Serpent's Bloodline: Legacy of the Basilisk

Hermione Granger was worried.

Normally, at this time of the year, she would be worried about classes, new professors, homework and learning. Normally, she would just do like she did every year to cope with her worry: she'd look into all the things she would have to learn and build her timetable from there so that she'd definitely have enough time for everything.

But this year, it was different.

Of course, she still was worried about classes, the new defence professor, homework and learning - but all that had taken a back seat to… well, to Harry.

Something was wrong with Harry, and Hermione Granger was worried sick over him.

When she had first met him, she hadn't seen it. It had taken her weeks to decipher that there was something different. Different - not wrong, just different.

It had been the small things that had added up to her worry.

Harry had suddenly forgotten that she hated brussel sprouts - he had never forgotten since she had told him in first year.

Harry had been calm more often but his letters earlier in the summer had been distinctly venomous.

Harry waited until Mrs. Weasley or Sirius were finished with speaking before asking questions - Hermione had never seen him wait before butting in a conversation with his own point of view.

And then the most distressing evidence: Harry had stopped demanding answers. Oh, he still insisted in knowing things - but he had stopped demanding. Instead he politely asked until he had worn his victim down and they would tell him just to be rid of him.

Yes, there was definitely something different with Harry - and Hermione was worried sick about it. Especially because she could not exactly place the answer to this frightening development.

Of course Hermione had a guess why Harry had changed - two or three guesses actually - but she could not really be sure that she was right with any of her guesses and that made her worried.

She hoped that it was just Harry maturing into adulthood, but she feared that it was more than that. She feared Harry had changed either because of the Dementor attack or because of Cedric's untimely death - and neither was a good reason for Harry to change.

If it was because of the Dementor attack, Harry could feel responsible for it and blame himself for the danger his cousin had been in. He could also be blaming Dumbledore and the Order for not protecting him as well as they should have - neither was a feeling Hermione would like Harry to harbor. Harry needed adults in his life that he felt he could trust. If this attack had destroyed his trust in Dumbledore and the Order, Hermione feared that Harry could lose his grip on reality and fall into the darkness.

If his changed behavior was because of Cedric, then Hermione was sure that Harry was blaming himself. That could lead to Harry trying to overcompensate in the next dangerous situation, bringing about his own death. Or it could lead to Harry getting utterly exhausted because of his lack of sleep and him pushing his education - especially in Defence. Hermione was sure that if that happened Harry would break down way before Hallowe'en.

Both reasons could be the cause of Harry's suddenly-mature demeanor - and neither was a reason Hermione felt was any good for Harry.

And because of that, instead of worrying about classes, new professors, homework and learning, Hermione was frantically watching Harry while worrying about him.

Harry instead seemed not to notice that he was watched at all. He continued his day like there was nothing going on.

He sat with them in the Great Hall - just like yesterday and all the years since first year - he went with them to class - he was not better than before. He still doodled in History of Magic, he still looked out of the window in Transfiguration more often than not. He still took his time to try a new spell in Charms like he always had. He still groaned about every bit of homework they were told to do and he still hated Divination with passion.

If it had just been like this, Hermione wouldn't have worried so much. Of course she had worried when he had forgotten minor things like her preferences - but it was one fact that made her worry even more: potion-stunted Harry Potter suddenly knew how to brew.

And the question was: how?!

When she had asked him he had told her he had memorized the potions book. So she had taken his book away and questioned him. Harry was right. He had memorized it - but there were things he could not explain with simply memorizing. Like the experienced way he cut his ingredients. Like the things he mentioned to add that weren't in the potions book.

Hermione had looked some of them up, sure that Harry had just made a mistake - just to find out that the effect of the things Harry mentioned to add aided the potion he had been describing…

The only explanation Hermione had was that Harry had been tutored over the summer.

"Ron?" she said after Harry had excused himself to the library to start on his Charms essay.

"Yes?"

"Don't you think… that Harry is behaving… different, somehow?" she asked, nervous.

Ron furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean 'different', Hermione?" he asked her.

"Well… he forgot that I don't like brussel sprouts… he speaks civilly with Malfoy… he knows potions… he -"

"Er… I think I get it," Ron said and then shrugged. "Yes. You're right. He is different - but that's nothing bad, is it? I mean… he's still the same somehow, isn't he?"

