A/N - Yay Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! I'm going again on the
9th of December
Chapter Six
Harry hit the wall at full speed, his broom stopped but his momentum carried him forwards. There was a nasty crunching noise as his face impacted and tiny fragments of broken glass flew outwards. He'd lost his concentration when he'd blacked out briefly. This was bad; Voldemort must have been doing something really horrific to cause Harry to lose focus. The broom fell to the ground and Harry followed hitting the ground hard. He groaned slightly, and then screamed as his scar suddenly flashed with immense pain. Hedwig landed on the grass next to Harry and wandered over. Harry just stared at the owl, it had after all just knocked him out of a really, really high window. Hedwig nipped him affectionately on the ear. "Hedwig," Harry groaned, "I think my arm is broken and that I'm going to pass out from the pain in my head. Do you think you could go and get Mcgonnag... No wait could you get Hagrid for me." Hedwig stopped preening his back and looked sideways at Harry; then gave him another affectionate nip on the ear. Harry groaned loudly and closed his eyes, the pain flashed bright colours on his eyelid. "You're not going are you" said Harry. Hedwig looked into Harry's eyes. Harry could feel himself slipping away, funny really, he'd just fallen out of the top of a tower and survived. But now he was just going to pass out on the floor. "Hedwig, please. Get Hagrid!" Harry said and slumped to the floor. Hedwig took off and flew out of sight.
Ron woke up. He was leaning, and must have slept on Hermione's shoulder. He looked up at her and then sat up. She was tucked into the corner of the couch and had her arms wrapped around Ron's waist. Ron carefully lifted up her arms and stood up. It was morning already, he was surprised that no one had woken them and shuffled them off to separate dormitories, but then again nobody had seemed to mind them taking over the couch last night. They'd all been in a really good mood, even considering the fact that all lessons had been cancelled and almost all the teachers had mysteriously vanished. Behind him Hermione yawned her good morning to the world and stretched her arms. "Morning." Said Ron turning around, Hermione looked at him then at the light pouring in through the window. "Oh my god. I haven't done my homework." She said. "Hermione..." Ron said. "Yes" said Hermione "Um... No lessons - No teachers - No Homework!" She looked at him, and then laughed. "Oh yeah that" she said. "I'm going up to my dormitory to get changed, I'll see you at breakfast" gave Ron a quick hug and walked from the room. Ron was very confused, as blokes tend to be first thing in the morning. He stumbled up the stairs to his dormitory and pulled off yesterday's robes. Seamus and Dean went past on their way down to breakfast. "How's Hermione?" asked Dean as he went past, a sly smile upon his face. Ron rolled his eyes at him and threw a pair of socks in his general direction. It bounced harmlessly off the wall by Dean's head. "Oooh, you'll never get onto the House team as Catcher with an aim like that." They all burst out laughing, and Dean and Seamus quickly disappeared. "Ron", a voice called out, "Yeah Neville." Said Ron. Neville had lost his tie, and was crawling under all the beds looking for it. Ron joined in the search and they found it eventually in the hands of Trevor Neville's Toad that had climbed up on top of Neville's Bed. "I knew giving him prehensile thumbs was a mistake, but Professor Mcgonnagall said I couldn't. And I had to prove her wrong." Neville said putting it on. Finally Ron arrived down at breakfast, Hermione caught up with him just as they entered the great hall. Snape was sat all by his lonesome at the end of the Slytherin table. No other members of staff were anywhere along the tables. The couple sat down and tucked into breakfast. The post came in a few moments later and Ron and Hermione looked up to see if anything had come for them. Ron quickly spotted Pigwidgeon carrying a single letter heading straight for his end of the Gryffindor table. He was surprised however when the tiny bird flew past at a blur, delivering the letter into Neville's lap. "Oh that's odd." Said Neville "This letters even for me, its my grandmothers hand writing an all." He looked as surprised as Ron, who shook