Chapter 32: Revelations

February turned to March and the attacks had truly ceased, which made the population truly on edge. Harry was meeting with their group, trying to investigate who might have been behind it last time.

"I talked to Auntie," Susan said. "She said that the Gaunts are all dead. The father, Marvolo, died some years ago. The son, Morfin, just recently died in Azkaban while the daughter, Merope, showed up dead a long time ago and they couldn't tell the cause."

"Why was Morfin in Azkaban?" Neville asked.

"He attacked a muggle family a while back. The muggle authorities found them dead in their dining parlor. They couldn't make sense of what happened to them but the Aurors caught up to Morfin. According to Auntie, he didn't even put up a fight. He just kept moaning about losing his family ring."

"So we have no real link to the Gaunt family and hence Slytherin," Harry wrapped up. "We have a creature that is petrifying students and when someone is petrified, they would never remember what happened.

"We have this diary," Harry held up the book, noticing it made his scar prickle when he did. "But there isn't anything written in it."

"So we're at a dead-end," Hermione growled in frustration.

"Yup," Hannah was exasperated.

"Anything new in Slytherin?" Harry asked the Four.

"Nothing," Daphne said. "It's quiet, even by Slytherin standards."

"Alright well as always, if you guys find anything, let the others know," Harry said.

Harry walked out of the room they were using to meet with the book in his hand. He headed up the stairs, heading toward the common room when he suddenly felt a substance dumped on his head. It was green, gooey and slimy and made Harry feel forever unclean.

"There you go, Heir," a Ravenclaw Harry never even met before said. "Now you're just as slimy as a snake. Fitting huh?"

Fuming, Harry ran up the stairs, threw open the portrait hole and stormed through the common room, not even saying hello to his housemates, Harry ran into his dorm, dropped the diary on his bedside table, not noticing that it was mysteriously clean.

A quick shower later and Harry threw himself on his bed. Looking over, he spied the diary and felt a compulsion to pick it up.

Meanwhile, Hermione was worried sick about her best friend. She had seen him get the sludge dropped on him, followed by him speeding off. She was about to chase after him when Neville stepped up to the Ravenclaws.

"You think that was funny?" Neville advanced on the Ravenclaws who were leaning on each other in laughter.

"Well… yeah," the taller one, a blonde sixth year, said. "If he's going to go around attacking everyone, he should look the part of the slimy snake he is. Honestly, it's probably an improvement on that messy mop top, wouldn't you say, bushy?"

That last statement was said with them looking at Hermione.

"So you'd like me to do that to you?" Neville wasn't backing down. "How about I tar and feather you so you look like ravens? Next time you attack someone maliciously, you'll answer to me."

"Like I'd be afraid of any second year," the shorter Ravenclaw with short, dark hair ruffled Neville's hair condescendingly.

"Stupefy!" A flash of red erupted from Neville's wand and the first Ravenclaw dropped to the ground with a heavy thump. "Incarcerous, Moblicorpus."

The taller Ravenclaw was bound and raised off the ground. He floated there for a minute as Neville wound himself down.

"Remember what I said," Neville said. "I don't like bullies, especially bullies who prey on my best mate. Wake your friend and tell him the same."

Neville canceled the spells on the blonde Ravenclaw, making the boy fall hard to the floor. Neville stowed his wand, grabbed Hermione and walked away. They walked toward the common room.

"Pricks," Neville said. "I get being scared but to do that to anyone bar Lockhart is just cruel. That's even pushing it for Lockhart."

"Thank you for standing up for him," Hermione said as they entered through the portrait hole. "Harry needs as much help as he can get. Let's go see if he's okay."

"Give him some time," Neville held her back by the shoulder. "He needs to settle down on his own. If we disturb him now, he could snap."

"You think so?"

"You saw his reaction," Neville said. "He wasn't embarrassed or upset; he was furious. I've seen him mad before but I've never seen him furious, have you?"

"Once, when we met with Dumbledore last September," Hermione recalled.

"Could you calm him down? Reach him?"

"Barely but only after he calmed down a little."

"Exactly," Neville said. "He was unreachable that night. I tried to talk to him and he wouldn't engage, eventually snapping at me. By the next morning, he calmed down and I could chat with him.

