Greetings. Storm here, nice to see you again. We're here, hopefully back on schedule, to bring you another chapter of fun. And mirrors.

I own, ah what was it again? Yeah nothing.

Chapter 37: More Than Meets the Eye

Zacharias's POV

The way they tended to frequent the library like they did was beginning to make Zacharias feel like something of a scholar. He supposed that some within their group could qualify, but he was nearly positive that the Weasley twins especially would never have dared to frequent the library as much as they did to preserve their image at least if not for their strange fixation on Alexandrite and the rest of her associates.

Now that they had completed that prank and seemed to have satisfied that urge for the present, everyone's attention had once more turned to the Chamber of Secrets, since they couldn't seem to resist poking their noses into the matter. Because of course Zacharias had managed to find a group of bleeding hearts with hero complex's larger than he had thought possible and worse yet he had become attached. Really, he'd brought this trouble on himself.

"Well, generally when starting a Hunt you try to figure out what it is you are hunting. It's not just whatever's in the Chamber- it's whoever the Heir is, too. So, who could it be? Any ideas?" Alexandrite asked, flipping through her charms notes. Zacharias supposed her urge to save everyone had been nurtured to the point that she couldn't ignore it anymore, since she was a Hunter-in-training. She was used to this sort of thing, unlike the others, so her first instinct being to go Hunt the danger wasn't anything unexpected, only slightly annoying and more than anything anxiety-inducing. He was quickly becoming resigned to many sleepless, stress-filled nights in his future.

The group was silent for a moment. It was Michelangelo who first offered an opinion, "Well, it's the Heir of Slytherin, right, after muggleborns and all? So, wouldn't the Heir be, in, well, Slytherin?"

"A logical conclusion, if not necessarily accurate." Luna commented, "The young do not always follow the path that those that came before traveled. The snake might wear another face, you know, but if it shows it's true colors the others will not give it away to outsiders. They've grown quite distrustful and isolated in recent years to protect themselves, haven't they?"

The vast majority of the group looked at the young Ravenclaw quizzically at that, not fully comprehending what she meant, or at least what it had to do with finding the Heir.

Trust Michelangelo to follow his Ravenclaw's odd way of phrasing things, "I guess you're right, it'll be hardest to find out anything from the Slytherins if the Heir is one since we can keep a better eye on our own Houses. So then I guess we'll need to figure out how we're going to check that House."

There was silence as everyone considered this.

"Well, there might be a way…" said Hermione carefully, biting her lip, "But it'll be dangerous, and we'll be breaking dozens of rules, I'd expect. However, this is quite important, and there might not be any other way."

Zacharias didn't stand for beating around the bush very well in the best of times, and as soon as he was tired of it he said, "Spit it out, Granger."

"There's a potion that would allow us to take on the appearance of a few Slytherins. That way we can get them to talk to us about the Heir, if they are in Slytherin." Hermione said. "It's called the Polyjuice potion, and it's in a book in the Restricted Section."

Zacharias gave her a very flat look. Honestly he'd never expected such idiocy to come out of her mouth.

"Do you even begin to realize all of the things wrong with that plan?" the Hufflepuff asked, sighing at her blank look, "I thought not. Assuming you can brew the potion correctly- since the potion you are talking about is a difficult one by all accounts and it is highly unlikely you will not make a mistake that will end terribly for all of us- you do realize we will have to convincingly act like students we barely know, and ensure that they are out of the picture while we do this since having two of the same person in the room would be a dead giveaway? Once we get caught- because we will- we'll likely not only be expelled but arrested, especially if we impersonate any heirs of noble houses which we will have to do if we want our questions answered as heirs have more political power and power is everything in Slytherin. Besides, with our luck we'd end up impersonating the Heir of Slytherin, and it would look quite odd if we were asking questions about ourselves."

Hermione appeared to see reason, but she still had more to say, "But… how else are we going to figure it out, if not like that?"

Zacharias rolled his eyes. Amateurs. "I've got it covered. Neville, you're coming with me." He paused, then continued, "Fred, George. I need your people tracking skills. The rest of you, carry on with what you are doing."

Everyone exchanged dubious glances, but Neville, Fred, and George fell in step behind him when he began at a brisk pace out of the Library.

