Yo! To all of you questioning Rose being a Parselmouth as well, despite Violet being the actual Girl-Who-Lived, well, I've got my reasons. Will they be explained any time soon? I don't remember (-_-'). I haven't checked my notes for this fic for a while. Actually, to be honest, even if I DID know, I probably still wouldn't say anything because spoilers and all that. And as for your disappointment at Violet being evenly matched with Rose when it comes to magical strength? *Snickers* Anyway, thank you to all readers so far!
By the next morning, the snow fall from the previous day turned into a full blown storm, cancelling any classes that took place outside, including herbology for the second years, since Professor Sprout had some important work to do with the Mandrakes and didn't want any children around for safety reasons. This left Violet with a blessed free period.
Deciding to use this newly freed time to finish the essay for the transfiguration class she had next that she'd neglected to do before due to a rare bout of laziness, Violet and Theodore, who was making a head start on his own work for the next day, made their way through the castle, talking quietly.
It was much darker than usual thanks to all the snow falling outside, and very cold too, making Violet once again wonder why this place didn't use some sort of heating to warm things up a bit. They couldn't even sit in the Slytherin common room without a jumper on anymore! Perhaps she ought to research for a heating charm she could use on herself. It couldn't be that hard to learn and had to be better than freezing her butt off, right?
Unfortunately for Violet, the gloom in the castle was only succeeding in making her sleepy, which in turn was making it rather hard to focus on her work. Theodore wasn't particularly pleased with the gloom either, because all this meant was that he was the one who had to make sure his friend remained awake and focused. It seemed Violet became quite...lethargic and sometimes even cranky when she was tired. That wasn't fun either.
"Did you get that book I mentioned?"
Violet, chin resting on the library table, blinked at him blearily. "What book?"
"The one I told you about ten minutes ago."
"Oh."
"So?"
"...No? ...What was it called again?"
Theodore fought not to roll his eyes and instead repeated the book's title. He watched as Violet blinked again before she finally slowly got up to go search for the suggested tome.
Now that she was out of earshot, Theodore allowed himself a deep sigh. Violet was always so...put together, so it was really odd to see her like this-see her acting like a child. He sighed again, this time in exasperation, before he smiled slightly. It was actually kind of...nice, this different side of her.
Meanwhile, Violet searching for the book she had been told to, was suddenly wide awake. She'd come upon a group of Hufflepuffs from her year who seemed to be taking advantage of their free period to discuss things seriously, but quietly. Aware it was none of her business, Violet would have turned away and continued her search for the book if she hadn't heard both her and her sister's names come up.
Keeping her back to the shelf they were behind, Violet listened as her fingers passed over the spines of the books before her absently. If someone came across her she would look like she was innocently looking at the books instead of eavesdropping. It was a tactic she had learned a very long time ago and often used back at the orphanage-pretending to be busy doing something else when she was actually listening in on things she wasn't supposed to be hearing.
"-so I told Justin that maybe it'd be best if he stayed down in our dorms," a voice she didn't recognize as belonging to Ernie MacMillian was saying. "I mean, for all we know Potter'll come after him next."
Potter, huh? Did he mean Violet or Rose? Or maybe both of them?
"Best to stay safe and all," Ernie continued solemnly, "especially since he told her he's a Muggleborn himself! I told him that wasn't something he should go around shouting about."
Ah, Rose then. Violet didn't think she'd ever even spoken to Finch-Fletchley before.
"Are-are you sure it's really Rose Potter who's Slytherin's Heir?" said a girl-Hannah Abbott, was it?
"She's a Parselmouth!"
"But so is her sister!" Hannah retorted.
Fair point, Violet thought as she listened. There was no denying that they could both talk to snakes.
"That's true, but it's obvious Violet called the snake away from Justin," Neville said quietly but firmly. "It moved towards her right away, didn't it?"
"Hmm, Rose isn't really all that bad," said another girl. "She's rather rude, yes, but it's also true that she's the one who defeated You-Know-Who, right?"
Ah, Susan Bones. She was the only Hufflepuff besides Neville that Violet had spoken to. She always did seem like a thinker. She'd heard that had something to do with her aunt Amanda? Amelia? Yes, Amelia Bones.
