Disclaimer: Not mine, anything else you recognise probably isn't mine either but I never know for sure since I've read so many stories that I can't tell anymore whether or not it was my idea in the first place.
Author's Notes: see Chapter 11
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Chapter 12 - Heirlooms and Rogue Bludgers or Attacks and Quidditch
The twins and their friends slowly made their way towards the headmaster's office. Draco and Hermione didn't want to leave them alone in times like this, so naturally they accompanied their friends. Fours adults were already waiting for them.
They were headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Potions Master Severus Snape and their guardians Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The latter two weren't surprised that Draco and Hermione were with the twins. They both would've done the same for James and Lily while they were still in school.
The headmaster didn't waste any time and quickly told them what this meeting was about. When he was finished both Marauders looked totally shocked. Of course these attacks were horrible but to suspect Harry and Carya?
Sure the girl had a temper hot as hell and they of course were quite powerful wizarding children but to think that they would do something like that only because they could speak Parsel was ridiculous in their opinion.
"Albus, I don't know what you and the staff are thinking but we've known about their gift since summer. True, we were shocked too in the beginning but Carya's right. It is after all just another language. A strange one but a language nonetheless," said Remus carefully.
Harry startled all of them out of their thoughts, "Sirius, Remus, do you two remember how it sounds when I'm just talking in Parsel?" the boy asked and both nodded.
"Could you two please listen to Harry and tell us how it sounds like for you? Professor Snape might be able to tell any differences from the Duelling Club or the Great Hall," inquired Carya.
Sirius, Remus and Snape nodded and Harry began hissing in Parsel.
~It'ssss alright. You have to calm down, dear. Pleasssse, leave him alone. That'ssss a good girl, come here, come to me,~ Harry hissed softly.
Both Snape and Dumbledore looked confused now. They vividly remembered Carya's outburst in the Great Hall yesterday. This did sound totally different though.
"Well, Professor, did it sound like during the Duelling Club?" the girl asked.
"Yes, Miss Potter, it did indeed sound like it did then," Snape admitted.
"Sirius, Remus what do you think. How did it sound to you?" Harry asked afterwards.
"Hm, I don't really know but it sounded like when you tried to get close to that injured garden snake during summer. Soothing and careful I'd say," Remus said thoughtfully.
"I agree with Moony. I don't know what the fuss is about," Sirius added.
"Harry, what exactly did you say just now?" Dumbledore inquired.
/Shall I brother/ Carya asked.
/If you want to/ Harry replied offhandedly.
"He said, 'It's alright. You've to calm down. Leave him alone. Come to me.', Professor. And I can honestly promise you that I'm not lying," Carya explained.
"Would you like to hear how it sounds when I insult someone in Parsel?" Harry offered and when they nodded he continued, "Okay, I'll say something like ' You're a dim-witted miserable excuse for a wizard!' if you don't mind?"
Again they all nodded and Harry started hissing venomously. Dumbledore and Snape as well as Remus looked pretty shocked. Sirius though was grinning.
"Wow Harry, and here I thought the argument you and Carya had at home was fierce when you yelled at each other …" he told them.
This got him a small grin from the twins. They'd argued in Parsel so that neither Sirius nor Remus could exactly hear the swear words they were hurling at each other. It hadn't helped. They'd just been generally punished for that.
It was decided that the twins wouldn't be punished this time since they really had an alibi. Madam Pince had made sure of that. And she absolutely wasn't the type of person who would lie for a student. Even if she liked the lot of them quite a bit.
Harry, Carya and their two friends were dismissed and they instantly went to the library. It was a common place and they knew Madam Pince would be there. Of course they noticed the odd glances they got and the whispers that broke out everywhere.
The children tried to ignore it all. More than once was whispered 'Look, there are the murdering bastards!' and the wary looks the other students gave them were annoying to no end. The twins were really glad that they had Draco and Hermione at their side.
~*~*~ Meanwhile in Dumbledore's Office ~*~*~
"Albus, what places could they go? The library, the Great Hall and their respective Common Rooms, right?" Sirius asked carefully.
"I'm afraid that about sums it up, Sirius," Albus answered.
