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I've convinced Hagrid to allow me to help him with his recent loss. If you are able, both of you meet me at Hagrid's around five. I don't know if Prof. Dumbledore wants me around in the school proper. I will have to mail him officially for permission next time since this time I'm doing Hagrid a favour. I've secured the place Jon recommended for fifty galleons rental a month on a six month lease. When your first weekend off comes around you two could decide if it is worth purchasing outright or agreeing to a longer contract.

RD

Harry read the letter and felt a weird sensation in his stomach. Tonks visiting him when he was gravely injured and Tonks dealing with him now that he was on back on his feet again were two different situations. Would she be back to her charming, bossy self or would she be all weird and stuff knowing that he was older?

It would be good to see her though. He wondered if he could even walk down that far. His thoughts about her swirled in his head. He took a deep breath as he tried to focus solely on the business at hand.

He did not know what plans Malfoy and Michael had now that Lockhart and Penelope were no longer under their control. He was skeptical that a mere rooster could slay a basilisk over a thousand years old. In his previous journey, he came to the realization that even well respected and learned men like Albus Dumbledore did not know everything when it came to dark magic, due to the innate nature of that branch of spells being shrouded in suspicion, and conjecture. And what proof was there that a rooster can actually killed them? What some dead writer said in a book? Did he kill one in his search for material?

Harry scoffed. A phoenix, the Sword of Gryffindor, and guts. Pure fucking guts. That is what kills a monstrous fifty foot long snake who can kill you simply by looking at you. With magical resistant skin. Terrifying speed and venom. Big enough to swallow a twelve year old, whole. Even Hagrid could be knocked back as a snack to those monstrous jaws.

Harry also knew that he should cover all angles and better to be safe than sorry. Someone killed those chickens, so they must also believe that the basilisk was real, and alive and well, and weak against the crow of a rooster. However, now that Lockhart's possession was stopped before Voldemort truly had complete control, the perpetrators were stuck until they realized parselmouth was necessary to control the beast.

It would be suicide to attempt to attack it head on in his condition anyway. Roosters it is then.

Harry walked across to the mirror. His facial bandage was off and his face looked normal. If he pressed really hard he could see faint scar tissue but considering that his face was ripped open Monday, it was a miracle it looked as perfect as it did. The slanting eye bandage wrapped around his forehead and eye made him look heroic and warrior-esque, something out of a fantasy book. It was wasted on his light frame and perfectly smooth face, devoid of a lick of beard with only a faint, pathetic mustache coming in.

Harry took out a set of Hogwarts outer cloak and draped it over the infirmary donated white long sleeve shirt and dark school slacks. The fresh bandage slanting across his eye was distracting. Anyone he talked to would be staring at it. He dug into his trunk and took out his transfiguration books.

Within short time, he found a clothes modification spell. He altered his hood so that the left side of his cowl covered the majority of his left eye. When he put the cloak back on, he stood in front of the mirror. The hood now had more material favoring the left half, casting shadows over his face. The visual effect was sinister, like what a dark wizard should look like, but it effectively covered his left eye and the unsightly bandage.

Which was the point. Obviously. It had nothing to do like looking like a dark wizard. No. Not one bit.

Harry grinned at his new look. He found it absolutely brilliant.

In the meantime, he better get some beauty sleep in his own bed and hope by the time he got up he would be able to make the trek down the slope without breaking a leg.

Later that afternoon Jon and Harry met up with Tonks at the back of Hagrid's hut where the adjoining chicken coup was constructed.

"What are you doing up there? Don't you know its rude to fly over the gate of a wizard's property?" Tonks admonished them, hands on her hips. "Too lazy to walk, huh?"

"Hiya Tonks," Harry said, relieved that Tonks was back to her bossy self and not all awkward about their situation. As yet. "Sorry Hagrid, you know usually I would walk down."

"Harry! Yer know me better than that! It's fine, once you visit me now and then, however you want to do it is not a problem with me. Nice brooms by the way," Hagrid shouted up at them. Jon greeted Tonks and brought his Quicksilver broom down.

