Chapter 17
The cyclical nature of cynicism
Chamber of Secrets
T'was the morning after, an entire breakfast hall filled with a few hundred kids forced to swallow both their delicious slob as well as the ominous piece of vandalism spectated last night. And of course, much like Harry still had a good portion of porridge left in his bowl, there remained a good portion of the student body convinced of who did it. He knew the feeling of being eyed, being perceived as some strange, alien entity by the rest of the world. And while he still disliked all that attention last year, at least he'd gotten used to the "Gasp! First name-last name!". Plus, there it had always been positive attention. Now... well.
"I think I'll ask McGonagall today.", Hermione declared.
"Afk hea whag?", Ron inquired, the entirety of his jaw stacked with breakfast toast, a gross habit his friends had accepted at this point.
"About the Chamber of Secrets, of course.", she spoke with a scowl, "What else what I be asking her?"
"You could ask her to step aside in case Ron's new rental acts funny again.", a familiar voice sounded behind them, Marley's lips briefly forming an uncomfortably straight line as she spotted the only free spot being the one next to Harry. Surprised by her appearance, the boy almost chocked on his porridge, swallowing quickly and allowing someone else to do the talking for now.
"You're still mad about the slug thing?", Ron whined in an angered voice.
"No, and I never was, Ronald.", Marley answered, her tone remaining chipper despite her features lacking that signature smile, "I uh... I guess I was attempting a joke. I tend to do that when I'm uncomfortable."
Not a very uplifting thing to hear from one's friend.
"The thing with Mrs. Norris really got to you, didn't it?", Hermione asked very softly.
"Yeah...", the girl had to clear her throat very oddly before continuing, causing Ron of all people to raise an eyebrow, "You know how I feel about animal cruelty. It's a... horrid thing to see."
"You said you hate cats.", the Weasley cut in, dismantling her story on the spot. Marley briefly let her eyes bounce from left to right before responding rather unconvincingly.
"Uh... no, I didn't?"
"Yes, you did!", he kept chipping at her, "You said all cats are nasty manipulators, and that all of them look at you like they want to bite you!"
Unable to keep the back and forth going, Harry stepped in on Marley's behalf.
"I think we should focus on what's important.", he declared, nervously taking note of how Marley refused to look him in the eyes today, "Hermione, you should ask McGonagall. She probably knows more than most."
Two nods, the first from the Gryffindor, then a less confident one from Marley, the Slytherin only briefly meeting Harry's gaze with the kind of discomfort the boy is not used to from his friend.
"Thanks.", she added quietly, before turning to the group as a whole, "In the meantime, we should also focus on our studies. So, transfiguration..."
Smooth transition into McGonagall's classroom, filled at random with plenty of exotic birds in cages.
"Could I have your attention please?", the elegant madame effectively silenced the restless classroom, "Right. Now, today, we'll be transforming animals into water goblets."
No real enthusiasm from her class, as this is arguably a very niche thing to know in the everyday life of a sorcerer.
"Like so.", the regal woman continued with no real concern for the disinterested students, "One, two, three – Vera Verto."
She tapped the fun-looking toucan sat on a desk with her wand while uttering the spell, and with that, plus the strange beam of light, the avian dinosaur turned into a perfectly ordinary glass cup within a second. The little demonstration got her class to pay a lot more attention again all of a sudden, so perhaps the initial, boring introduction was all part of a, forgive me, magic trick.
"Now it's your turn. Who would like to go first?"
A redundant question from the educator, as she already had a target made out in the first row.
"Mr. Weasley.", Ron flinched just slightly at her voice, "Would you like to test your new rental wand? Seeing as you were so keen on getting a new one."
He did consider it for a second, though as he looked over to an absent-minded Marley, he reconsidered testing it out on a curious Scabbers smelling its surroundings.
"Um...", Ron began as he lowered his magic tool, "...I'd like to test this one somewhere safe first... if that's okay."
Some snickers and McGonagall rolling her eyes was all he got as an answer, the witch clad in brilliant emerald robes pacing over to someone else instead.
"How about you, Miss Verpe?"
Marley's surprise to her being addressed turned out a lot more pronounced than Ronald's, Harry's demeanour forming a brief frown at this.
"You're usually a lot more participatory in my class."
