Chapter 28: Questions
Zoey sat in the library with Ginny doing her Charms essay. It was Halloween night and the Halloween Feast was to begin in a few minutes. Zoey sighed as she rolled up her parchment and kept it in her bag together with her quill and ink bottle. She looked over at Ginny, who was sitting diagonal to her, and saw that she was deeply immersed in whatever she was writing in the diary.
Zoey stood up and brought her bag closer to herself as she walked around the table and sat beside Ginny. She looked at the diary and was just in time to see Ginny's message disappear into the page. No longer than a second Tom's reply emerged. Zoey looked curiously at what he wrote:
Can I ask you and Zoey to do me a favor?
Tom asked.
Ginny looked up at Zoey and gave her a questioning look. Zoey shrugged, "Okay," she said. She didn't see any harm at Tom's request. After all he's done nothing but help Ginny and her through their troubled times. Ginny nodded her head and wrote her reply on the diary.
As Zoey watched the words dissolve into the paper she felt a bad feeling at the pit of her stomach. She had a feeling that she had done something wrong, she just didn't know what. Suddenly, her head began to throb as her eyes began to fog up. She squinted at the diary through misty eyes and saw a bright yellow light emitting from its pages.
"Wha –" but Ginny stopped in the middle of her shock. Her hand dropped the quill and it fell to the floor. Her head began to throb and her eyes fogged up as well.
Zoey numbly felt herself stand up from the chair causing it to fall back from her force. Ginny followed soon after with the diary in her hand. They walked out of the library both looking forward with not much of expression. Their eyes were slightly glazed and no pupil could be seen. Their mouths formed a frown and their pace was slower than a run but brisker than a walk.
They left the library without a sound and walked down the corridor without really seeing. It looked like they knew where they were going but in reality in their minds that didn't know what was going on.
They heard a meow.
Zoey looked down and through misty eyes she saw a cat with dust-colored fur and yellow, lamp like eyes.
It hissed.
Zoey, her face free from emotion, looked towards Ginny and to the diary and back to Ginny. Ginny gave a slow nod. Zoey looked back to the cat and picked it up.
Echo, along with every other Hogwarts student, stared at the wall before her. The Halloween Feast had ended not too long ago and they were all heading back to their respective dorms. Everyone had left the feast laughing and chattering about until they saw something that froze them to the spot. On the wall was a very shocking message.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE
The message read.
Beside the message was an all too familiar cat.
Echo stumbled to the side as a short, blonde, second year pushed passed her to get to the front of the crowd. She could not see his face but could recognize the blonde hair and the aura of confidence as none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods," Draco said allowed with his face flushed and a grin spreading across his lips as he looked at Mrs. Norris's petrified body.
Echo scoffed when she got a good look at Draco's look of glee. He looked as if Christmas came early. Twisted little boy. She had an urge to chuck her hard bound book she had brought with her at him just to see him face plant with the floor. Fortunately, Echo thought better than to stoop to Draco's level of immaturity.
"It's written in blood," she heard someone whisper from behind her, who it was, she didn't care. Echo stood on her tip toes and caught sight of the twins who stood not too far from her. The twins were staring at the message with furrowed eyebrows. Echo pushed her way towards them.
"This can't be serious," Fred said as he read the message all over again. It was now the fifteenth time he's read it and he still couldn't comprehend what it meant.
"I don't know mate," George said as he looked at the petrified Mrs. Norris. He didn't know if he should be glad that she was still and unmoving or worried because it could be a student who was petrified next, "This looks plenty serious"
"Do you really think so, Carrot top?" Echo said as she finally got to the twins.
"That's blood isn't it?" George said, "Of course we think so"
Echo looked back at the message. It was written in some red substance it could have been anything; Muggle paint, catsup or blood. George's comment made her re-think the latter.
"If that was catsup, it would have ended up on the floor by now," Echo said as she gazed from the message to the floor. Her eyes widened slightly. "Why's the floor wet?"
The twins looked down and saw what Echo saw. The floor was indeed wet, not in a flood like manner but it still had a puddle that could harm someone if they were to slip on it. The trio looked intently at the floor as they saw the reflection of the message on it. What could all this mean?
"What's going on here? What's going on?"
It was none other than Filch who had, without a doubt, heard Malfoy's shout. Echo watched silently as Filch caught sight of the immobile Mrs. Norris.