"Milady. Harry is having difficulties with his balance," he said quietly next to her. "I see you were successful," he eyed the chickens doing their chicken behavior in the yard and settling in to the nest boxes. Harry followed him down, holding on to dear life as he struggled to balance the broom steady low over the ground. Tonks came over and grabbed the front of the broom.

"Thanks," Harry said, embarrassed. He lifted his leg over to dismount and promptly ended up in a heap on his good right side. It was still enough to send pain running up his injured side. "Fucking motherfucker shit fuck!" he swore under his breath. He struggled to get up only using his right arm. Jon eventually helped him up.

Tonks' heart went out to him. But then she remembered he sent her on mission into a shit house full of chickens. She pushed those affectionate feelings away.

Hagrid chuckled. "Never seen that before, lad. You alright? Thought it was your arm that was hurt?"

"Still is," Harry whined. Now it was hurting even more. "But I haven't recovered totally. Sometimes I get vertigo."

"Vertigo?" Hagrid bellowed. "You foolish lad, what in the blazes are you doing on a broom if you got vertigo? You wanna break your neck? I'va mind to mail Pomfrey and march you back up to the hospital righ' this minute!"

"It's ok, for now. She gave me tablets and its under control," Harry responded calmly. He pointed at the chickens. "You got them settled in then?" he inquired, expertly diverting Hagrid's attention.

"Yeah. And I fixed all the fencing," Hagrid grumbled. He still watched Harry crossly. "It was a fox that came in and did it. Sprout found that out using a tracking reveal spell, bloody mongrel."

"A fox?" Harry asked. "Where is Cloud? Tonks tell him to protect these chickens. Hagrid you ok with that?"

"That's actually a great idea. Chickens don't like charmed or spelled fences. They begin pecking it and their beaks get all messed up. Fang! Ghost! Cloud!" Hagrid bellowed. After some frantic barking Cloud, Ghost and Fang came scampering around the corner. Ghost seemed to be having fun playing with his lesser canine relatives. When he spotted Jon, he paused, then approached calmly, stalking like a wolf. He circled Jon and Jon offered him his hand. Ghost smelled it once and bound off towards a fallen tree, and climbed on top of it, sniffing the air, on full alert. Cloud ran up to Tonks, jumped up on his hind legs and rest his paws high up on her travelling cloak, trying to lick her face. Tonks had to manhandle him down where he began sniffing her legs and beating her lower half to death with his furry white tail. Fang sat down next to Hagrid, wagging his tail periodically, eyeing the chickens.

"Fang, these are the new chicks. You know the rules. No biting. No snarling. Ghost, you don't like chicken anyway. I don't want you anywhere near 'em. Cloud boy... You will stay close and guard them, y'hear?" Hagrid ordered.

"Ghost, there is a fox on the loose," Jon called him. Ghost ambled over. "Protect the grounds, will you? Let Cloud watch over the chickens. You watch over the grounds."

Ghost simply watched Jon for a few seconds, then yipped once. "Good lad. How is he going, Master gameskeeper?"

"He wants to go hunt, but he still isn't ready," Hagrid shook his head. "Maybe next month he would be back to full strength. He would need to go hunting eventually, as he eats only bloody meat. Just now winter will be here and he needs to keep active to get bigger and stay healthy. Or else... he'll just get like Fang over here."

Fang whined morosely in complaint.

"What you crying for? You know it's true. I still luv yuh, you lazy lug," Hagrid bent over to scratch his dog behind the ears. "Go on in, I still got to clean out the coup and get the feed. Probably meet you back inside for some tea. Also those rock cakes you love so much should be ready in fifteen." Hagrid grinned, expecting to see their young faces light up in anticipation. Harry and Jon slapped on their best fake smiles to date.

"Right-o," Harry said. "We'll... just go on in then." The three of them entered his hut.

"How are you feeling?" Tonks asked immediately. Harry got the impression that it wasn't out of concern, more like she wanted to know if he could handle some bad news.

"I'm getting there. What's up?"

She slammed the door hard.

