. There was no castle tailor or seamstress,... |
Tom entered the Transfiguration classroom, closed the door behind him, and progressed to the storage closet. |
Although most students had gone on the first day that it was allowed to them, some were going to make their journeys on the second day. Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, and Ginevra Weasley—though not the Weasley boys—had decided to do this. Neville Longbottom, whose family lived in Hogsmeade, also could stay at the castle ... |
"I was hoping that you might have a better idea of what your parents—and older brothers—were doing," Hermione said haltingly to Ginny Weasley. "Half the school heard your brothers’ approval of Malfoy’s Imperius law about married witches a couple of months ago. It really shocked me, I have to say." Luna Lovegood nodded ... |
Ginny did not defend her brothers. "Why do you suppose I did not leave with them?" she asked pointedly. "I wish I didn’t have to go at all. That comment was nothing unusual for Ronald—or for the twins, for that matter, though they usually couch their comments in "humor.’ Ronald is just spiteful and ugly about it. But t... |
That would have been befuddling to Hermione not long ago, but her own mother’s irritating letter urging her to overlook Tom’s behavior in the name of "duty" had opened her eyes. It sounded as though Ginny’s mother was far worse. |
"Tell her about the argument with your mother," Neville urged her gently. "She might as well know. It could affect us all." |
Ginny scowled, and next to her, so did Luna. "All right," she began grudgingly. "Apparently, my mother and Harry’s father think that Harry and I should be together. That was what they expected to happen when they allied under the Friends of the Founders’ banner, but it didn’t quite turn out that way." |
"It’s silly," Luna interjected, "because Neville’s parents are also allies, and my father supports the overthrow of Armand Malfoy." |
"Evidently, as soon as one’s parents get involved in political power games, this becomes a danger," Ginny growled. "One doesn’t have to have a title. In any case, I told my mother that it was not going to happen, and she became angry with me. And Harry’s family, of course...." She trailed off. |
"I don’t have to stay with my father," Harry said. |
Hermione considered what she had heard. It did not elucidate the greater game of her friends’ families... but it was intriguing. She remembered, suddenly, something Merope had said the summer before last, the summer that Luna had visited at Parselhall. "The Lovegoods are an interesting family." "Luna, do you think that... |
"He is a scholar and bookbinder by trade," Luna said. "His researches have led to some conclusions that many people do not like." She gazed out primly. |
Hermione thought about that. In that case, the other Friends of the Founders might not trust him. They might want someone who could be assured to be on their side, rather than following where the facts led him. In fact, nothing seemed more likely: The Longbottom family renounced their title over politics and now Nevill... |
"You should make your decisions for your lives as you see fit," Hermione said sincerely to her friends. "You don’t have to let your parents bully you into matches that are not your first choice." |
Luna patted Harry’s hand and smiled. Neville awkwardly, shyly grinned at Ginny. Ginny herself, however, was eyeing Hermione with a shrewd, pointed look on her face. "Do you?" she asked. |
"It’s different for me," she said at once. "It’s not that I don’t want to marry Tom. He has just been difficult...." |
"For two years." |
"We have had arguments," she admitted. "That has been the extent of it. If he tried to harm me, of course that would be different. But I think he will warm to me again this summer, if not before then." She rose from her seat. "I had better go back to my dormitory. I still haven’t packed!" |
Ginny and Luna chuckled at that as she left. She smiled as she closed the door behind her and headed down the many flights of stairs. |
When she reached the ground floor, Hermione saw a shadow, long and attenuated in the dim light of the corridors. She hid herself behind a pillar of an archway. Her eyes widened when the shadow’s owner appeared: Tom. What is he doing, prowling about the castle at night? Hermione thought. He entered one of the schoolroom... |
For a moment, Hermione was resolved to continue to the lower level and the Slytherin common room. But her curiosity got the better of her, and she turned the corner. |
Locked inside the closet, Tom hissed the command in Parseltongue that had made the trapdoor appear earlier in the day. The wooden, hinged door became visible once again. He considered for a moment, gathered up the fabric, and lifted the trapdoor. A dark tunnel descending into the bowels of the school yawned before him. |
The basilisk is said to be in a magical sleep, he thought. I should be able to enter its sleeping area safely... but I will be sure to keep my eyes closed or trained on the floor. |
He took a deep breath and stepped into the pit. The tunnel appeared to be a slide of sorts, which was unnerving. That would be difficult to escape quickly if it became necessary. Perhaps, though.... Tom flicked his wand. More glowing green appeared on the curving, downward-sloping tunnel. It can change shape, he realiz... |
Crouched over the floor, he opened his palm and cast a spell to make a cut, which he pressed against the wall of the tunnel. Before his eyes, the smooth surface transformed into a set of stone stairs that he could easily descend. He took another deep breath and entered the tunnel, lighting the tip of his wand. |
