Ted accepted the note from Hedwig and blanched as he read over Harry's quick explanation, praying the Headmaster acted swiftly since he knew the child would have contacted someone in the school first. He quickly got up and went to the Floo, calling Amelia Bones.
"Barrister Tonks? What is it?" She asked as she answered, wondering what else he had dug up since Lockhart's arrest.
"A student has gone missing at Hogwarts, Miss Ginevra Weasley, first year student and Arthur's youngest. The students have been sealed in their common rooms, but my ward did send a message to the Headmaster. With all the attacks this year..."
"Attacks?" she demanded, what attacks? "Come through," she ordered, unlocking her fireplace, so he quickly entered the Floo, stepping out easily into her office, dusting himself off swiftly.
"Hasn't Susan mentioned? It started on Halloween with Mrs. Norris, found outside the second-floor girls bathroom petrified. There was also a message saying the Chamber of Secrets had been opened again, enemies of the heir beware. Since then several students have been petrified," he answered as he took a seat, and she frowned.
"No, her letters have said nothing," Amelia hit the call button and her secretary entered. "Get me a response team, full gear. And tell Arthur Weasley to come as well." That was not protocol but if he was still in the building, she wanted him in her office where she could break the news in person.
"Yes Ma'am." She quickly left to call the on-duty response team.
The team leader was soon in Amelia's office, in full gear. "Director," Kingsley greeted.
"We're going to Hogwarts, a student has gone missing after a series of attacks that have left others petrified," she then looked to Ted. "Did your ward mention any theories being offered on the attacker?"
"The Chamber of Secrets was meant to belong to Slytherin and he was obsessed with snakes. But no known snake can petrify. The only 'theory' was that he was behind it however those were baseless."
"You're sure?" She demanded, and he smirked slightly.
"Do you know who my ward is Madam Bones?"
"No...I didn't even know you had one," and she should have known with how often her department dealt with Ted.
"Harry Potter. For the first attack he was alone in the dorm as he refuses to feast and celebrate the fa t his parents were brutally murdered. The Fat Lady confirmed he never left but that wasn't enough to stop the rumours. For the second attack he was sedated in the hospital wing after the fraud Lockhart vanished the bones in his arm. He ended up giving a legal affidavit and I left it in the great hall when Lockhart was arrested, I also threatened those spreading rumours and out right attacking him with legal action," Ted quickly explained, knowing they had little time if they wanted to find the girl.
"I see," she wanted to ask if Susan was on that list but surely her niece had more sense than to attack another Heir?
"Even if a creature is responsible there must be a human or near-human involved for the message to have been written." Kingsley interjected.
"Agreed," Amelia stood and put on her own armour. "We will use my Floo, I will try to contact Minerva to gain entrance via her office. Otherwise we will Floo to the Three Broomsticks and fly from there."
"Yes ma'am." He left to gather his team.
"Ted..."
"I'm coming, if only to pull Harry out for safety."
"You'll bring Susan as well and return to my office." She could at least keep two students safe.
"Agreed," she didn't even have to ask, Ted would be pulling all the kids out if he had the authority. A knock sounded, and Arthur stared at them in bewilderment.
"I was summoned?"
"Sit down Arthur, please," she answered as Ted stood, giving up his seat to the man.
"What had happened?" Arthur asked, fear growing so the two quickly explained and then Amelia gave him some Firewhiskey for his nerves. "I need to call Molly and then I will meet you at the school," he told them as he ran for the door, fear lending him speed as he rushed to his office to call his wife and tell her their only daughter was missing. What would they do if something happened to Ginny?
Amelia activated the Floo and called for Minerva who thankfully had returned briefly to her office. She was shocked but allowed the team plus Amelia and Ted through. "Albus didn't tell me he called you."
"He didn't. Barrister Tonks informed me of the missing Miss Weasley thanks to a message from Mr. Potter."
"Miss Weasley?" Minerva gasped, and Amelia frowned.
