"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione questioned. Edmund deflated in his seat and nodded, they were in the library and the guilt weighed on his chest as his mind kept running back to the petrified Colin. His relief was immense when he saw Hermione at breakfast.

"Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here, and now he told Draco how to do it. It's obvious." Ron said and Edmund rolled his eyes.

"That theory has been debunked, Ron." Edmund repeated himself, "They aren't related to Salazar Slytherin. The family tree of Malfoy doesn't branch out as much as Black." He shuddered as he thought of all the second cousins his ancestors had all married.

Hermione and Harry looked confused while Ron looked disgusted as well. The ginger turned to their confused friends and simply said, "Purebloods back in the day, were really desperate to stay purebloods. Well, then they got with each other."

Hermione and Harry grimaced. "I think that we should look back into the history of Hogwarts again." Hermione said, "The monster can maybe disguise itself." She theorised, "Pretend to be a suit of armour or something. I've read about Chameleon Ghouls-"

"You read too much, Hermione," said Ron. "You too, Edmund." He added as he looked over to the black-haired boy who raised his eyebrows at him.

"Maybe you read too little."

"Definitely too much." Harry laughed, Ron quickly followed. After sharing a look with Hermione, Edmund let out a little smile.

The school was tense and everyone was on their toes. Colin Creevy was attacked and was lying frozen in the hospital wing. That was the rumour that went around the whole school. Everyone quickly adopted the trend of Hufflepuff as everyone started moving around in tight-knit groups, scared if one were to attack if they were on their own.

Ginny was distraught. Normally, Edmund would only see her blushing face or barely anything of her due to her habit of running away. But she was distraught, the twins tried everything, even scaring the poor girl. The only time they stopped was when the prefect, Percy, was going to write to his mother that she was having nightmares.

Edmund thought it was bad enough that a talisman business started. November passed in quiet panic and December snuck up on them. The second week came and the head of houses visited their students to see whether they were going home or staying.

He had asked his uncle Snape if Harry could come with them to their house. But he had immediately shot down the mere idea of it. Then a week before they were going home, the duelling club started.

It was held in the Great Hall, where the long dining tables had vanished and a stage had appeared. Everyone was excited, carrying their wands. "I wonder who'll be teaching us." Hermione hummed, "Maybe it'll be Flitwick, he was a duelling champion."

"As long as it's not-" Harry began but groaned. Edmund turned around to walk out but was quickly pulled back by another. He turned to look back and frowned.

"Let me go, Cedric! It's a waste of time!" Edmund hissed out, "I can already do all of these-"

"You're here already, let's just see." The two Hufflepuff's turned to look at the teacher who happened to be accompanied by his uncle Snape. Edmund refrained from smiling widely, maybe it was worth staying.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Edmund snorted, the only thing that sounded into the silent room. Cedric looked at him with an amused look in his eyes. Lockhart was smiling widely, "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry." Edmund cringed. "You'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear. Edmund clenched his jaw as he heard Ron say that, but a smile quickly appeared on his face when he saw his uncle's upper lip curl. The man is amused.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed. At least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them. With the sphere in the room it felt like they were watching knights fight one another before the king.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course." Lockhart flashed the crowd another smile. "One, two, three-"

They swung their wands above their head and pointed them at their opponent. "Expelliarmus!" His uncle cried out and a dazzling flash of scarlet blasted Lockhart off of his feet. The DADA teacher was flown off of the stage, smashed into the wall and slid down onto the floor.

Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers. Edmund put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he's alright." He comforted her. The girl smiled at him before turning back to look at the fallen teacher. Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.

"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm, as you see, I've lost my wand-" A girl from the crowd held up his wand. "Ah, thank you, Miss Brown." Lockhart turned back to the crowd again, "Excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape."

"Show it again! I didn't see it!" Malfoy called out.

Lockhart laughed and continued, ignoring the hollering. "Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see…"

Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me-"

Edmund and Cedric were automatically a pair since they were already standing besides one another. The two stood together and he looked at their side to see Harry and Ron. Instead he saw Ron and Seamus along with Harry and Draco, he was even more surprised to see Hermione with Millicent.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!" Cedric and Edmund inclined their heads at each other. "When I count to three, cast your disarming charms, and aim to only disarm them, no more!" He instructed and then counted down from three.

Edmund kept his focus as he already heard some spells be casted at the count of two instead of three, "-Three!" He casted the expelliarmus. Cedric's wand flew into his hand and immediately his head snapped over to look at the commotion.

