Happy New Year to everybody reading this. I hope you have a healthy, happy, adventurous and exciting life ahead ❤️

I waited a couple of days before posting this chapter since I am facing issues with the FF website. It isn't showing me my story's stats properly. But it is taking way too long to resolve.

So, here I am, with Chapter 35 of this story... Enjoy! ❤️

"It looks like they're coming back," said Hermione as she got up from the floor. But, John remained seated.

"Please don't be dead... Let Ginny be alive... Please don't be dead," muttered John under his breath.

The 2nd floor was packed with people. There were a couple of Professors, Albus Dumbledore had arrived a short while ago, the entire Weasley family was there, Emily was there too, accompanied by a few other Ministry officials. As Hermione got nearer to the entrance of the bathroom, there was a chill that ran down her spine. There was a sudden pit in her stomach. And then she heard it. A loud scream, an outburst of tears that could be heard by the whole castle and then a sudden silence.

John clutched his head in his hand. Everything that he had been afraid of suddenly became real. He knew what had happened. He knew what he and his sister had been afraid of the entire time had happened and that there was nothing they could do about it.

Hermione immediately dashed to get closer to the scene. She hoped against hope that her deduction was wrong. The first thing she laid her eyes on was the teacher they all despised, Severus Snape and what or who he was holding in his hands. It was difficult to see for the crowd had gathered and everyone taller than she had occupied the space ahead of her. But she knew who it was, it was Harry that Snape was carrying out of the chamber. It was then that she noticed another person walking ahead of Snape, an Auror carrying another body. Hermione's heart sank deeper than it ever had and an uncontrollable stream of tears started pouring down her cheeks. It was unmistakably Ginny Weasley.

But there was something wrong. Hermione's brain was filled with a million thoughts but there was one at the centre of it.

"Why had everyone gone silent?" was the question that was on her mind. And then she saw it. The remaining Aurors that had gone into the chamber only a few minutes back, came back out of the chamber and in the middle of them, cuffed and restrained was Professor Jane.

***{Some time back : Outside the Chamber}***

It had taken Harry a few minutes to open the chamber. While Emily pleaded endlessly with McGonagall, her protests went in vain as Snape, Jane and Harry stepped into the chamber. And a crowd had since gathered on the second-floor corridor.

"The Aurors will be here in no time. Surely we could have waited a bit longer," sighed Emily unpleasantly.

"The life of a child hangs in the balance. We have waited long enough," snapped McGonagall.

John had however stepped away from the crowd and was in fact walking away from it. Hermione who noticed him walking away caught up with him.

"Why didn't you go with your sister?" asked Hermione.

"I tried, but I can't convince anybody without blowing my cover. I'm after all a 13-year-old kid in everyone's eyes. And there's also the fact that I won't be of much use anyway..." replied John finding a comfortable place to sit on the floor, quite far away from the crowd. Hermione reluctantly followed suit.

"You wouldn't be of use? Come on now, you can't be that modest. Need I remind you," said Hermione forcing a grin despite the circumstances and started whispering, "how you saved us from You-Know-Who that night? You even used an unforgivable curse, didn't you?" she asked.

John remained silent in response.

"Do you know who that is?" asked Hermione pointing at a blonde woman standing beside the crowd. John looked up in the direction Hermione was pointing.

"Looks like a reporter... probably from The Daily Prophet," replied a weary John.

"I don't get why Harry had to go with them," sighed Hermione after a few minutes.

"Well, someone has to open the chamber, right?" retorted John.

"Can't he like just open it and stay back?"

"Hermione... you do realise that there's a Basilisk inside? And he's the only parselmouth at hand," replied John.

"What if he can't control the Basilisk? And what if they all die from the Basilisk's stare? This is just way too dangerous," replied a worried Hermione.

John knew that Jane had a plan for the Basilisk's stare, but Harry being unable to control the serpent was something none of them had really spent enough time contemplating.