"We're going to ask Blaise and Draco about it, aren't we?" Neville asked as soon as they were well out of Alexandrite's earshot.

"Obviously. Your particular facial expressions might be necessary. However- Fred, George, lead the way." Zacharias said, motioning the twins forward. They looked at each other and shrugged in unison.

George pulled something from his bag, Fred stepping closer to obscure it from the sights of the second years as he said, "Give us a moment."

With that George whispered something under his breath. A few seconds, before another whispered phrase and the object was shoved back in the bag and Fred stepped aside. Zacharias raised an eyebrow but saved his comments for later.

Fred and George led them quickly to their destination, which turned out to be a mostly empty corridor nearby where the attack on the cat had happened.

Draco appeared to be attempting to position a mirror high on the wall using a chair and some books to increase his height as the Extra's voice called, "A little to the right- no, not that far! Back a little, and down… A little more. There! Don't move it."

Zacharias found himself giving Draco- who hasn't yet noticed them- a very dry, unimpressed look, "I can scarcely believe you are allowing the Extra to order you around like this, Malfoy."

Draco jumped in surprise, dropping the mirror and nearly tumbling down from the chair he'd stood upon. He huffed in annoyance, lowering himself from the chair to reclaim the now-shattered mirror, fixed with a quick reparo by George.

"I thought I told you not to move it!" the Extra cried from further down the corridor. "Oh, what are they doing here?"

Strangely, he hadn't looked their way. It took a moment to see the glint of reflected light that showed Zacharias where another mirror was. The Hufflepuff exchanged a mystified look with Neville. What was with the mirrors?

"I'd like to know that as well. So what are you doing here, Smith?" Draco asked, carefully placing his mirror on the chair. Blaise chose that moment to join the group, glancing between each of them as if trying to deduce what they wanted.

Zacharias sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "We're in the process of gathering information on the Chamber of Secrets. As the only two Slytherins that will even talk to us, I was wondering if perhaps you knew anything about the Heir and their identity? Or even the Chamber in general."

A look of shock, then frustration crossed Draco's face, "Don't tell me- you aren't getting involved. Merlin, do none of you have the slightest bit of caution? This isn't a game, you'll all get killed! You have to stay out of this, all of you."

"We know that." Neville replied soothingly, "But we can't just sit back and watch. Both Hermione and Michelangelo are in danger if the Heir really is going to target muggleborns, besides the fact that if there's anything we can do to help we will. That's just our way. I'm sorry that it worries you, but you know we don't really have much of a choice."

Zacharias shook his head, muttering under his breath, "Because you're all a bunch of bleeding hearts with no sense of self preservation. Why am I the only one with sense?"

The Extra began to giggle at him, attempting to hide it when Zacharias sent a glare his way. He had to remember that the boy seemed to have uncanny hearing if nothing else.

"This-" Draco stopped, sighing in a defeated manner, "Alright, fine. If you all insist, who am I to stop you. Talk to Blaise."

With that he stomped down the corridor, leaving the Extra with the other four. Zacharias looked at his fingernails, uninterested in Draco's tantrum.

"So, assuming you have anything useful, what are you going to want in return?" Zacharias asked the Extra nonchalantly, "That's how these things generally work, yes?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll just settle with a future favor, I guess, if that works for you." the Extra replied, slightly uncomfortable but attempting to act as nonchalant as Zacharias. A valiant effort, if wasted. There was only so much you could do to mask that level of natural awkwardness. Zacharias had only been fooled all of two seconds upon actually paying attention to the Extra.

After all, he just wasn't that important to the plot.

Neville was the one to nod, "We're fine with that. No objections, right, Fred, George? Zacharias?"

The twins exchanged one of those telepathic communication looks, before shrugging as if they didn't care either way. Which they probably didn't, seeing as they hadn't had much to do with either Slytherin, Extra or otherwise.

"It is the standard, I believe." Zacharias commented, "As long as we learn something at least somewhat useful."

The Extra pulled a scrap of parchment out of his bag, followed by a self-inking quill. He quickly did a cursory glance at their surroundings, before scribbling down what Zacharias assumed was the information they desired. Once he was done he folded the parchment in half, before handing it to Neville.

