Ch17

"Hey, Harry," Cedric greeted cordially as Harry handed over a vial of Mandrake Potion to revive Cho Chang, who wasn't technically dating Cedric yet but everyone could tell it was only a matter of time. How Harry missed that the first time he'd never know. It wasn't like they were even trying to be subtle or anything. "I never did thank you for ordering us those brooms, did I?"

"I honestly can't remember," Harry confessed. "I was literally mobbed after that came out. Well," he paused, trying to think back. "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were the most serious offenders, which is strange because usually Gryffindors are the most exuberant. I think my own House may have been slightly annoyed that I destroyed the advantage my new brooms gave us when I gave you guys them too. As for Slytherin, well, they became convinced that I hated them because I didn't bother getting them brooms. Never mind that Draco already bought them the same kind…"

Cedric eyed Harry carefully. "You don't seem the type to buy into House prejudices like that and I think anything you say to the contrary is just in the spirit of friendly House rivalry. I also refuse to believe you could be so careless as to remember to get two teams brooms so as not to inconvenience your rival Seekers but completely forget about a third House that has a friend of yours as Seeker. Let me tell you: No one understands how you two are friends. It is the most bizarre friendship rivalry we've seen in awhile."

"What do you mean?" Harry feigned innocence.

"You have opposing views on virtually everything, you're both very visible members of the two Houses that buy into House rivalry the most, you refuse to let a certain rumor about his parentage die, you hate each other's friends, and act like rivals half the time," Cedric quickly rattled off.

"All in good fun," Harry assured him. "And if you don't think it was an accident that I didn't get Slytherin brooms, what do you think?"

"You knew what Malfoy would do and that's why you bought the other three teams brooms," Cedric speculated.

"What, do you think I'm spying on him or something?" Harry asked, pretending to be offended.

Cedric didn't seem to buy it though and simply shrugged. "How would I know? Maybe your scar told you."

Harry didn't get a chance to answer because at that moment the Mandrake Potion took effect and Cho's eyes fluttered open. "Cedric?" she asked confused. "What happened?"

Harry left her future boyfriend to explain and headed off to go visit Hagrid. He was right about possessed!Pettigrew having different victims and was glad that everyone appeared to be taking his advice about using a mirror. Still, constantly being summoned to the Hospital Wing to administer the Potion (which he refused to give up for fear that Wormtail would break into the Hospital Wing and destroy Harry's supply) was really starting to get annoying. He wished possessed!Pettigrew would just hurry up and make his move.

----

"Well that was a huge waste of time," Harry muttered. Sirius had sent him a letter via Hedwig asking why he didn't try to kill the Basilisk now as he knew how to kill one safely and was also privy to the location of the Chamber of Secrets. He'd woken up early the morning of the match against Slytherin and snuck out to Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle had been surprised to see him but pacified once he transfigured a bar of soap into chocolate and she could pretend she could taste it.

Once Harry got to the Chamber, he encountered very little problems. It took him a minute to get back into the swing of pretending the stone carvings were actual snakes and speaking Parseltongue again – for he had been unable to utilize that particular talent of his once he was no longer a Horcrux – but he quickly made his way towards the main room. After arriving, he had encountered a little roadblock: namely, he could not make the stupid Slytherin statue open up. It had taken him a little while, but he had eventually remembered that Riddle had said 'Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four' and the Basilisk had appeared.

Unfortunately, when Harry tried that and a myriad of other passwords, the statue remained impassive. Harry had no idea what he was doing wrong. Had Riddle done something else to prepare the Chamber in the time after his arrival and before Harry had shown up? Harry didn't think so, but who knew? Another, more likely, possibility in Harry's opinion was that Slytherin had trained or enchanted the Basilisk to only respond to the Heir of Slytherin. Harry, for all his many talents and the piece of Voldemort's soul that currently resided in him, was not a descendent. Then again, Voldemort's Horcrux WAS the one currently opening up the Chamber. Was it because Riddle's soul was whole before the Diary Horcrux and so he had more soul to put into the Diary? Or because the diary was essentially the same as the sixteen-year-old Riddle and Harry was a completely different person with a piece of Riddle trapped inside of him? Who really knew how ancient magic like that worked anyway?