"I… guess," Hermione answered haltingly.

"Look," Ron said when he saw her hesitating. "Harry's still the same in class - except potions, that is - he still loses in chess against me and I'm sure he still would do anything for our friendship."

"You're right." This time Hermione sighed. "But I'm still uneasy about the changes. How do we know that these changes weren't started because of something that happened this summer? Like the Dementors, Cedric's death or V-Voldemort's return? How do we know that the difference in Harry didn't start because he isn't coping well with any of that and pushes himself to forget? I don't want to lose our friend because he can't cope with what happened!"

"He doesn't act as if he has problems," Ron countered.

"And you really think that we would see if he has problems right away?"

"Er… I guess we wouldn't, no."

"In second year he suddenly started to learn more after he was shunned by the whole school. Last year was the same. I don't know how often he practiced the Accio spell by himself just to get it right, but I do know that he didn't just practice it while I was with him. And then the Patronus charm in third year - he pushed himself to learn it after the Dementors affected him one time too often!"

"So you're thinking…"

"… That Harry's pushing himself now that Voldemort's back. Maybe he feels guilty because Cedric died. Maybe it was the Dementors… I don't know what it is, but I firmly believe that there is a reason why he suddenly studies so much - and I'm quite sure that this time he isn't telling us his reason… and that worries me, Ron."

"So… what should we do?"

Hermione hesitated when confronted with this question.

"Er… I don't know," she said. "Maybe… maybe we should talk to an adult… like McGonagall… or even Dumbledore…"

Ron rolled his eyes.

"Don't be an idiot, Hermione. It's not near grave enough to run squealing to an adult."

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Maybe… give him time? After all, if it is Cedric it will take some time for him to get over it. I can't imagine how I would feel after I saw a friend being killed right in front of me…"

"But… wouldn't it be better if he had someone to talk to?"

Ron shook his head.

"Let's give him some time… if it doesn't change we can still go to an adult. But for now: Harry's our friend. We should try to get him to talk about what happened. And hey, maybe Harry just thought it was time for a change, you know?"

Hermione just sighed and buried her head in her hands.

"Fine," she murmured before she decided to follow Ron's advice and wait a little bit longer.

"But if it gets out of hand we will go to Dumbledore," she decided. Ron just shrugged and stood up to search for someone to play chess with.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter was taking a stroll on the grounds of Hogwarts. To tell the truth, Harry was not only traipsing but walking along the edge of the wards. He followed the ward line until he could not be seen from the castle anymore and then stopped.

There, at the edge of the wards, Harry took out his staff and un-shrunk it.

Of course, Harry was sure that he would have been able to use one of his wands to do what he wanted to do, but for him the staff was something else. While the wands were something akin to good and supporting tools, the staff was like an extension of his arm - and Harry trusted it the most.

So he un-shrunk his staff and then drew some runes and hieroglyphs with it in the soft ground along the ward-line.

Then he activated the runes.

One moment he could see nothing but the forest behind the wards, the next the wards were distinct and visible in front of him. The dome they built was surrounded by a colourful iridescent bubble, emblazed with Chinese characters, hieroglyphs, runes and Parsel runes. Then the glowing construct sunk in the wards themselves and illuminated them.

But instead of the colourful swirling and twirling of the bubble, the wards were a pale looking grey, mixed with some washed-out sparks of colour here and there. There were also some shoddy runes flying around and some parts of the wards were nearly transparent or blackened.

Harry frowned.

The wards should have shone with power and sparked with colour. Instead they looked nearly breached and sickly.

"Where are the soul wards?" Harry whispered. "Where are the Founders' wards?! They cannot have eroded!"

And they shouldn't have.

Soul wards like those on the castle were built for eternity and the blood wards the Founders had added were not far behind. That begged the question: where were they?

He found the answer when he started to look through the rest of the wards. The wards of the Founders were drained by other idiotically set wards. Whoever had built them had no idea how to build wards. So instead of building them on a runic or a blood base they had simply been added to the wards that had been here before - and that had drained the old wards that the new ones had been set on.

No ward could exist without a base. Normally the base was runes, blood or even the death of a person - the standard base for soul wards.

A ward that was built without a base would search for its replacement base. Normally the result would be a dead caster because he or she was the next suitable base to find. But Hogwarts had had powerful wards before, so instead of killing the caster the newly set wards had based themselves on the old blood wards and practically drained their power.

