Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!
The next two weeks flew by in a hurry without incident, which was something that had everyone, students and teachers alike, sighing in relief. But Harry knew that it was merely the calm before the storm. Something was happening, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it before someone got hurt.
Cassie, on the other hand, did not share his enthusiasm. "Why not just let the teachers do it?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Because they might mess it up." Cassie just stared at him with a deadpan look. Finally, Harry sighed. "Fine. I'm curious."
"You know what your Mum says about curiosity Harry, about how it killed the cat?"
"Yeah, but did you know that satisfaction brought it back?" Harry asked with a chesire grin.
With a roll of her eyes, Cassie punched Harry lightly in the arm. "Shut up Harry." Draco rolled his eyes and directed his friends to the Slytherin table for dinner. "Besides that Harry, we've got Professor Dumbledore and Uncle Eddie on the case. We don't have anything to worry about."
Harry snorted. "We can't rely on them forever you know. Eventually we'll have to grow up."
"I know that. But we're only 12 Harry. It's ok to let the adults handle things." Cassie pointed out. Draco nodded dutifully as he began loading eggs and potatoes onto his plate.
"That's what you say, until a person gets petrified instead of a cat!" Cassie ignored Harry as she sat down and began loading her plate.
Of course, no one in the school had forgotten the message that stubbornly refused to be cleaned off of the wall. Talk about what had happened spread like wildfire. It spread so quickly, and refused to go away. It got to the point where students were interrupting classes to ask about it. Thus far, no one had dared do so in Defense class, until one day when Hermione Granger worked up the courage to do it.
"Sir?" Edward paused to see Hermione raising her hand expectantly.
"Yes Miss Granger?"
"I was wondering perhaps if you could tell us a bit about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Edward raised his brows. "That sounds more like a history question than something appropriate for my class Miss Granger."
The girl fidgeted slightly. "Well you see sir, Professor Binns refused to talk about it. He called it baseless speculation."
"I see." Edward sighed, shaking his head. "Of course, he would, he much prefers goblin wars. Well I guess I might as well indulge you with an actual history lesson. You see, about 1000 years ago, 2 witches and 2 wizards, the best of their generation, started this school. Every magic able child across Britain was invited to this school to learn and practice magic. However, around this time, we were in a crisis. The muggle government at the time was taking part in the witch hunt. Due to this, our magical government became very wary about muggles and by extension, muggleborns. The founders held no such qualms however and they refused to turn away muggleborns."
"How were they able to refuse the Ministry?" Hermione asked.
"Because the school and the Ministry are separate entities. We receive some funding, but not enough that it gives the Ministry any sway over us. Anyway, as I was saying, for many years the founders worked in harmony. But then, dissention appeared and broke them apart. Salazar Slytherin thought that muggleborns should be educated on our world before starting school. The other founders thought it unnecessary and Slytherin took exception to that. After one final argument that ended with Slytherin and Gryffindor throwing spells, Slytherin left the school. Of course, there is, according to legend, a secret chamber where he kept many of his experiments and the like. As a matter of fact, all of the founders have secret chambers all over the school but no one knows where they are nor what guards them. Although I've always thought it rather obvious what was guarding Slytherin's chamber."
Everyone looked confused for a moment. Hermione suddenly looked like she had come to a revelation. "It would be a snake!" She had forgotten to raise her hand in the excitement.
"Five points to Gryffindor! Of course, it would have to be a snake of some sort, since that is literally the symbol of Slytherin house."
Seamus raised his hand. "Wouldn't that be kind of obvious professor?"
"We are talking about the Wizarding World here. We don't account for the obvious." There were snickers throughout the class at that. "Besides, that's the only sort of creature that Salazar Slytherin would've had any hope of controlling. Dragons are far too strong willed and it just doesn't go with the name."
Hermione raised her hand this time, a questioning frown on her face. "So, the question remains professor, what kind of snake?"
"Ah Miss Granger, there is only one kind of snake that would befit the Heir of Slytherin."
There were many confused looks around the room when suddenly, "A basilisk!" A shocked Neville Longbottom exclaimed.
"Well done Mr. Longbottom! Five more points to Gryffindor! The king of the serpents, with a gaze that can kill you, how could you possibly hope to save yourself from this thing? How do you stop a gaze that can kill the moment you look it in the eyes?"
