Since my rambling has caused me to make this book longer than the first I will just have to go with the flow, put in different chapters for the same book if necessary, and perhaps live with the fact that some books will be longer than others. Either that or learn to plan ahead and format accordingly. I have a vague idea about how this story will go but to tell the truth, I'm making it up as I type. This would explain why the first book was only around 12,000 words while this one is going to break 20,000… (Thus I'm splitting it up in parts). It's too late to start planning now so I'm going to learn from this mistake and do better on my next story. Or not…I don't know yet.
I'm completely new at this whole writing thing. Other than essays I did in school, I haven't written anything of consequence…ever. If anyone has writing advice, I'm more than happy to hear it. I will try and work on my tenses but as I said, I'm making the story up as I go. I think in present tense but write in past. I try to make sure I keep it even but sometimes I don't. I'll try harder.
Someone mentioned that Harry was stupid. While I think the word stupid is rather exaggerated, my making him slow was intentional. Remember that the kid is only 12 so far and that he spent 10 of those years living in a cupboard. He also just learned about the Wizarding world when he was 11. I didn't want him to shine because that would have attracted Eris to him and I'm not ready for that. She needs to be put off at first because he IS ignorant. Don't worry, I don't have any intention of keeping him that way and I agree that he could have been portrayed a bit more intelligently by Rowling; if not a little more assertive. I suppose she was trying to make him seem down to earth and normal so the kids reading her story could relate to him. She's a bit out of touch. I believe that children are vastly different than the way she wrote them. They are not so clean cut and right and wrong are usually not so distinct. I think children see in gray and not in black and white. That being said…on with the show!
Warnings: Same as before, I might throw in a curse word (that being a bad word and not a hex) or two. I'm not much of a cursing person so this story is not going to be littered with them…I'll just add a couple in spots I deem worthy.
Disclaimer: Same as before…not mine.
Chamber of Secrets Part 2
It was blurry; Harry could hardly see what was in front of him. He saw shapes that he assumed were people. Two of them. There was a smaller form he deduced as a female, she was sitting on an oversized ornate chair. Painfully still. Her back was stick straight and she looked directly in front of her. She was clad in black and her pale face almost glowed in sharp contrast, framed by a blanket of dark hair. The other form was pacing back and forth in front of her. Harry thought it could be a male but it was moving and causing the blur to become more intense. Harry felt a bit of motion sickness as he watched the person move. The black of its robe was trailing after the form as if the color was fighting to keep up pace.
"How are you feeling, Maelstra?" The pacing form said as it stopped and turned toward the sitting one. Harry couldn't see the face of the person but it had an obviously male voice. The woman sitting in the chair didn't move. "Tell me you're fine."
"I'm fine." The woman named Maelstra answered. Her voice was odd but Harry couldn't place exactly why. It was almost like it had no emotion at all.
"Tell me you're happy."
"I'm happy." Maelstra said.
The man moved toward the woman and Harry felt like he could almost hear her screaming inside his head. A sound of such despair but the woman didn't move. She didn't make a sound out loud. The man knelt by her side and moved his hand to her face.
"Tell me you love me." The man's whisper almost sounded like a hiss. Harry shivered as the screaming continued anew in his head, this time louder and more frantic. It wailed in frustration, fear, loathing, and sorrow. Harry was definitely getting sick now and he doubled over and put his hands to his ears as he fought the need to vomit. The man was leaning closer to the woman now, his hand still on her face and his lips hovering near hers. "Tell me. Tell me that you love me."
"I love you." The woman's voice said before the man pressed his lips to hers.
Harry jolted awake, feeling sick and feverish. He looked to his right and saw the empty bottle of skelegrow potion on the nightstand next to his bed. He was in the infirmary at Hogwarts. He was safe. Then he tried to think about the dream again to make sense of it but it was quickly fading. All he remembered was a long black haired girl and screaming. Harry sighed and looked to the other side of the bed only to rear back and almost fall to the floor. That elf, Dobby, was about two inches from Harry's face. How long had he been there?
"Was Harry Potter having a nightmare?" Dobby's big eyes were beginning to wobble. Harry sighed and sat up in bed.
"It's not important, Dobby, just a reaction to the potion." Harry gave an apprehensive glance toward the empty potion container.
"Dobby is so sorry about that." The looked remorseful. Harry wrinkled his brow.
"The Bludger? That was you? You did that?" Harry asked incredulously then something clicked. "It was you who stopped the gateway at the train too!"
"Yes and Dobby hurt Harry Potter so he would go home. Leave Hogwarts." The elf displayed his hands, they were bandaged and swollen. "Dobby had to iron his hands. He failed Mistress Eris."
"Eris!?" Harry's voice rose. "What's this about Eris?"
The elf grabbed at his ears and made a noise close to a groan before slamming his head down on the stone floor repeatedly. Harry tried to make him stop and tell him what Eris had to do with it but the Elf wouldn't listen. He kept punishing himself while mumbling about "promised not to tell" And "failed". As suddenly as it began, Dobby stopped. His ears perked up and he made a "shh" at Harry.
"Someone is coming Harry Potter. Dobby must go." Dobby said and was gone before Harry could stop him.
Harry heard voices approaching and quickly arranged himself back in bed as if he were sleeping. He peeked above the covers in time to see Madam Pomfrey usher in a group of teachers carrying the body of Colin Creevey. Harry remembered him as the boy who kept taking pictures of him. Apparently he had been petrified like Ms. Norris. The teachers conversed about the Chamber briefly and they tried to look at Colin's camera to see if he took a picture of his attacker. Then Professor Dumbledore said something that made Harry's blood turn to ice.
"It's just as we've feared. The children are not safe."
:
As soon as he was released from the medical wing he had met up with Hermione and Ron. He related what Dobby the elf said and what he heard the teachers talking about. He told them that he thought Eris was the Heir and that she wanted to either kill him or get him out of the castle so she could continue her plans with the Chamber of Secrets.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked Harry again as they walked down the hallway together. Ron shook his head at Harry's other side in response to Harry's impatient nod.
"I knew that girl wasn't right the first time I saw her. Too quiet. She stares too, y'know. Like she's looking inside you or dissecting you with her eyes." Ron shivered remembering the times he caught Eris staring at him.
"She's probably just analyzing you to better take you by surprise, Ron." Harry said and they rounded a corner.
He noticed that Ron had been quiet lately. It was a little odd but he attributed it to the tension surrounding the attacks. Everyone was on edge. The three of them were on their way to a new duelers club that Professor Lockhart started up that Harry was sure was connected to recent events. Harry supposed that if the students believed that they were prepared for whatever was loose in the school things would settle down a bit.
"It doesn't make sense, though, Harry." Hermione was irked by the inconsistencies. "She doesn't really fit the profile because of all the times she's helped you out and she practically ignores everyone else. True, Dobby mentioned that Eris had something to do with the Bludger but that could just be Slytherin pride. It's understandable that she would want you out of the way during a Slytherin/Gryffindor match, especially since it was Malfoy's first game. I'm not condoning it but there is no proof that she has anything to do with the Chamber or the recent attacks."
Harry was just about to question why Hermione was sticking up for Eris but stopped himself. Hermione had a point. If she really wanted to harm Harry all she had to do was let that tree beat him to death. Eris was so confusing sometimes. She watched him practice Quidditch, gave him directions through the school, saved him from the Whomping Willow and interrupted would-be-fights like a peacemaker. Yet, she was snotty and abrasive. She tried to get him expelled, possibly sent a rogue Bludger after him, and maybe even forced Dobby to iron his hands after he failed to do harm to Harry. Why was the elf even helping her to begin with? Did he work for the Snape family? Did he have to do what she tells him to?
"Who do you think is the next most likely culprit?" Ron asked curiously, breaking Harry from his thoughts. Just as he said the words Malfoy rushed by, followed by Crabbe and Goyle, he purposely knocked into Hermione, sending her into Harry's side. The three friends exchanged looks. Ron rolled his eyes. "Oh…well, YEAH. That one is obvious"
:
"In light of recent events I have been given permission from Headmaster Dumbledore to ready you all for the trials ahead." Professor Lockhart strutted up and down the dueling walk like a general speaking to his soldiers. Eris narrowed her eyes with distaste. A peacock general who probably never even met with a single "trial" in his single pompous existence. Never mind what his books said. He certainly couldn't defeat a dragon wearing lace ruffles and heeled boots.
