When everyone was back, Bill picked up the book with only a slight hesitation.
The Writing on the Wall
Flich made his way through the crowd and shrieked, asking what had happened to Mrs Norris. Then he saw Harry, blaming him for killing his cat.
"Oi! Why is he singling out Harry? Ron and Hermione are there too," Sirius protested angrily.
"Yeah, Ron is obviously the most likely perpetrator," Fred smirked.
"Fred!" Molly scolded while Ron glared at his brother.
Dumbledore interrupted and asked for Filch, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger to come with him.
"The problem is that you've just seemingly confirmed to the student body that those three have something to do with it," Charlie stated.
"Yeah," Bill agreed. "They don't care about the truth; they care that you singled those three out." Harry scowled as he thought about all the whispers that had gone around the school after that. Nothing about Ron and Hermione. They all assumed it was him.
Lockhart stepped forward eagerly, offering his own office. Dumbledore thanked him. And the crowd parted to let them through, along with McGonagall and Snape.
Minnie is their head of house, by why is Sniv…Snape there?" Sirius demanded. "He'll just blame it all on Harry, proof or not."
"Because it was likely that dark magic had been used to petrify Mrs Norris and Severus is an expert," Dumbledore explained calmly.
"Not that you even let me examine the damn cat," Severus snorted.
"There was no need in the end. I was able to identify the petrification," Dumbledore reminded him.
In the office, several Lockhart pictures dived out of sight, but Harry caught a glimpse of their hair in rollers.
"Urgh!" Charlie pretended to throw up while Sirius and the twins all sniggered.
Dumbledore put Mrs Norris on the desk and examined her.
"Did the kids really need to be there for that?" Arthur questioned unhappily. "You could have easily dismissed them, done the examination and summoned them to give their account the next morning."
"Which would additionally have the benefit of not making them look guilty in front of the rest of the school," Remus added.
"But I'm Harry Potter," Harry reminded him bitterly. "I have to either be the hero or the villain. I don't think there was even a single rumour about Ron or Hermione."
"Maybe one or two, but everyone ruled Granger out automatically," Draco told him quietly.
"But me, who had a muggleborn mother and best friend, I'm totally suspicious," Harry scoffed.
"Not really, but nobody had any other ideas. Especially considering all the coincidences." Harry grimaced. Yeah, he had to admit it hadn't looked good.
"People actually thought you did it? That you would use that word and attack Mrs Norris?" Sirius scoffed in disbelief.
"People will believe anything," Ron muttered grimly.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged tense looks and sank into chairs. Dumbledore and McGonagall bent over the cat while Snape loomed behind them, looking like he was trying not to smile.
"Really, Severus?" Minerva exclaimed in exasperation. He shrugged.
"Don't worry. I'm sure he was pleased about Harry probably getting into trouble more than Mrs Norris being in trouble," Emmeline rolled her eyes. Severus didn't even bother denying it.
Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.
Pomona pulled a disgusted face.
"I dread to think what his suggestions consisted of," Kingsley muttered.
"Absolute nonsense," Minerva said dryly.
"That was a given," said Amelia in wry amusement.
"He only contradicted himself a few times," Ron snorted.
He stated it was definitely a curse that killed her.
"Wrong twice in one sentence," Harry muttered to Ron. "That's impressive even for him." Ron snorted.
"He hadn't even examined the cat at this point, how could he possibly know what happened?" Emmeline wondered.
"He didn't. He's talking out of his ass," Kingsley said, rolling his eyes.
He continued that it was the Transmogrifican Torture which he had seen used many times.
"Is that even a thing?" Harry wondered.
"Yes. It's an obscure piece of magic. I was surprised Lockhart even knew of it, even if he clearly had no idea how it worked let alone having seen it used," Severus informed him. "It's, obviously, a torture curse, though not on the level of the Cruciatus." Harry frowned, not having heard the term before. Neville shuddered slightly at the mention of the curse.
"I'll explain the unforgivables later, Potter," Moody promised.
"Alastor!" Sirius barked anxiously.
"He needs to know, Black. Needs to know what he's up against." Sirius conceded the point. All three were Voldemort's favourites, pretty much the only spells in his repertoire. Still, Moody had better keep it to talk only.
"Back to the point, the Transmogrifican Torture twists limbs out of place. The cat would not have looked as she did if that curse had been used," Severus finished his explanation. Harry gave him a nod of gratitude. He much preferred the Snape that actually took the time to explain stuff over the one who sneered at him for not knowing something he deemed to be obvious but had not ever been explained to Harry.
Lockhart believed it was unlucky he wasn't there as he knew the counter curse that would have saved her.
Several people snorted in disbelief.
"Is there a counter curse?" Hermione wondered. Severus simply nodded.
"The counter curse puts the limbs back in the correct place. It would not prevent death if, say, the neck was broken," Kingsley told her.
Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs.
"I feel bad for him. He's a right git, but he loves that cat," Tonks muttered.
Filch was slumped in a chair, unable to look at his pet. Harry felt bad for him, though he felt worse for himself as he would be expelled if Dumbledore believed Filch.
"He wouldn't believe Filch without any evidence," Remus assured him.
"Didn't have a great track record of people believing me," Harry pointed out. The teachers all grimaced. "And the start of term was hardly encouraging." Ron nodded his agreement.
Dumbledore was muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand to no avail. She continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed.
Ginny shuddered violently.
Lockhart was still talking. Now he had moved onto how something similar had happened and he was able to give out amulets that cleared the matter up.
Arthur snorted. "I suspect he is no better than those who sell fake amulets on the streets, promising to cure all sorts of things. None of them ever work."
"Probably," Kingsley agreed.
The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net.
Several people snorted in amusement.
At last Dumbledore straightened up and announced Mrs Norris wasn't dead. Lockhart stopped talking.
"Finally," Remus grumbled.
"It won't last," Sirius stated.
Filch asked why she was all frozen and Dumbledore announced she had been petrified, and Lockhart interjected that he had thought so.
Everyone scoffed. "He literally just said she was dead," Bill pointed out. "Killed by a curse."
