Chapter Sixteen: Kidnapping and Distress

Months passed. Twyla sent messages every two weeks, talking about Asphodel was the leader and their teacher. She said that she had seen James and Mackenzie and Rachel. All the missing were there.

Twyla told them how they slept in underground rooms called dens. How the school was the ruins of a manor, long forgotten. She explained that Albany only appeared in her dreams, so much more vividly now.

Twyla had asked Rachel where Albany was. Rachel let her know that Albany couldn't appear in the daylight, only in dreams. She was too important to talk to the students directly.

Hope grew worried for her friend and her nightmares got worse. Her grades fell and soon she looked like a lost soul wondering the halls. Her only comfort was hanging out with her friends. When she was nervous and shaky, though, and didn't want them to see her, she went back to the girls' bathroom where Myrtle resided. She was surprisingly nice company and her and Hope got along swimmingly. Myrtle never mentioned the Chamber of Secrets and Hope never mentioned what Myrtle had done for her when she flew out of the pipe. Hope was very grateful for her.

Meanwhile, Rose was obsessed with all she was learning, taking notes and drawing connections constantly. Al tried to get his friend's attention, trying to keep their spirits up, but they ignored him.

SS trained with the Quidditch team. Roxy led them to another win and Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup!

But there was still a blanket of misery over the whole castle. By the month of May, almost a quarter of the students had run away. Parents were growing concerned and pulled their kids out of school in fear that Hogwarts was corrupting them. But even that didn't stop the students from running away. There were so many empty seats in the classrooms that it was impossible to forget about the traitors.

Hope was sitting on the marble tiles of Myrtle's bathroom, writing her final essay for Astronomy. Myrtle floated high above, reciting random bits of gossip she had overheard.

"And Cindy Price hates Carissa Loser's new hat but she told she that she liked it. Then I set the record straight. Oh, you should have heard them bicker! It was a total cat fight!" Myrtle cackled. Hope laughed softly and finished her essay, satisfied. Working in here while Myrtle gossiped was very relaxing. Hope found that she did her best work in here since no one came. Myrtle often complained over the lack of visitors but Hope liked it.

She slipped her essay and textbook back into her bag and laid down on the cool tile. Myrtle smiled down at her and Hope stuck out her tongue in reply.

Suddenly they heard a muffled scream. Instinct drove Hope into one of the stalls and Myrtle into her toilet. Hope clambered onto the toilet in her stall as the door of the bathroom was thrown open. She leaned forward, peaking out the crack yet careful not to be seen.

"Let me go!" a muffled female voice cried out. A boy walked farther into the bathroom and Hope was able to see him. Black hair, Gryffindor robes, and almond shaped eyes. Heng Kim.

"Cost is clear," Kim called over his shoulder. Tristan Luff walked forward, his floppy hair dangling into his eyes, his wand raised.

"Come on! We don't have all day," Luff complained and dragged a protesting body into Hope's view. She had to bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming aloud. The girl Luff was dragging was Ferna. She had a cuts on her arms and face. Her copper hair was a mess and her robes were in tatters. Worst of all, glowing on the palm that SS had shook was a fiery red lion. "I should've known you were spying for the lion. You never were charmed by my stunning good looks."

"I'm not a spy!" Ferna protested. Luff yanked her hair, pulling her to the ground. Ferna cried out in pain, wincing as her elbows were slammed into tile.

"Do you think we're idiots? You have the mark of Gryffindor of your palm!" Kim exclaimed.

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Ferna insisted from the floor. Luff and Kim just rolled their eyes and pulled her to the sinks.

"You're in luck. You'll get to be our pet's first meal," Kim hissed and pointed his wand at the last sink in the bathroom. Hope knew that that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets but she saw no way that they could know that.

Kim's wand began to glow green. A beam of light hit the snake on the tap and a hissing sound emitted from the small piece of wood. Hope suddenly realized what it was. It was her voice, recorded when she opened the chamber. Kim must have followed her in, recorded her voice with magic, and then shoved her down the pipe.