"While I'm certainly up to the task" Lockhart continued, pausing to smile charmingly at a couple girls while they sighed adoringly. "I was told I needed an assistant to display proper dueling procedure."
Eris swiveled her head as another person approached slowly from her left and then fought the urge to laugh at her father's expense. The poor man did not look pleased to be there. He was probably ordered by Dumbledore. Perhaps to make sure Lockhart didn't accidently kill a student or removed all of their bones. It's just as well, though, perhaps they might be able to learn something now that he was there.
"First you salute your opponent with your wand out like so" Lockhart held his wand in front of his face and Snape mimicked the move. Eris was please to note a slight hint of mock in her father's stance. "Then you walk toward the end of a dueling block, usually about twenty paces or so, and face your foe again. You must count to three before dueling."
"This is boring." Pansy whined softly at Eris' side. Eris was about to agree when she heard her father yell "Expelliarmus!" after Lockhart's countdown and saw Lockhart sail through the air and land ungracefully near the edge of the platform. Pansy clapped her hands together gleefully. "Ooooh! Neat!"
"Is he alright?" Eris heard Granger say. The curly haired Muggle-born was looking worriedly toward the Defense professor.
"Who cares?" Ron said with a bit too much humor. Eris chuckled and Pansy laughed despite what house the boy was in. Eris stopped smiling when she noticed Harry's eyes on her and immediately looked down at her feet. She still felt a little guilty about inadvertently causing Harry's accident. Draco, who was previously watching the teachers, was drawn into the conversation when he heard Hermione's voice.
"What's the matter Mudblood? You have a crush on the Professor?" He sneered, Hermione flushed, and her two friends glared at Draco.
"You know, that word is becoming stale." Eris said in a whisper to Draco. He gave her a look but wisely kept his mouth shut when Pansy nodded in agreement and Blaise shrugged with indifference. Eris completely missed the baffled looks of the three Gryffindors because her attention was brought back to the professors when Lockheart finally got up.
"Wonderful to show them that, Professor Snape, and if you don't mind me saying so, if I had only wanted, it would have been only too easy to counter…"
"Perhaps it would be prudent if we showed the students how to protect themselves against such attacks." Snape interrupted and the Slytherins all smirked up at Lockhart from the floor. He eyed all of them warily then smiled.
"An excellent suggestion!" Professor Lockhart turned sharply and walked away from the little army of Slytherins. "Let's get a volunteer…Ah, Harry Potter. If you would please…"
Harry got up on the platform surrounded by the cheering of his housemates. Eris' mouth twitched and she looked up at her father with eagerness. Oh how she wanted to blast the Gryffindor and stop all her childish memories of "the great wizard Harry Potter". If she won a duel with him then maybe the insistent nagging in her gut would cease.
"A student from my own house," Snape started and Eris buzzed with anticipation. "Draco Malfoy"
"Son of a Bitch." Eris hissed under her breath but turned and smiled encouragingly at Draco. "Give him hell."
"Of course. I've learned a new spell I want to try out." Draco sniffed confidently and rose up on the platform as well.
As the two boys saluted each other with a "Scared Potter?" and a "You wish", Eris spent her time glaring resentfully at her father. He pretended not to notice. Professor Lockhart started to count and before he reached three Draco fired out a spell that made Harry fly backwards just like Lockhart did. Eris raised her eyebrows, impressed and amused at the same time.
"Couldn't wait?" Eris called up while Pansy and Blaise laughed and pointed at Harry as he slowly got back up.
"Enemies don't wait until three." Draco smirked. "I'm doing my part to prepare Potter for the real world."
Snape nodded approvingly while Lockhart tsked. Harry readied himself, taking Draco's advice, and fired a spell right away that had Draco going through the air as well. Snape shook his head reproachfully and Eris bit her lip to keep from laughing but her two friends decided it was worth it to laugh at a fellow Slytherin. He glared at them and they shut up eventually but still had matching grins. Dusting off and looking for the entire world like he meant to get hit, Draco readied his wand again.
"Serpentsortia!" Draco called out and Eris gasped as a snake was conjured from the end of his wand looking very angry to be there. Eris found herself backing away from the platform fearfully.
"Why would he do that?" Eris whispered grabbing at her throat in terror. Ever since she was little she was told she had always been deathly afraid of snakes. Her father drilled it into her head that as an infant she was almost killed by one and from then on she never wanted to see a snake again. Draco knew that didn't he? Did she ever tell him? It wasn't something she liked to talk about so Eris couldn't remember. She flew a look toward her father and saw him scrutinizing her. She begged him with her eyes to get rid of the snake.
"Who to strike? So many here" Eris heard a voice coming from the platform and she widened her eyes in alarm when she realized it was the snake she heard. "This boy here? I smell his fear."
"Don't" Harry was speaking now but by the way everyone was staring at him, Eris thought that he would have grown a second head. "Please. No violence. Calm yourself."
"Who are you? Doesn't matter. This boy's fear is tasty." The snake swiveled his head around to peer at Harry before turning once again at Justin Finch- Fletchley. Eris couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene. She didn't realize she was shaking uncontrollably until she heard her father banish the snake and everyone started whispering around her excitedly.
"Can you believe it? Potter was speaking Parseltongue!" Pansy squealed, shaking Eris' shoulder. "It looked like he was telling that snake to attack that Justin kid!"
Draco was getting down from the platform, looking at her with confusion. Harry was being pulled out of the room and away from the chatting students by his two friends. Snape was still looking at her as if he was determining something while Pansy and Blaise tried to get her attention so they could gossip about what just happened. Eris couldn't see anything but her own fear and confusion. Suddenly she turned around and swiftly left the room, ignoring the calls of her friends.
:
Eris stared at the petrified body of Justin Finch-Fletchley and the suspended, unresponsive ghost of Nearly Headless Nick while trying to make sense of the entire situation. She had happened upon the three Gryffindors as they argued over the two victims. Apparently Ron, who didn't want any more suspicion placed on them, wanted to leave the area as soon as possible. While Hermione argued that it was their duty to report the attack. Harry was silent but he was the first to notice her arrival.
"What do you think?" He said toward her while the other two Gryffindors jumped and turned around.
"I think of a lot of things." Eris said with a shrug and looked up at the ghost. "It's a condition I have."
"About the attacks." Harry said crossly which drew Eris' attention away with interest. How assertive of him. "Don't try to side step the question. I think you know more than you let on."
"Maybe I do but that is my own research. I, for one, will never tell a suspect my knowledge before I'm satisfied with his innocence." Eris crossed her arms and smiled smugly.
"Harry hasn't done anything wrong!" Hermione yelled and glared at Eris.
"Who said the suspect was Harry?" Eris' smile grew wider.
Just then several students and teachers came down the hall, including Draco, Blaise, Pansy and Snape.
"What's all this now? Eris caught the culprit?" Draco smiled maliciously.
"Eris. Come here please." Snape put a silencing hand on Draco's shoulder as he stepped forward. Then he addressed the Gryffindors. "You three, return to your common room until further notice."
Eris hadn't talked to her father since the incident with the snake so she was looking forward to a chat and what those looks he gave her might of meant. She didn't complain and turned away from the trio to go toward her father.
"I'll find out who it is." Harry threatened just as Eris turned away. She gave him a mocking smile and nodded her head.
"The rest of you, leave the area, go back to your dorms, or go to the library. Your presence isn't required here." Snape barked. As the children filed out Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall came to pick up the two victims. Eris said farewell to her friends and waited for her chance to speak with her father. When he finally turned back toward her she was surprised to note that he wasn't looking her in her eye. "Follow me. Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you."
"Dear word. You think it's me!" Eris felt like she was going to vomit. Her own father!?