Dean raised his hand. "By diluting the gaze! If you could use a mirrored surface to reflect the gaze so that it would only petrify you! That's how Mrs. Norris survived!"
"Very good, 5 points to Gryffindor. The puddle of water reflected the gaze, it was the reflection that Mrs. Norris saw which allowed her to live, although petrified. Of course, it's easily curable. As soon as the mandrakes are matured, we'll be able to get her back to her normal annoying self." There were a few chuckles from the students.
"But how do we keep from being petrified or killed in the first place?"
"Move around in groups. Whoever is controlling the creature won't strike where there are multiple witnesses, it creates too many unknown variables. Once we find out who exactly is behind this, you can be assured that they will be punished most severely. They'll be sent to Azkaban if they're lucky, and they'll get the Kiss if they're not."
Hermione slowly raised her hand again. "Professor, now that we know what it is, where is the chamber located? How do we find this thing?"
Edward smiled. "Ah, that is the conundrum Miss Granger. If we knew that, there wouldn't be an issue. But rest assured, we are looking for it."
Later, Edward and Minerva were walking the dark corridors of the castle, looking for students out of bed. "Are you sure it was wise giving them that much information?"
Edward shrugged. "We'll see but you know Miss Granger, once she has the bit, she's unlikely to let go."
"Indeed. Why do you think the basilisk was placed in the school in the first place?"
"I would imagine it had something to do with scaring the acromantulas in the forest to keep them from the school. Hagrid knowing the father has little to do with the beasts not attacking the school."
"Oh I'm sure there's a respect there, but Hagrid doesn't have that much control. The only thing those creatures are scared of is sitting in that chamber, where ever that is."
Unbeknownst to them, 3 floors down in the girls' bathroom, a young redhead girl with blank eyes stood before what had been a sink but was now a hole. To the unknowing bystander, she would have been hissing. But it was more than that. She was unknowingly summoning a monster.
The next morning, everyone was sitting in the Great Hall eating breakfast, when Mr. Filtch ran into the room, bolting as fast as anyone has ever seen him up to Professor Dumbledore. He whispered something into the Headmaster's ear which made the older man pale considerably. With a word to Professors McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Riddle, the four professors hurried out of the Great Hall followed by Mr. Filtch.
Cassie had a worried look on her face. "What do you think is going on?"
"I bet someone else has been petrified." Harry stated grimly.
"But it's been weeks since the cat was petrified! It can't be that."
"Someone else has been petrified." Professor Riddle told the gathered Slytherins an hour later. Harry had the decency to not rub it in. Classes had been cancelled for the day, which created a three-day weekend. Normally, the students would be overjoyed with getting Friday off. But because of the attack, no one was cheering. "A young first year, Colin Creevy was taking pictures around Hogwarts last night when he was attacked. He did see the monster through his camera so he's petrified instead of dead, but we don't know who is unleashing the creature because the film was fried by the creature's stare." He surveyed the frightened faces of his students. "From now on, no one will be out of bed after curfew. No student will travel alone. You will be with a professor at all times from class to class. If you are without a professor, then you must travel in groups of at least 6." There was some murmuring among the students. "I know it's restricting and I don't like doing this, but I want you all to be safe. All the other houses are doing the same thing. Once we catch the culprit, we'll go back to normal. Just have patience until then. Watch each other's back and if you see anything suspicious, report it to a professor immediately." There were nods all around. "Very good, now I'll walk you all back to your common room and then I'll pick you all up for meals around noon."
That afternoon, Albus Dumbledore held a meeting in his office with all of the professors. "We meet today to discuss a letter that I just received from the Board of Governors."
"What do they have to say now?" Professor Sprout asked irritably which earned her a sympathetic look from Minerva.
Albus sighed. "They are ordering us to play host to one Gilderoy Lockhart."
There was a tense silence for a moment before Edward began to laugh. "They really think that idiot will make any difference?"
"Is this some sort of a joke Headmaster?" Severus Snape asked.
"It would seem as if the Board has lost faith in our ability to protect our students." Minerva stated.
"Indeed. Unfortunately, I was overridden on the matter. But on the bright side, he won't interfere with any classes. He'll mostly just be patrolling the corridors and attempting to investigate. I have little doubt that he will fail."
Edward looked unconvinced. "Oh, I guarantee that he'll find a way to interfere with my class."
