I would like to state that I am not good at writing accents, it's part of the reason why I mostly explained what Hagrid said instead of having him say it, I can tell accents are probably going to be difficult for me to write, I used a website that helps write dialogue for Hagrid so I apologize if there are any mistakes.

Chapter 29

That Saturday something new had happened, Harry had asked Nick to guide him to the hospital wing again but the ghost informed him that he couldn't, he informed Harry that McGonagall was going to make an announcement at breakfast and wanted all the students present in the common room. Harry was disappointed to hear this but Nick agreed to take him to the hospital wing as soon as he can, Harry thanked the ghost and decided to head back upstairs, he didn't want to wait in the common room while the students gathered.

When it was time for breakfast McGonagall had sent the ghosts to gather the students, after a few minutes all the Gryffindors came down to the common room, many of them still felt tired. Harry stood with his year mates and waited to hear what the announcement was about; he heard some whispering but he ignored it. He hadn't noticed the whole time McLaggen was glaring daggers at him, after having regained consciousness yesterday McLaggen heard students were talking about how he had been humiliated by Harry, he tried insulting Harry for attacking him by surprise but the students were quick to point out how he tried to attack Harry while his back was turned, many were saying that was a cowardly move for a Gryffindor.

McGonagall raised her hand and soon everyone quieted down, "I understand that many of you have been feeling cooped up in here, over the last few days the headmaster and professors have been trying to find out more about the attacks and discussing what we should do, we have decided that your classes will resume starting Monday." She raised her hand again and stopped the complaining she knew would follow, once she saw certain students closed their mouths she continued, "Starting today the heads of houses will guide their students to the great hall for every meal, when classes resume then your professors will have you line up to follow them to your classes. There will be ghosts watching to make sure everyone is following, if for any reason you need to leave then you must ask a ghost to guide you to where you need to go." Once she was certain everyone understood, Professor McGonagall had them all line up before they made their way to the great hall.

Breakfast was mostly uneventful, there were some students that were glad they could leave their common room, although a majority still worried about more attacks happening. Harry could hear a few rumors going around and heard his name was whispered a few times, however he didn't care what they were saying about him. Over the last few days there were many students who tried to claim they always believed him, they tried to act like the days before the attack hadn't happened, he decided to ignore the rest of the students and instead focus on his friends. He was glad to hear Sally-Anne was doing better, he had asked her about what she had been working on and found out she was finding every mistake in Lockhart's books. He asked Neville if there were any new plants he was planning to get for his greenhouses, he then listened as the excited boy talked about venomous tentaculas.

Halfway through breakfast Harry and his friends had gotten some letters, a total of six school owls had arrived in the great hall and dropped off letters for some of the students. Harry looked at the letter and saw it was from Professor Flitwick, the Professor was informing them that they would still be having their lessons after lunch, he had spoken to the ghosts already and asked them to guide them to the dueling room after lunch. Flitwick saw they all received their letters before they looked to him and nodded, they were glad to know their dueling lessons weren't canceled.

Once Harry finished his breakfast, he left the great hall with Nick guiding him, he was at least glad that the professors were watching everyone since it meant Malfoy couldn't do anything in the great hall, he doubted he'd be able to stop himself if the git tried to say something. On the way to the hospital wing Harry suddenly heard a nervous voice call him, "H-Harry."

Nick stopped and Harry turned to see who it was, to his surprise it was Myrtle. Harry hadn't seen the ghost girl since December, he remembered the last time he spoke to her was when he snapped at her for making fun of Hermione. "Myrtle, what are you doing here?"

The girl didn't say anything at first, she kept her head down and seemed to be working up the courage to say something, finally she spoke up, "I uh, I wanted… I wanted to apologize!" She blurted out the last part, before Harry could respond, she continued, "It's been months since any of you have come to my bathroom, I hate how quiet my bathroom has become! I don't hear the sound of a bubbling cauldron anymore, I don't hear any of your conversations anymore, I don't even get to speak to any of you anymore! You're the only ones who have spoken to me in fifty years, I'm sorry about what I said, I still want to be your friend!"

By the end the ghost girl was crying, Harry was taken aback by what Myrtle just said, he hadn't realized how much she enjoyed having them visit her. He felt a bit uncomfortable since he didn't know how to comfort a crying girl, he decided to speak up, "Myrtle… I'm not the one you should be apologizing too." The girl looked at him while still crying, "Hermione is the one you should be apologizing to, when she was suffering from her potions accident you were making fun of her, I don't like it when my friends hurt each other."

