"What's going on here?"
Alucard's eyes don't leave Malfoy's terrified gaze as he notices Filch arrive, shoving through the crowd. Then he saw Alucard holding Mrs Norris, with her blank staring eyes, and he steps back clutching his face in horror.
"My cat! My cat!" Filch yells, his eyes popping out as Alucard finally turns to look at him. "What've you done to my cat? You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! Sucked her dry with your disgusting fangs! I'll- I'll kill you!"
"Argus!" Dumbledore's voice carries over as he arrives, followed by a large number of other students. In seconds he swept past Harry, Ron and Hermione and gently took Mrs Norris from Alucard. "Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr Juvatich, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger."
"My office is the closest!" Lockhart says, stepping forward eagerly. "Just upstairs, please feel free."
"Thank you, Gilderoy." Dumbledore says, sweeping around and passing through the parted crowd. Lockhart follows behind him, looking excited, then came the four students and Filch, and thy were tailed by McGonagall and Snape.
They entered Lockhart's darkened office and there was a flurry of movement. Alucard's eyes caught sight of every picture ducking out of sight, with their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk before standing back. Dumbledore laid Mrs Norris down on the desk and began examining her. The three first-years st down outside the candle light and watched silently while Alucard took up a position next to Dumbledore to continue examining Mrs Norris.
Dumbledore's nose was barely and inch away from Mrs Norris's fur. His sparkling blue eyes were closely examining her body as his long fingers gently prodded and poked her. McGonagall was bent over also, although not nearly as closely, Snape was looming behind them with an expression that seemed like he was trying not to smirk. Lockhart was moving around all four, making comments and suggestions that sounded completely fake to Alucard.
"It was definitely the Transmogrifian Torture that killed her. I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there to save her, I know the very counter curse that could have saved her..." Lockhart was saying. Filch's sobs punctuated Lockhart's ramblings, the man was slumped in a chair at the desk and was crying into his hands.
"She's not dead." Alucard says quietly, although in the silence everyone, even Filch, heard him. "She's still breathing, and has a heartbeat, but I can't tell you anything else."
"That helps narrow it down." Dumbledore says, pulling out his wand before tapping Mrs Norris with it as he spoke in a tongue even Alucard didn't know.
"Ah, I remember something similar happening in Ouagadougou." Lockhart says, his poster versions nodding. "A series of attacks where I was able to provide the townsfolk with amulets that sorted the matter up at once."
"Not dead?" Filch mumbles into his hands as he stares at Dumbledore. "But... then why's she - all stiff and frozen."
"She's been Petrified." Dumbledore says. "But how, I cannot say-"
"Ask him! Ask him!" Filch yells, pointing at Alucard's expressionless face. "Ask him that vampire what dark power he used!"
"No vampire can do something like this." Alucard says blankly, still staring at Mrs Norris. "I can't even think of anything that could do this."
"And no third-year, no matter how gifted, could do something like this." Dumbledore adds. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced degree."
"Tell them what you did to my cat!" Filch demands of Alucard, who finally turns to look at Filch.
"All I did to her was take her off the torch bracket she was hanging on before trying to figure out what happened to her, nothing more." Alucard says evenly, his eyes then turn to Snape as he takes a step into the light.
"If I may speak, Headmaster." Snape says, a slight sneer crossing his lips. "It may be that Mr Juvatich, and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Though, we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs passage anyways? Why were they not at the Halloween feast?"
"We were at Sir Nicholas's 500th Deathday party. There were hundreds of ghosts there that can testify for us, if you want." Alucard says simply.
"Then why not join the feast afterwards?" Snape asks, his eyes glinting. "Why go up that corridor?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione wisely choose to stay silent and let Alucard do the talking.
"Those three were tired, we were going to bed." Alucard explains, glancing at Harry, who looked relieved Alucard hadn't revealed the voice only he could hear.
"Without supper?" Snape asks, a triumphant smirk crossing his face. "I didn't think ghosts provide food fit for vampires or humans at their parties."
"They normally don't, but Sir Nicholas specifically got some for us so we didn't miss out any meals." Alucard counters, making Snape look annoyed.
"I feel as if Mr Juvatich isn't being entirely truthful. I believe it would be a good idea that he lose certain privileges until he decides to be truthful." Snape growls. "I feel as if he should be taken of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"You just don't like the truth." Alucard growls back. "And we'll beat the Slytherin team, even if I'm not playing."
"Really, Severus?" McGonagall says sharply. "I see no reason to stop him playing Quidditch. The cat was hit over the head with his broom. There is no evidence that Juvatich, or anyone associated with him, has done anything wrong."
"No evidence! You saw what he wrote on the wall! That looked like blood to me!" Filch yells. "And he probably knows- knows I'm a Squib!"
"Why would I care about that?" Alucard asks him. Filch sputters before Dumbledore interrupts him.
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus, Argus." Dumbledore says softly. Snape and Filch look furiously at Dumbledore.
"My cat's been Petrified!" Filch shrieks. "I want to see some punishment!"
