Chapter 5: Murder on the Second Floor

Albus found a notice pinned in the Slytherin common room. Flying lessons were to begin that Thursday, with Gryffindor. "Great!" Albus said as soon as he read it. "I love flying."

"Are you any good?" Aries asked from where she and Iris sat by the fireplace.

"I'm all right, I guess. I'm not going to make Seeker anytime soon or anything, but I probably won't make a complete fool of myself at the lesson, at least." Albus saw that Scorpius had gone extremely pale. "Oh, no, neither will you," he added quickly. Scorpius was not comforted.

Thursday afternoon, Albus and Scorpius went down the front steps and onto the Hogwarts grounds for their flying lesson. It was partly cloudy and there was no wind at all, the perfect weather for flying. Albus was not worried, because he had flown before. His father had taught both him and his brother the game of Quidditch. Albus was good, but his brother James had always been the better flyer.

A few people were already there, standing around broomsticks lying on the ground. Albus and Scorpius joined a small group of Slytherins, including Archer and Theodore. Albus spotted Rose coming over, but she was with five other Gryffindor girls, so he just smiled at her before turning back to Archer's 'lecture' about flying technique.

A woman with dark skin and darker hair walked over to the collection of students. "Everyone, line up by a broomstick!" There were two rows of broomsticks: the Slytherins all lined up in one row and the Gryffindors lined up on the row facing them. "I'm Gwenog Jones. Yes, I am the former Captain of the Holyhead Harpies. No, none of you may interview me or get an autograph. Now everyone stand with your right hand over your broom and say 'up'!"

A few students appeared to want to speak with Jones about captaining the famous team, but she showed no interest in speaking about this as she glared around at anyone whose broomstick was not at least twitching.

Albus had to say 'up' twice before the broomstick leaped into his hand. Next to him, Scorpius kept changing the way he said up. His broom was rolling around and taking little jumps, but it was at least half a minute before the broomstick finally leapt into his hand. Across from Albus, Rose was also having trouble getting the broom up to her hand. Rose's broomstick jumped to her hand a few moments after Scorpius'.

After all the students finally urged their brooms into their hands, Jones taught them how to properly mount their broomsticks without sliding off the end. She then walked around correcting their grips. The only person she seemed satisfied with was Archer, who had apparently not been merely bragging with his Quidditch stories.

"Now, on three, you should all kick off the ground hard. I want you to hover for a few moments, then lean forward slightly and touch back down." Gwenog Jones looked around sharply at all of them. "And no one go shooting off into the sunset…it'll only land you in detention. Ready? One…two…three…"

The lesson was a disaster. It was obvious that few of the students had ever ridden a broomstick before, and Albus was fortunately one of them. Four students collided simultaneously in mid-air and six instantly crashed to the ground just after taking off. Jones spent most of the lesson shaking her head in frustration.

Scorpius almost made it through the lesson without making a fool of himself…but during their final landing he crashed into Rose, causing her to fall quite painfully to the ground. Albus and Archer were the only students that seemed not to completely disappoint Jones.

"That could have gone better," Rose said as they walked back to the castle, still brushing dirt off of herself.

"I am so, so sorry!" Scorpius was still apologizing repeatedly for running into her. "I'm sorry, I just…made a fool of myself…" He moaned and put his head in his hands.

Albus couldn't help but laugh. "Scorpius, compared to the rest of the class you were the next Roderick Plumpton." This only made Scorpius turn bright red. "Come on, mate, is wasn't all that bad."

"Albus is right. I wasn't really hurt…anyway, you flew better than me." Rose caught sight of Erica waving to her. "See you two later!" she said, running off to join a group of first year Gryffindors.


"Oh, no, we're going to be late!" Albus said, gasping for breath.

"Potty wotty late for charmsys! Ha ha ha!" Peeves followed Albus and Scorpius down the second floor corridor, shooting ink pellets at them from above.

"Where's the Bloody Baron when you need him?" Scorpius groaned

The two nearly ran right past the door, but managed to skid to a halt in front of it. Scorpius had just put his hand on the handle when Peeves gave a blood-curdling cry. "Murder! Murder on the second floor! Murder…" He continued shouting as he went back down the corridor. Albus turned to Scorpius, confused, and he was then afraid to turn to look behind him. Scorpius' eyes were widened in horror, fixed on something behind Albus. Albus slowly turned around just as the door to the Charms classroom flew open and Professor Bones came out, brushing past the two boys. The entire class seemed to be gathered at the door.

"Peeves! What are you—?" Professor Bones' mouth kept moving, but no words came out. Albus turned.

