This chapter is dedicated to reviewer Alysandra Martin.
The next day, Beth revealed that she had learned the Summoning Charm. The others turned to stare at her in surprise.
"But we don't learn that until fourth or fifth year!" exclaimed Sophie.
"Well, I learned it," responded Beth. "I did the charm this morning and got Luna's necklace, earrings, and two missing textbooks, and her robes back. They came flying out of the trunks of our dormmates. I told them off for taking Luna's things. I also figured out the spell that locks things and did it on Luna's trunk so nobody can open her trunk without a key. And I made several duplicates of the trunk key so it can still be opened even if Luna should somehow lose her key."
She reached into the collar of her robes and pulled out a gold chain hanging around her neck. Two keys dangled from it. "One is my trunk key, the other Luna's. Here." She took out four keys from her pocket and handed them to the other girls. "If Luna loses her key and I lose my copy, we'll ask one of you for your copy. Okay?"
Alexis carefully stowed her copy of Luna's trunk key in her pocket. "Why can't your dormmates see that Luna is a very nice girl under her, um, unique nature, and stop being so mean to her, Beth?"
Beth shrugged. "Everyone has their own idea of what's normal, and when someone doesn't fit that, they react to it differently. Some don't care, and others lash out and put it down. I don't like what my roommates are doing, but I can't exactly stop them. I've told them several times, but they just ignore it, and if I report it to a prefect, things will just get worse."
"It doesn't really matter," said Luna. "I have friends, so I can ignore the bad things that happen."
"Luna, if they were just making fun of you, ignoring them would be fine," said Beth patiently. "But taking your things is a different matter. When they took your robes last week, you would have had to wear the ones you had on for days if I hadn't lent you mine. And then when you put them on, you got teased for wearing such shabby robes. I accept the fact that Mum doesn't have much money and that I have to wear second-hand clothes, but you don't need to be made fun of because of that."
Luna stopped talking in her usual dreamy tone and now looked and sounded serious. "Beth, it was very kind of you to let me wear your robes. I focused on that, not on the teasing from those that are less open-minded than us. Besides, I didn't see you get mad when the other Ravenclaws teased you about having second-hand things, because they can't exactly accuse you of being loony."
"Luna, I usually don't get mad when teasing is directed to me, only when its directed to my friends. Besides, I've put with teasing about being poor for years. I've gotten used to it. And I really don't care that I don't get anything new except on Christmas and my birthday. I know Mum's doing the best she can to provide for us, and her love is more important than material belongings."
"Who's been teasing you, Beth?" demanded Gary, looking indignant. "I'll tell them off for you."
"Gareth Rupert Rawlins, you will do no such thing!" exclaimed Beth. "I don't need you getting involved and then have you end up detention. You already got into enough trouble in primary school when you fought all those kids that made fun of me."
"But I don't want you having to deal with all this!" protested Gary. "Bethany Julie Rawlins, as your brother, I have the right to -"
"I don't want you getting into fights," interrupted Beth firmly. "I can take care of myself. Furthermore, I'm older than you."
"Only by five minutes," retorted Gary. "It's not like you're a year or more older than me. But if you insist, I'll let you deal with things."
Hermione and Sophie exchanged looks. Being single children, they hadn't experienced any interaction with siblings. Eric then tried to change the subject to the Polyjuice Potion, but Alexis hushed him. Gary's friend David was there, and he wasn't to know about it. David was a very good and loyal friend, but when it came to secrets, he couldn't keep one to save his life, unless it was his own.
Since the disastrious class with the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes re-enacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Alexis to help him with these reconstructions; So far, Alexis had been forced to play a simple Transylvanian villager Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head-cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him.
Alexis was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, this time acting a werewolf. If she hadn't had a very good reason for keeping Lockhart in a good mood, she would have refused to do it.
"Nice loud howl, Alexis - exactly - and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced - like this - slammed him to the floor - thus - with one hand, I managed to hold him down - with my other, I put my wand to his throat - I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm - he let out a piteous moan - go on, Alexis - higher than that - good - the fur vanished - the fangs shrank - and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective - and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."
The bell rang and Lockhart got to his feet. "Homework: compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!"
The class began to leave. Alexis returned to the back of the class, where her friends were waiting. "Ready?" she muttered.
"Wait till everyone's gone," said Hermione nervously. "All right ..."
She approached Lockhart's desk, a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, her friends right behind her.
