21 Chapter 21: Solving the Riddle part-1
(Note: this additional chapter is dedicated all who enjoy this fanfic, my dear readers. )
In the headmaster's office, every instructor was summoned by the deputy headmistress for a most urgent matter. The teachers justly deduced it had to do with the chamber of secrets, and the crisis that befell the school, so they wasted no time to answer the call.
Yet for all the grim scenarios they imagined, reality still found ways to frighten them with unexpected horrors. Even if this this one was a but gift wrapped in terror.
"A Basilisk!" squeaked a pale Flitwick.
Professor Sprout was likewise discountenanced by the news, such fearsome beast roaming the school was a most awful thing for the kind professor who wishes for nothing more than her student's safety.
"What do you think, Headmaster?" Asked the grim and dark professor Snape, being an emotionless husk of a man had some advantages.
"It is indeed very likely to be such a beast." He admitted, face impassive as he stroked his beard, lost in his deep thought. "We will do well to prepare for this eventuality."
"I took the liberty to send Hagrid to Diagon Alley, with orders to buy all the roosters he can find." Said McGonagall, the stern witch was precious in times of crisis, being capable of organised actions in the most dreadful of situations.
"Good thinking, Professor McGonagall." Praised the Headmaster, before explaining. "Conjured animals would not be as efficient against such a powerful magical creature; a transfigured rooster would do naught but give it a headache."
"It would be wise to equip the student with enchanted, single-mirroring glasses." Added the grim Professor Snape "Or at very least the teachers who will partake in the hunt."
"Hunt?" Asked a pale Lockhart, whose eyes were twitching madly in every direction. The man had been oddly silent for a while now, and seemed a bit too worried for an adventurer of his calibre.
"It seems obvious that organizing a hunt will be necessary once we're adequately equipped." Said McGonagall, ignoring his less than subtle panic.
"I can take care of the glasses, they should be ready in half an hour if I start now." Informed the charm master.
"Do you really want to hunt down a basilisk?" said Lockhart, facing an existential crisis.
"I will tune the wards to weaken serpents" Said professor Babbling, the ancient rune teacher and as such a Warding specialist. "I should be able to set up a few snake-repelling arrays through the school, though it would take some time to weave the schemes."
"Good, do prioritise the student's dorms and infirmary." Reminded her Professor Sprout.
"Aren't we making a hasty decision, it's Basilisk we're talking about…not that I'm afraid." Gilderoy almost whimpered.
"I should be able to create a more precise arithmancic locator with these details." Informed Septima Vector, the arithmancy teacher. "The rough location of the monster will be found soon."
"It's a Basilisk, and as skilled as I am, I cannot ensure your safety against such a wicked beast." Said Lockhart, finding a way to argue against the hunt.
"Basilisk are notoriously spell resistant." Said Snape "Transfiguration will be our best bet."
"I'll prepare some animations to damage it." Said the Transfiguration Professor, before asking for the headmaster's opinion. "Should we use the armours?"
"The terrain may be unsuitable for such things" Dumbledore shook his head "It should be better to focus on more mobile animunculi."
"I will help with that matter, with your permission of course." Snape told McGonagall, more than one wicked idea in his versatile mind.
"Of course." She nodded, ignoring the now purple defence professor in favour of asking Professor Vector "How much time before you find the beast?"
"Three hours if I start now." She replied instantly.
"Then get to it." Spoke Dumbledore as he stood up "Professor Sprout, I want all students in their dorms with a teacher to protect them."
"Yes headmaster." She replied, leaving the study and taking every teacher who could not contribute to the hunt with her to protect the students, except Lockhart, who couldn't contribute to the protection either.
Professor Babbling followed after her, while Professor Vector sprinted off to her study with Flitwick. Just as Snape and McGonagall were about to leave to prepare their animunculi, the headmaster called out.
"Minerva." He said "Could you please bring the boy to me"
Though Dumbledore phrased it as a request, they all knew it was an order. What he failed to understand however, was that hierarchy and power were not nearly enough to command certain actions.
"And why would I do that, Albus?" She replied, lips thinning even more as she stood her ground against the second coming of Merlin.
"I merely wish to ask him some questions." He tried a more pacific approach. "He has been a great help in finding the monster."
'Too great of a help, perhaps' he refrained from adding. His eyes darkening as he imagined the most atrocious futures this could herald, just like before. The last time the chamber was opened, an equally brilliant student 'helped' them in finding the 'responsible'…
"Yes, and it is more than enough for a student." She shot back "His place is in the dorms, safe with the other children. Not here to accomplish this duty in our stead, it is not negotiable."
She did not give him opportunity to reply, as she stormed off the room with a silent professor Snape, who was of no help to him during the discussion.
With a heavy sigh, Albus-the-paranoid-goat-Dumbledore sat back in his chair. Summoning Fawkes, his trusted companion to collect a few tears.
