I'm back! In the immortal words of one Rubeus Hagrid, "Sorry about that."

Alright, in this chapter we have the following: Lockhart's his usual unhelpful self, one Mrs. Norris is still petrified, Moaning Myrtle cries, and Susanna learns why the pure-bloods really have it out for the Muggle-borns, as wrong as it is. Also, Susanna's the one in possession of the brain cell shared between the "Golden Quartet". It would've been Hermione, but she entertains the idea that Draco's the Heir of Slytherin. Draco. Like he wouldn't have spent their first year bragging about being related to his House's founder.

Just wait until Susanna gets to say "I told you so."

But I digress. I hope you enjoy this update, and I'll try to get the next one up ASAP. As always, I only claim my OC.

"What's going on here? What's going on?" No doubt attracted to the crowded corridor by Draco's shouting, Filch shoved his way through the thick throng of students. As soon as he saw Mrs. Norris, the caretaker fell back in horror. Susanna felt for the man, truly - what if it had been Hades in her place?

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris? You!" Mr. Filch shrieked at Harry, pointing a gnarled finger at the shaking second year. "You! You've murdered my cat!" Susanna was quick to pull Harry behind her as the old man shuffled dangerously towards them, the cousins attempting to back away as quickly as possible. "You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll -"

"Argus!" Professor Dumbledore called out warningly, having finally arrived, flocked by the teachers. The Headmaster swept past the four young Gryffindors and gently removed Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket. "Come with me, Argus. You, too, Mr. Potter, Ms. Dursley, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger."

Lockhart stepped forward, and Susanna rolled his eyes at his eagerness, too-white teeth on full display as he offered up his room. "My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please, feel free -"

"Thank you, Gilderoy." Dumbledore smiled back pleasantly, but his eyes lacked their usual twinkle, no doubt a combination of the cat's predicament and Lockhart's… everything.

The crowd of students parted to let the group pass. The Defense professor was quick on the Headmaster's heels, nose in the air as he strode after the older man. Susanna brushed shoulders with Draco, who mumbled something under his breath - she assumed it was an insult. The redheaded girl was too focused on Harry and the frozen Mrs. Norris to demand the Slytherin to repeat what he said a little louder. Not that she would've been able to stop anyway, what with Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall making sure the four troublemakers didn't wander off.

Lockhart's office was dark, his portraits running out of sight as soon as the man lit the candles, their blonde hair in rollers. Of all the things Susanna had yet to see in the wizarding world, that was perhaps the most bizarre.

Professor Dumbledore laid Mrs. Norris on the polished desk and began to examine her. Susanna exchanged nervous looks with her cousin and their two best friends before sitting down in the shadows of the candlelight. The Headmaster's long, crooked nose was barely an inch away from Mrs. Norris as he looked at her closely through his half-moon glasses. He prodded and poked the frozen cat, and Susanna fought the urge to run out of the office and check on Hades.

As Professor McGonagall joined the headmaster in his examination, Susanna found herself making eye-contact with Professor Snape. He almost appeared to be smiling, but it faded into a sneer when the man realized he was being watched. Susanna didn't blink away, however, and they stared at each other until Lockhart cleared his throat.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her." He announced as he hovered behind the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress. "Probably the Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there. I know the very countercurse that would have saved her!"

Filch sobbed dryly, slumped in a chair by the desk. He hid his face in his hands, unable to look at poor Mrs. Norris.

Professor Dumbledore began to mutter under his breath as he tapped Mrs. Norris with his wand, but nothing happened. Lockhart took this as his cue to continue making his tactless - and unbelievable - suggestions. "... I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou. A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography. I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once." His photographs nodded along in agreement as he spoke, the Defense professor listing off the murders he'd managed to prevent. Susanna hid her laugh in her knuckles when she noticed one of Lockhart's portraits had forgotten to remove his hairnet.

Professor Dumbledore straightened, and Lockhart fell silent. "She's not dead, Argus."

