As Professor Dumbledore led his new Divinations Professor into the entrance hall of Hogwarts he suddenly became aware that Hadrian Peverell had stopped.
Curious, Dumbledore turned towards the younger man and saw that same glassy-eyed look on his face that had been present when they'd first met, and once more the Peverell's breathing appeared to have almost stopped.
Deciding that this was likely some kind of vision he thought he'd wait for Hadrian to come out of it himself.
"Headmaster!"
Dumbledore jumped as Hadrian cried out.
"Come quick! There's been an incident."
How curious.
"An incident? Really? Do tell me more."
"Oh! That poor girl! How will we tell her family?"
"What girl is this? Which family?"
But Hadrian fell silent, then blinked slowly as he came to himself, and looked around in some confusion, as if he wasn't quite sure where he was. As if to comfort himself his hand reached up and clasped around the homunculus.
"…what was I saying?"
He said to himself.
"…what was that? What…what's happened? I just…can't quite…"
"A fleeting vision perhaps, but one which seems to affect myself directly this time. I am rather curious, what was it about?"
"I-I don't really know. I saw it very quickly. It was…sometimes I get minor vision triggered by sights or, or sounds, and they're harder to explain, harder to…explore…"
Hadrian trailed off and looked into the distant with a look of confusion.
"Headmaster!"
Professor Sprout called from the top of the stairs. She looked panicked
"Come quick! There's been an incident."
She turned shook her head in dismay.
"Oh! That poor girl! How will we tell her family?"
Dumbledore casually glanced at Hadrian and raised an eyebrow.
"Word for word. Well, well. My young friend, it appears that your vision was only moments ahead."
Hadrian shrugged.
"Localized precognition, Headmaster. It's a rare phenomenon."
"And not a form of foresight that gives much time to prepare, it seems."
Dumbledore stroked his beard in thought.
"I don't suppose you have an idea about what this incident is?"
"I haven't seen that, no"
"Then we best not keep our dear Professor Sprout waiting. This seems to be an emergency"
The two men climbed the stairs where the Herbology Professor was fretting.
"Lead on Pomona."
"Yes, yes! This way! It's terrible, just terrible!"
Her body will lie in the Chamber of Secrets forever!
These lines, written in what appeared to be blood, covered the surface of an otherwise pristine white wall.
"It's the youngest Weasley."
Professor McGonagall explained as Dumbledore surveyed the scene.
"She went missing just after lessons and Argus discovered this half-an-hour ago. We've sent the students to their dorms and started to search the castle, but the Chamber of Secrets has been lost for centuries. We have little hope of finding her."
"Little hope may be all we need."
The headmaster answered.
"There is still time to find her before the worst happens, and we must make use of it as best we can. Do we have any lead at the moment?"
"I'm afraid not. Nobody has seen the girl in several hours. We've talked to her brothers but they weren't sure when they last saw here. I'm afraid we're stumbling in the dark."
"…it feels…strange…"
Hadrian had his right hand placed against the wall and his left clutched around Feyrnforth. His eyes were closed.
"…like there's two minds overlapping…two people at the same point…"
McGonagall looked at the Peverell with vague distrust.
"Albus, who is this young man?"
"Ah! This is Hadrian Peverell, Minerva; he's our new Divinations Professor."
"And what, exactly, is he doing?"
"I would imagine he's attempting to utilize his skills in psychometry. To aide our search perhaps."
McGonagall made a noise in annoyance.
"I really don't think this is helpful. Divination is an entirely…imprecise form of magic. A child's life is at stake! We need to be acting now! Not waiting on some vague vision, which will likely be unreliable anyway!"
"We are capable of both, my dear. There is no harm in seeing what Hadrian discovers, especially if it helps us find the child."
"Scepticism is fine, Professor."
Hadrian spoke without opening his eyes.
"Divination can be very imprecise, but it's still a useful tool."
He pulled himself away from the wall and ran a hand across his head before turning towards Dumbledore and McGonagall. He looked at Dumbledore.
"I'd need to see where Professor Trelawney fell to be entirely sure."
The irritation was clear on McGonagall's face looked at him, and asked him in a clipped tone.
"Sure of what? Exactly."
"I think that whoever is behind this…"
Hadrian gestured to the wall.
"…is the same person responsible for Professor Trelawney's death."
"This is absurd! We don't have time for this! Trelawney's death was an accident! No one was responsible for it except herself."
"Some faith, I think, in our new colleague would not go amiss."
Dumbledore stepped in with a slight rebuke to the Transfigurations Professor. Then he turned toward the younger man with a stern look.
"We have little time, Hadrian, to explore this in depth. Even if you are uncertain of what you have seen any information you have could save a life this day. I will take you to where Professor Trelawney fell later, but first tell me what you have seen."
"Of course, Headmaster."
Hadrian nodded his head in recognition, then he breathed a deep breath to collect himself.
"…there were two minds here today, two souls in the same body. One young and frail, the other older and stronger, as if the second was trying to overwrite the first. I saw…a girl…but with the-the-the…afterimage of a boy, more a young man. The girl was fighting, resisting, but the boy forced her to write…that!"
Again he gestured to the wall, before he turned to point down the left corridor.
"They came from there; the boy dragging the girl…the girl was crying…they were carrying a…snake, or a lizard, some reptile. The boy killed it with the girls hand and wrote…with its blood…that message…"
He paused, his eyes seeming to glaze over, before his hand clasped around his necklace and he focused again.
"…there was something…something about…water, or, or…pipes, but, that was vague and hard to focus on…"
Hadrian was pretty sure where he had to go to find the entrance to the Chamber, but his mind had been so addled by visions over the past few years he was no longer sure how accurate his knowledge would be…
He turned back to Dumbledore.
"If I could touch something belonging to the girl I could be sure, but I think I know where she is, and how to get there."
McGonagall clearly was not convinced and stepped forward to say something, but Dumbledore held his hand up to halt her.
"We don't have time to argue."
He said, looking briefly towards McGonagall, before glancing back towards Hadrian
"Nor do we have time to confirm your theories. I have faith in you, Hadrian, and your vision. If you believe you know where to find the Chamber of Secrets then you must lead us there, at once."