Darla wished more than ever that she could write home to her parents for some words of comfort, but even if her parents still treated her as their daughter they wouldn't be able to help her. She'd lost her two sources of comfort as well; both Harry and Ginny were panic stricken. More Ginny than Harry, and he'd been caught near the cat even though it hadn't been him.
There was panic around the whole castle. She noticed Sheila, Patty and Julie never wanted to leave hers and Ginny's sides but Darla didn't mind. She felt better having more people around her. She'd learned what a 'mudblood' was and it was her. Someone who was muggleborn, someone with no magical parents. If what the Malfoy boy had said was true, she could be next.
Ginny barely talked to anyone these days. She was upset about the cat that turned out not to be dead but petrified, it could be saved. She was also terrified that Harry and Ron would be chucked out of school for being caught in the scene of the crime. No one suspected Hermione since she was muggleborn and not too many suspected Ron either. Everyone seemed to believe that Harry was the culprit but Darla knew better. She'd known her cousin her whole life; he wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose.
"Harry's cousin, mother and best friend are muggleborn." Darla said to Ginny. "How could they suspect him?"
"I know." Ginny said is a stuffy voice, as if she were ready to cry. "And most of them know that he saved the Philosophers stone last year from you-know-who… or I guess Quirrel who was trying to steal."
"Harry's never really told me that story. I've just heard of it." Darla said. "But why are people being so dumb about this then?"
Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "They'll believe anything, it's the best solution for them."
Darla remembered finding Ginny still asleep in bed when they arrived back to the dormitory, Julie Sheila and Patty all crying. Ginny had awakened and Darla had told her everything. Ginny started to cry and lay back down. Later Ginny told Darla that she had woken up to go to the feast but she must have fallen back to sleep instead.
"You really should go to the hospital wing than." Darla had told her. "Quit avoiding it, you're making yourself even sicker."
Ginny had taken her advice but still looked a little sick, but Darla figured it was because of the attack on the cat. She hadn't had a problem with the cat but according to the older students if someone broke a rule around her, she would immediately get the caretaker Argus Filch, her owner who would then put you in detention. So a lot of students were happy that the cat was gone. Ginny was a big cat lover.
"Do you think they will come and get you?" Julie asked Darla.
"Maybe it was just a one time thing." Sheila said. "You know, it was Halloween… maybe they were just trying to scare people."
"Yeah maybe!" Patty agreed. "I heard about some secret chamber at Hogwarts you know. It was supposed to be scary…"
"But to petrify a cat to scare people?" Darla asked. "Isn't that going too far?"
"It could have been someone who has a real grudge against her… a lot of people do." Julie answered.
"That's really dark magic though." Sheila said.
"Yeah and the Chamber is suppose to be Slytherin's… so, an older student in Slytherin decided to scare everyone!" Julie said.
"Yeah that makes sense." Patty said excitedly. "Because remember that Malfoy boy? He was so excited about it. The Slytherin's are probably having a good laugh about it right now."
"That could be true." Darla said. Remembering what she had heard about the Slytherin's. and she had seen for herself. Any one of them could have decided to harm a cat, no one but the caretaker would care anyway.
"We should tell Ginny what we think." Julie said. "This has had the worst effect on her."
Darla however went to Harry about it, he needed cheering up. She figured he should know that everyone else would see it that way too and stop blaming him for it. He however shook his head after she told him this.
"No one, not even the Slytherin's would go that far for a prank." He said.
"I don't know." Ron said. "A lot of the Slytherin's have been a lot happier lately. Anyone of them could have-"
"But you are forgetting the voice." Harry argued.
"The voice?" Darla asked.
"Yes, I heard the voice right before the attack. That's why we were there in the first place. Just don't tell anyone." Harry said.
"But it might be a clue." Darla said. "It might be important for Professor Dumbledore to know!"
Harry didn't answer; he just went back to his chess game. She didn't want to, but she decided to keep his secret for him no matter how important she thought it was. She decided not even to mention it to Ginny, Ginny was terrified as it was. She figured it would make everyone think Harry was mad anyway.
--
Darla found herself walking to the scene of the crime every day. She re-read the words a lot, terrified now knowing why the house-elf had warned Harry not to go back to Hogwarts. She just wondered how it knew that this was going to happen. Was it the house-elf's masters doing it? She wondered.
"Why do you have to keep going over here?" Ginny asked Darla one evening as she turned down the corridor that would take them to where the cat had been found.
"Do you know what the Chamber of Secrets is?" Darla asked as they stopped in front of the words.
