Flame of the West 2: the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 4: The Plot is Sealed

29th July 2006

"Hey look at this!" The welcoming feast was over, and classes had started. Luna had been sorted into Gryffindor, much to Harry's amusement, and the new friends were in the library. Hermione had picked up an obscure book from a back shelf and brought it to their table to read. Apparently there was something extremely interesting, because she had just caused Madam Prince to glare at them. Not that this was difficult, but it was well known that apart from Professor McGonagall, Madam Prince was her favorite person on staff.

It was indeed interesting, to say the least. The book talked about how when magic first started being used, there were no spells, incantations, and such things. In fact, it was postulated that Merlin used a skill called "free wielding" that basically meant he wielded magic like Harry wielded fire. Following that, the skill had been widely used till the use of magic began to spread to others in large numbers and simpler methods had to be found for those without the willpower or magical resources. There was even a section that hypothesized magic was so spread through his body that they had great ease in calling it to use. The problem was that this had become less of a case as people began using wands and incantations along with spell words to focus and call the magic.

Harry wondered if there were any others like it. The one Hermione had found apparently was written over half a thousand years ago, so the possibility that others had survived and come through was not at all impossible. His thoughts strayed to who would hold such a book, featuring people like Nicholas Flamel and Albus Dumbledore. His thoughts apparently were too open, because there was a miniature flash of fire, and Aurora appeared at their table with a book that looked almost pristine. She crooned a few notes and Harry's eyes widened, "Aurora says this is a modern rendition of one of Morgan Lefey's books. Apparently it was from McGonagall's bookshelf." Hermione looked torn between returning the book immediately as it wasn't theirs and reading it first for the knowledge within.

"Well it has to be good if she had it right?" Luna interrupted Padma's thoughts, "Actually, it would be pretty difficult to read. I can see a password set, though I can't see what the password is." Harry opened it up and looked through it, "Nothing as far as I can tell actually." Luna smiled at him, "That's the point. The ward would let you read some of it, but keeps the important points hidden." Harry blinked, "Interesting. I find it hard to believe there's something more important in this book then the free wielding mechanics though." Luna frowned and pulled the book to her and flipped through it, "I can't find anything on it, Harry." Aurora crooned a few notes, and Harry raised his eyebrows and then nodded quietly, "I see. It's coded to fire users, so there's no real password, it just matters whether you're a fire elemental, a pyromancer, enjutsushi like me, or simply have a great affinity for fire spells. But anyway, you have to strengthen the connection between your magic and your body."

Luna frowned, "That makes sense, if you have a stronger connection then it's easier to call on your magic, which I guess is what makes wandless magic possible." Harry nodded absently while reading the book, "It will be harder for Su though, because she's so used to drawing on her ki stores. And me too actually, because I'm so used to calling on Rei. But apparently there are other ways to find and strengthen this connection." A voice broke through, "Indeed there are, Harry. However, I must ask what you are doing with a book like that. I am certain it was not within the library." Harry shrugged, "Aurora brought it to me, and you know how phoenixes are." Dumbledore nodded, "Indeed I do. That said, I must ask that you return that book to Professor McGonagall as soon as possible." It was surely not a request. Harry nodded.

………

There was a suspicious boy at the Slytherian table. Not that they weren't suspicious to begin with, but he was especially suspicious. Not from the way he looked, or even the way he talked. He was respectful to others and the teachers, and he was mild mannered, unlike the other Slytherians. In fact, the only thing Harry could say was suspicious was that he felt connected somehow to Trépas Niai. Luna teased him, saying he might also be gay, but in her eyes Harry could see her heart wasn't in it.

Unfortunately, they had little time for researching their newest curiosity, because Gilderoy Lockhart had been appointed Professor for Defense against the Dark Arts. Harry and his friends had great fun poking holes in his stories, but he was not going quietly, and their little group was hard pressed to keep away from helping him with his fan mail every now and then, Professor Snape not withstanding. It all came to a head, figuratively, on Halloween night.

…

The students of Hogwarts entered the great hall, chattering noisily and admiring the many floating glowing pumpkins, and generally enjoying the occasion. Dumbledore entered the hall, and almost immediately red words began scrawling themselves on the wall behind the staff table. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware. The entire school fell into an oppressive silence and Dumbledore waved his wand at the sentence. Nothing happened.

With the chaos that erupted at what the students perceived as a failed attempt by Dumbledore to remove the stain, Harry and his friends made their way back to Ravenclaw using a longer route. It worked, mostly, and they avoided most of the crowd. Unfortunately, they also passed a bathroom that was apparently flooded, making their passage especially damp. It also meant that Hermione slipped and was just caught by Harry beside a strange cat statue they had previously not noticed. Before they could examine it further, Argus Filch, accompanied by Dumbledore and other professors, rushed onto the scene with the caretaker in the lead, "Ha! Caught red handed! See Professors, what they did to my Mrs. Norris! They killed her!"

They, of course, protested, but were overridden by Snape, "If that is so, then exactly what are you four doing here? You were supposed to have returned to your houses 15 minutes ago." Harry explained that they had been trying to avoid the club while Lockhart opened his office for their use. The Headmaster prodded Mrs. Norris with his wand, muttering beneath his breath while McGonagall looked on almost indifferently. Harry ignored Snape's jibes and the caretakers ranting in favor of watching Dumbledore. The Headmaster made a few more pokes, and pronounced himself satisfied, "She is not dead, Argus, she is petrified." Snape immediately rounded on the students, "Petrification is some of the darkest magic around." He smirked triumphantly.

