Chapter 21:
1st May (continued...)
My breath was taken from me as I leaned over Hermione's rigid body; her cheek was cold to touch. It was as though all the life had been zapped from her body.
"Kathryn?!" I heard the voice of Professor McGonagall travel down the corridor toward me.
Another figure was lying in the shadows behind Hermione, it was the petrified body of Penelope Clearwater, a sixth year from Ravenclaw Hermione and I often talked to in the library. I couldn't believe my eyes, she had been fine two minutes ago and the thought that I wouldn't wait for her made me cry all the more...
As McGonagall approached, she waved her wand and within minutes, Madam Pomfery had arrived expressing both shock and alarm as she gently moved the bodies from the scene to the hospital wing. She also fabricated a wheelchair out of thin air as my whole body seemed to go numb; my skin went clammy and I felt dizzy. I remained conscious but couldn't speak, at that time I didn't think I could ever forgive myself for leaving her, I didn't think I could ever be happy again. It should have been me.
Madam Pomfery had me sat up in an armchair and gave me a very sugary cup of tea which brought me round a little from the shock but not once did she make me leave Hermione's side.
In what seemed no time at all, Professor McGonagall had returned with Ron and Harry in tow.
"Hermione," Ron sighed.
"Kathryn found her just outside the library," Professor McGonagall explained, "She's in shock and needs all the support she can get..."
I didn't move a single muscle during this whole time, my eyes were fixated on Hermione, the way she just lay there, not having anything to say or share.
I felt a hand touch mine, it was warm and comforting, "Kathryn?" whispered Harry, "Kathryn, what happened?"
A single tear rolled down my cheek.
Harry's grip only got firmer as he understood that there was a time for things to be said, and that time was not now. He and Ron pulled over a few chairs and they sat there, just as stunned as I was, and eventually Ron spoke, "What're we going to do?"
"I dunno." Harry responded.
After a few moments, Ron whispered, "Do you think they'll suspect Hagrid?"
"We've got to go and talk to him. I can't believe he's behind these attacks, but if he did set the monster loose last time, then he'll know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets, and that's a start."
Professor McGonagall returned not so long after this short conversation, and explained a few things, "All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave their dormitories after that time. A teacher will accompany you to and from each class. No student is to use the bathroom without the accompaniment of a teacher. Quidditch practices and matches and all other evening activities have been postponed. I will now escort you back to Gryffindor Tower."
It was only then that I found my voice, "Do I have to leave her... alone?"
"She will be in safe hands, Miss Pink; Madam Pomfery will do all she can for her. I'm also afraid that all visits to the hospital wing will be suspended to prevent-"
"-anyone actually dying..." I finished her sentence.
"Unfortunately so, Miss Pink, and you know I'm here for you if you need!"
I nodded and forced myself to be strong as I fixed a bit of Hermione's fringe and whispered to her, in the hope that she would hear me, "I'm sorry, I'm going to try everything in my power to catch whoever did this to you, you have my word." I took a step back and looked at McGonagall who took us to the common room.
Everyone looked up at the three of us and stared. Fred and George were sitting in front of the fire playing Exploding Snap; Ginny was watching and directed us toward them. George stood and gave me a massive hug and Fred joined in, sandwiching me in the middle.
"What happened, Kathryn?" George asked- the second person to do so that afternoon. I squeezed myself between Fred and George, and Harry, Ron and Ginny pulled the other seat closer so that I could speak in hushed tones.
"Hermione had an idea as to who or what was opening the Chamber of Secrets and went off to the library, I followed her and when I got there she shushed me and hardly spoke, asking me to get her mirror out of her bag... Then I noticed the time- two minutes before the match started and I got really impatient, so I told her I'd do a circuit, up to transfiguration (where I met Professor McGonagall) and back down the opposite stairs and across, by the time I had done that, I found her on the ground, outside the library, mirror in hand, petrified with Penelope as well... I couldn't help but scream and McGonagall came and... Here I am now..."