"Not dead?" Filch choked, and he peered at his cat through his fingers. "But why's she al-all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been petrified."

"Ah! I thought so!" Lockhart quickly jumped in.

Professor Dumbledore continued on, as though he hadn't been interrupted. "But how, I cannot say."

"Ask him!" Filch screeched and pointed at Harry.

Susanna glowered. "How the bloody hell could he have managed to do that, you -"

"Ms. Dursley, that is quite enough!" Professor McGonagall interjected. Susanna slumped back in her chair, but continued glaring at the caretaker.

Professor Dumbledore hummed, ever a source of calmness. "No second year could have done this. It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced -"

"He did it, he did it! And she - she helped!" Susanna rolled her eyes as Filch gestured to her next. "In league, they are, you know they're thick as thieves! You saw what they wrote on the wall! They found - in my office - they know I'm a… I'm a… They know I'm a Squib!" The caretaker finished, defeated.

"We never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry shouted. "And we don't even know what a Squib is!" He pointed between himself and his cousin.

"Rubbish! You saw my Kwikspell letter!" Filch snarled.

"Did you forget I'm a Muggle-born? Sir?" Susanna added when she caught Professor McGonagall narrowing her eyes in warning. "Why would I threaten other Muggle-borns?"

"If I might speak, Headmaster," Professor Snape stepped out of the shadows, "perhaps Potter, his cousin, and their friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't they at the Halloween feast?"

Susanna's stomach grumbled at the reminder of the missed dinner, Ron looking as miserable about it as she felt. Hermione - being the most level headed of the four Gryffindors at that time - took over in explaining that they were at Sir Nicholas's deathday party. "... There were hundreds of ghosts, sir, I'm sure they'll tell you we were there -"

"But why did you not join the feast afterward? Why go up to that corridor?" Professor Snape questioned.

"Because… Be-because we were tired and wanted to go to bed." Harry stammered.

The Potions professor looked like the cat who got the cream. "Without any supper? I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"No, obviously not, which is why we weren't hungry." Susanna snapped, trying not to groan when Ron's stomach rumbled loudly, and Professor Snape smirked. "Alright, obviously we're hungry, but at the time we'd lost our appetite. The smell of the fish alone is going to haunt me until my own death!" She cried out.

"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest." Professor Snape grinned maliciously.

"Really, Severus!" Professor McGonagall said sharply. "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. The cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence that any of them hurt Mrs. Norris or wrote the message."

"Yeah, you're just scared Gryffindor's going to trounce Slytherin, even with your fancy new brooms!" Susanna added, cheeks flushed when both professors scowled her into silence. "Sorry. Hungry."

"You've earned yourself a detention tomorrow evening, Ms. Dursley." Professor Snape hissed.

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement. "Hmm. Yes. And ten points from Gryffindor, for such a blatant lack of respect!"

While the redheaded Muggle-born was being punished for her - honestly accurate - accusation, Dumbledore was busy giving Harry a searching look. When he cleared his throat, the office became silent once more. "Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."

Both he and Filch looked positively furious. "My cat has been petrified!" The latter roared. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus." Professor Dumbledore told the man, tone impossibly patient. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."

"I'll make it!" Lockhart announced, and Susanna covered her face with her hands, worried that she'd lose more House points if she was caught snickering at the Defense professor. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep -"

"Excuse me." Professor Snape cut in. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school." Susanna couldn't help but snort, and a quick glance up at the Potions professor told her that she hadn't gone unheard. The Muggle-born was sure she hadn't imagined the slight quirk of his lips.

"You may go." Professor Dumbledore told the four second years after an awkward pause. The Gryffindors were quick to leave without running, only breaking into a sprint when they were far enough down the corridor. Once they reached the floor above Lockhart's office, Harry led them into an empty classroom. Susanna closed the door behind them, and they moved into the center of the room.

"D'you think I should have told them about the voice I heard?" Harry asked, squinting at their darkened faces.

