Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.


Chapter 18 – Rip…Tear…Kill!


"Possible, I suppose, though highly unlikely." Snape's voice reminded the trio that they weren't alone. The professor had let Ron and Hermione interrogate Harry since they were asking the same questions that he himself wanted answers to. However, the thought that a Potter, specifically the son of James Potter, was the heir to his house was too much for Snape. "Especially as it is not you, Potter, who has opened the Chamber of Secrets and petrified Filch's cat and Mr. Creevey. Unless I am greatly mistaken?" He knew he wasn't. Occlumency training continued, even though Snape couldn't properly teach them until they were older, which meant that he tested the trio's minds every now and then, so he would have seen something of that magnitude in Potter's mind, which was still an open book. He had given the three mind exercises last year to try and strengthen their natural shields, which would be of great help later on when the true occlumency training began, and though he knew that they continued to practice, it was only Granger who had developed some defenses.

"No, sir." Harry muttered.

"What is more important is that this little revelation may be the key to figuring out what the monster in the Chamber is." He said. If he had expected the inference to be enough for them to figure it out, he was sorely disappointed. Ron and Harry looked utterly confused, though Hermione, unsurprisingly, had figured it out.

"Of course! It's a snake!" She exclaimed. Harry and Ron turned to her still just as confused and Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, much as her professor had done a moment ago. "Honestly, the pair of you…" She muttered. "There was a voice you heard in the walls, Harry, a voice that only you could hear and which we are almost certain was the monster itself, and now we find out you're a Parselmouth. Do I need to spell it out any more than that?" Harry had the decency to blush.

"No. If the monster is a snake it makes sense why only I could hear it."

"And it's a bit poetic, really, given that the symbol for Slytherin house is a serpent." Ron added, trying to regain some points with Hermione. "It makes sense that Salazar Slytherin would pick a snake to put in his hidden chamber."

"But surely the staff has already thought of this." Harry turned to Snape. "It seems almost too obvious, a snake for Slytherin." Snape nodded.

"We have thought of many different beasts that could be the monster within, including various serpents." He said. "The problem is that none are capable of petrifying a person, nor is there one with powers such as to wander the castle completely undetected as they have been. Though it is possible Slytherin left some magic behind that would shield his beast from detection."

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked, a bit let down. If the staff had indeed already looked into a snake being the monster and ruled that out, then what good did his speaking Parseltongue do?

"You and I, Potter, are going to see the Headmaster. It is time he heard about the voice in the walls." Snape moved to the door and opened it, motioning for the students to proceed him out. "Weasley, Granger, return to your common room. Potter can fill you in later." Not wanting to leave their friend, but also not daring to disobey Snape, the two left. Snape strode in the opposite direction, his robes billowing out around him as per usual, and Harry tried to keep up. They approached a gargoyle Harry remembered passing a number of times, though had paid no attention to, and Snape didn't even slow his stride as he approached. "Sherbet Lemon." The gargoyle began to rotate and a staircase rose upwards, which Snape, followed by Harry, stepped on to, Snape muttering about Dumbledore's choice of passwords. When they reached the top there was a heavy wooden door that opened before Snape could knock. They entered a circular room with many trinkets filling every available surface, all of them emitting some whirling noise or puff of smoke. In the centre of the room was a great claw-footed desk, behind which sat Dumbledore, though he was not the only occupant.

"Cornelius!" Harry said, surprised to see him here.

"Ah, Harry!" His guardian looked happy to see him, though Harry noted that there was a bit of hesitation in his eyes that hadn't previously been there. It became obvious then why Cornelius was here.

"That was quick, for word to have reached you already." He muttered, not beating around the bush.

"Madam Bones received an urgent message from her niece about the heir of Slytherin having been found." He admitted. "She came to me when it was you Susan named, and I said I'd handle it." Harry nodded.

"I am, apparently, a Parselmouth." He said. "I didn't know until today, though. But I'm not the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Besides, even if the Potters were descended from Salazar Slytherin, there were no Potters at Hogwarts when the Chamber was first opened fifty years ago." Harry had looked into that time period as much as he could once he'd heard the Chamber had been opened before. One thought he'd had was to go through his family's old belongings, hoping for some first-hand account, but his grandfather had graduated long beforehand, while his father wasn't even born yet.

"Very true. And I never thought you were the one responsible for all this, Harry." He could tell that Cornelius was sincere and smiled his thanks.

"However, the knowledge of Mr. Potter's…gift does give credence that the monster we are looking for is indeed a serpent." Snape spoke up, looking to the Headmaster.

