Harry Potter and the Secret of the Twins

April 2002

The compartments for the Prefects were already fairly full when Harry got there. He noticed that there were no new Slytherin Prefects, though both Ron and Hermione were there.

"Why d'you think that there are so few Slytherins?" he asked his friends after a moment.

"Oh, the number of Prefects is always fluid," said a familiar voice. "There's rarely more than one or two Slytherin Prefects total, and often there are more Gryffindors than any others."

Another familiar voice picked it up, masculine this time, and much more daring than usual. "It has to do with how many are ready for the responsibility in their fifth year, and I'm surprised that there are any Slytherins!"

"Angelina!" Hermione exclaimed. "I didn't know you were a Prefect! And you made it, Neville!"

Neville flushed slightly and grinned, and Angelina shrugged. "It never came up. Except I'm not this year; they've made me Head Girl."

"That's great," Harry said, and then he thought of something. "Do you know who the Quidditch Captain is?"

She shook her head. "Everybody decides, then they spring the news on the person they choose. Everybody'll be going behind people's backs trying to get the person they want to be captain chosen. I was in on it when Oliver got chosen."

"It sounds like fun!"

"Oh, it is," she said as the train started to move. "It's time for the meeting to start."

She walked over to a seventh year boy who was waving for everyone to be quiet and shook her head slightly. "It's time for the meeting to start!"

Everyone quit talking and turned to the Head Boy and Head Girl. The Head Boy nodded to Angelina and started talking. "Okay, the Prefect's bathroom is the fourth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password's 'bubbles'." He glared at Angelina slightly before continuing. "The password to Professor Dumbledore's office is 'lollipop'. It's behind that ugly gargoyle that the first years are all so scared of. Gather into your Houses to get the Common Room password. Gryffindors and Slytherins go to Angelina; Hufflepuffs ands Ravenclaws get your passwords from me."

Angelina shook her head again, glaring slightly at the Head Boy. "Gryffindors and Slytherins just divide into your houses. I'll come tell you when you're all ready."

Angelina came over to the Gryffindors first, still halfway glaring at the Head Boy. "Oh, he's insufferable, really."

"Who is he?" asked Hermione.

"Aaron McLint. He was nice enough when he was just a Prefect, after the first month or so, but he's gone all high and mighty again now that he's Head Boy. Anyway, our password is 'starlight'."

She left to tell the tiny group of Slytherins their password, then came back over to the Gryffindors. "As Aaron should have told you, the Prefects are expected to be civil to each other at the very least. Really, we're all technically supposed to become friends, but one can't ask for miracles. We're lucky if the Slytherins are even civil to anyone else, and the Gryffindors do just fine with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, but there have been a few fights break out between the Slytherins and us. Luckily all of them were during meetings. I don't want to know how much trouble a Prefect would get in for fighting with anyone, especially another Prefect." She sat down to have a short chat with a seventh year girl, before she had to repeat it in the next compartment, and Harry carefully interrupted her.

"D'you mind if the three of us leave?"

"Oh, we're done, you can go if you want, Harry. Just be back before we get to school."

"Thanks."

Harry practically dragged Ron and Hermione out with him, Sergio trailing behind them, for some reason still unnoticed. Then he began a methodical search of the compartments, looking for Rose, and Professor Lupin if he was on the train.

After a few minutes Hermione asked, "Harry, who are we looking for? And why is there a snake following us?"

"The snake's name is Sergio, and he's probably following me, not us. He showed up when I was at Quidditch Camp this summer. As for who we're looking for, Moony's back this year, and a girl I met at camp is transferring to Hogwarts. She'll be in our year, and is a wonderful Keeper. I promised I'd show her the medallion."

"What medallion?"

"I'll explain when we find her."

After several more minutes of searching, Harry turned to Sergio. "Is there some way to find her faster?"

"Use your bond. It will lead you to her."

Harry nodded slightly, then concentrated on Rose. He thought about her, everything he knew about her, everything he liked, then he started towards the back of the train, almost to the very last compartment. Rose was inside, as well as Draco Malfoy and his bullies, Crabbe and Goyle.

"It's Slytherin where the true power lies. No one else is strong enough to seek it."

