Author's Note: This was really the chapter when I started agreeing with whatever ideas my brain spit out.
The Gryffindor trio as they were known, were also known for running around whenever the school was in trouble, despite the fact that they were putting themselves in grave danger.
He also didn't say anything as he followed the invisible children to Hagrid's hut.
"Maybe the spider's'll be gone," Ron said to himself hopefully.
"Why are we following the spiders?" He questioned.
"Hagrid told us to before he got taken away, maybe it'll help us figure something out," Hermione explained.
"Plus all of the attacks have been in the castle," Harry added. "Maybe it has to stay inside."
The kids pushed the door open swiftly, quickly feeding the large dog to stop it from barking at them, shedding the invisibility cloak as the door shut.
"C'mon Fang, wanna go for a walk?" Harry asked as they opened the back door, and the dog bounded outside. As they entered the woods, all of the children lit up their wands for light.
"Look, there!" Hermione cheered, pointing to several spiders making a bee-line to the trees further in the distance. They quickly moved off the obvious path, crushing twigs and branches that would surely bring attention to themselves if any animals were out hunting. He rolled his eyes.
"Aren't there better leads you could be following?"
"Oh yeah old man, like what?" Weasley asked, like his brothers, he'd picked up Ed's nickname for him.
"Perhaps finding the entrance to the chamber of secrets?"
"And how do you suppose we do that," he replied rather smarmily.
"Ask Myrtle perhaps? She was killed by the creature after all," he said, as the three turned towards him, annoyed.
"You knew that this whole time!?" Harry shouted.
"I thought it was rather obvious, she's the only ghost of a student," he admitted casually. The three children face palmed.
"Alright, we finish doing what Hagrid asked, then we talk to Myrtle," Hermione planned.
"Why bother? Just go straight to Myrtle, who says you'll even learn anything here?" Hoenheim argued, the children began to look angry.
"Because Hagrid asked us to!" Harry shouted.
"Honestly you can't be that-" Hermione began but Ron cut her off.
"Hermione don't bother, ghosts can't change remember," he grumbled. "Yelling at him won't do anything."
Hoenheim frowned, watching the children move ahead. He never was all that good with children, according to them, he never would be.
The moon and starlight disappeared, and soon the only light came from the wands themselves. The path became more and more ragged, and he flew ahead to keep track of the spiders as the children tripped on large tree roots. The dog panted as they traveled, ears twitching occasionally as it heard something farther out in the woods. For whatever reason, there was nothing out here but spiders.
Suddenly the dog let out a loud echoing bark, and Harry turned his wand slightly to the right,
"There's something moving over there," he whispered. Without the sound of them traveling, they could all hear branches crunch off in the distance.
"No, nope, no thanks," Ron ranted to himself.
"Shut up, it'll hear us!" Hermione hissed.
He rolled his eyes, "I think it already heard the dog."
Suddenly beams of light shot out of the darkness, and a loud rumbling could be heard.
"I can't believe it, it's the car!" Ron cheered, running towards the thing.
"Why is there a car?" he questioned.
"It's Ron's dad's flying car, him and Harry crashed it into the Whomping Willow when school started," Hermione explained.
"Why am I not surprised," Hoenheim grumbled. The car moved forwards like it was greeting its owner. It had been rather trashed by the elements it seemed, overtaken by mud and vines. Ron didn't seem to mind, and instead patted the hood of the car like it was a dog.
"Man I thought this stupid thing was gonna attack us…" Ron cheered.
"Where'd the spiders go?" Hermione asked, they all looked around, but it seemed like the car had scared them off. Suddenly Ron stopped where he stood, dropping his wand in the mud, suddenly something grabbed Harry by the leg and dragged him up into the air, Hermione screamed as they turned around, faced with what was a spider larger than even him. Two other spiders, not nearly as large, but still man-sized grabbed Ron and Hermione, but couldn't pick him up. He followed with Fang as they were carried off towards a clearing, away from the safety of the car. The children were dropped into the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the hairy creatures. Hoenheim floated through the creatures, standing behind the children as they nervously got up.
"Aragog?" Harry questioned, as another spider, the size of an elephant, crawled out.
"What is it? It's not Hagrid," the spider spoke to nearly everyone's surprise.
"Strangers," on of the smaller spiders replied.
"Kill them then, I was sleeping-"
"We're friends of Hagrids! The Chamber of Secrets got reopened, he got blamed and they took him to Azkaban!" Hermione shouted.
"That would be the only reason Hagrid would send someone… But that was years ago, years and years ago, they made him leave for something he didn't do, believed I was the monster."
"We know it wasn't you and it wasn't Hagrid," Harry agreed.