"What about that Survival Classroom? Carya told me Severus could see if someone with malicious intent was going in. Is there any way to make some kind of recording spell? One that would recognise and register who is going in and out at what time of day?" Remus inquired thoughtfully.
"That might be possible. However it will take some days to get that installed," Severus threw in.
The four men parted soon and the two canines left Hogwarts. Severus and Albus went back to their duties. If they had looked out of the window before they parted they would have seen a small robed figure walking across the lawn with feathers and blood all over its clothes.
~*~*~ End Meanwhile in Dumbledore's Office ~*~*~
Cat was quite happy. No one suspected her any more but when she found out how the other students were treating the Potter twins, Hermione and Draco she felt slightly ill. She didn't believe that Hermione did have something to do with those attacks.
It was a rather awkward situation. She had tried to talk to her fellow Ravenclaw but the girl was always with her friends. They now seemed to be even closer than before but a lot sadder than they'd been at the beginning of the year.
Over the next week many students started to be openly hostile towards the group. The Gryffindors were the worst followed by most Ravenclaws and even some Hufflepuffs since Justin had been one of them.
The Slytherins instead just ignored them completely. Hermione was having a hard time sleeping in her dormitory. On Friday, November 12th it got even worse and they accused her of being a Slytherin spy and a dark witch.
A sobbing Hermione Granger ran out of the Ravenclaw dorms and up to the owlery. She quickly wrote a note to Carya asking to be rescued. Ten minutes later Carya and Harry, both under their invisibility cloaks arrived.
Draco was standing guard at the entrance of the Slytherin Common Rooms. The twins took the sobbing girl into their middle and quietly made their way back towards the dungeons. The friends had already decided that Hermione would share Carya's bed that night.
The friends got up early on Saturday and left for the Great Hall. There were only few teachers present. They were Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, Greenwood and of course Dumbledore. The children sat down at the far end of the Slytherin table.
All teachers could tell that they were quite tired. When the other students started to file into the Great Hall the four friends left towards the Latin classroom. After Latin they had Survival. Luckily three of them had been paired up.
And Terence wasn't making a fuss either. He just worked silently with Hermione, ignoring her presence as much as possible. After that was Duelling. Very few still attended this Club. Mainly because the Potter twins, Draco and Hermione hadn't given in and dropped out of this.
The few remaining others were the Slytherins. No Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw wanted to face the quartet in a duel because they were afraid they'd be attacked next. Snape quickly cancelled the course and called everyone to Additional Potions Class early.
Harry was working with Hermione now and Carya worked with Draco and Ginny. They were preparing to brew a light truth serum that would perhaps be started next Saturday during Survival. Those who weren't in Survival class would make it during an extra lesson on Wednesday afternoon. But that were only one or two students.
The one thing our quartet was looking forward to was that weeks Sunday. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and they would finally be able to cast the charm Salazar had told them about. The children were well prepared for that and had chosen a cave near the Forbidden Forest for their little ritual.
Hardly anyone saw them on Sunday. They got up at six and left the castle at seven. The children stopped at the 'Three Broomsticks' for a butter-beer and a quick snack. After that they walked towards their destination.
It was the same type of cave Sirius had lived in last year. Carya carefully set up everything that was required for the charm to work. Harry helped her and their friends just watched. Half an hour later it was time. Carya who now stood alone in the small circle with a crescent moon in the middle started chanting.
She strongly pictured her mother in her mind. Determined not to loose the image she started whispering the spell.
" 'Appareo ... Heredis ... Mea ... Familia'," she chanted and suddenly a bright emerald green light surrounded her and then Harry who still stood outside of the circle too.
A few minutes later a small object started to materialise in front of Carya but she kept her eyes closed, focusing on the image of her mother. She didn't even realise that this was actually happening.
When the twins felt the strange aura of power fade they dared to open their eyes. Carya spotted the object and gasped. It was a dagger. A silver dagger with emeralds in its hilt. She carefully pulled it out of it's sheath and gasped again. The runes on the blade weren't really runes.
It was written Parseltongue. A name was engraved on the blade of the dagger:
Salazar Slytherin
"This can't be, we must've done something wrong. If this is one of Mum's family heirlooms then we've got Slytherin blood in us," mumbled Harry confused.