"He's unbelievable," Ted scoffed.
"Unfortunately, I find his stupidity perfectly believable," Andromeda said.
Dumbledore continued as if there had been no interruption that he didn't know how she had been petrified. Filch demanded that he ask Harry.
Sirius muttered vague threats under his breath that made Harry rather concerned.
"Albus told him that no second year could have done this." Pomona rolled her eyes. Ginny grimaced.
"Indeed. True petrification is far beyond most Hogwarts students, even the majority of seventh years," Andromeda mused.
Filch interrupted that Harry had done it. They saw what was written on the wall and Harry knew he was a squib.
"That's what this is about?" Remus raised his eyebrows. "Most of the school knows he's a squib. It's one of the worst kept secrets ever."
"Not to mention, I doubt Harry even knew what a squib was at that point," George added.
"Nor would he care," Fred agreed.
"We all know Filch is being ridiculous. Lashing out in his grief," Arthur soothed the boys.
Harry protested this as everyone looked at him. Then he stated he didn't know what a squib was. Filch said this was rubbish and that he had seen the kwikspell letter.
"Which means nothing. It doesn't use the term squib at all because it's not for squibs. The letter implied that the user could actually use magic, which squibs can't," Charlie pointed out.
"We know," Tonks assured him with a chuckle. "Filch is ridiculous."
Snape asked if he might speak.
"Oh, here we go," Sirius snarled. Minerva would have scolded him, but Severus really hadn't brought anything to that meeting other than baselessly accusing Harry. Despite the fact that she would have preferred Harry tell them about the voice, it was evident that, even if he had any desire to do so, he wouldn't dream of confessing such a thing in front of Severus.
Harry's sense of foreboding increased; he was sure nothing Snape had to say was going to do him any good.
"And I was right," Harry muttered.
Snape stated that the trio might simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Several people's mouths fell open.
"It didn't last," Harry assured them all.
He sneered as if he doubted it. Then he added that there was a suspicious set of circumstances, asking why they were in the upstairs corridor at all.
"Why was everyone else in that corridor?" Sirius snapped. "Your godson had even less reason to be there than Harry given his dormitory is in the dungeons." Draco frowned at being singled out.
"My godson wasn't found at the scene with two sidekicks," Severus snapped right back. Then he took a deep breath, frustrated with himself that he allowed Black to rile him up.
Snape also asked why they weren't at the feast. The trio all explained about the deathday party and said hundreds of ghosts could confirm their presence. Snape then asked why they didn't join the feast afterwards.
"Well, given how quickly everyone arrived after they did, the feast was about to finish. There would have been no point going in," Tonks pointed out fairly.
"And, as we've established, lots of people went to that corridor," Ted added.
"Yes, but, as we've established, Snape is a biased git, unable to see past that abomination of a nose," Sirius said nastily.
"Sirius!" Minerva and Dumbledore admonished at the same time.
"He's not wrong," Mad-Eye noted, glaring at Snape with both eyes. "And there really is no reason for him to be there."
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry. Harry didn't want to say he had been led there by a bodiless voice no one else could hear.
"I don't blame you for that," Bill said sympathetically.
He settled on saying they were tired and wanted to go to bed. Snape seemed triumphant as he asked if they would go to bed without any supper, pointing out ghosts didn't provide food fit for living people.
"You should have said you knew we had a stash of food you could eat," Fred put in.
"He'd have found some reason that was ridiculous," Harry sighed. "He just wanted me in trouble, regardless of whether I deserved it."
"Greasy git," Ron muttered, making sure his mother couldn't hear him. Sirius nodded his agreement.
Ron stated they weren't hungry. Unfortunately, his stomach rumbled at the same time.
Several people chuckled.
"That would be much more believable if it wasn't coming from Ron," Percy smiled fondly at his brother.
"Yeah. Everyone knows Harry has a notoriously poor appetite. But Weasleys, they can always eat," Hermione said with a grin.
Snape's nasty smile widened.
Several people rolled their eyes.
Snape suggested that Harry wasn't being truthful and that he should be taken off the Quidditch team until he was ready to be honest.
"Really, Snape? You had so little faith in your godson as seeker that you had to try and take Harry off the team?" Sirius scoffed. Severus snarled.
"He did buy his way onto the team," Ron said. Now Draco was glaring at him. "No skill involved."
"Also, Ron just rather blatantly lied as well and I don't hear about you suggesting he be punished," Charlie pointed out.
"Yes, Snape is a biased git and that hadn't changed. Can we get on with this," Tonks said. Bill seemed to agree and started reading.
"One of you had better stick up for Harry soon." Sirius glared at Minerva and Dumbledore.
McGonagall cut in, saying there was no reason to stop Harry playing Quidditch as Mrs Norris wasn't beaten over the head with a broomstick.
Several people grinned.
"You tell him, professor," George chuckled.
She continued that there was no evidence Harry had done anything wrong.
"Thank you, professor," Harry said.
"It was the very least I should have done," Minerva told him. "Regardless of the fact that you weren't telling us the whole story, which I don't blame you for considering the company, there was no evidence you had done anything. Albus had even stated no second year could have done it. I'm just sorry you had no reason to believe I would be on your side." Harry offered her a smile.
Dumbledore was giving Harry a searching look. His gaze made Harry feel as though he were being X rayed.
All students, even the former ones who had been taught by Dumbledore, shuddered slightly. They all remembered that look well enough.
He said innocent until proven guilty. Snape looked furious.
"You were upset about the concept of innocent until proven guilty?" Moody asked casually. "Why am I not surprised?"
"He's just grouchy Slytherin are going to get their backsides kicked by Gryffindor at Quidditch," Fred smirked.
"Not that it would have mattered. Even if Harry was banned, we'd still beat the Slytherins," George added. "Malfoy couldn't catch the snitch when it was right above his ear." Draco flushed pink.
"Surely it being above his ear would make it harder to spot. He doesn't have eyes in the top of his head?" Tonks put in, trying to be fair to her cousin. It was turning into a pick on Draco chapter, which wasn't entirely undeserved given what he'd said at the end of the last chapter, but they were mostly doing it to upset Snape which wasn't right.