Minerva nodded. "It'd be foolish to think he won't since it's Defense Against the Dark Arts. That's what he supposedly specializes in."
There were nods all around. Albus steeped his fingers in thought. "That would be counterproductive to finding the person behind these attacks. We need a way to distract him."
"Perhaps have him start a dueling club." Professor Flitwick suggested.
"Do you really want that blow hard teaching students his style of dueling?" Edward asked skeptically.
"Well no, I figured Severus and I could 'assist'. Of course, I'll try to persuade you to help with at least the first lesson. But he'll be far too busy with Severus and I breathing down his neck to be a liability to you."
Albus adopted a thoughtful look. "It may just work my friend."
Edward nodded reluctantly. "Very well. I'll leave it up to you Filius."
As they spoke, Harry sat with his friends discussing the attack in their common room. "See Cassie, I told you this would happen!"
"Now isn't the time for bragging Harry, but I guess you're right that we need to look into this a little bit." Cassie said sadly.
Draco nodded. "We've got some work to do."
"Ok so we know that it can't be anyone in our house because we'd have noticed something off about them." Harry reasoned.
"Not necessarily. We aren't everywhere. Until we have more information, everyone is suspect." Draco stated with Cassie nodding in agreement.
"Alright so where do we start then?" Harry asked.
"We open our eyes and pay attention to everyone. We act like true Slytherins, and observe." Draco stated.
Harry grinned. "I like it."
"So glad you approve." Cassie drawled, rolling her eyes. Harry just glared at her in response.
That Monday morning, as the students were eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, the doors to the Great Hall opened and in strolled a man with an exuberant air about him. Everything about him screamed cocky and over confident. Almost everyone in the room recognized him and the whispers started. "That's Lockhart!" "What's he doing here?" "He must be here to investigate the attacks!" "Monster beware!" The whispers only made the grin on the man's face even wider which caused many of the teachers to roll their eyes.
"Hello there Professor Dumbledore! I'm Gilderoy Lockhart although I'm sure you already know that!"
"Indeed Mr. Lockhart. The Board of Governors advised me of your arrival and we already have quarters prepared for you. Severus will show you." Said professor nearly choked on the bite of food he had just eaten which caused Edward to pat him on the back pityingly.
By Wednesday, notices were posted in every common room advertising the dueling club that was to be held Saturday evening. "Well this will be interesting." Harry said sarcastically.
"You never know Harry, he may actually be able to teach us something." Draco answered just as sarcastically.
"You're both just jealous." Pansy said spitefully which got an eyeroll out of Cassie who was working on a Charms essay. "Jealous of what Parkinson? His smile?"
"Shut up Black! No one asked you anything!"
"Oh, give it a rest Pansy, his lesson will be useless. The only saving grace is that Professor Flitwick, a former dueling champion, will be there. I bet he knows loads more than that idiot." Daphne stated
Pansy scowled but wisely kept silent. Harry sighed irritably. "She's right. Unless someone competent is there, that lesson will be horrible."
"Too bad that it's mandatory." Draco stated with a scowl.
"Not much we can really do about it unfortunately. Anyway, we should probably take after Cassie's example and get this Charms essay done." They all grudgingly agreed and got to work.
That Saturday, many students hurried to the Great Hall in anticipation for the dueling lesson they were about to receive. In the middle of the room was a long-raised platform, and atop that platform, stood a beaming Lockhart. "Welcome all! Come around here if you please! Let us get started." The students all followed his command and circled the platform. At the front, many of Hogwart's female population stood giggling girlishly at the man who beamed at them with a wink which only caused the girls to giggle more. "Now then, tonight begins your very first dueling lesson! Here to assist are Professors Flitwick, Snape, and for one night only Professor Riddle!" Edward glared at the boisterous man. "Tonight, I will teach you how to defend yourself in the form of a duel should you come against someone who intends to harm you. But first, a demonstration is in order! Professor Riddle will assist me in that."
Edward grudgingly moved forward to stand on one end of the platform while Lockhart moved to the other. "We will disarm only Professor." Edward nodded.
"Now, now Gilderoy, if we are going to teach them dueling, we should do a real demonstration. Show us a real duel Gilderoy." Snape drawled, stealthily putting up a shield around the platform.
"Oh, what a brilliant idea Severus! Very well then! We will show you a true duel! Don't fret though, I'll return your professor to you in one piece." Edward felt his blood begin to boil as a tick formed on his head. With a flick of his wrist his wand appeared in his hand. I'll show you a real duel you glamour hogging fraud!
