"He said, follow the spiders?" Edmund questioned, "So why aren't we following the spiders?" He looked even more tired than usual, worry ran through his mind as he began to doubt if the mandrakes were growing right.
He only started to doubt when Hermione landed in that bed.
What made him go even more insane is that he couldn't visit her. His Uncle Severus tried to have tea with him but he didn't feel like drinking tea. Uncle Remus had been sending letters but Edmund only shortly replied to them, after his Uncle Severus insisted that he'd reply.
Summer was coming and Edmund was looking only a bit better. He worries a lot less after a conjoined speech from Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout. They were always looking out for him.
Edmund finished writing the last words on his essay when he heard Draco talk, talking about how his Uncle Snape should apply to be headmaster. "I'm quite surprised the mudbloods-" It was like hearing nails on a blackboard that made his ears bleed.
"Watch your bloody mouth, Draco. Or I'll swear-" Edmund spoke up from behind the pureblood. He didn't get to finish his sentence as his uncle gave him a sharp look.
"Five points from Slytherin. Stop using that word in my classroom, Mr. Malfoy." Snape said and glared at Edmund. "Dare to threaten a student again Mr. Lupin and you'll have detention."
Edmund glared back defiantly, but ultimately shut his mouth. Ron and Harry pulled him out and away from the class, they were both talking about how stupidly brave that was. They left the classroom and his glare from his uncle settled on Draco.
Everytime the boy does something good, he always ruins it by doing something bad after it. It is an endless cycle. It was tiring. As if he had forgotten about teachers having to walk them about their next class, Snape stood over the class and tried to catch Edmund's eyes.
As soon as everyone was inside Snape grasped Edmund's arm. "Stop acting out, you're behaving like a child." He lectured and Edmund let out a scoff.
"I am still a child." He hissed, "You've been letting Draco say those profanities all year long and I'm just getting tired of it." Edmund let out a breath and looked at the class, "What would auntie Lily think?" He said sharply before shrugging his uncle's arm off and heading into the class. His mood had worsened and already, most of the class had noticed.
Especially Draco. With the glare settled onto him, everyone could see that he was out for blood. During class he saw Ernie shake Harry's hand and Hannah was sending Edmund apologetic looks. As if shaking a hand was going to fix it. For months Edmund was estranged to a large sum of their class because he is friends with Potter, "Heir of Slytherin".
Harry hit Ron with the shears and then pointed at the spiders. "We can't follow them now-" Ron said and Edmund cleared his throat as Ernie and Hannah were listening in. The two Hufflepuff's looked over his bench that he shared with Susan and Neville.
"You should go back to your workbench." Edmund suggested, "Finish up, I think you're falling behind with all that chatting." He said and motioned over at how Neville and Susan were finishing up.
Ernie stepped up and held his hand out. "I'm sorry for talking about you, Edmund."
Edmund knew that he had to shake the hand but instead he clenched his fist, "Try again tomorrow, Ernie." He said tensely as he looked at the boy, "I'm not in the mood for this right now." The Hufflepuffs dismissed himself and Edmund looked up from the sudden hand on his knee.
"You need to stop doing that," Susan chastised and opened his fist, "You're going to draw blood that way." He was digging his nails into his palm.
"Oh." He let out a breath, "Right. Thank you."
Susan pursed her lips and she looked far more concerned with Edmund than most are. "Just-" She stopped herself, "Take one thing at a time." Then Lockhart bursted into the room and the class stared at the disruptive teacher.
"Come now," He cried, "Why all the long faces? Don't you realise the danger has passed? Our culprit was taken-"
"Says who?" Seamus called out.
"They wouldn't have taken Hagrid if they weren't hundred percent if he wasn't guilty."
"Yes." Edmund said loudly, "Yes they would've." The Ministry had taken enough innocent people just to have a scapegoat, Edmund would know.
Lockhart didn't let his comment get to him as he happily continued to talk. "I flatter myself in knowing a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Lupin." A bit wrong is what he was, Edmund knew everything about the arrest since Draco thought it'd be funny to relay what his father had done to Hagrid.
Edmund's glare on the teacher settled on Draco who was snickering and he opened his mouth, only to get kicked in the chin. "You're going to get in trouble." Said an apologetic looking Neville, "You already threatened Draco today."
"Don't threaten a teacher." Susan added. Edmund laid his head back and let out a breath. The confidence that Lockhart had was enraging, by the expression on Harry and Ron's face they were thinking the same thing. Then a note got passed to him by Ron. 'We're doing it tonight, six o'clock, we'll meet you outside the basement.' Edmund nodded at them as he walked with Neville and Susan to the next class.