At that Myrtle looked guilty, she lowered her head and said, "I… I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have said those things, I acted like how my bullies would act. I… I wanted to approach sooner but I couldn't, I kept watching you with your friends, I told the teachers when someone attacked you but I couldn't approach."

Harry decided to ask "Myrtle, when Hermione recovers, do you think you can apologize to her?"

She nodded, "I will."

She saw Harry give her a slight smile at that before saying, "I'm glad to hear that, I'd still want to be your friend, Myrtle."

Hearing that made the ghost girl happy, without thinking she rushed over and tried to hug him while thanking him, she passed through him and Harry felt himself shiver as though he had ice water dumped on him. Myrtle started to apologize but Harry waved it off saying it was fine, Myrtle seemed cheerful again and thanked him again before leaving, Nick told him that was very kind of him to befriend her.

Harry once again visited the hospital wing and spent the entire time talking to Hermione and holding her hand, he informed her about the announcement McGonagall had made and promised to take plenty of notes for her in class. He spent the rest of the visit reading to her until his hour was up and he had to leave, he promised he'd be back tomorrow after breakfast.

When it was time for their dueling lessons Harry and Neville were guided by Nick from the great hall, both boys looked at the space in between them where Hermione would usually be. They met up with Susan and Hannah while Daphne and Tracey waited a bit longer before heading to the dueling room. Flitwick spent the lesson having them continue to practice with their shields, he thought of moving onto the next lesson but with everything going on he didn't want to push them too much.

The weekend quickly passed and soon Monday had started and the students were returning to their classes. Harry and his friends followed Lockhart to the classroom along with a few ghosts, the students felt annoyed as Lockhart continued to talk about how safe they were with him and what he would do if the monster showed itself. When the lesson came to an end the Professor led them to their next lesson, in charms Flitwick had them go over the freezing charm and shrinking charm before practicing the tickling charm, the last charm did manage to cheer up some of the students so the mood wasn't as gloomy as before. Harry made sure to write down plenty of notes for charms so Hermione could study them once she recovered, when they got to history, he tried to listen to the professor but felt like he was going to fall asleep, instead he decided to write down notes from his book since it was easier than trying to listen to Binns.

After dinner he made his way to the hospital wing to visit Hermione, he continued to hold her hand as he talked about their classes, he promised her he'd take plenty of notes so she'd be able to study everything she was missing. He knew how much Hermione liked to learn so he hoped his notes were good enough, he spent the rest of his visit reading one of her favorite books to her.

When Madam Pomfrey kicked him out, he promised Hermione he'd visit again tomorrow, he decided to spend the rest of his free time practicing in the dueling room. After some time, he had just finished casting multiple spells at the targets before sitting down to read, he grabbed his copy of Hogwarts: A History and flipped open to the page he left off of. The next few pages were about students who had received awards for special services to the school. Harry read about students that created useful spells that are still used today, he read about how a student managed to lure away a dragon from the school long enough for help to arrive, he chuckled a bit as he remembered Norbert and wondered if it would count as getting rid of a dragon. Harry continued to read until he read about one award being given to a student named Tom Marvolo Riddle, the award had been for capturing the student responsible for several attacks which resulted in students being put in the hospital wing and one being killed, he sat up when he read the student responsible for the attacks was named Rubeus Hagrid.

Harry looked at the year it happened and he saw it matched up with the last time the chamber had been opened, he remembered what Malfoy said and he realized Hagrid was the one blamed for the attacks and Tom Marvolo Riddle was the heir. Harry rushed back to the common room to find Neville and Ron, he needed to tell them right away, he arrived at the common room and spotted the two of them, Ron was playing chess by himself while Neville was working on some homework.

Harry approached the two and said "Meet me in the dorm, now!"

The two were surprised but before they could ask a question Harry already rushed up the stairs, some of the students looked confused so Neville and Ron glanced at each other before quickly following after Harry. Once the three were alone in the dorm Ron asked "Harry, what's going on?"

Harry opened up his book and said "I know who the heir is!"

They read the part he pointed two and the two boys were stunned to see Hagrid was the student that was expelled, Ron said "Malfoy said the heir framed another student so Tom Riddle is the heir?"