Harry looked at their head of house and whispered to his friends. "I think Mr. Lockhart is about to get the shock of his life." Cassie nodded in agreement.
"Now Professor, let us bow."
"No." Gilderoy blinked in surprise. "When you are dueling for your life, there are no playing by the rules. Dispense with the pleasantries Gilderoy, let's go."
"Very well! Expelliarmus!" The red spell flew towards the professor who merely stood there, a bored expression on his face, and impacted an invisible barrier. Lockhart looked on, shock evident on his face. "H-how?"
"Come now Gilderoy, that can't be all you have, can it?"
Lockhart grit his teeth and began firing off disarming spells, trying to catch the Defense professor unawares. They all either impacted an invisible barrier or he side-stepped them, doing very little else and all with the same bored expression on his face. After several minutes of this, with Lockhart obviously tiring out, Edward decided it was time to end this farce and with a quick flick of his wand, he had Lockhart disarmed, stunned, and bound in ropes on the floor. He walked towards Snape. "Severus, when you decide to wake up, give him this for me." He handed him Lockhart's wand and with a nod to the students, he left the room, the eyes of everyone in the room following him.
That Monday, the Ravenclaw first years were in Transfiguration when Minerva noticed that the minds of her class were elsewhere. With an irritated sigh, she decided to address the issue. "What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you lot?"
Emma raised her hand. "I think everyone is still a little thunderstruck at the display they saw Saturday night."
"Ah, I see now. Well he isn't the defense professor for nothing you know. He fought during the first war and faced off against the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange and even, You-Know-Who himself multiple times. The stories he could probably tell you are numerous. What you saw Saturday is but a small taste of what he's capable of."
Another first year raised his hand. "Have you seen him fight before Professor?"
Minerva smiled at the question. "Oh yes, several times. I can promise you that there are few wizards and witches who are as well gifted and talented on the field of battle as he is. Anyway, if there are any more questions, you'd be better off asking him yourself. Now, let us return to the lesson."
After Edwards last class of the day with the Gryffindor second years, he noticed that Hermione Granger had yet to leave her desk. "Miss Granger, is there something the matter?"
This startled the girl a little. "Oh, no professor, I just wanted to talk to you is all."
"Oh? Should I be worried?" He asked in jest.
Granger frowned a little. "I just wanted to talk to you about Saturday."
Edward sighed quietly. "Yes, I thought as much." He sat down at his desk and conjured a chair in front of the desk for Hermione to sit down.
The girl sat down. "I was just thinking, if Mr. Lockhart did all of those things in his books, then how was he so easily bested?"
Edward sighed in relief. "Well I'm of the belief that he didn't do any of those things. My reason for that is that there are too many inconsistencies. For instance, there are no spells to reverse the werewolf transformation during the full moon. The only way to do that is to kill said werewolf."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I wondered about that. But why lie about it? Is he just going for the attention? You know he really enjoys the attention some of the female students give him. He is almost always surrounded by girls and he flirts with them shamelessly! Underaged girls professor!"
Edward frowned. "Does he do anything physical? Have you ever seen him touch one of these girls inappropriately?"
She shook her head. "No sir. But I don't know what he says to these girls so I don't know what he does behind closed doors."
Edward looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll have Professor McGonagall look into it, quietly of course. But there really isn't much we can do unless one of these girls comes forward or we catch him in the act." Hermione nodded in agreement. "Just make sure you stay clear from him alright? I don't want you getting caught up in this."
She shook her head. "I haven't tried to speak with him since I've realized that he was probably a fraud. But I don't just want to talk about that. I wanted to ask you about the Chamber of Secrets." Edward went to speak when the door opened and Professor Baxter walked in. "Ah, I didn't know you were entertaining a guest Professor."
Edward rolled his eyes but smiled. "No, come in Laura. Miss Granger was just asking me about the Chamber."
Laura's face took on a solemn look. "Ah I see. You don't mind if I listen in do you?"
Edward waved his hand. "No of course not, have a seat." He waved his wand and conjured another chair. "Now, what would you like to know Miss Granger?"
"Well, I was wondering, has the Chamber ever been opened before?"
"Yes, fifty years ago."
Hermione blinked. "Oh, was the perpetrator ever caught?"
