There are a couple of things that I wanted to address... But, I will resist myself from indulging in them till the end of the next chapter. So, here is Chapter 34... The penultimate chapter in the 2nd year's set of events. Enjoy!
"Mr Weasley..." came the thundering voice of Professor McGonagall. She was walking towards the 4 Gryffindors and had obviously been angered by the state of Ron and John. "What is going on here? Students fighting in the middle of the corridor... were my announcements not audible?" she continued. Ron quickly got up and straightened himself awkwardly. Hermione and Harry stared blankly at their temporary headmaster. John patted his clothes and got up gingerly.
"Prof... Professor McGonagall" exclaimed Hermione the moment McGonagall arrived at the scene.
"Go back to your dormitories, NOW!" snapped McGonagall and with that, all 4 of them dashed back to the Gryffindor common room.
"I have never seen her this angry," remarked Harry the moment they got in.
"That was panic and desperation, my friend... A student has been taken into the chamber," replied John gasping for air. Ron who was still angry at John, apart from his shock at Ginny being taken, stomped away from the group.
"Ron... I'm sorry," said John genuinely feeling bad for Ron. But that didn't stop Ron, he didn't even bother looking back at John and to the dormitory he went. Harry left as well chasing after Ron leaving Hermione and John alone.
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah... No... well, I'm fine... Ron's just hurting at the moment... We need to find the chamber," replied John.
"Wow... I uh... I thought you would be angry at him for what he did. I was just about to say that it isn't Ron's fault. And that you should forgive him," said Hermione with a smile on her face.
"It's Ron... How can I be angry," replied John grinning.
"You need to start spilling though. You have been acting weird all year, you have been distant and now... why... why did you have to steal Harry's cloak? And what are you hiding from us? And why did you think Ginny had the diary?" asked Hermione turning a lot more serious than she was a moment back. "And how are we going to find the chamber that no one has in centuries?" she added.
Ron noticed Harry hurrying behind him and slowed down.
"Ron..." called out Harry and caught up with him.
"Harry..." said Ron and looked at Harry teary-eyed. "Do you think she is... you know," said Ron.
"No... she is not... We will get her back, I promise," replied Harry.
"Right... she can't be... it doesn't make sense. She is pure-blood, she must have seen something, or known something. That's why she was taken," said Ron hurriedly.
"Ron... take a breath... we will find her," reassured Harry. Internally though, his heart had sunk. This was the worst he had ever felt. Ginny was merely a first-year kid, why somebody would do that to her, he couldn't wrap his head around it.
"You don't think John had anything to do with this, do you? I know that he can't have... I don't even know what came over me. He was... was... uh, I don't know. He has been acting weird this year, hasn't he? And why would he steal your cloak? And I see him sometimes, you know? He always seems lost in another world, except when he's talking to Hermione or talking to you. When he asked for Ginny, something came over me and I took a swing," mumbled Ron aimlessly.
Harry was sitting, staring at his best friend, hurting at everything that had happened. Just then, he saw John enter the dormitory and walk towards them.
"I'm sorry about what's happened to Ginny... I can't emphasize how much I want you to believe me that I had nothing to do with it," said John as he came near the boys.
"John... what is it?" asked Harry. But before John could answer, they saw Hermione walk into the dormitory.
"How's he?" asked Hermione looking at Ron.
"He's fine..." replied Harry. "As fine as one can be after finding out that their sister has been taken into the chamber of secrets," he added frustrated.
"John has something to say..." said Hermione tentatively.
"Things..." corrected John and handed Ron his watch. From the last time Hermione had seen it, back in the train to Hogwarts at the start of the year, a new dial had been added in it. The name Ginny had been labelled to it. Ron took the watch casually and gave a glance.
"What is it?" asked Ron. Though the look of it gave him an idea of what it could be.
"It's a watch. It tells me the status of people who are... who are important to me," replied John.
Ron inspected the watch much more thoroughly.
"And this is why I wanted to know where Ginny was," added John. Ron looked confused and John realised there were many reasons for that.
"I'm not who you think I am... there is something that I kept from you. Harry and Hermione know about this... I just need you to trust me enough to get working with me... We will have a lot of time for storytelling later," said John and looked hopefully at Ron.
"What is he on about?" asked Ron looking at Harry.
"Just go with it," replied harry immediately.
"Okay... so, what is it?" asked Ron.
