Chapter 7 Part 2/2

Rodrick slowly made his way over towards the great hall, he'd overslept, he knew breakfast was close to ending and so hurried. He had finally managed to put on the more comfortable student robes. As he neared the Great Hall's door he removed the Disillusionment charm and pushed open the large door's entering the hall. Most of the people failed to even notice the doors being opened, a few gasps were heard here and there. Rodrick noted warily as the Gryffindor's seemed both annoyed and relieved to his revival, no doubt still sore from their current position in house points. Hufflepuff looked somewhat disgruntled with him although he did notice a few awed looks, 'Ah Slytherin beat them yesterday...' Ravenclaw stared at him curiously, Rodrick smiled slightly when he saw Luna Lovegood cheerfully wave at him before going back to her food.

As he made his way over to the Slytherin table, he noticed uncomfortably; every eye was on him. Rodrick found a seat next to Tracey and took it. As soon as he sat down the girl grabbed him into a hug.

Oddly enough, he didn't feel the need to reach for his wand. Having a Basilisk try to rip your arm off really gave a person a new perspective on danger.

He returned the hug, probably surprising her as well.

"When did you wake up?" She questioned as she let go.

Rodrick didn't answer, he noticed some of the Slytherins look away sneering at the sight of affection, he couldn't help the chuckle. Tracey didn't even notice the looks.

"Had a long nap?" Malfoy asked, an amused look on his face.

"It was quite nice I have to say,"

There was a small silence before his friends start badgering him with questions on, well, everything.

After several explanations regarding his injury, which Tracey had managed to flinch at every time it was mentioned, he'd told them several times how it was cursed and the healer no longer being able to heal him. Explanations regarding how he'd killed the Basilisk? He'd simply told them he couldn't remember. The older years quickly lost interest after that. His friends did not believe him but didn't push him either.

"How could you kill our houses symbol?"

Rodrick turned to see some unknown 5th year ask him.

Rodrick with as calm and serious face as he could pull off turned to the older student and answered.

"It bit me"

Halfway through the food he turned to Tracey and asked her where Daphne was.

The girl's face lit up slightly at that, "She's visiting you!" she spoke amused.

"Interesting, I wonder if I am ok?" Rodrick replied.

Turning to a sudden sound from the door, Rodrick's eye's landed on said girl, he gulped slightly as he saw her walk over towards him an impassive face. When she reached him, Rodrick could see she was struggling with something.

"I forgive you," Rodrick whispered to the girl, earning a surprised look and a huff.

Daphne quickly told him the headmaster wanted to see him. Rodrick slightly surprised nodded along before he followed her out, When they were out of view from the others Daphne quickly grabbed him into a hug.

Rodrick blinked slightly before reciprocating it, "You know Tracey wasn't embarrassed about doing it in front of everyone else... Even Blaise looked like he was about to... I had to glare at him to stop."

"Surprised you didn't just freeze up," Daphne ignored the words. "I am sorry... About, well everything?" She quickly added on.

"Not what I was going for Daph..."

Daphne moved away slightly, tears in her eyes, "I am so sorry..."

Rodrick looked away uncomfortable, "Yea... I am not very good at this..."

"Accepting apologies?" Daphne asked... somewhat amused even though she looked like a waterfall.

"Having friends," Rodrick deadpanned. "Look I don't blame you for anything ok... I mean I don't exactly respond well under pressure or anything for that matter... Sorry about your gift, I don't really have a replacement..." there was a small smile tugging at his lips.

Before he could finish the girl pulled him into another hug, laughing slightly.

Ok. That was just going to keep happening today, wasn't it?

"Merlin! You can't take anything seriously can you?" He heard her add-on.

Pulling away Rodrick could still see something wrong with the girl before he decided to ask, "Are you afraid of me?"

Daphne looked at the boy surprised before she shook her head, "It just... I kind... I told Tracey the truth..."

Rodrick blinked at that... "You told her you've got a crush on me?" He joked.

"Yes I to-" Daphne closed her eyes for a second when she heard it properly, "Rodrick! stop joking around,"

"You're not denying it,"

"Rodrick!"

"Fine. What did you tell her?"

