Chapter 6- Blood red paint writing.

Harriet's P.O.V
When I eventually woke up it was October. "Uh." I struggled up and rubbed my head. "Harriet!" Fred grinned. "Hay." I gave him a hug. "Guess I wasn't free that Friday." I grinned. "No, Madam Pomphry was too busy keeping you alive."
"I hope you kick Malfoy's sorry ass."
"Wasn't allowed. But we beat him in the next quidditch match."
"That's something." I shrugged. "Ah Miss Potter, you're awake. How do you feel?" Madam Pomphry asked as she stopped at the end of my bed. "I'm alright, need some water but otherwise I'm fine." I smiled. She nodded and walked on. "I think you may have set a Hogwarts record for the longest time in the hospital wing, at one point Pomphry debated sending you to St Mungo's." I whistled. "That's got to be a record. Hay." I looked around. "Where is everyone?"
"Halloween feast. Well, Harry and Ron said something about a death day party an I think Hermione went with them."
"Death day party?"
"Nearly headless Nick."
"Oh, I hope Harry remembers Nick wasn't the only one who died on Halloween." I said. "Hay, don't think like that." Fred poked my arm. "Your parents wouldn't want you to be sad."
"I know. And I still have Poseidon, even if I never see him."
"Actually, I'm here now." My father appeared next to the bed in a whoosh of sea air. "Dad!" I grinned. "Hay sprog." He ruffled my hair. "Have you cursed Malfoy?" I asked. "That's an idea." Dad scratched his chin. "Hmm, I have plotting to do. But for now, how are feeling?"
"Sparky." I grinned, Fred snorted and Dad chuckled. "Who's this?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me. "Dad, this is Fred Weasely, Fred, this is Lord Poseidon, king of the sea's father of horses, etcetera etcetera."
"Nice to meet you Sir." Fred held out his hand and Dad shook it. "Look after her." Fred winced and nodded. "Will do Sir." Dad let go and Fred shook the feeling back into his squished fingers. "Ow."
"Dad! What'd you do that for?" Dad shrugged. I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" I asked. "I came
To check on you. Am I not allowed to do that?" I raised an eyebrow. "You're a God, you don't do anything without a purpose."
"You're right of corse, I can to give you you're birthday present, I know it's late but it was being finished. Hold out your wrist." My charm bracelet tinkled as dad took it off. "I see you haven't used your shield or your wand." I shrugged. "I have wand and a haven't been in a situation where I need a wand yet." Dad grinned and held put his palm, two silver charms glittered in his palm, one was a unicorn that looked exactly like my friend Artemis, who was a unicorn and the other was a mermaid with a amethyst tale and a little crown on her head. "Is that Artemis?" I asked. "Yes, she was all too happy about being near you." I grinned. "Thanks Dad." Dad grinned, the charms glowed and a second later they where on my bracelet. "Cool. How did you do that?" Fred asked as Dad put my bracelet back on. "I'm a God." Dad grinned, just then a sea gull tapped on the window. "I've got to go now. I'll see you when I see you." Dad ruffled my hair again, shook hands with Fred and dissolved. "Well, that was interesting." Fred grinned at me. "To say the lest. So, what happened while I was out of it?" I asked. "Well, Harry and Ron had their detention, Harry heard a weird voice, Ron started puking slugs, he fired a spell at Malfoy and his wand backfired. Um Hermione has decided to be your friend again by the way. That's about it really. Won a few quidditch matches, got a few more detentions, beat Travis' high score." I grinned at the last one. "Finally, how is everyone?"
"Percy's gone missing, they suspect he's dead." Fred looked at me sadly. "He can't be dead, dad would've told me, right?" I started to cry, the big brother I'd only met once but still loved couldn't have died. "Shhh, it's ganna be ok." Fred put his arm around me, I lent into his chest, eventually I fell back asleep.

"Let me rip them, tear them, kill them." I sat bolt up right. "It's going to kill someone!"

"What, Harriet, it was just a dream." Fred said. "No, listen. Can't you here it?"

"Been soo hungry for soo long time to kill, time to kill. I smell blood. I SMELL BLOOD!" Fred shook his head. "I can't here anything." I ignored him and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I was still wearing the clothes I'd been wearing that day and my arms and legs were covered in bandages. "Harriet, what are you doing?" Fred asked as I stood up. "Saving lives." I said, taking a step and stumbling. "Harriet, you're in no condition to walk, you can't go saving people." Fred caught me and tried to force me back to bed. "No. I'm not trying go far. I'll stay on this floor. Hell, you can come with me if you like." He looked doubtful. "please Fred." I looked at him with my deluxe puppy dog eyes. "Ok, ok. Just stop looking at me like that." I grinned, we successfully got out of the hospital wing with me leaning heavily on him. We slipped out the door and were crashed in to, by Harry. "Oh Gods , I'm so sorry Harriet." Harry pulled me to my feet as Ron helped Fred up. "Did you hear it?" I asked urgently. "Yes, something about blood, and killing and a number of gruesome ways of dying."

"Yeah, come on." We sped down the corridor, round a corner and nearly slipped on a large puddle of water. Something was shining on the wall ahead. We approached slowly, Slipping on the water. Blood red foot-high words had been painted on the wall between two windows. THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENIMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWERE. Fred slipped his hand into mine and squeezed, I smiled gratefully at him. "What's that thing - hanging underneath?" Ron pointed with a shaking hand. We slid nearer. Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring. For a few seconds we were frozen. Then Ron said, "Let's get out of here."

"Shouldn't we help?" Hermione asked. "Trust me," Fred shook his head. "We don't want to be found here."

