"...I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou," said Lockhart, "a series of attacks. The full story is in my autobiography. I provided the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once..."

The photographs of Lockhart on the walls nodded in agreement as he talked. One of them forgot to remove his hairnet. At last, Dumbledore straightened up.

"She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.

Lockhart stopped abruptly counting the number of murders he had prevented.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all... all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been petrified," answered Dumbledore.

"Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart.

"But how I cannot say..." said Dumbledore.

~With Jade~

It's been a few days, and still, all the students at school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she'd been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might return.

'Poor cat.' Jade always thinks after passing the spot.

She'd seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but it seemed to do nothing; the words still gleamed brightly on the stone. When Filch wasn't guarding the crime scene, he skulked red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly" and "looking happy." Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. According to Ron, who Jade'd overheard talking to Hermione about it, she was a passionate cat lover.

"But you haven't really met Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're better off without her." Ginny's lips trembled.

'Is he an idiot?... Oh, wait, yes.' Jade laughed as she passed them in the hall.

But she didn't get far when Ron stopped her.

"Jade!" He called.

'Ugh, couldn't you ignore me?' She thought bitterly as she turned slowly with a scowl on her face.

"What?"

"I need your help. I heard from a few people that you're an animal lover. Can you reassure her that the cat is okay?" He asked.

She glanced over at the almost crying girl.

"Why? What's in it for me?" she asked.

"What do you mean, what's in it for you? Can't you just be a decent person and help out for once?" He said practically yelling at her.

She glared at him.

"I am a decent person." She held her hand up when he prepared to argue with her. "To those I like and am friends with... You, however, do not fall into either category and I could care less what state of mind you or your sister is in." She said as she turned to walk away without raising her voice, even though she was clearly pissed off.

Even though she didn't know why, she looked back at the two of them.

"No, of course not... What was I thinking? You're just a cold-hearted bitch, probably learned it from those Slytherin friends of yours." He said insulting and trying to hurt her.

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him.

"What did you just say?" She asked slowly, with an icy look in her eyes.

"You're a B-bitch?" He stuttered in fear at her raw anger.

"Oh, no, no, no... You will repeat exactly what you just said about my friends." She growled, grabbing him by the collar of his robes.

It was at this point that she heard Ginny scream and cry.

"Your j-just a c-cold-hearted b-bitch... probably l-learned it f-from those Sl-slytherin friends of-" He didn't get to finish it as she punched him squarely in the nose repeatedly.

"DON'T. INSULT. MY. HOUSE. OR. FRIENDS. AGAIN!" She yelled darkly before throwing him away from herself and walking away again, this time not looking back at either of them.

She hadn't realized it yet, but the only reason he'd stayed silent was her tone reminded him of how Harry described Voldemort's voice last year. The crowd that watched them disappeared after she left. The attack on the cat apparently also affected Hermione. Hermione spent a lot of time reading, but now she does nearly nothing else. Nor could anyone get much response from her when asking what she was up to. Not until the following Wednesday did she tell Jade, Ron, or Harry. Harry had been held back in Potions, where Snape made him stay behind to scrape tubeworms off desks. Jade was also there as she'd offered to help clean his empty but used potion bottles as she'd done after every class she had with him.

Snape always told her she didn't have to but she'd just reply with "It gives me something to do other than wander the halls aimlessly." To which he could not argue.

After a hurried lunch, she hurried upstairs to meet Harry and Ron in the library to ask them about Hermione and the cat. However, when she saw Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, coming toward them she decided against asking just yet.

Harry had just opened his mouth to say hello when Justin caught sight of him. He turned abruptly and sped off in the opposite direction.

'Weird.' Jade thought.

Later when she found Harry and Ron again they were at the back of the library, measuring their History of Magic homework.

"Have either of you seen or spoken to Hermione?" Jade asked but Ron and Harry ignored her.

For a second, she thought it was due to her punching Ron a few days back. However, she quickly realized it was due to their homework... er... well at least that was Harry's reason. Professor Binns had asked for a three-foot-long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short," said Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which rolled back into a roll. "And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."

Jade chuckled because that's exactly what she got as well.

"Where is she?" asked Harry, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework. "Oh, sorry Jade. What did you want?" He asked still looking busy.

"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing at the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."

"Nevermind, my question has been answered by an idiot." She said sneering at Ron before leaving and finding Hermione for herself.

Harry told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him.

"Dunno why you care. I thought he was an idiot," replied Ron, scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great-"

Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves with Jade following behind her. She looked irritated but ready to talk to them.

"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," Hermione said, sitting beside Harry and Ron. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

'Why didn't you just shrink them?' Jade thought as she listened to her ramble on and on about Lockhart.

"Why do you want it?" Harry asked.

"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione, "to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What's that?" asked Harry and Jade quickly at the same time.

"That's just it. I can't remember," replied Hermione, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else-"

"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.

"No, I won't," said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten days to finish it-"

"I only need another two inches, come on-" The bell rang.

Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering. History of Magic was the dullest subject on her schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher. The most exciting thing in his class was entering the room through the blackboard. Ancient and shriveled, many people said he hadn't noticed he was dead. He simply got up to teach one day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff room fire; his routine has not varied since. Today was boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and began to read, flat drone-like an old vacuum cleaner tone. This continued until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally waking up long enough to write down a name or date, then falling asleep again. Even Jade slept mostly throughout every class she had with him. He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before.

Hermione raised her hand. Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.

"Miss... er...?"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.

Jade who'd been asleep but not fully as she could still hear everything, instantly popped her head up off her desk and watched and waited. Dean Thomas, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Pansey's head came up from her arms and Draco's elbow almost slipped off his desk. Professor Binns blinked.

"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued.

Jade groaned loudly as she leaned on her arm.

"In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers..." He paused.

Hermione's hand was waving in the air once again.

"Miss Grant?"

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

Professor Binns looked at her in amazement. Jade who was smirking, was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.

"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that I suppose."

He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational, even ludicrous tale-"

But the whole class focused on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, and everyone turned to face him. It was easy to tell he was completely taken by such an unusual show of interest. Jade smiled.

'She definitely should've been a Slytherin.' Jade thought as she listened to Binns and elbowed Draco, who sat next to her and hadn't woken up yet.

"Huh, wha- is class over yet?" He asked.

She shook her head and told him to listen. He looked at her questioningly before straightening himself and glancing at the professor who happened to be indulging Hermione's curiosity.

"Oh, very well," Professor Binns said slowly.

"Let me see... the Chamber of Secrets... You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago... the precise date is uncertain... by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from Muggle eyes. This was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution." He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued.

"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements arose between them. A rift grew between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all magic families. He disliked Muggle students, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school." Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.

Jades' eyes looked like saucers.

'Maybe this is why Mr. Malfoy hates Muggles and Muggle-borns?' She thought to herself, briefly glancing at Draco who'd drifted back to sleep.

Jade then rolled her eyes at him before thinking, 'Not interesting enough for you, is it?'

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story says that Slytherin built a hidden chamber in the castle, which the other founders knew nothing about. Slytherin, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none could open it until his heir arrived at the school. The heir alone could unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy of studying magic." There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes.

There was unease in the air as everyone watched him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked annoyed.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

Hermione's hand was back in the air. "Sir... what exactly do you mean by the horror within the Chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.

The whole class, except Draco who was sleeping, exchanged nervous looks.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," replied Jade as she stood up, "if the Chamber could only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, Miss Greed," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing-"

"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it-"

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat... if Dumbledore-"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't-" Jade tried to reason, but Professor Binns had had enough.

"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built even a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history, to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"

And within five minutes, the class sank back into its usual torpor.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told Harry and Hermione, not knowing he could be heard by more than just them.

~tiny Time Skip~

Throughout her next class and even into lunch all Jade heard was that Harry Potter was Salazar's heir. Each time she heard it she rolled her eyes.

'There's no way a Gryffindor could be Slytherin's heir... Right?' She thought to herself as she headed upstairs to the library.

"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Jade heard Ron ask Hermione as they walked into the library about fifteen minutes after her.

"I don't know," she said, frowning.

"Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be... well... human." As she spoke, she bumped into the table Jade had been sitting at reading a book about that exact topic.

"Oh, hello Jade." Hermione greeted her warmly. "What are you reading?" She asked curiously, as none of them had ever seen her do so before.

Jade handed her the book. She didn't like being caught reading because it made her look like a bookworm. She only read when and about what she needed to.

"The Chamber Of Secrets?" Hermione asked surprised. "Why are you interested in this?"

"Personal reasons." She told her in a clipped tone.

Not wanting to tell them, she was actually trying to figure out why she could speak parseltongue. After a few hours, Hermione invited Jade to join them in investigating the message that couldn't be removed from the wall in the hall. After several minutes of Jade and the others looking for clues as to who wrote the message, Hermione spoke.

"Come and look at this!" said Hermione. "This is funny..."

Harry and Ron got up off the ground and crossed to the window next to the message on the wall. Hermione pointed at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small crack.

Jade was confused. 'What's so funny about spiders?' She thought not understanding the humor.

A long, silvery thread dangled like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside.

"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" said Hermione wonderingly.

Now Jade understood and smiled as she shook her head no.

"No," said Harry, "have you, Ron? Ron?"

Jade glanced past Harry as he looked over his shoulder. Ron was standing far back and seemed to resist the urge to run.

"What's up?" asked Harry.

"I... don't... like... spiders," said Ron tensely.

"I never knew that," muttered Hermione, looking at Ron in surprise.

Jade laughed.

"Awww, What's wrong? Wittle won-won scared of a wittle itty bitty spider?" she teased in a mocking tone.

"Stop that, everyone's got something to fear." Hermione defended Ron.

'That's what you think!' Thought Jade just before shrugging since she'd never really felt fear to the extent Ron had displayed it.

"You've used spiders in potions dozens of times..." Harry said.

"I don't mind them when they're dead," said Ron, who looked anywhere but at the window. "I just don't like the way they move..."

Hermione giggled.

'Hypocrite... you scolded me for mocking him and laughed at him yourself...' Jade thought while rolling her eyes at the muggle-born.