"Don't be stupid!" Her father snapped back but the hard lines of his face told her differently. He suspected her of something. Eris scowled but said no more. She followed him to the griffin statues that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office before Snape stepped to the side. He expected her to go in alone. She glared at him with as much anger as she could before entering the spiral staircase and heard the entryway close behind her.
Headmaster Dumbledore smiled kindly at her from his position behind his desk. The office was cluttered but Eris knew that what she saw was organized chaos. The old man knew exactly where everything was. If Eris was truthful with herself she'd say she admired him. He seemed to have a handle on everything occurring everywhere. Did he have a handle on the incidents with the Chamber of Secrets? Did he already know who opened it? Did he know about the creature? Eris had already come up with it being a creature. She had several it could be but she had ruled out spells or potions.
"Lemon Drop?" Dumbledore pushed a dish of sweets toward her but she shook her head. "What have you been thinking about lately?"
"What haven't I?" He already knew about her restless mind. What exactly was he getting at? The old Headmaster chuckled lightly.
"Yes, well I know all about that." His eyes twinkled merrily and Eris sighed with annoyance. She just wanted him to get to the point. "Well, if you've been thinking about everything then the Chamber of Secrets must have crossed your mind."
"Once or twice." Eris said warily. He certainly DID get to the point, didn't he? Eris was expecting a bit more lead up. Maybe he knew that and wanted to catch her off guard. "I didn't open it if that's what you're trying to tip toe around."
"Oh ho! No, dear child. I didn't mean to imply. I just wanted to know what you're thinking about it. It seems to be the talk to the school lately." Dumbledore smiled again. He steepled his fingers and peered over his glasses at her. He was expecting she divulge information. Isn't this his school? Shouldn't he know? Eris sighed again. She supposed he got his information in many different ways. Why not ask students as well?
"I've done a bit of research and the chances that the victims were petrified by spell or potion is very small, near zero." Eris picked at a chip in the wood of Dumbledore's desk. "The heir of Slytherin is a direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin and the Chamber has been opened in the past. A girl was killed. The fact that the Chamber has been opened again now is very suspicious as well."
"Do tell."
"Harry Potter is going to school here now." Eris looked up and gazed evenly at the Headmaster.
"Is that significant?"
"It has to be. Considering what happened last year and the Chamber of Secrets being opened this year. I'd say that the reason times have been…eventful…is because the famous Harry Potter now resides here. Things are quiet during the summers and I've been traveling around this school since I was seven. It hasn't been this active." Eris knew she was getting somewhere now. Dumbledore's eyes lost their merriment and were now staring at her with uncanny focus. "Either we have someone actively trying to assault the Boy-Who-Lived or forces in time with fate are coordinating in favor something. A natural pull of his power perhaps? No, otherwise it would have harmed him growing up. Why now that he is in school? Is his age relevant?"
"That's quite enough, my dear." Dumbledore interrupted. He was smiling again but Eris knew she hit on something large. "Speculations aside, do you happen to have any suspects on who the Heir is?"
"I've checked the family line of Slytherin as far as it goes but the line blurs so many times that it could be literally anyone."
"Even Harry Potter himself?"
"Absolutely not." Eris snorted. The idea was simply preposterous. There was a lot of talk that it would be Harry based on his ability to talk with snakes but Eris herself heard the thing. The talent of Parseltongue can't be strictly a Slytherin trait. She knew the Snape line didn't connect with Slytherin in any way. The Potter line was another story but she doubted it. "He is far too meek to be the Heir. Certain distinct talents aside, I think the odds of him being a Slytherin in any way are slim at best."
"You'd b surprised." Dumbledore chuckled but let it go. "And what about your sleep. Have you been sleeping well?"
"Same as before. I have a couple of sleepless nights but nothing too worrisome. The things that kept me up weren't important. School work and the like." They had had conversations like this before. Eris sometimes thought that Dumbledore was acting as her counselor or mediwizard for her brain.
"If you have trouble keeping all of your thoughts organized, let me know."
Dumbledore dismissed her and she wandered the halls for a while thinking about the conversation she had with him. It was very odd. She couldn't find her father either. Eris assumed he was avoiding her but she couldn't think of why.
:
"So you WANT to do research?" Hermione's eyes were huge with surprise. Harry rolled his and pulled out another book from the shelf.
"This is personal. I hate that people are looking at me like I'm the Heir of Slytherin. The only way I can prove my innocence is to find the REAL Heir." Harry dropped the books on a table and took his seat. Ron was jolted out of whatever he was doing at the table by the sound.
"What would you do if you find out who it is?" Ron asked.
"Turn the person in, of course!" Hermione answered the question for Harry.
"What if the person didn't know that they were the Heir and what if they didn't know that they opened the Chamber?" Ron was beginning to whine.
"That's what we're doing research for." Harry answered this time because Hermione pursed her lips in confusion. Harry knew that she only did that when her valuable sense of moral code was dimmed. "If that is the case, it is only right to make sure the person gets the help they need and we can close the chamber for good. We need to know what we're up against, how to handle it, and what we're going to need to stand up to it."
"Luckily the teachers are already brewing a potion that will cure petrification. So far nobody has been hurt." Ron said.
"So far." Harry reminded him. "Remember, fifty years ago a girl died. Who knows what else the Heir can do besides just petrify someone."
"Well, what do you suppose we do first?" Hermione was certainly up to the task. Ron was less than enthusiastic, to Harry, he looked a little pale. Harry wondered if he was ill.
"We first need to determine who the Heir is." Harry began. He pushed an open book toward Hermione that he had been looking at before. "Do you think you can make this? I'd attempt it myself but I think I'd end up killing myself."
"Polyjuice Potion?" Hermione quickly skimmed through the potion's statistics. "I don't think I'll have a problem but what's the purpose?"
"It's a disguise potion isn't it?" Harry asked.
"Well, yes but…" Hermione opened her mouth in and "O" of understanding. "You want to spy on the Slytherins to see if anyone knows about the Heir!"
"In particular, our two biggest suspects."
"Snape's daughter and Malfoy?" Ron decided to enter into the discussion.
"Exactly." Harry smiled proudly. "I figure, if we disguise ourselves as people in the inner circle of those two we could catch them when their guard is down."
"Pansy and Blaise?" Hermione lowered her head conspiratorially. "They are certainly Snape's closest friends."
"I thought about that too but I think that would put us in a bad spot. She knows them too well and if we don't act exactly like them then it might tip her off." Harry shook his head. "She's way too smart, that one."
"Crabbe and Goyle?" Ron offered. Both of his friends looked at him. "Well, they're in the inner circle but they don't talk much, mainly stand back and listen. Isn't that what we want to do?"
"Perfect! Ron, you're a genius!" Harry clapped his red headed friend on his back. "Hermione, you'll have to find someone else friendly to Malfoy and Snape to impersonate."
"No problem. I hear Millicent Bulstrod was interested in dating Blaise so she has been super friendly to the group lately."
"Who would want to date her?" Ron wrinkled his nose.
"Not Blaise, from what I hear." Hermione giggled. She gazed down at the book for a moment longer. "You need hair from the person you want to become."
"Alright, we each have to go get it." Harry said getting up. "In the meantime, Hermione, could you please start on the potion. If you need help getting something just let me know. I'll use the robe if you need."
"Thanks Harry. I might need to take you up on it. I think this potion is supposed to be illegal. The ingredients are hard to get." Harry chuckled and left the library, followed by Ron.
:
Ron and Harry, disguised as Crabbe and Goyle, wandered around the hallways in search of the Slytherin Common room. It was a slight miscalculation in their plans. They had no idea where it was. Hermione might have known but they had to leave her in the abandoned bathroom that they brewed the Polyjuice potion in. She said to go on without her. Something went wrong with her potion and she needed to stay out of their sleuthing.
"What are you two doing out so late?" During their search they had accidently come across Ron's brother, Percy. Bad luck.
"There you two are." Another voice behind them said and the two turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. Malfoy. Then Harry had to laugh inwardly at the irony. He was glad to see Malfoy but wasn't glad to see a Weasley brother. "What were you two doing?"
"We uh…" Ron/Crabbe started.
