Chapter Twelve
Writing on the Wall
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the Gryffindor Common Room talking with Nafia and Nadia about Rinoa and Squall Leonhart, not to mention Selphie and Irvine Kinneas who had also had big part in dealing with the Sorceress Wars. "Oh! And we can't forget about Zell!"
"Zell?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.
Hermione perked her eyebrows, "That's a funny name."
Nafia and Nadia exchanged glances and giggled, "Yeah, well he was also friends with the others, right? He's an auror now, same as Squall, Selphie, and Irvine."
"He's got like really spiky hair and a tattoo on the side of his face like this-" Nadia drew some lines in the air with her hand.
"Uncle Zell's really um-energetic." Nafia said.
"Hyper." Nadia corrected.
"He was never that great at magic either, he likes to um, tackle dark wizards."
"Tackle?" Ron repeated, "You mean like, muggle-style fighting?"
They nodded, "Yep, well that's nothing, Irvine's got this weirdest fascination with muggle weapons-what-do-you-call-them . . .guns! He has a whole collection of them." "Really? He's not part muggle is he?" Harry asked.
They shrugged, "Could be, he grew up in a wizard orphanage though, with Selphie, Irvine and Squall."
"They were all orphans?" Hermione asked, "How terrible . . ." Then she remembered that Harry was also an orphan and stopped abruptly.
Nafia and Nadia also glanced at Harry before nodding, "Squall's the only who even knows who his parents were . . . he even remembers his mum, Ellone, a little bit . . . but she died when he was really young. That's why he was always-"
Nafia's sister elbowed her in the ribs. "Come off it, sis! We can't talk about them so much; it's not-y'know . . ."
Nafia only rolled her eyes, "Whatever. You'll get to meet Squall soon enough, at the Quidditch matches." She added to Harry, "Rinoa just told me she got a letter from him this morning, and he is coming."
"Cool!" Said Ron.
Harry didn't say anything; it was true that he was very curious about meeting Squall Leonhart. His thoughts lingered on that for a while, before he stood up, "Well, I think I'm gonna go down to the Great Hall and get something to eat, I'm starved." He told the others.
"I'll come with!" Ron said, jumping up, "C'mon Hermione."
"You boys know we aren't supposed to go in there this time of day." Hermione told them, scrunching up her nose in a disapproving fashion.
"Aw, come on." Ron pressed, "We're hungry, it's late, so what! It wouldn't be the biggest rule we've ever broken."
Nafia and Nadia giggled, "Yeah, you should go, Hermione, we'll come along too."
Finally Hermione consented and the group of five students began to sneak down the Hogwarts hallway when suddenly Harry felt that he heard the same sickening slithering voice he had heard before ringing close to his ears. He spun around but there was no one anywhere close to them. ". . . You okay, Harry?" Nadia asked.
"Uh . . . yeah, yeah I'm fine." Harry said coolly, he didn't want to bother them with his strange voices. He might tell Ron and Hermione later, but not . . .
A scream interrupted his thoughts, it was Nafia, and she stood stock-still, pointing one trembling finger to the wall opposite them. Harry and the others stared; their hearts instantly seemed to freeze in their chests. There, written on the hall at Hogwarts School in thick sweeping lines of blood, blood which was deep and dark and red, blood which slid in thin streams over the rough rocky wall to pools on the floor below . . . written up in blood on the Hogwarts school wall was 'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED, ENEMIES OF THE HEIR . . . BEWARE . . .' and hanging from a bloody hook by the tail was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris.
Harry and the others gasped, Hermione and Ron began to back away, but Harry moved closer, as though entranced, he reached out to touch the still cat when suddenly the sound of many feet swarming the halls made him stop and turn. Students and staff flooded down each side of the hallway, stopping and staring in horror at the grotesque scene and Harry, Hermione, Ron, Nafia, and Nadia standing right in the middle of it.
Filch was the first to approach them, when he saw poor Mrs. Norris he must have passed through a hundred emotions within a minute. First there was shock, then horror and sadness, then a raging anger that even scared Harry Potter. Filch rounded on him, "You did this, you killed Mrs. Norris, I'll KILL YOU!" Filch screamed, moving towards Harry.
"Stop, enough." Came a calm voice, just in time. Professor Dumbledore steadily walked towards the scene, he surveyed it all evenly, only his eyes, showed a tinge of sorrow. Nevertheless, he spoke briskly, "Mrs. Norris has merely been petrified, Filch, she is not dead. The Herbology class's Mandrakes will be fully grown in a few months' time, and then we will be able to make a potion to cure her."
Filch did not seem quite satisfied, but he backed down. The crowd was beginning to murmur, Dumbledore quickly told everyone to return to their common rooms however, he stopped Harry and his friends. Harry felt his heart sinking; surely Dumbledore would know that they hadn't done this?
Professor Heartilly kept glancing nervously at the writing on the wall, and then at the petrified cat and Dumbledore. Harry also thought he saw Snape whisper something to her, and she turned to him and shook her head, and said something back, but he couldn't hear them. She turned to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, they're just children,"
"It was a child who opened the chamber before." Snape hissed.
Dumbledore raised a hand to silence him, but already Hermione gasped, "It's been opened before?"
Snape appeared disconcerted but said nothing more. "Do not worry, Harry, everyone at my school is innocent until proven guilty." Dumbledore assured him, "You five are free to go." Harry thought that he could distinctly feel Professor Snape's scowl of disapproval on the back of his head as they headed away back towards the Gryffindor Common room.