Harry nodded and said "That's all it says about them so we need to talk to Hagrid, we've hardly talked to him this year so we need to find out what he knows. I've never heard of the house of Riddle; it wasn't one of the families that claimed to be descendants of Slytherin."

Neville spoke up, "That's because there isn't a house Riddle, there aren't any wizards with that name, but look at his middle name," Neville pointed at the name, "Susan said there were three people in the house of Gaunt, Morfin, Merope, and…"

"Marvolo." All three said.

Harry looked at the name again and said "So he's from the house of Gaunt, but why wasn't he mentioned?"

"Maybe Hagrid will know, he could remember him." Ron suggested.

The three boys saw it was close to curfew so they needed to wait before going to visit Hagrid, while Neville and Ron played a round of chess to pass the time Harry kept reading his book, he looked at the name of the heir and felt an unusual feeling from seeing the name.

It became late and when they heard their dorm mates were asleep Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and snuck out with Ron and Neville, the three boys made their way through the castle and they noticed just how many ghosts were patrolling the halls now, they spotted a few teachers and even froze when they had noticed Snape as well, thankfully they weren't caught. The three managed to sneak out of the castle and made their way to Hagrid's hut, Harry contacted Hedwig through their bond and asked her to keep an eye out for anyone, she agreed to help. Once they arrived Harry knocked on the door and they heard Fang start to bark, soon the door opened and Hagrid pointed a crossbow demanding to know who was there.

"Hagrid, it's us."

"Harry?" They pulled off the cloak and all three boys appeared, "What are ye doin here?"

"Hagrid, we want to talk to you about the time you were expelled."

They could see Hagrid looked worried at that but invited them in, as soon as he closed the door Hagrid started speaking, "Harry, ye have to believe me, ey swear ey wasn't the one responsible for the attacks, ey would never harm a student!"

The three were surprised but Harry was quick to try and calm him down, "Hagrid, we know it wasn't you, we believe you!"

"Really?"

They nodded and Neville asked "Hagrid, we wanted to talk to you about a student you went to school with, his name was Tom Riddle."

Hagrid looked confused and asked "Tom? What about him?"

Harry explained, "Hagrid, we believe that Tom Riddle is the heir of Slytherin."

Hagrid was stunned before asking "What? What do ye mean?"

Harry explained that they had heard a rumor that a student was framed for opening the chamber and that the heir was the one that framed him, he didn't mention how they heard it from Malfoy since he'd be admitting to more, however it seemed to be enough for Hagrid to believe.

Hagrid started cursing for a few moments before saying "So Tom was responsible for the attacks but he still decided to blame Aragog, if ey ever see him again I'll-"

Harry cut him off, "Who's Aragog?"

"He's my acromantula, he-"

He was cut off by Ron yelling "You had a bloody acromantula?!"

Harry could see both Neville and Ron were shocked by this, Harry asked "What's an acromantula?"

Neville answered, "They are dangerous magical spiders, they can grow to be big and it's said they developed a taste for human flesh, the ministry classified them as XXXXX dangerous creatures."

At that Hagrid spoke up, "They aren't dangerous, they're just misunderstood, they know how to speak to people and Aragog promised me he'd never hurt a student, he's always happy when Fang and ey go to visit him."

All three stared at Hagrid and both Neville and Ron yelled "You still have it!?"

Hagrid nodded at that and said "He's livin in the forest with his children."

Ron seemed to shudder at that before Harry interrupted, "Ok, that's not what we wanted to ask, we want to know more about Tom Riddle and the chamber."

Hagrid took a moment to think before saying "Ey don't remember much about Tom, ey haven't seen him since he graduated."

Harry asked "What do you remember about him from school?"

Hagrid had to think about it before saying "Ey think he was a prefect at the time, a lot of the teachers liked him and he was a good student, but ey remember Aragog didn't like him."

Hearing him mention Aragog Harry asked "Why didn't Aragog like him, what happened the year the chamber opened?"

"Aragog said there was something dangerous in the castle that scared him, he wanted to run away. He told me he felt something was off about Tom, said his magic wasn't normal. He panicked when Tom came to blame me and tried to run away, Tom tried to kill him but I pushed him, his spell still blinded Aragog. Ey didn't find Aragog until after Headmaster Dippet expelled me, Dumbledore protected me and brought me back to work at Hogwarts."