"Eating." Harry/Goyle finished definitively. Isn't that what they did besides bully? With Draco's nod Harry figured it was good enough.
"Hello!? I'm still here!" Percy said impatiently.
"Yes, but WHY?" Draco sneered.
"I happen to be a Prefect. You three shouldn't be wandering the halls this late." Percy just seemed to remember that he was older and had more authority than Draco. He stood straighter, trying to intimidate the blonde. Harry watched as Draco coolly gazed at the red haired prefect.
"Perhaps you should tell Professor Snape. He'll be kind enough to tell my father who will be kind enough to tell YOUR father you are above giving out petty punishments to someone who isn't doing anything wrong." Draco turned as soon as he was done and started to walk away. "Crabbe! Goyle! You coming?"
Harry didn't need another invitation. He spared Percy another look and almost felt sorry for the boy before following the Slytherin.
"Don't worry about Percy, he's ambitious and wants a job in the Ministry when he graduates. If he's lenient to Malfoy then he'll have a better chance of advancing." Ron leaned over to whisper softly to Harry so Malfoy wouldn't hear. "The family doesn't approve but we can't really tell him what to do now."
When they entered the Common room Harry saw no one about until he heard a shout and caught sight of Eris supervising a furious chess match between Pansy and Blaise in a far corner. He had never seen a more lively played game in his life and by the look of it, Ron agreed. They were yelling insults and moving pieces around in a frenzy all while Eris unhelpfully pointed out mistakes made. They gave a quick wave as Draco and the two Gryffindors in disguise came in but didn't look up from the match. The common room was much like the Gryffindor tower but with a few distinct differences. The room seemed darker and gloomier with the green accents and dark stone walls but the layout was the same.
"I can't believe you three can act so carefree." Draco shook his head in mock dismay and Eris snorted but still didn't look up. Harry had never seen her like that. She DID seem carefree and the snort was a complete surprise. Draco placed the back of his hand to his forehead while placing the other one over his heart. "What if you were attacked in the hallways and petrified like poor, poor Justin?"
"Don't be so dramatic." Eris said dismissively. "I'll give you attention in a moment. This game is almost over."
"Don't say that!" Pansy wailed.
"It is." Blaise said triumphantly. "Check. Mate."
"CHEAT!" Pansy flew out of her chair and withdrew her wand. Eris cleanly sidestepped out of the way. She smiled slightly with interest. "I'll kill you for this!"
"Don't be such a bitch." Blaise smiled smugly and raised his arms in the air in victory. "I AM the reigning champion! NO ONE can defeat me!"
Ron's hands twitched and Harry could practically feel the other boys desire to play, if only to show the Slytherin exactly WHO was champion. They needed to get back to the plan. They weren't there to act chummy to the Slytherins. They were there to get some answers. Before he could talk, though, he was beat to the chase by none other than Eris.
"Now, what were you saying about Justin?" Eris left the bickering friends, obviously bored already with their antics.
"Nothing…" Draco pouted and Eris tutted with mock concern, patting him on the shoulder. Harry couldn't get around it. He was starting to get a little freaked out by their interaction. They seemed too domestic, too human and not enough evil. "You don't care about me at all! All you care about is that Chamber!"
"Then you know who's behind it?" Harry interrupted the scene, unable to let the opportunity pass. He wished he could have kept quiet when both of their attentions were drawn to him, though.
Eris' eyes seemed to pierce his. She recognized something about this Crabbe. She normally ignored the two Slytherin boys but she certainly didn't ignore Harry Potter. His glasses were familiar to her now.
"Of course not! I've already told you that!" Draco snapped, not noticing anything amiss. Then he broke into a grin and slyly peered at Eris. "I wish I did know. Eris is doing the research. Maybe she's the one!"
"Don't be boring. You know" Eris rolled her eyes and looked at Harry again. Her lip twitched. He probably doesn't even realize he's wearing his glasses. Interesting. "I didn't know you wore glasses, Crabbe."
"I, uh, I was reading." Harry immediately took off the glasses and felt his face flame up in embarrassment. Eris probably knew. He heard the sarcasm in her voice. This was seriously bad. Her eyes seared his for a moment with a little half smile before changing her attention toward Ron. Her eyebrows rose slightly but she didn't say anything.
"I didn't know you could read." Draco looked impressed before dodging a flying book. He looked over at a seething Pansy and a defensive Blaise, another book in his hand and ready to throw. "Oi! You two are taking this too far!"
"She's trying to kill me!" Blaise pointed at Pansy. "Tell her to stop being a sore loser!"
"Why don't you have a rematch? I'll referee and make sure you don't cheat." Draco got up and walked toward the chess table. "I'll be better than Eris. She likes to let you cheat so she can watch the resulting fight afterward."
"Don't steal my fun." Eris said lightly. She turned toward the two Gryffindors in disguise. "You two. I want some cookies. Could you…leave…and get me some. Now."
Ron was looking at him in shock. He put a finger to his forehead and lipped "your scar" and Harry noticed Ron's red hair was showing up again. He widened his eyes and looked at Eris but she was already moving away from them. The two got up without further ado and ran from the common room.
"She knows. I know she knows." Harry was panicking.
"If she did, she didn't say anything." Ron said.
"She might have something more horrible planned instead of outing us amongst her friends." Harry scowled.
:
"How's Hermione doing?" Ron asked as the two climbed the moving stairs back to Gryffindor Tower.
"She's back to normal save for ears and a tail." Harry grinned. Harry had visited Hermione at the medical wing. Ron said he had something to do.
"I can't believe she picked CAT fur off Millicent's robes!" Ron giggled. Harry was glad that his friend was back to normal. He seemed to have released what ever it was that was causing his drab moods. "Has Snapette approached you yet?"
"She's doing that now." Eris was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as they reached the landing. "And Ron, 'Snapette"? Honestly…"
"What do you have planned?" Harry spoke while Ron flushed.
"I'm planning on talking with you right now. Maybe going to the library later to finish up an essay. I also promised Draco I'd meet up with him sometime today. I think he wants to practice transfiguration." If Harry wasn't scared that she'd out him about using an illegal potion to sneak into Slytherins' common room in order to spy on them he'd find her answer charming.
"You know damn well what I mean. I know that you know about last night." Harry glared and Eris smiled.
"Your glasses are very distinct," She said while pushing off the wall and moving closer to him. Her gaze was unsettling as well as unwavering off of Harry's face, "and if I didn't recognize you based on them then surely I, as well as everyone in the room, would have when your scar and Ron's signature red hair showed up."
"What do you want?" Harry whispered.
"The next time you feel it necessary to spy I would like to be warned. I don't like surprises in my domain." Eris tilted her head to the side. "If not then I hope you make sure you are not found out. That means knowing Polyjuice potions only last a total of an hour before needing to be taken again. I don't want to have to cover for you again."
"That's it?" Harry was confused again. Eris was such a contradiction.
"Also, never call me Snapette. I was given a name and I intend to hear it." Eris' eyes sparkled with humor before brushing past the two boys. She called over her shoulder with a wave. "Do give Hermione my regards."
"She's completely nutters." Ron was shaking his head in amazement.
"Either that or we are." Harry shook his head too then continued toward the Common Room. He didn't stay there long and made an excuse sometime later to leave alone.
Harry was looking for Eris. He couldn't believe she intended to let this go and he'd be damned if he let her hold this over him later. He wanted to know her intentions and he wanted to know them now. He had heard from a 1st year student that she was seen somewhere near the near the bathroom the three Gryffindors brewed the Polyjuice potion in. It was unnerving and Harry hoped that she wasn't talking to Moaning Myrtle. Hermione, Ron and he had determined that Draco wasn't the Heir of Slytherin but Harry didn't write off Eris. She had pretty much admitted to doing her own research about the Chamber and has acted suspiciously ever since Harry MET her.
"What the-?" Harry picked up his foot and watched it drip. He had just stepped into a puddle. He looked around until he realized the water was coming from his destination: The girls' bathroom of Moaning Myrtle.
All of the toilets were running and the faucets were on. Myrtle was, for lack of a better word, moaning miserably and floating above all of the chaos.
"Myrtle! What happened?" Harry started turning off the faucets manually.
