I am going to try and update this weekly for as long as I can. (It's technically Friday where I am...) As I mentioned in the beginning, this story has a long game, and I am in it for the long haul...after I manage to write a 20 page paper that is hopefully worth academic recognition. I am actively working on chapter 7, which is where I have been stuck for a while, which prompted me to outline the next fifty chapters longhand. Yes, I have hand written notes in the back of my ethics notebooks about a Harry Potter fanfiction. (Two, actually, but the other one is a head-canon-turned-hydra and will probably take me a little while.)
Thank you all for your readership, something which I hope will only grow as I post more of this. I wish I could spill all the plot twists I am planning, but I want you to keep reading and I value your reactions when I drop them on you.
Strange things had been happening at Hogwarts all year and besides the petrified students in the school infirmary, a girl with dark hair and pale skin slept in one of the beds. She tossed and turned fitfully, moaning a little as she dreamed of dark caverns and dark water. The glass of water on the table beside her bed began to shake, spilling its contents on the floor. The table started shaking, too, as well as a few of the beds.
There was a rasping sound, like sandpaper on concrete, and sharp hiss like water poured on fire. She couldn't move, even though she felt like she was running a marathon, even though she was sure her heart could leap out of her chest and keep going without her. But she couldn't move.
It was cold and damp and she wasn't sure if that's just how it was or if that was the panic that was clawing its way into her brain. Was the chill running up her spine a chill or the spiders she could see skittering past her? She couldn't concentrate as the rasping got closer. She turned her head and found herself staring into huge amber eyes...
Gold flashed beneath the girl's eyelids and windows shattered. A couple of the empty beds overturned, as well as her bedside table, and curtains throughout the infirmary were instantly shredded by invisible talons.
Madame Pomfrey rushed from her bed and took in the destruction of the large room. She went straight to the side of the eleven-year-old girl who was sitting up in her bed crying.
"Hush, it's alright. It was only a dream, and dreams cannot hurt you. You're fine." She cradled the child in her arms, carrying her into the office to the potions cabinet. The nurse selected a calming potion and offered it to the quivering girl. "You're safe here, I can promise you that."
She hoped that the potion would kick in before the girl pointed out that Hogwarts wasn't really safe right now and Poppy Pomfrey could hardly promise anything other than that she would do everything in her ability to save her patients.
The young girl clutched Madame Pomfrey's apron and looked up into her eyes. "There's someone in the Chamber. He's going to save her."
"I'm sorry for waking you, Minerva, but there really is something going on with that girl. During her nightmares, she caused quite a bit of damage in the infirmary. It's probably just accidental magic, but I have never known such accidents to be so destructive."
"She isn't in the best control of her magic under regular circumstances, Poppy. She's practically failing Transfiguration, but I know that she understands the theory because her essays are impeccable." McGonagall sighed. "It's as if there is some barrier between her comprehension and her application. She's a bit like Mr. Finnegan—either it doesn't work, or it is much too powerful."
"I have noticed this as well. The girl excels at any potion that does not require magic to complete," Severus Snape sighed, "but if magic is required, her potions threaten to bring the castle falling down around our ears."
"She's in your house, Severus. What do you make of her?"
"Rowena Kyndltry is a shy girl. She has a couple of friends, one of which is in Hufflepuff, and another in Ravenclaw. Her grades are slightly higher than average, except for the classes that are primarily concerned with the use of magic. She shows a keen interest in magical creatures, which is understandable considering that her older sister works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures: Being Division. Apparently, Belladonna Kyndltry works primarily with House Elves. Rowena seems to have a certain affinity for them herself."
Madame Pomfrey ran fingers through her greying hair that hang uncharacteristically loose. "She said something strange before going back to sleep. 'There's someone in the Chamber. He's going to save her.' But I don't know how she knew about the message on the walls, she was already asleep in the infirmary and no one came to visit her. Besides, I was of the understanding that we were keeping students away from that hallway."
"We are," Snape confirmed stoically. "But that does not deter the more foolhardy students."