They were treating him as if he were some delicate bomb, but honestly that is what he is feeling like lately. Everyone was getting on his nerves and he was missing the constant clicks and questions that Colin had. He especially missed Hermione, who had done her hair differently that day for some reason.
That evening, from the basement Edmund had led them to one of the hidden hallways to sneak out of the castle. Once they reached Hagrid's house, Edmund's constant anger ebbed into sadness. Pushing the door open Fang went mad at the sight of them.
Fang was petting the pet-deprived dog while Harry fed him treacle toffee from a tin, which glued the dog's teeth together. "That's a bit foul." Edmund noted and they were taking Fang for a walk.
With two wands lit up, they easily found some spiders to follow after. "I'm ready. Let's go." Edmund gave him a reassuring shoulder pat. They walked for about twenty minutes but they suddenly started going into some pitch black space. "What'd you reckon?" Harry asked.
"We've come this far." Ron said, the quiver in his voice still evident. At that they continued to follow the spiders into the trees, slowing down in order to walk around the tree roots and stumps in their way.
The three boys jumped out of their skin when Fang suddenly barked. "What?" Ron asked loudly, he was gripping Harry's elbow now, hard. Edmund looked at the big shadow that was snapping branches and carving a path. A path that they had yet to be turned into.
"Oh no." Ron said, "Oh, no, no-"
"Shut it." Harry said, frantically. "It'll hear you."
"Mind you! It already heard Fang." Edmund said as he looked at the big thing with wide eyes and silent horror. A rumbling noise sounded and then the silence came. "What is it doing?" Harry asked, they could all clearly hear the fear in his voice.
"Getting ready to pounce, that's for sure." Ron answered. "Is it gone?"
"No clue." Edmund said and a blaze of light hit the right side of his face, so bright in the darkness that they both had to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried to run, got stuck in thorns and yelped even louder.
"Harry, it's our car!"
"What?" Edmund questioned.
"Come on!"
After that Edmund completely lost track of anything, the car from the beginning of the school year somehow knew that they were in trouble, and flashes its lights for them to go to. Edmund never put his wand away. Then he froze, and so did Ron.
The loud clicking noise made him terrified and getting picked up by it made Edmund nearly pass out. Everywhere there were spiders. "Aragog!" The spiders called out, the pincers kept clicking as they spoke. From the misty web, a spider the size of an elephant emerged.
Aragog, supposedly, had white eyes. A blind spider. "What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly.
"Men," clicked the spider who had caught Harry.
"Is it Hagrid?" said Aragog, moving closer.
"Strangers," clicked the spider who had brought Ron.
"Kill them," clicked Aragog fretfully. "I was sleeping."
"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted. His heart seemed to have left his chest to pound in his throat. "Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," he said slowly.
"You're the beast that got Hagrid expelled." Edmund said breathlessly as he realised. The quiet horror that it ate humans kicked in.
"Hagrid is my good friend. He protected me and I have lived here ever since." The spider answered. "They believed that I was the monster from that dwell they call the Chamber of Secrets."
"They thought that Hagrid had opened it and set you free." Edmund nodded.
"I never saw any part in the castle but the cupboard." Aragog said.
"What did kill that girl?"
"That thing that lives in the castle is an ancient creature that we spiders fear above all. I remember pleading Hagrid to let me go when I sensed the beast moving about the school." It sounded like Aragog mourned the sacrifice that Hargrid had to go through.
"What is it?" Edmund urged. He had to get out of there, the clicking got louder and so did the rustling.
"We do not speak of it!" said Aragog fiercely. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me many times." Then the spider started to settle back into his web and Harry said that they were leaving. But they didn't let them, many clicks sounded and they chased after them. There were too many of them and the only thing that saved them was a car.
Back in Hagrid's cabin Harry got the invisibility cloak, and Edmund was rubbing Ron's back as the Weasley puked his stomach contents out onto the pumpkin patch. "Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."
"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Harry.
"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now. "What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"
"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, throwing the Cloak over them. "He was innocent."
"We already knew that." Edmund said. "I don't like that Riddle lad. He didn't want to go home for the vacation, the first person who could be slightly suspicious who he saw was Hagrid, accused him and then he probably got to stay at Hogwarts for the summer."
"Riddle couldn't be the heir of slytherin." Harry defended.