"No." Ron said without hesitating. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

"You do believe me, don't you?" Harry looked around, terrified.

"Course I do!" Ron replied. "But, you must admit it's weird -"

"We believe you." Susanna nudged her fellow redhead, who grumbled and rubbed his sore side.

Harry waved her off. "No, I know it's weird. The whole thing's weird! What was that writing on the wall about? 'The Chamber Has Been Opened', what's that supposed to mean?"

Harry, Hermione, and Susanna all turned to Ron. In this instance, he was most likely the most knowledgeable, having lived in the wizarding world his entire life. "It sort of rings a bell. I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once. Might've been Bill."

"And what on earth's a Squib?" Harry added.

Ron snickered, much to his friends' surprise "Well, it's not funny really, but… as it's Filch…" He calmed down and cleared his throat. "A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot, like why he hates students so much. He's bitter."

Susanna hummed, finding it all a little sad. And yet there was a small part of her that wished she was like Filch. Maybe then her parents would accept her. Maybe they'd love her again -"

"Midnight." Harry announced, both he and the chiming clock bringing her back to reality. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."

"I'm telling you, he just wants to guarantee Slytherin wins the first match." Susanna growled, and let herself be dragged back to Gryffindor Tower by Hermione.

She only truly felt settled when Hades pranced up to her as soon as she entered the common room, purring as though to demand where his human had been.

For the next few days, all Hogwarts could talk about was the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch made sure to keep it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot she'd been found petrified. Harry and Susanna had seen him trying to scrub away the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but it had no effect. The words still gleamed brightly on the stone.

When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was sticking to the shadows of the corridors. He'd lunge out at unsuspecting students and attempt to give them detention for things like "breathing too loudly", or "looking happy."

Ginny was extremely upset by what had happened to Mrs. Norris, being a cat lover. "But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris!" Ron tried to tell his little sister the morning after the attack. "Honestly, we're much better off without her. Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts." He'd powered on, ignoring Susanna's incredulous expression. What about the previous year's madness, hm, Ronald? "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking -"

After that disaster, Susanna took to sitting next to the Weasley girl in the common room so that Hades could curl up in the space between them. Ginny was still tired and disturbed, but stroking his black fur helped calm her right down whenever Mrs. Norris was mentioned in Gryffindor Tower.

Between helping Ginny feel safe at Hogwarts, the intense Quidditch practices, and school work, Susanna was sure her schedule was full-up. And yet Hermione still managed to drag her to the library whenever the redhead thought she had a moment to breathe, needing help in reading up on the Chamber of Secrets. Much to Hermione's frustration, they'd yet to find anything having to do with what was written on the wall. Harry and Ron would try to ask them about their disappearing act, but Hermione had pleaded with Susanna not to say anything until they had information to share.

The following Wednesday, the four Gryffindors were in the library together. Susanna had been pulled away from helping Ron with his History of Magic homework to help Hermione track down a copy of Hogwarts: A History.

"A two week waiting list? Remind me again, oh brilliant one, why you didn't just bring your copy to school?" Susanna grumbled as she and Hermione returned to Ron.

"I couldn't fit it in my trunk, not with all of Professor Lockhart's books." Hermione huffed. "You didn't bring your copy, either!"

Susanna narrowed her eyes. "Of course I didn't, bleeding forgot it in the madness to escape my parents."

Hermione cleared her throat. "Right. Sorry. Oh, look, Harry's here."

"Great. Maybe now we can finally tell them what's going on?" Susanna asked, impatience boiling over.

Her best friend sighed. "Yes, alright."

"Oi, there you are. Where'd you disappear off to, I'm eight inches short!" Ron whined.

"Looking for a copy of Hogwarts: A History." Hermione confessed. "But they've all been checked out, and there's a two week waitlist!"

"Why do you want it?" Harry asked, head tilted.

"Probably the same reason as everyone else." Susanna spoke up. "Hermione and I've been trying to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

Her cousin frowned. "What's that?"

