Six people review the last chapter. Thank you!

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Guest: I'm sorry about your depression. Glad my stories are helping. Thanks for your review.

shyannada141: Thanks for your review. Here's the next chapter for you.

MuggleCreator: Yup. I'm still working out what Ron's deck will be but yeah.

lilyflower101: Thanks!

The Archsage: Thank you. As for how many Hogwarts students will take up dueling, five canon Hogwarts students and three OC Hogwarts students (whom were introduced by name last chapter).

Magician Girl Mirani: Thank you. I have a very good idea of what will happen with Sirius come third year. You just have to be patient. And glad you like Harry/Alexis. Here is the update you wanted. Thanks for your review.

Well, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. It goes back to the events of Chamber of Secrets and yeah, so it pretty much follows canon. The next update will come sometime next week, maybe. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.

Chapter 20

The First Attack

Hallway

Hogwarts

October came around and a damp chill settled over the grounds and in the castle, leading to many staff members and students getting colds. Thankfully, Madame Pomfrey's supply of Pepperup Potions worked in an instant, even if it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours, which Jaden hated. He had gotten a cold and had to be dragged to the Infirmary by Harry and Jesse in order to take that potion.

"Argh, I've always hated this potion," he whined after taking it.

Ginny Weasley also appeared to be looking rather sickly and had been persuaded by Percy to take the potion as well.

Rain seemed to fall for days on end but that didn't stop Wood's enthusiasm for regular training sessions, which was why Harry was found returning to Gryffindor Tower late Saturday afternoon during a storm wishing Wood had canceled practice. It was a good thing the Duel Monsters club ended a good hour before Quidditch practice began. Still, he was shivering, drenched and splattered with mud, as he made his way through the hallway, thinking about what he had discovered.

Fred and George had been spying on the Slytherin team and had seen about the speed of the new Nimbus 2001s and that they were like missiles.

As he walked along, he suddenly came across Nearly Headless Nick who was staring morosely out the window and muttering to himself. "…don't fulfill their requirements…half an inch, if that…"

"Hello, Nick," Harry greeted the ghost of Gryffindor Tower.

"Hello, hello," Nick greeted him, turning to face Harry. He was pale like smoke and he had a plumed hat on his long curly hair and a tunic that nearly concealed the fact that his neck was almost completely severed.

"You look troubled, young Potter-Yuki," Nick said, folding the transparent letter heh ad in his hand and tucking it away.

"So do you."

"Ah, a matter of no importance," Nick said, waving an elegant hand. "It's not as though I really wanted to join. Thought I'd apply, but apparently I 'don't fulfill requirements'…"

Harry noticed the look of great bitterness on his face. "But you would think, wouldn't you that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?" Nick exclaimed, pulling the letter out again.

"Oh, yes," Harry said, figuring he was supposed to agree.

"I mean, nobody wishes more than I do that it had all been quick and clean, and my head had come off properly. I mean, it would have saved me a great deal of pain and ridicule. However…" He started reading the letter out loud.

"We can only accept huntsmen whose heads have parted company with their bodies. You will appreciate that it would be impossible otherwise for members to participate in hunt activities, such as Horseback Head-Juggling and Head Polo. It is with the greatest regret, therefore, that I must inform you that you do not fulfill our requirements. With very best wishes, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore."

He was fuming as he stuffed the letter away.

"Half an inch of skin and sinew holding my neck on, Harry. Most people would think that's good and beheaded, but oh, no, it's not enough for Sir Properly Decaitated-Podmore."

The ghost then took a deep breath and then said, calmly. "So, what's bothering you? Anything I can do?"

"No, not unless you know where we can get seven free Nimbus 2001s for our match against Sly…"

He was drowned out by a high-pitched mewling from somewhere near his ankles and he looked down at Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat.

"You'd better get out of here, Harry, said Nick quickly. "Filch isn't in a good mood. He's got the flu and some third years accidentally plastered fog brains all over the ceiling in dungeon five. He's been cleaning all morning, and if he sees you dripping mud all over the place…"

"Right."

Shame he couldn't get away in time.

. . .