Daphne's eyes looked down at that, "That you're a Grindelwald..."

Rodrick's eyes widened slightly before he replied, "I see... I told Dumbledore."

The surprise on Daphne's face made Rodrick chuckle, "How did he respond?"

Rodrick smirked slightly, "He apologised."

"I said stop joking..." She spoke uncertainly when she saw the serious look on his face she sighed. "You're not mad?"

Rodrick shook his head, "I was planning to tell Blaise later today anyway, Tracey too but well you did that part."

Daphne felt a large amount of tension fall of her shoulder at that.

"Maybe Luna as well... And Nott... No, maybe I'll tell him next year..." Rodrick mused to himself.

Daphne shook her head at his antics, "What about Malfoy?" she questioned

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that before telling her he already knew.

"Ah... That makes more sense," She waited a few moments before she asked about her parents.

"I am going to tell them... First chance I get"

"About that..."

Rodrick eyed her warily before it clicked, "You were serious about Dumbledore wanting me?" Daphne nodded, "Your parents are there waiting for me?" The girl nodded again. "Perfect," He grumbled.

Daphne was staring at the boy in front of her, disbelief was written over her face, "I can hardly believe this you know... it almost seems unreal... You just forgiving me like that..."

Rodrick smiled at the girl, "It's real enough... A lot of things start mattering less after a Basilisk bites you."

A frown marred the girls face at that, "I am so-" Before she could finish Rodrick interrupted.

"You don't need to apologize, it was my fault for hiding things in the first place."

"But you weren't exactly wro-"

"Daphne I've been out for two months I've had plenty of time to think things through" Rodrick lied, she was his first friend... he was hard-pressed to be angry at her. Considering his grandfather's habit of hiding things from him Rodrick found himself understanding her side.

"Are you sure..."

"Probably, besides I can't afford to feed Astoria sweets by myself," Rodrick joked.

Daphne shook her head smiling before telling him the headmaster was probably getting impatient. She turned away and made to get back to the hall before she really took in the boy's words.

"I do not have a crush on you!"

"Yea? Then I didn't kill a basilisk!" Rodrick shouted back before disappearing from sight.

...

Entering the Headmasters office, Rodrick found three adults waiting for him, Dumbledore, Cyrus, and Roxanne. The second thing he saw was the destroyed Horcrux on the headmaster's table, 'Whe-' Before his thoughts could continue however he was brought into a bone-crushing hug by Roxanne.

He sighed before reciprocating it. It was surprisingly easier to enjoy them when you weren't worried about accidentally harming them for it.

"Nice to see you too Roxy," Rodrick barely managed to say, earning laughter from the woman as she let go of him.

"I am so glad you're okay," She spoke with a fond look on her face before she turned towards the headmaster with a glare.

"Yes well... I'll leave you to have your moment..." The headmaster spoke before making his way out of his own office.

Roxanne turned her attention back to the boy, examining him up and down, she eyed the cursed arm with a frown but sighed when Rodrick gave her a bright smile, he told her he didn't feel anything.

She joked about that being a problem in itself.

Rodrick could tell she wasn't fine with it... she gave him the same look the healer did only... She looked more murderous... How Dumbledore had survived for so long was beyond him... 'Imagine if it was my real mom...' He surveyed the room before a frown took over his own face, "Wheres Astoria?" he questioned.

He saw a flash of worry go through Roxanne's face which quickly disappeared, "She wasn't feeling well... You'll see her later though..Don't worry."

Rodrick could only nod, he knew something was wrong...

It was then that Cyrus decided to come over before grabbing the boy into a quick hug.

'Traitor! I thought he was on my side!'

"There's some good news," Cyrus started, "I found you a place in Devon."

'Bad timing...' Rodrick thought, as his eyes landed on Roxanne. She was practically death staring her husband, Cyrus could feel it.

'Screw it.'

"I am a Grindelwald," Rodrick blurted out.

Two wide pairs of eyes turned towards him at that. Rodrick could see Cyrus mind slowly putting together memories and surprisingly to Rodrick's relief, there was no distaste in the man's eyes if anything he looked more grateful for the sudden save.

Roxanne broke the silence first.