"Well, they have a plan. Let us hope for the best. Harry couldn't be in safer hands at the moment," assured John.

"He would be safer with you there," retorted Hermione.

John was pleasantly surprised at hearing those words. He hadn't really grasped the impact the night in the forbidden forest had on Hermione and Harry yet. The thought hadn't even brought a small smile on John's face when he remembered he wasn't that person anymore.

"I uh... I'm not sure that's true anymore," sighed John fiddling with his wand.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione, confused.

"Gosh, there's so much you don't know about me," sighed John and gave a chuckle.

"I wonder why," retorted Hermione sarcastically.

"You all should be living your life normally... There are things that just have to remain the way they are," replied John uncomfortably, choosing his words carefully.

"Whatever it is, we can handle," replied Hermione. She thought she was being brave and confident when she uttered those words. But John knew that there was a thin line between brave and stupid.

John gave another chuckle and replied, "I'm sure you can... But I can't tell you regardless."

"What could it possibly be?" asked Hermione, prodding a little more. At that moment, John's resilience broke a little. Ever since he had started living a secretive life, the universe seemed to conspire to challenge his resolve. And gradually, with time, John's resilience towards maintaining his secret grew weary. And at that moment, he was like a bubble waiting to burst. For a second, he had given up and had decided to tell Hermione his story. And then he remembered his sister. They had both given up a lot to be where they were and in his eyes, his sister had much more to lose than he ever had. And this thought curbed his desire. But nevertheless, he decided to tell Hermione some of the truth. He knew there would come a time when he would have to tell Harry and Hermione about his permanent transformation.

"Well... there is something I guess I could tell you..." said John. He remembered Remus Lupin's advice about opening up and decided to give it a shot.

"What?" asked Hermione excitedly.

"I'm no longer... My ability to... Okay, how do I say this? Uh... Something happened a few months back. Well, not a few months back. It's sort of an accumulation of everything that has happened in the last 2-3 years," replied John fumbling with his words. Hermione had never him this flustered.

"What happened?" she asked.

"My transformation was unsuccessful," replied John finally.

"Unsuccessful?"

"Well... yeah... I mean, the transformation in itself wasn't unsuccessful, it's just that it left its side-effects," replied John, struggling to explain.

"What is going on? What happened with your transformation?" asked Hermione, getting slightly worried.

John gathered himself and began the story. "Well, I had transformed myself at the beginning of this year. But, this time around, I was facing problems controlling my magic. This is the first time it had happened. I shrugged it off, but then you got injured. That was when I realised, I was in trouble. So, when I got suspended, I went back home. But, Jane, had advised me to go to this healing facility. After a few weeks, that's what I did. I went there, got myself checked and when I got my diagnosis back, it was... Well, how do I put this? It sucked..." he paused momentarily. "I was basically told that my best option would be to remain my original self. And that if I wanted to transform again, it would have to be permanent. Not to mention, my magical abilities would be reduced," he added. He had turned pale. "So, there you go, Hermione. I don't think Harry's missing me. In fact, now I realise that this is the best thing that could have happened. Severus is infinitely better than me, especially now," he finished.

Hermione was speechless for a few minutes. Once the shock wore down, she replied, "Why would you do this? Why suffer for the sake of Harry?"

"That's all you get... I have spilt enough," replied John grinning.

"That's not fair," pleaded Hermione. But she knew she was getting any more answers. "So, what now? You can't ever go back to how you were?" she asked.

"Nope," replied John.

"Oh my God," sighed Hermione.

"Yeah, well that's what happens when you mess with the natural order," replied John. John had barely finished speaking when they saw a bunch of wizards walking towards the crowd. It was headed by none other than, Albus Dumbledore. "Dumbledore's here," said John.

"Finally..." sighed Hermione. "And so are the Aurors," she added.

7 Aurors had accompanied Dumbledore to Hogwarts and were now in deep discussions with Emily, McGonagall and Dumbledore. After a few minutes of discussions, John and Hermione saw the Aurors make their way into the Chamber.