"Er - Professor Lockhart?" Hermione stammered. "I wanted to - to get this book out from the library. Just for background reading." She held out the piece of paper, her hand shaking slightly. "But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it - I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow acting venoms ..."
"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls!" said Lockhart, taking the note from Hermione and smiling widely at her. "Possibly my very favorite book. You enjoyed it?"
"Oh, yes," said Hermione with contrived eagerness. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea-strainer ..."
"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student in the year a little extra help," said Lockhart warmly, and he pulled out an enormous peacock quill. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" he said, mis-reading the revolted look on Ron's face. "I usually save it for book signings."
He scrawled an enormous loopy signature on the note and handed it back to Hermione.
"So, Alexis," said Lockhart, while Hermione folded the note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag, "tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was a Seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but I preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players ..."
Alexis was certain that he was lying, but didn't say anything. She hurried off after her friends.
"I don't believe it," she said, as the aix of them examined the signature on the note, "He didn't even look at the book we wanted."
"That's because he's a brainless git," said Ron. "But who cares, we've got what we needed."
On the way to the library, they ran into Ginny, Luna, and Beth. "We got Lockhart's signature!" exclaimed Sophie.
Ginny grinned. "That's great. Now we can get that book. Did Lockhart even look at the title of the book we wanted?'
Eric shook his head and Beth said, "Well, he is an idiot. Our sessions practicing hexes and stuff in the private room are so much more useful."
The dropped their voices as they entered the muffled stillness of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an underfed vulture.
"Moste Potente Potions?" she repeated suspiciously, taking the note from Hermione.
Madam Pince held the note up to the light, as though determined to detect a forgery, but it passed the test. She stalked away between the lofty shelves and returned several minutes later carrying a large moldy-looking book. Hermione put it carefully into her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or look too guilty.
Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's out-of-order bathroom once again, Gary with them. Hermione had overridden Ron's objections by pointing out that it was the last place anyone in their right minds would go, so they were guaranteed some privacy. When Neville said they could have used the private room behind Lady Felicity's portrait, Alexis reminded him that Emma and her friends where there twice a week and Fred and George occasionally used it to hide from Filch.
Moaning Myrtle was crying noisily in her cubicle, but they were ignoring her, and she them.
Hermione opened Moste Potente Potions carefully and the ten of them bent over the damp-spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects almost too gruesome to think about, and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head.
"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly, as she found the page headed The Polyjuice Potion. It was decorated with drawings of people halfway through transforming into other people. Alexis sincerely hoped the artist had imagined the looks of intense pain on their faces.
"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione, as they scanned the recipe. "Lacewing flies, leeches, flux weed and knotgrass," she murmured, running her finger down the list of ingredients. "Well. They're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves. Oooh, look, powdered horn of a Bicorn - don't know where we're going to get that ... Shredded skin of a Boomslang - that'll be tricky, too - and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into."
"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it ..."
Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard him. "We don't have to worry about that yet, though, because we add those bits last ..."
Ron turned, speechless, to Alexis, who had another worry. "D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione? Shredded skin of Boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if that's a good idea ..."
Hermione shut the book with a snap. "Well, if you are going to chicken out, fine," she said. There were bright pink patches on her cheeks and her eyes were brighter than usual. "I don't want to break rules, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in ..."
"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron. "All right, we'll do it. But not toenails, OK?"
"How long will it take to make, anyway?" asked Ginny, as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again.
"Well, as the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days ... I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."
"A month?" exclaimed Eric. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!"
But Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously again, and he added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."
However, while Hermione was checking the coast was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron muttered to Alexis, "It'll be a lot less hassle if you can just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow."
Alexis woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. Both teams had the best brooms, but she was positive the Gryffindor team was better and intended to prove it. The Slytherins were going to regret letting Malfoy buy his way onto the team, though obviously he had to have some talent as a Seeker.
At breakfast, she was startled with the hats Luna and Beth were wearing. Beth's hat had the words "Go Gryffindor!" written in scarlet and underneath a picture of a roaring gold lion. Luna's hat had the words "Beat Slytherin! Lions for the Cup!" that flashed all the colors of the rainbow and underneath was a lion, also flashing different colors, chewing on a green snake. Everyone stared.
"Luna thought up of them," explained Beth. "She did some charms to make hers, and I decided to join her and made one for myself."
"They're very ... nice," said Alexis. The hats certainly showed Beth and Luna's support for Gryffindor, and made her feel slightly better.
As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. The others came hurrying over to wish Alexis good luck as she entered the changing rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, and then sat down to listen to Wood's usual pre-match pep talk.