Hermione exhaled. "That's just it. I can't remember -"

"And I hadn't gotten to that part yet." Susanna added.

Hermione shook her head, irritable. "We can't find the story anywhere else -"

"Hermione, let me read your composition." Ron interrupted, nervously checking his watch.

"No, I won't!" She spoke severely. "And neither will Susanna!" She stopped both redheads before they could say anything. "You've had ten days to finish it, Ronald -"

"I only need another two inches, come on!"

The bell rang, and Ron continued arguing with Hermione, the two leading the way to History of Magic. Harry spent the journey snickering as Susanna mimed their bickering.

History of Magic was certainly the dullest subject at Hogwarts, and yet Susanna enjoyed it marginally more than Astronomy, which she was still absolutely pants at. Professor Binns was their History professor. He was also a ghost, though many surmised he didn't even know it, ancient and shriveled as he appeared. The story was that he'd simply got up to teach one day and never realized he'd died the night before. Susanna thought it'd make Professor Binns more interesting if he was merely acting unaware of his own statue.

Aside from the fact he'd enter class through the blackboard, History of Magic was lacking in entertainment, and that day was no different. Professor Binns began to read his notes in a flat tone until most of the class had dozed off, students occasionally rousing to copy down names and dates before drifting off once more. Susanna didn't have that luxury, not with Hermione nudging her every time the redhead's eyes began to close.

And then, something happened that had never been done before. Half-an-hour into class, Hermione raised her hand, halting Professor Binns's monotonous lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289. Shocked, the ghost cleared his throat. "Miss, er -"

"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets?" The bushy-haired girl asked in a clear voice.

Dean was jerked out of his trance. Lavender lifted her head off her arms, and Neville's elbow slipped off the desk.

Professor Binns blinked, still processing Hermione's question. "My subject is History of Magic." He stated dryly. "I deal with facts, Ms. Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat to continue where he left off. "In september that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers -"

This time, it was Susanna who cut him off. "Sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"

Professor Binns looked at both girls in amazement at their interruptions. "Well, Miss -"

"Dursley."

"Ms. Dursley, I suppose one could argue that." He narrowed his eyes at the two Muggle-borns, as if seeing them for the first time. "However, the legend of which you and Ms. Grant speak is an extremely sensational, even ludicrous tale -" He paused in his dismissal, seeing how engaged the class was. With a forlorn sigh, the Ghost shook his head. "Oh, very well. Let me see, the Chamber of Secrets…" Professor Binns cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution." Professor Binns glanced around the room before continuing, "For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreement sprang up between them, and a rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. You see, Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy."

Right, Susanna thought to herself, because of the persecution they faced from the Muggles. But did Slytherin not realize that Muggle-born witches and wizards might be subject to the same cruelty? Or did he just not care?

"After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school." Professor Binns pursed his lips. "Reliable historical sources tell us this much. But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. According to legend, he sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the horror within. It would then be used to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic." Silence fell as Professor Binns finished the story, but it was uneasy rather than sleepy. As the students continued to stare at him, the ghost grew more irritable. "The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course. Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist, only as a tale told to frighten the gullible." He insisted.

Hermione's hand shot back up into the air. "Sir, what exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"

"It is believed to be some sort of monster." Susanna froze at Professor Binns's words, and suddenly Fluffy came to mind - whatever happened to him, anyway? "Only the Heir of Slytherin alone can control it. I tell you, the thing does not exist." The ghost shuffled his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," Seamus interjected, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty!" Professor Binns snapped. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing -"

"But, professor," Parvati cut him off, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it."

"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't, Ms. Pennyfeather!" The ghost spoke harshly. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore -"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't -" Dean tried, but it was clear Professor Binns had enough.

"That will do. It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story! We will return, if you please, to history. To solid, believable, verifiable facts!" Within five minutes, the class met Professor Binns's demands, falling back into its usual torpor.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony." Ron gruffed as soon as the lesson was over, the four Gryffindors shoving their way through the crowded corridors. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his House if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home!"