Gryffindor Common Room

"I wonder what's taking Harry so long. Quidditch practice has already ended," Jaden commented, turning the page of his Charms textbook.

"Maybe he's just running late," Hermione suggested.

"Maybe. Hey, Jess, where can I find the answer to question three?"

Jesse peered at the question and told him the page it was on.

"Thanks," Jaden said brightly and went on with his homework.

Harry arrived at that moment.

Alexis looked up from her textbook. "Hey, Harry, how was practice?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "It would have been better if it wasn't raining. I'm going to go get changed," he said and left the common room.

He returned to the common room a while later and told them about being invited to attend Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party.

"A Deathday party?" Hermione repeated. "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those. It'll be fascinating.

"Sounds depressing really," Atticus said.

"Yeah, why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died?" Ron asked. He was currently working on his Potions assignment and sounded grumpy.

"Hey, Jay, can ya help me?" Jesse asked, turning to Jaden who was chewing on his lower lip as he attempted to finish his assignment.

"Hmm? Oh, sure, on what?" he asked.

Jesse pointed to one of the questions. "I can't seem to find the answer to this question," he said.

Jaden peered at it. "I think that's in the next chapter," he said.

"Oh. I'll look there, thanks."

"Welcome."

"Still shocked that Jaden's willingly doing homework," Harry mused and ducked to avoid the couch cushion Jaden chugged at him.

"Someone keeps reminding me to do it early," Jaden muttered, glowering at Yubel who was floating next to the couch.

'It's better to get it done early than do it at the last minute,' Yubel pointed out.

'She is right,' Celestia said, appearing at Harry's shoulder. 'Which reminds me, did you finish your Potions assignment?'

"Yeah, I'm already done with it," Harry said.

"Who are you talking to?" Hermione asked.

"His duel spirit. Jess, where's the answer to number five? I can't find it," Jaden said.

Jesse reached over and turned the page of Jaden's Charms textbook a few times. "You should find it in that section," he said.

"Thanks!"

"Welcome."

"Duel spirit?" Hermione repeated.

"Long story," Harry said. "So, do you want to come with me to this party? I kinda did promise Nick I'd go."

"I think it'll be fascinating so sure," Hermione said.

"Does this mean we'll miss the feast?" Ron asked sadly.

Jaden lifted his head. "What're you talking about?" he asked.

"Nearly Headless Nick invited me to his Deathday Party," Harry explained. "Haven't you been paying attention?"

"I've been trying to get my homework done so a certain someone,"—he glared at Yubel—"doesn't keep bothering me about it."

Jesse chuckled. "You know she's just helping out since you do have a tendency to forget about your assignments," he said.

Jaden pouted. "Not recently," he murmured.

"See? Yubel's help is working."

. . .

Dungeons

Hogwarts

Halloween came and Harry was beginning to regret agreeing to go to the Deathday Party. He knew he had promised Nick and he has never exactly liked celebrating Halloween, since it was still the anniversary of his parents' deaths, but the feast in the Great Hall seemed like it would be more fun than the Deathday Party but a promise was a promise, as Hermione pointed out when Harry told her that he was considering not going.

"You said you would go," she reminded him.

At seven o'clock, the gang, with the exception of Atticus and Alexis, headed toward the dungeons where the Deathday party was to be held. It wasn't exactly a cheerful walk and Jaden wondered why he had agreed to go with Harry to this party. It was also getting colder and he shivered, drawing his robe closer to him as they walked down the hall to find Nick standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes.

"My dear friends, welcome, welcome, so pleased you could come," he said, sounding mournful.

He bowed them inside and they stopped at the sight. The dungeon was filled with so many pearly-white ghosts that drifted around a crowded dance floor and the air grew so cold that Jaden was sure he had just stepped into a freezer. He shivered again.

"Well, why don't we have a look around?" Harry suggested.

"Careful not to walk through anyone," Ron said and they set off around the edge of the dance floor, passing gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, the cheerful Fat Friar who chatted with a knight with an arrow in his forehead and the Bloody Baron, who was being given a wide berth from the other ghosts.

And then there was one that Hermione didn't want to go near. A ghost that haunted one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor by the name of Moaning Myrtle.

