"Harry, why in the bloody hell are you waking us up so late?" came in Seamus Finnagin.
"Sh!" said Harry. He wanted to listen, wanted to know where the snake was going.
Kill...Protect Poisonous Grasp...Death and Secrets shall be released soon.
There it was, there was the sentence. What was Death and Secrets? What did the snake want? What was it after?
Harry got out of his bed and left the dormitories.
"Harry!" said Ron. "You'll get caught."
"Or worse; dead," said Dean Thomas.
Harry left the voices behind him, walked down the Gryffindor Common Room stairs, and through the portrait of the Fat Lady. He was following the voice; the voice was getting louder and louder; it was close. Harry now realized why the people upstairs hadn't understood: Harry could understand Parselmouth.
Harry had just remembered that he had left his invisibility cloak in the dormitory; and then he bumped into Hermione.
"Harry!" whispered Hermione.
"Hermione," said Harry, "what are you doing here?"
"You can hear it, too?" she asked.
"What?" This puzzled Harry. Was she hearing the voices, just like Harry? Had she been keeping secrets from him along? Death and Secrets shall be released soon...
"You can understand Parseltongue?" asked Harry.
"Yes," Hermione sighed. "I started hearing it after I was petrified seven years ago."
"How come you never told me? Or Ron?"
"I didn't want you guys to be worried, or concerned."
"We wouldn't have been. Well, maybe Ron might've been, but I would've understood."
Press the fang...blood pours out...Kill...
"That does not sound good," whispered Hermione.
"I don't think we should go any further," said Harry. "It may be dangerous."
"Or we could get in trouble," added Hermione.
Professor McGonagall happened to pass by the two while they were walking back to the common room.
"And what are you two doing out of bed so late at night?" she asked.
"We were just —"
Hermione was interrupted by a horrific, painful scream. It sounded like a woman's.
"Oh dear," muttered McGonagall. She began walking down the hall. "You two stay here. Or go back to bed."
While the two were nearing the portrait of the Fat Lady, Perifius Malfoy happened to bump into the two.
"And what are you two doing out of bed?" he asked, like he thought he was a prefect.
"What about you?" responded Harry.
Perifius ignored the two and walked away.
Hermione and Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Don't you think it was strange," she said, "that Perifius happened to be walking around after the voices ended?"
"I'm sure he speaks Parseltongue, since he is a Malfoy," Harry responded.
"Well, I'm off to bed," yawned Hermione. "I've been up all night."
"What time is it?" Harry asked.
"I suppose about one-thirty," Hermione responded. Harry took a guess that he had waken up the same time he always did when he had the dream.
"Oh," Hermione added, "don't tell Ron about this. Or anybody, in that matter."
"Why?"
"Because — just don't." To that, Hermione walked up to the girls' dormitory, and said, "Good night."
Harry sat in the common room for a while afterward, thinking about what happened. He was reading Voldemort's thoughts, and all of a sudden, a snake, or basilisk, happened to be slithering through the walls. And who was that screaming? Had someone died? Was Nagini the snake?
Harry sat there, with thousands of thoughts floating around in his mind, staring at the fire that lit up the room. He had a few memories with that fire, especially with Sirius. Sirius had always used magic and talked to Harry through the fire, and now, Sirius was gone.
Harry saw a Daily Prophet lying on one of the sofas, and he picked it up, and read the front headline:
KLUTZO TO INSPECT HOGWARTS
Harry knew it; it was another Umbridge. He read on:
"Henrietta Klutzo, Minister of Magic, is inspecting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry throughout the next weeks.
"'The reason,' Klutzo says, 'is because of many recent deaths of headmasters. I mean, Albus Dumbledore, probably one of the greatest headmaster of the school, died, and just a few months later, Rufus Scrimgeour was murdered. Minerva McGonagall has never been headmistress, and we, meaning I, will need to inspect that she is giving these children a respectful education.'
"Klutzo said she will grade the school basically on morale, and how well the students perform magic. Any teacher that fails to produce acceptable skills will be fired, or temporarily dismissed. Klutzo also says that she will not be like her sister, and take over the school so preposterously."
Yeah right, Harry thought.
"After Hogwarts is inspected, either a few teachers will be placed in positions, or the headmistress will be removed, and then she will move along to other magical schools in the area.
"Klutzo is said to also be removing Non-Magical Studies from all schools."
It was terror; the nightmare of Umbridge was happening all over again. And then, Harry saw a smaller headline that said:
DOLORES UMBRIDGE FOUND AS DEATH EATER
Harry had to read it:
"Dolores Umbridge, ex-Ministry worker, who was one of the most respected ones, and sister to Minister of Magic Henrietta Klutzo, has been found as a Death Eater, following You-Know-Who's commands.
"'I attempted to arrest her,' says one of the Azkaban controllers, 'but she ran off to who knows where.'
"The search for Umbridge is ongoing, and whoever receives her must take her to the Ministry. The Ministry will then give you a reward for one million galleons. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE."
One million galleons; that was a lot! If Harry could just capture Umbridge, but he knew he wouldn't. Besides, it was Voldemort Harry wanted the most. Harry felt a little drowsy, and went off to sleep.