"Why not?" Edmund questioned. "Because he was a half-blood? Lived in a muggle orphanage? I haven't heard of his family, at all before. Somehow, he is connected to Salazar Slytherin."
Harry shook his head, "He wouldn't."
"You wouldn't know, Harry." Edmund sighed, he hated picking Harry's brain like that for options. "We barely know anything of Riddle except that he had 'saved' the school from the monster in the Chamber, he accused the first person he came across. If he is Salazar Slytherin's descendant, what is one dead girl to him? What is Hagrid even to him? How much did he want to stay at Hogwarts rather than that orphanage?"
"Dead girl in the bathroom." Ron nodded, "He's right you know. You wouldn't completely know what Riddle did in his time here."
Edmund stopped in front of the barrels of Hufflepuff and the cloak nearly slipped off of him. "Dead girl in the bathroom." He repeated and looked at his friends, "Myrtle." He whispered under his breath, "Myrtle is the dead girl in the bathroom." He tapped the barrels as Harry and Ron started whispering about it. "Good night." He said.
—
'Only Harry can hear it! It's a Serpent!' Hermione's voice echoed in his head as he looked at the ceiling. The spider provided little information about it except that it was something ancient. His empty cup sat next to him, laced with the sleeping potions. A little extra for the mess whatever last night was.
It was a snake.
Instead of keeping a mental list, Edmund got up and grabbed all the books that he has on creatures and wrote down the names of serpents that he could read off of the book. He looked down at the names. "Sea serpent, Runespoor, Horned Serpent, Basilisk and Ashwinder." He whispered under his breath and put the candle closer to his book.
He crossed out the sea serpent, "Doesn't attack anyone, can't breathe outside of the water, puddles won't do nor can it petrify."
"Runespoor." He paged through his book that Hermione got him, it pained to read it and not gush about it to Hermione, "Can't petrify, too big around the halls, clumsy with three heads." He crossed it out.
"Horned Serpent. Intelligent, scared of danger, known to not attack anyone." He sighed, "Unable to petrify." He was seemingly getting nowhere.
Then he got to the Basilisk. "King of Serpents," He whispered as he continued to read, "Banned in mediaeval times. Looking a Basilisk in the eyes causes instant death, beware. Indirect look can render the victim petrified." He got shivers as he read the next line, "Behaviour of spiders indicates that they are the mortal enemy of it, spiders flee at the smallest thought of it."
He shot up from his chair and felt a wave of dizziness hit him. "Blimey." He muttered and put a hand over his head as he staggered on his feet. He must've caused some ruckus by the way a few students ran into the common room, wearing their pyjamas.
"Edmund?" He heard a voice call out, "Edmund are you alright?"
He dropped to the ground.
—
"I said not to put more than one drop in it, boy." Madam Pomfrey fuzzed as she checked on him when he woke up. "Now look at you."
Edmund gave her a small smile but winced at the raging headache. "I'm fine." He said and moved to stand up.
"You're fine?" She questioned, "Three boys had to carry you here last night! What were you even doing, up so late?"
"I need to see Professor McGonagall." He argued. "I know-" not wanting to meet Madam Pomfrey's eyes he looked over at the side where he looked petrified instead. His breath hitched as he saw Hermione lay there, motionless.
Then the door opened and Madam Pomfrey was talking with a few students. "There is no point in talking to a Petrified person." She said and let them in. Edmund had managed to support himself by holding onto the beds as he staggered over to Hermione.
He dropped in the chair by side and reached out for her hand. "Why'd you do something different with your hair?" He asked as he looked at her. He squeezed her hand, something he had seen in muggle movies, where a patient in some "coma" could hear them.
Instead he heard a crunch as he squeezed her hand. "Ed?" Harry questioned as he pulled the curtain back. Edmund recoiled and pulled away from Hermione's hand. Ron, Harry and Edmund looked at the dropped paper.
"That just dropped from her hand." Edmund frowned, his eyes widened and he looked up, "Guys. It's a Basilisk." He said, and reached out for the paper. He opened it and turned it to them. "Looks like Hermione found out about it earlier than I did." He chuckled softly and weakly smiled at them.
"Pipes." Harry read, "Hermione wrote down pipes."
"Colin saw it through his camera." They looked over at his statue, where the boy didn't hold it in his hands anymore, it was weird seeing Colin without his camera. "Justin must've seen it through Sir Nicholas, Nicholas must've actually seen it, but he can't die anymore." Edmund said as he raked through his mind, "Hermione must've had the mirror on her when she realised and went to the first person she could find-"
"And Mrs. Norris?" Ron questioned.
