After Christmas Holidays, Flint had the quidditch team back on the field, practicing for the upcoming match against Ravenclaw. Harry and the rest of the team watched Ravenclaw play against Gryffindor on the Saturday after classes resumed, so the Slytherin team had a good idea of what the Ravenclaw players were capable of. Flint had the team practicing constantly as the match approached. Much to Flint's annoyance, however, the final practice before their match was scheduled for Valentine's Day.
Professor Lockhart announced at the beginning of the week of Valentine's Day that the Heir of Slytherin had fled the school and locked the chamber, because "I, Gilderoy Lockhart, was fast on his trail." Lockhart had then announced that he would be sponsoring a "pick-me-up" for the students. Lockhart's plan took the form of numerous dwarves, hairy and warty, dressed as cherubs. The dwarves scuttled around the school on Valentine's Day, reciting poorly-written poetry to the students of Hogwarts. Harry, thankfully, had managed to avoid being sent a dwarf throughout the entire day. Perhaps there was an upside to being the Heir of Slytherin.
Harry's luck ran out at quidditch practice. A dwarf stood below the team on the pitch, shouting upward at Harry. "POTTER! OI! POTTER! HARRY POTTER! POTTER! POTTER! HARRY POTTER!"
Finally, Harry lowered himself toward the ground. He stopped in the air, ten feet above the dwarf. "What do you want?"
"I have a poem for you." The dwarf hacked and coughed, then spit on the ground, preparing to sing.
"No, don't!"
"His eyes are as green as fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.
I wish he was mine; he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."
The dwarf's voice was raspy and rattling, as if he had been smoking a pipe since the day he was born. As the poem went on, Harry could feel himself turning red. Once the dwarf finished singing, the Slytherin team concealed their laughter…for about ten seconds. Even Flint, the most stoic among them, was unable to prevent himself from chuckling.
"Get out of here," Harry said to the dwarf through clenched teeth. The cherubically-dressed dwarf scampered away. Harry turned to the rest of the team. "Be quiet, all of you! The next person to laugh gets a hex right in the eye!" The team immediately fell quiet. Only Draco was still smirking.
Again, Harry considered that there might be a bright side to being the Heir of Slytherin.
*!*!*!*!*
Several weeks later, Harry was back at the quidditch pitch, along with the majority of the students at Hogwarts, ready to watch the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match. Not that the match would have any effect on the quidditch cup standings—Slytherin had demolished Ravenclaw, 410 to 40, and was leading for the cup by almost one thousand points. But, as always, almost everybody turned out for a good quidditch match. Only a few oddball students remained indoors—Harry caught a glimpse of Hermione Granger, for example, ducking into the library.
On the way to the pitch, Harry once again heard the strange, whispering voice. Harry glanced around, trying to find its source, but in the thick crowd it was impossible. Before Harry could locate the voice, the crowd swept him along the hallway and away from the voice. Harry shook his head. He hadn't told anyone else about the voice, but he was starting to feel that it was connected to the attacks. He had heard it twice before, and each time somebody had wound up petrified.
Twenty minutes later, just before the match began, Professor McGonnegal took over the loudspeaker. "The quidditch match is cancelled. Students will return to their dormitories immediately. Prefects, organize your houses and lead them to your dormitories."
Gryffindor and Hufflepuff began booing. The Slytherin students immediately started speculating—what could be so important that a quidditch match would be cancelled? The obvious answer was another petrification.
As Harry entered the castle he saw McGonnegal pull Ron Weasley out of the Gryffindor group. Harry wasn't able to hear what she said, but he saw McGonnegal showing Weasley a small mirror. Weasley looked stricken.
Harry glanced at the Gryffindors: there were five red heads clearly visible: four tall boys, and a smaller girl. It wasn't one of Ron's family members, then. Who else would Ron get so upset about?
Granger. Of course. And Harry's speculation turned out to be correct.
"Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater were found petrified outside the library this afternoon," Snape said. He stood in front of the assembled Slytherin house in their common room. "In response to the latest attack, a curfew will be imposed. No student will leave the common room after six o'clock in the evening. All students will be escorted to classes by a teacher. Quidditch will suspended." Pansy Parkinson's hand shot into the air. "Yes, Ms. Parkinson?"
"Professor, what about my party?" Pansy had been planning her birthday party for several weeks. All signs suggested that it would be even more extravagant than last year's affair.
"Your party," said Snape, "is cancelled until further notice."
Pansy slumped down, a look of crushing disappointment on her face. In fact, nobody was happy about the latest turn of events, except for Draco. "If only Granger would have died," Draco said later. "Then it would have been perfect!"
The latest petrification reminded Harry that he had been invited by Hagrid to visit and discuss the Chamber of Secrets. That night, despite the newly-imposed curfew, Harry donned his invisibility cloak and went to visit his large friend.
"What're you doin' here fer?" Hagrid asked when he found Harry standing outside his door.
"You told me that I could come and talk to you about the Chamber," Harry said.
"Right, that I did," said Hagrid. "Bin expectin' sommat else, but we can talk. I'll make tea." Once both Hagrid and Harry were seated with tea, Hagrid let out a deep sigh. "Well, what do yer want ter know?"
"Anything," Harry said. "I want to know anything I can." Granger wasn't a close friend, but she certainly was a friend. The attacks had suddenly become very personal.
"It were 'bout fifty years ago, Harry. It were a bad time for me. Muggleborn students were bein' attacked, and nobody felt safe. Dumbledore wann't even the Headmaster then. It was a feller named Dippet. I was jus' in my third year when the Chamber were opened." Hagrid took a sip of his tea. Harry remained quiet, worried that any sound he made would break Hagrid's nerve.