The next morning, McGonagall wanted every student in the Great Hall. She said it was "very important."
"I wonder what she wants," said Hermione as they were walking to the Great Hall. "Do you think...?"
"Somebody died?" Harry finished. "I hope not, not that again."
"Maybe they're building a new school," suggested Ron.
"Ron, they would never do that," said Hermione. "The school is thousands of years old, yes, but it's still in great condition."
"I think they need to remove that bloody Chamber of Secrets," said Ron. "It gives me the creeps. And kill all of Arogog's descendants."
"Ronald," retorted Hermione, "grow up."
The Great Hall was dark, and white banners with green borders hung above on the sky-cieling. McGonagall was wearing a black robe, and was standing at the golden podium.
She spoke finally after everyone was seated. "This is a very important message to all of you. I hope some of you will not be too emotional, but, at the same time, some of you will not be too afraid."
To that, Harry had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"I am afraid," continued McGonagall, "that we have lost a teacher."
Gasps were heard around the Great Hall. Another death?
"Last night, in the middle of the night, Professor Sprout —" here, she paused "— was poisoned...by a snakelike creature."
The gasps were growing louder and louder. A snakelike creature? So it was a snake Harry had heard the night before. And the scream was Professor Sprout's. It obviously was sent from Voldemort, but why? Why would he kill Professor Sprout? And this also gave more proof to Hermione's theory of Voldemort keeping guard in the Chamber, or at least somewhere in the school.
"We think," she continued, "that it — it was a — a basilisk."
Moans, gasps, and a few screams were heard from the students.
"Silence," McGonagall said, quieter than Dumbledore's calls to be silent. The Hall grew silent.
"Now I want everyone here not to be afraid. This same kind of thing happened several years ago, and was one of the darkest times of Hogwart's history. We think that since a basilisk has killed her —" she paused once again "— that the Chamber of Secrets — unfortunately — is, indeed, open once more."
Screams were heard among the students. Hermione was right! He was there, right there. Now, all Harry thought he had to do was make a plan, and capture a Horcrux from the Chamber before it was too late.
After that, McGonagall also announced the Firenze, the current Divination teacher that helped Professor Trelawney, and was a centaur that was smart with his plants, would be teaching Herbology now.
"Did you notice Ginny wasn't in the Great Hall?" said Hermione that night in the Gryffindor Common Room. She made sure Ron was off to bed already.
"Yes," said Harry. "I know, it's all happening again. The Chamber opening, and she's being possessed." Harry sighed.
"So," Hermione said, "have you had any strange dreams or visions lately?"
"Well, Voldemort was standing in the Chamber, and he hid one of his Horcruxes in the statue shaped like a snake."
"That's it! We have to enter the Chamber, and destroy the Horcrux!"
"We?" Harry was astonished that Hermione and Ron would like to come along. He did not want them to get injured, or worse, killed.
"Yes, we," she responded, "meaning Ron, you, and I."
Harry shook his head, but Hermione kept talking. "Look, Harry, I know you don't want us to get killed or hurt, but you promised us last year we could help you destroy Voldemort, and his Horcruxes."
Harry sighed. He had promised, and he knew he would lose the argument, so he compromised. "Okay, you guys can help."
"We are stronger than you think, Harry," Hermione said, and she went off to bed.
The next week brought a migraine invasion from Henrietta Klutzo. Her annoying smile, her idiotic clothing, everything annoyed Harry so much.
"She's the most hideous, most outrageous, most annoying, most idiotic person I've seen!" exclaimed Ron.
But, through the next week, she seemed to have fired no one, and did not remove McGonagall. She finally left the castle with that bright, stupid smile.
"Guess what?" said Harry one morning while eating in the Great Hall. "Umbridge is a Death Eater."
"What?" asked Ron.
"She is," said Harry. "The Ministry attempted to capture her, but they were too late."
"I know, I heard about that, too," added Hermione.
"Dad would've reminded me or sent me a letter," said Ron, but he remembered that his father was not there anymore, and spent the rest of the day sulking around.
After dinner that night, Harry was walking back to the Gryffindor Common Room, when the Parseltongue voices were arising again.
Kill...Tomorrow night...set the Poisonous Grasp free...Obey dark lord...Kill...
Harry followed the voice, and eventually found that he heard it the loudest in the boys' bathroom. He opened the door, and heard a loud hiss. He looked around, but saw nothing.
Then, against the wall, he saw a shadow of a huge snake. It then transformed into a boy. The boy walked from out of one of the stalls, and it revealed Perifius Malfoy.
"What are you doing here?" he sneered.
"You're going to become just like your brother, aren't you?" Harry argued in return. "Obey the dark lord's every command."
"What are you talking about?" he responded. "And the dark lord wants you dead. I suppose a first year like me is going to kill you, huh?"
Harry walked out of the boys' bathroom and up to the Gryffindor Common Room. Perifius was right; a first year was going to kill Harry? Harry thought he was just crazy, but, at this moment, at this time in his life, anything was possible...