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Serpent of the World	By : TheLadyMiya Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 9486 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I make no money writing this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Good evening my dear readers! Here is a new chapter which I hope will be to your satisfaction after my cliffhanger, mehehehe.
As always, Ozzy, my love, my star, my beta extraordinary! Many cookies for you!
I also want to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, rated and in other ways shown their appreciation for this fic! Enjoy!
You can find your replies here: http://tomioneconvention.forumotion.com/t1011-review-reply-serpent-of-the-world#49192
Chapter 4
Hermione stared at the man claiming to be Salazar Slytherin.
“What the hell is going on?” Hermione bellowed and finally managed to pull herself away from the man, stumbling a few steps backwards. Her eyes flew between Tom and the new man.
“There, there, sister. Just calm down and we’ll explain everything,” Tom said and raised his hands to show that the knife was gone. However, he didn’t give her back her wand.
Hermione glared at him, but something was clearly off here. Sister? She knew there were blood rituals to adopt people; the oldest types of blood rituals were about tying family bonds after all, but why would someone want to adopt her?
“What is going on?” she asked again. “Who are you two?”
“I told you, I’m Salazar Slytherin,” the long haired man said, looking slightly annoyed.
“That’s impossible,” Hermione proclaimed. “Slytherin has been dead for a thousand years at least.”
“I’m very much dead, yes. But since when has that stopped wizards?” he answered and slowly took a step towards her. “Especially when I still have work to do. Like making sure my heir doesn’t get into trouble.”
He glared at Tom.
“Your heir?” Hermione asked, looking at Tom. “I thought your heir was— No!”
Tom’s smile broadened. “Yes, death doesn’t seem to stick in this family, does it? I wonder how long it will take before you die and come back, dear sister.”
“This can’t be happening,” Hermione muttered and slowly started to move backwards. “You can’t be Voldemort! I saw your body! I helped them burn it!”
Tom and Slytherin followed her. “Well, it seems like the world wasn’t quite finished with me yet. Salazar brought me back.”
Hermione stared at Slytherin. Well, at least she was starting to believe he was Slytherin. If Voldemort was alive, then why couldn’t Salazar bloody Slytherin be as well? However, she hadn’t ruled out the possibility of this being some horrible nightmare.
“Why don’t we continue this discussion indoors?” Slytherin suggested. “We wouldn’t want someone to interrupt us, now, would we?”
Quicker than Hermione had time to react, he disappeared and reappeared right next to her, taking her hand. He stretched out his other hand and Tom took it. The next moment Hermione felt a sensation similar to Apparation. A breath later, they were standing inside the Chamber of Secrets.
“But you can’t Apparate inside of Hogwarts,” she whispered in disbelief. Everything was starting to feel more and more surreal, if that was even possible.
“Girl, I built Hogwarts. I can do whatever I please,” Slytherin said with a smile and let go of Tom. “Come here.”
He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn around and step through a door she hadn’t noticed the last time she had been down here. Behind it lay something that looked like a very old-fashioned bedroom.
Hermione was at a loss on what she should do or believe. If Tom really was Voldemort reborn, she had to warn everyone. But what about Slytherin? He had claimed to be dead, but he didn’t look like a ghost. What was he? And why had he brought back Voldemort? And what was Tom playing at by calling her his sister? If Slytherin and Voldemort were working together, Hermione couldn’t think of any reason why those two would want to make her a sister to any of them. No, something here didn’t make sense.
Neither did they seem to want to torture her. They were forceful, but polite in some strange way. That confused her too. She doubted that she was in any immediate danger, but perhaps she should try to run regardless? But how would she overpower both of them without her wand? She hadn’t seen where Tom had hid hers.
“I can see that you are confused, Hermione,” Slytherin said, his voice friendly. “Sit down and I’ll explain everything. You are not in any danger, not from us at least. However, the whole world is in danger. I need your help.”
“Why did you strike me down, then?” Hermione asked, deciding that the best thing she could do was to get more information to narrow things down. “If you wanted my help, you could just have asked.”