"You're not moving out."

Rodrick blinked at that slightly before remembering his magic, he took out his wand and undid the Transfiguration.

The two adults stared at him in astonishment as his face changed.

Another small silence took over.

"That's remarkable," Cyrus' spoke, an intrigued look on his face, "You look quite similar to your relative... I am guessing Malfoy already knows this?"

Rodrick nodded slightly uncertain at that.

Seeing the look on the boy's face, Cyrus quickly spoke up, "Don't worry too much about it, I take it Daphne knows as well then?"

Rodrick nodded again, only to receive a small smile in return.

"You're still not moving out," He heard Roxanne remark.

Rodrick turned towards the woman and found a fond smile on her face. He shook his head.

"Thank you," he muttered out quietly.

Rodrick looked towards the clock on the wall before remembering his lesson, "I have to go..." He spoke towards the two adults who returned a nod towards him.

"I'll start the paperwork on the house for you if that's fine," Cyrus spoke out to which Rodrick nodded his head somewhat eagerly.

"Don't encourage him!" Roxanne frowned at her husband. Turning towards the retreating boy she added on, "You're still not moving out!"

...

Leaving the office with a small smile on his face Rodrick chuckled when he saw the headmaster still waiting outside. He quickly put on his Transfiguration.

"So is everything alright?" Albus asked with the same twinkle in his eye, every time he saw the boy use that magic he was shocked to see how easy he made it look.

Rodrick rolled his eye, smiling amiably, "Find out, professor," before he walked off leaving a frowning Dumbledore.

The old man sighed, 'I wonder if I'll ever get my office back...'

He quickly made his way to the office and to his relief found the two Greengrass's about to leave, Cyrus gave him an amiable nod before he went through the fireplace, Roxanne gave him several death threats before following her husband.

...

Rodrick entered the Defence Classroom, he was contemplating why he'd bothered to show up... He could've probably gotten away with skipping it and stayed with Greengrass's... As he entered, however, Gilderoy Lockhart brought him straight to the front of the class.

"Here young Wizards and Witches, is your very own hero, the one responsible for ending the Basilisk menace that threatened your very school!" Gilderoy spoke out, his voice easily flowing through the classroom grabbing everyone's attention. There was a tone of envy in it.

Rodrick inwardly cursed, he saw most of the girls eyeing him strangely, he could see Daphne slowly getting more and more irritated. 'They say denial is the first step...'

Turning to his friends he cursed again, they were all smirking at his predicament.

"Now, why don't you tell us how you managed such an achievement?"

Rodrick blinked in surprise, 'Is this guy serious? He wants me to talk about murdering something to a second-year class...'

He sighed slightly before he began to speak, he could tell everyone's attention was on him, all for different reasons.

"I used the killing curse" Rodrick answered with a smile.

There was a noticeable gasp that swept through the classroom, even the professor looked unsettled.

Gilderoy felt a small amount of panic twist in his stomach until he saw the smile on the boy's face and relaxed. "Very funny Rodrick," He spoke amused.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that before he played along, "Indeed, it didn't work," earning amused chuckles throughout the class, they'd all assumed he was joking as Lockhart had pointed out. Locking eyes with Malfoy, however, showed the boy to be listening with keen interest. "So I used Fiendfyre to burn it to death."

Earning a wide look from the defence professor, Rodrick was surprised to see the man knew the curse. The students didn't seem to have any idea about it.

"Did you really?" Lockhart asked eagerly.

"A fully grown wizard would need to be extremely careful not to burn himself to death," Rodrick pointed out, the classrooms silence was palpable, everyone's ears almost seemed to expand to listen to the story.

Lockhart eyed the boy with a slight frown wondering where he was going with this.

Rodrick locked eyes with him and spoke in a serious tone, "I am 13 professor."

'Ah another joke...' Lockhart thought disapprovingly.

"That was what Dumbledore told me to say."

Rodrick could hear the disappointment coming out of everyone, even Lockhart seemed to release it.

"What did you really do then?" He asked once again.

Rodrick smiled slightly before replying, "I used a mirror to reflect back its death gaze."