"Oh! Hello Harry." Myrtle said somberly. "I was just there in my stall, minding my own business, when someone thought it was funny to throw a book at me."
"Why would someone do that?" Harry looked around for the culprit and spied something in the toilet of a stall.
"Well, don't ask me." Myrtle pouted as she followed Harry. He picked up the book. "That's the one!"
"T.M. Riddle?" Harry read the front of the book. "Who's that?"
"Oh…" Myrtle began but was interrupted when they heard footsteps coming up the way. Harry pocketed the book just when Eris walked in with her head down and looking like she was searching for something. She stopped short and gave Harry a wary glance. Myrtle sniffed at the girl. "Hello Eris. You haven't visited my bathroom in a while."
"Oh, yes, Myrtle. For that I apologize. It seems I couldn't find the time now that I'm officially a student at this school." Eris nodded up to the solemn ghost before letting her eyes drift to Harry. He was already looking at her with suspicion but she gave him a superior smile and twitched her eyebrows up.
"I was leaving, just now." Harry rushed past her. He needed to speak to Hermione. He thought he just found something connected to the Chamber. T.M. Riddle sounded familiar to him somehow and if Eris was looking for it, like he thought, then it's obviously important.
:
"Are you sure you saw him go into the girl's bathroom?" Eris asked Pansy while the other girl looked at herself in the mirror of the girl's dorm and tried different hairstyles. Her short black hair fought valiantly against any other styles and tried to remain in the flat bob cut.
Eris had grilled Myrtle about why Harry was in the girl's bathroom but all she got out of the ghost was that Harry and she were friends and that someone through a book at her. Sometimes it was difficult to talk with Myrtle but when she was younger inane babbling had seemed fun. The book! Was a book the item Lord Malfoy was talking about? Eris wasn't naïve enough to think that a book could be harmless. It was certainly possible.
"Yes, I was following him like you asked and noticed he was acting a little weird. He avoided going to visit that Granger girl in the medical wing with Potter but instead stopped by the Gryffindor Tower for two minutes before heading straight toward the girl's bathroom on the third floor. He went in there for only a moment before leaving again. Then he went back into Gryffindor Tower. I told you this before."
"I know but it doesn't make sense. Why on Earth would he go in there?" Eris mumbled to herself. And why on Earth did Harry go in after him? Did Ron drop off the item and Harry pick it up? Why? Who was involved? Do the two know what they have? Did Harry know Ron had the thing from the start or did Ron keep it secret? Eris had gone to search in the bathroom once Pansy returned to her. She assumed that Ron discovered the danger of the item Lord Malfoy snuck on his person and tried to get rid of it. She wanted to get the item and dispose of it in a more concrete way but Harry had beaten her there. Now she was sure he had the item. The question is why Ron got rid of it and why Harry had picked it up. Also, what was it? Was it a book like she was beginning to think? What did it do? How was it connected to the Chamber of Secrets? The monster?
"Do you think I have a pug nose?" Pansy turned to regard her seriously. Eris blinked herself out of her thoughts and looked at her friend.
"What?" Eris was thrown off by the random comment. Pansy shrugged uncomfortably.
"Well…When Weasley passed by me in the hall after leaving the bathroom we sort of collided shoulders. He glared at me and called me pug nose under his breath." Pansy looked distressed. "But I heard it! So do I have a pug nose? I know you'll be honest even if it hurts so do your worst!"
Pansy closed her eyes and stuck her face out as if to give Eris a better view of her nose. Eris was bemused to say the least.
"You don't have a pug nose. That is entirely made up." Eris smiled at her friend and shook her head. While it was true that Pansy's nose was slightly upturned it was far from "pug". "What you have is an aristocratic nose. He's just jealous because you not only ARE rich but you look the part."
That seemed to appease Pansy and she smiled before turning back to the mirror. She tried to pull back the thick bangs that fell over her forehead.
"Still, maybe if I do something different with my hair my nose won't stand out so much." Pansy turned her face to look at a different view.
"It couldn't hurt but I don't understand why you are taking what a Weasley says to heart." Eris rolled over on her bed so that she was on her back, head hanging over the end of the bed. "It's not like his family is winning any beauty pageants. All that red hair and freckles. It's a bit gross really."
"Bullshit." Pansy mussed up her hair with both hands. It gave her a bit of a wild look and quite different from her polished look. "I know for a fact you had a huge crush on a Weasley."
"That blond bastard…"
"Don't blame him. You must admit, that bit of gossip was too juicy to keep to yourself. Draco just HAD to tell his other two best friends." Pansy grinned evilly.
"I was seven!" Eris sat back up and scowled.
"Seven to ten if not more. Three plus years is a long time to be infatuated." The incorrigible dark haired girl just wouldn't let it go.
"Look. I wasn't interested in Charlie's looks. I was seven. Seven year olds don't care about being attractive or not. I liked him because he was nice to me, he played Quidditch like a god and he liked animals. He was confident, tall, and he had a dimple on the left side of his cheek when he smiled." Eris was fuming but flushed when she realized she spoke about Charlie more than she had ever talked about him to another person before.
"Isn't it nice to have a girlfriend to talk about those things with?" Pansy said triumphantly and Eris blinked in surprise before she burst out laughing. She hadn't done that in a long time. The girls got to talking about boys and hairstyles until late in the night. Eris managed to forget about her worries for that brief period. For that she was grateful toward Pansy.
:
Blaise covertly peered through the gaps in the bookshelf at Hermione Granger. Not a bad looking girl if you tame the mane and she grew into her teeth. She had a nice even complexion of pale taupe and her honey eyes were always warm. Blaise spied a few golden highlights in her unmanageable curls. If glossed up they would shine. It wasn't like he was interested in her; he just wanted to give her a makeover. Hermione had her head bowed in a book like always. She was sitting with a Ravenclaw girl Blaise didn't care about and they were hurriedly skimming a grand total of three books each, cross referencing them with practiced skill.
Blaise had been tracking the Muggle-born girl for a little over two months upon Eris' request. Eris told him that she wanted to know what the Gryffindor trio was up to so that she and Draco could come up with a plan against them. Blaise didn't necessarily believe all of what she said but didn't care enough to question her. It wasn't like he expected complete honesty from the girl. She was a Slytherin after all. He figured that anything Eris was interested in must be somewhat exciting. He was counting on it, actually.
Hermione made a small gasp and pointed to something in a book. The Ravenclaw girl leaned over to read before meeting Hermione's eyes with astonishment. They both looked around nervously before Hermione ripped out the page. She said something to the other girl and the two headed out of the library. Blaise casually walked around the shelves and grabbed the book Hermione tore from. It read, "Mythical beasts and their effects on humans" along the spine. Puzzled he flipped through the book until he found the categories were listed alphabetically. Whatever it was Granger was looking at, it started with a 'B'. Eris might be interested to know this. Whistling a merry tune, Blaise left in search of her.
:
"Interesting." Eris replied to her knew information. So Hermione found out what the chamber monster was. Clever girl. Eris had had her own list of possible candidates for the Chamber monster but never got around to narrowing it down. Now that she knew it started with a 'B' she was positive that it was a Basilisk. It was worrying news.
"Interesting…but?" Blaise waited expectantly. They were sitting in the stands on the Quidditch field waiting for the game to start. The attacks seemed to have stopped but Eris knew that if a Basilisk was involved it was only a matter of time before someone died. It was only luck that everyone so far had been petrified instead.
"Interesting but worrying." Eris turned toward Pansy. The girl had pinned back her bangs as an experiment. She had said that she wanted to see how many people compliment her. If the total number reached past ten then she would wear the style more often. If under ten then she'd try something else the next day. It was very scientific. "Pansy, do you have a pocket mirror?"
"Yes, OF COURSE I do!" Pansy dug into her robes and pulled one out. "Why do you need it?"
"I don't. Blaise will." Eris took the mirror and handed it to the bewildered boy. "I want you to see if you can't continue to follow Granger. You'll need this because I think there is a Basilisk loose in the castle."