All the while this was happening, the reporter from Daily Prophet was busy interviewing, which felt more like an interrogation of the crowd.

John who was nervously glancing at the entrance took out his watch.

"What's going on there? It has only been a few minutes," said Hermione straining her eyes. "It looks like they're coming back," said Hermione as she got up from the floor. But, John remained seated.

"Please don't be dead... Let Ginny be alive... Please don't be dead," muttered John under his breath and glanced at his watch.

***{Some time back : Inside the Chamber}***

Severus, Harry and Jane, all had their wands out, illuminated.

"Harry, stay behind the both of us... And any sign of movement, close your eyes," said Jane.

"Here... drink up," said Severus and handed Harry a vial. He then handed another vial to Jane and drank for a third himself.

"What is this?" asked Harry.

"Always questions... This is a powerful potion, Mr Potter... It's called Felix Felicis," replied Snape. Harry stared blankly at Snape, he had no idea what Felix Felicis was.

"Liquid luck," added Jane. "Don't worry, it doesn't taste bad," she said.

The three of them made their way ahead, carefully. Where they were heading, Harry couldn't tell. He was on high alert. At the tiniest of sounds, he closed his eyes only to open them back again slowly. The path that they were going through, seemed like a tunnel, that turned and turned endlessly. And finally, they saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.

The moment Harry lay his lies on the serpents, his spirits rose and he knew what he had to do.

"Open," said Harry, in a low, faint hiss.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight and the three walked inside, in awe of what they were seeing.

It was Jane who first spotted Ginny, lying on the floor.

"Ginny," muttered Jane and dashed towards her and Harry followed. Severus stood still and observed the surroundings carefully. Something was off and he could tell.

Jane turned Ginny over and lay her flat on her back. Ginny's face was white as marble and her body just as cold. But her eyes were closed. Harry tried to wake her, but she didn't wake up.

"Professor Jane... what happened to her?" asked Harry.

"Your guess is as good as mine," replied Jane. She was busy warming Ginny up. Warm air blew out of Jane's wand and she directed them at Ginny's arms and legs.

Severus walked towards them cautiously and that's when he saw a tall, black-haired boy leaning against the farthest pillar in sight. There was something familiar about his face. It was almost as if Severus had seen the boy somewhere, but he couldn't place where and when it was.

He pointed his wand at him and asked, "Who are you?"

Jane and Harry looked up instantly and saw Severus pointing his wand at a tall boy a few feet away, his clothes camouflaged with the surrounding. Jane got up and had her wand point towards the boy instantly.

"She won't wake," said the boy, in a soft voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry. "What have you done to her?" he added. The longer he looked at the boy, the more he felt weird about it. There was something different about him. It was almost as if he was in a dream.

"Severus..." whispered Jane.

"Don't worry... She's still alive, but only just," replied the boy.

Severus walked vigilantly towards the boy. He flicked his wand and sparkle of white light flew towards the boy. But to Harry's shock, it went right through the boy and hit the wall behind him.

"What are you?" asked Harry. "Are you a ghost?" he added. Jane was closely following Snape while Harry stood a few feet behind.

"A memory, preserved in the diary for half a century," replied Tom.

"Tom Riddle?" asked Jane and instantly Severus knew.

"The dark lord," muttered Severus under his breath, audible enough to reach Jane's ears.

"I have been eager to meet you, Harry Potter... How did you manage to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?" asked Tom.

"Severus... We don't have time for this," whispered Jane. Severus had frozen the moment he realised and had remained motionless for a few seconds, till Jane spoke.

"Little Ginny here has helped me leave the diary's pages and now it is time to match the powers of Lord Voldemort, the last heir of Slytherin, the greatest wizard of all time against Harry Potter, the boy who escaped," said Tom.

And then Tom hissed, but Harry understood him instantly, "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four"

The gigantic Slytherin stone was moving. Wider and wider the mouth opened until it made a huge black hole.