"I just got back from Obscurus'. Mr. Ridgewall is fine by the way. A basilisk is rated five X's on the magical creatures lethality scale. The only known creature more dangerous is the Nundu. What the fuck is a basilisk doing inside the castle full of children and how do you know this for sure? And what are we going to do about it?!"

"To summarize: I killed it before."

Tonks jaw dropped.

"Oh. Well why didn't you just say so?" she criticized, as if his words explained everything. "You're not eighteen anymore. You're twelve. It isn't the same-"

"I was twelve then too."

"Oh for crying out loud, the lies-" she snarled.

"I'm not." Harry cut her off.

"You're not?"

"No. But the way I did it before may not work again." Harry took a deep breath.

"What? Explain."

"The chamber was opened by Ginny possessed by that same book we have locked away in the vault. She controlled the Basilisk and targeted muggle born students. I went down there and fought the thing. Fawkes and the Sorting Hat helped me out."

"Fawkes... and the sorting hat. You got to be fucking with me," Tonks hissed, pacing up and down in the hut.

"Yeah. It gets better. I killed it the with the Sword of Gryffindor." Tonks froze almost mid-stride.

"Blimey," Tonks breathed, in perfect imitation of Ron. "Three Hogwarts-related magical relics. Nice, strong triangle of magic there, Harry," Tonks murmured, impressed. "Our Auror texts always hints towards three sources of magic or spell-work are symbolic of Light Wizardry. While seven or sixty three are related to the Dark."

"Interesting," Harry nodded. He wondered how many marked Death Eaters Voldemort had when he was at the height of his power.

"So. I'm dying to figure this out. What does a rooster have to do with the basilisk?" Tonks demanded.

"Their crow is supposed to slay it." Jon and Tonks looked at Harry as if he had gone crazy.

"Sounds like bullshit to me," she spat, finally sitting down.

"I was thinking the same thing earlier. Who can actually corroborate this myth?" Harry cursed, running his finger tips in a drum pattern on the wooden table.

"Easiest thing would be to test it and see. Send a rooster and hope for the best," Tonks offered.

"There is more to it than that, a bit more. Do you know what a parselmouth is?"

"Sure. They talk to snakes."

"Right. The Chamber of Secrets is Slytherin's hidden magical ...chamber," Harry finished lamely, lacking a better word. "To get in, a parselmouth needs to open the entrance. Then the Snake pit is opened from a statue. "

"If I remember correctly, didn't you say parselmouths are very rare?" Jon asked Tonks. Tonks had gone very still.

"The last one was Lord... You know who," Tonks breathed. She was watching Harry deadly serious now. "You went in and killed it."

"Yes I did."

"Therefore, it was either opened before to release the Basilisk... or..."

"Yes. It was released before and... yes to your unsaid question," Harry sighed.

Tonks stood up immediately, drawing her wand. Harry didn't move, or blink his good eye.

"Jon, move away from him," Tonks ordered. "Do it now!" Jon got up, and stood to the side of the table, crossing his arms. He stood up in such a way that he could easily physically disarm Tonks if it got dangerous.

"I am not fucking playing with you this time, I am going to ask this only once. Did you release the Basilisk?"

"No."

"Are you Lord Voldemort, re-incarnated?" she pointed the wand directly between his eyes.

"No."

"Are you Salazar Slytherin or Herpo?"

"No."

"Then how the fuck did you open the chamber to get in?" she snarled. Her wand was beginning to glow red with a pretty strong stupefy spell. One this close could literally do him in. Jon was watching the interplay, his stance lowering a fraction, his arms held akimbo at his sides.

"I am a parselmouth. I could hear the snake in the tunnels behind the walls and under the floors."

Tonks stood there for almost a full minute, her expression hardening and her eyes boring into Harry's eye. She finally relaxed a bit and let her wand hand drop to her side.

"So. Let me get this straight. Only a parselmouth could open the chamber, and you are the only parselmouth around these days. Which means that unless you decide to do something dangerously stupid, we don't need to worry about this basilisk getting free."

Harry shook his head, frustrated.

