I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH IT. I ONLY OWN DEVYN AND HER PARENTS.

Chapter 21

The day after Devyn and Harry's little adventure into the memory of Tom Riddle, Hermione was finally released from the Hospital Wing, with no more cat fur, or cat attributes to be found.

As the four of them walked across the school grounds, Harry filled Hermione in on what happened while she had been being de-feline'd.

"It was Hagrid," Harry said. Devyn growled softly, still adamant on the fact that Hagrid had nothing to do with it. "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."

"It can't be Hagrid," Hermione said. "It just can't be."

"Thank you! Someone who finally agrees with me," Devyn exclaimed.

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle," Ron added. "He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me."

Devyn nodded at this statement. While 'snitch' might not have been the right term ('liar' might have been more appropriate), the 'dirty, rotten' part Devyn agreed with completely.

"The monster had killed somebody, Ron," Harry told him. "What would any of us have done?"

Devyn sighed; there was truth to this, but even still, Hagrid wasn't the mastermind behind the attacks. He couldn't be. Why would he, of all people, go around setting a monster on Muggle-borns? That didn't make any sense at all.

"We shouldn't even be discussing this," Devyn said stubbornly. She turned to Harry and said, "I know you want to get to the bottom of this mystery, Harry; I get it. I really do. But if you think for one minute that Hagrid opened the Chamber, then I'm not sure you're thinking clearly. Like I said before, and Ron just said, we don't know this Riddle. He could have easily framed Hagrid for the crime. Let's face it, who would believe Hagrid over Riddle? Hagrid, who clearly had a reputation even then for having a soft spot for monsters…it wouldn't exactly be difficult to frame him for a gruesome murder, now would it?"

Harry was being just as stubborn as she was, whereas the others looked slightly worried about the line of thinking that Devyn was going down.

"Look, Harry, I know you want to believe Riddle, as he's the only one who's been able to give us any answers about this Chamber, but I am telling you, something about this is not right. Something about Riddle isn't right. I don't trust him."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Why?! Harry, he –" Devyn realized she was getting rather loud, so she lowered her voice. "He sucked us into a diary, Harry. He sucked us into his own memory. What about that screams 'trustworthy' to you? Now, you can believe what you want, but call me crazy; I don't really trust a diary that can write back."

Devyn knew that Harry understood her logic, but she also knew that he didn't want to listen to what she was saying to him.

"Look, Hagrid's our friend," Hermione said. "Why don't we just go and ask him about it?"

Devyn didn't even have the chance to shoot down that idea because Ron got there first. "Oh, that'd be a cheerful visit. 'Hello, Hagrid! Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'"

Devyn wanted to laugh, but couldn't, given the gravity of the situation they found themselves in. Devyn had half a mind just to go to Dumbledore right now, but she knew if she did that, Harry probably wouldn't be too thrilled. Besides, that meant she would have to tell Dumbledore that she had been investigating the attacks and very possibly putting her own life at risk, which she promised Moony she wouldn't do again, although she knew that she was most likely going to have to break that promise.

"Mad and hairy? You wouldn't be talking about me, now would ya?"

A familiar voice broke through her thoughts and she turned around quickly with the rest of her friends.

"No," they said in unison.

Oh, yeah, that wasn't weird at all, Devyn told herself. Suddenly the atmosphere was very awkward as the four of them looked up at Hagrid.

Thankfully, Harry decided to break the awkward silence. "What's that you've got there, Hagrid?"

Hagrid ignored the obvious attempt at breaking the ice and looked at the jug in his hand. "Oh, it's Flesh-Eating Slug Repellant. For the Mandrakes, ya know. Now, according to Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit of growin' up to do. But, once their acne's cleared up, we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em, and then we'll get those people down at the hospital un-Petrified. In the meantime, though, you four had best be looking after yourselves. All right?"

They nodded and Hagrid went off, nearly colliding with Neville, who had come barreling down the corridor into the courtyard.

"Hello, Neville!" Hagrid said cheerfully, although Neville didn't answer. He ran straight towards Harry and skidded to stop in front of him.

"Harry, I don't know who did it, but you'd better come! Come on!" Neville told him. They could tell it was serious, so the four of them followed Neville back to Gryffindor Tower and up the boys' dormitories staircase.

Devyn stopped short in shock when she saw what had been done. The room had been torn apart. The stuffing of pillows was everywhere, books had been thrown asunder; the entire room was in utter chaos.

