Under the Cloak
(Book: 205 Fawkes looking like he's dying, then bursting into flames and a pile of ash)
"Your bird! I was just looking at it— I didn't know you could kill something by looking at it."
"Not unless you're a basilisk" Professor Dumbledore allowed a faint smile.
"N— no," at least Siria didn't think she was.
(Book: 205-209 Hagrid bursts in & says it couldn't be Siria, Dumbledore knows it wasn't Siria, and Hagrid leaves. Dumbledore asking if there's anything Siria wants to tell him, and Siria thinking of Malfoy, the Polyjuice Potion, the voice, and the Hufflepuff's gossip)
"I" Siria started, but her throat seemed to close up on itself. The snake gave her arm a weak squeeze. "My— my snake" Siria held her arm out where the snake seemed to be flaking away. "Malfoy used a spell yesterday, during the Dueling Club, and I brought the snake, but I think something's wrong."
"Yes, Serpensortia. It would appear Mr. Malfoy's Transfiguration is not quite up to manifesting a permanent one." Professor Dumbledore informed her.
"So I can just Transfigure it back to health?"
"You can certainly try, but it may be best to use Vipera Evanesca, and let the snake rest."
Her green eyes looked to the pained eyes of the snake. The flaking had progressed and it was starting to look ashy. Its black was so pale it looked like someone had dumped the poor snake into a bag of flour. She sighed. "I suppose we can try this Vipera Evanesca thing."
When Vipera Evanesca hit the snake, there was hardly anything left. The remaining bit of snake seemed to wither before becoming the black smoke of the spell. It made her heart sink. As silly as it sounded, the snake made her feel like there was someone else on her side.
"Um…" Siria looked around to the portraits that watched them. She eyed the parchment on Professor Dumbledore's desk.
"Please," he told her and extended a quill. The eyes of the portraits made her stomach knot, but she took the quill. With a glance up at every word she wrote, Siria drew out:
People think I'm the Heir of Slytherin.
"They are wrong." Professor Dumbledore assured her. She wrote the next line without looking up.
But I could be.
"Siria, I can assure you, with full confidence, otherwise." There was a smile in his voice that she did not look up to see. Last year, he had promised not to lie to her. Siria felt she owed it to him and his honesty to be honest, even if not completely open, here.
Ron's words echoed through her mind. Even if hearing voices wasn't good, she heard them. Maybe, if she told Professor Dumbledore about it, he may be able to get Madam Pomfrey to help. Her heart trembled like it wanted to crumble. She wanted to tell him, but couldn't.
Siria placed the quill down. There was more to write, like the potion and what Malfoy said, but she didn't want to be wrong. She would need to find the truth of these things herself. If Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin, despite what Dobby had said, she would bring the little brat down. If he wasn't she would not stop until she found the real Heir.
They stood in silence for a moment. He simply smiled at her the way Sirius did when she was having trouble with a spell. She lifted the quill back up. Siria closed her eyes and took a deep, full breath.
If I can, could I enter the Slytherin dorm and look for the Chamber?
"Siria, witches and wizards have searched for the Chamber" Professor Dumbledore began, but Siria put the quill back to the page.
And how many could talk to snakes?
If my gift is rare, and Slytherin had it, what if he thought he was the only one?
Wouldn't he think that only his Heirs could have it?
"Very well." Dumbledore gave her a polite nod. "I will discuss it with your guardian." Siria placed the quill down. Her hand trembled on the desk. Unless the Polyjuice Potion got Malfoy to tell them who the Heir was, Siria was going to scour the whole of the Slytherin dorm until she found the Chamber— with or without approval.
"Siria, is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Professor Dumbledore asked. The twinkling light in his blue eyes was kind and welcoming. However, Siria's green eyes stared past him. She was determined to solve this with Ron and Hermione.
"No, Professor." Siria was resolved. For Hermione, for Colin, for Justin, for everyone in Hogwarts and everyone that had yet to come, Siria would find and close the Chamber.
(Book: B2, 209-210 with the terror of the student body, Fred & George making it known how ridiculous the thought of Siria being the Heir is by marching in front of her and announcing "Make way for the Heir of Slytherin, most students going home, and the term ending)
On the Sunday morning before break, Siria woke far too early to the sound of thunderous wind. For the first time since school had started, she woke before Hermione. It felt too loud to go back to sleep, so Siria got up. As she rolled out of bed, she found a letter on her bedside table. The fact it hadn't come with the breakfast post made her feel it should be secret. She felt right. The parchment read a single line "Please meet Professor Snape in the Entrance Hall, under your Clock, at 9 o'clock tonight." Even without a signature, Siria knew who wrote it; the letter was in the same font as one she got almost a year ago. The old letter was even more simple: just in case.
Practice had finally been cancelled until the new year, but Wood was rather bitter about it. At breakfast, he complained so loudly that Professor McGonagall heard him at the staff table. She accused him of caring more about winning than his team's health. Fred and George openly agreed with her, in a humorous manner that told Wood to shut his mouth before he got detention.