"Severus, kill him," said Jane and moved forward towards the hole. This is why she had come into the chamber. They could all sense something slithering up from the hole's depths.

Without wasting another moment, Jane flicked her wand at a pebble lying on the floor. In an instant, it transformed into a one-way mirror. With another flick of her wand, the mirror multiplied into a dozen more, enough to engulf the hole created.

Meanwhile, Severus barraged the corporeal self of Tom Riddle with multiple spells, but nothing seemed to affect Tom Riddle. All of them went through him.

Harry was with Ginny all the while the 2 professors were doing their thing. Whatever Jane had done, hadn't had any effect on Ginny. She was still as cold as before and her face white.

"Wake up Ginny... Ginny..." he kept saying. "Please wake up... Ron, Fred, George, Percy, even your Mum and Dad are waiting for you. Ginny... wake," he kept repeating, but before he was interrupted by a loud shattering noise. Severus' attention too swayed in the direction of the sound. The Basilisk had broken through the mirror barrier Jane had created, to her utter shock. Jane fell back instantly and she closed her eyes immediately.

The Basilisk slithered out slowly out of the hole. Jane lay a good 10 feet away on one side, while Severus was on the other side. Instinctively, he flicked his wand and the sharp, broken pieces of the mirror flew towards the snake, piercing at various parts of the body. Even though it wasn't his intention, some of the broken pieces pierced the eye socket of the Basilisk and to their luck, it was blinded.

The Basilisk started spitting in agony, blood streamed to the floor, its bulbous eyes punctured. Jane opened her eyes slowly and realised that the Basilisk was blinded immediately and got up. The wounded Basilisk rattled briskly towards Jane in agony, almost as if it could smell her scent. But Jane reacted quickly.

She tried stunning the enormous serpent but in vain. And then, in the most barbaric fashion, she managed to levitate the Basilisk and smashed it to the wall. The impact the Basilisk had on the wall it smashed into was evident as the impact points had developed a huge crack. The Basilisk was clearly in agony as it rattled even harder, its tail thrashed the floor and it rattled back at Jane swiftly. Without hesitation, Jane repeated her spellwork and the result was the same. The cracks on the wall had developed even further, the Basilisk on the other was extremely wounded. Yet, it seemed as mobile as ever.

"Why won't it bloody die," cursed Jane as she readied herself to repeat again.

"Miss Smith..." exclaimed Severus.

"A few more times, and we will get rid of this monster," retorted Jane without turning back.

"Miss Smith... Stop this madness," said Snape, this time audibly louder.

Jane turned back and looked at the disgusted face of Severus Snape and the shocked face of Harry.

"Sorry... got carried away," replied Jane.

"Let's the burn the place down," said Severus.

Harry had ignored Tom and had begun moving Ginny. He initially tried carrying her but gave up a few moments later. And then his attention was captured by the brutality of Jane's attack on the Basilisk. He admired how fearless and creative she was. And it was then it struck him.

"The diary... We have to destroy the diary," he said to himself and picked up the diary.

"The diary... we have to destroy the diary," said Harry, this time out loud.

"We will burn that too," replied Severus.

"No," replied Jane and Harry simultaneously. "We can't burn the diary," added Harry.

"Why not?" asked Severus.

"John tried... nothing happens to the diary," replied Jane. And she was surprised at how quickly Severus seemed to take her word for it.

Severus proceeded to light the chamber with fire. Once fire hit the Basilisk, its hissing in agony grew almost unbearable, but it only lasted a minute.

"Ginny needs help immediately... She's still the same... what do we do? What do we do with the diary?" asked Harry frantically.

"Well, there is one thing I'm sure John wouldn't have tried... Give me the diary," replied Jane and held her hand out for the diary. Harry gave her the diary.

