Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Harry Potter and the Artificer Legacy! Harry continues to progress, because he feels it'll be required this year. Penny helps dig into the History of the Chamber. Questions need to be asked and answered after the next incident!

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Chapter 14 – History, Advancement, Questions

"So it's been opened before?" Harry asked to confirm what Penny had just told him.

"Yes, about fifty years ago, in fact." Penny nodded as they sat in the hidden workshop.

"So what does this mean in the here and now?" Harry questioned and Penny could only postulate.

"It could mean that whoever opened the Chamber fifty years ago has returned to the castle. Or perhaps the descendant of that person is a new student?" Penny shrugged as she mulled over possibilities.

"Neither option is particularly good." Harry sighed while running a hand through his hair. "Though since we don't have any new Staff, except that peacock, I don't think the original perpetrator is back."

"So it's probably a student, maybe even a First Year." Penny hummed in thought. "Not that suspecting this narrows it down any. We have almost forty new First Years this year."

"Hopefully the Staff can deal with this quickly." Harry hoped as he looked at the notes Penny had made about the last 'Chamber of Secrets Incident'. "A student actually died last time. I would hope the Staff would close the school before it gets that bad again."

"Why wouldn't they?" Penny questioned. "The safety of the students should be their first priority as Professors."

"Penny, even you know that the Magical World often lacks what most Non-Magicals would call 'common sense'." Harry replied flatly and Penny exhaled deeply before nodding.

"I'll look into what this 'monster' could possibly be." Penny informed Harry as she collected her notes. "Knowing Slytherin it's probably some kind of Magical Serpent. Though it would have to be one that could either live for over a thousand years or be able to sustain a breeding population in an isolated space for the same amount of time."

"That should at least narrow it down a bit, right?" Harry asked and Penny nodded.

"It should. Even Magical Species have lifespans; I'm not the most 'learned' in Care of Magical Creatures but surely there can't be 'that' many Magical Snakes that fit these criteria." Penny gave him a hopeful smile. Harry found it hard to put much hope into his return smile though. Shortly afterwards Penny left the workshop to head back to the Library. Harry set about Transmuting more Oulm, if there really was a monster being awoken from a fifty year slumber then having any advantage, even a Magical Knife, would be better than not having it. Plus he still needed to continue tests on his first 'failure'. The effect it had on a person that touched the edge of the blade was 'unexpected' to say the least. Harry was already wondering if he might be able to turn his 'failure' into a 'success' with some time and a few changes.

-November 9th-

"Excuse me, but what?" Harry asked and Penny grimaced in return.

"There was an attack, a young Gryffindor boy, Creevey from what I hear." Penny informed and Harry sat back at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall. There had been bits and pieces of the story flying around this morning and it seems that now, at lunch, the news had finally broken. The 'Heir' had apparently unleashed Slytherin's 'monster' on the school.

"So Hogwarts is going to close, right?" Harry asked and Penny outright frowned before she replied.

"Apparently not, though I don't know why, the Staff hasn't mentioned closing the school or sending the students home." Penny replied her pretty face twisted by her anger.

"You're kidding…" Harry was shocked. A student had been attacked and petrified by an unknown assailant or monster and Hogwarts was just going to carry on like nothing happened? "What is wrong with these people?" Penny could only shrug angrily while forcing herself to eat.

"I've narrowed down the list of potential Magical Snakes, but with petrification being the results of the attacks I'm afraid this opens the door to other 'monsters' being the culprit." Penny worried as she mentally went over her research. "No Magical Snake I've read about has the ability to petrify its victims."

"I'm writing another letter to Sirius." Harry stated as he finished his lunch. "The last reply I got Sirius told me that it could just be a prankster with horribly bad taste. Since it is right about the fiftieth anniversary of the last time the Chamber was opened. But this is an outright attack, I'm sure Sirius will be able to round up the parents of the students and get the Aurors involved." Penny nodded and agreed to write her own letter to her parents. At the end of classes that day Harry left with a quick 'goodbye' to his study buddies. His only other comment was "I've got work to do."

It so happened that on Wednesday the eleventh of November the Great Hall doors were opened just as breakfast was finishing up. The Staff were caught 'flat-footed' by the appearance of the large group of Witches and Wizards. Especially the large amount of Aurors present among them. A stern looking woman with red hair and a monocle marched forward leading the group. Harry was quick to spot Sirius among the group and Penny's father as well. Though he'd only met the man briefly.

