I own nothing but the plot, and not even all of that

Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Hermione and Neville. He was working on a potions essay while Hermione and Neville worked on an Herbology project. Ron was playing chess with Dean Thomas, who was being coached by Seamus Finnigan. Neither Dean nor Seamus had ever managed to beat Ron at chess before, and Seamus was giving Dean tips he hoped would turn the tide. It wasn't going very well.

Auror John Dawlish was sitting at a table near the fire with Tonks. They had both been assigned to stay on protective duty at Hogwarts. Sirius Black was still on the loose, and no one wanted to take any chances. Dawlish was drafting a report to detail to Director Bones their activities for the week while Tonks was mostly trying to distract Ron by turning her nose into different animal noses.

Everything halted when a warbling alarm came from Harry's communicator. Picking it up, he activated it.

"Contact in the monitored area," said a muffled voice from the tiny box that Harry held. A symbol was displayed to indicate that it was Blue 5. Harry, who kept track of who on Green Squad was assigned to the watch the corridor, knew that the duty was currently being held by Blue 1 and Blue 5. Blue 1 was a weapons specialist nicknamed Tank. Blue 5 was a small arms trooper nicknamed Beast. Harry clicked the transmit button on his communicator.

"Blue1, Blue 5, engage," he ordered, "All troopers move to assist." Blaze and Shooter, who were assigned protection detail to Harry, had already activated their weapons and were ready to mobilize. Harry gave Hermione a tight smile, took out his lightsaber, and jogged to the portrait entrance.

Without warning, he stopped abruptly and nearly fell backwards. He had run into what felt like a solid, invisible wall! He put his hand out and reached forward until he could feel the barrier he had collided with. He couldn't budge forward an inch against it.

"We can't get through," Harry growled in frustration. Blaze tried to push his way through the barrier, with no better results.

"Movement! We've got move…" Blue 1's voice said, then came to a stop. His communicator kept transmitting, but something had stopped his words in an instant.

Harry hit the barrier with his fist, only succeeding in hurting his hand.

"No!" he yelled. He activated his communicator again. "This is Commander Potter. I'm trapped in the dormitories. All troopers that can respond, converge on the 2nd floor corridor now!" He turned to Blaze. "Get through whatever this is, now!"

A soft pop next to him had Harry spinning to face Dobby, who had just popped beside him.

"Dobby!" Harry yelled. "You did this!"

"Harry Potter must stay safe," Dobby whimpered. "Harry Potter must not go!"

Dobby suddenly flew through the air, stopping only when Harry wrapped his hand around the house elf's throat.

"Drop that barrier now, Dobby!" Harry yelled. "I have to get down there."

"Dobby cannot," the sobbing elf cried, "Dobby must keep Harry Potter safe!" He was stroking Harry's hand that the boy was nearly strangling him with.

"Harry, stop!" Hermione yelled. "You're going to hurt him!"

"Who's next, Dobby?" Harry snarled. "First it was Toma, who's next?" His hand tightened around Dobby's throat, causing the house elf to wheeze.

"Dobby, just go!" Hermione called to the elf. "Go to Dumbledore, tell him to help."

Dobby snapped his fingers and vanished from Harry's grasp. Harry growled in frustration and slammed his fist into the barrier again, which did not budge at all with Dobby's departure.

"Harry," Hermione cried, "he can't help it."

"He won't be able to tell Dumbledore anything anyway," Harry snapped. "He can't betray his masters."

"Watch out," Tonks called out. She concentrated for a moment, then flicked her wand. A large drop of white magic flew out of her wand. It turned into a white, glowing jack rabbit that hopped through the barrier and then through the Fat Lady's portrait.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"Messenger Patronus," Tonks answered. "It's on its way to Dumbledore." Tonks turned to Harry. "You need to calm down, Harry. Getting yourself hurt won't help anyone."

Harry didn't answer. He was staring at his communicator, looking at the readouts displaying the status of each trooper in Green Squad.

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, working on the never-ending stacks of parchment that kept a school running. Without warning, a scared and misused looking house elf popped in front of his desk. The moment the elf apparated in, an alarm sounded throughout Dumbledore's office.