“No, I couldn’t,” Slytherin said with a sigh. “Only people of my blood can see me. You weren’t of my blood before. But you are now. However, time is something we lack, and I couldn’t work through my heir. The moment you had found out who needed your help, you would have realised who Tom really is. I apologise for the drastic measures, but if you let me explain, you will understand why.”
Hermione looked from Tom, or rather, Tom Riddle, to Slytherin. Riddle’s face was unreadable, but Slytherin looked sincere.
“Am I a prisoner?” Hermione asked slowly.
Slytherin shook his head. “No. Not really. But I must insist that you listen to me before you leave. You have no idea how important it is.”
Hermione studied his face, trying to fathom his intentions. She had tried to practice Legilimency, but she had no idea how good she was. Besides, she didn’t know how well Legilimency worked on someone who was dead. She sighed. “Very well. I won’t leave until you have talked to me. But I want him to return my wand first.”
Slytherin sighed. “Do you swear not to try and curse your way out of here if you get it back? I have to warn you, I’m capable of stopping you. We are inside the Chambers of Secrets, and I know every secret there is to know down here. You won’t get out unless I want you to.”
Hermione didn’t know if he was bluffing, but she didn’t plan to test him. She just wanted her wand back. It would make her feel safer and more inclined to actually listen to him.
Slytherin sighed again and stretched out his hand to Riddle. A flash of annoyance was evident on Riddle’s face, but then it turned unreadable again as he handed Slytherin Hermione’s wand.
Hermione relaxed just a tiny bit when her wand was back in her hand again. “Now, what is it you want to talk to me about?”
“Tom, go and wait in the other room,” Slytherin ordered.
Riddle looked surprised. “What for?”
“Because I said so.” Slytherin made a gesture with his arm and the door opened.
Riddle scowled, but stalked out of the room, the door slamming behind him.
Hermione was equally surprised. Slytherin must have spotted it because he sighed.
“Believe me when I say my heir and I have few things in common. I only resurrected him because the fate of the world hangs in the balance. As my only heir, he is the last person able to control Jörmungandr. Thankfully, you can now do that too.”
Hermione tried to search her memory for what on earth Jörmungandr could be. It sounded Scandinavian, but other than that, her mind drew a black. “What is Jörmungandr?”
“In Norse Mythology, he is called the Serpent of the World. He is a creation of my ancestor, Loki, and very much real, lying at the bottom of the ocean. If he awakens, it will be the end of humanity, both wizard and Muggle.”
Hermione stared at Slytherin, once again wondering if this was all a dream. “Are you telling me you are related to a god?”
Slytherin scoffed. “There is no such thing as a god. The people of Asgard were powerful wizards who lived thousands of years ago. Muggles heard stories about them and with time, a cult was created around these stories. My family are descendants of Loki, and from him comes our power to speak to serpents. This is because we need to control Jörmungandr. Ever since Loki created him, we have kept him asleep at the bottom of the ocean.”
Hermione frowned. “Why is that?”
“If he awakens, he will stir up the oceans and create tidal waves and earthquakes the likes of which you have never seen. Once he is awake, he will be hungry, and he will move up to land, eating everything in his way. Jörmungandr is enormous. He will destroy the world just to feed himself. He is Rangarök, the end of the world.”
“If he is so dangerous, why not just kill him?” Hermione asked, suspicious. If there was a huge serpent lying at the bottom of the ocean, wouldn’t someone have discovered it by now?
“Loki was a great sorcerer,” Slytherin said with a sigh. “He made Jörmungandr invincible. Over the years, some in my family have tried to find a way to destroy him, without destroying the world. But no one has figured it out. Therefore, we use magic to keep him asleep. It has worked for thousands of years, but now, because of the foolishness of my heir and his mother, Jörmungandr could awaken.
“He is sensitive to magic, especially the magic that comes from the blood of his creator. He has begun to stir, creating small tidal waves. You will read about more in the coming years. It will take some time for him to properly awaken, a couple of years perhaps. But we can’t let that happen. Someone needs to go down to him and refreshen the spells over him.
