Monday
"I knew you were evil, Potter" a loud and obnoxious voice range out across the great hall, loud enough to be heard over the breakfast ruckus.
Harry, who was walking in with Daphne, changed course and headed towards the Gryffindor table where the shouting was coming from, taking Daphne's hand leading her there too.
He approached the table where Lavender and Parvati were sitting with Dean between them, who was looking particularly pleased with the world this morning. They took the seats opposite them, Ron Weasley looked like his head would burst he had gone so red with anger.
"Good morning you two" Lavender greeted them. "Seen the Prophet this morning Harry?" she asked sliding a copy across.
Harry read the Headline and the by-line and pushed it back.
"Potter's Parselmouth" the headline screamed. By Rita Skeeter.
"So, what is it today? Next Dark Lord? Power mad psychotic? Hidden Heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked with an amused expression.
"She has out done herself this morning, Harry" Parvati answered "All of that plus how evil Parselmouths' are."
"And you are terrorising the students in your common room with giant snakes" Daphne added having quickly scanned the article.
"Well can't argue with that" Harry replied reaching for the bacon "But to be fair, it was only one giant snake"
All the while they were talking, Ron had been yelling at Harry from the other side of the table a couple of seats down. Which was pointless really as Harry had cast a muffliato the moment he had sat down, both to stop people over hearing their conversation and to filter out the worst of the comments from other students. It had gotten to the point where he was doing it wandless and silently without even noticing he was doing it.
Sick of being ignored, Ron pulled out his wand "This is how we deal with dark wizards in this house, Potter." He shouted.
The hall went silent, his house mates sitting around him ducked, Ron's broken wand was notorious for firing spells in random directions, the severity of the misfire being determined by how recently he had replaced the tape holding it together.
Harry stood up, he stared at Ron who to his credit was standing there facing him, his wand extended with only the slightest tremor to his hand. A pretty brave display considering the circumstances.
Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw the Professors hastily making their way across the hall. The twins got there first.
"Ron" Fred said.
"Not such a bright move there, mate" George continued.
"One of the darkest wizards this century, if you believe the Prophet." Fred.
"Can talk to snakes" George.
"Heir to Slytherin" Fred
"Are you sure you want to be interrupting his breakfast" George.
They grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out of the hall before the professors got to him and gave him detention for life.
"Maybe get him once he has finished his bacon and eggs and is in a better mood" Fred said as they were closing the hall doors behind them.
Tuesday
"Damn it, Neville" Harry said in frustration "Do you have take all the points every Herbology lesson?"
"Don't you listen to him Neville" Hannah said taking his hand "He is just jealous"
"If you concentrated on what Professor Sprout was saying instead of aimlessly looking around, maybe you too could answer some of the questions" Tracey offered helpfully.
They watched as Malfoy and Pansy exited the greenhouse. They both gave Harry a wide berth, though nodded politely as they passed. It seemed to be the norm these days for his house mates. Slytherins were a funny lot, none of them acknowledged what had happened that night at all. It was as if it was a normal everyday occurrence, someone trying to take control and being stymied by a parseltongue speaking second year student. Everyone had retreated back behind their polite mask of indifference.
Harry got a funny expression on his face again and was looking around.
"What is it Harry?"
"It is that bloody snake again, it was talking incessantly through the entire class. One track mind that one, snails." Harry sighed "It seems I need to practice more and learn how to switch the bloody skill off. Or at least the listening part, it is constantly on these days. You would be surprised at how many snakes there were around Hogwarts, including the paintings.
"Quiet you lot" Millicent interrupted them "Did you hear that? It sounds like someone is in trouble"
They stopped talking and listened. There was screaming, it was very faint but slowly getting louder.
"It is coming from the forbidden forest" Millicent said drawing her wand and walking quickly towards the forest. The others following her, wands drawn as well.
The screaming was getting loud now, and a loud grunting had been added to the noise. They reached the edge of the forest and tried to look through the trees, the undergrowth was too thick and too dark to see anything.
Someone broke through the undergrowth between a pair of trees and burst into the open, it was Professor Lockhart, still screaming hysterically. His robes were ripped, his face and hands were covered in scratches and his hair was full of leaves and twigs from where he broke through the undergrowth.
He ran straight past them and continued on towards the castle, not looking back or acknowledging they were even there.
