Whew, took me long enough, I miss anything?.

Spy: Not really, we spent most of our time trying to find Heavy.

Me: Got lost again?

Spy: We needed to use sandwiches to lure him out again.

Me: Ah well, the wheel of fate is turning, let's see what the continuum shift has wrought.

Chapter 8: The Second Attack.

Needless to say, Madam Pomfrey wasn't pleased with Herwald's condition, if anything, she seemed even MORE liable to murder Lockhart than Herald himself.

"You should have come straight to me!" she raged, holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second, but growing them back…"

"You will be able to, won't you?" Herwald asked, keeping his tone controlled and steady as he regarded the Hogwarts Matron, though he couldn't help feeling rather desperate at the moment, as without his arms, he couldn't use Alchemy, or any other Magecraft for that matter.

Illyasviel wasn't nearly so limited, as she had her mystic eyes of binding and the inherited magical knowledge of the Justica series of Homunculi, and Shirou could just trace a multitude of airborne blades to protect himself, but Herwald and Sakura were limited to using their hands to work their Magics. He wasn't too certain with Rin, as knowing the stubborn Tohsaka heir, she'd probably launch one of her magical gems at her opponent by spitting it at them, but that would likely be a last-ditch attack, as her trademark Gandr spell relied on the use of her index fingers.

In short, for the first time since he and Illyasviel had been separated for their training, Herwald felt completely, absolutely defenceless, and hated every minute of it.

"I'll be able to, certainly." Madam Pomfrey assured him, her expression grim, though her eyes were kind as she looked him over "But it will be painful," she warned, throwing a pair of pyjamas at the boy "You'll have to stay the night…"

Hermione, Crabbe and Goyle waited outside the curtain drawn around Harry's bed while Ron and Neville helped him into his pyjamas, the redhead muttering curses as he struggled to stuff Herwald's rubbery, boneless right arm into a sleeve. "How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione?" Ron demanded, calling out through the curtain as he pulled Herwald's limp fingers through the cuff. "If Harry had wanted deboning he would have asked."

"Anyone can make a mistake." Hermione countered defensively, though to her credit, even SHE seemed unnerved by Herwald's predicament as she peeked in at him "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"

"Hermione…" Herwald muttered, looking at the girl with a flat, calm expression that was nonetheless more terrifying than any the girl had seen on his face "You are a cherished friend and I respect you, but if THIS isn't enough to get you to pull your head out of your Asch, then there's nothing I can do for you."

Hermione flinched, looking at the boy with a hurt expression even as Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain, holding a large bottle of something labelled Skele-Gro. "You're in for a rough night." she warned the Einzbern youth, pouring out a steaming beaker of the contents and holding it up to Herwald's mouth "Re-growing bones is a nasty business."

So was taking the Skele-Gro itself, only Herwald's high resistance to pain keeping him from choking as it burned the inside of his mouth and throat as it went down, the Einzbern coughing after the cup had been pulled away, though to his credit, he managed the entire beaker in one draught.

Muttering to herself about dangerous sports and inept teachers, Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron, Neville, Crabbe, Goyle and Hermione to keep their friend company, Neville helping the Einzbern youth to gulp down some water. "Danke, Neville." He offered, smiling gratefully at the round-faced boy, before turning his attention to Crabbe and Goyle "Where's Draco?"

"Got held back, along with the other players." Crabbe muttered, looking down at his friend with concern in his normally gormless eyes as Goyle nodded silently.

"The teachers decided to continue the match once they were sure you and Madam Hooch were in the clear." Ron revealed "I think Dumbledore was against it, but apparently that prat Lockhart insisted the match continue and the students ate it up."

"Yet another claim to lay on that fool's grave when I get my hands on him." Herwald muttered, sending a sharp look at Hermione when she opened her mouth to protest, the Einzbern now having ANOTHER reason to hate Quidditch, as if the Bludger hadn't been bad enough.

"I wonder what the hell was wrong with that Bludger." Hermione spoke up, apparently eager to move the topic away from her idol's supposed, in her mind, shortcomings "That was nowhere NEAR normal."

