Hello people! I have returned. Enjoy the next chapter!
Last time on Black and White:
"We have to get out of here before..." Harry was cut off when a voice echoed from behind them.
"Oi! What are you lot doing down there!?" It was Filch.
"Oh... piss off..." Andrew muttered as the caretaker approached them in a rushed steps.
"This isn't going to end well..." Tonks muttered nervously.
That was the last thing said as Filch saw the two boys from last time and a sudden frown dawned onto his face, but that look was nothing as he turned away from the three school children and laid his eyes on what was hanging on the torch behind them.
Chapter 25: Shocks, Scares and Sentience
"W-What the hell have you lot done!" Filch yelled angrily at the three teens.
"Now... Filch, calm down... you remember what happened last time you accused us with no evidence, yeah?" Andrew said slowly, trying to calm the man. It didn't work.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill the lot of you!" the caretaker yelled again, lost in anger.
"Shit!" Tonks yelled as the old man launched himself at them only to freeze halfway through his movement.
"Argus! What in heaven's name is happening here!?"
Turning, Harry and co. saw the formidable Professor McGonagall with her wand pointed at the emotional man.
"Oh thank what ever God is out there!" Andrew said in relief.
"I wouldn't adopt a religion just yet, Mr. Potter. Now, would anyone like to explain the situation to me?" she asked in a no nonsense tone.
The three teens dove into their explanation, with Andrew and Harry leaving out hearing the mysterious voice which lead them to the scene. McGonagall unfroze the caretaker and listened to his version of events, where he explained that he had been out looking for his 'precious' Mrs Norris when he had found another flooded corridor and was on his way to investigate the cause when he stumbled on the teens.
McGonagall listened closely to all the people involved before sending the teens off to their dorm rooms, with the promise of a rehashing of the story at a later date. The three nodded their heads and started away from the scene when Tonks caught sight of something they had previously missed before. The sight caused her to gasp loudly, drawing the attention of the others in the corridor. Harry and Andrew shared a confused look while McGonagall took one look at the sight and involuntarily let out a small gasp as well.
"The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware"
This obviously meant something and the two boys found themselves thinking the exact same thing.
The walk back to the dorm room had been a rather quiet one, after walking Tonks to the shifting staircase the two boys swiftly moved towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Hermione!" they both yelled the moment they entered the room.
The bushy haired girl looked up from her parchment in surprise and a little fear when her name was suddenly yelled out. She caught sight of the two boys' faces and instantly knew something else had happened. Ron was busy beating Dean Thomas in a game of chess when he too caught the looks the Potter boys shared. He asked for a raincheck on the game and joined the others on their "official" unofficial couch.
"What's going on?" the red head asked once they were all together.
"We found Mrs. Norris." Andrew said cryptically.
At their confused faces, Harry filled them in on the full story. This time including the mysterious voice they heard.
"So let me get this right; the two of you followed some disembodied voice through the school and it lead you to the petrified body of Mrs. Norris?" Hermione asked slowly.
When the two boys nodded, she rubbed the bridge of her nose before hitting both boys on head... hard.
"What the hell was that for?!" Andrew asked as he rubbed the area she had just smacked.
"You followed an unknown... thing that could've seriously hurt the two of you!" Hermione replied heatedly, ignoring Andrew's foul language. "Now then, this business about the Chamber of Secrets. I think I know what that's about, but I'll have to check in the library in the morning."
The three boys nodded as they all felt the tension from earlier start to disappear before Andrew sat up right with a stressed look on his face.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Harry asked once he saw his brother's face.
"We had three essay's to get done and I haven't started on a bloody one!" Andrew said quickly rushing to get his parchment and quills. It was shaping up to look like a busy night.
Ron and Harry shared a look before turning to face Hermione who simply raised an eyebrow at the two.
"Come on, please?!" Ron begged.
Raising her hands Hermione couldn't stop the smile that found its way to her face. "Sorry, you know what Andrew said about me and him doing school assignments for you two." she stated before returning to her earlier work.
With a groan the other boys headed up to the dorm room to get their parchments and quills as well.
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Once everyone had finished their work the common room was slowly being emptied. The remaining few were a handful of seventh years who were practically fast asleep with their heads in their textbooks.