Hearing that Neville asked "Hagrid, we've been searching the library for information about the last attack but we haven't found anything, do you know why?"

"At the time the headmaster was under a lot of pressure, everyone was demandin he'd do somethin about the attacks, when Tom blamed me for the attacks, he was ready to believe him even when Dumbledore tried to defend me. He didn't want anyone talkin about the chamber or the attacks so he punished anyone who did, he made sure none of the books said anything about the attacks since it looked bad on him."

The three were shocked to hear this, it explained why they couldn't find anything. Harry asked "Do you know what the monster is, how did it petrify students, who did it kill?"

Harry wanted to find out what the monster is and how they can stop it, before Hagrid could speak Harry heard Hedwig through their bond, "Harry, three people are approaching the hut!"

"Ey think seven students were petrified, ey don't-"

Harry cut Hagrid off, "Someone is coming!"

Hagrid moved to the window and peaked before saying "It's Dumbledore!"

Harry quickly grabbed the cloak and covered himself along with Ron and Neville, they waited until soon there was a knock at the door, Hagrid opened it and was greeted by Dumbledore along with a man wearing a pinstriped suit and carried a lime green bowler hat. Ron whispered loud enough for them to hear, "That's the minister, Cornelius Fudge."

They then saw the third person there with him and all three glared when they saw it was Malfoy. Hagrid became upset when he saw Malfoy and was tempted to slam the door in his face but the man let himself in, Malfoy didn't even attempt to hide his look of disgust when he looked around the hut. They listened as the adults talked and Fudge talked about how the news of the chamber was causing some panic, he mentioned how it was looking bad on the ministry since four students were petrified and one of them was even a half blood, they needed to be seen as doing something about it, he told Hagrid he was there to arrest him and take him to Azkaban.

Harry nearly yelled at that but Neville managed to cover his mouth in time, Harry was wondering why they weren't offering him veritaserum to prove he's innocent. Dumbledore tried to say he believed Hagrid wasn't behind the attacks but Malfoy said he was expelled for it last time, he even told Dumbledore that since he's responsible for the safety of the students then he's being blamed for the attacks, the board of Governors had voted to have Dumbledore removed. Neville gasped at that before whispering that his gran would never agree to that, he realized he used her absence to get rid of Dumbledore. They noticed Hagrid was trembling when they mentioned Azkaban and said they can't throw him to the dementors.

Fudge was saying it needed to be done but then Malfoy spoke up, "You know, minister, there is another culprit in Hogwarts, there have even been many students claiming he can speak parseltongue and saw him order a snake to attack a defenseless student," Neville and Ron looked at Harry and could see he looked nervous thinking they'd try to take him too, "Right now our number one concern should be the safety of the students, if the students feel that Potter is a danger than he needs to be removed, otherwise you'll just have more parents sending you howlers demanding to know why you didn't protect their children."

Fudge looked down and seemed to think about what Malfoy suggested, "That is true, I suppose-"

"Yer wrong!"

Everyone turned to Hagrid as he seemed to be glaring at Malfoy, he continued, "Yer wrong abou' tha'. 'arry is one o' the kindest people I know and it's absolutely cods wallop to go acusin' 'im of being the 'eir o' Slytherin."

Malfoy seemed to glare at Hagrid and Harry was surprised to hear what Hagrid said. Hagrid approached the minister and said "Alrigh' minister, I'll go with ye quietly, but don' you go thinking for even a second tha' 'arry is guilty o' any o' this just cos 'e can speak ta snakes."

Dumbledore seemed to nod along and said "Indeed, it certainly won't look good on you especially if Skeeter hears about it."

The minister seemed to pale when Skeeter was mentioned before he said "Very well, let's go, Hagrid."

Hagrid started to follow but Fang started whining and even tried to bite Hagrid's clothes to keep him from leaving, Hagrid pet Fang and said "It'll be alrigh' Fang…" He looked towards the corner where Harry and his friends were before saying "If ye need someone to help ye then just follow the spiders."

Fudge and Malfoy looked confused but Dumbledore simply smiled and said, "Indeed, help certainly comes to those who ask for it."

The four adults soon left and Hagrid closed the door behind him, they waited until they were certain they were gone before Harry threw off the cloak, he glared towards the door and said "Damn it! We finally found answers but Fudge and Malfoy decided to get rid of Hagrid before he could tell us more! Damn it!"