"Dumbledore we need to talk, immediately." The stern witch in Auror robes informed the aged Headmaster.

"Of course, Amelia, if you would all kindly follow me to the antechamber." Dumbledore agreed as he stood from his chair and led the large group through a door off to the side of the Head Table. The large group steadily made their way into the room until the Great Hall was only filled with students and the Staff that weren't Heads of House.

"Well that worked better than I thought it would." Harry grinned and Penny gave him a side hug with a smile on her face. Later that day Sirius got to meet with Harry and Penny's father, Edward Clearwater, was with him since Penny was with Harry. The two adults explained what had gone on in the antechamber, besides a lot of yelling, and both Harry and Penny were less than thrilled with the results.

"What do you mean Hogwarts is staying open?" Penny questioned incredulously.

"Dumbledore and Amelia argued back and forth about it for quite a while." Edward shook his head. "But Dumbledore argued against closing the school and Amelia forced him to accept Aurors being stationed at Hogwarts."

"Aurors might help, but wouldn't it be safer to just close the school?" Harry questioned and both Sirius and Edward looked like they agreed.

"Amelia only agreed to the school remaining open so that the Aurors can search every student's belongings for illegal Magic Items, especially ones that could petrify a person. If they find said item among a student's things that student will be expelled on the spot and criminal charges will be filed." Sirius informed them.

"This is still ridiculous." Harry grumbled aggravated with the lack of sense being shown.

"We agree, but Dumbledore has a lot of influence in Magical Britain." Edward groused as he pulled his daughter into a hug. Sirius was quick to do the same while also passing Harry a small mirror.

"What's this?" Harry questioned looking the plain object over.

"One of the Marauder's best accomplishments." Sirius grinned proudly. "A Communication Mirror!"

"A what?" Harry asked and Sirius was happy to tell the story of how the pair of mirrors came to be. It seemed it was mostly Lupin's work with some minor inputs from Sirius and Harry's father, James.

"Why didn't you make more?" Penny questioned as she looked the item over. "Something like this could have made a fortune." Harry was also interested in the answer to Penny's question and looked at Sirius expectantly.

"Well…actually." Sirius rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "It was complete luck that it worked at all."

"What's that mean?" Harry inquired and Sirius went on to explain that the Marauders had gone through well over a hundred mirrors to eventually make the pair that worked. But even Remus didn't know why the pair worked out. They'd attempted to re-create the mirrors dozens of times but even with the same Enchantments and Charms, no other pair ever worked out.

"I see." Penny replied as she stared at the mirror in her hands. "A pity, it could've revolutionized Magical Communication."

"Do you think Moony still has the notes for this?" Harry asked staring at the second mirror in his hands with a near manic gleam of curiosity and interest in his eyes. They almost appeared to be glowing with how intensely Harry was staring at the mirror in his hands.

"Knowing Moony, probably?" Sirius nodded with a small shrug. "He's a meticulous note keeper. He probably still has them stashed away with his old school things."

"Can you ask him to send me a copy of them?" Harry requested as he looked the mirror over. "This sounds like a worthwhile challenge." The young Artificer grinned as he had several thoughts and theories already flying around his head.

"Sure thing, Harry." Sirius laughed at the look on his Godson's face. That gleam in his eyes was always followed by some kind of creation of Harry's. Though even Sirius was curious if his Godson could crack the mystery of the Communication Mirrors. Sirius took back one mirror and told Harry to keep the other, in case of emergency. Should anything else happen; Harry was to contact Sirius with the mirror and inform him of it. If Sirius was called he'd make sure to come to Hogwarts and retrieve Harry with all haste. Regardless of whether or not Hogwarts was closing. Several minutes later and the adults had left while Harry and Penny went to practice their Wandless Magic in the hidden workshop.

