The Snake-who-lived
"We're really in trouble, now. Without Dumbledore, they might as well close the school tonight. If he goes, there's going to be an attack every day."
Ron Weasley, Harry Potter et la Chambre des Secrets, page 278
Chapter 21: The Chamber of Secrets (part II)
"How do you know where Dumbledore's office is anyway?"
Harry ignored the awkward question Draco had asked as they ran through the deserted halls of the castle. It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last. His secret conversation with Tom had been quite enlightening, but unfortunately it wasn't exactly like he had shared it with his friends – the last thing he wanted was for one of them to ask him how he knew the way to talk to Tom.
Hidden under his invisibility cloak, which he had pulled out of his book bag just in case they crossed Filch or someone else, the two boys had easily reached the second floor and Harry was now guiding them toward where he knew that, fifty years ago, the headmaster's office was.
He was dearly hoping Dumbledore had not decided to relocate.
To his relief, the gargoyle was still there, and he knew the passage was hidden behind it. A new problem suddenly came up, however.
"Er... what's the password?" Draco asked after a few seconds.
Harry did not answer again, and this time because he was asking himself the exact same thing.
'Bugger.'
***
Rubeus Hagrid let out a satisfied sigh as he sat down on a small, wooden chair that creaked in protest under his imposing, bulky but not fat weight. His dog, Fang, lazily lowered his head down onto his cushion-made bed, his four paws resting in a satisfied spread-eagle.
Spiders seemed to be running away from the castle everywhere he looked, startling other animals in the forest. He had found a unicorn foal all alone and had spent most of the morning going about the forbidden forest, trying to find its mother. Fortunately, the foal had been cooperative and the mother thankful, though still wary, but that couldn't be helped.
With a content sigh, he removed his socks, large enough to be someone's cap, and put his enormous feet into a large basin of warm water. Finally able to relax, he mulled over the most recent problem. A fourth rooster had been killed; it seemed that, every time he had a new one, it didn't survive the week. Yet the hens were left untouched. That meant it wasn't a fox, or a blood-sucking bugbear. Maybe it was someone's idea of a joke – Hagrid knew he was the butt-end of many, but he didn't care… much – but he doubted someone would waste their times to prank him like that with the monster on the loose.
Maybe it was the monster?
Baah. Petrifying students and strangling roosters was something else entirely. There could be no connection whatsoever.
Oh well, there was no use thinking about that – the school year was almost over, and if the rooster-killings continued during the summer, then he knew it wasn't some prank. For now, he much preferred resting his tired feet while reading the latest Daily Prophet.
Unfortunately for him, his day wasn't over.
Three forceful knocks disturbed the silence and peace of his warm and homey hut. Miffed and wondering who it could be, Hagrid let his newspaper aside, pushed the basin away, pulled on his socks and opened the door…
And found himself standing at the wandpoint of three Aurors, recognizable by their blue combat uniform.
"Rubeus Hagrid," The lead Auror, a young-and-coming brown haired man with a nose that seemed to have been cut out of someone who's face was twice as big as his, began. "By order of the ministry of magic and in a preventive measure, I hereby order you to give yourself up to justice."
"…wha' the hell are yeh talkin' abou'?!" Hagrid asked. "Preven'ive measure?!"
The Auror just shrugged. "It's my orders, sir. Now, will you follow us, or do we have to force you? Either way, you don't really have a choice."
"Dun' tell me those idiots still think I'M the one who's petrifyin' people?!"
"Not my business to know." The Auror said. "All I have to do is take you off and escort you to Azkaban—"
"…Azkaban?!" Hagrid growled. "The minis'ry'd send people 'n Azkaban jus' cuz they think I migh' be releasin' the mons'er on studen's?!"
"I take it that means you won't go peacefully." The Auror said in an almost tired voice.
Hagrid's hand closed on his crossbow, sitting by the door.
"Damn righ'!"
"Very well." Undaunted by the exceptionally large weapon pointed at him, the Auror turned to his colleagues. "Take him away."
"Oh, I think not, no…" A voice called from behind them.