"W-Who would do this?" Devyn asked out loud. Neville shook his head, looking worried.

"I don't know."

Harry sifted through the mess, looking as though a light bulb had been lit above his head.

"It must have been a Gryffindor. Nobody else knows our password…unless it wasn't a student."

"What, you think it was a teacher?" Devyn asked her. Hermione shrugged and Devyn retreated into her thoughts.

"Whoever it was," Ron said, "they must have been looking for something."

Harry stopped his rather thorough searching and turned to them.

"And they found it. Riddle's diary is gone," he told them.

Although this was very bad, and although Devyn's cogs immediately started turning, trying to figure out who would take the diary, she couldn't help feeling a sense of immense relief that the creepy diary was gone.

A couple of weeks later, they were able to take their minds off the Chamber, and Riddle's diary; Harry had a Quidditch game.

As Devyn, Ron, and Neville took their seats in the stadium seats, she couldn't help but wonder where Hermione was. She knew that Hermione was in the library, looking something up, but that didn't stop Devyn from worrying ever so slightly. Not that it meant anything special to her, but Hermione was a Muggle-born, and therefore was a possible target for the monster that had been wreaking havoc on the school.

It had been a couple of hours at least, but that was somewhat normal for Hermione. However, Devyn was quickly developing an uneasy feeling. Something was wrong – she felt like that most days, but today, she felt so especially.

And that's when Professor McGonagall showed up.

"Ms. Murphy, Mr. Weasley…yes, I suppose you, too Mr. Longbottom…I need you three to come with me and Mr. Potter. There's something you need to see."

Devyn's heart leapt into her throat, but she followed Ron and Neville towards McGonagall. She lead them off the Quidditch pitch, back towards the castle.

"The match has been cancelled," Harry told Devyn. She nodded in understanding, but with the exception of that, the rest of the trip was silent.

Devyn nearly stopped breathing when she realized that McGonagall was leading them towards the Hospital Wing,

"Oh, Merlin, no. Please…" Devyn said under her breath. Neville looked at her, and she could see the same realization and fear in his eyes that she was sure was in hers. Neville said nothing, but they automatically took each other's hands for support.

"I warn you," McGonagall said as they entered the Hospital Wing and walked towards a bed with the curtains drawn. "This could be a wee bit of a shock."

McGonagall drew back the curtains and Devyn found she could no longer breathe at all. There, lying on the bed was Hermione. Her eyes were wide open in terror and her arm was stuck in a reaching position. Devyn closed her eyes and buried her head into Neville's shoulder.

"Hermione…" Ron said in quiet shock.

This monster has taken one of my best friends. No more. NO MORE. This has to end, Devyn thought. She could feel Snow howling in pain inside of her. As it were, the monster had just taken one of her best friends, but a member of her pack – her family. And that was inexcusable.

"She was found near the library, along with this," McGonagall said. Devyn looked up long enough to see a mirror being shown to them. "Does it mean anything to any of you?"

Devyn shook her head with the rest of them and Harry said, "No."

McGonagall nodded and left them with their friend. As she was leaving, McGonagall placed a hand on Devyn's shoulder and squeezed it tightly. McGonagall understood the kind of pain and anger that was raging inside of her at the moment. It didn't matter that Hermione would eventually be restored.

What mattered was that the monster had just made this personal for Devyn. Very personal, and that was something that no one should do. Hermione was her family, and anyone that hurt her family would find themselves on the receiving end of a wolf's wrath. That was a dangerous place to be.

Devyn looked up at Harry, who was staring at the unmoving Hermione, and said, "Still think Hagrid could be behind this?"

Harry looked at her and shook his head slowly. "I never thought Hagrid could be behind the attacks this time; only that he had something to do with the attacks fifty years ago."

Devyn barely contained her growl. "Accusing him of the attacks back then is just as good as accusing him of them now. And now, it's more than obvious, more so than ever; Hagrid could never do this," she said, pointing at Hermione.

Harry only nodded. Devyn said no more about it. She had made her point.

Later that night, McGonagall made an announcement in the Gryffindor common room.

"Could I have your attention please?" McGonagall said loudly. The common room settled down and everyone shifted their attention to the witch in their midst.

"Because of recent events, these new rules will be put into effect immediately." She unfurled a scroll and read, "'All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions.'"

She put away the scroll and looked at them. It seemed many of the students were a little moody about the new rules, but Devyn didn't contest them. They were for their own safety, and although they would make their investigation a little more difficult, they were perfectly reasonable.