his fist in the air and damned his own bird. Hermione chided him, "Be nice to pig, I think he's cute" she said. "I just wish he'd deliver MY post, and not Nevilles" said Ron. Ron stopped halfway through a piece of toast and nudged Hermione, "Reckon Snape's telling Malfoy about you-know-who" She followed his gaze and saw Snape whispering to a certain not too un-familiar Slytherin. Draco was smiling that stupid, smug, smile of his. She hated him and he hated her, the animosity between them was possibly greater than the one that Harry felt for anyone in the Malfoy family. "I bet he is," she said, "bet Ferret features going to slither off and start spouting his normal rubbish about the Dark Lord too." She glared at him and Malfoy looked back, the air between those two sets of eyes. Boiled with hatred. "Make sure Harry does something about him Ron." "I'm going to do something about him myself." He said darkly, "Oh I love it when you act all heroic Ron." She leaned in, "But you're not doing anything stupid while I'm around. Malfoy's almost as good at fighting as Harry. Let those two settle it, you're better than senseless violence." "Fine." Said Ron and he went back to his breakfast. Hermione took another bite from her plate. "Anyway," she added "You're going to concentrate and work hard on your quidditch game. The team needs a new keeper." "Yeah." Ron said, he suddenly brightened up. "I wonder if Harry will let me borrow his Firebolt to practice on, I assume there's no lesson today so we could go over to the quidditch pitch and you could try to put a few past me." Ron leant forward and looked up the length of the Gryffindor table; perplexed he looked the other way and still didn't find what he was looking for. "Seamus." Ron said, "Have you seen Harry?" he asked. "Nope." Said Seamus "Not since we woke up, his brooms gone, we assumed he'd gone somewhere to practice doing that seeker thing he does." "Seeker thing?" "Leave me alone. I've only been up for an hour." Hermione, suddenly got up and ran for the door dragging Ron behind her. When they were outside the Hall, Hermione turned to Ron and said "We've got to find Mcgonnagall and we've got to find her now." "Why?" said Ron, "Isn't it obvious Ron, Harry's gone off on his broomstick to London. He's going to try and help defeat Voldemort." Realisation dawned brilliantly on Ron's face. He turned and followed the fleeting figure of Hermione who hadn't waited for him to work it out.
"Calm down Miss Granger, I can assure you that young master potter hasn't gone anywhere quite so dramatic." Ron finally caught up with Hermione who had already found Professor Mcgonnagall. The Professor was looking at Hermione with that look she reserved when she was dispensing information, but wasn't going to reveal anything more. "Now follow me to the Great Hall. The Headmaster has just sent me an Owl confirming a decision he still had to make. This announcement is going to change your world." Professor Mcgonnagall said. They followed her from her office and walked down the corridor to the Great Hall. On the way they were met by Hagrid who was not looking very happy, "Good morning Professor, I just heard the bad news." Professor Mcgonnagall did not look that pleased with the news either. "Good morning Hagrid. A very sad business, but unavoidable I'm afraid." Hagrid looked down at Ron and Hermione, and gave them a forced smile and a quick wave. "Don't worry Hagrid. It'll only be for a short time, just until things blow over." finished Professor Mcgonnagall. Who then turned and continued towards the great hall. "Hello Hagrid." Said Hermione, walking along behind the professor but in step with Hagrid (which was admittedly quite difficult for somebody whose legs were only half the size). "Hullo, Hermione. Hullo, Ron. Have you been told about this yet?" "No, I think the professor wanted us to hear it with everybody else." Said Ron "Oh alright. I bet you two haven't been told about Harry either have you? He's stuck up in the hospital wing, we found him lying unconscious outside with his stuff lying all around. There's something very wrong with him. But you have other things to worry about..." He trailed off as the small (well large if you considered Hagrid as more than one person) party entered the hall. Professor Mcgonnagall immediately walked to the end of the hall and got everybody's attention. "Students, students." She