The rest of the day, which consisted of visiting Hagrid and Hermione making them study in the library, past so slowly Siria felt evening would never come. After dinner, Hermione tried to coax Siria into reading Helping Hands, but she was sick of it. "If I have to learn one more healing spell this year, I'm going to have Dobby bewitch another Bludger, so I've reason to use it!" Siria snapped. She took to tinting her hair color, until it was the color she wanted. The method wasn't quite how she wanted to change the color, but she eventually got her hair to the color and shade she wanted.
When Siria, under the Invisibility Cloak, arrived at the Entrance Hall, Snape was there. He looked particularly annoyed, with a twitch on his forehead, just visible through his greasy hair. A small, green garden snake rested at his feet. It raised its head at the spot she was standing.
"Can you see me?" She asked the snake, which slithered to her. She bent down and picked it up.
"Be quiet, Potter." Snape snapped. He led her down a stone staircase and to a stonewall. Snape gave an irritable click of his tongue. "Purest Ambition," Snape told the wall.
(Book: B22, 221 the Slytherin Common Room in all its green glory)
Snape led Siria through the busy common room. They started with the Girl's Dormitory. No matter where they were or what she said, nothing reacted to her. The garden snake seemed rather bored. Siria didn't blame it; she had grown bored of telling a door that wasn't anywhere to "open." Snape led her to room after room through the Boy's Dormitory.
"Professor?" a bored voice Siria would know anywhere asked from within their room. Siria felt petrified. What if the Chamber were here? In Malfoy's dorm room! That would have to be proof it was him. "Is something wrong?" Malfoy asked Snape.
"Nothing, Draco. Just checking everyone is in their dorms." Snape gave him a bit of a smile. Had Siria not been there to see it, she would not have believed.
"Actually, Professor, if you have a moment," Malfoy prompted. Snape gave such a small glance to Siria's direction that she almost missed it. She hurried in before him and hoped that she could speak quiet enough that Malfoy couldn't hear while being loud enough for the Chamber.
She snuck along the walls of the room. Her eyes were fixed and focused on the snake while she whispered for the walls to open. Snape, to Siria's great relief, talked just a little louder than usual, and Malfoy was as loud as ever. Siria tried under their beds, along the floor, and even circled the walls of the room twice. Then she waited for Snape to finish answering Malfoy's question. To be honest, Siria rather hoped that Malfoy would work harder to beat Hermione than he had ever worked for anything, and that Hermione would beat him again.
Finally having covered every nook and cranny of the Slytherin House, Snape led Siria to Professor Dumbledore's office. She was exhausted and wanted to curl into a ball under the blankets and sleep. Siria pulled off the Cloak.
Snape looked appalled. Siria fell back and decided to stay on the floor. It was already one in the morning. She gave a large yawn before she could ask "What?"
"Your hair." Snape growled.
"Huh?" Siria pulled the long braid over her shoulder.
The red hair looked just as it had when she left the Gryffindor common room. Even in the braid, it was obvious by the various loose strands that her hair was as messy as ever. She braided it often enough that Snape had surely seen it countless times. The Weasleys weren't the only redheads, and red hair felt common enough to not be so surprising.
"I didn't do any magic in the halls." She yawned again. There was something about sitting that made her realise how tired she had gotten. "Professor," she looked up to Professor Dumbledore, "we searched every room and hall, but the Chamber wasn't there."
"As I told you, Headmaster." Snape said. Siria didn't like his tone, but hoped that he may just be tired too. Snape pointed his wand at the garden snake Siria was still holding; it burst into black smoke.
"Alas," Professor Dumbledore smiled at them in a way that made Siria feel he was a proud parent. "I had hoped, but there is much more of the castle to search." Search they did. Every night, Siria would walk around behind Professor Dumbledore or Snape. She had a different snake each night, and they would search until well at least one in the morning.
There was more than once where Siria, tired and ready for sleep, would nod off for a moment and find herself alone in a corridor. Thankfully, the snake she received each night never seemed to tire; it would lead her down whichever hidden passage Snape or Professor Dumbledore had gone through. For as exciting as learning the castle was, it didn't outweigh the feeling of defeat that washed over Siria each night.
As much as a very small part of her wanted to write to Sirius that she probably knew Hogwarts better than him, she was too tired. Permanent looking bags grew under her eyes. She had nightmares about Slytherin's monster every night. It petrified Hermione and ate the mandrakes. In them, Siria and Ron grew older while Hermione stayed petrified at age twelve forever. All the while, Draco and Lucius Malfoy laughed. From what Siria heard, Ginny Weasley and some of the first years were also suffering from nightmares.
With classes during the day and searching for the Chamber of Secrets at night, she still felt more and more tired. Sometimes, she even felt more tired when she woke up than when she went to bed. She supposed it was because, even though she had learned more about Hogwarts in that week than in her first year and a half combined, they had not found the Chamber of Secrets.
By Saturday, even with the nightmares, Siria completed their last night. Siria knew where all the Houses and every teacher's office were. She felt she knew more secret passages than Filch. Ron had convinced her to draw out a map of the secret passages they could use for short cuts. Hermione had her add where the classrooms were— including ones they weren't even taking. The knowledge of the secrets of Hogwarts did not outweigh the defeat of not finding the Chamber of Secrets.
