Chapter 28: The Chamber Of Secrets
What's going on here? What's going on?" grumbled Filch as he made his way through the crowd. Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.
He looked over at Harry, accusingly.
"You!"he screeched. " You ! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"
"Argus!"
Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past and took Mrs. Norris down from the torch bracket.
"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
Lockhart stepped forward, looking too eager for his own good.
"My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs. Please feel free!"
"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.
The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking like an excited toddler, hurried after Dumbledore, as well as McGonagall and Snape.
As we entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls. I OKed around and saw several of the Lockharts in the pictures dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers. The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore lay Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her. The three of us exchanged tense looks and sank into the chairs, watching what was going on.
The tip of Dumbledore's nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, showing no concern and looking as though he was trying hard not to smile. And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making idiotic suggestions.
"It was definitely a curse that killed her. 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..."
McGonagall gave him an annoyed look. Dumbledore was now mumbling strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but nothing happened. She was still stiff as a board.
"I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou." continued the peacock. "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..."
The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net.
At last Dumbledore straightened up.
"She's not dead, Argus," he said softly.
"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all - all stiff and frozen?"
"She has been Petrified," said Dumbledore ("Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart). "But how, I cannot say..."
"Ask him!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry, pointing at him like a madman.
"No second year could have done this." said Dumbledore firmly. "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-"
"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found - in my office - he knows I'm a - I'm a -" Filch's face worked horribly. "He knows I'm a Squib!" he finished.
That was a shocker. If it were any other circumstances, I would have laughed a little.
"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry said loudly "And I don't even know what a Squib is ."
"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"
"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows. We three stared at us intently. Nothing positive would come out of this git's mouth.
"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, causing Hermione and I to look at each other bewildered, and then back at Harry. "But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"
We began to tell the teachers about the Deathday Party, and how we had attended.
"There were hundreds of ghosts." said Harry. "They'll tell you we were there-"
"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"
Hermione and I looked at Harry, not knowing what to say.
"Because... because...because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," he said.
"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his stupid face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."
"We weren't hungry." I said loudly over my rumbly tummy.
"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter is not being entirely truthful." Snape said. "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."
"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply, "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong."
"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.
Snape looked furious.
So did Filch.
"My cat has been Petrified!" he shrieked. "I want to see some punishment!"
"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "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 butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep-"
"Excuse me," said Snape, sounding insulted. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school."
There was a very awkward pause.
"You may go," Dumbledore said to us. We got out of there as quickly as our legs would take us. We ran until we were a floor up from Lockhart's office, ducking into an empty classroom.
"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?" asked Harry.
"No." I said, without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."
"You do believe me, don't you?" asked Harry
"Course I do!" I said, quickly. "But - you must admit it's weird..."
"I know it's weird." said Harry. "The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber Has Been Opened ... What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know, it rings a sort of bell." I said slowly, as I tried to rack my brain on where I has heard that term before. "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?" said Harry.
I snickered. I couldn't hold it back any longer, even though it was indeed rude.
"Well, it's not funny really - but as it's Filch. 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."
A clock chimed somewhere.
"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."
For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch was seen trying to scrub the words off, but to no avail
"Ron?" Ginny came to me one morning. "Have you heard if Mrs. Norris is doing alright.
She looked like she was about to cry. Ginny was very fond of cats.
"Haven't heard a thing." I said, tying my shoe as I say in the common room waiting for Hermione and Harry. "She won't be put right until the Mandrakes are ready, remember?"
"I know." sighed Ginny, clutching some black book to her chest. "Still, I worry about her."
"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris." I said, wondering why she was really so concerned. "Honestly, we're much better off without her."
Ginny's lip trembled.
"Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts." I assured her. "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."
Ginny gasped.
" I'm only joking. Lighten up, Gin. You're looking peaky, as Mum would say." I said, trying to make her smile a bit.
"I'm fine. Well, I'll be fine." she said, looking down at the floor.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I...its nothing." she said quickly. "I'm fine."
I looked at my sister, wishing I could read her mind.
Ginny wasn't the only one who was interested in what was going on. The attack had also had an effect on Hermione. It was the norm for Hermione to spend a lot of time. reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else. Harry and I kept asking her what was she trying to find, but she wouldn't give us anything, that was, until one Wednesday afternoon.
Harry had been held back in Potions, where Snape had made him stay behind to scrape tubeworms off the desks. I waited for him with Hermione in the library. I might as well been there by myself, because not only did Hermione tune me out, she seemed all over the place looking for books.
I decided to work on my long overdue History of Magic homework. Professor Binns had asked for a three foot long essay on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."
"I don't believe it" I said as Harry had approached me. "I'm still eight inches short, and Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."
"Where is she?" asked Harry, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework.
"Somewhere over there, looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."
"Wanna hear something weird? That Hufflepuff Justin ran away from me today for some reason."
"Ran away?"
'Yeah. He acted like he was bloody scared of me."
"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot." I said, trying to make my writing as large as possible. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great-"
Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to us.
"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," she said, sitting down next to Harry. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."
"Why do you want it?" asked Harry.
"The same reason everyone else wants it." said Hermione, as if it were obvious. "To read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."