Edmund nearly forgot about the animal, "Puddles, she must've seen it through the puddle's reflection."
"It's been using the plumbing." Harry said, "That's why I've been hearing it inside the walls."
"The entrance, what if it's a bathroom? What if it's in-"
"Myrtle's bathroom." Harry said with wide eyes. The three shot up as Edmund put a hand up to his head as Harry continued to talk. Madam Pomfrey saw it from a far and hurried over, fretting over him once again.
"Foolish boy." She tutted, "Drink this." She said and handed him a potion.
He felt his energy come back and his headache fade away. "What was that?" He questioned and cringed at the taste.
"Stamina potion, I believe that Professor Snape doesn't teach it until your fourth year." She said. Edmund nodded and quickly thanked her before running after the two Gyrffindors. Not without casting a last glance at Hermione.
They ran into the empty abandoned staffroom, the dark wooden chairs left untouched . Harry and Ron were pacing around, excited while Edmund sat down in Snape's chair. He had sat in the staffroom before, many times. They waited for the bell to signal break but it never came, instead came the voice of Professor McGonagall. "All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately, please."
Harry wheeled around to stare at Ron."Not another attack? Not now?"
They quickly made up a plan to listen in on the conversation. They hid in the wardrobe and listened to their conversation. "It has happened," she told the silent staffroom. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."
Professor Flitwick let out a squeal. Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"
"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.'"
Professor Flitwick burst into tears. The man really did love his students.
"Who is it?" said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair.
"Which student?"
"Theseus has been missing from my class this morning, it isn't-"
"Theseus had a fall and is in the infirmary at the moment." Professor McGonagall said and continued, "No, the student in question is Ginny Weasley."
Ron slowly slid to the ground next to them, Edmund put a hand on his shoulder, trying to be some sort of comfort. "We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said..."
The staffroom door banged open again. For one wild moment, Harry was sure it would be Dumbledore. But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming."So sorry, dozed off, what have I missed?"
Snape stepped forward. "Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last." Lockhart blanched.
The teachers began telling about the times when the man knew everything about the Chambers of Secret. "We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."
Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome as his lip was trembling in fear.
"V-very well," he said. "'ll be in my office, getting ready." He stuttered and quickly ran out of the room.
"Right," said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils were flared, "That's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories."
Edmund would've laughed loudly at how Professor McGonagall was glad to be rid of him, but he looked at Ron who sat on the ground and didn't feel like laughing. "We should see Lockhart in some time, see how he's going into the Chamber." Edmund whispered and they cleared out of the wardrobe the moment all the staff left.
—
They picked Edmund up from the Hufflepuff basement before going up to Professor Lockhart's office. He didn't really know what to think of Professor Lockhart and his reaction to Ginny's disappearance.
The man opened the door wider as they greeted the group. "We've got some information that might help." Edmund said.
"Well, all right." The man said and let them inside of his office. Edmund blinked when he saw the two large trunks on the floor, robes were hastily folded into one of them and book into the other. The wall looks bleak as it has been stripped of everything.
"Are you going somewhere?" Harry asked.
"Well yes," the man rolled up a life-size poster of himself. "Urgent call, unavoidable. Got to go."
"What about my sister?" said Ron jerkily.
"Well, most unfortunate-" Lockhart wasn't meeting their eyes as he threw everything into a bag. "No one regrets more than I-"
"You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" said Harry. "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!"
"Well, when I took the job, there was nothing in the job description." He muttered, "Didn't expect-"
"He's running." Edmund stated.
Harry somehow didn't believe it, "After all that stuff you did in your books-"
"Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately.
"You wrote them!" Harry shouted.
Edmund snorted and glared at the man who was hastily grabbing all of his stuff while Ginny was stuck in the basement. "If the shoe fits." He muttered and Ron whacked his arm.
"My dear boy," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Harry. "Use your common sense. My book wouldn't have sold as well if people didn't think I had done all those things. No-one wants to read about an ugly warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. Horrid is what he'd look like on the cover."
"You've been taking credit for what other people have done?" Edmund questioned.
"Edmund, Edmund. It isn't that simple, a lot of work has to be done. I need to track them down, ask exactly how they did it. Then a memory charm."
"So you're a fraud."