"The true powers lie inside the heart and soul of the noble," said Rose, sounding like she was a teacher who was patiently trying to teach a particularly dense student something. "It has nothing to do with magical strength or power over others, but of the strength of character that people died for before Voldemort was thrown from his costly throne of blood and bones. His servants were not the powerful, but those who were too weak to choose the right and those who were as blind as he was. He came out of Slytherin. I am a Black, and my parents were some of those who stood up most firmly to Voldemort."

"Your parents and mine," Harry said, stepping into the compartment. He turned coldly to Malfoy. "Trying to recruit the new girl to evil? Your father is one of the evil ones, while my parents are dead because they were strong and noble. Go try the first years."

Malfoy looked like he would dearly love to deliver several cutting comments to the three in the doorway, but left without saying a word, obviously remembering the jumbled jinxes that his trio had been caught in the year before. It wouldn't last long, but it was nice to have Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle just leave.

"Sorry to leave you to the three of them, but we had a Prefect meeting and I didn't think to send Sergio," Harry said apologetically.

"It's alright, Harry, I'm used to getting a lot of crap about my dad and some people trying to get me to follow his 'evil ways'. A load of rubbish, even before you told me he was innocent."

"Malfoy'll leave you alone after this, at least about trying to turn you evil. He tried it with me, too, on my first day. If you're a Gryffindor, then expect more garbage from him, especially if the three of us are among your close friends. He just likes to pick on people."

"I know the type. Why don't you introduce me to your friends? The Potters and Blacks being good friends is natural, and both families being in Gryffindor."

Harry started slightly. "Of course. Rose, this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. This is Rose Black, you two."

"Sirius never mentioned having a daughter," Hermione said.

"Maralin and Rose have been living in London since he went to Azkaban. That might be because we're usually talking about Voldemort and keeping me alive. He did mention them once this summer," said Harry.

"Only once?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Twice, really. Though the second time it wasn't to me. He was talking to Mrs. Figg."

"Arabella Figg?" Rose asked suddenly. "My mum talks about her a lot. She helped her with her gift. She's an expert at gaining control once they're discovered. Most of them, anyway. She can't do a thing with Parseltongue or Seeing. They're two of the rarest gifts."

"He mentioned your mother's gift, too. Magical symbols."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me. Mum worked so hard with me to discover my gifts, and was so disappointed that my primary gift was Seeing, even though my secondary gift is magical symbols. She made me work to develop my secondary gift because my primary is so 'erratic'. It isn't, not like Trance Seeing. I'll probably eventually get fairly good control over it, considering how uncontrollable it is. Her gifts are Magical Symbols and Gift Telling, and Dad's are Curse Reading and Seeing. He uses his Seeing subconsciously to back his Primary gift, doesn't even know he has it, according to Mum. 'Everyone has at least two gifts, though few ever discover them.' If I had two Knuts for every time she said that I'd be independently wealthy!"

"So you can read magical symbols. Maybe you can tell me what the symbols on the medallion mean."

He pulled it out and handed it to her carefully. "I showed it to Sirius and he said there had been a version of a sleeping death curse on it, the one that's easiest to cure. That was when he mentioned his gift, and Maralin's."

"Anyone can learn to recognize magical symbols, it's just a matter of time and having someone gifted as a teacher," Rose said as she studied the medallion. "The only thing the gift is good for is teaching others and assuring that no mistakes are made. The person who made this had some gift in Seeing, or heard a Trance Prediction. It's a prophecy.

The two great Powers battle: Noble Blood must win
As the evil one doth rise, Untold Power in infant twins
The World to save from Evil Power shall give
One Heir of Two: One Death, then Two shall live

"I doubt that whoever threw this at you knew what it said. It tells exactly how to defeat Voldemort. He probably thought it was a bit of rubbish that was easy to throw properly."

"How do you know it's talking about You-Know-Who?" Hermione asked in an exasperated tone. "There have been lots of Dark Wizards, and there will be more."

"It's obvious," Rose said patiently. "If the prophecy had been fulfilled, then we'd learn about one of the most powerful wizards dying to defeat a Dark Lord. And there's the first line 'The two greatest powers battle', it could only refer to Slytherin and Gryffindor. I'd be willing to bet that Voldemort is Salazar Slytherin's descendant. Godric Gryffindor's heirs must be twins, and one of them has to give their life to defeat him. Also, there has never been another Dark Lord as powerful as Voldemort. No one has been able to do what he did. The world definitely will need saving from him when he manages to return."