"I should tell you this," McGonagall said, in a moment of complete honesty. "Unless the culprit behind the attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed."

This was yet another blow to Devyn's morale, although not an unexpected one. Recently she had written to Moony, telling him everything about the attacks and Hermione, but begging him not to say anything to anyone else. The last thing the school needed was word of the attacks getting out to the press.

Moony had written back, expressing his condolences about Hermione, with the only advice he could give: "be careful". Just seeing Moony's handwriting made her feel better, and she honestly wanted to see him very badly.

But more than reminding her how much she missed her godfather, the familiar handwriting renewed her strength, and got her to keep it together.

Harry waved her and Neville over and said, "We've got to talk to Hagrid. I can't believe it's him, but if he did set the monster loose last time –"

"-he didn't!" Devyn interrupted. Harry gave her a look, which she countered with her own.

"If he did, then he'll know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets, and that's a start."

"But you heard McGonagall!" Ron told him. Neville nodded and said, "We're not allowed to leave the tower except for class."

Harry looked thoughtful and then said, "I think it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again."

Devyn blinked and said, "That's an idea. Yeah, we could do that."

To be honest, she wanted to see Hagrid very much, if only to see how he was doing with the news that Hermione had been attacked. Hagrid, Devyn knew, loved Hermione like she was his own daughter, and this would have been terrible shock for him.

Neville shook his head. "You three go if you want. You don't need me there. I'll stay here."

"Are you sure, Neville?" Devyn asked him. He nodded and said, "Yeah. Besides, that cloak isn't big enough for all of us."

Devyn didn't like leaving Neville behind, but time was of the essence here, and they needed to talk to Hagrid. She nodded and said, "Okay. Harry…go get the cloak."

A short while later, Devyn, Harry, and Ron were on their way across the grounds towards Hagrid's hut. Devyn knocked on the door and Hagrid opened it, aiming a loaded crossbow at them. Of course, he couldn't see them, so he didn't know they were there.

"Who's there?" Hagrid asked. He looked stressed and nervous. "Hello? Hello?!"

Harry threw off the cloak and they all stared at him, wary of the crossbow.

"What's that for?" Harry asked, looking rather concerned. Hagrid looked at the dangerous weapon in his hands and shook his head.

"Oh, nothing. I…I was expecting…ah…it doesn't matter. Come on in, I just made a pot of tea."

The three of them stepped past Hagrid and into the warm house. Fang almost immediately jumped on Devyn, nearly knocking her over in the process.

"Hey, Fang! Oh, long time no see, buddy," Devyn said. Fang sat obediently in front of her and she said, "Who's my good boy?"

Fang raised his paw and held it out toward Devyn, who took it in her hand and smiled at the large boarhound. "That's right, you're my good boy."

She rubbed Fang's head and took a seat next to Harry. She noticed Hagrid was shaking something awful, and he nearly flooded his own table with tea. Devyn felt her heart nearly break for Hagrid. He was having a just as hard time as the rest of them.

"Hagrid, are you okay?" Harry asked. Hagrid looked up and tried to reassure them.

"I'm fine! I'm alright."

"Did you hear about Hermione?" Devyn asked carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him, but it was clear he needed to talk to someone.

Hagrid looked up at her, and Devyn could see the pain in his dark eyes. He knew. Of course he knew.

"Oh yeah," Hagrid said. Devyn nodded. "I heard about that, all right."

Devyn wanted to say something, anything to reassure him, but Harry had other plans. Harry simply cut right to the chase.

"Look, we have to ask you something. Do you know who's opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

Hagrid immediately looked uncomfortable. "What you have to understand about that, is-"

What they needed to understand, they never found out because just then there was some loud knocking at Hagrid's door.

"Quick, under the cloak," Hagrid said. The three of them instantly obeyed him and he said, "Don't say a word. Be quiet, all of you."

The three of them squeezed into a corner as Hagrid opened the door.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Hagrid said.

Devyn almost breathed a sigh of relief, but caught herself just in time.

"Good evening, Hagrid," they heard Dumbledore say. "I wonder, could we…?"

"Of course, come in! Come in," Hagrid replied, stepping aside to allow Dumbledore and whoever he had with him entrance.

Dumbledore entered, and a man with wavy gray hair and carrying a black bowler hat followed.

"That's Dad's boss!" Ron said quietly. "Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic!"