"I think we'll have to take this chance. We'll cast the Familiaris charm next week, okay? I don't want to imagine what would happen if people knew about this." Carya asked an motioned towards the dagger.
The others nodded in agreement. The four friends sat in silence for over ten minutes. Each of them trying to figure out why a long dagger similar to the image of Gryffindor's sword which they'd seen in history books had appeared as Lily Evans-Potter's family heirloom.
That was definitely strange and when they didn't find an answer they left in favour of the joke's-shop 'Zonko's' and the sweet-shop 'Honeydukes'.
Harry, Carya. Hermione and Draco were only back in the evening. Carya sat down in the library and started to write a letter. The letter was for Sirius and Remus. She wanted to ask them about any magical relatives their mother had had and if there was such a thing as a family heirloom.
They knew from their aunt that their grandfather had been a Squib but they weren't sure if they could ask Petunia about these things now when she had to deal with her pregnancy. The teens therefore settled on writing their guardians and ask a few unsuspicious questions.
'Dear Padfoot and Moony,
I want to ask you something. Do you know if Mum did have any magical relatives at all? Even Squibs? I'd really like to know.
Oh and something else. Does her family have a family heirloom that is passed down through the generations?
Please answer soon,
Harry and Carya'
But by Tuesday the twins got a negative reply. No, the two canines didn't know about either of the questions. This was quite frustrating. They'd just have to do the charm and wait for the family tree that would be made by it.
The children began to hate the tense atmosphere that seemed to increase whenever they walked into a room. Hopefully they'd find out who was behind all this before the board of governor's decided to shut down the school.
On November 18th Carya and Hermione found something in the abandoned girls bathroom on the first floor. It was a black leather-bound journal. A muggle calendar to be honest. It seemed as if someone had tried to flush it down a toilet.
"Strange, who would to drown a book, apart from Gryffindor's that is? What do you think Hermione?" Carya said.
"I don't know. Perhaps we should check it for hexes and then if clean take it with us to the library," the girls answered.
The girls quickly searched for the two boys and walked to their common table in the library. It was real luck that they'd chosen this table in first year. Although it was near the restricted section it also was protected by many bookshelves.
When Harry opened the book the pages were blank. Only three initials were written on the first page:
T. M. R.
It looked strange. Someone had bought this fifty years ago but never used it. Why was it in that bathroom now and not before? They stopped their musing when a Ravenclaw first year accidentally stumbled while running by and knocked over Harry's inkpot. The black ink ran all over the calendar but after a second or two the pages were blank again.
"What the hell ...?" started Carya frowning.
"It's gone, the ink is just gone. That's so strange," Hermione said excited.
Harry let another drop fall onto the paper and again it faded into nothing. He decided to write in the book.
(A/N: just for the diary episodes: '$' ... is Carya, '*' ... is Harry, '#' ... is Tom, '+' ... is Hermione and '§' ... is Draco)
* 'My name is Harry Potter' Harry wrote.
# 'Hello Harry, my name is Tom, how come you have my diary?' Tom answered back.
* 'We found it in a girls bathroom. Someone tried to flush it down a toilet.'
# 'I see, not really pleasant. Thankfully I have preserved this with more than just ink. Who's 'we' by the way?'
* 'Well, there's me, Harry ...'
$ 'I'm Carya ...'
+ 'I'm one of their best friends, my name's Hermione'
§ 'and I'm Draco.'
# 'I see. So what do I owe this pleasure?'
$ 'Can you tell us anything about the 'Chamber of Secrets'? It's really important that we know.'
# 'It's open again, isn't it? I caught the culprit fifty years ago but he was let of the hook. A girl died in the attacks back then.'
§ 'Do you know what harms the students? That would really help.'
# 'I cannot tell you everything, but I can show you.'
Suddenly the children were sucked into the book. Or at least that was what it felt like. The children were standing in the Entrance Hall. Dumbledore was talking to a student, a fifth or sixth-year perhaps.
They soon found out that this boy was Tom Riddle. Everything seemed so simple. They followed the memory and ended up in an argument between Tom and Hagrid. Hagrid was accused of doing it? That was ridiculous.
