Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine

Chapter Seventeen

A Culprit to Catch

Tom, what the hell is going on! Ever since I started writing in this diary I've been going crazy! There's a rumour about something called the Chamber of Secrets! Was it me that opened it? And where are you taking me! Please, I need answers!

Diana almost sobbed as she looked at the paragraph she had scrawled with her quill. Did she just murder Mrs Norris and paint the walls with blood?

Diana, I'm so sorry my little adventures are distressing you, but I can promise you that I have nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets. I am simply taking you to my favourite parts of Hogwarts when we go on our adventures, and it's a pity you can't remember them. As for why you can't remember them, well, I certainly haven't a clue! Maybe you're ill.

Diana's lip trembled as she read Tom's response. Maybe she was ill? Then again, she'd heard of illnesses where people loose their memory. Maybe she was developing a form of amnesia.

Tears formed in her eyes and she began to swallow so she wouldn't cry. She couldn't loose her memories! The past two months had been so great for her, she couldn't bear to forget.

Tom, is there any magical cure to amnesia? Diana scribbled hastily.

Oh Diana, I seriously doubt you have amnesia! You're so dramatic. It's probably just your cold turning into a fever.

Diana breathed in. She still had her cold, but it didn't seemed like anything worse. She didn't think she had a fever.

She looked at the diary. It had all vanished, her words and his, but she remembered Tom's words like they were still down on the page.

Diana, you need some sleep. I think your studying has made you exhausted and dramatic.

Diana rubbed her eyes and put away her ink and quill. She pulled the covers over herself and held the diary tightly before falling into a deep sleep.

It seemed as though Hogwarts was suspicious of the least likely person to have opened the Chamber: Harry.

After Diana had fled, she'd heard from Ginny that Harry had been found at the 'crime scene' with Ron and Hermione near. Now the majority of Hogwarts were suspicious of Harry.

Neither Diana nor her friends believed that Harry had anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets. After her talk with Tom, Diana fell under the impression that an older student had pranked them.

However, that didn't stop her from going to talk to Harry about it.

"It definitely wasn't Harry, or me and Ron. We were at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party," Hermione pointed out.

"I didn't think any of you had done it in the first place," remarked Diana. "I just wondered if you saw anyone there."

Harry shook his head. "No one there. Just me, Ron, Hermione and Mrs Norris."

Diana narrowed her eyes. Whoever had done it had tried to frame the second years, and she didn't like it one bit.

"I'm going to make a list of suspects," she told them. "You three got any ideas?"

"We barely know what the Chamber of Secrets is, much less who could've opened it," stated Ron.

"Ask, then," pleaded Diana.

"Are you ok?" asked Harry. "You seem a little... distraught."

"I'm fine," grumbled Diana, narrowing her eyes. "I'll try and find out about people's whereabouts when it happened, and once you three know what the Chamber of Secrets is then report back to me."

"Aye, aye, captain," said Ron.

Diana had made a long list of people. Literally everyone in Hogwarts was on it (well, the people whose names she knew anyway), so it would take a long time to ask everyone. So instead she 'hired' some employees to help her.

Luna, Ginny and Colin were each great at asking people. Ginny, the sister of many well known Gryffindors, was very popular amongst her house, so she managed to convince people to give away their whereabouts. Nearly everyone she asked said that they were at the Halloween feast, studying or doing something else.

Colin was great in a different way. He was so annoying that the only way he'd go away was if they told where they were. He managed to get many people's location when the incident happened, but he also managed to make himself an enemy of a lot of older kids trying to study.

Luna was great at it because she'd exchange their information for a copy of the Quibbler, her dad's magazine. Many people felt like they got ripped off by her, but at least they now would know all about Crumple-Horned Snorcacks.

It was safe to say that they'd made progress, but they still didn't know who had opened the Chamber.

Eventually Harry, Ron and Hermione had reported back with information on the Chamber of Secrets.

"We asked Professor Binns," Harry commented. "He says that the Chamber of Secrets was allegedly built by Salazar Slytherin before he left Hogwarts, and it apparently had a monster hidden in it. It could also only be opened by a direct descent of Salazar, the Heir of Slytherin."