"Look at it this way, Susan," said Ernie, "Potter-Rose, that is, has had more than one run in with Filch, hasn't she? And now Filch's cat has been attacked. Creevey kept taking pictures of her when she was laying in the mud when Lockhart removed all the bones in her arm after that Quidditch match, and he probably annoyed her, considering what she's like. Now he's been attacked too."
That was an interesting way of looking at it, and Violet wasn't really surprised by it. It made sense why they were thinking this.
"But Rose was Sorted into Gryffindor and her sister in Slytherin."
"That doesn't prove much, Hannah," said Neville calmly. "And besides, Violet is good friends with Hermione Granger-a Muggleborn, while Rose only seems to be close to Ron Weasley-a Pureblood, even though the Weasleys are often called blood traitors. Unless you think Violet is only pretending to be friends with Hermione-and I'm positive she isn't, seeing as Violet and I are friends too."
Deciding she'd heard enough, Violet grabbed the book she needed and returned to her table, causing Theodore to raise a brow and wonder why she suddenly looked so awake.
Violet didn't tell him what she'd heard and simply began on her work, finding it rather amusing that those Hufflepuffs seemed to hold more belief that Rose was Slytherin's Heir over her, especially after what Neville had told them.
She bit back a smile of amusement. How many others in the castle were under the same impression, she wondered?
As their free period came to an end, Violet and Theodore, having finished their work, left the library to head back to the dungeons, needing to grab their belongings for transfiguration. They were only a floor below the library when Violet, who had begun feeling rather tired again, suddenly realized she had forgotten her transfiguration essay behind.
Theodore sighed, hoping tomorrow was going to be better, and promised the girl he'd wait here for her so she could quickly backtrack. There was no reason for him to go back up too, and since they weren't that far, he wasn't going to have to wait long for her to return.
Nodding, Violet turned and ran back down the corridor, taking advantage of the fact that there didn't appear to be any adults nearby, and ignoring the portrait people who scolded her for running. It wasn't like they could take points off her or assign her detention anyway.
She returned to the library, found her essay under-wait, hadn't she put that book away? Jeez. She really hated this sort of weather. Sighing, Violet returned the books to their shelves, not wanting Madam Pince on her case, placed her now dry essay into her bag, and then left, once again taking off down the corrid-
She skidded to a sudden stop. "Hagrid?"
Hagrid paused in place and peered down at her, blinking in surprise. "That you, Violet? What aren't yeh in class?"
"Oh, er, good morning, Hagrid. Class was cancelled due to the snow-herbology."
"Tha' so?" He glanced out the nearest window, a frown crossing his face before he refocused. "Where're yeh headed?"
"Back to the dungeons. My friend Theodore and I were doing some homework in the library, but I forgot my essay there."
"Good, tha's good." He cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly.
Violet noted that he was clearly trying hard to remain casual and friendly with her despite not having spoken to her at all last year. He didn't apologize for ignoring her since she'd been Sorted into Slytherin though. She wasn't surprised, or even particularly upset. He was trying at least, and that was better than most, after all.
"Er, why are you carrying a dead rooster through the castle?" Violet asked curiously.
Hagrid blinked, and then raised the animal he was holding in one of his massive hands. "Oh, this? A few of 'em seem to've been killed recently. Thought I'd speak to the Headmaster abou' some protection to keep 'em safe."
"Oh." Well, that was certainly strange-that the roosters were being killed, but Violet didn't put much thought into it. There were all sorts of magical creatures around, especially in the forest, and it wasn't particularly odd to think that one of those animals had taken a liking to killing roosters or something. "Er, well, good luck with that. I have to go, Hagrid. I need to get my books for class and I don't want to be late."
Hagrid nodded. "O' course, go on."
Violet did just that and met back up with Theodore, apologizing for having taken so long and telling him about her meeting with Hagrid, which he found to be as awkward as she had. Shrugging the entire encounter off, the two of them continued making their way down to the dungeons, and had only taken a few steps when suddenly-
"ATTACK! ATTACK! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! NOT EVEN GHOSTS ARE SAFE! ATTACK!"
"What the-?"
"Isn't that Peeves?"
"Sounds like it."
Violet and Theodore turned around and followed after the yells, hearing door after door opening, dozens upon dozens of students pouring into the corridors.
