Chapter nine: Where is Jenny?
The conversation raged about the Serpent of Slytherin and whether or not it was related to the Chamber of Secrets until it was time for dinner.
"Maybe the headmistress will mention it at dinner?" Martin offered as we began to descend the stairs.
"I don't think so." I replied. "I got the impression she wasn't going to mention it to anyone, and she expected us to do the same."
"She'll be furious if she knew that the first thing Jessica did when she entered the common room was to tell everyone." Martin replied with a grin. I thought that was a bit of an understatement. There was a tug on my arm then, and I looked down to see Georgia.
"Hey." I greeted her.
"Can I have a word for a moment?" she asked, and then she glanced at Martin. "Alone?"
Martin sighed dramatically. "What is it with your cousins mate? They always want to speak to you alone. I'll see you in the hall."
When he'd left Georgia glanced around to make sure there was nobody else in the proximity before speaking. "Something strange has happened." She told me.
"What?" I asked, thinking of the piece of parchment up in my room.
"I was in the bathroom downstairs, you know the one with the ghost?" Georgia asked.
I knew that room only too well, having been dragged into it by Jenny last year for a private conference. The ghost who haunted it, Moaning Myrtle, had been rather fond of my father. "Yeah, I think I know the one you mean." I said casually.
"Well I was in there today and there was this strange noise I heard coming from somewhere in that room. It was a kind of hissing noise, like a snake sort of." Georgia said.
I felt my heart skip a beat: like a snake Georgia had said. The basilisk which had terrorised Hogwarts students before was a snake, a giant snake. "And?" I asked anxiously. "Did anything else happen?"
"No.." Georgia said frowning. "But it was almost as if- and this is going to sound really stupid so please don't laugh at me- as if it were pleading with me to help it. I got scared and I left the bathroom in a rush. And then when I got back up to the common room everyone was talking about the message on the wall, and the chamber of secrets. Isn't this too much of a coincidence Sam?"
I shook my head. "I don't know, but I know I don't like it." I said. "Maybe we should talk to Paul about it- even though he is a complete pain he IS the head boy.."
Georgia shook her head adamantly. "He will tell me I'm imagining things. I know Paul. One year I told him that there was a ghost in my grandparents attic since I could hear it, but he laughed and told me I was imagining things. When I asked my grandparents the next day they told me that there WAS a ghoul there. I told Paul, and he just shrugged. And then he said, well you can't expect a little girl to tell the truth all the time? And besides, knowing your family too well, it could very well have been a prank." She insisted.
"Okay, well what about Greg or Francine?" I asked, deciding that it probably wasn't the best move to tell Paul after all.
"Greg would be worried." Georgia said thoughtfully. "So would Francine and I don't want them to be worrying about me when they're in such an important year of their schooling." As it was Greg and Francine's fifth year they were sitting their OWLS.
"So we don't tell anyone?" I asked.
"We could tell Jenny. She's pretty smart. Dad reckons she's going to end up getting all the marks her Mum got." Georgia said, with a shrug.
I shook my head. "Not a good plan." I said. "She thinks it's all my imagination."
"But the writing on the wall was there!" Georgia protested. "And you can show her the piece of paper with the writing I found."
"Yeah, and she'll have some stupid logical reason to refute it all." I argued. "I guess for the moment we just keep this to ourselves Georgia. But if anything else happens, let me know okay?"
"Okay." Georgia agreed with a sigh.
We went into the great hall for our breakfast. As I sat down I noticed that Jenny wasn't there. I leant over and asked Kathy, one of the other Gryffindor second years, where Jenny was.
She looked puzzled. "Well she was with us when we were coming down the stairs, so I don't know where she's got to." She said.
Martin overheard and suggested we trace her to her lair. I looked confused until her explained that he meant the library.
"But why would she go to the library now?" I asked. "I would have thought she was hungry for dinner."
"Who knows?" Martin replied, obviously not bothered.
As we ate our dinner conversation about the Serpent of Slytherin continued at the Gryffindor table with Paul arguing that it was just someone playing a trick. When she heard him say this Georgia gave me a look which clearly said "See?"
"May I have everyone's attention?" The headmistress asked as the meal was winding down to a close. We all exchanged looks- could it be about the Serpent of Slytherin?