"What's that?" said Harry quickly.
"That's just it. I can't remember." said Hermione, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else."
"Hermione, let me read your composition." I asked desperately.
"No, I won't!" said Hermione. "You've had ten days to finish it!"
"I only need another two inches, come on!" I begged.
The bell rang. We gathered our things and made our way to class.
"Two inches! Please, Hermione!"
"No! You should have done your work ages ago, instead of loafing around."
"You would really leave me hanging like this?" I said, giving her a pleading look.
Hermione rolled her eyes as we walked up the steps. "Maybe you will know next time to plan ahead, Ronald."
"That smarts. I would let you use some of my work if you were in a pinch."
"That's absurd. I would never be in a pinch when it came to my work!" said Hermione, as if I insulted her.
"PLEASE LET ME HAVE TWO INCHES!"
"NO!"
"Will you two please shut the hell up! We're here!" said Harry, tired of us bickering.
History of Magic was the dullest subject on our schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and his class was as exciting as watching Percy clip his toenails. Everyone, with the exception of Hermione, was either sleep or on the verge. He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.
Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.
"Miss - er -?"
"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.
Dean, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, suddenly looked alive. Lavender's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk.
Professor Binns blinked.
"My subject is History of Magic." he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts , Miss Granger, not myths and legends."
He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers-"
Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.
"Miss Grant?"
He was terrible with names.
"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?" pushed Hermione.
Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement. I was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.
"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational , even ludicrous tale-"
But he had our full attention, something that never happened. Ever. He seen our interest, and couldn't help but oblige.
"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see... the Chamber of Secrets...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."
He paused for a moment. Seeing that we were all hanging on his every word, he continued.
"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 disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. 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. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."
"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. Slytherin, according to the legend, 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, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."
The whole class was dead silent. We stared hard at Binns, waiting for him to say more.
"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "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. A tale told to frighten the gullible."
Hermione's hand was back in the air.
"Sir - what exactly do you mean by the horror within the Chamber?"
"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns.
The class exchanged nervous looks and murmurs.
"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."
"But, sir," said Seamus. "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," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing-"
"But, Professor," piped up Parvati. "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 , Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore-"
Dean's hand shot up. "But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't-"
"That will don" Binns said sharply, cutting Dean off. "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 fact!"
And within five minutes, the class was back to being boring again.
"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony." I said to Hermione and Harry as we fought our way through the crowded corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off our bags before dinner. "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 nodded in agreeance, but Harry didn't say anything. He looked deep in thought, almost walking into a couple of fifth year Ravenclaws. I made a mental note to ask about what was on his mind later.
On the way up to the tower, Colin went past us.
"Hiya, Harry!"
"Hullo, Colin," said Harry automatically.
"Harry - Harry - a boy in my class has been saying you're-"
But Colin was so small he couldn't make his way around the much taller herd of people, trying to get to the Great Hall.
"See you, Harry!" we heard him say in the distance.
"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.
"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," said Harry, looking discouraged.
"People here'll believe anything." I said, disgusted. Harry, the Heir Of Slytherin indeed. Rubbish.
"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" I asked Hermione.
"I don't know," she said, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be...well, human."
"You think some creature might have done this?" I asked.
"It's a possibility, isn't it?" She said, as we turned the corner and found ourselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. We stopped and looked at an empty chair that stood against the wall bearing the message "The Chamber of Secrets has been Opened."
"That's where Filch has been keeping guard." I whispered.
We looked at each other, and then back at the words, our curiosity getting the better of us.
"Can't hurt to have a poke around," said Harry, dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees so that he could crawl along, searching for clues. I touched a letter of the words, the letters felt colder than the actual wall itself.
"Scorch marks!" he said. "Here - and here-"
"Come and look at this!" said Hermione. "This is funny..."
Harry got up and walked to the window next to the message on the wall. Hermione was pointing at a sight that instantly froze me.
About twenty spiders were running around, apparently fighting to get through a small crack. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside.
I couldn't get my eyes off of them. I felt glued to my spot, yet ready to take off at any given moment.
"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" I believed I heard Hermione ask, only my entire focus were on the spiders so hard, I really didn't know what was going on around me.
" Ron? What's up?" said Harry, looking over at me.
My mouth felt dry. "I - don't - like - spiders." I said, the words falling out of my mouth nervously.
"I never knew that," said Hermione, surprised. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times."
"I don't mind them dead." I shivered, trying desperately not to look at the spiders. "I just don't like the way they move."
Hermione giggled.
"It's not funny!" I snapped. "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, and..."
I couldn't even finish the sentence as my mind flashed back to when the slider almost bit off my face. I had nightmares for months, and occasionally, I would still have them. Hermione was trying not to laugh, which was starting to rile me up, and I was about to tell her about herself, when Harry swiftly changed the subject.
"Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up." he said.
"It was about here." I said, recovering. The spiders had left. "Level with this door."
I reaches for the knob, but once I realized what door it was, I pulled back quickly.
"What's the matter?" said Harry.
"Can't go in there." I said, scrunching up my nose. "That's a girls' toilet."
"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there." said Hermione standing up and coming over. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."
And ignoring the large OUT OF ORDER sign, she opened the door.