A body lay on the ground further down the hall. A pool of blood had formed around it. Albus could not even tell if the body was a man or a woman, it had been so mutilated—the body appeared to have dozens of stab wounds. Albus felt his stomach lurch at the sight. Something was written on the wall, in red liquid that was oozing down toward the floor. Albus didn't have time to read it before Professor Bones put a hand each on the two, forcing them into the room. "Potter, Malfoy, into class, now. All of you, take your seats. I will return shortly." She closed the door behind her.

A few students attempted to open the door, but apparently Bones had put a spell on it to keep them locked inside. Theodore suddenly appeared at Albus' side. "What was it? What happened?" Albus was unable to tell him what he had seen, still trying to comprehend the terrible sight. When Albus didn't respond, Theodore turned to Scorpius. "What's happened?"

Scorpius mouthed a few words silently. The whole class, Slytherin and Hufflepuff alike, was gathered close around the two. Scorpius tried to answer again, speaking very quietly, so the students all had to lean in closer. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware - we are coming."

The class all exchanged confused and frightened looks. "What?" Theodore said. Scorpius looked around, startled, as though he had just noticed that there were people around him.

"The wall…it was written on the wall," Scorpius clarified quietly.

"What's the Chamber of Secrets?" a Hufflepuff asked.

"Slytherin's chamber, Jemima," another Hufflepuff answered. "Haven't you heard the stories?"

All the students dived into telling those near them everything they knew about the Chamber. Albus himself knew almost nothing. He could recall overhearing his parents refer to it, but they never said anything too specific.

"My mum told me about it," Scorpius said to Albus. "It was opened when she was here. A bunch of Muggle-born students were attacked."

"Do you know anything else?" Albus prompted. "Who attacked them? Did she say more?"

Scorpius shook his head. "She only told me about it when I heard dad mention it. She didn't tell me much. She didn't seem to want to talk about it."

The class suddenly silenced as Professor Bones returned to the room. "Everyone is to return to their dormitories immediately. Stay in groups with your house. Now hurry!" The class heeded this very quickly, pouring from the classroom as fast as possible, all trying to get a glimpse of the wall and the body before the students behind them pushed them down the hall. Professor Malfoy and Professor Clearwater were at the scene. Malfoy turned just as Albus passed by. Her features clearly showed that she was in shock. More than that, she appeared to be frightened. Albus supposed she should be, but her eyes were even more worried than Professor Bones'.

Back in the Slytherin common room, Albus was surprised to find that all Slytherin students seemed to have been ordered there. Those from his class were all accosted by other housemates seeking any information on what had happened on the second floor.

"The Chamber of Secrets? Impossible."

"Do we know who did it?"

"Who was killed?"

"Is anyone missing?"

Having told the story to a dozen older students, Albus tried to retreat into a corner, where he found Scorpius ducked away as well. However, he was unable to hide from his sister.

"This is mad!" Aries sat down on the floor against the wall by Scorpius. "This just doesn't happen! People don't get murdered here. Nothing bad happens here, not since the whole Dark Lord thing. But he's dead."

"Who would do something like this?" a voice asked from the crowd standing around them. Iris pushed her way through a few tall boys and sat down beside Aries. "Who would kill a student?"

"We don't know it was a student," Albus said quietly. "It may be a teacher."

The blood drained from Aries' face. "No – it wasn't – it couldn't have been mum, could it?"

"Mum's fine," Scorpius said quickly. "She was at the scene while we were being escorted out."

"Thank goodness."

Silence fell over the room, prompting the group to get to their feet to see why. "I have been instructed to inform everyone that today's classes will be canceled and no one is to leave their dormitory." Albus stood on the edge of the stones at the base of the fireplace to get a glimpse of the speaker. Professor Malfoy stood at the entrance to the common room. "Tomorrow and until further notice, no one will travel outside the common room without at least three companions." Scorpius moved to stand next to Albus. "Do not go anywhere unnecessarily. And yes, Mr. Zelig, I'm afraid that means no Quidditch practice tonight."

A group across the room groaned.

"Leave it to a murderer to choose our night of practice to strike. Couldn't they have done this tomorrow, when the Gryffindors have the pitch?" A few people laughed.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Mr. Graysoul," Malfoy said sternly.

"Sorry, Professor."

As Professor Malfoy turned to leave the common room, a boy shouted, "Professor! We're safe, aren't we?" Malfoy slowly turned back around. "It said the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, didn't it?"

"And it said for enemies of the heir to beware," a girl finished. "But the heir means Salazar Slytherin's heir, doesn't it?"

"So we're safe," Jason Zelig concluded. "Aren't we?"

Professor Malfoy's sharp gaze looked over everyone in the room, coming to rest on her son before she glanced briefly at Albus. "We cannot assume anything." With a whirl of her cloak, she left the room.

The crowded Slytherin common room remained silent.