"They have the right idea..." Ron muttered tiredly, gesturing to the sleeping Gryffindors.
Andrew looked at the red head and furrowed his eyebrows. "What essay's you guys have left?" he asked.
"Potions." Harry and Ron answered simultaneously.
"Same here, well, I'm going to bed." he stated standing up and stretching until he felt a pop in his lower back.
"What about the potions essay?" Harry asked tiredly.
"We only have the bat bastard for fifth period, after History." Andrew stated with a shrug and knowing look.
The two boys instantly caught on and rushed to pack their stationary away before all three headed up to the dorms for a good nights sleep.
After their nightly routines the boys all crawled into bed; Andrew and Ron were out almost instantly but Harry stayed awake and waited, he heard the loud and soft snoring from Ron and his brother respectively before reaching into his trunk and pulled out the little black book he had found earlier that night.
He flicked through the pages but was surprised to find them all... blank. He closed the book once again and read the name on the front, a name he had never seen or heard before.
Opening the book once again, he pulled out his quill and ink bottle before scribbling a little in the book and was ultimately surprised when the ink disappeared.
"Woah..." he muttered wide eyed and got ready to write once again.
"My name is Harry Potter." as he suspected, the ink disappeared on the page again, but he was even more shocked when different words appeared.
"Hello Harry Potter, my name is Tom Riddle."
Harry took a moment to himself before he said something not even Andrew had said yet... "What the fuck?"
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The following morning came earlier than Andrew would have liked, but he had found himself up a lot earlier than usual. It was currently 5 am and he was not happy about that. Once he woke up, it was almost impossible to simply fall back asleep again, especially for him.
Sighing, the pre-teen crawled out of bed and decided to get started on his day. Obviously the food in the Great Hall wouldn't be ready for a while and so he had decided to go off to the room he had found a little while ago. Hey maybe his 'roommate' would be there then he wouldn't be bored.
Quickly showering and getting dressed, Andrew left the common room and headed to the secluded hallway of the school. He was sure only a handful of students, knew about this part of the castle.
Once he had found the secret passage he made his way into the cozy room and was instantly met with annoyed eyes.
"Hey you're here!" He greeted with a grin before headed towards one of the open couches.
"Potter, what are you doing here at this time?"
"Good morning to you too." Andrew said ignoring the question. He heard a small growl and instantly raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just hoping for some information." he finally said.
"Information on what?"
"The chamber of secrets."
"Oh? And should I know anything about this... chamber of secrets, what would I get in return?"
Andrew grinned. "Of course, snakes never do anything for free. I won't tell anyone about this room and destroy your sanctuary." Andrew stated.
The smirk on the Slytherin's face quickly vanished. "No deal."
"Oh really? Well then, prepare to have this room become the new Gryffindor party room!" Andrew said as he stood to leave.
"You wouldn't!" They cried out.
"I think we both know I would." Andrew responded with a grin that made the Slytherin sneer in anger.
"Fine!"
"Pleasure doing business with you. Also, never make a trade then have your opposition make the deal. You'll always come out on the bottom." Andrew said as he retook his seat. "Now, what is this Chamber and what are it's secrets?"
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Breakfast was a confusing affair as the students had heard about the attack on Mrs. Norris, but when Dumbledore had announced the pertrification of Colin Creevrey as well the mood had dropped instantly. The announcement of a 21:00 curfew had the students added to the sour mood.
Once the bell had rung and signaled the beginning of classes everyone filled out of the room, the Gryffindor second years made their way towards the greenhouse for their herbology lessons when they heard the oh so fabulous Malfoy once again running his mouth.
"I heard that whatever it is doing the attacking, it's only targeting Mudbloods." he said loudly.
This enacted gasps from the lions and a few chuckles from the snakes.
"Watch your mouth, Malfoy!" Ron yelled angrily.
Andrew and Harry shared a look of confusion before Malfoy continued.
"What's wrong Weasley? Worried your worthless wench is going to be the next target?" the blond asked with a smug grin.