Ginny looked as though she was about to cry, so I got up to give her a cuddle, telling her that everything was going to be alright, that the mandrakes were nearly ready to cure her and that she was in no pain. I didn't think the two of them were that close, but I must have been wrong, cause Ginny was as pale and clammy and quiet as everyone else said I was... I got Ron to swap seats so that I could be beside her and we just sat in each other's company, not saying anything, but it felt comforting.
The four boys sat trying to make us feel better, telling jokes and being their usual goofy selves. Later on that evening, Ginny fell asleep beside me. Harry then whispered, "We're going down to Hagrid's tonight, if you're interested? We understand if you don't feel up to it."
Remembering my promise to Hermione, I said, "I'll be there, people won't suspect a thing if I say I want to sit here alone, and I'll send the twins up to bed soon!" I chuckled quietly.
I nodded to Ron who nodded back, Fred noticed this and said, "Are you two up to something?"
"Isn't he allowed to ask me how I am?" I questioned.
"Well, how are you feeling?" Fred asked.
"A little less numb now I know she'll be alright!"
"We're all really glad to hear that," George said, "If there's anything we can do...?"
I 'thought' for a moment, "Hmmm... You could help me get Ginny up to bed and then you could go yourselves, all of you, it's been a long day, and I think I'd like to be alone for a while..."
"Are you sure?" his eyebrows lowered.
"110%" I nodded at him and Fred and George both lifted Ginny in such a way that I could help her walk up the stairs to her dormitory and into bed. Boys weren't allowed up the girl's staircase. As we entered Ginny's dorm, she was half awake and I whispered, "I'm just going to help you get into bed, get yourself a good night's sleep and I'll talk to you in the morning." So I helped her into her PJs and tucked her in, feeling overwhelmingly like her mother. I closed the door tight behind me and went down the stairs to see the four boys standing there, waiting for me.
"Are you sure, Kathryn?" Harry said, playing the role well.
"Yes, I want to have some alone time, write a bit, then I'll pop up to bed. Nighty night!" I hugged them all in unison, Harry and Ron both smiled in amusement as I got Fred and George out of the way, "See you soon!" I whispered up the stairs after them.
I sat myself down with my diary and wrote, staring into the fire and lifting one of the books Hermione had left on the table earlier that morning. How things had changed in such a short space of time. It felt like my life had been split into two and the two parts were painfully being sewn back together. I'm not even going to deny that I had a little cry to myself, but sometimes it helps with getting your head back on straight again, which it did. I then focused on finding out all the information I could from Hagrid, if there was anyone who could help us, he would.
Using his Invisibility Cloak and my Invisibilia powers, the three of us snuck past teachers, prefects and ghosts who were on patrol. It was pitch black outside and Hagrid opened his door to us, crossbow in hand.
"Oh, its yeh."
"Expecting someone?" I asked.
"No, no, I've bin expectin', doesn' matter... Sit down... I'll make tea."
Hagrid was really shaky and spilled a load of water, nearly extinguishing the fire! Pouring out a cup of hot water and offering soggy stoat sandwiches, Hagrid informed us he had heard about Hermione. He kept nervously looking at the door and then to us and back again.
"Can you tell us about the Chamber of Secrets? What harmed Hermione? How can it be stopped?" Harry asked in a rush.
There was a knock at the door.
We were urged to get under the cloak, I made myself invisible and Hagrid opened the door, "Good evening, Hagrid," came the voice of Dumbledore who entered Hagrid's hut, closely followed by a short, portly man with grey hair and an uneasy expression. He was Cornelius Fudge- the Minister of Magic!
The next half hour seemed to fly by. Fudge explained that things had gone far enough with four attacks on Muggleborns and now it was up to the Ministry to act. Then Hagrid got really defensive and told Fudge and Dumbledore that he was innocent. Fudge then said that he had no choice because the school governors were on his back. Dumbledore then reasoned that taking Hagrid away wouldn't help the situation in the slightest. Then Fudge said that he would imprison Hagrid until proven otherwise. Take him to Azkaban, yep.
