Transfiguration and chess

The next day Harry quickly told Susan, Hermione and Neville what had happened in the hospital wing. They were all shocked to hear about Tracey, and although Susan tried to tease him at first when she learned that the Slytherin girl had tried to bring him flowers she quickly stopped when Harry told her about how she entered the hospital. Which was a good thing, since Harry already felt a bit guilty about it. He knew that it was not his fault in any way, just like he told Daphne it was not her fault. But he could not stop feeling a little guilty anyway.

The news about the attack on Tracey had spread through the school by Monday morning, and suddenly the air was full of rumour and suspicion. Most people had simply shrugged when they heard about Mrs. Norris, but now that another student had been attacked there was an unmistakable air of excitement and panic. The first years only walked around in large groups, and even the older students barely were seen on their own anymore. Among all those rumours there was a lot of surprise that the first victim of the monster was actually a Slytherin. Apparently most of the students had deciphered the writings on the wall far enough to learn about Slytherins chamber of secrets and the monster that was supposedly hidden inside it. Or at least had heard other people talking about it. Still, many of them thought that something else was going on now, and especially the Slytherin students looked around with suspicion in their eyes. Although Harry needed to control himself when he overheard Draco Malfoy explaining to his friends Crabbe and Goyle that a halfblood like Tracey was hardly good enough for their house anyway. It was so tempting to try a few of the more combat oriented hexes and charms that they had learned during the DA sessions on the blond Slytherin at that time. But Susan was smart enough to pull him away while she herself was furiously muttering insults towards Malfoy. It was a good thing that Hermione had missed the comment, she and Tracey had gotten rather close during first year.

It was three days after the attack that Daphne first joined them in the library. She drifted over to them from a small group of Slytherins and joined the four of them at one of the more out of the way tables in the library. Quite hesitantly she asked: 'Are you sure that it is okay if I join?'

'Sure.' Harry smiled, 'We were just working on our transfiguration homework.'

'Oh, right.' She grimaced, 'I tried to start that yesterday. But I did not really get into it. I mean, I can do the spell… but the theoretical part has me baffled.'

'Same here.' Susan agreed, 'No clue why it matters anyway, as long as we know how to do the spell.'

'But theoretical understanding is very important as well.' Hermione protested, the other three all grinned at each other while Hermione started her usual 'theory is good' lecture. Daphne just looked surprised at Hermione's passionate reply. Eventually she shook her head and simply replied: 'Now I get why you and Tracey got along so well. She would totally agree with you, while I am tempted to agree with Susan. Still, I guess we will have to work it out for our homework anyway.'

They all agreed and soon enough the five of them were all browsing through thick transfiguration text books, debating everything they found. Of course Hermione was the leading voice and the one who first understood the whole mess of formulas and texts, but the others all had their own input in the discussion.

As soon as they were finished with transfiguration Hermione looked on her watch and said: 'Only an hour to curfew, I guess we might as well save charms for tomorrow night.'

'Thank Merlin.' Daphne muttered before she said: 'Can I join you again tomorrow? I had fun tonight.'

The four looked at each other until Neville replied: 'Sure I guess. Normally we do charms homework in the Gryffindor common room since we do not need that many books. But I am fine with heading to the library again.'

'Same here.' Susan agreed, 'The common room is too crowded now that nobody dares to go out anyway.'

With a huge sigh Daphne said: 'I can see that. Our common room was hell yesterday. Everybody kept talking about what happened and why they were sure that none of them would be attacked. They kept talking about Tracey like she was some kind of object that nobody really cared about… I fled to my dormitory after thirty minutes or so.'

'I was wondering…' Neville slowly replied, 'Do you know how many people knew that Tracey was going out alone?'

Daphne shrugged: 'As far as I know I was the only one who knew that she was planning something. And she did not even tell me when she was going, so I am quite sure she told nobody else about it. But I guess every Slytherin could have noticed her sneaking out of the common room.'

Hermione slapped a hand to her forehead: 'I am so stupid!' They all looked around to see if madam Pince was coming to investigate Hermione's sudden outburst. But soon they turned back to Hermione in wonder. She explained: 'I kept thinking of ways to infiltrate the Slytherin common room so we could ask Malfoy some questions. I was thinking about invisibility spells and polyjuice and things like that, I should simply have asked Daphne and Tracey instead.'

'Malfoy?' Daphne wondered, 'Why him?'

'Basically because how he reacted when Mrs. Norris was found. And because he had a reason to be angry the night after the match.' Harry replied. Then he shrugged helplessly: 'We know he is a bit too obvious a candidate, but we figured it was worth looking into.'

Daphne shrugged: 'I admit that Tracey and I usually tried to ignore Malfoy-'

'Quite understandable.' Susan interrupted dryly, but Daphne simply continued: 'But I can hardly see him being the heir of Slytherin and not bragging about it. I could try and keep an eye on him I guess…' She nodded to Harry, 'Although with all the detentions that your mother gave him after the match I do not think we will see much of him in the common room.'

Hermione frowned: 'What about earlier in the year? Did he act suspicious somehow?'

Daphne snorted: 'He is a Slytherin, of course he acted suspicious. But as I said, we never paid that much attention to him.'