The girl took a moment to sit upright again, the woodpecker standing on a pile of books staring at her curiously. Interestingly enough, first year students acquiring pets was actually not a set requirement, but more so a recommendation. Otherwise for every transfiguration practice McGonagall would need a lot more exotic birds for pupils to borrow, which would cost Hogwarts way more than if the majority buys their own animals. I bet you weren't expecting to hear about school budgeting in my silly little fanfic, were you?
"One, two, three, Vera Verto. Come on.", the old woman pushed her. Marley cleared her throat somewhat unnaturally before firmly grabbing her wand, aiming it at the unsuspecting bird.
"One... two... three... Vera Verta!"
Wrong letter to end on, though it did cause a much different spell to be activated, one which shone in a strange orange and transformed the woodpecker into a silver gravy boat, with the beak of the animal still remaining as the elongated pouring end. Significantly more students laughed at this, Pany Parkinson leading the mean girl effort.
"I'm... sorry, professor.", she mumbled, clearly upset, clearly gloomy. It is what got Harry's alarm bells ringing again, as alongside the troubles of last night he also began worrying about Marley's happiness again. Any of his friends had priority in that regard, it's just that Marley... needed it more often. Apparently.
"No worries, we all have our off-days.", McGonagall reassured her as she walked to a different corner of the room, close to a cage filled with curious blue-fronted amazons.
Then, as if a lifeline, Hermione's hand shot up.
"Yes, Miss Granger?", the patient professor called on her.
"Professor...", the girl began as she fiddled around with her fingers, "...I was wondering if you could tell us what the Chamber of Secrets is."
Before she responded, McGonagall made sure to read the room quite literally, to see if the rest of class was similarly interested in this topic, which it very blatantly was. Harry himself made sure to check some faces as well, Malfoy coming off as sombre while Pansy Parkinson gave a suspiciously obvious smirk next to Draco.
"Well... you all know of course that Hogwarts was founded over a millennium ago, sometime in what Muggle historians call the Dark Ages.", her lecture began, Harry noticing a second visual faux pas in Pansy's features, this time the girl forming a grimace at the mention of anything Muggle-related, "It was founded by the four greatest witches and wizards of its time – Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Now, three of these founders lived quite harmoniously. One, did not."
It unfortunately did not need to be explained who that one odd exception was, Hermione and Pansy sharing mean glares while Marley dug her face into her crossed arms leaned onto the desk.
"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective when it came to which students would be admitted. He believed the knowledge taught at Hogwarts should be kept a close secret only shared with all-magical families. In other words... purebloods."
This time Harry and Ron joined in on Hermione's defences, scowling back at Pansy, who finally concluded her campaign of insinuating stares. For now, at least.
"Unable to persuade the other three, Salazar left the school. According to legend, before his departure, he built a hidden chamber inside of this castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. It was supposedly sealed until the return of his one, true Heir. The Heir alone would be able to open the chamber, unleashing the horrors that lie within, therefore purging the school of those that Slytherin deemed unworthy of studying magic."
"Muggle-borns.", Hermione mumbled with at least some level of fright, gaining her a nod from McGonagall's wand, confirming her input as correct.
"Naturally...", their teacher picked up again, "...the school has been searched many times before. No such chamber was ever found."
Intending to put a pin in it, the woman's return to her desk was interrupted by Hermione's continuous thirst for knowledge.
"Professor...", the Gryffindor girl asked more clearly, "...what exactly lies within the chamber, according to legend?"
McGonagall let out a worrying huff before responding to the girl's question.
"It is said that the chamber is home to something horrifying, something only the Heir of Slytherin can control.", she paused, giving the quartet and most everyone else an unnerving chill, "It is said to be the home of a monster."
For the rest of the lesson Harry only barely paid attention, his gaze mostly glued onto Marley in the first row. In his head the problems of the chamber and his inability to cheer the girl up sort of blended together, sparking his desire to deal with both even more.
"Do you think it's true?", Ron nervously sought reassurance, the quartet walking alongside some other students down a random hallway next to a little courtyard, the presence of autumn now noticeable on everyone's skin.
"Yes, can't you tell?", Hermione answered, not coming off as too jolly herself, "McGonagall's clearly worried. Along with all the other teachers."
While half of Harry's concentration was still laser-focused on the quiet Marley hugging her stack of books, he still found himself giving his two cents. After all, tackling those issues might help out his friend.
"If there really is a chamber...", he began while adjusting his glasses, "...and it really has been opened, then..."
