Chapter 10

Being woken up by a powerful scream was not the warm awakening Harry was expecting when it came at 6 am the next day. He also thought he heard some odd whispering, but couldn't make out the words. For a few moments he thought he was still dreaming, but nothing more happened, and he fell asleep again. He stayed in bed a few hours more until three men appeared around his bed. A Scottish voice spoke loudly.

"Get out of bed Mr. Potter. We need to go now."

The next was silent, but grabbed Harry by the shirt collar and pulled. Harry was moving along without a real idea of what was going on until they were nearly out of the hospital wing, until he started to squirm away. That was when he heard the voice of professor Dumbledore coming from the third man.

"Relax Harry. We are simply going to my office. I am sorry for waking you, but there are some things we need to speak about."

"Like what? What was that noise?" Harry's mind was racing with adrenaline by this point and managed to surmise that this must be about the dementors. Cho had said everyone was talking about it. But saying anything now might give Dumbledore more clues than he needed.

"There have been a few changes in the status quo this evening. And I would like to keep you as safe as possible until we are more certain what is going on…" As they made their way into the hall Harry saw a massive crowd had been formed of teachers, older students, Madam Pomfrey, and the caretaker Filch. Harry quickly noticed a stiff body on the ground, being looked at by several others. On the wall above the body was a message Harry could barely make out in the dawn light.

The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.

Harry kept silent until they arrived at a gargoyle statue that moved aside when Dumbledore spoke "Lemon drop" to it. The Scottish man said to Dumbledore,

"We'll be here if you need us headmaster."

"Thank you Jaime. And you too, Shawn." The second man nodded.

Dumbledore took Harry up into his office, with Vim in tow. The shinigami was smiling at Harry's current predicament, but had kept her mouth shut so far.

The office was an immense room lined with silver instruments of odd shapes and books of even odder shapes, including a few octagonal shaped ones sitting on Dumbledore's desk.

"Sit here Harry." He conjured a puffy red armchair before the massive mahogany desk, and Harry quickly slumped in.

"What was that professor? What's going on?"

The old man looked exceptionally young given the early hour. He was standing with a fury in him like nothing Harry would have expected.

"What isn't going on, Harry. I never would have expected this much to happen so quickly. I had planned to speak to you today about the dementors, but it seems me must talk about something else first. What was miss granger doing near the hospital wing tonight?"

"WHAT?" Harry jumped out of his chair and thought back to the body he had seen on the ground and couldn't recall any major details. "That was HERMIONE? What happened?"

"So it was not your wish to have her come to the hospital wing that night. Good. That will help."

"With what?" Harry was officially freaking out by this point. He was stuck in his night clothes, in the headmaster's office, and another girl he knew was attacked.

"Your defense. The two men beneath this office are from the department of magical law enforcement. Came the moment they heard another student was attacked. They spoke to me about the student, and as soon as they heard that Harry Potter was in the Hospital Wing, they insisted they ask you a few questions. I knew that I must be able to speak to you first."

"What do they think? I was asleep!"

"That two young women have been petrified near you in the past two months, and that the ministry likes to show that they have some leads, even if it's a stretch." Dumbledore spat out the last bit, while working with one of the odd silver devices. It spat out purple smoke and seemed to be filling several small glass vials on the table.

Harry thought, "This is impossible. I can't be taken like this with no evidence, can they?"

"Professor, I don't even know what that message means! What is the chamber of secrets?" Dumbledore gave Harry an odd look for a moment, and then his eyes opened, realizing why Harry would be in the dark.

"Ancient Hogwarts myth Harry. One that has caused problems at this school before and we will be able to sort out later. What matters now is that you work with me and give me the truth. Now, is there anything at all that you can tell me that could help me keep you safe?"

Harry thought for a moment, realizing that basically everything he could tell the professor would only get him in more trouble. He didn't have a clue who or what was going on. Clearly the talk that Marietta had caused the Troll to die before her curse would be replaced with rumors that Harry had been the cause of all of the attacks. The more he thought about it, the only thing that was in his favor was that he was an 11 year old boy with no skill.

"Only that I have no idea how to attack people like that at all, Professor."

"One last question then, Harry."

