(New update for this story. This one ended up being much longer than I originally intended, but I hope you guys will not mind that and will enjoy this part of the story. I own nothing but my OC.)
...
"And another point for Slytherin! Will the excitement never end?" Lee's voice though still chipper seemed to be carrying a hint of glum sarcasm as he announced the first Quidditch match of the year, not two days following the incident of the caretaker's cat.
It was a perfect day for a game of Quidditch and the whole school seemed to return a general air of cheeriness as the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams madly competed for the first win of the year.
From his spot high above the other players, Harry watched as the Gryffindor chasers led by Angelina Johnson fought for possession of the Quaffle all the while keeping one good eye out for the golden snitch.
For now, it didn't appear that Lucy's sore elbow was giving her too much trouble while playing, though she was trying her best to keep others from bumping into it. Only when someone on the Slytherin team actually did manage to knock into her arm did Harry see her wince the slightest bit, but then he knew that Lucy's pain tolerance like his own was higher than most, thanks to having lived with the Dursleys for so long.
He smiled slightly as he watched Alicia Spinnet, another Gryffindor Chaser finally manage to wrest the Quaffle away from the Slytherin Chaser. Lucy and Angelina followed her prepared to ward off their opponents as Alicia zoomed across the field towards the Slytherin goal posts.
Suddenly at that moment, Harry saw something large and dark zooming towards his head out of the corner of his peripherals. In a brief moment of panic, Harry ducked only to hear an all too familiar voice snickering as a shape that turned out to be Malfoy came to stop a few feet away from him.
"All right there Scar head?" He asked clearly enjoying his little joke. Harry shot his fiercest glare at him before resuming his watch for the snitch.
There was no way he was going to let Malfoy get the best of him or win the game for Slytherin today. Even if his Nimbus 2001 was a little faster than his broom.
There was a faint resounding ding and a cheer from the Gryffindor side of the arena as Lucy successfully recieved a pass from Alicia and scored a point.
"And Gryffindor steals the lead! Beautiful teamwork there with Alicia and Lucy! I must say!" Lee cheered, most likely earning a sharp look from McGonagall for showing too much team preference again.
Harry smiled though his joy was short lived when he spotted one of the bludgers making a beeline for his head.
Just in the nick of time, he dodged out of the way allowing for one of the Weasley Twins to bat it away back towards the Slytherin team.
Shaking a bit from his close call, Harry quickly straightened back into position ignoring the sound of Draco's laughter.
"Watch yourself Harry!" Fred shouted in warning just as the bludger weaved its way back in Harry's direction. Fortunately for the seeker the beater was back on its tail, but it wasn't long before the little black ball was flying back towards him again.
What in the world? He wondered bewildered as the bludger came back for him again. This time he ended up doing a little flip on his broom in order to avoid getting his brains bashed in.
"Training for the ballet Potter?" Malfoy asked, though this time Harry ignored him completely.
"Oh! And looks like Lucy Potter's been caught off guard by a bludger, losing control of the Quaffle. What a shame!" Lee groaned just as a shriek sounded across the pitch.
Harry winced when he heard a crack and knew the second bludger had made contact with its target. Though the crowd was groaning due to a Slytherin stealing the Quaffle, Harry could only worry for his twin who he could sense was terrified as the bludger pursued her across the field despite one of the Weasley Twins' attempts to bat it away.
Through the crowd's reactions, Malfoy's laughter and the shouts of the other players, Harry heard a faint buzzing sound coming from his left side.
Turning his head quickly, he saw a glint of gold hovering just over the top of Malfoy's right ear.
The first time seeker himself was far too busy enjoying himself at the expense of the Potters to notice that the snitch was within his grasp.
Wasting no time however, Harry leaned forward on his broom and took off after the snitch which zipped off across the pitch just as Draco whipped around to avoid colliding with Harry.
Hot on his trail again however, was the first bludger and Harry gritted his teeth hoping to keep ahead of it and Malfoy as he pursued the golden snitch towards the stands.
Draco however was quick to catch up to him and the two of them battled for advantage as the chase took them into the trench.
It was even harder now than it was before in the open air to keep on course what with Draco constantly shoving him to knock him off his broom, the bludger out to bash in his bones as it were and the beams supporting each tower of the trench constantly sending them ducking and dodging in irregular patterns.
Harry kept his eye on the golden prize though. Even when Malfoy kicked his leg and the bludger whizzed dangerously past his ear, he kept up his pursuit.
Then Malfoy aimed a vicious side kick at Harry this time almost throwing him off his broom into the wall beside him. Harry managed to rebalance himself in time to dodge another beam, but Draco was not so fortunate.
Despite himself, Harry found himself grimacing when he heard a loud crack and yell behind him. Wood splinters grazed against his face as Draco went flying out of the side of the trench, his broom and himself landing with a painful crunch on the ground below.
This is it! The snitch is all mine. Harry braced himself as he got closer and closer to his little target. When he was within arm's reach, he began to lean forward reaching one arm to grab the snitch.
Suddenly the bludger was back, popping out of nowhere it seemed to smash into Harry's outstretched elbow.
The pain was more excruciating than he'd thought it would be and it took all his concentration not to fall off the broom as his injured arm fell uselessly at his side.
For a split second Harry looked down and saw Draco curling up in pain beside his broom with his robes tangled up beneath him.
It's now or never. This will only end if I catch the snitch! Once again Harry reached forward, using his other arm this time to reach for the snitch while coming to an almost crouched position on his broomstick.
Just as he felt his fingers closing around the little winged object, his foot slipped from underneath him causing him to flip off his broom and land painfully in the dust below him.
Hearing Madam Hooch blow the whistle to end the game, Harry started to relax opening his palm to reveal the snitch, when he saw a little black dot in the sky quickly growing larger as it neared its target.
Reacting barely in time, Harry rolled frantically on the ground just barely managing to avoid the bludger as it rammed itself several times on the ground in an attempt to hit him.
"Finite Incantatem!" Hermione's voice suddenly sounded from somewhere near him and Harry blinked as the bludger splintered in mid air causing bits of blackened metal to rain down around him.
Relieved and a little exhausted Harry dropped listlessly to the ground feeling the pain in his arm increase by the second as a crowd formed around him and Malfoy who was already being carried away by his teammates.
"Harry! Are you all right?" Hermione asked with an extremely worried look on her face. She, Ron and Hagrid were the first to reach Harry's side. "Those were rogue bludgers. Hagrid thinks someone's tampered with them before the game." She explained, though Harry didn't really care anymore about the bludgers.
"Lucy?" He called, not seeing his sister anywhere and recalling that she too had a bludger on her for awhile.