"The Heir of Slytherin has returned.", young Miss Verpe finished his thought, clearly upset about how current events are unfolding.
"The question is, who is it?", Hermione continued on her friend's behalf. Just as she did, Pansy and her own trio, that being Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, strolled past by them with a stench of overt confidence, Marley briefly trying to get a good look at Draco, the boy seemingly unwilling to pay any attention to her, rude behaviour that remained unchanged in the common room and on most other occasions as well.
"Let's think.", Ron theorized with clear despise towards the bizarro quartet, them being out of earshot by now, "Who do we know who thinks that all Muggle-borns are scum?"
"Are you talking about Pansy Parkinson?", their muggle-born companion opposed his accusation sharply.
"Of course! You heard what she said at the sight of the bloody message.", the Weasley defended his own hypothesis, "And we all know what she called you, Hermione."
"I know.", Miss Granger compromised slightly, "But that doesn't make her the Heir of Slytherin."
"Maybe we should consider someone else's opinion here first.", Harry suddenly suggested, the four of them halting as the boy stepped aside to get everyone's eyes glued on a surprised Marley.
"M... me?", the girl asked timidly.
"Last year we suspected Snape only because of his connection to Slytherin. You were opposed to it and... you were spot-on, Marley.", he gifted her a humbled smile and the girl's insides began spinning with guilt and uncertainty, "If you think we're dead-wrong with Pansy..."
"No, I can see it being her."
Despite the emotional turmoil boiling within young Miss Verpe, the witch still managed to get her things together as she continued in a relatively focused tone.
"Look...", Marley elaborated after having surprised everyone, "I did some of my own research on this stuff. There's a reason nowadays laws on exposing the wizarding world are so strict."
"They didn't used to be.", Hermione correctly added, gaining her a nod before her friend continued.
"Precisely. It caused paranoia within the Muggle world and many innocent people died, mostly women. There were certain voices suggesting not admitting Muggle-born students for completely practical reasons.
"But?", Harry guessed completely accurately.
"Salazar Slytherin was not one of them. He just hated everyone who wasn't pure.", she made sure to pronounce the word "pure" in a silly voice, "And now after the whole thing with Voldemort, it's generally not accepted to be that openly bigoted."
"So, you're saying?", Ron demanded, almost impatiently.
"Anyone using the m-word in the year 2002 is either horrendously racist, or lives in an environment teaching them such values."
"It could be her then.", Ron tried to sprint towards the point.
"I doubt a twelve-year-old could do it on their own but yes, under the guidance of someone else, surely Pansy could be causing some trouble.", became Marley's closing statement.
"You should be a lawyer, Marles.", Ron commented in astonishment, "You're bloody good at this."
The girl simply flaunted with a shrug as Harry stepped in.
"Only question now is, how do we find out?", the boy kept their convo up, "And how do we know what she has planned?"
"Crabbe and Goyle must know!", Ron brilliantly suggested, "Maybe we can trick them!"
"Maybe one of us can be turned into a goblet with that spell from earlier.", Marley suggested more... creatively, "Only question is, does my brain still function in cup form?"
"I might have a better suggestion.", Hermione interjected, not wanting to sound too judgemental, "There's a way we can do it that definitely works. But mind you, it would be difficult, not to mention, we'd be breaking about fifty school laws."
At that descriptor the others grew a little queasy.
"And it will be dangerous. Very dangerous..."
"Oh, you're talking about Polyjuice, aren't you?", Marley killed all of the tension in one swift, chipper comment, "Oh no...", the girl continued switching to a disappointed tone immediately, "I ruined the surprise there, didn't I?"
Hugging herself with a frown, the answer was a blunt Yes, though Hermione didn't want to respond with a blunt Yes.
"What's Polyjuice?", Harry inquired curiously.
His question would be answered just a short walk to the library later, the quartet hidden in their own little part in between shelves, a nice window on the side offering some natural sunlight.
"Here it is.", the Slytherin announced with an Advanced Potions Lexicon opened, Hermione still mildly upset about the wind being taken from under her wings, "'Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself...'", the girl briefly paused with distain, "Why not... 'him or herself?'"
While the question was ahead of its time, it was anything but useful right now.
"Right.", she moved on slightly ashamed, "'...transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another.'"
"You mean...", Ron asked, sounding excited and disgusted, "...if Harry and I drink this stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe and Goyle?"
"Yup.", was the Slytherin's answer.
