It was unbelievable, it's been two weeks of being in the school it felt like they've been here for a lifetime. Chrys was laying in his room and reading a book while he looked over at the grandfather clock. Slytherin was going to have a joint class with the Gryffindors for flying class, and even though Salazar's painting said that the room was soundproof he could still hear Draco bragging to the other snakes outside of his room. Actually, now that he thought about it, he could hear the voices getting louder, Chrys sighed and closed the book, he was starting to regret allowing visitors in his suite.

"I'll bet you anything that Lindsay's been to every Blood Orchids' game." Draco boasted to Crabbe and Goyle. "In fact, I'll bet you anything that Lindsay and I take our afternoon flying class by storm."

"Didn't we have this talk?" Chrys rolled his eyes. "I told you not to drag my family into things."

"Correction." Draco held his hand up. "You said 'please don't use my family to one-up each other', I'm not doing that, I'm singing your family's praises because of our upcoming flying class with the Gryffindors."

Chrys rolled his eyes and looked at him. "So what brings you into my little abode?"

Draco took the time to look at the suite he was in; Chrys certainly didn't hesitate in making this place his own with posters of various muggle bands (they don't even move, what was the point of having them?), a cello sitting upright, embroidery station near the window overlooking the lake, various books of muggle authors, was this boy trying to turn this place into a muggle bedroom!?

"Well, I was going to be a gentleman and walk with you to our first flight class." Draco held his hand out to him.

"Somehow I get the feeling there's more to that." Chrys sat up and looked at him. "You just wanted to see my room again."

"Obviously! You have the most exclusive room in the entire dorm!" Draco threw his hands in the air. "Of course I want to see it every chance I get!" He started to frown as he turned to a poster with a girl in a blue dress being held by a red knight with a sword covered by a rose vine on it. "Of course, I'd prefer it if you didn't have these…Muggle posters about."

Chrys narrowed his eyes at him. "My room, my rules, deal with it."

It wasn't just that poster alone that made Draco raised an eyebrow at, there were other things that were hanging around and looking at Salazar Slytherin's portrait shaking his head, he knew he wasn't the only one in disbelief. What even was half of the stuff Chrys was into? Two long haired men, one with a magical scepter holding what looked like a prince; six vampires with sadistic grins on their faces, and a sitting noble boy wearing an eyepatch with a king's robe and a butler standing beside him at the ready. There were some figurines around too, some as the 'cuter' versions of the posters.

"I can still judge you on it." Draco turned and led the way out of the suite. "Really now, you being able to have this suite puts you on the possibility of being a member of the Gaunt family or at least a possibility of being part of that family." He looked down slightly at Chrys. "Of course, you could be related to the Peverells in general, so there's that possibility too."

"And I've also mentioned that my grandfather's been disowned, if anything my father and I are bastards in the eyes of many." Chrys rolled his eyes.

"Not entirely true." A new voice rang out. The four boys turned to look in the direction it came from, seeing a boy nearby walking toward them with his wand out. The boy in question had fair skin with freckles dotting his face here and there. His eyes were a clouded grey-blue color and almond-shaped, looking like they held small bags underneath them. His face was set in a neutral expression, and the four briefly wondered if he was blind since he held his wand in a way that he was using it to see with the red light flashing at the tip of it, or maybe he was just paranoid. His hair was a medium-dark brown and in a swept back style, and he was wearing a Slytherin uniform, an obvious sign that he was part of the dorm.

Chrys tilted his head. "What do you mean by that? Also, who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Ominis Gardener." He smiled, his wand still pointing at the two. "A pleasure to meet you face to face, Lindsay." He turned to the boy next to him. "Heir Malfoy, wonderful to see you."

"Oh um, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ominis." Chrys nodded. "So what do you mean about how I'm not a bastard in the eyes of many?"

Ominis hummed in thought. "Well, let's put it this way, if it gets out you're the last living member of the Gaunt family, people would hold you in regards whether or not your grandfather was from an affair or not, perhaps years ago they would snub you but nowadays if you show up with validity to your claim you would be welcomed as part of the elite." He explained. "In short, our world doesn't care so much if someone's from an affair or not, you wouldn't be labeled as a bastard. Well, that is assuming you are a Gaunt."