"Didn't you know?" she demanded, how could Minerva not know one of her cubs was missing?
"There is a message, but we haven't found out who, other than female," she quickly explained. Ginny Weasley, one of hers, was missing? Surely her brothers would have been watching out for her.
"If you had checked on your House you would know," there was definite censure in Amelia's voice and Minerva bristled but then deflated, she knew she had not done what she should have.
"Albus sealed the common rooms to keep the children safe."
"Show us this message," Amelia ordered. "Ted, retrieve Mr. Potter and Susan and take them through to the Ministry, actually you have my permission to take Susan to your home."
"Thank you," Ted nodded and then looked to Minerva who gave him the override for those two common rooms. He left the office swiftly, needing to find the boy who had become dear to his family.
~~
"Guys, we need a teacher!" Harry yelled after the four Weasley boys as they hurried through the halls. Why hadn't the common room remained sealed? Heck, why hadn't Prefect Percy done something far more sensible like call a teacher rather than run off? They had no idea where Ginny was, the twins said something about her not being on a map. Even if they found her, they had no clue what or who was behind the attacks or how to stop them. This was worse than last year!
"Harry!" the familiar voice had him stop, relieved.
"Ted!" He ran to his guardian who hugged him, still a novelty for the boy, and he pressed into the hold, feeling safe finally.
"How are you out of the common room?" the Barrister demanded, warily looking around, wand out.
"It was open. Ron and his brothers wouldn't wait for help to come, they ran off and I followed to try and get them to find a teacher...they went that way." He pointed and watched in awe as Ted raised his wand and a silvery bird emerged before speeding off.
"I've alerted the Auror team I arrived with. Come, I'm taking you and Susan Bones home for safety. We need to get your trunk," Ted urged him back towards the dorm.
"Why only us?"
"Because I can legally take you as my ward, and Susan's Aunt is here and gave me permission to take her," he explained as they reached the portrait and Harry gave the password. The students shifted at their entrance. "I do not know why your tower has been unsealed but please remain inside. An Auror response team as well as Madam Bones are in the castle, searching for the attacker and Miss Weasley. I suggest you all pack as if they cannot find them the next step will be to close the school." Harry came back with his trunk and Ted shrunk it, putting it in his pocket. "Move quickly and quietly, understand? Wand out too," he ordered, and Harry nodded, scared but not willing to show it.
They quickly walked through the halls, heading down to reach the Hufflepuff dorm, the Castle eerily silent around them. Not even the ghosts were around which was really strange. Ted tapped out the correct code on the barrels and then tapped again, override code he had been given. The barrel opened, and they entered, walking up the sloping, earthy passage and into the cozy, low-ceilinged room. Harry looked around curiously as the students stared in shock.
"Susan Bones," Ted called, and the girl stood. "Pack your trunk. Your Aunt has asked me to take you to my home while she deals with the issues here." Ted then gave the password Amelia had given him and Susan ran up to the girls' dorm to pack. Ted shrunk her trunk and pocketed it as well. "We are returning to Professor McGonagall's office to use the Floo. Wand out and be on guard. We will walk as quickly as possible."
"Yes Sir," she answered nervously, glancing to her best friend, Hannah. Then the three left, hurrying through the halls.
Ted frowned when he saw Harry absently rub his scar with his free hand. "Pain?"
"A little," Harry admitted nervously. He'd told them of last year's pain and Andromeda was looking into it and possible ways to remove the scar. Being in pain now was not an encouraging sign.
They entered the long, main hallway leading to the staircases and Ted shifted his grip on his wand as he saw an older student standing at the base of the stairs. "Return to your common room," Ted ordered firmly, and the boy turned to look at them, smirking as he saw Harry who gasped in pain and Susan steadied him, terrified.
"Harry Potter, at last we meet," the teen called, and they saw the wand held loosely in his hand. Suddenly he moved, a curse leaving his wand and Ted rushed to shield but he wasn't used to combat and the curse hit him, tossing him aside as Susan screamed.