Devyn barely had time to wonder why the Minister was here before he said, "Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business. Had to come…three attacks on Muggle-borns. Things have gone far enough…the Ministry's got to act."

Devyn's anger rose at what the Minister was suggesting, but she could do nothing without revealing her presence, and that was something she couldn't do.

Hagrid started to get defensive, and he was perfectly entitled to be. "Oh, but I never…you know I never…Professor!"

"I want it understood, Cornelius," Dumbledore said firmly, "that Hagrid has my full confidence."

"Albus look, Hagrid's record is against him, I've got to take him."

"Take me? Take me where? Not Azkaban Prison!" Hagrid exclaimed. Fudge looked somewhat ashamed but not enough to earn Devyn's sympathy.

"I'm afraid we have no choice, Hagrid," Fudge told him. Hagrid was unable to say anything more because just then, his front door flew open to reveal Lucius Malfoy.

Oh, great. Just perfect, Devyn thought. Lucius Malfoy was second on her list of the people she disliked the most, behind only Voldemort. Draco Malfoy was third.

"Already here, Fudge? Good," Malfoy said.

"What are you doing here?" Hagrid demanded. "Get outta my house!"

You tell him, Hagrid, Devyn rooted for her friend silently. Malfoy quirked an eyebrow and said, "Believe me, I take absolutely no pleasure being inside your… you call this a house?"

That comment alone was enough to make Devyn transform into Snow and attack, but she didn't. That would only get herself, Hagrid, Harry and Ron into trouble.

"No," Malfoy continued. "I simply called at the school and was told the Headmaster was here."

Dumbledore turned to Malfoy and said, "Well, what exactly is it that you want with me?"

Malfoy drew a breath and Devyn felt that he was getting ready to deliver some news that made him rather happy, but would make the rest of them very angry.

"The other governors and I have decided it's time for you to step aside. This is an order of suspension," Malfoy said, holding out a scroll. "You'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you've rather lost your touch."

Devyn was seeing red at this point and she honestly thought that if Malfoy didn't remove himself from Hagrid's home very soon, he was going to find a wolf attacking him. She was barely hanging onto what control she had as it was.

"Well," Malfoy said, "what with all these attacks, there'll be no more Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts. I can only imagine what an awful loss that would be to the school."

His sarcastic tone only furthered Devyn's desire to attack him, but Harry's hand closed around her wrist, silently telling her to calm down. She tried to calm her heartbeat as Hagrid finally stood up to Malfoy.

"Yeh can't take Professor Dumbledore away. Take him away, and the Muggle-borns won't stand a chance! Mark my words, there'll be killings next!"

"You think so?" Malfoy replied, a gleam in his eyes that made Devyn shake in fury.

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore intervened. "If the governors desire my removal, I will, of course, step aside. However, you will find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Dumbledore sent a meaningful look in their direction and Devyn knew instantly that whether he could see them or not, he knew that they were there.

"Admirable sentiments. Shall we?" Malfoy said. "Fudge!"

Immediately, Fudge followed after Malfoy and Dumbledore, like the loyal dog he was. Fudge stopped and said, "Come, Hagrid…well?"

Devyn had a feeling that Hagrid was trying to be as discreet as Dumbledore in leaving them a clue, but Hagrid was not very talented at being discreet, so it just seemed awkward.

"If, uh, if anybody was looking for some stuff, then all they'd have to do would be to follow the spiders. Yep…that would lead them right. That's all I have to say. Oh, and someone will need to feed Fang while I'm away."

Fudge looked at Fang, who growled softly at him. Devyn nodded her approval of Fang's behavior and Fudge simply said, "Good boy."

And just like that, Hagrid was gone. Dumbledore was gone. And all they had to do now was, apparently, follow some spiders.

The second that the door closed, Harry and Ron threw off the cloak and Devyn immediately said, "They're arresting an innocent man! Just because the Ministry's got to be seen doing something. They're useless, they are. Bunch of bloody idiots, if you ask me; barring your dad, I mean, Ron."

Ron nodded and said, "Hagrid's right! With Dumbledore gone, there'll be an attack a day."

Harry nodded and then something caught their eyes. Small black spiders were crawling out the window in a singular line.

"Look!" Harry said, pointing at them. "Well come on. Come on, Fang!"

Devyn nodded and followed Harry out the door. Dumbledore was gone – they were running out of time even faster, before someone was probably killed. It was time to get some real answers – answers, apparently that would come from spiders.