"It was close enough he should have heard it, even with the noise of a Quidditch match," Harry said as he grinned at Draco.
"Shut it," Draco grumbled. "Not all of us have freakishly good hearing."
Filch was also furious. He shrieked that he wanted to see some punishment.
"So, it doesn't matter if the person is guilty or innocent, as long as there is punishment?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. "Hardly a good attitude."
"He was grieving," Albus said dismissively.
"Snape wasn't," Mad-Eye pointed out sharply. "And he clearly doesn't care about innocence or guilt either."
"Potter was holding back useful information. He ran into the situation without getting help and endangered himself along with two other students," Severus pointed out.
"None of which you knew about," Mad-Eye shot back. He'd grown protective, even fond, of the boy in the last few days. And he'd never fully trusted Snape. Dumbledore had never said why Snape was so trustworthy, why he'd kept him out of Azkaban. And these books were showing why his old friend's judgement couldn't exactly be trusted. "And frankly, why on earth would the boy confess anything with you around? You'd twist whatever he said to make him sound guilty. He should have told Albus or Minerva afterwards, yes, but with you and Filch blaming him with no evidence, why would he tell you anything? If anything, you have yourself to blame for his silence. All of you."
Oh, he'd certainly be having words with Potter than evening about not even having his wand out when chasing after something that wanted to kill, but he didn't blame the boy for staying quiet.
Dumbledore stated they would be able to cure her. Professor Sprout had acquired some mandrakes and a potion could be made to cure her.
"Well, that's convenient," Narcissa murmured to herself.
"Why not just contact St. Mungo's for a restorative draught?" Andromeda wondered.
"There was no need when we could make our own."
"Except Mr. Filch could have his beloved pet back within a day or so, rather than waiting months for the mandrakes to mature," she pointed out. Dumbledore didn't answer.
Lockhart offered to make it, saying he could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in his sleep.
"NO!" Yelled several people at once.
"He actually said that? With Professor Snape in the room?" Percy gaped.
"Like I would have let him anywhere near my mandrakes," Pomona scoffed.
"Or anywhere near a cauldron," Severus added.
"He'd be more likely to kill her than cure her," Remus agreed.
Snape cut in, point out he was the Potions master in the school. After a pause, Dumbledore let Harry, Ron and Hermione go.
"You didn't even ask them what happened?" Amelia exclaimed in exasperation. "You singled them out and then didn't ask them a single question, you just let Severus accuse them and Minerva defend them before you stated Mr. Potter couldn't have done it."
"It's almost like you want Harry to be the subject of rumours and accusations," Sirius stated, looking at Dumbledore angrily.
"Of course I do not want that."
"You have a funny way of showing it," he hissed.
They left as quickly as they could without actually running. Once they were a floor up, they entered an empty classroom. Harry asked if he should have told them about the voice.
"Not with Snape and Filch there. You should have told Dumbledore afterwards," Tonks stated.
"For all the good it would have done," Sirius scoffed.
Ron immediately said no. He added that hearing voices other people can't wasn't a good sign. Harry asked if Ron believed him.
"Of course. I'm sorry if I made you think otherwise. It was all just a bit weird," Ron told him quickly. Harry smiled and nodded.
Ron quickly said that he did but it was weird.
"You don't change much, do you?" Charlie laughed.
Harry agreed, saying it was all weird. Then he wondered what the writing meant. Ron said it rang a bell as Bill might have told him a story about a secret chamber once.
"Good memory. I only told you that story once," Bill smiled. "But it scared you and mum wouldn't let me tell it again."
"He had nightmares for ages about monsters," Molly tutted. Ron turned red.
Then Harry asked what a squib was. Ron sniggered.
"Really, Ron?" Arthur asked, eyebrow raised.
"I only found it funny because it was Filch."
He said it wasn't funny, but as it was Filch. Then he explained what a squib was, saying they were unusual but if Filch was trying to learn magic from a kwikspell then he must be.
"How did you know about kwikspell?" Bill asked Ron curiously. His brother shrugged.
"I remember one of you guys talking about it. Maybe dad."
"You really do have a good memory," Arthur praised his son. "I think I've only ever dealt with a case involving kwikspell once. And I can't recall a reason I'd mention it otherwise." Ron blushed but smiled proudly at the praise.
"If only he would apply that memory to his lessons," Minerva said, but she looked amused as Ron blushed.
Ron added that it would explain why he hated students as he was bitter.
"A magical school does seem like an odd workplace for a squib," Emmeline mused.
A clock chimed somewhere and Harry stated it was midnight.
"What?" Remus asked, looking confused. "How long were you in that office? Even feasts don't go on much later than eight or nine, given curfew for the younger years is half past nine. It started at sevenish, but even if it went on as late as ten, that's just under two hours since everyone found you in the corridor."
"We weren't in the office for that long," Hermione frowned.
"The feast ran over that year," Filius said, thinking back.
"That's awfully convenient. It seems that the feast should have finished by the time the trio left the party, yet it ran on late, finishing just as they arrived at the scene," Amelia summed up suspiciously.
"Where, despite it being long past curfew, people made their way to the exact corridor where it happened," Tonks added. "Even with the rumours of after feast entertainment, given the hour, everyone should have been sent straight to bed."
"I'm surprised Snape didn't pull them up for being out after curfew. Even if everyone else was too, it seems like the type of thing he'd do," Charlie said. A few people nodded.
Harry added that they had better get to bed before Snape tried to frame them for something else.
"Good idea," Neville agreed.
For a few days, the school spoke of nothing but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back.
"Like that would do any good. Anything that can petrify would easily be a match for most wizards, let alone a squib," Bill noted.
He had been seen scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover with no effect.
"Wow," Emmeline whistled. "I wonder what it was written with." Ginny flinched.
When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, trying to put students in detention for things like "breathing loudly' and "looking happy."
"Seriously?" Bill rolled his eyes.
"Yes," Ron nodded.
"Ridiculous," Charlie scoffed.
