RedRangerBelt – All in good time, my constant supporter.
Weird'sMyName – It was an introduction to what actually happened. It will be revealed in future. Yes.
Thank you to everyone else!
I've posted a new one-shot - The Gifts. From the Pumki Universe! Check it out!
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Harry Potter.
Words – 2806
Harry turned Tom's diary over and over in his hands. He really wasn't sure how Tom got a memory into a book. The only thing that held memories were minds and pensieves and the latter were properly enchanted to not let delicate moments erode away or wash into each other.
What Harry found most interesting were the similarities between the boy and himself. Both orphans who treasured Hogwarts. Both slightly more knowledgeable than the staff about the on-goings. And the way Tom talked to Dumbledore.
Ron didn't like the two-way communication at all.
"Books aren't supposed to respond when you write in it unless it's properly charmed by someone. Who would charm a fifty year old diary and leave it in a slightly flooded girl's bathroom?"
"Tom's not sure of it."
"Harry! Listen! I am getting a very bad feeling about this Tom character. He goes and arrests Hagrid! Hagrid would never have killed someone!"
Harry sighed and nodded, "Hagrid wouldn't. But if he did hear of the Chamber of Secrets monster don't you think he'd be interested enough to look for it? I think Hagrid knows something."
"Hagrid knows what?" DJ asked walking up to Harry and Ron. The boys pushed Tom's diary into Harry's bag and turned to face DJ. Their presence in the Common Room was ignored by most others and Hermione was in the Girls' Dorms.
"Hey, Danny. How're you?" Harry asked. DJ's expression soured, "Brilliant."
Ron snorted, "You sound like Harry when he becomes moody."
DJ sighed. "Madam Pomfrey isn't letting me in. She thinks someone can go in the hospital wing and finish of the victims."
Harry understood. Ever since Colin had been petrified, DJ had spent more time with Ginny. But lately she had been avoiding him too. DJ's sullen expression told him that Ginny hadn't talked to him for the whole day, probably.
"Right. Um, we gotta go now… " Ron started but DJ looked up hopefully, "Can I come?"
Harry rubbed the back of his head. He shared a look with Ron before saying, "Actually, Ron and I were going to an adult about a certain confusion that's puzzling us."
DJ blinked. "Okay. Who?"
"Someone busy and I hope he can fit us into his time schedule so don't get your hopes up, DJ. We'll – "
"Awww. Come on! Please! Harry! I swear I won't get in the way. But I'm so bored!"
"Don't you have homework, Danny?"
"No. Actually, well yeah, there's Snape's but I'm doing that later. It's due next week."
Ron stared, "Snape's given you homework due next week! He never did that for us!"
"Hagrid's hut! Cool! You know, we actually came down here a few weeks ago and Hagrid told us that he'd been feeding Energized Chicken feed to his roosters. Makes their voice stronger." DJ said enthusiastically as the three of them crossed the bridge and saw the top of Hagrid's hut.
" 'We'?" Harry asked turning around.
"Oh. Well, Colin and me. He took the photo of the three of us, you know." His voice became a bit sullen and Ron immediately said, "Oh! Look at that Harry! Your flower plant's in buds."
Harry looked down at the group of thick Tigerlily plants curling around the foot of the main fence into Hagrid's pumpkin patch. There were a few bud peeking out from the leaves. They seemed to face him as though he were the sun.
There was a ripping sound and Harry looked ahead to see large black horses with wings feeding on the carcasses of cows. Harry frowned. They resembled less like horses the more he stared at them. He could see the skin stretched over their bones as though they were terribly malnourished. There were about half a dozen of them, tethered to a large pole at the outskirts of the forest a distance away from the hut.
"Are they horses?" DJ asked looking at them feed. Harry shook his head.
"Flying horses?"
"No. They aren't horses." Harry said adjusting his cap and looking around for Hagrid.
"What aren't horses?" Ron asked staring at the two of them. DJ rolled his eyes, "Those horse-like things, Ron."
"What are you talking about?"
"Look at that!" DJ said pointing at the creatures. Ron looked over the distance and his jaw dropped, "I… what's eating it?!"
"Eating what?"
"The dead animals?"
"The horses are dead?!" DJ yelled wide-eyed staring at the black animals. Harry stared at Ron who was looking at the cows in a horrified trance.
"Danny's talking about the horse-like creatures." Harry muttered.
"Okay. Okay, what horse-like creatures?" Ron asked slowly.
"Merlin's beard! Harry, he can't see them!" DJ said in awe.
" 'Merlin's beard'?" Ron asked. "I don't understand."
"What're yeh three doin' out 'ere?!" A voice shouted from the hut and the boys saw Hagrid standing there. Something must have been bothering him. Harry could see that he looked a little upset on seeing them.
"Uh…"
"Yeh shouldn' be wanderin' around the grounds! It's after dark! With what's happenin', are yeh crazy?!"
"Hagrid! Wait, we have to ask you something and it concerns with what's happening." Harry said before Hagrid could push them away.
"Yeah." DJ joined, "What's that?" He asked pointing to the black winged creature apparently invisible to Ron.