"Enemies of the Heir, beware," muttered Ginny.

"Whoever it is who opened it is probably a Slytherin," remarked Ron.

"But there are at least 70 Slytherins!" cried Colin. "How are we going to investigate each one!"

"Well, let's think about it logically," said Hermione. "A Slytherin who hates Muggle-Borns and is out to get them."

"Malfoy," said Ron harshly.

"Exactly," agreed Harry.

"Maybe we should go and look for evidence before we assume anything," advised Luna. "There are many Slytherins who tick those boxes, not just Draco Malfoy."

"I agree with Luna," agreed Hermione. "We should look more before we assume anything."

The seven of them headed to the girls' bathroom where the incident had happened. Filch had given up on trying to clean the wall, so the blood was left up as a reminder to what had happened.

Diana looked at the floor. Hundreds of little spiders were scuttling along the floor and out the window. She heard Ron whimpering.

"Don't mind my brother being a wimp," sighed Ginny. "He just hates spiders."

Diana sniggered, but regretted it immediately. She'd always found snakes creepy, so she was being a hypocrite. But then again, snakes were venomous, but most spiders were completely frail and harmless.

"Maybe we can slip in," stated Ginny. "No one's here."

"I'm not going in there," huffed Ron.

Before he could say anything else, Hermione dragged him into the bathroom. Diana followed eagerly, hoping to find evidence in the bathroom.

Diana was surprised to find a ghost girl sitting on the U-bend of one of the toilets. Her hair was lanky and messy, and she looked rather depressed.

"This is a girl's bathroom," she pointed out. "They're not girls." She nodded towards Harry, Colin and Ron.

Colin pulled out his camera and took a photo of the depressing ghost. She gasped in outrage.

"You dare take pictures of me?" she cried, before gasping into long, drawn out wails.

"Uh... sorry Myrtle - we'll go now," stammered Hermione. She beckoned for the others to follow her out.

"Who was that?" enquired Ginny.

"Moaning Myrtle," explained Hermione. "She haunts the girls' toilets. Mainly that one though."

"Ron!" cried a bossy voice. It was Percy Weasley.

"What are you doing here!" he thundered. This is a girls' bathroom!"

"We're looking for evidence of the Heir of Slytherin! Now piss off!" snapped Ron.

"No more playing detective, or I'll write to Mum," continued Percy. "One more toe out line and you'll be expelled!"

He marched off angrily.

"Percy," muttered Ron. "Always has to ruin the fun!"

"At least he's looking out for you," pointed out Colin.

"Looking out for his reputation, more like," said Ginny. "Now let's go before any other prefects come by."

That evening, Hermione called an emergency meeting in the library.

"We don't have anywhere more private?" complained Diana.

"No, not unless you want to try and find the Chamber of Secrets," replied Harry.

"Ha-ha!"

"Keep your voices down," nagged Hermione.

They gathered in a corner of the library.

"There might be something that'll work," began Hermione. "We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, and it'll nearly be impossible to do, but we have to try."

"In a month or so, if you feel like, will you explain what it is?" asked Ron irritably.

"It's called the Polyjuice Potion," explained Hermione. "It allows you to, for an hour or so, transform into someone else."

"And this'll help us how?" enquired Ginny.

"We can break into the Slytherin common room!" declared Harry.

"Exactly," said Hermione. "You and Ron will dress up as Crabbe and Goyle, and maybe Diana and I can go as Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson to keep a look out on you two." she pointed at Ron and Harry. "Ginny, Luna and Colin will focus on getting us out in time. Luna can go undercover in the invisibility cloak and alert us when to leave, Colin can make sure Crabbe, Goyle, Bulstrode and Parkinson don't come into the Slytherin common room while we're interrogating Malfoy, and Ginny will make sure no one comes into our base for the Polyjuice Potion, which will be Myrtle's bathroom. There's an unlikely chance anyone will come in, but we have to make sure. Everyone got it?"

The other six nodded.

"First we'll need the library book Most Potente Potions to find the recipe for it," Hermione announced. "But it's in the Restricted Section of the library, and we'll need a teacher's signature for it."

"Come on," protested Ron. "What teacher is going to be so thick to fall for that?"