They turned back to the forest where something extremely large was crashing through the trees after him. It was getting closer and the grunting now sounded more like words.
Harry took a quick look at his friends, they were all lined up ready to take on whatever came out of the forest.
Suddenly a large hairy shape broke into the clearing. It was Hagrid. "Professor" he yelled at the back of the fleeing Lockhart "It is only Aragog, he wouldn't harm a fly"
Lockhart was long gone.
Hagrid looked at the small group. "Hi you lot, the Professor didn't seem too keen to talk with my friend Aragog. I don't know why, he is a nice old fellow. When I first found him, he was no bigger than a Pekinese."
"We were at Hogwarts together until… well until I left"
"Hagrid? Is Aragog an acromantula?" Daphne asked remembering what Croaker had told them.
"Yes, he is" Hagrid answered "Oh don't look like that" He added seeing the looks on their faces "Totally misunderstood creatures they are. And could be real useful helping the Professor figure out who is behind all the attacks. He knows everything going on in the forest and in the grounds of Hogwarts. Although..." he paused and combed his fingers through his beard "he didn't know who killed all my rosters."
"Do you want to meet him? You will have to go and see him though, for some reason he won't come out of the forest anymore."
"NO!" they all cried in unison.
"I mean, we have a class to get to" Daphne was the first to recover. The others agreed and quickly turned back towards the castle.
Wednesday
"Hermione, take your nose out of that book and join us" Tracey begged.
They had one entire section of the library to themselves, one of the benefits of hanging out with a future dark lord, or whatever they were calling Harry this week.
Everyone who had to walk past them to get a book out of the shelves gave them the widest berth possible, even though Harry wasn't with them. It was just the girls tonight.
"Ok, what is so interesting that I am stopping work on figuring out how the attacks are happening?" Hermione made one final note on her parchment and closed the book in front of her.
Tracey pointed across the library where Cedric was sitting trying to have a conversation with three different girls at the same time. All sixth and seventh years, and all had their wands drawn. "Cedric is back, and it appears the fake Cedric was a lot better at handling multiple, simultaneous romantic entanglements than the real Cedric is."
"Yes, he does appear to be struggling" Hermione agreed.
Cedric was indeed struggling to explain to three different girls that whilst there is every chance he may have visited a broom closet or two with them, he was no way in any sort of relationship with them. It was not going well for him. Silently he cursed his father for agreeing with the Headmaster to keep his attack hidden by having someone take his place while he recovered. What had he been up to?
"Well that is strange, Chang doesn't seem fazed by it though" Daphne was watching Cho's reaction to her boyfriend's situation.
They all changed their focus to Cho. They were surprised she was just sitting there with an amused smile on her face. Given her previous history, they expected a situation like this would have her flinging hexes at the very least, or worse.
"It isn't Cho" Luna said looking up from her book "It is the girl that played Cedric for the last week. You can tell by her magical aura."
"You knew it wasn't Cedric? And it never crossed your mind to mention it?" Hermione asked before answering her own question "Of course it never occurred to you."
"You can tell that it is the real Cedric, he has a very attractive aura" Luna said while blushing.
"He has a very attractive everything" giggled Lavender.
"Did you say girl?" Tracey asked.
"Most of the time" Luna said "Sometimes the aura appears male, after all, Nymphadora Tonks is a metamorphmagus, so I guess gender fluidity is not really surprising. She does appear female a large percentage of the time, so I feel she/her is appropriate. Of course, it is up to Nymphadora to decide" Luna went back to reading her book.
"She doesn't advertise being a metamorphmagus, so maybe it is not widely known. We should keep it to ourselves." Tracey said looking at Lavender and Parvati, the two biggest gossips in the group. "And no asking her a bunch of questions 'for research purposes'" Tracey added this time staring at Hermione who looked like she would argue until stared down.
"I think you are all forgetting one thing here" Hannah spoke for the first time. They all looked at her "If that is not Cho, and Cho is not away from school looking after Cedric…. Where is she?"
Thursday
"I tell you there is something living in my pipes" Filch said to a rather dubious looking Lockhart, "Something large and scary. The Headmaster told me that you will look into it. That it is right up your alley."
