Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, only the Archard family and other OCs belong to me. The French words/phrases will be italicized, as well as the spells. Reviews are appreciated!
Chapter 10: Samhain Strikes Again
Esme POV
~Dream~
Dark. Darkness all around me. Almost nothing could be seen through the blackness, with no way to discern where I was; a room, a corridor, even outside, I couldn't tell. Shutting my eyes made little difference, yet it awoke my other senses. The air felt cold and damp, and in the distance I heard the drip drop of water. I shivered, both from the cold and also from fear. Something was out there.
A girl's voice called out to me:
Do not fear the darkened pit, but only that which wanders it.
Hearing a noise behind me, my eyes snapped open and I turned, startled. Still I could not make anything out in the darkness. The same noise rang from my left. I shifted as my eyes frantically searched, yet I saw nothing, not even a hint of movement. Again I heard a noise. As my heart beat loudly in my chest, I turned toward it.
The voice rang out once more:
Only its master it will obey, never to hesitate or betray.
I saw a shimmer through the dark. A creature stood before me, but nothing revealed what kind; I only knew that whatever it was, was gigantic. I was completely frozen, fear keeping me in place as I knew it was pointless to run. A deep hiss rumbled from the creature before me, drawing my eyes up, and up.
Suddenly the voice shouted:
Shut your eyes, shut them tight, for the gaze is as deadly as the bite!
But it was too late. There was a flash of fangs before the creature lunged; I screamed.
~End of Dream~
I startled awake, holding in the scream that nearly escaped my throat. I was left gasping for breath as I struggled to keep quiet to not awaken Daphne or the other girls. Shivering from a lingering chill, I turned over to my side and burrowed into my blankets and pillow. This was the third time this dream had happened, confirming my fears - another nightmare was plaguing me. What it was about, I didn't know yet. But just like last year, every time the nightmare occurred, I remembered more and more details.
While I knew the Philosopher's Stone was gone from Hogwarts, something else lurked in the dark through these stone walls. Unlike last year, Dumbledore had no ominous warnings, so I had no starting point to even try to figure out what was causing this to happen to me once again. As much as I hated it, I would have to wait. Part of me hoped that perhaps if I left things alone, nothing would come of it; the term had been normal thus far after all. Well, as normal as it could be in a magical castle full of students learning how to harness their magic.
Ever since October arrived, a damp chill had entered the air and spread itself throughout the castle. With it came a rush of colds and other minor illnesses. Most everyone had gotten sick at some point. Parkinson was the first in our dormitory to get sick, but the rest of us were not far behind her.
Thankfully, Madame Pomfrey had been able to keep up and had plenty of Pepperup Potions available. The aftereffect was oddly ticklish, but I'd take smoking coming out of my ears for a few hours over feeling sick any day. Of course that didn't mean people (Parkinson and Bulstrode) didn't incessantly whine the entire time their ears were steaming.
With the chill also came the rain. It had been particularly rainy so far this month, forcing students indoors to avoid being soaked, though some still braved the wet and mud for the shortcut across the courtyard. Some of us were forced outdoors in order to get to the greenhouses for Herbology class, while the few on the Quidditch teams often had to practice through the rain and fog. Gryffindor and Slytherin were currently the most active teams as they prepared for the first Quidditch match of the season in two weeks.
Once I was finally calm, I decided to get ready for the day as I wanted to erase any signs of distress or tiredness - it was Samhain today after all!
A nice hot shower chased away the chill, though I was careful to change quickly to avoid the pleasant warmth from being sucked away by the carpeted stone floor. I was part-way through drying my hair with my hand like Blaire taught me when Daphne ambled her way into the washroom.
"Happy Samhain!" cheered Daphne when she saw me.
"Happy Samhain," I replied without looking away from the mirror as I focused on maintaining the spell. Blaire had warned me it would take practice to be able to dry my hair evenly and quickly, but my fear of accidentally doing it wrong left me going extra slow to ensure my hair was dried thoroughly.
By the time I was finished and pinned my hair back with my silver butterfly pins, Daphne was all ready to head to breakfast, so I quickly brushed my teeth and finished getting ready. I then grabbed my robe and hurried after Daphne as we left our dormitory just as Parkinson, Bulstrode, and Davis were waking up.
Today was the day the common room password was set to change, so Daphne and I made sure to check the bulletin board before leaving through the entranceway. I didn't know who chose the passwords, but they truly had a flair for picking the most random of things. Sometimes the password was related to Slytherin House or Salazar Slytherin, other times it was the most random and benign thing. For example: for the next two weeks the password was Gooseberries. Simple enough to remember, and thankfully not a very ridiculous thing to say.
