The rumors worsened after the first body was found.
Colin Creevy, that small first-year Gryffindor, was found petrified just as Mrs. Norris had been, supposedly, on his way to deliver grapes to Harry in the hospital. It didn't take long for the gossip of the castle to confirm that Colin was a muggleborn.
On Monday night, Nell dragged Draco to a secluded corner in the Slytherin common room.
"It's not a prank," she said, her tone hushed as they stood in the shadows, candlelight flickering across their faces. "Someone is attacking students."
"Hasn't Dumbledore sorted them yet?" Draco asked.
"No. They need mandrake potion, and the whole bloody country's out of mandrakes, apparently."
"Oh," Draco said.
"This is serious, Draco."
He sighed. "Why are you so worried?"
Nell spluttered, shocked. "Wha– what? Why? What d'you mean ' why'? "
"Whoever it is, they're clearly only attacking muggleborns. And squibs, I suppose. Last I checked, that doesn't apply to either you or me."
Nell glared. "It applies to Hermione!"
"What do you expect me to do about it, then?" Draco asked, exasperated. "What, do you want us to go off and hunt down the Chamber ourselves? Some sort of proper adventure?"
"Well– I don't–"
"And if we find it and the heir? What then? Sort it all out by giving them a right scolding?"
"Well we can't just sit around and do nothing!"
"Yes we can . What on earth makes you think that we're better suited to deal with this than, oh, I don't know, Dumbledore? Or Snape?" Draco asked, scoffing.
Nell sighed. "Dumbledore is the one who hired Lockhart. I'm not sure how I feel about his judgment right now," she said quietly, ashamed at the truth of the thought.
Draco snorted. "Finally seeing some flaws in your oh-so-noble heroes, then?"
"No! I don't know. I… I just," Nell tried, and failed.
"Come on. We've still got that Astronomy homework. Can your righteous quest wait a night for the sake of our grades?"
Nell rolled her eyes, but followed him back, hoping that she was wrong.
As the week wore on, the distrust the castle had for the Slytherins reached a new peak that Nell had not yet seen in her short time at Hogwarts.
On Tuesday, a first-year Hufflepuff accidentally bumped into Daphne on their way to class, spilling his books across the floor. When Daphne bent down to help him pick them up, the first-year backed away, then sprinted off down the hall.
"What, have I got dragon breath or something?" Daphne asked Nell with a pout, breathing into her hand.
On Wednesday, two third-year Ravenclaws pulled strange shoddy amulets out from beneath their robes when they saw Pansy passing by them in the library. Nell watched as she rolled her eyes, and the third-years held the crystals in front of them like some sort of shield.
Annoyed, Pansy declared, "Oh, damn those amulets! My one weakness! And right when I had chosen ugly know-it-alls to be the next victims in my evil plan!"
Nell had to duck her head into her textbook to hide the laughter that shook through her when the Ravenclaws went pale.
On Friday, Nell watched a whole group of first-years actually sprint away shrieking when Draco entered the courtyard and sat beside her on a bench, eating an apple. The first-years had been eyeing Nell nervously for a few minutes, but, clearly, Draco's arrival was one step too far.
"I think it's a benefit, really," Draco said. "We've never had such free reign of the castle."
That night, the second-year Slytherins ended up tucked away in the common room, all together for once. Nell figured they all felt pulled in by a new sense of house unity, or maybe they had just all gotten sick of being treated like a horde of roving vampires. She wondered, as she watched Blaise leaning over a textbook with Pansy, and Tracey Davis, digging out notes Theo had asked for, if evil grew stronger in the shadow of isolation, or in the glare of expectations.
Nell was writing to her father, explaining everything that had happened so far, from the Chamber of Secrets to the Pandorette. The one thing she left out, however, was the letter, because she figured it would be best to discuss in person during the upcoming Christmas holiday.