"Run!" Harry pushed her down a side corridor and she stumbled but started running. "Get help!" he then turned to face the stranger...but he had the sinking feeling he knew who it was. "Who are you?"
The teen smirked, "Can't you guess Harry?"
"But how...you're just a kid," he spluttered in denial, this boy was nothing like the deformed face he'd seen before.
"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years until little Ginny came along. She's been in so much pain, poor Ginny. She's been writing to me for months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes. Ginny poured her soul out to me. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful enough to start feeding Ginny a few secrets, to start pouring a bit of my soul back into her..." he smirked as Harry's eyes widened in horror. "Yes, Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."
"No...she couldn't – she wouldn't." He had to stall for time. He knelt down and checked for a pulse, relieved Ted was alive.
"It was Ginny who set the Basilisk on the Mudbloods and the Squib's cat. Ginny who wrote threatening messages on the walls."
"But...why..."
"Because I told her to. You'll find that I can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her, and she tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom. But I would not let her go so easily and she returned to retrieve me. She told me so many things, especially about you Harry Potter and I so wanted to meet you."
"And why did you want to meet me?" Harry snarled angrily.
"Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. I have so many questions for you," the teen stalked him, and Harry held his ground, protecting the unconscious Ted while praying the Aurors arrived soon. "How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" he demanded.
Harry was positive who he was now, but he had to keep him talking, even if it did make him seem a little slow. "Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort's gone."
"Voldemort is my past, present and future." He traced the wand through the air, writing three words; "TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE." Then, with a wave, he rearranged them: "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT."
"You. You're the heir of Slytherin. You're Voldemort?" What was taking them so long?
"Surely you didn't think I would keep my filthy Muggle father's name? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world."
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Saying that felt bad but he had to buy time, the longer Tom talked the linger they had to come save them. "Where's Ginny?"
"Dear Ginny...why, her body will lie in the Chamber forever," Tom laughed coldly, and Harry fought the urge to shiver.
"You're lying, there is no Chamber, just you," he snarled, letting rage fill him.
"Slytherin's Chamber exists, where else do you think his great basilisk lives? It's rather handy that the tunnel system for the Chamber was merged into the plumbing when it was put in. Sad that it means the entrance is now in a girl's toilet but what can you do?" He smirked, seeing the boy's anger.
Girl's toilet? Mrs. Norris, the flooded bathroom, that was where the entrance was. He wasn't sure what a basilisk was, but he doubted it was something cute and cuddly. He just needed to get that information to the Aurors.
"And now for your end, I have wasted enough time with you boy." Tom moved towards him and Harry hesitated before running at him, surprising the older teen. He went to cast but Harry dodged and then slammed into him at full speed, sending them sprawling on the ground, wands clattering away.
"You should have stayed a memory!" Harry snarled and then he touched Tom's bare skin and prayed it worked. For a second there was nothing and then he heard the sizzle of flesh and Tom screamed.
Amelia, Kingsley, and Arthur burst into the corridor to see Ted down and unmoving while a boy in outdated Slytherin robes wrestled with Harry Potter on the floor, two wands lying nearby. They heard the older boy scream and watched as his flesh burnt away where Harry touched him.
"I didn't defeat Voldemort, my Mum did. You couldn't touch me when you were stuck in Quirrell, and you can't touch me now because of her!" Harry shouted.
Amelia gasped at his words...this was Voldemort? She made sure to take in everything of his features, maybe now they could figure out who he had been before taking that name, Kingsley raised his wand and cast at the writhing figure even as Harry pulled away, the redactor hitting him in the throat even as his skin continued to disintegrate from Harry's touch.
Harry scrambled back to Ted, shaking his arm gently. "Help him!"
"It's alright Mr. Potter," Amelia knelt down, leaving Voldemort's dying body to Kingsley as she began scanning Ted.
