See chapter one for disclaimers and warning.
Emmeline grabbed the book from her seat mate, anxious to know more. "Thank Merlin we get some answers." She announced with relief. Not knowing was driving her mad.
Bill couldn't help scoffing at her naivety. "Something tells me that's not going to happen. At least not completely."
"Don't burst my bubble." She admonished with a pout that had Sirius whistling at her in appreciation before winking at the man next to her. Raising the book to hide her blush she began reading. Her levity died as Filch arrived to find the state of his cat.
"This isn't going to be good." Kingsley sighed. He just knew the man was going to blame Harry and with his temperament he might try to hurt the teen. Really it wouldn't take much more before the kid's godfather broke down.
"Must have been quite a shock." Charlie murmured, thinking of his dragons. "Mrs. Norris was basically his life."
"Someone really should have taken her down before he got there." Tonks agreed looking sad.
"He was the first adult on scene." Hermione told them, her voice somber. She hissed out a breath when the man rounded on her friend.
Sirius narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth to keep silent, knowing the man was hurting. But he hated that his pup was about to be verbally attacked, something the insecure teen did not need. Remus clapped a hand on his friend's back, his own face grim.
Bill growled. "If I have to choose between feeling sorry for Filch and concern for Harry, family wins out so he better be careful with what he says."
Harry stared at the older redhead in surprise, earning an exasperated but pointed look back. He shrugged sheepishly.
Tonks sat up angrily at hearing the next line. "Upset is one thing. But he has no right to threaten Harry like that." She cried.
"It was just shock talking I'm sure." Arthur said in an attempt to calm the females in the room down. His wife gave him a sour look.
McGonagall had pursed her lips. "He better be glad I didn't hear exactly what he'd been shouting." She breathed heavily through her nose. "That a member of the school staff would say something like that to a student is unacceptable."
"Thank Merlin." Emmeline sighed as she read about Dumbledore arriving and removing the cat. Molly made a sound of agreement as she clutched at her husband's arm. Both Weasley parents were staring worriedly in the direction of their daughter.
"Unfortunately I could not get to her before the whole school was able to view such a travesty." Dumbledore said gravely.
"Probably waited on purpose." Harry muttered, ducking his head into his godfather's shoulder.
"Why are you taking them?" Tonks asked with a frown. It sounded to her like the man was going to accuse them of something. Emmeline was frowning over the top of the book and even Molly had turned to stare at him.
"They're second years Albus." Moody grunted. "They wouldn't have the know how to do this."
"It was merely to question them as they had been first on the scene." Dumbledore answered, feeling a small flare of irritation at being questioned yet again.
"It didn't help the gossip that you held them back like that." Neville told him. "Just made the rumors more valid."
"No." Remus said slowly as Lockhart stepped up to offer his office. "I really think this is a matter that needs to be dealt with in the headmaster's office or maybe the infirmary."
"Without the git." Bill added. "We don't need to hear any more of his ramblings."
"Really." Emmeline huffed. "There is no need to trek all the way there when a perfectly fine office is being offered."
"It's not so much the office as who's offering it." Charlie pointed out. He couldn't help grinning at the look on her face.
"Actually the office is as horrible as the professor occupying it." Hermione reminded them. She listened as the four professors led them down the hall.
"Okay I understand Minivera going." Remus started, a suspicious look on his face. "Three of her students are there and she is the deputy headmaster. But why is Severus going? Shouldn't he be escorting his snakes and calming them? I'm sure that's what Flitwick and Sprout were doing."
"The headmaster might have needed my help." The man answered stiffly.
"With what?" Charlie snarled. "Examining a dead cat?"
"I do know a lot about dark curses." He continued with a glare. "Trust me I would have preferred to be elsewhere." He sneered as the Lockhart portraits dashed out of sight with curlers in their hair.
There was a wave of laughter around the room at this, the twins trying in vain to restrain their hilarity out of concern for their sister.
Remus couldn't help mocking the girl next to him. "Vanity means much more than brains or talent." He teased.
She scrunched up her nose at being reminded of her earlier words. "Oh shut it you." She grumbled.
"Hey at least they had the sense to get out of sight." Charlie pointed out through his own laughter.
Sirius crinkled his nose as Dumbledore poked and prodded the cat. "That's morbid." He muttered to his godson. Harry gave him an amused look before deliberately glancing towards the stairs where the elf head were hung. Sirius shrugged. "Well that's morbid too." He mumbled.
