A/N: Had some time on my hands this weekend so I put this chapter out. Abeo chirographum means "Change Handwriting" in Latin. I know I really went out there for that one :-p Also, in the second book, Mrs. Norris was found on the second floor and I always ask myself why Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were up there as their dormitories are in the dungeons/cellar. So I made my characters go the library as an excuse. :-p Anyways, enjoy!

Detentions, Star Charts, and Dangling Cats

The following Thursday, after dinner, I trudged down to the dungeons for my detention. The dungeons seemed extra creepy when night fell. I found Snape's office and knocked.

"Come in," he said in a cool voice.

I walked in and a small table was situated in the middle of the room. Upon it, sat a bowl of what looked like large black slugs.

"I thought I was supposed to be collecting pus from bubotubers," I said, sitting in the chair.

Snape smirked. "Those are bubotubers, Miss Brotherton. You would think someone as smart as you would know that," he replied coolly. "Put the gloves on. I don't want you to rush out of here with boils sprouting up all over your hands and miss your detention."

I glared at him and went to work. The work was rather gross, as to collect the pus, you had to squeeze the large bumps like a pimple. And the smell didn't help either. It smelled of petrol and after about an hour of working with it, it made me very light headed. Apparently Snape noticed this.

"I think that will do," he said after I had filled about a dozen containers of the pus.

I nodded and cleaned up my work. I went back to my dormitory and straight up the stairs to my room. Even though it was barely nine o'clock, I went straight to sleep.

The next month passed by quickly and the homework piled up just as fast. Halloween was the next day, and the whole castle seemed excited. Even the students who had colds and had to go to Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, seemed excited even though their ears had smoke poring out of them.

"How long does the Transfiguration essay have to be?" Megan asked one day. We had spent the better part of the evening working on the essay and had barely made any progress. The common room was slowly emptying, with the exception of the first years, as we had Astronomy up on the tower at midnight.

"Two feet," Ginger replied, rolling her three foot parchment up.

Megan glared at her and asked me, "Did you get that planet chart done?"

"What?"

"Your star chart for Astronomy. We had to place the planets and their moons."

My heart fell. "No, I didn't get it done!" I rummaged through my bag and found a completely blank chart. "What am I going to do?"

"I don't know, but you have to get it done in, like, five minutes. That's when we absolutely have to leave," Ginger said, putting her books away.

"What's wrong?" came a familiar voice. I turned around to see Justin standing behind me, a look of worry on his face.

"I have to go to class in five minutes and I don't even have one planet down on the chart," I groaned, placing my face in my hands.

Ginger and Megan got up, leaving me alone with Justin. He looked around the room and muttered, "Come up to my room. I think I can help you."

"What?"

"Just follow me," he instructed, going through the door to the dormitories.

I hesitated. It was my last hope, so I followed him, making sure no one saw me go up the boys' stairs. Going up the stairs, I saw him standing outside the sixth door I passed.

Opening the door a bit, he glanced inside. "Good, no one's in here," he muttered and went inside. I followed him.

The boys dormitory looked exactly like the girls, but it had a bit more of a masculine feel to it. There were some Quidditch posters by a few of the boys' beds. Justin walked to his trunk, which was next to the window and started to rummage through it.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just a second," he replied. "Yes! Here it is!" he said, pulling out a piece of parchment. He handed it to me and I looked it over.

It was a planet map with all the names filled in.

"I'm sort of a pack rat and keep everything from Hogwarts."

"What can I do with this? Professor Sinistra will know it's not my handwriting."

He looked to the door again to make sure no one was coming in. He went to his trunk and pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink. "Write your name on the parchment," he instructed. I did as I was told and he pulled out his wand and pressed it to the parchment.

"Abeo chirographum!" he muttered. Suddenly, his writing disappeared and mine filled the page as if an invisible hand was writing. In mere seconds, I noticed the whole page filled with my writing, as if Justin had never filled it in.

"Don't tell Ernie. He would flip," he said, smiling.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I asked, feeling bad about treating him so badly since I got to Hogwarts.

"Well, you needed it more than I did."

Tears welled up in my eyes and I threw my arms around him. I was saved and he helped me. The door behind us opened and we heard someone clear his throat.

"What are you two doing?" Ernie Macmillian asked from the doorway, looking at me suspiciously. I removed my arms from around Justin and blushed furiously.

"Nothing, Ern," Justin replied, also blushing.

"She's not supposed to be up here. She's a girl."

"Fine. We'll leave then," Justin replied, pushing me gently toward the door. After shutting the door, he whispered, "Sometimes Ernie is a stickler for rules."

"I can tell. So are you sure the answers are right on this?" I asked, pointing to the chart.

"Well, I hope they are as I copied it from Ernie last year," Justin laughed.