Jane threw the diary in the air a few feet away and as it was mid-air swished her wand, pointing at the diary and out came flames from her wand. But these flames were different from what he had seen earlier when Professor Snape used them. They seemed alive, and they also seemed to burn in a darker colour. And almost instantly, they grew in size and took the shape of a dragon and flew at the diary. The fiendfyre blazed hot and the moment it made contact with the dairy, the pages burnt with a dark flame. Severus and Jane gazed at the diary in shock as blood poured out of it that burned away instantly in the fiendfyre. As the diary lay on the floor, burning away, Severus and Jane heard a thud. They looked back immediately and their eyes lay on Harry who was lying on the floor unconscious.

"HARRY... ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" screamed Jane and dashed towards Harry who was lying on the floor a few feet behind. "What happened to you? Harry... can you hear me?" she asked.

"Harry... what happened to him?" exclaimed Severus and knelt down beside Harry. "he is alive... but unconscious... This doesn't make sense," sighed Severus.

"Severus... what was that diary?" asked Jane, still inspecting Harry.

"I don't know... The dark lord never mentioned possessing any artefact with his memory stored," replied Severus. He looked worried at the state of Harry.

From far away, Jane heard a few footsteps. The moment she heard footsteps, her brain went into overdrive. What John had told her earlier about Ginny possessing the diary, being bewitched by it, how she would have been the one that opened the chamber all came into her head instantly. Connecting the dots, she remembered how Lucius had overthrown Dumbledore, even though temporarily from Hogwarts. Emily Davies was also appointed by Lucius Malfoy. The enmity between the Malfoys and the Weasleys was well known. Arthur Weasley had also threatened Lucius multiple times, accusing him of possessing dark artefacts. Dobby, the house-elf also belonged to the Malfoys. If the world found out that Ginny opened the chamber, it'd be the end of the Weasleys. Their entire reputation would be ruined instantly. And the nail in the coffin of her thoughts was the reporter from the Daily Prophet who had suddenly turned up at Hogwarts, unannounced. From the moment she heard the footsteps of the Aurors walking into the chamber, it only took her half a second to connect all the dots and come to a single conclusion.

"Severus... the Aurors are here," she said and closed her eyes. There was a single image in her head, the mirrors she saw in the Room of Requirement and her countless reflections staring at her.

"We need to take Harry and Ginny to Madam Pomfrey," replied Severus, holding Harry's hand.

"There's something I need from you before that," said Jane. The footsteps grew louder and louder.

"What?" asked Severus.

Jane pointed her wand at Severus.

"What are you doing?" asked Severus, alarmed.

"I don't have a choice..." she whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I opened the chamber to get my revenge on the Weasleys... Redheaded fools," she shouted at the top of her lungs. "And you are in my way," she continued pointing her wand at Severus.

Severus drew out his wand instantly, confused at what Jane was doing. The Aurors had heard the voices from inside the chamber and were rushing to the scene.

"Stupefy" cried one of the Aurors the moment she saw Jane and Severus pointing their wands at each other. The spell hit Jane and she fell headfirst on the floor.

"Please don't be dead... Let Ginny be alive... Please don't be dead," muttered John under his breath and glanced at his watch. Tears gushed down his eyes as he found one needle missing from his watch, the needle belonging to Ginny Weasley. He tried to get up and follow Hermione but his knees gave way. He sat down with a heavy heart but got up nevertheless. When he made his way to the crowd, he saw Hermione coming out of it, panicking, with a confused look and moist cheeks.

"Professor Jane... they got Professor Jane," she said breathlessly, controlling her tears.

"What?" asked John, confused, thinking he had heard wrong.

"They arrested your sister... and they are taking her away," replied Hermione, missing most of the words and grabbed John in a big hug, and started sobbing heavily.

"Hermione... Hermione... what happened?" asked John, half-panicking, trying to remain steady. He hugged her back but his eyes wandered at the crowd. It had started dissipating. After a few seconds, Hermione released the hug.

"Let's find someone," whispered John in her ear.