"It killed that girl in the bathroom-"
"Myrtle right?" Ron questioned.
"Sounds right."
"Is the thing in the castle really a basilisk?" Harry asked, and suddenly all of the spiders backed away.
"We do not speak of it! We do not name it!" they hissed.
"We've just confirmed everything we already knew," Hoenheim grumbled. The children shot him a sour look.
"Do you know how to prove Hagrid's innocence?" Hermione asked.
"The only way would be to defeat the creature… otherwise I cannot help you."
"Right then, so… we'll be going then?" Harry said, backing up.
"Go? My children don't attack Hagrid on my command only, I cannot ask them to let you go."
"But if we don't kill the Basilisk-" the spiders hissed, backing away. "Then Hagrid won't ever come back!" Ron argued.
"Goodbye friends of Hagrid…" The spider muttered, turning away as its children reared their ugly heads. Suddenly they heard a rumbling noise, and Ron's car tumbled down the slope, screeching to a stop. The children and the dog quickly got in the car before it took off, and he flew beside it.
The children screamed as the car plowed through the woods, down a path where it had seemingly gone through before, since there was almost nothing that wasn't already flattened.
"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted.
As they escaped the forest the car slammed to a stop right behind Hagrid's hut, the dog hopping through the broken window, and back through the open door of Hagrid's hut. The children stumbled out on shaky legs, patting the roof of the car before it floored itself backwards into the forest.
Harry and Hermione stumbled into the shack, while Ron relieved his stomach outside.
"Follow the spiders, I'll never forgive him," Ron grumbled to himself as the other two returned with the invisibility cloak. "We didn't even learn anything- not a word old man," Ron said, pointing directly at him. He looked away and began whistling innocently.
"Well, at least we've confirmed everything," Hermione sighed as they all climbed under the cloak. "We can talk to Myrtle tomorrow."
"Why not now?" he questioned.
"Dude, it's like two in the morning," Ron complained as they disappeared.
Hoenheim followed their footsteps back to the castle, making sure they all got back to the common room before floating off to his usual post at the library.
Hoenheim 'sat' in the Hospital Ward, in the half of the room that had been dedicated to the petrified, divided off by a large curtain that split the room. Edwards leg clicked about, trying to grab purchase on the bed like it would be able to lift up the rest of the body.
The only other person in the space was a woman with dual-toned hair, sleeping in a chair by one of the Slytherin boys. Rather than being tucked in like the others because they had been sitting up, the blankets were instead draped over their shoulders. They looked rather like they were studying rather than frozen like stone.
The clicking stopped as Edwards leg froze to a stop, still at an angle. The room was silent other than the woman's quiet breathing. The door opened, and he sunk through the chair to be out of sight. Pointed shoes clicked across the floor, coming to a stop next to the woman and the boy.
"Couldn't keep out of it, could you Draco," the man muttered to himself. The woman's breathing quickened, before resuming at a normal rate. Apparently she had woken. "Can't do anything right, can you? Beat out by Granger in everything but Alchemy, but then Weasley beats you both, Pathetic. Can't even avoid something only after the muds… Dumbledore and the oaf are gone at least, guess you did something right," the man sighed to himself before backing away. He heard the footsteps click out of the room, and the door shut again.
Hoenheim rose back to his seat, looking over the room. The woman was still pretending to sleep, but silent tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I can't believe the mandrakes aren't ready yet," Hermione ranted in the Alchemy room, "Don't you think they could've just gotten mature ones from someplace else? Or just bought the potions?"
"Hermione, they're pretty rare, and the potion isn't their most common use," Neville explained.
"So? You're really telling me they couldn't get any? Not even one? It's ridiculous!" She said angrily.
"If Lucius Malfoy hasn't unpetrified Draco yet, then there probably isn't another way," Harry pointed out, "He's got dark wizard connections and even he didn't seem to find anything."
"I doubt he even looked," Hoenheim said without thinking.
"Why would that be?" Ron questioned.
"He 'visited' his son in the hospital wing last night. Didn't have anything nice to say."
"Ouch, even daddy dearest wouldn't help him out," Ron winced.
"Alright so, we have to talk to Myrtle, find out who's doing this, and find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione listed.
"And find Riddle's diary," Harry added.
"Are we sure Ginny didn't take it?" Hermione questioned, jumping at Ron's glare, "I'm not saying it to be mean Ron, she just seemed very attached to it, and looked pretty relieved after she snapped at you."
"Riddle's bad news though, we all agree on that right?" Ron questioned, and they all nodded.
"Diary?" Alphonse questioned.
"Yeah, that little black leather thing Ginny used to write in?" Ron explained.
"Used to?" He asked, and they blanched.
"Damnit," Ron cursed.
