Memories and Mischief

The following Sunday was Valentine's Day. Because of their late celebration of the Quidditch victory, the Slytherins were delayed in their arrival at breakfast. As they walked through the doors, Harry gave a start. Had they gone in the right door?

The walls were covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti fell from the pale blue ceiling. Lockhart, the great prat, was wearing equally lurid pink robes to match the decorations, standing at the front of the Head Table beaming widely.

At the Slytherin table, the girls were all giggling like mad. Crabbe grimaced and retched. Harry shoved aside a scattering of rose petals and reached for the pancakes. "Even the syrup is pink," he gagged.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-seven people who have already sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all. And it doesn't stop there!"

Lockhart clapped his hands, and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarves. Not just any dwarves, though. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to get into the spirit of the holiday! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion? And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Poor Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands, but Snape glared and bared his teeth.

Sadie shook her head, her purple hair rippling and bouncing.

"Wonder what old McGonagall would help us with," Draco sniggered.

All day long, the dwarves marched through the corridors of Hogwarts, being sent here and there by mischeivous students. A few Knuts was all it cost to send someone a card, and the wealthier Slytherin students wasted a fair chunk of pocket change by sending all kinds of wild messages around the school. Draco sent Weasley an anonymous valentine with a sarcastic message. The N.E.W.T.-level Transfiguration students sent McGonagall one with a hex inside. Late that afternoon in the Great Hall, a particularly grim-looking dwarf came to the Slytherin table.

"'Arry Potter!"

"Oh no," he groaned. "Very well, give me the card."

"No card," the dwarf said as he twanged his harp in a threatening manner. "A song."

"Harry's got a singing valentine!" shrieked Pansy.

"Guys… steady on," said Sadie, holding up her hands placatingly as the other four girls pointed and giggled at Harry.

Harry's cheeks flushed.

"His eyes are as green as a fresh-pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord!"

This was probably something Weasley had come up with to make fun of him. Sadie patted his arm, while his other friends shrieked with laughter and pointed at him. He sighed ruefully. Cupid-dwarves had been quite the decent joke, but it had gone a bit far.

"It wasn't all that funny," said Sadie reprovingly to Pansy

Harry and Sadie went to see Cora in her attic room that evening. The green woman had decorated it with the awful pink confetti. Her pregnancy was more obvious now and she put her hands to her belly as she sat on her bed.

"I've collected some beetles," said Sadie politely, holding out a jar. "Here."

"Thank you, dear, you're so thoughtful," said Cora, taking the jar and popping a beetle into her mouth.

Sadie set Chip down on the wooden floor where he stood on stumpy legs. She brushed her long purple hair away from her eyes. "Whew. Haven't you grown? Mummy's all out of breath."

"You have grown," said Cora to Chip. "I remember how tiny you were last Summer."

"You're Harry's Mummy!" squeaked Chip, his smiley paper mask in place. "I'm very happy I can talk to you now. My Mummy says you are a sweet lady."

"Aw. You're both so kind," said Cora. "Listen, if my baby's a boy, I was thinking of naming him Gilderoy. What do you think?"

Harry didn't want to say what he thought. Just seeing Lockhart's decorations made him want to vomit.

00O00

Thankfully all the confetti, and cards and hearts disappeared by Monday. First class was Potions. Snape set them directly to the work they'd left off on Thursday, which had needed to be chilled over the weekend. Harry was just finishing adding his final ingredient when the professor called upon his gopher.

"Weasley, fetch some rose stem from the stores."

"Fetch it yourself," the boy muttered.

"What was that?" Snape demanded.

Sadie looked up, staring at Weasley with horrified blue eyes through the eyeholes in her mask.

"I said fetch it yourself." Weasley was showing no fear. "I've been counting down the days, and my detention is over."

Snape stood silent a moment, his eyes unreadable. He seemed stunned that Weasley was daring to speak in that tone of voice (Harry certainly was!) Then slowly, his yellowed teeth bared in a wicked smile.

"Over? Wrong, Weasley. Your detention is not over. You'll report here, as usual, at the end of classes today, and every day until I say otherwise. That will be five points from Gryffindor for your cheek, now fetch the rose stem."