A bad feeling sank to the bottom of his stomach when Hermione's face fell upon hearing him and he didn't see his Twin among his other fellow Gryffindor teammates.
"Lucy's been hurt, Harry." Hermione explained, clearly upset by these events. "The other bludger got her and she hit her head when she fell off her broom. One of Ron's brothers took care of it though and took her to Madam Pomfrey." She said the last part as if to comfort Harry, but he didn't feel comforted in the slightest.
No wonder I can't hear you anymore. He felt his chest tighten. Oh Lucy...
"Are you all right Harry?" Ron asked, his face pale with worry. Harry shook his head, wincing when his arm twinged even more as he tried to sit up.
"No...no I think my arm's broken." He grimaced, desperate to get to the hospital wing for more than one reason.
"Oh not to worry Harry! I can fix that arm straightaway! Allow me!" Professor Lockhart quickly pushed his way through the crowd towards the three second years.
Harry immediately tried to back away. "No...Not you!" He protested though Lockhart didn't even seem to hear him.
"Oh poor boy, you don't even know what you're saying." Lockhart crooned as if Harry were growing delirious of a fever. "Now this...won't hurt a bit." He continued, gently pulling up the sleeve of Harry's quidditch robes to expose his injured arm.
"Uh Professor don't you think Harry ought to see a real-." Hermione began, but never got to finish as Lockhart twirled his wand and spoke firmly. "Braccia..Immendo!"
Harry squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for the worst. At first there was a bright white light and for a moment Harry felt his arm tingling almost going numb. Then suddenly the pain was gone.
"Did it work?" He asked, slowly opening his eyes. When Harry saw the horrified and albeit disgusted looks on the faces around him, he knew it was as he feared and looked down to see his arm, looking less like a human limb and more like a suction cup-less octopus tentacle with a brown seeker's glove attached to it.
"Ah yes...well that can sometimes happen." Lockhart stammered sheepishly as Harry tried and failed to move his arm. "The point is of course that...the bones are no longer broken."
"Broken?" Hagrid sputtered, his large voice booming across the area. "There aren't no bones left!"
"Yes well..." Lockhart continued to twitch, looking around as if for an escape. "Perhaps if I tried one more time...where is your sister Harry? Poor thing..." He dithered.
Not bothering to answer, Harry looked desperately at his friends and they understood. With Ron supporting his jelly arm and Hermione his good arm, they ambled as quickly as they could off the field and back towards the castle.
...
"Oh, Mr. Malfoy stop making such a fuss! You can go!" Madam Pomfrey quipped impatiently at the boy who had been cleared an hour ago, but stayed in order to gain sympathy from his teammates.
The old wizard nurse huffed firmly as Malfoy reluctantly vacated his bed assisted by his friends. In her hand was a long white bottle with bones carved into it.
Harry read on the label that the bottle contained something called Skelegrow and he didn't have to ask Madam Pomfrey to guess what that would do.
"Losing bones indeed! I can mend bones in a heartbeat mind you, but growing them back!" The old nurse fretted as if dealing with an overly large stack of paperwork instead of a student who's lost the bones in his arm.
"You will be able to, won't you Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked, her deep brown eyes shining with concern as she stood by Harry's bedside with Ron and the remains of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.
"Oh I'll be able to certainly! But it will be extremely painful. You're in for a rough night Potter. At least your sister didn't come in missing any of her bones. The poor Dear had cracked ribs, but even that is peaches and cream compared to skelegrow." Madam Pomfrey snipped as she poured out the contents of the bottle into a small white glass.
Harry frowned and glanced over at where his sister lay in the bed next to him.
"Skelegrow?" He asked as the nurse handed him the glass. "Yes. One dose of this and your bones will regrow themselves by the end of the night. Bottoms up." She ordered.
Harry nodded and brought the glass almost eagerly to his lips. He started to drink only to spit the potion back out when the bitter taste overcame his mouth.
"Well what did you expect? Pumpkin juice? Honestly!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed immediately reaching to refill the glass.
Harry gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry..." He looked back towards Lucy and frowned again. "When do you think she'll come around Madam Pomfrey?"
"Ohhh..." Madam Pomfrey shrugged and set the glass back in front of him. "I'd say before the end of the night. Though it's difficult to predict. Drink up Potter! And don't spit it out this time. Your bones won't grow back by themselves you know!" She gave Harry a dark look.
Harry nodded his head and looked disgustedly down at the contents of his glass again before raising it back to his lips.
...
"All right there Lucy?...Watch out!" One of the Weasley Twins zoomed in at her right, cracking his bat against the bludger and sending it flying away across the pitch.
Shaken, Lucy nodded her head though she had dropped the Quaffle in her momentary fright and panic. Luckily Angelina had managed to recover it, but the bludger that had nearly clocked her earlier was already zooming back towards her.
"Lu!" Her earlier savior suddenly flew back to her side, knocking the deadly metallic ball away from the chaser. A loud collective groan sounded from the spectators then and Lucy looked around over her shoulder to see that two Slytherin chasers had stolen the Quaffle and were speeding down across the pitch towards the Gryffindor goal posts.
"George!" She called to the beater who had saved her yet again, wondering briefly for a second how she knew he was George and not Fred.
"You can't keep protecting me like this! It's costing us the game!" She said to him even as she saw the bludger coming back for her.
George frowned at the implication behind her statement. "But that bludger keeps coming for you! If it hits you..." He trailed off knowing there was no need to finish.
Lucy knew exactly what could happen if that bludger did successfully hit her while she was flying this high above the ground, but she also knew that Angelina and Katie were being neglected while Fred and George were distracted by the bludgers and Slytherin was taking full advantage of the situation.
Her thoughts were punctuated by the deafening sound of the score bell and the roar of the Slytherin crowd.
Lucy sighed, giving George a pleading look before taking off across the pitch. The bludger gained on her steadily as she tried to keep ahead of it and steer it away from her fellow teammates at the same time.
For awhile it seemed to work until Harry and Malfoy suddenly cut in front of her with alarming speed, the second bludger nearly taking out the tip of her broomstick as it pursued the two seekers into the dugout below the stands.
In her brief daze, Lucy almost didn't see the other bludger coming up on her left side. At the last second, she threw her arm up out of the way since it was still a bit sore from her fall in the dungeons the other night.
The move left Lucy's left side vulnerable and before she could manuever out of the way, the bludger impacted into her ribs sending a searing pain through her body.
The last things she heard as she lost her balance on her broom was the crowd gasping and screaming with shock while a familiar voice called her name.
Lucy jolted awake, panting while her heart raced as she slowly realized she was not on the ground of the Quidditch pitch, but was instead in a bed in the hospital wing of Hogwarts Castle. There were bandages wrapped tightly around her ribs, but Lucy felt no more pain either from there or from her elbow.