"But what is there to poke?" Tonks asked, a confused and disgusted look on his face. "I thought she was dead."
"We couldn't be that lucky." Ron grumbled, earning several disgusted looks and a smack from his female best friend.
The darkly dressed potions master rolled his eyes in annoyance at being called out in the book for his expression. "Of course I was amused. That idiot was prancing around spouting the most ridiculous nonsense." He finished, glaring at the smirking marauders.
"I didn't know he could smile." Sirius whispered to his best friend and godson.
"Well it did say peculiar expression." Harry retorted causing them both to snort with laughter.
Emmeline was frowning down at the look. "What is the transmogrifian torture?" She asked before reading the next couple of lines.
"Ridiculous nonsense." Snape sneered.
"Really it sounds almost Egyptian but I've never heard of it." Bill mused. He looked thoughtful.
"That's because it does not exist." McGonagall snapped. "That man makes up words off the top of his head."
Harry snorted when Lockhart claimed he could have said the counter curse to save her. "More like removed all her internal organs if he tried." He muttered eliciting a worried look at the bitterness in his voice.
"Well really." Emmeline's frown had deepened. "If it's so common that he's seen it used so many times then why haven't we heard about it?"
"I think she's finally starting to realize." Fred stage whispered.
"That Lockhart's an idiot and a fake." George smirked.
"And that he doesn't know what in Merlin's shaggy eyebrows he's doing." They chimed.
"Boys, must you be so crude?" Molly sighed.
Emmeline sent them a ferocious glare before lifting the book and continuing in a stiff voice that softened as Filch sobbed into his hands.
"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Filch like that." Charlie said. He appeared upset by the image.
"She's his family." Luna pointed out. "The only family he has."
Everyone was quiet for a moment as they contemplated this. "That kind of sucks." George said finally as he looked around at his large family. He turned to look at Harry when the boy admitted feeling sorry for the man-but not nearly as sorry as he felt for himself.
"Harry." Hermione gasped in shock. The dark haired teen flushed as everyone turned to stare at him.
"It's okay kid." Sirius said with a warning look to the rest of the room. "It's a natural reaction."
"I didn't want to be expelled and after the car…" He trailed off swallowing hard. "I didn't want to go back to the Dursleys."
"You won't." The dog animagus murmured pulling him into a one armed hug. He was pleased when the teen didn't protest his declaration this time.
"Why would you think that you'd be expelled?" Tonks asked as she stared sadly at the boy. "You didn't do anything."
He shrugged. "I'm used to being blamed for everything. No one's ever believed me before so..." He shrugged again.
"Filch certainly wouldn't have believed you so don't be feeling sorry for thinking about yourself." Bill told him firmly. He quirked an eyebrow at hearing that Mrs. Norris looked stuffed.
'Well if nothing else Filch can always keep her around." Charlie offered. "Prop her up on the desk. Then she wouldn't be totally gone."
Moody pinned him with his eye. "I'm beginning to understand why you're friends with that one." He said pointing to the pink haired girl. "Both crazy as loons."
The trio were exchanging looks. "I think he did keep her in his room." Ron whispered with wide eyes. "She wasn't in the hospital wing with the others."
Hermione made a disgusted face. "I really didn't want to have to think about that." She shushed the two boys leaving Remus to ponder what he'd heard. There had been others?"
Snape sneered when Lockhart claimed that they could read a story of his effort against similar attacks. "Of course it is. He can't wipe his arse without it being in one of his books." Snape sneered.
"Severus Snape." McGonagall reproached though her lips were twitching. Sirius was chuckling under his breath while the current fifth years were gaping at the man in disbelief.
"First it was a counter curse and now it's various amulets." Bill rolled his eyes. "Lockhart can't even make up his mind about what story to tell."
"Please for the love of Merlin question the kids already so they can get out of there." Sirius pleaded as the twins made sounds of disgust.
"I second that." Kingsley offered, a long suffering look on his face.
Several of the room's occupants raised their eyebrows in Emmeline's direction when she read Dumbledore's announcement that the cat wasn't dead. "Well he didn't actually examine the cat so it's entirely plausible he misdiagnosed the problem." She said stiffly.
"I can't believe you're still sticking up for him." Moody rolled his eyes.
Sirius sat up slowly at the news that the cat was petrified, jostling the kid at his side. "She was what?" He asked hoarsely. He looked down at this godson. "Just what kind of monster was this?"
Harry gave him a small grin. "I don't think it would be a good idea to tell you this early in the book."