“As I’m sure you understand, I can’t trust Tom with this. But since he was my last heir, he had to come back so I could create another heir from him. You are that one. You’ll carry my legacy now, Miss Granger,” Slytherin said softly.
Hermione studied him critically. “I guess that’s where I have a hard time believing you. Everyone knows that you distrust Muggle-borns. Your house is famous for that. Why on earth would you chose me if all this was true?”
“Due to that ritual, you are no longer a Muggle-born. You are of my blood,” Slytherin said, looking a bit uncomfortable. “The important thing is that you are a powerful and disciplined witch.”
Hermione crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you. It’s not really the blood that’s the big issue for Muggleborn-haters, it’s the legacy. I come from the Muggle world, and that isn’t going to change just because of some ritual.”
Slytherin straightened and glared down at her. “Indeed. Do you want me to tell you how sickening it is to share my blood with that of Muggles? Well, that was the case with Tom as well. But he severed all his ties to the Muggle world, and so have you. I believe you erased your parents’ memories of you?”
“I didn’t do that for the same reasons as Voldemort did,” Hermione argued, angry. “I did that to protect them!”
“Well, consider this a continuation of that protection. You are a Slytherin now, girl.”
“Why the bloody hell did you chose me when you clearly dislike it so much?” Hermione asked, both angry and confused.
Slytherin gave her a dark look. “You don’t understand the severity of this situation. Beggars can’t be choosers. If Jörmungandr awakens, it will be the end of all wizards. I would rather sully my own bloodline than let that happen. I’ve always cared more about the Wizarding world than any of the other Founders. Muggles could have destroyed us when we created Hogwarts, if it wasn’t for my protection. That’s why I dislike seeing Mudbloods at Hogwarts. There are always those of your kin that hate the idea of wizards. I didn’t want to take that risk, but the others overruled me.”
“Well, creating a monster that kills Mudbloods hardly softens Muggles’ view of wizards,” Hermione pointed out.
Slytherin huffed. “The winner writes history, Hermione. I left the ‘monster’, as you call it, to train my descendants to control Jörmungandr. Then Tom came and saw the same uses of it that Gryffindor once had. Don’t you find it strange that so many of my heirs have been to Hogwarts, but there have been no deaths since Tom’s time?”
“Am I really supposed to believe that?” Hermione asked in disbelief.
Slytherin sighed, and then went over to the opposite wall. He waved his hand over it, and the stones in the wall started to disappear, revealing a hidden chamber. Slytherin disappeared into it for a moment, and when he returned he was holding a big silver basin in his hand. It’s edge was covered with runes, and Hermione immediately recognised it as a Scrying basin. She scoffed.
“If you expect to convince me with Divination—”
Slytherin huffed. “This isn’t Divination, girl. Divination is bogus and full of guesswork. We are not Scrying for the future, we are Scrying to see something that is here now, but at another place. I’ll show you Jörmungandr and where he resides.”
He held up his hand again and the basin was filled with clear water.
“I didn’t know Scrying could be used to see things at other places,” Hermione said with a frown.
“It is a lost art,” Slytherin answered. “Mostly because it became forbidden some five hundred years ago. Wizards didn’t like that people could spy on them without their knowledge. All you need is something that connects you with the person or object you wish you see. Our blood connects us with Jörmungandr, and the incantation to make sure we just see him, and not someone else of our blood is simple. Observe.”
A knife appeared in his hand and he pricked his finger, letting one drop of blood fall into the basin. “Show me Jörmungandr.”
The water in the basin started to swirl, and change colours. Watching it almost made Hermione dizzy. Thankfully, it was over after just a few seconds, and when the water became still, she saw that it showed something underwater. It was dark, but somehow, she could still see everything clearly. Rocks were lying at the bottom of the ocean floor, stretching along for as far as could be seen. Between the rocks was an enormous head. She wasn’t sure how she knew it was enormous, because it was hard to get perspective, but yet, she knew. The head looked like that of a dragon more than of a serpent. Even though she could see where the eyes were because of the formation of scales around them, Jörmungandr had his eyelids closed, unlike normal snakes that didn’t have eyelids at all.
