𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅

𝖶𝖺𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀! 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝖽𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗀𝗋𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈𝗉𝗂𝖼𝗌.

☞ 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 4𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫, 1996

"Y/n!" A soft whisper echoed her name from the corridors of the dungeon. Now completely void of light, Y/n Snape had to rely on the soft glow of the Lumos charm to navigate the night. The moon was nearly at its peak, and Y/n had been waiting for a while for her friend to meet with her. So, that's why she could be seen in the dead of night, in a hoodie and fluffy pyjama bottoms, outside of the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

Y/n jumped at the sound of her name, for a moment thinking that one of her fellow housemates had caught her out of her dorm after hours. That was until something shuffled into view. A head, with a mop of black hair and matching round glasses, floated towards her. She smiled at the familiar face and shuffled towards her Gryffindor friend.

Harry had been aimlessly walking around the dungeons for several minutes before he finally caught a glimpse of his friend, stood illuminated under the soft blue glow of her wand. He stupidly forgot his late father's map, and when he had noticed, he was already in the dungeons.

"Harry!" Y/n whispered back in delight, as adrenaline began to rush through her veins from the fear of being seen and the lack of sleep. Harry smiled at his friend, as he pulled her under the cloak with him. They grinned at each other and then hugged briefly.

"Sorry I took so long, I got a bit lost." Harry sheepishly smiled. Y/n just shrugged off his apology with a bright smile that made heat rise on Harry's cheeks.

"Don't worry, Harry. I wasn't waiting for too long." Y/n replied, looking up and down the corridors before muttering the charm to be rid of her small light. "Nox."

"Brilliant." Harry chuckled at her answer. The pair quickly made sure the cloak covered them before they began their venture deeper into the dungeons. However, they became frozen with fear as they heard soft mutters coming from the darkness.

Moments ago, a young group of Slytherins had begun to head back to their beloved common room, returning from their tiresome trip to a long-forgotten room. They longed for the comfort of their bed, as they sluggishly stumbled towards the entrance. "I am over this nonsense. Let's just become muggles." Theodore Nott yawned, trying to keep his voice down. Deep bags were prominently displayed under the group's eyes. They looked a blink away from collapsing into a deep slumber.

"Don't be daft, Nott." The blond boy whispered. The boy himself had pulled his robe tightly around his body as his teeth chattered from the nippy air. Draco Malfoy did not do well in the cold.

Mattheo and Blaise laughed at their friend's antics, as the group approached the Slytherin common room entrance. Luckily for the hidden boy and girl, they managed to hide just a moment before the boys had arrived.

Y/n sighed in relief until she took a second glance at the group that had seemed to appear out of thin air. Her friends. She watched as Mattheo hit Draco at the back of the head for attempting to push Theo down the Slytherin staircase, making Blaise double over in silent laughter.

Y/n sharply sucked in a breath, making Mattheo flinch as he flung himself around. Unbeknownst to him, he was staring right at her, making the girl stand so still she seemed to have been petrified.

"Mattheo! Quickly." Blaise whispered as he scolded his friend, tugging the boy away from the duo he was unintentionally death-glaring.

Soon, the group were out of sight, Harry turned to the girl by his side in confusion and suspicion. "Why on earth would they be out at this hour?" Harry mumbled, mainly to himself. He turned expectedly at Y/n, who held the same confusion in her furrowed brows and narrowed eyes as he did.

Y/n shrugged her shoulders, as her eyes slowly moved from Harry, back to the now-concealed Slytherin entrance. "I'm not so sure. I sent them all to bed hours ago, as they looked awful. Now I know why they always look like death." Y/n mumbled back to the brunette, absentmindedly voicing her thoughts.

Thinking it would be best to drop the questions for now they dropped the subject, as Y/n and Harry had many goals for their meeting this evening and so little time. Whatever that was is an investigation for another time.