"I'll have to look into it and maybe destroy this ward," Harry murmured to himself. He just needed to know if destroying the ward would have negative consequences - like a backlash - or if it was safe to do so…

"And then I have to activate the soul wards again," this time he sighed. Harry wasn't sure why the soul wards had deactivated but he guessed that it had happened when the newer wards had been added. Soul wards were to an extent alive - especially those of Hogwarts - and they would deactivate before being leeched on.

Harry groaned.

"This looks like a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of work…"

But first, he decided, he had to find out about all the other wards that had been added over time - and especially about the wrong one set on top.

"Definitely a lot of work," he grumbled and let go of the runes, the wards vanishing from his sight. Of course he had been the only one who saw the wards - it wouldn't have been good if anyone had seen him looking at them after all. For all the others they had still been as invisible as they were for him again now…

"Library," he decided after he shrunk his staff and put it away. "The book about the wards should still be there - and if the charm has lasted, it should still have all the wards in it that have been added over time."

He entered the castle without meeting anyone and "returned" to the library… not that he had entered it until now. He had just told Hermione and Ron that he would be there some time ago. There he sat down and started on his homework as if he had never left in the first place.

No one had missed him - there was an advantage when he told his two 'best' friends that he would go to the library to study. Hermione would not disturb him because she was happy that he would take time to study and Ron would not come near him because he was studying. So no one had noticed when Harry Potter had gone missing for three hours before returning to the castle proper.

First, Harry took the time to write down a rough draft for his homework in potions - he didn't even look in his books to do it because he definitely didn't need any books to do superb work in potions. When he had finished writing his rough draft ten minutes later, he decided that it would be enough to convince everyone that he had been working hard in the library, and he then turned his attention to the things he really needed to have a look at.

"Well - now to the wards," Harry said to himself. He stood up and searched the library for the book he needed. Normally it was kept in the restricted section of the library - he simply entered as if there were no wards to keep anyone out - but to his dismay someone was borrowing it. He sighed. He knew that whoever was borrowing the book would not be able to read it, but he did not feel comfortable with the knowledge that someone else had it.

There was a reason why it was in the restricted section after all. Of course, there also was a reason why it had been in the library. It had to be easily accessible for the teachers and the Headmaster of the school, in any case, and if it was truly needed to change something about the wards, the book would no longer appear to be written in a foreign tongue for whoever needed it - but as long as Hogwarts did not feel like it was needed to add defences she normally hid the book away.

That someone had found it - and not after searching for aid about the school wards but simply by looking - was troubling because it showed Harry how far the wrongly placed wards were affecting the school.

"Definitely not good," Harry concluded. "I have to do something about the wards, and soon."

There was just one problem: Harry guessed that a soul-piece of Riddle was hidden under the wards - within the school itself to be exactly.

"I'm not sure if I should even dare to change something about this catastrophe of wards while the Horcrux still is within its parameters," Harry thought darkly. If the wards just needed strengthening it could have been done - but to bring down wards while something foul like a Horcrux was near it…

"Maybe we should start with finding the soul piece." Harry frowned. "If I just knew what wards we're dealing with here…"

But he didn't. At least, he couldn't be completely sure until he found that book…

This conclusion left him with only one option: "I'll have to search for it everywhere in school," he said to himself. Meanwhile he would have to continue with his other plans and pray that he found the book as soon as possible…

"I'll also have to open the wards for Reg," he thought to himself. But he needed the book about wards first to do so. He had an incredibly good memory, but he'd still like to check some facts before he played with the wards of Hogwarts. Who knew what wards the Headmasters had added over time? Harry was sure he could find out without the book, but he also knew that it would be a lot easier with it.

And there was also another matter to consider. Harry had gotten an answer to the letter he had written to his 'old friend' .

It read:

"My dear old Friend,

I know you don't want to give up revenge. And I understand that he has hurt you even more with his actions than he ever has me. I will not stop you. I just ask you to be careful. There are people who would never forgive you if you put yourself in danger.

If you need my aid, tell me. I might be dying - but I have one last act to play in this game. Just tell me when and I will be there.

Your old Friend.

Me."