Ron sat on a nearby sofa and asked "What are we going to do?"

Fang came over to Harry and whined so Harry started to pet him, it helped him calm down. Harry thought about what Hagrid said before saying "We need to find Aragog."

WHAT!?" Both boys yelled.

Harry explained, "Hagrid said Aragog felt something that year, he might know what the monster is and he can tell us more about Tom Riddle, Hagrid said he's in the forest so we just need to find him."

Ron decided to speak up first, "Harry, you are talking about finding a bloody acromantula, Hagrid even said it had kids so they'll likely eat you before you get the chance to talk to it!"

Neville spoke up next, "Ron is right, maybe we shouldn't, they're dangerous for a reason even if Hagrid said Aragog promised to never harm a student."

Harry said "We can't just do nothing, Dumbledore and Hagrid were the only ones who could give us answers but now they're gone, Aragog might be able to help us since it'll prove Hagrid's innocent."

Neville asked "How are we even going to find him, the forbidden forest is huge so we can't just search the forest hoping to find him."

Harry turned to Fang and asked "Fang, can you take us to Aragog?"

Fang just barked before seeming to whine, he guessed he couldn't. Harry asked "What about what Hagrid said about following the spiders?"

This time Ron spoke up, "I haven't seen any spiders in Hogwarts in a while, I remember seeing them last year but this year they seem to be gone."

Harry realized they were all gone, the spiders fled Hogwarts, for some reason that sounded familiar but he wasn't sure where he heard it. The three boys decided to head back to the castle and think about what they needed to do; Harry needed to find a way to find Aragog.

The next morning the students woke up early for their heads of houses to take them to breakfast, Harry wasn't looking forward to today since his first class after breakfast was potions. He kept trying to think of a way they can find Aragog, he wondered if he could try transfiguring a spider and see if it'll lead him to Aragog. At breakfast some of the students started to whisper when they noticed that Dumbledore was gone and so was Hagrid, McGonagall stood up and announced that Dumbledore had been removed as headmaster and she would be acting as headmistress in the meantime, this caused some more panic among the students to hear Dumbledore was gone. McGonagall mentioned that Hagrid had been removed from Hogwarts as well but didn't give a reason why. The students started to wonder what happened but soon from the Slytherin table Malfoy mentioned that Hagrid was responsible for the attacks last time.

Malfoy was glad to see his father removed Dumbledore like he wanted, he talked about how it wouldn't be long before the Governors would appoint someone else as headmaster. He even brought up about how Hagrid was the one blamed for the chamber being opened last time, he could already hear the rumors going around and it made him smile, he knew Harry cared about Hagrid and wondered if it would make him angry. He glanced over at where Harry was sitting but saw Harry wasn't reacting, he frowned at this since he wanted to make Harry angry enough that he'd do something to get himself in trouble. He thought of something and whispered it to Crabbe and Goyle, Daphne was close enough to hear what he said.

When breakfast came to an end the professors had the students line up in order to take them to their first class, Malfoy and his group stood close to the Gryffindors since he wanted Harry to hear what he would say. Malfoy was counting on Harry to become angry enough that he'd try to cast a spell at him, he stood far enough that he'd hear the incantation first and quickly sidestep it, that'll be enough for Snape to punish Harry.

Once he saw Harry was standing between Ron and Neville he started, "I have to say the school hasn't been this good in a long time, the mudbloods are terrified and know their place and the two most useless people have been removed from Hogwarts, everything is getting better."

The three boys heard this but Neville told Harry to just ignore him.

Parkinson asked "Who do you think the monster will go after next?"

Malfoy smirked and said "Who knows, thankfully it already went after the worst mudbloods here, especially when it went after that halfbreed."

Harry stiffened when he heard that, he realized Malfoy was talking about Hermione and Fay.

Malfoy continued, "This school feels so much better without that mudblood and halfbreed, I can actually breathe again without feeling the need to gag."

The three boys glared but Neville noticed Snape was close so he told them, "He's trying to get us in trouble, just ignore him."

Harry did his best to ignore him, he knew what Malfoy was trying to do, Malfoy continued, "You know, it's too bad the last attack was just a petrification, after all, this school would be so much better with one less mudblood in it!"

