Not a whole lot of feedback on the new chapter yet but hey, I'm writing this pretty soon after I put it up. Anyway, new chapter! Yay! I hope you guys aren't too bored with the 'leave behind a letter with a clue' plotline because there will probably be more.
Funny story: As I was writing this, my computer decided to auto-update firefox and decide that it was going to be the only browser on the only computer I constantly access that wouldn't let me go on fanfiction.
I am now using Google Chrome.
But that's enough of that. Let's get this show on the road!
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter
Slytherin, as it turned out, was much less imaginative than Muriel had been, and that was saying something considering Muriel was an angel.
Or maybe Muriel just cared more about leaving a message.
Either way, the parchment the snake had given him was filled not with words or even proper sentences, at least.
This is how the parchment read in all of its three-inch-long glory:
TTHHEESETNUTDRYATNOCTEHTEHWEESSNTAFKAERGTUHAERSDTSFIRTOXM
That was completely unhelpful.
Gabriel had spent ages trying to figure out this code, only taking a break to figure out what to get Michael and Hermione as presents - For Hermione, he just made a copy of The Unfinished Tales [which he'd brought to Hogwarts] while Michael ended up with a small Quidditch poster which Gabriel had bought off a Hufflepuff girl several years older than him. Gabriel was fairly sure that it was the team Michael liked, except he'd never paid attention during Quidditch discussions so he couldn't be sure.
Christmas came earlier than he'd realized it would be, and after hurriedly sending off the presents far too late for them to get there in time Gabriel was pleasantly surprised the next morning to find a pile of presents instead of just two or three.
Hermione had once again given him a book [this time it was on runes, with a note saying to look at chapter twenty-three], and Michael had sent him one as well, a thin book called 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'. Not having been 'raised' by wizards, Gabriel had absolutely no idea what it was, though a quick peek through showed that it was something like the magical version of fairy tales. There was an assortment of other presents from various people, including Hagrid and Michael's mom again, and even a fifth one from Draco, which Gabriel regarded thoughtfully before opening and resolved to give him something back. It was a simple silver pin, which caused Draco to do a double-take when he saw Gabriel wearing it on his tie later at dinner.
The dinner the night before had been as fabulous as last years', the crackers seemingly even louder when popped. Gabriel had found an assortment of thoroughly ridiculous toys which he left hidden around the castle for some random student to find, but a really lucky cracker provided a tiny spy kit which came with a book of codes. Gabriel pocketed that and made sure to leave it in his trunk when he went to disperse the other items around the school.
When everyone else returned from the holidays it was to a still-tense atmosphere. There hadn't been an attack in such a time that everyone was expecting one at any moment - the talisman trade was going on a strong as ever. Gabriel was the only one who ever walked around on his own anymore, and that was only because after the events of last year he'd been assured that, unless Slytherin's monster owned an angel blade or a bottle of holy oil and a match, it posed pretty much no danger.
Unless he did run into it and someone caught him still fighting after being fatally wounded but hey, what were the chances of that?
What he did run into was a rather angry Filch, and he wasn't along but instead with Hermione and Michael, who had insisted on coming with him. Gabriel could hear him muttering six feet away and decided to wait until the old caretaker had left before continuing on, holding out a warning arm to stop the other two from running into him. A door slammed and he rounded the corner, seeing at a glance what Filch must have been so angry about.
He must have been sitting under the torch bracket where his cat had been found, because there was a chair sitting there. Gabriel's attention, however, was on the half inch of water covering the floor. He splashed slightly as he walked, sending ripples everywhere, and Gabriel thought the sight looked familiar until he remembered that the corridor had been flooded on Halloween, too.
The water was seeping out from under a door to the right, and someone was wailing inside.
"What's she up to now?" asked Hermione exasperatedly.
"She?" Gabriel asked.
"That's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," Hermione informed him, Michael listening in. "She haunts it - she's only a student ghost but she can be rather dramatic - no one uses this bathroom any more."
"What is wrong with her?" Michael asked, glancing down at the water covering the floor again.