"Someone is also trying to crack the secret. And they seem to have some solid information on what they could expect to happen. And most likely they are going to keep trying until they succeed, no matter how many people get hurt. Basically, we are dealing with a plot to wipe out students from this school, and even though it would be difficult for them to release the monster, the attempts can have dire ...or probably deadly, consequences. All it takes is one rogue wizard with enough determination ... which means that this particular person doesn't give a shit about what happens to children. An early sign of descent into dark wizardry."

"That, premeditated murder, Sacrificial soul or blood magic, renunciation of social ties, and an extreme tolerance to self mutilation or pain. Yeah. You know the texts," Tonks commended. "Whoever is doing this is going down that route, all right. You got a suspect in mind?"

"Ellewyn-Sare."

"Let's fuck him up then," Tonks said immediately, sitting down at the table once more. Jon retook his seat as well.

"What? That's what Auror studies been teaching you? Let's go fuck 'im up?!" Harry grinned, enjoying this bloodthirsty side to Tonks. He wondered why she wasn't sorted before in Gryffindor, like him.

Tonks grimaced. She hit the desk hard with her closed fist. "You're right. But a basilisk! He has got to be fucking insane."

"Don't forget he is just a lackey. Malfoy is the one behind this."

Tonks swore. "Cripes. I hate that guy."

"We need a confession. And a situation with enough proof to silence Malfoy senior as well," Jon added sagely. "Mistress Tonks has a valid point. If you do not open it, then shouldn't the school be safe from it so that we can focus on the human element?"

"The bottom line is that we can't risk it. Wizards, no matter how idiotic or unskilled, can achieve impossible things. Magic also manifests from determination with a bit of help from luck, skill, and desperation. Give Michael enough time, who I think is pretty skilled in his own way, and he will get it free. Malfoy isn't any slouch either. We still need to destroy it."

"But that involves opening it. Pandora's box anyone? What if we can't ..." Tonks trailed off.

The table grew quiet. Opening up the chamber and not finishing the job, or even getting killed in the attempt, would mean the students would be killed on sight when it got loose.

"I have a tentative plan," Harry said softly.

"Listening."

"I capture a snake and use it as my messenger, my minion. I believe the King of Serpents would not affect its own kind. We blind a rooster, and send his ass down there with the snake. Once the place is locked behind me, I go down and open the inner sanctum. I high tail it out of there and seal the place again. If the rooster dies, well, we know that it couldn't have been so easy. If the rooster lives but fails to kill the Basilisk, I will ask snake what happened. But if the rooster trick works, bingo, snake would tell me if its dead or not. Piece of cake."

"What happens if the Basilisk lives and is just waiting to be unleashed?" Jon asked.

"I... I will go back down." Harry shrugged.

"Please. Don't make fucking jokes like that," Tonks moaned.

Harry didn't reply. Jon was eerily silent as well. Tonks closed her eyes and rest her face on her propped up palms on the table.

"You just said you didn't know if the same circumstances would work. Basically, it was luck that cannot be ...convincingly reproduced. And the Sword of Gryffindor is tiny compared to that snake. How did you manage that, by the way?"

"Stabbed it through the roof of the mouth."

Tonks mouthed 'through the roof of the mouth' silently, doing a very good goldfish impression.

"How big is this Basilisk, may I ask?" Tonks said cautiously.

"Fifty to sixty feet long. Six feet thick at tail, maybe ten to fifteen feet at thickest part of the body. Massive."

"Just keep getting better, doesn't it?" Tonks grumbled.

"Would invisibility work?" Jon asked in the resulting silence. "If it needs to cast its gaze, if it can't see you, then...?"

"That's an idea."

"We can send a creature cast with an invisible spell inside the chamber. Maybe it might work."

"That will give us time to attack. But what spells can kill it?" Tonks asked. "The references all say that it is impervious to magic."

"The killing spell might do it," Harry offered.

"Absolutely not," Tonks countered at once. Tonks pointed at Harry. "And I don't want to hear you ever fucking say such a thing again."

Harry shut his mouth. Tonks was dead serious.