"Wait, wait, she haunts a toilet?" Jesse repeated.

"Yes. It's been out of order all year because she keeps having tantrums and floods the place. I never go there anymore if I could avoid it."

"Look, food," Ron said eagerly.

Jaden perked up at that, only to stop when they saw the food. The smell was enough to make them back off. It was filled with rotten fish, burned cakes, food covered in maggots and cheese with mold on it.

Jaden looked a little green. "Can we go now?" he asked.

"Yeah, can we?" Ron asked.

They were suddenly stopped by Peeves who was grinning, his eyes dancing. "Heard you talking about poor Myrtle?" he said. "Rude you was about poor Myrtle." And then he proceeded to call Myrtle over.

The girl could be no older than eleven years and she was short with lank hair and thick pearly glasses. "What?" she said sulkily.

"How are you, Myrtle?" Hermione asked. "It's nice to see you out of the toilet."

Myrtle sniffed.

"Miss. Granger was just talking about you. Just saying..." Peeves began slyly.

"How nice you look tonight," Hermione said quickly, interrupting Peeves and glaring at him.

Myrtle eyed Hermione suspiciously. "You're making fun of me," she said, silvery tears welling up in her see-through eyes.

"No, honestly, didn't I just say how nice Myrtle's looking?" Hermione asked, quickly elbowing Harry and Ron painfully in the ribs. Jaden and Jesse were lucky enough to be out of her reach.

"Oh, yeah…" Harry said.

"She did," Ron agreed.

"Don't lie to me!" Myrtle cried. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"

"You've forgotten pimply," Peeves hissed.

Myrtle started wailing and fled the dungeon with Peeves flying after her, yelling "Pimply" over and over again.

"You know, I kinda feel sorry for Myrtle," Jaden said and the others nodded in agreement.

. . .

Halls

Finally, when the cold became too much to bear and Jaden and Ron started complaining about being hungry, it was decided that they would leave. They were walking down the hall, heading toward the stairs that would take them to the entrance hall when Harry heard it.

"…rip…tear…kill…"

Harry came to a stop, frowning. It was that same voice he heard close to the beginning of the year. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"I haven't heard anything, Harry," Hermione said with a frown.

"Neither can I," Ron said.

"Are you hearing that voice again, Harry?" Jaden asked concerned.

"Shh." Harry pressed his ear against the wall, he was sure that it was coming from there, and looked around as he looked around.

"…so hungry…for so long…"

"Harry…?" Jesse began with a frown.

Harry ignored him.

"…kill…time to kill…"

The voice was starting to grow fainter and seemed to be moving upward. Harry gazed up and then immediately started heading toward the stairs, following the sound of the voice.

"Harry! Where are you…?" Hermione began.

"Shh, just follow me," Harry said, dashing up the stairs into the entrance and then sprinting toward the staircase that would take him to the first floor. Hermione, Ron, Jaden and Jesse quickly hurried after him, though all four of them were really confused.

"Harry, what're we…?" Ron began.

"Shh," Harry hissed as he strained to hear. It was still faint and growing fainter, sounding as though it were on the floor above.

"I smell blood…I smell blood!"

Harry gasped. "It's going to kill someone," he exclaimed and immediately ran up the next set of stairs, taking three at a time, and trying to listen over his footsteps. He arrived on the second floor and immediately hurtled down the hall.

Ron, Hermione, Jaden and Jesse were chasing after him, panting and breathless, until they came to a stop when they turned a corner into the last, deserted passage.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked, wiping his face.

"I couldn't hear anything," Jaden said, resting his hands on his knees as he struggled to get his breath back.

Suddenly, Hermione gasped and pointed down the corridor. "Look!" She cried.

Immediately, the five of them turned to see something shining on the wall. They approached it slowly, having to squint in the darkness to see the foot-high words written on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the torches.

The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened

Enemies of the Heir, Beware.

"W…What's that there?" Jesse said suddenly, pointing and the five of them edged closer. Harry almost slipped on the water but they all jumped back when they saw what was lying there.

Hanging by her tail in the torch bracket and stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring was Mrs. Norris.