Y/n and Harry began to walk along the dungeon halls, hoping they would not be seen. As they walked down hallway after hallway, approaching the corner in which the concealed stairway leading to their destination was hidden, they noticed something odd. "Y/n. This is the wrong corridor." Harry commented, pointing out the obvious.

Y/n rolled her eyes at the boy. "Yes, thank you for the clarification, Harry." She spat sarcastically. "I don't understand how we've gotten lost, I know Hogwarts better than the Marauder's map... literally." Y/n glanced around in confusion, trying to figure out where she had made a wrong turn.

"Let's just go back the way we came, until we find something familiar." Harry nodded as he spoke, forcing Y/n to follow after him as he tugged on the cloak they were both huddled under.

Corridor after corridor, there was no use. They have stumbled along an abandoned part of the dungeon. Presumably, this was the part of the dungeon Mr Filtch would continuously daydream about. Where they would hang children from the ceiling, by their thumbs, as a punishment. Fortunately, Umbridge never found these old cells.

Behind stone archways and large steel bars hung rusted chains and rotting stools. With there being no windows, Y/n could barely make out what was hidden deep within the cells. The rotten smell that forced a gag out of the girl was enough telling as to what may lie in the darkness.

"Wait." Harry whispered as he flung out his arm, forcing Y/n to stop walking. Instinctively, the pair took out their wand, as Y/n's eyes nervously scanned the darkness for any possible movement. Glancing around the space, it was truly too dark to distinguish between the floor and the walls. Y/n's knuckles turned white as she gripped her wand tighter and tighter. She glanced over at her Gryffindor friend, to see him completely fascinated by something before his eyes.

Harry stared down into the darkness, the voices that harshly echoed in the corridor beckoning him towards them. "I've dreamt about this place." Harry continued, taking a step into the darkness that loomed between himself and the source of the voices.

Slowly, they walk closer and closer towards the end of the corridor. With every step they took, Y/n's stomach sank further and further into painful numbness. What Harry had been staring at finally came into view. It was a metal gate. The black gate stood tall, with some of the metal rods twisting to form a cohesive pattern. Above this odd entrance, was a gargoyle-like snake statue. Its eyes had a faint glow of red.

"Hesssse hasssse hethhhh." Harry suddenly whispered Parseltongue, making Y/n's skeleton jump out of her skin. She glared at the boy, who smirked at her reaction. He knew how much the girl loathed the sound of that language. Especially in creepy situations like these where whispering Parseltongue is equal to a little girl singing nursery rhymes, in her opinion.

"I loath you sometimes Potter." Y/n grumbled as she pulled off the cloak. Harry laughed at his friend, shaking his head, amused by her words. Suddenly, a loud screech of metal rang from in front of them. Harry and Y/n stumbled back, only to realise the gate had opened, but the snake statue had gone. Strange.

"Y/n, if this is what I think it is, we could potentially find out more about the Half-blood Prince and Tom Riddle." Harry muttered as he took a step through the gate, as he flicked his wand making the light appearing at its tip grow in brightness.

Tom Riddle. The name never fails to send shivers down Y/n spine. "What do you think it is?" Y/n's voice wavered in fear as she desperately tried to keep up with the boy. The small light flickered at the tip of her wand, making her nerves tingle in her veins.

Harry pushed open two large doors, both with the Slytherin house emblem engraved into its dark wood. Each snake faced each other, surrounded by many skulls and odd symbols. "I believe this is where Tom first formed his army." Harry muttered, finally answering my question.

Together, they stood at the entrance, looking around scared out of their minds and utterly baffled by how they ended up here. "Right. Be very, very careful. There could be anything in here." Harry stated firmly, being the one to take the first step into the uncharted territory.