They all nodded, although none of them really understood the inner workings of Slytherin house. Eventually Harry said: 'Well, if you could try and keep an eye on him that would be great. So far he is our only suspect.'

Daphne frowned at that, but eventually she said: 'I guess it won't hurt. But I do not think Malfoy will be involved, he is too well-known.'

'Yeah, we thought the same.' Hermione admitted, 'In fact, I have the feeling that if it is actually the chamber of secrets it should be one of the first years who opens it. After all, other students could have opened the chamber in earlier years. But I have no clue which first years would be likely candidates. They all seem normal enough.'

Daphne smiled: 'A while ago I worked with a Ravenclaw first year in the DA. I do not want to imply that she has anything to do with it, but I would not call her normal… I forgot her name, something with an L I think…'

'Luna Lovegood.' Harry replied with a grin. He had also worked with the odd Ravenclaw a few times and had really enjoyed himself. 'We noticed her as well, but according to Ginny Weasley she was always a bit odd. And my mother said that her family is a bit extraordinary.'

'Ah.' Daphne nodded, 'Well, other than that I do not have a clue. I'll ask Astoria though. Maybe she has some ideas.'

'Sounds good.' Harry agreed, 'How does she like Hogwarts anyway?'

Daphne smiled and started a long description about Astoria's Hogwarts adventures. Apparently she was scared of the monster but very enthusiastic about the DA. Eventually they had to leave the library though, curfew was getting too close and they first had to walk to the Slytherin common room with Daphne before the four of them could go back to their own room.

— Six weeks later —

Strangely enough life at Hogwarts was almost back to normal by now. Although Snape had been unable to acquire any mandrake, so Tracey was still in the hospital wing as a visible reminder that something was amiss. But Daphne was her only regular visitor, although Harry and the others had accompanied her a few times. The blond Slytherin girl had proven herself to be a good friend. And it was nice to have a different perspective in the group, Harry had noted that the four of them tended to use some of the Gryffindor prejudices. Still, even with Daphne's help they still had no idea about who might be behind the attacks. They were watching the marauders map as often as they could, but they had not learned anything useful from it. Although Susan dryly commented that Parvati would kill for such a useful gossiping tool. It was amazing how busy the Hogwarts broom cupboards were. However, it did not really bother them.

They just hoped that Remus and James would finish their even more improved marauders map soon. They were trying to add a recording function to it, but after more than a month of trial and error their progress was still close to none. They had actually approached the Weasley twins to help them out. Quite a few eyebrows were raised when the two redheads were found behind large piles of books in the library. They had been a bit more studious this year, but this was way out of their normal behaviour.

Although most people tried to ignore the statue-like Slytherin second year in the hospital wing it was clear to see that tensions were running high. Only yesterday Harry and Neville had needed to interfere in a duel at the DA, something that had never happened before. But Ron Weasley and Justin Finch-Fletchley had been using way to cruel hexes against each other. When Neville asked what their problem was both had looked away uneasily. Harry somewhat wondered where Justin had learned his spells, as far as he knew Justin was a muggleborn after all. He had copied down the names and movements though. None of them seemed really useful in a fight, they were more humiliating in nature, but you never knew when they would come in handy.

It was a good thing that today's herbology lesson had been cancelled. Professor Sprout had to fit socks and scarves to the mandrakes. Only Neville was with her right now, he had asked permission to watch and professor Sprout had been more than happy to have one of her best students with her. They shared the class with the Hufflepuffs, and everybody thought it was a good idea for Ron and Justin to avoid each other until after the Christmas break which would start tomorrow anyway.

Harry was using the unexpected break to play a match of wizards chess against Susan. He had made a few mistakes at the start though, and now he was losing spectacularly. It was a good thing that Hermione was too engrossed in her book to notice, she was curled up in one of the comfortable chairs near the fireplace in the common room and was pretty much blind to the world right now. Harry, on the other hand, was more than happy when a distraction walked through the portrait hole. 'Hey Ron, where have you been?'

Ron studied the chess board for a few seconds before he replied: 'Oh, I tried to find Justin.'

'What for?' Susan wondered while moving a pawn forward. Harry almost missed Rons reply because he tried to work out what her plan was. But he paid just enough attention to see the redhead shrug before he replied: 'I figured I should say sorry to him. Yesterday was…. Well, maybe not all my fault, but not all his fault either. And well, normally I get along quite well with the Puffs, so I thought I should talk with him before the break.'

'Nice of you.' Susan smiled while Harry moved his knight. He just hoped the smile had nothing to do with his move, 'What did he say?'

Harry groaned when Susans bishop mercilessly took his tower. Ron chuckled softly before he said: 'Nothing, I could not find him. There were some Puffs in the library, but they had no idea where he was. I'll try again at dinner I guess.'

'Good idea.' Harry replied, 'Feel like giving me some advice in the meantime? I am getting slaughtered.'

'That is unfair!' Susan protested, 'Don't you dare to help him Ron.'

Ron raised his hands in defence and grinned: 'Sorry mate, you are on your own here.'

'Coward.' Harry grumbled before moving his queen forward to take one of Susans pawns. 'Ah well, at least I will lose in style then.'