"Excuse me?!" Draco finally turned away from his conversation with Theodore Nott (whom Eris secretly detested) to butt into Eris' conversation. "Did you say Basilisk?"
"Lower your voice." Eris hissed. Then spoke louder so others could hear. "It's only an essay I'm doing. It's no big deal."
"Ok. What's all this about?" Catching Eris' hint, Draco leaned closer to the other three and whispered. Nott and the other Slytherins lost interest and went back to their own conversations.
"I believe the Chamber of Secrets houses a Basilisk and when the Heir opened it, it loosed the creature." Eris said ominously and her three friends gasped.
"Ok…wow…" Blaise said wide eyed. "So…why do you want me to carry the mirror?"
"The glare of a Basilisk can kill a human." Eris rolled her eyes. Honestly, didn't anyone read? Eris had always had an interest in Magical creatures but still. "The mirror can be used to peer around corners so that if a Basilisk is there, it can't kill you. Well, with its eyes."
"Do you have any more mirrors?" Draco turned toward Pansy. The girl was pale and her lip was trembling slightly. She shook her head and eyed her old one, now clutched in Blaise's hand defensively.
"Calm down. We can get more mirrors. Also, the mirrors won't protect you fully." Eris massaged her temples. "Have you made the connection between the Basilisk and the petrified victims at all?"
"So, the mirror is not a complete defense." Dear Draco. Quick to catch up. Eris smiled at him and nodded in encouragement. "The mirror technique might protect us from instant death in the Basilisk's gaze but we'll be petrified like the others. Also, there are the big teeth to worry about…"
"Always worry about big teeth." Eris nodded again.
"I don't want to follow Granger anymore!" Blaise wailed miserably albeit softly so no one else in the Slytherin section could hear. Blaise just KNEW the Gryffindors sought out trouble most of the time if only to prove how brave they were. He didn't want to be caught in the cross fire when the frizzy haired girl thought she could fight a Basilisk.
"Why were you following Granger?" Draco asked prickly. Eris rolled her eyes. She wished Draco could determine whether he liked the girl or hated her because this back and forth was irritating.
"I asked him to because I suspected something like this." Draco was about to say something else but Eris anticipated it. "I didn't ask you to trail the girl because subtlety is not your forte. Now hush. Something is happening on the field."
Sure enough Professor was rushing out in the middle of the field with urgency. She announced that the Quidditch game was cancelled and every student was to return to their houses until further notice. Eris had a few ideas what this was about. By the looks of her two friends, they did too.
"Stupid Granger…" Draco scowled and made an incredible show of not looking concerned. "She got herself killed didn't she?"
:
"It's not to be trusted." Ron said not for the first time. Harry and he were sneaking toward Hagrid's hut to question him about his involvement with the Chamber. The book Harry found in Myrtle's bathroom belonged to a boy named Tom Riddle. Tom went to school at Hogwarts during the Chamber's first opening and received a reward for catching the previous Heir. The boy, speaking with Harry through the diary, showed him the event that led to Hagrid being accused. "Hagrid can't be the one who did it. The diary and the boy, Tom, can't be trusted I tell you!"
"With Hermione being attacked too, I can't leave anything out." Harry said. He didn't think that Hagrid had anything to do with it either but he definitely went to school during the first opening as well as convicted for it. He might have some insight on what happened. Harry looked to his friend. The boy seemed tired. He was probably worried about Hermione, petrified and in the hospital wing. Harry was too.
"After we asked Hagrid about the Chamber, THEN can we get rid of the diary?" Ron continued. "It doesn't seem right. A diary isn't supposed to pull you in like a pensieve."
"I've hidden it in the room. We'll give it to Professor Dumbledore once this is all settled."
There was a snap of a twig behind them and the two spun around but nothing was there. Little did they know that Pansy was still tailing Ron (Of course, armed with a mirror now). She was hunched behind a tree and thanking the world she was in a dark patch or foliage. She was virtually invisible in a black robe and her black hair. She just needed to be silent. Once the two boys continued on their path, Pansy cautiously followed. She noticed that the two boys were heading to the giant's hut on the edge of the forbidden forest. She couldn't very well go in with them so she settled on stationing herself within eyesight of the hut. When they leave, she'll follow them back in and report.
Shortly after they went into the hut Pansy noticed three other figures coming up the walk to the house. She hid from them and watched them pass by. Why on earth were the Headmaster, Minister of Magic and Lord Malfoy going to Hagrid's hut? Pansy risked getting closer so she could peer inside the window. Lord Malfoy was talking and from the looks of it, he was certainly pleased about something. Then she noticed something extremely odd. The two Gryffindor boys were not in the hut. Lord Malfoy held out a piece of paper, said something else and looked pointedly at Dumbledore. Dumbledore replied with something that got Malfoy's face all stone like and started for the door. Hagrid got up and said something else as Minister Fudge opened the door.
"And feed Fang!" The giant finished as Pansy scrambled around the corner of the house to avoid the adults. She waited until they were fully down the path before running back to the castle. This was certainly something Eris needed to know about. She had a feeling Hagrid was just arrested and Dumbledore was forced to leave Hogwarts. She missed the door of Hagrid's hut open and close as if on its own. The Gryffindor boys exited the hut while under the security of Harry's invisibility cloak.
"Was that just Pansy Parkinson running away?" Ron asked.
"I think so." Harry replied. "I wonder what she was doing out here."
"Y'know. I think she has been following me around lately." Ron said thoughtfully.
"Yeah?" Harry was about to tease his friend when things began to make sense. "Eris…"
"What about her?"
"She's having us followed, I'm sure of it." Harry scowled. Why? Did she know something about the Chamber? Of course she did. Stupid question. Did she suspect one of them? Made sense. What about that time in the bathroom? She was obviously looking for something and was surprised to find Harry there (never mind the fact that it was a girl's bathroom). The book! Tom Riddle's diary. Eris wanted the book. Did she know that Riddle was in school during the first opening? Is that why she wanted it? Or was she the Heir? What would the Heir of Slytherin want with the diary of Tom Riddle? Did Tom know the secret of the Chamber? The creature that crawled out of the box Hagrid had! "Hagrid said to follow the spiders and we'll have our answers, didn't he?"
"Yes, and we have to feed Fang." Ron nodded beside him. Did his friend miss the connection? Was the creature a spider? From all the time Harry spent with spiders in the cupboard he learned that they had the ability to paralyze their prey before eating them. Perhaps magical spiders petrified their victims before consuming them in almost the same way. The Chamber monster could have just been interrupted and left his meal behind all those previous times. The only thing to do then was to follow any peculiar spiders they come across.
:
"Is it true? Professor Dumbledore has been asked to stand down as acting Headmaster?" Eris casually asked as she readied a few ingredients for her father's next class. She was carefully peeling the eyeballs of merfolk and sorting the skin from the gel like, juice filled innards into two different containers. Having grown up with Severus Snape, Eris had long ago discarded any squeamish tendencies she might have had.
"The official notice won't be posted until tomorrow at dinner." Her father looked sharply at her. Snape had stopped avoiding her but still seemed kind of distant to Eris. She decided to put her curiosity about the situation on the back burner until the Chamber fiasco was settled. It was probably all connected anyway. "How did you come to know this information?"
Eris gazed calmly at her father but decided not to confide in him her connections. If he didn't want to tell her what was on his mind then she'd keep everything to herself. The two stared at each other for a moment before her father sighed and turned away.
"You're just like him. Always knowing and never showing." Snape turned to place a full container of wasp wings on a shelf and pulled down a half empty one to fill it. "Albus is probably as proud as that fool man could be."
"When I start blabbering nonsense words and offering you sweets feel free to scold me." Eris said lightly before plopping another eyeball on her cutting board. "Until then, respect my resourcefulness and give me straight answers."
"Yes. He has been asked to step down. I'm wholly expecting it to be temporary, though." Snape turned to his daughter and smiled a thin smile that to anyone else would seem like a sarcastic smirk. "Am I to be one of your resources?"
"If you have information that I want." Eris grinned and put the two pieces of the eyeball she was working on into their respectful containers.