Daphne, who had been deterred by the rainy chill that welcomed the start of December, had instead chosen to practice her ballet steps in the common room while the rest of them studied, or played chess. Nell thought it spoke to how likable Daphne was, that nobody laughed when she emerged in her tights and unitard, silky skirt slung around her waist.
"So, what's everyone's theory, then?" Blaise asked, interrupting the quiet mumblings they had fallen into.
"Theory on what?" Daphne asked, mid stretch.
"Well, on the Chamber, of course," Blaise said.
"Oh, haven't you heard, Zabini? It's clearly us that's behind it all," Pansy joked, running her fingers through her short black hair.
"You know, just yesterday a Gryffindor stopped me in the hall after lunch. Apparently, he felt the need to make sure I knew his father was an Auror," Milicent Bulstrode added from where she laid on the floor, thumbing through one of the Lockhart books.
"What did you tell him?" Theo asked.
"I asked him how that's meant to help him all the way out here," Milicent laughed, a glint in her eyes.
"Well sorted," Blaise said.
"Do you think the Chamber is actually open?" Nell asked, suddenly eager at the opportunity to ask the only people at the school who might know a little bit more than the rest of them.
"No," Pansy said simply, not even looking up from her textbook, as if the whole thing was a terrible bore.
"I thought it was," Crabbe added. "Who else coulda gotten that Gryffindor mudblood?"
"I certainly hope it's opened," Theo said. "Whoever it is, I think we ought to thank him."
"Who said the heir is a boy?" Tracey Davis asked.
"There's no way a girl could do it," Goyle laughed.
"Yeah, it'd take a man to do something like that," Crabbe added, flexing his muscles with sarcastic glee.
"The heir could very well be a girl," Pansy said, rolling her eyes.
"Maybe it's Eleanor," said Milicent suddenly, her eyes still gleaming.
Nell balked, as the Slytherins turned to her like sharks in the water. "Me? Why on earth–"
"Nellie couldn't hurt a fly," Daphne interrupted, mid plié.
"Yeah, but ain't you the one who spent all last year with that Hagrid?" Goyle asked.
"What? What's Hagrid got to do with it?" Nell said.
"You heard Binns. It's a monster that's doing it at the command of the heir," Theo explained and Nell watched Draco bristle from beside her. "And we all know how Hagrid loves his monsters."
"Please. If it's anyone here, it's probably you, Theo," Draco interrupted.
"Or it's you," Theo said, just as cold.
"I wonder who it was last time," Daphne said aloud casually.
This time, everyone turned to stare at her.
"Excuse me?" Tracey demanded.
Daphne stopped her dance midstep, and looked at them with an equal expression of confusion on her face. "You… you all didn't know?"
"Merlin, Greengrass, get on with it!" Blaise demanded with a laugh. "You've made this finally interesting."
"My mother–"
"-no surprise there–" Blaise whispered.
"- told me that the Chamber's been opened before," Daphne continued. "That's all, though. She said it was just a rumor, but one that she heard enough times to make her believe it must be true."
Theo turned to Draco, looking unnervingly unsurprised. "Didn't your father tell you anything, Draco? I saw you got a letter from him today. He's on the school board, isn't he?
"Yes."
"Well, go on! What did he have to say about it?"
"Only that it was a matter of time before Hogwarts fell to pieces with Dumbledore as Headmaster," Draco said sneering. "He's hoping the old codger gets sacked."
Nell would have had more of an issue with what Draco said, but it was so clearly just some impression of Lucius Malfoy, that she didn't take it too seriously. Afterall, they were surrounded by eyes and ears that would likely be reporting back to their parents about Draco's response to everything.
"Well, hopefully the heir gets a good go of things before the school has to shut down," Theo added nastily. "Whoever he or she might be," he added with a wink to Pansy.
Pansy smiled back sarcastically, before rolling her eyes when Theo looked away.
"Wouldn't it be tops if that Granger were next?" Milicent asked. "I'm sick of hearing her whinging in lessons."