"That bad?" The man asked in trepidation.
"Don't worry Sirius. It looks like our two animal experts are on the job." Tonks pointed to both Remus and Charlie who appeared to be thinking deeply. "We should know soon."
Emmeline frowned as she continued reading, Filch accusing Harry and Dumbledore assuring the man that a bunch of twelve years couldn't have possibly done it.
"Then why'd you pull the kids in there?" Molly demanded. "I can just imagine them sitting there frightened to the ends of their hair while the lot of you talk about death and curses."
Kingsley nodded. "There's no reason they had to sit there witnessing that. You could have easily questioned them later." He narrowed his eyes when in the book Snape stepped forward to speak. He agreed with Harry's thoughts that whatever the man had to say wasn't going to be good.
"Of course not, he's always pointing out my faults and wrongdoing." Harry agreed with his book self.
"How else are you to learn?" Snape retorted lazily. "Am I not the only one that does dare criticize the golden boy?"
Sirius was about to interfere but stopped at the look on his godson's face. The kid appeared to be getting some satisfaction from sparring with the other man. "Actually my relatives do a pretty good job of it." Harry tossed back pleased to see a look of disgust on his professor's face.
"Take care in the future Mr. Potter not to compare me to those people." He hissed back, any lightheartedness gone from his voice.
"Don't give me a reason to." Harry murmured back.
"How do you know he wasn't at the feast?" Charlie asked once the man's response had been read. "Maybe they just left slightly early."
"It was obvious the troublesome trio were not at the feast, something everyone noticed, not just me." Snape rolled his eyes, knowing the stocky redhead wanted to accuse him of spying on the brat. He lifted an eyebrow when his other self pointed out the flaw in the children's explanation.
"Ah he's got you there. You're not going to be able to explain what happened properly." Kingsley realized.
"Well he could but he's not likely going to be believed." Emmeline corrected her seat mate.
Fred sighed as Harry tried to explain. "Be more believable if you hadn't stuttered." He told the dark haired teen.
"And if you didn't have Ron with you." George added with a smirk.
"What does that matter?" Tonks asked though after hanging around with Charlie she had a pretty good idea.
"It is a well known fact that Weasley wouldn't go to bed without eating something." Snape drawled, faint amusement showing on his face for a moment as the boy's stomach proved his point.
The Weasleys burst out laughing, even Ginny was able to chuckle weakly at her brother's bottomless pit of a stomach.
"Never did get anything to eat that night." Ron grumbled good naturedly. His smile turned to a glare as Emmeline read out Snape's threat to take Harry off the Quidditch team for not telling the truth.
"Oi." Sirius called. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"One, it wasn't just Harry. Ron and Hermione were there too." Remus pointed out calmly. "Secondly, punishment should fit the crime."
"He was just worried about the upcoming Quidditch game." Charlie sneered. "Just goes to show you that Slytherins always find ways to cheat."
"Don't worry. I wasn't about to let that happen." McGonagall assured them with a gloating smirk at her colleague.
"Ahhhh good one Minnie." Sirius cheered.
"Mr. Black, I don't care how much you approve you will not call me by that vile name or I will find a way to give you detention." She hissed.
"I think you're forgetting that I'm in permanent detention." He threw back, the laughter gone from his face. Harry threw her a reproachful look for reminding his godfather about his situation, something he seemed to have forgotten in the last day or so.
Sirius turned his anger on the headmaster as the man searched the boy for wrongdoing. "Oi stop trying to make my pup feel like it's his fault.".
"And you had better not be trying to see into his mind." Remus warned, his protective instincts coming into play. He growled when Filch demanded punishment.
"Just because he's hurting doesn't mean everyone else should suffer." Bill threw out, an irritated look on his face.
"Besides." Hermione said softly with a quick glance at Ginny that everyone missed. "There was punishment of sorts."
Emmeline gave a small sigh of relief when Dumbledore announced that a potion would revive Mrs. Norris. "Well that's good." She murmured. "He can take comfort in that at least." She turned to glare at Sirius, knowing the man had rolled his eyes at her sympathy even if she hadn't seen it. She pursed her lips when she read about Lockhart offering to make the potion.
"He had the gall to say that in front of the youngest potions master in the country?" Kingsley asked in shock. For once he was thankful he didn't have school aged children. He would seriously consider removing them from Hogwarts if Lockhart were still there.
"That was a little foolish of him." Emmeline admitted.
"A little?" McGonagall snorted. "I thought Severus was going to kill him on the spot."