"You're awake." Harry's soft yet very much relieved sounding voice drew Lucy's attention and she turned to see her twin laying in the bed next to her with his whole arm wrapped in a splint.
"How are you feeling? Does anything still hurt?" Harry asked, though Lucy didn't seem to hear him.
"Harry your arm!" She exclaimed in a loud whisper. Harry looked down at his arm, grimaced, and shook his head. "It's fine now. Madam Pomfrey gave me something called Skelegrow to take care of it. Nasty stuff. But Professor Lockhart...you won't believe what he did after I fell off my broom." He muttered, trying to use his good arm to push himself up to a sitting position on his bed.
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "What did he do?" She asked, wondering if she even wanted to know given their new Defense of Dark Arts Professor's track record with spells.
"Well, I knew when that bludger got me that my arm was broken. Hermione and Ron were about to help me get to the hospital wing when Professor Lockhart said he knew a spell to heal my arm...The only thing his spell did though, was get rid of all the bones in my arm altogether." Harry explained, feeling his face flush red again as he remembered how his arm had flopped around like a jellyfish tentacle and the excruciating pain he had been in only minutes before Lucy had woken up thanks to the effects of the skelegrow potion.
"Ugh..." Lucy wrinkled her nose in disgust at the images prompted by her brother's explanation. Harry started to nod in agreement with a sudden noise drew his attention.
"What?" Lucy started to ask noticing the shift in her brother's expression, but Harry shushed her. "Shh!" He hissed in as loud a whisper as he dared to utter.
For a moment nothing happened, then there was another whoosh and a gust of cool air which both Lucy and Harry felt though there were no windows nearby.
"Hello!" A strange creature suddenly leaped up on Harry's bed. Harry nearly slipped off the edge of the mattress in surprise while Lucy barely suppressed a shriek.
"Dobby!...Don't do that!" Harry hissed in a loud whisper the moment he got his bearings and he recognized the little thing that was standing at the foot of his bed.
The little elf hung his head apologetically. "Dobby apologizes Sir. Dobby didn't mean to frighten Harry or Lucy Potter." He turned his gaze from Harry to Lucy.
Lucy's expression softened at the look on his face especially when she noticed there was a fresh bruise on his cheek.
"Right well...what are you doing here Dobby?" Harry asked, eyeing the house elf with distrust.
Suddenly Dobby seemed to stand taller and his gaze turned from apologetic to reprimanding.
"Harry and Lucy Potter should have listened to Dobby. Harry and Lucy should have gone back home together when they missed the train." He shook a long white boney finger at the twins.
"The train?" Lucy questioned, sitting up higher on her own bed.
"Hang on! How did you know about...?" Harry started to ask before the realization hit him like the force of one of Dudley's punches.
"It was you...You stopped the barrier from letting us and Ron through." Harry accused, making Dobby flinch briefly like a child who just got caught in a lie by a parent.
"Indeed. Yes Sir."
Lucy felt her eyes burn at this. "Why did you do that Dobby? We could've gotten expelled for that!" She asked, almost forgetting to whisper.
"Because at least if Harry and Lucy Potter were expelled from Hogwarts school, you both would have been away from here!..." Suddenly Dobby stood from where he had been previously squatting at the foot of Harry's bed and scurried down to the floor right between the twins.
"Harry and Lucy Potter must go home immediately! Dobby thought that his bludgers would be enough to make Harry and Lucy see-!"
"Your bludgers?" Harry thought his brain might explode. "You made those bludgers go after me and my sister?" He snapped, almost lunging at the elf who backed away a bit in reaction to his anger.
"Yes Sir...But Dobby is most aggrieved for the injuries he caused Harry and Lucy Potter. Dobby had to iron his hands to punish himself." The elf explained, holding up his hands which were both bandaged.
Lucy grimaced at the little angry red marks she could see peeking out from underneath the poorly made dressings.
As much as she did feel indignant towards Dobby for causing her and Harry so much trouble, she couldn't help, but feel a little sorry for his self inflicted wounds.
Especially since her pain was past and Dobby was most likely still feeling the stings of the iron.
"You better clear off Dobby before my bones grow back or I might strangle you!" Harry threatened, feeling much more annoyed than sympathetic for the elf who immediately gave a little yelp, scurried out of the little aisle and towards the main floor of the hospital wing.
"Harry stop it!" Lucy tried to stop her brother as he clumsily hopped out of bed after Dobby. "Can't you see he's had enough?" She stepped in Harry's way.
"Had enough? Lucy he's been sabotaging us since the first day we met him! First with getting Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia furious the week before school started, then closing the gateway to platform 9 3/4 and now we find out the rogue bludgers were also his fault!" Harry retorted while Dobby cowered behind Lucy's nightdress.
"I know, but look at him! Look at his hands!" Lucy turned and motioned with her right hand towards the little elf who shrank as if he thought Lucy was going to strike him.
"He's already punished himself enough for what he did to us. At least we have Madam Pomfrey to heal us if we get hurt. By the looks of him, I don't think anyone cares if Dobby gets hurt." Lucy tried to reason.
Harry sighed, still looking like he wanted to throttle Dobby despite the likely truth behind Lucy's compassionate pleas.
"Lucy Potter is correct Sir." Dobby finally squeaked, coming back out from behind the girl as he spoke, maintaining eye contact with Harry. "Dobby is used to pain and death threats...Dobby gets them five times a day at home and at least six smacks a day besides...then there's the beatings."
Harry sighed at this admission and slowly made his way around his sister who immediately moved to follow him.
"Well...I don't suppose you could at least tell us why you tried to kill us?" Harry asked, holding his previously injured arm close to his chest as he walked.
Dobby cowered behind the foot of Harry's bed. "Not kill you Sir! Never kill Harry and Lucy Potter!" He whimpered and continued to keep his distance from the boy.
"Then why?" Lucy asked, furrowing her brows. "What you did with the bludgers caused me to break a rib and Harry had to get the bones in his arm regrown!" Dobby hung his head in response.
"Dobby is most sorry for that Miss. But Dobby remembers how it was before Harry and Lucy Potter triumphed over he who must not be named. We house elves were treated like vermin Sir. Of course...Dobby is still treated like vermin." The elf admitted, seeming to wilt as he said it.
Before Lucy could try to comfort him however, Dobby suddenly dissolved into a fit of hysterical tears. The twins jumped and tensed almost as one when Dobby's wails started to get louder.
Harry was about to shush him, when Dobby picked up the raggy old sheet he was wearing and blew his nose into the already soiled fabric.
Lucy grimaced at the sound as the elf's sobs instantly died away. "Dobby...why are you wearing that thing? It's filthy." She asked, wondering if the little elf's tunic had ever been washed even once.