"Yes?"

"The inspectors will quickly learn about the event yesterday with the dementors, and will seek to use it against you. I know you mentioned having seen them before when we were in Diagon Alley. Now, if you did somehow kill those dementors, or have any idea what happened, then please, tell me now."

"Hey, don't go thinking anything stupid now, boy." Vim swept down, right next to the professor's face. "You're a smart kid. You know telling them about me won't get you anywhere." The shinigami's expressions were always tough to read, but this time it seemed like she was, scared.

Telling the professor about Vim, seemed a possibility for a moment. If he was reading the situation right, then Vim was scared the other wizards would be able to find out about her. He'd have to think about that possibility later… But for now, what could he say… Dumbledore's blue eyes seemed so piercing…

"When I was at the Quidditch field, I felt intensely cold. I was surrounded by people running, and then I heard this screaming. Right before I fainted, I saw one of the Dementors coming apart, but that's all I saw before I fainted." Harry felt that telling the truth as much as he could would be the best path for now. What really mattered was getting Dumbledore to let him go, and that seemed very likely based on his biases.

Dumbledore sighed, "You are the boy who lived, Harry. The one who managed to destroy the dark lord, and now is somehow able to destroy dementors, a feat no wizard has ever achieved. I intend to keep them off of you for today, but I can't promise anything after that, unless we find another culprit." He took one of the small bottles from the table and gave it to Harry. It was full of some purple potion that glowed slightly.

" This potion will enable you to stop a legillimencer from reading your mind if you take it for one day. Use it wisely."

There it was. Proof. Wizards in this world could read minds. I'm so effed, Harry thought, considering what just happened.

"If you can read minds sir, then why even ask me these questions?"

"Ah Harry," Dumbledore smiled again. "I have the ability, yes. But I would never intrude on your mind without your express permission. And I trust you. You are your parent's child, through and through. But the department of magical law enforcement isn't always so moral… I will be working from behind the scenes for now. Stay Vigilant Harry."

Harry kept the potion in his pocket as Dumbledore escorted him through the castle. Dumbledore summoned his robes for him before they went out. The two officers seemed uncertain, but didn't stop them. It soon became apparent that they weren't going back to the Ravenclaw Common room, but downstairs.

"Where are we going professor?"

"To the great hall of course, Harry. It is already past 9 o' clock, and it is a Monday morning after all."

Harry hadn't even thought about school after all that had happened that morning. His mind raced, thinking about what he was going to say to Ron and Cho. Or how he was going to pay attention in class after all that had happened.

When they arrived in the great hall there seemed to be a lot of confusion. Rumors were flying everyway, but people hushed down when they saw Harry and the headmaster walking by. Dumbledore left Harry at the Ravenclaw table, and gave him a final smile of encouragement before going up to the half empty teacher's table. Ron and Cho were sitting together awkwardly, ready to set Harry in between them the moment he arrived.

"So what happened mate? Everyone's saying something different. It doesn't look like anyone's going to make a formal address, and classes are same as usual."

"It was Hermione. She's petrified." Cho's eyes widened instantly.

"Not again! I knew we shouldn't have let her go try to see you! She felt it was important enough to go and give you your robes and books the moment it was allowed to leave the tower, but I told her last night it wasn't worth the trouble." Cho's appetite seemed to completely disappear after that. Ron managed to get a few more bites down but losing Hermione had really shaken him up too.

The rest of the day passed mostly uneventfully. By lunchtime everyone knew it was Hermione Granger that had been attacked, and that someone had written that the Chamber of Secrets was open. No one said so to his face that morning, but it was clear people were whispering his name around. Harry didn't know how to feel. One of his best friends was missing and he didn't have a clue what to do. All he had to go on was that this Chamber was apparently some myth, and his only tools were 4 months of wizard training, a mind numb shinigami, and a notebook good only for murder. Not much, but it was something.

"It just feels wrong, doesn't it, not having Hermione around." Ron said, looking at his feet as they walked from their last class that afternoon. "We've basically hung around with her constantly since we came here."