"Give him some time to relax. He'll be back down and we can talk to him then."

Hermione didn't like it but she sat down in a chair where she could watch the stairs, to see Harry reemerge. But he never did. After an hour, she got tired of waiting. She thought he would be back down in the common room by now but he wasn't.

Having had enough, Hermione got up and went to the second year boys dorm.

"Harry," she said as she knocked. "I'm coming in. I hope you're okay; that was a nasty prank they pulled on you."

Cautiously, she pushed the door open to see Harry sitting on his bed, nearly catatonic. Worried he had actually been petrified, she raced to him.

"Harry!" She shook him. After a second, he blinked and turned his head to her, shock evident on his face.

"Hermione," he said. "Hagrid was the one who was accused of opening the chamber the last time. They expelled him because of it."

"How do you know this?" Hermione saw he was holding book in his hand.

"Tom Riddle," Harry said. "This is his diary. If you write in it, he writes back. I asked the diary about the Chamber I was somehow shown what happened. Tom turned Hagrid in for setting a creature loose that was purportedly behind it."

"But Dumbledore said he did not think they caught the true culprit, right?" Hermione reminded Harry. "Hagrid's a gentle soul. He wouldn't harm anyone."

"True but he does have a different idea of what everyone considers dangerous," Harry added. "We should probably talk with him and ask what creature it was he had that got him suspended and see if that creature could petrify people."

"Okay but first," Hermione picked up the diary. "I want you to get rid of this. A book that writes back feels… wrong. We should take it to McGonagall. Something about this feels wrong."

"It's just a book," Harry said, hugging the book close to him. "What harm can come from a book?"

"Look at you," Hermione gestured. "You've never done that with a book in the entire time I've met you. That's something that I usually do. Why did you even start to write in it?"

"I just felt compelled to, I guess," Harry looked down and felt the compulsion again to keep the book close, to write in it. "Okay this might be more serious that I was willing to admit."

"First thing tomorrow, we take it to McGonagall," Hermione said, resolutely. "For now, let's go back to the common room. Your friends are worried about you."

For a while, Harry was able to relax in the common room. While some of the Gryffindors were still skittish around him, most of his yearmates were upbeat and looking forward to the warmer weather that spring would bring.

That night, Harry went up to the dorm, a little more relaxed until he opened the door to his dorm. His curtains were torn down, his trunk ransacked. Everything he owned was strewn around and it didn't take long for Harry to realize what the person was after: the Diary was missing.

As Neville ran to get McGonagall, Harry tried to put everything back in order.

"Mr. Longbottom tells me your dorm was- sweet Merlin," she took in the devastation. "Did they take something?"

"Yes," Harry said. "They took a diary that belonged to someone named Tom Riddle. He was a student here 50 years ago. I wrote in it tonight and it wrote back."

"That diary wrote back?" McGonagall said. "And you didn't think to bring it to me?"

"Hermione advised me to do that," Harry said. "We were going to bring it to you tomorrow morning."

"But that means…" McGonagall started, horrified.

"That the only culprit could have been a Gryffindor," Harry finished, sadly.

They conducted a search of the tower but the diary did not turn up.

A few weeks went by and Harry was headed down for the game with Ravenclaw. As they had a commanding points lead, all Gryffindor basically had to do was play the match and the cup would be theirs. He was walking down toward the pitch with Hermione when he suddenly stopped her, keeping her from putting her foot down.

"Easy there," Harry said, pointing to a snake under her foot. It was a small Adder.

"~What are you doing out here?~" Harry hissed at the snake. "~You might get stepped on where you are sitting.~"

"~A Speaker?~" The snake hissed back. "~ I was looking for food.~"

"~There is plenty of food in there,~" Harry pointed toward the forest.

"~Thank you, Speaker,~" the Adder hissed and slithered off toward the grass. Harry smiled and turned his head. Staring at him in astonishment was Hermione and, much to Harry's displeasure, Snape.

"Was that Parseltongue?" Hermione asked.

"I guess it was," Harry said.

"That's what it was," Hermione said to nobody in particular. "I have to go check something in the library!"