Down he descended for some time. When he reached the end, his eyes widened. Magnificent architecture spread out before him, carved snakes with green sparkling eyes in seemingly every crevice. A great sculpture of what Tom presumed was Salazar Slytherin’s head overlooked all of it. |
"What can you tell me, great-great-great-grandfather?" he murmured, taking in the sights in awe. "What secrets did you keep? Did you know what was coming less than a lifetime—a wizard’s lifetime—from the founding of this school? And what became of you at last? You were said to have disappeared... but did the other Foun... |
The stone statues offered no answer. |
Tom gazed around the chamber. No basilisk was in sight—nor were there any books or other magical artifacts. It was a pity, but if Slytherin had constructed this chamber to be the domicile of the basilisk, it would not make sense to fill it with other things. He noticed a great arched corridor that led into an unknown a... |
Gazing fixedly at the floor, Tom began to speak in Parseltongue: "I am here, Great Serpent of Slytherin. I am the heir you have waited for, and I summon you from your long rest to serve me as I finish your first master’s work." |
Rustlings from the antechamber sounded as the immense creature awakened from its sleep. Tom repeated his words for the basilisk as it entered the main chamber where he stood, keeping his eyes focused downward. |
"The heir of the master? The master is dead, then?" |
Tom sensed the presence of the huge snake mere feet away from him. He stole a dangerous glance out of the corner of one eye. A vast scaled body rested nearby. "I assume so, Great Serpent. It has been many years. But I am here, and I am of his blood." |
"You speak it... and I recognize the smell of your blood. You are the master’s blood, indeed. You have come to finish his work?" |
"Yes," Tom said eagerly. "The world of witches and wizards is overrun with invaders. My own mother, who is also of the blood, is under threat. You are a powerful creature, and I command you to protect the heirs of the master’s blood and drive out the intruders." |
"Then I am at your service, my lord." |
Tom considered. "I must first place a blindfold over your eyes, so that you do not accidentally kill allies or innocents. We would not want that." |
The basilisk paused for a moment. "As you wish." |
Tom waved his wand around. The bed sheet sailed into the air and gently wrapped around the creature’s head. |
"I can still see through this," the snake remarked. "It is not opaque." |
That did not surprise Tom, and presumably it would still prevent someone from looking "directly" into the animal’s eyes, but he was not going to risk himself. He instructed the basilisk, "I will ascend the steps first and then transform them into a tunnel up which you can glide comfortably. I will tell you when to come... |
"As you command, Heir and Lord." |
Tom preened at the subservient tone of the basilisk as he began to ascend the steps. His heart was soaring. This was historic. It would make a difference—no, the difference—in the coming war. He could bring this basilisk to the very gates of Malfoy Manor and Malfoy’s vassals would drop at the mere sight of it. Tom pict... |
Unless they know I’m coming and bring chickens, he thought with sudden disquiet. The delightful revenge fantasy faded away with that cold consideration. For such a magnificent, lethal creature, it was horrifyingly easy to kill with the crow of a rooster. He would have to keep this weapon secret until he was ready to us... |
Tom reached the top of the stairs and found himself in the storage closet once more. He swished his wand, turning the stairs into a smooth tunnel once more. "It is ready for you, Great Serpent," he intoned to the creature below. In a second, he heard the telltale signs of movement as the basilisk slithered up the tunne... |
The great head appeared in the open trapdoor. Tom looked away at once, averting his gaze from the blindfolded yellow eyes. "I will open this door and let you out," he said. "Then I will take you out of this castle and find a secret spot where you can hide until I can bring you home." He went to the door that led to the... |
He had only half a second to recognize Hermione’s presence at the doorway—her brown eyes wide with alarm and shock, her mouth open in an almost perfect O, her wand hand raised—before she tumbled to the floor. |
Tom could hardly think. His first thought was horror—the fear that seemed to pierce straight to his soul that the basilisk had killed her. He collapsed to his knees and cried out as he grabbed her wrist. |
Her eyes were still open, and her skin was already cold. That shouldn’t be.... Completely oblivious to everything else, his mind consumed with her and her alone, he realized that he felt a pulse beneath the cold, clammy... unyielding... skin. |
She was not dead. She was Petrified, but she was alive. |
Tom’s heart rate increased, or perhaps he just became more aware of it as that relieved thought poured over him. "Return to the Chamber!" he hissed in Parseltongue at the basilisk. He did not look back, but he heard the creature’s descent back down the tunnel. Once its slithering noise was far in the distance, he mutte... |
The basilisk told me that it could see through the fabric, Tom thought, panicking. It could see through it... and Hermione could see its eyes through the filter of the weave. That is why she wasn’t killed. But what can be done to revive her? There is a potion... a restorative... but I can’t remember how to make it. He ... |
A shadow was advancing down the corridor outside the schoolroom, accompanied by a light. Tom grimaced. If one of the masters caught him— |
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