Wood went on about how they trained harder and were much better players, so they were bound to win. He finished with telling Alexis to get the Snitch or die trying so that Slytherin would rue the day they let Malfoy buy his way onto the team.
As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greet them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard too.
Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary.
"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch, "three ... two ... one ..."
With a roar from the crowd to speed them upwards, the fourteen players rose towards the leaden sky. Alexis flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the Snitch.
"All right there, Scarhead?" yelled Malfoy, shooting underneath her as though to show off the speed of her broom.
Alexis had no time to reply. At that very moment, a heavy black Bludger came pelting towards her; she avoided it so narrowly that she felt it ruffle her hair as it passed.
"Close one, Harry!" said George, streaking past her with his club in his hand, ready to knock the Bludger back towards a Slytherin.
Alexis saw George give the Bludger a powerful whack in the direction of Adrian Pucey, but the Bludger changed direction in mid-air and shot straight for her again. Alexis dropped quickly to avoid it and George managed to hit it hard towards Malfoy.
Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at her head. Alexis put on a burst on speed and zoomed towards the other end of the pitch. She could hear the bludger whistling along behind her. What was going on? Bludgers never concentrated on one player like this, it was their job to try and unseat as many as possible ...
Fred Weasley was waiting for the Bludger at the other end. Alexis ducked as Fred swung at the Bludger with all his might; the Bludger was knocked off course.
"That's done it!" Fred yelled happily, but he was wrong; as though it was magnetically attracted towards Alexis, the Bludger pelted after her once more and she was forced to fly off at full speed.
It had started to rain; Alexis felt heavy drops fall onto her face, splattering onto her glasses. She didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game until she heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to twenty."
The Slytherins were doing better than the Gryffindors, and meanwhile the mad Bludger was doing all it could to knock Alexis out of the air. Fred and George were now flying so close to her on either side that Alexis could see nothing at all except their flailing arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let alone catch it.
"Someone's - tampered - with - this - Bludger -" Fred grunted, swinging his bat with all his might at it as it launched a new attack on Alexis.
"We need time out," said George, trying to signal to Wood and stop the Bludger breaking Alexis's nose at the same time.
Wood had obviously got the message. Madam Hooch's whistle rang out and Alexis, Fred and George dived for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludger.
"What's going on?" said Wood, as the Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd jeered. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when the Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"
"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger murdering Alexis, Oliver," said George angrily. "Someone's fixed it - it won't leave Alexis alone, it hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."
"But the bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then ..." said Wood anxiously.
Madam Hooch was walking towards them. Over her shoulder, Alexis could see the Slytherin team jeering and pointing in her direction. "Listen," said Alexis, as she came nearer and nearer, "with you two flying round me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one."
"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off."
Wood was looking from Alexis to the Weasleys
"Oliver, this is mad," said Alicia Spinnet angrily. "You can't let Alexis deal with that thing on her own."
"Let's ask for an inquiry -"
"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" snapped Alexis. "And I'm not losing to Slytherin just because of a mad Bludger! Come on, Oliver; tell them to leave me alone!"
"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the Snitch or die trying' - what a stupid thing to tell her!"
Madam Hooch had joined them. "Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood.
Wood looked at the determined look on Alexis's face. "All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Alexis - leave her alone and let her deal with the Bludger on her own."
The rain was falling more heavily now. On Madam Hooch's whistle, Alexis kicked hard into the air and heard the tell-tale whoosh of the Bludger behind him. Higher and higher she climbed. She looped and swooped, spiraled, zig-zagged and rolled.
Slightly dizzy, she nevertheless kept her eyes wide open. Rain was speckling her glasses and ran up her nostrils as she hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the Bludger. She could hear laughter from the crowd; she knew she must look very stupid, but the rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn't change direction as quickly as she could.
She began a kind of roller-coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goalposts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood ... A whistling in Alexis's ear told her the Bludger had just missed him again; she turned right over and sped in the opposite direction.
"Training for the ballet, Potter?" yelled Malfoy, as she was forced to do a stupid kind of twirl in mid-air to dodge the Bludger.
Off Alexis fled, the Bludger trailing a few feet behind her: and then, glaring back at Malfoy in hatred, she saw it, the Golden Snitch. It was hovering inches above Malfoy's left ear - and Malfoy, busy laughing at Alexis, hadn't seen it.
For an agonizing moment, she hung in mid-air, not daring to speed towards Malfoy in case he looked up and saw the Snitch.