There was another knock at the door.
This time it was Lucius Malfoy. "What're yeh doin' here? Get outta my house!" Hagrid said aggressively.
"My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside your - erm - d'you call this a house?" Lucius responded, taking a disgusted look at the surroundings. "I simply called at the school and was told that the headmaster was... here."
It was now Dumbledore who spoke with fire and politeness. "And what exactly do you want with me, Lucius?"
"Terrible thing Dumbledore, but the Governors and I think it's about time you stepped aside." Harry gasped beside me, as Lucius continued, "This is an 'Order of Suspension'; you'll find all twelve signatures on it. We feel you're... losing your touch, with two more attacks this morning. At this rate there will be no Muggleborns left and we know how much of an awful loss that would be to the school..."
I grit my teeth at that last statement, fighting the overwhelming urge to slap him silly.
"Now, here Lucius... Dumbledore gone... that surely won't do..." Fudge spoke his thoughts.
Lucius looked like he had prepared what he was about to say, "The appointment- or suspension- of the Headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge, all twelve of us have voted..."
"An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?" Hagrid stood; his shaggy black head of hair reached the ceiling. Harry and Ron looked at each other and nodded at this point, knowing that it was bound to be true.
"Dear, dear, that temper of yours will get you into trouble one of these days, Hagrid. The Azkaban guards don't appreciate people shouting at them like that, just a heads up for you." Lucius snared.
"Yeh can' take Dumbledore!" yelled Hagrid, "take him away and the Muggleborns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin's next!"
I couldn't help but think it was going to be me. We had to act fast to catch the culprit or indeed, the school may be losing half of its students.
"Calm yourself Hagrid!" Dumbledore said sharply, and then looked to Lucius, "If the governors want my removal Lucius, then I shall, of course, step aside. However," Dumbledore spoke really slowly, "you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."
For a split second, Dumbledore's blue eyes flickered in our direction. That message was for us, what it meant, we didn't yet know.
Lucius then made his way to the cabin door and opened it, bowing to Dumbledore as he left. At this point, Hagrid cleared his throat and said, "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders. That'd lead 'em right! That's all I'm saying! And someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away."
Fudge stood staring at Hagrid in amazement as he left. His message was much easier to understand. That was the last we saw of them.
"We're in trouble now," Ron said hoarsely, "With no Dumbledore, they may as well close the school tonight- there'll be an attack in a day with him gone..."
"Thanks Ron!" I said, making myself seen to him, visibly shaking.
6th May
Days past and not a single spider could be found. We all travelled in groups and couldn't get a moment to have a decent look around the expanses of the castle. With Dumbledore gone, nerves were heightened and Muggleborns, such as me made sure they were never alone. Professor McGonagall had taken over as acting Headmistress for the time being, but she just wasn't the same...
Madam Pomfery wouldn't let me go and visit Hermione, saying that if she broke the rules for me, she'd have to for everyone else, which 'simply isn't fair'. I missed her so much...
Draco seemed to be revelling in the tense feeling in the corridors; Harry overheard him gloating about his father being the person who could get Dumbledore to leave Hogwarts. He also was of the opinion that Snape would make the perfect Headmaster. (No surprise there!) I am of the opinion that he would begin a reign of terror, a dictatorship with an iron rod. Ron thinks he would personally do some killings, starting off with Harry. "Never mind what he'd do to you."
I choked on my own saliva, and rightly so.
I think Harry and I soon discovered that Ron is terrified of spiders, whilst in Herbology we saw a few spiders scuttling toward the forbidden forest. Of course it had to be there, the most frightening place that I wished I never had to go into, but we had to, for Hermione's sake if anyone else's. So we planned to sneak out after dark and explore, much to Ron's dismay.