"Dobby, I presume?" the headmaster inquired. The alarms turned off with a twitch of Dumbledore's head. "Why are you here?"

"Bad Dobby!" the elf yelled at himself. He grabbed a hand-held telescope off of Dumbledore's desk and started beating himself in the head with it. "Bad Dobby!"

At that moment, a Patronus rabbit entered the office.

"Headmaster," the rabbit said in Tonk's voice. "The second-floor corridor is under attack and we're all stuck in the dormitory by some sort of shield."

"Fawkes!" Dumbledore yelled. The phoenix disappeared, then reappeared with his tail feathers in Dumbledore's outstretched hand. He and Fawkes then disappeared in a flash of fire.

Fawkes transported Dumbledore to the second-floor corridor, near the classroom where the troopers had positioned themselves. He immediately saw young Colin Creevey with his camera held up to his face. Next to him was one of the Troopers, who was positioned as if to shield the young man. Albus knew their unnaturally stiff postures meant they had already been petrified. The other trooper was crouched in the doorframe, firing red bolts of energy down the corridor. A thick, grey smoke hung in the air near the end of the hallway, obscuring everything. It was billowing and swirling. Albus could see a dark shape moving and dodging the blaster fire, but could not make out what it was. Drawing his wand, he sent an enormous fireball hurtling down the corridor. He heard a loud screech, and there was no further movement.

Dumbledore approached the unharmed trooper, who had stopped firing. He kept his weapon trained down the hallway, though, ready to resume combat once a target presented itself. A number of other troopers ran into the hallway, each of them pointing their weapons towards the lingering smoke.

"Blue 5, report," Commander Dameron ordered.

"I saw it," the trooper answered, "but I couldn't see it clearly enough to identify it. It moves fast, and whatever that paralyzing weapon is, I think it has to be able to see you to use it. Once it took out Blue 1 and the kid, I threw a smoke grenade down there. It dodged everything I threw at it, but I did keep it pinned down there. The headmaster showed up and flash fried it, I hope."

Rev was examining Blue 1 and Colin, and noted that both of them were frozen in the same manner as Toma Kendet.

"Red Team," Commander Dameron ordered. "Advance down the corridor. Kill anything that moves."

"Yes sir," Red Sarge confirmed. Red team assembled in a wedge formation and rapidly moved down the hallway. Their white armor blended with the smoke from Blue 5's grenade that was still hanging in the air, and they effectively disappeared. It wasn't long before they had turned back.

"There's nothing here," Red Sarge reported. "Whatever it is, it's gone."

"I'm going to clear this smoke away," Dumbledore warned the troopers. They all aimed their weapons back down the corridor. Dumbledore waved his wand and the smoke instantly cleared. They could see blackened scorch marks on the far wall from Beast's covering fire, but no other evidence of the fight was to be seen at all.

Harry sat on the edge of Colin's bed in the hospital wing. His camera had been removed, but Colin's hands were still in position as if he were still holding it. Professor Flitwick had taken the camera to the school's dark room to develop the film. With any luck, he got a shot of his attacker.

"What was he doing there?" Harry asked.

"I do not know," answered Dumbledore, who was standing beside them. "He certainly shouldn't have been."

"If Dobby hadn't stopped me…" Harry began before he was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Then Mr. Creevey would have still been petrified," the headmaster said. Harry stared at Dumbledore in disbelief.

"You are talented, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "in both magic and the force. But you are not omnipotent. None of us are."

"I could have stopped this," Harry protested.

"Could you have?" Dumbledore asked. "As I said, you are talented, but I do not believe you are yet at the level of Master Kendet." Harry looked over to the closed curtains which concealed his master, still laying petrified.

"I have interviewed your Commander Dameron, and listened to a recording of your communications that he played for me. It is clear that by the time you could have gotten there, young Mr. Creevey would already have been paralyzed, as well as your trooper friend."

"Tank," Harry said. "He was Blue 1."

"Mr. Tank, then," Dumbledore said. "If you had been there, the only difference you would likely have made is that you could have been petrified or killed. I do not want to even imagine reporting that to your Jedi Council, so I hope you forgive me in being grateful to Dobby for keeping you out of harm's way."