'If it is indeed a Basilisk Tom used, it will become an even more precious resource.' He thought, while other parts of his admittedly brilliant mind explored the best strategy to battle giant snakes, outsmart noseless bigots, guide scarred young boys and understand amber-eyed dilemmas.
Albus Dumbledore's life was complicated.
"It's a Basilisk" whimpered the now purple defence professor, dragging himself out of the study as he mumbled less than coherent things.
"I forgot about him, will he be alright?" Dumbledore spoke up, looking at his phoenix who offered the immortal bird equivalent of a shrug.
Yes, his life was very complicated.
(---)
Somewhere within the mind of an eleven-year-old witch, a certain charming young man with a most brilliant mind was fuming.
Tom was alerted once all classes were suspended and the students escorted back to their dorms, even though he did not unleash the basilisk yet, this time. As his puppet followed the other Gryffindors to their tower, he cast a few scrying spells to inquire about the situation.
He did not like what he saw.
The half-goblin Charm expert was developing enchanted glasses, that could not only block but also mirror his pet's deadly gaze, potentially nullifying even the inferior petrification effect.
The Runes mistress was altering the school's lesser wards to weaken serpents, while creating snake-repelling arrays in key locations.
The school's chief Arithmancer was in turn scrying for his beloved basilisk, rapidly narrowing down the passages it used to travel. The chamber itself was unscryable, Salazar Slytherin would not leave such a flaw in his room after all. But the other pathways, imbued with his sweet weapon's magicks were not enchanted with these defences, and such were being rapidly identified and traced.
'If she ventures out of the room, she will surely be found' thought the soul-shard, gritting his incorporeal teeth.
The transfiguration teacher and potion master were currently conjuring, charming and transforming all kind of animunculi; works of the highest quality Tom would have praised in another world, one where they weren't a threat to his return.
He could not scry past the headmaster's office, which was protected by ancient and powerful defences, but he did not need to it to understand how dire the situation was.
Hogwarts was committing to more efforts, and advanced beyond his previsions. While he would be flattered any other time, he could not bring himself to find any satisfaction from the danger that came.
It was too strange, finding out his plan so soon was not the way of the old man. And the other teachers were naught but sheep without his guidance, content with idle worrying as they wait for the headmaster's decisions.
The supreme Mugwump was the kind of man who'd develop an overly complex scheme to ensnare him, waiting for the very last moment to strike him down, or perhaps not striking at all; giving him chances to repent and become a better person or some other madness.
Tom expressly instructed the Basilisk not to kill any student, only attacking those it would petrify. It was not done out of pity, or some unfounded mercy, but out of interest.
As long as no one died, Dumbledore would be content to wait and observe the situation.
'This is not Dumbledore.' He concluded, Tom has studied the old goat with enough dedication to recognise his elderly, insane touch.
The game had another player, and he would have to find him to ensure his own prosperity. The phantomatic young man was too close to lose now, he'd find the interfering wizard or witch, and he'd deal with the threat once and for all.
This was why he was superior to Dumbledore, he was not afraid to make real decisions, to bloody his hands for the sake of his goals!
The old goat would rather see the world burn then take a single life.
'Coward.' He thought derisively, before noticing that his thoughts once more went in the direction of that man.
The man who hated him before even meeting him.
"Damn you Magnus Arran… It should have been me, who else but the great Gilderoy Lockhart is worthy of uncovering the mystery behind the chamber of secret!" A voice muttered, as a blonde-haired wizard in the strangest of robes passed by them.
Inattentive students would never hear him, especially among the cacophony of sounds and murmurs that fuelled the blazing fire of Hogwarts gossip mill. But Tom Marvolo Riddle was a student no more, nor was he a simple wizard for that matter…
He was greater, smarter, better.
He was eternal, absolute, supreme, beyond death itself.
He was so much more than those pathetic ants devoid of the slightest sliver of ambition, these pigs with no wonder for magic, no desire to develop their might and free themselves from those chains that bind them to mediocrity.
Tom was someone, he was Voldemort; the one they fear.
And now he knew….
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Hey guys! it's Uncle Sheo!
Here's a bonus chapter because i'm that awesome, it ends in a cliff because i'm note THAT awesome. Eldritch Prince of Madness rings any bell?
Hogwarts prepared for the danger that is the Basilisk...oh, let me repeat, Hogwarts REALISTICALLY prepared for the dangerous beast that is a Basilisk. Lockhart had a stroke, and he still managed to cause trouble for everyone.
Tommy, not yet noseless but equally crazy saw what happened, because he's that awesome. He did not like it, boys, and he somehow found it the reason for his plight.
Fate's a cruel a bitch sometimes, right? Or was it me being an asshole to my own character? who knows? not me, we never lost control. You're face, to face, with the man who bought the cheese...
Watch out for the cliff, Sur ce.
Peace and Cheese!