WHAM!
She had stayed a second too long. The Bludger had hit her at last, smashed into her elbow, and Alexis felt her arm break. Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in her arm, she slid sideways on her rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, her right arm dangling useless at her side.
The Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time aiming at her face. Alexis swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged into her numb brain: get to Malfoy.
Through a haze of rain and pain she dived for the shimmering, sneering face below her and saw its eyes widen with fear: Malfoy thought Alexis was attacking her.
"What the -" he gasped, careering out of her way.
Alexis took her remaining hand off her broom and made a wild snatch; she felt her fingers close on the cold Snitch but was now only gripping the broom with her legs and there was a yell from the crowd below as she headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to pass out.
With a splattering thud she hit the mud and rolled off her broom. Her arm was hanging at a very strange angle. Riddled with pain, she heard, as though from a distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. She focused on the Snitch clutched in her good hand.
"Aha," she said vaguely, "we've won." And then she fainted.
She came round, rain falling on her face, still lying on the pitch, with someone leaning over her. She saw a glitter of teeth. "Oh no, not you," she moaned.
"Doesn't know what she's saying," said Lockhart loudly, to the anxious crowd of Gryffindor pressing around them. "Not to worry, Alexis, I'm about to fix your arm."
"No!" exclaimed Alexis. "I'll keep it like this, thanks ..." She tried to sit up, but the pain was terrible. She heard a familiar clicking noise nearby. "I don't want a photo of this, Colin," she said loudly.
"Lie back, Alexis," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times."
"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" said Alexis through clenched teeth.
"She should really, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who couldn't help grinning even though his Seeker was injured. "Great capture, Alexis, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say."
Through the thicket of legs around him, Alexis spotted Fred and George Weasley, wrestling the rogue Bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific fight.
"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.
"No - don't -" said Alexis weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at her arm. A strange and unpleasant sensation started at Alexis's shoulder and spread all the way down to her fingertips. It felt as though her arm was being deflated.
She didn't dare look at what was happening. She had shut his eyes, her face turned away from her arm, but her worst fears were realized as the people above her gasped and Colin Creevey began clicking madly. Her arm didn't hurt anymore - but nor did it feel remotely like an arm.
"Ah," said Lockhart. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Alexis, just toddle up to the Hospital Wing - ah, Mr. Longbottom, Miss Kent, would you escort her? - and Madam Pomfrey will be able to - er - tidy you up a bit."
As Alexis got to his feet, she felt strangely lopsided. Taking a deep breath she looked down at her right side. What she saw nearly made her pass out again. Poking out of the end of her robes was what looked like thick, flesh-colored rubber glove. She tried to move her fingers. Nothing happened. Lockhart hadn't mended Harry's bones. She had removed them.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all pleased.
"You should have come straight to me!" she raged, holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second - but growing them back -"
"You will be able to, won't you?" said Alexis desperately.
"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Alexis a pair of pajamas. "You'll have to stay the night ..."
The boys waited outside the curtain drawn around Alexis's bed while Sophie and Hermione helped her into her pajamas. It took a while to stuff the rubbery, boneless arm into a sleeve.
As she swung herself onto the bed, her arm flapped pointlessly.
The boys and Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. Madam Pomfrey was holding a large bottle of something labeled 'Skele-Gro'.
"You're in for a rough night," she said, pouring out a steaming beaker full and handing it to her. "Re-growing bones is a nasty business."
So was taking the Skele-Gro. It burned Alexis's mouth and throat as it went down, making her cough and splutter. Still tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving the others to help Alexis gulp down some water.
"We won, though," said Ron, a grin breaking across his face. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face ... he looked ready to kill!"
"I want to know how he fixed that Bludger," said Hermione darkly.
"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Alexis, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff ..."
"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking," said Ron.
The door of the hospital wing burst open at that moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had arrived to see Alexis. "Unbelievable flying, Alexis," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy."
They had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice; they gathered around Alexis's bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over, shouting, "This girl needs rest, she's got thirty-three bones to re-grow! Out! OUT!" And Alexis was left alone, with nothing to distract her from the stabbing pains in her limp arm.
Hours and hours later, she woke quite suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain; hrt arm now felt full of large splinters. For a second, she thought it was that which had woken her. Then, with a thrill of horror, she realized that someone was sponging her forehead in the dark. "Get off!" she said loudly, and then, "Dobby!"