Hermione and Susanna nodded along, but the red-haired girl noticed the way her cousin flinched. Harry only gave her a tired smile when she elbowed him, but there was no hiding his slumped shoulders.

"Hiya, Harry!" Everyone jumped as Colin ran past.

"Hullo, Colin."

"Harry! Harry, a boy in my class has been saying -" Colin was lost in the sea of students, and all Susanna could hear was his loudly squeaked, "See you, Harry!"

"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione asked, checking to see if the others had managed to catch the rest of Colin's sentence.

Harry shrugged, looking even more forlorn. "That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect."

"People here'll believe anything." Ron scowled in disgust.

Susanna nodded, bumping into Harry affectionately. "It's a good thing we're smarter than that."

Eventually the crowd thinned, and the four Gryffindors were able to climb the next staircase without fear of being trampled.

"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked Hermione and Susanna.

"I don't know." Hermione responded first, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be, well, human."

"Exactly. Besides," Susanna cleared her throat, "after everything that happened last year, the Chamber of Secrets existing wouldn't be that surprising."

They turned the corner, finding themselves at the end of the same corridor of the attack. Almost everything about the scene looked the same as that night; except for, of course, Mrs. Norris hanging from the torch bracket. A chair had been placed just under it. "That's where Filch has been keeping guard." Ron muttered, and the four second years glanced around the corridor for any sign of the understandably upset caretaker. It was empty, though. They were alone.

"Well, who fancies playing detective?" Susanna asked, briefly turning to face her cousin and their best friends as she walked towards the vandalized wall.

Harry nodded, grinning wryly as he followed after her. "Can't hurt to have a poke around." He got on his hands and knees to search the floor for clues, while Susanna's eyes were caught on a long line of scuttling spiders eager to get through a crack. She certainly wasn't an expert when it came to arachnids, but their behavior was odd.

"Scorch marks! Here, and here!" Harry called, Ron hovering behind him.

Susanna heard footsteps approaching, and saw that Hermione had joined her. "What is it?" The bushy-haired girl asked, and the redhead frowned.

"I don't know, but it's weird."

"Come and look at this!" Hermione called over to the boys, who jogged over to the two Muggle-borns. "Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" She asked Harry, who shook his head.

"No. Have you, Ron? Ron?" They all turned to the youngest Weasley boy. He was paler than usual, body shaking with fear as he stared at the spiders with eyes as wide as saucers. "What's up?" Harry asked.

"I do-don't like spi-spiders." He stammered out. Susanna's mind drifted back to their first train ride to Hogwarts - Ron had mentioned he didn't like spiders, but not that he was that afraid of them that even the smallest arachnids had him shaking a leaf.

"I never knew that." Hermione stared at the red-haired boy in surprise. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times -"

"I don't mind them dead." Ron looked away from the window, staring down the dark corridor instead. "I just don't like the way they move." Hermione giggled and Susanna nudged her. "It's not funny!" Ron snapped fiercely. "If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my-my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick. You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs."

This time, it was Susanna who broke into surprised laughter. While she'd previously guessed at least one of the twins had to do with Ron's dislike of spiders, that wasn't what she imagined. "Sorry, I'm sorry." Ron scowled at her. "Sorry. It's just… I'm sorry. Sorry."

"We aren't friends anymore."

"Rubbish. I let you copy my homework, remember?" Ron snorted, he and Susanna ignoring Hermione's murmured scolding.

"Remember all the water on the floor?" Harry interrupted the trio, shifting their focus back to the amateur investigation. "Where did you suppose it came from? It's hard to tell, someone's mopped it up."

Ron - being the first to recover as Susanna was attempting to convince Hermione that she was only joking about helping the boy cheat - took a few steps past Filch's chair, then pointed. "It was about here. Level with this door." He reached for the doorknob, only to withdraw his hand as if burned.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, the Boy Who Lived and the two girls joining Ron at the door marked OUT OF ORDER.

