Polyjuice

The shipment of boomslang skin and powdered bicorn horn arrived in the grip of a ratty, tawny eagle. It snapped its beak twice at Goyle and stole some of Crabbe's egg.

The packaging was secure and within hours Hermione was handing over the money for the purchase. The ingredients weren't easy to find, but with this payment, Adrian finally had enough to purchase the animagus potion.

His Occlumency shields increased every day, proceeding along with his carefully timed plans.

He had already talked to Draco, who affirmed that if Snape (who was the assistant to Lockhart for the dueling club) chose a volunteer, it would almost certainly be Draco. The other "volunteer" would definitely be chosen by Lockhart: Skylar Potter, the celebrity.

The only uncertainty, Draco confessed, was if Snape was intending to see Skylar embarrassed; if that was the case, the potions professor would call on Adrian himself.

The idea was both flattering and unsettling.

In the days leading up to the Dueling Club's first meeting, Adrian spent his time in the library scouring through nearly every book he could on references to snakes or snake creatures.

He had marked off Atups, small winged serpents who lived in deserts, able to glide over long distances. Nehustans and Runespoors were added to his implausible list. Adrian didn't know if Parseltongue expanded outwards to encapsulate serpentine species of dragons and other reptiles. Sea Serpents weren't actually related to the snakes Adrian knew he could speak to; would his ability reach the smooth skinned variants?

He still didn't know how such a large monster was moving throughout the castle, the Creevy boy and the cat were found in two entirely different areas of the castle. Whatever it was, it could move invisibly through the school. Perhaps there was a species which could camouflage itself?

Adrian didn't have time to venture into that territory, he was busy searching for simple spells which could properly humiliate an opponent, just in case.

The Dueling Club was an event to see. Nearly all of the Slytherins turned up to watch Snape duel against their least favourite teacher on staff. The Great Hall had been altered, all of the tables and furniture removed with the exception of a tall golden platform. Candles floated high above shining on the excited students below.

Gilderoy Lockhart walked onto the stage, resplendent in deep plum robes. Snape was wearing his usual black, looking frustrated with his teaching companion.

"Gather round, gather round!" Lockhart shouted out, waving his arms excitedly. "Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me?"

"Unfortunately," Theo grimaced, causing Crabbe to snigger.

"Now! Professor Dumbledore has kindly granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions- for full details, see my published works. Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," He flourished to the scowling man. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry; you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

Snape's upper lip was curling. It was wonder that Lockhart was still happy; Adrian couldn't imagine anyone willingly dueling Snape and still seeming pleased.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed. At least Lockhart did, with an unnecessary flourish, while Snape just jerked his head shortly. They both raised their wands like swords in front of them, shifting their stances, turning to present a smaller target.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position!" Lockhart instructed the quiet crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"A shame," Draco muttered under his breath.

Lockhart counted down and both swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent. Snape shouted a disarming charm before Lockhart could do so much as inhale. Lockhart flew backwards off the stage and slid onto the floor in an undignified sprawl. His wand went spinning off into the crowd.

Malfoy and Pansy cheered loudly.

Lockhart stumbled upright onto his feet. "Well, there you have it!" He stated, tottering back onto the raised platform. "That was a Disarming Charm, as you see, I've lost my wand- ah, thank you." He smiled to a Gryffindor first year who eagerly handed it to him. "An excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…"

Snape looked murderous. Lockhart noticed, because he quickly shouted. "But enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs!"

Snape strode over to Skylar instantly and beckoned Draco. "Perhaps a demonstration before the students are throwing jinxes?"

"Of course!" Lockhart stumbled, helping the unprepared and wincing Skylar up onto the golden stage. "A wonderful idea!"

Draco took a few steps to pass Adrian, pausing and wincing as Adrian smilingly offered his hand. Draco took it, and Lutain slid through the clasped hands around the arm of Draco.

"He is humid, Master." Lutain hissed from Draco's arm, "He smells of fear."

"Don't worry, he won't bite." Adrian murmured. "Well, not you at least."

Draco nodded and walked up to the other end of the stage. Adrian squeezed around the crowd, trying to orient himself halfway down the length of the stage as near as he could get.

"Face your partners!" Lockhart shouted, "And bow!"

