As soon as breakfast was over the next morning, the AA went to the library and checked out several books on magical creatures, then settled in the Room of Requirement to look through them. During the meal itself, the four Ravenclaws had looked through their copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in hopes that they might find something. However, while there were any number of creatures listed in the textbook that were quite dangerous and could kill, none were listed as causing Petrification in people. Since the book was meant as a textbook for British wizarding schoolchildren, the AA had figured that they would need more research. For one thing, Fantastic Beasts only gave an overview of various magical creatures and not an in-depth look at them (which only someone studying to be a magizoologist would need), and for another, there were some creatures that weren't listed, as they were North and South American in origin and a British witch or wizard wouldn't likely face them unless he or she traveled to those continents.

The Gryffinclaws turned up halfway through the morning. "Oh, hello guys," said Daphne, as the AA all looked up briefly. "Did you all leave the feast early last night?"

"Me, Luna, and Liam did," Ginny said. "Colin didn't show up at all. I was going to walk down to the feast with him, but one of his dormmates told me that Colin had to go to the loo and asked me not to wait for him. I did, but when he didn't show up, we started getting worried."

"After forty minutes or so, we got really worried, so we each wrapped up some food in a napkin and went looking for Colin," Liam continued. "We didn't find him until after the feast was over, and things really got weird."

Colin nodded emphatically. "I had some red paint on my clothes, and for some odd reason, I had no memory of anything after I left for the bathroom. Ginny magically cleaned the paint off and they gave me the food they'd wrapped up. After I ate, we went to our common rooms, and that's when we heard about Mr. Filch's cat."

"And now Colin has a feeling that he might have had something to do with Mrs. Norris," Luna said. "But since he doesn't remember anything of the time during the feast, he can't be sure. Besides, he doesn't know any magic to Petrify a cat, much less a human being, so unless someone was controlling him, it's not possible."

The entire AA now had looks of alarm on their faces. "Someone could be controlling you, Colin!" exclaimed Hannah. "Last year we found out that You-Know-Who was possessing Professor Quirrell, so he or one of his followers that escaped arrest could be doing this! Probably Mr. Malfoy, because of the warning his house-elf gave us."

"But I don't feel like anyone was controlling me," Colin protested. "I just can't remember anything since I went to the bathroom and until my friends found me. I do have this feeling that it's connected to Mrs. Norris, but that doesn't mean anything. Maybe one of my dormmates cast a spell on me for a joke."

"Except Memory Charms and related spells are too complex for a first year to know, much less cast," Hermione pointed out. "I did some reading on the theory last month, and I don't feel capable of casting any of those spells, even if I am rather advanced when it comes to spellwork."

"Then maybe I got slipped a potion," Colin said. "Look, I feel fine now and my only issue is that I got my friends worried with my disappearing act and they had to cut the feast short to look for me. I'll be more careful of any snacks my dormmates, or anyone else, offer me in the future, all right?"

The AA didn't look convinced, but Ginny said, "And we'll keep a closer eye on Colin too, okay? Now, we just want to relax and go write to Tom, I mean our diary."

"You've been writing in your group diary an awful lot lately," Ron said. "From the looks of it, it'll be filled up before November is over. You guys should look into getting a new one."

"We don't need to worry about that," said Luna. "It's not going to run out of pages."

"What do you mean?" asked Theo.

Luna opened her mouth to reply, but Liam elbowed her and said, "There's a spell on it that can wipe away what we write in it. We're not using the diary to record our thoughts for, what's the word, posterity, but to just vent and everything. Now, can we stop with all the questioning and get on with our private activities, please?"

The AA exchanged looks, but as they still had research to do, nodded and left the Gryffinclaw quintet to their own devices. By dinnertime, the AA hadn't found anything in the books they'd looked through about a creature that could Petrify others. The closest they found was an entry on Gorgons, which could turn people into stone with their gaze. However, Gorgons did not live for hundreds of years, much less over a thousand, which was how old the monster in the Chamber of Secrets would have to be if it truly had been placed there by Salazar Slytherin. The second closest thing they found was that basilisks, with enough food, could live for hundreds of years, possibly even for over a thousand years, and as the 'King of Serpents', certainly fit Slytherin's connection was snakes. The only problem was that a basilisk's gaze killed, not Petrified, and none of them had any idea as to how a giant snake would be getting around the castle unseen, anyway.