"Well, then. You should probably know that all of the Professors as well as Albus Dumbledore are completely stumped on who could be the Heir. Our suspect from the beginning has turned out to be innocent." Her father's jaw tightened. "It's good that they are even though that means we're in the dark on the true culprit. Now with Dumbledore out of Hogwarts, his own resources are coming up empty."
It was as close to an apology as Eris was going to get. Her father and the rest of the teachers must have suspected her and found out she was innocent. She didn't know why and probably never will but it is good that she was off the list now. If the teachers didn't know then she wasn't going to get any help by grilling her father about it. It was all up to her and her three friends now. She still never made the connection between the object Malfoy had and the Chamber. They had to be connected but in what way?
"Could the Heir be an object?" Eris blurted out after some amount of silence. Her father froze and turned toward her, his brows furrowed. "I mean. Could the Heir of Slytherin and the opener of the Chamber of Secrets be housed in an object and smuggled into Hogwarts?"
"I don't think that's possible. Do you mean an animagus?" Snape asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I'm just speculating." Eris tried to wave it off. "I was thinking that if someone had an item and they wanted it to be brought into Hogwarts for the purpose of opening the chamber, could they perhaps put something of the Heir's on someone's person so anyone could open the chamber?"
"I haven't heard of something like that." Her father said slowly but his gaze was hard. He wasn't telling her everything but his silence was telling her all she needed. She just hit on something important. The item that the Gryffindors had could be the key to the Chamber of Secrets and you didn't have to have the blood of Slytherin in your veins to use it.
"I forgot. I have an essay in history of magic to complete." Eris said just as her father mumbled about a meeting he forgot about and both of them left the room.
:
"Ron. I think you should head back, mate." Harry said worriedly to his friend. The boy looked about ready to keel over and die where he stood. The two of them agreed to take Hagrid's advice and "follow the spiders" into the forbidden forest where they all seemed to be heading but his red haired friend looked haggard. "You couldn't possibly help me out if you pass out before any trouble came along."
"I suppose your right. I just don't get it. I feel so exhausted." Ron's eyes had dark circles under them and he looked white as a ghost. "Maybe I should go to the hospital wing, yeah?"
"Maybe you should. Look, I can't wait until another night to do this so if I'm not back by morning then you should probably tell someone where I'd gone. I'll have fang with me just in case, so don't worry overly" Harry said. The two went back to the castle under Harry's invisibility cloak before Harry headed off on his own.
Ron watched his friend leave before he felt the sensation he had come to dread take over his body. He was glad he wasn't with Harry. Who knew what he'd do this time. Something had already happened to Hermione. Ron let out a small groan in frustration before everything went black.
:
The spiders were a bust. Not just a bust, but overly frightening. They tried to eat both Harry and Fang in the forest after Harry talked with Aragog. Luckily the wildly driving around Weasley car had stopped close to where Harry was running away. It looked even more battered than after the Whomping willow and Harry wondering briefly where it had been before he jumped in the car and sped away from the army of over-sized spiders. He did learn one thing, though (other than to never trust a spider the size of a house and its family of horse sized ones), is that Hagrid didn't open the Chamber and the creature petrifying the students at Hogwarts wasn't a spider. That left Harry at square one. As he pulled the auto up to a stop to get out, Harry stood up straight with eyes wide. Myrtle! Aragog had said the murder fifty years ago occurred in a bathroom. What if the girl that died was Myrtle? Why hadn't the diary specified that? Unless Tom Riddle didn't want him to know that detail. Harry frowned. The Chamber of Secrets had more to do with that diary than he had originally thought. Tom Riddle played a pivotal part in the events that happened fifty years ago during the first opening but it wasn't to capture the Heir. What if Tom Riddle WAS the Heir?
"Ron…" Harry hissed and ran into the castle. He should have listened to his friend when he told him the book wasn't to be trusted.
When he got to Gryffindor Tower his room was a mess as if someone went searching for something. Harry already knew what that something was. He also knew that the person got what they were searching for. It had to have been a Gryffindor as the only people who knew the password was someone of that house. Who? Harry decided to visit the Hospital wing to see if Ron was there.
When he got down to where the beds were he didn't see his red haired friend anywhere. Didn't he say he was going to come there? Harry went over to Hermione's petrified body and frowned thoughtfully at her. Where was Ron?
"What's that?" Harry whispered to himself and knelt down by Hermione. In her hand was a crumpled up piece of paper. Carefully removing it from Hermione's clenched fist, Harry opened it up and read. "Basilisk? Enemy of Spiders. Parseltongue speaking beast that has the ability to kill with only its stare. If lucky enough to see a mere reflection of this creature you may only be petrified for your interaction."
Harry saw a hurried scrawl of handwritten notes on the margin of the paper. He smiled grimly. It's in the pipes. It's a Basilisk, its in the pipes connected to the bathroom that Myrtle died in, Tom Riddle may be the Heir of Slytherin who long ago framed Hagrid, and Ron may be captured by him. Harry turned and hurried toward Dumbledore's office before stopping short. Dumbledore wasn't there. He had been asked to leave the day before by the Ministry. The acting Headmaster was McGonagall. Turning another way, Harry started toward her office.
"Shit! Doesn't anyone work in this school?" Harry pounded his fist on McGonagall's door uselessly. She was obviously somewhere else.
Scowling, and deciding whether or not to try and go it in alone Harry stalked the hallways. Then he heard murmuring around the next corner. Peeking curiously he saw that all of the teachers had gathered around where a note was written on the wall "His skeleton will lie in the chamber forever." In blood.
The teachers confirmed Harry's fears that Ronald Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets. They chided Lockhart and asked him to defeat the monster that must be there. They reminded him that he had bragged about knowing where the chamber was all along. Couldn't he go and retrieve the Weasley boy? Of course, Lockhart said that it would be no problem and that all he needed was to return to his chambers for a few items but Harry wasn't buying it. The man was obviously nervous. Harry was sure the other teachers could tell. They all watched him go before shaking their heads and whispering furiously to each other. The least Harry could do was tell Lockhart where the Chamber was and what was waiting for him there.
:
"I have a feeling we're missing something big." Pansy whined and kicked at Blaise's chair, innocently looking away when he turned and glared at her. He had his head resting on the table looking miserable.
"What are you a prophet now?" Draco jabbed his quill irritably into his parchment. "I heard that school will be cancelled soon if the person doing the attacks isn't caught. How about you use those mystical "feelings" of yours to find out who it is, hmm?"
"I'm getting a feeling that you'll be knocked on your ass if you continue acting like one." Pansy sneered. Everyone was on edge since Eris had told them about the object (leaving out Lord Malfoy's involvement).
"He's right though. We're coming up negative on the Heir thing and I don't want to go home." Eris glowered from the sofa. She had been sitting there for hours just staring at the fire and willing all the answers to come to her. "What do we know so far?"
"We know that Weasley and Potter are suspects in the Chamber incidents." Blaise said with his head still down.
"And Weasley has been acting secretive and moody." Pansy offered
"We know that Potter speaks Parseltongue, a language that Salazar Slytherin spoke." Draco added helpfully.
"Despite Potter's talent, I fail to believe he's the Heir because of Granger being a victim." Eris waved her hand dismissively.
"What about Weasley?" Pansy spoke up. "Weasley is friends with Granger as well and yet you didn't take him off the suspects list. Weasley doesn't even speak Parseltongue."
"Oh, yes. I sometimes forget they're all friends." Eris said. Inside she cringed. Did she really just stick up for Harry and leave Charlie's brother in the dust?
"Well then, what if it's both of them?" Draco asked.
"If it's both of them, then they don't know the other's involvement. Remember when Weasley threw the book at Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom and Potter accidently found it?" Eris reminded the group. They looked around each other for answers when Eris suddenly stood up. "Myrtle! It's Moaning Myrtle who the Basilisk killed fifty years ago!"
"If that's the case, then the Basilisk killed her in that bathroom!" Draco also stood up and looked excitedly at Eris. Pansy and Blaise were excited too but looked back and forth between the blond haired boy and the black haired girl.
"It would make sense that the Basilisk moves through the pipes to avoid detection." Eris continued.