Everyone rushed over, only to find Justin Finch-Fletchley, Nearly Headless Nick, and Rose Potter in the middle of one of the larger corridors of the castle, not too far from the transfiguration classroom.
Justin was laying on the floor, completely rigid, a look of shock on his pale face, his eyes wide but staring out at nothing. Nearby was the ghost Violet only vaguely recognized, but he didn't look normal either. He wasn't pearly and white like the ghosts usually were. No, he was black, and smoky, and was floating in the air, an expression of shock frozen on his own face.
What in the world was this monster that it had affected someone already dead!?
But there was something else that drew Violet's attention to the scene. Rose. Her twin sister was standing next to the two who had been attacked, and while she looked paler than usual, she appeared unharmed. But why was she here in the first place? And why, for the third time, was she the one with some sort of connection to the attacks?
"Enough! Silence!" McGonagall called loudly. "Return to your classrooms and common rooms immediately!" And while the muttering students did as told, the woman peered around closely. "Potter-both of you, come with me."
"Wha-but I-"
"I didn't have anything to do with th-"
"I swear I didn't do anything, Profess-"
"I'm sorry, but this is out of my hands," was all McGonagall said, cutting across them both.
Violet exchanged a confused glance with Theodore, who was just as baffled as her. She obviously hadn't done anything-hadn't even been nearby. Why was she always considered a suspect too!?
McGonagall led the Potter twins up to Dumbledore's large, round office, and then left them alone in there, which probably wasn't a good idea considering the way the two of them always ended up arguing when they happened to end up near one another. And unsurprisingly-
Rose hardly waited for the door to fall shut before turning on her sister, eyes flashing from beneath her glasses. "This is all your fault!" she exclaimed furiously. "You seriously need to fess up before my reputation's ruined any more than it's already been!"
Well, that accusation was irritating, especially because Violet knew she hadn't done anything wrong other than eavesdrop and snoop around a little. A little questionable, perhaps, but hardly a crime. "I have nothing to do with this," she said firmly. "In fact, while you were found alone with that Hufflepuff and ghost, I myself was on a different floor entirely with Theodore, and even Hagrid. As in, I have a solid alibi, while you..." She trailed off and brushed some lint off her shoulder. "Your reputation surely must not be a particularly good one if your precious 'fans' would turn on you so easily. Again."
It took Rose all of three seconds to process her twin's words and the moment she did, she opened her mouth to retort, only to be cut off by a strange gagging sound. She whipped around, even as Violet looked round too, and at the same time the two of them spotted a rather sickly looking bird.
It was thin and its bright feathers had all fallen off, and it only continued making that odd sound. And even as they stared, the bird suddenly caught fire, startling them both.
Rose began panicking immediately. The last thing she wanted was for the Headmaster's pet to die while she was in the room. What if she got in trouble for that too!? Violet on the other hand, who actually read to learn new things, quickly understood what was happening, although she found herself wondering where this bird had been last year, the first time she'd been here in this office.
It was probably a good thing when Dumbledore walked in a few seconds later though. His pensive look turned into a more somber one when his blue eyes fell upon his flaming bird, and he sighed mournfully. He silenced Rose when she began blabbering about having no idea what was happening to the bird, and approached the perch, gently brushing aside the ashes.
"Fawkes is a phoenix, girls, and phoenixes are essentially immortal. Rather, they die and are reborn an infinite amount of times," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "When it is time for them to die, they begin losing their feathers and become thin and ill. And then they reach their Burning Day, when they burst into flames, only to..."
A baby phoenix poked its little head out of the ashes.
"...be reborn from the ashes," Dumbledore finished, his smile growing. He turned to the girls, who had identical expressions of awe on their faces. "Now..." he moved to sit behind his desk, and seconds after he had settled, the door flew open.
"It wasn' either of the girls, Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Hagrid exclaimed as he rushed in. "I was talkin' to Violet seconds before the boy was found! She couldn'ta had the time, and Rose would never do anythin' like this!"
Well, that certainly surprised Violet. Despite their fairly polite conversation earlier, it didn't seem like Hagrid had cared for her much since she had been Sorted last year. A conversation was one thing. Defending her when he clearly didn't care much for her was another thing altogether.