Skylar and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Wands at the ready!" Shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents- only to disarm them! We don't want any accidents. One...two.."

Skylar swung his arm up but Malfoy had already casted his spell on two. His spell hit Skylar so hard he stumbled backwards. Skylar responded accordingly, shouting, "Rictusempra!"

A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach and he doubled over, wheezing.

"I said disarm!" Lockhart shouted. "Disarm!"

Malfoy sunk to his knees. Skylar looked unsure, and Malfoy took this chance to choke out, "Tarantallegra!"

Skylar yelped as his legs jerked around him in an obscure, uncontrollable dance.

"Stop!" Screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge.

"Finite Incantatem!" Intoned the potions professor. Malfoy stopped wheezing and Skylar's legs stopped trembling.

"Perhaps, it would be best to teach the students how to block spells?" Snape drawled, watching as Lockhart flushed red and rushed to Skylar's aid.

"Now, Skylar," Lockhart started. He smiled dazzlingly. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this-"

He made a complex movement with his wand and ultimately dropped it.

Malfoy made eye contact with Adrian and gave a short nod.

"Three... two... one... go!" Lockhart shouted.

Malfoy raised his arm, his sleeve low enough Adrian could only see the end of his wand. He shouted out, "Serpensortia!"

The spell was mispronounced only slightly, yet it was enough no serpent was actually conjured. Lutain instead unraveled from Draco's arm and sprang out from under his sleeve; only if you had been looking closely would anyone notice the difference.

Lutain landed heavily on the floor and reared his head with a loud hiss.

Nearby students screamed and stumbled back, Snape looked surprised but also positively gleeful with the turnout.

"I'll get rid of it!" Lockhart shouted, waltzing past the horrified Skylar. He pointed his wand, and with a loud bang Lutain flew through the air before landing in exactly the same spot with a smack. Adrian would have been concerned if it was anyone except Lockhart casting the spell.

"You purple coated bird!" Lutain hissed angrily, turning and locking eyes with a terrified Gryffindor second year. "I'd love to bite the lark with my venom!"

The tanned boy whimpered loudly.

"Leave him alone!" Skylar shouted, looking terrified for his year mate.

Lutain performed perfectly, and once again Adrian was relieved he had taught his companion English.

Lutain slunk to the ground and instantly went docile. He was the threat level of a limp garden hose and staring at Skylar blankly.

The Gryffindor second year, if anything, went even paler.

Whispers spread quickly, accusing and skeptic eyes were turned to Skylar who was looking rather horrified himself.

"No- no I-" Skylar stumbled a bit, at a loss for words. "I don't talk to snakes-"

Lutain deserved a prized hamster; he nodded his scaly head.

If this was what people thought Parseltongue was, Adrian was almost disappointed.

Skylar stumbled backwards and the crowd around him took another step back. Even Ron was looking a bit pale.

"Do I get a rat?" Lutain hissed lowly, rising high enough to retain in eye contact with Skylar even having slid off the stage.

"No! I didn't do anything!" Skylar shouted desperately, pointing his wand at Lutain who had (bless his best friend), started to slowly slither after him.

"Stay back!" Skylar howled, looking on the verge of tears. Lutain stopped dead in his tracks and once again nodded obviously. A Hufflepuff nearest Adrian whimpered quietly.

Adrian would get Lutain the best rat he could find.

Skylar ran and the crowd collapsed into a maddening mixture of rushing feet and louder shouts. Words like "Parseltongue!" and "Heir!" were thrown around, already the rumor catching purchase.

Lutain moved and slid off the stage as fast as he could slither, Adrian lifted the edge of his cloak and his familiar quickly circled his calf inching upwards out of sight.

The students were all dismissed, nobody would be able to focus with Skylar having run out so quickly.

Adrian caught up with Draco and with a smile gave a short nod.

"Everyone thinks Potter is the Heir now." Draco seemed dazed. "that snake knows English?"

"Lutain is very smart," Adrian agreed, "and he's fine."

"Give him a rat or whatever he eats for me."

Adrian certainly would.

Adrian went looking for the Hogwarts gamekeeper, the giant man Hagrid.

