Chapter five: My concern as the "Chamber of Secrets" is opened and I
realise I might have to be the one to deal with it.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?"
I heard the shrieks from the staffroom where I was dozing after I had ate a lot at the Halloween feast. I sat up straight in my chair, and my eyes opened. Across the other side of the room Snape laid his book down. "What-" He began but the same voice continued to screech.
"You! You! You've murdered my cat!" The person, who I recognized as the caretaker Mr. Filch, continued. Snape and I hurried from the room, with Minerva McGonagall at our heels as the yells continued. "You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"
"Argus!" Dumbledore, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, said firmly, as we came out into the hall. His eyes traveled upwards and we followed his gaze. Hanging from the torch was Mrs. Norris the caretaker's cat, indeed dead. And then written on the wall were the words "THE CHAMBER HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE."
Dumbledore reached up and detached Mrs. Norris from where she was hanging. "Come with me Argus. You too Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
I couldn't resist and I hurried over to the headmaster. "My office is nearest Headmaster-just upstairs-please feel free." I offered. The Chamber had been opened, the very words intrigued me and I was anxious to know what was going on- and more importantly why Harry had killed the cat as Mr. Filch was claiming. I prayed to Merlin it had nothing to do with me: had Harry really snapped now he realised I was the most famous wizard in the world over him?
"Thank you Gilderoy." Dumbledore said, bowing slightly to me. The children, Mr. Filch and the cat, Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall hurried after him, and I raced ahead to open my office door. I opened it slowly, so that my pictures would know someone was coming in and hide if they weren't decent. I lit some candles on my desk and stood back allowing Dumbledore to place the dead cat on the desk and examine it, with McGonagall also examining it. I debated suggesting that she'd been cursed- perhaps the killing curse, although I wondered how Harry had known it, and then another thought crossed my mind. "It was definitely a curse that killed her-probably the Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her..."
To my surprise Dumbledore ignored my comments. I glanced over at Mr. Filch who was crying as though his best friend had died, which I reminded myself was probably true- Filch had no friends other than his cat.
Dumbledore muttered something under his breath and tapped the dead cat with his wand. I moved closer to him. "I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou. A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography. I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets which cleared the matter up at once.." I said, but Dumbledore still seemed to pay no attention. "Lets see- the murders I prevented. First there was that lovely old witch- very, very old, no teeth, blind in one eye, easy pickings for anyone wanting to kill someone. Very grateful she was too. And then there was the young boy- he was a nice enough young lad but he-"
Suddenly he made a strange noise in the back of his throat and stood up. "She's not dead Argus." He said softly.
I stopped in the middle of my words. Not dead? But the cat looked dead to me, and even though I am prepared to admit I am not exactly an expert, I think I would know what a dead animal looks like.
"Not dead?" Mr. Filch's voice cracked as he spoke. "But why's she all- all stiff and frozen?"
"She's been petrified." Dumbledore said. "But how I cannot say."
I nodded. "Ah I thought so! That would have been my next guess!" But nobody was listening to me, as Mr. Filch cried "Ask him!" And pointed at Harry.
Harry looked shocked at the accusation, and involuntarily took a step backwards from Mr. Filch's outstretched finger.
"No second year could do this." Dumbledore said firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-"
"He did it, he did it! You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found- in my office- he knows I'm a- I'm a- he knows I'm a squib." Mr. Filch cried.
I had to turn away to hide my smile- Mr. Filch was a squib, well that certainly explained some things to me. But I wondered still how Harry had managed to learn the magic involved in doing something like this- and how come he'd chosen the cat to take his anger out on? Wasn't someone like myself a more appropriate target considering it was I who had stolen his fame? But then I realised that Harry obviously wasn't completely stupid: he knew he had no chance against a fully trained wizard such as myself!
"I never touched Mrs. Norris! And I don't even know what a squib is." Harry said loudly.