"My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris!" Filch shrieked as his eyes popped out.
His gaze then fell to Harry.
Echo observed that Filch's face turned a deep red with anger and his eyes formed a glare.
"You!" Filch screeched, "You murdered my cat! I'll kill you! I'll –"
"Argus!"
Echo directed her attention to the second voice. It came from none other than Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. He had appeared followed by a number of other teachers. He quickly read the message on the wall before looking over at Mrs. Norris who was hanging on a torch bracket. He detached her from it.
"Come with me, Argus," Dumbledore said to Filch. He then turned to the second year trio, "You three as well."
Echo rolled her eyes as Lockhart arrived at the scene as well. He offered his office to the headmaster. Dumbledore thanked him and headed towards the direction of the room. The crowed slowly dispersed each muttering to one another about what had just happened. Echo felt herself being swept away and was just able to catch sight of the twins' red hair before they, too, were swept away by the crowd.
When the twins retreated to their dorm they quickly changed to their night robes and climbed into their beds, their roommates following in their lead. It was late at night when George woke up to see a light coming from Fred's bed. He climbed off his bed and pulled the curtain from Fred's he looked down to see Fred sitting on his bed his pillow untouched and his blankets still folded. In Fred's hands were the Marauder's map and his wand.
"What are you doing?" George asked as he climbed into Fred's bed while rubbing his eyes. He pulled the curtain back as to not disturb their roommates.
Fred didn't reply immediately. His eyes were scanning the map very carefully taking note on who was wandering the school late at night. So far it was just Filch, who he had guessed was patrolling quite more glum than normal for his lack of cat, and the ghosts who didn't pose much threat. Peeves' name popped out once in a while as well but Fred knew that Peeves wouldn't do such a prank (thought it wasn't a prank to begin with)
"If you're looking for Zoey I'm betting she's in the Hufflepuff Basement," George joked. He then laughed when he saw his twin blush
"I'm not looking for her"
"That's a first"
"Shut it," Fred said, "I'm looking for the Chamber"
"The what?" George asked groggily as he yawned. It was either far too late to be up or was far too early to wake up. He didn't know. It really depended.
"The Chamber," Fred repeated
"I heard you the first time," George said, his head lolling to the side.
Fred whacked George at the side of his head making him hiss out a word that would have made Zoey blush and scold him.
"The Chamber of Secrets!" Fred whispered, "It isn't here," he then threw the map to George who caught it. He, George, then scanned the map as well, eyebrows furrowing as he looked at each and every room in Hogwarts that was on the map.
"You're right," George said after a few minutes of looking over the map several times. He then looked at Fred and noticed that he was struggling to keep awake.
George tapped the map with his wand and it took the appearance of a regular piece of parchment. He folded it and held it in his hand. "We should go back to bed"
"No," Fred argued, "What ab –"
"The professor's will handle it," George said being reasonable for once, "We can't do anything about it."
George then jumped off Fred's bed and placed the map in his suitcase. He then walked over to his own bed and pulled the curtains closed to go back to sleep. Fred looked at the map in the suitcase as he laid his head down on his own pillow. He pulled his curtains shut and felt his heavy lids begin to shut. As his brain began to go to sleep mode a thought passed his mind
Where was Zoey?
Zoey woke up with her head pounding against her skull. She groaned as she sat up and brought her hand to cover her eyes as the sun blazed through the window. She really didn't want to be up. She swung her legs of the bed and hung her head low as she tried to re-focus her gaze. She felt the throb in her head lower a bit as she grabbed for her glasses and placed them on. She looked around the room and noted that her roommates were nowhere to be seen. They had left without her.
Nothing new.
Zoey thought to herself as she got of her bed. She walked towards her suitcase and slipped a bit along the way. She felt her heart skip a beat when she felt no friction with the floor. She looked down and saw a small puddle around her shoes. She looked at them curiously. She did not recall going near the Black Lack yesterday. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall what happened yesterday. Zoey closed her eyes as she tried to remember the Halloween Feast. It was no use. It was like there was a big gap in her brain. Zoey looked worriedly at her shoes. Did she do something that involved water? She didn't know.
Zoey walked towards the bathroom, new robes in hand, and undressed. When she pulled her robes over her head and got a whiff of it she made a face. It smelled like wet cat and… blood. Her eyes widened as she turned her robes outside in and took a look at its front. She noted that it was slightly wet and had dark red blotches over it. She saw something dust colored on the sleeves of her robes and plucked it out. She brought it to her face and looked at it in confusingly, it was fur.