The friendly groundskeeper would never harm a student. Sure he had a liking for animals that most witches and wizards thought of as dangerous creatures but still. He would never intentionally harm anyone, let alone a child.
Carya had watched the boy in the diary closely. She got a funny feeling from him but didn't know why. Something strange was going on although she would be hard pressed to tell anyone how it actually felt as she wasn't sure herself.
Suddenly they were standing in the library again. The four kids were still too shocked to do anything. It just couldn't be, could it? They'd never really know Hagrid but they definitely knew he was OK. Even Draco had admitted that after some time.
Carya was still in thought when the others were already discussing what they'd just seen. This diary made her feel uncomfortable. As if something was very wrong. The last time she'd had that feeling was with the 'Mirror of Erised' in their first year. This time there was far more to it though.
"Harry, I don't think we should give too much about this so called evidence in that book, okay? I have a very bad feeling about this calendar. Just like in first year with that blasted mirror," Carya told her twin.
"You mean something's fishy here, right?" Harry asked and the girl just nodded.
"I think we should observe everything for now. We could watch Hagrid and the other students to find out," Draco put in.
"Hey, would you like to go to the astronomy tower? There's a cool spot from where you can see the whole grounds. I found it yesterday when I wandered around after class," Hermione interrupted.
The children made their way towards the tower that lay near the Gryffindor territory. Hermione was right. The view was incredible. You could see the lake, the forest and the Quidditch pitch, hell if you looked hard enough you could even see the Shrieking Shack at the horizon.
But something else suddenly caught their attention. Dumbledore was walking over to Hagrid's hut. With him were three wizards. The first one with black hair and robes they didn't know. The second one was tall with long blonde hair.
Draco gasped when he realised that it was his father. The last one was wearing a strange suit which Carya immediately recognised as Fudge.
"Malfoy and Fudge. I wonder what those scumbags want here," she growled dangerously.
"Eh, Carya? Would you stop doing that? You really remind me of Snape, you know?" Hermione said carefully.
"What? Oh, eh, ... sorry, can't help it. Those two make me think of curses I shouldn't even know, sorry!" Carya apologised.
"It's alright. I for one understand that. I'm doing the same, Carya, believe me, I'm silently cursing them too," Draco ground out between clenched teeth.
Sensing Draco's obvious struggle she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. Draco in return gave her a small smile. Ten minutes later the wizards came out of the small hut at the edge of the forest. Hagrid was with them.
But why was he leaving the grounds with Fudge, Malfoy and the stranger while Dumbledore returned to the castle? Something was very wrong here. Hermione was the one who put two and two together this time.
"Oh no, I think I know what's going on. Do you remember what this strange Tom Riddle said. 'He was caught and expelled but didn't leave Hogwarts.' And he showed us it was Hagrid.
When the authorities were involved last time, which they must've been when he was thrown out, then they'll suspect him first thing if something like that happens again. They think Hagrid's done it this time and fifty years ago," she explained.
"Honestly, I don't know what they are thinking. Okay, Hagrid loves dangerous creatures. But to think of him as Slytherin's heir? Come on, that's more ridiculous than a suddenly nice and loveable Professor Snape who is handing sweets to Gryffindors, don't you think?" Carya snorted.
After they got over the shock the three others started shaking their heads at Carya's comparison. All of them were grinning despite the current situation. They would try and find out what was going on. Perhaps they'd find something if they found out who had thrown away the diary.
They never noticed the figure that had followed them around. When the four friends returned from their dorm and headed for lunch they didn't notice anything odd. They were chatting cheerfully for the first time since the first attack.
Just when they wanted to retire for the night they got a big shock. When Draco and Harry returned to their dormitory both boy's belongings were scattered over the floor. The pillows and bedsheets ripped apart. The room was a mess.
Draco and Harry scanned the items for anything missing and found everything to be there, well almost everything.
"Draco, It's gone! The diary, Riddle's diary is gone," Harry exclaimed.
"What? It must have been someone from our house. No one except us ever let anyone into the common room. And Hermione, the only visitor ever, was with us all the time. Do you think we should tell Dumbledore?" Draco asked his adopted brother.
