"It can't be Draco!" Matthew said grumpily as they took their place at their traditional table in the library, far away from everyone else. Hermione had a stack of books concerning all sorts of magical creatures, focusing on those that could disguise themselves or turn invisible. There was surely no other way of getting about the school unnoticed.

Harry was growing frustrated with his friend. "You're the one who suggested it in the first place! If Dobby belongs to the Malfoys, then Draco has to be the one who opened the Chamber! It makes perfect sense when you think about it. He's the biggest Slytherin since Salazar himself. You have to remember how he treats every Muggleborn in the school and the way he spoke to Hermione that time. All the evidence points to him."

"It's too obvious. If he was behind this, don't you think that he'd be gloating about it? If anything, I'd say he's looked the most scared out of everyone here."

"I'd still be scared of any monster even if I controlled it. That doesn't prove anything."

"He hasn't been the same since Matthew beat him," Hermione added her own thoughts to the conversation. "I'd go as far as describing him as subdued, which I don't really see as a bad thing."

Harry shrugged. "So what? He's scared of Matthew. As he should be. Frankly, I'm terrified of him."

Matthew grinned wolfishly but it was soon replaced with an uncertain frown. "But, if you knew a monster was lurking somewhere in the school, ready to attack anyone you wished, would you be scared? I'd be cocky more than anything. I just…don't think Draco is brave enough to do this. How many times have we seen it? He can talk the talk but when it comes to actually doing something, he always finds a way to chicken out."

"Then we don't have any leads," Harry complained frustratedly. "Just when I thought we were on the brink of finding something."

"Not necessarily," Matthew assured. "We still have Dobby's knowledge to suggest that a Malfoy is involved somehow. Perhaps good old Lucius has discovered a way of getting into the school without being noticed. He is a governor after all. That will probably come with some privileges."

"Dumbledore would know if someone was passing through the school wards," Hermione protested, her belief in authority figures as unwavering as ever.

"The Chamber of Secrets is hundreds of years old and yet to be discovered. What's to say that it doesn't pass under the wards? Or maybe it comes with its own entrance away from school grounds?"

"We're stuck in an endless cycle of hypothesising," Harry moaned, wiping at some crud in the corner of his eyes. He'd had trouble sleeping since the attack had happened, with his dreams plagued by the icy voice that taunted him endlessly. One night, he had given up on sleep entirely, moving into the common room in the hope of doing some late night research. He had sworn that, amidst the gloomy darkness before he'd been able to light a candle, there had been a small figure there with him but, if there had, they had scuttled off before he was able to see more clearly. And, after collapsing onto only the second page of the first book he picked up in exhaustion, Harry had considered the whole matter just a part of his overactive imagination as a result of being awake for too long.

"Then let's try to do this properly. Hermione, have you found anything in those books of yours?"

"There are so many creatures that could fit the bill. Creatures that can shapeshift into practically anything. There's an entire chapter here dedicated to chameleon ghouls. There's every chance that something like that could disguise itself as a suit of armour and walk around the school with no one batting an eyelid." She let out a huff, tapping one of the other books. "The research available on invisible creatures is rather vague and unsubstantiated, I'm afraid. But that's what you'd expect since it's quite tricky to examine a specimen that you can't see. I guess if this person could control Slytherin's monster, then perhaps they would be able to see it? That could be something to look into."

"You don't seem too convinced."

"Is it that easy to tell?" she wondered.

"We've known you long enough to realise when you're not really enjoying reading. Mainly because it happens so rarely."

"The issue is about what happened to Mrs Norris. She was petrified according to Dumbledore and I do believe that Harry heard him correctly. What we saw is the definition of petrification. If she had been killed, her body would have still moved when picked up given how shortly since the attack we found her, but she was frozen solid. The problem with that is that every creature that can disguise itself or turn invisible…none of them are said to have the ability to do that to something as well. I'm at a dead end."

"Well, keep trying," Matthew said encouragingly. "If anyone can figure it out, it's you."

Just at that moment, the sound of the library doors opened, followed by the quiet chatter of a group of Ravenclaws. As they went deeper into the library and wandered unknowingly past their table, the trio were able to see their faces, contorted by evident fear and worry. Matthew put a finger to his lips to tell the others to stay quiet and unmoving as they attempted to listen into the hushed conversation.