Chrys glanced at Draco, both intrigued and cautious about Ominis' words. "Assuming I am a Gaunt? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly that, the only known people who speak parseltongue are those from the House of Gaunt." Ominis tilted his head slightly. "Once an aristocratic family, would it be a shock if someone had illegitimate children? True the Gaunts would prefer to wash their hands of the mess and claim they didn't have children, but blood never lies." He reached up and laid a hand on Chrys' shoulder. "It's something to consider." He pulled away. "Well, I've held you up as is, I'll let you two get to your flight class."

Out of the dungeons and into the bright afternoon sun, it was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

Chrys and Draco walked side by side with Crabbe and Goyle behind them, their conversation with Ominis still fresh in their minds. The weight of the potential revelation about Chrys' lineage lingered, but they knew they had to focus on the task at hand— their flying class.

As they approached the smooth, flat lawn designated for their class, the Gryffindors and Slytherins began to gather, their excitement palpable in the air. Chrys couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and nervousness, wondering what the flying lesson had in store for them.

"Welcome to your first flying lessons!" Madame Hooch greeted. "Everyone, step up to the left side of their broomsticks, stick your right hand over the broom and say, Up!"

This was going to be a disaster, Chrys didn't need their new future seeing friend to tell him that. Everyone was having problems getting their brooms in their hands; with the exception of Draco, Harry, and himself. Little by little people were able to – okay, Ron got his after getting hit in the face with his broom. It was pretty funny to watch and even Ron was able to laugh it off.

Still, even with everything going as plan; there was always something that would go wrong. And it did, somehow or another, Neville's broom started to go out of control. It was hard to tell if the cause of it was because of how he was holding his broom that caused it to spiral; but Chrys did try to get to him, he had one advantage and that was his father being a Quidditch player, so being on a broom was second nature to him! He flew over to the Gryffindor and moved close before holding his hand out to him.

"Neville, take my hand!" Chrys called.

He was still out of control. Neville shakingly held his hand out trying to grab Chrys' hand; the broom wouldn't let him and he went soaring even faster. Chrys narrowed his eyes, he lowered himself on the broom to increase his speed so he could catch up to the Gryffindor again, holding his hand out. He wasn't upset with Neville, but he certainly didn't want him to get hurt in the sky!

"Neville, I'm not screwing around!" Chrys snapped. "Let go of the broom and grab my hand!"

"I can't!" Neville cried

"You can! I'm not going to let you drop!" he moved closer to him and managed to get a hold of him. "Okay, now on three…swing over to mine, I'll get us to safety."

The fates must be against them; with the out of control broom, they were headed straight for the walls of the castle! Chrys tried to steer their brooms so they would avoid the impact but it was too late; out of reflex – and out of training with his father, Chrys stuck his feet out and kicked away from the wall. Neville wasn't too lucky; he was thrown off his broom and was caught by a sharp spear.

Chrys moved his broom under Neville and looked up at him. "Okay, it's okay…I'm here." He said softly. "Just stay still."

"Don't let me fall." Neville pleaded.

"I won't let you fall." Chrys promised him, he raised up a bit. "Just, slowly untangle your robe, I'm right here under you."

"We won't let you fall." Rue came up behind Chrys, gently nudging him forward. "Get up and help Frog Boy down onto mine, I can get him down safely."

Thank the stars above. Chrys flew up and laid a gentle hand on Neville's shoulder as he carefully unlatched him from the statue that was holding him and doing his best to lower him on the teacher's broom. With both successfully getting Neville from the air and back onto the ground, the boy was only able to utter a thank you before falling back on the grass and passing out.

"Frog Boy?" Rue knelt down beside his unconscious form, she gently shook him and frowned. "Frog boy, wake up."

Chrys looked at her in disbelief. "Are you serious? He has a name!"