Lutain deserved the best rat he could get and Hagrid seemed his best bet to get something that his familiar would absolutely love. The snow had come in, a wicked blizzard in the night which canceled all of the Herbology and Care classes outside. Likely Hagrid would be outside, trying to tend to the snow.

He found Hagrid, walking into the castle with a thick wooly balaclava and a moleskin coat. He was carrying a mangled mess of feathers in one arm.

"Hagrid?" Adrian asked, seeing the large man jump and stare at Adrian for a perplexing amount of time. "I talked with you before school started. You said you may know where to get some decent rats?"

"Ya!" Hagrid nodded, blinking out of whatever dazed state he was in. "Yer right! I got a few down in mah hut." Hagrid blinked a drop of melted snow out of his eye. The man was twitchy, curled in ever so slightly on himself with the strangest expression of nostalgia.

"What do you have there?" Adrian asked, trying to see the mangled mess. "What bird is that?"

"A rooster, second one killed this term," Hagrid explained, grimacing. "It's either foxes or somethin', an' I need the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm around the hen coop."

"Good luck with that," Adrian said. He smiled thinly. "Could you send me a few mice by owl?"

Hagrid was looking at Adrian's face a moment too long for comfort, almost bewitched by Adrian's thin lipped smile. Hurriedly the man nodded, as if realizing how rude he was being by staring. Hagrid mumbled something hurriedly, along the lines that he really did need to talk to the headmaster.

Adrian hummed to himself and walked up the steps towards the corridor which would take him to the library. A rooster? Surely it had to be a clue; almost nothing ever attacked something that the gamekeeper was protecting.

"Attack!" He heard a loud shriek although it was quite a distance away. "Attack! Another attack!"

Adrian turned and started running towards the noise. "No mortal or ghost is safe! Run for your lives!"

Door after door flew open along the corridor as people filed out to see the sight. It was even better than Adrian could have imagined.

There was a petrified body of the same Gryffindor second year who Lutain had targeted at the dueling club and a ghost.

The ghost was stuck in a silent scream, body position stiff and rigid.

Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her own class. She pointed her wand and sent a loud bang into the air, which restored silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes.

"Caught in the act!" Shouted a Hufflepuff loudly. Adrian recognised the boy as someone he'd gotten into a fight with before, Ernie. Ernie pointed his finger at Skylar, who floundered for something to say.

Adrian caught Skylar's eye, and saw the utter terror and confusion in his eyes.

His plan was working perfectly.

The double attack on Dean (as he learned his name after) and the Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, turned what had hitherto been nervousness into real panic. Amazingly, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate which concerned so many people. What monster could possibly do that sort of thing to a ghost?

There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.

Adrian had chose to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays; as much as he would like to see Bellatrix, he was in no state prepared to see his father once again. Just the thought brought back the anxious trembling in his hands.

Draco chose to stay at the castle as well, Crabbe and Goyle followed suit.

Christmas came around and Adrian received gifts from a surprising number of people.

Hermione had gifted him a luxurious eagle-feather quill. Hagrid sent a box with three well groomed mice, which had Lutain hissing with gleeful anticipation. Draco gifted him a box of treacle tarts, likely bought from the store Honeydukes.

Bellatrix sent him a bag full of galleons, which actually was very kind considering he owl ordered a large quantity of things now. Rabastan sent, once again, a collection of potions. These ones were more complex and quite a few were made for secret messages or truth serums. Rodolphus sent an ironic fountain pen, shaped with a snake curving around the grip. Adrian didn't recognize the species.

The Great Hall was beautiful, not only were there a dozen frost coated Christmas trees and thick garlands of holly and mistletoe, but enchanted snow was falling from the sky above.

Draco Malfoy made several loud, snide remarks about the crude looking sweater Skylar was wearing. Hermione ushered the remaining two of the golden trio out of the Hall, which was suspicious but Adrian was too amused with Draco feeding Lutain various bits of pudding and tarts.

Adrian slipped into the library once more, as he had been since the roosters were added into his search. He took out a book, finally on the shelves from the lack of students over Christmas break, and went back to the Slytherin Common room.

The room was empty which wasn't much of a surprise. It meant that Adrian had a selection of any of the couches to read the book on.

The stone entrance slid open and Draco walked in with Crabbe and Goyle lumbering behind him. As well as-

"Bullstrode?" Adrian asked, lifting one eyebrow curiously. "I thought you went home for the holidays."

