I do not own Harry Potter.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Why do bad things always seem to happen on Halloween? Ron, Hermione, and I were heading back to Gryffindor tower after Sir. Nicolas's death day party. On the wall of a second-floor corridor in foot-high letters was written "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE." Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff and frozen.
Just than the whole school arrived on their way back from dinner. Draco Malfoy seemed really pleased about it. He shouted, "You'll be next mudbloods!" Dumbledore arrived and sent the students to bed, and took the three of us, Filch, Mrs. Norris, and Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Lockhart to Lockhart's office. He couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, but he said that she was not dead, but petrified.
Filch was convinced that I had done it, but I swear, I never touched Mrs. Norris! Dumbledore said that no second year could have done it. It would take advanced dark magic. He said I was innocent until proven guilty. Mrs. Norris can be revived when the Mandrakes in green house three when they reach their full size.
I'm not sure I should tell you this. Hermione said it wasn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world. And I'm sure it would sound very far-fetched to a teacher. And I don't want you to worry. But I've got to tell someone.
When I was in Lockhart's office, I heard a bodiless voice talking about killing someone. On the way to the feast from the dungeons, I heard it again. It said that it had been so hungry for so long, that it wanted to kill, that it smelled blood. Hermione and Ron couldn't hear anything. We followed it to the second-floor corridor, and there we found Mrs. Norris, as I've already told you.
I don't know what to make of it.
Harry
Dear Harry,
Of course, you didn't attack Mrs. Norris! Filch is just being a git, no one else will believe it.
The Chamber of Secrets? I've never heard of it before.
Now that you mention it, it does sound kind of familiar. I can't for the life of me remember what it is though.
I don't know why you're hearing voices no one else can hear, Harry, but I don't think you're going crazy. The voice seems to have a direct correlation with the attack, so it can't just be your imagination. I agree with Hermione though; it's probably not the best idea to tell anyone else about it. But you should tell Dumbledore. I'm sure he would take you seriously. I'm glad you told us.
Be careful, Harry. There's obviously something funny going on, and I doubt Mrs. Norris is going to be the last victim. Then there's that house elf. I know, we thought it must be some kind of prank, but there's always the possibility it wasn't. Things are adding up to be a very strange year.
Stay safe. We love you,
Mum and Dad
Dear Mum and Dad,
Hermione asked Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets in class today. He said it was a legend. It starts with Hogwarts being founded by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. For a while they worked together well, until Slytherin started trying to persuade the others that magic should be kept in all magic families. After he and Gryffindor had an argument about it, Slytherin decided to leave the school. Before he did, he created a secret chamber in the castle and sealed it. Only his true heir would be able to open it and use the monster within to purge the school of muggle-borns. No evidence has been found of any such chamber, even though the school has been searched many times, even by Dumbledore. Professor Binns thinks its rubbish, but Hermione thinks whatever attacked Mrs. Norris can't be human since Dumbledore couldn't cure her.
We happened across the corridor where the attack happened and thought it couldn't hurt to have a poke around. We found scorch marks in two places, and a bunch of spiders were fighting to get out of a tiny crack in the window pane. We can't make heads or tails of either clue.
Ron thinks Malfoy is the one opening the chamber. It makes sense, since he makes no secret of how much he hates muggle-borns. Unfortunately, there's no way to prove it.
Love,
Harry
Dear Harry,
Well, that explains why I thought it sounded familiar. I remember hearing about it now from a friend in my second year. We never imagined it would turn out to be true.
I'm not sure what else it could be. I haven't heard of something that can petrify animals or people. Mandrakes usually help people transfigured or cursed, but I didn't know people could be petrified at all. Usually it's trees and rocks when …
Lily, we do not need to get into the science of petrification. The Chamber of Secrets is probably true, no matter what Binns says. The question is, who is opening it?
I don't think it's Malfoy. He may be a git, but he's also a twelve year old. How could he have figured out how to open a chamber Dumbledore can't?
It would be hard to believe anyone could open a chamber Dumbledore couldn't, but obviously somebody did.
I know, but …
Maybe his father helped him. I wouldn't put anything past Lucius.
Well, either way, there's no way to know. Be careful, Harry. Whoever is doing this is dangerous.
Good luck,
Love,
Dad and Mum
Author's note: Dobby couldn't stop Harry from going to school with the pudding like he tried in the book, but he did still steal Ron and Hermione's letters (and Harry's going to them) and turned up to try and persuade him not to go back.