"It has come to my attention that some of you are talking about something which happened this afternoon. At first I was not going to comment on this since I didn't think you should know about it, however after consultation with my staff I have changed my mind. I don't want anyone to be worried, or anyone to panic but this afternoon writing was found on a wall- the same wall as before- declaring that the Serpent of Slytherin was on the loose and that enemies of the heir should be aware. No doubt everyone has heard bits and pieces of the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. Let me stress to you now that the Chamber was destroyed once and for all, by professors including myself. Therefore this writing about the Serpent of Slytherin does NOT refer to the basilisk which dwelt within, as it was also destroyed. We feel that at the moment there is no concern about this writing, but we wanted everyone here to be informed, and we will inform you should anything happen to make us change our minds. If anyone knows anything about this could they please speak to myself, or one of the other professors so it can be dealt with?" The headmistress finished and looked over the crowd of students. Of course this was not news to us at the Gryffindor table, but to the rest of the school it was.
"Now, I think with dinner being over you may all return to your common rooms." The headmistress called over the noise. As we made our way back towards the common room I thought about what the headmistress said. I wasn't going to comment on it out loud, but I thought about the look in her eyes when she first saw the writing. She hadn't looked as though she thought it was all just a stupid prank. But if she was telling the truth and the chamber really had been destroyed, what, or who, was the Serpent of Slytherin?
To my surprise Jenny wasn't back in the common room when we returned. "I told you she was in the library." Martin said to me, and I shrugged. But something was nagging at me, some strange feeling and I decided to check out the library. Even though I was still angry at Jenny for our conversation earlier that day where she'd told me there was nothing going on at Hogwarts other than my over-active imagination and my desire to be greater than my famous father, I couldn't help but be a little bit concerned. If she'd been on her way down the stairs with the girls why hadn't she told one of them she was going to the library instead?
I walked all the way through the library searching for Jenny to no avail. Maybe she'd gone back up to the common room when I was on my way down or searching, I thought, and I went back up there. But when I entered it she wasn't there. I couldn't help but be a bit worried now: where on earth was Jenny?
The conversation raged about the Serpent of Slytherin and whether or not it was related to the Chamber of Secrets until it was time for dinner.
"Maybe the headmistress will mention it at dinner?" Martin offered as we began to descend the stairs.
"I don't think so." I replied. "I got the impression she wasn't going to mention it to anyone, and she expected us to do the same."
"She'll be furious if she knew that the first thing Jessica did when she entered the common room was to tell everyone." Martin replied with a grin. I thought that was a bit of an understatement. There was a tug on my arm then, and I looked down to see Georgia.
"Hey." I greeted her.
"Can I have a word for a moment?" she asked, and then she glanced at Martin. "Alone?"
Martin sighed dramatically. "What is it with your cousins mate? They always want to speak to you alone. I'll see you in the hall."
When he'd left Georgia glanced around to make sure there was nobody else in the proximity before speaking. "Something strange has happened." She told me.
"What?" I asked, thinking of the piece of parchment up in my room.
"I was in the bathroom downstairs, you know the one with the ghost?" Georgia asked.
I knew that room only too well, having been dragged into it by Jenny last year for a private conference. The ghost who haunted it, Moaning Myrtle, had been rather fond of my father. "Yeah, I think I know the one you mean." I said casually.
"Well I was in there today and there was this strange noise I heard coming from somewhere in that room. It was a kind of hissing noise, like a snake sort of." Georgia said.
I felt my heart skip a beat: like a snake Georgia had said. The basilisk which had terrorised Hogwarts students before was a snake, a giant snake. "And?" I asked anxiously. "Did anything else happen?"
"No.." Georgia said frowning. "But it was almost as if- and this is going to sound really stupid so please don't laugh at me- as if it were pleading with me to help it. I got scared and I left the bathroom in a rush. And then when I got back up to the common room everyone was talking about the message on the wall, and the chamber of secrets. Isn't this too much of a coincidence Sam?"
I shook my head. "I don't know, but I know I don't like it." I said. "Maybe we should talk to Paul about it- even though he is a complete pain he IS the head boy.."