Lockhart looked down the drain that Filch had removed the cover off of. He had long past thinking that he would be able to get a book out of his adventures at Hogwarts. Initially when he volunteered to help Dumbledore with his investigation, he had expected Dumbledore to do all the work and he was just going to take the credit for it. Now he just hoped to make it to the end of the year with his reputation intact, or at least not in tatters.
He sighed, pulled up the hood of his robes to protect his hair, and climbed into the drain.
Hermione was watching the whole scene. She added the details to her ever-growing list. Ever since their talk with Moaning Myrtle she had been working on a theory. It was only random bits of information and some research so far, and she was reluctant to share it with anyone, even Luna.
She was just missing that flash of inspiration that would coalesce all the random bits and pieces of data into 'The Answer'
Friday
"Mister Potter, a word if you please" Professor Snape intercepted Harry and Daphne as they came into the common room, the rest of their house mates were still asleep.
"The Headmaster has requested to see you, before breakfast. I fear there will be some form of interrogation about what happened in the common room." Snape continued "As far as I can ascertain, he has not been able to get a copy of a memory as he doesn't have any friends in this house. But that has just piqued his curiosity, that and the stories in the Daily Prophet."
"Thank you sir, I will head up there now" Harry replied.
"I can come with you if that would make you feel more comfortable" Snape offered.
"Thank you for the offer, but the Headmaster talks a lot more when he thinks he is in control of the situation." Harry thanked Snape.
Daphne interrupted them "I will accompany Harry to make sure they both behave, sir" Daphne gave Harry a steely glare. "But could I ask you to let Tracey know where we have gone, just in case." Snape nodded his agreement.
"Also Hermione and Neville, if it is not too much trouble." Harry added. Snape hesitated for a second before nodding his agreement.
Harry smiled to himself, there was no real need for Snape to tell them as Tracey would share the information, but Harry could imagine the scene in the great hall over breakfast as Snape went to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables to whisper in Hermione's and Neville's ears.
Harry and Daphne made their way through the castle, enjoying the peace and quiet for a change. They eventually got to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office where Harry realised, they didn't have the password, and as he wasn't as wise to the ways of muggle sweets he didn't even bother trying.
"Hello" Harry said to the gargoyle with his best smile "The headmaster asked to see me"
The gargoyle stepped to one side letting them past. "Thank you" Harry added another one of his smiles.
Dumbledore's sensors warned him that Harry was on his way up, with Miss Greengrass. That annoyed him, he wanted to get Harry alone. Interesting he thought, they got past the gargoyle without a password. He sat behind his desk and flicked his wand at the door timing it perfectly to open just as Harry was about to knock.
"Harry my boy, come in, take a seat" he said jovially.
Harry just looked at him, a disappointed look on his face.
"Oh, I am sorry, Mister Potter, is that better?" Dumbledore said with a sarcastic smile.
"You could use Lord Slytherin if that suits you better." Harry said watching for his reaction, Dumbledore looked like he was just about to have a heart attack.
Daphne greeted the headmaster even though he seemed determined to ignore her. She chuckled, that suited her just fine. She settled into her chair and focused on becoming invisible, not that she actually disappeared, just went into a state of absolute stillness and silence to the point where people just tended to forget she was there, it was dead useful. She used it all the time in the common room. It was amazing what you would overhear when people forgot you were there.
Harry turned away from Dumbledore and did a quick tour of the office, nothing seemed to have changed since the last time he looked around.
"Still holding on to things that don't belong to you, I see headmaster" as he got to the secret alcove, where he recognised something that he now knew to be Potter magic.
Continuing walking he got to Fawkes who greeted him with welcoming trill. "Hi there Fawkes, your looking better than when I first saw you last time" Fawkes responded with what could be described as a chirp of amusement. He leaned towards Harry and resting his head on Harry's shoulder. Harry reached up and rubbed the side of Fawkes's neck until he was happily trilling away.
"Harry" Dumbledore said, "I mean Mister Potter, could you be a little less familiar with my err"
"Less familiar with your familiar?" Harry smirked, gave Fawkes one more neck rub then took his seat. "So, headmaster I am sure you asked me here for a reason"
"Indeed. These stories in the Daily Prophet about you being a parselmouth" he left the statement hanging waiting for Harry to fill him in.
"I have read them" was Harry's response. "If they were true, I don't know what all the fuss would be about, surely it is just another inherited magical trait, much like being a metamorphmagus."