"We need to find the chamber as soon as possible, but I need you to listen to me without getting angry. I have a theory," replied John.
"This can't be..." gasped Molly in fear when she looked at the clock. Just at that moment, there was a loud crack and Arthur Weasley apparated into the Burrow.
"Molly... something has happened," said Arthur.
"Arthur... what is it?" asked Molly in tears. The clock had been pointing Ginny at Mortal Peril. Coupled with Arthur's untimely visit home could only mean the worst.
"Ginny... Something's happened to our Ginny," said Arthur trembling. "Minerva contacted me, we are going to Hogwarts right away. They have connected a fireplace for us to get there right away," he added.
When the Weasleys arrived at Professor Jane's office, they were welcomed by Professors Jane, McGonagall and Snape.
"Arthur... Molly..." exclaimed McGonagall.
"Professor McGonagall... what's happened to my Ginny?" asked Molly in tears.
"Severus... we should make arrangements for the return of students," said McGonagall. Severus nodded and left.
"Take a seat, please?" said McGonagall and gestured for the Weasleys to do the same. Arthur and Molly sat down, holding each other's hands while Jane stood with her back leaning against her desk.
"Ginerva... Ginny has been abducted into the Chamber of Secrets," said McGonagall weakly, still in shock herself.
"What?" gasped Molly. Arthur who had been told already didn't have a visible reaction to hearing it once more. Jane glanced at McGonagall earnestly.
"Professor Jane? Take them to their kids, please," said McGonagall and left the office. Jane took the opportunity to get some words in.
"Hi... I am Jane Smith... I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," said Jane and sat beside Molly.
"Professor? How did this happen?" asked Arthur, still shaking mildly.
"Please... call me Jane... To be honest, we don't know... The Aurors will be here soon, Severus, Filius along with the Prefects and house heads have already begun their search. We will find and get Ginny back..." replied Jane, as reassuring as she could be.
"But, why Ginny? She's just a child," said Molly and started sobbing. There were tears in Arthur's eyes as well. He had been trying to stay strong all this while but he couldn't contain himself anymore.
Jane had just experienced an awful hour of fear. She had been the one to notice the writing on the wall. She had been the one to alert Professor McGonagall and the prefects. She had been fearing the worst ever since. It had only taken 10 minutes for them to realise that the missing girl was Ginny Weasley. And seeing her family made things worse. She could see the pain in Molly's eyes. The pain in Arthur's. At that moment, she found herself feeling helpless and powerless.
"Molly..." she exclaimed sadly and hugged Molly Weasley. "We will find your daughter..." she added and released the hug. She got up and turned away from the Weasleys, wiping the tears off her eye. "I'll send for Fred, George, Ron and Percy..." she said and left them alone.
Fred and George made their way to the dormitory in search of Ron.
"Mum and Dad are here... let's go," said Fred as the Weasley twins went near the John and the golden trio.
"Mum and Dad are here?" asked Ron, shocked.
"Your parents are here?" asked John.
"Yes! They are in Professor Jane's office," said George gloomily. Harry had never seen them like this ever before.
"I'll come in a few minutes," said Ron and with that, both Fred and George left. "You continue..." said Ron looking at John.
"As I was saying... the only reason I took his cloak was to roam the castle at night undetected. When I came to the castle on the night of Halloween, the chamber had already been opened. And since Harry had already told me about the voices, I figured they must be related," replied John.
"Still doesn't explain why you didn't tell us all this from the beginning," said Ron.
"I'm sorry that I didn't..." replied John.
"Now that that's out of the way, tell us about Ginny," said Hermione. Ron meanwhile had gone into a long think.
"Ginny... well... I'm not sure about it yet. But, remember what I told you that night? About the diary being more than what it seems?" replied John.
"What are you talking about?" asked Harry.
"Harry... that night, after he told us about the diary, both of you came back to your dormitories. And we were just talking about the diary. John had this feeling that the diary could somehow control people, bewitch people," replied Hermione.
"What?" asked a confused Harry.
"Yes..." replied John.
"And what has this got to do with Ginny?" asked Harry.
"Where did Filch get this diary? We don't know... But what we do know is that he keeps guard all day long where his cat was attacked. So, if we assume that he found the diary in the bathroom, he probably picked it up since it wasn't wet when it should have been. If we assume that, we can say that someone threw it there," replied John.
"That's a big assumption," remarked Ron and went back to his long think.