Many students were rounded up and punished when the Aurors' search turned up items that were banned in the school. Only two were Dark Items, from two Seventh Year Slytherins, the rest mostly being alcohol like Fire Whiskey. Other than that nothing else was uncovered and classes resumed as normal for the most part. Aurors patrolled the halls at night instead of Prefects and the red robed Wizards and Witches were stationed around the castle at strategic positions. There hadn't been another attack since Colin Creevey; the First Year had been treated with a Mandrake Draught that had been brought in from St. Mungos. When questioned about what he'd seen, the boy had only been able to recall seeing a large pair of yellow eyes through his camera and then waking up in the Hospital Wing.

"Yellow eyes don't help narrow it down much." Penny groaned as she was looking through multiple tomes about Magical Creatures. A petrifying gaze was a rare trait even among the multitudes of Magical Beasts in the world. But Penny couldn't find any creature capable of living a thousand years or breeding successfully in isolation for the same length of time that also had said gaze.

"Maybe it's a hybrid?" Harry mused as he was waiting for the Circuit Base lines to cool on his second prototype knife. "Slytherin doesn't come off as entirely sane to me from what I've read."

"That means it could be almost anything though." Penny almost whined. "Magical Creature breeding can happen between species that have no relation to each other at all; as long as very specific conditions are met at least."

"Maybe we should ask Hagrid?" Harry pondered; the gentle giant was a fount of knowledge when it came to Magical Creatures after all.

"It couldn't hurt." Penny agreed as she watched Harry pick up his new knife.

"Just let me run a few tests with this first." Harry grinned as he produced a Lumos Charm. A second later and the Artificer swiped the blade of the knife through the ball of light. The light noticeably shrank and got dimmer, but still remained. "Progress!" Harry cheered as he looked at the light.

"Congratulations, Harry!" Penny clapped for him.

"Let's try it again, how many swings until the Lumos Charm is extinguished?" Harry wondered as he passed the blade through the light again. This time though, nothing changed about the Charm. "What?" Harry asked confused. He swiped through the light a few more times with no results. "Why isn't it working?" He muttered to himself before looking over the knife.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Penny asked.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Harry shouted and Penny started and almost fell out of her chair.

"What? What happened?!" Penny asked a second later as she tried to calm her heart rate.

"It's inert! Completely inert!" Harry stated loudly a look of confusion on his face.

"What do you mean?" Penny asked as she stood from her chair and walked over to him.

"The knife, it's not Magical anymore, it's just a chunk of inert metal alloy in the shape of a knife." Harry replied as he showed her the prototype. Even to Penny's untrained eyes the knife just looked…dull, for lack of a better term.

"What happened to it?" Penny questioned curiously. Harry shook his head before he started looking over it more thoroughly.

"It burned out." Harry spoke up a minute later. "The Array and the Circuit Base lines, all of them are blackened."

"So it just…broke?" Penny asked and got a nod from Harry.

"That's basically it." Harry sighed heavily. "The Array was too much for the material. One use and it burned out the Oulm. It didn't even disperse the Lumos Charm and it still burned out."

"But it weakened it…that's still progress right?" Penny encouraged and Harry smiled at the blonde.

"Yeah, it's still progress. Just need a better Magical Metal as the base. What I wouldn't do for some Orichalcum. But Alchemists are very rarely willing to part with any they make. The stuff that's on the market costs way too much because of it. Not to mention the stories you hear about low-grade Orichalcum. It's almost like fool's gold. It looks like what you want, but in the end it's pretty much worthless." Harry sighed as he thought about it.

"Maybe take a break and work on something else?" Penny suggested. "You said the first prototype might have another use if you can work it out. Plus that new Trinket you've been working on seems interesting." Harry nodded as he turned to the first 'failed' prototype and the host of small metal discs that were strewn across another table in the workshop. Walking over Harry looked through the papers on the discs while Penny looked over the Trinkets.

"With all the Aurors here I got a few ideas to potentially make their jobs a bit easier." Harry admitted as he sat down and moved one of the discs in front of him. "If I can work out the 'failed' knife's Array and give it a different Form, I might have my first Professional customer with the Auror department."

"What about the discs?" Penny asked while looking at them and seeing the lines of Runes on them.

"One time use Trinkets, they're meant to burn out as part of their activation." Harry remarked as he held the disc in front of him. "I've basically put the Runic Form of about a dozen different 'Dispelling' Charms on them. Place them on a Warded Object, like a door or building, and then activate them and they should, in theory anyway, break the Ward. Though to be honest it might only be temporary for large-scale Warded areas like Family Manors or the Ministry."