Millicent stumbled, looking rather odd before she jutted out her chin, "I came back."

Adrian blinked, and looked back at his book. She must have still been upset at him.

"Wait here," Malfoy said to Crabbe and Goyle who both took seats on nearby couches. "I'll go and get it, my father's just sent it to me-"

Draco walked off to his room, and then returned with a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Crabbe's nose, causing the boy to go cross-eyed. Draco grinned. "That'll give you a laugh."

"Master?" Adrian peered over his book over towards the steps to the downstairs level where the rooms were. With the majority of Slytherins gone, Adrian felt it was alright to leave the door open for Lutain to freely wander the common room.

Draco and the others chattered on about something Adrian didn't care about. Lutain slid over and scented the air. The sight of Lutain sliding up onto the table between the couches caused all three to pale.

"There it is," Draco cut in, shifting topics to point at Lutain. "I was going to see if it liked stewed carrots."

"Considering Lutain hates vegetables, I doubt it," Adrian noted, giving a long stretch before closing his book and facing the group. "What were we talking about?"

"The Heir of Slytherin," Draco caught Adrian up. Malfoy jutted his chin out, maybe in an attempt to pout. "I wish I knew who it was. I could help them."

Crabbe's jaw dropped so he looked even more clueless.

"You must have some idea who's behind it all…" Millicent trailed off, her voice wavering strangely.

"You know I haven't, how many times have we had this discussion?" Draco scowled. Draco turned and glanced directly at Adrian. "If anyone knows it's you."

All eyes were on him. "Well, the school seems set that it's Skylar Potter."

Draco let out a massive snort.

"And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing- last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time...I hope it's Granger." He said with relish.

Adrian sighed loudly, "Honestly, Draco. You just don't like her because she's actual competition."

"I don't like her because you dragged her here," Draco snapped. "You and your bloody deals and now you're dragging in Mudbloods?"

"I'm sorry," Adrian said, his tone carefully pitched to indicate he was anything but. He tilted his head towards Draco. "Are you questioning me?"

Draco scowled and crossed his arms. "That's Millicent's job, isn't it?"

Millicent blinked wide eyed and looked overwhelmed.

Something wasn't adding up.

"D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"

"Oh, yeah...whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy, "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" Goyle said, looking puzzled.

"Azkaban- the wizard prison, Goyle." Malfoy looked at him in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."

"How did the chamber get opened?" Millicent butted in. "If only the Heir can open it, how would someone be able to if they're in Azkaban?"

Draco waved his hand at Adrian, beckoning him to take a turn to talk.

Adrian shrugged half heartedly, trailing his hand down Lutain's back. "I don't know. There isn't any information- I didn't know about the death." Adrian nodded to a smug looking Malfoy. "Maybe it required specific magic, or a specific ability."

Goyle's eyes widened and he nudged Crabbe who also seemed to have realized something.

"Lutain," Adrian spoke low, causing his familiar to glance at him. "Do you have a rat to sniff out?"

Lutain's tongue flickered in the air wildly, "Master, there is something- no. No rat. Master."

Adrian relaxed and looked at Millicent. She seemed rather uncomfortable still, yet it was undeniably her.

"Malfoy," Adrian snapped out, nearly smacking himself for not thinking of it sooner, "Do you know what Boomslang skin is used for?"

Draco seemed surprised but blinked. "Brewing potions now, Selwyn?"

"I buy them," Adrian deadpanned, "but amuse me."

"We've got to go," Millicent stood. There was something off about how she sniffed, something about the tilt of her head. "I heard that Potter git was in the library."

"Give him a hex for me," Draco waved them off, before returning in thought.

The three of them left, and Draco started to list off potions, "Grolji's Elixer, Polyjuice Potion, Madora-"

Adrian suddenly felt a bit dizzy. He gave Malfoy a sharp look. "Polyjuice Potion? That changes your shape, doesn't it?"

"For an hour," Draco confirmed, not quite understanding, "Why?"

Millicent had been acting odd, Goyle more obvious than normal, Crabbe unusually silent-

Adrian glanced at the exit door. All three of them had vanished without a trace.

He cursed so crudely Draco blushed.