"I've always bin' innerested in magical creatures, Harry. Unicorns an' rocs an' dragons… fascinatin'. That year, I found myself an acromantuler egg, hidden way in the back of Professor Slughorn's potions cabinet. Fantastic thing, that. Acromantulers are really rare, an' their eggs are even rarer. I dinn't want it to be used in some stinkin' potion, so I snuck it out. An' once I had snuck it out… I hatched it."
"What's an acromantuler, Hagrid?"
"AcromantuLAH," Hagrid said, over-exaggerating the end of the word to compensate for his accent. "Giant spider. They kin grow up ter ten foot tall. Poisonous, too. Real beauties. But Agragog was just a lil' tike—"
"Who?"
"Agragog, that's what I called 'im. The acromantuler. 'E was jus' a lil' tike when Tom Riddle caught me with 'im."
"Is that… Hagrid? Is that how you got expelled?"
The large man let out a deep sigh. "Yes. Riddle wouldn' let me git a word in. 'E got convinced that Agragog were the one petrifyin' people, and that I was makin' 'im. Before I could do anythin', 'e dragged me to Dippet and I were expelled. Snapped my wand an' everythin'."
"And after that, the attacks stopped?"
"Yer right about that, Harry. Can't explain it, meself."
"Could it have been Agragog?"
"No," said Hagrid. " Acromantulers can't petrify things. If they attack a person, they eat 'em." Harry blanched, and Hagrid quickly spoke again. "Not that 'e would've eaten anybody, because 'e wouldn't've. 'E knew I wouldn't approve. I'm sure of it."
Harry thought for a moment. What else did he want to know about the previous attacks?
"Hagrid, a muggleborn girl got killed. Who was she? How did it happen?"
"Yeh could ask 'er yerself, Harry. Poor M-"
Hagrid was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Harry threw his invisibility cloak over his shoulders and backed into a corner. Hagrid opened the door and discovered Dumbledore standing on his stoop. Behind Dumbledore was a short man in a striped suit and a bowler hat.
"Professor Dumbledore. Minister Fudge. Whatter surprise." Hagrid did not sound surprised, but he did sound nervous. "Come in, come in. Would yer like some tea? I have some on." Hagrid grabbed his teacup and began refilling it.
"Yes, thank you," said Dumbledore, smoothly walking to the table and lifting Harry's cup. Hagrid filled Dumbledore's teacup, then made a third cup for Fudge. The three wizards sat around Hagrid's table. Dumbledore glanced to the corner of the room—for a moment, Harry was certain that Dumbledore knew he was there. The headmaster looked away as Fudge began to speak.
"Mr. Hagrid," said Fudge, "we've come on serious business."
"I've bin' expectin' yer teh come," said Hagrid. "Surprised it's bin' this long, actually."
"Dumbledore's protection extends very far in the halls of Hogwarts," said Fudge. "It cannot protect you forever, though."
"I will tell you again, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence." Dumbledore's eyes were not twinkling—they were as hard as ice. "Removing Hagrid from the grounds of Hogwarts will not help in the slightest."
"Dumbledore, something has to be done. The Ministry cannot sit by while muggleborn students are attacked. And meanwhile, living on the grounds of Hogwarts is a wizard who was nearly sent to Azkaban fifty years ago, for an identical series of attacks! If it turns out that Hagrid had nothing to do with the attacks, then he'll be back immediately. But we have to take him."
"Take me where?" asked Hagrid. He seemed resigned to being taken, but his voice still quavered with terror.
Fudge turned to Hagrid. "Rubeus Hagrid, at the request of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a minor magistrate of the Wizangamot has issued a warrant for your arrest. Out of courtesy to Headmaster Dumbledore, I have arrived to personally conduct you to Azkaban."
There was a knock on the door. Harry looked away from the table and was surprised to see Mr. Malfoy standing in the door of Hagrid's hut.
"I was told," said Mr. Malfoy, "that I would find the Albus Dumbledore in the gamekeeper's home. I daresay that I wouldn't call this a 'home,' but, such as it is…"
"How can I help you, Lucius?" asked Dumbledore.
"Dreadful business, this, but the Board of Governors feel that it is time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Supsension, Mr. Dumbledore." Lucius emphasized the word "Mister."
"See here," said Fudge. "Nobody would want Dumbledore suspended. Not now…"
"The number of attacks, and the severity… something must be done. The Board feels that Mr. Dumbledore is losing his touch. You will find all twelve signatures on the board's order."
"An' how many did yeh threaten an' blackmail an' bribe, Malfoy?" Hagrd was on his feet, looming over the table.
"My, my," said Lucius. "I understand why Hagrid is being taken to Azkaban. Losing control of his temper like that… nobody knows what might happen."
Dumbledore looked up from the Order of Suspension. "If the Board of Governors feels that I should step aside, then I must step aside," said Dumbledore looking back and forth from Fudge to Malfoy. "However, I think you will find that I have only truly left this school when none here are loyal to me. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." Dumbledore looked at the corner where Harry stood, for the second time giving Harry the uncanny impression that Dumbledore was aware of his presence.
Dumbledore stepped outside of the hut, and waited for Hagrid with a placid expression on his face. As Hagrid stepped outside the door, he said loudly, "Someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away."
"I will arrange for it," said Dumbledore, quickly covering for the non sequitur.
After Hagrid closed his door, Harry collapsed to the floor. No Hagrid. No Dumbledore. No protection from the Heir.
Harry sure hoped that Mr. Malfoy knew what he was doing.
A/N: Harry gets to see a different aspect of Lucius during this chapter. But without a predisposition to hate the Malfoys, Lucius's actions don't seem quite as sinister.
Only four more chapters to go, after this one!