Part 5
Harry was happy at Hogworts, except for that early morning when he got woken up by Wood. Knowing what will happen, Harry left a note for Ron telling him where he was, and to please take Nachash with him when he comes down. Despite the sleepy team, Oliver dragged them down to the Quidditch field for a rather long talk about tactics, and then the actual practice. Unfortunately for Harry, Colin Creevy was following him around, taking pictures. Just as Harry was practicing a Wronski Feint, the Slytherin Quidditch team walked onto the field. Wood landed in front of the intruding team and started to shower them with phrases along the lines of "what the f*** are you doing here?!?!". Flint, the Slytherin team captain, just stood there and waited for the torrent of words to stop. Wood was so caught up in shouting at Flint, that he didn't notice Ron and Hermione coming down from the stands, Nachash wrapped around Ron's neck, to his great distaste. Flint calmly reached his hand into his green robes and fished out a piece of parchment. He then proceeded to clear his throat and read aloud. "I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker."
"you have a new Seeker?" Wood said, distracted "Where?"
If it was possible, the Slytherins' smiles were even broader. They moved aside to reveal a short, pale kid, with gray eyes, and watching the Gryffindors with what looked like a permanent sneer. No-one except Harry and Ron were aware of Nachash slithering down Ron, and up to Harry. Ron, however, was too busy shooting Draco Malfoy death glares to pay it any mind.
"aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, giving Malfoy a look that said quite clearly that the only thing keeping him alive was the human wall in front of him.
"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said "let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team." The Slytherin team, still smiling like there was no tomorrow, all held out their brooms. Seven Nimbus 2001's glittered in the early morning sun.
"Quite good, aren't they?" Flint, now facing eight jaw-dropped, eye-popped people (Harry wasn't surprised, he saw this coming), continued, "top of the line, they are. Just came out last month."
"At least no one on the Gryffindors had to buy their way onto the team," Hermione said, and Harry shifted his feet. He hadn't expected the argument to escalate so quickly, but nonetheless, he was ready. "they made it from pure talent."
Harry knew what would happen next. He prepared himself by being poised on the balls of his feet, and drawing his wand which he carried everywhere. He also quietly whispered instructions to Nachash.
"Who cares what you think, you filthy Mudblood?" Malfoy retorted, and instantaneously Nachash was on the ground slithering towards Malfoy, Ron pulled out his wand, Alicia and Katie both shrieked "how dare you!", Flint had to jump in front of Malfoy so that he wouldn't be trampled by the Weasly twins, and Harry, who was ready, whispered some well-chosen words.
What Harry did was put a leg-locker curse on Flint - who fell sideways, allowing Fred to grab Malfoy and George to join his brother - disarm Ron - so that he will not curse Malfoy too badly - put the full-body-bind on Malfoy, and made Fred and George freeze on the spot. When Nachash reached Malfoy, he climbed onto his legs and stayed there in a threatening position.
"what's a mud-blood?" Hermione asked.
"it's a term used to insult muggle-born wizards or witches." Ron said, glaring at Malfoy.
Flint was fumbling for his wand, and when he got it out, he preformed the counter-curse for both himself and for Malfoy (the rest of the team ran away, the cowards). When they both got up, they ran away, but not before getting Nachash off, which proved to be a more difficult task than it seemed.
"alright, then," Oliver said "let's get back to practice…"
Later that day, actually more like evening, Harry heard a soft murmur near Professor Lockheart's office. It sounded something like "kill… rip… blood… I SMELL BLOOD!!!" Harry's blood went cold. He had been sure that Ginny didn't have Riddle's diary. 'THAT'S why Dobby didn't want me to come to Hogworts' Harry thought 'someone else must have the diary. And that someone just reopened the Chamber of Secrets. 'just when I thought I'd have a peaceful year,' Harry thought 'something comes along to mess it up.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October came, making everything damp and cold. Harry was just walking back to the common room, thinking about the time he heard the Basilisk, when he passed Nearly Headless Nick in the hallway. Nick was mumbling to himself angrily.
"Hi, Nick, how are you?" Harry said, and Nick gave a start.