"No, Harry. It's a lot of work, I worked for it. It's not all book signings and publicity photos. You want fame," Edmund snorted. "You have to be prepared for a long hard slog." With a bang, Lockhart dropped the trunks closed and took a look around his office before nodding and turning to look at the three boys. The Professor's wand levelled between Harry's eyes.
"One more thing left before I got, awfully sorry boys." Edmund rolled his eyes, "But I'll have to put a memory charm on you now." The man chuckled, patronisingly. "Can't let you three boys run loose telling all of my secrets. I wouldn't be able to sell a single book."
Edmund sighed and held his wand up when Lockhart had barely raised his, "Expelliarmus!" He casted. Lockhart was blasted backwards, over his trunk. Ron caught his wand and threw it out of the open window. He looked over at the ginger, "You could've held onto it, since your wand is, you know."
"Blimey, you're right." Ron said.
Edmund kept his wand levelled at the teacher. "Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one."
"What do you want me to do?" Lockhart asked, weakly. "I don't know where it is, there is nothing I can do."
Edmund shook his head and grimaced. "We do." He said and reached over to pull the cowardly man up.
"You know, this isn't really good Hufflepuff behaviour of you, Edmund." Professor Lockhart said, "You've always been such a kind and patient boy, but lately." The man let out a breath, "You've been quite lacking off, letting your emotions get in your way. Sleeping in my class?"
"Sir." Edmund sighed, "My best friend has been petrified, and Hagrid was imprisoned for it. I remember you singing songs about it, weren't you?" He said and Harry held the door open to the bathroom. "Hey Myrtle!" He smiled and waved at the ghost.
She smiled at Edmund but frowned at Harry, "Oh it's you." She looked at Harry, "What do you want this time?"
"To ask how you died." He said and Edmund was slightly disturbed with how flattered she looked.
"Oh, it was dreadful." She relished, "It happened right here, in this very stall." She was nodding excitedly. "I remember it so well. I was hiding because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses." Edmund grimaced, people are cruel. "The door was locked and I was crying. Then I heard someone come in, they said something funny, like it was a different language; Anyways, it was a boy, in the girl's toilet." She said and pointedly looked at them. "So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet but then-" She was shining as she stopped for a dramatic pause, "I died!"
"How?" Harry asked.
"No idea." She shook her head, "I just remembered a pair of big, yellow eyes and my body just seized up." She shrugged and smiled dreamily, "Then I was floating away. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby."
She was still bitter about that.
"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Harry.
"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet.
Harry and Ron hurried over to it while Edmund kept a hold on Lockhart so that the coward didn't try to run. Edmund watched the two as they examined every inch of it, even the pipes below. "That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it.
"Harry," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."
He looked like he wanted to protest but stared hard at the engraving. "Open up." Harry said. Ron and Edmund shook their heads. Then he hissed out and the tap glowed a brilliant white and began to spin. Then moved the sink, and sank out of sight. Leaving a large pipe exposed.
"I'm going down there," Harry said.
"Me too." Ron said.
"Me three." Edmund gave Ron a small smile, "Ginny needs to get out of there, can't do it on your own, can you?"
"Looks like you hardly need me." Lockhart tried but Edmund just tightened his hold on the man's robes.
"You can go first." Ron said and Edmund let go of the man, while he stood by the door, guarding it. The man kept complaining and trying to talk himself out of it but Ron pushed him and he slid out of sight.
When they hit the ground, he saw that Lockhart was covered in slime and pale. "We must be under the lake." Edmund muttered as he looked at the slimy walls. He held his wand up and casted the light charm. Their footsteps were loud on the wet floor.
"Remember." Harry said quietly. "Any sign of movement, close your eyes right away." They walked and walked, had a false alarm with the shedding of a snake skin. Then Lockhart tried to get away with Ron's wand.
Now that was a bit funny to see. The man obliviated and knocked himself out but then the ceiling dropped and Ron was alone with Lockhart behind the stone wall. He and Harry shared a look. "We'll see you in a bit." Harry said and Edmund patted his back.
"We've got this." Edmund whispered, "For Ginny."
Harry nodded and opened the vault door with parselmouth. With wands in their hands they set out to find the Weasley girl. And when they did, Harry had dropped to his knees beside her, looking if she was dead or not.
"She won't wake." A voice said and they looked up to see a tall, black-haired boy leaning against a pillar.
"Tom Riddle?" Harry questioned and Edmund was on his guard immediately. "What do you mean, she won't wake?"
"She's still alive. But only just." Riddle said. Harry stared at him and questioned what he was, "A memory." He answered, "Preserved in a diary."