When Harry mirror-called his godparents after dinner, Remus and Eric answered. "Sirius and Lia are putting Matt down for bed," Remus said by way of explanation. "So what's going on, Harry?"

"We did research all day, poring through sixteen books plus our copies of Fantastic Beasts, and haven't found anything, Uncle Remus!" Harry snapped in frustration. "There were only two creatures that we found that were remotely possible, but neither one fit the facts we have exactly. Gorgons can turn people to stone with their gaze, but if Slytherin had placed one in his chamber, it would be long dead by now, and basilisks live long enough and fit his snake thing, but their gaze kills, not Petrifies. Not to mention that a fifty-foot snake couldn't travel about the school without someone spotting it. I hope you guys found something!"

"Well, our talk with Professor Dumbledore revealed that the Chamber of Secrets was open before, fifty years ago, to be precise," said Eric. "A student ended up dead. Poor Hagrid was named as the one responsible and was expelled as a result. However, as Tom Riddle was the one to expose Hagrid as the culprit, the general consensus among us is that Riddle was the one that really opened the Chamber and framed Hagrid for it. You see, Hogwarts was about to be shut down due to the student's death, and obviously Riddle did not want to have to leave school and return to the Muggle orphanage he had grown up in."

There were several exclamations of anger and disgust at Riddle framing Hagrid like that from the AA. Harry ignored it, though he was upset, and said, "Then I guess we should talk to Hagrid and see if he can tell us anything new."

Remus frowned. "You shouldn't go prying, Harry, or the AA either. Hagrid really doesn't like talking about the incident that led to him being expelled. Besides, Lia already spoke to him and got confirmation that he was framed. While he had been keeping a rather dangerous creature secretly at the time, it had never left the room that Hagrid was hiding it in. Furthermore, it can't Petrify anyone, and the only way it can kill someone is biting them and injecting them with venom."

"Fine, we won't question Hagrid," Harry said with a sigh. "But if Riddle opened the Chamber back when he was in school, does this mean that we should be looking at snakes?"

"But basilisks and runespoors aren't said to Petrify anyone!" Padma protested. "Basilisks kill with their gaze if anyone looks at their eyes, and they, along with runespoors, can also kill with their venom by biting someone. None of the other snakes that exist are magical."

"Look, why don't you leave the research to me?" Eric asked. "That is what I'm being paid to do, after all. You guys focus on school, that is learning and Quidditch and all that. The adults will handle investigating the Chamber apparently being opened, and can the AA please stay out of it unless something happens that necessitates your involvement."

"All right," said Harry reluctantly. He looked around at his friends and the whole group promised to let Eric do his research and not get involved in the matter unless it was needed.

Even so, the AA found it somewhat difficult to concentrate on regular school life. The other Hogwarts students could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. The AA had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone. When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly" and "looking happy."

Several of the non-Slytherin students were starting to look askance at the Slytherins, which slowly began affecting the majority of the school and thereby undoing much of the work to improve Slytherin's reputation. A small subset of Ravenclaws, led by Agatha and Darren, tried to claim that Luna, or possibly her friends, was responsible for Mrs. Norris's Petrification, but got swiftly shut down by the Ravenclaw prefects and given a detention for pestering Luna.

Fred and George ended up hexing a third-year Gryffindor named Cormac McLaggen when he loudly proclaimed that the "Slimy Slytherins were finally showing their true colors" and that the "AA was a stupid group and ought to kick out the Snakes that were a part of it." All three of them got detention, and that evening, at dinner, the non-Slytherin members of the AA got up and stood in front of the staff table.

"We are tired of the majority of the school turning against the Slytherins!" Anthony shouted out. "Sure, there are a few Slytherins that are rather unpleasant and have no interest in improving its reputation or being part of inter-house cooperation, but the same could be said of some students from the other houses."

"The ones that are part of the Amity Association certainly are wonderful people and loyal friends!" continued Parvati. "We're not going to abandon our friends just because they're part of a house that produced a Dark Lord and had a founder that supposedly built a hidden chamber in this school that may or may not have a monster in it."