"I've heard of it." Ginny said staring up at the foot long words that still shone. "But I don't know what it is. Please, can we go? I can't stand being here."
"Do you think Hermione knows what it is?" Darla asked turning away. "I'd like to know what it is. The whole school is blaming this on Harry."
"I know." Ginny said quietly. "I really hope they don't expelled. Darla, I really don't want to talk about it, ok? Talk to Hermione if you want to but I just…"
Ginny didn't finish, she turned and walked away. Darla stared after her wondering if she should follow or not. After a few moments, she turned away and wondered where Harry was. Hermione had been acting strange lately, Darla knew that. She'd notice the night before while working with Sheila, Patty and Julie that Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to know something, or were confused about something.
She walked past a couple ghosts who were talking seriously about the attack on Mrs. Norris. They smiled at her she walked past them. She waved, and kept going.
"Why are you wandering around by yourself?" Someone asked.
Darla turned around to see who was talking to her but saw no one. She felt chills, wondering if it was the person who had attacked Mrs. Norris. A few moments later, someone stepped out of the wall behind her and she jumped.
"How did you do that?" She gasped as she realized it was Percy Weasley.
"It's a doorway." He answered. "It just looks like a solid wall. It is very useful for us prefects to keep an eye on trouble makers." He suddenly looked stern. "It is not a good idea for anyone to be wandering on their own. Come on, I'll take you back to the Common Room. Make sure you are always with a friend. It is getting late anyway, it's almost curfew."
"I was with Ginny, but she is really upset right now." Darla answered as Percy put a firm hand on her shoulder and steered her into the doorway that looked like a solid wall.
"Yes I know." Percy said. "Ron and Harry aren't helping either."
"Why? What did they do?" Darla asked.
"I found them in the corridor- you know, where it happened and they were coming out of a girl's bathroom. They are trying to solve this themselves. They've already got a strike against them with the car." Percy answered. "They'll get themselves expelled if they aren't careful. Maybe you could talk to Harry, Darla. He seemed fond of you during the summer. Said you were the only in that house he liked." Percy answered as they walked up a flight of steps.
"Maybe. Percy, you've been here for five years. What is the Chamber of Secrets? Do you know?"
"I do know, but prefects aren't allowed to give that information to the students, especially first years. Everyone is scared as it is. You would be better not knowing." Percy said sternly again.
"I'd feel better if I knew." Darla answered.
"Well here we are." Percy said ignoring her last words as they stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady in front of Gryffindor tower. "Please stay here and do not wander around by yourself anymore. I have to get back to my duties. Please be careful not to say too much about the Chamber of Secrets to Ginny."
Darla muttered goodbye and gave the password before going in. Once in the Common Room, she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron sitting alone together talking seriously. She hoped she wasn't disturbing them as she walked over.
"Hello." She said when she was with them.
"Hi." Harry said.
"I need to ask you to do something for me." Ron said looking at her as she sat down.
"You do?" Darla asked. "What?"
"It's about my sister." Ron answered. "Can you just; you know keep an eye on her?"
Darla nodded. "Now, I wanted to ask you something. Do you know what the Chamber of Secrets is?"
"Yes." Hermione said instantly.
"What is it? I heard it's the Slytherin's chamber." Darla said. "I tried asking Percy."
"I bet he told you that Prefects aren't allowed to tell students that." Ron muttered.
"The Chamber is a secret chamber that Salazar Slytherin built himself." Hermione said as if Darla and Ron hadn't said anything. "See Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw were the four founders of Hogwarts-"
"I know all that." Darla interrupted. "I've heard all about it since I came and Harry told me, I read a bit of it in Hogwarts: A History too when I first came here."
"You didn't see the story about the Chamber of Secrets than?" Hermione asked. "It's in there. It also states that-"
"I just read the back of it honestly." Darla said. "But I do want to read the whole book now, only all the copies in the library are taken out."
"Yes I know. I have my own copy of course but I left it at home, it wouldn't fit in my trunk." Hermione answered.
"Anyway, so Salazar Slytherin built a secret Chamber?" Darla said noticing they were getting off topic.
"See the four founders got a long at first, you know trying to get as many magical students in their school as they could. Soon there was an argument between the founders, mostly between Godric and Salazar about who they accepted in their school. Salazar believed that only students from magical parents should come but Godric thought that anyone, even those from muggle families could come." Hermione began again.
"So after a while Slytherin left the school but before he left he built the Chamber of Secrets where a monster resides, it's believed his true heir will come and rid the school of all filth controlling Salazar's monster."