"Okay Ginny, then Myrtle-"
"Ron-"
"No that thing's bad news, Myrtle can wait," Ron shot out of his seat, heading towards the door, "You gonna escort me old man, or what?"
Hoenheim got up along with Harry and Hermione, and they all left the classroom.
"Ron we should really talk to Myrtle-"
"She's not going anywhere Hermione," he waved her off.
"She could get petrified! Just like Nick!" she argued. "Ginny's in class right now right? Nothing's going to happen to her!"
Ron paced before agreeing. "Fine, Myrtle then Ginny, but we're going straight to Transfigurations to pick her up."
"Potter, Weasley, Granger, where do you think you're going?" They heard, and McGonagall suddenly walked around the corner.
"We've got an escort," Ron complained.
"You're looking at the very fine print Weasley," she warned.
"Wait, shouldn't you be teaching Transfigurations right now?" Harry questioned.
"Actually I was going to go check up on your sister Mr. Weasley, her roommate claimed she's been sick all day-"
"Goddamnit Hermione I told you!" The boy quickly turned directions, and they all ran after them.
"My word, what is going on?" McGonagall questioned, holding her hat to her head as she ran.
"Ginny Weasley has been acting rather odd lately… almost… possessed," He explained.
"You don't think?"
"They don't but… I really can't imagine any of these children opening the chamber of their own will," he agreed. They quickly increased pace to catch up with the trio. The fat lady swung open as soon as she saw the looks on their faces. He suspected Ron would've jumped right through the canvas if she hadn't.
Hermione ran past the boys up the girls staircase where they couldn't go, and Ron was jittering anxiously.
"What is going on?" She asked the boys.
"Ginny had this diary, owned by T.M Riddle, the guy who 'caught' Hagrid like fifty years ago. It was cursed or something though, when she wrote in it it wrote back. We were going to show it to you but then someone broke into our room and stole it. Ginny said she didn't steal it but-" Harry explained, pausing when Hermione dashed back down the stairs.
"She's not there!" She shouted. "Where's Fred and George?"
"Uh…" Ron counted his fingers, "Defense Against I think?"
"The map Ronald!" she explained, and they quickly burst back out of the common room. They slid down the banisters despite the danger of falling all the way down to the dungeons, and Ron rather spectacularly kicked the classroom door in, interrupting Lockhart from telling of his school days.
"Fred, George, we need to know where Ginny is right now," Ron rushed, the twins quickly grabbed their bags and ran out of the classroom. They looked skeptically at McGonagall before opening the map out on the floor.
"I Solemnly swear I am up to no good," they both exclaimed, enchanting the map. Minerva rolled her eyes.
"Of course you two managed to find that stupid thing," she mumbled to herself, before they all dropped down to scan the map, floor by floor.
"I don't see her anywhere," Ron said sadly.
"Wait, there are rooms missing though. The Hufflepuff dorms aren't on here at all," Hermione examined.
"So?" Harry questioned as the bells rang. The other fourth years awkwardly walked by them.
"Well obviously the chamber of secrets isn't on here either. We have to look for the blank spaces where the map doesn't line up." She explained.
"There," Fred pointed to a wall in between Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and the empty classroom nextdoor.
"Isn't that where the sinks are?" Ron questioned, as Neville suddenly ran down the hallway.
"Professor McGonagall!" he whined.
"What is it?"
"There's another message, right under the first. Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever," He explained, and everyone blanched. "Professor who's it talking about?"
"Neville don't worry, we're already on it," she assured. "Go get Professor Flitwick and tell him to send all the students back to their dormitories.
"Why are we sending the students back to their dormitories? Hagrid's gone, the danger has passed." Lockhart said, grinning as he left the classroom. Everyone, even Hermione glared angrily.
"A student has been taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself Mister Lockhart, you've been telling the students you know how to kill the beast, correct?" McGonagall asked coldly.
"Ah well, I, it was more-" Lockhart flustered.
"That you've known that it was a Basilisk from the start?" she added, "And that you've known where the entrance was for weeks now?"
"Well-I-"
"Perfect, we'll be heading into the chamber immediately, time to solve this once and for all, I'm sure the battle will make a rather glorious book, don't you think?"
"I- uhm, of course!" He said loudly, clearly trying to convince himself.
"Telling you children to stay behind won't do anything, will it?" She sighed.
"It's our sister," The Weasley's all agreed.
"Right then. Come on Lockhart, it's your time to shine," she grinned mischievously, grabbing a tight hold of the man's sleeve as she marched forward.
"Man, Professor McGonagall's gonna murder Lockhart," Fred said surprised as they ran after her.
"Well, if not Ed, than who else?" George agreed.