Lockhart stared at the boy somewhat disbelieving before he saw him trying to hold his laughter. Sighing, Gilderoy spoke, "You don't remember do you?"

Rodrick looked up and nodded, "Not a clue professor," He lied.

Lockhart bade the boy to sit down in order to start the lesson.

Rodrick moved over and took a seat beside Blaise. The boy looked towards him and started off with a selfish question.

"Where's my gift?"

Rodrick's eyes widened slightly before a small smirk appeared on his face, taking out a piece of parchment he wrote his full name and handed it over to the boy.

Blaise looked down to see the name, "Rodrick Grindelwald," His eyes widened at that, he turned back towards the boy frantically and saw him nod towards him confirming it. 'Sweet Salazar... He's related to that dark lord...'

Rodrick quickly burnt the paper in Blaise's hand earning a small yelp out of the boy, trying to hold his laughter, he opened the book.

Nott had been sitting ahead of them next to Malfoy, he turned around towards Rodrick. "Are you ever going to tell us how you killed the beast?"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow before smirking, "I already did."

Nott frowned slightly, Malfoy turned around next having heard him.

"But you said..."

Rodrick smiled at that and whispered, "I was very careful."

Blaise having heard that understood quickly. The other two followed.

"You lied then? when you said Dumbledore told you to say that?" Nott asked.

Rodrick shook his head, "Dumbledore told me to say I was 13."

"Why?" Malfoy asked.

"He asked me how old I was," Rodrick deadpanned earning an amused chuckle out of Blaise.

Malfoy slowly took in the information before he felt a small dread taken over, "You weren't kidding... about the killing curse part..."

Rodrick showed no reaction.

"He used the Imperius curse last year to take out that Troll," Blaise spoke.

Malfoy's eyes widened at that, he turned towards the boy looking for confirmation and felt his stomach drop when it was confirmed. 'Father didn't mention this part...'

"What if that Fiendfyre spell went out of control!" Malfoy asked warily. The boy had considered Rodrick's use of the killing curse to be a joke.

Rodrick shrugged, "I set it off inside the beast's mouth, figured the scales would've held it inside."

"And if they didn't?" Malfoy enquired?

Rodrick looked towards him sheepishly, "Probably would've caused a lot of damage... Worst case would've killed someone... Probably me actually,"

Malfoy blinked at that, he saw the other two around staring at him and the boy looking amused, they're all insane... they're all insane... He repeated that in his head, looking at Rodrick however, he's mad... I am friends with this maniac...

"What's wrong with you?" Rodrick asked somewhat amused at his face, he knew the spell wouldn't have actually managed to rip through the scales. His magic simply wasn't strong enough yet for that. It was fun to mess around with Malfoy, from the looks of it, Nott and Blaise understood he was playing around as well.

Malfoy stared incredulously at the boy, "You're insane..." he muttered.

Rodrick smiled at that, "With great power comes great instability," He remarked causing the two other boys to laugh.

"Not helping Rodrick," Malfoy drawled.

Rodrick started to laugh at that.

Lockhart turned towards the sound coming from the back of the class, his eyes landed on Rodrick. "What's so funny?" He questioned somewhat bemused.

Rodrick turned back to the teacher, "I was reading your book," earning more laughter from his friends as well glares from the man's fans.

Gilderoy Lockhart frowned, he didn't remember including comedy in his books.

...

Normalcy quickly returned to Rodrick and his friends; the months seemed to whiz by too fast. Not that anyone could complain, the year had been a complete roller coaster for them all.

Ever since he'd woken up, he'd found his relationship with his head of house improving greatly.

The professor more than likely knew his second name, Dumbledore had probably told him. Rodrick didn't exactly mind, the man while likely wary of him still seemed to like him, no doubt the house lead and of course the large number of Basilisk ingredients he'd managed to acquire for him might've had something to do with it. He had no intention of taking any of it back, but he had expressed some interest in perhaps working with some of it. Snape had been slightly comprehensive about that at first but had conceded when Rodrick told him about the possibility of reading the potions book in his vault. The man's thirst for knowledge was too high to ignore. The professor had questioned him quite eagerly on the kind of books there were but Rodrick for one, didn't know much about it, and two, he didn't want to exhaust all of his resources at once and so didn't say much.