"This Miss?" Dobby turned to meet Lucy's gaze with a sad watery gaze in his overly large grey eyes. "Tis the mark of the house elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be free if his Master presents him with clothes." He explained almost sheepishly.
"Clothes?" Harry asked, lightly intrigued since he'd never heard of such rules of enslavement before. Lucy on the other hand looked sad for Dobby.
Even life with the Dursleys didn't seem to compare to the life Dobby apparently led.
"Yes Sir..." Dobby started to nod when the sound of a door opening somewhere down the corridor startled him and he leaped up onto Lucy's bed with another yelp.
"Someone's coming!" Lucy's eyes got big.
"Right! Dobby? I think you'd better-."
"No! Listen!...Listen!" Dobby cut Harry off, motioning towards the twins with his thin wiry arms. Both Harry and Lucy moved closer towards the elf as he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts. Harry and Lucy Potter must not stay here...now that history is about to repeat itself!" Dobby warned, though his warning only brought more confusion upon the Potter Twins.
"Repeat itself?" Harry repeated. "You mean it's happened once before?" He snapped.
"What's about to happen at Hogwarts Dobby?" Lucy asked. Dobby started to answer, then he clapped his hands over his mouth with a terrified look in his eyes.
"Ohh!...I shouldn't have said that! Dobby said too much!" The elf began to panic. Turning towards the table where Madam Pomfrey had left the bottle of skelegrow, Dobby grabbed the bottle and proceeded to beat himself over the head with it, repeatedly muttering to himself.
"Bad Dobby!...Bad Dobby!...Bad! Bad! Bad! Dobby!"
Harry made a grab for the bottle with his good hand while Lucy tried to grab his arms and stop him from beating himself.
"Dobby! Stop!..."
"Stop it!...Stop it Dobby! Stop hurting yourself!" Harry ordered, finally managing to yank away the potion bottle.
Dobby tried to make another grab for it as Harry set it down on his bed tray, but Lucy held him back. "No Dobby! Stop it! Tell us what you mean about history repeating itself." The girl tried to calm him down, but Dobby was not having it.
Harry finally grabbed him by the front of his tunic and lifted him slightly in the air. "Answer her Dobby! When did this happen before and who's doing it now?" He demanded.
Dobby shook his head, though he was trembling as he hung helplessly in Harry's grasp.
"Dobby cannot say Sir." He shook his head. "Dobby only wants Harry and Lucy Potter to be safe." He whimpered, stroking Harry's hand as if he might soothe him into loosening his grip.
"Harry..." Lucy cautioned as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder in the distance.
"Dobby..." Harry set his jaw. "Tell us now! Who is it?" He hissed. Instead of answering, Dobby peeked quickly over his left shoulder.
Seeing a dim light approaching, he turned back towards the twins, smiled in a helpless yet also somewhat cheeky manner and snapped his fingers, disappearing into thin air as he did before shortly after dropping Aunt Petunia's pudding all over Mrs. Mason's head.
Harry growled softly in frustration, dropping his arm as the voices and accompanying footsteps drew closer and Lucy recognized one voice as belonging to Professor McGonagall.
"Harry quick!" She nodded towards their beds, knowing there was no time to worry about Dobby and his cryptic warnings at the moment. Harry nodded back to show he understood and without another word, the twins slipped noiselessly back into their beds.
They laid as still as they could manage while a group of professors entered the "A
"Put him here!" Madam Pomfrey whispered and Lucy slowly moved her gaze till she could just barely see Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore carefully lifting what appeared to be a young student from a stretcher onto an empty hospital bed.
"What do you supposed happened to him?" Professor McGonagall asked, her fear clear even when she whispered the words.
"There's been another attack." Dumbledore answered with a rasp, pulling a thin blanket over the unidentified boy's still body.
"Do...do you think he's been petrified?" Professor McGonagall asked, turning her gaze towards the old school nurse.
Petrified?...Lucy exchanged the terrified thought with her brother and echoed her fear. Like Mr. Filch's cat...
"I don't know." Madam Pomfrey responded in a voice that almost inaudible.
"Well perhaps...perhaps he's managed to take a picture of his attacker. Let's check the camera." Professor McGonagall suggested.
Harry and Lucy felt their blood run cold at the mention of the new patient having a camera.
You don't think...Harry started and Lucy did not answer his thought though she was thinking the same thing he did.
It's Colin.
"Ah!" The Professors gasped almost as one when Professor Dumbledore opened the back panel of the camera only for the film to disintegrate with a loud pop and a lingering sizzle.
Lucy flinched in surprise at the noise, but thankfully all of the adults were too busy worrying over Colin and his destroyed film to pay attention to the rest of the room.
"Oh my...what does this mean Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"It means..." Dumbledore began, setting the camera down on the bed tray. "...that our students are in grave danger." He responded, the words sending an involuntary shiver down Harry and Lucy's spines.
Professor McGonagall turned ashen face in concern. "What should I tell the staff?" She asked, looking down at the poor boy on the bed in front of her again.
"The truth." Dumbledore responded simply. "Tell them Hogwarts is no longer safe. It is as we feared Minerva." Here, he turned to make eye contact with his deputy headmistress.
"The Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened once again."
Again? So Dobby was telling the truth! Harry realized as the Professors quietly left the hospital wing still speaking quietly amongst themselves.
Lucy bit down on her lip. First Mrs. Norris, now Colin...Harry, I'm frightened! What if the creature attacks someone else? She worried while thoughts of Ron, Hermione and even Athene her cat being petrified like stone flashed through her mind.
Harry shook his head, refusing to even think on the awful possibilities. Hermione will have that potion made before that happens. She has to! He answered, somehow not feeling as confident as he wanted to.
...
"Again?...You mean the Chambers of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione inquired as the four friends met the next day during free period to begin brewing the polyjuice potion.
Lucy had also brought along Athene since she was worried about leaving her alone following Colin's petrification, and the milky white cat was now exploring the musty and dirty bathroom on her own, batting her paws at loose pipes and various scads of dirt.
"Of course! Don't you see?" Ron insisted as he stood with his back to the wall of a stall. "Lucius Malfoy must have opened it when he was at school here."
"And now he's taught Draco how to open it." Harry finished. Lucy looked grim.
"Maybe." Hermione didn't seem so sure, though she was frowning as she stirred around the contents of her little cauldron carefully. "But we won't know for sure until the Polyjuice Potion is ready." She reminded her friends as Athene tired of exploring the small bathroom and came to investigate the bubbling cauldron as it caught her attention.
"Thenie no!" Lucy pulled her pet away in the nick of time as the cat had been about to stick her nose into the brew.