There was a haze of green smoke over the scene. Neville and Justin were out of breath, on the floor. Ron was holding up Seamus who looked pale, must be whatever his broken wand had done, the Weasley was apologising profusely. At an instant he ran over to Hermione and Millicent, with ease he pulled the Slytherin off of Hermione and Edmund kneeled down by her side as Hermione sat up on the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked, concern laced all over his face.

"Better now." Hermione answered with a small smile. Edmund let out a breath and looked over at Millicent who was grinning by Draco's side. The Black frowned at the smug look on their faces.

He helped Hermione up and handed Cedric his wand back, "Sorry." He said quietly to the older boy.

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan. Careful there, Miss Fawcett, pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot-" The man was getting flustered now as he looked around the class. "It might've been a better idea to teach you how to block unfriendly spells." Lockhair said and glanced at Snape, then quickly looked away. "Let's have a volunteer pair, Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"

"Not a smart idea, Professor Lockhart." His uncle said, "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells, whatever will be left would be sent up in a matchbox." Edmund frowned at the comment. "How about Malfoy and Potter?"

Edmund felt a bit disappointed that his uncle didn't choose him but Harry instead. Then the summoning and hissing at a snake thing happened and Justin just so happened to be prone to rumours but now Edmund himself didn't really know what to do. "What do you think you're playing at?" Edmund winced at how loud Justin had shouted it. With the wand in his hand, Edmund waved it as he muttered out a snake-vanishing charm.

Quickly after that he sent Susan and Neville a look before running after Ron and Hermione who were pulling along Harry. Edmund was thinking how he was going to console Justin, but he didn't know whether the boy would even want to talk with him, already associating himself with the 'Heir of Slytherin' was enough for Justin to avoid him.

They were talking about Harry being a Parselmouth. "-for all we know, you could be." Hermione said.

Edmund, however, wasn't paying attention, instead he frowned and spoke up, "You're bruising a bit, Hermione." He noted and took off his tie before casting the freezing spell on it and holding it out for her.

Ron and Harry were already making their way to the Gryffindor tower, having grown tired of arguing back and forth with one another. "Oh, thank you, Theseus." She said and smiled.

"How did you end up fighting with Millicent?" He asked, before she could turn away and leave as well.

"I think she thought that the duelling club was a muggle one, rather than a magic one." Hermione said with a cheeky smile. Edmund laughed and shook his head.

"I think so as well." He agreed and smiled at her before they bid goodnight and went their separate ways. The moment he stepped into the common room it had a tense atmosphere and some wouldn't meet his eyes.

Edmund frowned and sat by Susan and Neville on the couch, "What is happening?" He whispered.

"They're talking about Harry being a Parselmouth." Susan answered quietly, "They don't trust Harry anymore."

"But we have already cleared Harry." Edmund said, a bit abrupt and loud. He saw a few students jump. "I was with him the night Colin was attacked." Anger is what he felt. "I'm just gonna go." He said and actually glared at the not so quiet whispering Susan and Ernie. "Honestly, and if you're going to say bollocks about me. Do not do it behind my back!" Frustration was the only feeling coursing through him right now.

Neville stood up, "You shouldn't go out on your own, Edmund."

Edmund grimaced, "I'll be fine," He put Neville's worries to a rest and he turned to look at Ernie sharply. "You jump to conclusions a lot, Ernie." He said at last and walked out of the Hufflepuff Common Room.

Before Edmund could even come to his senses he ended up knocking on his uncle's door. He didn't account for the cold that came from the dungeons. After a second, his pale uncle appeared looking rather annoyed. That look immediately dropped upon seeing Edmund's frustrated one. "Theseus." He said and opened the door wide open. "Come on in."

Edmund gave his uncle a small smile and realised that he hadn't visited him in a while, despite being in his class. But class was more professional for Edmund and his uncle, rather than going to his chambers to talk, which was more personal. "Sorry for the sudden appearance uncle." He said quietly.

"It's fine, Theseus." Uncle Severus could read his mood, the times when his uncle called him Theseus was whenever he used to be around his mother, from what he gathered from the memories and whenever Edmund was in a bad mood, or even looked anything of the variety of pale. "I see that you've grown to have an affinity for tea, lately. Which one would you like?"

"Any black tea, uncle." Edmund said, quietly before sitting down on the couch in front of the fire. His uncle prepared the tea and handed it over. "Thank you." He said quietly.

"What has been going on?" Severus asked as he sat down in his chair.