Taking Fang with us, we walked further and further into the Forbidden Forest, the greenery became denser and the night sky... disappeared. We were truly alone.
Walking and walking with the light of Harry's and my wand (Ron's was still broken) taking turns to follow the spiders or to light up the pathway ahead of us. The three of us didn't speak, we listened carefully to every sound, looking out for spiders and wondering where we were headed to find our answers.
"SUGAR!" I shouted as I tripped over an old tree stump, falling face first with an almighty THUNK onto the muck of the forest floor. Well, I hoped it was muck. After the initial shock, the guys erupted in laughter as I got myself up and rubbed my knees and dusted off my rear end, threatening to jinx them if they didn't stop laughing. That shut them right up.
Our robes kept snagging on branches as we walked past, feeling my skin grazing as well, I probably looked like I'd been trailed through a bush backwards.
Suddenly, Fang let out a booming bark.
Then Harry shushed the silent Ron and me.
"I hear something big moving over there." You could hear the crunching of branches, it was moving closer to us...
"Ohnoohnoohnoohno!" Ron started to panic.
"Ron, shut up it'll hear you!" Harry whispered.
"I think it already heard Fang!" the terror in Ron's voice, "please don't kill me!" he pleaded with the unknown creature.
Then the forest went silent again.
"What do you think its doing?" Ron asked, his voice quivering.
Harry was the one to answer, whispering, although at this time it was basically pointless, "I dunno..."
Then, when we least expected it, we were blinded by a great, bright light. Shielding our eyes, Ron stumbled and trampled exclaiming, "Kathryn! Harry! It's our car!"
"What?" we both responded.
"Come on!" Ron encouraged as we fought our way toward the opening where I saw the famous, slightly dishevelled and jungle-ised looking turquoise Ford Anglia, "The forest has turned it wild!" he was delighted.
I was apprehensive; it did fly into a tree, almost killing two of my best friends, a loss I don't think I could manage right now. Fang was terrified, quivering and sticking close by Harry. Harry on the other hand put his wand away, squinting in the intensity of the light and looking for the trail of spiders which we had lost.
As Harry stood back up, I looked to Ron whose face was painted with sheer horror. His eyes were fixed on a point three metres above the ground. Right behind us. By that look, we knew what it had to be, I didn't have time to turn around before it grabbed me around my waist, flipped me upside down and started walking. I pointlessly screamed- there was nothing that could be done as all my blood went to my head and I drifted in and out of consciousness.
When I came back into the land of the knowing again, the spider had dropped me on the ground with a thud and I was surrounded by HUNDREDS of the hairy beasts. Big MASSIVE hairy beasts. I felt a lot like Alice in Wonderland. I looked around to see Harry and Ron who were both pale, trembling and had looks of terror on their faces.
"Aragog!" I heard a spider call out repeatedly clicking its pincers.
Slowly, an elephant-sized spider emerged from among the misty web. Aragog's many eyes were all milk bottle white- he was blind.
He clicked, "What is it?"
"Men and a woman." was the response of the spider that carried Ron.
"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog's blind eyes searched the clearing.
"Strangers." said Fang's spider.
"Kill them all. I was sleeping." Aragog spoke in a monotone, heartless manner.
I gulped. This was surely one way to go.
"But we're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry seemed to find his voice.
"Hagrid never mentioned any friends."
Harry answered, visibly shaking, "Hagrid's in trouble... that's why we came..."
"In trouble? How?"
"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a- a- something on the students and they've taken him to Azkaban."
This made the spiders erupt in clicking, it sounded like applause, but I could guarantee it didn't help our nerves in the slightest.
Then Aragog told us, "That was years ago. Years. I remember it well. They thought it was me, the monster that dwells in the Chamber of Secrets, that's why they made him leave the school. They thought Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."
"So..." Harry stumbled, in search for words, "You didn't come from the Chamber?"