"Let's go and see," Gabriel said, splashing over to the door. It was probably a bad idea to do so with his friends with him, considering how ghosts acted around him, but Gabriel was too interested to care. What would make a ghost so sad? And wasn't it a bit dangerous to keep a ghost in the school who might so easily become vengeful?
Wherever the ghost was, her crying was louder than ever as soon as they stepped inside, and it seemed to be coming from the stall farthest from the right. Even the walls and floors were soaked, and so the bathroom was darker than it should have been, the candles having been extinguished.
"Who's there?" the ghost hiccuped, and Gabriel wondered in the back of his mind how she did so without any lungs or organs to speak of. "Come to throw something else at me?"
"Why would we want to throw something at you?" Michael asked aloud, holding his robes out of the water.
"Don't ask me," the ghost - Myrtle - shouted, emerging from the stall with another wave of water and seemingly ignoring Gabriel's presence. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it would be fun to throw a book at me..."
"Who threw it at you, anyway?" Gabriel asked. Myrtle looked at him sharply, as if she'd done a double take, and from where Gabriel had wandered over to the other side of the sinks where Michael and Hermione couldn't see him he gestured sharply not to say anything.
"I don't know," Myrtle sniffed, keeping an eye on Gabriel. "I was just sitting in the U-bend-" Gabriel wrinkled his nose at that. "-Thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head. It's over there, got washed out."
Gabriel waded over and picked the book up. It was dark blue, almost black, and in surprisingly good condition for something that had been dropped down a toilet. Gabriel used a bit of his robe to cover his hand when he picked it up because toilet water, really? Gross, even if no one used the bathroom. Who knew what was in the pipes.
"Are you mad?" Michael demanded. Ne'd moved to stop Gabriel from picking it up. "It could be dangerous!"
"Dangerous?" Gabriel let it fall open in his cautious hold. "It's a diary. A blank diary, to be exact."
"Well, some books can be," said Michael, who was still eyeing it cautiously. "There've been ones that burned your eyes out or ones you could never stop reading..."
"Well, obviously this one hasn't got anything to read." Gabriel snapped it shut. "And my eyes appear to be fine, so I'd go so far as to say this was probably something that someone hated for no particular reason and tried to drop down a toilet in a fit of anger." Gabriel held it up to examine it. "I wonder where they got it, though."
"Why?" Hermione asked, coming closer.
"This book's fifty years old," Gabriel pointed out, showing her the faded ink scribble of 1942. Gabriel turned the page idly and his breath caught.
T. M. Riddle.
Tom. M. Riddle.
No. Way.
"Harry?" Hermione was peering over his shoulder. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Gabriel temporarily ignored the repeated holy shit in his head. "Just thought I recognized the name is all."
And the name wasn't all that had surprised him.
"What the fuck is that soul shard doing in this diary?"
Gabriel was pacing back and forth in an empty dormitory, mind whirling at the puzzle that he was confronted with.
"How did Voldy whatever get his hands on Tom Riddle's diary? Unless they knew each other..." Gabriel paused to scowl at the image of his Horn in the dark lord's hands. "Nah. But there is definitely a shard in that book, and whatever's making it that strong..."
He whirled to face it. "But what could it be? It's not gaining power from any definite source - and how did it even get into Hogwarts? Shouldn't there be wards against this sort of thing?" Gabriel crouched down as closer to the diary as he could, without being overwhelmed by the absolute stink of the soul shard in it. "And who's had it all year? Someone had to throw it in there..." Gabriel trailed off as he tried to construct a plausible scenario.
"Okay." He returned to pacing. "Someone has had this all year so far and something about it made them scared enough to throw it in a toilet. But why? Was it-" Gabriel stopped dead. "Leeching off of them," he whispered into the silent dormitory. "That's why it's so strong. It's been taking someone else's power."
He glared at the diary fiercely, as if that would help. "And for what? To become a complete soul? That wasn't the goal of the other two I saw - there's something else going on here."
Warily, Gabriel flipped open the diary. Its blank pages stared up at him almost mockingly. Gabriel shoved it away angrily and knocked over one of his ink bottles, the little hole for the quill spilling black all over the page.
"Sonuva-"
Gabriel stopped. The page was absorbing the ink, leaving none of it behind. Propping the bottle back up and ignoring the small stains left on the table, Gabriel examined the book closely.