"The diablo was highly resistant to magic. We persevered," Jon remarked, finally breaking the tension. Harry and Tonks looked at him. "Maybe a non-magical attack?"

"If the rooster doesn't work. Let's blow its ass up," Harry suggested. "We set flammable and explosive material in the chamber. I open it and, get clear. Then boom!"

"That's a muggle thing, isn't it?" Tonks said. "Blowing things up?"

"Yeah."

"There is a fire curse that does the same. It's called Fiendfyre," said Tonks.

Harry face turned a deathly pale colour. Memories of that night poured through him. That was the night countless people died, including Tonks, Fred, Remus, Colin, Snape...and himself.

All for nothing.

Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville all housed Tom's splintered soul, and eventually killed him years later. Voldemort was defeated that night at Hogwarts, but he came back, as he always does. Except this time, there were more versions of him, embedded in the people that he cared for the most.

"Harry? Harry!" Jon was calling him. Tonks was looking concerned. He had apparently zoned out completely.

"I know of it," Harry said warily, his one good eye searching Tonks'. An incredible surge of magic infused his body.

You will not die. Not while I have breath.

"It is Uncontrollable. Unless you know of a way?" Harry breathed out finally.

"It burns continuously once the caster is conscious. But it cancels out when they are knocked out, or killed," she answered.

"Ah. Sounds... deranged. But it might work."

"Better than trying to stab a toothpick in a gigantic snake," Tonks huffed.

Jon stood up, walked a few paces away from the table and drew his wand. "This... Diablo claw is the sharpest magical material there is. According to Ollivander, it is used to cut impervious dragon hide ... amongst other things when armouring. It surely dealt with Lockhart." With a quick motion similar to flicking open a retracable baton, the wand transfigured into a massive claymore double edged sword. "If all else fails, I will attack it under invisibility."

Tonks was suitably impressed by that feat of magic.

"You got balls, Jon, I give you that. But even you must know that getting close to a snake that size is madness. It may be able to detect you, even if it can't see you. And one bite is all it takes. A slow, painful death," Tonks glowered at him.

"And one clean strike is all that is needed," Jon said calmly, reverting the wand back to its original state.

"My blood is an antidote to venom, by the way," Harry said offhandedly.

"The surprises keep coming," Tonks chuckled.

"Aaaaand... we need to legally stop Michael and Malfoy. Tonks, come up with a sound plan. We still got one Auror on the grounds. Maybe we can set it up such that he can do the actual interrogation or even the arrest."

"Dawlish or Drinkwater?" Tonks asked.

"Drinkwater," Jon answered.

"Hm. I think he fancies me. I'll see what I can do."

Harry put in his internal diary that he found another poor soul to go missing. He pushed those dark thoughts out of his mind.

"A confession will be crucial," Harry said. "It clamps down further plotting by Lucius if he gets tangled up in it."

The three of them silently agreed to this aspect of the Mission when it came to dealing with Michael. Tonks folded her arms.

"So. What have you done to protect the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Tonks asked Harry.

"Trapped the floor outside of it."

"What about the inside?" she asked.

"What about it?"

"You mean to tell me you didn't set up some sort of alert that warns you if someone gets in?"

"Didn't think it would matter, the outside is pretty well protected," Harry was now seeing the gaps in his thinking. He was feeling quite embarrassed right now.

"Harry, Michael could fly over the floor with a broom."

"Fuck." I should have thought of that. Harry could kick himself right now. Tonks sighed. She began writing on a piece of paper.

"I will give you spells to alert you of any trespassers. And also a few sneakascopes. Well, at least he's not a parselmouth. The chamber should still be closed."

"Another cursed object is in play. I think it is the cup of Helga Hufflepuff. Probably used on Lockhart. Those pinkish eyes..." Harry said.

"Correct. I have his keys right here. Miss Tonks, these are the possessions I took off of Lockhart when we dueled." Jon took out his Onyx Box. "Use the onyx gloves when handling these items and investigate where the keys open. The Aurors did not find anything suspicious in his quarters other than Michael's potion... and the elves report that nothing has been hidden away that belongs to Lockhart. It may not be in the castle anymore."