"Let's get out of here," Ron said quickly.

"Shouldn't we try and help…?" Harry asked.

"Trust me. We don't want to be found here."

Unfortunately, that was when the students who were just leaving the feast in the Great Hall started climbing the stare and they came crashing into the passage from both ends. The chatter and bustle went silent in an instant when they spotted the hanging cat and Harry, Hermione, Ron, Jaden and Jesse standing in the middle of the corridor.

Then Draco Malfoy pushed his way to the front of the crowd, his normally pale face flushed as he grinned and turned to look directly at Hermione. "Enemies of the Heir, beware. You'll be next, Mudbloods!" he exclaimed.

Jaden glared at Malfoy.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" Filch shouted, no doubt attracted by Malfoy's shouting. He then froze when he caught sight of Mrs. Norris, his face going white with horror.

"My cat! My cat! What happened to her?" He shrieked and then his eyes fell on Harry. "You! You! You murdered my cat. You've killed her. I'll kill you. I'll…"

"Argus!" A shout sounded, cutting Filch off as Dumbledore made his way onto the scene, sweeping past the five second years and striding toward Mrs. Norris with some teachers right behind him.

"Come with me, Argus," he said, detaching Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket. "You to, Mr. Potter-Yuki, Mr. Yuki, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Anderson and Miss. Granger."

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly. "My office is nearest, Headmaster. Just upstairs. Please, feel free."

"Thank you, Gilderoy," Dumbledore said.

The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, McGonagall and Snape hurried after Dumbledore followed by the kids.

. . .

Lockhart's Office

When they entered the office, the five friends immediate sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching. Lockhart was making suggestions, hovering above them, Snape was half in shadow watching while McGonagall and Dumbledore were bent over Mrs. Norris.

Finally, Dumbledore straightened. "She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.

Lockhart trailed off in his suggestions.

"Not dead?" Filch choked. "But why's she all…all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified," Dumbledore said.

"Aha, I thought so," Lockhart said.

"But how, I cannot say…"

"Ask him!" Filch shrieked, turning to Harry.

"No second year could have done this," Dumbledore said firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced…"

"He did it! He did it!" Filch spat, his face turning purple. "You saw what he wrote on the wall. He found, in my office, he knows I'm a…I'm a…He knows I'm a Squib!"

"First of all," Harry said loudly, causing everyone to look at him, "I never touched Mrs. Norris and second, I don't care if you're a Squib or not. I know quite a few people who are Squibs and I don't think any less of them."

"Mom and Dad raised us better than that," Jaden said hotly.

"If I may, Headmaster," Snape said smoothly, "it is entirely possible that Potter-Yuki and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Though it is suspicious. What were you doing in the upstairs corridor anyway? Why weren't you at the Halloween feast?"

"We were at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party," Harry explained.

"There were hundreds of ghosts there to vouch for us," Jesse added.

"Yes but why not join the feast afterward? Why go up to that corridor?"

Harry bit his lip. He didn't want to tell them that he had heard a voice in the walls. He was sure they would think he was crazy, especially since no one else could hear it. "We were tired and wanted to go to bed," he lied.

"Without any supper?" Snape asked, looking triumphant. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"Well, after seeing what food they had there, we kinda lost our appetites," Jaden said with a shrug. And that was true. Jaden had lost his appetite upon seeing the food there, which was surprising.

"Yeah, what he said," Ron said, just as his stomach growled.

Apparently, Ron hadn't.

Snape's smile widened. "I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter-Yuki is not being entirely truthful."

"There is no evidence that Potter-Yuki has done anything wrong," McGonagall said sharply.

Dumbledore studied Harry for a moment. "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said.

Snape glowered furious.

Filch was also furious. "My cat has been Petrified. I want to see some punishment!" he shouted.

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," Dumbledore said patiently. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep…"

"Excuse me," Snape said icily, "but I believe I am the Potions Master at this school."

An awkward pause followed.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Harry, Hermione, Ron, Jaden and Jesse.

They left quickly.

. . .

Empty Classroom

Harry and his brother and friends entered an empty classroom one floor up from Lockhart's office and closed the door behind them. Harry then turned to face his friends and his brother. "Do you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" he asked.

