I do not own Harry Potter, only the OC for the story

Hello Guys, Badger here. Back again with a new chapter. Lately I've finally felt like I can properly relax. My final semester of the year is nearly over thank god. Just one more year until graduation. Honestly it just feels good to finally relax now that nearly all my work is finished. Just one more week to go.

Anyway, I do have an announcement to make. I have made an account on Archive of Our Own, also known as Ao3. This is because I wanted to expand my creative writing with non Harry Potter content and, seeing as my fanbase here is primarily Harry Potter, I decided to make an Ao3 account for those non HP works, instead of clogging this account. If any of you are interested I'll leave a link at the very end of this chapter for you all. The first chapter for my first story, which will be a Walking Dead fanfic, should hopefully be out soon. It's just taking a while to write at the moment.

Anyway, that's all for now. Read on, enjoy and I'll see you all at the end.

Chapter 18

A Warning Written In Blood

The sun was shining as James, Daphne and Blaise were making their way down the school corridors, towards the main courtyard of the castle. The three of them had just finished studying for the day and wanted to relax for a while, before their next lesson started. The three of them stopped, however, when they heard someone calling out James' name where they saw Luna making her way over towards them.

"Oh, hey Luna" James said, as Blaise and Daphne shared a curious look, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to thank you…" Luna said, "This morning a few older girls came up to me and gave me my stuff back…it seems it wasn't Nargles after all…"

"I guess not…" James shrugged, "But what makes you think I had anything to do with it?"

"It's kind of obvious…" Luna replied, "I tell you that my stuff has been going missing, and then it gets returned to me soon after…"

"Yeah, I guess that is damning evidence…" James said, "But I wasn't going to do nothing and let bullies get away with it…"

"No, I guess you wouldn't…" Luna replied, "You didn't have to, but thank you"

Luna gave James a small smile, before leaning up to give James a small kiss on his cheek, as a way of showing her appreciation. James' eyebrows flew up in small surprise, doing his best to not blush, as Luna then started skipping away down the corridor she had just come from. James, meanwhile, stood there in silence as he watched her leave. After a few seconds he shook his head, brushing it off, before he turned back to Blaise and Daphne, who were giving him small looks of intrigue and teasing smirks.

"What was all that about?" Daphne asked, "Is there something going on between you and that Luna girl?"

"You'd like that wouldn't you Daphne, with all the teasing potential…" James rolled his eyes, as they continued walking, "No, there is nothing going on…her possessions was being stolen by other students, for laughs…I just made sure they were returned…"

"You must like her then…" Blaise stated, "Why else would you help her, like that?"

"I don't like bullies…" James replied, vaguely

Daphne and Blaise shared a look, but said nothing more as the three of them entered the courtyard. Straight away, their attention was grabbed by the sight of the Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch teams conversing with one another at the other end of the courtyard. Judging from the looks on Marcus Flint and Oliver Wood, the respective Captains, it wasn't exactly the most pleasant of conversations. From across the courtyard, the three Slytherins noticed that Harry looked quite bored as to what was going on whilst, interestingly, Draco was stood right next to him dressed in Slytherin Quidditch Robes, with a smug look on his face. Meanwhile on the Gryffindor side, Ron Weasley was dressed in Gryffindor's respective Robes and was glaring at Harry and the rest of the Slytherins.

Which wasn't much of a surprise.

Curious as to what was going on, James, Daphne and Blaise decided to make their way over to find out what was happening, just as Flint handed Wood a small rolled up scroll. Wood let out a small sigh of annoyance, as he unraveled the scroll and read the contents aloud.

"I, Professor Severus Snape, hereby give the Slytherin Team permission to practice on the Quidditch pitch, to determine who will be the teams Seeker…"

"I thought Harry was Slytherins Seeker" Daphne spoke up

"I am, but Malfoy wants to try and replace me…" Harry replied

Harrys words were met with amused laughter across the Slytherin Team. Even Marcus Flint had a smirk on his face. Something which annoyed Draco, his face nearly going as red as the Gryffindor's Quidditch Teams robes. It was no secret that Harry was a natural flyer and a gifted Seeker, possibly the best Slytherin has ever had, so the very idea that Draco could be any better was an amusing thought. Not to mention impossible.

However, Flint still had to give the boy a chance.

"Just you wait Potter, be the new Seeker for Slytherin!" Draco said, gesturing to the broom in his hands, "And that's not all that's new this year!"