"And so that heir is here now using a monster he can control to kill of muggleborns?" Darla asked in disbelief. "But they'll be caught won't they? I mean, it has to be a student doing it!"
She felt terrified, and she hoped the weeks would go fast until Christmas vacation came she could go home. She hoped Harry would decide to go home even if her parents didn't want him to. It was too dangerous and seemed insane that the teachers weren't sending the students home.
--
"Wow their brooms look better than the school brooms." Darla said to Ginny.
"The school brooms are ancient though." Ginny answered. "I don't even know what kind they are. That's why they vibrated. You might be fine on a newer one. Ask Harry if you can try his out sometime."
Darla didn't answer she just watched as the two teams, Slytherin and Gryffindor walked onto the Quidditch Pitch. She was finally going to be able to watch a Quidditch game. She and Ginny a long with the rest of the first years had flying lessons in September and she hadn't liked it at all. Each time she had tried a trick the teacher Madame Hooch had told her to try; she'd feel the broom stick vibrating. She had told Ginny when they had finished with flying lessons that she was glad to be done.
Darla watched now as Madam Hooch blew her whistle and everyone took off. She noticed they all seemed fast but the Slytherin's were even faster, all showing off their new broom sticks. According to Harry the Malfoy boy had bought his way on to the team with the broom sticks.
"Oh my gosh!" Hermione shrieked in horror from behind her.
She looked at her to see both she and Ron were staring at Harry. Darla had been staring at the Slytherin's so she quickly turned and focused on Harry instead. A ball flew toward him and nearly hit him as the Weasley twins tried to hit it away.
"What ball is that one?" Darla asked Ginny who was beside her. "It looks like it has a mind of its own, trying to hit Harry."
"It's a bludgers. They try to hit as many players as they can, to knock them off their broom but that one does seem as though it has a mind of its own." Ginny answered. "They don't focus on just one player."
"They do sometimes." A girl in front of them answered. "But only if a player has angered a fairy. Harry has obviously angered a fairy."
Darla saw that it was Luna Lovegood; she knew that Luna often came up with strange explanations. She looked at Ginny to see if this was true but Ginny just shook her head and smiled. Sheila, Tammy and Julie all laughed and said something about Loony under their breaths. Darla knew that some people called her Loon Lovegood because they thought she seemed dotty.
Darla glanced at Harry again and saw that it was definitely just focusing on him. The Weasley twins were still trying to keep it away from him. The Slytherin's mean while were doing a good job and had already four times. Darla watched as they scored a fifth then a sixth time and looked at Harry and the twins again. She wondered why no one else on the Pitch seemed to notice that Harry was in trouble.
"They've finally called a time out." Hermione said with relief.
"About time." Ron said. "That things going to kill him."
"I wonder why it's doing that." Colin said who was sitting on Ginny's other side. "But Harry can take care of it can't he? I've already got some pictures of it for him to see later. I've watched some practices but this hasn't happened before."
"I don't know if Harry will want to see those pictures." Darla told him.
"Well, he might later." Colin answered.
"They are going back!" Ginny suddenly said. "And they aren't even going to deal with the Bludger, it's still out there."
Darla looked to see that all the players were resuming play, but this time Fred and George weren't even helping Harry. She didn't see how this could help at all, unless the team didn't care about their player but just winning. She knew if Harry caught his little ball, which was called a Snitch they would win the game so she didn't understand why they didn't help him out more.
Darla could hear a lot of people laughing and she bit back a laugh herself as she saw him do a twirl in the air. She knew it wasn't really funny, but seeing Harry twirling in the air did look funny. She hoped the game would end soon though; at that point she didn't care if the Slytherin's won, she just wanted Harry to be ok. Hermione and Ginny both let out loud shrieks as the bludger finally hit Harry's arm. She let out a moan herself as he grimaced in pain.
Then miraculously he still caught the snitch. No one seemed to notice what had happened at first than people around them started yelling excitedly. Harry meanwhile was going slowly to the ground holding the snitch where he fell and seemed to pass out.
--
"You think it was that Draco Malfoy who made the bludger go after Harry?" Darla asked Ron. "He'd actually try to kill a player just to win?"
"Look at what he did to that cat." Ron said.
"I don't think he did that to the cat." Darla said. "He seems bad but he seems like he might be more talk than anything. When it comes to actually doing something, he wouldn't do it."
"Well, we'll know for sure soon." Ron said shrugging. "But I still think it's him."
"You think the teachers will catch him soon?" Darla asked.