"I'd consider employing a magical flying cannonball to knock people off their brooms abnormal enough in its own right." Herwald muttered, scowling in distaste "But I have to admit that whoever came up with the idea did so thoroughly, there are safeguards in place that prevent them from attacking people in the stands…charms FAR too strong for any student to undo."

"You don't think it was a member of staff?" Ron muttered, looking at his friend in concern, his eyes widening in shocked realization "Filch! I'll bet HE did it! He's the only one with the keys to the sport shed other than Madam Hooch-!"

"Filch is a Squib." Herwald countered, earning looks of shock from Ron and Neville, sniggers from Crabbe and Goyle and a blink of confusion from Hermione "I doubt he'd be able to convince a mayfly the sky was blue let alone break the safeguards on a ministry approved Bludger."

"Not Filch then…" Neville chuckled, unable to help himself, for while being a squib wasn't exactly a BAD thing, it was still an embarrassing Stigma, one HE'D narrowly avoided when he survived being dropped out a window "That leaves…pretty much the rest of the staff except Madam Pomfrey."

"The only ones with the keys to the Quidditch supply shed are Filch, Madam Hooch, and Hagrid." Herwald countered, earning looks of shock from the Gryffindors "I'm not saying HE did it, but he IS the Keeper of the Keys, which means he has a copy of every Key in Hogwarts, that includes the one to the Quidditch supply shed."

"That makes sense I suppose…" Hermione reasoned nervously "It certainly wouldn't be impossible for someone to slip into his hut and steal the keys without him knowing, Hagrid can't use magic after all and he usually takes Fang with him on his rounds…"

The door of the hospital wing burst open at that moment, revealing a wide-eyed, filthy and soaking wet form that resembled Draco Malfoy, albeit one that had been rolling around in mud. "Herwald!" he cried out, catching sight of his friend and racing towards him, all his normal composure apparently gone as he pulled up alongside the Einzbern's bed "Are you alright? What did that idiot do?"

"Calm down, Draco…" Herwald muttered, amazed, and honestly a bit touched, to see his normally composed friend so bent out of shape over his wellbeing "I'm fine, as you can see, I'm more worried about YOU actually, did you get into a fight with a landslide or something?"

"Hm?" Draco wondered, looking down at himself in confusion, his eyes widening as if he only realized now the state he was in "Merlin I'm a mess…this is going to take ages to get out…" his hands went to his hair, which was filled with mud and leaves "Oh Merlin, how bad is it…?"

"Not so bad…" Herwald teased, his emerald eyes twinkling in amusement as he smiled wryly at the distressed Malfoy "I hear women go crazy for the wild-man look." He chuckled at Draco's look of anger "Seriously though, how was the match?"

"We won!" Draco revealed, a wide grin plastered across his face as he moved to shake his friend's hand, only to stop himself at the last moment "I'd have been here sooner but both teams seemed really fired up after what happened, I don't think I've ever seen Professor Snape so angry before, he kept glaring at the substitute Bludgers like they were, well, like they were Longbottom really."

"Those poor Bludgers…" Neville chuckled weakly, as even with Herwald and Draco's help he still had the occasional near accident in Potions class. It was simply a miracle he hadn't melted his first cauldron yet "So what was the score?"

"I honestly can't remember." Draco admitted, looking sheepish "The moment I caught the snitch I shoved it intoFlint's hand and sped off here as fast as my Nimbus could take me."

Herwald smiled at that, honestly touched by his friend's concern, the group continuing to chatter, joined briefly by the Weasley Twins, who stopped by to tease the boy before they were all bundled out by Madam Pomfrey, the matron checking on the boy briefly, tucking him into the comfy bed, before leaving him alone to check on Madam Hooch in the next bed over, Herwald closing his eyes and trying to drift off to sleep despite the stabbing pains in his arms.

Later that night...

Herwald yelped as he woke quite suddenly, only to be met with the pitch blackness of the Hospital wing at night. At first he thought the pain in his arms had woken him, as they'd developed from sharp stabs to a feeling not unlike they'd been stuffed full of large, bony splinters, discomforting even to someone with HIS level of tolerance, however it soon became clear to him that the reason he'd awoken was because someone was sponging his forehead in the dark.