"Thestrals. Not the point! Yeh have the go –"
"Hagrid! Why were you expelled? The truth, please." Harry said loudly into the stunned silence. Hagrid looked as though he was in shock.
"Way to break the ice." Ron whispered. One moment, they were all yelling, the next, there was silence. Harry saw his tiger lily flutter even though there was no breeze.
"What?" Hagrid asked slowly.
"What?" DJ asked confused. "Is that why we're here?"
"Hagrid… you have to tell us. I know that you're connected in this. These accidents, you know something."
Hagrid looked around to check whether anyone was spying on them.
"Inside!" he ushered them in. They hurried in; Harry followed, taking a last look at his flower.
Finding his trunk and bed stand ransacked was not fun.
It was a good thing Harry knew the theory of the repairing charm. He got most his books, parchments, inkbottles, quills, bed sheets, curtains, pillow, mattress, jumpers, hoodies and an Exploding Snap pack fixed back before realizing that Tom's diary wasn't among his books.
"That's not good." Ron said. Harry was about to ask Ron about the diary before watching Ron stare at the Snap pack which was quivering.
"It's about to blast." DJ said in awe.
It did.
"You're sure you left it in the bag?" Hermione asked for the umpteenth time and Harry pressed his lips together before answering, "Yes! If you ask once more, Hermione, my answer is still the same! We went to talk to Hagrid – "
"Who kept talking about spiders." Ron muttered.
"Apparently the Ministry didn't care what kind of monster he had as long as he had one – "
"And that's not strange at all." DJ interjected.
"Acromentulae do not petrify people – "
"I'd be petrified." Ron said.
"But they arrested the wrong person. Dumbledore somehow got him to stay at Hogwarts – "
"He's the best Keeper of Keys."
"But now that the attacks have begun again – "
"Someone decided to come out of retirement."
"Hagrid might be removed – "
"They better not put Filch in his position."
"Will you let me talk?!" Harry interrupted both Ron and DJ. "Look, I'm think Tom made a mistake and turned in Hagrid."
Hermione sighed, "Last time, a girl died. That's what Tom said, right? So everyone was desperate to find the culprit."
"The moment he realized that Hagrid had a pet giant spider, Tom must have panicked. He must've been muggleborn himself. His diary was bought in a completely non-wizard locality and he lived in an orphanage in the summer." Harry said.
"He's kinda like me." DJ said thoughtfully. "Except, I don't keep a diary and put my memories in it for people in the future to read them."
Hermione huffed in frustration and slammed three of her text books on Defense Against the Dark Arts on the Common Room table making Ron and DJ jump. Harry stared at her.
"You can't put memories in books!" She said heatedly.
"Herm –"
"No, listen. I've been in the library searching about it. There's no way to preserve memories without specific authentication by the Ministry and pensieves. Only warlocks and some pure-blooded families even have them, because it's heavily enchanted by an Unspeakable."
"What?" DJ asked confused.
"Unspeakables work in very discreet parts of the Ministry. If Tom really put his memories in a book, he'd have to be a very powerful wizard, i.e., warlock. There are no warlocks by the name of 'Riddle'."
She leveled them with her McGonagall glare, daring one of them to say something against her.
"Have you checked on 'Marvolo'?" Harry asked, almost casually, rubbing his forehead wondering how long it would take for his eyebrows to grow back fully.
Once the frigid weather had passed into slightly warmer conditions, the excitement of Quidditch was back on. Harry visited Greenhouse three everyday to check on Mandrake plants. His visits helped them grow faster and Sprout was happy with the progress saying that it would take only a couple of weeks for them to mature out completely.
There were no other attacks for nearly a month and everyone felt a happy change over the year's events.
Harry did his best to shove the bacon down his throat and managed to wash them down with pumpkin juice. A tie breaker match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was scheduled within an hour. The winner would face Slytherin in the finals. Harry kept feeling nervous. Usually he wasn't this jumpy, but the hairs on the back of his neck prickled as though a cold breeze blew around the warm Great hall which was buzzing in excitement.
"Hey, good buddy. So, you're up for the game?" Ron asked slapping Harry on the back, sending him into a choking it on pumpkin juice.
"Okay, someone's tense. Look, you can out fly all of them in circles and swallow the snitch, no one's gonna complain. Wood might make it compulsory for you to have one golden snitch per match in your diet!"
"Keep your voice down." Harry hissed. The last thing Wood needed to hear were the words, 'Harry', 'snitch' and 'compulsory' in one sentence. It would be the end of Harry's free time.
"You're usually ready for a match. Nervousness is not your cup of tea, Harry." Hermione said sitting down, opposite them. She, like Ron, wore the Gryffindor scarf in the spirit of the season.
"Nervousness is not anyone's cup of tea." Harry countered, "But I'm fine. I just have to eat something before my empty stomach decides to empty itself."
"Gross. Anyway, Harry you did finish Binns' essay, didn't you?" Ron asked.
Harry looked up at the change in topic and nodded.
"Good. Faster for me."
"Ron! You have to do it by yourself!"