"Nice alliteration!" Harry said loudly, cutting Ron off. "Listen here, Malfoy. I don't know what that word you used means, but what I can tell you is that Hermione is a whole league above you in terms of skill. Now, I'll let you go this time, but if I hear you insult anyone with that word again, I'll show you how painful a fist to the throat is."
The blond didn't say anything but simply sneered at the boy in front of him before turning on the spot and headed back to the greenhouse. Andrew and Harry didn't break eye contact with anyone of the snakes that passed.
"Thanks Harry." Hermione said sincerely.
"Not a problem, but you should also thank Ron, he was the one who stood up to Malfoy first."
The rest of the lesson was pretty tame compared to the events from before. Neville fainted... that caused a few people to chuckle. So it wasn't too bad. The next lesson was double Transfiguration, the four friends separated as Andrew went and took his seat next to Su Li and McGonagall proceeded with the lesson.
Today they had to Transfigure a small hedgehog into a pin cushion. After explaining the lesson and giving the incantation, the Scottish woman allowed the students to continue with their practice.
Andrew sat and stared at his hedgehog while everyone else tried completing the task.
"Do you think they know?" he asked suddenly.
"What are you on about?" Su asked concentrating on the task.
"I mean, like do they know what happens to them after they've been transfigured? Like is Henry here just relaxing then suddenly 'poof' he's a pin cushion? Does he lose his sentience? Or is he then a pin cushion who is now aware that he was once something else? A totally different... "thing" to what he was transfigured into?" Andrew elaborated as he continued to stare at his hedgehog.
The Asian girl was silent for a moment before she groaned and turned to glare at the boy. "Now you've got me thinking about it!" she told him crossly.
"But it's a real brain teaser, isn't it?!"
"Ahhh, now I can't concentrate on the spell!"
"Mr. Potter, Miss Li... Is there a problem here?" Professor McGonagall asked appearing behind the two.
"No ma'am just a slight... debate on the topic." Su Li said hoping not to get on the teacher's bad side.
"Actually Professor..." Andrew cut in, causing Su to once again groan. "We were discussing Henry."
"And who is this Henry?"
"The hedgehog." Andrew answered seriously while pointing at the animal on the desk.
If she was surprised, shocked or annoyed the Transfiguration teacher didn't show it, as she nodded for Andrew to continue.
"Well, we were just wondering; when we turn these animals into Goblets, pin cushions etc. Do the animals then lose their 'identity'? So are they sentient and if they are, do they keep their self awareness into the next form we force them to take? And if the answer is yes, does that mean we're nothing more than a bunch of ruthless creatures who force the consciousness of an animal into an unfamiliar form before switching them back and leaving the poor beasts to experience an existential crisis more severe than a egotistical person realizing that the world and themselves are nothing but insignificant specks on the window of the universe?"
Ignoring the quiet "I didn't think about that..." from Hermione, McGonagall stared at the boy in front of her for a short while before closing her eyes and taking a small breath.
"Mr Potter, I transfigured these hedgehogs from small rocks I had asked Hagrid to fetch me on the bank of the Black Lake." she answered simply. "Meaning, these animals never had a consciousness to begin with."
"Ah. Okay, that clears that up. Thanks Professor." Andrew said as he turned to his hedgehog and began practicing the spell. After a quick word from the stren teacher, everyone else started doing the same.
"Honestly... why name him Henry?" Su asked with a small frown.
"Sonic was taken." Andrew answered before going back to work on his hedgehog. Leaving the small Asain even more confused than before.
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Potions was an interesting affair as Harry, Ron and Andrew had finished their essays in the period before. It was no secret that Snape hated the Gryffindors but he especially hated Andrew and Harry for reasons the two boys couldn't fathom.
Once the period had ended they had lost a total of one hundred points between the two of them alone! Add Neville's loss of points on top of that and you get what Andrew would describe as a 'shit ton' of points lost.
The rest of the day passed relatively calmly as nothing serious or worth mentioned had happened. Once the final period of the day had ended, the four friends found themselves walking to the big tree that was located right beside the Black Lake. They told Tonks where they were going to be if she wanted to join them anytime before the curfew.
"So Hermione, any news on this Chamber of Secrets thing?" Ron asked once he had gotten comfortable against the trunk of the tree.