Harry felt something snap, Malfoy and his group started laughing at what he said. Malfoy listened closely waiting to hear an incantation so he could sidestep the spell, however Malfoy was caught off guard when he felt someone grab his shoulder and turn him around, he was about to yell at whoever grabbed him but was cut off when Harry's fist crashed into Malfoy's nose. Malfoy yelped in pain and stumbled back as he covered his nose and closed his eyes, however before he could say something he had the wind knocked out of him when Harry suddenly tackled Malfoy sending them both to the ground. Malfoy opened his eyes and saw the angry look Harry was giving him before he started punching him.

Malfoy's yelp then shrieks caught everyone's attention, Parkinson screamed when she saw Harry attack Malfoy, Harry heard some yelling and he thought he might have heard some of the teachers but he didn't care, he just thought about how much he hated Malfoy and kept punching him aiming for his face. Crabbe and Goyle moved to protect Malfoy, Harry felt Goyle grab him by the hair while Crabbe grabbed onto his robes but he didn't stop punching Malfoy. Goyle was about to punch Harry when suddenly Ron tackled Goyle knocking him away from his friend, the two got into a fight. Neville was quick to cast petrificus totalus on Crabbe, the Slytherin boy soon stiffened and fell over.

The teachers were yelling for Harry to stop but he didn't listen, Malfoy managed to throw a punch and hit Harry but he ignored it before aiming a punch for his eye. Harry felt two hands suddenly grab him and pull him away, he saw Snape grab Malfoy and help him up, Malfoy's face was bruised and his nose was still bleeding.

Before anyone could say anything, Harry glared at Malfoy and yelled "What the hell is your problem!?" Everyone turned to Harry, he continued to shout, "What did Hermione do to make you hate her this much, how horrible of a person do you have to be to want someone to die just because of their blood status?!"

Everyone remained silent, Snape however yelled "That's enough, Potter!"

Harry turned to Snape and said "He called Hermione that word and said-"

Snape cut him off, "Silence! This is not about Mr. Malfoy; this is about you and your arrogan-"

Harry glared up at Snape and locked eyes with him, "Of course you would defend him, that just makes me wonder how many times you've used that word!"

Snape became silent and almost looked like he had just been punched, McGonagall finally spoke up, "Enough! I demand to know what exactly happened!"

Harry realized McGonagall was the one holding him, he quickly explained what he heard Malfoy say about Hermione and the other petrified students. Malfoy then called Harry a liar saying he said no such thing. Both Neville and Ron spoke up saying they heard him too.

Snape seemed to snap out of it before glaring and saying "Of course they would lie for Potter, they'd want to get them in trouble!"

Some of the Gryffindors spoke up too saying they heard it; Harry could see his year mates were trying to help him. Snape however dismissed them and said "They are really showing house loyalty since they're willing to lie for Potter."

Malfoy managed to smirk since it looked like he wouldn't get in trouble, however he then heard "I heard Malfoy say it."

They turned and saw Daphne Greengrass spoke up, Malfoy glared at her when Tracey Davis and Lilian Moon admitted they heard what Malfoy said. Before anyone could say anything, Flitwick approached and said "There is another way we can settle this matter, we can use the headmaster's pensieve."

Malfoy seemed to pale at that but Harry had no idea what that was, Snape cut in, "The headmaster would never allow that, besides using it for a small matter like-"

Flitwick cut him off, "Well the headmaster is not here and as the acting headmistress Professor McGonagall can decide whether to use it or not!"

Snape glared but Flitwick simply turned to McGonagall and said "Headmistress McGonagall, what would you like to do?"

McGonagall thought about it before agreeing to use the pensieve, she ordered the students to stay in the great hall while they settle this matter and she ordered the students to follow her. The three Professors and nine students made their way up to the headmaster's office, once they arrived Harry saw Professor McGonagall move over to a glass cabinet and open it, he saw the cabinet was full of vials full of a silvery substance he didn't recognize, he saw a metal basin with runes carved into it come out and inside was a whitish silvery substance.

Flitwick turned to Harry and explained that a pensieve was a magical artifact that allowed people to review memories, he explained the process of pulling out your memory and placing it in the basin. McGonagall decided that she would look at the memories of Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, Harry agreed to show his memory but Malfoy seemed nervous, he tried to claim he was in too much pain to do so. Daphne volunteered her memory and ignored the glare Malfoy gave her. The two placed their memory and McGonagall tapped a few runes before a projection appeared above the basin and it showed the memory. They clearly heard what Malfoy was saying before Harry attacked Malfoy in the memory, it was clear to the teachers who started the fight.