But it was too late, a rumble like thunder, told us that the feast had just ended. From either end of the corridor came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; next moment, students came crashing into the passage from both ends. The chatter died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. we stood in a little group huddled together, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the strange sight. Malfoy pushed his way to the front with the help of Crabbe and Goyle " Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" Fred, Harry and Hermione drew their wands and Fred pushed me behind him. "What do you want Malfoy?" Harry spat. Just then Filtch parted the crowd. "What's going on here? What's going o?" He spotted Mrs. Norris. "My cat! My cat!" he shrieked his eyes fell on Harry and I. "You! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll -"

"Argus!" Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. He had swept past us, reached up and lifted Mrs. Norris off the torch bracket. "Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr. Potter, Miss Potter, Misters Weasely, Miss Granger." Madam Pomphry stepped forward. "Headmaster, Miss Potter should be in the hospital wing, I don't know how she got out, no doubt Mr Weasely had something to do with it." She glared at Fred. "Actually, it was my idea, I heard people running and wanted to see what was going on. Fred didn't want to let me go." I said. "I'm sure Miss Potter will be fine for a little while longer Poppy." Dumbledore said, completely ignoring me. "My office is nearest, Headmaster, just upstairs, please feel free to use it." Lockhart steped forward excitedly. "Thank you Gilderoy." Dumbledore smiled at the guy. The stunned crowd parted to let us go up. Lockhart looking important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.

When we entered Lockhart's office there was a flurry of movement across the walls several pictures of Lockhart dodged out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore lay Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her. Hermione and I exchanged worried looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching, the tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose. Which was barely an inch from Mrs Norris's fur, he was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression. It was like he was trying hard not to smile, He glanced at mine and Fred's hands, which were still entwined, I puled a face at him and he rolled his black eyes. Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions like an overgrown butterfly who'd been given a voice and a mirror. "It was definitely a curse that killed her - probably the Transmogrifian Torture - I've seen it so many times unlucky I wasn't there, I know the exact counter curse that would have saved her." His comments were interrupted by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs Norris, his face in his hands. Much as I detest Filch, I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him at that moment, though not nearly as sorry as I felt for us. If Dumbledore believed Filch (which he probably would) we would be expelled. Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but nothing happened. "Loony." I muttered under my breath but luckily only Fred heard me. The cat continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed. ". . . I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou," Lockhart gushed., "a series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once." The photos of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net. Finally Dumbledore straightened up. "She's not dead, Argus," he said quietly. Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the number of murders he had prevented. Big headed git. "Not dead?" Filch choked, looking at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all - all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified," Dumbledore shrugged. "Ah! I thought so!" Lockhart smiled. "But how, I cannot say . . . ."

"Ask them!" Filch shrieked, pointing at Harry and I. "No second year could have done this," Dumbledore said firmly. Wow, he's actually taking our side. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced -"

"They did it, they did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what was written on the wall! He found - in my office - he knows I'm a - I'm a -" Filch's face paled horribly. "He knows I'm a Squib!" He blurted out. "We never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry said loudly, everyone looked at him, including all the Lockharts on the walls. "And I don't even know what a Squib is."

"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"You're what?" I asked. "If I might speak, Headmaster." Snape stepped out of the shadows. "Potter and their friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," He said. "But we have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why where they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?" McGonagall insisted. Harry, Ron and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the deathday party. ". . . there were hundreds of ghosts, theyll tell you we were there -"

"But why not join the feast afterward?" McGonagall said, glaring at me. "Hay, I was in the hospital wing with this guy." I pointed to Fred. "Don't look at me."

" But why go up to that corridor?" Ron and Hermione looked at Harry. "Because - because -" Harry said, he looked like he wanted to jump through the window and fly to Camp. He looked at me like 'Should we tell them about the voice' I shook my head. "Because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said lamely. "Without any supper?" Lockhart asked in surprise. "I didn't know ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"We weren't hungry," Ron said loudly as his stomach gave a huge rumble. I snorted with laughter which quickly became a cough. "I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful." Filch said nastily. "It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."

"Really, Argus?" Professor McGonagall said sharply. "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong." Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look, like he was X-raying him. "Innocent until proven guilty." He said firmly. Filch looked livid. "My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," Dumbledore said patiently. "Professer Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times.

I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep -" He smiled with overly white teeth. "Doubt it." I mutter, Fred grinned at me. "Excuse me." Snape said icily, take that Mr Shiny Teeth. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school." There was a very awkward pause.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to us. "Mr Weasely, please return Miss Potter to the hospital wing."

"Yes Sir." Fred nodded. "Come on." I waved to Harry, Ron and Hermione when we turned the corner. "What's a squib?" I asked as we descended the stairs. Fred snorted. "The opposite to a Muggle born, someone born into a magical family without magic. It's not funny usually, but as it's that nob, I think we can count it as funny."

"Yeah, although, it explains why he hates us lot so much. And it's kinda mean for Dumbledore to put the guy in a school full of magical kids when he doesn't have any magic."

"You've got a point, but then again, Dumbledore is a bit loopy." I nodded in agreement and yawned. "Gods of Olympus, I'm tired and I don't know why. Maybe Hypnos has cursed me."

"Who's Hypnos?"

"Greek God of Sleep." I yawed again as we entered the hospital wing. "Mr Weasely, thank you for escorting my patient." Madam Pomphry popped up next to us. "Miss Potter. This way, I need to get some food down you." She pulled me away from Fred. "Well, see ya." I waved as I was dragged down the length of the Hospital wing. He laughed and waved. "See you later Harriet." He turned and left. "Miss Potter, pyjamas then bed, I'll bring you your supper." She forced me down on a bed, handed me my pyjamas and closed the curtains behind her. I sighed, pulled off my clothes, my pyjamas on and clambered into bed.