The house-elf's goggling tennis-ball eyes were peering at Alexis through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose. "Alexis Potter came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Alexis Potter. Ah miss, why didn't you heed Dobby? Why didn't Alexis Potter go back home when the gateway was sealed?"
Alexis heaved herself up on her pillows and pushed Dobby's sponge away.
"What're you doing here?" she asked. "And how did you know the barrier was sealed?" Dobby's lip trembled and Alexis was seized by a sudden suspicion. "It was you!" she said slowly. "You stopped the barrier letting us through!"
"Indeed yes, miss," said Dobby, nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Dobby hid and watched for Alexis Potter and sealed the gateway and Dobby had to iron his hands afterwards -" he showed her ten, long, bandaged fingers, "- but Dobby didn't care, miss, for he thought Alexis Potter was safe, and never did Dobby dream that Alexis Potter would get to school another way!" He was rocking backwards and forwards, shaking his ugly head. "Dobby was so shocked when he heard Alexis Potter was back at Hogwarts, he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, miss ..."
Alexis slumped back onto her pillows. "You were beaten?" she exclaimed angrily. "That's terrible!" Then she focused on something else. "Ron and I almost missed the train! If Mrs. Kent hadn't Apparated us onto the Platform, we would have missed it! You'd better clear off before my bones come back, Dobby, or I might strangle you."
Dobby smiled weakly. "Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."
He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Alexis felt her anger ebb away in spite of herself. She felt bad for threatening him, and knew that if Mrs. Kent were here, she'd be very disappointed in her treatment of Dobby.
Dobby mopped his bulging eyes and said suddenly, "Alexis Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make -"
"Your Bludger?" demanded Alexis, anger rising once more. "What d'you mean, your Bludger? You made that Bludger try and kill me?"
"Not kill you, miss, never kill you!" said Dobby, shocked. "Dobby wants to save Alexis Potter's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here, sir! Dobby only wanted Alexis Potter hurt enough to be sent home!"
"Oh, is that all?" snapped Alexis angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted me sent home in pieces?"
"Ah, if Alexis Potter only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If she knew what she means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, us dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, miss! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, miss," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase.
"But mostly, sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Alexis Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, miss, and Alexis Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the dark days would never end, miss ... And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Alexis Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more -"
Dobby froze, horror-struck, then grabbed Alexis's water jug from her bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of sight, muttering, "Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby ..."
"So there is a Chamber of secrets?" Alexis whispered. "And - did you say it's been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!" She seized the elf's bony wrist as Dobby's hand inched towards the water jug. "But I'm not Muggle-born - how can I be in danger from the Chamber?"
"Ah, miss, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Alexis Potter must not be here when they happen. Go home, Alexis Potter. Go home. Alexis Potter must not meddle in this, miss, 'tis too dangerous -"
"Who is it, Dobby?" Alexis said, keeping a firm hold on Dobby's wrist to stop him hitting himself with the water jug again. "Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?"
"Dobby can't, miss, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell!" squealed the elf. "Go home, Alexis Potter, go home!"
"I'm not going anywhere!" she exclaimed fiercely. "Three of my friends are Muggle-born, they'll be first in line if the Chamber really has been opened -"
"Alexis Potter risks her own life for her friends!" moaned Dobby, in a kind of miserable ecstasy. "So noble! So valiant! But she must save herself, she must, Alexis Potter must not -"
Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Alexis heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside.
"Dobby must go!" breathed the elf, terrified; there was a loud crack, and Alexis's fist was suddenly clenched on thin air. She slipped back into bed, her eyes on the dark doorway to the hospital wing as the footsteps drew nearer.
Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long wooly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a bed.
"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Harry's bed out of sight.
Alexis lay quite still, pretending to be asleep. She heard urgent voices, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. She heard a sharp intake of breath.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed.
"Another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs."
"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall. "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Miss Potter."
Alexis's stomach gave a horrible lurch. Slowly and carefully, she raised himself a few inches so she could look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face. It was Colin Creevey.
His eyes were wide and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera.
"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey.
"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think ... If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate, who knows what might have ..."
The three of them stared down at Colin. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and pried the camera out of Colin's rigid grip.
"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly.
Dumbledore didn't answer. He pried open the back of the camera.
"Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey.
A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Alexis, three beds away, caught the acrid smell of burnt plastic.
"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly, "all melted ..."
"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently.
"It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."
Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore. "But Albus ... surely ... who?"
"The question is not who," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. "The question is, how ..."
And from what Alexis could see of Professor McGonagall's shadowy face, she didn't understand this any better than Alexis did.