Aragog seemed offended, "I am from a distant land and was given to Hagrid as an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he looked after me, feeding me scraps from the table, he hid me in a cupboard, he was a good friend. When I was discovered, I fled to the forest where I have lived ever since. Hagrid has visited me, he even found me a mate, Mosag, and look at how our family has grown!"
"So you've never harmed a human?" Harry confirmed.
"Yes, out of respect for Hagrid. The body of the girl was discovered in a bathroom, I never saw any part of the castle other than that cupboard. Our kind like the dark and the quiet."
"Do you know what did kill that girl?" Harry gulped, hoping he hadn't pushed his luck, "Because whatever it is, it's attacking people again..."
The spiders started clicking again, moving about as well, and making my heart race faster and faster.
As Aragog spoke, the other spiders seemed to close in on us, "The thing lives within the castle. It is an ancient creature we fear above all others."
"What is it?"
"We do not speak of it. We do not name it. I have never told Hagrid though he has asked me many times." The spiders were now unbearably close as Aragog seemed to retreat back into the misty web. Harry tried excusing us, but Aragog had other ideas, "Go? I think not! We will not harm Hagrid, but I cannot deny my brothers and sisters fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye friends of Hagrid."
I heard Ron whimper, I was terrified and I tend to like spiders, the small ones I can fit in the palm of my hand. W e were completely surrounded.
Thankfully, Mr Weasley's car came thundering down the slope behind us, blasting the horn and knocking hundreds of spiders flying out of the way. The doors of the car swung open and invited us to dive in.
"Grab Fang!" Harry shouted over to me as he took the front seat and Ron the passenger seat, leaving me the surprisingly roomy back seats. The car sped off, cleverly driving through the biggest gaps, clearly having driven this route before.
"Are you ok?" I heard Harry ask, most likely directed at Ron who was sitting as stiff as a board, holding on for the seat for dear life as spiders continually hit the window screen, making him jump every single time.
Holding onto Fang's collar, I was grateful to see the night sky once more and the car halted. Like someone had put on the handbrake. I banged my head on the headrest in front of me as the doors flew open once again and the car threw us out.
Fang ran to the door of Hagrid's hut and Harry let him in. I stood on the spot for a while, rubbing my neck, regaining my bearings, not daring to look back at where we'd all come from. Ron, on the other hand lay flat on the ground for a while, before attempting to get to his feet.
I walked toward the car, "Im sorry I ever doubted you, boy!" I patted the paintwork and the Ford did a single right hand indication, almost symbolising a wink. The appreciation I had for that car was overwhelming, almost feeling sad as it drove off, back into the forest.
Ron stumbled over to the pumpkin patch and was violently sick. I approached him and rubbed his back as he wretched. "FOLLOW THE SPIDERS?" His next sentence contained SO many curse words, it isn't even worth me recording, he continued, "I'm never going to bloody well forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive!"
"Hagrid would never have sent us in there, knowing it would be a death trap!" I tried reasoning.
Harry nodded, "He probably thought Aragog would never hurt any of his friends."
"And there's where Hagrid's bloody problem lies. He thinks these monsters aren't bad... Look where that got him: a cell in Azkaban." He shivered, "And what exactly did we find out?"
"That Hagrid is innocent?" I said as Harry put the cloak over the two of them, poking him, making him start walking.
Ron snorted. He obviously defined innocence differently. He was mad. I didn't blame him.
The three of us invisibly walked toward the castle in silence, sneaking past the ghosts, teachers and prefects before getting safely into the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron went immediately up to bed without a word.
Harry and I sat in front of the ash-covered fire, taking a seat on the sofa, discussing the events, constantly hitting dead ends. We didn't know what the creature was. We knew Slytherin got off scot-free with the attacks, but we still don't know who it is. We had so many unanswered questions, but we didn't have anyone left to ask.
"Kathryn!" Harry shook me awake.
"W-What?" I bolted.
"Aragog said that the girl died in a bathroom... What if she never left...?" Harry questioned.
"It can't be... Moaning Myrtle?!" I gasped.