Back To The Start

3.

     Amelia Bones stepped into the great hall, all was quiet. She wore black auror robe that reached her knees, with a pair of blue slacks and dragonhide boots. Her hair was in a tight bun to keep it out of her face. You could hear the distinct sound of Fang barking in Hagrid's hut all the way in here, everyone was so still. The silence lasted for only a few short seconds before chaos reigned. Susan was asking why she was there, as were most of the students and staff. Dumbledore looked worried, as he should.

     I knew that the goblins didn't have trouble with the housing they set up for me or mine. What was really happening, was Silver Fang going over evidence about Dumbledore and the Dursley's situation with Madame Bones. I honestly thought I would have to stall for another 30 minutes at least before they got here. She was just here to arrest the bastard. She would just love the news I was gonna lay on her now.

     "ENOUGH!" Her voice boomed, effectively shutting everyone up. Most of the students even sat back down.

     "Good evening Madame Bones. I trust you got my file." I stated with an undercurrent of amusement.

     "That I did Mr. Potter. I wish a few words with you later. They've already been collected." Her voice was steel, red hot iron. Her eyes blazed with hatred, nostrils flared, and fists clenched. This is how I pictured her in 'pissed mama bear mode'.

     "Ah, you wouldn't mind me adding to the ever prominent pile, would you?" She sighed and made a 'go on' gesture.

     "Well Snape, here, decided to conduct an illegal invasion of a 'minor's' mind. I didn't give him permission and the entire hall, guests and other, have bore witnesses." Her furious eyes snaped to Snape, who merely growled at me. "My lordship and heirship rings are both telling me that I am technically able to kill him without repercussions, or I could turn him over to you and he could get about a 10,000 Galleon fine as the worst punishment." She nodded and I could see Dumbledore try to gain control of certain peoples attention.

     "Auror Dawlish take Mr. Snape into custody for questioning. As of now Mr. Dumbledore, you are on probation as we investigate you and your dealings with in and outside of Hogwarts. Snape you are charged with invading a mind without consent. Dumbledore you are charged with several counts of child endangerment, in varying degrees. Your dismissed. Save your comments for the court room." She spun on her heel after she finished giving orders, beckoning me to follow.

A/N: There, plot hole fixed. Yes, I'm still alive. Sorry for the wait between chapters. Enjoy.

     I kept ahold of Mia, as my small group followed the head of the DMLE out of the hall. McGonagall ordered the prefects to escort everyone to their common rooms, then the staff followed us out. I decided to bring the staff and Amelia to the chamber, so we could get multiple things done at once. I quickly lead everyone to the entrance, hissed the password, and and asked for stairs. I took the forefront down the steep stairs with my wand lit, the last to reach the bottom was an unknown goblin that looked younger than all the rest.

     I continued on to the second door and warned them that it may smell, as it had been sitting for almost 2 years now. Stating that it 'may smell' was an understatement. It took 10 minutes of strong air freshening charms to be able to see straight. The sight that greeted me was a suprise, however. The snakes corpse was well preserved; so much so, in fact, that it looked like I had killed it only days ago.

     "There is absolutely no way you killed that thing with a sword, Hades." Mia spoke softly, in awe of the giant beast in front of her. Her voice was enough to snap everyone out of their awed state, only to stare at me.

     "That I did love. No one, or thing, hurts you and gets away with it. I may have loved you from the second I layed eyes on you, but when you were in that infirmary bed was the first time I registered how deeply I felt for you." Her eyes were alight with tears.

     Colin broke from the trance he had been in, looking at the beast, and started snapping pictures. Luna took to her notes like a duck to water. She was writing so fast you thought her life depended on the amount she got done. The goblins immediately set to work breaking down the dead snake. Anything that could be used for potions was put in unbreakable jars. The only parts of the Basilisk that I had insisted on keeping for my own use was the skin, the fangs, and up to 5 jars of the venom; the goblins had happily agreed to my terms. The staff helped organize the jars for the goblins, placing them into crates that were provided. Once done, my items were taken to be placed into my vault and the goblins took their leave.

     The staff decided they needed answers, so I lead them deeper into the chamber. The Slytherin ring had informed me of all sorts of useful rooms were down here; such as a bedroom, an office, a library, and a meeting room. I took them to the meeting room, and we got started, Luna looked hard pressed to catch everything. Colin was still snapping pictures, catching anything of interest. It took a full 3 hours before they had finally recounted all of their adventures since they had started at the school, it was safe to say that Luna had many articles now to write and organize.

     The staff lead the way back to Myrtle's bathroom, departing to their chambers immediately. There was more than likely going to be several of them drinking a hangover restorative in the morning. I invited Luna and Colin to share our module. Luna immediately agreed, Colin hesitated for a moment but agreed nonetheless. It only took me guaranteeing that there would be a full room just for him to develope the pictures, which got him really excited, for him to agree at all.

     Once we exited the castle, our eyes were drawn to the large bank vault type door that looked to be slightly floating in mid air. The door didn't look to be attached to anything, so they must have used Wizarding space to make an accommodation for us. There were 2 goblin gaurds standing in ftont of the door, one on either side. We quickly aproached, bowed to the gaurds, and entered. The goblins had out done themselves.

      The entry hall led off into several different rooms. The first room to the left was a den, decked out in a Victorian style. The next room was a private study, then a dueling room, and finally a regular class room. There were a set of stairs directly right of the door, next came the fully stocked kitchen and dinning room, then a large library. At the end of the hall was a potions lab, stocked fully with the best ingredients.

      Going up the stairs they came upon a rather long hall, there was another set of stairs at the end of the hall. The rooms to the right were all bedrooms, along with a few of the ones on the right. There was also a arts room, a gym, another library, a dark room for developing pictures, and 2 other classrooms. The rooms on the 3rd floor were strictly bedrooms, the master was at the end of the hall. The master held all of Harry's things, the one right to the left was Hermione's, the one to the right was Luna's, and colin had the room next to Luna. We all went to our respective rooms and fell into bed, succumbing to the sweet release of sleep.

Word count: 1346