(replaces Chapter 15 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

Summer was creeping over the grounds around the castle; sky and lake alike turned periwinkle blue and flowers large as cabbages burst into bloom in the greenhouses. But with no Hagrid visible from the castle windows, striding the grounds with Fang at his heels, the scene didn't look right to Harry; no better, in fact, than the inside of the castle, where things were so horribly wrong.

Harry and Ron had tried to visit Hermione and Ben, but visitors were now barred from the hospital wing.

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told them severely through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off… "

With Dumbledore gone, fear had spread as never before, so that the sun warming the castle walls outside seemed to stop at the mullioned windows. There was barely a face to be seen in the school that didn't look worried and tense, and any laughter that rang through the corridors sounded shrill and unnatural and was quickly stifled.

Harry constantly repeated Dumbledore's final words to himself "I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me… Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." But what good were these words? Who exactly were they supposed to ask for help, when everyone was just as confused and scared as they were?

Hagrid's hint about the spiders was far easier to understand. The trouble was, there didn't seem to be a single spider left in the castle to follow. Harry looked everywhere he went, helped (rather reluctantly) by Ron. They were hampered, of course, by the fact that they weren't allowed to wander off on their own but had to move around the castle in a pack with the other Gryffindors. Most of their fellow students seemed glad that they were being shepherded from class to class by teachers, but Harry found it very irksome.

Even Malfoy was frightened, after all, if the heir could petrify purebloods, then shouldn't the most powerful wizard alive be a good enough deterrent for it? Indeed, Daphne told Harry that he was taking a lot of flack in Slytherin for what his father did while they, Ron, Tracey, and Luna were studying in the library together. "They're punishing him for his father's actions," she told Harry in a tight, if neutral, tone. "He always claimed he thought his father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore and that he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had."

"Serves him right," Ron said. "His father's an idiot for doing that right now."

"Yeah," Harry said in a distracted tone.

"Come on, you lot," Tracey said after looking at all of their despairing stares. "Ben and Hermione wouldn't want you all to break down. Ben, from what I saw would prefer it if you focused on finding what did this to him and be happy. Hermione, I don't know, but I'd assume the same would be true."

Harry did indeed know that, but it still hurt, even if he was still on the hunt for the culprit. Daphne buried her head in her hands on the table and Luna didn't visibly react, her eyes still downcast as she worked. Ron reacted more violently to Tracey's point. "That's easy for you to say," Ron said in a harsh tone. "You weren't as close to them as we were. Hermione's one of my best friends."

"Sirius was furious in his last letter," Harry said. "He's confined to St. Mungo's until the end of the school year, so he can't come here. He's having Remus gather the dark artifacts in his house in one area. He and Ben had ordered Kreacher to help. Sirius'd rather be here with Ben, but well… "

"Ben took me under his wing," Luna piped up after Harry trailed off, voice tight with emotions. "He said I reminded him of Hope in some aspects. He said he was close to figuring out what caused all these petrifications without leaving marks on the victims."

Harry looked at Luna in shock. "What! How could he possibly have known they didn't have marks on them."

"He asked Madame Pomfrey," Daphne said, voice still tight with emotion. "It drove him crazy that there were no wounds on them."

Well, that confirms that Hagrid didn't open the Chamber, Harry thought, with some satisfaction. He knew that the spiders Hagrid had mentioned would prove his innocence, but didn't think they have more information.

"Did he know anything about the death that happened last time?" Ron asked, apparently realizing that Ben might have found something that prevented himself and Harry from following spiders around.

Daphne and Luna nodded. "Poor Myrtle Warren," Luna said. "Die on the loo with the wrong thing identified as the killer. An Acromantula would leave bite marks on the victim."

"Acro-what?" Harry asked as Ron flinched violently and paled.

"Acromantula," Daphne said. "Essentially a giant, poisonous spider. And by giant, I mean the size of an elephant."

Harry nodded, before returning to studying. It wasn't until he and Ron were getting ready for bed did he realize something.

"Ron," he hissed through the dark, "Ron -"

Ron woke with a yelp, stared wildly around, and saw Harry.

"Ron - that girl who died. Luna said she was found on the loo and her name was Myrtle," said Harry, ignoring Neville's snuffling snores from the corner. "What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"

Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood, too. "You don't think - not Moaning Myrtle?"

AN: Another chapter complete! Looking ahead at the book, I'm going to have to revise one of my earlier statements, the next three chapters will be redone versions of the last three chapters, I don't think I could cut anything. I hope that everyone is doing well, and I'll 'see' you next time.

Uploaded July 10th, 2020, Edited Feb. 21st, 2021