Harry read it once, and then he snorted. One last act to play! So Harry's Oncle had decided to aid Harry in his revenge even if he thought Harry shouldn't do it. Well, Harry could live with that. He was just glad that his Oncle didn't try to stop him anymore. If the old man wanted to shock the old goat before he died…

Harry could not even contradict his Oncle if he planned to do it. The old man had all the right within the world to deal the final blow to the old goat…

Well, Harry would not stop him.

He wrote down his answer and then wrote another letter on a different piece of parchment. After that he had waited until Winky had popped in and taken the letters, and then returned to what he had been doing before.

"So back to the search for my book," he thought. "Well - there aren't a lot of people in the castle that would be interested in it. It's in runes after all… The best way to find it would be to lay out bait and let them come to me." And Harry knew how to do that just fine…

Harry returned to the Gryffindor tower just half an hour later. In the last half-hour he had written down another rough draft - this one for his Charms essay - and then put away his books before he had left the library.

That evening he played chess with Ron and lost spectacularly - Harry wasn't sure if it was because he kept getting distracted by his thoughts or if it was because he always had been abysmal in chess.

It was startling. He could lead armies to victory against a foe three times as big but if he was given a chess set he was lost…

"Well, at least no one has to wonder why I can suddenly play chess," Harry thought snorting after he had been beaten the third time in a row. "I couldn't even play chess if my life depended on it…"

At ten o'clock he finally gave up and vanished up the stairs into the boys dorms. There he lay down to sleep for a while at least…

Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as 'Lord Voldemort' by civilians or 'the Dark Lord' by his supporters, was not happy.

Something had changed.

Something very important had changed.

But he couldn't put his finger on the problem.

Earlier that summer, Lucius Malfoy had been like he had remembered him: firmly behind Voldemort's ideals and used to getting his way with everyone but his master. Well, at least as behind Voldemort's political point of view as Lucius Malfoy would ever be.

Voldemort, after all, was not a fool. He knew that the man had twisted the truth after Voldemort had lost his body to a fifteen month old child. The man had lied, bribed and had put pressure on all he couldn't deceive - and all that to stay out of prison and to keep his name clean of the stain of being a Death Eater. Of course, Lucius Malfoy had always been a man without backbone so Voldemort had not been surprised that the man had not started to search for him after he vanished… or that the man had renounced him.

When Voldemort had returned at the beginning of last summer, Lucius Malfoy had also returned. The man had still been the same: he had bribed the minister and other people, he had lied and he had pressured those who did not see it his way.

And Voldemort had taken him back because even if the man wasn't truly loyal to him, he was definitely loyal enough to the cause - at least until he thought that he was on the losing side. But if it really came to that one day, Voldemort would find a way to overcome it…

Or so he had thought…

But now something had changed.

The money Lucius had always thrown out as if there was no end to it had stopped leaving the vault of the man. The blonde was still working closely with the minister - but he had stopped using his name to get what he wanted to have.

And then there was the Wizengamot…

The Wizengamot had met a day ago and instead of voting for the harder creature laws instantly, Lucius Malfoy had asked for time to look them over - looking over laws before passing them was nothing new for a member of the Wizengamot… but Lucius Malfoy looking over a law he would have passed with glee just a few weeks ago…?!

Something was definitely wrong with Lucius Malfoy…

In that moment Lucius Malfoy entered the room, in his hands a long letter.

Lucius stopped when he saw the snake-faced man and bowed to him.

"My Lord," he said.

"Lucius," Voldemort answered, scrutinizing the man. "What are you doing?"

"I have to send a letter, my Lord," the noble man answered.

"A letter?"

"A Wizengamot matter. I need consult an… acquaintance of mine for the new law."

Voldemort raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"And why does the Lord Malfoy have to consult someone for a law he would have passed without a thought just a mere two weeks ago?" he asked the noble man.

If Voldemort had not watched Lucius closely he wouldn't have noticed the man wincing when Voldemort called him 'Lord Malfoy'.

Voldemort inwardly frowned.

Why would Lucius wince when being called what he had been known as for years?!

What had changed?!

"My Lord," Lord Voldemort looked up again to look at Lucius. The man gulped but spoke on. "May I be excused?"

Voldemort again scrutinized the man.

"Of courssse," he finally said, preening inwardly when Lucius winced again after hearing the slight note of Parseltongue in Voldemort's voice.