However, his defeat was delayed when Neville practically ran through the portrait hole. He skipped to a stop just in front of them and gasped: 'There was another attack!'

'What? Who?' All four of them shouted in surprise. Even Hermione had noticed Neville's approach. Neville replied: 'Justin and Nearly Headless Nick! Both petrified! Professor Sprout and I found them on our way to here. She sent some odd silvery creatures away and suddenly professors Dumbledore and McGonagall showed up. The two of them brought Justin and Nick to the hospital wing while professor Sprout escorted me to here.' He looked thoughtful for a few seconds before he added: 'Professor McGonagall created a huge magical fan to blow Nick forward, it looked odd.'

'Wait… Nick was petrified?' Hermione asked. Neville nodded: 'Yes, although he was still floating somehow. But he was all black and smoky.'

Hermione frowned: 'What can harm a ghost? At least that makes sure there is a monster involved though, I do not think there are any spells that can transfigure a ghost like that.'

Ron looked very white when he whispered: 'And I thought the monster was gone. Blimey! I was walking around the hallways on my own, that could have been me?'

They all nodded and agreed with Ron, but Harry was sure that he was not the only one who noticed that Ron had been walking around on his own while Mrs. Norris was attacked as well. And to make things worse, this time the victim just had been in a fight with Ron as well. A few seconds later Ron said: 'I am going to see if Ginny is alright, see you later.'

It was just in time, because suddenly Harry's mirror heated up. He quickly looked around and saw that the common room was deserted, so he pulled his mirror necklace out of his shirt and engorged the mirror. His mothers face showed up and she immediately asked: 'Harry, are you and the others alright?'

'Yes mum.' Harry quickly replied, 'We are in the common room at the moment. Herbology was canceled.'

She nodded in reply: 'I noticed, as you know I was watching the map… But I just wanted to know.'

'Did you see what happened?' Harry hurriedly asked.

Lily shook her head: 'Not really, I noticed that Justin and Nick were standing in that corridor for a while. But I figured they were talking. I know quite sure that no one else joined them until Neville and Pomona found them, so I can only guess that someone sent the monster towards them. I am going to borrow Albus' pensieve later and see what I can find out. Anyway, I have to go talk with the other teachers now. Stay safe! I will contact you again tonight.'

Harry nodded but before he could say anything his mothers face returned. He looked at the others and asked: 'Could you all hear her?'

Hermione and Susan nodded in reply, and Neville said: 'Let's hope the pensieve will work out.'

The others could only agree to that. But later that night they were disappointed. During dinner Daphne walked past them to tell that Malfoy had missed his history class, which was at the same time as their own herbology class. And although Malfoy seemed to miss history on a regular basis they all suddenly were sure that Lily would name Malfoy as the likely subject.

She did not though. Or at least, Malfoy was only one out of eight names who had been close enough to the duo. Not surprisingly Ron Weasley was one of the others. Another name that Harry recognized was that of Luna Lovegood. The first year Ravenclaws had also enjoyed a free period since their flying class was cancelled due to the blizzard outside, and she had been wandering around the hallways. The other five were all fifth and sixth years, of them he only knew Elisa Baker. The girl that had decided not to compete against him during the quidditch try-outs. He simply nodded when Hermione explained how they should check if those eight people had alibi's for the first two attacks. But he was afraid it would not be that easy, after all they were still not sure if Malfoy had been at the Halloween feast. Still, he guessed it was better than doing nothing.

A/N: And another one done. I am going to be happy when second year is done, it is a tough one to write about. Too much things going on when you do not want to spend thirty chapters on the year.

Reviews:

Naruhinafan86: Yeah, I noticed the scarhead just before seeing your review, but it seems I was just to slow to edit it;) And no, Harry got a Nimbus 2000 in my story. James went shopping a bit too early.

Happylady, Mwinter1, Blue Luver5000, PurpleBullet, Rori Potter, Ruby2360: Thanks!

Readr4evr: First there is third year I guess, which will offer me a lot of freedom since the main plot line of canon is not going to happen this time.

Acacia Rose Masen: I think that Harry's regular visits to the hospital wing after quidditch are a law of nature, not something that can be changed so easily;) It did not really make sense to me to have Colin trying to visit Harry at night after not mentioning him at all so far.

Teufel1987: Tracey is a half-blood though, so maybe she buys her flowers in the muggle world. I was more worried about how she would get them into Hogwarts, but I guess she also has a house elf or so.

Lily's family descending from some old parselmouth squib is still an option. Although I guess it will be almost impossible to prove it in a logical way… After all, I think most 'normal' families can trace their ancestry for five or six generations easily enough. But Slytherin lived a thousand years or around forty generations ago… Let alone Herpo the foul;)

Mikalik87: I pretty much based it on what happened in the last movie with the wards of Hogwarts. And anyway, how many people really survived a direct fight with Voldemort?

Snakefang93: Hmm, good point about the prophecy. I guess it does not really make sense for him to wait until fifth year.

MAFITA: Yeah, I am not really in the 'Draco is nice' camp;)

And good to know that you are still wondering about the diary.