"Voldemort already is back, and he is the last living descendant of Salazar Slytherin, making him the Heir of Slytherin." Harry said, slightly embarrassed he hadn't mentioned it before. "He came back after the Third Task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year. I was there."

"Burn this! If he's already back then we don't have time to find Gryffindor's heirs! Light, there's no time!"

"I know. Still, what will come will, and we have no choice other than to meet it and do the best we can."

"I know, but I wasn't expecting my time to fight to come so quickly. I promised myself that when he returned I'd fight, whenever it happened. I'm not ready."

"Neither am I, and I've already faced him. You're never ready to do that again."

"Most only had to face Voldemort himself once, unless they were too weak to fight him, or Dark themselves."

"Let's talk about something else," Ron said edgily. "I get more then enough about You-Know-Who at home."

Rose shrugged. "You can never know enough about the enemy, but we could talk about something more cheerful until we get to Hogwarts. Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes," Harry said, thinking it wasn't really that much more cheerful.

"The entrance is in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. There's a snake carved on the handle of one of the taps, one's that's never worked, and you have to tell it 'open' in Parseltongue to open it," Ron said in the same tone. "Ginny almost died the last time it was opened."

"It's been opened more then once?"

"Twice," said Harry dryly. "Once about fifty three years ago and again only three years ago. Voldemort opened it the first time, then he used his diary from when he was sixteen and still Tom Marvolo Riddle to bewitch Ginny and force her into opening it again, even though she's not a Parselmouth."

"He killed the Basilisk, destroyed the diary, and rescued Ginny, and he acts as though he stumbled onto the Chamber by accident," said Hermione, practically beaming at Harry. "It was pure genius, the way they figured out who was the girl that got killed the first time. I never would have suspected Moaning Myrtle."

"If you hadn't been petrified by the Basilisk we would have solved it a long time before we did."

The conversation was lighter from then on, and as night fell the three Prefects wished Rose farewell and hurried back to the other end of the train. All the other Prefects were still there, and a furious Aaron McLint greeted them.

"Where have you been! All the Prefects are supposed to stay in our two compartments!"

"Angelina said we could go, as long as we were back before we got to school," Harry said icily. "It's none of your business if I want to go talk to my friend."

"It is my business!" screeched Aaron, but Harry had no patience for his power kick.

"Sergio, see if you can't get through to him that he's not the king of the world."

"Mi gusta, Señor. It will be my pleasure." With that he raised himself up as though he was about to strike and hissed random insults at the overly pompous Head Boy.

"Just because you're Head Boy and I'm a Prefect doesn't make my business yours," Harry said calmly, to all effects ignoring the snake behind and above him.

"You really are a Parselmouth!"

"I have been since I was a baby. It's a side effect of my survival. Not the least pleasant one by far, though some don't trust me because of it."

"I'd say not! It's an evil gift!"

Harry cocked his head lightly to the side and shook it. "No, not at all. The poor serpents have to do what the Parselmouths tell them to unless they're bonded to a different one. More Parselmouths have been Dark Wizards than good, and you never hear about the good ones."

"That's because there are none!"

"So you're saying that Harry Potter is evil," said Hermione in a very matter of fact way, glaring at Aaron with her hands on her hips, along with the other Gryffindors. "Apparently there are good Parselmouths, or you'd be dead. I doubt a Dark Wizard would have left you alive."

Aaron retreated, glaring at Harry and the other Gryffindors. "I hope that punctures his bubble enough," said Angelina, shaking her head slightly. "He really is insufferable until he gets his bubble burst enough. I hope that's enough, or he'll be worse."

As Harry got off the train and onto the crowded, noisy platform he was almost right by Hagrid, who was calling the students who needed to be Sorted.

"Firs' years! Firs' years o'er 'ere! And our trans'er students, too, o'er 'ere!"

"Hullo, Hagrid!"

"'Lo, you three. We got a pair o' trans'er students this year, the'll be in your year."

"We've met one," Hermione said. "She seems nice enough... and very sure she'll be a Gryffindor."