It was his grandfather's idea to use the book as leverage for access to the ingredients.

His relationship with Daphne, as well as the rest of Greengrass in general, seemed to improve as well if the letters were anything to go by. Roxanne had been both more alert and somewhat smothering towards him. That was perhaps due to her husband finally acquiring Rodrick's future home; she was making more and more of a point of him not leaving with every letter, not that Rodrick had any intentions to, he simply didn't mention it. It was quite amusing. Daphne was closer to him, he knew she probably liked him, but something seemed to hold her off.

He didn't really mind what came out of it. As long as she knew what he was really like, it was fine either way.

...

He walked away from his last exam, Malfoy at his side. The rest had either gone on ahead or were still discussing their answers; he wasn't worried about them he'd studied most of the books during the summer thanks to Daphne. He was curious to see whether he'd finally beat Granger but doubted it, at least on some of the classes. He quickly remembered the final game happening between Slytherin and Ravenclaw coming up in a weeks time; his house was almost guaranteed to win, they'd manage to win every game so far. Without Potter, Gryffindor didn't have much of a chance. Not to talk badly about their skill, in fact, it was mostly due to the advantage the other houses had thanks to better brooms. Harry Potter tended to end games early, before said advantage could be put to use.

His thoughts trailed away from Quidditch to the more recent, more important, happenings. He had found out through Draco about Lucius Malfoy's removal from the school governors as well as, though this was far less noteworthy, their loss of a house elf. he'd expected Malfoy to be more upset about things but found the boy surprisingly indifferent to everything.

"You don't seem too upset about the sudden changes," Rodrick pointed out.

Malfoy was slightly surprised at that, he stopped walking towards the dungeon and stared curiously towards him. "What changes?"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "Regarding your father's removal; I figured you would be upset at that, your influence dropped from it didn't it?"

Malfoy was eyeing him strangely, "You really don't see what's going on?" he questioned, amused.

"See what?" Rodrick asked, confused.

"Rodrick, for some reason Dumbledore's been on edge ever since you woke up... My father had been furious earlier on when he'd lost that seat," Malfoy was about to continue before Rodrick cut in.

"Because he was responsible for the Basilisk's attack..."

Malfoy hitched a breath at that; he looked around warily before questioning him how he knew.

Rodrick looked amused if anything, "Just a guess," causing the boy to frown, he'd unwillingly confirmed it.

"You're not mad?" Malfoy questioned, surprised, "The Basilisk did attack you..."

Rodrick shook his head, "In all honesty, it was more help than trouble..." Looking down towards his arm he added on, "If anything the attack helped me sort a lot of my problems out."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at that before he continued. "Any case he was angry, that is until you woke up... Telling the headmaster your second name set him on edge, the last time Dumbledore had been like that... Well, You-Know-Who was around. My father was quite pleased to see Dumbledore squirm like that, besides, as far as he's concerned with us two here his influence over the ministry's future hasn't dropped a bit."

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that, "I figured your father would've been annoyed about me revealing my name when I sent that letter to him, that still doesn't exactly explain why you didn't really care all that much about it."

Malfoy spoke in a quieter voice at that, "It's simple. I didn't lose any influence in the first place, if anything I might've gained more"

Rodrick was slightly put off by that; he had a sinking feeling about it.

"That's a little surprising..."

"It shouldn't be, considering half of it comes from you, it goes both ways really, and you've gained a lot believe it or not,"

"Why would I-"

"You're about as Slytherin as anyone can get and believe me the upper years know that, it irks them considerably."

"I don't see how I am..."

Malfoy laughed at that, "Look at what you've done to Gryffindor this past year! They have never been so low in the rankings... Harry Bloody Potter saved a student's life and the only thing the castle is talking about is how a Slytherin killed a Basilisk or how Gryffindor had lost at literally every point of interest during the year. I swear, its almost as if they forgot that he killed the dark lord."

Rodrick felt uneasy at that.

"Did you know half the school is convinced Potter released the Basilisk? That he only took Dumbledore down to get rid of the evidence! That after it died he did it to save his own hide?" There was an almost fanatical look on Malfoy's face.

