Third POV

Harrys first week of school had been relatively terrible. Lockhart had been a perverted nuisance. He had been staring at students, boy or girl, for far too long to be strictly a passing glance. He had talked to as many students as he could and told them to inform him of anyone who the man stared at for too long. He had given out over half his stock of bracelets and was considering to send a letter to the man at the shop in Knockturn for more. His own lesson had been uninformative and, to be frank, it was pathetic. The man had no skill in magic and couldn't cast a simple Immobulous spell. Harry had used his new found wandless magic to freeze all the creatures and put them back in their cage, while glaring at the man. He swept out of the room, hand in hand with Draco, and was disgusted to feel the mans gaze linger on his form as he disappeared.

All his other classes that he had had so far were perfectly fine, in workload and content, but no one could shake the tension in the air whenever DADA or Lockhart was mentioned. The only thing that Harrys group of friends really looked forward to was the dueling club. Mostly because everyone wanted to watch Severus kick Lockhart dead off his feet, although if he actually killed him Harry was sure no one would complain.

Luna had inserted herself into the group with ease and everyone loved her. She became the sister Harry had always wanted but never had, and she constantly visited during the week to talk and visit his creatures. He confessed to Draco that he would probably bring her down to the chamber to see Venenuma. Draco had laughed but agreed.

The group had also agreed to include Luna in their Animagus plans. Most of the group had thought, for some reason, that she would be magical raven. Harry didn't agree and told her she would be a demiguise. She had gasped loudly and started giggling like crazy before planting a kiss on his cheek and running off. Draco had pouted at that, though he would never admit to it, but was smiling again when Harry had told him that Draco would be the blonde in his romance life. before he had realized that Harry had only said blonde. The group had all laughed while Harry kissed him in apology and said that he was joking.

The whole school was jittery with anticipation of the upcoming scheduled session of the dueling club. From what was going around, Severus and Lockhart would demonstrate first before picking students to show what they can do. Harry was excited to actually learn something useful in DADA other then from his books, though he was grateful for those.

Harry woke up extra early on Saturday and woke Draco to do his hair after he had dressed. Once done the pair had walked into the common room to see Pansy and Luna sitting on the couch near the fire, talking merrily.

"Hey guys," The two looked up and smiled at the boys before turning back to their conversation. Harry blinked and shrugged. Soon, Blaise and Theo came down and the whole snake group was ready to go. Well, almost.

"Why can't I go?" Luna was hanging over the couch whining pitifully. Harry sighed and looked at her.

"Because your a first year, Moons," Harry kneeled down next to her. "And besides I don'y want you anywhere near Lockhart if you don't have to." Luna looked at him with a pout and struggled to contain a grin when Pansy spoke up from the other side of the couch.

"Oh what, and you want me to be?" Harry looked up with a expressionless face.

"No, but you're too stubborn to listen to me." Pansy frowned before she shrugged. Luna still whined when Harry got up to leave so Harry made a quick decision. "Why don't you go into my rooms and play with the bowtruckles? I'll send my snakes up if I see them." Luna bit her lip before she sighed and nodded. She disappeared into the second year dorms. Harry turned around and frowned. "I feel bad." Draco just grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the common room.

"You're protecting her, its okay to protect her." Harry nodded and kept an eye out for his treasured snakes. He caught sight of them as they reached the second floor.

~Anguis! Nigrum!~ the snake stopped where they were and waited for their master to reach them. ~Hey guys, are you busy?~

~No Master Harry~

~We were just going to go and wander in the forest.~ Harry nodded and kneeled down to them.

~Can you guys do me a favor and go down to my room and cheer up the blonde girl who is in there? She could really use it.~ They gave an equivalent to a nod before turning in the opposite direction.

~Of course Master Harry.~

~Anything for Master Harry.~ Harry smiled and watched them head back to the dungeons. He stood back and fell in step with Draco as the group started to move again. They reached the room where the session was being held and saw the twins and Neville waiting outside the door for them.

"Hey guys," Harry and the group waved as they came to a stop in front of the other three.