"That's enough visiting," Madame Pomfrey said, stepping out of her office. "You can come back tomorrow."

"I need to go apologize to Hermione," Harry said. "I was pretty rude to her."

"I think you will find that is an excellent choice, Harry," Dumbledore said.

"I'm sorry," Harry said. He had gone back to the dormitory and was standing in front of Hermione, who was sitting on a couch with her arms crossed in front of her.

"I know you are, Harry," Hermione said, "but that doesn't make it right."

"I know," Harry said. "I didn't mean to yell at you, I was just scared."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Hermione asked, anger flashing in her eyes. Harry felt a moment's panic. He had seen her scared before, and she had shown irritation any number of times, but this was the first time he'd ever seen her truly angry. "I am not concerned about how you spoke to me. I can easily forgive that. What I cannot forgive is what you did to Dobby. You need to apologize to him."

"I will," Harry said. "I was already going to. I can't let myself lose control like that again."

"I should think not," Hermione said. She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Oh, come here," she said with some exasperation. She drew him into a hug and held on to him for several minutes.

Dumbledore entered his office. This had been a trying day, and it was not over yet. He stopped at the sight of Dobby, passed out on the floor. He crouched down and placed his hand on the elf's shoulder.

"Dobby?" he called out softly. Dobby let out a quiet groan as he awoke. He was bruised around his head where he had spent a half hour punishing himself for helping his master's enemies before finally knocking himself unconscious. "Do you need medical help, Dobby?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, sir," Dobby squeaked. "House elves heal very quickly. Dobby will be fine."

"I wanted to thank you, Dobby," Dumbledore said.

Dobby's ears perked up, and his big eyes rose up from the point he was staring at on the floor to meet Dumbledore's eyes.

"Headmaster Dumbledore wants to thank Dobby?" he asked.

"Yes, indeed," Dumbledore answered. "I am aware that you cannot give up your master's secrets, and I am not asking you to. I want to thank you for keeping young Harry safe. I know he was quite upset at you, but I think he'll get over it sooner rather than later."

"Harry Potter is a great wizard, Headmaster Dumbledore," Dobby whispered. "Dobby knows Harry Potter did not mean it. Now Dobby must go finish ironing his hands." With a sigh, Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared again without a trace.

Dumbledore sat at his desk and began to write a letter to Colin's family. He would send it in the morning, but he owed it to his student to at least get it written before he slept. He was only halfway finished when the wards notified him of visitors arriving at the gates.

Terror at Hogwarts! Mythical Chamber of Secrets opened!

News has come out of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that the Chamber of Secrets, the legendary personal lair of Salazar Slytherin, has been opened. According to myth, a monster exists within that will purge the school of all whom the founder of Slytherin House did not deem worthy of attending the school. This has always been assumed to mean muggleborns.

Now that the chamber has been opened, has the purging begun? It has come to our attention that one student has just been attacked by the Monster of Slytherin. Muggleborn student Colin Creevey, a first year Gryffindor, was turned to stone by the creature after the boy went seeking it out. It is unknown why Mr. Creevey attempted such a dangerous encounter. Sources inside Hogwarts have described the young muggleborn as 'addle-brained,' and 'a picture taking simpleton with the brains of a slug.'

According to these sources, those deemed unworthy may also include the strange 'Jed-eye' guardian of none other than Harry Potter. It is unknown why the Boy-Who-Lived-then-Disappeared-then-Reappeared has been in the custody of people who claim to come from other planets, but what is known for certain is that the man Harry Potter looks to most for guidance now lays petrified in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. Rumor has it that he cannot be revived for several months yet, if ever.

We at the Daily Prophet would like to ask Headmaster Dumbledore why students are free to to enter parts of the castle that are clearly unsafe. Why has this section of the castle not been sealed off? Does he know who opened the Chamber, and how does he plan to keep his students safe?

(See page 12 for an account of the search for Harry Potter.)

(See page 21 for additional information on the mysterious 'Jed-eye.')