Edmund looked at the fire and then back at his uncle, "This thing with the chamber of secrets has been so frustrating." He admitted, "No-one has any answers to the questions that I have and that today with Harry? Some other badgers have been talking behind my back because I am friends with Harry." He let out a breath, "And I'm constantly worried," some of the weight on his shoulders lifted, while it wasn't a lot, it was something. "Hermione is a muggle-born and what Draco said then, about them being next? It makes me worried, uncle."

His uncle was quiet and finally spoke up, "Draco says quite a lot, Theseus, but I suppose he is correct about the statement on the wall. You've always been a worrier like your mother, you care a lot about Miss. Granger, don't you?"

Edmund nodded.

"I can see that." Snape said, and smiled. "I believe that you and I are quite alike in that aspect. Don't wait too long before you say something about it, Theseus. You'll come to regret that." Edmund blinked confused but didn't have the time to ask further, "As much as I want to assure you, I can't. We don't know a lot about the Chamber of Secrets either." A frown crossed his face, "And who dares speak ill of you behind your back?"

"It's fine, uncle." Edmund said and sipped his tea, "I told them off already. Not a lot of Hufflepuffs are happy with Harry at the moment but it'll be fine, they'll realise."

His uncle looked like he wanted to strip Hufflepuff bare of all its house points but was thinking about the fact that he couldn't because his nephew was in the house. "It's good that you've brought your doubts to me, Theseus. You know my door is always open."

"Of course, uncle." Edmund smiled up at him from his tea, "Compliments on your duelling today."

Snape let out a smile, "I haven't noticed how well I did." It was weird to hear his nonchalant voice instead of his monotone one. Edmund has missed it. "Let's get you to bed, I'm sure that you and your housemates have cooled down now."

Edmund set the empty teacup on the coffee table and nodded, "Thank you." He said and smiled at his potions professor and reached out to give him a quick hug. His uncle was stiff but patted his back nonetheless.

—

The moment after Edmund asked Hagrid if he had seen Harry was very incriminating once, especially since Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, petrified with a look of shock on his face and floating horizontally was Sir Nicholas, no longer the white colour but black and smokey.

It was unlike the usual cheerful Sir Nicholas. The one who was most adored among the ghosts.

Everyone was watching, teachers were shouting to quiet down and students were whispering, one was crying, even. Ernie had yelled something and Peeves was singing a song.

Then Harry was being escorted up to Dumbledore's office, Hermione and Ron turned to look at Edmund and the boy was just speechless. He then scrambled to walk after Harry and even found Hagrid. The giant didn't have a clue what happened but after he had told him, the old gamekeeper barreled upstairs alongside him.

They bursted into the office, urgently telling Dumbledore that it couldn't have been Harry. Then Dumbledore had to loudly tell them that they didn't think it was Harry, embarrassed, the two waited outside.

The attack on Justin and Sir Nicholas had brought everyone into an actual panic. People were starting to worry, and it didn't really help Edmund. He was sure if his necklace wasn't bewitched to not break, the wear and tear would've been horrendous.

Guilt was what he felt when he left behind Harry, Hermione and Ron at Hogwarts. He even had one last tea with Dumbledore before he returned home on the train. Some people didn't even open their train compartment door for him, with fear that Harry would come after them if they even glanced at Edmund.

The rumour that Edmund was Harry's sidekick was spread after he had bursted out on Ernie. Neville and Susan sat in a train compartment with Ernie and Hannah, so that wasn't an option. He did find comfort in the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Cedric let Edmund join them.

None of them believed anything coming from the rumours and thought they were bollocks, which Edmund appreciated.

The moment he stepped home was the moment his worrying spiked. He kept sending letters back and forth with the three. Harry to ask who stayed and what they're doing, Ron to ask how Harry is acting and how Ginny is doing, and with Hermione to share information they have managed to dig up. He started duelling with his uncle Lupin and was rather saddened by the fact that his other uncle couldn't have come to join them for that year's Christmas.

But he knew the situation that was going on at Hogwarts rather well.

Edmund was happy with the gifts that he had gotten. Hagrid had sent him a spice mix, for some tea. Mrs. Weasley even sent him a sweater with the letter 'E' on it, it looked hand-knitted, he wore it for a few days before his uncle forced him to throw it in the wash. Professor Dumbledore had sent a duelling book, signed by its author. His Uncle Lupin had gotten him worn out old clothes, his father's old clothes. Along with something new, a cat, interbred with a Kneazle.

He had missed his uncle Remus. The man always told him stories about his parents together and separately. It was the comfort that he missed at Hogwarts.