Chapter 5: Hysteria
Tom's eyes slowly began to creep open. He peered outside his window to see that the sun was just barely started to show signs of life.
'How on earth did I nod off like that?' he wondered. It wasn't every day that he could sleep more than five hours. He sat up a bit too quickly and felt a rush of blood surge through his head. Forcing himself to stand, he placed on his robes, his shoes, and made sure he had not only his wand on him, but Hermione's as well. He knew that the best way to hide something from someone was to put it in the most obvious place in the world. Within his robe's pocket was obvious enough.
As usual, no one else had awoken from bed as early as he had. Tom liked it better when he was the last to bed and the first to rise. It gave him time to think. He quickly walked out of his prefect room, and through the dreary silver and green Slytherin common room. The fire was still lit to keep the chilly edge off the room, but there was still a definite aura surrounding every corner making it eerie to be waking up at such an early hour.
Tom slowly walked out of the entrance and made his way to Professor Dumbledore's office. He assumed that the more information he kept from Headmaster Dippet, the better. Hermione was closer and more familiar with Dumbledore, which would help Tom in the future. Showing a little bit of concern on his part would also be to his advantage. Anything to make things appear more civilized between himself and Dumbledore.
After knocking unreasonably loud to make sure he got his attention, Riddle waited as patiently as he could for the Professor open the door. As the doors slowly creaked open, Tom saw that there was no one there to greet him. Assuming that as good of a welcome as he was going to get this time around, he stepped inside. Dumbledore was once again waiting for him on the couch.
"Good morning, Tom. I half expected to see you again rather soon. Please take a seat." Tom walked towards the couch across from Dumbledore and sat in front of the man he despised with every core of his being. He looked him straight in the eye and waiting for the right moment to speak.
"Sir, I have some concerns for Miss Granger. She and I had a conversation just before she went to bed last night and there was something that disturbed me."
"What might that be Mr. Riddle?"
"She doesn't seem to remember anything or than her name," he said.
Tom saw a certain twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he said this. He wasn't sure if he could tell if he was lying or if it was simply a glare of pure curiosity.
"Is that so, Mr. Riddle? Yes, that is quite disturbing."
"Yes, sir. I asked her what house she was in just to be sure, and she could barely even recall. She doesn't even know where she lives."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, as if he were trying to decide something.
"Perhaps then, it would be appropriate for the sorting hat to remind her of which house she belongs to… as a start. Would you agree Mr. Riddle?" he said.
Tom hesitated for a moment. He hated how he could not make out what this man was thinking. He got the sense that Dumbledore knew what he was up to. Then again, how could he? His plan was thought out down to every last detail.
'There is no way. He is just trying to appear as if he knows to intimidate me. I know you all too well, sir,' Tom thought to himself.
"Seems like a good idea to me, sir," he said with confidence and a devious grin.
Ron sat waiting in the Gryffindor common room with a very irritated look on his face. He watched as Harry paced back and forth between couches in front of the blazing fireplace. Neither of them were particularly good at hiding their concern, especially when it came to Hermione, who had been gone for nearly forty-five minutes.
"Honestly, how long does it take a girl to go to the lou?" Said Ron.
Harry simply shrugged his shoulders, pondered only the worst things that could have happened. He stopped pacing and dropped himself on the couch beside Ron with a look of defeat on his face.
"Are we being too over protective or do we have a right to be?" Said Harry, unsure of what to think at the moment.
"We both know the girl can fend for herself, but should we at least check on her." Ron was starting to look even more nervous than Harry now.
"Maybe she slipped into bed without us noticing. It wouldn't be the first time." Harry said with a shrug.
"I'm going to ask Ginny. Be right back."
Practically jogging all the way, Ron quickly climbed the stairs up to the room Ginny and Hermione shared. He began knocking and didn't stop until Ginny had opened the door. She opened it so quickly that it almost made Ron jump.
"What, what, what?" she said, clearly annoyed with Ron's impatience.
"Is Hermione here? I mean I know she is here, but is she in bed? I mean…" He literally couldn't calm himself down.
"No, she isn't here."
"Yes, she's here. I mean, at school, but is she here…in her, you I'm your…you know what I mean."
"She hasn't come to bed yet, no. What's got youso carried away?"
"N-nothing. I was just wondering where she was."
"For the third time, she isn't here. Why, what's wrong?"
Ron didn't even take the time to answer here before he started running back down the stairs. Ginny quickly followed, as it seemed like something was terribly wrong. Harry was waiting at the foot of the stairs.
"Was she there?"
"No…lets go check the lavatory." Ron said in a hurry.
"What's going on you two?" Ginny was about go into a panic along with them.
"Nothing, Hermione is just taking a while to get back and its after hours. We're going to look for her. Stay here, I don't want you getting a detention," said Harry to reassure her.