Edmund gently nudged Harry aside and casted a levitating spell on her. "No!" Suddenly there was a wand aimed at him. "Drop it!" Edmund took in a panicked breath and let go of the floating girl, she gently dropped to the ground and Edmund slowly put the wand on the ground, in front of him.
"Stop talking to him as if he's your friend, Harry." Edmund said, "He's not." He had an assumption as to who he was, but Dumbledore never gave him a clear answer.
Riddle turned to him, "You must be the beloved teacher's pet that Ginny told me about, Harry told me about you as well." He had a bit of a mocking smile on his face, "You know, Ginny saw you leave the Headmaster's office many times, on her journeys, her little quests."
Edmund raised his eyebrows at the memory.
"Gaining Dumbledore's interest is easy, I should know." He said casually, but quickly gave him a dark look. "Especially if you were interested in the dark arts." Sharply said, as if it was personal. Which it was, Tom Riddle was bad news, Dumbledore had told him so. "So what makes you special?" He looked down at the tie, "For a Hufflepuff?"
"I don't know." Edmund said and looked at Harry.
"He told me just a bit about you," Riddle gave him a wicked smile, "Losing sleep, are you now? Worried about your mudblood friends-" Edmund took a threatening step forward and Riddle levelled Harry's wand to his face. "Ah, ah!" The boy said and grinned, "Let's not do that."
Edmund looked at Harry, who just looked betrayed and then at Ginny. They had to get out of there. "How did Ginny get like that?"
"Interesting question." Riddle said. "Quite a long story. But Ginny Weasley opened her heart and spilled her secrets to an invisible stranger." He grinned, for a memory, Edmund thought he looked a bit too overjoyed. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months, telling me about her worries and woes. How her brothers tease her, how her books are secondhand," He took his eyes off of Edmund and over at Harry, "How she didn't think Edmund would ever look at her like a woman instead of a little sister and how the great, famous Harry Potter would never like her."
Edmund grimaced. He knew that Ginny had something for him, he had pieced it together in the vacation. How she quietly asked questions about Mary and how she'd blush whenever he'd ask her a question. Riddle then continued to talk about how boring it was to listen to Ginny. How he had manipulated her and how he had needed her soul for his soul.
Then came the revelation that Ginny had opened the Chamber of Secrets. How she killed the roosters and painted the threatening messages, how she had set the Basilisk on the muggle-borns and the cat. Edmund knew that she didn't do it willingly, glad to get some peace of mind. Riddle said that he had done it all.
During the time Riddle continued to talk about how anxious he was about meeting little old Harry Potter, Edmund was inching closer to his wand. He stopped right before his wand when Riddle said that he had framed Hagrid, just like Edmund had suspected. He stopped in his place, Tom was an observant boy, more and he'd be blasted away, or blasted away by whatever magic he knew.
"You're not." Edmund spoke up, gaining Riddle's attention once again, "Not the greatest sorcerer in the world. That would be Albus Dumbledore. When you were strong, you didn't dare take over Hogwarts because he frightens you."
An ugly look came onto his face, "Dumbledore is driven out of the castle by the memory of me."
"He isn't." Edmund said, he knew that the old man had tricks up his sleeve. "He isn't gone." Riddle opened his mouth but froze. Music interrupted whatever he was going to say. Edmund smiled instantly as he recognized the song.
Fawkes flew in and flew straight at Harry and dropped the ragged thing and landed on Edmund's shoulder. "That's a phoenix." Riddle said. Edmund grinned.
"Five points to Slytherin?" He grinned but Riddle didn't have his attention anymore. Edmund reached forward to pick up the sorting hand, and hid his wand under it as he tucked it under his sweater.
He handed the hat over to Harry as Riddle laughed. "This is what Dumbledore sends his star and apprentice! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel his loyalty, Edmund Lupin?" He said mockingly, "Do you feel safe?"
He felt slightly safer with the wand tucked into his waistband.
Riddle continued talking about how Harry had lived with him twice already and they talked about Harry's mother and the similarities between them. Then he decided to show the power of Lord Voldemort.
He summoned the Basilisk and Edmund just froze in fear as he closed his eyes. Then he felt Fawkes fly away as well. The moment that the Basilisk moved was the moment that Harry and Edmund started to run away. The heavy body slithered against the dusty floor.