(A/N: I'm going to refer to Harry, Carya and Draco as siblings, brothers and sister from now on since this is too confusing to write otherwise.)
"No, but we should tell Carya and send Phobos or Deimos to Hermione. Have you seen Ginny anywhere?" answered Harry.
"No, I think I haven't seen her since breakfast ... do you think she has done it?" inquired Draco.
"I don't know. Anyone out of the house could've been part of this. I really don't know Draco. But I'm going to put a stronger locking charm on my trunk, that's for sure!" replied Harry.
Both boys went to inform their friends. Draco told his sister while Harry wrote a note for Hermione and sent it with Phobos since Deimos was outside hunting. Ginny was nowhere to be found. This was strange. The once so lively and temperamental girl separated herself from everyone.
After that night the friends were always on guard. But they didn't find anything. No clues that could point out the culprits had been found and it was difficult to stay alert if nothing happened. Slowly everyone believed that with Hagrid's disappearance the attacker had disappeared too but the twins, Draco and Hermione thought otherwise.
"They are lying low until we're too relaxed to prevent it from happening, I bet you on that one. By the way, do we stay here over christmas or do we go home?" Carya asked her siblings.
"I don't know. I'd like to celebrate christmas with Moony and Padfoot but staying here would be helpful for our little detective game. But if an attack happened over christmas ...," Harry answered.
And Draco added, "I think we should go home. That way if anything happens we aren't here to be blamed this time!"
"I'm going home for christmas too. My parents were really worried when they heard about the attacks since I'm a Muggleborn witch," Hermione remarked.
December was approaching with large steps and the children were busy with homework Quidditch and preparations for the holidays. When McGonagall went around on December 5th to write down the names of the students who would be staying this christmas the teacher's were surprised to find that not one of their students would stay this year.
This hadn't occurred ever since Dumbledore was headmaster. Even those who would have to go back to hated relatives or an orphanage wouldn't stay. The headmaster blamed it on fear although there hadn't been an attack since the ministry had arrested Hagrid.
Most of the children were anxious. They were hardly paying attention in class anymore which resulted in more lost house points than at any other time during the school-year. On December 12th the last Quidditch match of the current year was played.
It was Slytherin against Hufflepuff. The latter teams only positive outlook was the talent of their new Captain and Seeker Cedric Diggory. He was quite good but not one of the spectators doubted the superiority of the Slytherin's this time.
As always Lee Jordan was game commentator. He was just finishing announcing the Hufflepuff team.
"... and here comes Diggory, Hufflepuff's new Captain and Seeker. Now the Slytherin's. Chaser and Captain Flint, Chasers Weasley and Higgs, Beaters Malfoy and Avery, Keeper is Potter and Seeker is ... eh ... Potter, the Keepers brother. ..." Lee shouted and Madam Hooch called the captains towards the middle of the pitch.
A few seconds later the snitch was released. At the whistle the Quaffle was thrown high up in the air and the bludgers were freed from their restraints. The game was already exciting throughout the first minutes.
Suddenly Harry noticed that one of the bludgers seemed to follow him. Carya had no trouble stopping all shots so he concentrated on the snitch. Ten minutes into the game when they were already 120 points in the lead he caught a glimpse of gold.
Harry had spotted the snitch but so had Diggory. And the rogue bludger? It still followed Harry. Draco and Avery had tried to help him but he had told them to sod off and help the chasers instead. Harry was close with Diggory on his tail.
In a short moment of inattention the bludger hit Harry at the elbow breaking his arm in the process. Stubborn as he was he let go of his broom with his left hand too and lunged forward catching the little winged ball.
The boy fell off his broom but luckily he was only three feet above the ground. Harry yelped as his already injured arm hit the grass. Madam Hooch had seen his catch and ended the game. His team-mates were already down when the worst possible thing happened.
Lockhart came running over and no other teacher in sight.
"Ah don't worry Mister Potter. I can easily fix this," he said and not even Harry's frantic cries of 'No, stop!' could actually stop the incapable wizard.
A couple of incoherent words later Harry felt a weird pull in his arm. Just the second Professor Snape arrived and started yelling at the Defence professor. Harry's arm wasn't hurting anymore. There weren't any bones left for aching.