"We will be able to cure her, Argus." Dumbledore says quietly and patiently. "Madam Sprout has procured some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached full size, I will have a potion made to revive Mrs Norris."
"I can make it!" Lockhart butts in, getting a glare from Alucard and Snape. "I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep-"
"Excuse me." Snape growls icily. "but I believe I am the Potions Master at this school." This pronouncement was met with a very awkward silence where Lockhart looked like someone had slapped him.
"You may go." Dumbledore says to the students, who rush away as fast as they could without running, before slotting into an empty classroom a floor up from Lockhart's office. Alucard shoots some bluebell flames into his hand to help everyone see each other.
"Do you think we should have told them about the voice?" Harry asks first, looking at Alucard.
"No." Ron responds first. "Hearing voices no-one else can hear are always a bad sign, even in the wizarding world."
"You do believe me, right?" Harry asks, looking between all three of them.
"Of course we do." Alucard reassures him. "I'm just not sure why I can't hear it."
"You have to admit, it's weird." Ron agrees.
"It is." Harry nods. "The whole thing's weird. Why can I hear something Alucard can't? What was the writing on the wall about? The Chamber has been opened... what's that supposed to mean?"
"There's a brief mention in Hogwarts: A History." Alucard says. "They said that it's a sort of myth. Apparently, Slytherin made a secret room after he left the school, that only he and his Heirs could access and control the monster that lives inside it. Though, no-one actually thinks it exists because almost every Headmaster has searched the school for it and found nothing."
"But wouldn't it take Slytherin's Heir to find it then?" Hermione asks. "I don't think any Headmaster has been Slytherin's Heir, have they?"
"I don't think any of them was related to him." Alucard nods. "But I doubt the secret of how to open it would have been passed down correctly for over a thousand years, at least by humans."
"Okay." Harry says with a nod. "Then, why did Filch think you attacked a cat? Something about him being a Squib?" Harry asks, confused by Ron stifling a giggle.
"It's not funny." Alucard says, whacking Ron over the head lightly. "A Squib is like the opposite of a Muggle-born. They're born to a wizarding family with no magic. They're quite rare, but it explains why Filch hates the students."
"He's bitter." Ron finishes with a satisfied smile. A clock chimed somewhere in the distance.
"Midnight." Alucard says, perking up. "Time for the humans to go to bed."
All anyone would talk about for the next few days was the attack on Mrs Norris. Filch made it very hard to forget about it as he paced the corridor where it happened, hoping for the attacker to return. He was even seen scrubbing at the paint on the wall with no effect. When he wasn't guarding the corridor he was skulking with red eyes through the rest of the school, yelling and lunging at unsuspecting students, trying to get them in detention for things like 'breathing loudly'. He was especially harsh with Alucard, trying to get him expelled for things like 'walking too quickly' or 'staring at him for too long'.
The attack also had other effects on Hermione and Alucard, they were both spending even more time reading than before. Harry and Ron couldn't get any response from Hermione about what she was doing, but they did find out from Alucard what he was doing. They found out a few days later in the common room.
"I'm trying to figure out how Mrs Norris was Petrified." Alucard explains, speed reading the book in front of him. "I haven't seen anything like that even mentioned in any of the books I've read. Dumbledore didn't look as if he knew either, so he'll probably be doing the same as me. I've also written my dad to ask if he's heard of anything like it."
"Anything so far?" Harry asks him, pulling out some of his own homework.
"I've found a few jinxes and curses that are close, but don't match it properly." Alucard says, then points at his book. "For example, this one only Petrifies one part of the body, like an arm, and only lasts for a few hours. It's been a few days since Mrs Norris was completely Petrified. Petrificus Totalus doesn't fit either. It snaps the victim's limbs straight, Mrs Norris had bent knees and her tail was flexible."
"So, we have no idea what it was?" Ron asks, laying down with a sigh on a plush couch.
"Not at the moment." Alucard agrees, still reading the book. "Don't you both have a History of Magic essay? Three foot long, right?"
"Oh, yeah." Ron says, slouching forward to grab it from his bag. "But I'm struggling to get to three feet. I'm still about a foot short."
"Any clue on what Hermione is researching?" Harry asks Alucard after a few minutes in silence. She was still in the library, looking for whatever it was she was looking for.
"She asked for my copy of Hogwarts: A History, so I think she's looking into the so called 'Chamber of Secrets'." Alucard tells them as he writes something down on a piece of spare parchment. "Though, she could have just asked me about anything in there, I've got it memorised." They continue with their own work and eventually it starts to get slightly dark.
The three stand up and start heading for the Great Hall for supper when Harry thinks of something.
"What happened with Slytherin anyway?" Harry asks, looking at Alucard. "You said that Slytherin left the school, right?"
"Slytherin wanted to only teach people who had magical blood, like Purebloods or Half-Bloods." Alucard explains. "The other three thought everyone should be able to learn magic. Eventually the fights escalated and finally after a big argument between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Slytherin left the school for good."
"I knew Salazar Slytherin was a bit twisted." Ron says. "But I never knew he started all this Pureblood stuff. I wouldn't be in his House if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd have taken the train straight home."