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, as he looked down at the broom in Draco's hands, "Those are the nee Nimbus 2001's…how did you get those?!"

Ron was barely able to keep the jealousy out if his tone, as he looked at the sleek black brooms that Draco and the rest of the Slytherin Team were holding. However, surprisingly, Harry was the only one who didn't have a Nimbus 2001. Harry didn't look that bothered about it though.

"They were a gift from Draco's father…" Flint replied

Flint had to resist a scoff at his own words. A gift? Yeah right. Flint may not have been the smartest Slytherin in Hogwarts, but he was far from stupid. He knew what the brooms really were. A mere bribe to get Draco onto the team. Flint had gladly accepted the brooms, he'd be a fool not to, but he had told Draco that he would have to try out for the team, to see if he was indeed a better fit for the Slytherin Seeker then Harry. However, Flint doubted the very thought.

When he was told that he would have to try out, Draco had been angry but he knew he couldn't take the brooms back. Not if he wanted the entire Slytherin Team to hex him in the corridors, so he reluctantly accepted a trial for the position of Seeker.

"You see Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best!" Draco said smugly, smirking as Ron's face went red with rage

"For the whole team as well?" James spoke up, "At least no one else, both on the Slytherin and Gryffindor Teams had to buy they're way in, they got in on pure talent…"

"Enough!" Flint spoke up, as he saw Draco was about to speak up, though admittedly it was fun seeing the ponce turn a bright shade of red, "Save it for the pitch…now come on we've wasted enough time as it is!"

"Catch up with you guys later?" Harry asked, as the team made their way towards the pitch

"Of course, good luck out there!" James nodded

Harry nodded as he ran to catch up to the rest of the Slytherin Team, as they continued their way towards the Quidditch Pitch.

For the next few hours, Harry had found himself repeatedly thrashing Draco during the Seeker try outs, catching the Snitch time and time again. Despite having an inferior broom, Harry was able to fly rings around the Malfoy heir. Something that annoyed Draco, enraged that Potter was besting him, even though he had a superior broom. What didn't help was the constant laughter coming from the rest of the team, as Harry proved himself to be the better fit for the position. However, the try outs were cut short entirely after Draco had tried pulling off a trick to catch the Snitch before Harry could, which resulted in him crashing to the ground and breaking his collar bone.

Flint saw no reason to continue the try outs after that and personally congratulated Harry on keeping his position, whilst Draco was levitated towards the hospital wing for treatment.

After finding his friends shortly after, Harry had shared what had happened with them all. James and Blaise let out loud cackles of laughter whilst Daphne merely shook her head, though there was a small smile on her face. Unbeknownst to them all, their conversation had been overheard by other students and they immediately shared the news with their friends. Within an hour, the entire school had heard of Draco's misfortune on his unsuccessful attempts to take Harrys place as Slytherins Seeker.

Within the girls dormitory inside the Gryffindor Common Room, Ginny found herself jolting awake on her bed. Her mind felt fuzzy as she shook her head, feeling a little disoriented. She didn't even remember falling asleep, let alone what she had been doing before she had fallen asleep. She was no starting to consider going to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. Ginny was certain that the Hogwarts Matron will be able to help with her memory loss and weird sleeping patterns. As she sat up in her bed, Ginny went to rub her eyes to try and rid the lingering tiredness, but stopped when she saw something on her fingers.

Her fingers were stained with a strange oily substance. It looked like blood. Especially with how the redness of the substance seemed to glisten in the light of the dorm room. Ginny panicked slightly, wondering where the blood had come from, as it dripped a little onto the pages of the diary. Ginny paused for a minute as she looked at the diary for a moment. Now that she was thinking about it, her strange problems had started around the same time she started writing in it. Surely though, that was just a coincidence, right? Ginny couldn't be sure. However, admittedly, as she looked at the diary now she was beginning to feel a little unsettled by it. Ginny them shook her head, snapping herself from her thoughts as she closed the diary with a forceful thud of its pages. She was just being silly. She had to be.

Ginny then proceeded to get out of her bed and get changed into some fresh robes. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on but decided to go through with her plan to see Madam Pomfrey. Hopefully the Hogwarts Matron will be able to provide her with a potion of some kind to help with her sleeping problems.