The Weasley family had disappeared from the crowd, and so had the Professors and the Ministry officials. But before John and Hermione took a few steps, they were interrupted.

"You are the nephew, aren't you? Did you know she did it? Or did you help her hurt those kids?" asked the reporter looking at John. "And you are Miss Hermione Granger, aren't you? He tried to kill you earlier this year and you're still friends with him? How is that?" she continued, this time addressing Hermione.

"I don't have time for this rubbish," snapped John and dashed away, Hermione followed suit. Disappointment followed them both as there was a huge gathering outside the hospital wing. But within a few seconds, they were graced with the presence of Professor McGonagall.

"Mr Smith... We have been looking for you for so long... I need you to come with me immediately," said Professor McGonagall. Before Hermione could ask if she could come with them, McGonagall continued, "Yes, you can come too."

John and Hermione were guided by McGonagall to Professor Dumbledore's office. Meanwhile, John and Hermione resisted the urge to ask further questions. But the moment they entered, they saw Severus and Albus Dumbledore and couldn't resist any longer.

"Professor Dumbledore... what is going on? Where is my sister? What happened to Ginny and Harry? Please tell us what's going on," asked John.

"Mr Smith and Miss Granger, first of all, Ginny is alive... But Madam Pomfrey wanted her to be taken to St Mungo's, so that's what we have arranged for. Mr Potter on the other hand," replied Dumbledore and glanced at Severus and continued, "Harry is fine... he was just unconscious. He is awake now and will join the students soon," he added. There was instant relief in John and Hermione's faces.

"But Miss Jane has been arrested by the Aurors. She admitted to opening the Chamber of Secrets," said Dumbledore after a few seconds.

"She did what?" gasped John, in shock. All the relief dissolving into panic.

"Severus?" asked Dumbledore.

"Mr Smith... Jane confessed to opening the chamber and hurting the kids when she heard the Aurors' footsteps. And before anything could be done, she was arrested," replied Snape.

Jane was handcuffed and kept inside what could only be described as a temporary cell for prisoners. And there was a wizard keeping guard outside.

"My luck is about to run out," muttered Jane, just loud enough for the wizard to barely hear her.

"Procidat Incipio" she muttered under her breath.

The guard turned back to see Jane and hear what she said. But the moment he turned back, he was shocked to find the cell empty. He frantically opened the cell and it truly was empty. He rushed out and ran to find his superiors... He couldn't believe his eyes.

"How could someone escape this cell? I was literally outside," he thought to himself.

Jane calmly waited for him to run away. "The illusion never fails," she said to herself and chuckled. She walked outside her cell and within a few feet, on a table was her wand.

"I'm really lucky," she grinned and picked up her wand. And without hesitation, she disapparated out of the Ministry of Magic.

And finally, here we are. This has been such an enjoyable ride and I hope my readers feel the same way. As writing goes, it was bumpy, emotional, fun, intriguing and so much more than words can't describe. And I know for a fact that some of you may feel the same way about this story.

This chapter marks the end of what I like to call the end of "Year 2" worth of action. Thank you so much for all your support, motivation, appreciation and criticism throughout the journey. It has been an unforgettable experience.

As I look forward to continuing this journey, I realise that I need a break. I need a break from writing and I need some time to construct what I would like to think is the meat of this story. If I were Christopher Nolan, I would describe these first 35 chapters of this story as "The Pledge". And I would describe the upcoming action as "The Turn".

And as for "The Prestige", well there is still some time for that. So, stay tuned, stay safe and write to me if you have any thoughts, questions, suggestions, etc.

Finally, I have a small request. I need some help with the brand of story I want to tell. So, if anybody is willing to be my Alpha Reader, do drop a message and we can connect.

PS - I'm targeting mid-February or by the 1st week of March at the latest for releasing Chapter 36.

If you have liked the story so far, I would appreciate it if you could promote the story through any social media platforms of your choice, or even through word of mouth. The more the merrier

Bye ❤️❤️❤️