"Wicked.", the Weasley responded, now definitely leaning more towards the excited side. "Pansy will tell us anything."
"You'd be correct.", Marley continued a bit more serious sounding, "But it looks rather tricky. Not something you concoct every day."
"How long is it going to take you to make it?", Harry asked, which seemed to fill Marley up with a delayed sense of guilt.
"Oh... me?", she stumbled as she turned to her female friend, "I thought Hermione was going to-"
"You should do it.", the Gryffindor surrendered, successfully swallowing her pride as she gave Marley a smile, "Between you and I you're better at Potions. I can be your assistant."
Miss Verpe didn't know how to react to being showered in compliments like that, though Harry found she looked rather adorable in her jittery state.
"Okidoki.", was her professional answer.
"So, how long?", Run finally cut in, being a bit more pushy.
"The recipe says it's going to take a month.", Hermione responded with her finger on the page.
"A month?", the Weasley protested right away.
"Uh... that's not entirely accurate.", the Potions Master of the group corrected the assessment.
"But it says there-", Hermione began to complain.
"Most school material like this puts the timescale in the context of pristine laboratory conditions.", Marley explained sounding genuinely smart, "That means eight hours every day standing in front of the cauldron. We however have classes to attend and a low profile to maintain."
"So, it's going to take longer?", Ron annoyed her.
"Yes, Ronald. It's not magic, it's potion making."
Her expert opinion unfortunately did not get her a lot of cheers.
"But if it's more than a month, and Pansy really is the Heir...", Harry began, concern woven into his words, "...in the meantime, she could attack half the Muggle-born students ein Hogwarts."
Bleak prospects that alerted them as a whole. But obviously they worried Hermione the most.
"I'll give it my best.", Marley spoke, wanting to sound reassuring, "I promise."
Despite his best efforts and extensive Quidditch practice to keep his mind off of things, Harry couldn't stop thinking about what was bothering Marley today. In addition, something that made his brains a little blurry on top, he had been wondering... why he had been wondering so much. Not like the girl was dying, so he probably shouldn't experience open anxiety.
"Watch it!", a voice sounded, the boy quickly pulling back his broomstick before a bludger could break it. The voice belonged to Oliver Wood, the captain shaking his head as his team was up in the air on the Quidditch field doing some final practice runs.
"Keep your eyes on the game, Potter!", Wood spoke somewhat firmly, Harry nodding absentmindedly.
As Gryffindor team was packing their things a bit later, the sun setting in the background, a suave captain with an Irish accent decided to approach Harry, the boy on his way back to the castle.
"What was going on with you, Potter? Your head was clearly somewhere else today."
Harry sighed, unsure how to respond or hold his Nimbus 2000 for now.
"I'm just... worried.", was the boy's frustrated answer.
"I see.", Oliver gave back, "All that stuff concerning the chamber and that cat is getting to you."
Receiving no answers, the older player began to wonder.
"Or is it something else?"
"My friend Marley.", was how Harry began, forcing Wood to put on a far more neutral face. This was not really what he liked to talk about with the young Seeker.
"What about her?"
"I think she's upset.", Harry continued, briefly taking off his glasses to polish them, "Not just about the chamber. But I think it's more. And I'm not sure what it is."
"Well, you better be talking to her about it then.", became Captain Wood's final suggestion as he began strolling away, "That's an order, by the way.", Oliver added with a chuckle, "You better clear that up or else we'll lose tomorrow."
The Boy who lived reached the very tail end of the Great Hall's dinner feast, getting some scraps as everyone he knew but Neville was gone, the two boys having a short but delightful conversation about Herbology, which Mr. Longbottom seemed to be as nerdy about as Marley was about Potions.
"I think she said she was going to your study room.", Neville eventually made himself useful, awarding Harry his next destination as he spoke warm goodbyes to the other boy. That was Harry Potter, always a nice expression and gesture even when it wasn't required.
On his way to the study room, he'd come with a whole plethora of mental notes scrambled in his head, rough outlines and points of what to mention in his talk with Marley. As he came closer and closer towards the door his pace slowed down, why he wasn't quite sure. Based on his increased heartbeat and the tingling in his gloved hands Harry made out that the upcoming encounter caused him to be unusually nervous, why, again, he wasn't sure.
Was he scared of meeting Marley? And if so, why?
The boy came to no conclusion for now though and so, both as a personal wish as well as orders from his captain, he entered.