"Yeah and I forgot it." Rue defended crossing his arms. "Just like I forgot your name, Snake Boy."

"Snake Boy!?"

"Break it up." Madame Hooch approached and carefully picked Neville up. "I'll get him to the hospital wing, everyone else you're to stay on the ground I don't want to see a single broom in the air, one broom and you'll be escorted from the grounds faster than you can say Quidditch." She turned to Chrys and shook her head. "And you, I want you to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, seek out Flint."

Chrys just looked at his fellow Slytherins who just shrugged at him in response, clearly they had no idea either. With a shrug, Chrys just went to put his broom away before following behind Madame Hooch and Neville back into the castle.

Honestly, he had no idea what class Marcus would be in. Why would he? He didn't make it his business to know the schedules of his fellow Slytherins, the only reason he knew of Vincent's and Gregory's was because of Draco having them around like loyal guard dogs. Let's see, Marcus was a fifth year student that meant he would either be in Defense Against the Dark Arts or Potions. Since he wasn't in the mood to face Snape and disrupt class, Chrys opted for the safer option of going to the third floor where the DADA class would be held.

There was something about walking around a quiet castle hall that felt…unnerving at best. Maybe it was because Hogwarts was pretty old, but whatever the case was, he really didn't enjoy it – but he wasn't against it either. Actually, it felt a little nice being the only one around with only the occasional ghost and the moving painting greeting him. One was so kind as to inform him that yes, Marcus Flint did indeed have Defense Against the Dark Arts and even warned him when the stairs would move. Who would've thought that the paintings were that helpful? Chrys always made sure to thank the artwork whenever they helped him out and also made up his mind to converse with them at times things were quiet like now he would converse with a painting – just to be polite of course, it had to be boring being in one place all the time, right?

"N-Now the B-Basilisk, is an unholy c-creation born of a c-chicken egg hatched beneath a t-toad." Professor Quirrell paused in his teachings and looked up at the door. "Oh! Can I help you young m-man?"

Right, he was caught up in his thoughts and forgot he was heading to the classroom. So the fifth years were learning about snakes? That explains why there was a viper on the desk looking pretty agitated – especially with the wand between its teeth.

"I will bite you for this!"

Chrys winced at the threat the snake was making. "Uh I don't think he enjoys the wand…he'll bite in retaliation." He answered softly. "I-I'm actually here to speak with Marcus Flint? Madame Hooch told me to talk to him."

"Of course!" Quirrell nodded and allowed the student to get up and leave the classroom. "Now, the potency of a basilisk venom is greater than any s-snake."

He really didn't want to know the context behind this lesson. Chrys followed Marcus down the hall until they were at a good distance to avoid disrupting other classes on this floor; the older Slytherin looked down at the boy and crossed his arms, sizing up Chrys and even shaking his shoulder lightly. Clearly, Marcus knew why Madame Hooch had Chrys seek him out, but Chrys was still left in the dark about it!

"You're Alister's boy." Marcus stated. "Tell me, how are you on a broom? I know you should be at flying lessons, but if Madame Hooch sent you…"

"I'm pretty good, I'm not trying to brag or anything." Chrys affirmed him. "Dad would have me with his team whenever they'd practice for matches for the season, so I was always on a broom."

"And if I were to toss a Quaffle at you in the air would you be able to catch it?"

"Yeah?" Chrys raised an eyebrow. "Wait…No, no, no, I know the school rules…I'm not allowed to try out until I'm a third year."

"Well Madame Hooch seems to be vouching for you and we need a new chaser." Marcus sneered at him. "So congratulations, you're going to be joining our team and if you don't…"

Chrys held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! I'll have dad mail my broom over before our first practice!"

His sneer turned into a genuine smile as he patted Chrys on the back. "Hey, what a great team player you are! I knew we could count on you." Marcus started back to class. "And hey, don't worry you got a team of star players to back you up if things go sour."

"Y-yeah…glad to be on the team."

"I can't believe that prat!" Hermione huffed, glaring at the letter before them. "I should've guessed that it was too good to be true for Draco to be doing something generous!"