"Yeah, well, she jus' may be. You met one? Rose or Romina?"

"Rose," Harry said quietly.

"Then you know who her da is. He was in Gryffindor." He winked at them, then went back to his calling.

The three of them loaded into a horseless carriage, to be joined shortly by none other than Remus Lupin.

"Hello, Harry. Hello Ron, Hermione."

"'Lo, Professor."

"I hear we have some transfer students this year. One's Miss Rose Black."

"We've met, Professor. We both went to the European Quidditch Summer Academy."

"Really? Maralin never was big on flying; I'd wondered if she played Quidditch at all. What's her position?"

"Keeper."

"Yeah, but she's built more like a Seeker," said Ron absently, staring out the window at the starry purple sky.

"Oh, no, don't start that again," said Hermione, sounding very exasperated. "Ron, I'd think you'd know by now, what with how Fleur treated you last year."

"Rose is nothing like Fleur! And Fleur did get nicer."

"I'm afraid I missed last year entirely, other than Rita Skeeter's articles and the one saying that Harry won. Except for the news about Voldemort, anyway."

"Since most of what Rita Skeeter wrote was horrible lies you missed last year. Fleur was one of the champions."

"Oh, that's what that said."

"The other was Viktor Krum, in case you couldn't tell. She misspelled both names and didn't even mention Cedric."

A heavy silence fell, but it didn't last very long because the carriage stopped and they got out to go to the Welcome Feast. Peeves was nowhere in sight this year, and neither where any students who looked as though he had decided to pull a prank on them. Still, everyone was looking around the ceiling for him as they entered the hall.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat near Nearly Headless Nick, Harry Carefully leaving a place for Rose in the hopes that she was sorted into Gryffindor. Soon the Sorting Hat was placed on the three legged stool. Rose, Romina, and the first years had entered and lined up along the wall. Everyone looked nervous, Rose more so than any of the first years with a great deal of excitement thrown into the mix. Another taller form - probably Romina- was hiding inside her cloak. The Hall fell silent and the Sorting Hat began to sing.

In a time far past
The greatest four did gather.
Godric Gryffindor, bravest of the four.
Helga Hufflepuff, the sweetest.
Rowena Ravenclaw, fairest one by far.
Salazar Slytherin, shrewdest one of all.
They lived in times of darkness,
When magic was feared and hated.
And so they built a hidden school
To protect and educate
The children of our kind.

The pride of each was chosen
And put into their house.
For Gryffindor the noble.
For Hufflepuff hard workers.
For Ravenclaw intelligent.
For Slytherin ambitious.

Here they lived and learned,
'Til one pronounced them ready
To face the dangers of the world.

Come forth and place me on your head,
I'll tell who chooses you.

As the Sorting Hat finished singing there was a stunned silence before the applause began. It died down quickly, and then Professor McGonagall stood up by the stool, unrolled her list, and read off the first name.

"Abbott, Samantha."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Black, Rose."

Rose stepped neatly out of line and set the hat on her head. As she sat there in front of the school, Harry heard a voice he hadn't heard like this in over three years, when he'd decided to ask it if he was in the right house. He heard the voice of the Sorting Hat.

"Tricky... very tricky. Already say not Slytherin? I agree: you've sworn to fight his heir. Should I put you in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw? Their traits are there. No? Bravery and nobility are strongest, anyway, so you're a GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose took off the hat and, grinning broadly, took a seat by Harry directly across from Nearly Headless Nick.

"Cobalt, Guinevere."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Diggory, Marilynn." The hall fell silent, and Dumbledore's words the year before seemed to echo from the walls of the hall: "Remember Cedric Diggory."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Dippit, Angelina."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Etticoat, Herman."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Frank, Lillian."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Emiline."

Harry and Ron both looked at Hermione, who was grinning broadly at the girl who had just scurried up to put on the Sorting Hat. She sat there for ages, longer then Neville had, and then the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Then she pulled off the hat and bounced over to sit by Hermione. She looked around until she caught sight of Harry.

"Oh, Hermione, is that Harry Potter?" she squealed.

"Yes, Emi," Hermione said, sounding slightly exasperated. She turned to Harry and Ron, only halfway including Rose. "This is one of my younger siblings."