"Supposedly. But I'm fairly certain they caught the wrong man. You see, the Head Boy at the time, my father, caught a certain student who enjoyed the company of dangerous creatures, still does to be honest, and accused him of being the person who opened the Chamber. Poor Hagrid nearly went to Azkaban because he thought it a good idea to try to raise an accromantula in Hogwarts."
Hermione gasped. "Hagrid? Who would ever believe that Hagrid would do that?"
Edward shrugged. "The Ministry was just glad to have someone to blame. Thankfully, Professor Dumbledore was able to intercede on his behalf to keep him out of Azkaban and convinced the then Headmaster to hire him on as the assistant Gamekeeper."
"Do you have an idea of who actually did it?"
"Oh, I have more than that Miss Granger. I know exactly who did it."
Hermione looked skeptical. "How?"
"Because he's the only one who could have done it. You see, almost 70 years ago, a homeless, pureblood witch by the name of Merope Gaunt stumbled into an orphanage and died in childbirth right there on the floor. And there, that baby grew into a spiteful, evil little boy who enjoyed hurting people and causing pain."
"Why was the woman homeless?"
"Her father and brother had been sent to Azkaban for attacking a Ministry official. They were a poor family to begin with but she had to sell her family's prized relics in order to get a little money to eat with. You see she ended up that way because she fell in love with a muggle. She seduced that muggle with a love potion because she knew she'd never get him with her looks alone. But when she became with child, she thought that the muggle would stay with her so she stopped giving him the potion. Once it wore off and he realized what had happened, he left her immediately."
"You can't really blame him for that." Laura pointed out.
"Oh, definitely not. Anyway, this little boy grew up and found out he was a wizard. So, he went to Hogwarts and after some searching, found out he was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin. I'm not sure how he found the chamber, but he did and he wreaked havoc with it. But after a girl died from the creature, the Board of Directors got involved and the boy knew that if he didn't stop, he'd be caught. So, he blamed poor Hagrid and now he has a plaque in the trophy for special services to the school." Edward shook his head at that.
"So, the true perpetrator was never even caught!?" Hermione raged.
"No, he wasn't."
"Who was it then?" Laura asked.
Edward smiled sadly. "His name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."
Hermione gasped. "That must've been your father!"
"Yes unfortunately. You see, that nasty little boy named Tom Riddle became a nasty, hateful man. Somewhere around his fourth or fifth year, he came up with a new name to sever his ties from his muggle father whom he would murder in cold blood in his sixth year and his pure blood uncle, Morfin Gaunt, would be blamed for it. He even confessed because he remembered doing it. It was around then that he adopted the name that the magical world would fear for years and years to come, Lord Voldemort."
Laura's eyes went a little wide. "So, your father was-
"An evil, racist bastard who can't even call himself a man, that killed my mother after she refused to join him in his horrible crusade? Yes indeed."
Hermione frowned. "From what I've read about You-Know-Who, you're nothing like him at all."
Edward chuckled a bit. "Thank you, Miss Granger. Thankfully, the few other people that know the truth agree with you."
Laura smiled. "I have to agree with them."
Hermione nodded. "Well I'd better go Professor, homework to do and all that." She got up and made her way toward the door when she stopped and turned around. "I assume this needs to remain a secret."
Edward nodded with a smile. "Your intelligence does you credit Miss Granger. I would appreciate it."
With a nod, Hermione turned and left to head to the common room, she had homework to do. Laura however remained behind for a moment. "I do hope you weren't trying to get out of our Christmas break date."
Edward laughed. "No ma'am. I just thought that you deserved to know the truth about me."
"It doesn't change how I feel. I still expect that date from you."
"I'd be honored." With a smile, Laura made her way out of the room, leaving Edward feeling lighter than he had in years. Now, if I can just figure out who is opening the Chamber now.
I'm sorry this took so darn long but I've had quite a bit going on. I found out that I'm having a little girl so we've been busy getting ready for that! Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, it took me forever to write. If you have any questions, feel free to IM me! Also, please review so that I know what you think about my story thus far. And thank you all for your patience!
Edit: I got a review that corrected me on the correct usage of Miss and Mrs. I'm a little ashamed because I should have known that lol Unfortunately, the reviewer was signed in as guest so I can't respond to him directly. I also made some other small changes so I hope you guys don't mind! Have a great day and weekend!
