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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, yada yada yada.

Chapter 15

The holidays were over and all the students back. Ron was utterly flabberghasted that no one had been attacked over the break (barring Lockhart, but Ron didn't really care about him). Almost all the students were thrilled at the loss of the Defence teacher, except for a few who were broken-hearted. Dumbledore hadn't had the heart to tell them that he Lockhart was a fake.

Harry, meanwhile, was getting pretty damn impatient. He wanted to fight a basilisk, damnit! Very few people still believed him to be the Heir. He decided to spend a few minutes every day taunting the Heir (by yelling through the school) that Harry could take him. He was really hoping for an attack.

Defence classes were much better, lately. The higher level students (prefects and the like) were teaching the younger ones, and Dumbledore himself was teaching the upper years. At least until he found a replacement. Harry thought this was great because the older students never took attendance. The first years had to show up because Percy Weasley was their teacher, but Harry rarely went.

Draco seemed to be quite a bit smarter than Ron. Ron still hadn't learned not to bother Harry (Harry had by now permanently turned Ron's hair pink and given him a nice pair of boobs). Draco, on the other hand seemed to finally accept the Slytherin motto that a powerful friend is a good friend. He was playing the role of kiss-ass very nicely. When Harry told him that he couldn't possibly forgive Draco until Hermione did, Draco reluctantly swallowed his pride and started kissing Hermione's ass, too. At Harry's suggestion, she was drawing out the act of forgiving Draco, and demanding retrobution, instead. It was, in her words, great fun. Harry considered himself to be a wonderful person for this. He was doing more than anyone else to bridge the gap between the two houses, as well as end the prejudice of muggleborns.

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Finally, Harry was called to the Headmaster's office. When he arrived, Dumbledore was already on his way out. "Come quickly, Harry. The Heir is already in the Chamber, but we will still be able to catch him before he leaves it." Harry didn't wonder why Dumbledore was convinced that it was a male. 'He of all people would know Voldemort's real identity. He probably know's his geneology, too.'

When they arrived at the sink, Dumbledore said, "There, now. Just open the sink, and go back to the Tower." Harry's eyes narrowed, slightly.

"Open." Immediatly, the one hundred and sixty year old man jumped down the hole and slid to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was right behind him.

"Harry! I cannot possibly put you into this much danger! Return to the surface, immediatly!" Harry just looked at him. "I am not joking, young man." Anything else that was to be said was cut off as they heard what was unmistakably the voice of a little girl.

"I'll kill someone this time, I just know it. Then, maybe, I'll somehow trick that arrogent whelp Potter into coming down here." Then Harry and Dumbledore got a good look at Ginny Weasley. Both were shocked, to say the least. Neither seemed as shocked, though, as Ginny herself. Harry heard her say, under her breath, "Damn! I'm not strong enough for this yet!" After that, she promptly fainted. The Headmaster immediatly started heading towards her, but halted as soon as they both heard the sound of something very large sliding towards them.

Dumbledore immediatly errected some sort of ward around his eyes. Harry just closed his. He immediatly called out, "Hello?"

"A Parselmouth? An I thought only those who share the blood of my master could do that. No matter, I can smell that you are not an Heir, so I will just despence of you."

"Um, the Basilisk doesn't seem to follow the rule that it must obey a Parselmouth."

Dumbledore sighed. "No I didn't think it would. It has standing orders from Slytherin. It doesn't have to follow your's. It is why I did not suggest bringing you."

Meanwhile, Harry could feel a powerful magic belting him in the eyelids. Before he even gave it a thought, he started absorbing it. Rather than just appling it to his core, though, he instinctivly knew to just layer it through his eyes. When he was done, he cautiously opened his eyes. He immediatly came face to face with the biggest snake he would ever see. It seemed suprized when he didn't fall over dead.

"Well, human, it seems that I will just have to do this the old fashioned way." And he struck.

Harry immediatly dived out of the way. While he was still rolling, Dumbledore conjured a rooster. However, the basilisk immediatly sensed it, and knocked Dumbledore against the wall with his tail. Fawkes immediatly appeared above his master and started crying on the bleeding headwound. He was still unconscious, but he would live.