"Isn't it just awful?" a girl said. "Another attack."

Harry went rigid with terror as her words sank in. They shared a nervous look but Harry resisted the urge to get up and run in the effort of finding out what happened like he had done last time, mainly because his two friends gave him matching glares.

"They're saying that they found him on the stairs," another member of the group added. "No one knows what he was doing there. They reckon he was trying to find Harry Potter, with how obsessed he was with him."

Harry felt Matthew's hand on top of his, a preemptive strike. Harry's blood had run cold as he'd heard that, as the details fell into place, as it became abundantly clear who the latest victim was.

"I've heard that he was still clutching his camera when they discovered his body," the first girl continued. "Like it was glued to his hands or something. He was always running around with that thing. He wouldn't even drop it when he was about…"

The group moved out of earshot as they turned around a set of bookcases, leaving the remaining trio motionless and in stunned silence. For a few moments, they were unable to think of anything apt to say. They just sat and processed this new information. Harry clenched his fists but it wasn't enough to tame his anger. With a swipe of his arm, he sent a stack of Hermione's books tumbling to the floor, seething at the news. The commotion was enough to bring Madam Pince marching over to their table, where Matthew was already in the process of putting them back neatly with a slow swirl of his wand.

"It was an accident," he assured the librarian, who narrowed her eyes at them before reluctantly leaving. Matthew looked over at the still angry Harry. "Was there really any need for that?"

"It's Colin. Colin Creevey. This monster attacked him! And you want me to stay calm? We could have done something about it but we're sitting here…reading!"

"What would you have had us done?" Hermione asked, truly curious about his answer. She could tell why he was lashing out, having a lack of control over the situation, but she also needed him to understand why that wasn't going to help anyone, especially poor, young Colin Creevey.

"As soon as we figured out what Dobby was talking about and who he was implicating, we should have cornered Malfoy and gotten him to confess straight away. Through any means necessary."

"And when that didn't work, he'd have his father stomping back up to the school, who would do his best to get you kicked out of the school this time," Matthew countered. "There's only so much Dumbledore can do to protect us from Malfoy's constant pressure."

"But you heard what they said! They believe that Colin only got attacked because he was looking for me. So this is my fault! And I owe it to him to do everything I can to stop another person falling victim to this monster. Even if that results in me losing my place at Hogwarts."

"You can't possibly blame yourself for this," Hermione urged pleadingly. "Colin told you himself what sort of background he came from. His dad is a muggle. He would have been a target even if he hadn't vaguely known you so, frankly, you're being a bit ridiculous!"

"Being ridiculous is us not investigating every possible avenue and we now know that it has to be someone in the school who's triggering these attacks. Which means Malfoy is our likeliest culprit."

"You're not going to move away from this line of thinking until you're proven wrong, are you?" Matthew asked with a sigh. "Then I think I have an idea."

xxxxxxxxxx

The three of them were sitting in the Great Hall with the rest of the student populace, with an air of fear and anxiousness hanging over everyone. Previously, when Mrs Norris had been the sole unfortunate victim of the unknown and unseen foe, the attitude had been more relaxed. Perhaps this monster was only interested in attacking animals, which meant they were still somewhat safe, even if they still wanted to be in a school where there was no monster. But now that one of their own had fallen, the threat was becoming more of a dangerous reality. The prospect of being next was a fate that awaited everyone in the hall, at least in their heads. Even the large population of purebloods weren't sure that they were safe, with the monster as mysterious as it was.

Professor McGonagall, her face even more ashen than usual, was walking in between the tables, carrying a scroll of parchment for anyone who was staying at Hogwarts for the festive season. More students were leaving than last year, evidently terrified of spending any more time there than they explicitly had to. What surprised Harry and Matthew was that Hermione joined them in writing her name down, something she hadn't done the year previous.

Matthew looked at her in confusion. "What are you doing? Why are you staying? Don't you want to go and see your parents back home?"

"They're going to France for Christmas to see my grandparents," she explained. "I just don't think it will be the same, leaving Hogwarts and not getting to spend any time actually at home. They did want me to go but I told them that I had far too much work to contend with. And, you'll say I'm being silly, but I was worried about leaving you two on your own, whilst this thing is still out there. Whilst I'm still here, that means I can protect you, or at least keep you out of trouble."