Harry had tuned out Hermione's rant for the most part, he kept staring at the letter in his hand; sometime during the day, a letter had arrived on the Gryffindor table addressed to him from Draco Malfoy, everything about it was confusing to him. The tone that the letter was giving off, the way it was written, it just all seemed off to him as he read the message again for the millionth time.

Potter,

I was kind enough to not only give you treats from home, and I gave you grace by giving you time for yourself. Yet, you still continue to disrespect me by blatantly ignoring me!

For that, you should be honoring me in a duel. Come to the Trophy Room on the third floor tonight at midnight. Failure to do so and…well, I know how fond you are of Lindsay, it would be a shame if anything happened to him

Draco Malfoy

Ron looked at the note and then at Harry, both knew there was something more to this. Draco made it clear that he wasn't going to let Harry and Chrys out of his sight, a meeting after curfew would no doubt get them in trouble…maybe even expelled. Why would he risk getting kicked out of the school like this? This wasn't Draco's M.O. in the slightest! Something was wrong with this picture, and even if they could wait until morning for this to be resolved, it was also best to just confront him in person about it. Demand to know why he would write a sick note and if it wasn't him then who? Was it another Slytherin that wrote it? And did Draco receive a similar letter except signed by Harry?

Harry stood up and grabbed his cloak, Ron followed suit. Hermione stopped her ranting and looked at the two in silent confusion.

"You're not seriously thinking about going."

"We are." Harry said. "Look, there could be a chance that someone wants both Draco and I out of the school and they'll be waiting for us. Even then, we can't put Chrys' life in danger."

"Chrys is in danger?"

All eyes turned to the newcomer, Neville, they instantly relaxed at the sight of him. Harry assured him that they would fill him in as the four left the Gryffindor tower and carefully made their way to the Trophy Room. Walking through the dark halls was eerie enough, the thought of potentially getting caught and expelled didn't help their nervous feelings in the slightest bit.

Even as they arrived at the darkened trophy room, there was nothing but them and the old awards. They were probably early for their meeting with Draco, they may as well look around the awards; especially the ones for Quidditch, two names were on the chaser section: Alister Gauthier and James Potter. Ron grinned at his friend and gently nudged him, it made the two grin and lightly giggle. Harry was recently appointed as seeker for the Gryffindor team, if they had to be honest, they wouldn't be surprised if they saw Harry's name on a Quidditch trophy with the team in the future!

"Good, you're here." Vera's voice rang out. The four turned to see the three Hufflepuffs approaching them with Vera leading the way. "I don't know why you had to call me out here at midnight, but whatever, we're here now and you're going to apologize."

"Apologize for what?!" Hermione demanded. "What are you even talking about, why are you here? Did Draco write to you?"

"Why would Draco write to us?" Cora asked. "No, the note Vera got was signed by you, Granger. You said you wanted to meet to apologize for insulting her family and divination as a whole."

"I didn't write such a note?!"

"Keep yelling, I don't think the school heard you." Chrys walked over. "Also, why are you here?" He looked over at the Gryffindors. "Did…Izanami invite you for late night tutoring as well?"

"Chrys, you're alright!" Neville was in relief as he hurried over before hugging him. "We were worried when Draco threatened your wellbeing."

"When I…what?!" Draco looked over aghast and horror. "Why would I threaten Chrys' health?!"

Everyone just went back and forth like this. Chrys watched everyone for a few minutes before looking at the letter he had supposedly received from Izanami about coming here for late night lessons; quietly, he made his way over to Harry and Vera before taking the notes from their robes and going to a corner of the room, laying the notes side by side and using a penlight to get a better look at all three letters. The same penmanship, someone definitely wanted the three here tonight, but for what purpose?

"If you guys are done yelling at each other, I think Chrys found something?" Crabbe said. He was beside the boy looking over at the notes with the boy, the others came over and knelt beside them – some staring at the penlight that Chrys was holding as they looked over the notes. "They're…the same writing." Crabbe continued. "Do you guys recognize the handwriting?"