"Can't go in there. That's a girls' toilet." Ron muttered gruffly.

"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there." Hermione insisted, Susanna nodding next to her. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."

"Here's hoping she doesn't remember what Peeves said at Nick's party." Susanna mumbled, internally sighing when Hermione opened the door and there was no wailing or moaning to be heard. She could faintly make out the soft ghostly exhales, which meant Myrtle was in as cheerful a mood as she could be.

Still, the bathroom was as gloomy as Susanna remembered from the couple of times she'd been inside her first year. The large mirror was still cracked and surrounded by chipped sinks. The floor was wet, reflecting the dull candlelight. The stalls' wooden doors were flaking and scratched - one of them was even dangling off its hinges.

There was another soft exhale. The two living girls nodded at each other warily before carefully walking to the last stall, where Hogwarts' most emotional ghost was floating above the tank of the toilet. "Hello, Myrtle. How are you?" Hermione was the first to greet the phantom.

"This is a girls' bathroom." Myrtle eyed Ron and Harry, lips pursed. "They're not girls."

"No, they aren't." Susanna nodded. "We just wanted to show them how, er, nice it is. In here."

"Ask her if she saw anything." Harry whispered to his cousin and Hermione, but Myrtle still heard him.

"What are you whispering?" The ghost snapped at Susanna's cousin, who gulped at the sudden change in tone.

"Nothing." He was quick to shake his head, holding out his hands in an attempt to keep Myrtle calm. "We wanted to ask -"

"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" Myrtle's voice was choked with tears, and Susanna fought the urge to groan. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead -"

"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you." Susanna tried to sound as patient as possible. "Harry only wanted -"

"No one wants to upset me, that's a good one!" Myrtle cried. Fantastic, Susanna thought to herself, eyes narrowed on the ghost as she wailed like a banshee. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"

"Oh my God, I can't. Hermione." Susanna buried her head in her hands, frustrated.

"We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately." Hermione said quickly. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."

Harry cleared his throat, stepping forward. "Did you see anyone near here that night?"

"I wasn't paying much attention." Myrtle answered dramatically. "Peeves upset me so much that I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm… that I'm -"

"Already dead?" Ron suggested innocently.

Myrtle sobbed, rising up in the air before turning over and diving headfirst into the toilet. Water splashed as the moaning ghost disappeared from sight - they could still hear her wailing, most likely from somewhere in the U-bend.

The boys stared at the toilet in shock, but Hermione shrugged while Susanna huffed and inspected her slightly dampened robes. She'd definitely have to change before dinner. "Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle. Come on, let's go." The bushy-haired girl led them out of the girls' bathroom.

Harry closed the door on Myrtle's crying, only for the four Gryffindors to jump in horror at a loud voice echoing down the corridor.

"RON!" Percy bellowed, prefect badge gleaming in the torchlight as he marched over to the second years, shock written all over his face. "That's a girls' bathroom! What were you -"

"Just having a look around." Ron tried to explain, cheeks flushed. "Clues, you know…" He trailed off, smiling angelically.

"Get. Away. From. There!" Percy sounded and looked almost exactly like Mrs. Weasley as he began to shoo his brother and the boy's friends away from the bathroom. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner? You two are supposed to be smarter than this." He pointed accusingly at Hermione and Susanna.

"Don't talk to them like that!" Ron stopped short, stepping in front of the two girls to scowl up at his older brother. "And why shouldn't we be here? We never laid a finger on that cat!"

"That's what I told Ginny, but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled." Percy snapped. "I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out - you might think of her, all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business!"

"You don't care about Ginny!" Ron shouted back accusingly. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy!"

"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy snarled. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to mum!" He stalked away, the back of his neck redder than Ron's ears.

Susanna was quick to grab her best friend, and it took the combined efforts of her, Harry, and Hermione to keep the other redhead from pouncing on his irritable older brother.