With a large gulp, trying to clear her throat which seemed to be clogged up, Y/n followed suit, taking a step into the room. The ceilings and walls matched the dungeon corridors, built floor to ceiling with large grey stones. A few, non-moving paintings dotted along the walls, not making the room feel any less welcoming. The floor was made up of medium brown wooden panels, contrasting subtly against the black long table and chairs. Behind the throne at the head of the table, made out of silver and black leather to cushion the grand seat, sat a fireplace that had two bookshelves on either side.

Ironically, these huge shelves had only a handful of books, all covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Y/n glanced around, noticing not one book had a title proudly displayed on its spine. So she reached out for the closest one in her reach, slowly opening it.

ᴘʀᴏᴘᴇʀᴛʏ ᴏꜰ:

"Well, shit." Y/n muttered with a nervous chuckle. Harry glanced over at his friend after hearing her words. He noticed the black leatherback book she held tightly in her hands, and stalked over to her out of curiosity. Each turn of the pages, and the more they begin to read, they soon realised something. These were notes taken by Tom Riddle and the illusive Half-Blood Prince, someone we can now confirm is an ally of his, on how they created those spells and potions we found in the book.

"I'm going to be sick." Harry stumbled away from the book, as Y/n read on, horrifically mortified. The book described, in detail, all the animal and human sacrifices they had performed to achieve their goals. Which limbs to dispose of and which to keep. Which organs to dispose of and which to eat. How much blood is needed to be drank. Where precisely should you slice your victims. Whether or not the subject needs to be alive during the ritual, or not.

"There's names." Y/n gasped through her tears. "John Thornfield. Muggle. Test number 1. Mutilated and burnt to death. Failure." She read out loud as the colour drained in her face. Harry, equally as pale in the face, was now holding himself up by leaning on the table, his eyes void of light as he stared silently at the fireplace.

Y/n eyes dragged across the massive list of names that seemed to contain names of all of Tom's early victims. So far, they all seemed to be muggles. And so far, they all seemed to be failures. Y/n flipped through several pages in the book, all filled with names of innocent victims. Y/n eyes landed on one person that caught her eye.

"Agnus Fairbourne. Muggle. Test number 1023. Buried alive in the centre of an ancient ritual of the dark. Failure." Y/n read, her heart aching. Harry and her locked eyes knowingly. Before Tom Riddle had even left Hogwarts, he had found and murdered over a thousand muggles, treating them no better than a toad used in a potion.

Y/n flipped the page one last time, and to her horror, Tom Riddle's victims were no longer purely muggles. "Myrtle Warren. Mudblood. Test number 1046. Basilisk. Success." Y/n's words faded into nothing louder than a whisper, as her heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Moaning Myrtle." Harry spoke, as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Slowly, he took the book out of Y/n's grasp and pulled her into his chest as the girl choked out sobs.

Harry glanced down at the book and noticed that Y/n had turned to the very last page of the list of victims. Experiment number 1052 is the last number. Myrtle included, these last few victims were exclusively muggle-born or half-blood. Why?

"I wish to leave." Y/n finally spoke again after minutes spent crying for the deceased. Harry slowly nodded, taking the other four books that were left abandoned in this chamber of horrors, and they quickly left.

The pair walked back in utter silence, only the soft patter of their footsteps alerting others to their presence. As they neared Y/n's common room, Harry stopped her. "Will you be alright?" Harry asked, his hand resting comfortably on her shoulder. His blue eyes flickered between his friend's eyes who refused to look at him in that moment. His heart shattered as he looked hopelessly at Y/n's pale and emotionless face.

Y/n nodded. The shock of their discoveries weighing heavily on her chest, leaving her at an utter loss for words. Harry nodded, and pulled his cloak of invisibility over his body, leaving only his head visible for now. "We will talk tomorrow. For now, get some rest." Harry gave the girl a small smile, that being all he had the energy to muster.

Y/n muttered the password to the Slytherin common room, and down she went. Harry watched his friend for a moment, his mind filled with many, many questions. What was Tom Riddle experimenting? Why suddenly change to wizards and witches as his victims? What do the other books contain?