Rodrick was a little taken back at that; he didn't remember the boy going with the headmaster in that vision.

"I had no idea it was put on him..."

"Slytherin is being looked on with more respect than Gryffindor, I am not even sure that's ever happened in History. Your little debacle with the Basilisk gave my father more influence over the Wizengamot. Dumbledore's dropped considerably after you got injured," Malfoy smirked

"My injury? Someone else was petrified... it was only a week ago they were released," Rodrick pointed out.

"Maybe. But he doesn't have a cursed arm to come from it."

Rodrick then understood what had happened. Malfoy had used him as almost conclusive proof that Dumbledore couldn't protect all the students. No one could deny it either... his arm was as obvious as it could get.

"Why was Malfoy then removed from the board?"

"It's not that relevant." Malfoy shrugged it off

Rodrick narrowed his eyes.

"What exactly is happening with Dumbledore that makes that not relevant?"

"The Wizengamot is considering removing him from his position as Chief Warlock, either that or Headmaster at Hogwarts! They think he should only focus on one seeing as two clearly is too much work!" He spoke with his gaze on Rodrick's arm."Just imagine... If you hadn't risked your life to take out the Basilisk for the good of the school, how much more damage could've been caused? Had it been Harry Potter that had saved the day... Perhaps my father wouldn't have set off on such a point but considering it's you... Well, there really was no reason not to," Malfoy smirked.

Rodrick was dumbfounded Malfoy managed to go that far... all because of a cursed arm.

"A lot of the chairs in the Wizengamot have students here. With you as a ward of one of the more influential ones, the fact you, a Slytherin, were attacked by a snake really set most of them off, no offence but none of them want their child to end up with an arm like that. Considering that a Slytherin was also responsible for taking out that monster made my father's case all the easier, that's not even the tip of it."

Rodrick looked up, curious as to what Malfoy was referring to.

"Potter tried to injure me remember, and not to mention last year's defence professor... The case against Dumbledore is unbelievable!"

Rodrick nodded, "He's going to lose the Wizengamot one isn't he?"

Malfoy smirk stayed in place.

The two stood in silence.

"Not my problem." Rodrick shrugged.

Malfoy shook his head. The two continued on their way to the dungeon.

...

Rodrick was currently standing on the Slytherin cheering stand, surrounded by fellow snakes. He watched as Tracey swooped low to let in another goal against Ravenclaw's keeper. The cheers resounded once again as the scores dipped to 270 against 190 in Slytherin's favour. He turned around and saw his friends cheering on loudly; even Daphne seemed to be in on the spirits.

She turned to him before grinning at her friend's goal.

Across to his left, his eyes landed on the peculiar blonde girl cheering on for her house... in her own strange way.

Rodrick shook his head. Turning his attention back to the game his yellow eyes locked onto a small golden ball flying around near one of the Ravenclaw beaters.

"It's the Snitch..." Rodrick murmured earning the attention of his classmates.

He heard several people about ask where, their eyes frantically searched the field. It wasn't long before one of them pointed out the golden ball.

Rodrick watched as some of the players turned their attention following the stands sudden proclamation of the location of the flying trinket. The Ravenclaw Seeker dove down first aiming to catch the snitch and win the game for her team. Rodrick's attention skyrocketed at that point, he didn't care much for the game but more the points involved. Slytherin had such a good run so far after all.

Malfoy caught onto the snitch's location a few moments later before he began his run for it. The Ravenclaw Seeker had a head start but a slower broom. That was quickly made evident as Draco passed the Black haired girl and grasped the 150 points for his house, ending the game at 420 to 190.

The stands went wild with the game's end; even Rodrick was grinning.

Slytherin had won the Quidditch cup.

...

Rodrick looked at his results and felt some pride in himself; he was tied with Granger, that thought alone put his mood up. He knew it wasn't exactly fair considering he'd spent more time studying over the summer, Granger's mood had soured halfway through the year due to the state of their house points. He both felt good and bad; he was responsible for that. He felt bad knowing he could've beaten her if he hadn't gone into a coma.