"Don't you think someone would've said something earlier instead of coming here?" Draco smacked him upside the head. "Of course no one here recognizes the handwriting, idiot."

"For once, ferret is right." Cora said. She picked up the notes and looked them over, shaking her head as she couldn't find anything odd about them. "Okay, did anyone piss anyone off earlier?" silence. "Okay, did anyone do something they thought was innocent enough?"

"Marcus threatened me a few times when I said I wanted nothing to do with the Quidditch team." Chrys chimed.

Draco shook his head. "He values you too much to lose you, why would he want you out after curfew and risk us losing against Gryffindor?"

"And what about Harry and Vera?" Izanami yawned, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "What did they do?"

"Easy, Vera's a freak." Draco said it like it was obvious. "She probably saw something in the future she wasn't supposed to, what better way to keep someone quiet than to expel them from school over being out at curfew."

"What about Chrys and Harry, what did they do?" Vera demanded.

Meow

The group froze and slowly looked over, color draining from their faces as they saw the cat in the corridor. Oh, no. They all knew what this meant if Mrs. Norris was here. They had to leave now, before they were caught by Filch. To give the group some time to run and get out of the area before Filch arrived!

Vera carefully went up to the cat and gently picked her up before cuddling with her beside the trophy cases. "Hey sweetie." She greeted, ignoring the cat's growl. "I know, we're out past our bedtimes, you're going to be a good girl and not tattle on us right?" the growling started to cease as she started petting the side of her neck. "I'm your bestest friend in the whole world."

The group stared at her incredulously, Vera just looked up at them and waved them off to go and that she would be fine. She's done this before with Mrs. Norris to everyone's surprise, the only reason she'd been able to get away with this for the month she was here at Hogwarts was because of Sybil, the woman had told Filch that Mrs. Norris would be having more loving companions during the school years and it would come in the form of breaking rules. Filch didn't believe her. And after catching Vera playing with Mrs. Norris with a strand of yarn, he tried to bust her for being out after curfew…it didn't work. Professor Dumbledore was on the fortune teller's side.

Chrys was the last to leave as he watched Vera cuddling with the purring cat, the Hufflepuff just shooed him away and told him she would be fine. She always was. Chrys just slowly nodded before he ran with the group, he could hear the footsteps of the cantankerous caretaker approaching the trophy and then silence – given they were pretty far from the site and were taking over in a locked corridor (for once, even Draco and Chrys agreed that Hermione's smarts came to save the day by casting the unlocking charm on the door so they could slip in and catch their breaths, as well as lay low for the time being.

Most of them were quietly pressed against the door to listen for any signs of life; there were, in the form of Vera and Filch walking by and talking.

"You really need to stop bothering Mrs. Norris! She and I have a job in keeping you troublemakers safe." Filch grumbled out.

Vera giggled and held Mrs. Norris like a baby. "Aww it's okay, isn't it? We're best friends! And she could have more friends if students weren't scared of her."

They didn't hear what the old man was grumbling about but their voices seemed to fade, giving them even more of a reason to sigh in relief and sit on the ground.

"Oh thank the stars." Chrys sighed out. "I hope Vera's alright."

"The freak will be fine." Draco leaned his head back and sighed. "I doubt the anonymous note sender was smart when they targeted Vera." He looked up at Chrys. "Are you sure you didn't do anything unusual today?"

Chrys shrugged. "I mean, I told the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that the viper was threatening to bite him, but I was only quoting what the snake said."

Draco just blinked and looked at him confused, quoting the snake? He knew Chrys could speak snake but did the snake from DADA say something that Chrys wasn't suppose to hear? Of course, there was still Harry, why was he targeted? The Boy Who Lived may as well be a celebrity in the wizarding world, but when it came to school work…Draco lost track of how many times he or that Granger girl had to come to the rescue and help him out with the assignments or how to cast the spell correctly, he was probably one of the least competent spellcasters in the school and hardly a threat! Okay, that came out harsh, but his point was still standing; Harry clearly didn't have too much exposure to magic so he was like a baby deer at best.