She turned and ran toward the castle.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted, trying to make her stop. "You can't go anywhere alone; it's too dangerous."

"I will accompany her, Potter," Snape said, prompting Harry to give him a skeptical look. Though Snape had changed a little since the night Colin was attacked, Harry didn't quite trust the man. "I know you do not trust me so I will tell you this: your father saved my life once and I hence owe him a Life Debt. I will pay that debt by guaranteeing that I will not harm Miss Granger."

Reluctantly, Harry nodded, hoping Hermione would be okay. Suddenly the game felt very pointless. Even while he was getting his gear on, he just wished as much to fly out and make sure Hermione was okay. He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall entered the locker room.

"This game has been cancelled," she said.

"Cancelled?" Wood looked appalled.

"There's been another attack," McGonagall said and looked at Harry.

"The attack was near the library, wasn't it?" Harry stated more than asked, hoping to be wrong.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," she said sadly. "You'll want to come with me."

Without even changing out of his gear, Harry sprinted out of the locker room toward the Hospital Wing. Entering the ward, Harry spotted the sight that he was hoping to never see. There on the bed was his best friend, her curly locks standing on end, eyes widened in fright with her left hand extended. Her right hand was held firmly to her chest.

"Hermione…" Harry broke down beside her. I promised to keep you safe… I failed. Harry's thoughts raged through his mind, beating him up on every turn. He knew it wasn't his fault but guilt still riddled him.

"They were found just outside the library," McGonagall said. "They were found with a handheld mirror."

Wait… they? Harry thought. That was when he looked at the next bed that held the Potions master, a look of fright on his face as well.

"That's not all," McGonagall said. "Someone also went to Professor Snape's storeroom and destroyed the extra bottles of the restorative potion."

So there was no way to immediately restore them to health.

"We'll just have to order more Mandrakes," Harry said.

"That would take at least a week for them to arrive," McGonagall said. "Our Mandrakes would be ready by then. I know you hate seeing your friend like this but she will be fine.

"In the meantime, I must return you to Gryffindor tower," McGonagall said. "All the students are gathered there to hear the new rules."

From that moment, students were to remain within their year groups. After classes, students were to return to their common rooms. Special groups, including the D.A. were closed. Overall, nobody was happy.

After the attack, Harry was flooded with apologies, especially from Ernie and Justin.

"Susan was right," Ernie said. "We don't even know you and we cast aspersions on you as to your guilt."

"I know you wouldn't let anything happen to Hermione if you could manage it," Justin said. "You are also the reason the school purchased the mature Mandrakes, making it possible for them to cure us. Can you forgive us?"

"Maybe in time," Harry said in a monotone voice. "You weren't the only ones but hearing that you thought I was turning out like the man who murdered my parents really stung. I'll accept your apology but my forgiveness you'll have to earn."

This was true: whether it was Dumbledore lying to him, Snape antagonizing him or these Hufflepuffs accusing him of attacking students, Harry wasn't apt to handing out forgiveness on a whim.

"If there's anything we can do to help," Ernie tried to lay a hand on Harry's shoulder but Harry stepped back. He wasn't in the mood to be touched at the moment. "Let us know."

"I will," Harry replied, devoid of emotion.

A pall was cast over the castle as more than one student worried about the school being closed. The only one who was smug was of course Draco Malfoy. Harnessing the mood, he increased his calls for Dumbledore to be removed, asking the students to write their parents and ask for a headmaster who could solve their current crisis.

That night, Harry lay in his bunk, unable to sleep. Listening to the sounds of his dormmates all sleeping soundly was irritating. Growling softly, Harry swung his feet out of the bed, dressed, swung his father's invisibility cloak on and marched onward. Before long he reached his destination.

Pushing on the door, Harry noticed there was no chime when entered the ward of the Hospital Wing. Sitting down next to Hermione, he pulled out the Lord of the Rings, flipped to the spot where he left off reading to her and started reading.

"Pippen looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak. He wondered if he was awake or still sleeping," Harry recited. "Sounds familiar, eh Hermione?"

For hours and hours, he read and read. As he read, tears started to appear in the corners of his eyes. He wasn't sure if she could even hear him but it felt good, felt right. It was cathartic.