"Ahh why didn't you?" The twins complained.
Tonks sat up slowly as Dumbledore finally dismissed the students. "So wait," She said as her pink hair darkened. "You put them through all that, caused rumors to fly about their involvement, and then didn't bother to question them at all?"
"Or." Remus added in a loud voice. "Given them information or reassurance. Maybe if you had let them know you had things under control they wouldn't have gone out and investigated on their own."
"How do you know they did?" Neville asked curiously.
"It's Harry." Fred teased. "That's pretty much a forgone conclusion."
"Don't even try pup." Sirius advised, half stern and half playful as the kid looked on the verge of defending himself. "It'll only get you in more trouble." The teen snapped his mouth closed with a pout.
There were mixed reviews when Harry asked his friends if he should have told the adults about the voice.
"Yes," the professors chorused looking at the teen in frustration.
"No." Sirius, Bill, Charlie, and Moody said. "Don't need to give them something to make them think you're abnormal." The older man said gruffly.
"As much as I distrust the headmaster at this time I say it might have been a good idea to tell him." Remus admitted. "But just him. I shudder to think what Lockhart would have said if he'd heard."
Ron quickly shook his head at hearing that his friend was worried about his feelings on the matter. "I wasn't doubting you mate." Ron told him. "Just wondering why everything always has to happen to you."
"I've been wondering that for years Ron." The dark haired teen answered with a grin that his his godfather sighing.
Emmeline continue reading telling them about Ron remembering something about the chamber that Bill might have told him.
"There's a bit about it in Hogwarts a History. I used to read you that book to get you to sleep." Bill laughed at the look of horror on his younger brother's face.
"Ha." Hermione laughed. " So you have read the book, in a sense."
"Not voluntarily." He mumbled, glaring at this oldest brother. He winced as he laughed at Filch being a squib in the book.
"It's not funny." Molly scolded. "Just think of cousin Arnold." She reminded them causing her children to look down in shame, all laughter gone.
"I think if all my family was magical and I wasn't I'd be bitter too." Luna said in a soft voice. Harry thought of his aunt Petunia and how much she hated anything to do with magic. He wondered if she'd always been that way or if it happened after his mum had left for Hogwarts. He shrugged when in the book he cautioned his friends that they should get to bed before Snape could find something else to pin on them.
"I don't have to frame you." The man retorted. "You get into enough trouble as it is." He raised an eyebrow when the redhead went to retort. "You did find Mrs. Norris first did you not?"
"Slimy git." Ron mumbled under his breath. He sent a quick look to his sister when Emmeline told them how Filch couldn't get the words on the wall to clean off.
"Are they still there?" She asked looking up from the book.
"No." McGonagall answered. "They disappeared after the monster was killed. Though how that happened I have no idea."
"I'm just glad they're gone." Ron spoke up. "We really didn't need a reminder of what happened."
Molly gave him a sympathetic look before frowning at hearing how Filch was terrorizing the students in his grief.
"Those poor kids. Really you should have insisted he stop or take a vacation or something. He shouldn't be around students in that condition." She worried.
"Indeed, I think we should get a free pass." Fred grinned widely in anticipation.
"For every detention we unjustly served during that year we don't serve one this year." George bargained, matching his brother's grin.
McGonagall snorted. "There were no undeserved detentions for you two." She reminded them.
"Worth a try." They said to general laugher. They tightened their arms when Ron explained that his sister was so upset because she was very fond of cats.
"Not that fond." Charlie said with a quick look at his sister. He wanted to know what was causing the spunky girl such distress and yet he was terrified to know.
Harry shook his head when his friend tied to cheer Ginny up by reassuring her that the perpetrator would be caught. "I'm sure that made her feel better." He muttered
Ron winced. Telling his sister that they would catch her and expel her probably didn't help. His lips quirked at hearing about Hermione's strange behavior before giving Harry a sympathetic look when the book told of him being punished by Snape.
Remus sighed and sent a disappointed look at the potions professor. "I was really beginning to change my mind about your treatment of Harry but it seems you just can't help harassing him can you?"
Snape resisted rolling his eyes. "The brat spent the whole lesson trying to finish a history essay under his desk instead of paying attention." He sneered, more intent on exposing the brat's wrong doing than in defending himself.
Sirius scoffed. "Like he would do something like that."
"Ummm actually." Harry shrugged sheepishly.
"Harry." Remus scolded. "Why didn't you have that essay done in the first place?"
