Moody barked in laughter before shaking the mans hand and leaving the castle in a very thoughtful mood. It seemed now he had more questions he wanted answering than before his meeting with the Headmaster and he felt the sense of frustration set in again as he apparated to the entrance of the ministry.
He made his way through the atrium and into the lifts to meet with the Minister, something he had been instructed to do the moment he had any information. He simply walked past the assistant stationed in front of the office and rapped his knuckles smartly against the solid oak door.
"Come in Alastor", the minister sighed irritably.
Clearly Moody was the only one who had the audacity to knock on her door without being announced and he smirked at the tone of her voice as he entered the room.
"I hope that you have come to give me some good news", she stated as she offered the man a seat.
"Not exactly", Moody growled as he sat down.
The minister sighed.
"You have been looking into this for over a week and you have nothing?", Bagnold asked exasperatedly.
"From what I have come to understand there is nothing to find out, I even went to Dumbledore as a last resort and there is nothing but rumours and speculation, but Albus thinks the lad is good", he finished with a shrug.
Bagnold shook her head.
"I don't like it Alastor", she sighed. "I guess for now we will leave it but I want you to keep an eye on the boy when you can", she requested.
"Aye", Moody agreed.
"For now though I have a more pressing concern that I wish for you to look into".
Moody nodded and waited for his new task, keen to be doing something other than chasing what he deemed to be a ghost.
"The European Dueling Championships are due to start in the summer and I sent Antonin the missive about it a week ago, I've even had the auror's at his home yet there is no sign of him, I need you to track him down", she all but demanded.
Moody shook his. "You won't find him, he's dead", Moody replied bluntly.
"Dead, how?", the minister asked disbelievingly she shot to her feet, clearly alarmed by the news.
"Apparently he was killed by the very same Potter we have been looking into", he shrugged.
"Then why hasn't the boy been arrested?", Bagnold demanded angrily. "And you said there was nothing to tell", se reminded him.
"Because it was a family sanctioned duel", Moody explained. "And the ministry cannot interfere in family matters", he reminded her.
Bagnold sunk back into her seat defeated.
"He would have won us the championship", she grumbled.
A triumphant look quickly replaced the one despair and she looked towards Moody excitedly. "Unless we convince Potter to do it", she declared. "If he beat Antonin then he may be our best chance".
Moody shook his head.
"The boy is sixteen, I don't think that's a good idea", he deadpanned.
"Oh pish, I'm sure he would do it if he were offered something in return", she mused aloud. "That is your next assignment Alastor, I want you to convince the boy to do it", she instructed.
"I don't know the boy", Moody pointed out.
"Hmm, we are rather pressed for time, maybe we should just invite him in and ask him, we have nothing to lose at this point".
"But we haven't seen him duel, he may have gotten lucky", Moody tried.
"Then we test him", Bagnold replied irritably. "I don't like it", Moody growled.
"We have very little choice right now, unless you will do it?", she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Moody shook his head.
"I have spent too long as an auror to duel competitively and I am too old", he grumbled.
"Then Potter it is", Bagnold reiterated.
Moody simply remained silent. He did not agree with his boss's decision but there was very little he could do about it.
(BREAK)
It was the very early hours of the next morning that found Harry wandering the halls of the castle under his invisibility cloak with the map clutched in his hands as he made the trip towards the second floor to investigate the chamber of secrets. He had managed to shrink and silence a rooster during the previous days care of magical creatures class, a rooster which was currently shifting in his pocket irritably. He had previously had no desire to revisit the chamber in any way but the thought of additional knowledge had him succumbing to the new found desire to look into it. At the very least he had experience of the place and though it felt as though Tom was trying to lead him into a trap, he couldn't swallow down his curiosity.
He reached the bathroom and thankfully found it empty, he had no desire to converse with an emotional Myrtle today. Approaching the sink in which he knew hid the entrance to the chamber, he immediately spotted the small snake engraving etched into the bronze tap.
"Open", he whispered.
As it had done before, the sink descended and revealed the tunnel that would lead him to the chamber of secrets. After taking a deep breath Harry propelled himself down the slide feeling a rush of exhilaration as he travelled through the very bowels of the castle and reached the bottom, hitting the ground with a soft thump.
He lit his wand as he made his way through the familiar twists and turns of the crudely carved stone caverns and managed to suppress the shudder of fear he felt as he passed the shedded skin of the basilisk, a reminder of how big the creature was.
He reached the door to the main chamber much quicker than he expected to and braced himself before opening it and entering.
The first thing he noted was how truly beautiful it was, something he had failed to see on his one other excursion here, though he had been focused on more pressing matters at the time.
The stone carvings of the room had been expertly crafted, something that even with the use of magic would have taken a considerable amount of time to complete. He made his way across the stone floor and paused at the statue of Slytherin himself and looked upon the man whose legend lived on to this very day.
He was a lithely built man with sharp, aristocratic features and eyes, that even in stone form, exuded intelligence and power. As he looked upon one of the founders of the school Harry could not help but feel that Salazar Slytherin was a man who could easily command respect and it would be a respect willingly given by those he met.
"Who is it? Who is there?", amuffled voice sounded from within statue itself.
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