Prologue

It was a curious, and determined Harry Potter that went back to the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets. He had wanted to explore the chamber for a while now, but at the end of last year with so many eyes upon him.

So, two weeks into his third year, when he managed some sort of private from everyone, he slipped off 'to the loo'. Well, at least he wasn't lying when he said he was going to the loo.

Harry opened the entrance easily, having no pressure put on him to save someone, and practice had done wonders for the fluidity at which he could speak the 'noble' language of the serpents. The sink, well, sank into the ground to reveal the slide like tunnel that was hidden beneath at his spoken serpentine command.

He stared at the darkness of the tunnel incredulously; honestly, you'd think 'The Great Salazar Slytherin' wouldn't stoop low enough to consider this method of travel for his 'Inner Sanctum.' No, there must be something more dignified for the supposed character of Slytherin. Harry thought over the problem looking at the hole in the floor. /* Stairs? */ he said in the same language as before to open the chamber. His hopes were dashed away as the possible stairs refused to magically * wink wink * appear. It was probably just only supposed to be his familiar's entrance. He would have to look into the possibility of more entrances.

Without much further delay, Harry promptly jumped into the large pipe. The end of which looked exactly as he had left it. He didn't doddle taking in the look of the surroundings, though; he quickly walked on to the large door he remembered from before.

The main chamber - Harry refused to believe this to be the only one, it wouldn't fit in with Slytherin's image - was not like the way he had expected. Instead of finding an at all degraded serpent where it was slain, he found that the serpent didn't appear at all diminished in its state. Other than some hardened blood about, there were no signs indicating that the 'poor' beast had been dead for long. Even then, dried blood does not mean it makes it this old of a hunt.

He looked at the beast and came up short as to what to do with her corpse. It would be difficult to move her as is, what with her still-active magic resistance. Add to that the fact that the snake probably weighs more than a few tonne. Then there is the problem of cutting it into smaller pieces, if he chose that route, not only would cutting it up take a serious amount of time, but it would chew through any tools he could think to use or have access to, and he has no idea what's what dealing with the beast's corpse. He would probably do it all wrong and ruin anything of value.

Harry walked along the walls, looking for something. He didn't know what he was searching for, but he still went along with his almost instinctive feeling to look; his instincts had never led him astray before. He paused, and thought about that one. Perhaps he should have taken Divination after all. maybe he could train this Seer-like ability. He tossed the idea, after-all, when he asked about the subject, most everyone said the teacher was a fraud. He'd rather not have his 'gift' (if he had one, he added mentally) suffer because of a fraud.

He found it! Harry didn't know he was looking for it, but he knew that he found it. Therein the form of a disfigured-looking packman, a piece of the wall was protruding slightly from the face of the wall. It was only slightly raised, and he knew that he would have missed it were it not that he stopped momentarily. He wondered what he should do with it. He tried first with the obvious choice of hissing at it with parseltongue, a simple phrase of /* I see you! */. It had no effect. Then came the other choice of pushing on it.

Wary from the events of the year previous, he looked for something other than his hand to touch the object. He found it in the form of a hastily transfigured long wooden pole from a rock.

He was right to use the pole because as soon as he touched the figure with the pole, green tendrils spat out of the wall and wrapped around the stick. The green tendrils then turned red and makes the pole. Harry shuddered to think of what would happen if it were anything of his body parts. It would have definitely been painful, but it would not be anything he didn't have before. Honestly he has had to regrow bones before! Don't let anyone tell you that is less painful than mending. /* Impressive, */ whispered a voice from (beyond?) the wall. /* to think of using something other than magic or your own… */ the voice paused, then, /*I had not thought of that. For that alone, you may pass this obstruction, using such cunning…*/

/*Who's there?*/ Harry asked. The voice chuckled, in a distinct snake-ish way.

/*Why don't you come and see?*/ The wall before him disappeared to show a long hallway. a green vine-like substance was hanging from the roof, and along the walls. They looked like the ame serpent green as the tendrils from before.