Weasley's defiant stare slowly crumbled in the face of Snape's awful glare. He lowered his head, but Snape kept on staring. He looked back up, flinched away from that implacable face, and hurried out of the room.

"Wow," Harry breathed.

"Weasley's bold." Tracy whispered.

"Too bold," murmured Sadie.

00O00

The snow was finally starting to melt, and Harry only had to wear two sweaters for Quidditch practice that afternoon instead of three.

In the common room, Sadie was trying to help Lucas with his homework.

"Yes, dear, dragon blood split into all these elements," she tapped the parchment. "Dragon poop has magical properties too, but that's not on the syllabus."

"Dragon poop is a poison, isn't it Mummy?" squeaked Chip.

Harry decided not to disturb them and went to his dorm and tried to get the diary to reveal its secrets again, but failed. Frustrated enough for one night, Harry shoved it to the side and dipped his quill to write his Charms assignment.

He'd been at it nearly forty-five minutes when he heard Millie shouting out in the stairwell. "Crabbe, get back here!" The door crashed open and Crabbe lumbered in with Millie hot on his tail. Crabbe was holding something, Harry couldn't see what, and Millie was lunging for it. She managed to get a hold on Crabbe's wrist, and a wrestling match ensued.

Crabbe was one the biggest boy in the second, but Millie was no fairy. She was a lot bigger than Harry. The two rolled around, struggling for possession. It was amusing, but Harry really did have to work.

"Take it somewhere else, would you please? Hey!" he shouted in surprise as the pair rolled towards him. He jumped out of the way just in time; with a loud crash, they knocked over his writing desk, sending parchment, ink, and quills flying.

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed. "That's my Charms essay you've just ruined!"

Millie stood up, whatever she'd been after was firmly in her grasp. "I'm so sorry, Harry," she apologized. Then she turned to glare at Crabbe. "See what you did?"

Crabbe smirked. "You did it, hag!"

"Enough!" Harry shouted, stung at the reference to the word hag used as an insult. "Out! Both of you!"

His parchment was soaked with black ink. It was also on his books, his desk, the floor, and him. Harry started picking things up with a sigh of resignation. Everything was covered except for Riddle's diary. Hang about. The diary was sitting in the middle of an ink spatter. Harry gingerly opened the cover: not a drop of ink to be found; the pages were bone dry. What was going on?

"I heard there was a slight accident." Percy Weasley knocked on his door. "Wow, it seems that I heard right."

"Can you help?" Harry asked, putting the diary to the side for now.

"Absolutely." Percy stepped closer and examined the mess. "This is basic. There's a difference between spilled ink and written ink. You have to apply a bit of maths and tweak the spell a bit, but you can remove ink spilled by accident from a parchment you've been working on. It's just a matter of differentiating by intent."

Percy waved his wand, and ink floated into the air, coming off the floor, the desk, and everywhere else it had spilled. The drops lifted from the parchment, leaving Harry's Charms essay unmarked! The ink collected into a levitating sphere, and Percy directed it back into the inkwell.

"Simple as that," he said modestly.

"Wow!" Harry was very impressed.

"Just sixth year Arithmancy," Percy demurred.

"It was brilliant, Percy. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pair of second years to yell at for a bit."

Percy had definitely loosened up since he'd become a Slytherin.

Harry flipped through the pages of Riddle's diary again. Every page was spotless. Harry dipped his quill anew and dropped a large blot onto the first page of the diary.

The ink shone brightly on the paper for a moment, and then, as though it was being sucked into the page, it vanished. Harry drew in his breath; what strange magic this was. He dipped the quill again and wrote, "My name is Harry Potter."

The words shone momentarily on the page, and they also sank without a trace. Then, after all his days of experimenting, something finally happened. Oozing back out of the page, in the very black ink he'd been using, came words Harry had never written, in a handwriting not Harry's own.

"Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"

"I found it," wrote Harry. "Someone dropped it down a toilet."

Lucky that I recorded my memories in a more lasting way than ink. I always knew that there would be those who would not want this diary read."

"What do you mean?" Harry scrawled.

"I mean that this diary holds memories of terrible things. Things that were covered up. Things that happened at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"I'm at Hogwarts now," Harry wrote. "Terrible things are happening now, too. Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes."