Yes. Something was different with Lucius. In a lot of things the man was still the same - but in some things…

Voldemort had to watch him closely…

Mad Eye Moody was stalking the school. He had been following Potter for the last few weeks - not constantly, but every time he had found time to do so.

And some things had been… odd…

Like the lad talking to Sirius Black and calling him a 'stupid Gryffindor' or his behavior towards the Malfoy heir and Snape…

Something strange was going on.

"Alastor," Mad Eye stopped mid-step when he heard the voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"Albus," he greeted.

"Alastor, how are you, my friend?"

"I'm fine," Mad Eye answered, inwardly rolling his eyes. He was no man for idle chit chat.

The Headmaster just smiled, and invited Mad Eye to join him in his office.

The conversation started just after the office door was closed and they were sure to take caution against being overheard.

"Have you been following Harry, Alastor?" Albus finally asked.

Mad Eye Moody just grunted.

"I have," he said. "But I never knew the lad before this summer. I'm definitely not someone who's able to judge if he is different than before."

"I know, my friend," Mad Eye always suspected that he was called 'my friend' because Albus constantly slipped and had to change his beloved 'my boy' to something less insulting…

"But I also know that you were a superb Auror. You would notice if something is truly wrong with Harry. Possession, for example."

"I did not see any sign of possession, Albus," Mad Eye answered sincerely. But then he stopped. He wasn't sure what to tell Albus.

The Headmaster had been right. The boy somehow was different then all the other teens he had met until now…

"But…" Albus prodded.

"But… there is something… strange… about the boy," Mad Eye finally answered, hesitating.

Albus frowned.

"Strange?" he repeated. "Could you elaborate, my friend?"

Yep… definitely a changed version of 'my boy'…

"I'm not exactly sure about what I saw," Alastor said sighing. "It's just that he isn't interacting with others like I thought he would after I heard your description of him, Albus."

"I don't think I understand…"

Mad Eye sighed again.

"You described a typical Gryffindor: rash, impulsive, reckless and rude. The boy I met isn't like that," he answered while rubbing his forehead.

Albus frowned.

"What do you mean, he isn't like that?"

Mad Eye snorted.

"The boy you described to me is a typical teenage boy - well, a typical Gryffindor teenage boy. The boy… no, the man I met is a responsible adult… maybe even a Slytherin adult."

"So Voldemort is taking over."

"There are no signs of possession, Albus!" Mad Eye replied heatedly. "If there were I wouldn't be as worried as I am. There is something different about that boy - something that you should have seen but didn't until now. So the question is if it always has been like that and you just never saw this oddity in the boy, or if something happened over the summer to change the boy to what he is now!"

"Harry wouldn't change like that. I know the boy. He has always been a sweet, caring…"

"Albus!" Mad Eye interrupted. "The boy still cares about others! That isn't the problem! The problem is that -"

"So if we do something now we are still able to stop Voldemort's influence," Albus concluded.

"Albus! I told you he isn't poss-"

"I will talk to his friends. They will know how far he is gone. Maybe there is still time to help the poor child…" Albus said sighing without even listening to Mad Eye.

Mad Eye fumed. He knew Albus could be a stubborn old fool, but…

"He. Is. Not. Possessed. Albus!"

"I will take care of the problem. Thank you, Alastor," Albus said.

Mad Eye just stared at the old man in front of him. Then he turned and left. Albus might believe he had found the problem, but Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody knew he hadn't. And Mad Eye would not leave this be until he found an answer he was satisfied with!

"An imposter, maybe…" he murmured when left Albus' office.

That was a thought worth looking into…

It was the middle of the night when Tom Marvolo Riddle, Lord Voldemort, woke.

He had dreamed again.

The corridor of the Department of Mysteries.

The prophecy.

And the urge to get it.

The urge was getting stronger. Something was pushing him to go after the prophecy. Something was filling him with dread and the fear that someone else would remove the prophecy if he waited too long.

If Voldemort hadn't known better, he would have guessed that someone was aiding the fear in his dreams; that someone was trying to manipulate him.

But Voldemort was an exceptionally good Occlumens and there was no way that someone had penetrated his shields…

Still… after Voldemort had calmed down his breathing he slipped into his mind and searched it for intruders.

Nothing.