With the damp chill being especially bad in the dungeons of Hogwarts, most Slytherins naturally walked faster than normal to get to the staircases. Daphne and I both sighed in relief as we felt the air grow warmer as we ascended the stairs. Many other students were already awake and bustling about, so we joined the procession entering the great hall.
I was enjoying my usual cup of tea when Daphne took a glass vial of purple liquid out of her robe pocket and set it down in front of my plate of eggs and toast.
"What's that?" I asked as I set down my teacup.
"It's a vial of Sleeping Draught I got from Professor Snape. It's to help you sleep at night."
I blinked in surprise, before looking over at Daphne with a silent question.
She shrugged her shoulders as she delicately cut into her own eggs, not looking back at me. "You hide it well, but I can still tell when you're tired. After you nearly woke up screaming for the second time, I went to Professor Snape to get the potion. I heard from some of the Upper-Years that he on occasion brews potions for Slytherins if they ask."
"Daphne…" I trailed off, unsure what I wanted to say.
"I'd actually asked him for a Dreamless Sleep Potion, but when he heard it was so you could avoid having nightmares, he brewed this instead. He instructed you to take one sip right before bed and you'll instantly fall into a peaceful and dreamless sleep - though he warned that any more than a sip and you'll sleep the day away."
I picked up the vial and carefully tucked it away into my robe. "Thank you, Daphne," I finally managed to say in a quiet but grateful voice. The pleasant warmth of affection bloomed in my chest for Daphne, not only did she go out of her way to help me, she ensured she gave it to me when we were away from Parkinson and her posse - I'd rather avoid any snide comments from Parkinson about my nightmares.
"You're welcome, ma amie."
The rest of the Second-Years soon joined us, and before long the owls arrived with the morning mail. I smiled brightly when Flèche zoomed by and dropped a letter into my waiting hands. The twins had finally responded to my last letter!
Breaking open the envelope, I happily read their horrible handwriting:
Dear Big Sister,
Janette says hello and that she misses you. She hasn't been doing too well lately with the cold weather. It's not been anything serious, just a bunch of colds have kept her in bed for a week now. She has Zimpsy looking after her, so she's been in excellent hands.
Dad has been busy lately with Ministry work. We only ever see him at evening meals, though there's always strict instructions for our days given to us by Paddy from him at breakfast. He has at least lifted the ban on any of us leaving Heaven's Garden. Not that we have a lot of places to go, but it's still nice to have the option.
Mom did take most of us with her on Mabon to celebrate the Fall Equinox with some other High Society families. It was a lot of fun! We saw Astoria and Armin there, and spent the entire afternoon running around with them. They had a corn maze! It was so fun even though we got lost with Astoria. But Armin found us quick enough! He led the way to the exit before Astoria got too scared. Dad arrived later for the huge feast. There was so much food and we happily stuffed our faces, well at least as much as we could while 'behaving'.
Hope you enjoy your Samhain at Hogwarts! Mom should be sending along some of Honny's treats soon!
Your favorite twins,
Fain and Gérard
I carefully folded and tucked away their letter into my robe pocket. Turning to Daphne I commented, "Looks like my younger brothers enjoyed Mabon with their friends, among them was Astoria."
Daphne looked up from her own letter with a fond smile. "Astoria wrote to me about the same thing. She said Fain and Gérard made her laugh despite being nervous when they got lost in a corn maze together."
I giggled while feeling proud of my brothers. "That sounds like them."
Conversation tampered off into light chatter as we each enjoyed our breakfast. Before we knew it, it was time to leave if we hoped to get to our classes on time. The four of us gathered our things and left for class together. As we were waiting for the staircase we needed to move into place, Blaise suddenly spoke up.
"Before I forget to mention, a little birdy told me that some of the ghosts are getting together this evening in the dungeons for a deathday party, so we should take the long way to and from to the common room for the rest of the day to avoid the sight, smell, and noise of it, or worse, being maneuvered into attending it."
"Is that why there were all those unlit thin black tapers lined up along that one corridor?" asked Daphne.
"There were? I hadn't noticed," I idly commented.
"I was probably blocking them since they were on my side of the corridor," she answered.
"Anyways, yes that's why," Blaise said, bringing the conversation back to his original point. "These parties are foul for the living, rotten food, rotten music, and depressing company. Trust me, you'll want to stay as far as you can from it."
"We believe you, mate," assured Theo at Blaise's insistent tone.
The few classes we had that day passed quickly as everyone, including most of the professors, were eagerly anticipating the Samhain feast this evening. As soon as the clock chimed seven times, we all packed ourselves into the glittering hall.