Ron shook his head. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world," he said.

"You do believe me, don't you?" Harry asked.

"I do, Harry," Jaden said. "But it's odd and rather weird."

"This whole thing is weird. What was that writing on the wall about? What's that chamber that was mentioned?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," Ron said. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once, might've been Bill."

"So what do we do?" Jesse asked.

"There really isn't much we can do," Harry said.

"If you hear that voice again, Harry, tell us," Jaden said.

"I will," Harry assured him just as a clock chimed. "Midnight. We should get to bed before Snape or another teacher comes along and we get into trouble."

The others nodded in agreement and they left the empty classroom.

. . .

Library

The next few days, the talk of the school was about what happened to Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's mind by pacing in front of the spot where she was attacked as though he thought the attacker would come back. He also tried to clean the message on the wall but it didn't seem to come off, even when using Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover. He also kept trying to put students simply for breathing loudly or looking happy.

Ginny also seemed to be very disturbed by what happened to Mrs. Norris; according to Ron, she was a big cat lover.

It also had an effect on Hermione who was spending more of her time reading, which was normal, except that she was practically doing nothing else. No one could get much of a response out of her and it wasn't until the following Wednesday that they found out what was going on with her.

Jaden, Jesse and Ron were in the library, working on their History of Magic homework. Jaden was scanning his textbook, frowning, while Jesse was scribbling away on his piece of parchment and Ron was measuring his assignment. Binns had asked them for a three foot long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards".

"Argh, I'm five inches short. What else can I add?" Jaden groaned.

"Five inches? Lucky. I'm eight inches short," Ron groaned. "And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."

Jesse, stopping writing for a moment, glanced at Jaden's parchment and scanned it. "You could expand a little on that," he said, pointing to Jaden's last paragraph.

"But how?" Jaden asked with a frown.

"Hey guys," Harry said, joining them.

"Hey, Harry," Jaden said.

"Where's Hermione?"

"Somewhere over there," Ron said, pointing along the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."

Harry chuckled. "Wouldn't surprise me. Sounds like something I'd try to do, though not before Christmas, at least before the end of fourth year," he said thoughtfully.

"Why not before you graduate?" Ron asked.

"'Cause I'm not gonna be here those last three years, well, except for part of fifth and seventh year to take my OWLs and NEWTs," Harry said, sitting down and borrowing Ron's tape measure as he unrolled his own homework.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"That's when we're going to be going to Duel Academy," Jaden said, scribbling away at the paper and reading through the passage Jesse pointed out.

"Oh."

"Justin ran away from me earlier for some reason," Harry said, changing the subject. "And I don't know why."

"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," Ron said, starting to write again, making his writing as large as possible. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great…"

Hermione, looking irritable, emerged from between the bookshelves, though she seemed at last ready to talk to them. "All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," she said, sitting down between Harry and Jaden. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all of Lockhart's books."

"Why do you want it?" Harry asked.

"The same reason everyone else wants it," Hermione said. "To read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What's that?" Jaden asked curiously as he finished writing. "Yes! I finally finished it!"

"Can I read it?" Ron asked.

"No," Jaden said.

"By the way, has anyone seen Alexis?" Harry asked, just noticing the blonde girl wasn't there.

"She said she forgot something in the dorm room and she would meet us at class," Jaden said.

"Hermione, can I read your composition?" Ron asked desperately, glancing at his watch.

"No. You've had ten days to finish it. And I don't remember what it is. And I can't find the story anywhere," Hermione said.

"Oh," Jaden said.

"I only need another two inches, come on," Ron pleaded.

"No."

The bell rang and Ron and Hermione bickered the entire way to History of Magic. They were joined by Alexis about halfway there who greeted them and then said, "Why are they bickering this time?"

"Ron wants to look at Hermione's homework and Hermione's telling him no. Well, that's what started it anyway. I have no idea what they're arguing about now," Jaden said.

"I think they changed subject quite a few times," Jesse said.