Georgia shook her head adamantly. "He will tell me I'm imagining things. I know Paul. One year I told him that there was a ghost in my grandparents attic since I could hear it, but he laughed and told me I was imagining things. When I asked my grandparents the next day they told me that there WAS a ghoul there. I told Paul, and he just shrugged. And then he said, well you can't expect a little girl to tell the truth all the time? And besides, knowing your family too well, it could very well have been a prank." She insisted.
"Okay, well what about Greg or Francine?" I asked, deciding that it probably wasn't the best move to tell Paul after all.
"Greg would be worried." Georgia said thoughtfully. "So would Francine and I don't want them to be worrying about me when they're in such an important year of their schooling." As it was Greg and Francine's fifth year they were sitting their OWLS.
"So we don't tell anyone?" I asked.
"We could tell Jenny. She's pretty smart. Dad reckons she's going to end up getting all the marks her Mum got." Georgia said, with a shrug.
I shook my head. "Not a good plan." I said. "She thinks it's all my imagination."
"But the writing on the wall was there!" Georgia protested. "And you can show her the piece of paper with the writing I found."
"Yeah, and she'll have some stupid logical reason to refute it all." I argued. "I guess for the moment we just keep this to ourselves Georgia. But if anything else happens, let me know okay?"
"Okay." Georgia agreed with a sigh.
We went into the great hall for our breakfast. As I sat down I noticed that Jenny wasn't there. I leant over and asked Kathy, one of the other Gryffindor second years, where Jenny was.
She looked puzzled. "Well she was with us when we were coming down the stairs, so I don't know where she's got to." She said.
Martin overheard and suggested we trace her to her lair. I looked confused until her explained that he meant the library.
"But why would she go to the library now?" I asked. "I would have thought she was hungry for dinner."
"Who knows?" Martin replied, obviously not bothered.
As we ate our dinner conversation about the Serpent of Slytherin continued at the Gryffindor table with Paul arguing that it was just someone playing a trick. When she heard him say this Georgia gave me a look which clearly said "See?"
"May I have everyone's attention?" The headmistress asked as the meal was winding down to a close. We all exchanged looks- could it be about the Serpent of Slytherin?
"It has come to my attention that some of you are talking about something which happened this afternoon. At first I was not going to comment on this since I didn't think you should know about it, however after consultation with my staff I have changed my mind. I don't want anyone to be worried, or anyone to panic but this afternoon writing was found on a wall- the same wall as before- declaring that the Serpent of Slytherin was on the loose and that enemies of the heir should be aware. No doubt everyone has heard bits and pieces of the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. Let me stress to you now that the Chamber was destroyed once and for all, by professors including myself. Therefore this writing about the Serpent of Slytherin does NOT refer to the basilisk which dwelt within, as it was also destroyed. We feel that at the moment there is no concern about this writing, but we wanted everyone here to be informed, and we will inform you should anything happen to make us change our minds. If anyone knows anything about this could they please speak to myself, or one of the other professors so it can be dealt with?" The headmistress finished and looked over the crowd of students. Of course this was not news to us at the Gryffindor table, but to the rest of the school it was.
"Now, I think with dinner being over you may all return to your common rooms." The headmistress called over the noise. As we made our way back towards the common room I thought about what the headmistress said. I wasn't going to comment on it out loud, but I thought about the look in her eyes when she first saw the writing. She hadn't looked as though she thought it was all just a stupid prank. But if she was telling the truth and the chamber really had been destroyed, what, or who, was the Serpent of Slytherin?
To my surprise Jenny wasn't back in the common room when we returned. "I told you she was in the library." Martin said to me, and I shrugged. But something was nagging at me, some strange feeling and I decided to check out the library. Even though I was still angry at Jenny for our conversation earlier that day where she'd told me there was nothing going on at Hogwarts other than my over-active imagination and my desire to be greater than my famous father, I couldn't help but be a little bit concerned. If she'd been on her way down the stairs with the girls why hadn't she told one of them she was going to the library instead?
I walked all the way through the library searching for Jenny to no avail. Maybe she'd gone back up to the common room when I was on my way down or searching, I thought, and I went back up there. But when I entered it she wasn't there. I couldn't help but be a bit worried now: where on earth was Jenny?
