I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH IT. I ONLY OWN DEVYN AND HER PARENTS.

Chapter 8

Devyn bolted through the halls, the other barely keeping up with her.

Her heart jumped into her throat as she heard it again: Blood...I smell blood. Let me rip you...Let me kill you...Kill! KILL!

She rushed down the hallway that led to Lockhart's classroom and nearly ran into Harry. He looked just as unnerved as she did. He didn't even look surprised that Devyn's eyes were glowing green, brighter than ever before in the dark gloom of the halls. Slowly they started to fade back to their normal bright blue, just as Harry said, "Did you hear it?"

Devyn nodded and said, "Yes. I did."

"Harry!" Hermione cried, running up to him and Devyn. Neville and Ron trailed behind, huffing and puffing.

"Did you hear it?" Harry asked them.

"Hear what?" Ron asked, sounding thoroughly exasperated.

"That voice!" Harry and Devyn exclaimed.

"Voice?" Hermione said. "What voice? Devyn just led us through a marathon through the castle, after some voice that only she could hear!"

"It isn't just me, Hermione," Devyn added. "Harry can hear it too."

"I heard it first in Lockhart's office, and again, just now..." Harry trailed off.

Both Harry and Devyn froze when they heard it again. It's time...

Devyn's hearing ignited into astonishing clarity and her eyes burned bright green. Neville looked horrified and unnerved. "Devyn what is going on? What voice are you talking about, and why are your eyes glowing?!"

"Not now, Neville. Just shush!"

She and Harry both heard it. Something was slithering inside the walls. Something massive. Something homicidal.

"It's moving," Devyn said, looking at Harry. He nodded and Devyn said, her stomach dropping, "I think it's going to kill."

Harry and Devyn pushed past their friends and ran as fast as they could, following the sound of the hissing voice back through the winding halls and corridors of the castle.

"Kill?" Ron repeated, sounding alarmed, but Harry and Devyn didn't hear him. They were already more than halfway down the hall.

"Harry, Devyn, wait, not so fast!" Hermione cried out, but she, Ron, and Neville ran after them anyway. They followed the voice through the halls until they could hear it no longer.

When they stopped, they had reached yet another hallway, although the floor of this one were soaked with water.

"What the -?" Devyn muttered, looking at the floor. She and Harry wandered down the hallway, Hermione, Ron, and Neville following behind, until both Harry and Devyn flung out their arms to stop them.

They had both been looking down and now they saw a long line of small black spiders fleeing the castle out of the window in a straight, orderly, single line. Devyn, for some reason, was shaken to her core. Something was very, very wrong here.

"Strange," Harry said quietly. "I've never seen spiders act like that."

"I don't like spiders..." Ron said, his voice going rather high. But Devyn wasn't looking. She had abandoned the odd spiders and instead, was staring, horrified, at the wall behind them.

"What's that?" Ron asked, clearly puzzled. He was looking at the reflection of the wall in the water on the floor. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville joined Devyn in staring at the wall.

The reason that Devyn was so horrified, the reason that she could barely breathe was that there was writing on the wall, in something that looked a lot like blood.

Devyn read the message aloud, her voice shaking so hard that she scared herself. "'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.'" She swallowed hard and said, "It's written in blood."

Neville gasped softly. Devyn looked at him and saw that he had turned a ghostly white. He was looking away from the message and along the wall, next to the message. Devyn turned and nearly couldn't believe what she was seeing.

There, impaled through her tail on a torch bracket, was Flich's cat, Mrs. Norris. Her eyes were wide open and she looked utterly terrified. But she wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing - she was completely frozen.

"Oh no," Harry said, walking over to the cat. "It's Filch's cat. It's Mrs. Norris."

And it was just their luck, that at that exact moment, every other student and teacher in the school arrived in that one hallway. They had been surrounded from all sides and everyone was looking at the five of them in horror, their gazed darting from the writing on the wall, to Mrs. Norris, to the five of them.

Devyn, almost subconsciously, sought Neville's hand and took hold of it. This was bad. The only consolation Devyn could find, and it was utterly pathetic, was that her eyes were no longer glowing. She would have felt it if they were. All traces of Snow were gone.

Devyn was so unnerved and horrified at what she had just seen that she barely registered any annoyance or anger when she heard Draco Malfoy's voice.

"'Enemies of the heir, beware'? You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Devyn saw her classmates staring at Harry in shock, as though they thought he was responsible for this. But, no, wait - they actually thought that Harry did this, and that Devyn and the other three were accomplices or something; she could hear their whispering, see their accusing stares.

"What's going on here? Go on, make way, make way -"

The situation had just gotten about ten times worse - Filch had just shown up, pushing his way through the sea of kids. He eventually came to the clearing where Harry, Ron, Devyn, Hermione, and Neville stood. He walked right past Devyn, Hermione, Ron, and Neville, his eyes set on Harry.