"Thank you." the young Gryffindor said with a smile.

The Extra replied in a somewhat anxious tone, "I just hope it's useful. I know Draco doesn't want you all involved, but as long as someone figures out a way to stop this I don't mind. Good luck."

Neville's smiled widened, prompting a small smile from the Extra, "I'm sure it'll help."

"This is cuddly and all, but we should get back to the others before Alexandrite worries I've kidnapped you three for good." Zacharias said with a trace of fondness, not that he'd ever admit that that was what it was. He had more pride than that.

There was an odd look in the Extra's eyes as he looked to Zacharias at that, "Uh, yeah, right. Well, have a good day, I guess. I should go find Draco so we can finish setting my mirrors up."

"What is with the mirrors, anyway?" asked Fred.

The Extra was surprised for a moment, "Oh, those are so I can keep an eye on things. You know, watch the area?" at everyone's quizzical looks, he clarified, "It's a network. You look in one, and if they are set up right you can see far along the line of them through the reflections. The only enchantments on these are ones that allow me to focus in on part of the image. It's, ah, something my mother… anyway. You should really go."

The group of four made their way back to the library. Each of them took a cursory glance at the information the Extra had for them. Even Zacharias was impressed despite himself. Maybe the Extra had some uses after all.

Zacharias was the one who dropped the parchment in front of Alexandrite, "Done."

Alexandrite raised her eyebrows, but unfolded the paper. Before her was a list of bullet points in a small scrawl.

Many of the pureblood children were warned to keep their head down this year, and they would be left alone

General agreement that the intended targets consist of muggleborns

If the Heir is a Slytherin, they haven't said anything

There is supposedly an ancient monster hidden in the Chamber that only Slytherin's Heir can control

Petrification is complicated magic, so the Heir is likely older, or the monster in the Chamber is a magical creature capable of this

Message written in red- is blood or meant to call blood to mind.

Message is meant to inspire fear. The Heir is likely someone who desires to be well-known and feared as a display of dominance over society (for some insecurity, perhaps?), with a flair for the dramatic.

Message couldn't be erased. They want the incident fresh on everyone's minds, and do not want to be forgotten. This is all to boost self-importance, most likely.

The floor was flooded during the attack. The water came from the nearby girl's bathroom.

Scorch marks were scattered around the scene of the crime

Spiders nearby expressed odd behavior- as if trying to run from something in the castle

Alexandrite looked like Christmas had come early, "This is… this is perfect! We can start research on this alone. I- where did you get all of this? How?"

"I have my ways." Zacharias said carefully, knowing it probably wouldn't be smart to inform the girl that Neville had a friendly relationship with Draco and that Zacharias talked to him, even if he wouldn't classify it as friendly interaction. It was best she didn't know, for now at least.

"We're quite talented, apprentice, are we not?" said Fred Weasley, thankfully deflecting attention from Zacharias.

Alexandrite rolled her eyes, before replying in a dry tone of voice, "Yup. I'm in awe."

"I actually am." Michelangelo commented, "Seriously. I have no idea how you managed to get all of this. I thought we were going to be lost until the Heir took out at least five people or something."

"You have no faith." George informed him, unimpressed.

Luna then said, "Tonight."

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Tonight." Luna repeated, firmer. Everyone looked to one another, mystified. There was something ominous about her words.

Neville was the first to shake it off, "Well, we should probably head to our Common Rooms. It's getting late. If something's tonight, then I'm sure we'll find out when it happens."

The next morning, it was discovered that a young Gryffindor first year had been petrified, the first of no one knew how many to come.

And so the plot begins and Haven and Co. begin their next Hunt! Yay! They'll probably do fine... probably... hm... am I evil enough...?

Totally evil enough yep LET'S GO! WELCOME TO HELL KIDS!... (not actual Hell... yet. All in due time.) *I Ship It plays in the background for three months straight*

Gosh I need help. Send hugs guys. Seriously, I'm not sure anyone is going to survive with sanity in tact at this rate... you haven't seen the horror that is my notes/plotting page. I've just planned horrible things for our future. Horrible, amazing things... gah why am I doing this to myself. *faceplants into the keyboard and makes pitiful puppy noises*.