"Oh?" Dumbledore looked intrigued, and Snape looked to Harry.

"I…well, you see, sir, that night Mrs. Norris was attacked, I was with the other Gryffindors on our way back to the common room, but we originally weren't going to go through that corridor. I heard a voice, it was coming from inside the walls, it sounded like, and it led me to Mrs. Norris." Harry looked down and appeared chastised for not having revealed the truth before. Cornelius bought it, hook, line and sinker, but the knowing look in Dumbledore's eyes said that he did not. "The thing is, sir, I was the only one to hear the voice, no one else could. And knowing now that I'm a Parselmouth…"

"It would make sense that only you heard it if the voice you heard was indeed a serpent." Dumbledore concluded with a nod. "What did the voice say, exactly?"

"Rip, tear…and kill. It kept repeating those three words." Dumbledore looked deep in thought while Cornelius looked uncomfortable.

"If what you say is true, Potter, it is a miracle that no one has been killed then." Harry turned and saw for the first time that McGonagall was also present, his head of house having been standing in the corner near the fireplace.

"So what do we do?" Harry asked.

"You do nothing." Cornelius insisted. "You are still so young, Harry, and I will not have you put in any further danger." Harry wasn't surprised with that response, in fact he'd been expecting it and so simply nodded. He'd agree with Cornelius now, but had no doubt that Hermione and Ron would have already started their own search into what the monster was, and he'd soon join them. "The Hogwarts staff and the Ministry shall work together to find out just what this beast is. I shall send Johnson from the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to you, Albus. No one at the Ministry knows more about magical creatures than him."

"I shall also contact Newt." Dumbledore added. "He is thankfully back home in Dorset currently and not on one of his expeditions. I daresay the world's leading authority on magizoology might prove helpful."

"Quite right!" Cornelius said genially before bidding everyone goodbye and heading through the floo back to the Ministry.

"Off you go, Potter." McGonagall said, coming to stand by Dumbledore's desk. "And don't dally, head straight to the tower." Harry nodded and turned to go, but a flash of red caught his eye. Behind Dumbledore's desk, in what appeared to be a library or sitting room, of some sort, there was a brilliant red bird.

"Is that a phoenix?" He exclaimed before he could stop himself. The three professors turned to look and Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes. His name is Fawkes." Harry appeared transfixed and as if sensing his interest, the phoenix gave a melodious trill and took flight, coming to rest beside Dumbledore on what Harry saw was a perch, likely meant just for him.

"Hello Fawkes." Harry murmured, approaching the bird, who gave another trill, filling Harry with hope and joy. "But how do you have one?" He asked Dumbledore. "Phoenixes are the rarest creatures in the world, there's only a handful of them left."

"Fawkes is not a pet, Harry, though he has been my companion for many years." Dumbledore explained.

"Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to imply you'd domesticated one, or something." Harry said abashed. "I just…to see one, and to hear the phoenix's song, even just a little, is remarkable. They're really special creatures. Though I'm sure you know that already, sir." Dumbledore smiled again and nodded, the twinkle in his eye brightening.

"Yes. Now, off you go, Harry." Although clearly wanting to stay and learn more about the rarest of creatures, Harry bid farewell to Fawkes and did as he was asked. The trill that followed him out warmed his heart and his thoughts were still so very much still on the brilliant red bird as he exited the stairwell, that he didn't see the person before him until they crashed into each other.

"Sorry!" Harry said and immediately went to help the person up. "Ginny!" It was indeed Ron's little sister he had bumped into. She blushed as he helped her pick up her books that had been knocked out of her hands, but otherwise didn't show any of the shyness she had when they'd first met. Handing the last of her books back to her, Harry was taken aback by the gauntness in her face. "Ginny are you alright?" He didn't remember her looking this tired, and even ill, though he supposed he wouldn't know. He saw Ginny almost every day, either at meals or in the common room, but it was always in passing and he couldn't remember actually speaking to her since that day on the train.

"Yeah I'm fine." She muttered.

"You don't look fine." He insisted. "Should I take you to Madam Pomfrey?"

"No! Really, Harry, I'm fine." She forced a smile, though let it drop quickly. "It's just…with the attacks I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. Colin was a friend…"

"Oh…right. I'm sorry, Ginny." He was relieved that was all it was. "Dumbledore's redoubling his efforts to find out what the monster in the Chamber is. We know now it's a snake of some kind, and the Ministry's even getting involved more. I'm sure they'll figure it out real soon and they'll be able to stop the monster and the heir of Slytherin." He tried to reassure her, had thought this news would be welcome, but instead of relief, he saw panic in her eyes and her face lost what little colour it had left. "Ginny?"