Harry was feeling a little uneasy as he sat in the library with James, Daphne and Blaise. But for the life of him he didn't know why. It was like something was looming over him, sending a cold chill down his spine. Maybe it was because of the memory of what happened the previous year with the Mountain Troll. Or maybe it was Dobby's ominous warnings that were still fresh in Harrys mind. It had been nearly a month since then and so far, nothing had come of those warnings, but it was still in the back of Harry's mind. Whatever the cause for his unease was, it left Harry without an appetite and so he, along with his friends decided to skip out on dinner all together and spend the spare time getting some last minute studying done before their lessons the next day.

Especially for Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Despite only having a handful of lessons with Lockhart, they each came to the conclusion that the man was a complete idiot who'd rather gloat about his 'accomplishments' rather then teach a lesson. None of the four Slytherins could even think of a single piece of Defence the man had taught them so far. As such, they decided that they would do their own learning in private studies, between lessons. At least then they'd learn something. Sometimes they were joined by Neville and Susan but this wasn't one of those times.

When dinner was nearly over, with curfew about to start, the group decided to leave the library and make their way towards the Slytherin Common Room. As they made their way down the corridor, they bumped into Daphne's sister, Astoria, who smiled as she saw them.

"Hey guys!" Astoria said, cheerfully

"Sister…" Daphne greeted, "Where are you going?"

"I was looking for you actually" Astoria replied, "I wanted to see my sister for a little bit, before curfew…"

"Well, we're making our way back to the Slytherin Common Room right now, so you're welcome to join us…" James said, as the group continued walking down the corridor, "Maybe you can tell us more about your crush on Lockhart…"

"I do not have a crush on Lockhart!" Astoria exclaimed, a blush on her face, "At least, not anymore…I mean, to begin with I thought he was this amazing wizard like he had written in his books but…in his lessons, he is a complete idiot…I don't think he's even taught us any Defence…"

"I'm glad you finally realised sister" Daphne said, relieved that she wouldn't have to hear her sisters gushing anymore, "I wish I could say the same for most of the female student population…they get all googly eyed and blush when they see him…it's kind of disgusting…"

Astoria giggled at Daphne's words, whilst the others let out small snorts or chuckles of amusement. It was no secret to any of them that Daphne wasn't exactly one for romance. Or, at the very least, not a fan of public displays of affection. She was known as the Ice Queen for a reason. Harry chuckled a little, but he found himself stopping in his tracks as he heard something. A voice. A voice that sounded awfully familiar.

'Kill…time to kill…Kill…"

Harry's sudden stop caused the others to take notice. James was the first to realise that Harry had stopped walking, making his way over, where he was swiftly followed by the others.

"Harry, what is it?" James asked

"That voice…I heard it again…" Harry replied

"What voice?" Blaise asked, as he shared a look with Daphne

"I'll explain later…" James said, turning his attention back to Harry, "What did the voice say?"

"Its…going to kill…" Harry replied, shakily

"Guys…" The shaky voice of Astoria spoke up, "You may want to look at this…"

The group turned to see what Astoria was looking at. Following the girls gaze, they saw a trail of spiders crawling along the stone floors, crawling in an erratic and irregular pattern, in a single file line as they made their way up the walls and through a small crack within a nearby window. The sight of the spiders made Astoria squirm and fidget slightly. She wasn't a fan of spiders, or other creepy crawlies. Meanwhile, James and Daphne got closer to the spiders, curious as to where they were coming from and where they were going.

"This is strange…" Daphne commented, "I've never seen spiders act like this before…nor have I seen them in such a large quantity at one time…"

"I think you'll find Daphne, there's more to it then just spiders…" Blaise spoke up

James and Daphne turned around, wondering what Blaise was talking about, before they saw it. On the opposite walls was a message, written in large red letters that stretched across the stone and marble:

'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED, ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE!'

"Is that…blood?" Astoria asked, holding onto Daphne, scared

"I don't know…" James said, as he noticed something, "But we have a small problem…"

Besides the ominous warning on wall was something hanging from a nearby light sconce. It was hanging from its tail, as if someone or something had put it there. A cat. But not just any cat, a cat that they all knew.

"It's Mrs Norris!"" James said

"Is she…dead?" Harry asked

"I don't think so…" James replied as he got closer, giving the cat a small poke, "Merlin, but she is completely rock solid, like she's been…I don't know, flash frozen?"