"That would still be a great help to the Aurors, Harry." Penny praised the Artificer. "A lot of times criminals are able to escape because they Ward their hiding places and the Aurors are forced to determine what Wards are in place and then they have to break them. The criminals usually have enough time to escape before the Aurors get passed the Wards."

"Yeah, I remember Tonks telling us about that. She's kind of the reason I want to make this stuff to begin with. I want to make her job easier and if possible I want her to be safer." Harry mused, his face set in a fond grin as he thought about the bubbly Metamorph. Penny smiled at Harry for his thoughtfulness; trust the young Artificer to be thinking about those close to him when he decided to pursue a completely new topic of research.

"If you want we can go see Hagrid later." Penny offered and Harry shook his head.

"Nah, we should at least ask him about the hybrid possibility. If anyone at Hogwarts would know it would probably be him." Harry nodded as he stood up and followed Penny out of the hidden workshop. The pair made their way through the castle and across the grounds unimpeded. Knocking on the door to the large wooden hut led to the barking of Fang, which Harry was used to from his occasional visits.

"Fang, back! Back you ruddy coward!" Hagrid hollered from inside and the door opened to show the large, hairy man.

"Harry, Penny great ter see ya!" Hagrid greeted as he smiled at the pair. "Come in. come in. Bit chilly ter be standing outside." The pair entered the warm, cozy hut and sat at the large table. Fang was quick to place his large head in Penny's lap and get his ears scratched by the blonde.

"Hagrid we were wondering about what Colin Creevey said about what he saw when he was petrified." Harry started and Hagrid sat down with a kettle of tea prepared.

"I've been looking into what Slytherin's Monster could potentially be but, as you no doubt know, a petrifying gaze is a very rare trait. Then Harry brought up the idea that the monster may be some kind of hybrid. So we thought we'd come talk to you about the possibility since you know so much about Magical Creatures." Penny informed the giant man of the situation.

"Aww, yer two are gonna make me blush." Hagrid smiled brightly at them for the praise to his knowledge.

"Well it's true." Harry smiled at his large friend. "Any ideas on a potential hybrid that could have a petrifying gaze and still be some kind of Magical Snake?"

"Hrmm, that's a difficult question." Hagrid mumbled. "Breedin' two different creatures together doesn't always result in what ye might be wanting. Only a few creatures have a gaze like that. To cross it with a Magical Snake would be difficult." He mused with a thoughtful look on his face. "One of the only Magical Snakes to have a Magical Ability related to its eyes is the Basilisk, but a single look from them kills instead of petrifies."

"Could it be some kind of hybrid of a Basilisk and another Magical Snake?" Penny questioned and Hagrid looked deep in thought.

"That'd be possible, but very difficult." Hagrid spoke while thinking. "Slytherin was a Parselmouth though; he could have potentially talked two different snakes into breedin'."

"Basilisks are classified as Class Five Magical Creatures, Wizard Killers, aren't they? A single Basilisk would be a horrifying monster to stash away. But how would this 'Heir' keep it from killing them with a look?" Harry wondered.

"A good question, Harry." Hagrid nodded. "My pet Aragog was blamed for the death of poor Myrtle back when the Chamber was last opened, but Aragog never hurt no one."

"Aragog?" Penny questioned and Harry was almost afraid to ask.

"My pet Acromantula. Misunderstood creatures they are, they're intelligent when raised by people." Hagrid explained and both Harry and Penny paled.

"So they killed Aragog for the death of the student?" Harry asked and Hagrid shook his head.

"No, Aragog lives in the Forbidden Forest with his family." Hagrid informed them. "He was so lonely that I got him a wife a few years later."

"Hagrid, Acromantulas are illegal to keep without a license." Penny stated and Hagrid nodded.

"I don't keep them; they just live in the forest. S'long as Aragog is alive they won't leave the forest or hurt nobody." Hagrid assured but that didn't make Harry or Penny feel any better.

"So we're still not sure what kind of beast Slytherin left in the chamber." Harry tried to get the conversation back on topic. "Just that it can petrify with its gaze, has bright yellow eyes, and is possibly a hybrid of Magical Snake. None of which helps us identify it."