"He hit him with a curse and he just went down. Did Susan find you?"
"She's locked in with Professor McGonagall. That was a very brave thing you did, staying back, but it was also highly dangerous."
"I know," he glance back and shuddered as the body finished disintegrating. "I couldn't just leave Ted and...well last year's trouble was Voldemort, so I figured he was behind this too and I knew if he touched me, Mum's protection would..." he shrugged, and she nodded.
"Harry, did he say anything about Ginny?" Arthur asked as gently as he could, the poor boy had been through an ordeal but his daughter...
"He told me where the entrance to the Chamber is but...I think she..." Harry couldn't look at Mr. Weasley or say what Tom had told him.
"It's alright Mr. Potter. We'll get Ted to the hospital wing before anything else," she soothed, he had been very brave, but he was only twelve. Tough she would like to know what he meant about last year. "Kingsley, secure the scene."
"Yes ma'am."
"Come along Mr. Potter." She levitated Ted while Arthur supported an exhausted Harry, and they went to the hospital wing where Poppy was surprised to see them, but she quickly went to work.
"He'll be okay, won't he?" Harry asked, and the Matron looked up to smile kindly.
"Yes, Mr. Potter." And then she saw his hands. "Burn cream is on the third shelf Madam Bones, I trust you know how to apply it?"
"Of course." Amelia gathered supplies and then as gently as possible wrapped Harry's hands. She spun, wand raised, Arthur mirroring her, as the doors slammed open to admit Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy.
"This is a hospital!" Poppy snapped at them and Lucius actually stepped back slightly.
"Well done Harry," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly, and everyone awake stared at him.
"Sir?"
"Why, slaying Slytherin's monster and saving Miss Weasley. How is she Poppy? I understand you must be relieved to have your daughter back safely Arthur."
"I don't know where you got your information Albus, but you are incorrect. Harry did destroy something that called itself Lord Voldemort in the main hall but not before getting it to tell him where the Chamber entrance is. Ted was cursed in the altercation and it is he Poppy is tending to. As for Miss Weasley, as far as we know she is still in the Chamber and it has been suggested that she is deceased." Amelia glared at the two men, even as Arthur paled at the words, he had guessed what Harry had tried to say but to hear it actually said was even worse.
Albus was shocked. How was this possible? Harry was meant to have found the Chamber and saved the youngest Weasley, tying them together so that they would marry, or Harry would at least get her pregnant, before he had to die, ensuring the Potter line would continue. "Why did you not go after her?" he glared at Harry who shrank back slightly but then a familiar hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to find Ted awake.
"Ted!" he hugged his guardian tightly and Ted held on just as tight.
"Are you saying that my ward should have disregarded all self-preservation and common sense and tried to find Miss Weasley himself? Instead he informed both you and me and left it to the adults as he should have. What have you been doing to find her while we were fighting for our lives?"
"Enough! Mr. Tonks please lie down, I shall summon your wife and discuss whether you shall remain here overnight or if she can care for you at home. Gentlemen this is a hospital, please remember that. Headmaster, Mr. Malfoy, please leave, now." Poppy demanded, wand in hand and Amelia held her own, ready to back the Matron up.
"I suggest you find the other Weasley children as Harry said they ran off to look for their sister when the common room mysteriously unsealed," Ted offered tiredly. The two men stormed off and Harry relaxed as Amelia finished up with his hands.
"Do you feel up to showing me where Voldemort said the entrance is Mr. Potter?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Amelia..."
"If there is a chance she is still alive Poppy, we have to act."
"Very well," she went to her desk and handed over a satchel. "I trust you remember how to use a battle medical kit."
Amelia smirked, "it hasn't been that long. Come along Mr. Potter. Arthur..."
"I'm coming," he stated firmly, he had to know, had to see for himself what his poor baby had suffered. And there was still the slim hope that she lived.