"So stop it with automatically blaming everything on the Slytherins and go back to the inter-house cooperation we had before!" Justin snapped, as the Slytherin AA members got up and joined their friends. The Weasley twins, followed by their friend Lee Jordan, brother Percy, and their Quidditch teammates quickly joined the AA in support. The Gryffinclaw quartet, eight Ravenclaws (consisting of their prefects, a third year named Cho Chang, and a second year named Michael Croner), and a dozen Hufflepuffs (consisting of their prefects, some of their prefects' friends, a fourth year named Cedric Diggory, and a second year named Ernie Macmillan) immediately followed.

"Thank you for the support towards Slytherin house and reminding us to not end the inter-house cooperation," Professor Dumbledore interjected. "What has happened to Mrs. Norris is upsetting, but by no means are we to automatically blame a single house simply because of their past reputation. Fifty points go to each house for the Amity Association and the other students that are supporting them for the reminder. I would like all students to keep what they said in mind and if you are unable to let go of your prejudices, then to at least keep them to yourselves and not go lashing out at others. Now, the assembled students, please return to your seats."

After that, the distrust towards the Slytherins died down, though there were still students, like Cormac McLaggen, that persisted in their dislike. However, they confined it to just glaring at the Slytherins and the occasional mutterings and not anything overt that would get them in trouble. A couple were a bit more vocal, but they expressed it as hoping that Gryffindor would trounce Slytherin in the upcoming first Quidditch match of the year.

The day of the Quidditch match arrived. Harry was feeling rather nervous, since it was his first match ever, the pick-up games he had before with his friends and the Weasleys not counting. Sirius, Remus, and Lia showed up to watch (the latter had taken the day off from work and Matt was being watched by Tristan and Ellie). The well-wishes from the AA and his guardians before Harry entered the locker room helped soothe away some of the nerves and he was able to focus as he changed into the Slytherin team robes and listened to Flint's pep talk, which consisted mainly of how hard they'd practiced, that they had an excellent Seeker in Harry, and they were sure to beat Gryffindor or die trying. The last raised a couple of eyebrows from the Keeper and the other two Chasers, as it sounded rather 'Gryffindor-ish'.

"Okay, maybe not die trying," Flint amended. "Pointless heroics aren't our thing and we are rather more sensible in how we achieve our goals. But I want us playing our best and doing what we can to win. And no cheating! At least, not anything that will get the majority of the school to turn on us. The AA may have gotten them to see sense, but we don't want to undo our efforts at improving our reputation and everything, all right?"

The rest of the team nodded and they went out onto the pitch. However, as soon as both teams were in the air, a heavy black Bludger came pelting towards Harry; he avoided it so narrowly that he felt it ruffle his hair as it passed.

"Watch it, Potter!" said Derrick, one of the Slytherin Beaters, as he streaked past on his broom. He swung his bat and gave the Bludger a powerful knock in the direction of Gryffindor Chaser Alicia Spinnet, but for some reason the Bludger changed direction in midair and shot straight for Harry again.

Harry dropped quickly to avoid it, and Derrick managed to hit it hard towards the Gryffindor Seeker. Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Harry's head.

Harry put on a burst of speed and zoomed toward the other end of the pitch. He could hear the Bludger whistling along behind him. What was going on? Bludgers never concentrated on one player like this; it was their job to try and unseat as many people as possible...

Bole, the other Beater, was waiting for the Bludger at the other end. Harry ducked as Bole swing at the Bludger with all his might; it was knocked off course.

"Gotcha!" Bole yelled happily, but he was wrong; as though it was magnetically attracted to Harry, the Bludger pelted after him once more and he was forced to fly off at full speed.

It had started to rain; Harry felt heavy drops fall onto his face, splattering onto his glasses. He didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game until he heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Gryffindor lead, forty points to ten - oh, it looks like Flint is calling a time-out."

Harry, doing his best to avoid the Bludger, flew down to the ground, while the Beaters were doing their best to keep it off him. "What's going on?" demanded Flint as soon as the entire team was on the ground. "Derrick, Bole, why are you two around Potter?"

