Chapter Text
Everything started in my first year at Hogwarts,when I heard some ghost and painting whispering about Euphemios Potter,when I tried to ask they always changed the subject so after a few tries I left aside.
In my second year,after the Halloween accident and the dueling club when it was discovered that I was a Parselmounth the portraits started whispering again about Euphemios.
These were the memories that flashed through my eyes when the Basilisk cornered me,he was ready to attack me when I heard a voice.
“Ekrizdis!Stop!”
The Basilisk jerked back.Both the memorie and Harry looked at the corner where the voice had come from and in an unseen platform was a man.
“Return to your nest”the man ordered”I’ll take from here”
The basilisk slithered back to the mouth of the statue of Salazar Slytherin and closed itself behind him.The man had a calm face but for the sound of his voice gave the hint that he was pissed.
“Explain”he said,looking directly at Ginny where she lay at the foot of the statue.
When Voldemort didn’t respond,the man lost his patience and ordered”End this.Return to your diary.Release her life.Obey my word,Tom Marvolo Riddle.”The man gestured his hand and Tom dissolved into a dark mist,which dived into the diary.
“You can control Voldemort?” Harry Blurted out,not knowing to be impressed or scared.
“Only the diary”the man said”The diary was a project and that in case of going wrong we set a way that I could control and stop it.I know you might be confused but I’m not going to hurt you.Would you mind telling me today’s date?”
“Um…June 22”,harry said
“What year?”the man asked quietly.
“1993?”
The man’s eyes fell shut.”Damn it.Twelve years”
“You have been here for twelve years”Harry asked, shocked with a hint of interest.”Did Voldemort lock you here?”
“He did,"the man nodded.”I kept interfering with his plans,so he put me into an enchanted sleep and locked me here to no one to find me.I’ve been asleep since 1981”.He buried his face in his hand.
The man then says”You’re Harry James Potter,aren’t you?”the strangely familiar man asked.
“Yes,”Harry said shortly.”Who are you?”
“Euphemios,”the man replied.”I’m sure your parents have mentioned me.”
“My parents are dead”,Harry said stiffly.
The man’s eyes were filled with tears and asked in a pleading tone”James and Lily they can’t be gone,please tell me it’s not true.”
“It’s true,almost twelve years ago,on Halloween,Voldemort attacked us and killed my parents.He tried to kill me as well but I survived with just my scar.”He pushed his bangs away and the lightning-bolt scar was showed.”It’s how Voldemort was defeated”He added.
“ Of course,”The man,Euphemios,said without humor.”He would have gone on Halloween.The last day I remember was October 29,1981.That’s when he cursed me.”
“Voldemort cursed you?”Harry asked.
“I assume,”Euphemios said.”He knew I wouldn’t let him try to kill you.I had before.So he probably cursed me before I tried again.I would never…he would never have taken James and Lily if I’d had anything to say.”
“Who are you?”Harry asked
The man was still surprised.
“Sirius or Remus haven’t mentioned me either?”
“Who?”
It’s was everything the man needed to know
“You’re not living with Petunia are you?.She hates magic!And i doubt that has changed in twelve years”
“Yes,” it was all he could answer
“They haven’t treated you well,have they?”he asked concerned
Harry shook his head
“I don’t know what’s happened while I’“How are you so sure?Dumbledore says I have to return.”
The man let out a harsh bark of laughter.ve been asleep,Harry,but I assure you,you will never return to those…Muggles.Not if I have anything to say about it,which I do”.
“How?Dumbledore said I have to return.”
“I never fully introduced myself,did I?My name is Euphemios Anastasius Potter.James was my son.”
Harry stared in amazement at the man-his grandfather.
“You are my Grandfather?What has no one told me about you?”
“Well,I presume because I’ve been missing and presumed dead for more than a decade and I am technically considered your Grandmother.Besides,you’ve mostly been with Gryffindors and Light-side people haven’t you?”
Harry modded but said confused.
“You are a man,how could you two have a biological son?”
“Well in the wizarding world,there are rare men that are called bearers,that are men that can get pregnant by another man.And I am one of these men,the first since 1260.”
Harry was awed.
“Besides, I was a Slytherin .They didn’t like talking about me even when I was alive.Apart from the fact that I married a Light Wizard,your Grandfather Fleamont Potter”
Harry drew back slightly.
“You were a Slytehrin?But… they all are a bunch of idiots and bigots.”
“They weren’t always like that,in my time there were some bigots but the majority were decent people.”
“So you are a Dark Wizard?”Harry questioned.
“Grey,but I lean Darker.My parents were traditional Dark,my father a Peverell and my mother a Malfoy,and the Potter’s Grey.So even though James sided with the Order of the Phoenix he was still a bit on the Darker.”
“My Great-Grandmother was a Malfoy?”Harry demanded.”But Malfoy’s…he’s…”
“A bit of a brat?”Euphemios offered.