Standing over a literal pile of notes Marley seemed a little shocked to see him.
"Of course Harry would show up alone today...", the girl complained to herself in her own mind.
"Hey Marley!", he spoke weirdly uneven, which baffled the both of them. He gently closed the door before the exchange could continue.
"Are you okay?", the girl inquired, Harry scratching the back of his head as he wondered why he was so fired up all of a sudden.
"Sure. I just... came back from Quidditch training. You know how it is with the... brooms and the balls!"
"What am I saying?!", his own voice echoed angrily in his head.
"Okay?", Marley continued, expecting, nay, begging for him to say something to overshadow his awkwardness.
"Right.", the boy caught himself, "I was actually going to ask you the same question.", he paused for a bit, correctly anticipating her unease at the inquiry, "It's just... you don't have to say but... you seemed really upset all day and... I just... I don't know. I- I... I don't like seeing you upset. And I was wondering if I could help you."
There you go, a cohesive series of words strung together. And it gained him what sounded like quite a melancholic exhale.
"I don't think you can help me with that, Harry.", she responded in a gloomy voice, the boy stepping closer towards the table and her.
"Can I help you with any of this?", he spoke more casually, referring to all of her collected notes on the Polyjuice Potion.
"Oh no, that's codswallop, I'm already pretty much done. Most of these things are a little hard to get, but not impossible. I might have to ask Snape for one or two of the more rare items."
With that cleared, worry remained clouding Harry's thoughts.
"So, is it just about the chamber? Are you upset about that?", he immediately switched back, Marley crossing her arms, not trying to come off as too defensive, "Or is it the fact that Malfoy won't talk to you?"
Getting no response, a third option crossed his mind. One he didn't necessarily want to mention, nor has he thought a whole lot about it himself.
"Was it... what Pansy said? About how you and... me?"
"Harry...", she whined, clearly upset about him now.
"I'm sorry.", he panicked, the tingling in his hands only worsening, "I just... I want to help you."
"I know, and that's so sweet and I... like you so much for that but... this is something I have to deal with on my own. Okay?"
All the while her response came tumbling from her lips, Harry's demeanour changed in a strange manner as he closely inspected her face.
"What?", she asked, sounding the most insecure yet.
"Your face...", he quietly examined her, "It's all red. Are you okay?"
Instinctively the girl covered half of it, taking a step back away from the boy alongside it.
"Oh... yeah that's... a... fever.", was her answer, which only seemed to make him more concerned, "Only a small one. Madame Pomfrey said it's a side effect of the... slug curse."
"Oh no. You're not gonna be sick, are you?"
"No-no...", she stumbled on, letting out a sigh as she realized how easily this allowed her to mask her actual troubles.
"It's probably nothing. I'll be feeling a little uncomfortable for a while but after that, I'm back to normal. Promise."
He nodded at her clever answer, the girl finding her footing somewhat again.
"And I definitely don't want to miss out on Slytherin kicking Gryffindor's butt tomorrow."
This got Harry positively provoked as well.
"Oh, you wish, Verpe."
They shared a few seconds of giggles, a sound Harry found rather delightful coming from his friend. After that, he returned to his original subject.
"So, I don't need to worry about you?", he said in a way that was rather smug and Marley found completely attractive.
"No. Not like that at least. If it ever gets too much, you'll be the first one I'll reach out to. Okay?"
While the blush persisted, Harry seemed satisfied with her answer. So satisfied in fact that he approached her with the intention of a hug.
"Wait, no – Harry – Harry!"
Too late, as the boy her age had already engulfed her in his warm compassion, Marley's "fever" intensifying by a lot as she began to reciprocate.
"I told you I have a fever.", she whined, secretly happy to be this close to him again, feeling his cheek press against hers and his breath in her ear.
"It's probably nothing.", he spoke quietly, washing her in tingles before they separated again. The boy ended up walking towards and opening the door with a strangely satisfied smile. Strange like... he was happy about something else but couldn't tell what it was. Maybe it was just closure.
"Alright. See you tomorrow then!"
"Good night.", she responded.
"Good night!", he added like a merry lad.
Then the door was closed, and for the next few seconds Marley once again felt cold and alone, all that warmth present in her cheeks and chest having left alongside that kind boy in his dashing Quidditch uniform.
Marley didn't start sobbing like hell because of everything, but she did break into tears shortly after.