Chapter 14 - Chamber of Secrets

        When we got to Hagrid's and explained what was wrong with Ron, he ushered us inside and said,

"Got jus' the thing. Set 'im down on that chair o'er there."

As the five of us sat down, Hagrid grabbed something and came back over, "This calls for specialist's equipment." Hagrid set the giant bucket in Ron's lap before he sat down in his own chair, "Nothing to do but wait till it stops, I'm afraid."

Ron belched another slug into the bucket as Hermione, Harry, Eric and I cringed in disgust. "Better out than in. Who was Ron tryin' to curse, anyway?"

"Malfoy," Harry replied, "He called Hermione, well, I don't know exactly what it means..."

Without a word, Hermione stood and walked to the other side of the room before she quietly said,

"He called me a Mudblood."

Hagrid gasped,

"He did not!"

Utterly confused, I furrowed my brows as I questioned,

"Um, what's a Mudblood?"

"It means dirty blood," Hermione answered, turning around for me to see she had tears in her eyes. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents. Someone like me. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."

My heart broke at the look on Hermione's face, and I wanted to give her a hug when Hagrid explained,

"See, the thing is, Harry and Ella, there are some wizards- like Malfoy's family- who think they're better than everyone else 'cause they're what people call pureblood."

"That's horrible," Harry and I simultaneously frowned before Ron belched again and then said,

"It's disgusting!"

"An' it's codswallop ter boot. Dirty blood," Hagrid scoffed, "Why, there isn't a wizard today that's not half-blood or less. More to the point, they've yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do. Come here." Taking Hermione's hands, Hagrid gave her a smile, "Don' you think on it, Hermione. Don' you think on it fer one minute. Hey?"

Hermione gave a weak nod and smile in response before I got up to give her a strong hug.

That evening, Harry and I were with Professor Lockhart for our detention. The vain man had us helping him with his fan mail at his large desk with candlelight. With weary eyes, I continued to address each envelope alongside Harry while Lockhart put his signature on each glossy photo of him.

"Harry, Ella, Harry, Ella..." Lockhart suddenly broke the silence, "Can you possibly imagine a better way to serve detention than by helping me answer my fan mail?"

"Not really," I answered, forcing a small, fake smile.

"Fame's a fickle friend, Harry and Ella. Celebrity is as celebrity does. Remember that."

My brother and I nodded, but when Lockhart looked away, we turned to each other with furrowed brows. Just as we returned to addressing the envelopes, a chilly voice filled the room.

"Come... come to me... come to me..."

"What?" I whispered at the same time as Harry, gaining Lockhart's attention,

"Sorry?"

"That voice," Harry said quietly.

"Voice?"

I grew confused at Lockhart's look of confusion,

"Didn't you hear it?"

"What are you talking about, twins? I think we're getting a bit... drowsy... and, great Scott, no wonder. Look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! Dinner's nearly done! If you hurry, you might make pudding. Spooky how the time flies when one's having fun!" Lockhart chuckled, but the look of confusion remained on my face as Harry and I both repeated,

"Spooky."

The two of us swiftly cleaned up our quills and ink before leaving to walk down to dinner. We were quickly passing through an empty corridor when I heard the voice again,

"Blood... I smell blood..."

Harry and I both stopped cold as I grabbed my brother's hand and looked around for the source of the voice. "Let me ripyou... let me kill you..."

Hearing it close to the wall, we stepped up to the stone, playing our fingers on the wall as we walked, following the quickly moving voice as it repeated, "Kill... kill... kill!"

Just as we rounded the corner, we came face to face with Hermione, Ron and Eric.

"Ella! Harry!" Hermione said thankfully before Harry and I asked,

"Did you hear it?"

Ron frowned,

"Hear what?"

"That... voice," Harry specified, causing Hermione and Eric to furrow their brows,

"Voice?"

"What voice?"

Looking around the corridor as though hoping to spot something, I explained,

"We heard it first in Lockhart's office and then again, just-"

I stopped at the sound of the voice once again,

"It's... time."

"It's moving."

"I think it's going to kill," Harry added, then took my hand and raced off with the others in tow as Hermione yelled,

"Harry, Ella, wait! Not so fast!"

We ignored her until we stopped at a corridor with water all over the floor. Ignoring it, Harry and I sped walked down the hall, looking around as Ron, Eric and Hermione caught up to us. As we continued, Harry suddenly stopped all of us as he noticed a bunch of spiders climbing out the window.