After a rushed dinner, the four second years chose the seats furthest from Percy in the common room. Susanna - freshly showered and wearing her most cozy pajamas - was reviewing her History of Magic notes and petting a purring Hades.

Ron was still upset from the earlier altercation with his brother, and kept blotting his Charms homework with ink in his anger. When he tried to use his wand to remove the marks, the parchment ignited. Susanna was quick to lift it off the table with Wingardium Leviosa and float the burning paper straight into the roaring fireplace. Ron slammed his worn copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 shut.

Hermione, who'd been reading the same text, did the same, and leaned forward to whisper at the other three Gryffindors. "Who can it be, though?" She asked them, picking up the conversation from where they'd left off. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggle-Borns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," Ron pretended to be baffled by her question, "who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?"

"Pansy. Crabbe. Goyle. Draco. Flint. Probably more." Susanna listed. "There's quite a few options."

"Yes, but I think Ron's talking about Malfoy." Hermione huffed, unconvinced.

"Of course I am!" The red-haired boy quieted as soon as the other three shushed him. "You heard him. 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!' Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him."

"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" Hermione asked, eyebrows raised skeptically.

Harry closed his books, too. "Look at his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin. He's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries! Handing it down, father to son, and so on." Ron added.

Hermione nodded slowly, but Susanna had yet to be persuaded. "Then why didn't he open the Chamber last year?" Susanna asked. "Look, I think he's absolutely foul, there's no denying -"

"You thought he was cute when you first met him!" Harry reminded her.

Susanna kicked his shin. "Whatever, I think he's awful now. But there's no way Draco's the Heir. He'd have boasted about it all last year, on top of all the other bragging he's subjected us to. Besides, he isn't the only one who finds Muggle-borns to be less than dirt."

Harry sighed. "Let's at least find out."

"How exactly do we go about proving it?" Ron asked, and Susanna rolled her eyes before pausing, a sudden thought popping into her mind.

"I think I know a way." Her cousin and their friends looked at her, and she glanced at Hermione in return. "Do you remember a few weeks ago, the potion Professor Snape mentioned -"

"Of course! Only," Hermione whispered after checking to see if Percy was paying them any mind, "it would be difficult -

"Please, between the two of us? Manageable." Susanna smiled cheekily.

Hermione huffed before continuing. "And dangerous. Very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect."

"If, in a month or so, you two feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" Ron snapped.

"Alright." Hermione responded coldly, Susanna narrowing her eyes at him for his tone. "What we'd need to do is get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."

"But that's impossible." Harry blinked.

"No, it's not." Susanna shook her head. "All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion."

"What's that?" The two boys asked together.

"Do neither of you pay attention during Potions? Don't answer that." Hermione grumbled. "Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago. It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into four of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him."

Susanna frowned, still firm in her belief that Draco wasn't guilty of being the Heir. Guilty of being a prat? Absolutely. But opening the Chamber of Secrets? Getting Mrs. Norris petrified? She was sure that if he truly wanted to endanger those he viewed as lesser, he'd have done it sooner.

"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me." Ron said, rousing Susanna from her thoughts. "What if we were stuck looking like four of the Slytherins forever?"

"It wears off after a while." Hermione answered impatiently. "But getting a hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions, and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library."

"We could always break out Harry's Christmas gift." Susanna suggested.

Hermione frowned, lips twisting. "No. It'd be better to get a signed note from a teacher. Who knows what security measures Professor Dumbledore put into place after gifting Harry the cloak?"

Susanna, remembering they'd never actually managed to get into the Restricted Section when searching for Nicholas Flamel the previous year, exhaled in defeat. "How do we go about getting permission to take the book out, then?"

"Right. Hard to see why we'd want it, really, if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions." Ron added.

"I think," Hermione began, "that if we make it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance."

"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that!" Ron grumbled. "They'd have to be really thick."

At this, Susanna smiled wickedly, an expression her cousin and their friends had grown to both love and fear. "I think we all know exactly who would fall for it. Hook, line, and sinker."