"It was Binns and completely useless." He retorted without thinking. Remus just shook his head.
"That is not an acceptable excuse Mr. Potter." McGonagall scolded. She shot a pointed look at the dog animagus.
Sirius rolled his eyes at the obvious signal for some parental words of wisdom. "Not that I blame you but try not to do them in Snape's classes." He instructed bringing a smile to his godson's face and a disgusted look from his former head of house.
He tilted his head in confusion at hearing the the Hufflepuff from the Herbology class was treating his kid like he had some horrible disease.
"Well that's a turnaround from the first day of classes." Kingsley said in astonishment.
"Knew he was a git." Charlie grumbled.
"Just wait." Ron sighed. "It gets worse." He shrugged as his own history essay was short.
"Because I wasn't stupid enough to do it in potions." He teased his friend.
"You both should have done it when it was first assigned." Molly admonished.
"What's the fun in that?" Fred asked, ducking his head against his mother's glare. He gave a little laugh at hearing that Hermione was trying to read the whole library.
"Ha ha." She scoffed with a hurt look gracing her face.
"Come on Mione, you have to admit you went a little mad there for a while." Ron pleaded not wanting the girl to be mad at him.
"Well I wanted answers." She retorted.
Tonks raised an eyebrow when Hermione complained about all the copies of Hogwarts a history being checked out. "But you have a copy don't you?" She asked. "Aren't you always quoting stuff out of it?"
"I think the more important question is why are so many people interested in it all of the sudden? Charlie pointed out, curious why anyone would want to read such a dry book, barring the bookworms of course.
"Someone must have spread the word that it contained information about the chamber." Bill realized.
"Urgh now how are you supposed to find out?" Tonks asked in disappointment.
"Oh don't worry. She finds a better source." Ron smirked bringing a smile to his friend's face and catching the interest of the surrounding adults.
Emmeline continued reading as the girl told her friends why she wanted the book before raising an eyebrow at hearing the two boys had had ten days to complete their history essays.
At this the two professors, Molly and Remus turned to look at the two boys.
"It was a very busy time." Harry hurried to say. "Lots of Quidditch practice."
"And the death day party." Ron added. "The chamber being opened was a big distraction."
"Or you were just being lazy and didn't want to do it." Bill finished. He listened as the book described the history class and the uniqueness of Binns, sitting forward again at the mention of something interrupting the boring lesson.
"Should we be worried?" Sirius asked in resignation.
"The only threat was from shock, that a history class taught by Binns could actually be interesting." Harry smirked.
Fred looked confused when the thing turned out to be Hermione putting up her hand. "But you do that in every class." He pointed out. He hated being in the dark, especially when you consider he had been in the school when all of this had happened.
"Multiple times." Snape assured them.
"Something tells me that Binns has never been interrupted before." Remus injected dryly.
"Do you think he'll notice?" Sirius asked with a laugh.
"Can I just point out how sad it is that a teacher is amazed when a student shows an interest in his class." Emmeline pointed out after the next paragraph.
Kingsley sighed. "Binns is one thing that we can and will be changing once we're done." He looked interested when the teen asked about the chamber.
"Hmmm smart, not only is he likely to tell you," Fred grinned.
"But he probably won't remember telling you after the fact." George added with a smirk.
Bill looked incense that Binns insisted that history was about facts and not myths. "One of the best parts of history is the legends." He protested.
"Most myths have some basis in fact." Sirius said at the same time. They grinned at each other.
Charlie laughed when Hermione interrupted the professor for a second time. "I would have loved to have been in that class."
"She's very persistent when she wants information." Neville told them, a scared look on his face before he burst out laughing.
"Others would call it stubborn." Arthur gave her a fond smile.
"No just very worried." Harry said giving her hand a squeeze. He smiled in triumphant as the professor gave in.
"I can't believe you actually got him to interrupt his lesson." Snape tried not to appear as impressed as he was.
"They seem to be able to do the impossible." Kingsley agreed.
Emmeline nodded in agreement as she picked up from where she'd left off, giving them a brief history of Hogwarts and its founders.
"But that's to be expected." Kingsley protested as she told of the disagreements. "A group of people, no matter how close, will always fight to a certain extent. Even the marauders." He added as an example.
"Families, friends, no one can live a completely conflict free life." Arthur added reminding his sons of all their fights.
Emmeline frowned as she read about Slytherin wanting to refuse certain students. "And the pureblood supremacy starts."
Sirius scoffed. "Of course Slytherin started it, long line of prejudiced gits." He snarled thinking of his family.