"I searched as much as I could, but the only thing I got was that back in the age of the Founders Slytherin had a secret chamber where he placed a beast that would eradicate all of the... non-purebloods in the school. Other than that, nothing much." the bushy haired girl said with a small shrug.
"Hmm, I heard the same thing." Andrew stated as his leg dangled from the tree.
"Why are you sitting in the tree?" Ron asked brows furrowed.
"I like high places..." the dark skinned boy answered with a shrug. "Anyway, I spoke to a... reliable source and they told me that, like Hermione said; Slytherin created the chamber to be the last line of defense against the muggles and muggleborns, but he was banished from the school before he could use it. The other founders searched the entire school but couldn't find Slytherin's secret room and decided that as long as he wasn't around to access it that it would be fine." Andrew finished.
"Woah, that sounds hectic." Harry said sounding shocked.
"That's not the whole story either. Apparently when their grandfather went to school here the chamber had been opened and back then a girl was actually killed, but they thought they found who the killer was and... oh my God, you will not believe who was blamed for it!" Andrew said getting excited to drop the massive news... it was short lived though.
"Hagrid." Harry muttered his eyes wide.
"What?!" Ron and Hermione asked in complete shock.
"Oh come on!" Andrew moaned loudly.
"This sounds interesting!" a third voice suddenly said.
Hermione, Ron and Harry all yelped in surprised while Andrew lost his balance and fell out of the tree.
"Jesus! Tonks, stop creeping up on us!" Harry said as he calmed his breathing.
"My back..." Andrew wheezed as he forced himself to move into a sitting position.
"Wotcher!" the blue haired girl greeted with a small grin at the group. "Now what's this about Hagrid killing a girl?" she asked with a raised brow.
Harry sighed before he told them about the book he had found the night they discovered Mrs. Norris. How he had a short conversation with this mysterious; Tom Riddle and how he (the book) had showed him a... memory? Of that faithful night when they had found the dead girl.
"What the fuck?" Andrew said his eyes wide in shock and completely ignoring Hermione's berating for his language.
"I know! That's exactly what I said!" Harry agreed before continuing.
Everyone listened intently before Andrew's eyebrows knitted together and he bit his lip.
"Tom Riddle... Tom Riddle... Riddle, Tom... that name, I know that name..." he muttered as his eyes adopted a faraway look.
None of the others had noticed.
"Wait, you're telling me that Hagrid had some beast that killed some girl almost fifty years ago? And you think this... thing is back to what? Finish the job? And you think Hagrid's the culprit?" Tonks asked sounding extremely skeptical.
"No... Hagrid even said that the thing he had wasn't the one responsible for the death. And I believe him." Harry said in a confident tone.
"First things first though, we should turn that book in to Dumbledore or McGonagall at the best." Hermione added.
"Yeah you're probably right." Harry said with a nod of his head.
"We should try and see if Malfoy knows anything about this..." Ron suggested with a suspicious look in his eye. Harry looked ready to agree when Andrew cut in.
"No, that pompous little prick wouldn't be able to keep a large scale thing like this to himself. He would be lording this over our heads for months. He is incapable of controlling his ego. Also going to a teacher at this point is only going to end up like last year. No... what we should do is ask this book just who he... it... Tom Riddle is. That name, I know that bloody name but for God's sake I can't figure out where I saw or heard it before... which almost impossible for me." Andrew said while in deep thought.
"And what if it doesn't feel like sharing that information?" Tonks asked curiously.
"Then we go to the only other person who was there that night and would know who Tom Riddle is..." Andrew answered leaving his sentence open for the others to come to the conclusion on their own.
"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Hermione asked voicing her concerns.
"No, but at this point in time, we don't have much of a choice." Harry said jumping into the conversation.
"Okay, so here's what we do. Tonight, the four of us will question this Tom character then meet up here and discuss what we've learnt, Tonks, you're the only one who can access the restricted section... legally anyway, so you go see if there's anymore information on the chamber. Deal?" Andrew asked the others.
They all agreed and soon all talks of secret chambers and mysterious strangers had died and the group all started talking about other crap.