They left the hospital wing and Harry led them to the second floor and into the bathroom. "It's in here somewhere," he told her, and she sent her Patronus for the rest of the team who weren't keeping the crime scene secure. They soon arrived and began a thorough examination of the room.
"Hello."
Harry jumped but then turned to see the ghost of a girl a few years older than him. "Uh, hi."
"What are they doing?" She asked as she floated beside him.
"Looking for the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, we think a girl is down there."
"Red hair? She's been in and out all year, hissing at the taps just like he did."
"He? Oh, I'm Harry, what's your name?" he didn't notice the search had stopped as they all listened.
"Myrtle, everyone calls me Moaning Myrtle though."
"That's not nice."
"Thank you, you're very nice Harry. No one ever comes in here to talk to me." She smiled at him and Harry fought the urge to back away.
"Why do you stay here?" He asked curiously, and she smiled, hovering closer.
"Because I died here."
Harry blinked and then glance at Amelia who was frowning. "Can I ask...how did you die?"
She gave a coy smile and floated around him. "Oooooh, it was dreadful. It happened right here. In this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in."
"Who was it, Myrtle?"
"I don't know! I was distraught! But they said something funny. A kind of made-up language. And I realized it was a boy speaking. So, I unlocked the door, to tell him to go away, and...I died."
"Just like that? How?" Harry asked, eyes wide in shock.
"No idea. I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. Over there..." she pointed at the bank of sinks and the Aurors converged on it, examining everything.
"Here!" Doyle pointed and they all moved to see a tiny snake etched onto one of the copper taps.
They began talking about how to open it, but Harry just stared at the snake and blinked when it seemed to move slightly. 'Open?' he tried and they all jumped back as the sinks began to shift and move, revealing a large open pipe.
"Merlin's beard! That was Parseltongue!" Rose Horton gasped, moving away from the boy.
"What's that?" Harry looked at her in confusion.
"Have you ever spoken with a snake before Harry?" Amelia asked, and he frowned.
"Sort of? Because I came to Hogwarts, there was this snake in the zoo, it acted like it could understand me. I uh...accidentally put my cousin in the enclosure and let the snake out and it said thanks as it slithered off...can't all wizards talk to snakes?"
"No Harry, it is a very rare ability. In Britain, generally only descendants of Salazar Slytherin can speak it."
"Oh...does that mean I'm related to Voldemort?" Harry grimaced, and she patted his shoulder.
"Possibly but I would guess distantly." She then looked at the team who were scanning the pipe. "Anything?"
"No traps we can detect."
"Very well. Harry, I hate to ask this but there may be more pass worded doors down there. I want you to remain in the middle of the group for safety. Let us adults handle this."
"Of course, I'll help. Bill helped me get away from the Dursleys, I can't leave his sister down there." Ron might not have been a good friend this year, but he wouldn't abandon her because of that. Arthur squeezed his shoulder in thanks and moved into the pipe.
~~
It was a filthy and defeated group who returned to the hospital wing where the whole Weasley family now waited along with Andromeda and Ted. Molly screamed in horror as she saw the limp bundle in her husband's arms and Arthur gently laid his baby girl on the bed before moving to embrace his wife as she sobbed in pain and grief.
"This is all your fault!" Ron snarled, lunging for Harry but was grabbed by Bill who nodded sadly to Harry in greeting.
"Sit down Ron," Bill snapped, unable to believe his brothers behavior.
"But..."
"Ginny was not Harry's responsibility. Her safety was up to the staff and after that her brothers. Harry had never even met her before this year and is a second-year student," Bill told his youngest brother who wilted under his disapproval. Bill had always been there for his siblings while at school and he had expected Percy to follow in his footsteps, even the twins were old enough to have done so and yet they had not seen anything amiss with their sister.
"Amelia, if you don't need Harry or Ted right now, I'd like to get them both home," Andromeda murmured to the other witch who nodded.
"Of course. I'll stop by tomorrow with a scribe to take their formal statements."