". . . You know, I'm not very hungry any more." Said Nadia in a weak voice.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the Gryffindor Common Room talking with Nafia and Nadia about Rinoa and Squall Leonhart, not to mention Selphie and Irvine Kinneas who had also had big part in dealing with the Sorceress Wars. "Oh! And we can't forget about Zell!"
"Zell?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.
Hermione perked her eyebrows, "That's a funny name."
Nafia and Nadia exchanged glances and giggled, "Yeah, well he was also friends with the others, right? He's an auror now, same as Squall, Selphie, and Irvine."
"He's got like really spiky hair and a tattoo on the side of his face like this-" Nadia drew some lines in the air with her hand.
"Uncle Zell's really um-energetic." Nafia said.
"Hyper." Nadia corrected.
"He was never that great at magic either, he likes to um, tackle dark wizards."
"Tackle?" Ron repeated, "You mean like, muggle-style fighting?"
They nodded, "Yep, well that's nothing, Irvine's got this weirdest fascination with muggle weapons-what-do-you-call-them . . .guns! He has a whole collection of them." "Really? He's not part muggle is he?" Harry asked.
They shrugged, "Could be, he grew up in a wizard orphanage though, with Selphie, Irvine and Squall."
"They were all orphans?" Hermione asked, "How terrible . . ." Then she remembered that Harry was also an orphan and stopped abruptly.
Nafia and Nadia also glanced at Harry before nodding, "Squall's the only who even knows who his parents were . . . he even remembers his mum, Ellone, a little bit . . . but she died when he was really young. That's why he was always-"
Nafia's sister elbowed her in the ribs. "Come off it, sis! We can't talk about them so much; it's not-y'know . . ."
Nafia only rolled her eyes, "Whatever. You'll get to meet Squall soon enough, at the Quidditch matches." She added to Harry, "Rinoa just told me she got a letter from him this morning, and he is coming."
"Cool!" Said Ron.
Harry didn't say anything; it was true that he was very curious about meeting Squall Leonhart. His thoughts lingered on that for a while, before he stood up, "Well, I think I'm gonna go down to the Great Hall and get something to eat, I'm starved." He told the others.
"I'll come with!" Ron said, jumping up, "C'mon Hermione."
"You boys know we aren't supposed to go in there this time of day." Hermione told them, scrunching up her nose in a disapproving fashion.
"Aw, come on." Ron pressed, "We're hungry, it's late, so what! It wouldn't be the biggest rule we've ever broken."
Nafia and Nadia giggled, "Yeah, you should go, Hermione, we'll come along too."
Finally Hermione consented and the group of five students began to sneak down the Hogwarts hallway when suddenly Harry felt that he heard the same sickening slithering voice he had heard before ringing close to his ears. He spun around but there was no one anywhere close to them. ". . . You okay, Harry?" Nadia asked.
"Uh . . . yeah, yeah I'm fine." Harry said coolly, he didn't want to bother them with his strange voices. He might tell Ron and Hermione later, but not . . .
A scream interrupted his thoughts, it was Nafia, and she stood stock-still, pointing one trembling finger to the wall opposite them. Harry and the others stared; their hearts instantly seemed to freeze in their chests. There, written on the hall at Hogwarts School in thick sweeping lines of blood, blood which was deep and dark and red, blood which slid in thin streams over the rough rocky wall to pools on the floor below . . . written up in blood on the Hogwarts school wall was 'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED, ENEMIES OF THE HEIR . . . BEWARE . . .' and hanging from a bloody hook by the tail was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris.
Harry and the others gasped, Hermione and Ron began to back away, but Harry moved closer, as though entranced, he reached out to touch the still cat when suddenly the sound of many feet swarming the halls made him stop and turn. Students and staff flooded down each side of the hallway, stopping and staring in horror at the grotesque scene and Harry, Hermione, Ron, Nafia, and Nadia standing right in the middle of it.
Filch was the first to approach them, when he saw poor Mrs. Norris he must have passed through a hundred emotions within a minute. First there was shock, then horror and sadness, then a raging anger that even scared Harry Potter. Filch rounded on him, "You did this, you killed Mrs. Norris, I'll KILL YOU!" Filch screamed, moving towards Harry.
"Stop, enough." Came a calm voice, just in time. Professor Dumbledore steadily walked towards the scene, he surveyed it all evenly, only his eyes, showed a tinge of sorrow. Nevertheless, he spoke briskly, "Mrs. Norris has merely been petrified, Filch, she is not dead. The Herbology class's Mandrakes will be fully grown in a few months' time, and then we will be able to make a potion to cure her."
Filch did not seem quite satisfied, but he backed down. The crowd was beginning to murmur, Dumbledore quickly told everyone to return to their common rooms however, he stopped Harry and his friends. Harry felt his heart sinking; surely Dumbledore would know that they hadn't done this?
Professor Heartilly kept glancing nervously at the writing on the wall, and then at the petrified cat and Dumbledore. Harry also thought he saw Snape whisper something to her, and she turned to him and shook her head, and said something back, but he couldn't hear them. She turned to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, they're just children,"
"It was a child who opened the chamber before." Snape hissed.
Dumbledore raised a hand to silence him, but already Hermione gasped, "It's been opened before?"
Snape appeared disconcerted but said nothing more. "Do not worry, Harry, everyone at my school is innocent until proven guilty." Dumbledore assured him, "You five are free to go." Harry thought that he could distinctly feel Professor Snape's scowl of disapproval on the back of his head as they headed away back towards the Gryffindor Common room.
". . . You know, I'm not very hungry any more." Said Nadia in a weak voice.