“I’m not surprised,Lucius and Narcissa were both spoiling the boy dreadfully when he was only a year old.I thought at this point they would have moved onto.”
“So if you knew the dark side,why was Voldemort after me anyway?”
Gran looked surprised.
“Dumbledore hasn’t told you?”
“He said I was too young,”Harry said with a frown.
His Grandfather signed.
“A few months before you were born,Sybil Trelawney gave a prophecy that previewed the fall of the dark lord.”
“Great,one more thing to worry about.”
“Don’t worry I will help you with everything I can.”Elphie said.
“Really?”Harry said in a hopeful tone “Yes,I suspect you’ve never had someone to rely on before?”
“Well,Dumbledore’s been good to me…”Harry started to say,but Elphie scoffed.
“Then why are you here alone?.Dumbledore was almost certain of where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was in my day. Why would he allow you to come down here alone, especially if the life of another student was in danger?” He gestured towards Ginny. “I assume it was public knowledge that someone had been taken down here?”
“The teachers knew,” Harry admitted. “There was a note that said, ‘Her skeleton will rot in the Chamber forever.’”
“Well, it was certainly dramatic enough to be Tom,” his grandmother muttered.
“You knew him well?”Harry asked curiously.
“Yeah,I taught him”
“But he went to school fifty years ago!You don’t look that old,”Harry argued.
Elphie laughed
“Wizard age much better than Muggles do.I was born in 1890,and don’t forget that I was in stasis sleep for 12 years.”
“Wow”was the only thing Harry said
Any further conversation was interrupted by a faint moan from where the girl was.Ginny was stirring.harry runned from where they were and knelt beside her and before he could say anything,she sat up,when she saw the dairy she gasped and tears were running in her face.
“Harry – oh, Harry – I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn’t say it in front of Percy – it was me, Harry – but I – I s-swear I d-didn’t mean to – R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over – and – how did you find me? W-where’s Riddle? The last thing I remember is him coming out of the diary…”
“It’s all right,” Harry said, not certain that it was true, but somewhat willing to trust the strange man – whom he hesitantly believed was his gran. “Riddle’s gone,” he continued. “The basilisk too. C’mon, Ginny, let’s get out of here…”
“I’m going to be expelled!” Ginny wept as Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. “I’ve looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came, and n-now I’ll have to leave and – w-what’ll Mum and Dad say?”
“None of this was your fault, Miss,” Euphemios said gently, causing Ginny to jump as she noticed him.
“Who are you?”she asked through her tears.
“Euphemios Potter”he said”Your housemate there is my grandson.Now,I believe my grandson called you Ginny?May I ask you for your last name?”
“W-Weasley,”Ginny stifled.
“Well,Miss weasley,I can assure you that none of this is your fault and that you shall not be held responsible the slightest.All of this was the diary fault.I have no idea why it is no longer in the warded bookshelf where I put it but I intend to find out.”
“The d-diary was yours?”Ginny asked fearfully.
“No,it was Tom’s,”he didn’t elaborate more.
They walked back at the entrance of the chamber,then Euphemios turned back at the door and ordered”Close”.The stone doors shut behind them with a soft hiss.
After a few minutes of progressing up the dark tunnel,a voice was heard.
“Ron!”Harry yelled.”Ginny’s okay!I have got her!”
He heard Ron give a strangled cheer,and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the gap he had managed to make in the rockfall.”
“Ginny!”Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to grab her hand.”You are alive!I don’t believe it!What happened?How - what - who are you?”he asked as he notice Euphemios.
“He’s my grandfather”Harry said wearily.”He was in an enchanted sleep in the Chamber”.
“Friend of yours?”Elphie asked with a raised eyebrow.
“My best friend,”Harry said.”Ginny’s older brother.”
“Well ,Mr.Weasley,if you would release your sister’s hand and back up a bit,I will make this passage a bit safer for us to pass through,”Elphie said
Both Ginny and Ron seemed reluctant to let go,but Harry managed to pull Ginny away and back a few steps.Hi Gran waved his hand and the rocks went to their original place.
“Where’s Lockhart?”Harry asked,not seeing the teacher in the now empty passage.
“Back there,”Ron said.”He’s in a bad way.Come and see”.
“Lockhart?”Elphie asked.
“Our Defense teacher,”Harry said shortly.”He tried to Obliviate us and leave us for dead down here,and take the credit for killing the basilisk without ever going near it.But he used Ron’s wand,which was messed up,and it caused the rock to fall and hit him.He was a useless teacher anyway.”
“His memories are gone,”said Ron”The memory Charm backfired.”
“How are we gonna get out of here?”said a crying Ginny.
“It’s easy enough,don’t worry,”he leaned over the pipe and hissed,”Stairs”.The dark pipe melted into a narrow spiral staircase that rose high above their heads.