For your Daily Prophet,

Rita Skeeter

"What in Merlin's name has been happening at Hogwarts?" Sirius muttered to himself as he put his paper down on the table of the Leaky Cauldron. With James's wand and the contents of his wardrobe, Sirius was looking much more respectable. His hair was still long, but he had trimmed it and made himself look presentable again. His hair was no longer jet black, but a light brown. Along with a pair of fake glasses, a clean shave, changing the style of clothes he was known to favor, and a glamour to alter his facial structure, he was sufficiently different enough to be able to walk about and buy a newspaper and a meal in the open. He still had to be careful, but at least he wasn't eating dog food anymore.

"It's those 'Jed-eye,'" answered an extremely old man who was sitting across from him. He had heard Sirius asking himself the question and took it as an invitation for a chat. "They took the Boy-Who-Lived and flew him away from us. Who knows what strange ideas they've been putting in his head?"

"Who are these 'Jed-eye?'" asked Sirius.

"Them's the ones that took him," the old man said it. "I saw it, all them years ago."

"What did you see?" Sirius asked.

"Back then I lived out with the muggles," the old man said. It sounded like a well-rehearsed story, lovingly retold time and time again. "Down near Surry it was. Normally I'd have been asleep at that hour, but not that night. That was the night Harry Potter went and stopped You-Know-Who. All the wizarding folk were out celebrating. Never quite figured how word spread so quick, but everyone knew. It was half past midnight or so, and the parties were starting to ease off a bit. I was walking home from my friend Peabody's house when I saw him."

"Who?" Sirius prompted. He was getting into the story in spite of his earlier reservations.

"He was a man in dark robes, carrying a baby," the old man continued. "It was the baby what caught my attention. You don't see people carrying the young ones around at that hour, parties or no. He crossed the road a bit ahead of where I was walking and disappeared down a drainage ditch. That got me mighty curious, all right. There's no good reason I can think of that someone would be taking a baby down a drainage ditch at any hour, let alone at half past midnight."

"What did you do?" Sirius asked.

"Well," the old man said, "I figured it was my civic duty to investigate. I crept up to where the fella dropped down and looked down into the ditch. It was a large ditch, what the muggles call a catch basin. Sitting at the bottom was the sky-ship."

"The sky-ship?" Sirius asked.

"Well," the old man said, defensively, "I don't know what else you'd call it. It looked somewhat like a boat, but not in the water. I figured that's where that fella took the baby. I started my way down into the ditch. I was moving pretty slow, because I wasn't no spring chicken even back then, mind you. When I was about halfway down, it happened."

"What?" Sirius asked again. While he was getting into the story, it was clear the old man liked having it dragged out of him.

"An unholy noise came from the sky-ship. It started off low, like a hum, but it wound up to a high-pitched scream!" the old man said. "A bright blue light came from underneath it and was followed by a burning hot wind. The ground shook and I fell. I was all set for a nasty tumble to be burnt to a crisp by whatever infernal fire was being blown from the underside of that monstrosity. Fortunately, I managed to catch a root sticking out of the ground with one hand, and I stopped myself from rolling down that ditch. I was still being cooked by the sky-ship's fire, of course, and I thought I'd go deaf from the noise. Finally, it rose up into the air!"

"Really?" Sirius asked, doubtfully.

"Yes!" The old man insisted. "Up, up, up it went, then it hung there, in the sky, sort of slowly wavering back and forth. I always thought it was like it was getting its bearings. Then, it tilted back a bit and shot forward faster than my eyes could follow. It was gone. I managed to crawl back up the side of the ditch. Was I ever a mess, though? Of course, I told all me neighbors about it. I was even in the muggle papers. They quoted me and everything. Course, they left out what I'd said about there having been a baby. They said there were no records of a missing baby and they didn't want to start a panic. It was a few days after that what everyone started looking for Harry Potter. They said he'd been kidnapped from right around Surry. Well, I knew that had to be him, didn't I?"

"How did you know it was Harry Potter?" Sirius asked.

"Well," answered the old man, "who else could it have been? No other little babies went missing right then and there."

Sirius had to admit he couldn't refute that logic.

"What ever became of it?" he asked.

"Became of it?" the old man asked. "Where have you been, under a rock? He was missing for ten years. Then he turned up, didn't he, out of the blue? Showed up at Hogwarts with a strange man in dark robes, they say. And there's talk that they flew there in sky-ships."