His head of house had all but concluded him top of the year, once again not acknowledging, in Snape's own words, the insufferable know it all. His relationship with the teacher had improved drastically following the previous year and even then it had been good enough before. Apparently being a Slytherin that caused the Gryffindor's and by extension Harry Potter so much grief made him seem like Salazar's gift to Slytherin.

Rodrick wondered if Snape was related to Malfoy in any way.

He felt someone peer over his shoulder to look at his results slip. Turning his head, he flinched slightly when he saw how close the girl was.

"Well done!" Tracey spoke, a sparkle in her eyes.

Rodrick nodded with a smile at that; the girl took the seat to his right.

"I need your help with Potions over the summer," Tracey spoke, slightly embarrassed.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at that before he was presented with the girl's result slip.

"You did pretty well..." Rodrick spoke looking down through each result before his eyes landed on Potions and agreed to help.

"Don't be so rude Rodrick, not all of us were born with a potions textbook over our heads," Daphne spoke, she took a seat to his left.

"I wasn't being-" Before he could finish however the girl stole his paper and glanced through the results before pouting.

"Know-it-all..."

Rodrick rolled his eyes before he took her parchment and read through her results.

Snorting was a bad idea.

The slap was well deserved.

Blaise showed up and took the seat opposite Rodrick.

"You look like a trapped owl between them."

"Thank you for telling me I resemble an owl," Rodrick remarked.

"What are friends for right?"

Rodrick rolled his eyes. "Maybe helping me escape this little prison."

The two girls huffed dramatically at the accusation.

Blaise played along and pointed to the seat beside him.

Rodrick made to get up before he felt two hands pin his shoulders down.

"You can stay right there,"

Looking up he saw Nott giving off his creepy smile. The boy quickly swept over to the other side and took the free seat by Blaise.

"Is there some sort of secret plan I don't know about?"

"Wouldn't be considered Slytherin's if we told you that, now would we?" Rodrick heard Malfoy speak up before he took the other free seat beside Blaise and effectively locking him in, his goons taken the seats beside him.

"Wonderful," Rodrick drawled to their amusement.

"There's no secret plot," Tracey spoke, earning some groans out of the boys. They'd been enjoying the game, if it could even be called that. Apparently, irritating Rodrick was a new hobby.

"Is what I asked her to say!" Nott tried, to somewhat continue the game.

"You really are a Hufflepuff aren't you?" Rodrick retorted.

Theodore Notts face paled.

"W-what? How?" The boy started to stammer incoherently.

The group chuckled at the boy's crisis, he'd been trying too hard to avoid acting like a Hufflepuff ever since Rodrick woke up.

"That wasn't very nice Rodrick," A faraway voice entered the conversation.

Luna eyed the table trying to find a free seat before a frown took over.

"What part wasn't nice?" Rodrick asked amused, "The part where I called him a Hufflepuff? I mean I understand that was a bit rude and all..."

He heard several people surrounding him laugh at the insult; it wasn't just his friends. Nott still looked somewhat pale.

"Oh never mind," Luna spoke wistfully, she was about to leave the table having found no free seat, before she heard someone else get up.

"Where are you going?" Daphne asked surprised.

"With Luna, she's unlikely to torment me," Rodrick replied.

Looking towards the blonde girl's face, Rodrick found a beaming smile.

"Crabbe get up," Malfoy ordered, surprising the lot of them.

The boy looked somewhat shocked at the order but listened, as soon as he moved to another seat. Luna thanked Malfoy earning a sneer before she took a seat next to him.

Rodrick tried to hold his laughter at the sight, slowly turning the Malfoy heir red.

"What's so funny Rodrick?" Blaise asked, knowing the answer already. He struggled just as much.

Daphne naturally disapproved as she into a conversation with the confused girl.

"Say Malfoy?" Rodrick started.

"What?" Malfoy asked warily.

"When did you get a sister?"

Nott could no longer help holding it as he broke down. Blaise slowly followed.

Malfoy turned beet red at that.

Luna looked around trying to understand the joke.

"Oh do grow up some time Rodrick," Tracey sighed, amused herself, she got up from her seat and asked to swap with the blonde.

Malfoy looked somewhat mollified at that; he still didn't say anything.