"Out of the three of us, you're the most at risk!" Harry told her. "Don't put yourself in danger just because of us."

"We can look after yourselves," Matthew went on. "Well, I can. And then I'll also look out for Harry." He received a kick in the shins for his remark, which he winced at. "Don't forget what I told you, that you shouldn't take your family for granted. I fear you're doing that right now."

"I've made my choice," Hermione replied stubbornly. "I've also read and heard so much about Christmases at Hogwarts that I convinced myself that I should at least experience it once. So you're stuck with me for an extra few weeks."

"That's the best Christmas present you could give us, I guess. Although I'm still not particularly happy about it."

"When are you ever truly happy?" she shot back at him with a sarcastic smile.

"I'm happy when I eat. I'm happy when I'm tucked up in bed with a good book. I'm happy when someone I don't like slips on a patch of ice, which, by the way, happened to an annoying fifth year, as if the universe was smiling down on me this morning."

"So you're never happy when you're with us?" Hermione raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"To be with actual friends at Christmas time is something far greater than happiness." And it was a wholesome and meaningful response that caught Hermione completely off guard, one of the few times Matthew had shown the other side of his character, where he could be affectionate, where he could show his emotions. People would label it as his vulnerable side but she saw it as a power rather than a weakness.

"Draco's staying at Hogwarts instead of going home," Harry hissed. He had been watching McGonagall go around the hall with the list like a hawk, waiting to see what that particular Slytherin was going to do. "Don't you think that it's slightly suspicious that he'd miss seeing his family, who he claims love him dearly, just when the monster has started attacking students?"

"On that end, I've been having a brainstorm about how to rule Draco out as a potential suspect," Matthew said. "Since you're not letting this rest."

"Shouldn't you be going about this from the perspective that we think Draco is guilty? You're making it sound as if he's innocent already."

"A good detective doesn't allow his prejudices to cloud his judgement."

"I also had an idea," Hermione interrupted before they could start the same debate all over again. "Polyjuice potion! Professor Snape mentioned it a few classes ago. Think about it. We could transform ourselves into three Slytherins and then Draco will no doubt tell us everything. He's probably boasting about it everyday in their common room if he's actually behind it."

"Polyjuice potion?" Matthew echoed. "Don't you think that's a lot of effort? First of all, it takes months to make and perfect and trust me, you want to get a potion that complicated absolutely bang on. Otherwise you'll end up looking like someone else for the rest of your life no doubt and I rather like my face how it is. I'm already bored of Harry going on about Draco and there's every chance that the frequency of attacks could increase, meaning we can't really afford wasting several weeks for the potion to be ready. Secondly, did I mention how complicated it is? The ingredients are incredibly rare and quite disgusting. And, before you suggest we steal them from the store cupboards Snape has, we just about avoided expulsion the other day and he's never been our biggest fan. I wouldn't want to risk poking the bear."

Hermione was pouting. She hated being told no, especially when she thought she'd had a good idea. "And I suppose you have a better suggestion."

"It's not a competition…but yes." He grinned cockily at her look of annoyance. He reached into his cloak, rummaging around, before he produced a delicate, small golden disc. He was able to balance it across two of his fingertips and the other two leant in closely to examine the object.

"What is it?" Harry breathed, as if he was scared that he could blow it away if he spoke too loudly.

"That…is a listening and recording device. If we get this onto Draco's person and activate it, we'll be able to hear every conversation he has. Without us being around, it'd only be a matter of time before he reveals something, either supporting my theory or your incorrect one. And, since it records, if it turns out that he is guilty, we'll have the evidence we need to get him locked up."

Hermione didn't look as convinced. "Where did you get this from? It's definitely not something you can get from the shops. Either in the Muggle or wizarding world."

"I made it," Matthew replied simply.

"You made it?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I have hobbies away from you two?"

"When did you make it?"

"Recently. At night, away from prying eyes. I've never been a big sleeper anyway. And the snoring in our dorm room is awful. Tinkering gives me a bit of peace."

"Where did you get the parts?"

" Magic ," he said with an infuriating wink.