"'My blood runs chill' said Gimli but the others were silent," Harrys voice cracked as tears flowed freely. Undeterred he kept reading until he could no longer stave off sleep.

Every night that week, Harry would wait until everyone was asleep and then head to the Wing to continue reading to his best friend. He'd enter the ward, throw off his cloak and started reading.

"'Tell me,' Pippin said, 'is there any hope? For Frodo I mean or at least mostly for Frodo.' Gandalf put his hand on Pippin's head. 'There was never much hope,' he answered. 'Just a fool's hope.'"

One night, he was heading toward the Wing when he looked out the window and saw a group of figures heading toward Hagrid's hut, a bobbing lantern cutting through the prevailing darkness.

Curious, Harry hurried to catch up. He caught the group just as they were knocking on Hagrid's door.

"Can I help you?" Hagrid opened the door a crack.

"Yes, Hagrid," Harry recognized Dumbledore's voice. "I'm afraid we have someone here who would like to talk to you."

Harry scurried into the hut as the door closed.

"Mr. Hagrid," a short, stout man holding a bowler hat spoke. "Terrible business that's been going on. We have to put a stop to it, you understand."

"Minister," Dumbledore began. "I believe, as I did 50 years ago, that Hagrid is not the one behind these attacks."

So that's Cornelius Fudge, Harry said inwardly. Amelia had spoken of him a few times but Harry didn't know what the man looked like.

"Unfortunately, Albus," Fudge said. "We have to be seen as doing something. Five attacks, a teacher this time. I'm afraid I've come to collect Mr. Hagrid."

"Not Azkaban," Hagrid paled. "Yer can't take me there!"

Without a trial? Harry raged silently.

"Until we can prove that the culprit is not you and that the culprit has been caught, yes. Please come quietly,"

At that moment, there was another knock at the door. Dumbledore waived his wand and standing there was Lucius Malfoy. The blonde stepped into the house, a judgmental stare affixed to his face.

"Get outta my house!" Hagrid spat at the man.

"Please," Lucius spoke with disdain. "I will not be in this -house did you call it- longer than I have to. I am here to speak to Professor Dumbledore."

Malfoy pulled a rolled up piece of parchment out of his robes, handing it to the headmaster.

"The Board of Governors feel that, with these attacks, it is time for us to find a new headmaster," Malfoy said. "The board feels that you've lost your touch on this school and reality. Deputy Headmistress McGonagall shall be the interim headmistress while we conduct a thorough search for someone who can actually protect their students."

Harry, clapped his hands over his mouth, hoping they didn't hear his astonished gasp. Dumbledore seemed to bristle at this last statement about protecting students while his eyes moved to where Harry was standing.

"Now, now Lucius," Fudge tried to look congenial. "Do you really think that is necessary?"

"I'm afraid it is," Malfoy said stoically.

"If the board feels it necessary to remove me then I will go without a fight," Dumbledore then looked right to where Harry was standing. "But know that help will always come to Hogwarts for those who ask for it."

"Excellent," Malfoy said. "Now with that handled, it is my unfortunate responsibility to seal the headmaster's office until such a time as we have selected someone for the position."

Harry took his opportunity to slide out of the hut and marched, not realizing he was at the Hospital Wing. Arriving at Hermione's bedside, he flung the cloak off.

"Oh I wish you were here, Hermione," Harry said. "You always know what to do. I'm sure you'd have the solution for this. Now Dumbledore is gone, Hagrid is in prison. I need your help, I really do."

Harry reached out and grabbed the hand pressed to her chest. That was when he heard the sound of paper crinkling. Examining Hermione's hand, he saw that there was something in it.

Prying open her hand, he found a page of a book Hermione had ripped out. Quickly scanning it, Harry felt hopeful for the first time in a week.

"This is it!" Harry said, quietly. "Hermione, you've figured it out."

Taking the page, he moved out of the Wing and sped off toward McGonagall's office. He needed her and he needed to get in touch with Madam Bones.

(A/N: I removed a short scene that followed this after some of the readers confirmed my doubts as its plausibility. Thank you specifically to Haji the Monster for helping me find a different way around it.)