"You've never mentioned any brothers and sisters!" Ron exclaimed.

"For you information I have three, two brothers and Emiline, all younger," Hermione said, snapping slightly. "Emi's the youngest."

There wasn't anything to say to that, so they went back to watching the Sorting.

"Hackings, Katie."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"James, James."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"James, Jamie."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Katt, Romina."

The girl in the cloak strode up to the stool and sat, then hesitantly lowered her hood and hurriedly placed the hat on her head. The Sorting Hat looked confused. It seriously looked like it had no clue what was going on. It kind of glanced at Professor McGonagall, then concentrated really hard. Finally it wearily shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" to the entire hall. Romina removed the hat and pulled up her hood very quickly, then came and sat by Nearly Headless Nick.

"Lemmings, Bertha."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Lemmings, Catherine."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Ooh, that can't be good," Rose whispered. "Identical twins."

"Maggot, Leonard."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Neggs, Oliver."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Norbert, Drake."

Harry, Ron and Hermione all started laughing and almost didn't notice when the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Oscars, Leon."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Oscars, Richard."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Pratt, Ally."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Quint, Rachel."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Ravenclaw, Alice."

The hat was barely set on her head when it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Snape, Elizabeth."

Most of the school turned to look curiously at Professor Snape. When the hat called, "GRYFFINDOR!" he looked ready to murder. Not anyone in particular, just something.

"Turnings, Peter."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Upton, Larry."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Van, Victor."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Weasley, Harry!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, James."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, Lily!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"My cousins," Ron explained as the third freckled little red head bounced over to sit by Fred and George.

"Xaver, Alice."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Yaks, Betty."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Zipti, Adrian."

"RAVENCLAW!"

Professor Dumbledore stood at the last little blonde girl scurried over to the Ravenclaw table.

"You all may have noticed that we have two fifth year transfer students this year, Miss Rose Black from Spellfire Academy of Magic, and Miss Romina Katt from Russia." Everyone in the hall clapped politely, except for, Harry, Fred, and George, who all were very happy to have Rose (and her abilities as a Keeper) in their house.

"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year is one well known and well loved by most of you. Professor Remus Lupin is back this year."

The hall exploded in a mixture of horrified gasps and applause as a great deal of the students both saw and recognized him for the first time. Professor Lupin seemed not to notice and was completely attentive on Dumbledore.

"And now to some of the less pleasant business. The Astronomy Tower is out of bound except for classes. The three rooms beyond Potions and Professor Snape's office are forbidden. The third floor corridor on the right is out of bounds once more, and the forest on the grounds is more strictly forbidden than it has been in years past. Anyone who enters without specific permission and a teacher escort and survives will be expelled unless they have a very good excuse for their actions. The same applies to the third floor corridor, the Astronomy Tower, and the rooms in the dungeon.

"No one is to be out of the common rooms after eight o'clock without explicit permission. Not even the Prefects, Head Boy, and Head Girl. Anyone who chooses to ignore this will suffer detention and a loss of a large number of house points at the least. These are dangerous times, in many ways as dangerous or more so then the days in which this school was founded. I hope that we can go through this year without loosing any of our number either though expulsion or death. Now let's eat!" The feast was filled with mutters about the restricted areas, and seemed over sooner than it usually was.

"Now, let's sing our school song and go off to bed."

The voice of every student in the school rose in a multiplicity of tunes, but before long all but two had stopped singing. Rose's voice floated throughout the hall like starlight accented by Romina's voice of moonlight as they finished the song, leaving the hall in silence.

Dumbledore stood once more, smiling. "As beautiful voices I have ever heard. Now, everyone, off to bed! First years, find a Prefect, they'll see you safely to your common rooms."

Everyone stood and the Great Hall became noisy once more quite suddenly. The Prefects were all calling for the first years from their various houses, and finally everyone was in the common room and going to bed. Harry stayed up to tell Rose what he had found out about their bond.

"It was almost like being Sorted again. I heard everything it said to you. Kind of like you understanding that bit of Parseltongue. And I used it to find you on the train today. I bet I could find you anywhere with it, or you could find me."

They went to bed after a bit of light conversation, and Harry thought as he was drifting off that he had never been happier in his life.