"Hey Nev, Fred, George. You guys ready?" They nodded and Harry pushed the door open and strode in with everyone following behind him. Harry looked around and noticed that, though the room was crowded. Mostly the older years were here. Weasel was here with his cronies and a couple of other Gryffindors. There was mostly Slytherins and Ravenclaws, and Harry could only see one or two Hufflepuffs.

Harry sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, scanning the room for Severus and Lockhart. He spotted Severus on the right side of the dueling stage. He caught the mans eyes, smiled and waved. He only received a nod in response, but considering they were in the vision of other students, he took it as a wave back. He looked at the other end of the room and his face hardened when he saw Lockhart on the other end of the stage, looking right at him. He narrowed his eyes and turned away.

Soon, Lockhart gathered the attention of the room when he was sure no one else was coming.

"Welcome," he smiled at the room. "To the official Dueling club!" There was a scattered applause. He walked to the halfway point of the stage and continued to talk. "As I am sure there are rumors going around about what is to occur today, let me tell you what it truly going on. My self and Professor Snape will be conducting a sample duel, and then each of us will choose a student to Duel the other," Gasps were heard and whispers started. "That is correct, two of you will be able to duel your professors. But do not be disheartened if you are to lose. We will teach you to get better."

Harry looked at Draco with wide eyes, the blonde stared right back at him and gripped his shoulder, grinning. He looked towards Severus who was already smirking at him. He saw the man give a minute nod and he nearly jumped with joy. He put up a blank mask as he saw Lockhart go back to his original place. The man instructed those who didn't know how to duel and when he began the demonstration, he had the audacity to insult Severus! Harry surged forward but a glance from Severus and an arm around his waist kept him in place.

The duel was pathetic, on Lockharts part of course. Severus cast on spell and literally blew the man of his feet and across the stage. Harry had clapped and laughed, along with the rest of the room. Lockhart stood back up and gave a pained smile to Severus.

"Wonderful example and I believe that I will choose the student you will duel, is that correct Severus?" Severus gave him a blank look and went back to the starting place. "Well then, let's see here. Who would like to duel Professor Snape?" He looked around the room and seemed to stop on a few students before his gaze landed on a certain Gryffindor. "Ronald Weasley," The ginger looked up and blinked before making his way to the stage. He pulled out his wand and the whole room blinked before laughing. His wand was broken! It was held together by what looked like tape.

Severus dropped his head into his hand as his composure broke. The whole room was sent into a new fit of laughter as they saw their once ice cold potions master, laughing. Harry and Draco were in tears, Neville and the twins were leaning on each other to keep from collapsing, Blaise ha d already collapsed, Pansy was banging her head on Theo's shoulder and Theo himself was breathing sharply through his nose, attempting to keep his mask in place. Ron was red in the face and close to tears. Harry almost felt bad for him when he tore out of the room, almost.

Gilderoy sputtered out Nevilles name as his next 'champion' and said boy walked up the stairs onto the stage. He was breathing deeply through his nose, in attempt to calm down, and his hand was shaking as he rose his wand in the air. The duel started but Neville wasn't calmed down enough to properly duel, so after a few strong jinxes from him, he lost his wand and the duel was over. He walked towards Severus, who gave him his wand and a light clap on the shoulder, and jumped of the stage, completely forgoing the stairs. He walked straight to Fred and George and was accepted into their arms with shaking shoulders and suppressed smiles.

"I believe it is time for me to choose my champion, is it not?" Gilderoy nodded his head as he ascended the stairs to the stage. Severus looked straight at Harry and beckoned him over with an outstretch of his arm. Harry smirked and gracefully walked to his head of house. Severus placed a hand on the back of his head once Harry had reached him and turned to Lockhart. "I choose Harry Potter." Harry smiled innocently at the other professor though Severus' next whispered words tuned it into a evil smirk. "Give him hell, Harry."