"A Bludger's after him, Flint," Derrick said angrily. "No matter where we hit it at, it just turns around and goes after Potter again! If we don't want it knocking him out or otherwise keep him from catching the Snitch, we have to protect him."

"But if you keep flying around me like that I won't get the Snitch unless it flies up my sleeve or something like that!" Harry protested.

Flint frowned. "But we don't want you too injured to play! Slytherins take care of our own. Besides, something or someone must have tampered with that Bludger!"

"They've been locked up in Madam Hooch's office since Gryffindor's last practice yesterday," Adrian Pucey pointed out. "It obviously was working fine for them, and their team wouldn't stoop to something like this. Maybe we should call for an investigation."

Flint actually looked like he was considering this, but Harry snapped, "NO! Just let me deal with the Bludger on my own! I'm fast enough, and if we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match! I don't want to do that on my very first match."

Flint frowned at Harry, then reluctantly said, "All right then. Derrick, try to keep the Bludger away from Potter, but give him room to catch the Snitch. Bole, you keep the other Bludger away from the rest of the team. Got it?"

Play resumed. The rain was falling more heavily now. Derrick was going his best to intercept the Bludger, while Harry committed a series of climbs, dives, and weird twirls to avoid it. He could hear laughter from the crowd; no doubt he looked very stupid and many probably didn't realize, or care, that there was a rogue Bludger after him. Finally Harry spotted the Snitch fluttering near the Gryffindor goalpost and went after it. He was just about to grab it when the Bludger caught up to him and hit his elbow.

WHAM. Harry felt his arm break. Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side. His mouth was open, gasping in shock, and in a combination of his sliding and the fluttering of the Snitch, it ended up in his mouth. Derrick managed to hit the Bludger away long enough for Harry to clumsily land on the ground and spit out the Snitch into his good hand, fighting the urge to pass out the whole time.

"Aha," he said vaguely, trying to get to his feet and failing, "we've won." With that, he gave up the fight and fainted.

When he came to, he saw his teammates and his very concerned guardians standing in a cluster around him. "Harry James Potter!" Lia snapped. "What do you think you were doing? Playing through your first match isn't worth your life!"

"But I didn't die, Aunt Lia," Harry protested. "And Slytherin won."

"By the sheer luck of the Snitch flying into your mouth!" Sirius exclaimed. "You could have ended up with more than a broken arm!"

Harry blinked and realized that someone, probably one of his guardians, had magically splinted his arm and that all it needed now was proper healing from Madam Pomfrey. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I really wanted to play the match and help win it, rather than forfeit."

Remus pursed his lips. "You should have listened to your captain, rather than talking him out of ending it. Anyway, there's going to be an investigation as to why that Bludger was targeting specifically you. Now, let's get you to Madam Pomfrey, and then you can celebrate the win with your housemates."

On the way off the pitch, Lockhart appeared and offered to heal Harry. Sirius had to threaten him with several nasty hexes before the Defense teacher would desist, while Lia and Remus quickly hustled Harry away to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey mended the broken arm in a trice and then Harry headed for the Slytherin common room. However, he wasn't really in the mood to party and as soon as he could, he and his friends slipped away to join the rest of the AA in the Room of Requirement.

"What was up with that Bludger?" was the first words out of Ron's mouth once they were all gathered.

"Beats me," said Harry. "Though in retrospect maybe I shouldn't have insisted on handling it on my own."

"Yes, you shouldn't have, you prat," said Daphne, giving him a gentle swat on his left arm. "What if it had knocked you off your broom instead? You could have broken more than just an arm, or worse, died!"

"I'm sure someone would have slowed his fall or cast a Cushioning Charm on the ground in that case," Terry said. "Assuming Harry's magic didn't react to save him."

"That still doesn't change the fact that Harry could have been badly injured!" Daphne retorted.

"Look, it's over now and I'm fine," interjected Harry. "I want to know why that Bludger was after me. Remus said there's going to be an investigation, but who knows if anything will turn up."

"I'm sure your godparents and the teachers will figure out what happened," Susan said. "Look, at least you caught the Snitch in your first match, even if it was by sliding in such a way that it flew into your mouth."

The others agreed and Harry relaxed enough to celebrate Slytherin's win with his friends for the remainder of the afternoon.