"Was zur Hölle?" he muttered, shaking his head to rid himself of the unwanted attention, only to blink as he espied a familiar pair of goggling, tennis ball eyes peering at him through the darkness "Dobby? Is that you?"

"It is I, Harry Potter Sir…" the miserable little elf admitted sadly, a single tear running down his long, pointed nose as he continued to gaze morosely at the Einzbern "Harry Potter came back to school." he whispered miserably "Dobby suspected he would do so, for Harry Potter knows no fear. Is even travelling with Ancient One without fear of being turned to stone."

Herwald blinked, only to narrow his eyes, as there was only one person he knew off that fit the term 'ancient' who could petrify people in the literal, 'turned to stone' sense "You were the one who blocked the barrier at King's cross, weren't you?"

"Indeed yes, sir," said Dobby, nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Dobby hid and watched for Harry Potter and sealed the gateway, though he knew he would have to iron his hands afterwards…" he shivered uncontrollably "However, Dobby is forgetting to do so, because the Ancient One's power scared Dobby so much he had to hide himself behind the boiler and didn't come out for weeks." He shivered uncontrollably "Master was very angry with Dobby…beat Dobby most severely he did…but Dobby didn't care, sir, for he thought Harry Potter was in danger, imagine his relief when he is learning you were at school, unharmed! Dobby is being so relieved he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, sir…"

Herwald flinched, his anger fading away o pity, unable to stay angry at the sad, broken little creature that had, in its own way and despite its nature, tried to help him "You shouldn't be here Dobby." He reminded the Elf "If memory serves your master would not approve of this, he could KILL you."

"Dobby is used to death threats, sir." The elf admitted with a weak smile "Dobby gets them five times a day at home." He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry had to resist the urge to try and pat him on the shoulder, for one thing he'd probably end up accidentally swatting the elf, "But Dobby is not important! What is important is that Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make…"

"Your Bludger?" Herwald repeated, his emerald eyes widening in understanding as he sat up n the bed, his anger giving him the strength he needed as he glared at the Elf, all sympathy gone in the face of his rage "YOU'RE the one that made that Bludger try and kill me?"

"Not kill you, sir, never kill you!" Dobby countered, looking so shocked by the accusation that Herwald couldn't help but believe him "Dobby wants to save Harry Potter's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here sir! Dobby only wanted Harry Potter hurt enough to be sent home!"

"Oh, is that all?" Herald muttered angrily, though the blatant concern in the elf's face made it hard for him to be truly angry. In a way he could understand it, for while House Elves were phenomenally powerful in regards to magic, they could be remarkably simple at times. "I think I should warn you, Dobby, that my sister would not share your opinion."

"Harry Potter is having a Sister?" Dobby exclaimed, looking at the injured magus in amazement, as if this were the news of the century.

"Adopted, though we don't let such things bother us." Herwald muttered coolly "I'd steer clear of her though, she's liable to make a HAT out of you for this."

"Is worth it if Harry Potter is safe." Dobby insisted, surprising Herwald once more with just how highly the creature valued his life "Ah, if Harry Potter only knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world!" he blew his nose on his pillowcase "Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, sir," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase. "But mostly, sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end." He sighed dramatically "And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more."

After Dobby's revelation...

Herwald tensed, his mind whirling at the revelation of just how important he was to the Magical World, or at least to a certain part of it, even as Dobby, realizing what he'd just said, grabbed the teen's water jug from his bedside table and cracked himself upside the head with it, toppling out of sight.

From the sound of things, Herwald had been greatly underestimating his fame. He'd thought he was little more than an unwilling celebrity, or pop-culture icon, something that would fade with time as people got over themselves. It never occurred to him that, with his supposed defeat of Voldemort, he would be elevated to the same level as an Epic Hero, a symbol of hope and courage that people called upon in their darkest hours, such as the tales of Arturia and how she'd return inBritain's time of greatest need.

