Harry Potter and the Rebirth of Salazar Slytherin

By Mr. Riddler

Chapter Beta: Denise McDonald

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Harry Potter or any of cannon characters, themes, or storyline within this story.

Summary: What if Harry Potter was not just Harry Potter or even the Boy Who Lived? What if he was the reincarnation of someone else from a former time, someone history has deemed to be a dark wizard? Who will be his allies, who will be his enemies? One thing is for sure. The line between good and evil has never been this thin.

This is an AU story with a completely original idea, featuring Harry as the reincarnated form of Salazar Slytherin himself, different perception of the relationships between the Hogwarts founders, ideas of good and evil. The story is sad and angsty at times and can be violent and bloody, but it is actually lighter than what it would seem.

Note: Harry/Salazar is in theory the 'good' guy or at least the protagonist of the story but he will be in conflict with the other light forces, mainly the Ministry of Magic, the Aurors, and even the Order of the Phoenix.

Rated: PG-13/R For violence and angsty themes

Ships: Not sure, possibly Harry/Ginny

Chapter 1: The Rebirth

"Lumos..."

The black tiles of the walls and ceilings reflected eerie rays of dark light into the Chamber of Secrets. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, cautiously approached the pair of serpentine statues situated at the end of the room. The extra effort he took in attempting to be discreet had the opposite effect by magnifying the sound of contact between his shoes and the solid ground. Indeed, there was something ominous about the way the echoes bounced off the walls of chamber before entering his eardrums. More than once did Harry stop in his tracks to listen to these echoes, carefully attempting to decipher whether they were his or those of someone following him.

The Gryffindor 5th year student had every right to be paranoid and alarmed. It was midnight and the frigid December night air was nipping at his skin. With Voldemort at the height of his powers, his friends would undoubtedly think he was out of his mind to be out of bed not to mention being in the Chamber of Secrets of all places. Which was why he came on this expedition alone, without Ron or Hermione.

Come on Harry, you faced Voldemort before, for crying aloud. How bad can being in the dark be compared to that?  The 'brave' Boy Who Lived quickly regretted his last thought as a squeak almost gave him a heart attack. Despite the fright, the boy quickly used his quick reflexes, trained by the numerous encounters with Voldemort and Death Eaters, to direct his wand at the perpetrator.

Harry blinked as he saw the form of a gray rat. The boy stared motionlessly at the creature, who looked back him with what appeared to be ... a look of fear. He never recalled what made him react the way he did, but he did. A sudden look of unholy rage crept across the young boy's face as he quickly associated this common rodent with one of the most hateful persons he knew. His instincts took over as he narrowed his eyes.

"STUPEFY" A jet of hot curse shot out of Harry's wand.

The rat gave a lot terrified squeak as the force of the spell sent it crashing into the wall. The force of the spell powered by anger and hate would probably have been enough to kill a wizard, but somehow the rat managed to shake off the spell and speed off at top speed. Harry watched as the detestable animal disappeared around the corner.

What's happening to me? The boy ran a trembling hand through the mop that was his hair. Just earlier today, he had yelled at his friends for apparently no reason. They asked him what was wrong at dinner since he hasn't been eating well for the last couple of days. Harry snapped at Ron and Hermione, telling them to mind 'their own bloody business'. He never really meant that. In fact, on the inside Harry was glad and comforted by the fact that at least his friends cared about him. He didn't know what caused him to explode, but he did know that his friends turned beet red at his harsh words and walked away furious. Ron looked as if he wanted to punch Harry for being a snobbish bastard. Harry wished he had.

Although it looked as if he didn't care as he walked away in the opposite direction, Harry in fact cared a great deal about their friendship. He had wanted very much to apologize right there and then and ask them for their forgiveness, but he couldn't. He didn't know what caused him to yell at his closest friends in the first place, so he couldn't prevent himself from repeating the same mistake. Therefore, it would seem pointless to try to retrieve his broken friendship only to have it broken in another encounter.

Harry walked up to the statue of Salazar Slytherin, which stood before the closed set of doors, the doors that had enclosed the feared Basilisk until his second year when he had killed it. He smiled at this thought rather sadly. How he wished he could return to the years before, when he felt safe among his friends and family even if he was not in actuality. Now, he was alone or at least he felt alone just as Lord Voldemort had finally made his presence known... even to the dimwit Fudge.

The 15-year-old boy as he eyed the statues with narrowed eyes. He had been getting visions and premonitions of horrific events, scenarios of catastrophic worldwide disasters at the hands of Voldemort and his followers. Then one day, he heard this voice calling, urging, summoning him to come to the Chamber of Secrets. Even as he was suspicious at first of a Death Eater scheme, Harry had the vague notion that the voice came from inside of him, which could mean a) he had finally cracked or b) his subconscious was trying to tell him something. Harry assumed the latter option, which is why he had returned to the Chamber of Secrets. Now all he had to do is wait for that 'voice' to return to him. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait for long.

A sudden aura of light appeared around Harry and he looked surprised as the statue of Slytherin looked back at him with glowing red eyes for a millisecond. The odd part was that Harry wasn't afraid. In fact, he was expectant, expectant of the changes to come and the consequences they entail. The light grew stronger until it encompassed the entire chamber and had engulfed the Boy Who Lived...

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Harry Potter studied himself before the mirror in the boy's restroom, adjacent to the 5th year boy's room in Gryffindor tower. He traced a finger along his face as if testing the texture of the skin. Occasionally, he would smile as if recalling fond memories of the past. After about thirty minutes of careful self - evaluation, he was satisfied. The boy gave one last smile at his reflection. His eyes - those great emerald green spherical optical lenses - glittered brightly as he did. Yet as he did this a pair of glowing red eyes returned the look. For one tenth of a second, one could have swore they say the very image of Salazar Slytherin in that mirror.

One thought crossed the boy's mind as he made his way back to bed. Tom is going to pay... dearly. His serpentine eyes blinked in determination for a second and then they reverted to their normal color.