The sink sank out of view and the gaping pipe was revealed. Ferna whimpered softly as she realized what was going on.

"Ladies first," Luff cackled and threw her against the pipe. Ferna's shins hit the edge and instantly started to bleed. Kim gave her a good shove and Ferna went tumbling down, head first, screaming all the way. Luff laughed and jumped in after her. Finally, Kim climbed into the pipe and planted his feet, halting his descent. He waved his wand and the sink began to rise again. Then he turned and fell down the pipe.

"That was interesting," Myrtle remarked after a moment of silence. Hope unlocked the stall door and stepped into the bathroom area. Myrtle was floating near the last sink, a glum expression on her face.

"Myrtle, have Luff and Kim been coming here often?" Hope wondered, voice steely calm.

"I think so. They came here in September and asked how to get into the Chamber of Secrets. After you came and got in, they kept coming every week, not even saying hello," Myrtle sighed.

"And you didn't tell me?" Hope demanded. Myrtle shrugged.

"I didn't think it was important," she admitted. Hope groaned and ran her long fingers through her black hair. This was the thing about Myrtle. Unless it involved her directly or was super hilarious or embarrassing for others, she didn't think it was important.

"I'm going after her," Hope declared and walked towards the sink. She was the only one who could open the Chamber of Secrets. She would save Ferna and stop Luff and Kim from doing whatever they were doing.

Suddenly the door of the bathroom flew off its hinges. Hope and Myrtle screeched and ducked, although since Myrtle was a ghost she didn't need to. SS stormed in, wand raised, red magic rippling off of him. Al and Rose followed, climbing over the rubble from the door.

"Merlin, now we're going to get into trouble," Al muttered.

"SS, honestly, I'm sure she's fine," Rose assured the blond. The group froze when they saw Hope, covered in white dust. She stood up off the tiles and hurriedly brushed herself off.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked her friends.

"We could ask you the same question," Rose replied. SS strode forward and grasped Hope's shoulders.

"Have you seen Ferna? I think she's in danger," SS demanded, his voice rough with worry. Hope pressed her lips together, not sure she wanted to answer. Ferna was in danger but telling her friends that would lead to questions. Questions that would no doubt find out about her abilities and her father.

"You're being paranoid. The last time I saw her was just five minutes ago. She was talking with Luff and Kim, trying to get us new information. Doing her job," Rose insisted.

"If she's in trouble because of me..." SS grumbled. He shook his head and took a step back.

"I...I saw her," Hope forced out. The entire group turned to her and Hope nearly stopped. But she made herself continue. SS was extremely worried and Hope could help. She had to think about Ferna and the greater good. Those boys were up to something Hope had the ability to stop them. She just needed to be brave enough to act. "Luff and Kim kidnapped her and took her into the Chamber of Secrets. I watched from a bathroom stall."

"No," SS moaned, his head in hands. Al had turned pale and Rose was biting her lip.

"We have to go after her," Al insisted. "How do we get into the Chamber of Secrets?"

"I...I can open it," Hope admitted. She could see Rose's brain working overtime, trying to figure out what was going on. Before Hope could lose her nerve she walked over the farthest sink. She stared at the little snake and focused. "Open." The sink began to descend.

"That's parseltongue," Al gasped. Hope looked at the floor tiles. "How did you...?"

"You're father. You know who he was," Rose realized. Hope swallowed hard and nodded.

"He was a descendent of Salazar Slytherin. So am I," Hope explained, voice no louder than a whisper.

"I understand," Rose told her and walked forward. She wrapped her long arms around her shaking friend who finally let it out and began to cry softly.

"I don't understand," Al muttered. SS, meanwhile, was rushing to the pipe.

"I'll explain everything later," Hope promised and pulled away from Rose, wiping her tears away. "But first we have to save Ferna."

"We will. Oh!" Rose gasped and pulled a golden galleon out of her pocket, the one who had a twin in Twyla's possession. Rose stared at the coin for a moment before she paled.