"Hermione, relax. I'm just gonna read through it before doing mine, besides, you hearing any complain from Harry?"
"What's so hard about writing the difference in ruling styles of Uric the Oddball and his nephew? The chapter's pretty straightforward."
"I literally cannot read the chapter. It's too boring. They waged war on the Edelberts, they lost. Binns doesn't want a one line answer."
"The Edelberts were sneaky and corrupt. They used gold to win. So in reality, the Oddballs were better in dueling." Harry interjected, pushing around his bacon and staring at his reflection in the plate.
"Just horrible in scheming." Hermione finished. She took a sip of water and moved a bit to the side as DJ plomped down beside her.
"I'm gonna try for the team, next year." He said enthusiastically. Harry looked up in surprise trying to think what position would be left. No way, would Wood want to change the players. With the latest practices, the seven players were able to coordinate very well.
"You might end up in the reserve team, Danny." Harry commented. DJ frowned at that and then looked over the Slytherin table, "I still can't believe Malfoy bought brooms for everyone on the team. It's stupid."
"It's bribery."
"Bribery's stupid."
"Truer words have never been said." Hermione smiled. Ron muffled a snort.
"Harry, you promised to get me a broom." DJ suddenly sat up staring at Harry.
"Yes, but not this year."
"It wouldn't hurt if you got one this year."
"It might. You may fly it into a wall, lake, tree –"
"Why would I do that?"
"If you lose control of it – "
"Why would I lose control?"
"I'm just saying."
"You're trying to find excuses to not buy me one!"
"Yes, you have uncovered my evil plan."
Fred and George came over grinning swinging their beater bats around. "Yes the most evil plan of the heir of Slytherin!"
"Do not buy a broom for the short cousin!"
"I'm not short!"
"I'm not the heir of Slytherin."
"Don't worry about the match Mr. Heir." George said patting Harry's shoulder, "People won't fly close to you."
"Thanks." Harry muttered.
Suddenly, Harry felt a little dizzy. He blinked his eyes hard and the sound of the Great Hall drowned away when Harry distinctly heard a horribly old voice which rang through his ears.
Kill you…blood…
Harry jumped, banged his knee against the table and swore in Spanish. Everyone looked at him in alarm.
"Did you hear that?! That voice?" He asked Ron and Hermione frantically. They looked confused and shook their heads.
"You keep saying about this voice that only you can hear. This really isn't good." Ron said looking around them.
Hermione's head shot up and her mouth fell open. "Oh!" She said and scrambled away from the table.
"What?" Harry asked. He could see that she had understood something that he hadn't.
"Hermione!"
"I need proof. I think… I'll just be at the library. I won't miss the match!" She ran out the Hall ripping the scarf from her throat.
"Please tell me you know what she's thinking." Ron pleaded.
Harry's jaw was a little slack as his brain kept thinking about the voice. But he shook his head for Ron. DJ, however took Bolt from Harry's robes, tiny as his palm, and started to pet her fur. She blinked and stretched changing from a kitten into a puppy.
"How can she change forms?" He asked Harry.
Harry swallowed and looked at his familiar. "It's part of her own magic. She came to me as a dog. But when she becomes older, she'll be more advanced. Let's just hope she doesn't change into a huge spider."
Ron shivered at that.
After a few minutes, Wood called on the Gryffindor team. The entire table started cheering for the seven players as they got up to leave for the pitch.
"I'm keeping Bolt." DJ said and Harry nodded.
They left as the rest of the students began to follow them out.
"Bets anyone?" Lee Jordan called out authoritatively. A group of kids rushed to his side and Ron reached in to pull DJ out of the crowd.
"Thanks. You're sure Gryffindor will win?"
"Yeah! Last time, we tied just because Harry of that rogue bludger, but now, it'll be a cinch."
"Yeah, I can't believe that a house elf would do something like that. Did you know that there's a myth that a wizard created the first house elf?"
"Are you gonna spout facts at random times like Hermione?"
"Hey, I like reading magic books. They're like stories. Like the mad wizard who lost his magic because he was obsessed with some stone or something."
Ron rolled his eyes, "This right here is proof that you're related to Harry. Except, you're more fun. And short."
Ron turned to see DJ standing still a few yards behind.
"DJ?"
The boy jerked his head up as though he just had a brain wave. DJ stared at Ron and then gasped.
"What?" Ron asked, alarmed.
"Look, I'll just go to the library and check up on the story I just said. I'll be back with Hermione!"
He ran towards the castle leaving Ron dumbfounded.
Harry felt a strange tingling sensation through his skin. He grabbed his Nimbus tightly and tried to listen to his Captain's pep talk.
"Right! Let's go. Hufflepuff won't stand a chance." Wood said leading them out their tent. George snorted at that and said, "Not to mention they're scared that Harry'll petrify them, if they go anywhere near him."
"Yeah, that too." Wood shrugged.
Suddenly, pain hit Harry in his head. It scorched through his mind as though he was being burnt. Harry's vision went dark and his body hit the ground hard.
Only a few more chapters left. Stay tuned!
Cabba.