"oh… just fine, really. I just got a response back from the Headless Hunt telling me that I couldn't join. But you would think that only half an inch of skin connecting my head with the rest of my body would count me headless." Nearly Headless Nick took a deep breath, and continued, calmly "but I see that something is troubling you, young Potter. How can I help?"
Harry thought fast. He couldn't just tell Nick that a Basilisk is running loose around the school. "oh… um… I don't think you could help, unless you know where we can get seven free Nimbus 2001's before the next Quidditch match. The Slytherin team has the latest model brooms, and we'll probably have the shortest end of the stick if we play against them." Especially if he gets hit by a Bludger half way into the game. Harry winced at the thought. Luckily, Nearly Headless Nick thought that the wince was because the Gryffindor team didn't have very good odds. Harry has always been a good actor, and he will need every ounce of talent to look properly shocked on Halloween when they find Mrs. Norris' petrified body.
"well, I'm sure Gryffindor will win the Quidditch cup this year, even if you don't have the best brooms." Nick said "Anyway, I wanted to invite you to my Deathday party this Halloween. I invited every ghost in the castle, and even some from abroad. It would be absolutely fabulous if you and your friends came two."
"yeah, I'd love to come Nick. I'll ask Ron and Hermione if they'd like to come too."
"a DEATHDAY party?!?" Ron exclaimed "why would anybody want to celebrate the day they died?"
"these are ghosts, Ron" Harry said "they enjoy being dead, except for Moaning Myrtle."
"wow!" that was Hermione's reaction "we will get to go to a DEATHDAY party! We'll be able to learn all about them, even more than from a few books. We'll be able to actually GO to one."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the morning of Halloween Harry woke up late. Since it was Saturday, there were no classes. There were a lot of rumors going around the school about the upcoming Halloween feast, only some of which were believable. Harry, Ron and Hermione had a late, meat-free lunch, so that they would not be hungry during Nearly Headless Nick's party. The three friends spent the day playing chess and doing homework (Hermione suggested the last, and she won't take no for an answer.)
"something is going to happen tonight." Harry said. "something bad."
"what?" Ron asked "what will happen? This has something to do with that weird dream of yours, right?"
"yes, it does have to do with the dream, but I wont tell you." Harry answered "I don't wan to spoil the surprise." He smiled wryly. Ron looked disappointed.
At 8:00 Harry, Hermione and Ron walked down towards the dungeons. The temperature dropped with every step they took. Harry advised his friends to bring their cloaks, and they were grateful they did. As they descended, they began to hear strange music.
"what is that?" Ron asked, clumping his hands on his ears to block out the noise.
"that would probably be the musical saw." Harry said quietly.
"the musical SAW?!?" Ron exclaimed "why would anyone want a musical saw?"
"these are ghosts, Ron" Hermione said, looking ecstatic "they enjoy different thing than we, the living like. I read that in 'A Guide to Ghosts' by Henry Howl. It also said…"
Harry stopped listening. Sometimes that talent of blocking out what you didn't need to listen to was useful. Nick greeted them at the door.
"How nice that you could come" he said mournfully "feel free to enjoy yourselves."
The party was like Harry remembered it. There was a table in a corner with what was supposedly food, and a Deathday cake.
"oh, lets not go that way." Hermione whispered "that's Moaning Myrtle, she haunts the Girl's bathroom on the second floor. She isn't very… friendly… to say the least."
"you know what?" Harry said "I don't really like this party. When Nick leaves the door, we'll sneak out. Ok?"
"alright" Ron and Hermione murmured together.
As the trio backed out of the dungeon, smiling and nodding to all the ghosts they made eye-contact with, Harry heard the faint whispering of the Basilisk. They headed up towards the Great Hall and when they entered, they discovered that the meal was already half-way through with dessert. They sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Fred and George, and Ron immediately started gulping down some ice-cream. A few minutes later the desserts disappeared and everybody left the Great Hall.
While everyone was on their way to their common room, Harry heard again the voice of the Basilisk. As they rounded a corner, everyone stopped dead. On a torch Mrs. Norris was hanging by her tail over an inscription:
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE
Everyone was shocked, except Harry, who just looked shocked.
Sometimes it was also useful to be a good actor.