"It's kind of understandable." Hermione started. "When you look at the time period they were in. Muggles were treating wizards really bad."
"I'm completely against Dudley ever coming to Hogwarts after the way he's treated me." Harry mused. "So yeah I can understand it a little."
"And it doesn't say what the arguments were on either side so we really can't say one way or another what happened." She finished leaving most of the room looking thoughtful.
"He must have been really devoted to his cause, or really hurt by what the others said to have left his home." Luna said sadly.
Snape had a brief flash about how he would feel if he were forced to leave the school. "He put a lot of himself into the castle and to just leave like that…" He sighed shaking his head.
Neville choked on a laugh while everyone looked at the dark haired teen in amusement as the sudden comparison of Binns to a tortoise.
He merely shrugged as the professor went on to say that Slytherin had supposedly built a secret chamber that the others didn't know about.
"I don't blame him." Moody offered. "Never give up all of your secrets."
"And I'm sure he wasn't the only one that had secrets in the castle." Remus said in an attempt to be fair.
"There has always been a rumor of Rowena Ravenclaw having a secret library." Emmeline admitted.
"Yes but that library probably didn't have a monster in it." Molly protested.
"No but who's to say it's not full of books on the darkest magic." Moody pointed out, effectively shutting everyone up. He coked his head in interest hearing at only the heir would be able to open the chamber and let out the horror within.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm sure the horror within part was probably added to spice up the legend. Bits like that tend to get added over the years."
Harry nodded. "Now that I think about it the 'monster' was probably a pet to Slytherin."
"Some pet." Ron snorted.
"Pet?" Remus mumbled looking thoughtful.
"I really don't like how well acquainted you seem with this monster." Sirius groaned. The kid talked about it almost like it was his own pet.
Hermione was mulling over her friend's words. "It could have been a defense mechanism." She realized. "If he was really worried about being attacked."
"Then why didn't he get rid of it or at least tell the others when he left." Ron asked with an aggravated look. "Would have saved us a lot of trouble."
"No doubt he was too angry and hurt at the time and later didn't know how to inform them." The bushy haired girl shrugged.
Emmeline looked thoughtful as she continued, telling the others that the chamber had been searched for many times without being found.
"Well if one of the founders hid it so that only his heir could find it I highly doubt it would be easy." Moody said in exasperation.
Ron started to smirk before Harry threw him a warning look. He didn't need Sirius to go all protective just yet. He sighed when in the book Hermione asked about what was in the chamber.
"You just had to ask that didn't you?" Bill asked while Sirius loudly groaned.
"I wanted to know all the details. Don't you?" She questioned.
Remus sighed. "I think we're going to end up knowing more than I want to know."
Luna had a rare frown on her face as Binns dismissed the existence of the chamber and its monster. "Just because he hasn't seen it does not mean it doesn't exist."
"But it's hard to believe in the abstract for some people." Emmeline admitted. "I much prefer it if I could see proof."
"Bookworms have no imagination." Charlie scoffed.
"That's a very general statement." Neville spoke up. "Look at Luna. She's in Ravenclaw and has the best imagination I've ever seen."
Charlie shrugged though he grinned at the teen, happy to see him interacting more. "Ah there's exceptions to every rule."
"Amazingly the Lions are making good arguments for once." Snape sneered as the trio's year mates brought up some very good points about why the chamber hadn't been found.
"What Dean's saying is true. Even if Dumbledore had found the chamber he wouldn't have been able to get in." Harry said.
"Why do I feel like you're saying you can?" Sirius groaned as he eyed the teen out of the corner of his eye. In the book Binns went on a rant before forcibly bringing the class back to task.
"And the fun's over." Neville grinned before pretending to fall asleep. His year mates burst into laughter while Fred and George studied him with a contemplative stare.
Hearing Emmeline read about Ron going on a rant about Slytherin and declaring he'd rather be kicked out than be a snake had Sirius glared at the cringing redhead. His pup had already shown that he had developed a complex concerning that issue. He didn't need his best friend reinforcing it.
"Sorry mate." Ron said in a low voice.
"Don't mind him Harry." Fred called to the dark haired teen. " He's just talking off the top of his head."
"Like always." George butted in. "We think it would've been wicked if you were in Slytherin."
"Aside from giving Snape a heart attack."
"And permanent indigestion."
"The snakes are hiding some true beauties in their mist."
"The Greengrass sisters." They agreed together. "Course there's Malfoy, but you can't have everything." Fred added.