"Potter, what are you...?" Flich's question died off when he caught sight of his beloved Mrs. Norris hanging on the torch bracket. His voice grew shaky and weaker than Devyn had ever heard. "Mrs. Norris...?"

Devyn, who couldn't stand Filch, felt her heart go out to the poor man. If Filch loved anything in this world, he loved Mrs. Norris. However, any sympathy she felt for the caretaker flew out the window when he looked back down at Harry and said, "You've murdered my cat."

"No," Harry said softly. Devyn looked on in horror; Harry would never kill anything, or anyone. He couldn't. "No."

Filch grabbed hold of Harry's collar and pulled him in. "I'll kill you...I'LL KILL YOU!" he shouted at Harry, who was looking utterly horrified.

Thankfully, a familiar voice broke through the crowd - Dumbledore's. "Argus," he called, wading through the crowd. "Argus, I..."

Dumbledore caught sight of Mrs. Norris, and without any expression on his face, said, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately."

Devyn, Neville, and the others turned away hopefully; maybe they could get away, but Devyn doubted it.

"Everyone except...you five," Dumbledore said, pointing at Devyn, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. Devyn nodded; she should have known better than to think that they could just get away.

Devyn vaguely heard one of the Ravenclaw prefects say, "Ravenclaws, follow me."

Slowly, everyone walked away, leaving only Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, Lockhart, Filch, Devyn, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Neville.

"She is not dead, Argus," Dumbledore said, once the last of the students had drifted away. "But she has been Petrified."

Devyn's eyes widened and she swallowed hard. What could have done this? What kind of creature is capable of Petrifying something or someone?

Well, when I heard the voice, it sounded like there was a hissing sound to it, like a snake. But it would have to be a big bloody snake. And why could only Harry and I hear it? This doesn't make sense!

Devyn felt like there was a piece of the puzzle she was missing, and she felt as though she should know what it was. Her musings were cut short when she heard the annoying voice of Lockhart, who had walked up to inspect Mrs. Norris.

"Ah, thought so. So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the counter-curse that could've spared her."

Devyn snorted quietly and saw Neville roll his eyes quickly. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were looking at Lockhart in disbelief. Lockhart shifted uncomfortably and Dumbledore turned his attention back to the Petrified cat.

Filch looked like he was about to cry and Dumbledore said, "But how she has been Petrifed, I cannot say."

"Ask him," Filch burst out, nearly in tears, looking at Harry. "It's him who's done it! You saw what he wrote on the wall."

"That isn't true!" Devyn said, stepping up to defend Harry. "That writing was already there and Mrs. Norris was already Petrified when we got here!"

Harry nodded and said, "Devyn's right sir. I never touched Mrs. Norris."

"Rubbish!" Filch snapped.

"If I might, Headmaster?" Snape said, stepping forward. Devyn held her breath. Oh, great. Snape gonna say something that will make us look guilty and then we'll be in trouble... Devyn thought.

"Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Snape continued, making Devyn's heart nearly stop. Snape was defending them? Had the world gone mad?

The five of them looked at each other in disbelief. But that disbelief died when Snape continued, "However, the circumstances are suspicious." He walked up to them and said, "I, for one, don't recall seeing Potter, or any of them for that matter, at dinner."

"Professor Snape," Devyn said. "I wasn't at dinner because I dozed off in Gryffindor Tower. Hermione and Neville were with me the entire time."

"What about Weasley?" Snape asked, nodding to Ron. Ron breathed in slowly and said, "I was in the trophy room, polishing the awards and trophies. It was my detention."

"And Potter?" Snape pressed on, looking at Harry, who opened his mouth to reply when Lockhart cut him off. Devyn seriously wished that he hadn't.

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus," Lockhart said. Snape turned around to face Lockhart and the blonde idiot explained a little further. "You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail."

Snape made a face that lasted a nanosecond and Devyn had to fight to keep the smile off her face. Snape turned around when Hermione started speaking and his eyes darted to Devyn for a second, and she could have been mistaken, but she thought Snape smiled at her very briefly. So briefly in fact that no one else noticed it.

It was good to know that the teachers felt the way she did about Lockhart as well. Snape's eyes darted back to Hermione as she said, "That's why Ron, Devyn, Neville, and I went looking for him."

Devyn knew, of course, that this was a lie, but she wasn't about to tell Snape that she dragged Hermione and the others through the castle because she heard a creepy voice coming from within the walls. They'd have her committed in two seconds flat.

"We'd just found him when he said..." Hermione trailed off, looking at Harry and Devyn. Snape stared at Hermione and said, "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"When I said I wasn't hungry," Harry finished for her. Thank Merlin for Harry, Devyn thought. Snape's eyes snapped to Harry and Harry continued, to the nods of the others, "We were heading back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris."

Snape raised an eyebrow and whirled around to face Dumbledore, who simply said, "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."