Dumbledore stood and twirled his wand and Mrs. Norris floated, "No Severus, none of them could have done this. In truth, I myself would have some difficulty in this kind of enchantment. No, they are free to go." They made for the door, only to be brought up short by Dumbledore, "I must ask you though, Mr. Potter, if there is anything you wish to tell me? Anything at all." Harry shook his head, "No, Headmaster, I have nothing to say." Albus nodded and they left while Lockhart went on about how he could brew a Mandrake Restorative in his sleep.

………

Hermione sat down with a sigh, "All the books that could possibly deal with petrification have disappeared, it's like someone took them all out." She growled angrily at the thought of someone denying her knowledge like that. Luna shrugged and stood, "I'll go talk to Madam Prince about it." She returned a little later, "According to Madam Prince, Niai checked them all out this morning." It was the morning after Mrs. Norris had been petrified and they were in the library again.

Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw library didn't have anything on the subject either, which left them at a dead end. Harry was reluctant to call upon his additional resources, as only Luna knew anything more than vague hints about them, but research in the Hogwarts library was quickly becoming pointless. Not that they knew about it, but Harry suspected the Slytherians had a secret library, or something like that. But that was of little help, as they hadn't access to it to begin with, and couldn't even confirm that it existed. Luna pointed out that they might enlist the help of a Slytherian student, but Harry vetoed the idea on the premise that none would even consider helping.

Which was, sadly, true. When Draco Malfoy had been the unofficial head of Slytherian, there had been multiple factions and cliques within the house. Now the new student seemed to have solidified control and unified many of the different factions. Sure there were still splits in house loyalty, but they were much clearer now. Even Malfoy appeared to have come under the new student's will. Surely there was something wrong, because as Padma pointed out, nearly all of the former "Malfoy Groupies" had come under the "Trépas Niai Banner", along with several others with parents suspected of being death eaters. Even Snape seemed slightly deferential to him, according to Luna, but nobody else seemed to see that.

Harry also began hearing voices, whispering about food and sometimes taunting him. He found it strange that none of his other friends could hear the disembodied voices, but he persisted in the idea that nothing was wrong. Hermione, for one, clearly didn't believe it, but as there was apparently no danger, said nothing.

Then there was quidditch. Harry was still untouchable as a Chaser, but with his success the previous year, the defense had fixed their focus firmly on him. And it almost worked too, because Oliver Wood had invited the Weasley twins over for the summer and put them through their quidditch paces. The result was the best team of beaters Hogwarts had seen in many years, and Harry was hard pressed to keep himself in one piece. The Slytherians, on the other hand, had decided that the reason they'd lost to the Ravens the previous year was that their people just weren't right. So when Terence Higgs graduated they put in Draco Malfoy after Lucious bought the team the latest Numbus brooms.

Draco instituted his own changes, claiming Derrick and Bole were inferior to Crabbe and Goyle. He succeeded in having Goyle placed in, but Crabbe was left off when he fell off his broom 3 feet off the ground. Bole stayed on and sneered at Draco most of the time. Warrington was taken off because neither Draco nor Marcus particularly liked him, and in his place Blaise Zabini became Chaser.

Not that it made too much difference, Cho still flew rings around Malfoy and neither Beater was an issue for the offense.

Hufflepuff had made little change to their line up, apart from replacing their graduated captain with a large Chaser named Cadwallader. Harry wasn't sure how good he was, but decided it made little difference to him. Cho was even more spectacular this year, having practiced over the summer. Cedric too, had apparently been practicing hard, and the seeker duel often caused the chasers to stop and cheer. Even Harry let himself get distracted and watch, since Cadwallader really was no Kevin Bundy. He had potential though, but Harry thought he'd make a better Beater.

That match wore on a while, and the players got tired. Unfortunately, this meant one of the Beaters got a lucky shot and broke Harry's forearm just below the elbow. Distracted during a turn, Harry just managed to hold onto his broom with his off hand, and was carted off to the Hospital Wing by Madam Pomfrey. Unfortunately, Lockhart took the opportunity to help Harry with the pain…by removing the bones causing the pain. Harry later learned that the school nurse spent almost fifteen minutes screaming at him about doing her job. Cho eventually got the Snitch after successfully faking Cedric away.

…

Grinning despite the pain, Harry listened to his team mates retell the story of the Quidditch match he missed while the Matron dosed him with Skelegrow. An awful mixture, she assured him that it would regrow him the bones that Lockhart had removed, and that he would be better off for it. His teammates reluctantly left when the Healer threatened to dose them all with the Dreamless Sleep potion she was about to feed Harry.

Apparently it wasn't enough, though, and Harry was awakened that night by short, hurried footsteps. Pretending to be asleep, Harry rolled over and watched through hooded eyes as Dumbledore and McGonagall floated a body onto a bed. Madam Pomfrey rushed through her door, flicking her wand as she went, "Oh my goodness! Mr. Creevy! He's petrified. What happened?" Dumbledore sighed, "I'm afraid we don't know, Poppy. We found grapes and some other fruit beside him, so we think he was trying to sneak in here to pay Mr. Potter a visit."

Silence reigned for a few moments before McGonagall prodded him, "And his camera? Perhaps he got a picture of his assailant?" Albus shook his head, but pried the camera loose of Colin's stiff fingers and opened the lid. Thick black smoke issued forth, revealing warped, twisted, melted film. Both females gasped, "But how?" Albus shook his head again, "The question is not 'how' but 'what'? For the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open once more." And from the looks on the two staff members' faces, Harry wasn't the only one in the dark.

………..

A/N: I've decided you won't be getting a nice ending at the end of book 7, and I'm going to write a sequel. That aside, we're now at Hogwarts and the CoS is well underway. Now, we've all read of the Chamber being a hidden Library of Salazar's. Do any of you want that to come up?

More importantly, I still haven't any replies as to whom they'd want to survive least. But if you don't let me know, I'm going to go straight to Su Li or Padma. Deal?

Next one soon, hopefully….