"With pleasure, sir," Harry whispered back. Severus walked to the bottom of the stairs and waited for Harry to get in position before starting the countdown. Harry waited until Lockhart had released a spell before he unleashed a fury of his own. He didn't stop, didn't relent and didn't give the other man much of a chance. Harry paused to move the hair out of his eyes, which reminded him he needed to get it cut because even with Draco it was too long to keep out of his eyes, and gave Lockhart a chance to gasp out a spell.

"Serpentorsia!" Harry froze and watched with wide eyes as a cobra sprung from the others wand and landed a few feet in front of him. Lockhart gave a tired triumphant grin and went to speak but was interrupted by Harrys laugh.

"You really don't know anything do you?" Harry shook his head and slowly kneeled in front of the snake, outstretching his arm.

~Hey there, beautiful~ Harry hissed soothingly to the tense cobra. It reared up and opened its jaws wide. ~Hey, hey woah. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I know a nice girl who would love you as a companion. Do you want to come with me?~ The snake flickered her tongue in the air and relaxed.

~You are not lying, speaker. I will go with you.~ Harry grinned and moved closer for her to climb onto his shoulders. Harry stood back up and looked at Lockharts baffled expression.

"I'm a Parselmouth. Accio wand!" Lockharts wand soared into is hand as he turned and jumped off the stage, right in front of Severus. He grinned and hand the others wand to the man and accepted the slight ruffle of his hair with a laugh. He went back to Draco who wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed his cheek, wary of the new addition. Severus stepped back onto the stage and handed the still dumbfounded man his wand before turning to the rest of the class.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed that. Next time we will go through student on student duels. You are all dismissed." Everyone walked out and Severus gave a nod of acknowledgement to his eight favorite students. Harry sighed as he walked out of the room.

"Well that was fun." Draco scoffed.

"Fun? You get to freely curse that bastard and it was only fun? It was bloody amazing to me and I wasn't even on stage." The others made sounds of agreement and Harry laughed.

"Ok," He conceded. "I guess it was a bit more than fun." They walked down from the fourth floor to the dungeons, and yes, Neville, Fred and George were going with them. Theo glanced at the snake on his shoulders.

"Why did you keep the snake?" Harry looked at his new found friend.

"I thought she would be good for Luna, as a pet and a guardian." Theo nodded and the group walked in silence all the way until they got into the Slytherin common room. "I'm going to go see if Luna's in our dorm." The group nodded and sat down in front of the fireplace. Harry walked up to his room and saw Luna sitting on Harry's unused bed with on of the creatures from Harry's aquarium in her hand. He smiled and knocked on the door jam. She looked up and smiled.

"Hello Snake," He smiled and walked in to sit down next to her.

"Why do you insist on calling me that?" Luna blinked and stared pointedly at the cobra draped over him. "Oh, well, I guess, but this isn't mine."

"Who's snake is it then?" Harry smiled and picked up the cobra from his shoulders to set it on Luna's.

"Its yours." Luna gasped and gave Harry the small creature in her hands in favor of stroking the cobras scales.

"Really?" Harry nodded and got up to place the creature back into its place in its glass home. "What am I going to name- Wait. Is it a girl of boy?"

"Girl. As for a name, what about Estrella? It means star in Spanish and your name means moon in Spanish so, you guys can be the moon and stars." Luna smiled and wrapped her arms around Harry.

"Thank you Harry," Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around her, reciprocating the hug.

A week later

Harry sat on the floor of the chamber, quill, ink and diary in front of him and Venenuma behind him watching over his shoulder. He had finally found some free time to escape and had used it to come to the chamber and start his mind magic lessons.

So how does this work? Do I touch the diary or does it automatically suck me in?

A bit of both, it requires the touch of someone so it can recognize the magical signature later and call the signature directly into the setting I create.

Oh ok, do I need to bring anything?

Just you and your wand.

Ok I'm ready then.

Very well, just a moment.

Harry waited and looked at the diary as he set the quill down on the chamber floor and grabbed his wand tightly. He looked back at Venenuma and smiled.

~I'll be back soon, so don't worry about me.~ The large snake surged forward and bumped him with her large snout.