"Ahh, yes," said Sirius uncomfortably.

"Say," the old man said, squinting his eyes at Sirius. "You look somewhat familiar. Have we met?"

"No," Sirius said, quickly. "I'm just in town on business, been out of the country for a while. In fact, I need to go before I'm late." He got up from the table, leaving the Daily Prophet behind. He put some sickles down as payment, and left the Leaky Cauldron as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself.

"He was in an awful big hurry, wasn't he," the old man said to everyone at the table. He picked up the paper Sirius had left behind and opened it past the cover page. "Well, look at that," he said to the person sitting next to the seat Sirius had vacated. "Looks like Sirius Black may not have even got a trial! Says here there's a number for him to call and everything. Guess that explains why them dementors haven't been loosed after him. Mind you I'm happy 'bout that, anyway. Horrible things, them dementors. Did I ever tell you 'bout the time I met one. No? There I was, walking home one night. It was pitch black..."

Walking past the shops in Diagon Alley, Sirius reflected on the old man's story. It actually matched what he had found out so far, so it might not be as ludicrous as he originally thought. He had been horrified to learn from Petunia that Dumbledore had left Harry on her doorstep. He planned to take the old man to task for it if they ever met again. He was glad that someone other than the Dursleys had raised Harry. He remembered Vernon and Petunia from James and Lily's wedding, and if their behavior at the reception was an example of their opinion of wizards in general, Harry would have had a miserable life there.

The few accounts he had found in the paper and from listening to people talk painted a picture of Harry from the public's viewpoint. By all accounts he was an exceptionally good student, always winning one of the top spots in his class. Most of what he had heard were rumors, though. He needed to see Harry for himself.

He also had to get to Gringotts. Goblins were greedy little monsters who would charge their own mothers a premium fee to extinguish them if they were on fire. The one good thing about them was that once you had paid that fee, they delivered on what they promised. It cost a lot to do business without involving the Ministry, but when you were on the run, it was worth it.

Ginny didn't think she could take any more of this. First it was Harry's Jedi Master, now it was one of those strange troopers. Harry would hate her. And Colin… How could she ever face him again? He was always nice to her, and now he was petrified just because he got in the way.

She had tried to get rid of the diary, but every time she did it found its way back to her. She tied it shut with string. The string burned off. She even tried to burn it in the common room fire, but it was back in her book bag before she had even gotten back to her room.

Each time she tried, Tom was angrier and crueler than he was before. The book knew when she was alone, and it would appear in front of her. She wouldn't even open it anymore. It opened itself. She felt compelled to write in it. She tried to stop, but she couldn't. She tried to tell someone, but the words refused to pass her lips. All she could do was shake her head and run away.

Now, though, the diary had gone too far. She was determined that she would tell someone. She couldn't tell Harry, because he was the one Tom wanted. She couldn't tell Ron, he wouldn't understand. The twins would make fun of her. She was afraid that Hermione would try to figure the diary out on her own and get trapped as well. Who could she tell?

"Curfew!" Percy called out. "It's time for lights out, everyone!"

Percy was proud of being a prefect. He had worked incredibly hard to show good examples, obey the rules, and keep good grades. It had paid off last year and he was made a prefect. It was the first step in his plan to eventually become Minister for Magic.

He was just calling lights out to everyone when his sister emerged from her room: he had been extremely concerned about her, and had even forced her to the Hospital Wing earlier. She still didn't look like she felt well.

"Ginny?" he asked, "are you alright?"

Ginny's shook her head.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" he asked.

Ginny shook her head no again.

"What do you need, then?" he asked.

"I need to see the headmaster," Ginny finally said. It looked like it had taken a great deal of effort to say, and tears were streaming down her face. She was clutching her diary so hard that her fingers were making dents in the leather cover.

Percy did not think the diary was good for her. She had taking to writing in it all the time. He felt a visit to the headmaster night actually be the best thing for her. Dumbledore would sort this out.

"Ok, Ginny," he said, gently. "I'll escort you." He took her by the shoulder and began to gently guide her down the stairs. That's when his idiot brothers decided to get themselves involved.

"Hey," yelled one of the twins, "where are you taking Ginny?"