Elmira Zabini, boots and jeans brown with dried mud, her hair a bit ruffled, but still grinning ferally, stood steadfastly behind them, her brown coat waving in the wind, her wand pulled out and tapping playfully against her forearm.
"Who are you, lady?" The leading Auror growled. "This is ministry business—"
"Me?" Mrs Zabini interrupted as if he hadn't been speaking. "I'm just your neighborhood Ex-Auror, Zabini…"
Her grin turned ferocious and her wand pointed at the suddenly nervous men.
"And Hagrid is my friend, so back off or things might get a tad painful."
***
"Er… Imperatum? Vici? Great...er...umi… what's the Latin word for great anyway?"
Draco and Harry were still by the gargoyle, trying to guess the password to Dumbledore's office, but to no avail; it just wasn't moving. Maybe it wasn't even a password passage, maybe one had to be convoked to be allowed passage… maybe Dumbledore had moved, and the gargoyle simply wasn't used anymore…
But for now, since they were unable to answer any of these suppositions, they were simply trying to guess what password Dumbledore could have put up there.
Considering how sane the man was supposed to be, it would have taken nothing short of a miracle to make a lucky guess.
"Er… Lumos, Lunis, Loony…"
"Forget it, Draco. We'd better ask Professor Snape." Harry said. "He'll get Dumbledore… did you hear that?"
Draco blinked and confusion and stopped trying to guess. In the sudden silence, they could clearly hear a regular, metal-on-stone clanking noise and a pair of voices that were not familiar to Harry… no, wait… he had heard one of them before…
"I'm still not convinced that doing this will solve anything…"
"Dumbledore's position in the school is entirely up to the board of governors, minister." A smooth, silky voice replied to the other one, the voice he was able to recognize.
The two boys shared a look that spoke volumes and, with a common nod, slipped under the cloak to hide – quite uselessly, considering they couldn't be seen – behind a set of armor.
"But… The attacks…"
The two men walked into view. One of them was a chubby little man wearing an aqua pinstriped cloak, a light blue business suit and a small, lime-green bowler hat. The other, holding a snake-headed cane in his left hand and thus producing a frankly irritating noise with every step, had long, wavy, platinum hair, clear, icy cold grey eyes and was wearing a rich-looking black silk robe ensemble. His every movement spoke volumes of aristocracy and wealth.
It was, indeed, Lucius Malfoy. Harry felt Draco tense up at his side.
"It is not like he has managed to stop them, has he?" Mr Malfoy replied coldly as they stopped in front of the gargoyle. "Now what was the password again…"
"I believe it was Caramilk." The man, whom Malfoy had referred to as 'Minister', said, an instant before the statue sprang aside to reveal a dimly passage.
Malfoy's upper lip rose in disgust. "A Muggle sweet. How… quaint."
The tone of his voice clearly said that he found it anything but quaint. Being in Slytherin, Harry had known that many families disliked Muggles or Muggle-borns simply because of their ancestry – Draco himself still tended to look down on Muggle-borns and half-bloods, with Harry, Blaise and Hermione as only exceptions – Harry being famous, Hermione being just too brilliant to be looked down on and Blaise being just too damned dangerous to insult.
However, Harry felt that, to Malfoy, Muggles were little more than vermin, if they even could be considered on the same level.
The two men walked forward, disappearing from their view, and the gargoyle closed behind them, concealing the opening completely. As the rhythmic sound of Mr Malfoy's cane hitting the stone tiles faded away, Harry felt his friend relax and heard him release a long, shuddering breath.
"At least now we know the password." Harry said. "Let's go in."
"You go alone." Draco said with a shake of his head. "If father learns I'm your friend, being skinned alive will be the least of my worries."
Harry nodded and pulled his cloak off the blonde to keep it to himself. "Fine. You go back to the chamber. The school year is almost over, and I don't trust the heir to stay quiet today. If he really wanted to hit hard, he'd hit now, while the minister is in the school." Draco nodded in agreement, his eyes staring at where he knew Harry was without really seeing him.
"By the way," Harry continued, stopping in front of the gargoyle, "one day you're going to have to tell my why your dad hates me so much."
Draco's lips twisted in an unreadable smile.
"Maybe one day." He replied.
And he turned around, heading back to the bathroom.
"Sherbet lemon."
No wonder they hadn't guessed it. A muggle sweet. It made an odd kind of sense, though, but then again, Dumbledore could hardly be called normal.
Harry tried to keep his mind on track as he climbed up the staircase to Dumbledore's office, following his friend's father and the 'minister'.
***
"Stupefy! Stupefy!"
Elmira Zabini almost felt like yawning as she fought her first duel in years, well, technically, it could hardly be called a duel. A duel implicated that both sides fought at the best of their abilities and tried, in every possible way, to take the advantage. It meant that both sides actually stood a chance of winning.
But so far, the two Aurors left, which included the lead Auror – the third one had looked older, had been classed as the higher threat in her mind and had thus been knocked out early – had yet to use any originality. Their spells varied between full-body binds and stunners… actually, there seemed to be quite the overuse of the latter.
"Stupefy, Stupefy!"
It appeared old Moody's unpredictability lessons were no longer taught to the newest generation of Aurors. Sad, really...
Easily ducking away from both curses, one of which would have missed her by a full foot even if she had not moved, the woman allowed herself a sigh. Her playtime was over; her skills hadn't really rusted all that much.
"Expulsio," she almost lazily said, waving her wand at the other subordinate, who went flying against a well-placed tree, knocking his head against a high branch and belly flopping down into the ground spectacularly. It had been a long time since she had used that spell, but apparently she hadn't lost her tou--
"Expelliarmus!" The lead Auror snapped triumphantly, shooting at her almost at point blank.
Reflexively, she dug her heels into the ground and was thus prevented from flying off. Unfortunately, that did not stop her wand from flying out of her hand and landing on top of Hagrid's small shack.
"Heh," The victorious Auror said with a sinister grin, "now, both you and mister Hagrid will follow me, miss—"
She cut him off with a vicious right hook that sent him sprawling to the ground, nose bloodied.
"'Even unarmed, your opponent is dangerous. Never lower your guard for the good old wallop'" She quoted, grinning and taking the fallen wand. "Constant Vigilance."
Dusting her reddened knuckles – the bastard had the audacity of bleeding on her? He was gutsy… - on her faded brown coat, Mrs Zabini turned toward Hagrid, who was staring and gaping at her.
"You ok there, Hagrid?"
Hagrid nearly flinched. He had forgotten how much of a fearsome fighter the easygoing and quite often immature woman was said to be. He had heard rumors, but this was the first time he had ever seen her in action.
…if seen was the proper term; he had barely seen that punch fly.
"Er, yeh, sure…" He replied unsteadily.
"Good, that means you can give me back my wand, I think it went somewhere up there," She said, pointing at the roof of his hut.
Although she certainly couldn't see it, Hagrid was tall enough to spot it on the first try. Carefully, he plucked it out from between two loosely tied planks of wood covering the straw isolation underneath – he could have just bothered with an isolation charm, but he had never actually managed those, and he wasn't going to go and beg one of the teachers if he could manage otherwise – and gave it back to her.
With a grateful nod, she used it to deftly tie up the bloodied agent in linen ropes conjured from nowhere. After giving herself a satisfied smirk, the woman turned to the giant man.
"So, Hagrid, care to explain why they were trying to lock you up in the-one-place-I-wouldn't-wish-anyone-to?"
Hagrid nodded slowly, with a growled sigh that sent a nearby bird flying away in fear. "A… I… guess I should, eh…"
***
Ron Weasley hated the dungeons. They were too damp, to dark and just too darned cold for him to consider wandering in them if he had the choice, even in the heat of the summer. The fact that they were crawling with Slytherins did not help.
Unfortunately, those he was looking for were all Slytherins – either his sister (Merlin it felt strange to say her sister was a Slytherin… but he wasn't going to start that again) or her two friends… McKinnon and Chang, he was pretty sure those were their names. Problem was; he didn't know where any of them were, or where the Slytherin common room's entrance was, and the hostile looks he was getting from students of that house didn't make him want to ask for help, either.
"Oi, Weasley!" He heard a female voice call. "You lost?"
Never before had he felt so glad to see Pansy Parkinson. Perhaps she wasn't the friendliest face in the school, but she wasn't exactly hostile – this time – and she had good chances of knowing Ginny, since she was in Harry's year. Well, that's what he supposed.
"Actually, I'm looking for Ginny… did you see her anywhere?"
Parkinson sniffed disdainfully. "Finally decided to stop being a pig? Of course it only took you months to do it. We had a bet going, you know, and most of us bet you would wait at least until June to make things better… I guess I should thank you, you made me a few Gallions richer. Or maybe you don't know what one of those is?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," He waved her off in impatience, ignoring the barb on his wealth. The last thing he needed was to fly off the handle. He had to stay focused and keep his temper in check. Besides, he felt pretty sure there wasn't such a thing as a bet; Hermione would have used that weapon on him a long time ago. "Did you see her?"
"If she's not around here, she's probably on the first floor." She replied. "It is nearly time for dinner."
Without even bothering to thank her, Ron quickly left for the upper floors. He felt quite grateful that, at least, his sister was giving him a reason to get away from all those Slytherins.
Pansy scowled. "It was no problem, I'm very happy be helpful…" She grumbled, turning around to prowl deeper in the dungeons. "Stupid Gryffindors…"
***
Lavender Brown, Pavarti Patil and her Ravenclaw twin sister Padma Patil walked in the corridors, heading the great hall and lunch, idly eavesdropping on every conversation they could. The entire school had been shell-shocked by the thought that Slytherin's heir might attack even Slytherins.
The latest attack made for particularly interesting rumors, though – one of which, the 'talk of the week', in Lavender's opinion, being Ron Weasley's apparent and sudden devotion to making sure Hermione Granger was safe and sound at every possible moment.
However, considering the two of them had shared a close friendship since the last year, the rest of her house didn't share her opinion.
Pavarti was talking to her sister about the attack; she was still certain that the messy black-haired, green eyes celebrity of Slytherin, Harry Potter, was the heir, and that Snape was helping him out – "He's nasty enough!"
"I mean… I told her that hanging around that boy was trouble… the whole darned house is trouble, but she just wouldn't listen. She was an easy target for Potter, so of course he took it, it's obvious. Now he's just faking being sad and angry just so people don't suspect him again…"
"I don't know," Padma replied, "I heard from Davies that Pretcher said that it looked pretty real. No way Potter's that good an actor."
"And he took out Zabini to make absolutely sure nobody would suspect him," Pavarti continued, apparently not hearing her sister at all, "After all, he's always hanging around her…"
Lavender sighed. Normally, her housemate was pretty open about things, but on subjects involving monsters and Slytherins, Potter being the prime example, she clamped up completely and seemed intent on just convincing herself it was him. Lavender didn't understand why she was so insistent on it, but it wasn't like she could do a lot about it. Her friend was nothing if not stubborn when she wanted to.
They reached a corner and found themselves standing in a completely deserted hallway they easily recognized. Nobody would use that part of the school today; it was the site of the first attack.
As soon as she laid her eyes on the hall, however, Lavender immediately noticed something was wrong.
"Hey… Is it just me, or is something different around here?" Padma, who prided herself on being more observant than her sister – and less of a blabbermouth – asked.
"Now that you mention it… hey, look at the wall!" Pavarti gasped, pointing at the wall, where the first message had been written:
The chamber of secrets has been opened! Enemies of the heir, beware!
That was the old message. By now, if someone didn't know about it, it was because they had been hiding under a rock for the last seven months. However, written underneath was a new message… one that froze Lavender's blood as soon as she read it…
Her skeleton shall lay in the chamber forever.
Her startled and horrified shriek echoed in the empty halls of the school.
***
"Very well, if it is the decision of the council, I'm afraid I have to stand down."
Harry couldn't believe his ears. Five students, one cat and one ghost had been petrified pretty much all over the school, and now the Governors were kicking Dumbledore out of his office? Doing that would pretty much open the whole school up to the heir! It was almost an invitation, and giant and flashy "Attack now, the school is weak!" neon signpost! And the timing was horrible, too. Just when they had finally discovered where it was hidden!
"R-Really?" The minister's voice sounded surprised and flustered, as if he did not think Dumbledore would give in so easily. "B-But Dumbledore, you…"
"Cornelius, like you cannot deny the Wizengamot, I have the council to answer to." Dumbledore said. His voice was getting closer, as if he was heading toward the door against which Harry was pressing his ear to eavesdrop inside. "But know this; whoever will take my place will have to act as quickly as possible, or all will be lost."
Harry blinked. What an odd thing to say; as if he was saying that he had--
"I'm sure whoever it will be shall find better ways to deal with the situation than simply watching as things go out of control." Lucius Malfoy said, none-too-subtly jabbing at Dumbledore in the process.
--well, Malfoy had just summed it nicely.
He could hear footsteps now. Quickly and silently, he ducked against the side of the passage just as the door opened, almost crushing his right hand that had strayed too close. For an instant, he saw the inside of Dumbledore's office – the walls still covered in portraits and still bathed in the light of the large window overlooking the castle, but the office filled from one side to the other in strange, unidentifiable gadgets – but the thin-yet-imposing figure of the headmaster stepped into view.
Harry felt his blood freeze when the headmaster stared directly at him, for an instant. Could he see him under the cape? He became certain when the old man's blue eyes twinkled in what Harry could identify as… satisfaction? Expectation? Yes, it looked like Dumbledore had actually known Harry would be there to overhear!
But then… the almost cryptic messages he had told 'Cornelius'… could it have been intended to him? A silent signal for him to act and do his best?
As he thought these words, the headmaster gave a suspiciously agreeing nod, before walking ahead, down the spinning flight of stairs leading to his office, followed, in order, by the 'minister' and Lucius Malfoy.
Only then did the events really register.
The heir was somewhere in the school.
They had found the chamber.
Dumbledore had just been kicked out.
Things were quickly spinning out of control, and far more wildly than he had thought beforehand. It was time for action, like Dumbledore had said. It was time to let the part of him that belonged in Gryffindor out to the light.
…well, not completely. He didn't want to kill himself.
***
Draco had wandered the halls a bit after leaving Harry alone at Dumbledore's office. Something was strange about his friend, lately – how had he known about the first victim? How had he known where the headmaster's office was when even he, who received very helpful information whenever he wanted to via his father, hadn't?
Did it have something to do with that weird book they had found in the bathroom, back in February? Could Harry have found a way to read it, and not told him?
He sighed. He was going to have to confront him about that – they were friends, after all, and friends don't hide things from each other, especially not stuff like where the headmaster's office is hidden at – but not now. There would be time for that later.
There was a crowd in the hallway, some distance away, near the wall of the first attack. His curiosity was piqued, but the last thing he wanted was for the heir to slip by him while was busy sightseeing.
The door to the bathroom was open, when he got there. He didn't exactly remember closing it, but he knew he wouldn't have left it open like that normally, and he had been following Harry at the time. Inside, the Weeping Willow… pardon me, Moaning Myrtle, was sitting on the side of a cubicle, legs crossed behind regular, cheap cotton robes, and her expression cross as well.
"About time you came back!" She huffed, readjusting her and disgustingly ugly large square glasses on her pimpled nose. "Someone just went down there."
His blood frozen, Draco gave a look at the sink, which he now knew concealed the hidden chamber of secrets. Had the heir just gone down again?
"Did you see him? What did he look like?" Draco asked.
"Him?" Myrtle sniffed. "If that was a boy, then I need new glasses, or he needs a new haircut and face. Nope, that was definitely a girl… a bit taller than you, with bright red hair... and a Slytherin, too; I saw her badge."
Draco snorted. That didn't narrow the list down. There were many Slytherins taller than him, and many of them had red hair. Maybe not bright, but who knew what that ghost's idea of 'bright' was. She looked about as sunny as magnetic storm.
"Oh, and she had freckles, too. Lots of them."
Oh. That did. He knew only one person – make that family – with red hair and enough freckles to be called a distinctive mark.
"Ginny?!"
After a second to decide what to do, he burst into a run back in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
***
"Headmaster, I… You can't… they can't…"
Seeing Professor McGonagall out of words was something of a rarity. It was only in times when she was being emotional – which were rare and sparse indeed – when she was seeing something particularly shocking – such as Hermione wandering the halls with two Slytherins, like the previous year – or under a mixture of both that her vocabulary suffered. Many, who did not like her much, would have paid spades to see this…
...only, perhaps, not, if they had known the price tag on it.
"Er… what's going on?" Gilderoy Lockhart asked, suddenly appearing behind them. "Is there something wrong? Is something happening?"
"I unfortunately have no choice, Minerva." Dumbledore told his deputy, pointedly ignoring Lockhart. "If the council says I must go, then I must go."
"Go? Go where?"
"But… But Albus, the students! What of the attacks... and…"
Dumbledore's piercing eyes gazed directly in her own. "Have no worry, Minerva, I have no doubt that this whole mess will be over within the day."
"What mess? Hey, could someone explain to me what's happening?"
Lucius Malfoy sniffed disdainfully. "Allow me to doubt that."
"You may." Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling. "But I'd be willing to put a wager on this."
A snort, "you are senile."
A nod, "so I've been told."
"H-Hey, come on! Where are you going, Professor Dumbledore?" Lockhart's whine drifted as the three men and the old woman headed for the exit.
It took a few minutes for Lockhart to realize a few things.
1: That little man following Dumbledore was the minister of magic.
2: Dumbledore had said he had to leave.
3: Lucius Malfoy was there.
4: Lucius Malfoy hated Dumbledore with a passion.
And so, he came to this brilliant conclusion after only about ten minutes of deep thought;
He was in the castle. The heir was in the castle. The monster was in the castle. Dumbledore was not.
Solution? The only one he could find. Panicking, he ran to his office to pack his things and leave as soon as humanly possible.
***
After living at the Burrow, a rather small farmhouse populated by not three or four, like normal families, but nine people – seventeen beings, if one included Scabbers, Errol, the ghoul in the attic and their five chickens – for the better part of his life, Ron Weasley had, upon seeing Hogwarts, nearly fainted at the sheer amount of space available. He had never actually minded being in crowded spaces, but the occasionally empty halls of the school were a welcome change…
…most of the time.
Right now, though, Ron felt like murdering the architect of Hogwarts – it seemed that finding someone, unless one stumbled on them by accident, was nothing if not impossible. He had been wandering on the first floor for nearly fifteen minutes, now, and had yet to pass in every corridor surrounding the great hall in search of his wayward sister.
Thinking that, perhaps she had went through the passage from the second floor, the one beside that weird painting of Treehead the Woodfist, Ron used the flight of stairs in the entry hall, barely avoiding bumping into Dumbledore, McGonagall and two other people he didn't have time to guess who they were, to search further.
On the third floor, though, he spotted something that was quite unusual. The wall of the message was surrounded by people, and Filch was trying to push them away. Most of the people stepping away from the crowd looked shocked or scared – one of them, a Ravenclaw girl, even cried in the arms of her boyfriend.
Wondering what was going on, Ron looked…
And suddenly, finding Ginny didn't seem all that important anymore.
"Her skeleton… the heir kidnapped someone?!" Ron gasped, quite too loudly, causing stirs around for those who hadn't read it yet, or those who hadn't realized what it meant.
Angry at him, Filch shooed him away from the crowd with quite a bit of excessive force, not that the boy resisted. He had to find Malfoy and Harry, quickly!
Where would be the most likely places to find those two… he knew they had gone to see the headmaster, but he had completely forgotten to ask for directions; he had no idea where that could me.
However, their next stop after this would be that haunted bathroom where the chamber's opening was.
And so, he turned in the direction of the bathroom, just in time to see Malfoy run out like hell was after him.
"Malf—Bloody hell!"
***
"Ah, so they think you're the heir, which you're obviously not, so that's why they've come to arrest you and take you to the worst place on the planet on only the grounds of suspicions." Elmira summarized, standing as they were in front of Hagrid's hut
"…yeah, that's abou' it." Hagrid agreed.
She gave a theatrical sigh and loudly declared, for all the animals in the forest to hear, "our country is led by a bunch of blind and daft fools!"
Hagrid snorted and nodded. "Yeh won' hear me arg'ing."
"Good. Now, how about we do something about this whole 'Chamber of secrets' mess?"
"Er… like what?"
"Haven't thought up to that part, but I can always wing it. You with me or you want to stay here and keep these boys company?"
This last line was said with a playful pat on the head of the bloodied Auror, currently hanging upside-down from ropes firmly attached to a nearby tree. Elmira had wanted to use the whomping willow, but the one she had knocked out last was starting to wake up and she had been forced to hurry up a bit.
The man gave a furious protest from behind his gag.
Elmira's wand poked his throat.
He shut up quickly.
Hagrid nodded. If these Aurors went missing for too long, more would come, and he likely would be in even more trouble if he was found alone with those three hanging from that tree.
"All right, let's go then." Elmira said, giving her victim a playful tap on the cheek – that left a red mark – and walking toward the castle.
***
Draco was panting, now. For some reason, ever since he had joined Hogwarts, he found himself at least one day each year running around until he was exhausted, and continuing until he reached what he wanted... needed to reach.
He hated running. It was something, in his book, that was to be reserved to lower classes; it made him hot, sweaty, stinky, messed his hair and the risk of tripping and falling on his face, possibly damaging himself in one way or another and was simply not fit for one of noble blood like him.
"Oi, Malfoy! Wait up!"
There was also the fact that Weasley was faster than him at it. Well, that kinda proved the whole point.
Whirling around, Draco easily spotted his... well, not friend, but acquaintance with a hint of irritation. It was hard not to see a five foot tall twelve years old with bright red hair and freckles in a deserted hallway. And he didn't even look tired, the git!
"What... do you... want..." He panted, cursing himself for sounding so out of breath – not that he was, ofcoursenot – and cursing the act of running for tiring him so. "I have... to find... Harry..."
"I'm here," Harry called, appearing in the corner. Much to Draco's pleasure, he, too, looked out of breath. "And I've got something to say too."
"The heir has kidnapped someone." Ron said.
"Dumbledore's been kicked out." Harry said immediately after, before turning to Draco. "And?"
"Your sister's gone down the chamber." Draco drawled, looking straight at Ron.
"WHAT?!" Both other boys chorused.
"That was my reaction too."
"And you didn't stop her?!" Ron growled, grabbing Draco's collar.
"She went through before I arrived. The ghost girl told me." The boy defended himself, gripping at Ron's wrists to try to make him let go. "Back off!"
"Yeah right, Malfoy... you probably just let her go through—"
"Ron!" Harry snapped, pulling the much taller boy off. "There'll be time for that later! Didn't you hear what's going on?! Dumbledore is gone and the heir has kidnapped Ginny!"
"Actually, from what the ghost told me, she pretty much went in by herself." Draco said.
"Are you saying," Ron growled, "that my sister is the heir?!"
Draco snorted. "That's about as likely as you ever managing to score better than a passing grade in Potions. Besides, unless there's something you're not telling us, you're not a Parselmouth, and neither is she. Theorically, she can't enter the chamber, so..."
"She's being controlled." Harry growled. And he had a feeling he knew by who.
How much of a coincidence was the sudden appearance of a diary belonging to Tom Riddle, the 'golden boy' who had stopped the mess the first time, in the school just as things are starting up again? How much of a coincidence was the fact that Ginny just happened to take possession of the book, and that she ended up being 'willingly kidnapped'? No. It was the only possibility.