Harry looked over at Tonks and couldn't but feel as though she was being very... quiet. Very unlike the usual Tonks.
Andrew, Ron and Hermione were playing a small game of skip the stones and Tonks was sitting at the bank of the lake, Harry moved over to the sixth year and sat down beside her.
"Hey, you okay?" the raven-haired boy asked softly.
"Oh, yeah... just you know, crappy teenage stuff." she told him with a small smile.
"Want to talk about it?"
Tonks gave a small laugh and looked at the boy in front of the boy fondly. "What advice could you give me exactly? No offense, but I've been alive a little longer than you have." she answered while she rustled his hair softly.
"Well, I don't know much about people or relationships or dating or girls, but I'm a really good listener." he told her with an innocent smile.
"Well, I think I'm a better ranter." she told him.
"You might be, but not as good Andrew... he once went on a seven hour rant on how bacon should be on every flag in the world seeing as it's one of the only things everyone loves." Harry replied.
Tonks chuckled a little before turning to look at the twelve year old in front of her.
"Well... let's just say, some boys are jerks who don't know how to appreciate something and only want to use people to get what they want!" she said in a heated tone and her cool blue hair started shifting in a fiery red shade.
Harry suddenly felt as though he should say something, but at the same time he had this unknown sensation that should he say the wrong thing then Tonks' anger would be taken out on him. He was caught in a corner... what should he say? Should he say anything at all? Should he just let her get it out? Should he say something funny or helpful? Could he even be helpful in this situation? He didn't anything about girls or their feelings. Taking a small breath, Harry decided to embrace is inner Gryffindor and plunge head first.
"What did he do?" he asked with a small tilt of his head.
When Tonks turned to look at him, Harry was sure he had just sighed himself up for something he shouldn't have.
"That... That absolute prick! You want to know what he did, well hold on to your bloody hair, because I've got so much to say about that bastard!"
That was how the beginning of the rant started, and on that day, Harry learnt several words, phrases and parts of the human body he hadn't known about before... From that day on, Harry Potter was a changed boy.
Once everyone was done they all headed back inside; Tonks looked slightly more relaxed if a little more guilty, Harry was sporting a bright red face and refused to stop staring at the ground, Andrew had a neutral look on his face while he avoided looking at Hermione who was currently looking as though she wanted to scold Andrew and Ron... Ron was glaring at the dark skinned boy while he was soaked right through to the bone.
"Ahem... well, we should get back on target." Andrew said breaking the silence the group had going for them, honestly Hermione's disappointing stare and Ron's murder face made him unbelievably uncomfortable.
"Right!" Tonks said, happy about the sudden topic. "You guys go up to the common room and get your book, and I'll go to the Library to look for that information." With that the metamorph headed off to the library and the four Gryffindors made their way to investigate the book.
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Su Li was walking towards the library to return the book she had been reading for the past month and had just finished it while she sat in the Astronomy Tower... alone. She didn't mind, she was never much of a people person, ever since she was a little girl.
Su had been doing a lot of thinking lately. This whole ordeal was not very beneficial for her. While she was placed with the Ravenclaws; the house of the smart, she couldn't stand her house mates. They were... so common, so uninteresting, so... predictable.
Sighing the tiny Asian continued her trek to the library and focused on getting this task done so she could get back to the common room and finish her daily homework chores. Moving a little faster Su made a left turn and saw Madam Prince's domain.
"At last." she muttered.
As she reached the door, a sudden obstacle appeared in front of her.
"Ow..." Su heard, looking up, she saw a blue haired girl wearing a Hufflepuff uniform...
"S-Sorry about that." Su apologized quickly.
Looking up the girl smiled and continued to rub her chest.
"Oh, wotcher, no worries. I'm a clumsy goof, so this was most likely my fault." Tonks replied with a chuckle.
This prompted the Su to smile as well. This girl was... interesting. Not something she experienced very often since coming to Hogwarts.
"Well, we'd better get in there and get done, it's almost supper then it's curfew time so... we'd better finish up rather quickly." Tonks said with a smile.
Following her Su decided to try and find another book to keep her company for another month. Before they knew it, it was eight o'clock and the two girls found themselves leaving the library at the same time.