"None of the detentions stood," Minerva assured them. "Any student given detention by Filch just had to inform their head of house and we made sure it didn't stand."
Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat lover.
Ginny grimaced. That was true, but not why she was upset.
Ron told her she hadn't really gotten to know Mrs Norris and they were better off without her.
"Thanks for trying, Ron." Ginny smiled weakly at her brother.
Ginny didn't seem cheered by this, and Ron assured her stuff like that didn't happen often at Hogwarts.
"When exactly did something similar happen at Hogwarts as far as you know?" Ted asked in amusement.
"Not to mention, even without petrification, all the stuff that happened in your first year is hardly reassuring," Tonks added.
"But it was good of you to try and make your sister feel better," Hermione cut in. Ron smiled at her as both of his parents nodded in agreement.
He said they would catch the maniac who did it and have them out of the school in no time.
Ron winced, knowing that would do the opposite of make Ginny feel better.
"You didn't know," she whispered. He felt worse at that. He should have known. Should have seen that Ginny wasn't herself that year.
Ron continued that he hoped whoever it was petrified Filch before getting expelled.
"Ronald!" Molly yelled.
"I was joking," Ron defended himself. "I didn't think it was that serious. I was twelve."
When Ginny blanched, he quickly said he was joking.
Several of the Ministry workers were eyeing the Weasleys curiously. From the way Ginny was acting, and having heard several suspicious comments, they would have guessed she had something to do with what was going on. Her reaction could have been simply down to the trauma of the year, but Luna didn't seem even half as affected. And some of the comments implied Ginny had been involved, except none of them could work out how Arthur Weasley's daughter could possibly have anything to do with a disembodied, murderous voice and petrifying a cat.
The attack had also had an effect on Hermione who was now doing almost nothing but reading, even more so than usual. She didn't explain what she was doing to the boys until the following Wednesday. Snape had held Harry back after potions to make him scrape tubeworms off the desks.
"And what did he do to deserve that?" Arthur asked wearily.
"Exploded his potion," Severus said simply.
"Because Draco threw something into my cauldron!" Harry protested. Severus turned to look at his godson who had his guilt written all over his face.
"Like it would have mattered, even if Snape had caught him," Ted sighed.
After a hurried lunch, he went upstairs to meet Ron in the library, and saw Justin Finch-Fletchley coming toward him. As Harry made to say hello, the boy saw him and sped off in the opposite direction.
"What?" Remus frowned.
"He wasn't the only one," Harry said grimly. "Thanks to Halloween, everyone thought I was dangerous or something." Several people turned to glare at Dumbledore.
Harry found Ron at the back of the library, measuring his History of Magic homework which was supposed to be three feet. Ron moaned that he was eight inches short and stated Hermione had done four feet seven inches.
"There really is no need to write that much extra, Hermione," Tonks told her. "Can you imagine how much extra work the professors would have to do if everyone wrote a foot and a half more than they asked for, for their homework?"
"Regurgitating the textbook will only get you so far. If you cannot put things into your own words and be concise then you will struggle at N.E.W.T level," Severus told her.
"Part of the limit is, as Miss Tonks states, to keep our marking levels reasonable, but also to teach you to prioritise what information should be included and what shouldn't," Minerva added. Hermione nodded.
"You know, at muggle universities, if you go too far over the assigned length you are penalised for it," Ted put in. "You might lose marks, or the professor will simply stop marking once they reach the limit." Hermione looked horrified at this. "It's the same if you are too far under the limit."
"Maybe we should start doing that," Filius mused.
Harry asked where she was while grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework. Ron pointed to some shelves. Harry told him about Justin and Ron said he thought Justin was a bit of an idiot.
"You just didn't like him because he brought up the howler," Fred laughed.
"He also was impressed by Lockhart," Ron grumbled.
"So was Hermione," Harry reminded him. Hermione pulled a face.
Ron continued writing his homework, making his writing as large as possible.
All of the teachers rolled their eyes.
Hermione arrived and said that all the copies of Hogwarts: A History had been taken out and she had left hers at home as it wouldn't fit with all the Lockhart books.
"It won't be all that helpful anyway. The Chamber of Secrets is only mentioned briefly. No useful details," Bill told her.
"I know. I read it eventually," she sighed.
Harry asked why she wanted it and she told him she wanted to read up on the legend of the chamber. Harry asked what that was, and Hermione admitted she couldn't remember.
"Well, it is a secret chamber," Draco drawled. "It's hardly supposed to be easy to find information on."
Ron begged Hermione to let him read her homework and she refused, saying he had already had ten days to finish it.
"Really, Ron?" Molly scolded.
"It was History. I'm not convinced Binns even reads them," Ron protested.
"That's not the point," Percy told him primly. "You have had plenty of time and you shouldn't copy from your friend." Ron scowled.
The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering.
"Nothing unusual there then," Neville laughed.
Harry mused that History of Magic was incredibly boring and Professor Binns' routine hadn't changed in the slightest. However, that day Hermione actually put her hand up.
"Wow. Seriously?" Charlie whistled.
"I don't think anyone has ever done that before," Percy said in surprise.
"I'm going to be impressed if he even notices," Tonks laughed.
"Especially given that you used to impersonate him and pretend to give the lectures and he didn't notice a single thing," Charlie grinned.
Professor Binns did look up and was amazed. He called on Hermione, not knowing her name and she asked about the chamber. Several people jerked in astonishment, including Neville whose elbow slipped of the desk.
"We need to get rid of him, Albus," Minerva muttered. "This is ridiculous."
Professor Binns blinked. He stated that his subject was history and he dealt with facts, not myths and legends.
"Myths and legends have their basis in facts," Luna said in her usual dreamy voice.
He continued with the lecture, but Hermione put her hand up again.
"Persistent, aren't you?" George laughed.
"I wanted answers." She shrugged.
"Besides, it was the most entertaining history lesson we've ever had," Ron pointed out. "Anything is better than Binns just droning on."
Hermione pointed out legends have their basis in facts. Binns stared at her in amazement and Harry was sure nobody had ever interrupted him before, dead or alive.