Unfortunately, at that moment, they heard the sounds of footsteps coming from the other corridors before the rest of the students and staff began to slowly appear. Each one of them then stopped, when they saw Harry and his friends in the corridor, next to the body of Mrs Norris and the ominous warning written in blood. Harry looked around nervously, as shocked whispered and murmurs began to echo up and down the corridors with several students looking at Harry and his friends in fear, as if they believed that the group of Slytherins had something to do with it.

From his position at the front, with the rest of Slytherin House, Draco smirked as he looked at the sight of Mrs Norris hanging from the sconce. In his opinion, the mangy cat deserved it. His eyes then flicked to the message written on the wall, only for his smirk to get bigger.

"Enemies of the Heir beware?!" He read aloud, "Let's hope the Mudbloods are next!"

Draco's words caused several gasps amongst the students and staff, as the whispering grew louder and louder. Harry didn't know what Draco meant by 'Mudbloods' but he assumed it wasn't good, based on peoples reactions.

"What are you all just standing around for, go on, out of the way!" The rough voice of Filch spoke up, as the Hogwarts caretaker arrived, his eyes narrowing as he saw Harry, "Mr Potter, what are you …"

Filch paused when his eyes glanced up to see Mrs Norris hanging from a sconce behind Harry.

"Mrs Norris?" He said in a pained voice, before he snarled at Harry, "You…you murdered my cat!"

"No sir, I didn't!" Harry paled slightly

"I'm going to kill you!" Filch snarled as he approached Harry

"Sir, it wasn't him!" James said, getting in front of Harry

"Out of the way boy!" Filch said, throwing James to one side, before grabbing the lapel of Harry's robes, "I'll kill you Potter!"

"Argus!" A voice called out, causing the caretaker to stop

Everyone looked to see Dumbledore arrive, along with McGonagall and Snape. Dumbledore stopped and looked at the sight in front of him, before his eyes looked up to the message written on the wall. The Headmaster took a sharp intake of breath, as panic and fear spread through his entire body, before he turned to the rest of the students population who was still whispering amongst each other as they watched what was going on.

"Prefects, please escort your Houses back to your dormitories immediately!" He said, turning to Harry and his friends, "Except you lot…I'll need you to stay behind!"

Harry was panicking as the rest of the students began filtering out of the corridors, their Prefects escorting them back to their Common Rooms, whilst the Hogwarts staff stayed behind. The air felt thick with tension. Harry could feel it, his friends could feel it, as they waited to see what was going to happen as Dumbledore removed his wand and began running Diagnostics charms on Mrs Norris to see what was wrong.

Harry just hoped that they weren't going to be expelled. They had done nothing wrong.

A few more tense seconds had passed, before Dumbledore stepped away from Mrs Norris' body, nodding his head slightly.

"I can confirm that she is not dead Argus…" The Headmaster said, "But, I can confirm that she has been petrified…"

"Ah, I thought so!" Lockhart interrupted, "Such a shame I wasn't there, I know the exact counter curse that would have saved her from the effects…"

Everyone present in the hallway looked at the Defence Professor with a mix of doubt and raised eyebrows. Especially the Slytherins present. Lockhart couldn't even stop Cornish Pixies from running wild in his classroom, so they would like to see him try and perform this so called counter curse like he claimed. The silence from the other Professors caused Lockhart to clear his throat and look away awkwardly, just as Dumbledore began speaking again.

"Although, alas, how she has been petrified I cannot say…" The Headmaster said, his voice slightly shaky

"Why don't you ask him!" Filch snarled, pointing at Harry, "He's the one who done it, just look at what he's written on the walls!"

"I didn't do it sir, I swear!" Harry said firmly, "I didn't touch Mrs Norris, none of us did!"

"Don't lie to me Potter!" Filch spat, looking like he was about to throttle the boy

"If I may interject Headmaster…" Snape said smoothly, "As capable as Mr Potter and his friends are, they are hardly capable of performing whatever curse has fallen upon Mrs Norris…I believe this is merely a case of them being on the wrong place, at the wrong time…"

"Thank you Professor!" Harry breathed a sigh of relief

"However…" Snape continued, "I would like to ask Mr Potter and his friends why they weren't present at dinner, along with the rest of their fellow students…"

"We were in the library Professor…" James replied, "Harry wasn't hungry so we were doing some studying instead…we were heading back to the Common Room, before curfew started, before we found Mrs Norris…"

"It's true Professor!" Astoria spoke up, "I went looking for them and found them leaving the library!"

