Quarantine sucks! The sooner the COVID-19 pandemic ends, the better.

I've been doing some home improvement projects on my condo, which is why uploads have been slow lately.

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Chapter 12

The Legend

The quartet (plus cat) sat in Lockhart's office as Dumbledore examined Mrs. Norris on Lockhart's desk. Several teachers were also present watching the headmaster poke and prod the cat with both his fingers and his wand. Professor McGonagall was bent over Dumbledore's shoulder while he did the examination. Snape lurked in the shadows wearing the weirdest expression on his face, as if he was trying not to smile. Lockhart, on the other hand, was making several suggestions.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her - probably the Transmorgrifian Torture - I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very countercurse that would have saved her…" he ranted.

Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair near the desk. Shura, who was sitting next to the caregiver with her arm over his shoulders, glared at Lockhart.

"Cueball! Do everyone a favor and shut the hell up!" she barked. McGonagall let out a small chuckle and Snape found it harder not to smile. Dumbledore ignored her and muttered some strange words and incantations as he continued to poke Mrs. Norris with his wand.

"...I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou," said Lockhart, "a series of attacks, the full story is in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townspeople with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once…"

"Cueball, I'm warning you…" Shura growled.

Dumbledore straightened up. "She's not dead, Argus," he stated.

Shura and Lockhart stopped talking and looked at the headmaster.

"Not dead?" Filch choked, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all… stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified," Dumbledore explained ("Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart). "Professor Kirigakure, would you please examine Mrs. Norris? Perhaps a demon is responsible for this."

Shura patted Filch on the shoulder before standing up to do her examination. "You got it, Boss," she answered. Several times she did her own poking and prodding before muttering incantations that Harry assumed were prayers and passages from sacred scriptures in different languages. Eventually she gave up. "Sorry, Boss, Argus. I've tried everything I can think of that could fix this. Nothing's working. Whatever Petrified Mrs. Norris was no demon."

"Ask him!" Filch shrieked as he pointed at Harry.

"No second year could have done this," Dumbledore said firmly. "It would take Dark magic of the most advanced -"

"He did it!" Filch insisted. "You saw what he wrote on the wall!"

Shura turned in Filch's direction. "Argus, we didn't catch Potter in the act. His hands are clean. He didn't do this." Harry showed everyone his hands palms side up as proof.

"But he knows that I'm a - I'm a -" Filch's face grimaced. "He knows I'm a Squib!" he finished.

"He's a what now?" Rin spoke up in confusion.

"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry insisted loudly. Everyone, including the Lockharts in the portraits, looked in his direction. "And I don't even know what a Squib is."

Rin leaned in Ron's direction. "What's Filch talking about? Did he just say he's a squid?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"No," said Ron. "A Squib is someone who's born into a magical family but doesn't have any magical talent." Rin could only nod in understanding. No wonder Filch was always so grouchy.

"If I may speak, Headmaster," Snape said coming forward. Harry's stomach lurched in foreboding. Whatever Snape wanted to say couldn't be good. "Potter and his friends may have been simply at the wrong place at the wrong time." His mouth morphed into a sneer, as if he doubted what he was saying was true. "But we do have suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor in the first place? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"

The children launched into an explanation about the deathday party. "...there were hundreds of ghosts," said Harry.

"Ask Nearly Headless Nick," Rin insisted. "He'll vouch for us."

"But why not join the feast afterward?" asked Snape, his eyes glittering in the candlelight. It was quite clear he enjoyed watching them squirm. "Why go up to the corridor?"

Ron and Hermione looked to Harry for answers. "Because… because…" Harry started.

"I had to take my cat to Gryffindor Tower!" Rin blurted out. Everyone looked in the blue-haired boy's direction.

"Mrow?" Kuro meowed in confusion.

"I didn't think animals besides owls were allowed in the Great Hall," Rin explained, unable to stop himself. "So, I told my friends that I should take Kuro to Gryffindor Tower before going to the feast."

Ron, Harry, and Hermione latched onto Rin's story and nodded earnestly. Dumbledore gave Rin a searching look. His twinkling blue-eyed gaze made Rin feel like he was being X-rayed, making shivers go up and down his spine. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Kuro's fur was standing on end as well.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," Dumbledore said firmly.