"Strange," Harry said quietly. "I've never seen spiders act like that."

"I don't like spiders," Ron told us, about to walk away, until we all noticed words reflected in the water on the floor. "What's that?"

Looking up, the five of us saw the red words written on the stone wall in front of us as Hermione read aloud,

"'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened... Enemies of the heir... beware.' It's written in blood."

As we continued to stare at the wall, Harry spoke,

"Oh no."

Following my brother's gaze, I saw exactly what he was worried about. "It's Filch's cat," Harry frowned.

"Mrs Norris," I nodded, stepping up to see if I could help the poor cat hung stiffly by her tail from a torch bracket. But her eyes were open and looked blank. Suddenly, the hall and stairwell filled with voices and chattering as many of the students that were just at dinner joined the five of us before stopping at the sight of the writing on the wall.

"Enemies of the heir, beware!" I heard Malfoy's voice read and turned only to see him look toward Hermione, "You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

I glared at the boy, who flashed a nasty grin until Mr Filch stepped through the students to see what was happening,

"What's going on here? Go on now! Make way. Make way." Mr Filch came over to where Harry and I were standing and narrowed his eyes, "Potters, what are you..." The man stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the sight of his cat. "Mrs Norris?" I frowned, feeling bad for Mr Filch until he looked at me and Harry, "You... You've murdered my cat."

"No... no," Harry and I tried to explain before Mr Filch grabbed our robes in each hand,

"I'll kill you! I'll-"

"Argus!" Dumbledore's voice boomed. I looked to see the man himself marching forward, trailed by a phalanx of teachers. "Argus, I-" Seeing the wall, Dumbledore's face darkened before he instructed the crowd, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately."

We all turned to do as the headmaster had said until Dumbledore interjected, pointing at us, "Everyone except... You five."

"Ravenclaws, follow me!" The Ravenclaw head boy shouted as the corridor emptied. Once almost everyone was gone, Professor Lockhart examined Mrs Norris,

"It was definitely a curse that killed her- probably the Transmogrifian Torture. Encountered it myself once, in Ouagadougou. The full story's in my autobiography..."

"She's not dead, Argus," Dumbledore interrupted, speaking gently to Mr Filch, "She's been Petrified."

"Precisely! So unlucky I wasn't there. I know exactly the countercurse that could have spared her..."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at Lockhart and focused on listening to Professor Dumbledore,

"But how she's been petrified... I cannot say."

Mr Filch immediately pointed at me and Harry,

"Ask them! It's them that's done it. You saw what they wrote on the wall! Besides, they know I'm- I'm a Squib."

"It's not true, sir!" Harry said as we turned to Dumbledore.

"We swear! We never touched Mrs Norris!" I joined until I furrowed and added, "And we don't even know what a Squib is."

"Rubbish!" Filch sneered, clearly very distressed, "They saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"If I might, Headmaster..." Professor Snape started, causing all of us to turn to him. "Perhaps the Potters and their friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

My jaw almost dropped, my eyes widened, and I turned to look at my friends to see if they had heard the same thing. Snape would never defend us, and my thoughts were correct as the man continued, "However... the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing the Potters at dinner."

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus," Lockhart spoke up. "You see, Harry and Ella were helping me answer my fan mail..."

Snape narrowed his eyes at Lockhart when Hermione started to give an explanation,

"That's why Ron, Eric and I went looking for them, Professor."

"We'd just found them when they said..." Eric paused as he turned to us, silently asking if we wanted him to continue. Raising a brow, Snape urged,

"Yes... Mr Underwood?"

Harry quickly replied,

"When we said we weren't hungry."

"We were heading back to the Common Rooms when we... found Mrs Norris," I added, causing Snape to eye both me and my brother coldly, seeming as though he knew we were hiding something. Snape turned to look at Dumbledore, who simply stated,

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus."

"My cat has been petrified!" Mr Filch said with a shaky voice, "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madame Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes. When they have matured, a potion will be made, which will revive Mrs Norris. And in the meantime, I advise caution... to all. You five may go."

With swift nods, Ron, Hermione, Eric, Harry and I all turned to make our way to the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff common rooms. As we were walking, Eric started explaining what a squib was,

"A Squib's someone who's born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any powers of their own. It's why Filch is trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course."

"It's also why he hates students so much. He's bitter," Ron added when Hermione suddenly spoke up,

"It's a bit strange, isn't it?"