"Where is Ginny?" Hermione asked looking as though she wanted to change the subject. "I haven't seen her since the match."
"She is in the dorms. I think Harry losing his bones upset her. I didn't know that people could lose their bones."
"Only if an incompetent teacher is involved." Ron said. "He didn't know what he was doing."
"It can happen to anyone Ron. He wanted to fix Harry's arm but the spell went wrong. It could happen to me, it could happen to you-"
"We're second years." Ron reminded her.
"He'll be able to get the bones in his arms back won't he?" Darla asked wondering what her parents would say when Harry came home in the summer with no bones in his arm. She knew Dudley would find it funny.
"Yes, he had to take a special potion that will bring them back over night."
Darla went to bed shortly after only to be awoken by Ginny early the next morning shaking her frantically. She looked scared and wondered if something had gone wrong with Harry. She'd had a dream that the bones had grown back but his arm was twice the size that it used to be. He had to drag it around with him every where, people were always stepping or tripping over it.
"See what happens at your freak school?" Dudley had asked.
"What happened?" Darla asked sitting up quickly. "Is Harry ok?"
"I think so, I haven't seen him." Ginny said. "Hermione just told me. There had been another attack!"
"Another attack? On another animal?"
"No a student. It was Colin Creevey!" Ginny said panicking. "He's been petrified, just like the cat was."
Darla bolted out of bed and hurriedly dressed while Ginny hurried back to the Common Room to wait for her. In the Common Room she noticed that a lot of students seemed to be withdrawn. She saw the four other first year boys sitting together talking in low voices. They glanced at her and Ginny as they left the Common Room together.
They hurried together to the hospital wing, Ginny explaining quickly that Hermione had woken her in the Common Room and had told her about it before she and Ron had rushed off. Perhaps to tell Harry.
"Wait, why were you sleeping in the Common Room? When I went to bed last night you were already sleeping." Darla said confused.
"I woke up and went down stairs to get something." Ginny answered. "And then I don't know… I guess I fell asleep."
"You do that a lot you know." Darla said. "And you are still pale; did you go to the hospital wing yet?
"You sound like Percy." Ginny said. "I'll be fine, I told you it's the homework and now this added on it."
"Good point, sorry I'm not trying to pry." Darla said. "But the Christmas holidays are coming up soon so hopefully everything will be fine. Maybe whoever is doing this will be caught."
They reached the hospital wing and was about to enter when madam Pomfrey rushed toward them.
"Is there something you need?" She asked quickly. "If you are here to see Potter he has already gone. His bones have are back. I don't want anyone in here unless they need to be."
"It's me Madam." Ginny said. "I've been feeling a bit sick lately. I think I might be coming down with another cold… could you?"
Madam Pomfrey ushered them in quickly. Darla glanced around hoping to see Colin and figured he was the one who was behind the large curtain. Madam Pomfrey was checking Ginny and muttering that she did look quite peakish. Ginny was nodding and explaining that she'd been too busy with homework to come down, and thought the Quidditch match from yesterday caused it as well.
Madam Pomfrey disappeared to get Ginny the potion. While she did that, Darla hurried to take a peek around the curtain and felt her stomach drop as she did. Colin lay rigid on his bed staring up at the ceiling with his arms in front of him, as if clutching something. She wondered if it had been the camera that he had insisted on carrying around with him every where. She stared at his face; she had never seen him so still. Colin was someone she always believed to be on a sugar high.
She heard footsteps and hurried back over to Ginny just as Madam Pomfrey returned with the potion. Ginny drank it quickly and the effects worked instantly again. Ginny was no longer pale but the steam coming from her ears made Darla smile.
"Are you here for one too?" Madam Pomfrey asked Darla. "You look pale and you're shaking. Here drink this up."
She poured Darla some as well who drank it, grimacing at the taste. She didn't think it was possible but the cough medicine her mother had given her to when she was a child tasted a lot better. She thanked her and her and Ginny left the hospital wing together.
"He looked like a statue." Darla said.
Ginny nodded. "I didn't want to believe it was true, but I guess it is. Don't talk about it anymore ok?"
Darla was glad Ginny didn't want details because she didn't think she could ever get the sight of Colin lying so still on that bed out of her mind. She felt cold thinking about it even though the potion had warmed her up a lot. She could feel the steam pouring from her ears. She knew that could very well be she laying there on the bed all rigid, not knowing what was going on. Colin was a muggle born and so was she. Ginny seemed to be shaking even more and didn't seem to want to look at her.