Lockhart had de-boned his arm entirely. While the teachers were arguing Carya gave her and her brother's brooms to Draco, then helped Harry onto the stretcher which had been conjured by Hermione. The little group and nearly the entire Slytherin team brought Harry to the infirmary.
Only Carya was allowed to stay because she was his twin but everyone else was shooed out of the rooms by an overprotective medi-witch.
"What have you done this time Mister Potter?" she scolded him.
"It wasn't Harry's fault! That idiot Lockhart is to be blamed, he ..." Carya growled but was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore.
"Is he alright Poppy?" asked Albus with a tinge of worry in his voice.
Snape just watched the scene and didn't say a word. Carya scowled fiercely at them and for a split second both Snape and Dumbledore actually looked surprised. The girl smirked evilly and returned her attention towards Harry.
Poppy had just explained the headmaster and Harry that he had to stay overnight because regrowing bones was a painful matter and the boy shouldn't move so much. Carya left the infirmary reluctantly.
Dumbledore asked Snape to escort her towards the Common Room. Severus barely caught the mumbled reply from his student when they walked down a deserted corridor.
"What is he thinking? That I need a babysitter? This is ridiculous ..." Carya muttered under her breath but added after a second or two, "I really hope Harry's alright ..."
When Carya and Snape reached the Common Room Draco greeted them. He had been waiting for her to return. Snape left and the two sat down in a secluded corner. They weren't in the mood for celebrating like the rest of the team and house.
The others didn't really care that Harry was injured as long as he didn't have any lasting damage. The siblings then discussed the strange accident.
"I could swear that dratted bludger was following him. But I've never seen anything like that," Draco said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, and I seriously doubt that the Hufflepuff's had anything to do with that. They're too kind for that even the worst of them. Maybe the Gryffindor's, what do you think?" replied Carya but they didn't find anything that could possibly explain it.
The girl went upstairs and fetched the 'Marauder's Map' the one that was once Remus and had been updated. Now both Sirius and Remus Map's were identical and detailed beyond the initial Map's. Both children brought their invisibility cloaks.
When they were absolutely sure no one noticed them, they silently slipped out of the Common Room and quietly walked towards the infirmary. The two kids found Harry sound asleep and left him to his rest.
Carya and Draco settled down in the Common Room and put up silencing spells. It was then that Carya threw a glance at her map. There in the abandoned girls bathroom was Ginny. That was strange.
Suddenly the entrance opened and Professor Snape stepped inside. The girl quickly cleared the Map and hid it under her pyjama top. Their head of house looked around and saw them because he came over.
"Potter, Malfoy, where were you for the last hour?" he inquired sternly.
"Here in the Common Room. With the others, why professor?" Draco wanted to know.
"Flint, is that true? Did these two leave the Common Room?" Snape asked the prefect ignoring Draco's question.
"No sir, I certainly would've noticed if they'd left. The whole team minus Harry Potter was here all the time. I can't tell for anyone else though," Flint answered.
"I see, well then, go to bed, all of you!" the Professor snapped and send them to their dorms.
Carya and Draco woke very early. The girl noticed that Ginny was indeed in her bed. She decided to talk to Draco about that. She was really confused. Did Flint only say that because he didn't want any trouble or had Ginny really been here all the time and the Map was a fluke?
The two of them met in the Common Room and sat down in front of the fireplace. Since it was only five in the morning they couldn't go for breakfast because that would be served from half past six until start of class.
"Draco? Do you know if Ginny was here the whole evening yesterday? I thought I saw her on the Map when we came back. She seemed to be in the abandoned girls bathroom on the first floor. But when Flint said the team hadn't left ... I mean, she doesn't have an invisibility cloak does she?" Carya asked her brother.
"Hmm, interesting question. I mean, he didn't notice our absence either. So it could be true but the entrance was spelled shut until, well...," Draco said and glanced at his watch, "... until now. It's half past five and you're saying Ginny was in her bed? That's strange but we should tell Harry and Hermione," he continued.
They wouldn't be able to visit Harry until after classes which meant after four in the afternoon. When they got to the Great Hall the teachers were surprisingly quiet. Once all students were there Dumbledore demanded their attention.