"Strange?" Harry asked, causing Hermione to stop walking in front of us,

"You hear this voice, a voice only you two can hear, and then Mrs Norris turns up petrified. It's just... strange."

I frowned and questioned,

"Do you think we should've told them- Dumbledore and the others, I mean?"

"Are you mad!" Ron whisper-yelled as Eric shook his head.

Hermione added,

"No, Ella. Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign."

My frown deepened as I shared a concerned look with Harry when one of the paintings on the wall suddenly said,

"She's right, you know."

"Thanks," I grumbled before Eric and I said goodnight to the others and left for our common room.

The next morning, the five of us had transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. As the experienced witch stood at her desk, there was a bit of chatter about the different animals all sitting on our desks.

"Could I have your attention, please?" McGonagall started, gaining the room's attention. "Right. Now. Today, we will be turning animals into water goblets. Like so."

The professor turned to the bird perched on her desk and lightly tapped it three times with the tip of her wand. "One, two, three, Vera Verto."

Within seconds, the bird transformed into a beautiful crystal water goblet.

"Whoa!" we all whispered in amazement.

"Now it's your turn," Professor McGonagall made her way over to us. "Who would like to go first... Ah, Mr Weasley? One, two, three, Vera Verto."

Ron nodded before he took his tapped-up wand and copied the professor's previous actions on Scabbers.

"Vera Verto," Ron announced, but rather than a beautiful water goblet, Scabbers turned into a furry one with a tail as he squeaked. Everyone else laughed as I gave Ron a sympathetic smile.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr Weasley," McGonagall instructed before Hermione raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione asked, causing a hush to fall over the class. McGonagall looked around before taking a breath,

"Very well. Well, you all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Now, three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not."

"Three guesses who?" Eric whispered.

"Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Well, shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle-borns," Hermione specified with a grim tone.

"Yes. Naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such chamber has been found."

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the Chamber?" I dared to question.

"The Chamber is said to be home to something that only the heir of Slytherin alone can control. It is said to be the home... of a monster."

I frowned, knowing that what Harry and I heard the night before must have been that monster.

Class ended soon after our cheerful discussion about the Chamber of Secrets, and the five of us were making our way down the corridors to our next class with the other students when Eric spoke up,

"Do you think it's true? Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes," Hermione replied with a firm nod. "Couldn't you tell? McGonagall's worried. All the teachers are."

"But if there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and it's really been opened, that means..." Harry trailed off, leaving Eric to finish,

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts.

"The question is, who is it?" Hermione said as I furrowed my brows. In response, Ron sneered toward the blond with his goons as they walked past and in mock puzzlement, asked,

"Let's think. Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?"

"If you're talking about him..." I said, eyeing Malfoy up ahead.

"Of course! You heard him: 'You'll be next, Mudbloods'!"

"I heard him. But Malfoy? The Heir of Slytherin?"

"Maybe Ron's right, Ella," Harry joined. "I mean, look at his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries."

"Crabbe and Goyle must know," Eric suggested, "Maybe we could trick them into telling."

"Even they aren't that thick," replied Hermione, "But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd be breaking about fifty school rules. And it would be dangerous. Very dangerous."

"When do we start?" Ron questioned.

Harry, Ron, Eric and I patiently waited in one of the back nooks of the library as Hermione looked for the book she wanted. It didn't take too long for her to return, as she explained,

"Here it is: 'The Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another...'"

"You mean, if Harry and I drink some of this stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" Ron questioned, and Hermione nodded,

"Yes."

"Wicked! Malfoy'll tell us anything!"

"Exactly. But it's tricky. I've never seen a more complicated potion. Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed. And, of course, we'll need a bit of whoever we want to change into, too."

"Hang on now. I'm not drinking anything with Crabbe's toenails in it," Ron frowned, and Eric cringed,

"Ugh!"

Ignoring them, I asked Hermione,

"Well, how long will it take to make?"

"A month," Hermione stated.

"A month?" Harry repeated with wide eyes. "But if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin... he could attack half the Muggle-borns in the school by then."

"You didn't have to tell me that."

I placed my hand reassuringly on Hermione's shoulder when Eric spoke up,

"Hang on, even if we do successfully make this potion, won't it be more suspicious and weird if all five of us find someone to turn into?"

I nodded,

"I agree. Maybe if we used a shrinking potion to hide in your pockets or..."

"You're both brilliant!" Hermione smiled, "There's not a shrinking potion, but I do know a shrinking spell that I can teach you both."

"Then that's the plan," Harry stated.