"Most people don't stay awake long enough to ask questions," Fred pointed out.
"Or they find it easier to just look up the answer because there's no guarantee he'll actually answer," Percy added.
"Yeah, N.E.W.T was rough," Bill agreed.
"You did N.E.W.T history?" Harry asked in astonishment.
"It's a requirement for cursebreaking." Harry felt his desire to be a cursebreaker diminish slightly at that news. Bill saw his expression and chuckled.
"It was worth it. I just had to self-study. No different really from O. , just more work to do."
Binns agreed that one could argue that but stated that the tale she mentioned was ludicrous.
"I wish," Harry muttered.
But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his, clearly surprised by such an unusual show of interest. He explained the legend of the Chamber of Secrets.
"Of course, Slytherin was a parselmouth. That's why Harry can hear the voice and nobody else can. The monster is a snake of some description," Kingsley realised.
"But no snake has the power of petrification," Charlie frowned. "Paralysis, sure, but that's very different and I'm quite certain Professor Dumbledore can identify the difference."
"Well, maybe it was whoever opened the chamber that petrified Mrs Norris," Ted suggested. "Harry heard the snake heading in that direction, but a snake certainly couldn't hang her from the torch by her tail. The person controlling it was obviously there as well."
"So, Harry isn't the only parselmouth in the school?" Andromeda asked curiously. It was a rare ability than was genetic. Only a few families even had the ability, as far as recorded history went. But parselmouths hadn't been quite as feared before Voldemort came to power. Yes, there was a slight stigma attached before him from Slytherin himself and the Gaunt family, his most well-known, and despicable, descendants, but Voldemort was the one who truly made it seem like a dark power.
"Let's just read and find out," Arthur put in quickly, eyeing his daughter worriedly.
Binns looked faintly annoyed as he finished his retelling. Then he added that the whole thing was nonsense and naturally the whole school had been searched.
"But if it's Slytherin's chamber and the monster is a type of snake, it would make sense that parseltongue would be required to open it. Which would explain why it's never been found," Bill pointed out grimly. Everyone who didn't know what happened turned to look at Harry who grimaced.
"You'll see," he told them, refusing to say more. This made nobody feel better about their suspicion that, even if he told the staff, Harry would be needed to open the chamber in the end.
Hermione's hand was back in the air, and she asked what he meant by the horror within the chamber. He replied that there was supposedly a monster that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. Then he repeated that it doesn't exist. Seamus pointed out that if it could only be opened by the true heir then nobody else would be able to find it.
"Exactly," Kingsley nodded.
Binns told him it was nonsense, calling him O'Flaherty.
The Gryffindors sniggered at the butchering of Seamus' surname.
He continued that if a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found it, but he was interrupted by Parvati who pointed out you might need to use dark magic to open it.
"No. That would make it too easy to access. Dark magic was fairly common in Slytherin's time. A lot of what's considered 'dark' now wasn't back then," Bill stated. "Parseltongue makes more sense."
"It was still a reasonable guess with the information she had," Neville said fairly. Bill nodded.
Binns snapped that just because someone doesn't use dark magic doesn't mean they can't, calling her Miss Pennyfeather.
"Really? It's like he's not even trying. Pennyfeather is nothing like Patil," Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It's not like he uses people's names often. Or ever," Draco pointed out in amusement.
He stated that if the likes of Dumbledore hadn't, but Dean cut in to say that maybe you had to be related to Slytherin.
"That's a better guess," Andromeda nodded.
Binns had had enough. He stated that it was a myth and there is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built a secret broom cupboard.
"Why would anyone build a secret broom cupboard?" Percy blinked.
"I can think of a few reasons," Bill smirked.
"William!" Molly scolded as Sirius and the twins snickered.
He continued that he regretted telling them such a foolish story and returned to his lecture. Afterwards, Ron commented that he always knew Slytherin was a twisted loony.
"Really, Ron?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"I wasn't wrong, was I?" She had to admit he did have a point. It took a certain type of individual to put a basilisk in a school full of children.
Ron continued that he didn't know Slytherin started all the pureblood stuff, and he wouldn't be in his house if you paid him.
"Rude!" The twins complained. "They aren't all bad. Just a few gits overshadow the decent ones," Fred added.
He stated that if the hat tried to put him in Slytherin he would have got straight back on the train.
"Really, Ronald?" Hermione asked in exasperation.
"Sorry, Harry," Ron said sheepishly.
"It's fine. I can't really blame you with all that stuff going on."
"Besides, there's nothing wrong with being told you could belong in Slytherin. It's not an automatic 'you're evil'," Percy said stiffly.
"I know that now, Perc," Ron assured him, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
Hermione nodded but Harry felt uneasy as he had never told his friends the hat had wanted to put him in Slytherin. He recalled his sorting.
"Probably for the best you weren't in Slytherin with everything that happened that year," Neville said quietly. Harry nodded. "But I don't think it changes anything."
"Thanks, Nev."
As they were shunted along in the throng, Colin Creevy went past. He called out that a boy in his class had been saying, but didn't finish as he was swept away in the crowd. Hermione wondered what he had been about to say and Harry guessed it was that he was Slytherin's heir, remembering how Justin had run away from him.
"Why would people assume that Harry, the very Gryffindorish Gryffindor would be the heir of Slytherin?" Tonks snorted. "Nobody knows he speaks parseltongue and he given the trouble he rushes headlong into, he definitely lives up to his house placement."
"Like you didn't rush into plenty of your own trouble," Charlie reminded her with a chuckle.
"I was just loyal to my friends who kept rushing into trouble," Tonks defended herself.
"I don't suppose Dumbledore made an announcement saying petrification is completely beyond a second year?" Emmeline sighed.
"No," Minerva admitted.
"But honestly, you know what kids are like. It wouldn't stop all the gossip," Kingsley pointed out.
Ron said in disgust that people would believe anything.
"Too true," Harry grumbled.
"Yeah. Anything," Sirius snickered. Remus rolled his eyes.
The crowd thinned and they were able to climb the next staircase without difficulty. Ron asked if Hermione really thought there was a chamber. She replied that she didn't know but Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs Norris so she felt that whatever attacked her might not be human.