"There are just too many possibilities." Hagrid apologized while shaking his head. Penny and Harry stayed to chat with the Groundskeeper for a while longer. They found out that Hagrid had been expelled the last time the Chamber had been opened and Aragog had indeed been blamed for the death of the student, Myrtle.

"We should probably look into Basilisks, just in case." Penny commented as she and Harry walked back up to the castle.

"Agreed, it seems like this could be some hybrid or offshoot of a Basilisk." Harry nodded as they entered the castle. "I'll need to keep working, even if it isn't much, it'll be better to have something than nothing if the monster finds us."

"I'm sure the Aurors will be able to prevent more attacks, Harry, at least I hope so." Penny replied as she noticed the ones in the entryway.

"What's this?" Harry questioned as he saw a large piece of parchment on the door of the Great Hall. Penny and Harry both read the parchment and Harry groaned afterwards.

"It's not the worst idea, Harry." Penny tried to comfort him.

"It is if that peacock is the one 'attempting' to teach or head it." Harry groused. The parchment was informing the student body of the upcoming 'Dueling Club' that Professor Lockhart was going to start up in December. The absolute joke of a Wizard, in Harry's opinion, was just going to use this to try and make a spectacle of himself. That much Harry knew already but Penny seemed to want to at least 'sit in' on it to look out for the younger students.

"We'll just watch, Harry." Penny stated with a small smile.

"Fine, but I already know that pompous windbag is going to be a joke." Harry sighed as he agreed to check out the 'Dueling Club' when it started.

"Well, then how about we get some more Wandless practice in and really show them how to be prepared?" Penny questioned with a raised eyebrow. Harry distinctly felt like he was being challenged by his Prefect friend.

"Is that a challenge I hear in your tone, Prefect Clearwater?" Harry asked as he cocked his own eyebrow.

"Maybe it was, maybe it was." Penny giggled as she and Harry made their way towards the hidden workshop to practice.

"I've learned a new Charm or two that should serve me well." Harry grinned as they walked along.

"You don't say…" Penny smiled. "So have I."

"We'll see who is learning the best in a bit then." Harry chuckled.

"Fair warning, my mana was at '4,890' yesterday morning." Penny smiled pleasantly.

"Skill can triumph over power." Harry replied evenly. 'She's at '4,890'? I was at '1,610' this morning. How long will it take me to catch up?' He thought to himself as they made their way into the workshop again. Looking over at his worktable and the various sheets of notes and Runic Sequences, Harry confirmed to himself that he was going to try and make the next push in his Alchemy soon.

"Ready yet, Harry?" Penny questioned as she stretched a bit to limber up for their duel.

"Yeah, just give me a few moments to stretch." Harry replied as he tore his eyes away from his worktable. 'Sylvuan is harder to transmute, but it's much more durable than Oulm. It has higher Magic Concentration as well, so maybe it can hold the Array properly?' He mused as he went through some stretches. 'I'd like to have an actual prototype sword by the end of the school year if possible.'

"Are you ready?" Penny asked as she raised her right hand.

"Any time, Penny." Harry replied with far more confidence than he felt about this duel.

"You should work on your 'poker face' Harry." Penny laughed as she launched the first spell, a Flipendo, of the duel.

"Noted." Harry replied as he smacked the Flipendo aside and breathed out the large plume of smoke from the 'Fluctus Fumus' spell, then brought up a Protego to block Penny's next spell. At least his mana would probably increase a little after he ran himself ragged trying to keep up with Penny's much larger reserves.

-End Chapter-

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Well Harry's 'common sense' has led to the proper authorities making moves against the 'Heir' right off the bat. How will that affect the story? Will the Basilisk be unleashed again? If so who will be the next victim? Will someone else die this time around? We'll find out. Also Harry has made some progress! Then went back a half-step when the progress also failed, right after succeeding! Argh, the frustration of a Craftsman/Inventor! Will Harry succeed in making a prototype sword by the end of the year? Will Lockhart make a show of himself at the 'Dueling Club'? Yes…of course. What will Harry make of the Communication Mirror? So many things are happening and we're not even halfway through the Year! Poor Harry…he just can't have a simple school year.

Current Mana Levels

Harry – 1,610

Tonks – 5,876 (Outdated)

Penelope – 4,890

Until I get your reviews, later!