When Harry arrived back in Myrtle's bathroom (after shrinking and pocketing all of the shed Basilisk skin in sight; Basilisks were so rare that it had to be worth something, right?), he found Luna eating Myrtle's chocolate and describing the taste in great detail for her.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, nonplussed.

"Did you know that there is a Quidditch Match today? The whole school has been in an uproar since they discovered you were missing," Luna responded, examining the entrance to the Chamber with great interest.

"So you came to look for me?" Harry asked. At Luna's nod, he continued. "Why here?"

"Where else would you be?" Luna replied primly. "Is this the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?"

Crap, Luna wasn't supposed to find out about that. Actually, no one was supposed to find out about that. Still, if anyone did, he supposed Luna was really the best person to do so. It would be simpler it he just Obliviated her, but Harry refused to do that as a matter of principle. Stupid morals and suspicions that he himself had been Obliviated a few times in his time.

"Yes," Harry said finally, hesitantly.

"I see," Luna nodded sagely. "And I can't tell anyone or else whoever is attacking the students will know that you know."

"Exactly," Harry said, relieved that she understood. "I can't get to the Basilisk because I can't find a way to access it. I think it's because I'm not related to Slytherin but I'm not sure. If people found out about the entrance, they could try to guard it but sooner or later, Pet-the diary-possessed parent-betrayer would find a way around it. And in the meantime, the panic would be incredible and we'd lose a chance to destroy the Basilisk once and for all and keep future generations safe."

"That's very risky," Luna told him solemnly. "But I trust you. Am I right in thinking that, because of the Slytherin connection, only a Parselmouth would be able to open it? Are you a Parselmouth?"

"I always did underestimate you, Luna," Harry said with a wry smile. "Now what time is it? When does the match start?"

"About twenty minutes ago," Luna said casually.

"WHAT?" Harry screeched. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"If you were that concerned about arriving to the match on time, you really should have brought a watch," Luna chastised him.

Harry practically flew up to his dorm room to grab his broom and then literally flew out the window and towards the pitch.

"And Slytherin has just scored again bringing it up to 60-20 Slytherin," Lee Jordan was saying as Harry approached. "The Gryffindor team is clearly feeling pessimistic about their chances without a Seeker. Where is-HARRY!" At first no one realize that Lee had spotted Harry, but he quickly continued. "I don't believe it: Thirty minutes into the match, Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter finally deigns to show up. I'm not sure where in the world he was as even the Weasley twins failed to locate him, but hopefully now he'll be able to turn this thing around!"

"Jordan," McGonagall admonished. "Do try and pretend to be impartial."

"But Professor, I didn't even insult those dirty, rotten-" Lee began, smirking.

"Not insulting is not the same as being impartial," McGonagall pointed out. "Honestly, it's time like these that I wonder why I don't have a commentator from every house so that I can always be sure to have someone on hand without a personal interest in the match."

"You know you'd miss me," Lee teased before clearing his throat. "I've been instructed to inform you that Harry is not riding the same Nimbus 2001 brooms that the other 27 Quidditch players are using. He says that this is because he is not only more than good enough to outfly the other three Seekers blindfolded on his current broom but that he is refusing to use something his…friend? Rival? Who even knows what they are? Anyway, he is refusing to use the same broom as Draco Malfoy. And he would also like to state publically that he believes the popular theory that Malfoy is Professor Snape's lovechild is a vicious, vicious lie and you all should forget about it."

"HARRY!" Draco shouted as Harry flew past him. "You said you'd quit it!"

"I did," Harry said innocently. "I was just going above and beyond and trying to do some damage control by stating that I believe it to be false."