Ron sighed and shifted his weight between his feet as he listened for any sound of approaching feet. The hall was, as it had been since the four friends had slipped into this bathroom for free period, silent as tomb.
"Enlighten me again. Why are we brewing this potion that could get us into a lot of trouble in broad daylight in the middle of a girls' lavatory? Won't we get caught?" Ron asked, crossing his arms as Hermione began carefully measuring out another ingredient.
"No," Hermione almost laughed as she carefully checked her measurements. "No one ever comes into this bathroom." She explained. Lucy nodded and began to stroke Athene on the head after pulling her into her lap.
"And there's an out of order sign on the door. We'll be quite safe in here so long as no one decides to come and fix the lavatory." Lucy added as Hermione stirred the mixture again.
"No one will try to fix this bathroom. Not so long as Moaning Myrtle keeps haunting one of the toilets and constantly floods the room with her tirades." Hermione nodded her head while Lucy and the boys looked at each other in confusion.
"Who?" Harry and Lucy asked at the same time.
"Moaning Myrtle." Hermione responded, not looking up from the potion. Athene mewed to be put back down on the floor, but Lucy held on to her.
"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" Ron asked such as a soft icy breeze chilled him to the spine. Lucy blanched when she saw the silvery spectre floating ominously towards Ron, but before she could say anything, the figure shrieked.
"I'm Moaning Myrtle!" Ron yelped and jumped five feet into the air as a ghost who appeared to be a young girl in Hogwarts robes, large round glasses and with her hair tied in two pigtails, floated around the middle of the group with an upset look on her round transparent face.
"Hello Myrtle." Lucy tried to be polite, but the ghost girl only scowled harder. "Hello indeed! Well I wouldn't have expected the lot of you to know who I was! Why would you? Who would ever care about poor, ugly, miserable, moping, moaning Myrtle?"
Myrtle whimpered as she went off in a row of long loud sobs. Harry started to tell her to stop, afraid that the noise would attract a prefect or worse a professor, but before he could, Myrtle swooped back into the stall where she had appeared from and disappeared into the toilet with a horrible scream and a tremendous splash.
Ron flinched and made a disgusted face as some of the water sloshed towards them. "Ugh! Yuck!"
"Yeah I guess I should have warned you. She's a little sensitive." Hermione apologize dryly. Lucy shook her head. "I didn't think she'd get so upset. Whatever could have happened to make her so miserable like that?" She wondered as Athene arched up and placed her fore paws on her shoulder.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "No one knows." She admitted, frowning again as their potion mixture began to thicken. Lucy frowned too.
"Ahem." Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably, thinking it was time to change to subject. "So...any of you notice the announcement for that new Dueling Club today?" He asked.
To his relief, Ron smiled. "Yeah! I heard Dumbledore allowed for Lockhart to start it because of the attacks although I don't know how much good it would do against something that could petrify." He shrugged.
Lucy nodded in agreement as her cat wriggled out of her grasp and hopped back down to the floor with a soft mew. "Especially if Professor Lockhart is teaching it. He couldn't even stop those Cornish Pixies from tearing up the classroom on the first day remember?" She asked, rolling her eyes at the memory of their first second year Defense Against Dark Arts Class.
"Well, a little defense is better than no defense at all." Hermione couldn't help pointing out as she carefully laid her stirring spoon aside to let the mixture sit for a moment.
"I say we all join the Dueling Club. It would give us something to do while we wait for the Polyjuice Potion to finish and maybe we'll learn something useful in case the monster attacks again." She proposed looking each of her friends in the eye.
Ron sighed, though Harry and Lucy were looking at each other thoughtfully as if thinking the same thing.
"I'm in." Harry stuck out his hand in the middle of their circle and Lucy quickly placed hers on top of his. "Me too. It could be fun." She agreed.
Hermione put her hand out next. "I agree." She turned to exchange smiles with Lucy before looking up at Ron expectantly.
"Well Ron?" Harry turned to make eye contact with his best friend as well. Finally Ron sagged his shoulders and with a loud groan, stuck his hand out to join the others.
"Fine." He huffed. "We'll all go to Lockhart's Dueling Club. What could happen?" He shrugged.
...
"Come on Guys! We're going to be late for the meeting!" Ron complained loudly as he and Harry waited for the girls to meet them at the bottom of the stairs that led to the girls rooms in Gryffindor Tower.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Lucy and Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs with the former looking a little discomfitted.
"Finally!" Ron groaned impatiently.
"Ready to go?" Harry asked while noticing the look on his sister's face. Hermione turned to face him and nodded her head.
"Yes. Lucy's just worried about her cat since she can't bring her to the Dueling Club Meeting even though I told her she'd be fine until we got back." She explained before glancing back at her friend.
Harry nodded understandingly and gave Lucy a sympathetic look. Ever since Colin Creevey was petrified, Lucy tried to bring Athene with her anywhere she could even to meals at the Great Hall.
Of course, pets weren't allowed in classes or in most extracurricular club meetings.
"Hermione's right. She'll be fine in your room, Lucy." Harry tried to assure his twin. Lucy sighed and nodded her head.
"I know, but Thenie's not used to being cooped up like she is right now. I just hope she doesn't hate me for limiting her space like this." She worried as she glanced back up the stairs from the Common Room floor.
"She won't. Athene knows you love her. Besides we'll be back in less than an hour." Hermione reassured. Ron sighed loudly.
"Can we go now? We're going to be late!" He complained. Hermione started to rebuke him until Lucy nodded her head.
"Yes. You're right. Let's go." She patted the pocket of her robes to check for her wand then walked towards the door leading out of the tower, her friends and her brother close behind only to nearly walk into a pale and moist-eyed Ginny Weasley. She gasped when she almost crashed into Harry.
"Ohh!...I'm so sorry Harry. Lucy." She nodded quickly at the group before squeezing her way into the common room.
The group turned bewilderedly after her. "Are you all right Ginny?" Ron asked. "Aren't you going to the Dueling Club meeting?" Lucy added.
"I...I'm fine!...Just going to get a nap before supper!" Ginny answered hastily, running up the stairs and into her room.
Ron sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Weird. Oh well. Percy did say that she might be coming down with a cold. She's probably just feeling sick." He turned to head out of the common room.
Lucy lingered a bit, but followed after her friends before she could be left behind, making a mental note to remind herself to check on Ginny after Dueling Club was over and before supper was served.
...
"Gather around! Gather around! Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?" Lockhart called for attention as he strolled on top of a table in the middle of the Great Hall on the day of the first Dueling Club Meeting.
More than half of the entire student body had shown up for the event, resulting in everybody having to stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone else.
Harry, Lucy, Ron and Hermione managed to find spots closest to the table, but even then it wasn't a comfortable spot to be in.