Dumbledore listened, and then raised a hand to silence Hagrid. "I do not believe either of the girls was behind any of the attacks," he assured them all.
"Oh." Clearing his throat and coughing a few times Hagrid, face flushed, quickly left the room, obviously embarrassed. And once he was gone, it was Rose who spoke.
"You-you don't think it was me?" she said tentatively.
"No, Rose, I do not. However, I still wish to speak to the both of you." The Headmaster gazed at them closely from under his half moon spectacles and gave them that odd, penetrating stare that always managed to make Violet feel very uncomfortable. "I must ask you-both of you, if there is anything you would like to tell me."
The Potter twins remained silent, both of them clearly thinking. Violet had no idea what was on her sister's mind, but there was much she wanted to say herself, much that she was thinking of. And yet...she found that she didn't trust the Headmaster enough to actually do it.
"No, there's nothing, Professor," Rose said finally.
"No sir, nothing," Violet said half a second later.
The double attack caused great panic in the castle, more panic than the previous attacks had generated, thanks to the fact that a ghost had been attacked too, which only served to make the entire situation worse, in people's minds. This fear caused a mad rush for people to sign up to leave the castle over the break, most too afraid to remain behind.
Violet didn't share in their feelings. Monster or no, Hogwarts was infinitely better than the orphanage, and nothing was going to stop her from spending as much time away from there as possible. Still, she was rather looking forward to the upcoming holidays, mainly because so many people were going to be leaving.
The Potter twins were both being given wide berths by most of the school. Rose, however, had it much worse than Violet. She was so used to being watched and treated kindly that she had a hard time dealing with people turning away from her instead of approaching her. She was being treated with this fear from every House but Slytherin, who all mocked her instead, though that wasn't all too different from usual. They knew there was no way Rose Potter was the Heir of Slytherin. To them, it was impossible for it to be her.
Violet, already a Slytherin, was being treated pretty much as usual, just with a touch more fear. As a Snake, most were automatically frightened of her, and now that they thought she might be Slytherin's Heir well, they avoided her even more. Her own House however, seemed fairly pleased with her. Sure, there was no actual proof that she was the one who had opened the Chamber of Secrets, but she was a Parselmouth-a Parselmouth in their House, and that in itself was a very big deal, in their minds.
Fred and George Weasley on the other hand found this entire situation quite hilarious. Not that there had been attacks, no, they weren't quite that heartless. It amused them that everyone assumed one, if not both of the Potter twins were considered Slytherin's Heir(s). They didn't believe it at all, and went around joking about the whole thing with both of them. Most who saw their antics were more surprised that they were Weasleys defending a Slytherin than by what they were actually going around saying and doing though.
Violet didn't mind what the two Gryffindors were up to-she thought it was pretty funny, even if she wasn't sure she'd really admit it. But one Weasley's behaviour was still rather concerning to her.
Ginny, she noticed, was looking paler than ever. Considering how long she'd been like this, it surely couldn't be a physical illness of any kind, could it? Violet hoped her initial discussion with the younger girl would have helped it somewhat, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to have made any sort of difference, and Violet found that she was still quite worried.
She approached Ginny again, once more inquired after her health, and reminded her that she was there for her if she ever needed something. Just like before, Ginny nodded hastily, only to turn and hurry away the moment their conversation came to an end. Well, that couldn't be a good sign...
Draco Malfoy meanwhile, only looked more and more sour every time he saw what Fred and George were doing or saying, especially when they were around Violet. She had no idea why and decided it might be best to just not question it. Maybe it was jealousy or something. She had better things to do than contemplate Malfoy and his behaviour.
The days passed in much the same way, and the day before the holidays began, Violet was approached by Luna Lovegood after her last class of the day.
"Oh, hello Luna. How have you been?"
"Good afternoon, Violet Potter. I don't believe that you are Slytherin's Heir. I just wanted you to know this, even though I know you don't care what others have been saying about you."
Violet just stood there and stared for a moment, completely caught off guard. Well, she certainly hadn't expected that. Although perhaps she should have. From this girl, at least. She smiled slightly. "Thank you, Luna. I appreciate the support."