"You only believe it's false?" Draco demanded. "You're the one who started it!"

"I'm sure I don't know nearly enough about your parents relationship with each and with Snape to be able to tell one way or another with any degree of certainty," Harry said delicately. There was movement in the corner of his eye. "Duck will you?"

Draco looked confused, but automatically did as Harry asked. Harry raised his wand at the Bludger he had already noticed following him and was fairly certain had been cursed by Dobby and cast a quiet, "Reducto."

As the Bludger exploded, Harry spotted the Snitch and dove after it. Draco, reeling from the explosion, did not see Harry's move until he was halfway to the Snitch and even though he shot after him, he was too late to stop Harry's hand from closing over the Snitch.

"How could you be so reckless, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall demanded after the match. "I know that you have little regard for the rules, but this is ridiculous. You could have seriously injured yourself and Mr. Malfoy and you destroyed Hogwarts property. As much as this pains me to do so, I have no choice but to assign you detention every Saturday night for month and to take 50 points from Gryffindor."

Harry had honestly never considered that he could have hurt Draco once the Bludger exploded, but was thankful none the less that he was alright. As for his 'punishment', well… "Who am I to be serving detention with?"

"Professor Lockhart has already asked for you personally," McGonagall told him, her voice laced with slight distaste. She never had thought very highly of the old fraud.

"Excellent," Harry grinned. Fifty points was about the same amount he and Hermione managed to earn on an average day – to his eternal shame and Hermione's delight – and as for the detentions… "He promised me he'd teach me all about how to answer fan mail and tell normal letters apart from the nasty kind that either hex you or have something wretched inside of it without opening it," Harry beamed.

McGonagall looked annoyed, but since teachers could technically assign whatever they wanted for detentions as long as it was legal, she could do nothing.

----

That night, as the obligatory 'Gryffindor is Better Than All the Other Houses For Whatever We've Managed to Do Now' party was winding down, Hermione and Ron cornered him and cast a privacy charm to the area they were standing in. Neville hadn't bothered to come over and was instead chatting amiably with Ginny, so Ron had to go and physically drag him over. Not before Ginny kicked him and accused him of trying to monopolize all their friends, though. Hm. When did Neville and Ginny become friends? Harry really would have to look into that. Perhaps it was when he was off doing whatever he happened to feel like and Ron and Hermione were 'investigating' Draco. After all, Neville had stayed with the Weasley's for a month over the summer and with Ginny nice and non-possessed, there was nothing stopping them from hanging out when Neville's other friends ditched him.

"How did he do it?" Hermione demanded once Ron stopped complaining about demon sisters.

"How did who do what?" Harry asked, honestly having no idea what she was talking about.

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "How did Malfoy fix that Bludger?"

"You think Malfoy fixed the Bludger?" Harry asked carefully. "I'm the one who blew it up."

"That was some explosion, too," Ron grinned. "And did you see the look on Malfoy's face? Priceless."

"That Bludger was following you around," Hermione explained. "It must have been hexed and who else could have benefited from it besides Malfoy?"

"How could you tell it was following Harry around?" Neville asked reasonably. "The game only lasted five minutes once Harry decided to show up. Where were you anyway?"

"Bathroom," Harry deadpanned.

"For four hours?" Neville asked skeptically.

"When you gotta go…" Harry began slyly.

"Ew!" Hermione interrupted. "Honestly! And I'm positive that Bludger was following Harry around. Still, Madam Hooch checked the balls before the game starts and nothing was wrong then."

"Wait…she checked the balls for signs of tampering with her wand?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked at him strangely. "Yes. How else would she do it?"

"Damn. There goes my Squib theory…" Harry muttered.

Hermione didn't understand. "What-?"

