Chapter 8
Harry was packing his trunk the night before he was supposed to return to Hogwarts when Dobby visited him. Harry had known it was him the second he heard the pop.
"Hello Dobby" Harry said to the elf.
"Harry Potter is not an easy wizard to find. Harry Potter must not…" Dobby started but was interrupted by Harry.
"Dobby, I know what your master has planned for this year and I plan on stopping it." Harry said.
"But it is too dangerous for Harry Potter!" Dobby pleaded. "He must not return to Hogwarts!"
"What if I promise to not get hurt? Will you let me go to Hogwarts?"
"Well Dobby's master said it was too dangerous, But if Harry Potter promises not to get hurt, Dobby thinks that would be ok."
As usual, the morning of September 1st was a chaotic morning at The Burrow. Thankfully Harry and Ginny had packed the night before in order to avoid rushing around like the others. They all piled into the Weasley's beat up old Ford Anglia. By the time they got to King's Cross, they had less than an hour before the Hogwarts Express left. Harry went through the barricade first in order to see if Dobby was trying to keep him out. Thankfully he passed through without any problems. He was soon followed by Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys.
"Now Ron, I want you to keep an eye on your sister. It's her first year at Hogwarts" Mrs. Weasley called out as they boarded the train.
"I'm going to go look for Luna. Go find a compartment." Ginny said over the bond. Harry manage to find an empty compartment large enough for the coven. Harry and Ron were the first there and the others followed shortly after.
"Go find your own compartment Ginny!" Ron said when Ginny and Luna tried to enter the compartment.
"Ron!" Hermione admonished. "Didn't your mother want you to keep an eye on your sister?"
"Oh well alright." Ron said. The rest of the train ride went smoothly thanks to a locking charm Luna placed on the door, keeping Draco from antagonizing them. While the others were engaged in conversation, Harry noticed that Ginny was staring out the window.
"Gin is everything ok?" Harry asked
"No, I didn't sleep well last night." Ginny replied.
"Nightmares?"
"Yeah I kept seeing the Chamber and I'm worried that someone else is going to go through that."
"Don't worry Gin, We don't even know if the Diary is even in the school. And if it is we'll stop it from getting that far."
"Thanks Harry." Ginny said as she snuggled into Harry's side. Ron was too busy discussing Quidditch with Cho to notice this.
This time Harry was able to attend the Start of term feast and the sorting ceremony. Both Luna and Ginny were sorted into Gryffindor. Both of them took seats on the opposite sides of Harry. After the usual speech from Dumbledore, the prefects led the first years up to the common rooms.
Harry had stayed up later than the rest of the Gryffindors. He had tried to see if anyone was acting strange, as if they were under the Diary's influence. Unfortunately he was unable to find anything. Deciding to retire for the night, he made his way to the second year Gryffindor boy's dorm. When he got there, he noticed that the curtains had already been drawn on his bed. Carefully opening them, he found Ginny waiting for him.
"Is it ok if I stay here for the night?" Ginny asked.
"Of course Gin, just make sure Ron doesn't catch you sneaking out in the morning." Harry said.
The start of the school year was busy for the coven. Oliver Wood had decided to increase the number of practices the Gryffindor Quidditch team in an attempt to guarantee another victory in the Quidditch Cup meant that Cho had less time to spare. In addition to searching for the diary, the coven also decided to mock Professor Lockhart at all times. During their first defense against the dark arts class, Susan had secretly placed a locking charm on the cage of Cornish Pixies. The charm was designed to wear off after a few hours, leaving Lockhart with an office full of pixies that night. They also pointed out all of the inconsistencies in his book which had been assigned to the curriculum.
Sirius Black made his way up the road to The Burrow early one morning. He hoped to catch Arthur before he left for the ministry. Knocking on the door, Molly was the one to open it.
"Good morning Molly. Is Arthur around?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, he's just getting ready for work." Molly said. "What brings you around here?"
"Business I'm afraid." Sirius said. Arthur was sitting at the table eating breakfast.
"Can I get you anything to eat Sirius?" asked Molly.
"No thanks." Sirius said, Molly took a seat at the table next to Arthur. "The reason I'm here is on behalf of Harry. I've come to offer a betrothal contract between Ginny and Harry."
"What!?" Molly asked, not believing what Sirius had just said.
"I've been named Harry's guardian and in charge of handling the various titles he's inherited."
"How many titles does he have" Arthur asked with interest.
"Seven. I've already taken care of a few but I'd like to offer one of them to Ginny, with your permission of course." He pulled out a roll of parchment from his robes. "The contract would make Ginny Harry's equal in every way and would require her signature as well for it to be legally binding. So you don't have to sign right away. I'd suggest that you talk to her before making a decision." Sirius got up and left shortly after answering a couple of questions.
Harry, Daphne, and Cho were on their way to the room of requirement to practice working on their animagus forms. When they got there, they found the door was already there and locked.
"Why's the door locked?" Daphne asked.
"Oh are you guys outside?" Ginny asked. "I'll let you in." Shortly after, the door was unlocked and Ginny let them into the room. The room was empty except for a stand with a cage of pixies just like the one Lockhart had in class the other day. A few of the pixies were lying dead on the floor.
"Uh what was going on in here?" Cho asked looking at the dead pixies.
"I was working on a partial transformation." Ginny said. "I was trying to keep my eyes from turning into basilisk eyes. It took a couple of tries and pixies but I've got it working." Her body began to turn into a basilisk. When she was done a basilisk about half the size of an adult was sitting there. Instead of the cold, yellow eyes that would kill with a single glance, Ginny retained her warm chocolate colored eyes. Looking at her, Harry began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" She hissed at him in parsletounge.
"Have you seen your form? It's a male basilisk." Harry replied. Ginny quickly turned around as the room produced a mirror for her. Looking in the mirror she saw the scarlet plume that all male basilisks had. "Face it Gin, you can't escape from your Weasley red hair."
"Oh really Mr. Potter. I seem to remember somebody mentioning that the color of my hair was one of their favorite things." She said as she regained her human form. Harry just looked sheepish at her statement. "Oh I'm just joking Harry. You guys can have the room now."
Halloween came rather quickly and both Harry and Ginny had been nervous all day. Today was the day that they would find out if the diary had found its way into the school. At the feast they kept an eye out for any stragglers coming into the feast late. Other than a group of young 1st and 2nd year Slytherins who entered the great hall at the last minute before the feast was about to start, there was no one who stood out.
"I don't think the Diary is here." Susan said.
"Well nobody's displaying the symptoms of possession. But that just means the Diary hasn't begun to take over yet." Hermione said.
The rest of the feast went by without an incident until they were on their way back to the Gryffindor common room. As they turned one of the corners, Ginny froze suddenly.
"Ginny what's…" Harry started as he rushed to her side. He noticed that the floor was covered in water.
"No no no no no no." Ginny started to mumble as she pointed further down the hallway. Laying in a puddle was the petrified body of Mrs. Norris. Written on the wall in what appeared to be blood was an all too familiar message.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir… Beware."
This was all the confirmation the coven needed to determine that the Diary was in Hogwarts.
