Ep. 26

"So what's going to happen now? Hogwarts is going to close down?" asked a new firstie.

"Nope. This time, there were enough traces to track down the origin of the 'suspected monster', so it is just a matter of time until it is caught. I hope that you all realize that Salazar Slytherin lived in a completely different era from us and things were much more… Complicated, back then. Whoever opened the Chamber of Secrets in the past and today is nothing more than a delusional madman. Well, my little history lesson has ended, so I suggest you all head to your rooms. It's likely that tomorrow we will be called to an assembly of sorts." I said, then waved them all off.

I used this opportunity to brainwash all of the pure-bloods, so that they wouldn't start a terror campaign. It also convinced them that Tom Marvolo Riddle is a lunatic, a delusional mud-blood, and a psychopath. They don't know who Riddle is, but they will have a preconceived impression of him. Why did I do that? Because I intend to get the diary in its entirety, then write an article with Skeeter's help. Something like: 'Young genius uncovers the truth on the Dark Lord!' or 'The Dark Lord's origins, discovered by a student!'. Heh, a secret he has so vehemently hidden, uncovered by a mere teenager… How humiliating it must be.

In the end, only me, Harry, and Daphne remained. I was flipping through a novel I bought from a Muggle bookstore.

"You know something else, don't you?" asked the girl.

"And what makes you say that?" I responded without even lifting my eyes from the book.

"Last year you knew everything that was going on. I have the feeling that you know what's happening this year as well."

"Fair enough… What do you want to know?"

"What was that voice?" asked Harry.

I looked at him and smiled. "A monster, Harry. A thousand year-old monster, left by Salazar Slytherin himself to get rid of all unworthy wizards and witches!"

"You must be joking!" he retorted.

"Oh, I hope I was. It would make my life more boring, but surely easier."

"How can you be so calm then?" asked Daphne

"I think I already told you a couple of times or so, but I am a Vampire. I am immune to instant death spells, most poisons, most weapons. I can't die, even if the monster wanted to kill me. It's called 'having overwhelming power'."

"So that is how you survived having your head cut off?" asked Harry, keeping under control his urge to throw up remembering my severed head.

"Yup. I can't die, but I can kill anything that comes at me. In this world, you can be absolutely calm in only a few ways: being completely ignorant, being far from any problem, not being involved in the problem, having someone that can take care of problems in your place, or being able to solve those problems yourself. I hope that you will become part of one of these categories."

The next day, Dumbledore called me to his office even before breakfast. Well, Snape called me. I arrived there to see McGonagall, Flitwick, and Ms. Pomfrey already seated. Snape also sat down and so did I.

"Azagareth, first of all we need to thank you for your examination yesterday. We followed the wet floor until the girls' bathroom, but we weren't able to find any conclusive evidence. With that out of the way, we need to ask: what kind of creature do you think might have petrified Mrs. Norris? You talked about an instant death spell." said Dumbledore. He also passed me a blood lollipop.

"That was indeed an instant death spell, similar to the Avada Kedavra curse. However, it wasn't a spell made by humans, based on Arithmancy. There are only so many creatures that can achieve something like that. I am sure that our Care of Magical Creatures Professor will be able to confirm that much. Now, we know that it came from the bathroom, most likely, so it can move through the pipe system. Those things are tight and take many twists and turns, so I can only think of a snake-like creature. It also coincides with the reptilian voice me and Mr. Potter heard. And there's only one snake-like creature that has instant death capabilities: a Basilisk."

"So you suggest that a Basilisk, a highly mortal creature whose eggs are considered strictly forbidden objects, is living in Hogwarts' sewer system?" asked Flitwick.

"Surely you know that a Basilisk's gaze petrifies those that look at its reflection. It's plausible that Mrs. Norris looked at the Basilisk through the reflection on the wet floor and got petrified. Then, whoever called the beast out must have been satisfied with that 'warning' and sent it back. We all know the legends about the Chamber of Secrets and Slytherin's monster. Is it really that far-fetched to think that a massive snake is the creature of choice for the founder of the 'snakes' house?"

"Without any evidence, all these are just conjectures and hold almost no value. For now, we can only put in place some security measures, then wait for it to reappear. Hopefully, Mr. Maleficarum will be able to inform us, so that we can take the appropriate measures." said Snape.

Should I advance my plans? Or should I not? Hm… Nah.

"Very well then. May I suggest that all students bring with them a hand-held mirror, to check behind corners. In case there is an attack, they might just get spared from instant death. Ah, before I forget, Ginny Weasley was already in the Common Room last night. She was the fourth missing student."

The teachers suddenly got very serious and I could feel their anger, shame, fear, all sorts of emotions. There's also regret from Snape, probably because a student from his house caused this mess.