"I…I have to go." She took off at a run, leaving Harry completely confused. Vowing to speak to Ron and find out what was going on, he made his way back to the common room, though he never made it.

"There you are!" Ron's voice called and Harry turned to see him and Hermione rushing towards him, their arms laden with books.

"I take it you didn't go back to the common room?" He said unnecessarily as he took some of the books from Hermione, and Ron dumped some of his on him too.

"We went to the library and took out every book I could think of that even mentions snakes." Hermione explained. "The answer is bound to be in one of these." The trio made their way to the grand staircase and joined the few students still milling about on the way to the common rooms. When they reached the fifth floor, however, Harry stopped dead.

"Rip…tear…kill…"

"The voice." He murmured. Dropping the books – and ignoring Hermione's exclaim of indignation – Harry pressed his ear against the wall.

"Is it the voice again-"

"Shh!" Harry listened careful, ignorant of the weird, and cautious, looks he was getting. Pressing your ear against the wall was weird enough, but when the person who'd just been revealed to be a Parselmouth did it, the students present were scared.

"Kill…kill…KILL!"

"It's going to kill!" Harry cried, panicked. He took off down the corridor, stopping every now and then to make sure that he was still heading in the right direction. Ron, Hermione, and several other students followed him, their group being joined by Professor Flitwick, who'd come out of his classroom to the surprise of a group of students running passed him.

"Kill..rip…tear…kill…" The voice led them on a merry little chase, taking them down a floor before coming back up again. They had reached an intersection of two corridors when Harry lost the voice. He stood still, quieting everyone behind him as he listened intently, hoping to pick it up again. It wasn't a voice in the walls though, that alerted him to the direction they needed to take, but a scream. Taking off again at a run, Harry sped down the corridor on the right hand side towards the scream, coming to sudden stop a minute later. There, in the middle of the corridor surrounded by a group of his friends, was a very still Justin. He was accompanied by Nearly-Headless Nick, who floated unmoving beside him, the ghost just as still as the student.

"You!" Harry looked up and saw Hannah Abbot, pointing at him. "What did you do to him? What, was setting a venomous snake on him not enough?"

"I didn't-"

"Yeah right!" The other Hufflepuffs agreed with Hannah.

"Enough!" Flitwick took charge as he came forward and examined Justin. There was a brief flash of relief in his eyes that had Harry breathing easier; he was petrified, not dead. "All of you, back to your common rooms immediately! No one is to leave their dormitory until their head of house says it is safe. Aurors, please escort the students." The scream had drawn a larger crowd then just the one following Harry and there were indeed three aurors present. They began herding the students away and at Flitwick's nod Harry also followed and finally returned to his common room. There were whispers as those Gryffindors that had been present filled in the rest of the house, but the trio paid them no attention, all three beginning to search through the books Ron and Hermione had brought. They weren't sure how many hours passed as they sat there flipping pages. Dinner had come and gone, food having been sent up to the common room as the students still weren't allowed out, and it was growing dark outside when McGonagall finally arrived.

"Your attention, please!" She called and everyone, even the trio, stopped what they were doing to listen. "As of this moment, classes have been suspended until further notice." A murmur broke out. Classes had never been suspended before, not in the history of the school, not even the last time the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. "Silence! All students are to remain in their dormitories. Food will be sent up at mealtimes, and each professor will provide study material in lieu of classes."

"For how long, Professor?" Percy asked.

"I cannot say." She admitted. "But unless the culprit is caught, it is likely the school will be closed." Almost as one the entire house turned to look at Harry, who tried not to either glare at them, or look down in embarrassment. "Now really!" McGongall snapped. "Mr. Potter is not responsible for these attacks and I will not have you vilifying the boy because of a gift he possesses!" She had taken on the sternest tone any of them had ever heard. "Let me be clear: any mistreatment of Mr. Potter will not be tolerated! The house of Godric Gryffindor has stood for what is right for over ten centuries, and I will not have you ruining that reputation by accusing a second-year student of something so atrocious with no proof! Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." The room as a whole murmured and Harry was glad to see that at least most people had the decency to look ashamed.

"There will be an auror posted outside the portrait hole at all times, should there be an emergency, and we will inform you of any developments." With a final stern glare, McGonagall took her leave.


A/N - The end of book 2 is nearing, a lot earlier in the school year than usual, but I don't find it believable that the school and the government would continue to allow children to be attacked for almost an entire year before acting.

Review please!