Chapter Thirteen: Hitting Close to Home
Hermione dragged Riley and Tony with her to the library while Harry went to prepare for his upcoming Quidditch match. The three of them were doing research for anything that could help them prevent another attack.
"Okay, let's go over what we know so far," Hermione told the two boys sitting across from her. "The Heir of Slytherin is a Parselmouth, it's been fifty years since the last time it killed, and the last time the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and for some reason spiders seem to always be found leaving through a window when someone's been attacked."
"And the first time there had been an attack, there was a huge flood of water." added Tony.
"Also, Harry always hears a voice before finding the next victim," Riley reminded them. "A voice that only he can hear."
"And let's not forget, a Gryffindor might have something to do with the attacks, since our password isn't exactly public information. The attacks took place near the second floor, the first floor near the Hospital Wing, and near the middle courtyard, all when not too many people would be around to notice." Hermione pointed out. "Now with all that bit of clues, what conclusion can we draw from them?"
The three of them thought to themselves very carefully. Tony was the first to speak.
"I still stick to my snake theory." he declared, quietly.
Riley and Hermione stared at him for a moment, then looked at each other.
"You think Malfoy's brewed a Polyjuice Potion to infiltrate the Gryffindor Tower?" asked Riley.
"It could be possible." answered Hermione. "And Tony, no snake in the world would have an ability that dangerous."
"In the Muggle world, Hermione,-"
Hermione had had enough. She shot him a glare that would almost put Prof. McGonagall's to shame.
"Tony, drop the snake theory." she ordered.
Tony nodded, cringing away from the table a little.
"Man, Hermione, if looks could kill." he muttered, sheepishly.
Hermione's glare slowly melted away, and you could practically see the wheels starting to turn in her head.
"Say that again." she whispered.
"I said 'if looks could kill'?" Tony repeated, cautiously.
A smile formed on Hermione's face as she quickly shot out of her seat like a cannon, and hurried toward a bookshelf. Tony slowly turned to glance at Riley, stunned.
"Do you know what's going on?" he asked.
"Do what I do, Tony, and just wait a bit, then it'll all make sense." replied Riley.
Hermione raced back over to them, an open book in her hands.
"I can't believe I didn't see it before!" she whispered in excitement. "There's no snake in existence that's capable of just Petrification, but there's one that's capable by killing someone if you look it directly in the eyes!"
"So, what you're saying is..." Riley said, realizing where she was going with this.
"The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a snake!"
Hermione, Riley, and Tony cheerfully high-fived one another, excited about their breakthrough in the case. Their celebration was cut short when they heard something that sounded like a mixture between a hiss and a growl.
"Did you hear that?" asked Riley.
"I was hoping that was my imagination." Hermione answered, fearfully.
"Okay, Hermione, you said that this monster can kill someone by looking at it directly in the eyes," Tony said, looking at her. "What can stop it from killing us?"
Hermione looked at the page in the book again, and then looked up at Riley.
"Riley, do you still carry that mirror your mother gave you?" she asked.
Riley nodded, and took the compact mirror out from his bag. Hermione took a mirror out from her own bag.
"Riley, you need to make sure Tony gets back to his dormitory safely," she told her Housemate. "I'll meet you at Gryffindor Tower."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" asked Tony.
"I'm positive. Keep your eyes down, if you see anyone else along the way, warn them to look away. Now hurry and go."
Riley and Tony nodded and headed to the doorway, stopping to see if the snake was still out there. Once they were certain that it was clear, they motioned for Hermione that they were good, and the three of them headed in separate directions. Riley and Tony had to stop a few times to make sure they weren't being followed, or were walking into the snake's trap. Once they reached the stone wall in the dungeons that led to the Slytherin dormitory, it suddenly occurred to them that nothing had been following them.
"Do you think Hermione's alright?" asked Tony.
"I hope so." replied Riley. "I'll head back to our dormitory, you stay in here."
He took off down the halls once again, keeping his eyes down as he did so. He had been so focused on trying to make it to the seventh floor without running into the snake, and meeting up with Hermione, that by accident, he ended up nearly knocking Prof. McGonagall to the ground as he ran into her.
"Cross, what are you doing running around the corridors at a time like this?!" the Transfiguration professor demanded, angrily. "The Quidditch game is about to begin!"
"Forget the Quidditch game!" Riley responded, hurriedly. "Have you seen Hermione?"
"Not recently."
Prof. McGonagall then took notice of the panic on Riley's face.
"Mr. Cross, what's going on?" she asked, sternly.
"We heard something lurking outside of the library," answered Riley. "Hermione, Tony, and I were in there a moment ago."
"What were you doing here?"
Riley gulped, nervously. He and his friends might have gotten away with interfering with school business last year, but they might not have gotten so lucky this year.
"St-Studying for finals." he explained. "We offered to study with Hermione, since she was a little afraid of being by herself. Muggleborn attacks and everything."
Prof. McGonagall examined her student's face carefully, and for a moment, Riley had thought that she didn't believe him. Then,...
"Come." Prof. McGonagall ordered, stiffly. "We'll see if she's alright. Do you know where Miss Granger was heading to?"
"When we heard the noise, Hermione told me to make sure Tony got back to his dormitory safely, while she went to ours by herself." Riley explained. "She assured us that she'd be okay."
Prof. McGonagall stared at him again like she did a moment ago, accepting what she was being told. The two of them walked down the corridor, and when they reached the first floor again, they saw someone laying down in front of the doorway leading to the library. A person with long, bushy, brown hair. It was Hermione. She had been Petrified like the others before her.
"Goodness." Prof. McGonagall gasped, covering her mouth with one hand.