"Yes, well, Potter does have a habit of getting into trouble even when he doesn't mean to. Besides," McGonagall pointed out, "it's the Weasley girl in danger this time and he is not the only one out of bed tonight. Ron Weasley is missing, as is Professor Lockhart."
Snape snorted. "You expect that buffoon to accomplish anything? Somehow I doubt a charming smile will defeat the beast of Slytherin. We all know that he has little real power."
"I am not expecting anything of Lockhart. Quite the contrary, in fact. If there is anyone that I believe will defeat the monster, I believe in Harry Potter."
The door of the infirmary creaked open and an unkempt black head of hair appeared in the gap. "Madame Pomfrey?"
"Speak of the devil..."
"Severus!"
Fawkes the phoenix flew into the room and landed on one of the beds as Harry and Ron pushed the doors open wider, supporting Ginny between them. Gilderoy Lockhart stood behind them, grinning stupidly and looking around as if he had never seen the place before.
"Hello," he said brightly. "Who are you? Do you know who I am?"
His fellow professors glanced at each other, the disheveled Lockhart, and the three Gryffindors. "What happened to him?" Snape muttered under his breath.
"I have no idea, but dare I say it's an improvement." McGonagall made a vain attempt to pat down the stray hairs that escaped her normally immaculate bun. "Potter? What happened?"
The bespectacled boy shifted, allowing Madame Pomfrey to lead Ginny to a bed, and opened his mouth when Ron started speaking a mile a minute. "We went to talk to him about the beast in the Chamber, which was a basilisk by the way, and he was packing to leave, but he said that he would save my sister, so we led him to the Chamber which is in the girls' bathroom on the second floor. Then he took my wand and tried to use a memory charm on us, but you remember that my wand was patched with spell-o-tape and the spell backfired and he lost his memory which I suppose is okay because he's a right awful git for trying to erase our memories and leaving my sister to die..."
Ron's voice trailed off as he caught the withering look from the Potions professor. ""I was not aware that your name was Potter, Mr. Weasley."
"Sorry."
"Now, Mr. Potter," Snape turned on Harry. "If you can explain any more coherently, I suggest you do so now."
"When we visited Hermione earlier, we discovered that she had a crumpled up piece of paper in her hand that identified the creature as a basilisk. She'd even figured out that it moved around in the pipes. Then we found out that Ginny had been taken, so we went to talk to Professor Lockhart because he said he was going to save her. Instead we found him packing, and he admitted that he hadn't done any of the things in his books; he just erased the memories of the people who did. With Moaning Myrtle's help, we found the entrance to the Chamber and went down to save Ginny..."
Professor Snape suddenly had the appearance of a person with a serious headache, though Professor McGonagall was paying careful attention.
"When the memory charm backfired, there was a bit of a cave-in, and Ron and I were separated. I found Ginny in the Chamber and she was really cold. It turns out she was being manipulated by a diary that belonged to Voldemort, who is actually Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was trying to drain Ginny's life so he could come back, and he sent the basilisk after me. Fawkes blinded it, and I pulled this out of the Sorting Hat." He held up the sword of Godric Gryffindor. "I killed it, but I got a basilisk fang in my arm, so I used it to destroy the diary."
Behind the teachers, there was a strangled squeak, and Poppy Pomfrey pushed both of them out of the way to maneuver Harry into a bed and inspect his arms. "There's not a mark on them! But you still need rest."
"I'm fine; Fawkes healed me."
"You still need rest." Madame Pomfrey pushed Harry down onto the pillow, convinced Ron to get into the next bed and forced Lockhart to sit on a bed in the corner. "They all do. You have enough explanations for now." The nurse ushered the professors out of the infirmary before attending to each of her new patients.
No one noticed Rowena who lay in her bed, wide awake and smiling as she listened to the Gryffindors' talk. No one heard as she whispered, "The school is safe again. The monster is dead."
Not even Rowena saw the little grey owl that perched in the rafters and flew away silently when the activity had died down.
There you have chapter two. I do hope that you will leave reviews. Finding them are always the high point of my day.