"Ouch!" Lucy gasped when someone trod on her toe. "I'm sorry!" A boy standing on her left quickly apologized, his expression sheepish as they turned to face each other.
Lucy nodded reassuringly at him, noticing that he had a Hufflepuff badge on his robes. "It's quite all right." She turned to face forwards again until the boy stuck out his hand.
"I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hufflepuff." The boy introduced himself and Lucy returned her attention to him. "Lucy." She shook his hand briefly then pulled her hand away.
Justin beamed at her. "Oh I know. We all know who you are! And your brother too! Even us Muggle-borns." He declared as if proud of his knowledge.
Lucy smiled back at him. "Attention please!" Professor Lockhart bellowed again from his position on the top of the table. "Excellent." He continued, satisfied when the room fell silent and all eyes fell upon him.
"Now, in light of the dark events which have occured in recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this Dueling Club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on many occasions. For full details please see my published works." Lockhart bragged, making Harry and Ron roll their eyes.
"First let me introduce to you my assistant for this first meeting. Professor Snape!" Professor Lockhart gestured with his hand towards the opposite end of the table where the wall of students seemed to part to admit the foreboding figure of the Potions' Master.
"He has sportingly agreed to help with a short demonstration. Now I don't want any of you to worry," Lockhart continued, turning it seemed to look Harry and Lucy in the eyes.
"You'll still have your potions' master when I'm through with him. Never fear." Lucy glanced down at her feet to hide the expression on her face.
"Who's worried?" She mumbled under her breath as both Snape and Lockhart raised their wands in a ready stance then turned to take three paces in the opposite direction from each other while Lockhart counted them off.
"One...two...three." Lockhart raised his hand in what everyone could only assume was the attack position. Snape took up a similar posture.
Suddenly the Potions' Master lunged forward. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, waving his wand and shooting a spell that not only disarmed Lockhart, but sent him flying across the table.
Half of the students who were gathered gasped in concern as Lockhart landed on his back while a few of them giggled when he landed in a heap of limbs and robes near the edge of the table.
Snape's expression however, was unreadable.
"Do you think he's all right?" Hermione asked. Ron chortled. "Who cares?"
"An excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape." Professor Lockhart praised as he quickly picked himself up. "But uh, if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you...uh it would have only been too easy." He chuckled confidentally. This time no one laughed.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps it would be prudent then to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells." He suggested calmly though Lucy thought she could hear a bit of amsement in his tone.
Lockhart nodded as if nothing were amiss. "An excellent suggestion, Professor Snape. Let's have a volunteer pair then." He turned to survey the large group of students who were swarming the table.
A few of them tried to press closer to the front of the crowd.
"Potters! How about you two?" Lockhart pointed to where Harry and Lucy stood making some of the students groan in disappointment.
Harry and Lucy exchanged nervous glances.
"I'm afraid pitting the Potter Twins against each other would not serve as an adequate demonstration, Professor." Professor Snape disapproved, his narrow eyed expression lingering on Lucy as he spoke.
"Their abilities are too well matched with each other."
Harry scowled back at him at that.
"Ah, yes I suppose you're right Professor. How about Mr. Potter and Weasley then!" He motioned to Ron who looked a little eager in spite of himself.
"Weasley's wand causes devastation with even the simplest spells. You'd be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Professor Snape intervened yet again before turning to where a group of Slytherin students were gathered.
"Might I suggest someone from my own house instead?" He continued. "Malfoy perhaps?" He suggested before gesturing for Draco take his place on the table.
Harry exchanged glances first with his sister then his friends before climbing up on the table to meet his opponent.
Lockhart patted his shoulder firmly as he passed him by. "Good luck, Potter." He muttered before taking his place behind the boy.
Harry nodded stiffly in return. "Thank you Sir."
"I don't get it." Confused, Lucy turned to whisper to Hermione. "Shouldn't Professor Lockhart have taught us how to defend ourselves before making someone do a demonstration?" She asked.
Hermione just shrugged in response as Lockhart gave the first order. "Wands at the ready!" Almost immediately, Draco and Harry raised their wands in the exact same posture that Lockhart and Snape had moments before.
"Scared Potter?" Malfoy sneered as the two boys stared each other down. Harry set his jaw. "You wish." He very nearly growled threateningly before turning to pace off towards Professor's Lockhart's side of the table.
Malfoy did the same walking towards Snape who stood watch on the opposite end.
"On the count of three cast your charms to disarm your opponent and ONLY to disarm." Lockhart instructed whilst holding his wand pointedly at the students.
"We don't want any accidents here. One...two..." He began to count. Suddenly Draco lashed out. "Everte Statum!" He shouted, surprising Harry with a spell that blasted him in the chest sending him flying until he landed at Lockhart's feet.
A few of the students, especially those from Slytherin burst into laughter at that, but Harry was quick to recover himself. Standing back on his feet, he raised his wand back towards his opponent.
"Rictosempra!" He flicked his wand, casting a spell that knocked Malfoy clean off of his feet. Unamused, Snape instantly snatched the boy up by his arm and pushed him back towards his opponent.
"I said disarm only!" Lockhart spoke up warningly. Malfoy only scowled darkly at Harry. "Serpentsortia!" He shouted sending sparks shooting from the tip of his wand.
Lucy gasped when a large hooded snake appeared on the table. For a moment, the whole room fell silent as the cobra lifted its head up and hissed menacingly at the crowd of students surrounding it.
From the other side of the table, Harry stood frozen unsure of how to counteract the spell that Draco had cast. Finally Snape strolled quickly past his student towards the snake.
"Don't move Potter. I'll get rid of it for you." He said as casually as if he were offering to clean up a pumpkin juice spill.
Professor Lockhart moved towards the cobra as well and brandished his wand. "Allow me, Professor Snape. This would make an excellent demonstration for our students. Alarte Ascendare!" He waved his wand and the spell hit its target.
The snake let out another hiss as Lockhart's spell sent him flying up from the table and towards the ceiling. However, instead of banishing the snake it only levitated him for a moment before dropping it back on the table with an audible plop that made Lucy wince.
The cobra screeched as hit the table then it arched itself up again and began to slither across the table to where Lucy stood watching.
Oh no, not me. It's going for...Lucy's face contorted in panic when the snake fixated its dark beady eyes at Justin Finch Fletchley who was still standing on her left.
The boy who had at the first been amused when Lockhart had sent the snake shooting up into the air, now blanched as the cobra hovered dangerously close to his face, hissing in a threatening manner.
For a moment no one moved, afraid to instigate the snake into attacking. Then Harry began slowly moving across the table towards the spot where Justin and the cobra were locked in a contest of stares.
"Stand down." He ordered softly, but firmly, his gaze never leaving the snake as the creature whipped its head around to face him.