"Oh hello again!" Tonks greeted with a smile as she lightly bumped into Su.
"Oh- err, Hi..." she greeted back.
"You're not a woman of many words are you?"
"Hah... no, I'm not very... social." Su revealed with a small laugh.
That little chuckle was short lived though as she heard something. A sort of grinding sound, like a heavy mass being dragged on the ground. She turned to the Hufflepuff and saw her instantly on edge. She opened her mouth to ask her what the sound was when Tonks raised a finger to her lips, telling Su to be silent.
"Come here." she whispered. When Su complied. Tonks spoke again in a low tone. "What ever you do, do not look up from this mirror, no matter what you hear, keep watching the mirror!"
Tonks provided a mirror she had transfigured back in the library.
"What... what's this for?" the Ravenclaw asked nervously.
"It's going to save our lives." Tonks answered seriously, that was the last thing Su heard before a massive gasp escaped her lips.
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The four Gryffindors made their way to the common room and decided to get cracking on the diary. When they made their way into the boys dormitory they were completely shocked. The entire place had been turned over. All the beds were flipped, the trunks ripped open and clothes, text books and parchment laid strew about every where.
"What the ever loving hell?!" Andrew asked angrily as he stepped into the room.
"What happened?!" Ron chipped in angrily.
"Looks like someone was looking for something." Hermione commented in a small voice.
Harry instantly moved to his bed and started searching around it.
"Shit! Looks like they've found it... Tom Riddle's diary is missing." he told them in a somber tone.
The other three groaned in disappointment and anger.
"What now?" the bushy haired girl asked in an exasperated tone.
"We might have to get Tonks and go to Hagrid's as soon as possible." Harry said rubbing his face in annoyance.
"Then we might as well go to the library now... let her know about this, also possibly give her a hand with the chamber research." Andrew said as he rubbed his eyes in fustration.
"Let's go." the red head said before turning to leave the room.
The group headed towards the portrait door when suddenly, Ginny burst through it, looking slightly wild and out of breath.
"Hey, Gin... are you okay?" Ron asked as he approached his little sister.
"Hmm, what? Yeah... it's just been, you know... one of those days." she responded before turning and quickly headed up to the girls dorm.
"That was off." Andrew said with a slight frown.
"Yeah no doubt... come on, I'm sure Ginny's fine, we should get to Tonks." Harry responded.
The others nodded and made their way towards the library, only to run into a blockade of students. Something had happened. The four cubs were instantly on edge as they pushed their way through the crowd. They had just made their way to the front and were shook at what they saw. Two frozen bodies and a shattered mirror on the ground.
"No, no, no, no!" Andrew yelled as he rushed forward. He was quickly followed by the others.
"Oh no..." Hermione gasped as she stepped closer.
"Dammit, dammit!" Harry cursed as he grabbed Tonks's cold hand.
"Bloody hell..." Ron said as he too got closer.
'Andrew...'Harry thought turning to his brother quickly.
'What?' Andrew continued to stare down at the Petrified body of Su Li.
'Tonks, she found something.'
'How do you know?' Andrew asked tilting his head to Harry slightly.
'She has a piece of paper in her hand, she must've been gripping it tightly not wanting it to get lost.'
Harry watched as Andrew turned his head and looked him in the eyes.
'Once a teacher arrives, we find out what Tonks learnt then we find the thing that did this and show it why you do not fuck with a Potter or their friends.' Andrew thought back in a low growl.
But that isn't what made Harry feel so unnerved it was that he felt what he his brother was feeling. His anger, his hurt, his... disappointment. And Harry couldn't help but feel the same. He looked up at Andrew again and blinked before frowning and blinking again.
"What?" Andrew asked his eyebrows furrowed.
"... No, nothing." Harry said shaking his head and turning his head away, there's no way Andrew's eyes turned grey... His mind must just be playing a trick on him.
Hello peepz, welcome to the end of the chapter!
Sorry for the long wait on this, I have a legitimate reason this time! I've been busy with a new... job opportunity! I don't want to jinx it, so I won't say much about it but it's something I've wanted for a long time.
Thank you all for your patience! Have a great day guys!
Peace, Love and Respect!
Zak