"Attention please! There has been another attack last night. It was Colin Creevey from Gryffindor," the headmaster said and almost everyone glanced at the Slytherin table where Draco, Carya and Hermione were sitting.
Carya and Draco glared back at everyone who stared. Hermione just looked blank. The headmaster could see that Carya's temper was close to exploding so he quickly continued.
"Thankfully Madam Sprout will be able to have the mandrakes ready by the beginning of summer. We will soon have your classmates back and hopefully they can give us a clue as to who or what has attacked them," Albus told the students,
"On another note you will be accompanied from and to every class by on of the teachers. Curfew is now right after dinner and you will not leave your Common Room after that. Since Quidditch will not start again until March we don't have to worry about cancelling practise.
All other extracurricular activities are also cancelled. This affects everyone who is participating in Duelling, Survival and Extended Muggle Studies. Hogsmeade visit's are cancelled for now since all of you go home for christmas.
Study periods are assigned for your homework so that you can use the library. The exact times will be posted in your Common Rooms," the wizard finished his speech.
Collective groans and other sounds could be heard throughout the student body. Not only were they actually confined to the Common Rooms and had to do their homework when the teachers said, now they had no chance to have a bit of fun with their friends outside their own house.
Draco and Carya looked at Hermione. She was horrified by spending the whole time with people who suspected her of being in on the attacks. Perhaps they should tell Dumbledore about that night when a crying Hermione had stood in front of Slytherin's portrait.
During Charms Carya explained everything to Hermione but she had to whisper quietly because no one should hear. Now it was final. They couldn't visit Harry. They wouldn't get the chance. What followed were two weeks of horror.
Not only were the teachers more stern than ever before, they too had to do more homework than the whole first three month. Harry rejoined his friends on Tuesday. Madam Pomfrey had insisted on keeping him in the infirmary.
He had been there when they brought Colin in. Harry told his sister, Draco and Hermione what had happened from his point of view that night during History of Magic.
"Listen, I have to tell you something. Madam Pomfrey had told me to sleep because the bone regrowing process is actually painful. Really painful, I can assure you but anyway ... I woke up around ten p.m. because someone was dragging a wet washcloth over my face.
I was startled for a second and barely resisted the urge to scream. For all I knew it could be one of you so I had to keep quiet. You'll never believe who sat next to me on the bed. ... Your old house-elf Draco - Dobby.
He once again told me to leave school and take Carya with me and I refused. The stupid creature then slipped and started telling me things it shouldn't have. He talked about his bludger, you know? His bludger, meaning he was the one who charmed it to follow me.
When I bluntly asked if he was trying to kill me he squeaked and answered that he didn't want me dead but away from school for the rest of the year. I threatened him and before I could strangle or even grab him he vanished.
After that I went back to sleep. Later I thought I'd heard footsteps but no one came. I guess that was you, right? Well, about ten minutes later I heard some of the teachers whispering. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were levitating something.
Dumbledore was right behind them. I couldn't really see who they were carrying but I could hear what they were saying. The professors talked about the attack and that the culprit wasn't caught the school would most likely be closed.
McGonagall was extremely worried now that one of her students was petrified. But Dumbledore, I don't think I've ever seen him that crushed. We have to find a solution or we'll loose the school," Harry told them and they listened closely.
Harry was right and Carya informed him of that little problem with their Map that night. He too thought it was strange but they had no clue why the Map had malfunctioned. The rest of the week passed in a haze of storms.
It was snowing non-stop and even the warmest fireplace couldn't prevent the students from freezing. It was in fact that cold that Carya, Harry, Hermione and Draco forgot to take revenge on Lockhart for de-boning Harry's arm.
The term would end on December 21st and on the 20th they all packed their things. The train left around eleven and they'd have to go to breakfast first. After Colin had been attacked everyone stayed clear of the small group, well except Cat that is.
She occasionally would talk to Hermione but not much. The train ride wasn't really a happy one. All students thought about what Dumbledore had said about closing the school. Not one of them wanted that but they didn't really have a clue how to prevent it.
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Please Read and Review,
Carya
2005-10-01