"Innocent until proven guilty…" Dumbledore said, "Without proof of them harming Mrs Norris, we cannot take action on them, or anyone until we know who the culprit is…"

"My cat has been petrified!" Filch exclaimed, "I WANT TO SEE SOME PUNISHMENT!"

"And there will, Argus, as soon as we find the culprit" Dumbledore said calmly, "In the meantime, Professor Sprout has a healthy growth of Mandrakes, so a cure will be made to help revive Mrs Norris…in the meantime, I recommend caution for all until we know exactly what caused this…Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, I would like to speak with you in my office…Mr Potter, you and your friends may head back to the Slytherin Common Room…"

Harry nodded and he started following his friends, as they started making their way towards the Slytherin Common Room. As they walked, James had a thoughtful look on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

"There's something going on here…" He said

"You think so?" Harry asked

"Harry…first you get a warning from a House Elf…then you start hearing voices…" James replied, looking at Harry with a serious look, "And now Mrs Norris has been petrified, with an ominous warning about some 'Chamber of Secrets'…"

"And you think they're all connected…" Daphne spoke up, a statement not a question

"It would be one hell of a coincidence if they're not, but something tells me they are…" James nodded, "I don't know what it could be, but I don't like it…"

Meanwhile, inside the Headmasters office, Dumbledore was pacing back and forth whilst McGonagall and Snape stood by his desk. Both of his Head of Houses were, understandably, concerned about what they had seen in the corridors.

Dumbledore was too.

"What are we going to do Albus?!" McGonagall asked, frantic, "The last time the Chamber was opened was when…."

"When Tom Riddle rose to power as Lord Voldemort…" Dumbledore interrupted, with a heavy sigh, "I know Minerva…I don't know what to do, not yet, but we must remain cautious for the time being…and not let news of this event break out, we can't afford to cause any unnecessary fear in the Wizarding World…"

"What you mean is, you don't want news to reach the ears of the Ministry…" Snape drawled with a light scoff, "Because you know you're on your last legs…one more incident and you're removed from the castle…"

"I resent that remark, Severus…" Dumbledore said, the twinkle gone from his eye as he looked at his Potions Professor, "I am merely trying to stop the unnecessary fear spreading through the Wizarding World…"

"Don't lie to us, Albus!" McGonagall snapped, her thick Scottish accent coming out in full force, "We know the truth…you better do something about this situation and soon, otherwise we will go to the Ministry personally!"

With that, Snape and McGonagall spun on their heels and walked out of the Headmasters office, the door slamming behind the two of them.

Dumbledore watched with a heavy heart, as his two most trusted staff members leave his office. It saddened him to see how much of their loyalty he had lost, ever since the news of Harrys abuse at the Dursleys had surfaced across the Wizarding World. He could only hope that McGonagall wouldn't follow through with their threat. Whilst Dumbledore would never admit it out loud, Snape was correct. Dumbledore didn't want news about this incident getting out, in fear of the Ministry having him removed as Headmaster, be it temporary or permanent. Dumbledore had no doubt that one more incident will be the final nail in the coffin for the Wizarding World. He still received the occasional howler regarding the Troll attack and Harrys abuse.

Dumbledore may not survive the year if news broke out.

With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore collapsed into his chair as he put his head in his hands. He had no idea where to begin regarding the Chamber of Secrets. Nor did Dumbledore know where to begin looking. Any searches for the Chamber in the past, had come out fruitless. Salazar Slytherin was crafty when it came to sealing it away. Dumbledore gently stroked the hairs of his beard, as he thought about the year ahead.

He may have to rethink his plans.

Again.

And that's the new chapter done. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Things are really starting to kick off now.

Fun fact, when starting this remaster back in Chapter One, I had been planning on killing of Mrs Norris and it's only when writing this chapter where I decided not to and left her petrified. Guess I didn't want people tracking me down and breaking down my door, because I killed a cat. I guess I should be grateful that it wasn't a dog, cause I wouldn't survive the outrage.

Also more James and Luna fluff. Cute. At least I hope it is.

Anyway that is all for now, cause I am so tired man.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you all next time, in whatever story I see you all in.

Badger Out

/users/ThatBadger

(For those who are interested)