History of Magic was as boring as ever. So boring that Jaden had taken to talking willingly with Haou to pass the time while Jesse was drawing random pictures on his parchment while attempting to take notes. Alexis was resting her head on the palm of her hand, her eyes drooping while Harry was yawning, attempting to stay awake and take some semblance of notes.

About half an hour into the lecture, Hermione raised her hand.

Binns, who was in the middle of a dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked shocked. "Miss, er…" he began.

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said.

Dean, who was sitting with his mouth hanging open and looking out the window, jerked out of his trance. Jaden's conversation with Haou cut off abruptly as he turned his head to Binns; Jesse looked up from the rough sketch of Ruby Carbuncle on his piece of parchment; Alexis sat up, curiosity in her brown eyes. Harry also straightened, wondering why he hadn't thought of that.

Binns blinked. "My subject is History of Magic," he said. "I deal with facts, Miss. Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers…"

He stuttered to a halt when Hermione waved her hand in the air again.

"Miss. Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis of fact?"

Binns looked surprised again. "Well, yes, one could argue that, I suppose," he said, peering at Hermione. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale…"

However, everyone was hanging on to his word and he looked surprised by the sudden show of interest.

"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see. The Chamber of Secrets."

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago—the precise date is uncertain—by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

He paused for a moment, gazing around the room and continued, "For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."

He paused, pressing his lips together for a moment.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have bene obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing."

"According to legend, Slytherin sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

There was complete silence, though not the sleepy silence, it was the silence of everyone wanting to know more. Binns looked faintly annoyed.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber many times by most of the learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

Hermione's hand was back in the air. "Sir, what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," Binns replied.

The class exchanged nervous looks.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," Binns insisted. "There is no Chamber and there is no monster."

"But sir, if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?" Seamus Finnigan said.

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," Binns said. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing…"

"But Professor, you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it," Parvati Patil pointed out.

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss. Pennyfeather," Binns snapped. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore…"

"But maybe, you have to be related to Slytherin so Dumbledore…" Dean began.

"That will do," Binns interrupted. "It is a myth. It does not exist. There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard. I regret telling you such a foolish story. We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"

Within five minutes, the class sank back into a stupor.

Jaden leaned against Jesse, yawning.

Jesse, who was now drawing a rough sketch of Topaz Tiger, glanced at him. "Don't fall asleep, Jay," he murmured.

"I'm not," Jaden mumbled, yawning and slipping off into sleep moments later.

"Sure you aren't," Jesse said amused as he gazed at his best friend fondly and returned his attention to his drawing, feeling oddly comfortable with Jaden using his arm as a pillow.

. . .

Hallway

It was while they were heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room, and decided to poke around the deserted corridor where they had found the message while Filch was nowhere in sight, that Harry, Hermione, Jaden and Jesse learned something about two of their friends.

Both Ron and Alexis were on the opposite end of the wall, staring at the spiders that were scuttling, attempting to fight to get through a small crack. A long silvery thread was angling like a rope as though they had all climbed it in a hurry to get outside.

"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" Hermione asked wonderingly.

"No," Harry said.

"Neither have I," Jaden said.

"Or me. What about you two?" Jesse glanced at Alexis and Ron who were both staring wide-eyed at the spiders and shivering.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"I don't like spiders," Ron said tensely.

"I've been terrified of them since I got bit by a poisonous one when I was five," Alexis said.

Harry winced. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Not your fault."

"I never knew that. I mean, you've used them in Potions loads of time," Hermione said, surprised.

"I don't mind them when they're dead," Ron said.

Alexis nodded in agreement. "Yeah, they won't bite you when they're dead," she said.

"I just don't like the way they move," said Ron.

Hermione giggled.

"It's not funny."

Jaden decided it might be best to change the subject. "Remember all that water? Where did that come from?" he wondered.

"I think it was about here," Ron said, gesturing to one of the doors near Filch's chair and pointing. "It was level with this door." He reached for the brass doorknob only to stop. "We can't go in there."

"Why not?" asked Jesse.

"That's the girl's bathroom," Ron said.

"Oh don't worry. It's just Moaning Myrtle's haunt," Hermione said. "No one comes here."

