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Chapter 4 -- Discovery
I walked quickly down the corridor, every so often hanging back. I was curious; I wanted to know where Riddle was going on this little late night stroll all alone. Anyway, I had the right, didn't I? Being Head Girl and all?
I stopped suddenly as Riddle entered the girl's bathroom. He turned violently, and I threw myself against the wall; I tried as hard as I could to breath as quietly as possible. Slowly he turned back to the bathroom door and entered.
What is Riddle doing in a girl's bathroom! That's definatly strange… I thought to myself, as I inched forward towards him. I slowly opened the door a smidge and saw Riddle standing in front of a sink.
What the bloody hell is he doing? I was thoroughly confused. Suddenly, I heard an inhumane hiss. The hiss was coming from Riddle; it was beautiful, in a way. The syllables twisted and twined with one another, forming a sort of language.
Oh, my God. It is a language. Parseltongue. Riddle is a Parselmouth! I realized in total shock. They are really rare.
Suddenly a creak was heard and the sink he was hissing at started to move outward; the other sinks moved up and down, creating a large hole in the center. Taking one last look at his surroundings, Riddle jumped into the hole.
Shocked, I tiptoed inside and peered into the dark chasm. I suddenly felt a waft of hot air, and my veins turned to ice. I shouldn't be here, I thought to myself, very spooked. I left the girl's bathroom in a hurry, and never looked back until I had safely reached Gryffindor Tower. I sighed in relief and sat down in a couch near the fire. My heart was beating fast; something strange was down in that chamber, I knew it. Something forbidden.
I saw my bag and opened it, taking out my notebook. I flipped to a random page. A line of a poem caught my eye.
It seems that the truth is more complicated than I thought.
How true. I sighed and walked up to my bed, where I had a restless night, due to nightmares, all ending with a terrifying hiss…
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I woke up the next morning tired from a fitful night's sleep. Yawning, I changed my clothes and headed to Arithmancy; I wasn't hungry at all, and skipping breakfast wan't that unusual for me. Riddle was waiting outside the classroom already.
Uh oh. I nodded at him and he nodded back. He had bags under his eyes and seemed quite tired.
"Long night?" I smirked. He shot me a death glare and grunted.
"You've no idea," he muttered. I sighed and sat down. I doodled a bit in my notebook; around a half hour passed, and no one had arrived yet. Class was supposed to have started around ten minutes ago.
"Where is everyone?" I said to myself. Riddle shrugged. "Well, we should probably find out what in the bloody hell's going on; the Professor isn't even here." With that, I left, heading back toward the Gryffindor Commons. I heard Riddle's footsteps following.
"Wait up," he said gruffly. I sighed and stopped walking long enough for him to catch up. "We should check the Great Hall first," he said decidedly. Off we went.
There was a large crowd standing near the doors to the Great Hall. I rumpled my eyebrows, confused, then I strode forward.
"Head Girl and Boy, stand aside; what's the meaning of all this?" I shouted, pushing my way through the crowd. Suddenly I stopped and stared in horror at what lay before me.
A young girl, around the age of eleven, was lying rigidly on the floor. At first I thought it was simply a case of the Full Body Bind, but looking closer, I realized that she had been Petrified.
"Riddle- How could this be possible?" I whispered hoarsely. He said nothing and looked away. He had a strange emotion gleaming in his eyes. I couldn't tell what it was.
Dippet and Dumbledore came striding down the Hall.
"STAND ASIDE!" Dippet bellowed. Students hurried in every which way away from the body. Dumbledore leaned forward and checked her pulse.
"She has been Petrified," he announced, hands out. "She will be fine, after a Mandrake draft. Now all of you, off to your classes." He levitated the girl and the two of them, Dippet and Dumbledore, headed off to what I presumed was the hospital wing.
"We should be going," I said in a shaky tone. Riddle and I left the Hall together in silence.