'And I haven't even hit puberty yet…' he muttered, shaking his head in bemusement, as even Shirou, who was apparently destined for a similar role if Archer was any indication, had yet to reach that level of fame 'Scheiße, I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up being summoned in a future Grail War myself one day…'

Dobby chose that moment to clamber back onto the bed, cross-eyed and mildly concussed, muttering 'Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby…' again and again as he swayed from side to side, trying to bring Herwald back into focus. "You mentioned the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again." He noted, shooting Dobby a glare to stop him from punishing himself anymore "Relax, I already know it exists, and I know it's already been opened, a Muggleborn witch died last time, right?" he frowned at Dobby's nod "But then why am 'I' in danger? The curse only affects Muggleborns, I'm a Half-Blood."

"Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge as he trembled in the dark "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter must not be here when they happen. He gripped Herwald's rubbery hands desperately "Go home, Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle in this, sir, 'tis too dangerous."

"Danger tends to find me wherever I go, Dobby." Herwald countered, smiling ruefully at the elf, who seemed stunned at the revelation "But even if I could run, I wouldn't. Some of my closest friends are Muggleborns, one of which I'm proud to call my brother." He tightened his grip on the elf's hands "I wouldn't be ALIVE right now if it weren't for him, I'll never be able to look him in the eye if I abandoned the Muggleborns just to save myself."

"Harry Potter has a brother too?" Dobby exclaimed, looking awestruck at the revelation "A brother who is just as courageous as Harry Potter, who would risks his own life for his friends?" the elf moaned, an expression of excitement on his face "So noble! So valiant! Very well, if Harry Potter cannot leave, then Dobby will do everything he can to help!"

Considering the Elf's LAST attempt to HELP him gave Lockhart an opening to banish the bones in his arms, it was understandable that this declaration sent a shiver of fear up the Einzbern's spine. Before he could counter the offer, however, Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering, drawing Herwald's attention to the sound of approaching footsteps, the elf vanishing with a loud crack, Herwald slumping back onto the bed and pretending to sleep, peering at the dark door to the hospital wing, only to blink as it swung open, Dumbledore backing into the room, dressed in a long woolly dressing gown and a nightcap.

As Herwald looked on, it became clear the Headmaster was carrying one end of what looked like a statue, Professor McGonagall appearing a second later, carrying its feet, Herwald's curiosity rising at the fact they were carrying it by hand instead of using magic to levitate it, only to tense as they heaved it onto a bed.

"Get Madam Pomfrey." Dumbledore whispered, McGonagall hurrying past the end of Herwald's bed out of sight, the Einzbern pretending to be asleep even as he listened to the urgent voices in the background, McGonagall returning with Madam Pomfrey in tow, the Matron pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress, inhaling sharply at the sight of Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed "Another attack." Dumbledore muttered solemnly "Minerva found him on the stairs."

"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," Professor McGonagall added, sounding lost, confused and distraught as she said it "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter."

Herald stiffened, a knife dropping through his head and through the pit of his stomach, a sense of dread washing over him as images of his friend's petrified faces washed over him, the Einzbern slowly raising himself a few inches so he could look at the statue on the bed, a ray of moonlight illuminating the staring face of Colin Creevey, the Gryffindor First Year's eyes wide and his hands stuck in front of him, holding his camera.

Dumbledore seemed to take note of the Camera, the Headmaster wrenching it, carefully, out of the boy's hands while Minerva fretted over the boy's fate had the man not been on the way down to the kitchens for a hot-chocolate "You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" she asked, only to step back in shock as he opened the back of the camera, a jet of steam hissing into the air, Herwald's nose twitching as he caught the acrid smell of burnt plastic from three beds away.

"Good gracious!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, covering her mouth as she stared at the remains of the camera in alarm "Melted…all melted…"

"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking at the Headmaster urgently, as if praying her suspicions were incorrect.

"It means…" Dumbledore noted grimly "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."

"But, Albus…" McGonagall stammered, staring at the Headmaster in alarm while Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth "surely… who?"

"The question is not who." Dumbledore countered, his eyes deadly serious as he continued to glance down at the still form of Colin. "The question is, how…"

Herwald's POV...