Luna smiled in turn and then skipped away, no doubt heading to Ravenclaw Tower. It was nice to see her smiling. Hermione had informed her that the bullying had slowed down a little when it had been made clear that Luna and Violet had become friends. At the moment, most were too scared to pick on the younger girl, worried that it might cause Violet to set Slytherin's Monster on them.
Violet decided she would take what she could get. If these rumours meant Luna would be safe, then that was good enough for her.
By the next morning, Hogwarts castle was all but deserted. So many had left, but despite the threat of the supposed monster, both the castle and her grounds seemed so quiet and...peaceful. It was a wonderful break from the norm, and Violet was absolutely loving it.
Unlike last year however, Violet wasn't alone. Theodore had stayed behind this year, claiming he didn't wish to see his father due to an argument they'd had over the summer. He wasn't completely lying, but the main reason was simply because he didn't wish to leave his friend on her own.
This was because Rose and all the Weasleys had remained behind too, although neither he nor Violet knew why. And while Theodore was sure most of them wouldn't do much of anything, he couldn't say the same about Ron, not to mention Rose herself.
Malfoy had stayed behind too unfortunately, and since Theodore was friends with them both, he split his time between both Malfoy and Violet, neither of who wanted to really be around one another.
Poor Theodore...
Christmas morning, Violet woke to the sight of a few presents sitting at the foot of her bed. She found that even though this had happened last year too, she was still surprised.
Theodore had given her another book of wizarding fairy tales, this time called Tales of Beedle the Bard, with a side note that all the stories in the book were very popular, and all children grew up hearing them. Hermione had given her a set of nice quills, likely because she'd finally gotten better at writing with the bloody things. Neville and, surprisingly, Ginny, had given her some sweets, probably because they didn't know her quite as well. Luna had given her a book too, this one on some rather strange magical creatures. And Fred and George had given her items they claimed she could use to prank Malfoy with if he ever annoyed her too much. Admittedly, that last one had her laughing a little.
That evening, Violet sat in the common room with Theodore and Malfoy, a few other Slytherins milling about, but paying them no attention.
Malfoy was in a surprisingly good mood because, thanks to his father's actions, Arthur Weasley was apparently now facing an inquiry at work due to that flying car of his (Violet wondered if Rose felt guilty at all for inconveniencing the family who seemed to truly care for her), and told both her and Theodore that his father had confirmed that the Chamber of Secrets had definitely been opened fifty years ago. He claimed a mudblood had been killed, though said mudblood's name had never been revealed because they'd been underage and their parents wanted it kept quiet.
Violet didn't care much for the term used, but was curious about who this victim was. If their name was never made public, it wasn't going to be particularly easy figuring it out. Unless someone who was actually at Hogwarts fifty years ago came out and said it themselves. But had it been kept from them too, she wondered...?
Not much else happened over the break. Violet did some reading, worked on her homework, and chatted with Theodore and the Weasley twins. Ginny, much to her relief, looked a little better too, so that certainly helped.
Other than that, Violet sometimes wondered what Voldemort was doing-how he was doing, but obviously had no answers. He'd told her they would meet again soon, but she hadn't heard a single word from him yet and wasn't sure if she was relieved by that or disappointed. Her feelings about him and this entire situation were still quite conflicting.
Classes resumed two weeks later and with that came the return of accusations and avoidance. Violet wouldn't have cared much and continued ignoring it if she didn't end up being confronted personally.
One day, after classes but before dinner in early January, Violet was taking a walk through the castle, needing a bit of time alone. She'd just had an encounter with Lockhart that had really pissed her off and she just wanted to calm back down before having to head to dinner.
She was minding her own business when she found herself cornered by a rather tall teen-a seventh year, if she had to guess, of Ravenclaw House. She barely had the time to look up before he was all but yelling at her, accusing her of opening the Chamber, of causing the attacks, and he even began threatening her.
Violet wasn't particularly intimidated. Used to dealing with idiots much bigger than her, Violet was sure she could handle the situation just fine. Or at least, she was thinking that until the Ravenclaw pulled out his wand. Well now, how could a second year counter a seventh year in magic?
Violet didn't have the answer, but figured she may as well give it a shot. It was near dinner time and they were in a corridor that was going to be quite full in a few minutes. This guy was going to have to be quick to attack her but generally, the quicker someone was, the sloppier they became.
Confident she would at least be able to buy herself some time, Violet pulled out her own wand, only to sense someone come up behind her. Dammit. She was about to jump back when the stranger spoke.
"Problem, Stewart?"
Surprised, Violet glanced over her shoulder. It was Marcus Flint. She didn't know much about him and hadn't exchanged a single word with him. She knew he was a seventh year, was Captain of Slytherin's Quidditch team, and played the position of Chaser. He was tall, standing a little over six feet, quite muscular, not particularly attractive or intelligent, and he certainly wasn't much of a talker either. But right now he stood behind her, dark eyes locked on the Ravenclaw he no doubt had had many classes with over the years.
The Eagle's eyes narrowed. "Nothing that concerns you, Flint," he retorted coldly, grip on his wand tightening. But now his eyes were shifting, no doubt looking for a way out, just in case things turned against him. Some would argue they already had.
Flint remained unaffected and set his rather large, free hand on Violet's shoulder, his own wand trained on the Ravenclaw. "Walk away, Stewart."
"Mind your own business, Flint."
"Walk away."
Despite her surprise and confusion, Violet decided to play along. "I never took Ravenclaws for idiots," she said calmly. "You really need to take a look at your surroundings here. You're outnumbered."
Stewart sneered. "Think you can best me, kid?"
"Oh, I think I can," said Violet, looking up at him innocently. She smirked. "Boo."
Stewart flinched when he heard the hiss and backed away, raising his wand up higher even as he paled. "What're you-"
Flint smirked now as well, even though he too had no idea what the girl had just said. "Walk away, Stewart," he repeated calmly.
The Ravenclaw fled.
Once he was gone Violet turned her attention to her housemate and raised a brow in question.
Flint replied with another smirk as he pocketed his wand, and gestured out in front of them. "After you."
Without a word, Violet made her way to the Great Hall, Flint following her, keeping a few paces behind her. Well, she thought, I think I just got myself a bodyguard. There's no way this won't be interesting.
What a fascinating development indeed.
As January turned to February, Violet learned that she'd been right. She really had gained a bodyguard of sorts, and it wasn't just Marcus Flint.
A fair number of the sixth and seventh years in their House had taken it upon themselves to watch out for her. Theodore seemed to know why, but he refused to explain, evidently enjoying the entire thing.
Though still rather confused, Violet decided to just stop questioning it and take advantage of the situation. She could handle those closer to her own age who had a similar amount of magical education as herself-they were hardly a problem. No, it was the ones who had more experience she needed a little...help with.
Her new bodyguards really only provided backup. They were there to defend her should any of the older students actually attack her. If there was a confrontation but no attack, they merely stood behind her stoically. It was an intimidation factor, and one that worked quite well too.
But even if she was alone, Violet managed to find a way to deal with things just fine without help. And all she needed to do was say one word-any word, really. Just, not in English.
The amount of people who were completely and utterly terrified of Parseltongue was both amazing and depressing.
Just the other day a sixth year Gryffindor had come after her and Violet, on her own, had simply looked up at him and said, well, hissed, "Aragorn's cute," and that was literally all it took to have him paling and running off with his tail between his legs. So much for Gryffindor courage.
Oh how Violet loved being a Parselmouth.
A few days later, Violet tracked down Rose and Ron, figuring they should have finally learned something new about the Chamber or monster, since they always seemed to have weird information like this. Why waste her own time researching when she could eavesdrop on those who already knew everything?
Keeping herself hidden in the shadowy alcove beside the one the two were in, she stood there and listened as they spoke, this time about...a diary of some sort? Ah, a diary that belonged to someone named Tom M Riddle. Neither of them seemed to know who this guy was and were trying to figure it out, though they weren't having much luck.
Violet walked away from the alcove with a frown. Tom Riddle, huh? For some reason, that name sounded oddly...familiar to her, even though she was positive she'd never known anyone with that name.
There used to be a Tom in the orphanage when she'd been younger, but his surname definitely hadn't been Riddle, which she knew for a fact, not to mention he was dead, having been hit by a car a ages ago. No, he wasn't the one she thought of when she heard the name Tom Riddle. But if it wasn't him, then who was it?
Wanting an answer, but aware she was pretty poor when it came to researching, Violet did the next best thing and went to her friend Hermione. If anyone could find an answer, it would be a Ravenclaw...
"Tom M Riddle?" Hermione repeated with a frown.
Violet nodded. "Yeah. Sound familiar to you at all?"
Hermione pursed her lips as she thought. "Hmm, can't say it does. Do you know anything about him?"
"He's either a Muggleborn or a Half-Blood, but that's basically it."
Slowly, Hermione nodded. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks, Hermione."
Yeah, there was definitely something weird about Violet's magic. Sitting in class, Theodore was surreptitiously watching Violet try to cast the spell they were learning that day. He'd already managed it himself-Hermione had too, but Violet was still struggling.
But in their next class, the spell they learned was more complicated and harder to cast. Despite this, Violet was the first to succeed, even though she'd just been struggling with an arguably much easier spell not that long ago.
Theodore wasn't really surprised. This was exactly what made him think Violet's magic was weird. He could really only describe her magic as...inconsistent. Usually, harder spells were easier for her to cast than the actually easier spells, but sometimes even that flipped around.
He knew it didn't have anything to do with her magical core-he'd also read the book she'd been given for Christmas the year before. Hogwarts tended to teach grey spells so that every student could cast them. No, that wasn't the problem.
There was a different problem here, but Theodore had no idea what it was and from what he could tell, Violet didn't even know or realize that it was a problem.
It took Hermione a week to get back to Violet with a few answers. With Theodore hanging out with Malfoy that Saturday, the two girls met up at a table in the back of the library.
"I couldn't find much," Hermione admitted. "It's actually a little odd at how much of his information is missing."
Violet frowned, but nodded. "What did you manage to find?"
"Tom M Riddle attended Hogwarts around fifty years ago," said Hermione. "I couldn't find exact dates, but I found his name on an old Magical Merit. The only other thing I found was that he received an award for Special Services to the School-it's in the Trophy Room. It's dated fifty years back, but doesn't seem to state any details, so I can't say what it was for."
Violet listened closely. So this was who Rose and Ron had been talking about. Considering the date, Tom surely must have been here in the castle when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened the first time. After all, Malfoy had told them that his father had said the Chamber had originally been opened then, and Lucius Malfoy had no reason to lie to his son.
A special award for services to the school around the same time as the incident that had resulted in a death... Had Tom been the one to catch the one behind it? There was no way to know for sure, but it seemed possible.
And while Hermione promised to do a bit more research when she had the time since she was curious now too, Violet continued wondering why the name of a boy from fifty years ago still filled her with such a strange sense of familiarity...
With no new attacks, the fear in the castle finally began to fade a little and things started returning to normal. The Mandrakes, according to Professor Sprout, were beginning to leave childhood-a good sign, since it meant they were closer to maturity, at which point Professor Snape would be able to brew the potion that would help those who had been petrified.
Most stopped staring at the Potter twins, though Ernie MacMillian continued avoiding Rose as much as he could, still not fully trusting her. Lockhart on the other hand was as pompous as ever, somehow under the impression that he was the reason why Slytherin's monster had backed off and stopped attacking.
Yeah, no one really understood that. Well, no one who wasn't infatuated with him, at least. Those who were didn't question a thing. Idiots...
An emergency stop at the Hospital Wing on the morning of February fourteenth had Violet late for breakfast, and she was so caught up in what just happened that she didn't realize what day it was. Unfortunately for her she was reminded of it the second she walked into the Great Hall.
She stopped dead in the doorway. The walls were covered in weird, pink flowers, and heart shaped confetti was raining down from the enchanted ceiling. ...Ick.
Disgusted, Violet joined Theodore at Slytherin Table, (having told him to go on ahead because she really hadn't wanted him around when Madam Pomfrey was explaining...stuff) and the boy was pleased to see that she was as grossed out as he was. Honestly, it was a great relief because far too many girls were taken by all this crap.
After she'd settled down, he nodded towards the Head Table and when she glanced over, Violet's disdain only increased. Lockhart was wearing bright pink robes that matched the decorations in the Hall. Ugh. A good sign, however, was that all of the other teachers seemed to be just as disgusted as them.