"What? What's wrong?" Al asked his cousin who was slowly putting the coin back in her pocket.

"Twyla just sent me a message," Rose whispered. Her hands were shaking. Hope placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"What did it say?" Hope asked.

"S.O.S," Rose uttered and Hope sucked in a breath.

"We can't save them both. Twyla is better at talking her way out of things. She'll be fine," SS declared, climbing into the pipe.

"We can't just abandon her. She's my friend and is risking her life for us," Hope protested. A scream suddenly came from the pipe. High pitched. Ferna. SS looked like he was fighting with himself.

"We can't save them both. We don't even know where the school is," SS insisted.

"Twyla told me last month where it was. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't you guys to do anything rash. We didn't have the power to storm her mansion," Rose admitted.

"I have an idea," Al blurted out. Everyone, including Myrtle, who had been watching this conversation from the ceiling, turned to look at Al. "Two of us go save Ferna and two of us go save Twyla."

"Who goes where?" Hope demanded.

"You and me should go save Ferna," SS told Hope. "You can speak parseltonuge. And if this is Luff and Kim we're dealing with, then I know their weaknesses."

"But what about Twyla?" Hope replied.

"Rose and I will go. We'll save her," Al promised. "But we need to get moving."

"Alright. Good luck," Hope said and hugged Rose and Al, knowing that this may be the last moment they saw each other. "Come back, okay?"

"Okay," Al answered and hugged SS who was starting to get impatient. He was tired of strategy. He needed to move and go save his friend who he had put in danger.

Rose and Al waved one last time then ran out of the bathroom. Hope looked at SS who nodded grimly and let himself slide down the pipe. Hope waited for thirty seconds before she jumped in after him, heading below the school to the place where her nightmares took place.

Rose and Al tore down the hall, robes billowing behind them. Rose turned sharply left and Al stumbled as he tried to keep up. Rose descended steps of the staircases two at a time, pushing students out of her way as she ran. Her brain was spinning, trying to figure out a speedy way to get to Albany's school before it was too late. She pushed open the heavy doors of the school like they were made of feathers. Then she paused. Al doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

Twyla had told Rose that it had taken her roughly half an hour to get to Albany's school on a Hippogriff. Rose needed to get their quicker. She couldn't Apparate, since Hogwarts had charms against that. Broomsticks were much too slow. But what was fast enough?

A sudden loud cry erupted from the woods and Rose saw a black thing fly above the trees, then land out of sight. It had had a black coat with bat like wings and no fat, almost like it was just a skeleton with some skin. A Thestral.

But why could Rose see them? Then she remembered. Last year at the Battle of the Tower, some of Albany's followers had died. Rose had seen them fall. She had seen their glassy eyes and still chests. She had seen death. So that meant she could see Thestrals. Hopefully that meant that Al could see them too.

Rose grabbed her cousin and ran into the woods, often screeching, trying to imitate the cry of a Thestral. They traveled deep into the forest, the only light being their wands.

"Rose, can you please tell me the plan?" Al mumbled as he tripped over a tree root. Rose just let loose another cry. This time they got a response. Rose smiled and charged further into the forest, faster than before. "Or not." Al ran to catch up with his cousin. When he got there, he saw her petting the nose of a large black horse-like animal. "What are those?"

"Thestrals," Rose replied. "They'll be giving us a ride to Albany's school."

"Thestrals?" Al cried out in shock.

"Yes, Al. We saw...we saw people die last year," Rose sighed. She led the Thestral she was petting over to stomp and climbed onto his back. "Are you coming?"

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Al croaked out, eyeing the Thestral's skeleton shape and sharp white teeth.

"Do you want to save Twyla or not?" Rose demanded. Al frowned, debated the idea in his head for a moment, and then hopped onto a Thestral. "Ready? Let's go!" Rose kicked her legs into the Thestral's hindquarters and he took off, Al's Thestral close behind.