Growl

Aside from the clear dog growl, the room went eerily silent, the group collectively looked over to the source and saw it. A three-headed dog was arched down poised for attack, it was giving them a warning to back away now and to not come any closer. Everyone was ready to scream, the only thing stopping them was when they heard Chrys telling everyone to be still and to not panic. Not panicking? This boy was mad as a hatter! They watched as he slowly moved to the front and stared up at the creature, not taking his eyes off the beast.

"Hey buddy." Chrys greeted the dog. "Easy now."

The good news was that it worked to some degree. The dog moved over to him and started to sniff him, Draco was pale as he tried to move up behind Chrys, one of the heads moved from Chrys and started doing the same thing, it was clear by this pattern alone that it was trying to figure the two out. The auburn haired boy held his hand up to the dog who moved back at the sudden movement before sniffing once more and laying down for him so that Chrys could pet it.

"There's a good boy." Chrys cooed softly. "Yes, there's a good boy; you were just startled at the sudden arrival of students weren't you?"

"Chrys." Draco whispered to him. "What in all things holy, are you doing?"

"Draco, he's a dog, he's just doing what dogs usually do." Chrys continued petting the three-headed creature, he nodded to the group and silently invited them over. "We entered his room, he was startled, and once he sees we're not a threat he'll relax some more and we can safely get out of here."

"I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you're completely mad, Chrysanthos." Hermione quietly hissed, her eyes grew wide as she saw the third head take control of the body as the dog moved closer to the group so the third head could move and sniff Izanami. "Chrys-!" her voice raised slightly.

Chrys looked over, he tried moving over to the startled girl, Izanami was shaken as the third head continued to sniff and move its head back, it kept looking at her curiously even nudging her around trying to make sense of her; what was with her that was getting the dog riled up in curiosity and…playfulness? The dog's tail was starting to wag as the third head continued to gently push her and sniff her, giving the occasional lick here and there. Even with the dog's playful behavior, Izanami kept tensing up and whimpering each time, the situation was clear; Izanami was afraid of dogs.

Not wanting her to go through cardiac arrest, Harry approached the third head to get the attention on him so Izanami could be left alone. Once between the two, he held his hand out and let the third head move over and sniff him. "I bet it gets lonely for him here, doesn't it, big fella? I can understand why Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't want anyone in here but if he'd let students get to know you, you could have a lot of friends."

Chrys nodded, "There's our good boy." He praised, he slowly reached into his robe and took out a small sandwich bag. "I've brought these for Izanami and I to snack on for the late night tutoring, well if the tutoring was real." He took out one of the contents and held it up. "Do you want some boy? They're peanut butter cookies."

The dog's eyes lit up as Chrys started giving each of the heads a cookie, it tail was wagging rapidly. As it enjoyed the cookies, the dog's demeanor became even more relaxed and friendly. Izanami, still a bit apprehensive but no longer the center of attention, watched the scene with a mix of curiosity and relief.

"I guess dogs really do love treats," Ron remarked, breaking the tension in the air.

Chrys chuckled. "Indeed they do, Ron. Treats can work wonders in building trust and creating positive associations. This dog just needed some reassurance and a tasty snack."

Draco, who had been skeptical throughout the entire encounter, couldn't help but be intrigued by the dog's change in behavior. "Well, I have to admit, Chrys, you seem to have a way with creatures. You turned that ferocious beast into a playful pup."

"Uncle Alexis has a hound dog." Chrys said with a smile. "He taught me basic dog training with her, I figured those could be used here. He's just a big baby with two extra heads, aren't you buddy?" Chrys scratched under their chins.

Soon after, a chain reaction did happen; starting with Chrys, Draco, and Harry moving from the dog; Ron, Neville, and Hermione were up next to introduce themselves. This gave Harry and Draco time to quietly escort Izanami out of the chamber and back into the hallway, Chrys stayed behind to make sure everyone got to say hi to the dog and leave. After Cora, Crabbe, and Goyle gave their hello's, Chrys quietly led them out and praised the dog for being a good boy before leaving and sealing the door behind them.