"That is a good point. But, snakes don't do that either," Charlie mused.
"Well, we didn't know what it was then," Hermione reminded him.
As she spoke, they found themselves at the end of the corridor where the attack had happened. It was the same as that night except there was no Mrs Norris and an empty chair stood against the wall where the message was written. Ron pointed out this was where Filch was keeping guard.
"Always there to point out the obvious, Ronnie," George laughed.
"You three should leave quickly. It will look even worse if you three are found lingering there again," Ted mused.
"And the monster has been there once. Might come back. Get out of there," Sirius urged.
"We can't do anything about this now, Sirius," Harry reminded him. That didn't reassure his godfather.
They looked at each other. The corridor was deserted. Harry said it couldn't hurt to have a poke around.
"Yes. It could, actually," Remus disagreed.
"Although, we'd have done the same thing," Sirius pointed out begrudgingly.
"You really think our time at school is a good role model?" Remus asked, eyebrow raised.
"We got brilliant grades and had loads of fun. It could be worse."
"Mr. Potter gets into enough trouble without adding your kind of fun into the mix, Mr. Black," Minerva said dryly. Sirius grinned.
He dropped his bag and got on his hands and knees to crawl along, searching for clues. He pointed out some scorch marks.
"Hmm, they could have come from anywhere," Fred pointed out. "Pranks, jinxes in the corridors, all sorts."
"But Filch had been cleaning like crazy, I would have thought he would have gotten rid of them if they were regular scorch marks," Harry stated.
"Good thinking, Potter," Moody praised. "No wand sense, but a good mind for detective work." Harry blushed at that.
Hermione told them to come and look at something. Harry moved to the window and pointed out a number of spiders fighting to get through the small crack and go outside.
"Spiders going outside?" Charlie raised an eyebrow. "It's November. They should want to be coming inside."
"So, whatever is going on is making spiders go outside even when it's too cold for them normally?" Tonks said thoughtfully.
Hermione asked if they had seen spiders act like that. Harry said no and asked Ron. Ron was standing well back and appeared to be fighting the desire to run. When Harry asked what was wrong, he stated he doesn't like spiders.
"Still on about that, Ron?" Fred grinned. Ron glared at him angrily.
"Fred, don't tease him. Everyone is scared of something," Bill told him sharply.
Hermione said she didn't know that and pointed out he used them in potions. Ron stated he didn't mind them dead but hated the way they move. Hermione giggled.
"Why is that funny?" Neville wondered.
"I don't know. It just…the way he was acting seemed funny. I'm sorry, Ron. I shouldn't have laughed," Hermione said. Ron just nodded.
After dealing with boggarts the previous year, they all had a better respect for other people's fears. She had hated people making fun of her for her boggart. Neville had the same problem. In fact, it had been worse for him. Despite Remus' well-meaning attempt to help Neville with his boggart, it had just made Snape behave even more meanly to Neville which had then made his fear worse. The Slytherins had constantly been teasing him for being scared of their head of house.
Ron fiercely declared it wasn't funny. He told them how Fred turned his teddy bear into a giant spider because he broke his broomstick when he was three. He pointed out they wouldn't like spiders if they had been holding a toy and suddenly it had too many legs.
"Yeah. I wouldn't be a fan after that either," Tonks shuddered.
"Sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to scar you for life. In my defence, it was accidental magic. I was only five myself and he had broken my toy. It was out of my control," Fred defended himself from some of the looks he was getting.
"Which is why you weren't punished for it," Arthur told him. "But unfortunately, accidental magic or not, it doesn't change how it affected Ron. It's unfortunate, but nobody's fault."
Hermione was still trying not to laugh.
Hermione shot Ron an apologetic look. Honestly, it had just struck her as a little funny that a wizard who had known about magic all his life would be afraid of something as normal as spiders.
Harry changed the subject.
"Wise man." George nodded approvingly.
"Definitely a good idea. If they start arguing, the whole castle will know you're there," Neville laughed. Ron and Hermione both glared at him, but Harry chuckled.
He asked if they remembered all the water that had been on the floor and wondered where it had come from. Ron found the point where it had been, saying it had been level with a door. The reached for the doorknob and then quickly withdrew as it was a girl's toilet. Hermione told them it was Moaning Myrtle's place.
"What?" Bill blinked in confusion. "I thought her toilet was on the first floor. This is the second floor. Isn't it?" He thumbed back through the book. "Yeah, Hermione said she haunts a toilet on the first floor, but that the trio hurtled around the whole of the second floor before finding Mrs Norris. Now Mrytle's toilet is on the second floor."
"Myrtle's toilet is on the second floor," Tonks stated confidently. "Hermione was wrong in the last chapter."
"Hermione was wrong?" Ron let out an exaggerated gasp.
"Well, Myrtle likes to move around, so maybe Hermione encountered her in the first-floor toilets," Charlie pointed out.
"Yeah. She's a fan of the prefect's bathroom," Bill muttered grimly, shuddering.
"That's creepy," Emmeline said.
"Tell me about it," Charlie agreed.
"And yes, when I met her, she was in the first-floor toilets," Hermione put in. "But I realised by the water that this must be her…main area. She doesn't flood the others, just cries and complains that people are mean about her. Plus, there was an out of order sign on it. Which, I'd been warned by older years means it's Myrtle's."
"Or flirts with you," Bill grumbled. The twins snickered at that.
And ignoring the large OUT OF ORDER sign, she opened the door. It was gloomy, depressing and in a state of disrepair.
"Lovely," Kingsley muttered, wrinkling his nose.
"Hence why nobody uses it," Emmeline stated.
"Yeah. I'm hearing that."
Hermione made a 'shushing' motion and headed to a stall where she greeted Myrtle.
Minerva gritted her teeth. After she had heard the whole story from Mr. Potter, she had gone straight to the bathroom to question Myrtle on why she hadn't reported seeing anything all year. The girl had just said that nobody bothered to ask her. She had been perfectly fine with other students potentially suffering the same fate as herself just because someone didn't directly ask her if she knew anything. Except she knew the trio had questioned Myrtle on more than one occasion and she still didn't come forwards. Minerva had never wanted to exorcise a ghost so badly, not even Cuthbert.