She sat on the floor of Professor Dumbledore's office, as she had done at the end of each night. Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly and listened to every word of Snape's complaint. She caught the start of "Headmaster, as I told you…" but tonight, as she had already heard most of it six times this week, Siria tuned him out. She was so tired. The defeat of not finding the Chamber and the lack of sleep had really hit her. If she could, she would spend all of break in bed.
Finally, Snape finished with "... so unless Salazar Slytherin put the Chamber in a toilet, a Parselmouth cannot open it— as I suspected."
"Yes," Professor Dumbledore stroked his beard. "So it would seem." Siria felt Dumbledore's eyes fall on her, but she kept her head down. It had been her idea to search for the Chamber of Secrets and nothing had come of it. There was a tiny bit of her that felt she should apologize, but a much larger part of her felt she hadn't done anything to apologize for. Even though they had not found the Chamber of Secrets, they now knew it couldn't be opened by a Parselmouth.
When the first Sunday of break rolled around, Siria tried to stay in her dorm; she felt more defeated than ever. She wanted the bed to swallow her whole, so no one would know how badly she failed them. Much to Siria's dismay, Hermione had other plans.
Hermione had insisted that they spend the entire day on homework. When Ron and Siria tried to protest, she clicked her tongue. "If you don't want my help," she began, but they immediately agreed to do it then. It was the most boring morning Siria had ever had. Ginny, who looked paler than ever, had been bullied by Percy into doing her homework with Hermione, Ron, and Siria. Percy had supervised them until Ginny was done, which mostly resulted in her looking even worse when they went down to lunch and dinner.
Too early and too bright, Hermione ripped the blankets from Siria's bed. She then dragged the tired and complaining Siria to Ginny's room. Ginny looked even worse than Siria. Despite the fact the bags under Siria's eyes had only gotten larger, her skin had not lost its overall glow of health. Ginny's skin was paling and her veins were so visible, parts of her skin looked seethrough. Hermione bullied them into seeing Madam Pomfrey before breakfast.
"Thank Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed to Hermione. She had Siria and Ginny covered in blankets. "Honestly, girls," Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "you ought to thank Ms. Granger for being a good friend!" Siria did not feel thankful; she felt tired and sad, and her stomach hurt more than last time.
Madam Pomfrey sat beside Siria's bed with a clipboard. "Alright, dear, why don't you tell me what's wrong?" she smiled.
"Nothing!" Siria groaned.
"Siria Potter, do you want me to write to your Godfather?" Madam Pomfrey asked. Siria did not.
"I'm just tired." She murmured
"Just tired?"
"I don't know!" Siria pulled the blanket over her head. "I'm just tired and my stomach has been hurting a lot."
"How often?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she wrote something on the clipboard.
"I don't know, a lot? Like, I don't know. I haven't been keeping track of when my stomach hurts."
"Would you say the pain goes on for weeks?"
"No?" Siria said, but felt more like she was asking. "Maybe for like a few days at a time?"
"Every week?"
"No. It's…" Siria sighed and sat up. Her eyes fell on the curtains around Colin's bed. "I guess it's been about a month." She didn't need to tell Madam Pomfrey how she knew.
"I thought as much," and Madam Pomfrey smiled at her.
Siria felt so uncomfortable. She just wanted to sleep. Instead, she settled for asking if there was anything Madam Pomfrey could do. It was the first time Siria had ever heard Madam Pomfrey laugh. For a moment, Madam Pomfrey stumbled off the stool then apologized. "Of course!" She exclaimed and hurried off.
"Sorry you got dragged into this." Siria told Ginny. Ginny just shook her head then ducked under her sheets. Siria sighed. She didn't understand why Ginny disliked her so much. Then again, after Ginny tried to defend Siria, she wasn't sure Ginny disliked her. "Are you liking Hogwarts?" Siria asked, but she didn't get to hear Ginny's answer.
Madam Pomfrey had returned with a potion that resembled boiling chocolate. It smelled like bananas. "Here you are," Madam Pomfrey pushed it into Siria's hands. Siria looked at the boiling drink and to Madam Pomfrey. She knew she wasn't leaving until she drank it, and figured it couldn't be worse than the Skele-Gro or the Polyjuice Potion she'd be taking soon.
The potion actually wasn't bad. It felt like applesauce and tasted very strongly of peppermint. Once Siria took her first gulp, her insides warmed up. Something about it also made her feel awake for the first time since she started the hunt for the Chamber of Secrets.
"Now, just come see me on the first day, and it'll get you through the week." Madam Pomfrey assured her
"First day?" Siria asked,
"Yes. Of your period, dear."
"What?" Siria tried to ask, but Madam Pomfrey kicked her out. Siria only got to catch the smallest glance of Colin, Justin, and Nearly-Headless Nick. "I promise," she thought to them, "the Chamber of Secrets will be sealed." Even if she had to suck up to Malfoy as Crabbe or Goyle, or even herself to find out where it was, she was going to.