"Rubbish." Mr. Filch snapped. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"
I smirked to myself- it got even better; Mr. Filch had enrolled in a Kwikspell course in order to learn some magic. Still, I supposed, some wizards had it and some didn't.
"If I might speak headmaster," Snape said slowly, as he came forward a bit. "Potter and his friends may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?"
All three of the kids spoke at once, and from the garbled explanation I could gather that they claimed to have been at a Deathday party for one of the resident ghosts, Nearly headless Nick.
"But why not join the feast afterwards? Why go up that corridor?" Snape asked frowning slightly.
"Because-because-" Harry stammered and I frowned to myself. He could hardly tell them he was mad because he wasn't famous anymore could he? "Because we were tired and wanted to go to bed."
"Without any supper? I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties." Snape said.
"We weren't hungry." Ron protested, but then almost as he said the words his stomach gave a loud rumble and Snape smiled triumphantly. I supposed he was still annoyed about them not being expelled at the beginning of the year and he thought he would make sure that they got into trouble this time.
"I suggest, headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."
"Really Severus, I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong." McGonagall argued sternly.
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore said after looking carefully at Harry for a moment.
Snape didn't look too impressed at this, and nor did Mr. Filch, who screamed "My cat has been petrified! I want to see some punishment!"
"We will be able to cure her Argus. Madame Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs. Norris." Dumbledore assured the distraught caretaker.
I stepped forward eagerly. "I'll make it. I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip up a Mandrakes Restorative Draught in my sleep-"
But Snape interrupted me. "Excuse me," He said his smooth voice cold. "But I believe I am the Potions Master at this school."
I didn't know what to say to that. I could have pointed out that he wasn't much of one considering nobody had written a book about him, not like me where there were a lot of books on me in the library, as well as the many I had written.
"You may go." Dumbledore told Harry, Ron and Hermione. They left the room in a hurry.
"Well I have made the potion a lot of times." I told Snape. "Haven't you read my autobiography?"
Snape raised an eyebrow. "I haven't." He said.
"Well I'll give you a copy- better yet, I'll sign it. I gave one to that Hagrid fellow the other day, although I wonder whether or not he can actually read." I said.
"I believe he can." Dumbledore said quietly. "Excuse me." He said and he left the room. McGonagall hesitated and then hurried after him.
"I don't want one of your bloody books." Snape snapped.
"Right. Fine." I said a bit hurt at his blunt tone.
"What I do want though," Snape added in a low voice. "Is to find out whether Potter did petrify the cat, and whether or not the Chamber is really open again."
"The Chamber?" I asked, confused.
"The Chamber of Secrets Lockhart, don't you know anything?" Snape asked me with a shake of his head.
"Obviously not." I said dryly. It didn't bother me to have him speaking to me the way he was since I knew perfectly well he was just jealous.
"Well legend has it that when Hogwarts was created Slytherin built a special chamber within the school and he left in it a monster, a terrible monster. When his own true heir arrived at the school the chamber would be opened and the monster would be unleashed on those who Slytherin considered not worthy to learn magic- that is muggle borns." Snape explained.
"WOW!" I said. "And the chamber has not been opened yet?"
"No." Snape said, and then he began to leave the room and then stopped. "But if Potter has opened it rest assured I'll find out and he'll be punished."
I snorted and Snape stared at me. "What?" He asked angrily.
"Potter as Slytherin's heir?" I asked with a shake of my head. "Potter defeated Voldemort, Potter is in Gryffindor, he couldn't be Slytherin's heir."
"He could be and I bet he is." Snape snapped in argument.
"What will you bet?" I asked.
"What?" Snape asked confused.
"What do you bet Potter is the heir?" I asked.
Snape hesitated, and for a moment I thought he was going to take me up on my offer, but then he shook his head and left the room, leaving me to my own thoughts. What a day it had been- the Chamber being opened! And I realised then that virtually every teacher there was unable to cope with the monster that could be hidden in the chamber, every teacher that is except me. [For notes on this read my published works.] The burden was heavily placed upon my broad shoulders.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?"
