Professor Flitwick gave me the okay to no longer tutor for detention. To be honest, I had forgotten it was detention. Zacharias Smith seemed relieved when I told him it'd be our last meeting. Ginny Weasley and I had agreed to meet up once a month, mainly because she was supposedly still distracted in class. Longbottom and I were going to keep our weekly tutoring sessions.
Longbottom was a breath of fresh air, I thought. While my friends in Slytherin were resentful and scathing towards the other houses, Longbottom was quiet in a good way, in the way that I liked. Theodore was also quiet in the way I liked, but he gave more of the feeling that he wouldn't like it if you tried talking to him. Longbottom just seemed to be more at peace when he was quiet.
October continued by, and the tutoring sessions became the highlights of my week. Pansy complained about how I never wanted to hang out with her anymore, I sort of made a humming noise from the back of my throat and didn't answer. She didn't need to know how I was no longer preferring her company.
The feast for Halloween was piled high on platters. Vincent and Gregory sat in front of me, stuffing their mouths with chicken and pumpkin pie and several kinds of sweets. Daphne sat beside me, and she kept her nose wrinkled at them, looking disgusted. I was sitting so that I was facing the rest of the Great Hall, so I was just relieved I was able to people watch the people from other houses.
I could spot the Weasley twins loudly singing some song. I couldn't hear the lyrics from over here, but I could hear the melody. I tapped my foot absentmindedly at it. I couldn't see Neville, but I did see Finnigan sitting with Thomas and Brown and Patil, the four of them talking animatedly with each other.
"What is up with Abbott's hair?" Pansy asked scathingly. Hannah Abbott's hair was in teased pigtails. They looked bushy from where we were sitting. Pansy was asking me, and she was watching me from the corner of her eye. She wanted a response.
I shrugged. "Abbott's always worn pigtails. Ever since last year."
"What's the matter with you?" Pansy asked, her voice biting into me.
"Nothing's the matter with me."
"Yes there is." She snapped. "You've been acting weird, like distant." She looked around to where Draco was sitting beside her. "You've noticed it too, right?"
Draco looked up from his food, having most definitely not paying attention. "What? Uh, yeah sure." Pansy looked back to me as if this was concrete proof.
"You're being ridiculous." I said. I was getting more and more uncomfortable the longer Pansy's stare was on me. I gave her a side look. "Abbott has always had those big pigtails. Pointing them out hoping to get me in a conversation is really low hanging fruit." I turned away from her and scooped mashed sweet potatoes into my mouth, effectively ending the conversation.
When the feast ended, all of the houses seemed to want to leave at once. I walked beside Pansy and behind Draco, Vincent, and Gregory. As we walked past the Gryffindor second years, I finally found Longbottom. He looked up and offered me a small smile. I felt one side of my mouth rise in a half smile without thinking and I turned away so that Pansy didn't notice.
There was a long hallway before the houses went in different directions to go to their common room. The hum of voices filled the cavernous corridor as suddenly the crowd just stopped. The people in front of us were hushed and scared sounding.
"Enemies of the heir beware?" Draco's voice rang out. He was far ahead of us now. "You'll be next, Mudbloods."
I swallowed hard as Pansy pulled me forward to see what the holdup was. I stood mashed between Pansy and Gregory, and I felt myself want to draw back when I saw the writing on the wall.
The Chamber of Secrets has been open. Enemies of the heir...beware.
Mrs. Norris the caretaker's cat was hanging by her tail, stiff and dead looking. I gasped loudly at the sight as a shiver of cold went down my spine. I felt Pansy's hand grab onto mine. Her face was forcefully blank, but her eyes said differently. She was trying to put on a brave face, but she was just as scared as I was.
I thought of Draco mentioned Mudbloods and I swallowed hard again. She was almost as scared as me.
Potter was standing right in front of the writing, looking terrified. I had just noticed him and I looked between him and the writing. Had he done it? Enemies of the heir…?
Professors made their way to the front and soon after that we were shooed back to our common rooms by the prefects. I held onto Pansy's hand the whole walk down to the dungeons and to the common room.
What was the Chamber of Secrets? I felt like Draco knew, but what if it was something all my classmates knew and asking about it would single me out? I got ready for bed and curled into bed along with the others, letting the others whisper and gossip as usual.
I couldn't ask anything about it without signalling myself out, I made up my mind. Tomorrow after class, I'd go to the library and see if there was anything there. That or ask a teacher; surely they wouldn't care about me being Muggle born.
With troubled thoughts and my roommates voices buzzing in my ears, I covered my head with the quilt and fell into a fitful sleep.
The next day was History of Magic and we had it with all of the houses. I took my normal seat between Pansy and Daphne while everyone filed in. Potter was still here; rumor had it that he had written the blood on the wall. Between that and the flying car he had driven into the Whomping Willow, I was faintly surprised he was still enrolled at Hogwarts.
At eight o'clock on the dot, Professor Binns floated through the blackboard and continued until he was floating in front of the whole class. He started to drone on about a Giant War we had been learning about last week. He wasn't that far into the lecture before Granger's hand went into the air.
Professor Binns didn't continue for long before stopping his lecture to stare at Granger. Perhaps no one had ever raised their hand before, I thought. Professor Binns rotated until he was facing Granger.
"Yes, Miss…?"
"Granger." She replied, putting her hand back down. "I was wondering, seeing as you're the History of Magic professor, if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets."
Thank God for Granger asking this question, I thought and straightened in my seat. Professor Binns blinked for a long moment.
"The story goes that Salazar Slytherin had built a chamber somewhere in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing." Professor Binns droned, but it was the most interested the class had ever been in anything he had to say. "Slytherin, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all those who were unworthy to study magic."
There was a hushed silence. Professor Binns opened his mouth to continue when Dean Thomas's hand shot into the air. Professor Binns called on him.
"Who did Salazar Slytherin think were unworthy of studying magic?" Thomas asked. Draco scoffed into his sleeves.
Professor Binns rotated until he faced Thomas. "Salazar Slytherin believed that only pure blooded students should study magic. Muggle born students wouldn't be tolerated. The beast that is supposedly inside the Chamber of Secrets, was supposed to purge the school of any student with Muggle blood."
My blood turned to ice and I shifted in my seat subtly so that Pansy and Daphne didn't notice. Thomas looked like he regretted asking and Granger's face had turned pale.
"I assure you, children," Professor Binns said with a massive eye roll. "The Chamber of Secrets is a legend, a myth. People have searched for centuries trying to find it, and no one ever has. Therefore, it does not exist and you all need not worry about it. Now, we must get back to our lesson."
Professor Binns went right back to his lecture and within five minutes, half the class was asleep.