"Excellent suggestion, Azagareth. You may go now. Please inform your fellow Slytherins that we will not be holding any lessons today, and that you will be served breakfast, lunch, and dinner in your Common Room. They are not to leave, under any circumstance."

Dumbledore really gets me after five years… I nodded and left while unwrapping my lollipop. That thing is seriously tasty.

I apparated straight to the Common Room and 'Accio'-ed every single Slytherin. They were obviously quite bewildered and most were still in their pajamas. Someone started muttering and blabbering about how it's not nice to wake up people like that.

"Shut up. To put it simply, we are quarantined. No one exits, no one enters. We will be brought food here. The same applies to all other houses, so there is no need to make a fuss of it. Now, you are free to do anything you want within the confines of the Common Room, seeing as we do not have lessons today."

Since I had to wait as well, probably until the Professors came to check on Ginny, I decided to make myself a new grimoire, but I don't really know what to learn anymore… Magic is awfully similar to each other, so much so that I can now probably use any type of magic at Master level, except… Contract magic… Yes, that could be interesting… I made Solomon's Grimoire and started reading it. Since I would be done pretty soon with it thanks to my new and improved intelligence, I also made the Tony Stark's Science Compendium, which will give me an excellent background in advanced science, which I am lacking.

I spent just over two hours reading when the Common Room's enchanted wall opened up, revealing the Professors and Dumbles. I directly pointed in the direction of Ginny's room and said: "Second on the right. She's been in there all the time." McG and the Headmaster went to check on the girl and also search her room, while Snape and Flitwick stayed in the Common Room.

After a minute of awkward silence, Flitwick asked: "Mr. Az, what book is that? I don't remember seeing it in the library…"

Hm… I don't see any reason to lie. It's only me, him, and Snape in the room now. "It's a special book, a grimoire on Contract magic. I might put books like these in commerce in a few years."

The magical midget's eyes shined for a second while Snape perked his ears up. "Oh? At what point did you get?" asked the latter.

"I gave the grimoire an initial read. I should be able to cast the majority of the easy spells, but I will need a few more days at least to fully master it. It's surprisingly easy, considering the level of destruction it can cause. Well, it doesn't come with previously formed contracts, so I guess that it's expected."

"You read it once and can already cast those spells?! I knew you were exceptional, but not to this point!" said Flitwick.

I smiled at him, not saying anything because, to be honest, this grimoire is mainly an instruction manual, though there are some interesting Contract types. On the other hand, I made a small golem-puppet from a Transfigured button in the form of a small bird. I sent it to Snape, saying that I could get rid of his Dark Mark for him, replacing it with a prop. It would look completely authentic, but it would have no real feature. Well, in reality I would lace it with a resurrection magic, so that he would revive an hour after his death. I will give a similar mark to my friends and those that I don't really want to die. I will also make one for Dumbledore, which will also protect him from the Resurrection Stone's curse. The old man kinda grew on me.

Snape flinched and glared at me when the puppet gave him my message.

"Professors, should we go and check on the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall?"

"We need to keep an eye on the exit, Mr. Az, but you can go and see if you can help." said Flitwick. I nodded, then stored my grimoire and went to check on those old codgers. I found them exorcising the poor child.

"Imperius?" McG turned around and nodded. "Did you find the cause? No one entered the Common Room that I know of…"

"It's this diary, Azagareth. A powerful dark artif-" Dumbledore said while passing me the diary.

"A Horcrux. I'm familiar, Headmaster. There was another one in this castle, but I already destroyed it."

"You WHAT?!" shouted McG

"In my first year, I came across a strange room with a lot of junk. I then felt a strange pull to a diadem. Turns out that it was a Horcrux. I purified the soul fragment, so it's useless now. My mother loves to use the diadem as a paperweight." I looked at the back and furrowed my eyebrows in 'confusion'. "'I am Lord Voldemort'? Seriously, anything more cliché than an anagram? This soul is similar to the one I got rid of. Voldemort has multiple Horcruxes. Ugh, that guy doesn't want to stay dead!"

"If you have really found and destroyed a Horcrux with the same soul, we must hypothesize that Voldemort- Tom has more of them hidden around. Can you destroy this Horcrux?"

I purified the diary with Holy magic and handed it back to the Headmaster. "If you give me a few days, I can locate the rest of the Horcruxes."

"That would be excellent. I will give you a leave from classes so you can concentrate on that. Oh, while you're at it, why don't you improve the wards in Hogwarts? It wouldn't be a good thing if any student could just take control and modify them, right?"

"I can do that. Ah, call me if you want to get rid of the Basilisk. I wanted to get my mother a few Basilisk leather accessories."

"Accessories, huh… Well, we certainly will. You can go now, Azagareth."