“What is that by its mouth?” Hermione asked, suddenly noticing the weird protrusion that lay in front of the head, but came from something that was out of view.
“It’s his tail,” Slytherin said softly. “Jörmungandr is lying in the ocean around the Antarctic, and he is long enough that he can reach his own tail, just as the myth claims. You can imagine how much destruction he can cause by just moving. And just like a Basilisk, his eyes can kill, if he wants to. That is why I left a Basilisk here. My descendants needed to learn to control such a big creature, if worst came to worst. They are not like normal serpents, which follow our every whim. You need to gain their respect.”
Hermione wasn’t sure she actually could imagine the amount of destruction, but her brain told her it was loads. Loads and loads. The thought made her queasy. Had they saved the world just to have it swallowed by this huge beast?
“How do I know this is real and not some illusion?” Hermione finally asked.
“Can you take the chance that it isn’t real?” Slytherin asked, his tone serious. “I will give you some text to read up on him, which also contain the enchantments to keep him asleep. Do any tests you want on them to convince yourself that they are real. I know you can read runes.”
Hermione nodded. In Ancient Runes, she had learned simple spells that could tell how old an object was, and if it had been tampered with or not. It helped researchers determine if the runes they were using were legit or not.
“But what about Riddle?” Hermione asked.
Slytherin sighed. “I can keep him under control for now. If anything were to happen to you, I will need him to make another Blood Sibling. And you have enemies, Hermione.”
“Can’t I make another Blood Sibling?” Hermione asked.
Slytherin shook his head. “No, the magic of Blood Siblings doesn’t work that way. You and Tom are not siblings in the traditional sense. He is flesh, magic and blood, you are just magic and blood. If you were to create a Blood Sibling, the magic would not pass through that bond, and it is the magic we need to stop Jörmungandr. However, your children, when you have them, will be both flesh and blood, and therefore, magic as well. Thus, your children will be able to make Blood Siblings that will be my heirs. And that is why I can’t risk losing Tom until either of you have had children.”
Hermione found that a bit peculiar, and decided to read up on the subject of Blood Siblings. She didn’t like that Riddle was still here, able to do more harm. “So you’ll let Tom go free until one of us has a child?”
“Not free. As long as he remains at Hogwarts, I can control him,” Slytherin said. “I created him with my magic, and I can make him as powerless as a Muggle if I have to, and still be able to sire magical children.”
Hermione, who knew that even a Muggle was capable of causing great damage, wasn’t impressed. “And what about outside of Hogwarts?”
Slytherin made a grimace. “I’m dead, Hermione. I have power here because I put my soul and magic into building Hogwarts. But outside of Hogwarts, I’m not even a ghost, I can’t leave Hogwarts’ grounds.”
Hermione shivered at the thought. She felt sorry for ghosts, but at least they could move through the world and interact with living creatures. Slytherin could only interact with his relatives, and not see anything other than Hogwarts, for all eternity. To Hermione, that was a certain kind of hell.
“What do you plan to let Riddle do in the meantime, then?” Hermione finally asked.
“Attend his last year at Hogwarts. By then, I hope that you will have been able to travel to Jörmungandr and put him to sleep again, thus taking care of the immediate problem.”
“But I had planned to finish Hogwarts as well,” Hermione replied, frowning again.
“By all means, do so. In fact, that is to our advantage. I can teach you a lot of things, Hermione. More than just how to control Jörmungandr. You are a more worthy heir than Tom, both of you have a Muggle inheritance, but at least you didn’t go mad from it.”
She didn’t know if she should take that as a compliment or an insult. But one thing was certain; she was going to keep her guard up around both of them. If this was some kind of trick, she did not want them to succeed.
“May I leave now?” Hermione asked.