Dumbledore showed no outward reaction, he had gotten himself back under control. "Yes, just with more negative connotations. Mainly based on the use they are put to."
"You mean like hiding attacks on students by replacing them?" Harry asked.
"Ahh" said Dumbledore "You know about that. Well she never really hid it while she was at Hogwarts, so I guess it is not secret."
"How many students has Tonks filled in for headmaster, how many attacks have there been that have gone un reported?"
"Whilst I don't expect you to believe me Harry, Nymphadora has only filled in for Mister Diggory and Miss Chang."
"I do believe you headmaster, her magical aura is easy to spot, no matter what form she takes." Harry had questioned Luna at length about it and was sure he had his facts correct.
"You see auras as well as speaking parseltongue?" Dumbledore could not stop the amazement from entering his voice.
"Who said I speak parseltongue?" Harry side stepped the question.
Harry felt the smallest of nudges against his memories. Without saying anything he pushed forward the memory that he had showed Dumbledore the day of the faire, the one showing a typical day at the Dursleys. Dumbledore reeled back in his chair with the shock of remembrance and the relived horror of the memory, but before he could exit the memory Harry pushed forward another one showing Dumbledore sitting across from Harry at the Greengrass manor mid rant on how he was going to manipulate Harry into sacrificing himself so that he would become the saviour of the wizarding world.
"There are a lot more ways of being evil than speaking to snakes, headmaster" Harry said his voice cold and hard. "And next time you do that without permission, you will regret it"
"Now if that was all, we have yet to have breakfast" Harry took Daphne's hand and they started walking towards the door.
"There was one more thing, a favour really" Dumbledore asked. Harry was speechless, has the man no shame? asking for a favour after all that.
"You may have noticed Professor Lockhart has been quite active around the castle when he is not teaching class."
They nodded, Lockhart's exploits were the talk of the castle.
"Well" Dumbledore continued "to put it bluntly, He is looking for Miss Chang. She is missing and has not been seen since Mister Diggory's attack. We think she is hiding out in the chamber of secrets. Whatever the artefact she using for the attacks may be dark enough to open the chamber."
Dumbledore watched them, none of what he just said came as a surprise to the pair. It never failed to amaze him as to how much students knew about what was going on in the castle.
Harry just stared at him, if he wanted something from Harry, he would have to ask, and politely.
Dumbledore sighed, Harry wasn't going to make it easy for him. "We think that the original entrance has been built over, but we have a pretty good idea as to where it is."
"And what would you need me for, headmaster? Surely if a student has gone missing you should have called in the aurors. I am sure Madame Bones would be more than willing to help you find a missing student, despite the fact that you seem to be using one of her trainee aurors to hide it from everyone."
"Students missing within the school fall under my purview. So as helpful as I am sure swarming the school with aurors would be, it falls on me to save the day as it were. Which brings me to my request from you, I was wondering if you could open the chamber of secrets for us?"
"Are you asking because you think I am a parselmouth, or because you think I am the heir of Slytherin?" Harry asked out of curiosity.
"Because you are a talented young wizard with a knack of achieving the impossible Mister Potter." Dumbledore said with what appeared to be sincerity.
"Well, as much as I would love to participate in one of Professor Lockhart's harebrained misadventures, I am afraid I must decline." Harry said continuing his walk towards the door "I hear breakfast calling"
As Harry reached for the door knob, the door flew open and Professor Lockhart burst into the room.
"She has taken a student" he cried out "Into the chamber. There was a new message on the wall."
"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever."
Dumbledore turned to the portraits on the wall. "Phineas, Roll Call, it's urgent"
Phineas Black left his portrait immediately, along with all the other past Headmasters. There hadn't been a Roll Call done since the previous war.
All around the castle the portraits reported in on the location of every student. With portraits hung inside every common room, classroom, toilet, broom cupboard, there wasn't a hiding place that the comings and goings of the students wasn't monitored. Most of the student were unaware that they were under observation, the portraits being just one of the castle's quirks.
After what seemed like an eternity, Phineas reported back. "Slytherin house all present and correct. Hufflepuff are all accounted for, the same with Gryffindor. However, there does appear to be a Ravenclaw missing. Last seen entering her common room last night, she is not there now. A Muggleborn."
"Name of Hermione Granger"