Harry applied a flying charm to him self. It was the same one that was used on brooms. He was soaring around the Chamber, trying to not die, while attempting to get the rooster to crow.

"Crow you God-damned piece of poultry! You stupid stuffed feather duster! Crow damnit!" He was firing sparks at it and anything else he could think of, while dodging a great big snake. Finally, he ignored the rooster and started trying to kill the basilisk himself. The problem with that plan was that Basilisks were extremely resistant to magic. Even the killing curse just pissed it off. Harry took to conjuring spikes and aiming at the beast's eyes. The think was just too fast though. Eventually, Fawkes decided that he could do no more for his master and started helping. Within ten minutes, the Basilisk was blind. After that, it wasn't to difficult to bring a portion of the ceiling down on it's head. When Harry was sure that it was dead, he went and checked out Ginny. He could feel the gross magic that he felt before with her. However, instead of flowing through her limbs, as it had been when he first saw her today, it seemed to rest solely in her pocket. 'How odd.'

When he looked, he found a book in her pocket that seemed to be the source. It was a diary, with the name 'Tom Riddle' written in it. Remembering what it felt like to absorb the Basilisk's magic, he did the same to all the magic in this book, merging it with his own core. Once it was dry, there was a faint scream that sounded far away. Harry was sure that the book was dead.

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Later, Harry was sitting in the Headmaster's office. The Weasley's had just left (after a thorough appology, which he only pretended to accept). Harry had been convinced by the Headmaster to wear an illusion over his eyes. Apparently, they now glowed and had slits for pupils. Hermione was sitting next to him, clearly upset at being left out, but equally grateful at no having been made to make the decision to either fight a fifty foot snake that can kill with it's eyes or abandon Harry. Harry was sure that it was time for another heart-to-heart with the Headmaster like the one at the end of last year. Dumbledore was peering sternly at Harry.

"Miss Granger, could you wait outside, please?"

Hermione seemed to think Harry was in trouble. She would have been defending him, but she didn't know why he was in trouble. She would have refused to leave because she want to know what was going on, but she was in no possition to do so. When she had left, Dumbledore sighed.

"Mr. Potter, last year you told me that you didn't know how you had absorbed the Stone. At the time, I believed you. I'm not sure I do, anymore."

'Ah, so that's what this it.' "Sir, I was completely honest when I said that. However, since then, I have looked into it and discovered how to replicate the incedent." Dumbledore seemed molified by that.

He smiled and said, "I believe you. Would you care to explain it to me?" Harry decided to go ahead and tell him about his freaky magic eating. Dumbledore was shocked, but agreed to not tell anyone. People would not want someone who could eat their magic to exist. After a moment, he asked, "I gather that it is during one of these sleepless nights that you learned Occlumency?"

Harry was surprised, but of course, didn't show it. "Occlumency?"

Dumbledore just smiled and said, "You are an excellent Occlumens, Harry, however, Hermione isn't quite as good." Harry raised an eye-brow. Dumbledore added, "Good enough to keep me from learning anything, but not good enough to keep me from suspecting." 'Ah.'

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A while later found Harry and Hernione harvesting parts off of a big dead Basilisk. Several of the really old and powerful potions and rituals from the Restricted section books required them. Most providers bred Basilisks and killed them immediatly after they hatch. Parts from a one thousand year old specimen should be much more potent.

While they were working, Harry was filling Hermione in on what happened. She, of course, had questions. "If you absorbed the Basilisk's killer eye power, can you do it, too?"

That gave Harry something to think about. "Hmm. I hadn't concidered it. I suppose I could, but I'm not sure I want to risk it. It might destroy my weak human eyes."

Hermione nodded. "And how did you apply that flying charm to yourself? I sincerely hope you didn't control the direction and speed with your grip."

When Harry stopped laughing, he replied, "No. The charm works off of the flier's will. The grip and such is just like the wand movements and incantations for spells. For the weak-minded. What I wish I had asked Dumbledore, though, is how he had planned on getting that rooster to crow. I sure as hell couldn't."

Hermione laughed. "He probably would have use the Imperious Curse. It's only illegal to use against humans, you know." Harry immediatly began to plan the fall of the Dark Lord.