~Ok hatchling. I'll see you later when your done visiting Master.~ Harry was about to ask her what she meant but he felt a warm magic wrap around him and the chamber disappeared. He looked around and noticed the immaculate detail of the room. There were two chairs sitting at angle towards the fire with a small table between them. The floor was a soft and a deep green. The walls had and immaculate design with green and gold. There was no windows, but instead was tall bookshelves stuffed with books. There was a mahogany door with a silver handle, but Harry suspected it led to a black abyss.

"I must say, I expected you to arrive on you feet." Harry's head snapped towards the velvety voice coming from the chair facing away from him. He stood up and made his way over.

"Yeah well I was sitting on the floor already so," Harry looked at the figure seated in the chair and literally fell back in shock. The man was the exact man he had seen in the mirror when this whole mind magic thing started. He had the same pale skin, chocolate brown hair and crimson eyes. The only real difference was that this seemed to be a younger version of him, well that and now he had a voice to pair with the image. He watched as the face before him became scrunched with concern. Marvolo stood up and came to kneel next to him.

"Are you alright, little raven?" Harry sat all the way up and looked into crimson eyes.

"Um, yeah. I think so." Marvolo nodded, though still slightly concerned, and helped Harry stand up. Harry sat down in the second armchair and watched in utter confusion as Marvolo sat down in the other. What did this have to do with the mirror? No, better question, what did this have to do with Harry? No, wait, even better question, what did Venenuma have to do with this? "I just have a snake to talk to."

"A snake?" Marvolo sat forward and looked at Harry intensely. "You can speak to snakes?" Harry nodded slowly. Marvolo sighed in exasperation. "Well, this changes everything."

"How so?" The man sat straight, crossed one leg over the other, and folded his hands neatly in his lap. Harry would soon identify this as Marvolo's 'lecture pose'.

"Well, if one is a Parselmouth, then they automatically acquire Parsel magic and can become a Parselmage. Parsel magic is significantly stronger and harder to counter since it is a rarer branch of magic. With it, for our case, we can create Parsel ward or shields in your mind, which would be stronger then your average wizards shields." Harry nodded in understanding and moved around in his armchair to get more comfortable, since he had a feeling he might be here a while. "But what snake did you have to talk to? If you don't mind me asking."

"I need to talk to Venenuma, a Basilisk friend of mine." Marvolo blinked in shock and just stared into space for a moment before speaking to Harry.

"She's alive?" He asked breathlessly.

"Yes she's alive. But wait hold on you know her?" Marvolo nodded his head vehemently.

"She was mine." He said. Harry froze and looked at Marvolo in fear and confusion. "I discovered the Chamber of Secrets in my fifth year and I found her down there all by herself. She had just hatched and her mother had died down there." Harry stared and didn't say anything. He felt his eyes burn in frustration and confusion. He wasn't able to stop the tear that fell and he saw Marvolo look at him and freeze up. "Little raven? Harry? Hey what's wrong?" Harry couldn't respond and he felt himself shaking. Why was he crying? Why couldn't he get himself under control? Harry couldn't answer these questions. Not even when he felt Marvolo come up next to him. Not when he felt himself grip onto the other mans shirt and bury himself in their chest. Not when he felt the other freeze before hesitantly wrapping their arms around him. Not when he felt tears soak into the others shirt either.

"I don't understand," Harry was practically sobbing now and he was struggling to breathe. "I don't-I-I," Harry felt himself hyperventilating. Marvolo's eyes widened and he pulled back to look Harry in the eye.

"Hey, Harry. I need you to calm down okay? Can you do that?" He watched as Harry struggled to calm down. When he saw that Harry wasn't going to be able to calm down, he racked his brain and came up with the only fast acting solution that he had on him. "Let me see. I'm going to look into your mind and I need you to push the memories forward of what's wrong. Can you do that for me little raven?" He placed a hand on the youngers face and lifted it so they could meet eyes. He felt the nod and, with his confirmation, he dove into his ravens mind.