called in her authoritative manner. Snape rose to his feet and closed the doors to the hall. When the hubbub had died down and Mcgonnagall had got the entire school watching her she produced from the inside of her robes a roll of parchment, which she began to announce from. "The Headmaster has asked me to read you this announcement: Dear Students, As of yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Magic no longer exists. The buildings and personnel of the ministry, have been attacked in a raid action by Dark Wizards and Witches. As always the chief concern of this administration is the protection of you the students, therefore it has been decided by myself in conjunction with the school governors to close Hogwarts until further notice. The grounds of Hogwarts are to be converted into a war camp and almost all students will be sent home, with the exception of those students which it has been decided are at significant risk from attack. I realise that this means a break in education, and we plan to find places for many of you in our sister schools throughout Europe and America. This said I wish you all the best of luck, those who are to remain here will be contacted shortly." She took a pause to judge the measure of the room; it was filled with a sullen silence. "It is signed with the Headmasters signature and was delivered to me by his own personal bird." The silence was extremely uncomfortable. Somewhere in the back there was an almighty sniff from Hagrid. Ron turned to Hermione, all around them whispering had started and the general noise in the room was becoming a cacophany. "They're closing Hogwarts." Ron said. Hermione was clearly upset by the news, she reached over and held Ron. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Professor Mcgonnagall rolled up the scroll, and finished "That is all, there will be no lessons. I suggest you all go back to your dormitories and pack." Snape opened the doors he had closed moments earlier and dazed pupils began to wander past. Hagrid moved over to Ron and Hermione and laid a giant hand on each of their shoulders, "C'mon you two, it ain't that bad." He said, ending his sentence with an almighty sniff. "Anyway I think you two should come and see to your friend. Harry's in a bad way, he needs friends right now bad." Hagrid said. "Okay" said Hermione, letting go of Ron and wiping tears from her eyes. The couple stood and faced Hagrid. "What's wrong with him Hagrid?" "I think its best you see for yourself, Ron." Said Hagrid, gently encouraging them to follow him. The three of them left the Great Hall gently leaving it empty and devoid. The general mood of the school was reflected in the sky outside. The windows as they walked along the corridor to the infirmary were filled with dark grey, heavy clouds that had suddenly rolled in. The brilliant dawn that had awoken them all, had faded to a haze of drear and depression.
Chapter Six
Harry hit the wall at full speed, his broom stopped but his momentum carried him forwards. There was a nasty crunching noise as his face impacted and tiny fragments of broken glass flew outwards. He'd lost his concentration when he'd blacked out briefly. This was bad; Voldemort must have been doing something really horrific to cause Harry to lose focus. The broom fell to the ground and Harry followed hitting the ground hard. He groaned slightly, and then screamed as his scar suddenly flashed with immense pain. Hedwig landed on the grass next to Harry and wandered over. Harry just stared at the owl, it had after all just knocked him out of a really, really high window. Hedwig nipped him affectionately on the ear. "Hedwig," Harry groaned, "I think my arm is broken and that I'm going to pass out from the pain in my head. Do you think you could go and get Mcgonnag... No wait could you get Hagrid for me." Hedwig stopped preening his back and looked sideways at Harry; then gave him another affectionate nip on the ear. Harry groaned loudly and closed his eyes, the pain flashed bright colours on his eyelid. "You're not going are you" said Harry. Hedwig looked into Harry's eyes. Harry could feel himself slipping away, funny really, he'd just fallen out of the top of a tower and survived. But now he was just going to pass out on the floor. "Hedwig, please. Get Hagrid!" Harry said and slumped to the floor. Hedwig took off and flew out of sight.