No ink stains at all.
Curious, he picked up his quill, dipped it into the inkwell, and scrawled Hello.
The soul shard moved ever so slightly, reacting to the word he'd written which by now had been sucked into the page. In a sort of fascinated horror, because holy fuck it's sentient, Gabriel watched as words appeared on the page.
Hello. Who might you be?
Gabriel decided to play the game.
He picked up his quill and wrote back.
Who are you?
My name is Tom Riddle.
What are you doing in a diary?
I knew there would come a time when the knowledge contained in here would be needed.
Gabriel considered it. Tom Riddle had a diary that was fifty years old. He'd been given an award for special services to the school fifty years ago. What if...
That knowledge wouldn't happen to be about the Chamber of Secrets, would it?
How did you guess?
No way.
Tell me where it is.
There was a brief pause before a reply was written. Why would you think that I know?
Because I'm not stupid. When I see a diary belonging to Tom Riddle, same guy whose name is on a trophy for services to the school, and I know the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before, plus you mention necessary knowledge...not hard to string together.
That doesn't tell me why you think I know where the Chamber is.
Call it a hunch.
Why do you want to know?
Because I'm looking for it. Gabriel decided to give him some incentive to answer. I've already found Ravenclaw's, after all.
Ravenclaw has a secret room?
All the founders do. Where's the Chamber of Secrets?
Where's Ravenclaw's room?
A) I asked first, and B) which one of us actually has the ability to go traipsing through Hogwarts right now? Come on, Riddle.
Riddle was silent for a moment. Gabriel grinned wickedly. It was too bad 'Tom' couldn't see it.
You're pouting because you can't reach my soul, can you?
How did you
Not hard, Tom. You see, I'm a little more wary than the last person who picked you up.
Where is your soul?
Sorry to tell you, Tommy boy, but I haven't got one for you to take
Impossible
No, just improbable.
A dementor?
Try 'not human'. Now, tell me, or this diary goes boom. Where's the Chamber of Secrets?
You'd have to do a lot more than that to destroy this thing. I delved farther than any have ever gone into the Dark Arts, and I left this behind so my legacy could be continued! I will not let some creature destroy all the effort I have put into ridding this school of mudbloods
So it was you who opened it the first time round?
Riddle didn't write any more after that [and could anyone say 'pouting'?]. Gabriel stuffed it inside the cover of one of his textbooks, to make sure the soul shard didn't get up to any mischief on its own. Who knew what it could do.
He didn't go to a teacher, of course. What would he say? He'd discovered a part of Voldemort that was responsible for opening the chamber of secrets? Besides, Gabriel could handle it on his own. Archangel, anyone?
There were, of course, some things he refused to handle.
Such as the scene he walked onto in the Great Hall on February fourteenth.
Gabriel took one look at the lurid pink flowers decorating the hall, not to mention Lockhart's matching robes, said "Absolutely not." and walked away.
He spent the entire day hiding in the Astronomy tower [those dwarves were persistent little buggers] and on his return to Ravenclaw tower was promptly given detention by Flitwick for skipping class.
Totally worth it.
Soon after that, the second-year students were gripped with the problem of picking next year's subjects. Gabriel, unfortunately, was denied when he asked if it was possible to drop Potions.
They had to pick at least two extra classes in addition to the core ones, and Michael spent ages poring over the parchment which listed their choices. The prefects were only too eager to advise them on their choices, but Gabriel just picked the two that looked most interesting and handed it back to Flitwick a week later so it would look like he'd spent some time on it.
Most of his free time was spent trying to figure out what could be in the chamber. He eventually roped Michael and Hermione into it as well, giving them a heavily edited, cliff's notes version of his conversation with the diary. They had both been horrified and interested, and both were glad that he'd stopped talking to the diary [Gabriel didn't mention that it had been Riddle who stopped first].
"So he was the one who opened it last time?" Hermione asked again for the tenth time. "And he didn't give a hint what might be in there? Or how it's been opened now?"
"No," said Gabriel, also for the tenth time. "Hermione, honestly, I just asked you to help me figure out what could be in the chamber."