The snake hissed protestingly in return, but Harry did not relent. "I said stand down! Get away from him." He ordered, keeping eye contact with the snake.
Still the snake did not move. "You heard him." Lucy chimed in, trying to help since she didn't want Justin to get hurt either. "Leave him alone. He's not the one who tossed you into the air."
The cobra turned its gaze towards Lucy now, but when he hissed at her it wasn't as sharp or as threateningly as before. In fact, it were almost as if he was considering what he had just been told as if he were trying to determine whether Lucy had told him the truth.
"Vipera...Evanesca." Snape chanted softly before flicking his wand at the snake. With one last hiss, the cobra dissapated back into thin air much to the shock and partial amusement of some of the other students.
Lucy started to meet her brother's gaze, smiling with satisfaction at her and Harry's successful efforts to hold the snake off when she suddenly became aware that the rest of their fellow students, Hermione and Ron included were staring at them as if they'd just grown two extra heads.
"What are you two playing at?" Justin Finch Fletchley demanded, his tone sharp and almost angry.
Lucy gave him a confused look in return. "What do you mean?" She asked, confused as to why Justin was upset about her and Harry protecting him.
No one gave an answer. Lockhart looked stunned as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightening. Even Snape, who was usually very collected and wore an unreadable expression on his face most of the time, looked worried at the Potters.
"Uhhh...I think that's quite enough for today. Run along now and I'll send a message as to our next meeting time! Good work everyone! Especially you, Potters!" Lockhart recovered himself and clapped Harry on the shoulder before turning to disembark from the table.
Lucy flushed when he winked at her over his shoulder, but she had no time to mull over what had just happened as Hermione grabbed her forcefully by her arm. Harry hopped off the table to join them.
"Ow! Hermione wha-?!"
"You two! With us! Now!" Hermione interrupted motioning to Harry and Ron before pulling her best friend towards a side exit from the Great Hall.
Lucy gasped from the slight pain Hermione's grip on her arm caused, but she wisely remained silent till the four of them made it back to the Gryffindor Tower which was thankfully still empty at the moment.
"You're parselmouths!" Ron burst out as soon as the door had shut behind them. "Why didn't you tell us?" He demanded, sounding about as upset as Justin had been.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as Hermione loosened her grip on Lucy's arm. "We're what?" He asked, having never heard the term before.
"You two can speak to snakes!" Hermione explained. "Parselmouth is the word for a wizard or witch who has the ability to communicate with a serpent."
"Oh, is that it? Well it's not the first time Lucy and I have spoken to a snake actually." Harry responded, his confusion fading as he realized what the fuss was about.
Lucy nodded and pulled her arm away from Hermione. "Yeah once we talked to one in a zoo on our cousin's birthday and accidentally set it loose on him." She started to smile slightly as she recalled this memory until she saw that neither Hermione nor Ron were smiling with her.
"What? I said it was an accident. Harry and I didn't know we had magic then!" She protested, but Hermione shook her head.
"No, it's not that, Lucy. It's just...it's strange..." She trailed off, her own brow furrowing as she tried to make sense of it.
"But why?" Harry demanded. "So what if Lucy and I can talk to snakes. I bet there's loads of people here who can do it too." He insisted, but Hermione disagreed.
"No Harry, they can't. The ability to communicate with snakes...it's not a very common gift. It's actually unheard of."
"This is bad." Ron agreed. "What's bad?" Harry turned on his friend. "If Lucy and I hadn't told that snake to back off Justin-."
"Oh! So that's what you two were saying to it!" Ron interrupted, looking partly fascinated despite his fearfulness.
"What are you playing at? You were there Ron! You heard us!" Lucy said exasperated.
Ron shook his head. "No, I heard you two speaking Parseltongue! Snake language." He retorted to her.
"Wait what?" Harry lost the color in his cheeks a bit at this. "We were speaking... another language?" Lucy chimed in, trailing off, feeling her skin grow clammy at the implications behind Ron's statement.
"But I didn't realize...how could we speak a language without knowing about it?" Harry asked bewildered.
"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense." Lucy agreed feeling frightened though she tried not to show it. Hermione sighed.
"I don't know, but it kind of sounded like you two were egging the snake on or something. That's why everyone was so freaked out. We didn't know what had come over you guys." She explained, finally softening her expression.
Lucy bit her lip. "But we weren't...Hermione, you believe us don't you?" She asked, almost pleading with her best friend.
Hermione nodded her head. "I do Lucy, but listen." She looked at Harry as she spoke. "There's a real good reason why everyone was afraid when they heard you two speaking parseltongue. Ever wondered why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent?" She asked and both the Twins nodded their heads.
"Well it's because Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could speak to snakes too." Hermione explained.
"Exactly! And now the whole school's going to think you two are his great great great great grandchildren or something!" Ron added in. Harry shook his head. "But we're not!" He protested, the exclamation falling a little flat as he realized there was no way for him to disprove this accusation.
"Are we?..." He looked to Lucy who looked as helpless he felt.
Hermione sighed and gave the Twins a sympathetic look before responding. "Salazar Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago. For all we know Harry, it could be true." She said softly as if wishing she didn't have to say the words.
Lucy shook her head. "No, it can't be..." Harry and me? Related to Slytherin? It can't be!
...
"Hey why the long face Lu? Snape isn't giving you a hard time again, is he?" George asked with a grin as he and Fred came to sit by Lucy during the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Study Hour in the Great Hall later that evening.
Lucy sighed and ducked to hide her face between the pages of her Potions text. Ever since the incident with the snake at the Dueling club, nothing had been going right.
She wasn't able to find Ginny anywhere after Dueling Club even though no one saw her leave the common room and all through the rest of classes she and Harry had been forced to endure the cold unsympathetic stares and gossips of the majority of their classmates who believed that the Potters were in fact the heirs of Slytherin and even worse had deliberately tried to attack Justin.
Malfoy of course chose to turn the situation into a joke and teased the Potters during their Double Potions lesson by throwing roots and other things that slightly resembled snakes at their desks in an attempt to scare them, but that wasn't much better than the glares and the whispering.
What's more, Lucy had scanned the Hufflepuff side of the room many times since Study Hall began, hoping to see Justin Finch Fletchley again so that she could at least explain things to him and apologize for worrying him during the incident with the snake, but there was no sign of him either.
More than likely he was hiding from her and Harry.
"Come on, don't be like that." George coaxed, when Lucy did not respond to him. "Yeah it's not as bad as you think. Look on the bright side." Fred added in a whisper, as George put a hand on Lucy's arm to get her to lower her book while trying to avoid rousing the attention of the Professor in charge of study hall that evening.
