The older man snorted, "Ah, that she did. A little piece of advice from an old man. Find your own little spitfire, one who wouldn't let you get away with anything. You'll probably want to tear your hair out more times than you would like, but you'll be a happy man."
Harry looked away, uncomfortable with the idea of any kind of romantic relationship. It wasn't really his fault, but he didn't have an ounce of experience when it came to relationships. He was barely holding on to his friends, and even then, he had no idea how that happened. His previous life didn't help, since he had the social skills of a particularly dense rock back then.
The Potter scion decided to just change the subject, "So, what's the plan? You never said why you invited me to spend Yule with you."
"I was surprised you accepted, really," the older man said, "you seemed too prudent for something like this. I honestly just wanted to get a measure of you and spending a few days together should do the trick. And you don't have to worry about me being malicious, I offered you guest right, remember?"
Ah, yes, guest right, one of the oldest forms of magic, and one that was essential for a magical society to form. The idea is simple, when you offer someone a place in your home as a guest, you are not allowed to harm them in any way, and in return, they are not allowed to hurt you. The premise was older than any historic document and was enforced with a very powerful curse. Every single person who broke the agreement would lose everything that ever mattered to him, before dying a very gruesome and painful death. Old Celtic mages have somehow adapted the curse into the concept of Geas, which was a contract, or a vow enforced by that same curse. Yeah, it was a lot more hardcore than the modern unbreakable vow.
That meant that for the length of his stay, Harry could not knowingly harm Arcturus, nor could Arcturus harm Harry.
Harry simply nodded and the man continued, "Now, since you just accepted my invitation, I'm guessing you need some help with your little Basilisk problem?"
The Potter scion was taken aback; the man wasn't supposed to know about it, even if it was obvious since he had asked the man for books about the subject. Well, him not figuring it out would have been stupid on the man's part, "I assume it was easy for you to figure it out?"
"Yeah. It does explain a few things. A few of my old acquaintances have told me about the Chamber of Secrets being opened. I was at war back when it was opened, a young foolish boy who thought he could take on the world. But petrification with a Basilisk made a lot more sense than that oafish Half-Giant using an Acromantula of all things to somehow petrify people. I assume the attacks weren't mistakes and that the heir of Slytherin is aiming for petrifications?"
Harry nodded and sighed in exasperation, "I was hoping to stop the entire thing before the Basilisk was even let out. The books I asked you for were more for insurance, but I failed. But yes, the heir was aiming for petrifications. Back then, I think it was supposed to kick out Dumbledore from the castle, but the entire thing fell apart when he accidentally killed a girl."
"So, who do you think is opening it now? A descendant of that fake Dark Lord?"
"No, it is him. He left a weapon of sorts in Malfoy's hands, one that would possess the victim into opening the chamber. The man gave it to a student, and I have been tracking it down for a while. I came very close, but it changed hands. I was able to temporarily depower the damn thing, but it will recharge soon."
The man was gaping for some reason, "You're telling me that he creating something that would grant someone else access to the chamber? Assuming the Slytherin would only let the chamber be opened with Parseltongue or some kind of Blood Wards, the implications of such an artefact are immense."
"Yeah, I figured out a bit about it, and trust me, it's horrible magic. I need to destroy it, but I also need to have a plan against the Basilisk in case I'm forced to fight it."
"As interesting as this magic could be, I have to ask how exactly you knew that the chamber would open and what the monster inside it was before your school year even started. I suspected that you might have been the one opening it in the first place and that you wanted to figure out how to take control of the Basilisk, but you wouldn't have been that obvious about it if you were planning on committing a crime. So, you wanted to stop it, and you were desperate to do so, but the manner in which you acquired the information meant that it couldn't be verified or that it would put a target on your back. You're a seer, aren't you? Surprising, since I haven't heard of Seers appearing in the Potter line. It could be a family secret, so Charlus wouldn't have told me, but Seers are often celebrated and are used as a way to elevate a family's status, so there was no need to hide it. Tell me, how close am I?"
Shit! How the hell did he figure it out? Harry started to realize just out of his depth he was. This was a man who had been a politician for decades and was probably at the head of the dark faction that opposed Dumbledore the most. He was intelligent, but he was right. Harry was desperate and had gambled at the fact that he would have caught the Diary before any attack had even happened. And now his arrogance had cost him a lot of private information.
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