Hermione was pleasantly full by the time the feast ended, and everyone was in a contented mood. When the feast ended, she pushed herself up, joining her classmates as they left to head back down to the dungeons.
"That was wonderful," she groaned, putting a hand atop her stomach. "I'm sorry I missed out on it last year."
"I dunno," Tracy said, grinning. "Defeating a troll was a pretty good reason to miss, if you ask me."
They teased each other as they headed down the stairs until Hermione saw something odd and stopped short. Tracey crashed into her, with Millie crashing into her, and the crowd came to a stuttering halt as the people in the front stopped and stared.
The corridor was puddled with water. Hanging from a torch bracket by the tail swung a recognizable shape.
"Is that a cat?" Tracey whispered, horrified.
"That's Mrs. Norris," Hermione said quietly, sickened. "Who would do such a thing?"
As her eyes continued, she saw there were large words daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
"Is that blood?" Tracey hissed, but Hermione ignored her.
To the side of the words, pinned in by students coming down the other staircase, were Harry, Neville, and Ron, the three of them caught at the scene of the crime, all three of them looking uneasy and shifty.
"What on earth…?" Hermione murmured, eyes wide.
"What's going on here? What's going on?"
Attracted no doubt by the murmurs and crowding, Argus Filch pushed his way through the crowd, glaring at them all. Hermione could see the moment he saw Mrs. Norris, his face transforming to one of horror.
"My cat! My cat!" he shrieked. "What happened to Mrs. Norris?"
His eyes fell on Harry, who took a step back.
"You!" he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll—"
"Argus!"
Dumbledore had arrived, flanked by Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Lockhart. He swept forward and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket, making Hermione flinch.
"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Longbottom."
"My office is nearest, Headmaster," Lockhart said eagerly, stepping forward. "Just upstairs. Please feel free—"
"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.
They all parted silently to let them pass. Dumbledore looked grave, as did McGonagall and Snape. Lockhart looked excited, while Harry, Neville, and Ron all looked like they might be sick. As they left the corridor, murmurs quietly broke out, students carefully venturing forward towards the wall.
"That's enough of this nonsense!"
Percy Weasley had stepped forward, looking important.
"Everyone, return to your dormitories," he said. "There's nothing to see here. Your Heads of House will undoubtedly tell you everything you need to know after an investigation is conducted."
"That's brilliant, Weasley," Jade drawled, taking a step forward to join the other prefect. "Only… Slytherin house needs to go through this corridor to get to our common room."
Percy flushed. "Oh. Well— then—"
"I'll monitor the house to make sure everyone behaves," Jade said lazily, giving him a dismissive look. "If you want to escort your lions upstairs, I'll escort my snakes to where they need to go."
Percy nodded rapidly. "Yes, excellent. Prefects, to your houses! Escort your house to their common room…"
The corridor gradually cleared out, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor leaving. Hufflepuff was long gone; they hadn't taken a route that neared the corridor. After everyone was gone, Jade turned to them all, danger flickering in her eyes.
"We are all going down to our common room, together," she announced. "Before we do, does anyone have anything they want to say?"
She glared out over them all, as if waiting for one of them to confess. Hermione looked around, before raising her hand. Jade looked surprised.
"Granger?" she said. "What is it?"
"Does anyone know how to test what kind of blood that is?" Hermione said. "Before someone comes and cleans it up?"
Jade looked at her suspiciously.
"Why?" she asked, and Hermione shrugged.
"It seems like a good idea to figure out where all that blood came from," she said. "If it's an animal's blood, well, alright, nobody's going to care much if an animal's gone missing. But if that much blood is from a human…"
She trailed off, and Jade paled.
"Fair point." She straightened, clearing her throat. "Slytherin — does anyone know how to identify different types of blood?"
There was a hush and a murmur, everyone looking around. After a long moment, a tall, pale boy strode forward, shooting dark looks around at everyone.
"Who is that?" Hermione whispered. "He looks angry."
"Evzen Dolohov," Tracey whispered back.
"Who?"
"His father's in Azkaban for being a Death Eater," Blaise murmured, stepping forward next to her. "Quiet, Hermione. Watch."
Scowling at everyone, Evzen approached Jade, who nodded respectfully and stepped aside.
The tall boy approached the wall, withdrawing a dark, crooked wand. He touched the point to the wall in a particularly gleaming area, murmuring something under his breath as he dragged it to the right, smearing the blood. As he did, he pulled back, and there was a chilling gust of wind through the corridor and a murmur as a red haze gradually formed a picture in the air, red droplets of blood coming together to make an image.
"It is a rooster," Evzen said, looking to Jade. "A chicken. Not human. I am sure."
Jade nodded respectfully, her face a mask of neutrality. "Thank you, Dolohov."
Evzen melted back into the crowd, and Jade looked out over them all.
"Anyone else?" she questioned. "Or can we return to the common room?"
No one else said anything, and Jade turned and led them down the corridor to the dungeons in a heavy silence. Hermione's eyes were darting around, wide. Tracey and Millie both looked ill, while Draco's eyes were feverish and alight. Theo's eyes were carefully neutral, while Blaise looked skeptical and curious.
As they filed through the passageway into their common room, without discussing it beforehand, all the Slytherins waited in the common room, no one leaving to go to their dormitory just yet. Hermione moved to a table near the lake, carefully keeping her back to the wall. She watched as Jade closed the passageway behind the last of them, turning to face them all.
"One last time," she said quietly. Her words were like a challenge. "Does anyone want to share anything?"
There was a silence, and Jade scowled.
"Regardless of whatever the Headmaster's investigation turns up, everyone's eyes are going to be on us," she said. "People are going to look for the Heir of Slytherin in Slytherin. Stay together, don't go anywhere alone, and for Merlin's sake, don't let them get to you. Got it?"
Hermione bit her lip and nodded, as did the rest of the house, and Jade let out a sigh.
"Dismissed," she said finally. "Get to bed, people. Get to bed."
As people filed out of the common room, Hermione drifted towards Theo and Draco, who looked at her suspiciously.
"Heir of Slytherin?" she questioned. "Chamber of Secrets?"
Theo groaned. "You know so little, don't you?"
"Then tell me," Hermione said simply.
Draco glanced over his shoulder.
"Jade is watching us all," he said. "We can't lurk here."
"Then I'll follow you to your dorm," Hermione said. "I want to know now."
Theo and Draco exchanged an uneasy glance, but Hermione's gaze was like fire.
"Shall we?" she said.
Hermione hid in front of Theo and Draco as they went down the path to the boys' dormitories, crouching to keep out of sight. When they guided her to turn into one of the rooms off the path, Hermione stopped short, before Theo pushed her inside.
"What is that smell?" she asked, horrified. Theo rolled his eyes as he shut the door.
"Don't start," he warned her.
"Hermione?"
Hermione turned to see Blaise grinning at her.
"Fancy seeing you here," he said. "Join me?"
He patted the area on his bed next to him with a flirtatious grin. Hermione rolled her eyes but went to sit next to him regardless. Draco looked put out, but Hermione shot him a look.
"Now," she said. "I believe there's something about the Heir of Slytherin for you to unpack?"
Exchanging a heavy glance with each other, Draco and Theo began to quietly tell Hermione the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, the monster within, and the Heir of Slytherin, prophesized to return one day to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work. They were deadly serious in tone, and Hermione felt herself shiver.
"You'll need to be careful, Hermione," Draco said, at the end of the legend. "Who knows what the Heir will do?"
Hermione nodded slowly, thoughtful.
"I wonder…" she said. "I suppose we shall see."