My friends and I were squeezing our way into the great hall through the throng of students when I accidentally bumped into someone. I instantly went to give my apologies, but the words died in my throat when a sharp shiver went down my spine. I was confused at the sudden foreboding feeling, especially when I realized the source appeared to be none other than Ginny Weasley. I quickly pasted a smile on my face for the red-faced First-Year. Ginny shyly returned my smile before she scurried away to catch up with the other Gryffindor First-Years.
That feeling could only be left over from the nightmare I had last night, as there was no possibility that sweet yet spunky Ginny could cause such a thing, I thought to myself. I shook the feeling from my mind and focused on enjoying myself at the feast, deeming my worries and concerns as inconsequential. This evening was a time for celebration of the harvest and remembrance of our long-passed ancestors. There was no room for strange feelings or nightmares tonight.
Between the golden plates, shining golden candles, and carved giant pumpkins, the great hall was set aglow. Charmed bats swarmed lazily across the spelled night sky of the ceiling while a troupe of skeletons danced to a lighthearted and rhythmic rendition of Danse Macabre, written by the Magical composer Camille Saint-Saëns.
With most (if not all) of the Hogwarts ghosts attending the deathday party, the feast was oddly tame as the usual ghostly shenanigans were absent. Many Slytherins expressed their happiness that the Bloody Baron was absent from lingering around the table - he made even the Seventh-Years uncomfortable, despite their spending six full years around him.
Everyone became abuzz with cheer when our prefects, Garrett and Cara, announced the beginning of the remembrance ceremony - the troll incident last year had interrupted the feast last year before we could start. Amongst the noise of the rest of the great hall, we all recited together as best we could:
"On this night of Samhain, we celebrate the cycle of life and death. Tonight we speak to those through the Veil as the lines between worlds are blurred. We remember our ancestors, those dead and long past who watch over us. You are not forgotten and forever live on within us. We remember you."
Once the prayer was said, things became less formal as between bites of food we each took turns sharing some sort of story about the ancestor we had chosen to honor this year to those around us. Draco went first and honored his ancestor Armand Malfoy, who was the one to bring the Malfoy family from France to England. Blaise honored his ancestor Ricardo Zabini, a famous wandless duelist known for channeling red flames with his hands, while Theo honored his ancestor Talbot Nott, who was a brilliant metal craftsman known for creating jewelry Magicals could channel magic through.
Since Papa had told us not too long ago that Perenelle Flamel had passed on, I decided to honor her this Samhain. It felt right to do so after the mess last year involving the Philosopher's Stone. While some were surprised to learn Perenelle was an Archard before her marriage to the famous alchemist, most were shocked to learn Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel had died after all this time.
Parkinson didn't let the news linger in the air too long before she jumped in and haughtily honored her ancestor Perseus Parkinson, who was the British Minister of Magic from 1726 to 1733. Bulstrode shortly followed by honoring her ancestor Violetta Bulstrode, who was Draco's own great-great-grandmother through her marriage to Cygnus Black II.
Both Crabbe and Goyle honored their grandfathers, Vincent Crabbe I and Barnaby Goyle, though didn't have much to say about either wizard. Tracey had to stop herself multiple times from rambling about her own grandfather, Archibald Davis, who had died of old age since last Samhain. Daphne finished for us by honoring her uncle, Gareth Greengrass, who had also died since last Samhain, stating he was Senior Unspeakable in the Department of Mysterious who embodied the values of a true Ravenclaw.
Throughout the decadent feast, the skeleton dance troupe continued to dance to changing music - a delightful mixture of traditional Samhain music and humorously quirky dance skits. Professor Flitwick even directed the school choir through a playfully spooky song.
Before we all knew it the feast was over, with the remnants of dessert disappearing as quickly as it all appeared. Dumbledore decreed the end of the feast, with a final well-wish and good night, though he annoyingly used the Muggle term for Samhain instead of its proper name. None of the Upper-Years appeared surprised by it, but that didn't stop the small swirl of anger and disappointment in my chest before I consciously pushed it aside - I refused to let Dumbledore ruin this sacred sabbat for me.
My friends and I joined the throng of students filtering out of the great hall into the dimly lit corridors of the castle. Everyone's loud chatter seemed to echo off the stone walls despite the many tapestries and portraits hung up, which was why a sudden absence of the noise was so startling. The few groups of students in front of us had completely frozen.
Following where they stared, my own eyes widened in shock. There, hanging from one of the torch brackets was Mrs. Norris hanging by her tail, unnaturally still with her eyes wide and staring at nothing.
"Is that…blood?" asked Daphne from beside me, her voice so quiet I almost hadn't heard her.