"Well, she'll be back soon. Cho was telling me after you left breakfast that Marietta should be back after Christmas break. Now that they know what they need to treat it won't take nearly as long for her to come back. And we can spend time with Cho in the mean time." For some reason this comment seemed to make Ron uncomfortably quiet. Harry took note of this change and said, "What's up?"

"It's just, her, ya know; I think she only really likes you. Like, we've never hung out at all alone before this morning. We just sat in silence after we realized Hermione and you weren't there yet."

"Then it's settled." Harry decided, "you two are going to hang out tonight."

"What's that?" Ron looked oddly at Harry, with a slightly upturned nose and wide eyes. "It's not like I dislike her Harry. She's fine, and a good Quidditch player and all, but we just aren't similar. She's all, popular… and I'm…"

"My best mate. And Cho's my friend too. So it's my job to make sure you guys are friends too. Start with a chess game and see where it goes from there. Just get to know each other. Tell her about your family."

Ron's ears went red. "My family. Yeah… Well, I'll try at least."

Harry left his two friends alone that evening and went down to the library to just get some peace and quiet. He had his books to look like he was studying, but he just couldn't focus after everything else that day. He had just zoned out properly when Vim came out of a wall nearby, with a sullen look.

"Hey Harry, any new theories for me?"

"No you dolt. It's only been a day and I've had my injured friend to worry about. As long as we steer clear of the grounds' borders we won't have any more dementor problems. Now that I think about it, I really should be trying to find out more about the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore wouldn't talk, but maybe someone else will."

"KILL. Failed before, but now, I'll KILL." The sickening whispers came from all around Harry again.

"What?" He had heard the same voice when Marietta had been attacked. He strained his ears to hear what direction it came from and managed to hear a much fainter KILL coming from down a hallway. He took off running.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm hearing the voice again!"

Madam Pince had heard him talking loudly and had come by to hiss at him. "Quiet in the library, boy! And who are you even talking to?" Harry ignored her and sped off, barely keeping in ear's range of the whispers. He ran past several sleepy students heading off to their common rooms, which alerted harry to the fact he had been sitting in the library for far longer than he thought. But this was too important. He needed to get answers.

He sped down hallway after hallway, as the torches in the castle magically went out. Harry ended up lost in some part of the castle, when another pair of voices drowned out the faint whispers he had been following.

"If I have to talk to you about this again Quirrel we may have to involve the headmaster himself. You don't want me as your enemy."

Snape. Harry froze in place behind the corner. He was torn between rushing ahead or staying still. His heart pounded thunderously. What was that jerk doing with Quirrel at this hour. Harry had hardly taken notice of the cruel potions master for months, doing his best to ignore his mockery.

"Wh-Wh-Whatever do you m-mean, Severus?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Your curiosity will get you killed one of these days, and that dog is not as patient as I am. We have had two students harmed by some unknown power of the Dark Arts, and instead of protecting the philosopher's stone you think it fun to go and give it a look?"

"Bu-But I-I, never…" Harry took a quick peak around the corner. He'd certainly lost the trail of the voice, but there seemed to be yet another mystery unfolding here. How many secrets can one castle hold… Harry thought, looking at the two men.

"Just don't let it happen again." Snape said with a flourish of his cloak and sauntered off, directly at Harry. Damn.

Harry tried to back away, but bumped into a suit of armor.

"What was that?" Snape ran towards Harry quickly now, and despite Harry's attempt to run he was quickly caught. "Potter! What are you doing here?" Professor Quirrel came around the corner to join them. Harry started to feel very uneasy. The stress of the confrontation seemed to be getting to him. Harry's head began to ache, his palms sweat, and he couldn't move his legs.

"P-potter is h-here? What is g-going on?"

"What did you hear boy?"

"Nothing!" Harry said far too quickly to be believed.

"He may have h-heard anything S-Severus. You mentioned the stone."

"Only because you've been snooping about, dog!" Snape was spitting out his word's angrily now, his greasy hair inches from Harry's face. "Well I know exactly what we can do with this one. Quirrel, if you'd do the honors? Wand work is more your specialty, is it not."

"U-Um, quite right." Quirrel pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at Harry. "No hard feelings, Potter. You won't remember a thing anyway. O-Obliviate!" Harry felt an acute pain in his scar and quickly collapsed.