Nell tensed, her mouth opening automatically, but Draco shot her a warning look. Begrudgingly, she closed it.
"You're just miffed that Lockhart likes her better," Blaise teased, and Milicent flushed.
"Talk about a tosser, that Lockhart," Draco said. "You see how he mangled Potter?"
"I thought you'd have liked that," Theo said with narrowed eyes.
"Oh believe me, it was one of the best things to happen all year," Draco said. "I'm just concerned for my own safety. What if Lockhart wants to play the hero on me next? I'll be lucky to make it out with my head still on."
"I bet it's Lockhart doing it," Nell said suddenly, and the group turned to her again. "Maybe it's his idea of a practical lesson."
Blaise snorted. "That's an excellent theory. How wonderful. I'm going with that one from now on."
And with a few laughs, they all returned to their studies. All except for Draco, Nell noticed, whose eyes stayed trained on Theo.
The following weekend, Nell found Ron and Hermione in the library, heads bent over a few textbooks.
"I've got to tell you both something," she said in lieu of greeting.
"It's Malfoy, isn't it?" Ron responded, excited red rushing up his cheeks.
"What?" Nell said, sitting down. "No! God, you're still on about that?"
Ron shrugged but Hermione shot him a look and he quieted.
Nell decided to ignore it for now. "No, I wanted to tell you that I've found something out. The Chamber's been opened before."
She expected gasps. Maybe even praise. Not blank stares.
"Oh, we already know that," Ron said, waving away the thought. "Any chance you happen to know when?"
Nell's mouth fell open. "What? No… Wait, why didn't you tell me?"
At this, both Ron and Hermione went very pink.
"It's… it's not personal, Nell," Hermione started. "It's just… well. You've gotten quite close with the other Slytherins this year and it seems you've begun speaking with Malfoy again."
"Yeah, even after what he called Hermione," Ron added.
" I'm a Slytherin!" Nell said. "And Daphne's completely harmless, if that's who you're talking about."
"The Chamber was Slytherin's ," Ron said.
"Are you saying you don't trust me then?"
"No, of course not!" Hermione said, even pinker. "It's just… Well, we aren't sure if we trust them, you see. The other Slytherins."
Nell balked. "You can't be serious."
" Us not serious?! Have you lost your bloody mind? Forgotten what Malfoy was shouting after Flich's cat?"
"And not to mention, you still haven't gone to Dumbledore with the Pandorette," Hermione said. "Even after everything I said about how it could help. If you had gone weeks earlier, maybe Colin never would have been petrified!"
"Yeah, you haven't even shown me or Harry!" Ron added.
"So, don't you see? It's just a conflict of interest, is all," Hermione said placatingly.
Nell felt hot anger in the back of her throat. "You're wrong. You've got no idea what you're talking about."
Ron turned to Hermione, "See? I told you. She's too obsessed with Malfoy. She'll never listen."
"Maybe you're the ones obsessed with Draco!" Nell shouted, causing a few students' heads to turn to them. "Draco isn't who you think he is at all. He's… he's…"
"A bully?" Ron offered. "A git? A blood purist?"
Nell glared. "He's a good person, alright?"
Ron laughed loudly. "What, is he blackmailing you again?"
Nell bristled, her temper far too high, dangerous and crawling through her scalp like hot molten lava. Instead of responding, she stood up, and walked away without a word.
Distantly, she heard Hermione say in a tone absolutely laced with sarcasm, "Well done, Ronald. That went swimmingly."
The horrible confrontation in the library continued to weigh on Nell's mind all throughout the rest of the week. At first, it was nice to be vibrantly angry instead of horribly anxious, but she had broken a few quills between her clenched fingers, and she didn't think her pockets could handle much more of it.
Nell was angry for two reasons. She was angry because Ron and Hermione were wrong , and had hidden things from her, and appeared to no longer trust her just because of the friends she made in the house she had no choice in. She was mad they were still clearly hung up on Draco, and wasting their time because of it.