Hermione held out a hand. "May I?" She was happy to see that he willingly obliged, tenderly putting it onto her palm. Her incessant need to know things was fueling her curiosity. "This is a beautiful creation. How did you make it?"

"There was something very similar in Dumbledore's office when I was cleaning and, instead of stealing that because I knew he'd notice and obviously realise who was culpable, it inspired me to craft my own. So fingers crossed that it works, otherwise I've wasted a lot of my free time."

"This tiny thing could allow us to listen into Draco's personal conversations without him realising?" Harry asked, slowly running a finger over it.

"As long as I can get close enough to him to put it on him, then yes. And you're not to tell anyone about it. This sort of technology could lead to chaos in the wrong hands."

"It's truly brilliant."

Matthew snatched it from him quickly as more students took the seats closest to them. Ron Weasley landed heavily on the bench next to Hermione, who glared at his oblivious obnoxiousness. He was in conversation with Seamus Finnegan, both of them looking more excited than they normally did before the start of a school day.

"Have you seen the flyers outside the hall?" Ron was saying, already assessing what food was on offer this time, though he was never fussy.

"Yeah," Seamus replied. "An actual duelling club, starting tonight! That'll come in handy, what with everything that's going on here."

"Because, if you come face to face with a giant monster, it'll give you time to start duelling," Matthew inputted sardonically. "A wand against giant teeth…I know what I'd put my money on."

"But we know that someone must be letting the monster out and controlling it," Harry pointed out. "So we could duel them. This could be very useful. You showed it yourself how duelling properly can work to your advantage. I wonder if Malfoy will be brave enough to show his face."

"Fine," Matthew begrudgingly accepted. "As long as it's not taught by that pompous, grinning, wig-wearing imbecile."

When it turned out that it was, in fact, the pompous, grinning, wig-wearing imbecile that Matthew had spoken who was taking charge of the duelling club, Matthew had rolled his eyes and attempted to walk out, only for Harry to stubbornly block his path, trapping him inside. The Great Hall was looking vastly different to its usual visage, with the long tables not present, instead replaced by a thin stage that ran through the centre of the chamber. Lockhart was standing at the head of it, posing as if he were some magnificent sight. Most of the students near to him were girls, ogling over his dashing good looks and winning smile, but they were happy to see that Hermione had stuck by them, hopefully a sign that his charm was finally wearing off on their friend.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all!" Lockhart boomed, enjoying the attention being solely on him. He began to stalk the stage, walking up and down it. "You have all chosen spectacularly to join me here tonight. Can you see me? Can you hear me? I assure you that you will not want to miss one second of tutelage from such a fine wizard as myself." He was too ignorant to hear both Harry and Matthew sniggering at that. "Now, Professor Dumbledore has agreed to allow me to start this little duelling club, so that you may learn how to defend yourselves if you are ever stuck in the sort of situations I constantly find myself in. Situations of danger and peril, which you can read in all of my published works, which are priced extremely reasonably."

He turned with a flourish, whipping his cloak off and throwing it into the crowd, much to the delight of the female contingent who it landed on. "Please may I introduce my assistant for tonight, Professor Snape!"

The back entrance to the hall slammed open and the potion's master, dressed in all black like he always was but without his billowing cloak, marched in. Harry was just as surprised as everyone that he of all people had agreed to be a part of this.

"He has sportingly accepted the role in the pursuit of teaching your young, fine minds," Lockhart continued, smiling despite Snape's constant frown. "And I don't want any of you to worry. You'll still have your potion's master after I'm through with him. Now shall we begin?"

The two men, one smirking, the other wearing a snarl, walked crisply to the centre of the stage, faced one another, and then bowed (although Snape's version was closer to a twitch of his head). Then they took five paces in opposite directions, swivelled on their heels, and pointed their wands. Lockhart confidently counted to three, but it was the Slytherin who was quicker to react, and a well timed Expelliarmus went spiralling into Lockhart with a crimson blow. He was sent into the air, before sliding further along the stage on his back. Some of the students (mainly the boys) laughed at the sight, whilst some gasped in horror.

Lockhart struggled to get to his feet with the same grace he'd been purporting so far. "Ah, there you have it! A very vital lesson for you all there. The disarming charm. As you can see, it's incredibly useful and rather effective. Although I would like to point out that it was rather obvious what Professor Snape was going to do and, if I'd wanted to stop it, I would have done so with ease. I just wanted the students to see its effects in action."