Snape was quick to speak up, "Mr. Malfoy, that will be five points from Slytherin and detention tonight with me."

Flitwick spoke up next, "Mr. Potter, that will be five points from Gryffindor and detention tonight with me."

At that Snape turned to Flitwick and glared, "He attacked my student and physically injured him, he deserves a harsher punishment!"

Flitwick glared at Snape and waved his wand, he approached and wooden blocks appeared and floated in the air, Flitwick used them as steps and was soon looking Snape straight in the eyes and said "Not only did Mr. Malfoy use that horrible word multiple times but was even wishing that a student had died, I may not know how you run things down in the dungeon but if he were in my house he would have been given detention for at least a month for saying such things!"

Snape didn't back down and continued to glare, "Of course you would defend a Potter, it wouldn't be the first time!"

"Do you really want to bring up the past right now Severus, because I imagine you of all people would hate that word the most!"

It looked like the two were about to fight, however Harry's focus was instead on the pensieve, if this thing could show memories, then he got an idea. Making sure he wasn't noticed by the teachers he pulled out a memory and placed it in the basin, he tapped the runes he saw McGonagall tap and soon the memory started playing.

The teachers stopped arguing and turned to the pensieve, Snape saw the memory was of one of his potion's lessons, he ordered Harry to stop the memory now but Harry didn't listen. Before Snape could do something, the memory showed Harry asking a question about the instructions, however instead of answering Snape insulted him by calling him an insufferable dunderhead and taking points away for disrupting the class. Malfoy laughed at him and Snape didn't punish Malfoy, the memory continued and McGonagall saw how Harry was treated in Snape's class, she had long since complained to Dumbledore about this but he just responded with he trusts Snape completely.

When the memory ended McGonagall turned her glare to Snape and said "Professor Snape, I would like to have a word with you, Professor Flitwick, please escort the students back to their common rooms."

McGonagall was so mad she didn't realize she hadn't given any punishment to the students, Flitwick escorted the students out of the headmaster's office and asked a passing ghost to guide Malfoy and his friends to the hospital wing, he guided Harry and his friends to their common rooms. Once they were alone Harry turned to the three Slytherin girls and said "Thanks for helping us, you really saved us there."

Daphne smiled and said "Well it's not like Malfoy didn't deserve it, I didn't want him to get you in trouble."

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Greengrass." They stopped when Professor Flitwick called their names, they forgot they were having this conversation in front of a professor. Flitwick turned to the two and said "I ask that you refrain from speaking like that in front of a professor."

They both apologized before Flitwick turned to Harry and said "Mr. Potter, I am disappointed in how you handled yourself today." Harry was surprised and was about to say something but Flitwick held up his hand to stop him, "One lesson I planned to give you is that you must never give in to any taunting or insults your opponent may say, I've seen many people lose duels or even their lives because of it…" Harry lowered his head, for some reason hearing he disappointed Flitwick bothered him more than he thought, "However," Harry looked up at Flitwick as he continued, "I understand how you felt the need to protect your friends, I am well aware of the way Mr. Malfoy tries to antagonize you, it's not something I haven't seen before." He thought of all the times he saw James and Severus get into fights, he continued, "As a Professor I will treat all my students fairly, when you have another problem like today again, please think about coming to me first before you take any action yourself."

Harry nodded, "Yes sir."

Flitwick gave a smile and said "Good, now as for your detention tonight, I think helping me grade a few papers will be plenty punishment enough."

Harry nodded and the group continued through the halls, Flitwick first dropped off Harry and the two boys at their tower and informed them that since they got the first class of the day canceled then the students would return soon, their professor for their second class will come and collect them after, once they were gone Harry turned to Neville and Ron and said "I'm sorry I dragged you two into that, I know I should have ignored him."

Ron brushed it off and said "It's no problem, mate, you gave Malfoy the beating he deserved and even got Snape in trouble with McGonagall, it was well worth it."

Neville agreed and said "I can tell all the Gryffindors will be talking about this."

Harry groaned and it made the two boys laugh, Harry decided he was going to head upstairs to his dorm however he stopped when Ron yelled "My wand!"