They managed to climb all two hundred stairs in about ten minutes. Exhaustion from the other activities caused the three children to hit the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Lockhart straightened his hat as older Harry ordered, “Close,” and the sink that hid the pipe slid back into place.
Myrtle goggled at them.
“You’re alive,” she said blankly to Harry.
“There’s no need to sound so disappointed,” he said grimly, wiping flecks of dust and slime off his glasses.
“Oh, well…I’d just been thinking…if you had died, you’d have been welcome to share my toilet,” said Myrtle, blushing silver.
“Where now”said Ron with an anxious look on Ginny's face.
“Is McGonagall still head of Gryffindor?”Older Potter asked idly
“Yes”,all three Gryffindors chorused.
Moments later,they found themselves outside McGonagall’s office.Harry knocked and pushed the door open.
For a moment, there was silence as Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lockhart, and Euphemios stood in the doorway, covered in dust and slime and (in Harry’s case) blood. Then there was a scream.
“Ginny!”
It was Mrs. Weasley, who had been sitting crying in front of the fire. She leapt to her feet, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, and both of them flung themselves on their daughter.
Harry, however, was looking past them. Professor Dumbledore was standing by the mantelpiece, beaming, next to Professor McGonagall, who was taking great, steadying gasps, clutching her chest. Harry found himself and Ron being swept into Mrs. Weasley’s tight embrace.
“You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?”
“I think we’d all like to know that,” said Professor McGonagall weakly.
“I didn’t,” Harry said. “He did.” He gestured to his grandfather, who was still standing half-behind Lockhart.
Older Potter stepped into the light, a cool expression on his face.
“Albus,””Minerva”.
Both of them looked shocked for a moment before recovering.
“You're supposed to be dead!”Minerva said.
“Apparently,Voldemort grew tired of my interference with his plans to kill my nephew,so he put me in an enchanted sleep and left me at the Chamber of Secrets.But I assure you,I am most definitely alive,and most definitely angry with you Albus!Petunia?Both Lily and James’ wills specifically said that Harry was never to go anywhere near Petunia!”
“It was the best option,”Dumbledore tried to say.
“How was it the best option?”What happened to everyone else on the list?”
“Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban.Frank and Alice were tortured into insanity by the Lestranges and you were dead,as far as everyone knew,”Dumbledore replied.
Euphemios blinked.
“What the hell did Sirius do to end up in Azkaban?”
“He betrayed the Potters to Voldemort.He was the Secret Keeper.Then he blew up twelve Muggles and Peter Pettigrew when Peter tried to confront him.”Dumbledore said coolly.
Euphemios laughed.
“It seems that I have a date with the Wizengamot.He didn’t betray James and Lily.He wasn’t the Secret Keeper.Peter was.”
Dumbledore’s face was stormy.
“How do you know this?”
“James was my son,”Elphie said mildly.
After that,Harry told everyone what's happened since the beginning of the year.
“What interests me most”Dumbledore said gently,”is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny,when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forest of Albania.”
“W-what is that?”said Mr.Weasley in a stunned voice,”You-know-who?En-enchant Ginny?But Ginny's not…Ginny’s hadn’t been…has she?”
“It happened because someone took a magical artifact out of its protective wards .
“It was the diary,”Harry said quickly”Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen”.
“And where is this diary now?”Dumbledore asked.
“I have it,”Elphie said “As is my right.It’s s safest with me-I can override its magic.I’m going to shove the damned thing into an even deeper hole than the last one.”
“You can override its Magic”Dumbledore asked, surprised.
Euphemios rolled his eyes.
“Sometimes you forget,who taught him everything he knows.”
Albus then turned to the Weasleys,“Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school…traveled far and wide…sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here.”
“You’re showing your prejudice again, Albus,” Elphie said idly, leaning back in his chair. “He was the chosen Dark Lord, of course he learned all the Dark Arts. It was his Magic-given duty, just as you have yours to the Light. If you're referring to the Dark wizard as ‘the worst of our kind’, do remember who you’re sitting in a room with. And of course Lord Voldemort wasn’t recognizable as Tom Riddle, most people do like taking a stroll down Diagon Alley without causing mass panic!”
“But, Ginny,” said Mrs. Weasley, obviously more concerned with her daughter than the past of the Dark Lord. “What’s our Ginny got to do with – with – him?”
“His d-diary!” Ginny sobbed. “I’ve b-been writing in it, and he’s been w-writing back all year…”
“Ginny!” said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. “Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain. Why didn’t you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic…”
“I d-didn’t know,” sobbed Ginny. “I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it there and forgotten about it…”
“Left it there, probably,” Euphemios said coldly. “Forgotten about it? Unlikely. The wards around the diary were intense. It had to be purposefully removed. It is possible that Voldemort removed it in the two days between his enchantment of me and passed it off to someone who was unaware of its properties, but I find that unlikely.”