Moaning Myrtle was floating above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin. She pointed out it was a girl's bathroom, and that Harry and Ron weren't girls. Hermione agreed and stated she wanted to show them how nice it was in there.
"Really? You need to learn to lie better than that," George said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"That was pretty bad," Fred agreed. Hermione nodded.
Harry mouthed at Hermione to ask if she saw anything.
"Why don't you just ask her yourself?" Tonks asked.
"After the deathday party, I didn't want to set her off."
"Well, I suspect you just did. She won't like you mouthing or whispering anything. She'll assume it's an insult about her," Emmeline stated.
"Yeah. We got that," Harry sighed.
Myrtle asked what he was whispering. Harry said nothing and then tried to ask something. She cut across him saying she wished people would stop talking behind her back and that she had feelings even if she was dead.
"She's more sensitive than Moony at his time of the month," Sirius snorted. Remus elbowed him in the ribs, and he groaned.
Hermione said nobody wanted to upset her. Myrtle cried out that was a good one as her life was nothing but misery in the school and now people were ruining her death.
"Barely anybody goes in there now, you'd think she'd be grateful for the company," Charlie muttered.
"Not if she's that sensitive," Ted stated.
Hermione quickly asked if she had seen anything funny because a cat was attacked right outside her door. Harry asked if she saw anyone. Myrtle told them she wasn't paying attention having been so upset by Peeves that she tried to kill herself before she remembered, then she trailed off. Ron offered that she remembered she was already dead.
"Really Ron?" Percy rolled his eyes.
"You've seen how sensitive she is to literally everything, and you go and say that?" Bill shook his head in amusement.
"That's Ron. All tact," Harry chuckled. Ron gently punched him on the arm.
Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air and dived headfirst into the toilet, splashing water all over them and vanishing from sight, although from the direction of her muffled sobs, she had come to rest somewhere in the U bend.
"Well, at least she's gone," Neville muttered.
"Yeah. I don't think she was going to tell you much even if you hadn't been as tactful as a dead rat," George snickered.
"Shut up," Ron groaned.
Harry and Ron stood with their mouths open, but Hermione shrugged wearily stated that this was almost cheerful for Myrtle.
"Almost cheerful?" Remus wrinkled his nose. All of the females nodded.
Harry had barely closed the door on Myrtle's gurgling sobs when a loud voice called out Ron's name and made all three of them jump. It was Percy, looking shocked.
"I couldn't believe you'd gone back to that corridor. Especially considering all the rumours," Percy told him.
"It wasn't your wisest move, but you did spot a couple of clues," Tonks said.
Percy gasped that it was a girl's bathroom.
"That's what your upset about?" Fred laughed.
"I was mostly upset about how suspicious it looked, but a little bit about him being in a girl's bathroom. The last time he was in one he fought a troll," Percy reminded them.
"Thankfully no troll in that one," Ron muttered.
"No, but I'm pretty sure what was in there was worse," Harry pointed out quietly. Ron paled and nodded.
Ron said they were just having a look around for clues. Percy swelled in a manner not unlike Mrs Weasley.
Molly smiled slightly at that.
He ushered them along, asking if they cared what it looked like with them coming back while everyone was at dinner.
"So why weren't you at dinner, Perc?" Charlie wondered. "And why are you alone. Even if you had patrol, it's done in pairs."
"I was meeting Penny," Percy admitted, the tips of his ears going red.
Ron asked why they shouldn't be there. Then he said they never laid a finger on the cat.
"I didn't believe for a second that you did," Percy said with a frown. "I cared about the rumours that were already spreading. I didn't want them getting worse."
"You did the right thing," Arthur assured his son. "Ron, Percy is correct. It would look very bad if you were found there again, just the three of you, while everyone was at dinner."
"Yeah," Ron mumbled. "Sorry, Perc."
Percy stated he had told Ginny that, but she still seemed to think he was going to be expelled. He had never seen her so upset and told Ron to think of her.
"I didn't think Ron was going to be expelled," Ginny frowned.
"I didn't know that." Percy shrugged. "You were too upset for it only to be about Mrs Norris, so I thought you were worried about the rumours that Harry would be expelled." Ginny flushed.
Ron retorted that Percy didn't care about Ginny, he was just worried Ron would mess up his chance of becoming Head Boy.
"Ronald!" Molly scolded.
"You know Percy cares about Ginny," Arthur stated.
"Sorry, Percy," Ron muttered. Percy just nodded, still feeling slightly hurt by the accusation. And a little guilty because he had been a little worried about that. Of course he'd been concerned about Ginny too, but there were a few moments, in the back of his mind, where he had wondered if the rumours about Harry, and Ron by association, would affect his chances. He decided he'd speak to Ron later, in private.
"And your misbehaviour would not reflect on Percy's chances of being Head Boy. He would receive the position or not on his own merit," added Minerva.
Percy deducted five points from Gryffindor and threatened to write to their mother if they did anymore detective work.
"Low blow, using mum," Fred complained.
"After what they got themselves into last year, I didn't want to take risks," Percy stated firmly. "Not that it worked," he added under his breath. Although, if Harry and Ron hadn't ignored him Ginny would have died so, there was that.
He strode off, the back of his neck as red as Ron's ears. They chose seats as far as possible from Percy in the common room that night. Ron was still in a very bad temper and kept blotting his Charms homework. When he tried to remove the smudges with magic, he burnt the parchment.
"Probably should have asked Hermione to do it," Neville winced. "You set more stuff on fire than Seamus that year." Ron grimaced.
"I just kept kind of forgetting."
Ron slammed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 shut and surprisingly, Hermione followed suit. She asked who would want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggleborns out of Hogwarts. Ron pretended to think and then asked who they knew who thought all muggleborns are scum.
"You thought it was me?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"He's hardly the only Slytherin to think that," Andromeda pointed out. "And there will be some in other houses, although with the Heir of Slytherin business, I see why you would focus on that house."