"There is a key-mate spell I know of. Should help me find where these keys open." She accepted the box. Harry nodded in thanks.

"I can't do anything until I'm fully healed. I also think that Michael won't undergo too many risks while everyone is vigilant. He may wait until its settled down. Patience and use of wits are more his style. Probably in two weeks we can try to deal with the Basilisk."

"Agreed," Jon nodded.

"Agreed. I'll work on the legal side and these keys. Oh, and here is the address of the place and spare keys for you two in case of anything." She handed them both a pair of keys. "I'll be there unless something comes up in London that I can't put off. Getting the floo network sorted out next week. Come and check it out when you can."

"I think that's it," Harry said. "You two have anything else to add?"

Jon and Tonks shook their head. The three of them stood up and walked out the cabin. Jon was walking around the corner to say goodbye to Hagrid when he noticed Tonks hanging back at the doorway. She indicated he go ahead. Harry was steadily focused on watching his steps when he heard Tonks call his name.

"Harry!"

He stopped. He turned around. "Yeah?"

She beckoned him over. Harry walked back over to the hut. She pulled him inside gently and closed the door.

"Let me see," she said softly.

Harry allowed her to pull back his cloak. Tonks inspected the bandages wrapped around his forehead and eye.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked, touching his face tenderly.

"No, my eye still feels a bit scratchy. By next week I can take off the bandages," Harry tried to put enthusiasm in his voice, but this period of injury was not sitting well with him. The mention of fiendfyre brought back horrible memories of the Battle of Hogwarts. His emotions were all over the place right now.

"I... Might be still mad at you. Or myself. But you're an okay bloke, despite what happened in France."

"You still don't trust me," Harry said softly, indicating the tense showdown in their little meeting.

"I... really shouldn't. But I actually do."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "You're convincing. Very persuasive."

Harry blushed.

"My heart... went haywire when Jon mailed me. Seeing Hedwig, then actually reading the letter... y'know, when you were attacked. It was two extremes." Tonks dipped her head, composing herself. "And when I saw you, I didn't think it would have been so bad."

Harry wondered if the 'bad' she was talking about was the effect on her heart at seeing him so badly injured or the witnessing the actual severity of the damage done to him. He desperately hoped it was the former.

"Thanks for coming, though. You really made me feel better... about things," he said lamely.

"I, I am glad Jon told me. I had to see you. I-I know you don't have caring guardians. I also didn't want you to think that you were, alone or anything. Or that me being mad at you was a reason for me to stay away." She took his good right hand in her left hand.

Harry looked down at their interlocked fingers.

"These are dangerous times," she said simply. She bent her head and gave him a feather light kiss on his lips. "For good luck. I'll see you next week, or when Dumbledore allows me too. Stay safe."

She came closer and gave him a one armed hug, careful not to touch his injured left hand side. Harry returned the hug with a strong right arm around her back.

"I'm still kinda mad at you. But, that doesn't mean you can't write." She tweaked his chin. "Write me, Potter."

"I will," Harry said, his voice almost betraying his emotion.

"Let's go. Tell Hagrid I will bring more next week if needed."

"Okay," Harry said dumbly. They left the hut. Tonks got on her broom, looked back at him and waved.

"Bye, Harry."

"Laters," Harry waved. She grinned, then shot off.

Harry stood up there a long time on Hagrid's front steps, just watching her shrink in the distance towards Hogsmeade.

A sinking feeling was settling in his stomach. Did Tonks just give him a goodbye kiss, or was it the beginning of something that he dared not put in words, before he jinxed it to an early death?

Any which way he looked at it, it wasn't one of those 'Hey I really like you and this could be a good start for us' type of kisses. But he couldn't dismiss it either. It happened.

He sighed as he walked off. He will just have to take it one day at a time. Magic was one thing he was good at.

Understanding women, well...

At least he wasn't alone. Fifty percent of the world's population suffered the same thing.

AN: Thanks again for reading!

Until we meet again

-TDLN