“The diary should be destroyed”Mrs.Weasley said firmly,matching Euphemios glare”After what it did to my Ginny!”
“You can’ t destroy it,”Euphemios said simply
Mr. Weasley puffed up.
“I’m the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, and that diary certainly seems to qualify!”
“It’s counted as an heirloom of a Most Ancient and Most Noble House,” older Harry said in a slightly bored tone. “Unless new laws have been passed in the past twelve years – and I doubt they have, since it requires a majority vote of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses to enact any laws against them, and four out of the five have been out of commission for the past twelve years.”
Mr.Weasley grimaced as he deflated.
As everyone was leaving Albus asked if he could talk to Harry.
“First I want to thank you.You did well.And so you have met Tom Riddle.I imagine he was most interested in you…”
Suddenly,something that was nagging at Harry came tumbling out of his mouth.
“Professor Dumbledore…Riddle said I’m like him. Strange likenesses, he said…”
“Did he, now?” said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Harry from under his thick, silver eyebrows. “And what do you think, Harry?”
“I don’t think I’m like him!” said Harry, more loudly than he intended. “I mean, I’m – I’m in Gryffindor, I’m…”
But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind.
“Professor,” he started again after a moment. “The Sorting Hat told me I’d – I’d have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin’s heir for a while…because I can speak Parseltongue….”
“You can speak Parseltongue, Harry,” said Dumbledore calmly, “because Lord Voldemort – who is the last remaining descendant of Salazar Slytherin – can speak Parseltongue. Unless I’m much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I’m sure….”
“Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?” Harry said, thunderstruck.
“It certainly seems so.”
“So I should be in Slytherin,” Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore’s ace. “The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin’s power in me, and it…”
“Put you in Gryffindor,” Dumbledore said calmly. “Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue – resourcefulness – determination – and a certain disregard for the rules,” he added, his mustache quivering again. “Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think.”
“It only put me in Gryffindor,” said Harry in a defeated voice, “because I asked not to go to Slytherin…”
“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, beaming once more. “Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned, when a voice spoke up from behind him.
“Bullshit,”Grandpa said. “You are, as ever, wrong again, Dumbledore.Harry as I am a Parselmounth,and that happened because of my father,Artemios Peverell,after all Salazar Slytherin was a descendent of the Peverell’s.
The silence reign in the room,and Dumbledore asked,”What are your plans for now Euphemios?”
“I’m planning to run again the Grey faction”he said
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.
“You expect to be so easily re-accepted as the leader of the grey faction?”
“I do,I have the highest title.”
“Well, that’s done with. Now, as it turns out, twelve years in an enchanted sleep certainly whets the appetite. To the feast, grandson?”
Harry had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas – with the exception of himself, the Weasleys, and his uncle – and the celebration lasted all night.
Harry didn’t know whether the best bit was Hermione running toward him, screaming, “You solved it! You solved it!” or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring his hand and apologize endlessly for suspecting him, or Hagrid turning up at half past three, cuffing Harry and Ron so hard on the shoulders that they were knocked into their plates of trifle, or his and Ron’s four hundred points for Gryffindor securing the House Cup for the second year running, or Professor McGonagall standing up to tell them all that the exams had been canceled as a school treat (“Oh, no!” said Hermione), or Dumbledore announcing that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Quite a few teachers joined in the cheering that greeted this news.
“Snape’s staring at you.”Harry whispered to his grandpa
“Professor Snape,” his grandfather replied in between bites of chocolate cake. “He is one of your teachers and deserves your respect.”
“He hates me,” Harry emphasized.
Elphie let out a small laugh.
“He hated James too. Severus blamed James for breaking his friendship with Lily, and he never quite forgave him for that. Severus loved Lily. He never did forgive James, though they were able to speak without attempting to murder each other by your first birthday.”
Harry’s head shot around so fast he was surprised it didn’t crack.
“Snape was friends with my mum?” he demanded.
“Oh yes,” his gran said. “Since they were children, I believe. I’ll speak with Severus, see if he can tone down his animosity a bit. He probably blames you, a bit, for your mother’s death, and mine as well.”
“You were friends with Professor Snape, sir?” Hermione queried.
“He was my apprentice during his Potions Mastery,” older Potter stated. “We got to know each other quite well.”
“You have a Potions Mastery and a Defense Mastery?” Hermione asked, eyes shining bright.
“And Masteries in Warding, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, Dueling, and the Dark Arts. I’m also a fully-licensed Healer – or I was,” he said sourly. “I suppose that’s probably expired. I’ll have to contact St. Mungo’s, see if they make exceptions for letting your license expire in cases like this.”
The feast lasted all night,and Harry went to sleep with a smile on his face knowing that he still has someone that cares for him.