( Hogwarts )
Damn, he was tired. He had spent all his spare time over Christmas overseeing the placement of new security wards around the school, while at the same time trying to locate the Chamber of Secrets' entrance and working out how the guardian within it moved about the school undetected.
He was personally leaning towards a basilisk, not that he could prove it with his current evidence though. Candidly, the only way to prove it would be to lay his old eyes on it, but that was a great risk in itself. Myrtle was an easy reminder of that. However, he was able to make some good educated guesses by himself, further refined by the assistance of the previous headmaster portraits around his office adding their own insights.
He had once again talked to all the magical portraits around the scene of the attacks and in the castle as a whole, just like he had done all those years ago when seeking to prove that Hagrid was innocent. Originally, he had thought that now that he was the headmaster they could talk more freely and openly with him, since there were numerous enchantments which could be placed on portraits to prevent them from sharing information with outsiders. His office was a perfect example of that.
However, they couldn't remember anything this time as well, or they still couldn't talk about it. So clearly there were powerful enchantments around the halls preventing such knowledge from spreading, even to the current headmaster, which meant one thing: that Slytherin himself had taken measures to prevent such knowledge from spreading when Hogwarts was originally built.
Despite this setback, he had narrowed the area down to the lower floors, since none of the attacks had taken place above the third floor so far. Personally, he believed the chamber was located beneath the school, in its very foundations, in the bedrock supporting the castle itself. It was the only logical place the chamber could exist and still remain hidden from the rest of the school after a thousand years. It would also prevent investigation; otherwise the castle itself could be destabilized, especially if the chamber was tied into the wards.
Moving over to the window, steam could be seen in the distance, announcing the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. 'Pipes?' the thought suddenly occurred to him before he dismissed it. Slytherin would never place his fabled chamber amongst them or lower himself to walking in sewage. 'Or would he?' as he thought back to what was actually known about the founder after a thousand years. Who knew what was fact and what was fiction, fiction exaggerated even further by the sheer amount of time that had passed.
He considered the possibility with an open mind; after all, Myrtle was found dead in the second-floor girls' bathroom. However, he dismissed it eventually; Miss Granger had spent the last month brewing her Polyjuice Potion there and nothing had happened to her, and she was a muggle-born.
Surely the heir would have targeted her if she was so close to the chamber's entrance. After all, Miss Granger was very knowledgeable and skilled, but she did rub people the wrong way, especially pure-bloods with her know-it-all attitude, as Severus had put it. Frankly, it was worth exploring; he would instruct the house-elves to watch the bathrooms more closely.
Of course, he already had the house-elves on high alert watching for anything amiss, as they frankly knew far more about the school's inner workings than even him. They had been here since Hogwarts was created; their magic was a part of the school.
Picking up a lemon drop from the bowl, he thought about Miss Granger. She would definitely prove to be a useful long-term ally of Neville's. She had the knowledge and skills that the boy lacked and would help him understand the muggles. Plus, with her providing knowledge and skills as needed, this would prevent the boy from developing them for himself, keeping him reliant on others to a point.
That was one of the reasons why Tom/Voldemort was so very dangerous, besides his natural magical prowess. He was extremely knowledgeable in all the branches of magic; he didn't need others if he desired to kill someone. He could tear the wards down by himself, then move in for the kill with ease.
Preventing Neville from learning such useful skills as warding and runes would help act as a safeguard should the boy ever go dark. He would be forced to rely on his allies, and that would make him dependent and easier to handle, therefore easier to defeat, if need be. After all, if you can't ward your own stronghold, how can you defend yourself against aurors? If you can't tear down wards, how can you kill your enemies hidden behind them? How can you attack?
That was also why he encouraged Ron to be the planner of the little group, to make Neville dependent on Ron for that skill and knowledge, and would help keep him under control and reliant, while reassuring Ron's ego that he had something valuable to offer.
And that was what he ultimately wanted from Neville: he wanted the boy to become a fine model knight of his Order of the Phoenix, capable of leading in combat but never being the king, a prince perhaps, but never a king. Thinking of Neville and the boy's role in his own plans, the boy was like a bloodhound for trouble; once he got a scent and locked onto it, it was bound to find him. Maybe this was the prophecy at work? After all, the boy was a Parselmouth, and the prophecy spoke about marking him as his equal.
That would imply that they had the same potential in raw magical skills, even if their personalities were so opposed after Neville had been raised under the strict watchful eye of his grandmother. Regardless of the similarity, other possibilities had to be taken into account.
The Longbottom line was very old, and there was no reason why they couldn't have married someone with Slytherin blood in their past, and the prophecy had just awakened this sleeping ability buried in the long history of the bloodline?
Maybe he should let Neville handle this? Maybe only a Parselmouth could discover the chamber? Maybe the snake statues around the school held the answers? He dismissed this as foolish — really, to allow a second-year to handle a basilisk.
He was reminded of the events of first year, causing him to reconsider the idea further. Stroking his white beard, he walked over to the window, his mind reminding him that all snakes would be forced to obey Neville, due to Parseltongue magic, unless it was someone's bonded familiar behind the attacks.
This was very unlikely, as it was more likely that an artefact of Voldemort's was being used, making the familiar bond impossible to interfere with Neville's commands. Plus, such bonds took years, if not decades, to develop naturally, not months. Without a bonded magical to deny him, the boy could possibly just order the creature back to sleep, to stop its attacks.
Thinking the issue over again, he decided to let Neville carry on searching for the Chamber of Secrets; maybe the boy would prove successful where he had failed. Smiling as a plan formed, the wheels turned in his mind: he would let the boy lead him right to the chamber, and he would handle the rest after that.
Fawkes would blind the beast and could heal his wounds if need be. And a couple of advanced transfiguration spells later to overcome the magical hide, he'd have one dead snake. Its carcass could then be sold for a ridiculous sum, and the funds raised would be added to the Order's accounts, as well as the school's.
Of course, he would show off the mighty slain beast to the world before selling it off, and the public's blind faith in him would be restored. His status and influence would climb higher overnight. No one would ever again question his ability to keep the school or its students safe.
Naturally, he would point out Neville's efforts in finding the chamber and leading him to it, tying Neville's place in history with his own even further, as well as elevating his own place in Hogwarts' history to greater levels. He could see it now: the headmaster who bested the Slytherin beast — a Gryffindor besting Slytherin, while driving out the darkness.
Smiling, he thought about the future history books recounting the achievement; he could rest secure in the knowledge of being regarded as one of the greatest wizards of all time. Combined with his links to Neville's fame, if Neville proved even moderately successful, he would be the modern Merlin.
Letting Neville face Tom in his first year had been a calculated risk, due to needing to test the boy and the prophecy further. Frankly, the boy wasn't in any real danger — the whole confrontation had been engineered by himself from start to finish, and the blood-protection magics around the boy made him virtually immune from direct harm from Tom. As long as that blood protection was in place, Neville would never have to fear Tom, only his followers. But that blood protection meant nothing against an ancient basilisk.
He would have to get Ron to suggest to Neville the idea of asking the portraits at their first meeting back from Christmas, especially the snake ones. Of course, they were serving detention still, so that might take them a while to accomplish.
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/loveran