"And Dumbledore said it couldn't be a second year," Remus pointed out.
"Well, we thought he might be controlling the monster which could have petrified Mrs Norris," Hermione argued.
"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or flattered you thought it was me," Draco mused.
"With your ego, I'm sure you'll go with flattered," Harry said dryly. Draco laughed.
He looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, unconvinced. When Hermione asked if he was talking about Malfoy, he agreed, reminding them of his comments on Mudbloods. Then he said they only need to look at his foul rat face to know it was him.
Draco glared at Ron. "Nice to know you think so highly of my abilities."
"Knew it," Harry grinned. Draco turned to glare at him too.
Hermione was sceptical. Harry pointed out his family had been in Slytherin for centuries and could easily be his descendants and his father is definitely evil enough.
Ginny shuddered while Arthur scowled furiously.
"I suppose we weren't entirely wrong," Harry mused quietly. "Lucius did have something to do with it, but Draco didn't."
"You think if Malfoy was actually a descendant of Salazar Slytherin he wouldn't boast about it every single sentence?" George asked sceptically.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be 'my father will hear about this', it would be 'I'm descended from Salazar Slytherin himself, bow to me' for his catchphrase," Harry teased. All of those currently at Hogwarts, except Draco, burst out laughing. He, however, glared at Harry.
Ron said that they could have had the key for centuries, handing it down from father to son.
"If that were the case, there would probably have been a lot more attacks over the years," Sirius pointed out. "Besides, the Malfoy's are originally a French family. They haven't been in Britain long enough to be a descendant of Slytherin."
Hermione cautiously agreed it could be possible. Harry asked how they could prove it.
"Good question. Even if it was Malfoy, he's hardly going to admit it to you," Tonks said.
Hermione said there might be a way, but it would be difficult, dangerous and break about fifty school rules. Ron irritably asked that she let them know if she felt like explaining in a month or so. Hermione stated they needed to get inside the Slytherin common room and question Malfoy without him knowing.
"You're not thinking Polyjuice?" Kingsley asked in astonishment. "That's a sixth-year potion and not easily purchasable."
"Not even the ingredients are easily purchasable. I suppose by owl order, but I expect only Harry has the kind of money to buy boomslang skin and powdered bicorn horn," Bill said slowly.
Snape turned to glower at the trio. "Well, well, I do look forward to hearing how this misadventure plays out."
"You didn't?" Charlie gasped in shock. Hermione turned pink.
"Oh dear," Filius muttered, realising what must have happened.
"Didn't what?" Sirius asked with a frown.
"Steal from Snape to make a sixth-year potion as second years," Moody said with a bark of laughter. "What kind of poor security do you have that three second years can steal from your stores, Snape?" Sirius turned to stare at the trio and then burst out laughing. Snape gritted his teeth.
"The higher-level students have access to the ingredient's cupboard. It is only locked in the evenings and overnight."
"That's my pup!" Sirius howled through his laughter.
"Can we please read?" Hermione begged.
"And quickly remind everyone it was agreed there would be no punishments," Harry put in quickly. Snape narrowed his eyes, recalling a firework in a potion and threatening to expel whoever was responsible. He suspected he was about to find out exactly which one of them did it. His bets were on Potter. For once, not because of his own bias, but because Granger would have caused a less dangerous distraction and Weasley simply wouldn't dare.
Harry stated this was impossible which Hermione refuted. She said they would need some Polyjuice.
"I know you're bright, Hermione, but that's an incredibly advanced potion," Arthur said worriedly.
"It was the only even slight lead that we had, and I was pretty concerned," she stated.
"Of course, but the consequences of getting it wrong…" Andromeda trailed off.
Suddenly the teacher's who hadn't already known, worked out exactly why Hermione Granger had spent a month in the hospital wing as a partial cat.
Harry and Ron both asked what that was. She told them Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago.
"Why? It's not like they study that until N.E.W.T level?" Bill asked curiously.
"It was only a passing mention," Severus stated.
Ron asked if she thought they had nothing better to do than listen to Snape.
Severus glared at him.
"He might be biased, but you should still pay attention. Potions are important," Percy told Ron. Ron shrugged.
Hermione explained it would allow them to transform into Slytherins so they could question Malfoy who was probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room.
"I'm not that stupid, Granger," Draco drawled. The trio all smirked.
Ron said it sounded dodgy and asked what happened if they were stuck looking like Slytherins forever. She told him it wears off, but the problem would be getting hold of the recipe. Snape had mentioned the book it was in, but it was in the Restricted Section.
"Telling them the exact book the recipe is in is hardly a 'passing mention'," Kingsley frowned.
"Yeah. They really don't need to know where to get the recipe as second-years. It seems such a strange thing to mention," Andromeda agreed.
"I did not say the specific recipe for Polyjuice was in that book. The lecture was on simple glamour potions, and I stated that they were not as good as Polyjuice, but they were simpler and cheaper to make. The book was cited as containing many more advanced recipes, including the more advanced glamour potion which gives you random generic features rather than transforming you into a specific person. I assume Miss Granger, unfortunately correctly, took this to assume that Polyjuice was also in the book." Hermione nodded.
There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section: You needed a signed note of permission from a teacher. Ron pointed out that it would be hard to see why they would want the book unless they wanted to make one of the potions.
"Indeed. Nobody in their right mind would allow second years to take out that book," Andromeda agreed.
"Or any book. Second years don't need anything in the Restricted Section," Filius said.
"So, Lockhart it is then," Sirius guessed.
"Of course," Remus groaned.
"He probably wouldn't even look at what book they wanted. He would just assume they wanted his signature," Minerva sighed heavily.
"I dread to think how many other students took advantage of that," Filius muttered.
Hermione said that if they played it off as being interested in the theory, they might stand a chance.
"Still a no from any reasonable teacher," Kingsley said.
Ron stated that no one would fall for that. They would have to be really thick.
"That's the chapter done," Bill announced in relief. "That was long."
"Oh goodie. My turn," Charlie groaned. Bill handed over the book.