His mind was still his own. It was just like it had always been…

"Just a dream," he said to himself. "Just a dream."

But he would change his plans, just in case…

"Maybe I should break my loyal ones out of Azkaban a little faster than originally planned…" he thought. "Just in case someone entered my mind and knows of my plans…"

And he would strengthen his Occlumency shields. He had to feel safe in his own mind, after all…

And with those thoughts he left his mind, blind to the softly glowing rune in the shadows of his subconscious, a rune that was definitely not part of his mind. A rune that just a true rune master maybe would have been able to see and to understand, but most likely even a rune master would have reached his limits with a rune like that.

A rune, bonded to a fully working, complex rune circle.

A rune that Voldemort had had in his mind since the Potters had escaped his clutches for the first time.

Voldemort never noticed.

But that was not a surprise at all. Voldemort was much - but he never had learned enough runes to call himself a master.

It was dark outside and even the most daring students had returned to their beds at this late hour - it was three in the morning and even the teachers had given up patrolling the corridors.

Harry didn't care about sleeping. He had woken just a few minutes ago from the trance he had slipped into after going to bed and had left the dorms not a minute later. He had some things to do tonight - and he would not hesitate to do them.

Harry did not have his invisibility cloak with him, and the Marauder's Map was also staying in his trunk. He did not need either to do what he was about to do.

When Harry left Gryffindor tower, he turned left until he reached a wall just a few meters away. There a tiny snake engraving could be seen - something the normal student or teacher would simply overlook as there were many strange things in the castle, and a snake engraving was definitely nothing foreign.

Harry smiled at the snake, and then hissed: " In the name of Salazar Slytherin, open!"

Nothing changed but Harry simply reached out with his hand. His hand slid through the wall as if it was not there at all. Harry smiled and stepped through.

The corridor behind it was narrow and dirty. It was imbedded in the walls and might once have been a corridor for the servants. Now it was a secret passage to another part of the castle.

Harry followed the corridor. Sometimes he had to take turns, sometimes other corridors crossed his path but finally, after slipping down multiple flights of stairs he reached another wall. There he simply laid his hand on the wall before him and pushed. The wall opened instantly, revealing a huge chamber, lined with stone serpents.

The Chamber of Secrets.

Harry scrutinized the Chamber. The corpse of the Basilisk was still rotting on the floor. "I'll have to do something about this," Harry thought, deciding to cast a preservation charm on it before turning to the other side of the hall.

There he opened another secret passage at the foot of one of the snakes (***), and stepped through into another tunnel. He followed the tunnel and finally ended up in a cave near Hogsmeade. The cave itself was secured with a silver door. Harry opened the door and waited as a black cat slunk into the cave swiftly. Then he turned and returned to the Chamber of Secrets. The cat followed him silently.

When they finally arrived in the Chamber, Harry closed the door to the secret passage again and turned to the cat.

"You'll have to aid me, Reg," Harry said and the black cat in front of him turned into a human - Regulus Black, Sirius Black's little brother.

"I have been aiding you for years, Sal," he said.

"Harry," Harry corrected.

Regulus inclined his head. "Harry."

One moment, there was silence between them, but then Regulus spoke again.

"So, what are you planning, Harry?"

"I need to look at the wards again after I find the book detailing them, and I need you to find what we are looking for," Harry answered. Regulus raised an eyebrow.

"Do you plan on changing the wards?" he asked.

"I do," Harry answered the positive. "But there are things to do first."

Reg frowned.

"I thought it would aid us if you worked on the wards…" he said.

Harry shrugged. "I won't risk it without knowing what they are," he answered. "And I'm not sure if I would risk it if I knew. I looked at the wards, and I'm not sure if I truly want a soul piece of a Dark Lord in the school when I work with them. I fear the soul might be able to interfere if I did."

Reg frowned again.

"So how do you plan on finding the soul piece?"

"By searching," Harry answered. "We will start in the Chamber tonight."

"Why?"

"Because Riddle is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin," Harry answered. "And he was able to access the main chamber."

"Oh," Reg said. "How do we access the Chamber?"

"We are already in the Chamber," Harry answered laughing. "We do not need to access it."

Reg's eyes widened comically.

"But… how?!"

Harry grinned and shrugged.

"I am a Malfoire. I always find a way," he answered grinning. "And now let's start searching."