"Be quiet, Fred," Percy said, irritated. He'd been trying to get her out of the dorm without too much attention, since Ginny would likely run back to her room if everyone knew. That plan was now well and truly ruined.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," protested one twin.

"Hey," argued the other twin, "I thought I was George today, your turn is tomorrow. Anyway, where are you going with Ginny? Wouldn't want the ickle firsty to be caught out after curfew."

"Unless you're finally embracing rule breaking," the first twin said to Percy with a grin, "in which case we wholeheartedly approve."

Ginny panicked. Twisting her way out of Percy's grip, she bolted up the stairs. Percy didn't want her to fall back into writing in the diary again when he was so close to maybe getting her actual help. Leave it to the twins to ruin everything! He drew his wand.

"Accio diary!" Percy cast, and the leather book slipped out of Ginny's grasp and flew to Percy. Ginny looked back at Percy, terrified at having lost the diary. Just before Percy could catch it, one of the twins tried to snatch it and it went flying. Ron caught it, and was immediately set upon by both twins, who were both intent on reading the diary.

What followed was a free-for-all between Percy, the Twins, and Ron, who hadn't even wanted to be part of this at all.

"Enough!" yelled Professor McGonagall. With the perfect timing that every good teacher develops, she had been passing the common room entrance just in time to hear the yelling. "Never, in all my years have I seen such a display. 50 points from Gryffindor, and a week's detention each!"

"But Professor," protested Ron, "I didn't even want to be part of this! They all just landed on me."

"Is that true, Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall asked Percy.

"Yes ma'am," Percy confirmed. "I was trying to take my sister to Headmaster Dumbledore at her request, when the twins started the ruckus. Ginny ran back upstairs when they called attention to her."

"Why does your sister need to see the headmaster at this hour?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm not sure," Percy answered, "but she's been having a hard time fitting in this year, and it's been getting worse. She asked to see him, and I think he might be able to help. Please, Professor, I'm extremely concerned about her."

"Very well, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said. "I will retrieve Ginevra from her dormitory, and you and the twins can come to the headmaster's office as well. Perhaps you can explain to him why you were fighting." She turned to Ron. "I'm sorry, Mr Weasley, I had thought you were part of this fight. You will not receive detention, and I will not be deducting points from you." She glared at the twins, who ducked their heads down. "I'll still be taking twenty points a piece from you," she said, sternly.

Ginny was mortified. Professor McGonagall kept asking her what was wrong, but she literally could not say. Percy had taken the diary back from the twins and was bringing it with them to Dumbledore's office. She kept throwing terrified glances at the diary, which she was certain was furious with her. Finally, they reached the gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office.

"Sherbet Lemon," Professor McGonagall said to the statue. It didn't budge. "Has he changed it again?" she asked, exasperated. "Very well, please inform the headmaster that I am here to see him with the Weasley students." The gargoyle stepped aside and allowed them to enter. "Thank you."

They rode the spiral staircase to the top of the stairs and McGonagall knocked on the large wooden doors. They opened on their own, and the group entered. The headmaster's chair was turned away from them, and it slowly rotated to face them as they approached the desk. All of their jaws dropped in shock. Behind the headmaster's desk sat Lucius Malfoy.

A/N - Don't worry, the twins aren't as bad as all that. They're just having fun and don't think their actions through very well, like any other 14 year olds.

A/N 2 - 5/1/2020 - I've had a major change in my job circumstances that resulted in my switching jobs within the company I work for. This has had the effect of limiting the time and energy I've had for writing. My situation has finally stabilized. This story has never been far from my mind, though, and I've not abandoned it. I've started going through the story to refresh it in my mind and found a number of grammar/spelling mistakes that I'm correcting. I've been informed that this activity is sending out update emails. I didn't want to confuse anyone, so hopefully you'll see this notice and it will inform you what's going on. The only changes to the story I've made have been some additional details in chapter 17. Most of the other changes have been spelling/mistyping mistakes, splitting up run-on sentences, and rewording things to make them sound better. I am also writing the next chapter and will hopefully have it posted soon. I already had a lot written for the endgame of this story, I just need to get the story to that point. Thanks for reading, and for not giving up on me!