The next day, everyone seemed to be in an uproar. The Great Hall did nothing to help as it was decked out in Halloween decorations. There were humongous pumpkins in every corner of the Great Hall. Real live bats fluttered above us like owls delivering mail. There was even some talk that Dumbledore hired skeletons to perform during the feast.

During Charms, our last class of the day, no one could concentrate. Instead, Flitwick gave us a free day to practice the spells we've learned over the past month or so. Megan and I spent most of the time practicing Wingardium Leviosa, while Ginger went ahead and started practicing non-burning fire charms.

After class, we dropped our things off in the dormitory and waited until it was time for the feast. Just when we were about to leave, Justin came up to me.

"Do you mind if I sit with you at the feast? Ernie's is being a bit of a prat about last night."

"Sure, no problem," I replied as we set off for the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was decorated even more than before. There were more huge pumpkins. Their faces were lit by equally huge candles. There were more bats and the Great Hall seemed darker with them flapping about. The same plates and goblets used at the Welcoming Feast were out and gleaming bright. All the teachers were at the Head Table, looking excited.

As soon as everyone was seated, Professor Dumbledore stood up. The room went quiet in an instant.

"Another Halloween. Another great feast. Tonight, while we eat, we will have some entertainment." He waved his hand, and from a door next to the staff table, a half a dozen skeletons came out. Everyone clapped wildly and Dumbledore continued, "Now, let us dig into this magnificent feast!"

The food appeared like it did on my first night at Hogwarts. The dishes had Halloween decorations in them, and as soon we started eating, the skeletons started to dance. It was hard to eat and watch them at the same time, as they were so entertaining.

While I was piling my plate with roast chicken, I started to see something. I wasn't in the Great Hall anymore. Instead, I was on the second floor. I saw a bathroom that had an "Out of Order" sign hanging on the door. I looked around and saw, written on the wall, "The Chamber of Secrets." There was more to the message, but as I was about to read the rest of the message, I was back in the Great Hall.

"Drea? You okay?" Megan asked.

"What's the Chamber of Secrets?" I asked, shaking my head slightly, trying to clear my head.

Ginger and Megan both shrugged, as did Justin.

"What happened?" Ginger asked. "You sort of went into a trance and then you started again like nothing happened."

"It was nothing," I lied. "I just thought I saw something," I finished lamely.

"Okay then."

We finished eating and as everyone was getting up, I wondered aloud, "Where have I heard the Chamber of Secrets before?"

"Maybe it was in Hogwarts: A History," Megan suggested.

"Maybe that was it. I left my copy at home though. Ging, do you still have yours?"

"Nope, I left mine at home as well."

"You think it's too late to head to the library to check it out?"

"We still have an hour before curfew, so I think it's still open."

We headed up the stairs with all the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. When we got to the second floor, everyone ahead of us fell silent.

"What's going on?" I asked Justin, who was a bit taller than us and could see over everyone's head.

"There's a cat hanging from a torch holder!" Ginger made a squeaking noise and turned around, she didn't want to see it. "Oh my…it's Mrs. Norris!"

"Who's Mrs. Norris?"

"It's Filch's cat. She lurks around everywhere, waiting for students to cause trouble. Wait a minute," he said, craning his neck a bit to the left. "Harry Potter's up there!"

A slight part in the crowd let me see that Harry Potter, a red haired boy, and a bushy haired girl were standing just below the dangling cat. On the wall, there was red writing that said:

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN

OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

After reading the first few words, my heart fell. I had seen the message a mere hour or so ago and now here I was looking at it. I saw Ginger, Megan, and Justin shoot me a sideways glance. Suddenly, a cool, drawling shout broke the silence. It was Draco Malfoy.

"Enemies of the Heir , beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Megan gasped next to me, as did some of the others around me.

"What's a Mudblood?" Ginger asked.

"It's an awful name for a person of Muggle ancestry, like you guys. Only snooty Pureblood families use the word. To them it means 'dirty blood.'"

Before we could say anything in response, a crotchety man came running through the crowd.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" The man's eyes fell upon the cat. He then shrieked, "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" Then, as if to blame the closest person, his eyes fell on Harry. "You! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll--"

"Argus!"

As if appearing from nowhere, Professor Dumbledore appeared next to Mr. Filch. Without looking at anyone, he strode purposely toward the cat. He detached the feline and walked over to Filch and whispered something we couldn't hear.

Gilderoy Lockhart strode forward and said, "My office is nearest, Headmaster--just upstairs--please feel free--"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," Dumbledore replied. Dumbledore parted the crowd with Gilderoy hot on his heels. Professors McGonagall and Snape followed them.

"Okay, everyone!" yelled Professor Sprout in a shaky voice. "Back to your dormitories now!"

Grudgingly, people started to turn and walk away. They wanted to stay and find out what the Chamber of Secrets was.

"First thing tomorrow," I said to Ginger and Megan, "I'm going to the library."