I glanced at her in confusion, but when I looked back I saw what I had missed before. I felt my own blood pounding in my ears as terror filled my veins with ice. Behind the grisly sight of Mrs. Norris, daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering red in the light cast by the flaming torch, were the words:
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
"Please Magic no."
Draco suddenly shouted through the absolute silence of the corridor. "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"
I latched onto Daphne's hand beside me, her own hand gripping mine back just as tightly. Her very presence stopped the terror from building any more than it already had, but it was still taking everything I had to force myself to keep breathing slowly instead of the frantic huffs the terror kept trying to incite.
"What's going on here? What's going on?" Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Monsieur Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd of students pressed together to look at the sight before them. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked as he clutched at his face. His whole body then unfurled as he stalked further to the unconscious circle we all formed. "You! You've murdered my cat!" he screeched.
It was only then that I finally realized that Potter, Granger, and Weasley stood separated from the rest of us - they'd been here before us all.
Monsieur Filch clutched at Potter's robes as he continued to shout, "You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"
"Argus!"
Dumbledore, followed by a number of other professors, had pushed their way through the students. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall quickly swept forward and detached Monsieur Filch from Potter.
In a forcibly calm voice, Dumbledore ordered, "Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger."
Lockhart then eagerly stepped forward. "My office is nearest, Headmaster, just upstairs. Please feel free-"
"Thank you, Gilderoy," interrupted Dumbledore.
Professor Snape stepped forward and faced the rest of us, his ever present stern glare hardening even further. "Return to your common rooms. Now!"
The various prefects took this as their cue and quickly started shepherding us all away from this section of the corridor. I briefly made eye contact with Blaire, who had Alaric stiffly standing at her back, as she guided a group of scared looking First-Years away - her nod of assurance didn't necessarily calm me, but it reminded me to get my emotions under control. The last thing I wanted or needed in this moment was for my hair to start sparking - that would be so embarrassing.
Daphne and I kept our hands clasped together as we joined the swarm of Slytherins following behind Cara. Slowly, as we put distance between us and the corridor, students began gossiping about what we had all just witnessed. Wild theories began to form, but I pushed them from my mind.
While I was still terrified of what this could mean combined with the possibility of another recurring nightmare, logical thought was returning to my head. I had no idea what this Chamber of Secrets was, and while it was very suspicious for that specific trio of Gryffindors to found at such a grisly scene, I doubted Potter or Granger could actually hurt Mrs. Norris or stand by and let Weasley hurt her, even in a fit of anger. Draco seemed to have some knowledge of what the message meant based on his comment. So my first course of action would be to ask Draco what he meant - though I refused to utter that distasteful word Draco had used once again.
Finally, we moved through the entrance to the common room. Some Upper-Years took charge of ushering the First-Years to their dormitories, while the rest of us lingered around the room - who could sleep after what just happened anyway?
"Are all the First-Years in their dormitory?" Garrett's voice rang over the quiet murmuring of everyone else as he was the last to enter through the entranceway.
"Yeah, Tsu Ling and Graham made sure of it," replied Cara.
"Good. Now the rest of you, either off to bed or stay and we'll explain what we know as best we can."
Murmuring broke out and soon everyone began moving - either settling onto the sofas and chairs in the room surrounding where Cara and Garrett stood with some of the Seventh-Years or walking to the dormitories' corridor. Sharing a silent look with my friends, we all agreed - we were staying for this. The four of us managed to claim an entire sofa to ourselves and settled down; Daphne and I were still sticking close to each other.
Cara appeared to gather herself as she took a deep breath before beginning. "Alright, so the story of the Chamber of Secrets is a tangle of facts, biased assumptions, and fanciful story-telling. You'll find the bare facts in Hogwarts: A History, but even that still has its bias of not including more explanation of Salazar Slytherin's position, since it was written without his contribution."
Flint spoke up from where he sat with his Yearmates, "We're all aware of the bias against our House, Buttermere. Just get on with it."
I noticed Cara's eyebrow twitch and couldn't help but internally snicker over her attempt to reign in her temper at Flint's commanding impatience. Garrett placed a hand on Cara's shoulder before stepping forward, likely to take over so Cara could simmer down discreetly.
"First a little background information for those of you who don't know the history of the school. So Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Godric Gryffindor. They built Hogwarts to be both a school for young Magicals, but also as a place of protection, far from the grasp of Muggles and their ignorant fear of Mother Magic's gifts to the world."