Neither Fred or George noticed the stiff cautious way Harry was eyeing the two of them through his peripherals as they tried to get the younger girl to at least crack a smile.
"Now everyone thinks you're one of the most powerful second years ever."
"After all it's not every kid who can claim to have mastered a fully charged petrification spell."
"Or speak to snakes." George added with a grin. Lucy however did not return it. Lightly shaking George's hand off of her arm, she closed her Potions text with a somewhat forceful thump and got up abruptly to leave Study Hall.
"Lucy, where are you going?" Hermione asked in a whisper though she got no answer for her trouble.
Ron looked up from the essay he was scribbling for History of Magic as Harry got up to go after his sister though she was moving at a very brisk pace.
"Oh well done." Harry muttered to the Weasley Twins, forgetting to grab his own books in his hurry to catch up with Lucy who was already nearly at the exit of the Great Hall.
By the time he got out into the corridor however, Lucy had disappeared out of sight. Assuming that she was headed for the Gryffindor Tower, Harry started to walk that way when he came to a hallway lit dimly by the crescent moon that was shining through a window.
As he advanced through the hall, he was suddenly hit by a deep and unsettling chill and shivered just as an eerily familiar voice hissed into his ears.
I want blooood!...They all must die!...All! Allll! Kill! Kill! Time to Kill! Kiiiiiilll!
"Oh no!..Lucy!" Harry took off at a run fearing the worst until he rounded a corner and came upon a scene which might have only been considered to be queer had it not been for the fact that Lucy was at the far end of the hall seemingly going hysterical as she knelt over the form of a boy in Hogwarts students' robes.
Harry caught his breath as he took in the scene and looked up to see that the Gryffindor Ghost Nearly Headless Nick was frozen in mid air with his nearly severed head hanging grotesquely off his neck to one side.
His face was frozen in an expression of terror and Harry realized that he had been petrified the same way that Filch's cat and Colin Creevey had been.
Feeling a little pity for the fate of the usually fairly pleasant castle ghost, Harry walked quickly yet carefully around Sir Nicholas only to freeze dead in his tracks when he recognized the boy Lucy was panicking over.
"Harry!" Lucy stood instantly the moment she spotted her brother and cast another anguished look at the boy on the floor before continuing.
"Harry it got him!...The monster it...it attacked Justin! That's why he wasn't at...!" Lucy tried to explain and dissolved into a fit of tears as Harry looked from Justin to Sir Nicholas and back again.
It was easy to figure out why Lucy was so panicked over this. It was bad enough everyone thought they had tried to get Malfoy's snake to attack Justin during the Dueling Match. Once word got out that Justin was petrified, the rumors and taunting would likely only get worse.
If only that polyjuice potion were done brewing. Harry wished not for the first time since they first set up a secret brewing lab in the abandoned girls lavatory.
However, he knew it was useless to think of that now and knelt instead to quickly examine Justin whose right arm was frozen in a forward position with his wand still clutched in his stone like fingers while his face wore the same terrified expression that Nearly Headless Nick did.
Harry breathed in relief when he touched Justin's wrist and discovered that he still had a pulse and was warm to the touch despite the fact that he wasn't moving.
"It's okay Lucy...He's still alive!" He looked up to smile reassuringly at his sister who had stood watching him wordlessly.
"He's just petrified is all. Like the others. Let's get him to Madam Pomfrey. She'll know what to do." Harry suggested and moved to take Justin's extended arm to pull him up to an upright position so that they could drag him to the hospital wing.
Lucy nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes, before bending to take his other arm. That's when they both heard the ill-timed sound of someone approaching from the far end of the hall.
"Caught in the act, are we?" Filch sneered as he came upon the Potters with his usual hobble. "I'll have you both out this time. Mark my words." He threatened, turning abruptly to hurry back down the way he came.
Both Harry and Lucy blanched as Filch disappeared down the corridor, the grimy strands of his hair fanning out behind him as he walked.
"No! Mr. Filch! You don't under-...!" Harry started to protest, but it was no use. Dejected, Lucy carefully unwrapped Justin's arm from around her shoulders and laid it carefully back on the ground as Filch disappeared around the corner.
Harry followed her example since he knew they wouldn't get too far lugging Justin away before Filch caught back up with them. Besides it was best not to invite more trouble then they were most likely already in.
"What do we do now Harry? Once people find about this..." Lucy started, but didn't finish, knowing she didn't have to.
As bad as it was now with all the gossip and accusations, things would probably be about ten times worse now after the rest of school found out that Justin was discovered petrified in a corridor shortly after the Potters ran out of Study Hall. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut at the thought.
"Don't worry." Harry tried to comforting, but he was worried too. "I'm sure once we explain things, they'll let us go. Besides, Hermione and Ron know we're not the ones doing this." He added.
Lucy sighed and gave Justin's frozen face a pitying look. "But they're about the only ones." She murmured just as the sound of hurrying footsteps again grew louder just as they did when Filch found them moments earlier.
Harry looked up just as Professor McGonagall came upon them with Filch toddling along at her side bearing a torch.
The triumphant grin on his face was almost too much for Harry to bear and he sprang to his feet. "Professor McGonagall!...I swear it wasn't us! We didn't touch-!"
"I'm afraid this is out of my hands, Mr. Potter. The both of you must come with me immediately." The old Deputy Headmistress motioned with her arm for the Potter Twins to follow her and reluctantly the siblings did as she bid them, casting one last hopeless glance at Justin and Sir Nicholas's motionless forms.
"Argus, please go and find Madam Pomfrey and inform her that there's been another attack. Tell her to bring a fan with her to the South Corridor." McGonagall turned to instruct the old caretaker and Filch nodded, seeming reluctant to leave the Potters behind.
However even he knew better than to cross Professor McGonagall. "Right away Ma'am." He turned and scurried away taking the torch away with him.
Meanwhile the Potters followed Professor McGonagall until they reached the wall on the other side of the corridor. In the middle of the wall was a brightly lit rounded out space where a large statue of a Gryphon stood more than a head taller than either of the twins.
Standing near this statue, Professor McGonagall motioned for the Potters to enter with a grave expression on her face. "Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you two upstairs." She instructed as Harry got in at the Gryphon's right and Lucy on its left.
Confused, the Twins looked from the statue to the little enclosed space they were standing in and back at the Head of their House. "Upstairs?" Lucy asked softly.
Instead of answering, Professor McGonagall waved her hands at the statue. "Sherbert Lemon." She chanted in a clear distinct voice.
At that moment, the floor on which the Twins were standing began to move, surprising the Twins as a long spirling stone staircase began to rise up from the ground directly under the statue of the gryphon, carrying the Potters up through a secret passage in the castle wall to meet with their Headmaster and with their fate.