I heard the shrieks from the staffroom where I was dozing after I had ate a lot at the Halloween feast. I sat up straight in my chair, and my eyes opened. Across the other side of the room Snape laid his book down. "What-" He began but the same voice continued to screech.
"You! You! You've murdered my cat!" The person, who I recognized as the caretaker Mr. Filch, continued. Snape and I hurried from the room, with Minerva McGonagall at our heels as the yells continued. "You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"
"Argus!" Dumbledore, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere, said firmly, as we came out into the hall. His eyes traveled upwards and we followed his gaze. Hanging from the torch was Mrs. Norris the caretaker's cat, indeed dead. And then written on the wall were the words "THE CHAMBER HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE."
Dumbledore reached up and detached Mrs. Norris from where she was hanging. "Come with me Argus. You too Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
I couldn't resist and I hurried over to the headmaster. "My office is nearest Headmaster-just upstairs-please feel free." I offered. The Chamber had been opened, the very words intrigued me and I was anxious to know what was going on- and more importantly why Harry had killed the cat as Mr. Filch was claiming. I prayed to Merlin it had nothing to do with me: had Harry really snapped now he realised I was the most famous wizard in the world over him?
"Thank you Gilderoy." Dumbledore said, bowing slightly to me. The children, Mr. Filch and the cat, Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall hurried after him, and I raced ahead to open my office door. I opened it slowly, so that my pictures would know someone was coming in and hide if they weren't decent. I lit some candles on my desk and stood back allowing Dumbledore to place the dead cat on the desk and examine it, with McGonagall also examining it. I debated suggesting that she'd been cursed- perhaps the killing curse, although I wondered how Harry had known it, and then another thought crossed my mind. "It was definitely a curse that killed her-probably the Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her..."
To my surprise Dumbledore ignored my comments. I glanced over at Mr. Filch who was crying as though his best friend had died, which I reminded myself was probably true- Filch had no friends other than his cat.
Dumbledore muttered something under his breath and tapped the dead cat with his wand. I moved closer to him. "I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou. A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography. I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets which cleared the matter up at once.." I said, but Dumbledore still seemed to pay no attention. "Lets see- the murders I prevented. First there was that lovely old witch- very, very old, no teeth, blind in one eye, easy pickings for anyone wanting to kill someone. Very grateful she was too. And then there was the young boy- he was a nice enough young lad but he-"
Suddenly he made a strange noise in the back of his throat and stood up. "She's not dead Argus." He said softly.
I stopped in the middle of my words. Not dead? But the cat looked dead to me, and even though I am prepared to admit I am not exactly an expert, I think I would know what a dead animal looks like.
"Not dead?" Mr. Filch's voice cracked as he spoke. "But why's she all- all stiff and frozen?"
"She's been petrified." Dumbledore said. "But how I cannot say."
I nodded. "Ah I thought so! That would have been my next guess!" But nobody was listening to me, as Mr. Filch cried "Ask him!" And pointed at Harry.
Harry looked shocked at the accusation, and involuntarily took a step backwards from Mr. Filch's outstretched finger.
"No second year could do this." Dumbledore said firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-"
"He did it, he did it! You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found- in my office- he knows I'm a- I'm a- he knows I'm a squib." Mr. Filch cried.
I had to turn away to hide my smile- Mr. Filch was a squib, well that certainly explained some things to me. But I wondered still how Harry had managed to learn the magic involved in doing something like this- and how come he'd chosen the cat to take his anger out on? Wasn't someone like myself a more appropriate target considering it was I who had stolen his fame? But then I realised that Harry obviously wasn't completely stupid: he knew he had no chance against a fully trained wizard such as myself!
"I never touched Mrs. Norris! And I don't even know what a squib is." Harry said loudly.
"Rubbish." Mr. Filch snapped. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"
I smirked to myself- it got even better; Mr. Filch had enrolled in a Kwikspell course in order to learn some magic. Still, I supposed, some wizards had it and some didn't.