Still wary of the green… stuff, Harry's grip on his already readied wand grew tighter. Cautiously, with at least an eye on the toxic-looking vines, he made his way ahead. Somehow, he knew the vines would not attack him, but tell that to his frazzled nerves! It took awhile through the winding hall, and he had spotted a few traps that looked deactivate along the way, before he had met the sight of a medium sized hall with four caskets raised upon a platform. The middle, between the casks at 90° intervals, was a pillar made of what appeared to be made of obsidian. Atop the pillar were four gems, placed in a way so they were aligned with their respective caskets. One was a ruby, embedded into the edge of the pillar, as were the rest. Opposite the ruby was an emerald, and 90° on either side were other gems. One was a topaz, and opposite the topaz was a lapis lazuli. Of course to Harry, the last two gems just looked like blue and yellow stones to him.

"Are you done ogling the jewelry yet?" Drawled a voice not too unlike a certain potions master he knew. He jumped and spun around to face the sight of four almost translucent people he would not soon forget. His eyes were wide, and he couldn't seem to get any words to his brain in order to speak.

"I think you broke him, Sal," commented the other male of the four, with a strong, deep voice. Harry noted the twitch of the first man's eye. He made a mental note to not call the man that name.

The first woman ignored them, in favour of paying attention to the very scrawny looking boy. She was the tall blonde of the two, with a sor of dreamy look about her. She said lightly, "Hello, dear. My name is Rowena Ravenclaw." It was said over and as the kind-looking muscular type woman lost all pretense of kindness when she gave a fierce glare at the two men. They both flinched slightly at the glare directed to them. The second woman struck Harry as a Mrs. Weasley type. Rowena reminded Harry faintly about a certain Ravenclaw 2nd year. Her name escaped him, but still. He made a mental note to get to know other people in the school. It would probably help him have connections.

Harry had began to visit the founder's resting place as often as he could. He needed it to hide away from all that was happening that year. What with the teacher's concerned looks, being followed by people, and needing to get away from his fame.

The founders and he talked of many subjects, from anything like his current problems, 'current' history, and such things. The founders talked of their lives, and Harry informed them of what the public thought of them. Sometimes he would take his work there, and they would kindly lend a hand to his education.

Eventually the simple explanations evolved to include full lessons taught by the founders. They would each teach him their various specialties, from beginner onward. Harry had a sneaky suspicion that the founders loved having another pupil around.

Harry especially liked Rowena and her out-of-the-box thinking. She helped him with his Runes, taught him Archery, and more about being a Seer. It was Salazar "don't call me Sal" Slytherin that would teach him Arithmancy, a lot better than the current Arithmancy professor, thank you. Helga Hufflepuff would teach him Healing and Care of Creatures. Then there was Godric Gryffindor. He would teach Harry Herbology, surprisingly, how to properly handle a blade, and Magical Defense. After hearing about the Dementors hanging about the school, the first thing he did was teach him the Patronus Charm. Harry was surprised the Dementors have been around this long, and the ministry hadn't seen the foolishness of having dementors around children.

At first Harry was worried that he wouldn't be able to learn anything because he wouldn't be around all that often, and couldn't stay long. They solved the problem by making it so that time… worked differently in the Chamber. Time was experienced much quicker inside the room compared to outside, but the effects such as hunger, age and whatnot do not apply. He had spent weeks at a time in the founders presence while outside only a few hours passed.

It was very late when the subject of familiars was brought up. Salazar was understandably upset when Harry mentioned that he kinda killed his familiar, and why. That was how the subject was brought up, Salazar asking after his familiar 'Sally'.

Harry had asked how they would get a familiar in the first place because they all had one, and in some cases they were quite rare. For example in the case of Dumbledore, Salazar, or even Voldemort had his magical beaumuse. They told him, and taught him of a certain ritual to get the familiar that would best, or in cases perfectly, fit their summoner (read: Master). They taught him all of the necessary spells and enchantments to connect with them, permanently.

That was why Harry Potter found himself in the Room of Requirement, originally the Ritual Room, to set up his familiar summoning ritual. The founders said that he had to be alone, because any other interference would be detrimental to his health.

A little blood spilled here, some odd and exotic items and gems there, and some long-winded chanting sessions later brought forth a bright multicolored light.

Elsewhere

The Drone jerked back away from the light that appeared in its path. It wasn't out of fear, but surprise. It knew that his was far above its level of problem solving skill, so it impressed a query upon the Overmind as to what to do. The order came for it to investigate the oddity. Cautiously the Drone touched the disturbance. That was when the Drone lost connection with the Hivemind and Overmind.

End Prologue