Snape was close to letting out a growl and, showing more common sense than he usually did, Lockhart saw fit to quickly divert the conversation. "Perhaps it would be prudent to have some volunteers, to see if they have learnt anything from our display." His eyes roamed the crowd and Harry knew what was going to happen before it did. "Ah, Potter, why don't you come on up? And…oh, how about Mister Malfoy? A tale as old as time, Gryffindor against Slytherin."

Malfoy looked hesitant to move and it was Snape who intervened. "I believe it would be best to choose another volunteer. I say that only because I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will wish for this club to promote more…unison between the Houses…and having the same old battles acted out will only…hinder that goal. I suggest we do something a little different. Wouldn't it be interesting to see two lions do battle? Potter against Mormont, perhaps?"

Harry's eyes went wide. Hermione squeaked. Even Matthew didn't look particularly impressed. But Lockhart already had a gleam in his eyes, whilst Snape was almost smirking behind his back. "An excellent decision! Come on, you two. Put on a show for our crowd."

Harry wasn't sure about this. The one person in the school he wouldn't want to face was Matthew since he'd seen what he was capable of, and that was with him clearly holding back. But, with the eyes of everyone on him, he scrambled onto the stage, waiting for Matthew to walk past the Slytherins to the other end. As they both lined up, they wandered to the centre of the platform. Matthew was the first to bow, Harry doing so a bit more shakily.

"On the count of three," Lockhart declared. "One…two…three!"

Matthew didn't react and, not knowing what else to do, Harry waved his wand. "Expelliarmus!"

Almost lazily, his 'opponent' sidestepped out of the way, and the spell narrowly missed Snape, ending up crashing into the wall behind. Still Matthew didn't fire a spell, infuriating Harry for some reason.

"Stop taking it easy on me!" he shouted and fired again.

Matthew ducked but, this time, as he came up, he flicked his wand upwards and a golden beam shot out, catching Harry in the stomach. He collapsed onto the ground and began to laugh uncontrollably, before Matthew sent another charm his way, putting an end to his forced humour. Harry was far from happy with how easy Matthew had made it look, hoping to catch his friend off guard with an unexpected attack. But he didn't get the chance to do it as, when he staggered back to his feet, he found that none of the students were looking at him. Their eyes were trained over to where Matthew was standing, who was staring down at a snake that had somehow appeared in front of him. It looked poised to attack, angry with its sharp fangs glinting against the candlelight above. Matthew looked more curious than concerned but Harry didn't register any of that, instead immediately wanting to protect the friend he had just been planning on surprising.

"Leave him alone!" he shouted, almost foolishly because why would a snake listen to him? And yet the animal registered his voice and cowered backwards, obeying his simple order. Harry was stunned. The rest of the crowd did too, staring at him with wide mouths and eyes. Even Matthew was staring at him in evident fascination before he flicked his wand at the snake, causing it to sputter out of existence. No one registered his act of casual magic. Everyone was too busy looking fearfully at Harry. Lockhart looked bemused, probably because the attention was no longer on him. Snape's expression was frustratingly unreadable.

Unable to move, Harry felt his collar being tugged and suddenly Matthew was by his side, moving him away from the stage, away from the hall. Hermione was following behind, looking shaken by what had just happened.

"Move out of the way!" Matthew barked as he barged his way through the crowd. They obliged obediently and soon the trio were in the safety of the corridors beyond, able to breathe for what felt like the first time in years, when the events had only taken place over a matter of seconds.

"Where did that snake come from?" Harry asked in a high pitched voice, nervous for a reason he couldn't yet understand.

"Malfoy," Hermione answered. "I saw him mutter the spell under his breath whilst he was in the crowd watching."

That confused Harry. "Why would he do that?"

"Obviously to try to put me off," Matthew said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He'll still be sore about me beating him and would have wanted someone else to get revenge if he couldn't have the opportunity, even if that meant you winning the duel. But that really isn't the important thing right now." He was pacing furiously, practically wearing a hole into the ground.

"What is with everyone?" Harry wondered. "It's like I've killed someone! All I did was stop that snake from attacking you."