Luna nodded eagerly, preferring to sit closer to her friend then the stranger.

Daphne mouthed the words 'I am sorry,' to the redhead, who simply shook her head, smiling.

Rodrick was about to speak before the headmaster's voice loomed over the hall, marking the beginning of the feast.

Everyone's attention turned to the eccentric wizard.

Dumbledore looked around the hall, identifying the future of the wizarding world. His face took somewhat of a frown when he saw how disgruntled the Gryffindor's were, looking towards the house points his face fell. 'How did Gryffindor lose even more points...' Albus sighed, it was inevitable, he had been planning to award Harry Potter points for finding the chamber but remembered he would need to do the same with Rodrick killing the Basilisk... It would be somewhat controversial to award more to Harry all things considered. 'Perhaps next year then... The Slytherins certainly earned it.'

With those thoughts in mind, Albus Dumbledore began the end of year speech.

"We've all had quite a unique year, one I am sure we will remember for years to come..." His voice boomed through the hall, he watched as several students eyed the Slytherin table at that. The headmaster spoke about how Gilderoy Lockhart's position in Defense was officially over much to some of his fans displeasure and everyone else's relief. He would need to find a replacement; he had one particular Gryffindor in mind for it. Perhaps that will help them win next year.

Then again the man hadn't exactly been the model student in his time. Oh, he was better than his friends... but that didn't exactly say much.

"Many fascinating things have happened over the years, however perhaps the most things have occurred in this one in particular. The reopening and permanent closure of the Chamber of secrets, for one thing. Thanks to a certain Boy who lived" Albus spoke, a twinkle in his eye.

In hindsight, Dumbledore really ought to have considered his words more carefully when taken the rumours into account. If he was surprised by the sudden tense look's Harry Potter had received he did not show it.

"Hey lay off him, he didn't do it," He heard one of the twins shout out, several other Gryffindor's began picking up the boy's defence before the headmaster's voice silenced the hall.

"Of course perhaps the most interesting part of the year is the two records that were broken."

"I am not exactly sure how the points had wound up in the state they were..." Albus spoke an amused look on his face, eyeing one particular Slytherin. He could see several of them started chuckling. The Gryffindor's were not as amused, perhaps except the troublemaking twins.

Rodrick had the decency to look away from the headmaster's gaze.

Albus sighed as he spoke the next words, "In fourth place with quite possibly the lowest points in history, Gryffindor with 50 points."

He heard quite loud laughter coming from the Slytherin table at that.

Minerva McGonagall looked pale at the news, Severus Snape had almost broken out in a smile, almost.

The Gryffindor table looked sunken at that, the twins, however, looked over the moon.

"YEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" The distinct laughter of the Poltergeist ran through the hall, he was standing at the doors to the hall before he was promptly shooed away by the Bloody Baron, no doubt waiting for his houses almost certain victory.

"Yes, yes it's quite amusing I suppose," Albus spoke, once again tempted to simply give Harry Potter 1000 points to win. Although in the back of his mind he still thought that it might cause a problem.

"How did we get 50 points?" One Ron Weasley questioned curiously, earning more frowns from his table and feeding the Slytherins laughter even more.

"I was in a coma." Rodrick couldn't help himself when he answered the red-haired boy's question.

It didn't help that someone from the lion's table shouted out, "Ah Right." It certainly made the Slytherin's day though.

Albus Dumbledore coughed to get the situation back under control, "In third place, with 290 points, Hufflepuff," led to some applause, most from the house itself. "In second, with 420 points, Ravenclaw," leading to more applause.

Albus' stomach squirmed slightly, having to admit the last one. He could see the Slytherin's waiting eagerly.

"In first, with probably the highest points in history, Slytherin with 890 points."

Salazar would've been proud of whatever Slytherin had managed that miracle.

The cheers from the snake's table exploded, most of them had gotten up as Albus had sadly changed the Great Hall's colours to that of green.

The Transfiguration professor shook her head at the student's antics.

Severus Snape openly smiled at the words; the boy was a bloody miracle worker.

...

It was soon time to leave for the Hogwarts express. Officially ending the second year.

...

A/N

The story's really about to go AU starting now.