But she was also angry because they were right.
They had all the right in the world to suspect the Slytherins. Nell heard for herself the way they could all talk behind closed doors, emboldened by each other, no doubt echoing opinions that had been imparted on them since they were very young. And, despite Nell's renewed friendship with Draco, she truly hadn't forgotten what he had said, both to Hermione and on Halloween. It was hard to justify all of that against Ron and Hermione, who, for their part, at least recognized that what was happening was bad.
And Nell knew that the Slytherins didn't share any of that worry that had been blazing in the rest of the student body. Daphne Greengrass might not have believed in blood purity, but she sure hadn't shown any real concern for the dangers currently faced by their classmates. Blaise also maintained an indifference, but in a way that made it quite clear that he simply didn't care about what was happening beyond what it offered in terms of gossip. And as for the rest of her housemates… it only got worse from there.
And they were right that Nell had stopped telling people about the Pandorette. She hadn't shown Ron or Harry, and, truthfully, had no intention to, settling with only theorizing around Draco nowadays and only letting him try various spells on the charmed notebooks.
But that was all Hermione's fault. Hermione's pointed suggestions to give up the one thing Nell's mother had left behind for her to Dumbledore had made Nell terrified to risk showing the Pandorette to anyone new. She didn't want any more so-called helpful suggestions about how she should hand off the box and what it contained.
Though Nell knew, deep down, that Hermione had a point, Nell honestly didn't care. It was her Pandorette. Her mystery to solve. And Nell stood by what she said, that if Ottilie wanted Dumbledore to have it, then she would have left it to him, and not Nell. How could Nell even be sure that Dumbledore would unlock the mystery? Maybe the answer was in her blood the same way the key to the Pandorette had been. Maybe it was something only she could solve.
Worse, what if Dumbledore could solve it, but wouldn't tell Nell what it contained? What if Nell never got to know?
And, secretly, that other thought she had had was starting to grow in strength deep in the recesses of her mind. As she spent her evenings pouring over the notebooks, rereading the articles, and examining the necklace, she began to believe that Ottilie had left it all behind so Nell could clear her name. She began to consider the possibility that Ottilie had been framed, and had never been the Death Eater blood purist she was remembered as.
In a lot of ways, it made sense.
For one, there was that whole comment about ' understanding' that Nell couldn't let go of. The assertion that what the Pandorette contained would help Nell understand something didn't make any sense. There was nothing left to understand. Nell knew her mother had been a Death Eater, knew she had been a Hemlock. What more could be learned from the objects contained within?
But, if Ottilie meant 'understand that I was framed ', then her strange request would have some weight. That would be something for Nell to need to understand, certainly. Nell figured that Ottilie knew when she wrote the letter that she couldn't outright claim that she was innocent, because there was no chance that Nell would have believed her. No, Ottilie must have known that Nell would need the thought to work itself out on its own, like it was doing now. She'd know that Nell would have to arrive at the conclusion herself for it to hold any weight.
Then, there was the whole bit of Ottilie's defection that Nell had begun to ruminate over. Nell wondered now, if perhaps Ottilie had gotten pregnant, realized she couldn't continue to play the role of double agent or spy or whatever it was anymore. So, she ran, and Voldemort figured out what she had done. And that's why he went after her. That was why he killed her.
Nell thought this made loads more sense than Ottilie, a murderous Death Eater, meeting a muggle and changing her mind over something as commonplace as love. Nell couldn't believe the fairytale idea that this was all it took to make Ottilie turn her back on everything she had ever stood for anymore. Hadn't Nell heard Hagrid say it himself, how everyone always wondered what it was that made Ottilie change? Nell adored her father, certainly. She thought he was the greatest man in the world. But could he really be enough to flip the allegiance of someone so bloodthirsty? Nell wasn't sure anybody could, no matter how good they might be.
