"Oh, I think I had too much to eat," groaned Robert as he left the Great Hall with Scott and Penelope.

"Happy Halloween to you," Scott said, giggling.

"Serves you right for trying to beat me on the amount of food eaten," added Penelope, who was carrying a spider-shaped lollipop leftover from the Halloween Feast. "I feel great, myself."

"Oh shut up," said Robert, though he laughed with Scott and Penelope as they walked up the stairs and headed down the corridor.

"Let's at least try to walk off some of this food," Scott suggested. "We have a little bit before curfew, might as well enjoy the rest of Halloween."

They continued walking for several minutes, each lost in their own thoughts and trying to walk off some of the delicious food they had eaten during the Halloween Feast. When they turned down one corridor on the Second Floor, they came upon a disturbing sight. Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing in the middle of the corridor, which was flooded with water. They were staring up at something, whispering to each other as other students started to walk down the various corridors leading to that spot.

Scott and the others moved closer to get a proper view and gasped at what he saw. Hanging from one of the torches was Mrs. Norris. She seemed frozen in place, incapable of moving, with a shocked expression on her face. To the right, Scott noticed words written on the wall in what looked horribly like blood:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPEN. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

The rest of the students stopped in their tracks, taking in the scene. There were several gasps of shock and whispers before Draco Malfoy called out to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"'Enemies of the Heir, beware?'" he said in his drawling voice. "You'll be next, mudbloods."

Scott turned to tell off Malfoy but didn't get a chance as he heard Filch pushing through the crowd.

"What's going on here?" Filch demanded. "Go on, make way, make way."

Once he was properly in view of Harry and the others, Filch has an air of triumph about him.

"Potter," he spat. "What are you...?"

Filch stopped as his eyes traveled above Harry's head, his eyes widening in shock as he saw Mrs. Norris.

"Mrs. Norris?" Filch squeaked, the panic setting in.

"You murdered my cat," Filch snarled at Harry.

"No..." said Harry faintly.

"I'll kill ya," Filch said, leaning forward and grabbing Harry by the collar. "I'LL KILL YA!"

"Argus!" came a powerful voice behind Scott. He and the students standing next to him stood aside as Dumbledore walked into the scene, flanked by Professors Sprout, McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Lockhart. "Argus, I," Dumbledore stopped, noticing Mrs. Norris. He hesitated for a moment before he turned to the rest of the students.

"Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately," he said. At that, the students all turned to leave. "Everyone except," Dumbledore added, causing everyone to pause. "You three," he said, pointing to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Robert nudged Scott, who started to follow him.

"Ravenclaws, follow me," called Robert, trying to gather as many of the students as possible, along with Penelope.

Back in the Ravenclaw Common Room, nobody went to bed. Instead, everyone seemed much more interested in discussing what had happened to Mrs. Norris. Scott sat with Robert and Penelope in three armchairs.

"What on earth could have done that?" asked Penelope.

"No idea, it could've been anything," replied Robert. "It looked like she was petrified."

"Yeah," said Scott absent-mindedly. "But what about that Chamber of Secrets business?"

"Dunno," Robert answered. "I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Me neither," added Penelope. "Maybe it's a legend of Hogwarts or something."

"Probably," Scott said, standing up. "Listen, guys, I'm gonna go up to bed, I'll see you later."

"Night, Scott," Robert and Penelope said together.

Scott walked up to his dormitory, having no intention of going to sleep. Within minutes, Piri appeared outside the window with something in her beak. Scott walked over and opened the window. Piri flew in and settled in on her perch next to Scott's bed with a rolled-up scroll in her beak.

"Thanks, Piri," Scott said, taking the note and unraveling it. "You gonna sleep in here?"

Piri nipped Scott's hand affectionately as if answering yes. She then buried her head under her wing. Scott grinned at her as he glanced down at the note.

Come by as soon as you can.

Obeying Dumbledore's request, Scott left his dormitory at once and exited the Common Room, bound for Dumbledore's office.

As soon as he reached the door outside the office, Scott knocked three times.

"Enter," said Dumbledore from inside.

Scott opened the door and was surprised to see Dumbledore was the only person in the office. He was used to seeing Professor Snape sitting in front of the desk. He walked toward Dumbledore's desk while Dumbledore stroked his phoenix, Fawkes, before turning to Scott.

"Thank you for coming so promptly, Scott," he said with a grave expression on his face. Dumbledore then sat down across from Scott.

"Were you able to find out what happened to Mrs. Norris?" asked Scott.

"Unfortunately, no," replied Dumbledore. "I can tell that she is not dead, but rather, she has been petrified. I have directed Professor Sprout to start procuring a Mandrake potion in order to revive Mrs. Norris."

"I see," Scott said. "But what about the writing on the wall? About the Chamber of Secrets? I've never heard of such a thing."

Dumbledore sighed. "The Chamber of Secrets is a Hogwarts legend," he explained. "As you know, Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Now, three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not."

"Three guesses who," Scott muttered under his breath. Dumbledore nodded.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed magical learning should be kept within all magic families. In other words: pure bloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school.

"Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though shortly before departing, he sealed it. Until that day when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the chamber and by so doing purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle-borns," Scott whispered.

"Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such chamber has been found."

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?"

"Well the Chamber is said to be home to something that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home of a monster."

Scott gasped. "But the Chamber has never been found?"

"No," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "Some of the most celebrated names in our world have searched the castle up and down, but they haven't succeeded. However, someone seems to have found the Chamber again."

"Again?" asked Scott, shocked.

"Indeed," replied Dumbledore. "Fifty years ago, several students were attacked and one student was killed. It was said the Chamber had been opened at the time. But, the attacks stopped when a student turned in another, who had a dangerous pet with them."

Dumbledore turned away, as if he wished to discuss the subject no more. Scott, taking note of this, spoke instead.

"Is there anything I can do, Headmaster?"

"Nothing really, I think," said Dumbledore. "But I must ask you to keep an eye out for anything unusual. And keep an extra watch on young Harry Potter and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. After the events of last year, I'm sure they'd be highly interested in finding out what is happening."

Scott nodded. "I will do whatever is needed, Professor. I'm happy to help."

"Thank you for that, Scott," Dumbledore said, smiling at him. "Now, it is getting late," he added, standing up. Scott took the cue and stood up, too. "I suggest you go to bed and get some rest. I think you'll need some recovering from that eating contest you had with your friends."

Scott grinned. "You saw that?"

"Naturally. You three seemed to be enjoying yourselves."

"We did," Scott said. "Good night, professor."