LATER THAT NIGHT
"That girl is really creepy. When we were talking to her it was like she completely froze our brains. I can think of a million questions I should have asked her when we were talking to her, and I didn't actually ask any of them. I can't think of a reason for that, except that she used a spell of some sort to stop us from asking questions." said Harry.
"Ron, why do you think she wants to talk to the heir of Slytherin? Do you think we should tell Dumbledore about all this? It's kind of wierd that she wants us to find someone descendant of Salazar Slytherin," said Harry as they polished the suit of armor.
"I dunno, but she seemed to really hate him. Maybe he stole something from her, and the descendant knows where it is. Well, this one's finished." Ron said as he polished the last smudge off the helmet. "Only the rest of this whole floor to go." Harry sighed.
They had been given the task of cleaning all the suits of armor around the library. There were hundreds, and McGonagall said they were to clean them all. She also said that they would finish no matter how long it took them. She had gotten quite angry when she heard their story about getting lost, and going to where they thought the spare classroom was, and ended up wandering for the entire lesson. They also had to write a two foot long essay on the importance of being punctual.
"That stupid witch!" snarled Ron after the arm broke off the armor he was cleaning and landed on his foot. "If she pulls a number like getting us lost so we can find someone for her, I am so going to Dumbledore. He'll know how to deal with her."
"If we find that person fast, then we can be rid of her. How about this? While you keep cleaning, I'll sneak down the hall and into the library. McGonagall checks back every hour, so if we're careful, it'll work. I'll check the old yearbooks. They used to have them until they decided it was a waste of parchment and discontinued it. I saw them while doing the potions homework last week." said Harry in a whisper.
"Fine, but then I get to go. My arm is killing me!" said Ron. Harry handed Ron his cloth, and then ran down the hall towards the library, and disappeared around a corner. Ron started muttering to himself about how Harry always got to have the fun, and how he was stuck cleaning the armor. He was scrubbing a burn mark off the suit's foot when she appeared.
"Ron. I need you to help me. Harry doesn't trust me. He thinks I'm up to no good. Convince him that's he's wrong. You cannot doubt me, it will harm your mission. Besides, all I'm doing is asking you to find someone for me so I can talk to them! Where's the harm in that?"
"I guess you aren't really hurting anyone. Alright, I'll talk to him. How'd you get up here anyway?" asked Ron.
"I'm not actually here. You are seeing me, but I'm still down in that room, waiting. I have been waiting a long time for the right person to help me. You are here now. Don't screw up, or I'll have to find someone else to do the job. Walk the path of thorns, Ron…" And the she was gone.
"Walk the path of thorns, Ron. Ha! She thinks she's so great hiding in her room playing piano and making other people do her research for her." he frowned at a particularly stubborn stain.
"I guess she is only trying to talk to someone. Where's Harry? He should be back by now, McGonagall's going to be here any second now." Just as he said that, Harry ran round the corner, panting.
"D'you find anything?" asked Ron
"Nothing. Those books were bloody useless! They didn't start until a hundred years after the founders time. Quick, gimme the cloth. We have to make it look like I've been cleaning for the past hour." He quickly smudged some polishing grease on his robes, and a bit on his nose. He started scrubbing.
"Potter! Weasley! Is this all you've done?" Both boys jumped in surprise. They hadn't seen McGonagall arrive.
"Been slacking off, have we? Detention tomorrow night, and every night until they're all clean. You've only finished two dozen in the two hour you've been here! Your essay better be on my desk first thing tomorrow morning, or you're both going to end up with detention for Snape as well. I hear he needs people to test some potions on, and you two will be volunteering unless you shape up." McGonagall sighed.
"You may go back to your dormitories. Tomorrow afternoon Dumbledore wants a word with you. He seemed very interested when he heard you two got lost on the way to class and ended up missing the entire lesson. Make sure you actually make it to here you're going this time." Ron and Harry exchanged looks as McGonagall walked away. When she turned the corner, they let out huge breaths.
"D'you think he suspects us? He does know the castle very well, and maybe the former Headmaster told him about the girl and her piano. Harry checked the clock at the end of the corridor. It was three past nine.
"We have almost an hour before lights out. Let's try a different section this time. She might get impatient if we don't get her results, and fast. She kind of scares me already." said Harry as the turned the corner toward the library.
"Who scares you, Potter? We aren't talking about Granger, are we?" asked a voice. Harry and Ron looked up. It was Draco Malfoy, closely followed by Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. Pansy's hair was done up in a ridiculous ponytail that stuck a foot up off her head. Ron tried not to laugh as he saw her.
"I don't recall us talking about anything, Malfoy." said Harry coldly. Malfoy ignored him.
"G'day Potter. Hope you like picking up suits of armor as well as cleaning them." he and his cronies then ran down the hall knocking over the suits of armor as they passed it. They made a huge clattering noise, but luckily there were no teachers within hearing distance. Pansy dashed off after Malfoy, shouting for him to wait for her.
"Damn him! He is such a- ARGH! He bothers me. Someday he's going to get what's coming to him. I just hope I'm the one to give it." Madam Pince looked over her glasses at them as they walked past her desk into the library, and shushed them angrily. They walked past row after row of books, glancing quickly at the gold framed plaques telling them what type of books were in that row.
They passed necromancy, arithmancy, ancient runes, Bohemian goblin-muggle relations (this was just a dusty, cob-webbed shelf holding about thirty books that looked almost unused but very old. By glancing at them quickly, they looked like something that could put even Professor Binns to sleep.), muggle studies, astronomy, toadstools and trinkets, and trigonometry and other math. They stopped when they came to history.
Historical books had their own section with oaken bookshelves and comfortable red armchairs of various sizes and textures. You entered it through a golden archway with black spidery letters that said 'History' It was one of the most used parts of the library, and the whole section was about half the size of the Quidditch pitch. There was nobody in sight when they entered. Everybody was doing homework or goofing around in their dormitories.
"Harry, you take this side, I'll take the other. Take down any book you think might contain anything of significance. Remember, we're looking for stuff about Salazar, Slytherin, or any books on genealogy. Don't read them here, we'll read them later tonight or tomorrow." They both went to their assigned side and started pulling books off of shelves.
"Ron, d'you think History of the Dark Arts would count?" asked Harry.
"That would have some stuff about Salazar, wouldn't it?" replied Ron. When Madame Pince came around to shoo them out, they had two towering piles of books of all shapes and sizes. They had only covered a small fraction of the entire section, and when they realized this stared at the rest of the room in dismay.
"We'll never find anything at this rate! It'll take us months to find anything! I think we need help with this." They looked at each other.
"Hermione." they said in unison.
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"C'mon Hermione, we need your help! We'll never find the heir if you don't help us! Besides, you like doing research." Pleaded Harry. "Please?"
"Alright." Hermione said finally. "I'll help, but you have to promise that the second things start getting suspicious you'll go to Dumbledore."
"Fine, anything. Please help us go through these, and we'll find more tomorrow." said Ron. They sat at a table in the deserted common room and began their search.
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Her. How dare they involve her? They have compromised the mission. The heir must be found. I was counting on them being to stupid to go for help until it was too late, but now they have Miss cautious on the case. She will not ruin this for me! I will have my revenge, if I have to kill everyone in Hogwarts to get it!
DUN DUN DUUUUUN! If you had any sort of feelings towards this chapter, please review. I won't keep writing if nobody's reading it. Thank you to those who reviewed. You are amazing. I have edited this chapter a few times because I realized I screwed up in quite a few places. If you notice any mistakes or abnormalities, tell me, please! Until the next chapter.