She had Riley help her move Hermione back into the library, then made him stay inside while she went to get help. Then after a long while of waiting, two of the professors came back with a stretcher to move Hermione to the Hospital Wing, while Riley was escorted by Prof. Snape back to Gryffindor Tower. The rest of the Gryffindors showed up several minutes after he did, and Harry and Ron were the last to return. They hurried over to where Riley was sitting, which was by the staircase.
"Did you know that Hermione has been Petrified?" asked Harry.
"Yeah." replied Riley. "She told me to make sure Tony got to his dormitory, and she'd meet me back in the Gryffindor common room."
"What were you guys doing by the library?" asked Ron.
"I'll explain later."
Harry was about to demand for answers now, but Prof. McGonagall had entered the room with a scroll in her hands.
"Could I have your attention, please?" she called, over the noise of students.
She waited for the Gryffindors to quiet down, and continued.
"Because of recent events, these new rules will be put into effect immediately: 'All students will return to their House common rooms by 6:00 every evening.'" Prof. McGonagall announced, reading from the roll of parchment. "'All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions.'"
She rolled up the parchment once more, looking quite grave.
"I should tell you this: Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed." she told them.
The students watched as their Head of House left the dormitory without another word. Riley exhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair. He casted a casual glance to the side, and did a double take when he saw Ginny looking a little guilty all of a sudden. Hermione's words echoed in his head once again.
"It had to be a Gryffindor." she had said. "Nobody else knows our password."
Riley quickly looked away as Ginny looked his way again. Then it had hit him. The night Colin Creevey was Petrified, Ginny had left the dormitory, too. And she had been acting weird since then.
"...We've got to talk to Hagrid, guys." Harry whispered to him and Ron. "I can't believe it's him, but if he did set the monster loose last time, he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets. That's a start."
"But you heard McGonagall." Ron whispered back. "We're not allowed to leave the Tower except for class."
Riley looked at them, and saw Harry thinking of a way to get out of the castle, unnoticed.
"I think it's time to get my dad's old cloak out again." decided Harry.
"I'm not going." Riley told them, quietly. "I'll stay here in the Tower."
"Why?" asked Ron.
"The diary said that Hagrid opened the chamber, then it goes missing, and presumably by a Gryffindor. I'll stakeout here to see if anyone from our House acts out of the ordinary."
Harry looked at him, and nodded. That was a good idea. That night, once everyone was asleep, he and Ron tiptoed down the stairs with the invisibility cloak in his hands. Riley had stayed downstairs in the common room, pretending to be hard at work, studying for finals. Harry and Ron looked at him, as he sat on the sofa, keeping his head down so he'd be out of sight.
"See you in a bit." whispered Ron.
"Godspeed." Riley replied, quietly.
He watched as his two friends disappeared under the cloak, and left the Tower. Riley waited several minutes for any other Gryffindors to come down, then finally, he heard footsteps coming down his way. He poked his head over the seat and saw Ginny walking down the stairs with the diary in her hands. Upon seeing him, Ginny visibly jumped and tried to hide the diary in her pocket.
"Alright, start explaining." said Riley.
"R-Riley, I swear, I-I didn't mean anything..." Ginny stammered, nervously. "Y-You have to believe me."
"Ginny, you act like you're the culprit in the crimes committed this entire year."
Riley grinned at her in a joking manner, then his grin slowly faded when he saw Ginny looking more and more upset.
"Ginny?" he spoke, hoarsely.
"Riley, let me explain." Ginny pleaded with him, as she hurried down to sit in front of him. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Riley couldn't believe that Ginny was the culprit behind the attacks. The theft was one thing, but this was ridiculous. Then he remembered the diary.
"Ginny, why did you steal the diary?" he asked.
"I found it in my cauldron, when I got back from Diagon Alley before school started." explained Ginny. "I just started to write in it, and this person started writing back."
Riley felt his blood run cold. Harry had told him and the others the exact same thing before the diary was stolen.
"Tom Riddle." he whispered, stunned.
"You know his name." Ginny gasped, surprised.
"He spoke to Harry, too. It was because of Tom that Harry thinks that Hagrid had opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."
Ginny stared at her Housemate, shocked. She didn't believe it anymore than her friends and brother did.
"What does Tom say to you, Ginny?" asked Riley.
Ginny looked a little embarrassed, her face had gone a little red. Riley assumed that she must've told Tom some personal secrets.
"Ginny, leave out the personal bits, and tell me, has the diary done anything strange to you recently?" the Muggleborn wizard asked. "According to Harry, it took him back fifty years into the past to show him the event. It might be capable of something else."
Ginny wracked her brain a little, trying to come up with something.
"Well, sometimes after I talked with Tom, I have problems with my memory." she answered, looking at her friend dead in the eye. "Sometimes I'd find myself standing with feathers all over my robes, or have blood on my hands,...Riley, I'm so scared."
Riley narrowed his eyes a little then held out his hand.
"Give me that diary." he ordered, gently.
Ginny looked at him, fearfully, but then Riley smiled.
"I'm not going to tell anybody." he promised. "If I had to tell on you for this, I'd have to tell on Harry and Ron for investigating right now."
Ginny nodded, and handed him the diary. Riley glanced at the diary for a moment, then stood up, and calmly walked over to the fireplace. He casually tossed the book into the fire, and turned to face Ginny.
"Problem solved." the Muggleborn boy announced.
To his surprise though, Ginny did not look at ease. Her gaze was still fixed on the book in the fireplace. Riley turned around and stared in horror as the fire continued to burn brightly, while the book remained undamaged.
"Okay, problem not solved." he spoke, quietly.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why sleep is very important. When your body says "get your hide to bed", do it. Don't worry about updating until you're wide awake the next day.
Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, the Gabriels, Jesse Reigns, Scott and Jasmine Willows. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.