Harry's heart leapt. Finally! He steadied his shaking quill. "Tell me."

Riddle's reply came quickly, the handwriting becoming sloppier, as though he was hurrying to tell all he knew. "In my day, they told us it was a legend, that it did not exist. This was a lie. In my fifth year, the Chamber was opened, and the monster attacked several students, finally killing one. I caught the person who had opened the Chamber, and he was expelled. They gave me a shiny trophy for my trouble and warned me to keep my mouth shut. The Headmaster, Professor Dippet, was shamed by what had taken place, and put about the story that the girl had died in a freak accident. But I knew the truth. The monster lived on, and the one who had the power to release it was not imprisoned."

Harry's glee was near-tangible. He was moments away from knowing all the answers. "The Chamber is open once more. Who did you catch? Please tell me!"

"I can do more than tell you," came Riddle's reply. "You don't have to take my word. I can show you."

Harry hesitated only a moment. "How?"

"I can take you inside my memory of the night when I caught him."

How he could be taken inside someone else's memory was something Harry didn't understand at all. Then again, he didn't understand how this diary was talking back to him either. He glanced at the door, which was shut.

"Yes," he wrote.

The pages of the diary began to blow as though caught in a high wind, stopping halfway on June thirteenth. Bright golden light began to shine from the pages, and Harry felt himself slipping away from the dorm and into the pages of the book in a whirlwind of colour and shadow.

00O00

The scene Harry saw in the dungeon was staggering. Riddle hadn't been quick enough to kill the big spider monster and was casting more magic as the spell light whirled in front of Harry's eyes. The blackness darkened and became complete. Harry felt himself falling, and he landed with a crash spread-eagled on his four-poster bed in the Slytherin dormitory. Riddle's diary lay open on his stomach.

Harry was bewildered. Hagrid? Rubeus Hagrid, the Heir of Slytherin?

He was not the only one of that mind either. When Harry related what he'd seen and heard in the diary to his friends, more than one was moved to gag.

"Impossible!" said Sadie, shaking her head.

"That great chump is no descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin," Theo said flatly. "I don't care what some mouldy old prefect's diary says."

Pansy nodded her head. "For once I agree with Theo."

"It is impossible," Daphne agreed. "Harry's not tall enough to be Hagrid's grandson."

"Stop that!" said Sadie, glaring at her.

"Hagrid does have a fondness for terrifying beasts," Millie mused. "That part of the memory could be right."

"Hagrid would raise some giant spider in a box under his bed," Daphne concluded.

"He was planning on raising a dragon in a wooden hut," Harry reminded them.

"Don't forget that three-headed dog guarding the Philosopher's Stone last year," Tracy contributed.

"As if I could," Draco scoffed.

"They must have been so desperate to find a scapegoat that nobody ever considered that Riddle hadn't actually caught the Heir," reasoned Theo.

"Ahh! You make a good point," said Sadie. "He must have been a scapegoat."

"Like any Slytherin, the Heir used the distraction to cover his tracks. When the attacks stopped, nobody asked any more questions." Draco was nodding as it all made sense for him.

"Then the Heir just finished school, married into the Potter family, and lived a good life," Daphne giggled.

"That wasn't even funny the first time," said Sadie.

"If you're so convinced that I'm the Heir, then take an order and shut it," said Harry.

"Well then, any student whose father was at Hogwarts fifty years ago is suspect," Draco figured.

"Why would it have to be a man?" Pansy demanded.

"Because men are methodical and girls are scatterbrained," Theo answered. "Especially you."

"I'm methodical about hating you," she snarled.

"Bite me, vampire."

"I'll tear your throat out."

"Why don't you change into a bat and fly away?" he suggested.

"Why don't you start running before I start chasing you with a knife?"

Sadie stared at them in consternation.

"Aren't they cute?" Daphne said wryly. Harry noted her copying Sadie's use of the phrase.

00O00

The last weekend in February saw Ravenclaw demolish Gryffindor on the Quidditch pitch. Without first class Beaters, the Chasers were completely vulnerable and could only manage a few ten-point goals. Oliver Wood was a keen captain and a talented Keeper - even the Slytherins were prepared to admit it - but finding replacements for the Weasley twins seemed to daunt even his skills, and the Keeper is a very minor role and cannot affect the outcome the way the Beaters can. Straw, Gryffindor's Seeker, was, of course, absolutely awful.