But Filch was having none of it. "My cat has been Petrified. I wanna see some punishment!" Devyn had to commend Filch for not having burst into tears, but she thought that he was about a millimeter away from crying. Devyn was strongly reminded of the time Filch scolded Hagrid for crying over Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback being sent away to a Dragon colony in Romania. Devyn internally shrugged; she figured it was easy to dismiss someone's feelings about something when you haven't experienced a similar feeling.

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," Dumbledore told him, clearly trying to comfort the ancient caretaker. He nodded and said, "As I understand it, Madame Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes." The caring Herbology teacher stepped forward and nodded as Dumbledore said, "When matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. And in the meantime, I strongly recommend caution...to all."

Dumbledore sent a significant look towards Devyn, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville. Soon after, Dumbledore released them and they started off for Gryffindor Tower immediately.

Devyn's mind was reeling; what had just happened? What had Petrified Mrs. Norris? What was the Chamber of Secrets? And who was this mysterious 'heir', whose enemies should beware?

It was all very confusing and the disembodied voice just added to the confusion.


As the five of them climbed one of the many moving staircases, Neville turned to Devyn and said, "Now, will you please tell me why your eyes were glowing green?"

Devyn sighed and nodded. "It's quite simple, really. I'm an Animagus, Neville."

"What's that?" Neville asked. Hermione turned around and said, "It's a witch or wizard who can turn into an animal."

"Oh..." Neville said. "Wow! So, what animal do you turn into?"

"A wolf. She goes by Snow."

"Whoa. Can you show me?" Neville asked hopefully. Devyn shook her head and said, "I can't really control when I transform yet. Snow says -"

"Snow says? She can speak?" Neville interrupted. Devyn shrugged and said, "Sort of. I can hear Snow's voice in my head. It almost like the voice of your conscience. It's kinda hard to explain though."

"No, I get what you're saying. Sort of like another part of your brain talking to you. The Animagus part of your brain."

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, Snow says I can't control my transformations yet because I haven't matured to that point yet. Right now, I can sort of control my eyesight, my hearing, and my speed. Usually, certain traits pop out when I'm stressed out or excited, but I can sort of control it especially my hearing. Eventually, I'll be able to control my Animagus abilities all together."

"Oh. Okay, well, that explains that. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well," Devyn said, somewhat uncomfortably. "I mean, it isn't that I didn't want to tell you...I just thought the fewer people who know, the better. I mean, even Moony doesn't know."

"Remus doesn't know?!" Neville exclaimed. Devyn shook her head and said, "No. And Neville, keep your voice down."

"Sorry, but seriously; Remus doesn't know? Why wouldn't you tell him?"

"I don't know how he'll react. I'll tell him eventually, but not right now. Please don't tell him, Neville."

"I won't, Devyn, I promise."

Suddenly Hermione said, "It's a bit strange, isn't it?"

Harry turned and said, "Strange? Devyn's been an Animagus for months now, what's so strange about it?"

"Not that," Hermione said, exasperated. "No, I mean, you two," she motioned to Devyn and Harry, "hear a voice. A voice only you two can hear, and then Mrs. Norris turns up Petrified? It's just...strange."

Devyn knew there was something big about this that she was overlooking, but she couldn't think what it was. She felt she should know why she could hear this voice, why Harry could hear this voice, but no one else could.

Harry turned and said, "Do you think I should have told them? About the voice? Dumbledore and the others, I mean."

"Are you mad?" Ron asked incredulously. Neville shook his head and Hermione said, "No, Harry. Even in the Wizarding World, hearing voices isn't a good sign."

"She's right, you know," one of the numerous portraits hanging on the walls said. Devyn frowned though.

"You know, Hermione, it is strange. I mean, obviously, Harry isn't going bonkers, and neither am I, because we can both hear the same voice. But it definitely is strange."

That night, when Devyn was lying in bed, an idea suddenly came to her. If the voice belonged to a snake, or a snake-like creature, that explained why she could hear the voice! She was a Parselmouth! Her father had been one, and the trait had been passed down to her!

That was also why she could hear the boa constrictor speak that day at the Zoo, when she met Harry, or saw him again, or whatever. But, if Harry could hear both voices, the boa constrictor from the Zoo and the unknown voice from inside the walls, that meant only one thing - Harry was a Parselmouth, too!

Devyn was about to wake Hermione up and tell her what she had figured out, but stopped herself at the last second - Parseltongue was considered a Dark trait and she didn't want to face a freaked out Hermione. Besides, she didn't even know if Harry knew that he was a Parselmouth, and if he didn't know, Devyn wasn't going to run her mouth about it.

No, Devyn decided, closing her eyes. No, I don't think I will tell her. I have no problem about telling Hermione that I'm a Parselmouth, but then she'll figure out Harry is a Parselmouth, too, and if Harry doesn't know, or if he doesn't want anyone else to know, it won't be me that spills the beans, or breaks the news to him. No it will not.

And with that decision, Devyn rolled over and went to sleep, visions of Mrs. Norris and the bloody warning on the wall sweeping through her mind like Colin's camera flashes.