Garrett wetted his lips before continuing. "Now this was all well and good until a rift formed between Salazar Slytherin and the other three founders. Slytherin wanted Magical learning to be kept in Magical families, ones either with little or free of Muggle influence or exposure. He found children with Muggle parents to be untrustworthy and harmful to our way of life. The other founders, however, did not see the danger or considered the risk minute, and so would not change their stance. With no other choice, Salazar Slytherin left the school."
"Alright, so what's all that got to do with this Chamber of Secrets?" asked Lucian, who looked strangely pale and uncomfortable.
Cara took a step forward to answer with Garrett stepping back to lean against the black marble of the nearby fireplace. "The story goes that Salazar Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle without the other founders' knowledge. After placing a creature inside that only he could control to guard it, he sealed it, so that only his true heir could open it and use the creature to purge the school of those who were unworthy to study magic."
"The Mudbloods," Vaisley Goyle stated.
"Those not from Magical families," Garrett corrected with a sharp glare and dark look sent towards Goyle's older sister. She huffed in annoyance, yet she still dropped her eyes, clearly conceding to Garrett's subtle reprimand.
Tracey surprised me by hesitantly raising her hand in the air.
Cara glanced at her with a confused frown. "You don't have to…whatever, what is it?"
"So if the Chamber of Secrets has been opened, won't Dumbledore and the professors just close it?"
"It's a secret chamber sealed against outsiders," Cara sighed out. "Despite many searching for it, the Chamber of Secrets has never been officially found. Sure, there are rumors that it was opened once before, but that's never been proven, so many doubt if the Chamber of Secrets is even real or if it's simply a story Salazar Slytherin threatened the other founders with before he left."
Garrett stepped forward again so he was standing beside Cara. "That being said, everyone should keep their wanderings to a minimum."
"Why?" asked Flint. "Slytherin House is mostly Purebloods with only a few worthy Halfbloods in the mix. We've got nothing to fear even if this whole thing is real."
"That may be, but you strutting around the castle will likely end up with you being hexed for your arrogance," replied Cara.
Flint looked ready to hex her when Garrett interjected and stood between the two. "What my fellow prefect means is that tensions around the castle are going to be at an all-time high until things blow over. Slytherins look after their own first and foremost, and no one," hard looks sent towards both Flint and Draco, "should do the dumb thing and taunt the other Houses with the creature or chamber, because I guarantee that Professor Snape won't be amused if any of us start a fight with the other Houses."
"Now everyone, off to bed!" ordered Cara, who didn't stick around to see if anyone actually listened to her and instead immediately left with a group of Upper-Year girls for the dormitories.
Feeling a tug on my hand, I finally removed my hand from Daphne's and followed her and the others to our dormitories.
"Esme?" asked Daphne as we entered our dormitory after Parkinson, Bulstrode, and Davis. "Will you be alright tonight?"
"Oui, I'll be just fine. I have the potion you got me, remember?" With how my mind was churning, I was extra grateful to Daphne getting me the vial of Sleeping Drought from Professor Snape. Without it I doubt I'd be able to sleep tonight.
Daphne nodded and appeared relieved.
Worry for my dear friend then bubbled in my chest. "Would you like to take some yourself tonight?"
After a moment of consideration she replied, "I think that would be a good idea."
No one was in a cheery or social mood after everything. The five of us got ready for bed without a word, the only noise being ambient noises we created in the process. Daphne took a small sip from the purple vial before setting it close to my bed on the nightstand.
After climbing under my sheets, I gazed up at my bed canopy as my mind continued to swirl and a few tears of frustration escaped from the corner of my eyes. 'Why' was the question that kept repeating over and over again. Why did this have to happen? Why is something else attempting to ruin another school year? Why? Why!? WHY?!
Things had been going well, excluding Lockhart being a complete and utter disappointment as a professor. I couldn't help but fear that this may be another attempt by that Dark wizard to murder Potter - no matter how illogical the thought may be. I shut my eyes tight as I felt the beginning of a headache developing behind my eyes. Lying alone with my thoughts was getting me nowhere, so I leaned over and picked up the vial of Sleeping Drought. I took a small sip before securing the stopper back on top and returning the vial to my nightstand.
As I waited for the potion to begin working, I couldn't help but think back to what Cara had said. She had implied her belief that the Chamber of Secrets wasn't real. However, I could feel in my very magic that it existed, and the monster was a very real danger. Ever since finding the message written in blood and Mrs. Norris strung up by her tail, I'd felt both a sense of foreboding and terror - this was only the beginning was my final thought before drifting off into the sweet blackness of sleep.
Madame = Mrs.
Ma amie = my friend (female)
Monsieur = Mister
Oui = yes
Special thanks to my Beta-Readers: Anonymous and TheSparkler!