"And what were your clues again?"
Gabriel sighed internally. "I saw a load of spiders leaving on Halloween, so that might be connected to it. Also, it's something that freezes its victims, hence the petrification. And it's probably some sort of snake, since that's the symbol of Slytherin's house."
"Hmm." Hermione flipped a page in the book, and Gabriel noticed that she was using her course requests as a bookmark. But that wasn't what surprised him.
"You signed up for every single class?"
"Shut up," Hermione snapped, whipping the paper away and stuffing it in her bag.
"How is that even possible? How are you going to attend them all?"
"I'll take care of it," she said stiffly. "I've talked to Professor McGonagall. One moment, I've got to put this book away." Hermione stood up and left the table. Sighing, Gabriel watched her go, and scribbled a quick note saying he'd forgotten something in his dormitory before collecting his things and leaving. Hermione would be sniffy for the rest of the time they spent in the library and Gabriel was stretched too thin trying to figure out the Chamber's location to deal with a put-off twelve year old at the moment. The diary was being impossible, and he was getting no further with the clue.
Gabriel gathered his things and hurried out of the library. He bumped into someone near the front, dropping the books in his arms and causing both of them to stumble backwards. He'd run into the redheaded girl from the bookshop, oddly enough. She looked rather pale.
"Sorry," Gabriel said. Wide eyed, the girl hurried on her way, blushing furiously. Gabriel rolled his eyes and picked up his books. He was about to leave when someone called "Wait!"
It was the girl again. She was holding one of his books. "You forgot this," she muttered, holding it out.
"Thanks," said Gabriel absentmindedly, taking it back and shoving it in his bag as his steps directed him out of the library. It was a little abrupt, but his mind was still working on the Slytherin code - the mess that it was, even the code kit he'd gotten from the Christmas cracker hadn't helped.
The next Quidditch game of the season took place that Saturday, which was bright and sunny and therefore Gabriel found himself being dragged out to the stands by an eager Michael, who was determined to get him to watch at least one.
Hermione had begged off to go to the library. Gabriel wasn't sure what had prompted that, but there was one possible explanation; as soon as he'd set foot in the entrance hall he'd heard that strange voice again, the one that had foretold Justin's petrification and the same one he'd heard before Halloween.
"What?" Michael asked, almost irritably. Gabriel had shouted in surprise when he heard it, making both nir and Hermione jump.
"I heard it again!"
"What-" Hermione seemed to remember something. "That voice?"
"Voice?" Michael asked bemusedly, but Gabriel just nodded. Hermione looked as though she'd been struck with a sudden idea.
"I've just - one moment! I have to go to the library!"
"What about the game?" Michael shouted after her.
"Go on without me, I'll be down in a minute!"
"Let's just go," Gabriel said to a slightly put-off Michael. "The game'll probably be over before she comes out."
This prediction, however, did not come true.
They had barely begun to climb up into the stands when McGonagall came across the field, nearly running, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.
"This match has been cancelled," she shouted to the crowd, drawing out groans of disappointment. The players looked horrified, and one of them ran after McGonagall, who was turning to leave. They had a short conversation, but McGonagall shook him off and called out again.
"All students are to make their way back to their House common rooms, where their Heads of House will give further information. As quickly as you can, please!"
Gabriel and Michael turned to leave, but McGonagall strangely enough came over to stop them.
"Potter...Corner...I think you'd better come with me."
Exchanging bewildered glances, they both followed the Transfiguration professor up through the castle. Gabriel's heart sank slightly as he realized they were heading to the hospital wing.
Please don't let this be what I think it is...
"This will be a bit of a shock," said McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice. "There's been another attack...another double attack."
No.
There were two more occupied beds in the Hospital wing, with Madam Pomfrey bustling around them. One of them was an older Ravenclaw girl Gabriel recognized as being one of the prefects, and in the one next to her was-
"Hermione?" Michael sounded horrorstruck.
Gabriel's insides seemed to have switched places. Hermione was lying on the bed, unusually still, just like Justin had been. He stared blankly at the sight as McGonagall spoke again.
"They were found near the library," she said. "I don't suppose any of you can explain this? It was found on the floor near them..."