"I still don't know which was more terrifying, nearly getting caught by Filch or being around a giant three-headed dog!" Ron shuddered.

"And I don't get why you guys nearly wet yourselves back there." Chrys shrugged. "It's just a dog with two extra heads, it's like seeing conjoined twins to some degree, except we can call them conjoined triplets. It's not entirely uncommon in the animal kingdom to see stuff of this nature."

"Chrysanthos, you saw how it was towards Izanami! The poor girl was close to a heart attack and you just stood there petting it!" Hermione scolded. "What if it had attacked her!"

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "The dog wasn't going to attack, his body language was that of a playful stance; my guess is because Hufflepuff's dorm is right next to the kitchen, the dog probably thought Izanami had treats on her and wanted some."

"That doesn't change anything! You were taking a gamble with everyone's life on the line, Chrysanthos!" Hermione stopped at the stairs leading towards Gryffindor Tower. "Now, I'm going to bed before anyone else comes up with another brilliant plan to get us all killed, or worse, expelled."

Maybe it was the fact she had been woken up. Maybe it was the fact they nearly got caught by Miss Norris and then was face to face with a giant three-headed dog that nearly gave her a heart attack, as Hermione had stated. Or maybe it was all of it combined with a light lack of sleep. But whatever it was, Izanami was irritated and ready to go back to bed. Feeling her eye twitch and her body tense up, Izanami swiftly headed toward Hermione and gave her a swift whack upside the head. This stunned literally everybody into silence, but they dared not say anything. Never before had they seen this sweet, innocent, soft-spoken bunny in badger colors look this irritated or hit someone.

"Fuzakenna... 'Killed, or worse, expelled'?" She repeated Hermione's last words in her usual soft-spoken tune, but this time her voice held a mix of venom and tiredness. "Where have your priorities gone, Granger-san? Being expelled is forever better... than death of any kind... Get your head on straight, why don't you...バカ (Baka)..." Izanami hissed at the shell-shocked girl before turning around to her silent group of friends. She took a deep breath to calm herself before giving them all a weak, reassuring smile.

With all said and done, the group parted ways with the Slytherin and Hufflepuff group returning to the dungeons. The walk down there felt relieving as they would be returning to bed soon so they could sleep off the whole event that was tonight; some quietly wondering and theorizing about the notes, others were just ready to wash their hands of this and ready to never speak a word about it ever again. Then you have one, a girl with eyes that now glowed a faint red shimmer as she walked with a light hum in her voice.

"He was standing on something." Cora finally said, watching as the group turned to her. "Come on, you didn't see it? I'm sure Granger did, the dog was standing on a trapdoor."

"And why is this important?" Draco demanded. "Who cares about some trapdoor?"

"Who knows, but it's something worth looking into…preferably on down time so as to not cause rising suspicions from the teachers, I love and hate our headmaster so much when he does stuff like this." She took Izanami's hand and skipped up to their dorm. "Crème Brule!" The door opened and she waved at her cousin. "Night, night, Ferret!"

Crabbe looked at Draco. "What do you think is hiding under the school?" He watched as Draco shrugged and stormed off ahead. "Do you think it may be a forbidden artifact? Something muggle related that the headmaster doesn't want out?"

"As I've said with the notes, don't you think someone would've said something if they knew?" Draco sighed. "Look, this school has its secrets…I know that our founder, Salazar himself has a few hidden ones…not very pleasant ones." He looked at Chrys with slight worry. "At least, that's what the rumors say…personally, I hope whatever that dog's guarding isn't any of Salazar's hidden secrets." He patted everyone's back as he approached their stone wall. "Bathory."

The snake engraving rose up revealing the hidden door and the quartet walked through; Draco had the right idea when he said that they needed their rest. Tomorrow was a new day after all and they were going to need it – especially with it being now October and the swing of Halloween month was going to be in full-blown excitement all around.