"Never mind," Harry cut her off. He didn't think he had ever mentioned his theory from the year before about Madam Hooch being a Squib when she failed to use magic to do basic things like break Neville's fall during their first flying lesson. "Do you honestly think that Draco is skilled enough at magic he could bewitch a Bludger? All Quidditch balls have several layers of enchantment to protect them from tampering and make them damn near impervious to magic. Draco's only a second year. I'm widely viewed as a freaking prodigy – God knows why – and I don't' think I could have tampered with that Bludger."

"Then what do you suggest happened?" Hermione demanded, folding her arms across her chest.

"House Elf with a grudge?" Harry suggested.

"I thought House Elves loved you. I mean, they did adopt you," Ron pointed out.

Hermione glared at him. "You are so not helping."

Ron shrugged. "I read it in the Quibbler."

Hermione looked like she dearly wished to strangle him.

"What?" Ron asked defensively. "I got a free subscription after I won their Unusual Creature Crossword Puzzle. It was really cool. They could tell who finished it first because once it was completed you tapped your wand to it and said 'Submit' and if you were right, your paper asked for your name and when you wrote it down, it transmitted the information to the Quibbler."

"But it's all a bunch of rubbish!" Hermione insisted.

"If you two are going to start arguing again, can I go back to the party?" Neville asked. They ignored him, so Neville turned to Harry.

"You might as well," Harry told him. "They might be awhile."

"Are you coming?" Neville asked. "Or are you going to make things worse by adding your own commentary and reminding them of more incidents to be upset about again?"

"Tempting as that is, no," Harry shook his head. "I'm heading to bed."

"Already?" Neville was understandably surprised. Harry rarely was in bed before midnight and it was only 10:30.

"I have a House Elf with a grudge to meet with, remember?"

"I thought you were kidding," Neville said mildly.

"I wasn't," Harry assured him. "Well, at least about the House Elf part. He actually has a bit of an obsession with me, but he took a knife for me once, so I'm not going to yell at him about it."

"Whatever," Neville said, heading towards the food table and waving at Ginny.

When Harry reached the empty dorm room, he saw Dobby waiting for him on his bed.

"Hello Dobby," he said pleasantly in his best Dumbledore impression. He had spent hours perfecting it in front of a mirror but try as he might, could never manage that twinkling eye thing that was such an essential part of the act. Perhaps it was just a side-effect of using legilemency?

Dobby looked very nervous and near tears. "Harry Potter came back to school."

"I told you I would," Harry said. "And I'm not leaving no matter what you try. Stealing Ron's Dad's car to drive to the Hogwarts Express was kind of fun and the fixed Bludger was really only a mild inconvenience, but even if you truly do something that might make me want to leave, I won't do it. You know why?"

Dobby shook his head.

"Because I'm stubborn as hell and will probably just view that as a challenge," Harry replied matter-of-factly.

"Harry Potter does not understand!" protested Dobby desperately. "Dobby has heard about the Great Harry Potter and what he has done already. He is being good to all creatures and the House Elves love him. Harry Potter must not stay at Hogwarts and be killed! He must leave and continue to do good!"

Harry thought that Dobby's account was rather too generous, but that was Dobby all right. "Look," Harry said gently. "I know about the diary. I know about the Basilisk. I know who has the diary right now and I know that he is going to want to get me involved. I also know how to kill both the diary and the snake and am fairly certain I know how to stop the man. I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself."

"Dobby has no doubt that Harry Potter can, but Dobby does not like to take chances and does not want to lose such a great and powerful wizard. Dobby had no idea the Great Harry Potter was so clever!" Dobby gushed, tears springing to his eyes again.

"Yeah, yeah…" Harry said dismissively. He heard footsteps; someone was coming. Just as he was about to tell Dobby to go, a thought occurred to him. "Wait…Didn't Draco order you not to try to save my life or to try and drive me from the castle?"

To Harry's surprise, Dobby looked downright mischievous. "Dobby wasn't trying to save the Great Harry Potter's life nor was he trying to send him away from Hogwarts. Dobby was trying to break Harry Potter's arm."

And with that, Dobby was gone.

Harry had definitely underestimated him.