"When is Wood going to realize that she's hopeless?" Harry questioned on the way to Transfiguration the following Monday. "She's can't play Quidditch to save her life."

"Poor girl," said Sadie.

"Gryffindor just doesn't have a pool of talent to draw from," said Millie. "Gryffindor hasn't had a first class Seeker in eight years now."

"That was Charlie Weasley," Theo informed them.

Harry opened his mouth to make a snappy comment, but a loud tearing sound interrupted him. His books, quills, parchment and ink all went flying as his bag mysteriously burst open. Harry stood and stared at the mess for a moment. Wonderful.

"Oh no!" Sadie ran after his escaping ink bottle.

"I can catch it!" squeaked Chip, tottering after the bottle.

"Oh dear. What a nuisance," said Tracy.

Harry sighed. "I'll get it. No sense in all of us being late."

"Are you sure?" Millie asked. "Old McGonagall will be right put out with you."

"She's always put out with me for one thing or another," Harry rued.

"I'll be late with you," said Sadie. "She can be put out with both of us."

Sadie, Harry and Chip remained behind while the other Slytherins went to Transfiguration.

Harry watched with resignation as his blank parchment swirled up the draughty corridor. Despite Chip chasing after it, waving his little purple arms.

"Oh no, it got away," said Chip.

"Need some help?"

They turned to see Ginny Weasley there, staring at them with bright brown eyes.

She gathered up parchment, not waiting for a reply and thrust the armload of it into Sadie's arms. "Anything break?"

"Thankfully no," Harry wasn't sure why she was being nice to him, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Don't know what happened to the bag. It just burst open."

"My mum would stitch it right up," Ginny told him.

"I'll just buy another one," Harry shrugged, "and maybe one for you by way of thanks."

The girl went red as could be. "T-that won't be necessary," she stammered.

"It's kind of you to help," said Sadie.

Ginny looked at her coldly. "Is it such a surprise?"

"Um…" said Sadie uncomfortably.

"Mummy has said that Percy proved he was the only Weasley with real courage," piped Chip.

"Thank you, Chip," muttered Sadie.

"Well what if I said that Percy was my only brother who noticed when I had a cold and the only one who stopped the twins pranking me by covering themselves in fur and boils and leaping out at me?" Said Ginny. "I daresay the Head Girl never thought of that before taking him away."

"She didn't take him away," said Sadie uncertainly.

Ginny scoffed and turned away from her and then gripped Harry by the shoulders. She was as tall as him. Her freckled face was set in lines of determination and her brown eyes were wide. "Don't skulk around the corridors… it could be dangerous."

"Thanks," said Harry puzzled.

00O00

By some amazing stroke of luck, old McGonagall's back was turned as they got there. Moving as quickly and as quietly as he could, Harry slid into his seat and breathed a sigh of relief. He sat towards the back anyway, so hopefully the professor wouldn't have missed him. Fortune, however, was truly not with him this day.

"You are late, Mister Potter." Old McGonagall's steely gaze was upon him, and now he had a taste of what Weasley felt from Snape. "Explain yourself."

"I was late too," said Sadie.

"Silence!" said McGonagall. She pointed at Potter. "Explain."

"My bag tore," he dutifully explained, holding up the bag as evidence. "All my stuff scattered everywhere."

McGonagall crossed the distance to inspect the bag up close. Harry flinched reflexively as she drew her wand, but she uttered only a simple, " Reparo! ," and the tear knit itself seamlessly.

"Now then, today we shall be changing flowers into goblets. Turn to page three hundred."

The lesson that day wasn't bad, but two weeks later, Harry and his friends were stumbling from Transfiguration in a daze. Whatever Professor McGonagall had been talking about today, it had been really hard. Even Theo, who normally was very ace at the subject, was shaking his head as they left the classroom.

"God, I've never felt so stupid!" Pansy complained.

"Really? Never?" jibed Theo.

"Me neither," Daphne agreed.

"I think I hurt something." Millie was holding a hand to her head.