"Okay... When was the last attack? Justin, right before Christmas... Why wasn't anyone attacked ever since?" asked John.
"You have had the diary since, pretty soon into this term, right?" asked Hermione.
"And the moment I was arrested by Mrs Davies, I parted away from the diary," added John.
"And whoever took your diary came after my sister, why?" asked Ron.
"Who took the diary? Someone from Gryffindor?" asked John and everyone remained silent. "Why would they come after Ginny, a pureblood? Unless..." added John.
"Unless, no one did and it was Ginny all along," finished Hermione.
"That's the biggest load of nonsense," remarked Ron in disgust.
"Well, that's his theory," said Hermione sulking.
"Slytherin's heir... Slytherin's monster... Slytherin's secret chamber... Slytherin could speak Parseltongue... Tom Riddle was the last heir of Slytherin. And I bet you anything... the reason no one knows where the chamber, or how to open it is because only a Parselmouth can," replied John, more and more confident as he kept explaining.
"What if someone else in the castle spoke parseltongue like me? I'm not Slytherin's heir am I?" asked Harry.
"Ok... you know what? It doesn't matter... It doesn't matter whether Ginny was bewitched or not. All that matters is we find and open the chamber," interjected Hermione.
"How this snake has gone unseen so far is puzzling," said Harry. And that's when Ron got excited.
"You said something about the snake having killer eyes, didn't you?" asked Ron.
"Yes... Hermione read out a passage about Basilisks. In there, it said that the snake's glare could kill its target," replied Harry.
"So, why isn't anyone dead?" asked Ron.
"What if we are wrong about the snake?" asked Hermione. "It can be a different snake," she added.
"No," said John suddenly. "You said something that day when you told me the story Myrtle told you... she dies instantly and the last thing she saw were yellow eyes. It has to be a basilisk. I read about them a long while back. As far as I know, they're the only variety of snakes that can kill its prey with just a stare," replied John.
"So, we are not wrong about the snake? How do we explain the attacks this year then?" asked Hermione. Everyone went silent apart from Ron.
"I know how," he replied frantically. "Reflections... none of them saw the snake," he added. And it all fit perfectly to Harry, Hermione and John instantly.
"Mrs Norris saw the snake through the puddle of water," said Ron.
"Colin through his camera," added Harry.
"And Justin must have seen it through Nearly Headless Nick," finished Hermione.
"Pipes," said Harry and glanced at John.
"Pipes? No... what? You're kidding me... Pipes... why did I never think of pipes? I'm such an idiot," cursed John and dashed outside the dormitory. He paused a few steps later and came back. "I'll be back in a minute," he said and left again.
"What just happened?" asked Hermione, surprised.
"The Basilisk's been using the pipes... That's why nobody has seen it roaming the castle... That's why I heard its voices sometimes and not the other times. I was in the library when Justin was attacked and even today we were at the library. Professor Jane's office is the closest to the second-floor bathroom and both times I heard the snake were near there. The opening to the chamber must be there," replied Harry excitedly.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Hermione and sat down on one of the beds. She got back up instantly, like a spring.
"What happened?" asked Harry.
"I think I know where the chamber is... It has to be in the bathroom... inside... has to be. It all fits perfectly," replied Hermione.
"The 2nd-floor bathroom?" asked Harry.
"Moaning Myrtle died there, didn't she? Well, has to be somewhere in there... That does make sense," replied Ron. "We should go and tell them about this... Ginny is in there all alone... And now we can get to her," he added frantically and with that, the trio dashed to Professor Jane's office. By the time they got there, the office had been packed, way more than it could hold. There were intense discussions happening between McGonagall, Mrs Davies and the Ministry officials she accompanied. On the other side, Molly and Arthur were now accompanied by Fred and George.
"Mum... Dad..." exclaimed Ron and immediately hugged his mother. Ron's eyes had turned moist the moment he laid eyes on his parents. Hermione and Harry meanwhile grabbed the attention of Severus Snape.
"What is it Miss Granger and Mr Potter?" asked Severus in his usual cold monotonous voice.
"We believe we know where the chamber is," replied Harry confidently.
"Yes, we have already heard about your detective skills. It's a shame your other skills aren't up to the same level," retorted Snape.
"What? You know? John told you?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, Miss Granger, he did... Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do," replied Snape and walked off.
"Better things to do? What better things has Snape got to do?" sighed Harry annoyed.