"I'm going to wait here until you guys come back with her," Ginny called out, but they were already halfway out the door.
It was then that Ron noticed something under Harry's arm. It was his invisibility cloak.
"Do you really think we will need that?" said Ron.
"Just in case someone is still out checking the halls."
They walked with a very fast pace, both nearly out of breathe. By the time they made it to the lavatory, neither of them could barely breathe. Their little trip to the lavatory had turned into a little race all the way there.
Both ran into the door at full speed and shot through the door. Nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to see. They immediately stopped breathing. The stonewall was mending itself. Half of it was still lying on the ground in pieces. Ron turned around to look at Harry.
"I guess its not likely that she went to the library after…whatever the bloody hell that was,' he said looking back at the crumbled pieces of stone.
Ron stepped back towards Harry only to realize that he was standing in half an inch of water. The fountain had been leaking. It was at that moment that it struck Harry. In his mind, there was only one explanation as to what could have caused the water fountain to flood.
Ron looked at the fountain, then back to Harry.
"No…" he said shaking his head. "No, Harry. It's not possible. No, don't even think it."
"You give me another reason and I'll be glad to hear it."
"Harry, its not possible!" Ron was about to go into another panic.
Harry stared long and hard at the fountain like he was in deep concentration, but before he could utter a word, Ron broke it with a loud screech.
"WAIT!"
Harry nearly took a stumble as his mind lost track of what he was doing.
"Don't even think about opening it, Harry. We should at least go Dumbledore first."
Harry almost felt angry. He wanted to go down there now. Who knows how much time they had already wasted? But in the back of his mind, he also knew that having Dumbledore beside them could be a strong advantage. He nodded in agreement and walked towards the door with Ron quickly following. He lifted the cloak over the both of them and walked as fast of his feet could take him without making too much noise. But as they reached the halfway point to Dumbledore's office, they were run slightly off course. A very familiar voice could be heard walking right in their direction. Harry grabbed Ron by the collar and practically slammed him into the wall.
"Hey, what's the big id…?" Harry clamped his mouth shut before he could say another word, then leaned in close to his ear.
"Malfoy is headed this way." Ron looked at him with disbelief and disgust.
"Perfect timing, as bloody usual."
They stood as close to the wall as possible, covering every inch of their bodies with the invisibility cloak so they wouldn't be seen. Who knows what would happen if Malfoy or any of his goons saw them out at this time of night. Surely they would be sent to Snape's office rather than to Dumbleodore's. Then who knows what would become of Hermione. The voice from the far down the hall came closer and slowly became louder. The voice was undoubtedly that of Malfoy and his goon squad. Only his head was visible with his wand lit.
"Shut up, Crabbe. I've told you once already. No one will catch us out after hours. My father has made sure of that."
"How do you know," asked Goyle.
"I can't tell you out here. The walls have ears these days."
Ron had to fight hard to suppress a slight laugh. It was quite ironic how true that statement really was.
"Besides, we have other things to worry about. We are out here for a reason, remember?" said Malfoy. He sounded like he was getting more annoyed by the second.
"Umm…not really."
"Honestly, Goyle. What are you going to do with yourself when you finally get a real job to do? The Dark Lord is getting stronger everyday. He has already started giving me orders, and you can't even remember what you're here to help me do? You're worthless."
Harry started listening closer than usual to Malfoy's ranting. There was obviously something not right going on here.
"Although, it is rather odd. I can't possibly see why the Dark Lord gave me these particular orders. There is something father isn't telling me. I know it."
And just as quickly as the voices came, they disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.
Harry had to fight with all his strength to start walking towards Dumbledore's office and not to tackle Malfoy, making him confess to what was going on. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Malfoy knew what had happened to Hermione. But as much as it was tempting to go after him, he knew that reaching Dumbledore would be more worthwhile.
Aware of what was going on in Ron's head, Harry once again grabbed him by the collar and began dragging him along beside him.
"What are you doing? We have to go after them!"
"No, we need to find Dumbledore first. We can beat information out of Malfoy later."
Once they reached Dumbledore's office, they felt like collapsing from exhaustion. The walk to Dumbledore's office always seemed longer when it was something urgent. But before they could sigh from relief for having finally made it, they groaned in frustration. They didn't know the password. The gargoyle just stared at them hard in the eyes.
"Uh…M&Ms…Nerds…Milky Way…Snickers…"
"What are the hell are you doing?" said Ron, looking very confused.
"He likes Muggle candies. Do you know of any others?"
"Err, I don't really pay much attention to that stuff, Harry."
"Umm…come on think. What else did Dudley stuff his face with? Uh… Hershey's…Twizzlers….uh…Skittles?"