Ron woke up. He was leaning, and must have slept on Hermione's shoulder. He looked up at her and then sat up. She was tucked into the corner of the couch and had her arms wrapped around Ron's waist. Ron carefully lifted up her arms and stood up. It was morning already, he was surprised that no one had woken them and shuffled them off to separate dormitories, but then again nobody had seemed to mind them taking over the couch last night. They'd all been in a really good mood, even considering the fact that all lessons had been cancelled and almost all the teachers had mysteriously vanished. Behind him Hermione yawned her good morning to the world and stretched her arms. "Morning." Said Ron turning around, Hermione looked at him then at the light pouring in through the window. "Oh my god. I haven't done my homework." She said. "Hermione..." Ron said. "Yes" said Hermione "Um... No lessons - No teachers - No Homework!" She looked at him, and then laughed. "Oh yeah that" she said. "I'm going up to my dormitory to get changed, I'll see you at breakfast" gave Ron a quick hug and walked from the room. Ron was very confused, as blokes tend to be first thing in the morning. He stumbled up the stairs to his dormitory and pulled off yesterday's robes. Seamus and Dean went past on their way down to breakfast. "How's Hermione?" asked Dean as he went past, a sly smile upon his face. Ron rolled his eyes at him and threw a pair of socks in his general direction. It bounced harmlessly off the wall by Dean's head. "Oooh, you'll never get onto the House team as Catcher with an aim like that." They all burst out laughing, and Dean and Seamus quickly disappeared. "Ron", a voice called out, "Yeah Neville." Said Ron. Neville had lost his tie, and was crawling under all the beds looking for it. Ron joined in the search and they found it eventually in the hands of Trevor Neville's Toad that had climbed up on top of Neville's Bed. "I knew giving him prehensile thumbs was a mistake, but Professor Mcgonnagall said I couldn't. And I had to prove her wrong." Neville said putting it on. Finally Ron arrived down at breakfast, Hermione caught up with him just as they entered the great hall. Snape was sat all by his lonesome at the end of the Slytherin table. No other members of staff were anywhere along the tables. The couple sat down and tucked into breakfast. The post came in a few moments later and Ron and Hermione looked up to see if anything had come for them. Ron quickly spotted Pigwidgeon carrying a single letter heading straight for his end of the Gryffindor table. He was surprised however when the tiny bird flew past at a blur, delivering the letter into Neville's lap. "Oh that's odd." Said Neville "This letters even for me, its my grandmothers hand writing an all." He looked as surprised as Ron, who shook his fist in the air and damned his own bird. Hermione chided him, "Be nice to pig, I think he's cute" she said. "I just wish he'd deliver MY post, and not Nevilles" said Ron. Ron stopped halfway through a piece of toast and nudged Hermione, "Reckon Snape's telling Malfoy about you-know-who" She followed his gaze and saw Snape whispering to a certain not too un-familiar Slytherin. Draco was smiling that stupid, smug, smile of his. She hated him and he hated her, the animosity between them was possibly greater than the one that Harry felt for anyone in the Malfoy family. "I bet he is," she said, "bet Ferret features going to slither off and start spouting his normal rubbish about the Dark Lord too." She glared at him and Malfoy looked back, the air between those two sets of eyes. Boiled with hatred. "Make sure Harry does something about him Ron." "I'm going to do something about him myself." He said darkly, "Oh I love it when you act all heroic Ron." She leaned in, "But you're not doing anything stupid while I'm around. Malfoy's almost as good at fighting as Harry. Let those two settle it, you're better than senseless violence." "Fine." Said Ron and he went back to his breakfast. Hermione took another bite from her plate. "Anyway," she added "You're going to concentrate and work hard on your quidditch game. The team needs a new keeper." "Yeah." Ron said, he suddenly brightened up. "I wonder if Harry will let me borrow his Firebolt to practice on, I assume there's no lesson today so we could go over to the quidditch pitch and you could try to put a few past me." Ron leant forward and looked up the length of the Gryffindor table; perplexed he looked the other way and still didn't find what he was looking for. "Seamus." Ron said, "Have you seen Harry?" he asked. "Nope." Said Seamus "Not since we woke up, his brooms gone, we assumed he'd gone somewhere to practice doing that seeker thing he does." "Seeker thing?" "Leave me alone. I've only been up for an hour." Hermione, suddenly got up and ran for the door dragging Ron behind her. When they were outside the Hall, Hermione turned to Ron and said "We've got to find Mcgonnagall and we've got to find her now." "Why?" said Ron, "Isn't it obvious Ron, Harry's gone off on his broomstick to London. He's going to try and help defeat Voldemort." Realisation dawned brilliantly on Ron's face. He turned and followed the fleeting figure of Hermione who hadn't waited for him to work it out.
