Harry Potter and the Lighting Lord

Chapter 25

Harry took the memory and returned it to his mind. He turned and saw that Toby was still there, so it looked like he'd seen the whole thing. He nodded to the elf who snapped his fingers and disappeared along with the Pensieve.

"I, Hadrian James Potter, do hereby swear on my magic that the contents of my memory I've shown here are indeed true. This I swear, so mote it be!" said Harry quietly. There was a flash of light, signifying the oath taking into effect. The tip of Harry's wand glowed, signifying that he indeed showed them the truth and that had not lost his magic. Dumbledore was white as a sheet.

"Whoever leaked the information about me being a parselmouth was correct" said Harry finally to the silent Great Hall. "I had been hearing voices moving around the castle, talking about killing. But I didn't realise that it was parseltongue as it was a distant echo and I thought I was listening to English. That was how I found Miss Granger and Miss Clearwater that day; I was following that voice, hoping to figure out what creature it was. The creature, as you know, was a Basilisk. It was Daphne who finally figured it out" he said, looking at his fiancée with a smile.

Daphne continued and said "Harry and I had already dismissed the idea of the creature being a basilisk even before the Yule holidays. Basilisks are known to grow up to twenty to thirty feet, so how could such a massive snake move around the castle undetected? I finally stumbled across the answer before I was attacked – pipes."

"Magical buildings don't need plumbing as there are several charms and runes to take care of that. But Hogwarts, as it turns out, does host various pipes leading everywhere. This was how the basilisk moved from one place to another. Another indication that I found were the spiders. Spiders consider the basilisk to be their mortal enemy and flee from it – there are small spiders visible everywhere near windows trying to flee the castle. But what was the final piece of the puzzle was why the victims were petrified and not killed, as a basilisk's stare causes instant death. The answer is because all the victims looked at the reflection of the gaze. That was why they were petrified" she explained.

"I knew I might be a target because of Harry, and in case the Heir found out that I knew about the nature of the creature, I might be killed. That's why I took a mirror and walked carefully outside. My precaution turned out to be warranted, as I saw the reflection of the snake's eyes on my mirror. If not for that, I would be dead."

Harry continued again "I found a crumpled piece of parchment explaining about this in Daphne's curled hand. It was only a couple of hours later that Ginny Weasley was taken into the chamber. The rest of it, you've just watched my memory."

Harry and Daphne stared at the silent hall. The staff was too stunned and Dumbledore was too angry to even appreciate what they had done. Harry shook his head slightly, grabbed Daphne's hand and was about to walk out of the door when Dumbledore spoke up.

"That was very good Harry" said Dumbledore. "Now return the artefact to Hogwarts. I'm sure it will make a fine addition to the wall in the Head's office."

Harry raised an eyebrow. He knew what Dumbledore was talking about, but was he really that stupid? Hogwarts and the families of the Founders were separate entities. Even if he was the Heir of Gryffindor, he did not own the school. The Smiths, who were distant descendants of Helga Hufflepuff did not return any of their artefacts to the school, so why should he? Besides, the sword was Potter family property. No one could take it away from him; not the Hogwarts Headmaster or the Ministry of Magic.

"What are you talking about, Headmaster?" asked Harry calmly.

"The sword, Harry" replied Dumbledore testily. "Gryffindor's sword. It belongs to Hogwarts, so return it."

"What makes you think the sword belongs to Hogwarts?" asked Harry, his eyebrows raised.

But before Dumbledore could say anything, Hermione Granger who was silent this whole time, spoke up. "It says so in Hogwarts: A History that it is Godric Gryffindor's legendary artefact. Since he is one of the school founders, it belongs to the school" she said self-importantly. "So, you should return it to the Headmaster"