Edmund heard Harry trip and drop. Without hesitation, he opened his eyes and pulled Harry up from the floor. The sound of fighting took his attention. Fawkes was ripping apart its eyes. Riddle was hissing loudly and it sounded like he didn't have any water to drink for days.
The basilisk whipped its tail and Edmund caught something that was thrown at them. He handed it over to Harry. "This is yours." He muttered, it landed at his feet and it wasn't like he needed a hat.
They were running, dodging, contemplating how they got there. Spoiler, the answer is by a big slide. And they were trying not to die, so far, they were successful. They kept switching off the sword, some cuts were Harry's and some were Edmund's.
Edmund stood still and it lunged, Edmund threw his weight into the sword and pushed to the roof of the serpent's mouth. Warm blood drenched his arm and he felt a searing pain, a fang was sinking into his arm and it splintered as the Basilisk was struggling.
"Finish it." Edmund called out to Harry as he groaned out of pain. The fang was still in his arm and he slid down a wall. His vision went foggy and Harry was patting his cheek repeatedly.
"Come on, Ed. We did it." Harry said, desperation leaked into his voice a bit. "Just like you said, we won."
Edmund gave him a weak smile and held in a hiss of pain, "We're family Harry. Don't forget that." He said and he heard soft clatter next to him. "Fawkes." He said thickly, "You were good, so good." He whispered and the bird laid its head on the spot where the serpent fang had pierced him.
"At least I got the apprentice." Riddle said, "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see it, it's crying." Everything was spinning around him as he realised. He's dying and the pain is leaving him.
Instead of his vision going black and there being a tunnel like some say, his vision was clearing. The wound was gone and Edmund took in a breath as he looked over at Harry. Harry and Riddle continued talking and Edmund saw the diary next to him.
Without thinking, he grabbed the fang and pierced the book. A dreadful scream came from the book and ink came out of it. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing before he disappeared.
"Go to her." Edmund whispered to Harry, as he went out to search for his wand. He picked it up from some water puddle and cringed as it looked damaged. He'd have to go out and talk with Olivander about repairing it to its original state.
With Ginny, a phoenix, a sword and a damaged wand. They made their way up the slide by holding onto Fawkes. Myrtle greeted them oddly and looked at Edmund's and Harry's roughed up state.
Somehow, it touched his heart when she offered to share her toilet.
Then they arrived at Professor McGonagall's office. Edmund quickly straightened his sweater and crooked Hufflepuff tie as if it was going to take away attention from his bloodied sleeve with a huge hole in it.
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley leapt to her feet and both parents flung themselves onto their daughter. Looking past them, Harry and Edmund saw Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall who were taking steady gasps as she clutched her chest.
Professor Sprout let out a scandalised gasp from the other corner of the room. Fawkes stayed on Edmund's shoulder but quickly went over to Dumbledore's as Mrs. Weasley grabbed onto them to pull them in for a hug. "You saved her!" She repeated it a few times, "How?"
"I think we'd all like to know." Professor McGonagall said, weakly. Edmund collapsed in a chair and motioned for Harry to speak. It was a long story, actually. He hadn't realised that it was. "-how on earth did you get out of there alive, Potter? Lupin?"
Edmund wiped his mouth of the water that a quiet Professor Sprout handed him. "Barely." He said and gave them a big smile, "Fawkes saved us."
"More him." Harry said, "He got himself stabbed by the fang." Then they continued to explain everything, Edmund felt like he was due for a nap. Dumbledore started sending out different people and all that were left was Harry, Edmund, Lockhart and Ron.
"I seem to remember telling you two," He looked over at Ron and Harry, "That I'd expel you both if there were any more rules broken." Dumbledore smiled and eased their worries, "That teaches that the best of us, sometimes have to eat their words." He looked over at the three boys. "Special Awards for Services to the School and two hundred points for each person for their house.
Edmund smiled and then the attention turned to Lockhart. It was quite funny, from what the man knew at the moment. Instead of a writer he should've become a comedian. "Take him up to the infirmary too, I'd like a few words with these two." Ron gave them a curious look and guided Lockhart out of the office.
"Thank you, both. You must've shown me loyalty down in the Chambers. It must've called Fawkes to you both." He then looked at Edmund with twinkling eyes, "It looks like he didn't want to leave you when you got here, quite the bond you've made with Fawkes."
"I don't mean to steal him fro-"
"Steal?" Dumbledore said amused, "He isn't property. The phoenix chooses its partner, but I believe that he is still mine for now." The bird sang a short song in confirmation. "You met Tom Riddle." He hummed, "He must've been interested in you." He turned to look at Harry.