Andromeda gathered her husband and ward and quickly took them through the Floo to their home, sending Harry straight to bed and he didn't complain.
~~
A roar rose up from the jungle, deafening, and startling the birds. The trees shook as something very, very large ploughed through them and into a clearing. Everyone gathered in the little clearing turned in the direction of the sound as it burst through the trees. The bulldozer dropped its scoop and pushed forward into the back end of a crate, shoving it across the jungle floor towards an impressive fenced structure that towered over an enclosed section of thick jungle. There was a guard tower at every visible corner, all looking into the pen. The bulldozer pushed forward into the back end and the crate thudded to the ground. A door slid open in the pen, making a space as big as the end of the crate. Nobody moved for a second, and then Robert Muldoon waved them forward.
"Alright now, pusher move in. I want tasers on full charge! Loading team move it," he ordered, and the team moved in to push the crate, but it moved as the creature within snapped and growled, giving small glimpses through the narrow gaps in the crate. It jolted, and they backed away, scared. "Alright, steady. Get back in there now, push. Get back in there, don't let her know you're afraid!" he kept calm, knowing it would help them remain calm to see him in control.
The men went back to the crate and began to push it into the slot. Finally, the crate thudded up against the opening and a green light on the side of the pen lit up, showing contact had been correctly made. The men went on high alert, weapons ready as they kept an eye on the jungle and the crate. Just because it was meant to be safe didn't necessarily mean it was.
"Well locked," Muldoon praised. "Loading team, step away. Gate keeper! Joffrey, raise the gate."
Joffrey climbed to the top of the crate as the search lights were trained on the door. The men in the clearing threw the bolts on their rifles and cracked their stun guns, sending arcs or current crackling through the air. Joffrey took a deep breath and grabbed the gate, starting to raise it, when a roar sounded inside the crate as the animal within slammed into the back of the crate, knocking it back and out of alignment, the green light flashing red now. Joffrey slammed into the jungle floor as the crate jerked further away from the mouth of the holding pen and alarms began to sound. A claw lashed out from within the crate, sinking into his ankle, dragging him in and he screamed in terror, hands scrambling at the leaf covered ground, trying to find purchase.
Muldoon threw himself at Joffrey, grabbing onto him and wedging himself against the wall to keep from being dragged in as well. "SHOOT HER! SHOOT HER!" he screamed at the men as they converged on the crate with tasers and guns, shooting blind into the crate. "Tasers get in there, goddamn it!" he fought to hold on as the terrified Joffrey slowly slipped through his arms even as the crate flashed blue with electrical current. Muldoon fell forward at the sudden lack of resistance and scrambled up to look into the crate, Joffrey was gone. The clearing fell silent as the men stared in shock and horror before Muldoon got them moving to push the crate back into place, if she got loose, they were all dead.
~~
Hogwarts was closed and there was a massive investigation into everything that had happened over the last few years. The petrification of muggleborn and half-blood students hadn't rated an investigation, but the death of the only daughter of a pureblood family, even one considered to be blood traitors, did. Harry was just glad that the students had been revived thanks to the Mandrakes and were all alright.
The Tonks family and the Grangers sat together at the table in the Tonks home as Ted explained everything that had been happening. Dan and Emma weren't happy about how much their daughter had neglected to tell them, but they were incensed that the school hadn't contacted them when she was petrified. After hours of discussion they were agreed, the two families were leaving Britain. There were other magical schools in the world and with the Potter fortune ever growing Harry could always afford tutors for them if necessary. Hermione wasn't happy since Hogwarts was meant to be the best, but her parents stood firm, she had almost died more than once in only her first year, let alone this one.
With Harry's invite to Hammond's wildlife park in the next few days, the Tonks' had decided to relocate to America, at least for now. As neither parent was interested, Nymphadora would accompany Harry to the park. The grangers would join them once they had sold their house and practice. They told only Amelia who understood completely and did everything she could to keep the move from attention.