"If I might speak headmaster," Snape said slowly, as he came forward a bit. "Potter and his friends may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?"
All three of the kids spoke at once, and from the garbled explanation I could gather that they claimed to have been at a Deathday party for one of the resident ghosts, Nearly headless Nick.
"But why not join the feast afterwards? Why go up that corridor?" Snape asked frowning slightly.
"Because-because-" Harry stammered and I frowned to myself. He could hardly tell them he was mad because he wasn't famous anymore could he? "Because we were tired and wanted to go to bed."
"Without any supper? I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties." Snape said.
"We weren't hungry." Ron protested, but then almost as he said the words his stomach gave a loud rumble and Snape smiled triumphantly. I supposed he was still annoyed about them not being expelled at the beginning of the year and he thought he would make sure that they got into trouble this time.
"I suggest, headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."
"Really Severus, I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong." McGonagall argued sternly.
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore said after looking carefully at Harry for a moment.
Snape didn't look too impressed at this, and nor did Mr. Filch, who screamed "My cat has been petrified! I want to see some punishment!"
"We will be able to cure her Argus. Madame Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs. Norris." Dumbledore assured the distraught caretaker.
I stepped forward eagerly. "I'll make it. I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip up a Mandrakes Restorative Draught in my sleep-"
But Snape interrupted me. "Excuse me," He said his smooth voice cold. "But I believe I am the Potions Master at this school."
I didn't know what to say to that. I could have pointed out that he wasn't much of one considering nobody had written a book about him, not like me where there were a lot of books on me in the library, as well as the many I had written.
"You may go." Dumbledore told Harry, Ron and Hermione. They left the room in a hurry.
"Well I have made the potion a lot of times." I told Snape. "Haven't you read my autobiography?"
Snape raised an eyebrow. "I haven't." He said.
"Well I'll give you a copy- better yet, I'll sign it. I gave one to that Hagrid fellow the other day, although I wonder whether or not he can actually read." I said.
"I believe he can." Dumbledore said quietly. "Excuse me." He said and he left the room. McGonagall hesitated and then hurried after him.
"I don't want one of your bloody books." Snape snapped.
"Right. Fine." I said a bit hurt at his blunt tone.
"What I do want though," Snape added in a low voice. "Is to find out whether Potter did petrify the cat, and whether or not the Chamber is really open again."
"The Chamber?" I asked, confused.
"The Chamber of Secrets Lockhart, don't you know anything?" Snape asked me with a shake of his head.
"Obviously not." I said dryly. It didn't bother me to have him speaking to me the way he was since I knew perfectly well he was just jealous.
"Well legend has it that when Hogwarts was created Slytherin built a special chamber within the school and he left in it a monster, a terrible monster. When his own true heir arrived at the school the chamber would be opened and the monster would be unleashed on those who Slytherin considered not worthy to learn magic- that is muggle borns." Snape explained.
"WOW!" I said. "And the chamber has not been opened yet?"
"No." Snape said, and then he began to leave the room and then stopped. "But if Potter has opened it rest assured I'll find out and he'll be punished."
I snorted and Snape stared at me. "What?" He asked angrily.
"Potter as Slytherin's heir?" I asked with a shake of my head. "Potter defeated Voldemort, Potter is in Gryffindor, he couldn't be Slytherin's heir."
"He could be and I bet he is." Snape snapped in argument.
"What will you bet?" I asked.
"What?" Snape asked confused.
"What do you bet Potter is the heir?" I asked.
Snape hesitated, and for a moment I thought he was going to take me up on my offer, but then he shook his head and left the room, leaving me to my own thoughts. What a day it had been- the Chamber being opened! And I realised then that virtually every teacher there was unable to cope with the monster that could be hidden in the chamber, every teacher that is except me. [For notes on this read my published works.] The burden was heavily placed upon my broad shoulders.