"You know the Hat considered putting me in Slytherin." Alucard says conversationally. Ron suddenly looks very awkward. "I wonder how the train ride here would've gone if I was actually sorted there?"
"Oh, uh..." Ron was saved by Colin's arrival.
"Hiya, Harry!" Colin greets excitedly.
"Hullo, Colin." Harry says automatically.
"Harry - Harry - A boy in my class has been saying you're the Heir of Slytherin!" Colin says, bouncing next to them, holding him camera. "Is it true? Are you related to Slytherin?"
"Really?" Alucard asks, chuckling. "Harry? One of his best friends is a Muggle-born. And he's half Potter, which date back to before Slytherin, and half second generation Muggle-born. He's as much Slytherin's Heir as I am."
"Why do you say you aren't related to Slytherin?" Colin asks, spinning to face Alucard. Harry sends Alucard a thankful look.
"My parents are both over three thousand five hundred years old, and vampires. It makes me doubt that I'm the Heir to someone that only lived a little over a thousand years ago." Alucard says casually, making Colin stare at him in shock.
"You're a vampire! That's so cool!" Colin exclaims, lifting his camera. "Is that how you're able to move so quickly?
"Yeah." Alucard tells him as they enter the Great Hall. Harry and Ron look around in surprise, not knowing how they got there so quickly. "Hi, Hermione." Alucard greets as Colin rushes off to his friends. "Found what you're scouring the library for?"
"No, I haven't." Hermione sighs. "The only mention of the Chamber of Secrets is in Hogwarts: A History. Thank you for lending this to me, I wasn't able to fit it with all of Lockhart's books." She hands him his copy of said book. Alucard shrinks it and places it in his pocket.
"Thanks, so you're looking for more information on the actual Chamber?" Alucard asks her, drinking from his goblet. Hermione nods as she puts some food on her plate.
"Yeah. I wanted to see if anyone knew what type of monster apparently lives in the Chamber." Hermione explains, turning to face the other three seriously. "Because, if Dumbledore couldn't help Mrs Norris, I don't think whatever Petrified her was human."
"Which would explain why I couldn't find any spell that fit the description of Mrs Norris's Petrification." Alucard agrees. "But I also haven't heard anything about a creature which can Petrify other creatures."
"There's so much to learn about the magical world!" Hermione says excitedly. "I know Mrs Norris got attacked, but this just shows us that even Dumbledore doesn't know all there is about this magic. I wonder if it's like the Muggle world where they haven't found all of the Muggle animals yet."
"Probably, it's not like we can really check the whole planet for every creature." Alucard says wisely. "Though it'd be really interesting to see what is actually out there."
"You could do that after Hogwarts, right?" Ron asks, stuffing his face with food. "Bill's a Curse Breaker, and Charlie's works at a Dragon Reserve. You could do something like that."
"That does sound like something I could do." Alucard says with a nod. Harry was looking at his food, apparently deep in thought.
"Who could the Heir actually be?" Harry says quietly. Ron looks at him and pretends to look contemplative.
"Well, let me think, who do we know that thinks Muggle-borns are scum?" Ron asks the group sarcastically. He looks at Hermione, who looks at him with an unconvinced expression.
"If you're talking about Malfoy-" Hermione begins.
"Of course I am! You all heard him: 'You'll be next-'"
"Don't say the last word." Alucard warns quietly. Ron nods as Hermione asks incredulously.
"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" Hermione shakes her head. "Seriously?"
"Look at his family." Harry argues. "All of them have been in Slytherin, he's always boasting about it."
"They could have had the key for centuries, handing it down, father to son." Ron says.
"It's possible, but unlikely..." Alucard relents slightly.
"How do we go about proving if it's true or not?" Harry asks, looking between Hermione and Alucard. Alucard looks at Hermione, who nods.
"It's a really difficult potion to make. It'll probably break a bunch of school rules to even make it, also. If we get it wrong, there are also really serious consequences." Alucard warns them seriously. "Will you take the risk?"
"If you feel like telling us in a month or so, make sure you do." Ron grumbles.
"Don't say I didn't warn you then." Alucard relents. "We could make some Polyjuice Potion. It allows someone to turn into another person for about an hour, depending on the amount consumed and quality of the potion. You could get into the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy some questions."
"So we just turn into three Slytherins?" Harry asks, sounding pleasantly surprised. "That sounds easy enough."
"That's because you aren't going to be making the potion." Alucard says. "The recipe is in a book called Moste Potente Potions, I haven't read the book because Snape won't give me permission to read it."
"I don't think we'd be able to convince a teacher to give us permission to read it." Ron groans.
"Maybe if we phrased like we were only interested in the theory, we might stand a chance?" Hermione proposes, Ron looks disbelievingly at her while Alucard looks contemplative.
"I think I could get a teacher to sign for permission." Alucard says thoughtfully, making the other three looked shocked. "What? I've already read a few of the books in the Restricted Section, what's another one if I just want the theory for Potions?"
"That sounds like something Hermione would do, mate." Ron blinks, earning a hit on the shoulder from Hermione.