Zoey climbed into the shower and turned the water on. She sighed as she felt the warm liquid flow down her but then she quickly hissed in pain as a slight stinging feeling erupted from her arms. She looked down at her forearms and her eyes widened. Long, red, thin scratch marks were visible all over her arms; one particular scratch even traced her scar on her left arm.
Zoey's breathing quickened as she finished her shower and dressed up for the day. She briskly walked out of the steamed room and hastily picked up her things. She left the room and the basement in a hurry, first brisk walking, then taking long strides until finally went into full blown running. Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry as she tried to think of a reason as to why her arms were scratched up, her shoes were wet and her clothes blood-stained. She slowed down her run when she came across a wall that Filch was walking back and forth in front of.
She squeaked when Filch stopped and glared at her. "What are you looking at?" he snarled
Zoey shook her head in a frightened way and continued to run towards the Great Hall. The message on the wall frightened her. It was written in bright red and she didn't understand her. It scared her.
When Zoey reached the Great Hall she took a seat beside Ginny who was in front of Ron and Harry. Zoey didn't bother to look for the twins or Echo or Bridgit all she wanted to do is talk to Ginny and console in the diary.
Zoey took note that Ginny didn't look all too happy. In fact she looked greatly disturbed. Maybe she saw the wall, Zoey thought to herself.
"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly.
"Honestly we are so much better without her," Ron added
Zoey felt herself shake a bit and saw Ginny's lip trembled. It was true Mrs. Norris wasn't a pleasant cat but Ginny was a cat-lover.
"What happened?" Zoey asked as she brushed her bangs away from her face trying to get a grip on her shaking hands. She didn't know why they had such an effect when Ron spoke about Mrs. Norris.
"Mrs. Norris," Harry answered, "She was –"
But he didn't get to finish for Ron interrupted him as he, Ron, tried to reassure his sister that everything was fine.
"Stuff like this doesn't often happen in Hogwarts," he said, "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope that he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only jo–"
Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched.
Zoey swallowed hard when she heard what Ron had said. She fast Ginny and held out her hand. "Can I borrow the diary today?" she asked since it was scheduled to be with Ginny that day. Ginny brought a shaky hand to her bag and pulled it out. "I already wrote in it today," she whispered before giving it to the fourth year Hufflepuff.
Zoey ran to the Quidditch Pitch and took a seat on the stands. She figured she could skip Defense Against the Dark Arts today. After all, it wouldn't make much difference. She wasn't learning much from Lockhart even if she did attend class. She placed the diary on her lap and brought out her quill and ink bottle. She quickly dabbed her quill in the ink and opened the diary she quickly wrote everything she felt:
Dear Tom, I'm getting worried. I woke up today as usual not seeing any of my roommates waiting up for me. The curious thing is that my head throbbed painfully and it felt like I was missing something. I looked down at my shoes by the foot of my bed and there was a puddle around them. A puddle! I don't recall being any body of water yesterday. Actually, I don't remember a lot of yesterday at all. All I remember is being in the library with Ginny before the Halloween Feast. Come to think of it, I don't think I've attended the feast at all? What could I have possibly done at that time? Did I write in you Tom? Did I mention anything about skipping the feast to do something else? Tom, I'm scared. Something happened to the caretaker's cat and there was fur on my robes. There was a message written on the wall with something red and there was blood on my robes. Tom, what happened?
Zoey watched as her entry took a long time to dissolve into the page. It was longer than her usual entries in the diary. She watched as the paper once again took a clean front and waited patiently for Tom's reply. After a second or two his reply emerged from the pages.
You seem to have the same concerns as Ginny. She said she woke up with the same symptoms you described earlier. Neither of you have mentioned anything about skipping the Halloween Feast. Maybe, you both attended the feast and ate too much candy and passed out. Like how adults act with fire whiskey. Can't remember a damn thing the next day.
Zoey knew that Tom was making a joke. She knew he was trying to lighten her up. Zoey gripped the quill harder in her hand as she scribbled away on the page.
But Tom, something happened last night. It looked like a threatening message, what was written on the wall that is. I'm confused. Why don't I remember seeing that before? I would have certainly remembered even with a candy over dose.
What was the message?
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE. I'm not sure if I got it exactly. I was only able to catch a glimpse before Filch snarled at me. He's really in a bad mood.