And so they went into the girl's bathroom in the hope of finding out some more information. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find out anything and they ended up getting caught by a certain red-haired prefect.

"That's a girls' bathroom. What were you…?" Percy Weasley began.

"Just having a look around." Ron shrugged. "Clues, you know."

Percy seemed to grow angry. "Get away from there," he said. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner…?"

"Why shouldn't we be here?" Ron said hotly. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat."

"That's what I told Ginny," Percy said fiercely. "But she still seems to think you're going to be expelled. I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out. You might think of her, all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business."

"You don't care about Ginny," Ron shouted. "You're just worried I'm gonna mess up your chances of being Head Boy."

"Five points from Gryffindor," Percy said tersely. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson. No more detective work or I'll write to Mum." And then he strode off.

. . .

Gryffindor Common Room

"Hey guys," Atticus greeted them, plopping into a seat beside Alexis.

"Hey, Atticus," Harry said.

Ron grunted and attempted to finish his homework, though he kept blotting it.

"What's the matter with Ron?" Atticus asked.

"He got into an argument with Percy and it's left him in a bad mood," Jaden said, flipping the page of his The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2.

Ron growled in frustration when he accidentally set his parchment on fire and slammed his textbook shut. To everyone surprise, Hermione followed suit.

"Who can it be though?" she said quietly.

"Who are you talking about?" Atticus asked.

"Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggleborns out of Hogwarts?" Hermione said.

"Let me think, who do we know who thinks Muggleborns are scum?" Ron said in mock puzzlement.

"If you're talking about Malfoy…" Hermione began, unconvinced.

"You know, Ron does have a point," Jaden said. "You remember what he said when we found Mrs. Norris. He said 'you'll be next, mudbloods'."

"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" Hermione said disbelievingly.

"It fits but I don't think we should jump to any conclusions. We made that mistake last year, remember? And it got Jaden and Jesse kidnapped," Harry said.

"But it's possible since he does boast about how the whole lot of them have been in Slytherin," Ron pointed out.

"It's possible but how do we prove it?" Jesse asked with a frown.

"There might be a way," Hermione said, dropping her voice and briefly glancing toward Percy. "Of course, it would be difficult and dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect."

"Are you going anywhere with this, Hermione?" Alexis asked.

"Yes. What we'd need to do is get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

Ron laughed while Harry looked thoughtfully.

"Polyjuice Potion," he said.

"Exactly," Hermione said with a nod.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago," Harry said.

"Do you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" Ron asked.

"It pays to pay attention," Harry said with a shrug. "But anyway it transforms you into somebody else."

"That actually might work," Jaden commented. "But I don't think all of us should do it if we do go through with this plan. I mean, there are six of us, seven if Atticus wants to help out, and that'd be too suspicious if seven if us are missing."

"Three should be enough," Hermione said. "Three of us could change into three of the Slytherins and then Malfoy will probably tell us everything. Unfortunately, it will only last for about an hour and getting hold of the recipe will be difficult. Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's probably in the Restricted Section of the library."

One needed a signed note of permission from a teacher, which meant it would be harder to get it.

"And I think I know how we can get it. We just have to make it sound as though we're just interested in the theory. We might stand a chance then," Hermione added.

"They'd have to be really thick to fall for that," Jaden said dryly.

. . .

A/n what do you think?

Blaze: okay, so I am following the storyline of Chamber of Secrets a bit more than I thought I would but oh well

Darth: I like it

Blaze: I hope that you enjoyed it. And, thanks to a story I read in the GX fandom, I've come up with something for Jesse that should be interesting when I get to it, since it connects him with Haou and yeah

Jesse: I liked it

Jaden: so did I

Blaze: plus, spiritshipping moment! (Squeals) and there will be Harry/Alexis moments to come (Spiritshipping is my all-time fav GX pairing, which is why it's included a bit more but I will include more Harry/Alexis moments and hints)

Jaden and Jesse: (exchange glances) uhhh

Chazz: (walks into room) I'm back with your pie (hands Blaze slice of cherry pie)

Blaze: PIE! (Takes pie and runs away)

Chazz: okay then

Jaden: well, Blaze hopes that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.