Herwald didn't know what expression was on McGonagall's face, but he could tell from the way she glanced at Madam Pomfrey that neither witch understood what the Headmaster meant either. What he DID understand, even as he settled in for the night, even as he rose the next morning, allowing Madam Pomfrey to poke and prod at him as he carefully spooned nourishing porridge into himself, all the while avoiding looking at the bed three rows down, was that Collin Creevey, the harmless, mildly annoying boy, who wanted nothing more than to send photos of him to his Muggle father, had been injured because he'd snuck out after hours to visit Herwald.

So far as Herwald was concerned, as he stormed out of the hospital wing, his face like a thundercloud and his emerald eyes flashing with anger, whoever had opened that blasted chamber had better enjoy it while they could, for Herwald intended to BURY them in it, along with whatever beastie they'd let out to do Salazar Slytherin's dirty work.

He was making his way to the library, figuring that the rest of the gang would be there by now, it was about the time they got together for study group, when he bumped into Percy Weasley, who blinked at the sight of him.

"Oh, hello Herwald." he greet, looking the Einzbern over carefully "Good to see you up and about, and congratulations for yesterday as well I imagine, as I understand it, Slytherin has just taken the lead for the House Cup."

"Thank you, I'd already heard." Herwald admitted, smiling at the elder Weasley, who he occasionally challenged to games of chess when they had free moments "You haven't seen Ron or Hermione, have you?"

"No, I haven't." Percy countered, his smile fading slightly at the mention of his youngest brother "I suppose that's the price of having a quiet younger brother, at least he isn't running around blowing up toilets like the twins."

Herald snorted, remembering to thank the twins for helping arrange Rin's gift from last year. According to Shirou, the Elder Tohsaka had taken one look at it before chucking it at the wall, followed by a volley of Gandr shots aimed at Shirou's head when he tried to stop her from blasting it.

Making his excuses to leave, the Einzbern slipped past the Weasley prefect, slipping quietly into the library, espying his friends near their usual table, Draco and Ron rising to meet him, Crabbe and Goyle pulling up a spare chair for him which he fell into gratefully, eager to hear what had been going on since he'd been out of the loop.

"Maybe whatever the monster is can make itself invisible?" Hermione suggested, looking up from a copy of 'Dangerous Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newton Scamander "Or maybe it can disguise itself, pretend to be a suit of armour or something, I've read about Chameleon Ghouls…"

"You're reading too much into this Hermione." Ron muttered waving a hand dismissively at the idea "Think about it, if it could do all that, wouldn't there be MORE victims by now?"

"Then there's the fact it petrifies its victims." Draco agreed, looking up from helping Neville with his Potions assignment "According to legend, the 'heir' will unleash 'The Beast' in order to kill Muggleborns, if that's the case, why hasn't it done so?"

"That's true…" Hermione mused, her brows furrowing in thought "The mandrake potion has been around well before the Founders' time, so I doubt people died from it back then."

"I wanna know why it attacked a CAT." Goyle muttered, blinking as he realized he'd drawn everyone's attention "I mean, not that I like Mrs. Norris or anything, nasty bit of work her, always running around for Filch…"

"He has a point…" Hermione agreed, stunning everyone, including Goyle "And it narrows down the list of possible suspects, I doubt the faculty would dream of attacking Mrs. Norris, the only ones who have any quarrel with her are the students."

"Which basically leaves us with several hundred possible suspects, doesn't it?" Ron muttered sarcastically, glaring at Herwald in mock anger "Honestly mate, you attract trouble like nobody's business."

"Seems to be a trend." Herwald snorted, smiling self-mockingly, though on the inside he mentally resolved to track down whoever had opened the chamber even if it meant tearing all Four houses down around their ears. After all, he was an Einzbern, and to an Einzbern, obstacles weren't just for killing, they were for destroying, UTTERLY, without any hope of recovery.

Killing them was simply an added bonus

Not very action packed, but it ties everything together.

And Herwald finally comprehends his fame. Future Grail War Servant?

Spy: Well he IS ze Boy Who Lived.

Scout: Big freakin' deal.