I thought you said he's always in a bad mood.
I didn't say that. Ginny did. But, though true, he's mood seems worse than before. Something bad must have happened to Mrs. Norris. I think she was petrified.
Zoey waited for Tom to reply but he didn't. She then saw his reply emerge from the page long after hers dissolved.
What makes you say that?
Ron mentioned he wished that the "maniac" would petrify Filch before he gets expelled. I only guessed…
So he thinks that the maniac, as you quote, is a student?
Most likely… yes. I can't imagine any of the teachers doing such an act and no one could enter Hogwarts grounds anyway. It's the safest place in the wizarding world.
But the wizarding world is such a big place. How could you be so sure?
Zoey's eyebrows knitted curiously.
Tom, correct me if I'm wrong but… It seems like you're trying to avoid the subject. Do you know something?
I'm just a diary, how could I know anything? But you're right. I'm trying to avoid the subject.
But why?
Because I can see that you're really stressing over this. You did not do anything. If you did you, would have consulted in me before doing anything.
Zoey didn't reply. She just watched the words dissolve back into the page. She then looked at it wide eyed when Tom's words reappeared.
Now, forgive me for being curious but what did happen after you told that Weasley boy that you rather skip his question than answer it.
Oh, gossip much, Tom?
Just, merely being curious. You don't have to answer.
Zoey dabbed the quill again before bringing it back to the page, she then began to explain what had happened that day as she recalled the events.
Zoey's eyes widened with shock she didn't really expect him to ask such a question. She felt her cheeks warm up and her heart hammer in her chest. She bit her lip and looked back at the Quidditch Pitch. Should she tell him? She wondered. She took a small breath and said "Skip"
Fred opened his mouth in shock. For the entire game they hadn't used 'skip' yet. Why would Zoey want to skip that question? "But why?"
"Skip"
"Why don't you want to answer?"
"Skip"
"Zoey!"
"Fred!" Zoey said being impossible. She simply hung out with Echo too much.
Fred sighed as he ran a hand down his face in frustration. "How do you feel about me?" he asked. From all the skipping Zoey had been doing he had been getting bonus questions.
"Skip," Zoey said again
"Why don't you want to answer that?"
"Skip"
"Zoey! Is it so hard?"
"Skip"
"Do you hate me?"
"Of course not!" Zoey said in surprise. Why would he think such a thing? She felt the exact opposite to be honest.
"Then how do you feel about me?"
"I'm not inclined to answer that question now," Zoey said.
"But you still haven't answered my question," Fred said
"Oh but I have," Zoey said with an air of pride, "Your last question was 'Do you hate me?' and I have replied with 'Of course not!' Thus ending your twenty questions"
Fred looked at her with disbelief.
"And now, Freddie, this ends out little game," the bell rang, "And my free period"
Zoey stood up and made her way off the stands but Fred was fast in his reflexes and caught hand. Zoey whirled around and looked at him questioningly.
"You're trying to avoid something," Fred said, "Why?"
Zoey gave a small forced laugh, "You know me so well," she avoided his question, "Why?"
Fred let go of her hand and walked off the stands first. Zoey watched his retreating figure with a look of regret and guilt. She was not ready to tell him, not yet.
Okay! Before anything... I really want to apologize for my little error in the previous chapter:
"According to George she's already studying for the O."
should be
"According to George she's already studying for the OWLs"
I honestly don't know what happened. I was sure I types it correctly. Sorry.
Anyway, here's the new chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it :D
Now for some Q and A's:
"yvonna" asks: Are Zoey and Harry gonna be good friends?
-That's the plan! :)
"xoxosmileyfacexoxo" asks/says: You said that the Emeraude family always had some amazing power or something. Can Zoey's power be able to stop Fred from dying? Please?
- As I said before in my previous Q and A I can't give out to much because then it would spoil the story so sorry that I can't really answer this question or any other question that follows with the same concept.
I aplogize.
Just be rest assured that I would type what I think would be best. :)
Thanks for all the reviews (YAHOO! REACHED OVER 100!), alerts, favorties and questions
Anywho, I think that's all I have to say besides that I'm super loaded with things to do and my tests are coming up. Wish me luck guys!
Don't forget to review and ask questions!
I only own what I own
(PS: sorry if there are any typos. The keyboard and fast typing aren't really good friends with me DX )