"That would mean an entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is in that bathroom!" Draco was practically jumping up and down.
"Let's go!" Eris started toward the door followed closely after by Draco, Pansy and lastly Blaise.
"We're not going to fight the Basilisk are we? I might have a problem with that." Blaise said and the group stopped short. They looked at each other for a moment before Eris stepped determinedly forward.
"Ok, Blaise. You try and search for whatever teacher you can find. Tell them the situation. Pansy, I want you to find either Weasley or Potter. Whatever one or both, doesn't matter. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't do anything else suspicious. If they do that you have to cast a bind on them and find a teacher or one of us." The two Slytherins ran off to do her bidding. Eris turned to Draco and paused when she saw his amused look. "Well you won't take orders from me so do what you like as long as it doesn't hinder the other two or me."
"Oh, ye of little faith." Draco put his arm around Eris' shoulder and moved with her in the direction of Myrtle's bathroom. "I'll go where you go. If you're going to face a Basilisk, you'll need my help."
"Thanks but I think if we're going to face a Basilisk we're going to die." Eris furrowed her brows and thought. "Dumbledore! We'll send an owl to Dumbledore, tell him where the Chamber is, what is attacking the students, and about the book as well!"
"That sounds better than fighting a giant snake." Draco murmured as the two ran to the owlery.
:
Eris picked at her food. So little happened last night that she wasn't quite sure of the extent of her involvement. Soon after she and Draco had sent word to Dumbledore the Headmaster returned to Hogwarts. He smiled brilliantly at the two of them before sending them off to their common room with Snape as their chaperone. Soon after that Pansy and Blaise were escorted back themselves and they spent the remainder of the evening pacing nervously around each other. It was so frustrating. Here it is, several hours later and everyone is eating breakfast like nothing is wrong. Eris' eye twitched.
"Go and look for them, you know you want to." Pansy whispered at her side. She was right. Eris had been glaring hatefully at the three empty spots at the Gryffindor table for the entire breakfast. She knew where Hermione was. The Mandrakes used for the potion had been harvested and brewed so it was only a matter of time before her frizzy head took up her spot but the other two. The other two were mysteriously missing.
Eris felt a nudge at her other side and looked to see Draco eyeing her sideways. He gave a little nod in the direction of the exit. Blaise was smirking at her from the other side of Draco. Eris scowled. They wanted to know just as much as she did. Cowards. They knew she would never hesitate to go Dumbledore's office and demand answers.
"You guys are horrible." Eris mumbled before she got up and started toward the door, ignoring the responding grins. Even though she would have liked to have let them stew in their own curiosity, her own interest won out. Bastards. They probably knew it too.
Eris headed straight for Dumbledore's office but stopped when she heard angry voices. Or rather one angry voice. Eris immediately recognized it as her Godfather's, Lucius Malfoy.
"You cost me my servant!" Malfoy bellowed. Eris had never heard him so discomposed.
She slowly approached the corner and peered curiously around it. Harry Potter, looking for the world like he just came from a dirt pile, glared defiantly at her Godfather. He looked proud and justified and outright brilliant. Standing beside him and holding a book in one hand and a sock in another was Dobby. His eyes were just dancing with so much positive emotion that Eris wanted to cry. Her Godfather pulled out his wand and moved menacingly forward.
"You will NOT harm Harry Potter!" Dobby sounded so brave that Eris felt herself smiling proudly as she watched the elf blast Lord Malfoy across the hall when he didn't heed the elf's warning. As he started to get up, a curse just barely on his lips, Luscious looked up and saw Eris standing around the corner. Eris schooled her features and gave her Godfather an expectant look before stepping out for the other two to see. He wouldn't dare act this foolish in front of her would he?
"What on Earth are you doing Potter? Attacking such an influential man as Lord Malfoy?" Eris smirked. Luscius brushed himself off and straightened his long hair.
"That's alright, dear. Harry Potter is just as meddling as his parents here." Luscius spat out, his eyes never leaving Harry's unwavering ones. "If he continues he just might meet the same stick end."
"I'll take on anything you throw my way." Harry said lowly and suddenly picked up a side of his lips in a half smile. Grabbing the book Dobby was still holding and waving it carelessly. "And if this is the best you've got then I haven't any problem now haven't I?"
"We'll see if your naïve youthful recklessness holds out." Lord Malfoy gritted out between clenched teeth before he spun around and walked away. He was so angry he had forgotten Eris was there and stalked away without a further look back. Eris was so amused that she watched him go while chuckling to herself softly.
"You were interrupting again." Harry said softly as he approached her. It wasn't a question but Eris answered anyway.
"I saw no reason for the confrontation." Eris stared coolly at Harry. "My school life is going to be very interesting with you here isn't it?"
"You tell me."
"Hn." Eris finally looked at Dobby and smiled down at the elf. He had been looking back and forth between the two humans with something close to awe. "You have a sock."
"Yes! Dobby has a sock!" The elf displayed it proudly up as to give Eris a better view. She patted him on the head and smiled fondly.
"Good." Eris continued on her pathway to Dumbledore's office. She felt Harry's eyes on her as she walked. Right before turning the corner she looked back at him. "Ron Weasley?"
"He's safe. Healing in the Hospital wing." Harry gave her a lopsided grin. "He had quite an ordeal."
Eris nodded and continued on her way. She was already getting the answers she needed but she'd still ask Dumbledore all the same. There was no way she was going to stick around with Harry any longer.
:
"This year has been quite a trial for each and every one of you. Due to the nature of these events I feel it is my duty to remind you about the importance of House unity that this school desperately needs." Dumbledore addressed his students during dinner. Everything was peaceful once again but it was only a matter of time before it all started up again. Albus was even now getting ready for the next year. Tom Riddle would stop at nothing until he got what he wanted. Dumbledore looked over at the faces of the students somberly. They would have a lot to deal with. Several faces stood out amongst the others. Hermione was healed, Ron was back to normal, and Harry was triumphant. Eris was contemplative, Draco was stubborn, Pansy was more confident and Blaise a little more caring. Those students will have a lot more to deal with as time went on. "I have no doubt that the issues dealt with this year could have been easier on each of you if you would have all worked together."
"How come I get the feeling he's talking about us?" Pansy whispered to Eris.
"Because he is." Eris answered.
When she had talked to Dumbledore earlier that morning she was told that Harry had gone down into the Chamber. There he had found Ron's broken wand. When Lockhart tried to use it on Harry to obliterate his memory, it backfired on Lockhart instead. Then Harry went further into the Chamber to fight the basilisk. When Eris asked about the Heir she was told that Ron, under the influence of Tom Riddle's diary, acted as Heir. He told her nothing else. It left her with more questions. Why had Lord Malfoy even used the diary? Who really was Tom Riddle? How had he managed to put himself into a diary and used Ron?
"If he wants us to become all chummy with the Gryffindors, he's got another thing coming." Draco scowled.
"He's got a point, though." That was Pansy. Such a good girl. Already stand up for things. With just a little more encouragement she could probably be trusted with all of Eris' secrets. Well, most of them. "If we would have communicated with the Gryffindors from the start then combined our knowledge, the answer would have been found long before it did."
"We didn't know if they were the Heirs or not. And Weasley was!" Blaise whispered furiously. "Albeit by proxy."
"He wanted to get rid of the book! He didn't want to be used by it!" Pansy whispered back.
"Enough." Eris hushed her bickering friends. "Dumbledore is a bit out of touch. It's going to take a bit more for us to trust each other. I don't even know if that's a good idea or not yet."
"She's right. Gryffindors might think they're doing good things, especially those three, but we don't know if it's good for us." Draco narrowed his eyes. "If it helps makes our life better then we'll work with them."
"What are we going to do next year?" Blaise asked.
"That's going to be next year." Eris was looking at Draco. She didn't want him to go back into the influence of his father. What if he asked Draco to help him try to harm Harry next year? Draco wouldn't hesitate, she knew. She'll just have to keep him busy. "Let's think about this summer."
The four friends conspired amongst themselves during the rest of Dumbledore's speech right up until the celebration of having no exams and Hagrid's return from Azkaban and until they left for summer break.