"My cat has been Petrified!" shrieked Filch. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," Dumbledore assured him. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they've reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart volunteered. "I must have made it a hundred times. I could make a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep -"

"Excuse me," Snape said icily, "but I believe I am the Potions Master at this school."

Shura smirked at Lockhart. "He's got ya there, Cueball." She then turned her attention to Filch. "C'mon, Argus. Let's go to Hogsmeade for a drink to calm your nerves. C'mon." she said gently. Filch started to break down as Shura led him out of the room.

"You may go," Dumbledore told the quartet.

They left as quickly as they could without really running. They entered the first classroom they could find and closed the door behind them.

"Do you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" asked Harry.

"No," Ron answered without hesitation. "Hearing voices is never a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

"Do you want them to think you're crazy?" Rin added.

"You lot do believe me, don't you?" asked Harry.

"Of course we do," Ron assured. Rin nodded in agreement.

Hermione then spoke up, "You have to admit though that it is weird that only you and Kuro can only hear this voice."

"I know it's weird," Harry agreed as he stroked Kuro who was sitting on a desk. "This whole thing is weird. What was that writing on the wall about? 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened?' What's that supposed to mean?"

~0~0~0~

Amaimon was bored, plain and simple. While he had never spent much time in Assiah beforehand, after encountering the spawn of Satan and the lightning scarred boy last year, he was rather intrigued with both Japan (thanks to Mephisto's position at True Cross Academy) and the wizarding world's cultures. Amaimon wanted to explore the big castle where his brother's friend Dumbledore lived but the barrier surrounding it and the grounds blocked him from entering. He had to make do with the Forbidden Forest.

He sucked on his acid pop while sitting in a tree. He didn't mind that it burned a hole in his tongue (it always healed). Amaimon suddenly heard scurrying down below. He looked down and saw a spider the size of a small dog running past the tree. Curious (and bored), Amaimon jumped off his perch and landed rather hard on the spider.

"You seem to be in a hurry," he said dully. "I'm bored. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Get off me!" the spider squeaked. "Must get away! Must get away!"

"So you're scared," Amaimon concluded. "Suddenly I'm not so bored. Why are you running away?"

"It's awake! It's awake! MUST GET AWAY!" the spider shrieked.

"What is 'it?'"

"Must not speak of it! Will not speak of it!"

"Now you're boring me again. I think I'll go look for that weird self-driving car I saw a month ago," said Amaimon. He stepped off the spider and kicked it into a nearby tree, knocking it out. He then wandered off further into the forest.

~0~0~0~

For the next few days the school could only talk about the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch made sure no one forgot by pacing in front of the place where she was attacked, as though he thought the attacker would return to the scene of the crime. He tried putting several unsuspecting students in detention for things like "breathing loudly" and "looking happy." Luckily Shura managed to get them out of trouble.

Ginny Weasley was especially disturbed by the attack. According to Ron, she was a cat lover. Rin even let Kuro sleep in the girls' dormitory for a few nights to cheer her up (much to Kuro's chagrin, as he still wanted to sleep in the boys' dormitory to protect Rin).

It wasn't until Demonology one day when things really started to come to light.

"Okay," Shura started, "Now that we're done with Beelzebub, we'll move on to…" Hermoine suddenly shot her hand up. "Granger? We haven't even started the unit yet. Don't tell me you've already read the material."

"Actually, professor, I was wondering what you knew about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said. Suddenly everyone's attention was on their teacher, even Malfoy and his goons.

Shura sighed. "Okay, I recently got a crash course on the subject. Let me see… Let me recall what Minerva and the others told me… Oh, yeah! Now I remember!" she exclaimed as she walked up and down the aisles of desks in the classroom. "Well, you guys obviously remember the four founders of this school, right? Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. This castle was built about a thousand years ago away from prying Muggle eyes. You know, to avoid witch hunts and all that?

"For several years, the four founders worked well together, like peaches and cream, taking in kids with magical abilities and teaching them how to use them. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. Lots of disagreements sprang up from time to time, mainly between Gryffindor and Slytherin, who wanted to be more… selective about which students should be admitted into Hogwarts. He wanted the school to be a magic family only school."