Harry looked back and saw Ron pulled out his wand but it was broken, it must have broken when he got into a fight with Goyle, Harry felt bad and said "Ron, I'm so sorry about that, I promise I'll buy you a new wand!"

Ron sighed and said "It belonged to my uncle Bilius; mum is going to kill me when she finds out about this."

Harry felt bad for getting Ron involved in the fight, however hearing what he said he asked "Wait, you don't have a wand of your own?"

Ron shook his head, "My mum said it should work well for me if I add a bit of my blood to it."

Harry was confused at that and asked "How would that work?"

Ron explained, "It's an old secret some families still use, if the wand belongs to a family member, then you can add some of your blood to it and it'll recognize the connection you share and work for you, if the original owner takes back the wand, then it'll return to them."

Both Harry and Neville looked surprised at this and Neville said "I've never heard of that before."

Ron shrugged, "It's something my mum told me, I think she's still using an old family wand."

Harry said "I'll buy you a new wand to replace your old one, it's my fault it broke."

The three continued to talk until the Gryffindors returned to their common room, with the first class of the day being canceled they were sent back to their common rooms, many of them wanted to talk to Harry and some even congratulated him for beating Malfoy, Fred and George even approached him and acted like they would be honored to shake the hands that punched Malfoy. Harry groaned as his friends laughed around him, however when he noticed Lee he remembered the tarantula he had.

Harry was able to pull Lee and the twins away and asked "Lee, I wanted to ask you for a big favor."

"Sure thing Harry, what is it?"

"I need to borrow your tarantula."

The three older students looked surprised at Harry, they thought he was going to ask them to help with a prank, Lee asked "Why do you need my tarantula?"

Harry decided to be honest, "I found out Hagrid knew more about the chamber and I talked to him last night, but Fudge took him away before he could answer any more of my questions, he told me to follow the spiders and it'll help me find his pet named Aragog and he can tell me more about the chamber and the monster."

Lee was surprised to hear that, so that's why his tarantula was acting odd all year, Fred asked "Harry, should we come with you?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't think my cloak will be able to cover all of us, the teachers and ghosts have been patrolling more at night so we could get caught, but I should be fine, Hagrid said Aragog promised to never harm a student."

The three older students moved away and discussed with each other for a few minutes before they came back, Lee said "Alright, I'll let you borrow my tarantula, we'll meet in the common room after everyone goes to bed."

Harry smiled and thanked Lee, the three were glad to see Harry smile again after everything that happened, Fred and George decided to head back to their dorm in order to gather some things to give to Harry.

In the Slytherin common room Malfoy and his goons arrived and his glare immediately turned to Daphne, he stomped towards her and demanded, "What the hell was that Greengrass, when did you become a blood traitor!?"

The ice queen of Slytherin gave Malfoy a cold look and said "It's probably something new to you Malfoy but it's called being cunning."

Malfoy glared at her and said "What do you mean!?"

"Ever since our first day here you've turned Potter against all of Slytherin, he doesn't trust any of the Slytherins and thinks we're all just like you, however I saw an opportunity to get closer to Potter."

"What, do you like Potter now?"

Daphne sighed and said "This may come as a surprise to you Malfoy, but there are times you need to work with those you don't like so you can gain a better opportunity, which Slytherin do you think Potter is more likely to trust, which Slytherin do you think he'd be willing to share secrets with, and which Slytherin do you think can pass on valuable information that can be used against Potter?"

Malfoy noticed some of the Slytherins around them were listening in and nodded along when Daphne gave her reasoning, Daphne continued, "A Slytherin can recognize an opportunity when they see one, once I've gotten everything I need from Potter I won't need him anymore. Maybe if you stopped acting like a Gryffindor then you might have been able to manipulate Potter, instead you kept antagonizing him and trying to get him in trouble, instead of trying to win petty arguments try looking at the bigger picture."

Malfoy glared at her but her cold gaze didn't even waiver, he could tell some of the older Slytherins were agreeing with her, he ordered her, "Find out more about Potter and tell me right away."

"Figure it out yourself, I have bigger plans for my future and they don't involve helping a whiny little git win a few schoolyard arguments."

Daphne turned and left with Tracey and Lilian following her, she thought to herself she needed to tell Harry about this so he'd be able to help her, she was at least glad this gave her a reason to be seen more with Harry.

Please comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter.