Merry Christmas and a happy festive season to all my readers. Have a great and exciting holiday season. 🎄🎄🎄💛💛💛
I'm back with Chapter 32... Enjoy!
Harry had been busy with his quidditch practice, Hermione with her revisions and even Ron had been busy with the truckload of backlog homework he had. This meant that their pending conversation with the Hogwarts Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid had remained so for a few days now. John's wait finally came to an end the day after the Gryffindor team won a pretty one-sided quidditch game against Hufflepuff.
That afternoon, John, Hermione, Harry and Ron made their way to Hagrid's hut. It took about a minute for Hagrid to open the hut.
"Oh... it's you all," said Hagrid as he opened the door wide.
"You say that like you were expecting someone else," said John as the 4 of them entered the hut. It felt overcrowded immediately once they were in.
"Been expecting someone..." said Hagrid and sat down. "Want some tea? I just brewed a pot," he asked and poured them each a cup. Hagrid looked visibly anxious. He also seemed to be shivering slightly.
"Hagrid, this is just water," said Hermione slowly after glancing at Ron, Harry and John's faces, who had all gotten just warm water.
"What? Oh... must have forgotten to put the tea bags," replied Hagrid. It was blatantly obvious the way Hagrid was behaving that he was afraid of something or someone.
"Hagrid, is everything ok?" asked Harry.
"Everything's alright, Harry," replied Hagrid instantly.
"You look a bit pale," said Ron.
"It's nothing," replied Hagrid.
"Hagrid... we are here to talk to you... about... Umm... well... we are here to talk to you about the chamber of secrets," said John, unsure how to proceed.
"What about it? You haven't been investigating, have you? It's dangerous business," said Hagrid.
"Hagrid... we know what happened last time," said John.
"What... what do you mean?" asked Hagrid. John quickly gestured Harry to continue.
"Hagrid... you were framed, weren't you? What happened the last time the chamber was opened?" asked Harry.
"How do you about that? It wasn't Aragog, he wouldn't hurt a fly," said Hagrid, getting defensive immediately.
"Who's Aragog?" asked John.
"You shouldn't be here... Stop interfering in this," said Hagrid.
"Hagrid... we know it wasn't you who opened the chamber last time. But we need to know exactly what happened... and who is Aragog?" said Hermione.
"They all thought Aragog was responsible for the death of the student. Aragog was..." replied Hagrid but stopped speaking as he heard footsteps. There was a loud knock on the door.
"Hello Hagrid," said Dumbledore as he walked in. His eyes immediately fell on John, Hermione, Harry and Ron. "Good afternoon, everybody," he greeted. They all stood up instantly.
"Hello Professor," said John. But before he could say anything, he and everyone else spotted 2 gentlemen standing behind Dumbledore.
"We need to talk to Hagrid, alone if you all don't mind," said Dumbledore. With that, they left Hagrid's hut.
The moment they walked a few steps, John spoke up. "What is Lucius Malfoy doing here?" he asked.
"More importantly, what is Cornelius Fudge doing here?" asked Ron.
"Who's that?" asked Harry.
"The Minister of Magic, dad's boss," replied Ron.
"The Minister of Magic, Headmaster of Hogwarts and that scumbag. It could only mean one thing," said John. The other 3 looked at him eagerly waiting for him to continue. "Bad news for Hagrid. They suspected Hagrid last time, they are suspecting him now," he added.
The day got worse when news reached them in the form of Professor Jane.
"Good evening!" said Professor Jane as she walked up to them. They were all sitting near the lake too stressed out and bored to do anything else.
"Jane," said John and they all sat up straight.
"I was hoping to... never mind, you are all going to find out anyway. I come bearing bad news," said Professor Jane.
"What happened?" asked John.
"Dumbledore has been ousted, Professor McGonagall is the acting headmaster of our school from now on," said Professor Jane.
"What?" asked John, shocked. "What are you talking about?"
"The Board of Governors have decided to temporarily suspend Professor Dumbledore for his alleged poor governance of the school. Professor McGonagall will be temporarily taking over the duties," said Professor Jane.
"This is Malfoy's doing," said John.
"There's more," said Jane and the 4 of them looked at her fearing the worst. "The Ministry has appointed a Special Investigation Unit, headed by someone called Emily Davies," continued Jane. The 4 of them were looking at her, speechless. "And Mrs Davies will be staying at the school till the person behind the... behind the attacks has been caught," she added.
"What about Hagrid?" asked Harry.
"Hagrid? Hagrid was escorted to Azkaban earlier today," replied Jane. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. Thought you guys should know," she added and walked away.
There was a pin drop silence that lasted a few minutes.
"There'll be an attack every day," said Ron breaking the silence. "How can they remove Dumbledore? The muggle-borns have absolutely no chance now," he added.
"What's Azkaban?" asked Harry.
"Prison," replied Ron.
"Prison?" asked Harry shocked.
"Yeah, Prison for wizards and witches," replied Ron.
"We have to find the entrance to the chamber of secrets," said John after a few seconds.
"Yeah? Good luck with that. How are we going to find out the entrance that people haven't been able to figure out for centuries?" retorted Ron.
"We have Harry, a parselmouth," replied John.
"John... I agree that the Slytherin monster must be a snake. All pieces of evidence point to that. But how will we figure out the entrance?" asked Hermione.
"There are way too many questions and not enough answers. We'll figure something out," replied John.
As the days went by, the anxiety in the school kept increasing, now that Dumbledore was gone. Everybody was waiting for the next attack. It just seemed like a matter of time. What made things worse for the anxious lot was the presence of Emily Davies. At first, when they all heard the news that a ministry official would be staying at the castle, investigating the attacks, there was a sense of relief amongst the students. But a week went by and then another and none of them had any clue what investigation was being carried out. Every time Mrs Davies was spotted by a group of students, they'd notice her roaming around the castle aimlessly. She had barely even talked to the students.
One Sunday afternoon, all 4 of them were sitting in the library.
"I can't focus on my studies," sighed Hermione loudly.
"Hermione, take a break," said Ron.
"What have I even done to take a break? Every time I pick up a book and read a few pages, my mind gets diverted to the Chamber," replied Hermione.
"What I don't understand is, who is Aragog?" asked Harry.
"Could have been a friend of Hagrid's when the chamber was opened last time," replied Ron.
"But if people thought Aragog killed last time, why suspect Hagrid?" remarked Harry.
"Aragog could be a pet, Hagrid has loads of them, doesn't he?" replied John.
"A pet? You mean, Hagrid owned an animal and the animal was suspected of killing that muggle-born witch last time?" asked Harry.
"Fits, doesn't it? Riddle opens the chamber, the snake kills, Riddle blames Hagrid's pet and Hagrid gets punished," replied John.
"How can a snake survive a thousand years? That's a lot, innit?" said Ron.
"And how does a snake move around the castle without being seen by anybody?" asked Hermione.
There was silence for a few moments.
"What if the snake was seen, and that's why they were attacked?" asked Harry suddenly.
"What?" asked Hermione in return.
"You just said that a snake cannot move around the castle without being seen. What if Justin and Colin saw the snake and that's why they were attacked?" asked Harry.
"Why not kill them? I'd kill them," remarked John. The other 3 looked at him shocked at what they had just heard. "I mean... the snake killed last time and then never attacked till the chamber was opened again now. But this time, 2 have been petrified. 3 if you include the cat. Why?"
"I... don't know," replied Harry. Ron and Hermione's faces told the same story.
"Do we know how the snake killed last time? How did the muggle-born die? If it was like a snake bite, wouldn't they have known that it wasn't Hagrid's pet?" asked Hermione.
"Unless Aragog is a snake," sighed Ron.
"Oh, come on... there has to be someone who'd know and who we could ask," said Hermione.
"Ghosts," replied John. "We can ask the ghosts," he added.
"Yes... they've been here hundreds of years," said Ron.
"We'll ask nearly headless Nick. Hermione, you go and ask Moaning Myrtle," said Harry.
"I don't want to talk to her again," pleaded Hermione. But being the only girl in the group, she had to do it.
That evening, Ron and Harry were walking towards the Great Hall after having had a disappointing conversation with nearly headless Nick when they were stopped midway by a first-year Gryffindor student. He had a note for Harry from Headmaster McGonagall asking Harry to come to her office, which was now the headmaster's office.
"I'll be back... I really hope Hermione had better luck," said Harry and left.
He wasn't particularly thinking why he had been called into McGonagall's office. His mind was already cluttered with all the Chamber stuff, Hagrid being in Azkaban, Dumbledore's dismissal and so on. So, when he entered the office, he hadn't expected to see Emily Davies inside with the Professor.
"Professor McGonagall?" said Harry the moment he walked in.
"Mr Potter... you might be knowing Mrs Davies here," said Professor McGonagall pointing at Emily. Harry nodded in response. "She has some things to talk to you about. She'll be asking questions. And if at any point you want to leave, you may do so," she added. Emily gave a look at Professor McGonagall and carried the conversation forward.
"I'm sure Mr Potter wouldn't want to," said Emily. "You want to help catch the person behind all of this, don't you?" she asked.
Harry who had no option but to agree did so, "Yes, of course," he replied.
"Have a seat," said Emily and sat on a chair beside Professor McGonagall. "Headmaster? May we have the room for ourselves?" asked Emily in her politest tone.
"Absolutely..." began the Professor but quickly added, "not! You are not talking to any of my students without my or some other Professor's presence."
"As you say," replied Emily coldly. "But, if I ever get a hint that my investigation is being tampered with, I have the authority to continue this at the Ministry. I'm sure you understand my position," she added. Professor McGonagall nodded in response.
Harry's stomach had already begun turning a little hearing these conversations.
"Mr Potter... are you ok?" asked Emily.
"Uh... Yes, I'm fine Mrs Davies," replied Harry nervously.
"Emily, you can call me Emily," she quickly added and gave a smile. "So, Harry... tell me your story," she asked.
"Excuse me?" retorted Harry.
"Your story... tell me everything you know about the attacks," she replied.
"Umm... where do I begin? There was an attack on Filch's cat, Mrs Norris on Halloween night. There were those words written on the wall, Chamber has been opened, and all that. Then there was an attack on Colin, on the day I broke my arm playing quidditch. Then there was an attack on Justin just before Christmas," replied Harry nervously.
"Is that the full story?" asked Emily. Harry glanced at Professor McGonagall and then back at Emily.
"That is everything that happened, I don't know what else... there is," replied Harry.
"Harry... I want your help here. You are one of the most knowledgeable people in the entire school about the Chamber of Secrets. You know more than most. I need all those inputs," said Emily gently with a smile.
"I am... the most... knowledgeable?" asked Harry, stuttering a couple of times along the way.
"You are not? Is there someone you'd say who knows more than you?" asked Emily. Harry did not have an answer to that question. He wasn't going to throw Hermione or John under the bus. "Okay... let us forget all this. Tell me something about your life before Hogwarts," said Emily.
"My life... before?" began Harry but was cut off by Professor McGonagall. "Mrs Davies... I don't understand the necessity of knowing Mr Potter's personal life. He's a 12-year-old boy, can we treat him like one?"
"Headmaster... I'm merely making Harry here comfortable. He's obviously nervous and is of no help if he continues to be," snapped Emily immediately. "So, Harry?" she asked.
"I studied in a muggle school. I had a lot of friends. I really liked that school," replied Harry.
"That's lovely... what about close friends? Surely it must have been difficult to leave them all behind. And what would you have even told them, it must have been so difficult," said Emily passionately.
"It was difficult... I didn't want to come here at first. But then I gradually settled in," replied Harry.
"Tell me the names of your friends and the thing you like about them," said Emily. Harry was finding it increasingly difficult to understand the point of it all. The more Emily asked the more he hated the fact that he had to answer.
"I'd say... Uh... Daisy and Dudley, my cousin," replied Harry. "Dudley and I have been close since forever. And Daisy too, we've known each other since we were kids," he added.
"Did you tell Daisy about us? The magical world?" asked Emily bluntly.
"Uh... No... No, I did not," lied Harry, but badly.
"You do know that, if a muggle finds out about us, we'll have to wipe their memories? And breaking the Internation Statute of Secrecy is a serious offence," said Emily. She had found her pressure point and she was definitely going to press it.
"Daisy does not know about the magical world," replied Harry strongly.
"It's interesting you say that... Mr Potter, but I'd disagree with you there. She almost certainly knows about us. She told that herself," retorted Emily. Harry remained silent. Whichever way he answered that question, he would get into trouble.
"She told you that?" asked Harry.
"Yes," replied Emily. That was exactly what Professor McGonagall was waiting for. She thanked all the Gods for making Harry ask the exact question she wanted him to ask.
"Mrs Davies? This muggle, may I know when you interrogated her? I'd appreciate it if you could give us a copy of all the muggle interrogation forms that would have been filed by you. I'm sure you filed them, right?" asked Professor McGonagall with a gentle smile.
"I don't think I need to give them to you," replied Emily but she had got the hint. "So, Harry, I'm sure I can help you if you help me. I know that you have heard strange voices multiple times in the past year. Could you tell me more?" she asked.
"I have heard them a couple of times. Once during my detention with Professor Jane and then on the night of Halloween," replied Harry. Emily kept staring at him, so he continued, "They are voices... I can't explain... sort of spine-chilling voices... gives me goosebumps every time. It says it'll kill, tear, etc.," he added.
"But you didn't hear the voices when Mr Creevey and Mr Finch-Fletchley were attacked?"
"No," replied Harry.
"Any other strange occurrences, or something you may have noticed, anything at all?" asked Emily.
"No," replied Harry immediately.
"Harry... it's written on your face..." sighed Emily. "Professor McGonagall, maybe you can convince him to tell what he knows?" asked Emily politely.
"Mr Potter... your cooperation is expected. If you do know something else, please share with Mrs Davies," said Professor McGonagall. Harry knew that the last heir of Slytherin was You-Know-Who himself. He knew about the Tom Riddle diary. He also knew because of that diary that the chamber was opened by Tom Riddle last time. But he had no intention of telling all of that and having to explain everything. Also, the fact that this woman had blackmailed him with Daisy hadn't gone down with him well. So, he decided to take the smarter route by giving an extra detail but withholding everything else.
"There's one more thing. And Professor McGonagall knows about this too. I had an invisibility cloak. It was stolen," said Harry.
"Invisibility cloak?" asked Emily surprised. Professor McGonagall on the other hand had a blank expression. Harry tried to read it and the only thing he could think of was that he was mistaken. Professor McGonagall did not in fact know about the cloak being missing.
"Yes, Mr Potter owns an invisibility cloak. It was his father's," added Professor McGonagall.
"And when did it go missing?" asked Emily writing something down on her notes.
"I don't know... I checked after coming back from the Christmas holidays and saw that it was missing. And I haven't touched it in ages," replied Harry.
"So, you're saying it could have been stolen at any time this year? And from inside Gryffindor common room?" asked Emily. Harry nodded in response. The interrogation finished a few minutes later and Harry left the office and dashed to the Great Hall.
"Harry... you have been gone for an hour, at least... what happened?" asked Ron the moment he saw Harry coming.
After taking a few breaths, Harry retold all that happened at McGonagall's office to the keen ears of Ron and Hermione.
"You told Daisy about the magical world?" asked Hermione shocked.
"I did, ok? I didn't know someone would find out," replied Harry.
"That doesn't mean..." began Hermione but shut up after getting a glare from Harry.
"Give the guy a break, he was just grilled by that woman," said Ron.
"It's good that you told her about the cloak, Harry," said Hermione.
"I think I'm glad I did. I don't know, I assumed John would have told Dumbledore and McGonagall about it, maybe he didn't. McGonagall was shocked for that 1 millisecond the moment I said it was stolen," replied Harry.
"The question is, why go to the trouble of talking to your muggle friend? What was the point of that? She couldn't have possibly known beforehand that you told Daisy about us," said Ron.
"And she blackmailed me... there is no way Daisy told anyone about us. She didn't even tell J... I trust her completely, that's why I told her in the first place," replied Harry.
"Well, if she's any good, we'll be over with all of this soon," sighed Ron.
"Oh my God! I almost forgot... We have to go somewhere quiet," said Hermione and dragged the boys to a corner of the hall.
"What is it, Hermione?" asked Harry worried.
"It's good news, don't worry. I talked to Myrtle and you wouldn't believe what I found out," said Hermione.
"What?" asked Ron and Harry simultaneously.
"Last time the chamber was opened, there was a girl who was killed by the monster within. The girl is none other than Myrtle," said Hermione excitedly.
"What?" asked Harry.
"You're joking," gasped Ron.
"I couldn't believe it myself," said Hermione with pride in her tone.
"Did she see anything? Does she remember what happened?" asked Ron.
"Well, that part was the let-down. She said that she remembers the day very well. She came to that bathroom crying about some boy teasing her. And then she said that she heard a hissing sound. She turned back to look and that was that," replied Hermione.
"What do you mean, that was that? She was dead instantly?" asked Harry.
"That's what she said. The last thing she saw were yellow eyes," replied Hermione.
John had been meaning to talk to his sister for a while now. The last time he had spoken to her alone was when he had found out the interesting property of Tom Riddle's diary. Once he along with Ron, Hermione and Harry had figured out a plan of action, he made his way to Jane's office to try and solve the mystery of the snake.
"Hope you are not busy," said John as he entered.
"Never too busy for you," replied Jane the moment she saw John and got up and hugged him.
"No, but seriously, you aren't busy right?" asked John.
"Well, I have some assignments to check, and the exams are coming up. So, I have some work related to that," said Jane. "Why? What's up?" she asked.
"Nothing really... I just needed to fill you in on a few things and also I needed some help," replied John.
"I needed a break anyway... so, what is it?" asked Jane.
"Remember a while back, I showed you Tom Riddle's diary? Well, I found something about it... an interesting property that it has," replied John. "May I have your wand?" he asked.
"Sure," replied Jane and handed him her wand. John took it gladly and placed Tom's diary on the floor.
"Aguamenti" whispered John and pointed the wand at the diary. A jet of water splashed onto the diary. To Jane's amazement, the diary remained dry whereas the floor beneath and aside was wet. Similarly, John tried to set the diary on fire and he even poured some ink on the diary's pages. And none of them had any effect on the diary.
"Okay... relax, I got the point. You're going to destroy the carpet. So, what is this diary? And how is it capable of repelling any outside interference so to speak?" asked Jane.
"This diary also has another property. This right here," he said and picked up the diary. "This diary is sort of like a memory reservoir," he added.
"You mean like the pensieve we have back home?" she asked.
"Well, something like that. But I don't think new memories can be added to this and viewed. Actually, I shouldn't have termed this a memory reservoir. This does have stored memories of Tom Riddle. But this is also like a really cool, wizarding world's version of an AI," he replied.
"An AI?" asked Jane surprised.
"Yeah... I mean, you can talk to it. And Tom Riddle will write back to you. I have done it and trust me, the responses are eerie," replied John.
"What? What do you mean? I haven't understood one bit of what you have been talking about," sighed Jane.
"Ok, I'll tell you everything from the beginning," said John. He began with how he had accidentally discovered the diary's peculiar property right in that office. And then on to all his tiny little interactions with the diary. And finally, how he had found out that Hagrid was the one who was blamed the last time around the chamber was opened.
"So, that's why Hagrid was arrested?" wondered Jane out aloud.
"Yes," replied John nodding.