McGonagall's jaw seemed to be twitching, as if she kept grinding her teeth, and Snape looked like his mortal enemy was dancing naked before him. The only staff member who seemed pleased was Dumbledore, but that was hardly surprising. Unfortunately, everything only became much worse when Lockhart introduced those cupid-dwarf...things that were to carry Valentines throughout the day. Singing Valentines. Oh Merlin.
"...Think I can fake sick and skive off classes today?" Violet said suddenly.
"If you're skiving, then I am too," said Theodore.
"Which means it'll be too suspicious."
"Yeah."
"Which means we can't and have to deal with all of...this."
"Unfortunately."
"...Dammit."
"My sentiments exactly."
The very next day and a handful of awkward Valentines later, Violet happened upon Rose who was practically running down the corridor towards Ron, who had just come out of the loo. Neither of them noticed her.
"Ron! Ron, listen!"
"Rose? What's up?"
"It was Hagrid!" Rose exclaimed breathlessly. "Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."
"...What!?" Ron's eyes widened and he gaped like a fish. "Okay, okay wait, slow down, what?"
Rose took a few breaths and then began to explain. It was that diary again, the one they'd been talking about before, the one that belonged to Tom M Riddle. Somehow, Rose had ended up in what she claimed must have been a memory of sorts, one from fifty whole years ago.
And as she explained what she'd seen and what had happened, Violet, who stood hidden behind a suit of armour, listened closely, a frown on her face and her brow furrowed in confusion.
She was quite shocked, to say the least. Sure, Hagrid seemed to have a bizarre number of odd pets, but...Hagrid? Neither Rose nor Ron really believed Hagrid had been behind this, despite what Rose had seen, and Violet found herself agreeing with them. Hagrid just didn't seem like someone who would be able to do something like this. He cared too much.
Still, Violet became even more curious about this strange diary, wishing she could get her hands on it so she could examine it herself. At the same time however, she was suspicious as well. How had this diary been able to give Rose this information? She claimed to have seen it like a movie of sorts, rather than having read it, and that didn't sound like any diary Violet had ever heard of.
Figuring it was a wizarding world thing, she decided to ask Theodore and at the same time, told him everything she'd learned so far. And while he denied ever hearing of a diary or journal that behaved in the manner Rose claimed the one she found did, he agreed that there was a pretty low chance that Hagrid was the one who had actually done the deed.
They ended up telling Hermione all this too, and she in turn had a little more information on this Tom M Riddle guy. It turned out that he was one smart cookie. He'd been Sorted into Slytherin House, had been both a Prefect and Head Boy, and had received top marks on both his OWLs and NEWTs, which impressed Hermione endlessly.
That had them thinking. If they compared Hagrid with Riddle, well, it was clear who was the better student between them. They were sure Hagrid hadn't really done anything, but Riddle had still been awarded for stopping him. So what were the odds that Riddle was actually the one to have released the monster, only to set Hagrid up?
If everything Rose had seen and said were true, then Violet could somewhat sympathize with Riddle not wanting to return to that orphanage of his, considering they were in the same boat and all. And while she had it pretty bad, surely it must have been much worse for him, considering the war that had been going on in the Muggle world at the time.
His desperation not to return could have caused him to frame Hagrid. If he himself had really been the one behind it, he obviously wasn't going to give himself up. Hagrid was an easy person to frame, and there needed to be a clear conclusion to what had been a horrible situation.
No one would have looked twice at Riddle, considering his circumstances, and since everyone would have assumed the situation was done with, it would have given Riddle the chance to not return to the orphanage. After all, according to Rose, that was what the previous Headmaster had told Riddle, in a sense.
Yes, if that was true, then Violet found that even if she didn't fully agree with it all, she could understand where her fellow Slytherin was coming from. Both of them were Half-Bloods (according to what Rose had said, at least), both of them lived in a Muggle orphanage in London that they had no desire to be in, both of them had asked to stay behind over the summer break, only to be refused. Yes, there were many similarities indeed.
But who was Tom Riddle, exactly? Hermione hadn't been able to find anything personal about him at all, not even who his parents were, or what had happened to him after he left Hogwarts. And she'd looked pretty damn hard.
Wow, when was the last time I wrote a chapter this long? Rejoice! Who knows when it'll happen again? Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!