"If you're done." Snape drawled in exasperation, most of his ire displaced by the small smile he could see gracing the brat's face. Though why he should care if the kid was unhappy was beyond him.
"You really should have told us Harry." Hermione scolded.
He shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal." He said before grinning sheepishly as Sirius elbowed him lightly.
"It certainly is a big deal if you were worrying about it almost a full year later." She huffed. Her frown deepened when Colin tried to tell Harry what people had been saying about him.
"What were people saying?" Kingsley asked in some trepidation.
"Nothing good." Neville answered making a face.
"Either the hero or the villain." Harry recited in a bitter voice. "There's never a middle ground with me. In this case I'm Slytherin's heir."
"Oh come on." Sirius snarled. "All they're basing it off of is the fact that you were first on scene. But Ron and Hermione were there too, I bet no ones saying that about them."
"They don't have the history Potter has." Moody pointed out helpfully, earning growls from the marauders.
Tonks frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked looking at her mentor.
"Honestly you three. " Molly groaned. She sent a chastising look at the teens as they ended up at the scene of the attack.
"What? We were walking, we didn't purposely head there." Ron protested, a slight pout gracing his face.
"But once we were, there was no harm in it." Harry spoke up.
Bill closed his eyes. "No harm in what?" He asked warily. He shook his head when the dark haired boy began investigating the ground under the words on the wall.
Sirius tugged gently on the messy hair. "And what if the monster had shown up? Or the one controlling him?" He asked sternly. "Why can't you just leave things alone for once?"
"It was the middle of the day." Tonks pointed out helpfully. "I doubt they were in that much danger. "
"It is still unacceptable." McGonagall said furiously. "Mr. Potter you will do well to remember that you are a child and a student and it is not your responsibility. Any of it."
Harry had shrank back at her tirade and now he looked helplessly at his godfather. The older man snorted. "I agree with her."
Charlie sat up with a thoughtful look on his face as Hermione found the spiders fleeing the scene. "That's unusual behavior for spiders." He mused.
Remus nodded. "And they're still acting like that almost twenty four after the event…" He trailed off.
Bill sent a sympathetic look to his youngest brother before turning to glare at the twins.
"Is your fear so bad that you can't even look at them?" Emmeline asked in surprise a moment later.
"It was." The blushing redhead admitted. "It's different now though." He said with a shudder that caught everyone's' attention.
"That's not really funny." Neville frowned at Hermione when she giggled at Ron's fear.
She looked down in shame. "I know, especially now. But at the time it was hard to imagine him being afraid of something as small as a spider, especially after he had sacrificed himself in the chess match."
"Really?" Ron asked in disbelief, happiness welling inside of him. He grinned when a good majority of the adults turned to glare at Fred after hearing a recitation of the cause of his fear.
"I was five and it was accidental magic." Fred defended himself. "I was angry that he broke my toy and it just happened. I didn't consciously do it."
"No but you weren't sorry that you did either." Ron retorted.
Moody looked up interested when the reading continued and Harry mentioned the water that had been on the floor at the time of the attack.
"Good." He muttered as Ron pointed out the door it must have come from. He leaned forward when the kid went to go through the door only to jerk back.
Harry couldn't help chuckling. "He really had me worried there, the look on his face."
"Was it the monster?" Molly asked fearfully causing eyes to widen.
"No." Ron grumbled, shooting his friend a look.
Arthur sighed shooting the dark haired teen a reproving look for worrying them for no reason. "That wasn't very nice." He said causing Harry to flush slightly.
"What is it with you three and girl's bathrooms?" Bill asked with a chuckle. "First the troll and now this?"
"They can be very useful." Hermione said with a mysterious smile.
Tonks shrugged at hearing that it was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "But she's always flooding the bathroom." She pointed out. "What's so special about that? Her eyes widened as the bathrooms current state was read out.
"Huh, I don't think a ghost can do that much damage. No matter how hard she tried." Kingsley pointed out unnecessarily.
"Something else has been in that bathroom." Remus realized in horror.
"Which should be a clue to get out of there." Sirius cried. Feeling his distress Harry moved over so that he was once again leaning against the older man, letting him know he was okay.
"That was the same bathroom that Hermione had gone to cry in." Ron informed them. "The one the troll found her in."
"I figured Myrtle would keep everyone else away so I could have privacy." The girl said.
Bill shook his head. "That bathroom is cursed."