"But, what sort of magic is this?" asked Jane and held her hand out for the diary. John handed her the diary as well as her wand.
"Tom Riddle's magic... and quite powerful might I add," replied John.
"Well... that's definitely one reason not to mention a hundred different others why you should stop using the diary," said Jane.
"What do you mean by stop using the diary?" asked John surprised.
"You know what I mean... stay away from it," said Jane.
"No, I don't... I'm not obsessed with the diary," replied John, getting defensive immediately.
"I never said you were," said Jane, "I know my dark magic and this is definitely one," she added.
"I know that... exactly the reason I have a different theory now," replied John.
"What theory?" asked Jane.
"I was thinking... is it just a coincidence that I find a diary of Tom Riddle's at exactly the time the chamber was opened? Perhaps not... But even if we consider it a coincidence, then tell me something. Has there been an attack in the school after Christmas?" replied John.
"But what has the diary go to do with the chamber? Unless... unless you think, this diary was with another student. And that student opened the chamber with the help of... well, more like, under the influence of the diary?" said Jane.
"That is exactly what I was theorising, dear sister," replied John smiling.
"So, what help do you want from me?" asked Jane.
"What?" retorted John.
"You came in here asking for my help... Do you want me to have a look at the diary?" asked Jane.
"Oh that... No, the diary stays with me... for now," replied John. "The help I needed was much more menial in nature," he added.
"I'll be the judge of that," replied Jane smiling.
"I need my wand back," replied John.
"There were talks that you could get your wand back after the year ends. But I asked them to reconsider considering... well, considering our true nature. But nothing can be assured," said Jane.
"Oh! come on... How much longer? What's the point anyways? I feel sort of like an armless person without my wand," sighed John.
"I'll try to expedite it... but with this Ministry official, it'll be difficult. Plus, the fact that there's no Dumbledore," replied Jane, feeling sorry for John.
"What's with the official?" asked John.
"She is different... As far as I know, she has had conversations with every Professor in here except for me. And, quite often, she's not even in Hogwarts. I don't know why she's here, to be honest. And she was appointed by Lucius himself. There has to be something more to it... to her," replied Jane.
"Talking of Lucius, what the hell is he planning?" sighed John.
"Don't ask me," replied Jane. With that, John left his sister's office.
The following morning, at breakfast, John found himself hearing the tale that Harry had in the great hall.
"She talked to Daisy?" asked John surprised.
"She said that she did," replied Harry. Harry had the strong urge to ask him why he hadn't told anyone about the invisibility cloak but resisted his urge as Ron was seated beside them.
"Well, if she turns out to be a good investigator, that'll definitely make things better," replied John.
Hermione then began her narration of the conversation she had with Myrtle. The moment she mentioned the suddenness of Myrtle's death, John's brain went into overdrive. He knew he had read something about a snake, a snake that could kill its prey with mere eye contact. But he couldn't remember where he had read it. And then it came to him. The book he had been reading before coming to Hogwarts, at the start of the year, it was there that he had read it.
"A basilisk," said John. But before he could say anything further, he saw Mrs Davies and 2 other ministry officials, storm into the great hall. Emily pointed her wand at John the moment she came near and an instant later, John's hands were handcuffed.
"Mr Smith, I'm hereby charging you with the attempted murder of 2 muggle-born students and the cat belonging to Argus Filch," said Emily with a thundering voice.
"Wait... what? What the hell are these?" asked John shoving his cuffed hands at Emily's face.
"What?" gasped Harry, Hermione and Ron simultaneously.
"He didn't do it," said Harry immediately. "There's no way," he added.
"Mr Potter, you might disagree once we tell you that we found your invisibility cloak along with a spare wand, whose owner is yet to be identified, inside Mr Smith's trunk," snapped Emily back. John's face dropped the moment he heard Emily.
"My cloak?" asked Harry, shocked and looked at John. For some unexplainable reason, Harry saw John's face and the only thing he saw was guilt written all over it.
...
PS - Next Chapter on 27/12/2021