Harry was happy at Hogworts, except for that early morning when he got woken up by Wood. Knowing what will happen, Harry left a note for Ron telling him where he was, and to please take Nachash with him when he comes down. Despite the sleepy team, Oliver dragged them down to the Quidditch field for a rather long talk about tactics, and then the actual practice. Unfortunately for Harry, Colin Creevy was following him around, taking pictures. Just as Harry was practicing a Wronski Feint, the Slytherin Quidditch team walked onto the field. Wood landed in front of the intruding team and started to shower them with phrases along the lines of "what the f*** are you doing here?!?!". Flint, the Slytherin team captain, just stood there and waited for the torrent of words to stop. Wood was so caught up in shouting at Flint, that he didn't notice Ron and Hermione coming down from the stands, Nachash wrapped around Ron's neck, to his great distaste. Flint calmly reached his hand into his green robes and fished out a piece of parchment. He then proceeded to clear his throat and read aloud. "I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker."
"you have a new Seeker?" Wood said, distracted "Where?"
If it was possible, the Slytherins' smiles were even broader. They moved aside to reveal a short, pale kid, with gray eyes, and watching the Gryffindors with what looked like a permanent sneer. No-one except Harry and Ron were aware of Nachash slithering down Ron, and up to Harry. Ron, however, was too busy shooting Draco Malfoy death glares to pay it any mind.
"aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, giving Malfoy a look that said quite clearly that the only thing keeping him alive was the human wall in front of him.
"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said "let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team." The Slytherin team, still smiling like there was no tomorrow, all held out their brooms. Seven Nimbus 2001's glittered in the early morning sun.
"Quite good, aren't they?" Flint, now facing eight jaw-dropped, eye-popped people (Harry wasn't surprised, he saw this coming), continued, "top of the line, they are. Just came out last month."
"At least no one on the Gryffindors had to buy their way onto the team," Hermione said, and Harry shifted his feet. He hadn't expected the argument to escalate so quickly, but nonetheless, he was ready. "they made it from pure talent."
Harry knew what would happen next. He prepared himself by being poised on the balls of his feet, and drawing his wand which he carried everywhere. He also quietly whispered instructions to Nachash.
"Who cares what you think, you filthy Mudblood?" Malfoy retorted, and instantaneously Nachash was on the ground slithering towards Malfoy, Ron pulled out his wand, Alicia and Katie both shrieked "how dare you!", Flint had to jump in front of Malfoy so that he wouldn't be trampled by the Weasly twins, and Harry, who was ready, whispered some well-chosen words.
What Harry did was put a leg-locker curse on Flint - who fell sideways, allowing Fred to grab Malfoy and George to join his brother - disarm Ron - so that he will not curse Malfoy too badly - put the full-body-bind on Malfoy, and made Fred and George freeze on the spot. When Nachash reached Malfoy, he climbed onto his legs and stayed there in a threatening position.
"what's a mud-blood?" Hermione asked.
"it's a term used to insult muggle-born wizards or witches." Ron said, glaring at Malfoy.
Flint was fumbling for his wand, and when he got it out, he preformed the counter-curse for both himself and for Malfoy (the rest of the team ran away, the cowards). When they both got up, they ran away, but not before getting Nachash off, which proved to be a more difficult task than it seemed.
"alright, then," Oliver said "let's get back to practice…"
Later that day, actually more like evening, Harry heard a soft murmur near Professor Lockheart's office. It sounded something like "kill… rip… blood… I SMELL BLOOD!!!" Harry's blood went cold. He had been sure that Ginny didn't have Riddle's diary. 'THAT'S why Dobby didn't want me to come to Hogworts' Harry thought 'someone else must have the diary. And that someone just reopened the Chamber of Secrets. 'just when I thought I'd have a peaceful year,' Harry thought 'something comes along to mess it up.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October came, making everything damp and cold. Harry was just walking back to the common room, thinking about the time he heard the Basilisk, when he passed Nearly Headless Nick in the hallway. Nick was mumbling to himself angrily.
"Hi, Nick, how are you?" Harry said, and Nick gave a start.
"oh… just fine, really. I just got a response back from the Headless Hunt telling me that I couldn't join. But you would think that only half an inch of skin connecting my head with the rest of my body would count me headless." Nearly Headless Nick took a deep breath, and continued, calmly "but I see that something is troubling you, young Potter. How can I help?"
Harry thought fast. He couldn't just tell Nick that a Basilisk is running loose around the school. "oh… um… I don't think you could help, unless you know where we can get seven free Nimbus 2001's before the next Quidditch match. The Slytherin team has the latest model brooms, and we'll probably have the shortest end of the stick if we play against them." Especially if he gets hit by a Bludger half way into the game. Harry winced at the thought. Luckily, Nearly Headless Nick thought that the wince was because the Gryffindor team didn't have very good odds. Harry has always been a good actor, and he will need every ounce of talent to look properly shocked on Halloween when they find Mrs. Norris' petrified body.
"well, I'm sure Gryffindor will win the Quidditch cup this year, even if you don't have the best brooms." Nick said "Anyway, I wanted to invite you to my Deathday party this Halloween. I invited every ghost in the castle, and even some from abroad. It would be absolutely fabulous if you and your friends came two."
"yeah, I'd love to come Nick. I'll ask Ron and Hermione if they'd like to come too."
"a DEATHDAY party?!?" Ron exclaimed "why would anybody want to celebrate the day they died?"
"these are ghosts, Ron" Harry said "they enjoy being dead, except for Moaning Myrtle."
"wow!" that was Hermione's reaction "we will get to go to a DEATHDAY party! We'll be able to learn all about them, even more than from a few books. We'll be able to actually GO to one."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the morning of Halloween Harry woke up late. Since it was Saturday, there were no classes. There were a lot of rumors going around the school about the upcoming Halloween feast, only some of which were believable. Harry, Ron and Hermione had a late, meat-free lunch, so that they would not be hungry during Nearly Headless Nick's party. The three friends spent the day playing chess and doing homework (Hermione suggested the last, and she won't take no for an answer.)
"something is going to happen tonight." Harry said. "something bad."
"what?" Ron asked "what will happen? This has something to do with that weird dream of yours, right?"
"yes, it does have to do with the dream, but I wont tell you." Harry answered "I don't wan to spoil the surprise." He smiled wryly. Ron looked disappointed.
At 8:00 Harry, Hermione and Ron walked down towards the dungeons. The temperature dropped with every step they took. Harry advised his friends to bring their cloaks, and they were grateful they did. As they descended, they began to hear strange music.
"what is that?" Ron asked, clumping his hands on his ears to block out the noise.
"that would probably be the musical saw." Harry said quietly.
"the musical SAW?!?" Ron exclaimed "why would anyone want a musical saw?"
"these are ghosts, Ron" Hermione said, looking ecstatic "they enjoy different thing than we, the living like. I read that in 'A Guide to Ghosts' by Henry Howl. It also said…"
Harry stopped listening. Sometimes that talent of blocking out what you didn't need to listen to was useful. Nick greeted them at the door.
"How nice that you could come" he said mournfully "feel free to enjoy yourselves."
The party was like Harry remembered it. There was a table in a corner with what was supposedly food, and a Deathday cake.
"oh, lets not go that way." Hermione whispered "that's Moaning Myrtle, she haunts the Girl's bathroom on the second floor. She isn't very… friendly… to say the least."
"you know what?" Harry said "I don't really like this party. When Nick leaves the door, we'll sneak out. Ok?"
"alright" Ron and Hermione murmured together.
As the trio backed out of the dungeon, smiling and nodding to all the ghosts they made eye-contact with, Harry heard the faint whispering of the Basilisk. They headed up towards the Great Hall and when they entered, they discovered that the meal was already half-way through with dessert. They sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Fred and George, and Ron immediately started gulping down some ice-cream. A few minutes later the desserts disappeared and everybody left the Great Hall.
While everyone was on their way to their common room, Harry heard again the voice of the Basilisk. As they rounded a corner, everyone stopped dead. On a torch Mrs. Norris was hanging by her tail over an inscription:
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE
Everyone was shocked, except Harry, who just looked shocked.
Sometimes it was also useful to be a good actor.