"Jane... where are we going?" asked John. He couldn't fathom the idea of doing anything but saving Ginny.
"Well... The perks of having studied in the school, I know a thing or to about the school that only a few people know... Now, we are almost here," replied Jane and kept walking.
"I tell you about the snake, the diary, Ginny, the pipes and you suddenly decide to stroll the castle... Unbelievable," sighed John and followed his sister. After a few seconds, Jane came to a halt and so did John.
As far as John could tell, they were right in the middle of an empty corridor with nothing but walls and the floor in sight.
"Brother dear... would you mind standing back a bit..." said Jane and went up and started pacing in front of a wall. It took about a minute and to his utter disbelief, the wall suddenly turned into an old fashioned door.
"What in the world?" exclaimed John in amazement.
"Welcome to the Room of Requirement," said Jane and walked in opening the doors. However, John's amazement soon turned into confusion the moment he entered. It was a narrow room and the only thing he could see were mirrors. The room was dimly lit, enough to keep track of surroundings. There was a narrow path leading to a set of large, gigantic mirrors, about 10-12 of them all facing each other.
"Jane, what's this room?" asked John, confused. Jane, however, had gone silent ever since entering.
"I... uh... I don't know the meaning of this... This room is supposed to help anybody with what they require, what they want," replied Jane.
"Jane... please tell me you didn't choose this moment to wish for something to help you dress up cute," replied John, amused at the state of the room.
"Shut up... I wished for something that could help me kill the Basilisk. As I understand, they're powerful creatures... serpents that have incredible ability. I'm not sure how powerful a magic would be required to kill a snake," replied Jane hastily.
"Well... Mirrors..." sighed John. And instantly it struck him. "Oh... this is brilliant..." he exclaimed.
"What?" asked Jane.
"Wow!" exclaimed John and started laughing.
"What's so funny?" asked Jane irritated.
"Nothing... this room is actually pretty helpful. Turns out, the room thinks reflection would work just fine. No need for powerful magic" replied John.
"Reflection? But how?" asked Jane but understood almost immediately. "No... but, wait... How will the reflection kill a Basilisk? If anything, it'll only petrify it, right?" she asked.
"The evidence we have tells us that anybody who saw the Basilisk through the help of reflection or through a ghost got petrified. And Myrtle died when she directly looked at the Basilisk's eyes. Maybe we can use the mirrors to immobilize the Basilisk. What we do with it post that is child's play," replied John.
"Well... I had hoped for a sword or something... We can only work with what we get, I guess," sighed Jane. With that, the twins returned to Jane's office.
"We should go, right away..." said John.
"Harry, Professor Jane and Professor Snape will be the ones to enter the chamber. If we are right about where it is, that is," replied Mrs Davies.
"I'm going with them," retorted John.
"You're just a kid, Mr Smith... If I had anything to say about all of this, I wouldn't have 2 Professors go in there at all. This is why there are Aurors. There are people who handle this kind of thing. And definitely not with a kid, even if the kid happens to be the Boy-Who-Lived. But, my word matters for very little in here. That being said, there's no way I can allow 2 students to enter the chamber in any circumstance," replied Emily stubbornly.
"John... it's alright..." said Jane.
"I can't let you go in there alone..." whispered John.
"I won't be alone, would I? I have Severus of all people with me," replied Jane reassuringly.
"Professor Snape... got the potion?" asked Jane. Severus nodded in reply. John saw a bottle in Severus' hand.
"Jane... I can't afford to lose you... Don't you dare die before I do... Got that?" said John and clutched his sister's hand tightly.
"And what about me? You think I can watch you die? Now... don't worry... And please let me go..." replied Jane clutching back John's hand tightly. John unwillingly let go of Jane's hand.
"Harry... Relax... You need to relax and calm down, understood?" asked John.
"Got it mate," replied Harry confidently even though internally he was in a thousand pieces.
"We will get Ginny back," assured Jane looking at Arthur, Molly and the Weasley kids.
And with that, off went Jane, Severus and Harry as Fred, George, Percy, Ron, Arthur, Molly, Hermione, John, Emily, McGonagall and everyone else prayed for Ginny's safety.
PS - Thank you so much to everyone, especially to the ones providing me with incredible feedback about the story. Keep it coming and be rest assured that all of them are being addressed in the plot.
Chapter 35 will be out this Friday...