Suddenly, leaving them both in a state of shock, the gargoyle moved aside and the infamous spiral staircase appeared.
"How did you know that?" said Ron.
"Figured he might like that rainbow slogan or whatever it is."
Not wasting anymore time, they ran up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.
They found him standing at his desk with a very calm expression on his face. Harry stopped dead in his tracks a few feet from Dumbledore, causing Ron to run into him from behind. They both fell to the floor with a thud, but quickly recovered back to their feet.
"Hello Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. As you might already know, I have been expecting you."
"Expecting us?" said Ron, almost completely out of breathe.
"Yes, I fear we have quite a situation on our hands."
Before Harry or Ron could get the chance to ask him if he already knew where Hermione was, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in, Severus." Said Dumbledore.
Harry rolled in eyes in irritation as Snape walked in the door almost as quickly as Harry and Ron had. None of the three looked very happy to be seeing each other.
'Of all the times to randomly show up, he has to come here now?' Thought Harry.
"Excuse me, Professor, but I need to speak with you…alone." Snape's voice was colder than usual. There was something in particular that was pissing him off tonight, and Harry had a feeling that it wasn't just his and Ron's presence. But Harry wasn't about to let Snape get away with this. Not this time. There was nothing that could possibly be more important than what he and Ron had to say.
"We need to speak with him too, if you don't mind."
"Please don't start, Harry." Said Ron in a mere whisper. Snape snapped his head towards Harry with a look of rage on his face. He obviously wasn't in the mood to throw insults back and forth. But then again, neither was Harry. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Who knew how much time Hermione had left?
"I was just about to summon the three of you here, so I highly doubt one's reason for being here is any more important than the other's. Now please allow me to speak." Everyone in the room immediately silenced their thoughts and listened closely to the headmaster.
"I do believe I know why you are all here. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I am already aware of Miss. Granger's sudden disappearance and I will speak with you in just a second. I feel you have the right to know that nothing can be done as of this moment, for certain dark occurrences have already been set in motion. But I ask for your patience and that you leave me with Professor Severus for only a minute."
And with that said, the headmaster motioned Harry and Ron towards the door.
"Sir, what do you mean, dark occurrences? Surely you-" but Ron was cut off by Harry tugging him out of the door. Once they had made it outside his office, Harry sat on the stairs and starred down at the spiral steps with gloomy eyes.
"Why do you keep doing that?" said Ron, referring to Harry pulling him around by his clothes all evening. " We need to know what is going on in his head."
"We already do." Harry sounded more depressed than Ron had heard him in a long time.
"Oh really, and how is that?" Ron's attempt to sound sarcastic came out sounding more like apprehension.
"He basically said that we are already too late."
"Now Severus, please continue." Dumbledore sat on his big golden cushioned chair ushering Snape towards the chair in front of his large desk. Snape reluctantly sat down even though he thought it unnecessary considering the news he was about to bring.
"Headmaster, surely you are aware that the Dark Mark is only suppose to burn when a Death Eater's presence is required or when the Dark Lord is near, correct?"
"Yes, of course, Severus."
"Then would you care to explain to me why mine was in excruciating pain this past hour? There has been no meeting arranged and surely it is impossible for the Dark Lord to have entered this school."
Dumbledore sat there in his own little world for a moment staring at the door, then back at Snape.
"No, Severus. There is no possible way that Voldemort could have entered Hogwarts. But I daresay, a young Tom Riddle would not have a problem."
Snape stared at the Headmaster in disbelief.
"Are you saying that he found a way to transform into his younger self?" he said.
"I am not certain of anything at the moment, Severus. But it would not surprise me if Miss. Granger's disappearance has something to do with this," Dumbledore said calmly.
"What could the Dark Lord possibly want with Granger? She's only a muggle born." Snape's temper was beginning to rise. None of this made sense to him.
"As it would seem, Severus. As it would seem."
Five minutes later, the door to Dumbledore's office opened and both Dumbledore and Snape appeared before Harry and Ron. Harry quickly stood up and waited for one of them to say something.
"Harry, I have a rather large and stressful favor to ask of you." Said Dumbledore. "I believe in doing this we might get some of the answers both you, Mr. Weasley, and Professor Snape are looking for."
"Sir?" said Harry, eager to hear his request.
"Would you be willing to open the Chamber of Secrets?"
Harry was not surprised, but relieved.
"Yes, sir."
A/N: Phew! That ended up being six pages on Word. Hope it turns out to be a little longer than the last chapter. I always write a chapter, think it's really long, and then I upload it to find that it's hardly anything.
I always tend to get frustrated when authors go back and forth, but doing it this way, I realized would help to explain a lot of things about Hermione's situation.
Hope you all enjoy this chapter. For those who haven't yet, PLEASE REVIEW!