"Transfiguration has a steep learning curve," said Sadie.

"Why do we always have to pass this hallway?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling irritated. They were walking by the corridor with the writing on the wall.

"Because it's the quickest route down to the dungeons," Draco answered him.

"We need to find a better way."

"You boys go ahead," Pansy said then. "We'll meet you in the common room." The gang had decided to take a break after the ordeal of Transfiguration.

"Afraid to face me at chess?" Theo needled her.

"I fear nothing," she declared.

"I want to wash my face," said Tracy.

"Why, did old McGonagall make you cry?"

"Very nearly," she admitted. "I'm pretty horrible at Transfiguration, you know."

"Not completely horrible," Draco encouraged her. "Goyle's even worse."

"We won't be long," Pansy promised.

"You can go drown yourself in the sink for all I care," Theo retorted.

"So you say," she said as she stuck out her tongue.

"What's that smell?" Crabbe asked suddenly.

"It's not time for dinner yet, fathead," Draco pointed out.

Sadie sniffed the air. "A potion burning. Smells kind of good."

"Good?" said Goyle, scrunching his face in revulsion.

"Mummy likes weird smells," said Chip with a giggle.

"I sure do," said Sadie with a smile.

"It's coming from the loo," said Tracy.

"Let's check it out," said Theo.

The two big boys drew wands and peered through the crack of the door. "Clear."

The door creaked open to reveal a bathroom filled with grey smoke that curled slowly from one of the stalls. Theo slowly eased the swinging door open. "Look here," he said. "Someone's been breaking a few rules. There's a fire in the toilet, and a cauldron bubbling away."

"Smells overdone to me," Daphne quipped.

"Any idea what potion it is?" Millie asked.

"What's this then? Moste Potente Potions?"

"That's a restricted book!" Draco exclaimed.

"Yeah!" said Sadie. "I read it cover to cover, but they all look too hard."

"The nasty little secrets some people keep," Crabbe observed with a grunt.

"The potion is pretty much crisped," Theo noted as he took an experimental stir. "I think the flames are too high."

"Oi Harry, come back here," Draco called out.

Harry left Theo poking at the cauldron and moved towards the rear of the loo. There was something on the floor, Harry saw. He peered closer and received a shock as he realized it was a person! It was that insufferable Granger girl. Why was she on the floor? She had her hands over her head.

"What're you doing here?" demanded Harry.

"Nothing!" squeaked Hermione.

"Doesn't look like nothing," said Tracy, folding her arms and glaring down at her.

"Ooh! Up to no good at all!" said Pansy, and she and Daphne giggled.

"A Gryffindor skulking around up to no good?" Said Crabbe. "Get her!"

"Stoppit!" Sadie snapped at him.

"Yeah, Crabbe, you don't get to give orders. Need I remind you?" said Draco.

"What were you thinking?" Sadie demanded of Hermione. The small girl was breathing through her nose. "I'm sure you have a good explanation. Why are you lurking in a toilet trying to brew Polyjuice Potion? When there's a monster targeting Muggleborns on the loose?"

"Yeah, Granger, anyone would think you wanted to be petrified," sniggered Theo.

Hermione looked up and gulped. "Weasley was saying I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor. He dared me to catch the Heir. I was going to brew the potion to secretly find the Heir and prove him wrong."

Sadie glared. "No one who cares about you would dare you to do anything so stupid."

"Mummy's angry with you!" trilled Chip.

Hermione stood up and kissed Sadie on the cheek. "I know. Sorry."

"You were going to disguise yourself to find the Heir?" said Theo. "Who is it then?"

Hermione looked furtive. "Crabbe." She said flatly. "He's mean. He must be the mastermind who's fooled everyone."

Tracy, Daphne and Pansy burst into fits of giggles at that.

"What!" Draco looked insulted. "Crabbe doesn't have the brains. He couldn't keep it a secret."

"Hey!" said Crabbe.

"For the cleverest witch in the year, you really are dumb," said Theo sniggering.

"I can't believe you beat me in every exam," said Millie.

Harry thought Hermione hadn't been entirely truthful. Sadie must have realised that too. Sadie had folded her arms and turned away from Hermione. Hermione kissed the top of her purple head. "I'll be good," she whispered.