She held out a small pocket-mirror. Michael shook his head. Gabriel was still staring at Hermione.
"I shall escort you both back to Ravenclaw Tower," said McGonagall heavily. "I suppose Flitwick will be addressing the students."
"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."
Everyone in the common room listened to Flitwick in dead silence. They were all shaken by the second attack, especially as this time one of their own had been taken. Flitwick rolled up the parchment and added his own voice. "I need hardly add that, as it is unlikely that the culprit behind these attacks will be caught, the school is likely to close." No one made any noise, though several people shifted uncomfortably and the first-years looked particularly distressed. "I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything to come forward."
Gabriel closed his eyes in mental indecision. Was keeping his species a secret really more important than finding who had done it? But catching the monster wouldn't cure Hermione - they'd have to wait for the Mandrakes before that happened.
"Hasn't anyone noticed that only the Slytherins have been exempt from these attacks?" demanded one of the older Ravenclaws. Flitwick had left while Gabriel was debating with himself. "Shouldn't we be doing something?"
"Doing what?" Someone else asked in a thick voice. Gabriel left silently, leaving them to their debate. He slipped up the stairs to the dormitories and sat heavily on his bed.
He needed to find the Chamber of Secrets. Grimly, Gabriel pulled out the textbook he'd hidden the diary in.
It wasn't there.
Gabriel stared blankly at the sight before something burst in him and he tipped his entire bag out, sorting through the books and even looking in his trunk for the diary because this was not possible, he was not going to loose his only method of finding the place when he needed it the most!
There was a quiet creak behind Gabriel of the door opening. It was Michael. "Harry?"
Gabriel knew it had to look odd, him standing surrounded by a pile of tossed-aside books and a ransacked trunk. "It's gone."
"What's gone?"
"The diary!" Gabriel rounded on Michael. "The diary is gone and it can't be gone because I need it!"
"Harry, calm down-"
"I will not calm down!" Furiously, Gabriel snatched a pillow off the nearest bed and threw it at Michael. It hit the doorframe next to his head. "Our friend is in the hospital wing looking like she's dead and you're telling me to 'calm down'?!"
"Harry-"
"Get out!" Gabriel screamed at him. The door slammed and Gabriel clenched the end of his bed to keep himself from falling over and he could faintly hear the wood creaking under his grip but he didn't care because his friend was not going to die.
Think, he told himself furiously. Where could you possibly have left it?
He hadn't dropped any of his books, except in...
The library.
It came to him in a flash. The girl had returned one of the books he'd dropped, saying he'd left it behind, but Gabriel had definitely picked them all up. She could have seen the diary poking out of one of the books, or maybe it had fallen out and she hadn't noticed, but either way it was most likely her who had the diary right now.
Mission: set.
It was absolutely impossible to find the youngest redhead.
Gabriel had class periods with them, of course, but no one would look lightly on him taking something from a younger year, and his Gryffindor-shared classes were only with the second-years, and she was in the year below him. He could always ask her brother, the boy he'd met on the train, but that would mean bringing a third person into the whole mess and Gabriel really didn't feel like explaining why he needed the kid's little sister's diary.
They were escorted from class to class, so it was absolutely impossible to break away and go looking for her - even if he did whoever was shepherding the first year Gryffindors would definitely noticed an older Raven in their midst, despite Gabriel's height.
But Gabriel had to do something.
'Something' occurred during their next Herbology lesson.
They had been shepherded down and to the edge of the lawn by McGonagall, and in Greenhouse three they were all put to work despite the tense atmosphere that had affected everyone. Gabriel was partnered with a sullen Slytherin who kept hissing that he was doing it wrong. Gabriel, out of the corner of his eye, saw something that had him distracted from the stump they were supposed to be pruning.
Spiders.
He hadn't thought there were any left in the castle - they seemed to flee with every attack. Gabriel watched them go with narrowed eyes, ignoring his partner - they seemed to be heading straight for the Forbidden Forest.
I'm going to end it there because I gave you guys a super long chapter and I need to take a break from writing for a moment. Haha who am I kidding I'll probably start the next one right away.
Read and review!