Harry grimaced, "He said that we had a lot of similarities, strange likenesses."
"Did he? What do you think?" There he goes again, not answering anything directly and more vaguely, trying to pick your brain. He was an educator, above all.
"I'm not like him." Harry said quietly and Edmund nodded. Then the conversation got heavy and about how Voldemort had put some of his power into Harry. Then the conversation about houses, and then came the sword.
Edmund hadn't known before as he had seen the sword many times before, hung up in the office. He hadn't had the chance to ask about it. "He paid some attention to Edmund as well."
"Is that so?" Dumbledore said, "Then I'll have a few words with him myself. Would you like some tea?" Harry looked between them and stood up.
Edmund nodded, "Black, please." He looked at his cousin and gave him an assuring smile, "I'm not going to get expelled, I believe that I haven't broken your record of rule breaking." He teased.
Harry blushed and shook his head, "I'll get going, sir." He looked over at Edmund, "I'll see you on the train?"
"Of course, Harry." Edmund smiled and took a hold of the teacup as Harry left. "He said that I was your apprentice." Said Edmund, "I didn't know that I was."
"Well, I was certainly thinking about it." The man looked at him. "Maybe that would be a good idea, Mr. Black."
Edmund raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised and immediately looked up at the disapproving look of the painting of Phineas Black. Then back down at Dumbledore. "It would be an honour, sir."
Dumbledore smiled, "Let's discuss it later, I see that we're going to have a visitor." The old warlock said and looked at the door. There stood Lucius Malfoy, the two older men had a tense conversation while Edmund was just drinking his tea.
As soon as Dumbledore held up the diary, Edmund recognized it and looked over at Lucius with slightly wide eyes.
"-very fortunate."
Edmund blinked a few times and reached over to refill his teacup again. "Blimey." He muttered under his breath and Harry quickly took the diary with permission before Dumbledore looked back at him again.
There had been a question on his tongue ever since they had started to drink tea together. "Why didn't Harry come stay with my mother and I?" He asked, quietly.
"Your mother was ill." Dumbledore answered, "And the powers that protected Harry was through family, on his mother's side."
"That's why he has to stay with the Dursleys?" Edmund asked.
"Yes."
Edmund looked back into his teacup and swirled the dark liquid, "I feel guilty about it, whenever he talks about that horrid family." Admitted Edmund.
Dumbledore looked at him with an empathic look in his eyes. "This is the way that it is supposed to go, unless we find a greater magic that can protect Harry."
Edmund nodded.
"Don't go looking for it," Dumbledore said, "Love is the greatest and lightest magic around. If you were to find an even more effective one, you must be into the darkest of arts. The one where Tom had lost his soul, mind and body."
Edmund nodded. "I wouldn't be enough?"
"No love can compare to a mother's like Harry's." Dumbledore said, "You may love him, but you'll never love him like Mrs. Potter."
Edmund nodded, somberly this time.
—
Everyone was wearing their pyjamas, Edmund noted and felt out of the loop as he looked at his bloody clothes. He looked around the great hall and his eyes landed on Hermione. She had her eyes closed as she hugged Harry.
It was a pity that her eyes were closed. Edmund had missed them.
He smiled when he saw them again. "Edmund." She let go of Harry and came running to Edmund, she threw her arms around him and over his shoulders. "You bloody git." She said and punched his chest. "How could you have been so careless!" She lectured and Edmund smiled at her.
Being lectured meant that Hermione was back to a hundred.
"I'm fine."
"Fine?" Hermione questioned, "You were poisoned."
"And I was saved." He countered, "I'm glad you're back, Hermione. I've missed you."
The girl smiled at him, "It's good to be back."
Amused, he nudged her. "I'll give you all of my notes. I've been making them extra detailed for you." The girl beamed at him and squealed as she thanked him repeatedly.
Back at the Hufflepuff table, Edmund was lifted into the air by his quidditch team and Edmund had to ask for them to let him down. The moment he stepped on the ground again, Justin came hurrying over to shake his hand and apologise for the suspicion and his erratic behaviour.
Edmund smiled as everything fell into pace again. He finally ate a good meal and he looked over at the Ravenclaw table. Hermione was animatedly talking to Padma, only for Padma to be looking at him already.
She gave him a small smile and a nod. Edmund glanced at Hermione before looking back at the Patil. He gave her a weak shake of the head and a smile. A silent conversation full of gestures, but so many things were discussed between them.