"In other words, no Mudbloods allowed," Malfoy concluded.

Shura hit Malfoy upside the head. "Five points from Slytherin for foul language, Ferret."

Malfoy scowled at Shura. "I'm only stating facts, you Squib."

Several students gasped at this revelation. Shura responded by stabbing her sword into Malfoy's desk, centimeters from his nose. "Detention, Ferret, plus another five points from Slytherin. Got any other foul words to spew out or are you done? Because I highly doubt you want your house to lose more points because of your prejudiced views." Malfoy fearfully shook his head no. "Good. Now shut up." She removed her sword and rested it on her shoulder.

"Now where was I? Oh, yeah! Gryffindor and the others didn't take kindly to Slytherin's attitude towards Muggleborns. He didn't think kids with Muggle parents were trustworthy. After a while, Gryffindor and Slytherin had a huge argument and Slytherin left the school," Shura continued. "According to legend, before Slytherin left the school he built a secret chamber somewhere in the castle the other founders knew nothing about. He sealed it so that no one could open it until his own true heir came to the school. Only the Heir of Slytherin could open the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of those who are unworthy to study magic."

The entire room was silent when Shura finished her story. There was unease in the air. This was a lot to take in.

Dean Thomas raised his hand. "Is the 'horror within' a demon?" he inquired.

Shura shrugged. "Hell if I know," she said resignedly. "I doubt it though. The wizarding world didn't know about demons until recently. Not to mention going to an exorcist to learn how to summon a demon would have been too big of a gamble on Slytherin's part. Remember, witch hunts were all the rage back then. One wrong word and he would have been either hanged or burned at the steak.

"But don't take the tale so seriously. The school has been searched several times over the years. No such chamber has been found. If the monster within the chamber was a demon, the barrier would have driven it out."

Hermione's hand shot up in the air again. "Professor, what exactly do you mean 'the horror within?'"

"Some sort of monster that only the Heir of Slytherin can control," Shura answered. "No idea what the monster is. It's not a demon, that much I can tell you."

~0~0~0~

Mephisto Pheles was slurping up some ramen noodles for his evening dinner when his younger brother entered his office. He was covered in dirt, leaves, and other flora native to a typical forest. Mephisto frowned at his brother's disheveled appearance.

"Amaimon, I thought I told you to clean yourself up before coming into my office," he scolded his brother.

Amaimon tilted his head to the side, the ever-present blank look on his face. "I was playing in Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest. I want to play with the son of Satan but I can't."

Mephisto's frown deepened. "I thought I told you to stay away from him until I said so," he reprimanded.

"Oh don't worry. I still can't get past the barrier," Amaimon assured him. "In fact, while I was playing in the forest, I came across something interesting."

Mephisto quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"A strange spider was scurrying through the forest and said that something weird was going on at the school," Amaimon answered.

"'Something weird?'"

"Not sure what it is. Only that it had the spider freaked out," Amaimon explained. "Wasn't Beelzebub's kin, I know that much."

Mephisto sat back in his chair and gripped his chin in thought. What could have a creature like a spider so freaked out?

"Tell me, Amaimon, what made this spider so 'weird?'" he inquired.

Amaimon tilted his head to the other side. "It talked for starters. It said something was awake in the castle. Or at least, I'm assuming it was the castle," he recalled. "It also said that he had to 'get away.'"

"Get away from what?" asked Mephisto.

Amaimon shrugged. "It didn't say. Seemed pretty scared though. Whatever is in the castle has spiders scared silly. I wonder if our little brother can handle it."

Mephisto sighed exasperatedly. "Do I need to repeat myself? Stay away from the spawn of Satan until I say otherwise!" he exclaimed.

"I know," said Amaimon, "but I can't help but wonder how our little brother and his friends handle this. Is it gonna be anything like last year?"

Mephisto paused before smiling grimly. "Well as long he's friends with Harry Potter, then the possibilities are endless."

How did you like Shura's version of the Legend of the Chamber of Secrets? I tried retelling it how she'd tell it. What do you think?

Amaimon is back! He'll be helping out the gang again when it's time for them to go into the Forbidden Forest.

Keep reviewing, folks!