And Nell's most recent realization came from everything that was going on at Hogwarts around her. She had to watch as the school turned on the Slytherins, suspecting them just by nature of who they were, and what their house was. She saw how Hermione, Ron, and Harry were so quick to resume their hatred of Malfoy, even though the idea that he was some evil mastermind was ludicrous.
So, maybe, Nell was realizing that things really were quite simple. Ottilie had been good all along, and Nell didn't need to worry about how her blood ran the same as her mother's, rhyming the same shade of red, unlocking the same ancient magic. Maybe the Hemlocks had been evil until Ottilie , and not Eleanor.
These thoughts, admittedly, were quite enough to distract Eleanor from the swelling potion she and Draco were meant to be brewing in their afternoon Potions lesson. Draco chided her again when she knocked her quill from their desk for a third time, and she had to bend back down to retrieve it from the cobblestone floor.
Her mishap turned out to be rather lucky though, because, right as she ducked beneath the desk, a massive boom erupted from above her. Fat globs of potion were sent flying around the room, landing in heaping messes on desks, students, and cauldrons. She watched from the cover of safety as her classmates began to swell, body parts growing tremendously wherever the potion landed.
It was instant panic.
Draco was hit in the nose, which began to grow with alarming speed. Milicent Bulstrode was hit in the neck, and Eleanor giggled when she realized how it made her look something like a toad, or a pufferfish. Lavender Brown started sobbing through puffed up lips, using her hands to hide her face from the booming laughter of those lucky enough to have avoided the onslaught.
And Hermione… Hermione appeared surprisingly fine, but was running through the chaos all the same.
"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft - when I find out who did this -"
As Snape yelled at her panicked classmates, Nell watched Hermione as she snuck behind the rows of desks and into the room at the back of the classroom that Nell knew was used as Snape's private office. Hermione emerged again quite quickly, though now with several small bulges lining the pockets of her robes.
At dinner later that day, Nell departed from her Slytherin housemates, and sat down right next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table. Eyes were on her instantly, but Nell found it easy to ignore Dean Thomas's questioning looks and Ginny Weasley's panicked eyes, by staring daggers back at Ron and Harry.
"Lost?" Ron asked her. Clearly he hadn't forgotten their last conversation.
"Funny, I was going to ask Hermione the same thing," Nell said, and Hermione's eyes went wide.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked when Hermione's lips pursed shut.
"Oh, you know… in Potions and all. Just wondering how she found herself in Snape's office," Nell said simply, stealing a biscuit from the center of the Gryffindor table.
Hermione went even redder.
"So, what, you're going to go on and tell Snape then?" Harry asked with a glare.
"No," Nell said. "I thought I'd ask you. You know, because I trust you and all. Even though that trust isn't returned, clearly ."
Harry's cheeks bloomed pink, but Ron only rolled his eyes.
"Listen, Eleanor," Hermione said finally. "I promise, we're only investigating. We have no intention of hurting anybody, alright? You needn't worry."
"So, you're not telling me what you're up to, is that it?" Nell asked.
The three stayed quiet, and Nell seethed.
"Here, look– we'll tell you after Christmas, okay?" Harry tried.
"If whatever dodgy plan you've got going on is about Draco again, then I'm telling you, you're wasting your time," Nell said.
Hermione pursed her lips again. "Fine, if you want to help us then there is something you can do, alright? If you're right about Malfoy, this will help you prove it."
"What is it?" Nell asked.
"You know your friend, Daphne Greengrass?" Hermione said.
Nell nodded, immediately not liking wherever this could be going.
"Will she be around this Christmas?"
"No, I think she's going home," Nell answered.
"Wonderful. Well, if you could just get us a bit of her hair," Hermione said, speaking very quietly.
"Or Pansy's, that might work better," Ron added, but quieted when Hermione shot him another look.
"Daphne's… Daphne's hair?"
"We only need a strand is all–"
"You're unbelievable. I don't want to know anymore," Nell said, standing up and storming off before she could say something she'd regret.
