31 October 1992, Hogwarts
Well, Harry had to admit that the man was good. But he needed to get to the common room before anyone would notice that he was away. He needed to plan, but this wasn't the time for it. After all, it was Samhain, and he would be foolish not to use such an important magical event to give himself an edge. He had a ritual to prepare for.
In the stupor provoked by the mysterious attack on Argus Filch and Mrs Norris, none of the other students had even noticed that Harry had left. Honestly, he probably wouldn't figure out something that he didn't already know. Riddle wasn't sloppy. The only clue would be the message, which happened to look like perfect letters in a high up position. Theoretically, any adult would be able to do it, so, assuming that the older student wouldn't let such an obvious clue slip. Tom had obviously enchanted a brush or some paint to do it.
So, as callous as it might seem, there wasn't much Harry could figure out from the scene of the attack. His time was better spent on other pursuits, like figuring out how to best use the Samhain Ritual to prepare himself. As far as he could tell, the best clue would be to use it to 'upgrade' his magical crest. It was very powerful and filled with countless spells and magics. Magic that he could use against Riddle.
He didn't really know what the results of his plan would be, which made sense since magical crests were personalized and varied greatly between families. Harry had read the incantation in the book the Room of Requirements had given him about magical crests, the one that he translated. He had to say, it was a far better read now that he had a good understanding of old English.
Still, it was an incantation that was supposed to enhance your connection to your crest. It commonly prompted visions of remnants of past users of the crest, and sometimes people ended up with new skills, but that was a rare event.
It wasn't something that was commonly known. Harry had discreetly asked Daphne, but she said that any magic regarding the Greengrass magical spell was recorded and that they usually left them alone until a scion's thirteenth birthday, but the last Potter wasn't that patient.
Honestly, the magical circles that the crest was slowly teaching him were already hard enough, and versatile enough for Harry to be busy for the rest of the year. No, the issue was Riddle. He needed an advantage because he was losing quite badly in their little game of shadows. The scales needed to be even once more.
Still, it was a risky maneuver but then again, Harry was preparing to fight a fucking Basilisk. There wasn't anything riskier than that, really.
When he returned to the common room, the atmosphere was oddly subdued. Preparations for the Samhain ritual aside, the Chamber of Secrets being opened was a big deal for the house, and it wasn't for a good reason.
People don't really realize that the blood purists in the house of the snakes were a loud minority. Sure, there was a little discrimination, but the actual number of purebloods in the house wasn't that much higher than in the other houses. The only difference was that the rest was filled with half-bloods, and there weren't any muggleborns. The chamber of secrets being opened was like a shining light on the house, and every single Slytherin was going to be watched even more carefully than they usually were.
Of course, that asshole Malfoy didn't help matters. Yelling out that the 'Mudbloods were next' was not a good look at the house as a whole. It seems like the entire house of the snakes would have a few uncomfortable months, especially since the attacker killed Mrs Norris.
Still, all things considered, it wasn't time to start pointing fingers. Harry was sure the Slytherin Court was going to need to address the entire house about something. They don't normally talk to the house needlessly, so that would be the first time that Harry would see the mysterious group that is pretty much in charge of the entire house.
Deciding to focus on the ritual instead, Harry slowly walked towards the hidden ritual rooms. Harry put on his ritual robes and mask and ignored the weird feedback from his arcane hearing of the ambient magic sliding off the robes. He saw the first years follow a prefect towards the general ritual room. Harry followed them from behind and took a place in the large circle around the room. Harry didn't really have the resources to start a ritual of his own and honestly, he didn't need to. Unless he was planning something fundamentally different instead of the standard ritual, like using human sacrifices or something that disturbing, there wasn't really a reason not to just use the general one.
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