"Calm down Miss Granger, I can assure you that young master potter hasn't gone anywhere quite so dramatic." Ron finally caught up with Hermione who had already found Professor Mcgonnagall. The Professor was looking at Hermione with that look she reserved when she was dispensing information, but wasn't going to reveal anything more. "Now follow me to the Great Hall. The Headmaster has just sent me an Owl confirming a decision he still had to make. This announcement is going to change your world." Professor Mcgonnagall said. They followed her from her office and walked down the corridor to the Great Hall. On the way they were met by Hagrid who was not looking very happy, "Good morning Professor, I just heard the bad news." Professor Mcgonnagall did not look that pleased with the news either. "Good morning Hagrid. A very sad business, but unavoidable I'm afraid." Hagrid looked down at Ron and Hermione, and gave them a forced smile and a quick wave. "Don't worry Hagrid. It'll only be for a short time, just until things blow over." finished Professor Mcgonnagall. Who then turned and continued towards the great hall. "Hello Hagrid." Said Hermione, walking along behind the professor but in step with Hagrid (which was admittedly quite difficult for somebody whose legs were only half the size). "Hullo, Hermione. Hullo, Ron. Have you been told about this yet?" "No, I think the professor wanted us to hear it with everybody else." Said Ron "Oh alright. I bet you two haven't been told about Harry either have you? He's stuck up in the hospital wing, we found him lying unconscious outside with his stuff lying all around. There's something very wrong with him. But you have other things to worry about..." He trailed off as the small (well large if you considered Hagrid as more than one person) party entered the hall. Professor Mcgonnagall immediately walked to the end of the hall and got everybody's attention. "Students, students." She called in her authoritative manner. Snape rose to his feet and closed the doors to the hall. When the hubbub had died down and Mcgonnagall had got the entire school watching her she produced from the inside of her robes a roll of parchment, which she began to announce from. "The Headmaster has asked me to read you this announcement: Dear Students, As of yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Magic no longer exists. The buildings and personnel of the ministry, have been attacked in a raid action by Dark Wizards and Witches. As always the chief concern of this administration is the protection of you the students, therefore it has been decided by myself in conjunction with the school governors to close Hogwarts until further notice. The grounds of Hogwarts are to be converted into a war camp and almost all students will be sent home, with the exception of those students which it has been decided are at significant risk from attack. I realise that this means a break in education, and we plan to find places for many of you in our sister schools throughout Europe and America. This said I wish you all the best of luck, those who are to remain here will be contacted shortly." She took a pause to judge the measure of the room; it was filled with a sullen silence. "It is signed with the Headmasters signature and was delivered to me by his own personal bird." The silence was extremely uncomfortable. Somewhere in the back there was an almighty sniff from Hagrid. Ron turned to Hermione, all around them whispering had started and the general noise in the room was becoming a cacophany. "They're closing Hogwarts." Ron said. Hermione was clearly upset by the news, she reached over and held Ron. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Professor Mcgonnagall rolled up the scroll, and finished "That is all, there will be no lessons. I suggest you all go back to your dormitories and pack." Snape opened the doors he had closed moments earlier and dazed pupils began to wander past. Hagrid moved over to Ron and Hermione and laid a giant hand on each of their shoulders, "C'mon you two, it ain't that bad." He said, ending his sentence with an almighty sniff. "Anyway I think you two should come and see to your friend. Harry's in a bad way, he needs friends right now bad." Hagrid said. "Okay" said Hermione, letting go of Ron and wiping tears from her eyes. The couple stood and faced Hagrid. "What's wrong with him Hagrid?" "I think its best you see for yourself, Ron." Said Hagrid, gently encouraging them to follow him. The three of them left the Great Hall gently leaving it empty and devoid. The general mood of the school was reflected in the sky outside. The windows as they walked along the corridor to the infirmary were filled with dark grey, heavy clouds that had suddenly rolled in. The brilliant dawn that had awoken them all, had faded to a haze of drear and depression.