"You're a parselmouth," Matthew tiredly wiped a hand across his face. "I wish you had just left it up to me to deal with it because we wouldn't be in this mess now."

"Hold on, I'm a what?"

"Parselmouth," Hermione told him. "You can talk to snakes."

"Well, yeah. It's only happened twice though. The first time was when I was in London Zoo and a Boa Constrictor told me it wanted to go to Brazil. I always wonder if it made it."

"Boa…constrictor…" Matthew murmured slowly, trying to wrap his head around this latest development. "Harry, this is bad. Very bad."

"Why? I'm sure lots of people can talk to snakes. People can communicate with other animals. I think. I'm sure I read that somewhere."

"Not snakes. Definitely not snakes. The only person I can think of who famously could talk to snakes is…"

"Who?" Harry asked urgently.

"Salazar Slytherin," Hermione finished grimly. "That's why the serpent is the symbol of Slytherin house."

"As you're probably realising, having a connection to him of all people right now isn't exactly ideal," Matthew continued. "I'm sure rumours are already starting to spread about you being distantly related."

"But I'm not!" Harry yelled desperately. Surely he wasn't. That wasn't possible. He was a Gryffindor! But hadn't the sorting hat wanted to put him in Slytherin on his first day? The memory washed over him like icy water.

"It doesn't matter if you're not. Rumours are powerful things, never requiring actual truth in them. Everyone is searching the school for Slytherin's heir and you've just gone to the front of the list in everyone's eyes. But, hey, it's not all bad news."

"How could it possibly not be all bad news?" Harry moaned.

"Because we're going to get a chance to see if the next person on the list is connected to the Chamber. Malfoy didn't even flinch when I slipped that device on him."

xxxxxxxxxx

The entire school gossiping about his new found talent had the potential of taking the shine off his Christmas, but Harry did his best to try and ignore the curious (and often fearful) stares he was receiving. After all, most of his time in the wizarding world had been dominated by people looking at him, wanting to be in his presence. This time, he got the looks but no one was willing to bug him, or even come close to him, which could be seen as a positive when he had so much on his mind. And, as a kid, Christmas always had the knack of being special, no matter the circumstances.

It felt immediately different this year to the last, mainly because Hermione was there to celebrate with them. She was already up and about by the time they ventured down into the common room on Christmas morning, both carrying hot chocolates, the same that Harry had been introduced to exactly a year before. Hermione was pleased to find one appearing next to her on the table by their armchairs, with extra marshmallows. Matthew told her that she had to make the most of not being around her dentist parents, hence the extra sugary sweetness.

When it came to presents, Harry was still stunned to find that he got any, even if it was foolish to think that his friends wouldn't get him anything. The Dursleys sent him a cheap card with a toothpick attached, along with the question of whether he could stay at Hogwarts for the summer holidays too. He was seriously tempted by the suggestion. The trio all received treacle fudge from Hagrid, though Harry silently noted that he was given a slightly larger slab of the sticky treat. He received a fine quill from Hermione that was supposed to make writing essays more comfortable, which would obviously come in handy. And Matthew had gifted them both copies of the photo Colin Creevey had taken of them by the tree, neatly framed, their happy faces smiling at them. The only dampener on the occasion was that they served as a reminder of the fate that had befallen the photographer.

Harry made up for his faux pas of not getting presents last year by buying in advance in the Summer, allowing the pair to unwrap a large box that turned out to be a magical board game he'd stumbled across in Diagon Alley. He was even more happy about his idea since it would give them something to do in the common room to distract them from work, or the puzzle of the Chamber. Along with packets of sweets for them each, he felt that he had treated them as they deserved.

They were about to set up the game when the doors to the common room slammed open and a gaggle of redheads swarmed into the room. A young girl that Harry didn't really know but had spotted occasionally was in tears, a strange reaction at Christmas. She was being led by the Weasley twins, who guided her into a seat in the corner. It was too empty to even pretend like they hadn't noticed the sudden disturbance, and the girl looked especially distressed that Harry had picked up on her sorry state. Matthew, frowning, stood up from the table and wandered over, with the other two quickly following.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked briskly, Hermione glaring at him for his rudeness.

"Haven't you heard?" one of the twins responded (it was impossible to tell which one). "There's been another attack."