Title: The Firebrand Chronicles Book Two: After Dark
Summary: No one knew what awaited them upon returning to Hogwarts that year. No one expected a monster to attack the students, and certainly no one expected anyone to assume that Harry Potter was the party responsible. Blaise Zabini certainly didn't. This is his story. Book Two
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter any of its characters or events. They belong to J.K. Rowling
Firebrand Chronicles
Book Two: After Dark
Chapter VII
It was several days before the books arrived at breakfast with the rest of the mail, but I was forced to wait until after the evening meal to open them. I had two packages, one contained full account of early historical legends in wizarding Britten, the other was a complete wizarding genealogy published three years after I was born. It was safe to assume that any and all students of any wizarding lineage currently at Hogwarts, as well as the names of Muggleborns expected to have magical abilities, would be recorded in its pages. We all knew that the person responsible for the attack had to be among us. No stranger could have done it without being seen, which left either a student or staff. This was a puzzle I was determined to figure out.
I sat in the common room the rest of the night flipping through the history trying to find the correct information. It wasn't easy. Tracey kept shooting nervous glances at the other book as if it were made of poison, and Draco was in the midst of acting out the latest Quiddich match in which the Hufflepuff keeper had fallen off his broom while attempting avoid a bludger sent his way by the Ravenclaw team, and to top it off Theo was trying very loudly to convince several fifth years to try some candy that I knew for a fact his Pa had sent him from Zonkos. I had just found the page when the fifth years forcibly fed the candy to Theo and steam began pouring from his ears as a shrill teapotish whistling issued from his mouth. When the steam had subsided, he collapsed on the couch next to me.
"What have you got now?" he asked leaning over to look at the book.
"I found it, I've found the chamber," I answered excitedly pointing at the page in question.
"What does it say?"
I started to read it out loud, but before I got two words out one of the fifth years walked over to stand behind us, "Theo, kid, you ok?" he didn't let Theo answer, but rather spotting my book rounded on me. "Zabini, do you ever stop studying?" he looked closer at the book, "wait, I don't believe it. You actually found it!"
"Found what?" Flint called from the opposite corner of the room as he got to his feet and walked over.
"That chamber of secrets." That answer was enough to grab the attention of several others.
"Well, Zabini, go on. Tell us what it says." By then a small group had gathered around us. Taking a deep breath I began to read:
Hogwarts castle home to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, founded by the great Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw remains to this day as one of the greatest forms of wizarding architecture. Though various legends state that the castle was, in part, sculpted by the great dwarf masons of the north. In addition to the vaulted sky-reflecting ceiling of the dining hall and the ever changing floor plan there are numerous hidden rooms and passageways. It is unknown if the school has ever been successfully mapped in its entirety. But perhaps the most disturbing mystery regarding the castle is the legend of the chamber of secrets, a legend that dates back to the founding of the castle itself.
In the beginning the school thrived. Each of the founders handpicked their students and taught them everything they would need to know in the wizarding world, far away from prying Muggle eyes. Over time, however, a rift began to grow between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Slytherin wished to be more selective about his students. He desired that only those with true magical heritage, those truly worthy should be allowed the privilege of learning from the school. Gryffindor disagreed. He claimed that he would teach anyone capable of learning.
What happened next remains a bit of a mystery, though historians generally fall into three separate categories with their opinions. Most say that Slytherin simply vanished from the school taking with him several prize students including his own grandson. Others state that there was a quarrel before he left. A small few claim that the two founders had a duel unlike any other. Once source even states that scorch marks can still be viewed on the main banisters in the entrance hall. Regardless Slytherin left the school and it is here our legend starts.
Rumors state that before he left for good he built a secret vault beneath the school accessible only to members of his own clan, the chamber of secrets. It is said that he left within the vault a beast that only he and his decedents could control. A beast with the power to rid any he deemed undesirable from the school . . .
I broke off. "The rest is just speculation." Those around me shared a look. Draco had even come over to listen abandoning his Quidditch story.
"Well if the chamber exists, how come they haven't found it?" Pansy asked peering over his shoulder.
"Obviously because Slytherin was smarter than that." He sneered.
Theo rolled his eyes, "Obviously there is a chamber, and obviously it is open. We however are in Slytherin's house and so logically we have nothing to worry about."
"Unless one of us is hiding the fact that they're Muggle born," Flint sniggered. The rest of the crowd laughed and dispersed around the room. That left me time to begin going through the wizard genealogy. An hour later I was incredibly frustrated. According to the book, a thick volume which used magic to cram ten times the expected information between its covers, the Salazar line ended with the Gaunt family over fifty years before. I slammed the book shut and turned to my astronomy homework instead.
Throughout the next couple weeks I continued to flip through the genealogy in my spare time. Frustrated with the end of the Slytherin line and ruling out the staff, I turned instead to students whose families were old enough to perhaps have learned the Slytherin secret. Those families who would have been friends or close associates. That meant primarily my own Slytherin housemates. Perhaps it could have been considered profiling but I truly didn't care. The statistics and family histories of those students spoke for themselves. Though I found nothing related to the chamber or the heir of Slytherin I did learn some interesting things about my classmates during that search. For example Tracey was only halfblood with the magic on her father's side. She worked so hard to keep that little fact secret that I decided to keep it to myself as well, or rather I tried. She caught me looking up the Parkinson family one night and blew her top.
"You're researching your friends now?" she screamed at me eyes flashing with anger.
I successfully managed not to yell back. "I'm researching everyone who . . ."
"You know what, Blaise!" she threw her scarf at me. "You're taking this whole thing too far! They can fix the cat, the staff is searching for the culprit, we're safe, it's not your problem! And even if it was I don't see what a second year wizard could do about it anyway!" that was the end of it. No matter how I tried to explain, or how many times I attempted to apologies, she refused to speak with me the whole next week. Worse, even Theo seemed to think I'd been in the wrong, and despite my best efforts he insisted that no matter how well-meaning my intentions, I had in fact been wrong.
The members of Slytherin house weren't the only ones who had learned the legend. The Gryffindors somehow convinced Professor Binns to tell them the story of the chamber and it was quickly spread through the school, the very context of the tale affecting the atmosphere. Students looked at each other crosswise, muggle-born students began to travel in packs, and anyone with a known pureblood lineage was looked at crosswise myself included. Even Professor McGonagall was so on edge that she failed to notice when I transfigured my mouse into a furry black rock instead of a water goblet. Most befuddling of all was the fact that Potter was somehow mislabeled the heir of Slytherin which I knew to be an impossibility. Really, anybody with half a brain should have been able to work out that his involvement in things was purely coincidental.
The Slytherin vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match marked the end of that week, and the house was in a state of pregame chaos as we all tried to tell Draco what a wonderful job he was going to do. We all knew what he was capable of and we all hoped he would beat fame seeking Potter to the snitch. We knew we had an added bonus with the new nimbus 2001s and better strategies so the game should have been in the bag.
For a while it did look like the game was ours. In no time at all we had sixty points while Potter wasted time doing stupid tricks. Granted he did seem to be running from a Bludger. I tried to sit next to Theo and Tracey, but after the third time Tracey moved away from me I gave up. Theo gave me an apologetic shrug as I moved to join Pansy and Daphne Greengrass on the other side of the stands just as Potter did a stupid sort of ballet twirl in midair.
The game continued Slytherin's constant scoring and Gryffindor's lack of defense was starting to get boring. I was just about to say as much when Potter crashed.