Slytherin regarded her for a moment, then he nodded. “Yes. However, I must ask you to keep this a secret. If Tom is discovered, he will be taken out of Hogwarts, and I won’t be able to control him. He would be much more dangerous.”
Hermione was about to object, but then she remembered that if Sirius Black could break free from Azkaban, then Lord Voldemort would surely be able to do it. Especially now, when there were no longer any Dementors at Azkaban. She had no idea how much Dark Arts he knew, but she didn’t doubt that he would use everything in his arsenal to flee the Ministry. At least he seemed to have some form of respect, or fear, for Slytherin, considering that he actually followed his orders.
“How much does he remember from his past life?” Hermione asked when the question suddenly hit her.
“I’m not certain. When I brought him back to life, he thought he was still at Hogwarts, just about to turn seventeen. I repaired his soul when I restored him, and he was almost seventeen the first time he split it, so that’s why all the memories up until that moment are intact. However, I can’t be sure if memories from the other parts of his soul will come back over time. Not that it matters much. I’ve already found him in the library several times, reading about himself. He knows much about what happens, even if he doesn’t remember it.”
Hermione wasn’t sure what to think about that. On one hand, it was probably easier to deal with a Dark Lord who didn’t carry the memory of all the knowledge he had no doubt collected in the years after Hogwarts. Despite that, he was still a very dangerous and clever wizard to deal with, and she couldn’t for a moment let down her guard.
“Very well. Give me the scrolls you have about Jörmungandr and we can talk later tonight,” Hermione said. She realised that she was actually starting to believe Slytherin. He probably did want to save the world. Nevertheless, she would double check and triple check that he was telling the truth.
Slytherin disappeared into the hidden chamber again and returned with a sealed scroll container. He gave it to her.
“Be careful with it, the parchment hasn’t been read in a very long time. You’ll need to refresh the protective spells around it before you read it.”
Hermione nodded and took the container. “How do I get out of here?”
Slytherin opened the outer door again and she saw Riddle standing right behind it. He had a grim expression on his face.
“I’ll take you upstairs again,” Slytherin said. “You’ll continue to act as if nothing has changed.”
Riddle scowled and didn’t say anything as Slytherin put a hand on him, and the other on Hermione. The next moment, they were transported upstairs.
xxx
Slytherin left them without warning upon reaching the second floor. Granger looked surprised by this, and Tom snorted.
“Yes, our honoured ancestor does that sometimes. He is quite mysterious,” Tom drawled.
Granger glared at him and stopped walking. “I just want to make one thing clear, Riddle—”
“Dolder. Or Tom. I think we should be on first name basis, dear sister,” Tom interrupted cheerfully.
“Fine. Tom. I know Slytherin needs you right now, but don’t for one moment think that I’ll stand by and let you do whatever you wish,” Hermione hissed. “If you try to hurt me or any of my friends, I’ll—”
Tom sighed loudly, interrupting her again. “First off, Granger, I wouldn’t try to hurt any of your friends, I would succeed. And if I wished to, you wouldn’t be able to stop me, and no petty threat you could think off would discourage me from doing whatever I wanted to.”
Granger stared at him in disbelief. “But Slytherin said—”
“Yes, exactly. Slytherin is the threat here, not you. So if I were to find a way out of his control, what makes you think you could do anything to stop me? And just so we are perfectly clear: I’m not here to follow your orders. You can do nothing. If you kill me, Slytherin will resurrect me again and possibly kill you. If you try to expose me, Slytherin will have to silence you. If you hurt me…” He trailed off, looking smug. “Oh, Granger, you are welcome to try. But I will give back with everything I’ve got. Better, even. And Slytherin will understand that I acted in self-defence. The only thing I’m not allowed to do is kill you.”
Tom leaned closer to her, and stroked her hair away back from her face and whispered: “But that’s only for as long as Slytherin can control me. And he knows he won’t be able to keep me for long. So if I were you, sister, I’d stay on my good side.”
Granger pushed him away, and he chuckled, allowing himself to be pushed away.
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Serpent of the World