Tonks moaned as Harry motioned for Hermione to ask the important questions. "Ugh it would have been better if you had just asked her directly.".
"Myrtle is very sensitive." Emmeline added as she continued to read. She took them through Myrtle's reaction to the whispering, telling them how miserable the ghost was.
"If she was so miserable why'd she come back as a ghost?" Bill asked with a roll of his eyes.
George thought about laughing at the sucidial ghost before realizing that the subject wasn't one that should be taken lightly, especially with the present group. He did laugh when his tactless little brother pointed out that she was already dead.
Tonks wrinkled her nose as Myrtle flew down to the u-bend of the plumbing. "My favorite place to hang out." She muttered sarcastically as she wrinkled her nose. Just the thought of everything that went through that particular pipe caused her stomach to revolt.
Emmeline continued as the three students exited the bathroom only to be caught by Percy.
"Come on guys." Charlie admonished, seeing the looks on his brothers' faces. "He really does have the right of it in this instance. If I'd caught Ron coming out of a girl's loo I might take him to the infirmary to make sure he's alright." He finished with a laugh.
"Oi, what about us?" Fred demanded. "Wouldn't you be concerned about us too?"
"No." Charlie answered. "I'd start checking for anything that could be exploded instead."
George thought about it for a second. "Can't fault you there." He agreed. He did frown as he listened to Percy scolding the three, making statements that make it appear as if he believed they had petrified the cat and even bringing Ginny into it.
Things were quiet as the the three students made their way angrily back to the common room and attempted to study.
Sirius groaned when Hermione gave it up as a lost cause. "Oh no, this can't be good." Hermione winced in agreement as she glanced apprehensively at her potions professor.
Neville laughed. "End of the world, Hermione not doing her homework." He nodded when Ron mentioned Malfoy as being the best candidate for being the heir.
"He really didn't help himself with his attitude." Snape agreed, an almost sad look on his face before he turned to glare at the trio. "That however does not give you leave to attack him."
"We didn't." Harry answered.
"Not him anyway." Ron muttered under his breath.
Arthur snarled when Lucius Malfoy was mentioned. "That bastard is the definition of pure evil." Arthur snarled. "Only Voldemort himself being worse." Neville privately disagreed thinking Bellatrix was just as evil.
Remus gave a large sigh when Harry asked how they could prove the Malfoys were involved. "You don't. You leave it for the adults." He shook his head when Hermione mentioned a plan would would break a lot of rules not to mention being dangerous.
"Ms. Granger." McGonagall said shocked. "Just what are you planning?" She demanded as the young witch sank down in her seat.
"From the looks of it nothing good." Bill chuckled as he eyed the usually strait laced girl. He whistled when she explained the plan in the book.
There was a deafening silence. "Where are you going to get Polyjuice?" Sirius asked finally. He didn't know whether to be shocked, horrified, or proud. He couldn't help the little laugh that escaped as he felt the lounging teen tense and cross his arms over his ribs to protect them from prying fingers.
"I think they're going to make it." Bill answered, awe in his voice.
"But it's a sixth year potion." Emmeline felt the need to point out.
"Which means it would be incredibly dangerous to attempt." McGonagall ground out. Hermione paled as she looked from her to the head of Slytherin house. The man looked furious, his fingers digging into the arms of his chair, the thin lips clamped tight over gritted teach.
"If it didn't involve brewing a dangerous potion against the rules it would be a good plan." Remus admitted while keeping an eye on his former colleague. He wouldn't allow the kids to be attacked no matter how much they might deserve it. Honestly even the marauders hadn't been so bold as to risk their life on a potion that was far too advanced for them. Well at least he hadn't he amended as the animagus potion popped into his head.
Neville made a face at the thought of being stuck as slytherins forever. "That would be horrible."
"Only one of the possible consequences you could have faced." Snape said finally, his words a low hiss. "Though it would be a fitting punishment I suppose."
"And how exactly did you get your hands on the recipe if the book is in the restricted section.?" McGonagall demanded.
"We had permission." Harry assured her in a low but somewhat amused voice. He could feel the lack of tension in his godfather and so felt safe about the others finding out about the potion.
Remus groaned. "Of course. Lockhart." He added at everyone's confused looks. There was a chorus of groans around the room.
"I'll look forward to seeing if you actually brew it." Snape said, his voice menacing. "And finding out exactly where you got the ingredients from." He added causing all three to gulp nervously.
"Now Severus, you can't issue detention for this." Dumbledore reminded him.
"Who said anything about detention?"