She was either being controlled against her wishes, or her wishes simply weren't hers anymore.
Either way, it was time to end this.
It was time for Harry to do his 'job'.
Gods he hated it.
Author's notes:
See what I mean, many things happening at the same time? All of my carefully planned and cultivated plotlines are closing up practically at the same time!!
That was quite the eventful chapter, wasn't it…? I was sure I could wrap this whole 'episode' up in one or two chapters, but now that I'm writing it, it feels more like three or four.
Heh, all that experience I got at planning arrival and exits of characters from my Dragonball fanfic (that I shall never release for cause of heavy mary/gary-suism and OOC – I've done every mistake in the book and learned from them before actually posting anything, something that, as I search in the Harry Potter section of FF.net, I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only one who did) is paying off.
I also managed to put in a small cameo… although it's not of an anime. Actually, I'll give you a hint – a very popular game. That should narrow it down a bunch. Not too much, though ^_-
ANSWERS TO THE REVIEWERS' PET EYE-INFECTED RABID TOOTHLESS BASILISKS:
VMorticia: Those scenes were very fun to do: Mrs Zabini is a delight to write, like Blaise. I take it you liked last chapter, eh? ^_-
Athenakitty: *twitch* er… yeah.
Phoenixman: I'm not gonna blink, I'm not gonna blink… *twitch* there, I feel better. Thanks! ^_-
Risty: As I mentioned before, I love Elmira as well. The Crimson butcher thing will stay a secret for a while longer, but I DID reveal a piece of it. The main diff between Gryff and Slyth!Harry is that Slyth!Harry listens to his mind more than his heart – not that he doesn't do the other.
Flummox: Actually, I wasn't too sure I had gotten the whole "moody" setting for Harry thinking of Blaise and Hermione right. Hence the blindfolds. The first time I saw the statue, I immediately got JK's message; like I said, it's a monument to wizardkind's inflated head complex. *shrug* hey, Olivander's ruler calculates the distance between people nostrils, so why can't the ministry be interested? ^_-. Yes, that poor, awfully tortured chair stuck under Dudley was in my fic… somewhere. Oh, that would have been fun ^_^. Yes. Ouchies. The ultimate word. It can fit anywhere… except in an extremely serious scene… unless you want to have a funny-serious scene, like a parody… oh, the ideas :P. The books indirectly say that the pipes lead to the lake (through Myrtle in the prefect bath scene in book 4)… I'm hoping it's the "IN" pipes and not the "OUT". There's probably a spell that makes it all vanish or something…Binns is a very useful plot device ^_-. *blink* you're the fourth person to comment on the undies… Review's longer, so's the answer ^_-
RaistlinofMetallica: Reminded you of your mother? Ouch, dunno if that's such a compliment :P. Very true on Ron VS spiders ^_-.
Daesereg: You guys sure like Blaise… go me, I guess ^_-.
Natara: Oh yes you've been reading them wrong… but since you don't have the whole picture, it's excusable ^_-. Well, I got Lockhart, I'll see if I can get Malfoy, too ^_-. Hmm… You wouldn't happen to have Lily clones, would you? ^_-
Paeguk: AHHHH!! NON REVIEWER! HERESAY!! Lol, jk.
Simply Myself: I like Elmira too, she's cool. And her story's cool, too, it's (gets mouth blocked). And I agree about the lexicon… but just not right now :P
Devonny Rose: (Mrs Zabini:) Thank you, loyal fan *wink*
Stratagemini: Er… actually, now they DO know. And I know I mangle quotes, V helps out as much as she can (but there are times when I'd almost have to re-write the entire damned thing because of a quote (the Basilisk info, for example: French version gives "dix mêtres", ten meters, as it's size. That messed up a scene in the next chapter that I had to correct.). And I liked to put that Ranma ½ cameo/crossover there. Just foreshadowing a bit ^_-
ZeonReborn: Wouldn't you be scared of her if she was pissed at you? ^_-
Digital-Dragon-Master844: Thanks ^_-
