Harry Potter:Diamond Heart.

'I understand, Harry,' the old wizard sighed. 'Far worse things have and will be done for the Greater Good, try not to let it burden your conscience, nobody came to harm.'

Harry did his best not to let his anger at the obvious self-justification show. 'I won't, sir,' he managed to reply tonelessly.

Worse things like raising a child to die, he wanted to spit across the desk. Dumbledore was starting to look only a little better than Riddle in his actions towards Harry. They both wanted him dead, one for good intentions, the other for selfish ones, and neither were of great comfort to Harry.

'I'll let you go back to your home, Harry,' the headmaster told him kindly. 'Professor McGonagall and the house elves were unable to locate your things, so I'd remind you not to forget anything and collect your trunk from wherever you have hidden it before you leave.'

He was more right than he realised. Harry was going home, but only very briefly before he returned to the Dursley's.

'Thank you, sir,' Harry replied, picking up his somewhat weighty bag of galleons. 'I hope you have a good summer.'

Harry left the office, leaping down the spiral stairs and out past the gargoyle, before taking off in the direction of the Chamber of Secrets under his disillusionment charm. The founder was likely to be quite unhappy that he hadn't seen Harry in some time.

'Oh,' Salazar enthused with more sarcasm than Harry had yet to endure, 'you are alive. Thank you, sole remaining family member, for being so considerate as to visit and let me know.'

'I was sleeping off my encounter with Riddle,' Harry told him, grinning. He was glad of Slytherin's ire. He knew it meant the senile old portrait cared.

'What happened?' immediately.

The

painting

demanded

'The third task was going to plan. I used fiendfyre once I was far enough into the maze to be unseen, and nobody seems to suspect me for the razing of the hedges, but the other champions were taken out by one of his servants so I could get to to the cup and be abducted. Voldemort was also responsible for my name ending up in the goblet,' Harry explained. 'His followers arranged events so that I ended up with him, using the trophy as a portkey, and he resurrected himself using my blood before I escaped.'

'Your blood?' Salazar asked sharply.

'Yes,' Harry nodded. He'd expected the founder to have some sort of reaction to that.

'The protection of your mother is not lost to you,' the painting decided after a moment of contemplation. 'It is possible that this has formed a bond of sorts between you. He cannot undo the blood magic your parents used, but he has stolen its protection for himself by using your blood in the ritual. He is protected just as you were, though I am unsure of the specifics. He may be protected from your actions, or from the results of his own, I do not know.'

'That is only one of many things I have learned,' Harry informed his ancestor quite gravely. 'There is a prophecy, Riddle mentioned it, and implied that it is at the very least relevant to me.'

'You must find it and learn what it says,' Salazar instructed firmly. 'If Voldemort knows what it is then that may dictate every action he takes against you. We can't afford to be left in the dark.'

'I know nothing about it,' Harry shrugged, 'only that it exists.'

'Find out about it,' Salazar snapped, 'someone must know something. A prophecy cannot be made without a witness.'

'I'll search as soon as I can,' Harry agreed, not having much clue as where to start, 'but I'll be out of contact with the wizarding world until term starts after summer.'

'Why?' Slytherin demanded incredulously.

'That's how it is every summer,' Harry told him helplessly. 'I can apparate here, but going anywhere else will attract suspicion and I don't really want to be attracting any adverse attention with Voldemort back.'

Dumbledore had been right about that much.

'So you can't even use magic for the summer,' the painting said, disgusted. 'This is why I wanted the school to take on Muggle-born students full time, they get left behind and cut of the world that they rightfully should be part of by their own families.'

'Why doesn't it?' Harry immediately regretted asking the question.

'Godric insisted that breaking up those families was wrong, and the others agreed. I could hardly argue against all three of my friends, so I relented.'

'Perhaps you should not have,' Harry mused, remembering Riddle's memories and how he had once believed Hogwarts his home, just as Harry did. He had no doubt that they were both thinking of the same specific part. The Chamber of Secrets had been home to both of them.

'Did you still win?' The portrait seemed rather expectant that he had. Slytherin would never accept anything less than his best from his heir.

'I won,' Harry didn't need to hold back his smile this time, even if it was still tainted by regret.

'Then at least you have proved that girl from the other school wrong,' Salazar nodded, 'I hope you went to speak to her.'

'She's gone back to France,' Harry informed hollowly. The painting stared down at him with slight pity, the founder knew that he had formed an attachment to Fleur Delacour. He'd had nobody else to speak to it about when the Room of Requirement had begun to make it unbearable.

'I take it you are about to leave?' Salazar asked, peering down at him and changing the subject.

'Yes, my aunt and uncle are no doubt already furious with me for being late, but I'll come back when I can.' Uncle Vernon was likely to explode with rage, not only had Harry inconvenienced them, but he was about to use magic to return to their house. Harry was quite looking forward to it.

The founder looked concerned. 'If it becomes unbearable you can just return here through the chamber,' he suggested gently.

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